The very next day after returning from Bear Lake more fun came our way! Our niece, Ariana, flew from Oregon to stay with us for the week until her family joined her. Ariana is 12 years old and was great to have around. While I tried to get my PILES of laundry done from our vacation, she played with Brie and Ava, read them all of their library books over and over and taught Zach how to climb the stairs! The girls loved having her here, even if Ava only referred to her as "that somebody". Ariana even joined me on the stationary bike next to my treadmill while I ran.
We tried to show Ariana a good time while in Utah. I think she was surprised how long it took us to get out the door each day with a baby who naps in the morning and just having three small kids. But we did make it out the door and hopefully she had some fun!
Ariana came on her vacation with certain things that she really wanted to do. Top on the list was The Yogurt Stop for "fro yo". We took her twice.
Wahoo! I must be the best aunt ever!
She also wanted to go to the Gateway. So after frozen yogurt we went to the Gateway to play in the water fountains and wait for Scott to get off of work to join us for dinner there.
Brielle had Ariana follow her around choreographing a dance for the two of them as they went. Beautiful.
Ava hid from the water in the stroller.
Jessica was still with us too, so the next day we all went on a hike to Donut Falls. I fell in love with this hike for kids. It was a good one. We started with a picnic lunch. We found a rare type of duck while lunching in the forest. Crazy!
We then hit the trail and Zach was SUPER excited to be hiking in the backpack with his own hiking stick!
Feeling the freezing river.
We made it to Donut Falls, but Zach missed the whole thing. Looks comfortable, right?
This is when Brie and Ava decided they needed a bathroom and I performed my motherly duty by taking them behind a bush and teaching them just how to go in the woods! A difficult task, but they did it very well.
The following day we joined the Brian and Rachel family at Lagoon for a day at the water park and riding the rides over and over and over. Lagoon is another one of my new favorite spots! We absolutely had a blast! The kids were thrilled with the water park. And then they loved all the rides just right for them. It was cloudy, so cool, and there were barely any lines. Ariana and I got to ride some of the big rides together, including "Wicked", which was probably the scariest ride I've ever been on. Ariana was very brave though.
Floating the lazy river with Uncle Brian.
Maybe this ride was built more for the thrill of a 4 year old than a 12 year old?
And here are the brave oldest cousins who just finished riding a big roller coaster. So brave and so proud!
Ariana finished her stay at our house with Scott getting sick (puking), then Brie, then me and then finally SHE spent a day throwing up! Quite the finale, eh! Come back soon Ariana.
Soon after bringing Scott's dad home from the hospital, his sons that don't live in town came to visit him. Scott's brothers were all together for the weekend and we thought it would be a good opportunity to take pictures of the boys in their kilts. Fred and Rama have had a Buchanan tartan kilt made for each of the boys, but they have never been together to wear them. We went into Fred and Rama's backyard and Mary Kim came to take the pictures. They turned out lovely! We are all happy to have this pictures of Fred and Rama and their sons. 
Guess who the comedian of the clan is?
Love this.
When Fred grew tired and went inside, we decided to put the kids together for a picture. They are just wearing what they wore for the 4th of July parade. I crack up EVERY time I see these pictures. Ava and Henry are honestly the best of buds. They are so cute together in these pics. They are holding hands and wow, check out those scowls. Oh, and of course, Brie is offering up her very best pose.
Little Ella and Zachary.
Zachary at 9 months.
He's all ready to learn the bagpipes. Heaven help us - those are not an indoor instrument!
Like father, like daughter.
And a quick picture of our family. Everyone is looking and smiling. Amazing!
These boys will have to get their kilts on again very soon . . . . . they are off to Scotland!! They are taking Fred back to his hometown in Scotland for a visit. Yeah!
