Family, family and more family... our time in Utah! (Part 1 of 2)

So... our trip to Utah was over 3 months ago. I guess it's time to tackle this. I MUST get caught up on my blog. And I've got an astronomical amount to catch up on! This is no small feat, whatsoever. Get ready for the picture parade!

We arrived sooooooooo late in the night after our crazy California adventures and obstacles. When we pulled up to my sister's house we found my parents and a few of my siblings and their spouses holding signs with individual letters on them spelling the word "Welcome!" standing in the driveway doing a little oompa loompa up and down dance of sorts. It was hilarious and obvious that they'd passed the point of no return in regards to late night sanity. I can't tell you how much I wish I'd busted out the camera. Alas, no pics. But the picture in my mind is awesome!

We were late to participate in any family reunion activities which was a total bummer, but we had a great time on Saturday anyway. We went and had Romig family photos taken for the first time in about 7 years! When we were trying to decide how to coordinate families and such for the photo shoot, we all decided to each take a main color for our individual families so that when looking at the group shot you could tell who belonged to who. My siblings started claiming colors and Willy volunteered orange for our family. So of course we had to follow through on that! Fortunately my brother-in-law is a hunter so we were able to secure enough orange to outfit the whole family.

The whole Brent and Suzanne Romig family! Including FIVE new nephews that I hadn't met since the last time we were all together in 2010!!! Our family has grown a LOT during the last few years.

Without the orange...

Awwwwww

<3

Our first Sunday in Utah was just in time for our newest extended-Romig family
addition's baby blessing. So happy to be there to meet brand new baby Sam, my baby sister Sarah's newborn!

I just love this gorgeous little man!

Got to see my beautiful Grandma Norma Romig for the first time on our trip
the day of Sam's baby blessing. I love this woman so much! She has called
me Rosebud my whole life which is why Molly was given the name
Molly Rose. Grandma (aka GG) is someone awfully special!

Getting a good shot of all the grandkids with Nana and Papa the day we all got together as a whole Campbell
family was no small feat. Getting funny faces, however, was MUCH easier!!

The best we could get.

Willy, his siblings and parents.

What better way to have some fun, uninterrupted family time than to go camping! We got to enjoy Crystal Hot Spring
camping with Willy's parents, most of the Campbell cousins, and Willy's brother Guy and his brother's wife Haley. Fun!

Best part of camping at Crystal Hot Springs? The swimming, of course!!

Molly was NOT a fan of the tube slides, but we dragged her on them twice (for pictures, of course LOL) The boys went on the slides over and over and over again!

Wouldn't be a Nana sponsored event without some fun crafts for the kids! They made Fairy Jars and Paper Airplanes (and had a throwing contest, of course!)

Nana, Papa and most of the Campbell cousins.

While we were in Northern Utah we took time to go visit my Grandma Ruth Mitchell's gravesite.
Grandma passed away last year and I was unable to return to Utah for the funeral. It was good
to go pay our respects as a family and leave some kukui nut leis for her. She loved the
Pacific Islands, particularly Tahiti, after spending so much missionary service time there during her life.

We went and visited the Logan Temple Grounds while in Northern Utah. Beautiful temple,
and particularly special and important to me because this is where my parents were married.

We also stopped in Brigham City to see the newest LDS Temple. It was not quite
ready yet but was dedicated just a few weeks after we were in Utah.

GG and her sucker tree! She has figured out the secret to getting grandkids and great-grandkids
enthusiastic about visiting. Molly remembered the sucker tree from our last visit and she was
only TWO on that visit! Grandma has had this sucker tree for as long as I can remember and
it's always well-stocked with Tootsie Roll Pops.

We always try to stop at the Salt Lake Temple Square
when we're in Utah.

Took a tour to the top of the Church Office Building to get a
killer view of the city and learn a bit of Salt Lake history.

View from the top.

No beautiful spring time tulips, but the gardens are always pretty at Temple Square.

We got to go to the Jordan River Temple with Willy's entire family. Very cool experience.

Enjoyed a fun BBQ visit with Willy's brother, Adam, and his family which includes some of the friendliest dogs alive.

And of course the newest cousins to become permanent, forever parts of our extended Campbell family! We were so excited to meet Layla and Lily, two gorgeous sisters adopted by Adam and Lacey! Molly was especially excited since Layla is just a bit older and Lily is just a bit younger than Molly is. A perfect trio!!

Willy had his bike shipped to his parents house rather than all the way to Louisiana because he was desperate to get in a good mountain biking ride before finding himself in the flat, flat landscape of Louisiana.

Elephant Rock

Hubba hubba. My sexy stud of a husband.

Not part of our "blood" family, but certainly part of our Hawaiian Ohana! We were thrilled
to be able to attend the wedding of this sweet couple. Ryker is the son of some of our best
friends on O'ahu.

Attending Taylor and Ryker's wedding in Utah County gave us an excuse to visit Bridal Veil Falls

After Bridal Veil Falls we hustled back up to West Jordan and joined my folks for dinner at Golden Corral. Then we crashed at Mindy and Damon's house for the night and I had to take Willy to the airport early the next morning. He headed to Louisiana without us to start his job while the rest of us stayed and soaked up as much more family time as possible.

Seems like a good place to stop. There are still so many more pictures and fun times in Utah!! I'll tackle the second week of our trip tomorrow :)