This year, Aunt Emily gave Xander a "make-your-own lollipop" science kit — which, in hindsight, may have been a bit ambitious! 😂 It ended up taking four adults and two kids just to make eight lollipops! Between the boiling heat, wrangling molten sugar (a.k.a. edible lava), and trying to pour it into tiny molds, it turned into a full-blown group effort.
That said, the end result was totally worth it — they were delicious and made for the perfect sweet treat on our flight home!
We had such a great time visiting Nini and Bebe this weekend! I didn’t get many pictures, but we had a fun afternoon enjoying some delicious Cane’s Chicken with Ethan and Josh. It was so nice to catch up with everyone!
Blade is huge now and was determined to be Xander’s new best friend — but Xander wasn’t quite on board this time. 😄
Nini had to head out before we snapped this photo, so it’s just Bebe with us here. Josh definitely earned MVP status — Nick and Xander followed him around the whole time, chatting nonstop. He was such a good sport about it!
Xander must’ve had a blast, because he was completely zonked out just a few minutes into the drive back to Alpine.
I'm so happy that Ben has found such a great group of friends to share his college experience with. After their trip to New York, they definitely caught the travel bug—this time, they set off for Yellowstone! While we were on our way back from Vegas, they were heading into the mountains for a new adventure. They had incredible hikes, delicious food, scenic drives, unforgettable stories, and even a close encounter with a bold little fox. I’m absolutely loving this adventurous phase of his life—being 21 looks good on him!
One of my favorite parts of summer in Utah is swimming at Alpine. Grandma and Papa have the best backyard — perfect for running, playing, and soaking up the sun. Add cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents to the mix, and it feels like heaven on earth.
I know I’m going to miss these days so much when we head back to Virginia. There’s just nothing like summer family time in Utah.
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We were only about an hour into our drive to Vegas when I got the funniest Marco Polo from Ben. It went something like this:
"Quick update! We just left my house and a few minutes down the road, Xander starts freaking out—turns out he got his finger stuck in the air vent. So I had to pull over ASAP and free his finger. Super fun. Just keeping you all in the loop!"
😂 Welcome to parenting, Ben.
The next morning, I got this adorable picture from Zack of all three boys snuggled up in Ben’s bed. Poor Ben is also sick right now, so probably not his ideal time to be on full-time kid duty—but honestly, they’re having a blast and bonding like crazy. Total chaos. Total win.
