Conference at the Cabin

Last weekend we went to the cabin to enjoy conference surrounded by the beauty of the mountains in the fall and away from the distractions of the world. As we drove up the mountain I was so excited... the fall colors were amazing and I was thinking of the great pictures I would be able to take of the kids frolicking in the fall leaves. But, it wasn't meant to be. As soon as we got the car unloaded it started raining... and it literally didn't stop all weekend. Oh wait, it did stop, as we were driving away to head home the rain stopped and the sun began to shine. Oh well... another time. We still had a blast. It was so nice to be cuddled up and warm inside with the rain pouring down outside.

Even with the rain the fall colors were absolutely beautiful.

During a brief moment of sunshine I captured this picture of Afton on the front porch.

I tried to do the same with Abby, but it started 

pouring again and the sun hid behind the clouds.

Max out back in the rain.

We tried not to let the rain stop us from having fun. One of our kids favorite things to do at the cabin is going exploring. Chris is such a great dad... in between Saturday sessions he took the kids out in the pouring rain and went exploring. I could tell he really didn't want to, but he didn't let the kids know. He was just as excited as they were and they had so much fun together. They came back dripping wet and covered in mud. I made them all strip on the back porch and wrap themselves in a towel before they could come inside (thanks goodness the cabin is in a secluded area). They all took warm showers and got bundled up in their pajamas to enjoy the second session.

Soaking wet after their hike.

Watching Conference... the kids thought it was funny to get up and sing with the primary choir.

While at the cabin we did a lot of laying around...

Reading...

watching conference and movies...

and sleeping (especially Coleman)...

... we also played games, ate lots of yummy treats, and worked on our laptops (photo editing for me... I don't know what Chris was doing). It really was an awesome weekend and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Thanks to our sweet friends, Kathy and Carolyn, for sharing their treasure with us.

They Survived!

It is a little difficult to post about a trip you didn't actually go on. I will say that it is probably a good thing I didn't go. As I looked through the pictures there were a lot of things that happened that I'm glad I didn't know about until after the fact... things that dads let their kids do and moms (at least me) would cringe at. For example: hiking a mountain of GIANT boulders (much too unsteady... someone could fall or get crushed!), swimming in their underwear in a freezing cold lake (hello hypothermia!! And I'm sure I packed swimsuits for them), crossing rivers on logs, etc. I guess that is one of the main purposes of trips like this... they need it to grow. There ended up being quite a crew on the hike and it was very challenging for the littler ones (you'll notice no backpack on Abby for the end of the hike... I guess it was divided out into bigger peoples packs... thanks to everyone who helped with that!), but they made it and all got home in one piece (and with enough bug bites to look like they had the chicken pox!). Here is the basic itinerary... Monday: drove up and set up base camp, Tuesday: hiked 6 miles to lake and camped overnight, Wednesday: hiked 6 miles back to base camp, Thursday: drove home. So, here is my little slide show followed by what the kids thought of it all -in their words- and then a really cool panoramic video of where they hiked and camped Tuesday night. Absolutely gorgeous!

Max's words: "I liked the big huge rock wall that we climbed up at Big Sandy Lake."

Abby's words: "I didn't like that we had to walk six miles, but I loved that we got to camp in a tent and have a camp dinner. I thought that the fish that we caught to eat looked yucky. It was really cold when we were swimming in the lake... it was like ice cold. I was the first one to get in... Max freaked out and didn't want to get in."


Extra special thanks to my brother, Sam, for organizing the whole thing. What an adventure and a great memory for my family!

Vacation Wrap Up

I know. I've been a little slow getting caught up on my blog... it has been a CRAZY week. But, I'm ready to post the rest of our wonderful vacation for your viewing pleasure. We traveled North for the second week of our trip. We stayed with Chris' brother, Rich, and his family. Our families have a great time together because the kids all match up in age so there is always a buddy for everyone. We really had a wonderful time... here's a recap!

Fun in the Sun

Rich and Traci have the greatest backyard. It is so much fun to hang out in and has almost everything: pool and hot tub, playhouse, hammock, outdoor kitchen and BBQ, eating area, fire pit, beautiful flowers and trees... it really is the perfect backyard! The favorite activity of the week was definitely swimming. The kids swam 4 of the 5 days we were there and each time they stayed in the pool for hours! Diving, snorkeling, races, and games... they all had so much fun together!
Riding the Bart

Tuesday night Chris, Cassidy, and Max had plans to go into the city to watch the Giants play so we decided to make an adventure out of it. Chris, Traci and I took the 8 kids and we rode the bart (train) into the city and had dinner and then Traci and I brought the littler kids home while Chris stayed in the city with the older kids for the game (the Giants played the Chicago Cubs and won... they said it was a great game and they had a blast). Riding the bart turned out to be fun little adventure and the kids seemed to enjoy experiencing something new.

San Francisco in a Day

Thursday we took the day to enjoy the city. We really wish we could have had more time, but we did as much as we could in a day and it was probably just enough for the kids (they just wanted to get back to their cousins and the pool!) We started by driving South to San Mateo (about 20 minutes south of the city), where Chris and I used to live back when there were just 3 of us. We drove by our apartment, had breakfast at Stacks and walked around Burlingame a little. This was one of our favorite places to live and it was really fun to be back and show Max some of the things from when he was little. Then we drove into the city... we sort of took the long way so we cold see lots of things, cool houses, Golden Gate Park, etc. and we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge. We tried to get a cool family picture in front of it but it was so foggy you can't even see it. Still fun! Then we drove back into the city, parked and got on the bus for a bus tour. This is he best thing to do with kids in big cities! We saw everything!! I won't even try to list it all. We got off only once... to eat at our favorite restaurant: The Steps of Rome in the North Beach area of the city. We also enjoyed relaxing in the park. The kids thought it was funny that people would just walk into the park, take their clothes off and lay down for some sun... so Max decided to join them. There were even girls in bikinis and one guy stripped down to his underwear! Right in the middle of the park in San Fran... crazy! We got off the bus for good at the famous Pier 39. We walked out to see the Sea Lions, but there were only a few because they have gone south to have their babies, we also tried to see Alcatraz but it was still too foggy. We did catch a magic show and both kids were called up to help out (Max stole the show). Then we walked down to Ghiradelli Square (passing Fisherman's Wharf and some other things on the way) to top our day off with a ice cream sundaes. It really was a very fun, very full, day and we were very ready for bed by the time we got home (except Chris, who went to a movie with Rich).

Fourth of July

What a fabulous holiday! We started the day driving to Sausalito (just North of San Fran on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge... such a beautiful place!) and having breakfast... the french toast tasted like funnel cake! Then we went to Muir Woods to enjoy the beauty of nature and admire the amazing Redwoods. The kids loved it. Afton was signing everything she saw (tree, leaf, rock, sky, clouds, birds, etc), and Chris and Abby looked for fairies and even did a little meditating. Mostly they just loved hanging with their cousins and enjoying a nice little walk through the forest. Then it was back to Rich and Traci's for, what else, swimming and a BBQ. Super Yummy!! It was a great day and fun to spend it together!

Well, that's it. A few other highlights of the trip were date night with Rich and Traci (thanks for babysitting AGAIN, Cass!) and a full day of scrapooking with Traci (thank you, thank you, thank you to our sweet husbands!) while everyone else went to see "Wall-E" and swim some more (I guess they just hadn't had enough!).

It was a great 2 weeks! Sorry for all the slideshows, I'm actually a little sick of them myself so you probably won't see one here for a while. But how else could I fit all our wonderful adventures into 3 little posts. Thanks for enduring it all... they say there is nothing worse than looking at someone else's vacation photos but I hope you enjoyed looking at ours!

Still Vacating...

...and loving every minute of it! Keep reading to see what else we've been up to.

Corona del Mar

Saturday (6/28, my birthday)... My mom took Max and Cassidy to see an awesome exhibit of the Chinese Tera Cotta Warriors and then we met up for lunch. Then it was off to the beach. No trip to So Cal is complete without a day at the beach... especially in my family... we practically lived at the beach growing up. We went to Corona del Mar, which I think of as "my beach" because it is literally down the street from where I grew up. It was a beautiful summer day... causing the beach to be very crowded! The kids had so much fun. Max and Cass spent most of their time in the water and Max is much braver than I would like (towards the end of the slide show there is a picture of a big wave and a little head... that's him!). Abby and Afton mostly enjoyed playing in the sand... although they are both little fish as well and would take advantage of every opporunity they had to get in the water. It really was perfect. After that Cassidy volunteered to babysit so Chris could take me on a birthday date (thanks Cass), so we went to the Irvine Spectrum for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then saw "Get Smart". It was a great day and a fun birthday!

A day of rest (and no pictures)
Sunday (6/29)... can you believe no pics? What's wrong with me? It was a fun day though. First we went to church in our old ward. It was great to see old friends and catch up. It was one of our favorite wards ever and it was so fun to be back... it felt like we had never left! After lunch and naps back at Grammy and Grandpa's we drove to Long Beach to hang out with my mom for a little bit. We went for a walk along the beach and played at the park. It didn't last long because Afton was pretty grumpy (too many days with crazy vacation schedule caught up to her... and me too quite honestly), but it was nice to hang out for the afternoon without any big plans, just resting and visiting.

Friends

Monday (6/30)... we went to breakfast with our good friends, the Bakers. We met the 2nd day of School when Max started kindergarten. Adam was in Max's class and I noticed that he had a little sister about Abby's age so I introduced myself to his mom. The 2 of us ended up having a lot in common and we became fast friends... so did the kids. We started having weekly play dates with the little girls so we could take turns helping in the classroom, and even did after school and holiday activities together. We really did almost everything together. Amanda was Abby's first "best friend"... they started playing together when Abby was 15 months old and we moved away when she was 4... that means they were younger than Afton is when they became friends... that is so weird to me! Adam and Max are perfect together...same interests, similar personalities, pretty cool guys! They are an awesome family and we have really missed them. The kids picked up right where they left off and loved seeing each other again and it was great to visit with Lisa again. I'll need to finally learn how to use my scanner so I can post some then and now pics of them together. There were a few other friends we had hoped to get together with and hope we can pull it off next time we're in town. Now we're jumping in the car to make the trek North. We're headed to Northern California to spend some time with family up there. Keep checking back... we're sure to have some awesome adventures up there!
Grammy and Grandpa: Thanks for letting us crash at your house, invade you peaceful home and eat your food. Of all the fun things we do when we visit Southern California visiting you is definitely our favorite. You mean the world to all of us and I am so grateful that my kids are able to know and love their great grandparents. Saying goodbye to you is always the hardest part of leaving! We love you!!

Wish You Were Here!

We're on Vacation! And we're having a blast! It's only been 3 days so far and we have fit enough in for a week! We made the drive from Utah to California on Wednesday. We made excellent time and were grateful for the new In & Out in St. George (cheaper gas, not as crowded and icky, much quicker than Las Vegas). The kids traveled great and we arrived at Grammy and Grandpa's house in record time. So, we decided to use our time well and get started on the fun!

Fashion Island

Wednesday (6/25)... This has always been one of our favorite places... even when I was a little girl. We decided to come here because the kids had been trapped in the car all day and we figured it was a good place or them to run around and release some pent up energy. We started with dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (we know there is one in Utah now, but it's not the same without an ocean view). Then we rode the carousel and played in the fountain. It was freezing cold but the kids had a blast. Afton wasn't quite as sure about it and it took her a while to get into it... besides the fact that she had to keep cuddling with dad to warm up. On the way home we drove through the neighborhood we lived in when Abby was born and also drove by the Newport Beach Temple. It was a great way to spend the evening and start our trip!

Universal Studios

Thursday (6/26)... If you've never been to Universal Studios you should definitely try it (better for older kids). I had been once when I was maybe 10 but didn't remember much about it and no one else had ever been. When we lived here we had Disney passes and decided we really wanted to try something new. The kids actually did the research and picked this park... and they chose well. It was a great day. The weather was perfect, the lines were short (5-15 minutes TOPS!) everyone was on their best behavior and we got to do everything we wanted to. It's not a very big park so you don't feel like you have to rush to do a million things and it's only open until 8 pm so you don't feel obligated to stay, even though you're exhausted, just to get your moneys worth. Definitely something we would like to do again.

Balboa Island

Friday (6/27)... we slept in to recover from our very fun day yesterday. We spent the evening with my mom and went down to lovely Balboa Island in Newport Beach. Another thing you should definitely do if you are ever visiting the area. It is such a cute little place and totally "Southern California". And it was seriously the most beautiful night. We rode the ferry, walked the pier, had dinner at Ruby's (one of our favorites... excellent shakes), and rode the Ferris Wheel. When we got home Nana played cards with the kids, which they love to do. It was an awesome night and we loved spending time with my mom.

Reunion in Flaming Gorge

What a blast. We literally had the best time! We are so glad so many people were able to come and thought it was the perfect week! I made this little slide show... it's my first time doing one. It was so hard to narrow 269 pictures down to 50! Painful for someone like me. I tried to pick them so everyone is represented. Sorry there are so many of my kids, but hey, it was my camera. We love you all and can't wait to do it again!

Daily Highlights-
Wednesday: Arrived just in time for dinner, getting settled and visiting.
Thursday: Boating!! Canoes and paddle boats were the favorites. Part of the group enjoyed horseback riding. Fishing. Hot Dogs and S'mores for dinner. More visiting.
Friday: River Rafting... 'Nuf said! Visiting again.
Saturday: More horseback riding. Brave ones went kayaking down the river. Rock Painting and a real treasure hunt for the kids. Even more visiting.
Sunday: Father's Day. Hated saying goodbye and can't wait to do it again.

Overall Highlights-
Having Grammy and Grandpa there. Cousins who don't see each other often becoming instant best friends. Evening Campfires.
Tree Climbing. Baby Birds and other wildlife. The view. Games, Games, and more Games. Children literally putting themselves to bed because they were so exhausted. Being together.

Thanks for the Memories.