Sunday, March 30, 2008

Happy 9th Birthday Chase!!!



Wow we have been partying it up this weekend!
Today is Chase's birthday!!! We are so happy he is in our family!! He has a great sense of humor and makes us all laugh!! He takes care of everyone around him and is an excellent artist! Have a great day Chase! We love you!!!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Happy 12th Birthday Madi!!!

Today is Madi's 12th Birthday!!!
We are so blessed to have her in our family!
She is a ray of sunshine to us and everyone who knows her!!!
Have a great day sweetie!!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Top 10 Vacations

We love to travel
We love vacation
We love Family
We love traveling on vacation with family!!
I have been asked many times by many of you to post our family's top 10 favorite vacations!
So, here it goes, (not in any particular order..)

#1
Anything Disney.
We love Disney World, Disneyland, and the Disney Cruise!!!
Always a guaranteed good time


(as if ya haven't seen enough of these pictures..)



#2
Church History sites
Hill Cumorah Pageant Palmyra, NY

The Sacred Grove Palmyra, NY

Palmyra Temple
Erie Canal

Carthage Jail
Carthage, Ill.

Nauvoo Temple Nauvoo, Ill.



#3
Hawaii
The Big Island
Hawaii Temple Oahu



#4
Niagara Falls
Canadian Side
Riding on "The Maid of the Mist"



#5
Mexico
Chichen Itza (yes, I'm 5 months pregnant with Wyatt...yes, it was 1oo thousand degrees, and YES!! I climbed to the top of that pyramid!)
Costa Maya


#6
Washington D.C.
(and surrounding areas)
National Mall
Washington Monument
Iwo Jima
Gettysburg
Philly
Liberty Bell
Mount Vernon
Washington D.C. Temple


#7
Road trip
Including Hot Springs, Ark., Memphis, Tenn., Nashville, Graceland
Oklahoma City Memorial

Hot springs, Arkansas
Graceland
Beale Street
Memphis,Tenn.
Civil War site
Battle at Stone River
The Grand Ol' Opry
Nashville, Tenn.

Ryman Auditorium
The OLD Grand Ol' Opry

#8
Branson, Missouri
St. Louis
St. Louis Arch
(We went up inside to the tippy top...freaky!)

In front of the "Branson Belle"
Where my cousin Bethany and her husband Cameron were performing in the show!

Silver Dollar City amusement Park
Awesome roller coasters there!

#9
Mount Rushmore
South Dakota

We went over the 4th of July
The fireworks were spectacular!...and there were only about 30,000 other people there! (still worth going!)

#10
Idaho

Just kidding!
Just seeing if you were paying attention!
Not that there's anything WRONG with Idaho....

#10
Camping in our trailer and
Jet-skiing on the lake








There ya have it....our faves!
Like I said earlier, we usually travel with family which makes it extra fun!
Where to next?
Italy, Greek Isles, Macchu Picchu, Peru are at the top of our list!

What are your favorite places you've been?

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Easter Weekend

Easter Weekend...
Since the kids had no school on Friday, we decided to pack up the trailer and go camping!
We went to Granger Lake, a lake we've never been to before.

It was a pretty enough campground and lake...not my favorite though...the company was what made the trip!
Our good friends the Fullers and the Stouts met us there!



We did some fishin'...


and.....sittin'
...but not much catchin'....Wyatt, surprisingly enough, was the most patient...

Whenever anyone would come over by him, he'd turn and say "SSHhhhh! BE TWIET(quiet)!!! You stare(scare) the fishy!!"

Poor kid should have caught a fish with all of his patient waiting and shushing...but alas...with every other kid throwing sticks and rocks in the water, it was not going to happen...Chase caught a ...boat with his homemade pole...

Here's where Lauren was telling us of the time she saw "Nessie" coming up out of the water

All in all, we caught 7 plants, 4 sticks, some really gross slimy stuff, someone else's bobber and line, and fish guts from somebody else's fish....not our best work....


Later, everyone was starting to get a little cold, so Lance was recruited to build a fire...
So, after foraging through the forest...which was basically a bunch of trees and fallen branches right next to our campsite...The Hunter-Gatherer begins...Steve doesn't look too confident in Lance's fire starting abilities..
Oh, Ye of little faith....

After stacking paper, kindling, etc. he is ready to begin the spark.....so, he yells to me in the trailer and says, "Hey sweetie?...where's the lighter?"...
and Voila!!!...Lance has made FIRE!!!


The tribes people gather 'round the fire for the burnt marshmallow fest...this picture totally reminds me of the Star-Bellied Sneetches! :)...right?

Where are the Stouts?....Trying to put up their tent in the background...they were missing some poles...where could they be?...well, Wyatt knew!!!...because he put them in and under the Fullers' tent!...it only took us about 45 mins. to find that out!!!...stinker...
some added the crackers and the chocolate

sometimes not...


Later we gave all of the kids glow-in-the-dark bracelets and flashlights and did a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt!


This is a great way to make an egg hunt last more than 35 seconds....they really had to search for their booty!


We took pictures, but you can't see them because they were in the dark.... :)


It actually got pretty darn cold later that night, so we decided it was time to turn in....glad I wasn't in a tent.... :)


The next morning, everyone is up bright and early and ready to play!
We had quite the intense game of four-square....some people..Lance...Matt...Steve...cheated and purposely preyed upon the innocent little kids so they could stay in the "top box"...I didn't even include a picture of them because they made everybody cry...

We made it back in time for church on Sunday for Madi's LAST week in Primary!!! Wa-Hooo! We're excited to have her join us in YW next week!
It was a fun, Fun weekend!