California Family Reunion

Okay, this is way more of a photo post, but there was just so many good ones! Way back in the end of July, we decided to load up our van and attempt a 14 hour drive to California. Yeah, crazy, but it was so worth it! We had our family reunion in California this year, and we were so excited to go! I had to work the night we wanted to leave, so I loaded up the van before I went to work, and drove the car in. Then, at about one o clock am Mark loaded the boys into the van and came and picked me up from work around two (am.) Kale wasn't feeling well at this time, so we laid on the cool grass outside my work hoping it would go away. Finally we got in the car and headed for the freeway, only to find out the onramp we were headed towards was closed. So, after zig-zagging back and forth, back and forth, we finally found on onramp that was open and we were finally south bound. About ten miles after that, Kale notified us he was going to be sick, and I pulled over just in time for Mark to haul Kale out of the back door of the van and throw up all over the parking lot. Whew, just missed one there! Finally about three o clock we were ACTUALLY on our way, and all three kids are wide awake. Not what I had planned. We arrived in Parowan about six in the morning, just in time to have breakfast with Casey's family before they loaded up and we started our caravan for the rest of the drive. We drove right through Vegas and ate lunch at a cute little diner out in the middle of nowhere. At one point Casey and I split up, and he took one route, I took the other. Ours was really fun, we passed fields of flowers, orchards and orchards of all kinds of trees, and even a field of oil pumps. We arrived just in time. The whole family, and by whole family I mean over 70 of us, were all decked out in captains hats and enjoying pizza by the ocean, watching the seals and birds fish. The rest of the stay in California was just heaven. Our rooms at the inn were AMAZING, the beach was beautiful, the town couldn't have been better. We didn't do a whole lot while we were there, just enjoyed the environment and the family. We played in the sand and water, walked the farmers market, had good food with the family, and of course our usual talent show. When it came time to leave it was probably one of the hardest things to do. We can not wait to go back!
Luke riding on the luggage card. We could BARELY fit all our stuff on one, its amazing what one family can manage to cram into one small minivan.

My little beach boy.



This is me and my embarrasing organization. I put each of the boys clothes for each day into a bag and labeled it. That way in the morning I could just whip out a bag and wala, all the clothes right there, no digging! I know, I know, you're all jealous, right?
Kale running in the waves
Jack running in the waves
This is the beach. The pinkish building on the hill in the background is the inn where we stayed.
Robert, Katie, myself and Mark in the ocean

One of the best thing about family reunions is all the cousins! I don't think I dealt with Luke once the whole time, he was in good hands with Amber!
This is the view out our window
sand babies

This was taken the night we got there. It was freezing.

Look-a-likes

Here are just a few pictures of myself and Luke at about the same age. Everyone says he looks like me, what do you think?

The Perfect 4th of July!

We tossed around a lot of ideas for the fourth this year, but ultimately decided to not overplan, and just go with the flow. We started out the morning with a parade. We had a perfect spot, and including Jeannie and her kids, we ran into a friend of ours and their family.
(here comes the next float!)
The weather was ideal for the parade, and the kids got tons of candy. I love that 99 percent of the candy thrown at the parade was salt water taffy, seeing as we had a view of the salt lake :) After the parade we gathered at the Gill's for a quick, thrown together bar-b-que, yum. After visiting in the air conditioning during the hottest part of the day, we all went our separate for a very short period of time, before we met back up with Casey and Jeannie's for dinner. Again, we opted for indoor eating instead of attempting to juggle crowds, 7 kids, and 90 degree heat and the local festivities. We killed a little bit of time, and then headed over to the park to mark our turf for fireworks. We all went and bought a treat from the vendors, and settled in, waiting for it to get dark.
(these kids wanted snow cones)
(and these ones wanted cotton candy)
The fireworks were amazing, even though we were getting showered with debris :) I couldn't have planned it better if I tried!! I love the fourth of July.

Father's Day Campout

Last year we went camping with the Richards over Father's day weekend, and we decided that we wanted to make it an annual event. What a fun way to celebrate Father's day each year by going camping. This year we had decided that Mark would take Kale and Jack, and go with my brother Casey and Casey Jr, since Luke is at a TERRIBLE stage right now for camping. Saturday morning we got up and packed everything in the van, all ready to go, when we read the weather report...."A line of strong storms, with heavy rain and gusty winds and possible hail is moving into the Wasatch Front. Some storms will have hail, frequent deadly lightning and heavy flooding rain. In other words, some severe storms are anticipated today. Keep an eye to the sky and head inside of a sturdy building if a strong or severe storm approaches. Lightning is Utah's number one weather related killer. Don't stand under a tree, lift a golf club or become the tallest object in any area, or you may become the latest lightning statistic. Also, don't camp or hike near canyons, washes, gullies during heavy rain because flash floods can cause fatalities. Widely scattered afternoon storms will return on Father's Day."
Needless to say, we decided to postpone that ACTUAL campout. Instead, we built a tent in the front room, laid out sleeping bags, and even made s'mores (in the microwave). Mark, Kale and Jack slept out there, and had a blast! Hopefully next we will actually make it to the campsite :)

