Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

So...Last night I composed a fabulous post and when I was previewing it, prior to publishing, I accidentally clicked on the "back" tab and goodbye post. As heartbreaking as that was (and I've done it more than just the once - yep, kind of a dork) I'm back to try again.

July is a great time to get together with family. To just enjoy the simple things. Eating good food, playing, and spending time with the people that you love. Although it's been a while since my last post I have been snapping lots of pictures with the intent of posting them here.

I was thinking about doing a photo essay-type thing for the 4th. This is about as far as I got. Our little piece of Americana.

Aaron worked on the 4th and Kiersten was with her Mom for the weekend. So it was just Elijah and me. We stopped and had an early dinner with Aaron's Grandparents and took a few pictures of him with them. I love this shot. You can tell they love their great-grandson.

Then we headed over and saw Aaron's sister and her kids. Here's Eli with his cousins Kelsie, Riley, and Claire.

I love to see Mahana's husband Ammoni w/ the kids - he's like a big teddy bear.

This is a great picture of Heidi Tuita and her youngest, Josie; Margaret and Maleha, and Mahana. This was taken at the Vehikite/Tuita family reunion.

I love this picture of Margaret and Mahana. I get so caught up in my own little rat race - it's been nice to reconnect with my brothers and sisters lately. Mahana has been really busy organizing family reunions this month. I think that she's going to get a break from it in August. She is such an amazing woman.

Margaret and her girls stopped by on Wednesday night. They're home from Germany this month. It was great to see them. The girls had a great time with both Rex and the kids.

Kasiah is adorable. Don't let the big brown eyes fool you though - Margaret says that Dustin calls her Osama-siah or "the terrorist" because of the way that she goes after other kids. She definitely has her moments as a sweetheart though. She won me over.

Eli and Maleha both looking a little pensive.

Thursday morning we met at the park for lunch and were pleasantly surprised to see Martin and Mark there as well. I couldn't resist taking this picture of them with Margaret and her girls.

Martin's boys were both at the park too. Here's Martin Jr. (aka: Tini or Tino - depending on what mood he's in). I love these two - they both have the sweetest dispositions. I don't see them nearly enough and just want to eat them up when I do.

This little sweetheart is Michael, Martin's youngest. The picture doesn't begin to show how adorable he really is.

I was amazed at children's instinct for self preservation. 90% of all the kids at the park were playing under the playground equipment and not on it. No coaching from protective moms needed. Eli enjoys playing in the dirt and would probably swim naked in it if he could. Thank goodness he hasn't tried - yet. Utah is so hot!

And last but not least - Kiersten swinging it up! She was noticeably absent from most of the events photographed here because of the trip to her Mom's. We're having a great summer though. Look for more pics here soon.