thanksgiving pictures

This was our first Thanksgiving home since 2005. We absolutely loved spending time with our families in Utah. The boys couldn't get enough of their cousins and were super disappointed when it was time to go. I felt really sad for them, they just love their Utah families so much.

Pics taken by Brad.

Love.

 These are with the Sayer Family. Love them too.

auntie karrie and the cash man

Gosh, I love all these little faces! Aren't they about the cutest kids you've ever seen? Karrie came out for a short visit before Halloween. I set up a bunch of hair appointments for her so she worked her hiney off.  We had a great time talking all day, every day. We went to eat lunch with Ty one day, and to his costume parade another day. Cousin Sarah came up to make caramel apples and visit. I feel so lucky to have family come and see us. It means so much! I love you all.

our parents as children

I've been waiting too long to get some family photos framed and up in my house. My next project is of my parents and Matthias' parents. I love black and white photos. I'm framing them in 4 different black frames, and hanging them by each other in my front room. Can't wait to have them up. Just need to scan LaMar's in. Aren't they all so cute? I can see Beckham in my mom, Lorren in Joan, Chris in my dad, and Zacc in LaMar. 

labor day 2011

We met up with my cousin, Sarah, and her family for the holiday. They showed us an adventurous time - they took us to a rock climbing spot perfect for the kids. Nick and Matthias belayed and all the kids to amazing heights. After the kids went up a few times each, they MADE me go up, really, Matthias wouldn't let me get out of it. I was terrified the whole way up, but am so glad I did it. Way fun. Sarah got some great shots of the kids, I was only able to steal these two pictures before it wouldn't let me anymore. Weird. Check out her blog for some more amazing pictures. 

After, we drove up to Estes Park for our first time since moving here. We perused the Art Festival, got some ice cream, and headed home! Thanks S&N for a perfect day. We loved it and look forward to more  adventures with you! 

temple square

The night Matthias finished the bar exam, we went out to dinner and visited Temple Square. We did a little tour of the conference center because Ty wanted to see where the prophet speaks during conference. I loved going out on the roof and seeing the gardens.  After, we walked around the temple grounds. It was pretty. We also went to see the visitor center and the statue of Christ.

cowabunga bay

My parents usually treat us all to a water park over the summer - and this year was totally awesome! I only wish Matthias could have been there. To start my mom made a scrumptious breakfast and had her backyard set up all cute with tables. It was the perfect setting, her yard is so beautiful! Then we headed out to Cowabunga Bay! It was so much fun being with everyone in the family. Chris and Karrie had just moved back to SLC, baby Jarris came, all the cousins played hard together, and it was fun to have my parents there. A big thanks to all three of my brothers for taking Ty and Bex down the water slides over and over so I could chat with the girls. Nana went around the lazy river with the kids almost non stop, and Papa laid out and bought us all pizza! We have fun together!

tetons

The drive to and from the cabin, by way of Wyoming, is breathtaking. We pass the Tetons every time we go, but have never stopped to explore them. We want to try to stop for a night our next time through. 

Wyoming side.

Idaho side. 

I regret I did not get any pictures of my mom this year. My mom really is the heart of the cabin. She brings fun things for the kids to do, spends quality time with each of us, organizes and cooks fabulous meals, goes on walks with me, snuggles her grand babies, rescues little cries of help, scratches mosquito bites, rocks babies to sleep, warms up meals for late night fishermen, and always listens to their fishing stories. I love you Mom. Thanks for making the cabin special for each of us!

Dad, thank you for providing such a fun place for us to go up as a family.  There are so many memories made there, I cherish every one. We have quite a history there as a family, and I look forward to many more years of memories. What is the cabin without a Papa who tells bear stories and can get his boys into some big fish? Love you too Dad. Thank you. 

the year of the mosquito

Moose Creek Cabin 2011

The title says it all, well not all, but most of our dealings up at the cabin this year were with the mosquitos. We opted to go in June this year because Matthias is taking the UT bar this July. A mistake we will likely try to avoid at all costs in future years. The mosquitos were pure evil. They sat in a swarm right outside our door, and as soon as you walked out, they attacked! After the first day, we did a mosquito bite count on all of the kids. Ty had about 80, bex had about 100, Kali was much the same, and Cole came in with a whopping 130! We stopped counting after a while. Try as we might to keep the kids covered in bug juice, and clothing, they still found their way to the kids' necks, hair, ears, everywhere! I am surprised one of them didn't end up with yellow fever.  

