The Cox Cousins in Utah

Well, thank you Miss Julie!

About a month ago my cousin Julie called out of the blue and said, "Let's get together, ya ya ya." (ala the original Parent Trap). Okay, she really didn't say it that way, but that's what I felt!

I've been meaning to get us Utah Cox folks all together for a while now, but something always distracted me. I couldn't have been happier at these prospects!

So Julie called Lane, and I called Nate. It was all set. My girls were giddy in anticipation of meeting their new cousins.

The menu was potluck Costa Vida Chicken Salad, my standard company meal.

First to arrive was Julie, Rob, Kylee, Joshua and Jacob. Sage and Kylee became quick friends. Athena talked about seeing her new friends before they showed up, but played shy around 'the boys' when they got here.












Second was Nate, Melissa, Macayla and Jordan. Roma and Macayla paired up well, as did Ellie and Jordan.


















And then Lane, Ambria and Cragun (we were missing the older 2 kids...we'll get them next time;) - thanks for the correct spelling on this one Aunt Carla...I knew it was a family name, but my memory on spelling failed me!). Cragun slid right on with Kylee and Sage, and Ambria got on well with Ellie and Jordan. Lane did give me a hard time about giving bad directions....















(This is Lane, Cragun and Rob)

which leads me to poor, poor Kari, who is Lisa and Steve's daughter going to school at BYU and drove around for 2 hours trying to find my house based on LANE'S directions. Everyone was long gone before The Spirit took the wheel and got her to our house. Oy! I felt so bad!! Who gives bad directions now, Lane?!? Lane swears that he was just telling her the bad directions I gave to him, and maybe it was a bad case of the telephone game, but I will take the fall for this one. Sorry Kari!




BUT, we loaded her up with leftovers, so she went away happy

















So, last night was a great night! I wish I had more time to give details, but long story short, we all had fun, the kids loved getting to know one another, and we plan on doing this again in Feb., with everyone triple checking directions to Julie's house and inviting Julene, Chris and Ben, too. I also wish I had better pictures, but hopefully Julie will post on her blog (on the right hand blog roll under 'Julie and Rob', but it's a private blog, cause she won't let just anyone meander over into her blog land like me. She has standards and all).

Heck, if any ya'll want to join us for that, feel free to drive up and join us!

I love mi familia! And I'm glad we're not 'alone' up here in terms of family. We may not be next door to each other, but we're close enough, and it's been waaayyyy too long since we had seen each other! Thank you Lane for extra photos!

I love you guys!

Requested meal recipes:

Green Lime Ranch
Blend in blender:
1 C cilantro
1/2 C chopped green onion
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 C milk
1/2 C homemade mayonnaise (p. )
1/2 C sour cream
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dill
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried onion flakes
Serve with Green Rice, warm black beans, lettuce, chopped tomato or pico de gallo, feta cheese, mushrooms or chicken

Green Rice
Juice of 1 lime
3 C stock
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 C cilantro, minced
1/4 C chopped green chilies
3/4 tsp salt
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 C brown rice

Sauté garlic, cilantro, chilies, onion and rice in 1 tbsp oil until onion softens. Add stock and lime, bring to a rapid boil, then simmer on lowest setting for 45 minutes or more. To produce separated, Mexican style rice you must simmer on very low heat and leave it undisturbed.