Two July Fly-bys!

July usually sends our two Mesa families returning to northern Utah. 
With eleven kids between them, 
they come for EFY (Especially for Youth) at BYU, 

tennis camps and visiting friends and relatives. 

We get to be a stop-over, and  we  celebrate! 

Stacy, Maddy, Max and Luke arrived Saturday, July 14, 
in time for barbecued ribs (the twins' favorite!), dilly pasta salad, Summer Tomatoes bruschetta, 
grilled corn on the cob and Nielsen Custard cones.

They went to church with us on Sunday, then we returned home and had a waffle brunch 

before they hit the road to return home after having been away for two weeks. 

A week before heading to Utah, they spent time on Lake Powell with Tom's entire family - 

I think there were almost 50 of them.

Then Tom flew home to work. Stacy and the younger kids drove to northern Utah 

and they stayed with Mindy, Jeff and kids while Maddy attended EFY.

It was so fun to have them visit for a minute!

The next weekend, Emily, Anna, Ben, Becca and Sara stopped by, returning from up north 

where Anna and Ben attended EFY, then the next week, Ben attended tennis camp. 

The week previous to that, they celebrated the 4th with the Gilberts

 at Paul and Susan's beach house on Coronado, 

Ryan flew home to work and Emily drove the kids to Utah. 

Their biggest highlight was visiting their son Pete in the dorm, where he is living 

and attending BYU Summer School 

before he leaves on his mission to Armenia/Georgia.

They arrived in time for barbecued salmon, grilled corn on the cob ( we're loving this way to cook corn), 

broccoli salad  and . . . 

. . . panna cotta with balsamic berries and cream for dessert. 

They left Saturday morning after Roger and Emily had a quick run 

and I fixed Huevos Rancheros, gluten-free style.

Mid-summer fly-bys with loved ones are the best!