Despite the mosquitos, the cousins had such a fun time with each other. Its an amazing thing to watch them get a long, make believe, smile, laugh and love each other. They have grown very close and are such great friends. 

Ty and Cole played the Dynamite song over and over and over. They loved break dancing to it. This picture is of all of them around the breakfast table, singing their hearts out to Dynamite. It was so cute. And what's cousin time without jumpin' on the bed? Every night Matthias and I told stories to the kids before bed. They especially loved hearing stories of mischievous Uncle Brad and his escapades.

Nana helped them all make their own Tie-Die shirts. Baby Jarris' onsie was precious! Beckham wore his for four days straight after the cabin. I couldn't get him to take it off to wash it! Aren't they adorable kids?

And how can I pass up the fun time Bex had with his Uncle Eric? He LOVES his Uncle Eric. They have such a fun time teasing each other, and Bex still follows him around and sits with him every chance he gets! It was so great to see baby Jarris for the first time and to hold him. It made me want another little one! 

More cabin posts to come!

vegas

Bex and I took a litle trip down to Vegas to meet my parents and Chris' fam for a little R&R. Ty and Matthias were good sports to stay behind to go to school and work, and we missed them being there. 

Bex and I had a super fun time being with family. 

Cash and he were a riot together. Cash followed Bex around everywhere he went, they played cars almost the entire time, and had lots of fun in the pool together. Nana brought a little Easter egg hunt for the boys, and Karrie did my hair.  Chris, my parents and I went out on the strip the first night to see the sights. That was the night that a street actor, "Elvis" scared the bejeezus out of me. I assumed he was a statue, and was looking at how cool it was when he came toward me to shake my hand. I'm embarrassed just thinking about my reaction. At least my family had a good laugh. I got worked by the penny slots and lost $5 in 5 minutes. 

Another night I went out with Chris and Karrie to the Hard Rock Casino. Karrie played roulette, and we learned some tricks from the guy sitting next to her who won big. Chris took us out to get dessert at the Pink Taco, we had some good laughs. One morning my parents treated us to "Le Buffet" at the Paris Hotel. It looked like a peasant village inside with different storefronts all over complete with a chef in each one. It was fun. The girls took the kids to see the M&M factory where we got little presents for our boys at home. I shopped til I dropped. 

Good times, good memories, I loved seeing all of you! 

february news

February was a bitter month - bitter. We had a few days with the high temperature being negative eight!  Lucky for us, we were able to see our family quite a bit. 

Brad and Marci and kids came out to visit us. We had such a great time with them, and the kids loved being crazy little hooligans with each other. There wasn't much going on here in town, so we drove down to Fort Collins to go to a Children's Museum and see my cousin. Brad took pictures of us and the kids  dissected pig hearts. We really didn't do much during their trip here, but laughed a lot and lounged around. We worked on Valentine's for the kids' classmates and made sugar cookie cutouts. Ty cried for about 15 minutes after they left to go home, it made me cry too. He loves his cousins so much. The next day as he was getting ready for school, he brought the hair gel to me and said, "Will you do my hair like Uncle Brad's?"  Adorable. Thanks for making the trip out to see us B&M. We love ya mucho!

My parents came out a week later. We had a great time with them as well. The weather was still frigid, so we stayed inside most of the time just hanging around. We did take the boys to see the Biebs movie. Bex didn't have much interest and frequently asked if we could go, Mom and I laughed and laughed over the screaming girls, and Matthias was entertained by Ty bee-bopping in his chair. After the movie when we asked Ty what he thought, he said. "Uh, it was alright."  Sure... he was singing to the songs and sitting on the edge of his seat the entire time. Ha! The boys tied flies, mom and I worked on party invitations for Ty's birthday, and we made Chinese food together.  We love having visitors - so thank you so much for making the effort to come see us! It means so much. 

