highlights from our Utah excursion

These are only a few pictures from our trip to Zion, but it's gonna have to do for now. It was a busy week and we had LOTS O' FUN!
Kev and Jen's wedding was not only a highlight, but the MAIN EVENT... so it's getting posted very first (even though it was at the end of the week.) Jen was a beautiful bride and she made Kevin one happy Groom!
It was very special to have all of my siblings in the temple together. (Cindy is the only one not married and stayed outside with ALL the grandkids!)
Jen has two sisters and she is the first to get married... so you can only imagine how overwhelming it must be for her to marry into a family this size. Jen is an elementary school teacher and is so natural with all our kids. We are so happy to welcome her into our family.
This is what the adults looked like behind the photographer-- trying to get the kids to smile.. I am so glad Brent captured it on his camera. (btw, Brent took most of the above pics.)

The kids had WAY too much fun at the reception. They didn't want to leave. After it was over, all the boys slept at one house and the girls went to another. I took a picture of some of the boys in Lori's 15 passenger van. It was about 11 PM and they stayed up several hours after this was taken. Party, party, par-TAY! (yes, Simon was invited to the boys' sleepover, even though he was wearing pink pajamas.)
The day after the wedding we went boating with some of our best friends ever. I've told you about the Poulsens many times before. We met them our first year in law school when our kids were just tots. It was 6 years ago when we decided that our boys MUST marry their girls. Since then, I've been trying to capture pictures for their future wedding videos. (although this trip made me think that our nerdy boys might not be in their girls' league anymore....)
It was beautiful and sunny one minute and HAILING the next. We got caught in a crazy storm and words cannot describe how much it hurt and how funny it was hearing our kids scream like they were going to die. Jason drove us safely to shore and the rest of us huddled together. As soon as we docked, we got dressed in sweatshirts and bought all the hot chocolate from the little shop near the lake. Before the storm, the kids were able to do some waterskiing (even Zack), Morgan got up on the wakeboard, and Suz and Aaron surfed. Despite the hail, we had an awesome time. We always do when we're with these guys.
Straight from boating, we went to Kennedy's 2nd birthday party at the Bradshaw's ranch. It was an awesome party-- horse rides, badminton, volleyball, yummy food and family. Who could ask for anything more?
And here are just a few random pictures that almost didn't get posted... Yes, Cindy has a handsome boyfriend named Matt. I've been (unfairly) hogging her all to myself this summer. She leaves in just a few days to start another semester at BYU. We're not happy about it, but we're happy for her.
A couple of years ago, our family was the only ones living outside of Utah. Unfortunately, a few others have left the nest. My brother Tim and his wife Rachel (who just had a baby 3 weeks ago and was a rockstar at the wedding) live in Michigan. My sister Kristy and her family moved to Atlanta last year. It's really hard to be so spread out... Just before the Kimballs headed back to Georgia, the three "outsider" families took a picture to hang on my mom's fridge.... just to prove how sad we are to live away from the rest of the family.

Going home is always bitter sweet. It's always so good to be together, but it literally takes a couple of weeks for us to recover, both emotionally and physically. We're trying to live out the rest of the summer the best we know how... and hopefully when the "school year" begins we will be back onto some type of routine. What a summer it has been!!!!