Visiting my sister

A few weeks ago our family went to visit my sister and her family. We haven't been out there for a long time so it was nice to let the kids see where their cousins live. We had a fun time except for the part where Ben got really sick and we had to take a trip to the middle of nowhere ER. Nothing too extreme in the end but Ben's lymph nodes got infected and the Kaiser phone nurse scared the daylights out of me when she said either we take him to the ER or the lymph nodes could swell up so badly while he was sleeping that it would close off his airway and he could die. Nice.

Other than that, the kids had a great time. Collette spent most of her time with any animal that she could chase down. Between the cats, the dog, and the horses~ she got her fill in. Abigail had fun playing with her cousin Paige and playing on their new Wii they had just purchased. Ben, in all his sickness, still had a pretty good time~ just not totally himself.

We didn't get a lot of pictures in. It snowed the first whole day we were there and it was pretty chilly outside the second day. It was only on our last day that we had great weather~ hence most of the pictures. Here are just a few (mostly for grandparents) to show off some of the fun the kids had.

Collette loved the horses but you can tell from her face she also had a healthy fear of them. Apparently, she was a little nervous that her hand might go missing.



Joel kept the kids laughing on the trampoline. There was a lot of fun to be had on the tramp



Here are Paige and Abigail just before they head out on their first ride



Here's the transition from Abigail riding to Collette's ride. What a great tour guide cousin Paige was!


In the end, Collette did great on the horse


Ben and Hannah were having a great time in the cars playing while the big kids took turns on Peaches (the horse).



However, it appears that this is how my sister decides to solve problems of sharing. Just shoot my son in the head if he doesn't give up the car fast enough. Go ahead, click on the picture to get the best image of what is going on!


Ben was very clear about how he felt about being too close to the horses




People don't believe me when I say how out in the middle of nowhere my sister lives. As you turn down one of the roads to make it to her house, you pass the Extra Terrestrial Highway. Here is a funny sign that is at that turn off: