One of my favorite people on the planet is my cousin Kendra. I grew up LOVING the times we got to be together. The first time I flew in an airplane was when I went to stay with her in Ohio when I was 14. We were roommates in college. We got married a week apart. We each have four kids, our second kids were born on the SAME DAY, and our third kids were born two weeks apart. We are both homeschoolers. The list goes on- we have SO MUCH in common!!! I just love her, and Kent and I love hanging out with Kendra and Jeremy because we know each other so well and we can all just be relaxed and have a great time together.
My cousins are doing something amazing and crazy right now- they are daily vloggers! That means that every day (but Sunday) they post a video on youtube. It's like a reality TV show. Except it is just their family's life and they film it and edit it and have a youtube channel for it. And they are getting SUPER popular! So they decided to come out to Utah for a youtube conference and they got to spend a couple of nights with us and I'm so grateful they did because I was really missing Kendra and the kids so wanted to meet their JHouse cousins!
While at the pioneer day parade we got a flyer for the conference they were attending!
On the first day of the conference we went and picked up their two older kids Isaac and Elise so they could spend the day with us! First we took them to book club. They handled it like champs!
After playing with friends for a bit we headed home for lunch. They had never made popcorn on the stove before so it was super exciting lol!
Then we danced the day away in our ghetto basement! Elise definitely fit right in with my girls!
It was funny because she would do something with Natalie and then switch gears and do something with Jenna. Elise is a sweetheart for sure!
Caleb and Isaac were instant "best cousins" as they called it. It was so fun to see them going from one thing to the next throughout the day. They never argued or got into trouble once!
They wanted to play wii so I told them they would have to do 5 chores to earn the screen time. Caleb showed Isaac the chore chart and they pulled out all the cards before deciding which ones to do. It was adorable how hard they worked, if that is a word I am allowed to use for these young men! ;o]
Oh and before they could have screen time we also had to do our afternoon devotional and reading time. It was one of my favorite moments of the day actually. Each day we pick one Article of Faith per kid to practice, and that day it was so special to have their voices added to my kids as they sang each chosen verse together sitting lined up on the couch.
Then after reading for 30 minutes the boys got their hard earned wii time!
After Seth woke up we went on a walk/ride to deliver a treat to one of my visiting teaching sisters. It was fun but probably a little too far because some of the kids got tired of waiting for the others to keep up and just sped ahead!
Once we were all safely home it was a flurry of little hands and hungry faces helping to make dinner!
It was so fun though! The kids really did get along so well!!
After dinner and dinner chores and special treats we started finding pajamas for everyone and it started to rain! They all ran outside for a rain dance!
As soon as we heard the first thunder and saw the first lightning we headed back inside for scriptures and stories. It was so sweet to hear Natalie and Elise reading scriptures together.
While Caleb and Isaac read together on the other couch! Then we read a couple of chapters of The Water Horse all together and it was off to bed! I knew Kendra and Jeremy would be coming within an hour so I let the boys set up camp in the boys room with a tent under the bunk bed, and the girls set up a little bed for Elise with blankets and everything in Natalie's room. All three boys were still awake when Kendra went up to get Isaac but Elise had already fallen asleep! It was such a fun day!!
The JHouse Vlog was in the Next Biggest Youtuber contest and didn't win by a narrow margin. It was disappointing for sure! But they handled it with class! And I'm still really glad they came! =o] We didn't see them the rest of that weekend as they finished the conference and saw other family.
On Sunday night they came in late and we put the kids to bed and then got to spend some quality time visiting. Kendra is one of those people that I could talk to for days straight and never run out of material! =o] So yeah, we stayed up way past the bewitching hour!
The kids were up bright and early and we had muffins and pancakes for breakfast. Laura and Seth were sweet friends from the get go!
We went on a perfect little hike up to a beautiful waterfall and got to explore all around with the kids. It was perfect weather and company!
The girls rode home with the girls.
And the boys rode home with the boys! Isaac is smiling like a champ even though he got smacked in the face with the car door by Caleb! (But apparently a little drama is a good thing for a vlog post, so it's all good!)
That afternoon the Murray cousins joined us for three times the fun!
We went to this awesome river splash park while Jeremy edited and Kent worked. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast! Rebecca and Kendra are super close too (they did a study abroad program together) and so it was fun to laugh all together!
All of our #3s and our #4s! I LOVE that we are all just in that same stage of life right now so we can relate and support each other! I am so blessed to have these women in my life! And to have their children be friends with my children is a blessing too!
When we got home the guys had taken care of business and had dinner ready! We put 8 sandy children through the bath and then had Family Home Evening. As the activity the kids showed us the trailer of the movie they are making. ADORABLE. Then the bedtime routine and a long walk for me and Kendra and little Laura in the stroller. Then Kendra and I cleaned the car seats and went on another long walk. I just love her! And I am so grateful that we had this chance to just talk and talk and talk! I wish they would just move out to Utah! =o]
When we got back we had a good long talk with the husbands in on it and that was good too! They just have so much in common with Kent and I and I am so glad we all got to visit together.
The next morning was all pancakes and packing and saying our goodbyes. Who knows when we will be seeing them all again?!? I am so grateful for the memories we made! We love you! Come back any time!!
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