Originally I was only going to stay one night and leave Rachel and Nikki out there for the week to babysit but they were having so much fun. I didn't want to go back to a lonely house in Provo so I ended up staying most of the week out there with them. One day we had water gun fights and the kids had so much fun just running around the yard getting wet.
They spent a lot of time on the trampoline. Even Sy loved to be on it.
We took the kids to a splash park in Vernal. It was pretty hot so we spent most of the time in the shade.
Vika and Deegan did run through the water a few times then would go chill on the lounge chairs.
Rachel was quite the good little mother for the few days there. I just felt like the Grandma but I have to say, I really enjoyed just playing with the kids for a few days.
Nikki had talked all year about donating her long beautiful hair for locks of love. They need at least 10 inches of hair to be able to make a wig. Locks of Love is a great organization that makes wigs for cancer victims. Rachel had donated her hair when she was 13 so Nikki wanted to do the same. She was so excited but a little scared. 
The braid was pretty cool to play with. 
Nikki with her new dew holding her braid before we mailed it off.
Always fun to Cosmo, BYU's mascot.
Another tradition we try to keep is going to the lawn in front of the Provo Temple with friends to watch the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire show in the BYU Stadium. Each year we say that we wish we were in the stadium but we always have a great time just watching the fireworks. 
Vika, Nicole, and Aspen waiting for the show. We take a picnic to eat while we wait for it to get dark.
June 23, 2010
Chelsea Galicia and Nikki walking along the bay.
Gavin found the perfect hat for him at a surf shop in Morro Bay. He finally has a full head of hair again. We should have bought the hat because it was just way too funny.
Had the best clam chowder ever at this place on the bay. They had these huge clam shells out front that were just too cute as wings on the girls.
Angel Vika
The ever famous evil eye. Poor Nicole, we were all getting a little irritated at her because she was clueless as to what she wanted to eat.
Our Summer started with us flying out of Hong Kong on June 20. Nearly 20 hours later we were back in Utah. We spent a few days in Utah recovering from jet lag and then were on the road in our suburban headed for Los Angeles. The kids didn't mind the trip because they just relaxed and watched movies. We made our traditional stop at "The Narrows" in St. George and then in Las Vegas to eat at Chipotle. We stayed in Redondo Beach for a few days to visit Grandpa Jim. 
Brendon, Alicia, and Dean all came to visit us so of course we all ended up going to Carrow's for lunch. That seems to be Grandpa's favorite place now. It used to be El Pollo Loco which of course we had to go to on another day where we happened to see Ron Artest from the LA Lakers. We heard music and a DJ from a local radio station in the parking lot and had to see what the excitement was all about. Come to find out, Ron Artest was expected to show up for a signing so Jonny and Gavin quickly went to Marshall's to buy a Laker t-shirt then waited for an hour in line to get his autograph. It was pretty cool.
The whole gang at Carrow's.
Gavin and I finally ran away from the kids for a night and went to Macau with our friends Debbie and Frank Galicia. We booked rooms at the Venecian in Macau and ran away. We were so excited and our expectations were surpassed when we walked into the room and saw the luxury that lay ahead of us. We felt like royalty. I couldn't resist myself and had to run and jump on the bed.
The room had a sunken sitting room and a marble bathroom fit for a king.
We left Shekou early Friday morning and took an hour ferry across the bay to Macau. We were famished by the time we checked in and found our way to the food court in the mall within the Venetian. Gavin loves to take "candid" shots and seems to especially enjoy catching me shoving food in my mouth but I didn't mind here. They had a Fatburger in the food court and I was going to enjoy every bite of my juicy fatburger and onion rings. I hadn't had a hamburger in months and I really enjoyed it.
Of course later we had to get the ever famous Portuguese Egg Tarts and again Gavin had to catch a shot with me shoving it in my mouth. These little tarts are heavenly and I really don't care if I look like a total porker in these pictures. I ENJOYED IT!!!!!!!
We spent part of our time exploring Macau and discovered some fun interesting places.
Gavin and Frank had to show their manliness here as they pretend to be holding up the walls of this Roman Coliseum.
Within the Venetian they have a canal where you can take Gondola ride with a real live person who serenaded us. The guy we had was named Geronimo and he was from Sardinia. He had an awesome voice. After our Gondola ride we went to Cirque De Soleil. We knew what to expect because we had seen some of their shows before on DVD but the Galicia's thought it was a little strange but it still was a great show.
We hiked around the southern part of Macau through the mountains trying to find this place. We had heard it was the best Portuguese food on Macau. After several hours of hiking we finally made it to Hac Sa Bay at Fernandos.
On our journey to Fernandos we stopped at this little temple. There was a family paying tribute to their ancestors. They burn items which in this case looked like some wrapping paper and a box. Then they splashed some sort of alcohol on the ground. They believe that they can send things to their ancestors that have passed and maybe they were trying to send them some alcohol. I did notice that the lady didn't empty out the entire bottle. Maybe she was keeping some for herself. It was rather interesting though.