Lastly, my cousin Sarah and her hubs Nick came up for dinner. Their girls are adorable - classic Beckham had a hard time sharing with Caroline, but I'm glad she could hold her own with him. Little Ruby was to die for!  She made me want my own little girl.   

And that was February... frigid, family-filled February!

Marci - thanks for editing my wrinkles! 

floating henry's fork

Our annual float down the river.

Takes approximately 2 hrs (with a little help from the motor.)

the Crew: Captain Chris to row, me the navigator, two fish scouts - Ty and Bex, rescue dog - Hutchy, and sunbather named Karrie.

must haves: snacks, sunscreen, something to laugh about, and a rescue human to rescue the rescue dog. We didn't know we needed a rescue human until Hutchy was thrown in for a swim and, well, couldn't swim after all. Poor Hutchy. Captain Chris hadn't planned on swimming so soon, but saved the dog none-the-less.

Sunbather, Rescue Dog, Captain


2 Fish Scouts



the Navigator up in the front of the boat


something to laugh about


It was a beautiful day.

whiz bang

Our 4th of July was very fun filled! My parents drove out (bless their hearts) to visit us, and we packed in as much as we could into their 4.5 day stay. To initiate them into our new state and town, we went shopping on main and hit the local Boot Barn where both Mom and Dad bought cowboy hats, and the boys got new cowboy belts with big buckles. Mom and Dad looked like they fit right in to this western town because they brought their very own cowboy boots (bought from Ream's when I was in 1st grade). Dad wore his snake skin boots and mom wore her cute gray ones. My mom also surprised me by bringing my Grandmother's cowboy hat. I love it.

Well, our state is known for fireworks, so Dad bought a mother load of illegal (to Utah) fireworks. We set less than half of them off that night, Hoosier D looming in the background, because apparently it is illegal to light off fireworks within She-town proper limits. Hoosier D didn't really want anything to do with the whole fiasco because he's gotta stay clean with the bar coming up. But Dad had a blast letting off the big ones and scaring the kids with the fire crackers. We all started getting a little nervous because of how big they were, and ended the shebang a little early, which was good because shorty thereafter a cop drove through the neighborhood just as we cleaned up the last of it. Shady town. So Dad took home a bunch of illegals, and we're hoping Chris "the daring one" will find a good place to light them off when we get to Utah.

On the fourth we watched the city's fireworks. We thought we were pretty clever by finding a nearby neighborhood outlook, but we didn't know the the retirees in that neighborhood also liked that spot. Mom ended up sitting next to some wine connoisseurs. One guy kept hitting on her and we had a good time hearing their conversation and how they had to keep "clearing their pallets" before tasting a new wine.

Mom and I played tennis and went walking almost every day. We also got to go see Eclipse which was a super fun girly time. The boys went fishing up in the mountains twice, and they loved it. I'll post some pics about that tomorrow.

Thanks for coming all that way Nan and Pop. We loved having you here with us and can't wait for the cabin!

filling in the gap

Between Indiana and Sheridan, Ty, Bex and I lived with my parents in Utah while Matthias was working and seeking employment in DC. Although it was a very challenging time, actually, probably the hardest experience we as a family have ever gone through, being with family in Utah made it a little more bearable. My parents and Matthias' parents were our greatest supporters and really helped us get through those months of being apart. Spending time with cousins lifted the boys spirits. 

One day the boys begged to take a bubble in Nana's jet tub. After she filled the tub with the right bubble/water ratio, she turned the jets on and the bubbles grew, grew, and grew!  The boys loved it! She had to turn the jets off to keep the bubbles from overflowing.

We were in Utah for Ty's 6th birthday. Luckily, Matthias came to town for his birthday. We had a family party at classic skating where all the cousins came and both grandparents had little parties with a cake and candles. He loved celebrating his birthday with cousins! 

We went to a climbing gym while we were there, and Ty went to a climbing class. We weren't there long enough to get into it, but Ty was hooked. We went another time with a friend of mine who competed internationally in climbing and she showed us a great time. Ty really is a great climber. He got all the way to the top - I couldn't even do that! 

We love our families for so many reasons - thank you for taking care of us those 3 months in Utah!