big surprise!!!!

7.27.16

I had been waiting for this day for months!!!!!!!

This also had been in the works for months.... So it was 

exciting to finally have it happening! 

Kirstin was coming home for a 2 week visit!!!!

The only ones who knew were myself, Kasey and 

my dad but he thought it was the next day.

He had planned a big lunch at Olive Garden for the big

reveal and was so proud of himself... Little did he know

 he would be getting a big surprise too!

I picked Kirst up in Vegas around 9:30 am, she had 

meeting with a counselor at UNLV so we met with

him at 11. She is looking at doing the ARL program

for special ed when she comes home in Jan.

One of her only requests was to eat at Cafe Rio, drink

Dr. Pepper and soak in the tub while she was home.

I was able to hook her up with a Dr. Pepper and 

Cafe Rio which didn't disappoint!

We headed to Mesquite and the plan was to drop her

off at McDonald's and I would go grab the kids for 

ice cream - thinking we were going to meet Andrea.

The plan was in motion and I don't think I could have

planned it any better. Their reactions were priceless!!!!

Kirst was standing with her back to us at the ice cream

machine, we ordered and Mason was the only one to 

order one. She turned to give it to him and he looked at 

her, looked at me with the most confused, excited look 

on his face. Brooklin has started to get her drink but had 

turned around as Kirst was giving Mason his ice cream.

She was brought to tears which we knew she would be

but it was priceless!!! She just ran over and hugged Kirst

and sobbed for a good 5 mins or so.... We headed to our house

for a little bit, Kirst had a power nap and then we took off

for the next surprise! 

Kasey had gone over to my parents and told them he had 

ordered pizza. We picked up the pizza and Kirst was going 

to be the delivery girl.... We just had to make sure mom 

answered the door since we were surprising her for her

60th birthday!!!! Kirst was at the door and I was hiding 

behind the bushes to video - Mom answered the door

and Kirst said, I have a pizza delivery for the Winters.

All mom could say was, Are you kidding me?

Dad was sitting in his chair in disbelief since he 

was expecting her tomorrow!!! It was awesome and 

mom even shed a few tears... I love watching the videos

over to see everyone's reaction! We have missed our Kirst,

it had been a year since everyone had seen her so we 

loved having her home for a few weeks!!!!

days of 47 parade

7.25.16

All the years we lived in Salt Lake I don't recall ever

going to the parade downtown. We would go to the rodeo 

with Grandpa Gene but never the parade. The kids, my mom

and Kasey's family stayed up there to attend the parade with 

the Whiting's since Shane is a motorcycle cop. They block off

an intersection for the families and have a great view! The kids

enjoyed themselves I think, Mason said he likes the ones in 

Mesquite cuz he can actually be in the parade!! Crazy kid...

grandma karen

7.24.16

Sunday morning we met Grandma Karen for 

breakfast! It was nice to see and visit with her for

a little bit. She is keeping busy with different activities

and her friends. She gave the kids sunglasses for a treat!!!

We love her so much and just don't see her often enough.

family get togethers

7.23.16

We met the Fullmer's at a park Saturday morning,

everyone was able to make it so it was fun to visit. 

The kiddos played soccer, kick ball and ran through 

the splash pad. We had lunch and Bart made yummy

homemade toasted coconut ice cream and fresh raspberry!!

The Winters party was up at Susan and Robert's and we

had a good turn out. It's always fun to visit with everyone

and see how big the kids are getting! We recently just found 

out that Julie has breast cancer and it's stage 3. She is going to

start chemo, it has not spread which is a blessing. She looked

really good and seems to be in good spirits, probably 

stronger than any one of us! She will kick this cancer in the butt!!!

Grandma and Larry were there for a little bit,

she didn't recognize anyone but she seemed to be enjoying 

herself. I walked her out to the car and asked if she had a 

nice time and she said yes. I said, well your family loves

you very much. She just smiled and said something along 

the lines of it was so nice that everyone was able 

to get together!! Alzheimers is a sad disease, watching 

2 grandparents go through this is not a fun. 

north for the weekend

7.22.16

My mom, the kids and I headed north for the weekend.

We left Thursday after work and got up there a little later.

Friday we had planned to go hiking at Cecret Lake with 

the Whiting's, Tisdale's and Jones'. Meridee was also up 

north so her and the kids came with us too. We wanted to

check out the wild flowers and they did not disappoint!!!

Although the hike was a little more strenuous than planned,

some only made it part way and a few made it to the actual lake.

We kept hearing from people along the way that there 

was a moose up top and I was so excited!!! We got to the lake 

and sure enough a big ole bull moose eating and just hanging

out. It was awesome, we watched him for a bit and I was 

in awe we were so close! The kids tried catching some salamanders

but no such luck - they weren't supposed to be in the water

so they couldn't get too deep. We are so fortunate to live

in such a beautiful part of the world. I feel like I need to pick

a hike every time I head north, I've missed out on so much!

volleyball camp

7.18-20.16

While the boys were at camp and Nick was 

at football camp, Brooklin went to volleyball camp.

The Dixie College coach came down and held a 

camp at the rec center. She is going to try volleyball

this year so it was good for her to go learn some of 

the skills she will need to know!!!

snow camp

7.18-21.16

After the Subway hike Kasey, Jackson and Mason

headed to Ephraim so they could catch the last few 

days of the basketball camp. They stayed in the dorms 

and Kasey showed the boys his old stomping grounds. 

Mason had a blast and he said he learned something!!

Thanks so much Kasey for letting him tag along.

subway

7.18.16

Well it was a 3 peat for the Subway hike this year!!

 I can't believe I actually lucked out and won 

the lottery draw again!! We had pretty much the

same crew with a few new ones.... Kasey, Meridee, Jackson,

Juwlz and Decker, Patti, Mary, Chrissy, Mason and I,

and a couple Kasey knew.. We went a few weeks earlier

than normal so we weren't sure what to expect. 

It was overcast all morning which is great but not 

when the water is freezing and sunshine would be 

a nice help to get dry and warm up! It didn't decide to 

shine until we were coming out of the subway and the hardest

part of the hike, the hill coming out! It was different than 

the last few years, just depends on the water level. 

We did a lot of jumping in and swimming!!!!

This year kicked my butt, that hike coming out 

seriously was the death of me and Mason was done!!!

We finished together and decided we didn't want

to do this hike next year - haha!!!

It took us just under 8 hours this year to finish.

The company is always fun and Cafe Rio never

disappoints after a hike like that! 

mesquite swim meet

7.16.16

The kids had a swim meet in Mesquite and they did

awesome! I love watching them swim, Brooklin's butterfly

is coming right along. Mason has a smooth breast stroke

and is doing awesome at freestyle!!! Love my fishies.....

happy birthday kendall

7.11.16

This little sweetheart turned 3 today and she

wanted a Minnie Mouse party. She also wanted

 to go out on the boat but we settled for paddle

boarding in Ivins and then cake back at her house.

It was the perfect night, we had a blast. 

Grandpa even tried the paddle board with lots

of help from Kasey. The kids and Kasey loved 

jumping off the cement thing!!

Kendall got everything Minnie, I think it's safe

to say she's a spoiled little girl!!!