Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for a couple of weeks.  One day we went and had a picnic in the American Fork canyon and then went for a hike.  The boys spent half the time looking for cool rocks to take home for their collection.  And then the next favorite part was throwing rocks in the river.

Lunch time

The Hike

Mia was nervous about getting close to the edge, but with Grandpa holding her she felt comfortable throwing the rocks in.  She liked it as much as her brothers did.

We went to Big Cottonwood Canyon for the weekend and stayed in a nice big cabin.  We roasted marshmallows and made smores, went on a hike and just enjoyed being with each other.

Diego and Sydney loved playing with the fire and keeping it burning

More campfire pictures

Our Hike:  It was perfect for young kids..they could go off the trail a bit to make it fun and it wasn't a very long hike even though it took a while to finish it.  :)

                                Of course the boys had to try climbing this rock wall

Mia enjoyed Grandpa's shoulders

Hot tub fun

While Grandma and Grandpa were still here we had our 2nd annual campout in Matt and Jamie's backyard.  It was so hot this year I couldn't handle sleeping in the tent so I slept under the stars.  The older kids slept under the stars also in their own little area. 
It was so windy that our tent starting collapsing on Udine and Luca inside the tent.  (I had no idea, I was comfy out under the stars)  :)  Poor guys.
We roasted marshmallows again and also watched a movie on the side of the house.  Good times, good times.  I forgot my camera though so I need to grab some pictures from my parents and siblings.

Different Stages

I know the World Cup is long gone and Italy was a HUGE disappointment, but as I was looking at pictures I thought it would be fun to post the boys right after their haircuts on to the very end.  Diego and Alessandro still have not cut there hair though!  I need to go take them to do that.

hmmm

Obviously Mia has learned to eat cereal by watching her older brothers. ;)

4th of July Fun

Baseball

The boys had fun playing baseball last month. Diego got to play on his cousin Cody's team, which he always enjoys. Alessandro got to make new friends on his team. He actually knew one boy from school, so that was good. They both did great and had a good time.

The little kids were struggling at this game, so a grandma next to us kept giving them candy to help them be happy. :) Thanks to that Grandma!!

Diego

Alessandro

My superhero!

My sister-in-law, Jana, is my new superhero! ;) We had sprinklers that needed to be moved and set, Udine and I aren't the handiest people when it comes to this kind of stuff. Plus, because of Udine's back he can't really do that kind of work because it's a lot of bending over, which makes his back worse. And we have learned it is not worth it to push it! Anyway...Jana came over this morning and between the two of us we were able to get the job done!! Well, there are still a couple things to do...but for now it's good. She knew exactly what to do, what parts to get, etc. I was amazed. I just did whatever she told me to. I had no idea what to do otherwise. Way to go Jana!!

Oh, and she is like 7 months pregnant or something close to that. So I do feel a little lame about making a pregnant girl dig in the ground with me and bend over those holes and get all muddy, etc. But she did great! Thanks Jana! You saved me!

Hawaii

We just got back from Hawaii on Sunday but it already seems like so long ago! :( Udine and I went with my parents, my siblings (minus my sister) and their spouses. It was amazing! My Aunt and Uncle watched our kids for us so we could go on this trip. We owe them big time!!! It was strange at first to be there without the kids. But I quickly got used to being able to do what we want whenever we wanted. ;) It was relaxing, exciting and just so much fun!! I think the highlight for both Udine and I were swimming with the turtles. They were so close to you! It was so cool to see. We loved snorkeling, Udine loved body boarding (I never got the hang of it), Udine went fishing and had a blast, I went shopping with just the girls, we went to a great magic show. All around it was just so fun to be with family and for us, to experience things we have never done before.

Udine LOVED the coconut milk.

On our way to the blow hole

We all took our turns by the heart rock. ;)
Snorkeling by black rock. Four huge turtles surrounded us here. It was awesome!

Girls breakfast

Body boarding

Dinner at Canoes with all of us

The view from where we were sitting. Beautiful!

Banyan Tree

Hiking in the bamboo forest

Udine doing his "Lost" impression.

Mens fishing trip

One of the fish Udine caught