Lots of Pictures from our Trip Part I

On our way out West, we drove through Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was devastated by a tornado a while back. It is being rebuilt in eco-friendly ways.

We drove through the pan-handle of Oklahoma. Our first time in that fine state. And through part of Texas.

This was a run-down but very yummy cafe in Tucumcari, New Mexico where we stopped for dinner.

Landon walking through a cool labyrinth outside of this Cathedral in Santa Fe.

William in front of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

Vince in front of this fence where people apparently throw old shoes. I'm sure there is a story to this somewhere.

Sophie in Joshua Tree National Forest.

This was a long drive. We all had to take our turn.

The beach in Oceanside, California. The kids were pros at catching sand crabs.

Sophie and Morgan

Near the tide pools in La Jolla with Aunt Kellie.

Landon and Cody

Vince and Aud

One of our beach neighbors made this cool sand castle.


I love Carson in this picture. He cracks me up.

Sophie is Four

Sophie turned four a few weeks ago, while we were at the beach house in Oceanside, CA. We celebrated with cupcakes and presents right after breakfast and then headed out for a day at Sea World. Sophie is a happy girl and I am blessed to be her mom. She keeps things interesting and fun. She loves clothes and shopping already. She changes outfits an average of five times a day. She sings and sings. She has lots of friends and a great imagination. She likes a bit of drama. She is so excited to start pre-school a couple of days a week. She is growing up too fast.

Here she is wish a Sea Star.

She loved riding the tea cups with Aunt Kellie. It was a good birthday.

Victory

I bought reusable grocery bags months ago, thinking that would be an easy way to decrease our footprint here. But I never remember them until I am at the check-out. So frustrating. But today I remembered and filled all six of them. One small victory for the planet. One huge victory for my brain.

Ten Years

Yesterday Vince and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. We had big plans for this one - London, Mexico, a night away from the kids at a cheap motel. But since Audrey is still nursing and pretty much owns me, the big plans will have to wait. But we did have a good date. We had dinner at the Porcupine, one of my favorite restuarants and then hiked up to Mary's Lake at Brighton Ski Resort. We had a great time. We have had a fun ten years together. I am excited to see what the next ten will bring. I am blessed to share my life with Vince.

Summer Road Trip

This is our longest family road trip yet. We will pass through 13 states before we are finished. We are on our ninth state so far - Utah, my favorite State. We have seen some beautiful things and had a lot of fun. Here are some highlights so far...

Landon loved playing in the ocean in Southern California. He was out riding the waves with his body or his boogie board most of everyday last week with his cousins. It doesn't get any better than that.

William loved Sea World. He loves animals and this time he was tall enough for all of the rides. And again, vacation with cousins is simply the best. They are best friends. The boys also loved the mix CD that Vince made for our trip. He put a bunch of different versions of Route 66 on it since we were traveling along much of the old highway.

Sophie turned four last week. All that she wanted for her birthday was a dance party. Toni made her a great dance mix on her ipod and we had a fabulous dance party at the beach house. Fun times. Also, a great Sophie moment. We stayed in Mesquite, Nevada one night at the Oasis. The next morning, we went to Denny's for breakfast which is hooked on to the casino. We walked in and Sophie saw the lights and all of the slot machines and said wide eyed, "Wow. Denny's is really cool, mom."

Audrey has been a great traveler. She enjoyed swimming in the ocean and the motel pools and she loves to go on walks with dad. When she sees the jogging stroller, she giggles. We enjoyed some great walks along the beach at sunset. She also loved the steep staircase at the beach house. She would giggle after each step. We had to watch her every second. She also loves the Muppets. My mom bought the first three seasons of the Muppet Show on DVD and we all enjoyed watching them together after a long day of fun and sun at the beach.

Vince was really excited to see Santa Fe, New Mexico. We stayed there our first night and spent some time there the next morning. We both really enjoyed the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. We also had some amazing food at this run-down little cafe in Tucumcari. The best Chile Relleno ever. Vince loved that and just spending time with the kids. He and Aud were up early every morning going for a walk and then making breakfast for everyone.

He also enjoyed this creepy little rock shop off of the highway in Hollbrook, Arizona. They had an ostrich farm and all of these store mannequins in weird poses with huge fake dinosaurs, like in the dinosaur's mouth or hanging from a crane. Weird spot for a bathroom break but the kids got these necklaces that they like for only $3 so I guess that it wasn't a total waste. I wanted to leave quickly. The lady in there kept telling Audrey that she was going to eat her up and I started to wonder. I would have waited in the car if it hadn't been hotter than a steel playground at noon.

I loved seeing the ocean again. One day some dolphins actually came by right in front of us, just a few feet from where Dobber, my brother-in-law, was swimming. Amazing. I also loved the fresh sea food. We have had such a great time. Next, we are going to spend some time with Vince's parents in Northern Nevada and then a few more days in Utah and Bear Lake with my dad. So glad it's summertime!! I will post pictures when we get home.

Nine Years Old

Today is Landon's Birthday! Nine years old. He is a good kid and I am blessed to be his mom. He loves to laugh and has one of those great contagious laughs. He loves technology stuff. He was drawing pictures with the computer mouse and working the tv remote when he was only a year old. He is a good big brother and we love him lots. In this first picture, he is sporting his new t-shirt and his new green ipod.

He wanted donuts instead of cake. Mmmmmm donuts.

And we finally got some new curtains.

And we made some throw pillows to match.

And Vince made an arbor with some of the branches that he trimmed from our trees. The birds love it. Every morning, we have a few robins perched up on top.


And crazy story of the week. We had a great 4th of July. Many of the fireworks that are illegal in Utah are fine here. The kids had a great time lighting them off with some friends. While we were on the street in front of their house, just a few blocks from our house, Vince re-connected with an old classmate. One of Vince's classmates lives just a few blocks from us. This is crazy because Vince had a graduating class of 2 and this girl, a year older than him had a class of 3. They haven't seen each other in 24 years. What are the odds of two people from a highschool of less than ten people ending up in the same little town a few states away 24 years later? She just moved here last year. It's a small small world.

A Few June Pictures

First are a few pictures of our family reunion. The kids love camping in the Utah desert with their cousins and look forward to this all year. I was a very lazy picture taker this year. But here are a couple. First Grandpa cracking black walnuts with the kids and then one of William and his cousin Justin. Justin cracks me up. He is saving his money to buy a ventriloquist dummy that he will showcase at next years talent show. I can't wait!


Next is a picture of Kellie and Chris at the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner. It was at Carvers in Sandy and we all had a great time.


Next are some wedding pics. It was a beautiful day and I wish that I had taken more pictures. I did take several of Sophie. She was just so cute that day. She was a flower-girl and enjoyed every second wearing her pretty dress and twirling around like a princess.

Baby Audrey and The Bride.


Audrey and my Dad.

Morgan and Sophie, the flower-girls.

This great close-up of Sophie was taken by my Cousin Beau's wife Tiffany. I love it.

One more of Sophie.

Kellie and the gang, all of her nieces and nephews.

My sister Toni and my brother Tom.

My cousin Beau with his sweet little Andie Belle and my mom.


And here are a couple of the kids having some backyard cousin fun at Toni's house before we made the trip back home.

Sophie and Tanner

William and Carson


Fun Times!