Airforce Week

This last week Salt Lake City celebrated Air Force Week. They had all kinds of activities going on down town....paper airplane contests, art shows, performers, imax movies, and over the weekend Hill Air Force Base had an open house and air show. We were really excited about this because everything was free of charge!! We had planned our week so that Monday we would go to the Aerospace Museum on the base, Wednesday we would go see the Fighter Pilots Imax movie, Friday Mark wanted to go to the art exhibit, and then Saturday we would see the air show.
The museum was fun, and we all walked away with a flattened penny, so it cost us a total of $1.53. The boys wanted to get in the planes more than anything, and thankfully they had a flight simulator, so they at least got to sit in a cock pit. We planned our entire day around the Imax movie on Wednesday. We had a playgroup at the park that morning, then had a picnic, and headed down to Gateway mall, getting there over an hour before the show started, only to run into this.....
We were so disapointed! All the other showings the rest of the week were at Thanksgiving Point, and in the evenings, so this was our only chance to go, darn it! Instead we walked down the mall, attempted to play in the fountain, but since the only one interested in going in was Luke, we left and then went for ice cream.
We were mostly excited about the air show though! We packed a nice cooler of lunch, snacks, and drinks, loaded the picnic blanket into the car, and left at about ten am for the base. We didn't even make it onto the freeway before we were at a complete stop, apparently EVERYONE was taking advantage of the free airshow. AFter a mile or two of creeping, the traffic started to move, and as we slowing took the first exit for the base, a traffic cop was standing there and informed us that there was no wait at the next exit, so we swerved around him, got back on the freeway, and sure enough, the next exit was completely empty, and took us directly onto the base immediately. At this point Mark was giddy! Just being on the base was exciting for him. He kept pointing things out, and practically jumping up and down. Thank goodness I was driving! We drove through the ENTIRE base, right onto the big 'parking lot', and were in only the third row of cars, whew! As we were waiting in line for the metal detectors, the opening ceremonies started, and we quickly scurried through the crowds, found a patch of grass, laid out the blanket, built a tent for Luke, and enjoyed the show. Seven hours is a long time for the boys to sit in the sun, so Mark and them wandered around, checking out the planes on display, the booths, and the inflatable jumper. The performances were AMAZING! There were prop stunt planes, WWII, Korean War, and Cuban missile crisis reinactments, and lots and lots of fly-bys. The Thunderbirds were the last to fly, of course, and they did NOT disappoint! I found out later that 290,000 people were at the show that day, which explains why it took us two hours to get home!!! Definately an experience we will NEVER forget!

Mother's Day

We had a great mother's day this year! I say we because one of my requirements is that we have a fun day together as a family, because if it wasn't for them I wouldn't even get to celebrate this special day. We often celebrate mother's day on Saturday, so that we can go do something fun, and this year was no exception. It just so happened that Saturday was also Luke's birthday, ANOTHER reason to have a blast! We started out the day by loading everyone into the van and heading up to Heber City. I had been dying to show Mark what a beautiful town it was. It was a little over an hour to get there, but all three of the boys slept all the way, and we got their just in time to have a nice lunch outside. It's a little embarrasing that tiny things like the boys eating all their lunch, with NO whining is what made it the best lunch ever, regardless of what we ate. We turned right back around and headed back, but decided to surprise the boys with a stop by Lagoon, our local amusement park. We bought season passes this year, and have already gone about four times!

After Lagoon we decided to go to Toys R Us. I was hoping to find something perfect for Luke for his birthday, but as we left both Kale and Jack had brand new toys and all Luke got was a free ballon. He wouldn't have been happier with anything else though, he played with it for hours!

Kale and Jack have been doing some work around the house for months, and they have been saving every penny, so we let them each pick a toy out (within their budget). It was really fun and overwhelming for them to get to pick nearly everything they wanted. Kale has been saving up for about a year now to buy the Lego Indiana Jones game for the Wii. Back when he started saving it was $45 bucks, and I felt bad knowing that he would probably never get it all. For Easter his great-grandma gave them each ten bucks, and he walked into Toys R Us with a total of 20 bucks. I was all prepared to show him the game, show him that it was more money that he had, and teach him a little lesson about saving, but to our delight, it was now reduced to $19.99. Oh, you should have seen that boys face light up when he realized he could buy it! Now that his piggy bank is drained, he is focused on saving up for the Lego Batman game now. Jack had about $18 dollars, and we spent about an hour looking at every single toy in the store, trying to get him to pick something. He just could NOT decide. We finally got him to settle on a transformer (while prying the stuffed Bolt from his fingers). By the time we got home the boys were exhausted and went straight to bed, what a great day! Of course, the following morning I got to sleep in, while the boys made me breakfast, and I didn't have to lift a finger all day. My boys love to spoil me:)

Happy Birthday, Lucas!

I can't believe my baby is one! He is such a fun boy, and we just can't imagine life without him! I love that his name means bringer of light, because he has definately brought a light into our home that shines brighter every day.
Since Luke and his cousin Carson's birthday are just two weeks apart, we decided to have a party for them half way in between. We had a big turn out with lots of cousins, and lots of cake!
Luke was sick with his second ear infection in three weeks, and I had to wake him up from a long nap for cake.

mmmmmmm

but it only took a few tastes of the cake to cheer him right up!

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Tara gave him his very first Utes paraphernalia!!! Welcome to Utah, Lucas!