4th of July

I literally have 1000 things to do right now ... including packing for TULSA to go see HEATHER in a few short hours ... but I don't want to be a slacker in documenting some of the highlights of our fun Fourth of July weekend ... so here goes ...

We took the family up north to spend the weekend with our good friends, the Utterbacks. It's been a long time since our families have had an extended period of time to hang out so the three day weekend (thanks to our "banker's hours") provided the perfect opporunity!

Instead of staying with M&M at their place we opted to stay with Bruce and Mary Jane (aka "Pappy" and "Nana") at the "U-Lodge" in Chaparral Pines. The U-Lodge is a gorgeous home, with a great setup that allowed all 5 of the Barretts to sleep downstairs away from our gracious hosts so as to not wear out our welcome!

Chaparral Pines had a lot of fun things to do for the holiday weekend - starting out on Saturday morning with an adorable parade our kiddos were able to take part in!

The big boys (and Joy) rode their bikes with Micah.

Pappy & Nana drove the "U-Go" (seeing the "U" theme here?) with the smaller girls and Jared (Utterback).

So fun!

Tim and I watched from the sidelines with baby Caleb.

And Melinda and Baby Luke.

It was warm out, but nice in the shade...

Fun to see them roll by! The boys picked out their red, white, and blue outfits, complete with red sweater vests (or as Bruce called them - "sweatin' vests!")

Afterwards we all went down to the pool for some fun!

Check out this waterslide the kids went down 100's of times!

Saturday night we went to the club for a fabulous buffet dinner. We had the best seats in the house! Right outside, flanked on one side by a great band and on the other side by a bounce house. We could not have planned it better if we tried! Ha ha!

Nana and the kids danced away!

And Pappy enjoyed some company on the green grass.

Baby Caleb passed out early.

... and was kind enough to let us stay and enjoy the party!

Ahhh... the Utterback - Barrett clan!

I love this picture of our two crazy second borns - Will & Joy.

Life would be so BORING without them!

They sure do love their big brothers, huh? Joy is

a TROOPER to hang tough with all these boys!

Meme and the Juicer.

And Nana with Luke & Will.

Of course there were foot races. Jared and Joshua are

always putting their athletic skills to the test with running ...

... and wrestling. Aaahhh Boys!

Sunday afternoon we headed 20 minutes north to Pine with Melinda's parents to enjoy their land and have a BBQ at their new house.

Micah grilled up some delicious elk steaks and hot dogs.

Then they took the kids fishing on the dock (this picture is of the view from the balcony/porch - isn't it awesome?)

We didn't have a lot of time to fish ...

as Meme and I had plans later that night, but we dropped a pole in the water anyways ...

But we did catch one of the massive koi's.

And had a great time trying!

Jared was a little disappointed - we'll have to go again soon and do more catching!

This is Bob & Marilyn's new home up there - so pretty! And perfect for the two of them!

Monday morning, we enjoyed another swim prior to our departure.

Eating lunch with the Utterbacks poolside was such a delight. It sounds so cheesy, but sitting there enjoying a relaxed lunch (or as relaxed as it could be with 7 kids under 7) and a swim at a beautiful pool on a sunny, warm (but not HOT) day in Payson with our family and some of our closest friends, I literally tried to take the "mental snapshot". It was one of those: "it doesn't get much better than this" moments. It made me grateful for the fun we were having and hopeful that one day we might be able to be neighbors again! Our families just "get" each other and we all have so much fun!

Tim and the boys riding home to the U-Lodge in the "U-Go".

The boys waving their flags in front of the U-Lodge.

After an easy drive home we rested for a bit then headed down to the Arizona Country Club to have dinner with my Uncle Ron and Aunt Daphne and enjoy FIREWORKS!

Jared LOVES his new cousin Christopher, they had fun with the light wands.

See what I mean?

ACC puts on a great fireworks display. It was the closest the boys had ever been to such a show. We loved it!

As expected, it ended up being a late night, but ever the trooper - Caleb slept through the entire fireworks production!! Even though it was crazy loud with the explosions and being thirty feet away from the loud speakers blaring the musical accompaniment, he just chilled out so we could enjoy the party! Thanks little man.

We had such a special, memorable weekend. So grateful for our freedom and for this good life and sweet family with which to enjoy it. :-)