Rita and Janie Invasion Day One

My sister Rita and sister in law Janie arrived today with 6 kids in tow. They had a relatively quiet and uneventful trip on the way up. And the border went really smoothly. (Which was fantastic because at the last minute Janie realized she didn't have my nieces birth certificate. The border didn't ask to look at them. A total answer to my prayers. We have one on its way in the mail so she can get home.) Landon has been excited to show off where we live to a sibling so he is settling on showing it off to his brother's wife. :) Janie has decided that she could easily live here and is on the lookout to see the bear in our backyard. She was a little car sick on the peninsula due to all the twists and turns but she keeps saying she can't believe how beautiful it is here. It has been so much fun to have them here already. My parents and sister in law Ashley were great to look after all the kids so that Rita could take a nap and Landon and I drove Janie into town so she could fax Utah Vital Statistics. All the kids get a long really well and Emily is in heaven with all the cousins. We hung out at my parents for the afternoon and jumped on the trampoline, picked blackberries and laughed lots. We had dinner at my parents and then we all went swimming at the indoor pool for an hour and a half. That was a crazy time! Kids were everywhere, the lifeguards definitely earned their money helping us keep track of 1 six year old, 2 four year olds, and 4 two year olds. Matt carried Sariah and Maggie for most of the time while Collin "swam" with me. For the first time ever Emily came to me after an hour and said, "Mommy, Let's get towels, I'm done. I'm done, let's get towels." and "Emmy go to stairs and go home, Mommy." I didn't have to fight her to leave the pool at all! Plus for the first time she held her breath and went under the water. Nobody showed her and she hasn't taken lessons. She just turned to my mom and said, "Grandma, watch Emmy." She was so proud of herself. She did it over and over. I don't know if she swallowed much water doing it but she does have a tummy ache so I'm guessing a little ended up inside. :) All the kids plus Janie were in bed by 8:30. Tomorrow looks to be lots of fun. We are hiking up to a couple of waterfalls. :)