Michelle comes to visit

My sister Michelle and her two kids, Sydney and Gavin, came to visit us this last week. We were super excited to have them and we filled our week with really fun things to do. I was exhausted after a very fun week, but the kids had a blast and I think that my sister is excited to come back and do all the things we didn't have time for. Here are the highlights of the trip:

Monday- we went shopping and hung out in the front and backyard.

Tuesday- we went to Sand Harbour (Lake Tahoe)

Wednesday- we went to playgroup where we played with playdough and paints. In the afternoon, I had piano lessons, so Michelle took the kids shopping.

Thursday- we went to Scheels sporting goods store and some little fountains. We also made it to Olive Garden for lunch. That evening, we went to Rancho San Rafael Park to play and feed the geese.

Friday- we organized the kids room which was a huge help! In the afternoon we went to Idlewild pool and swam for a couple of hours. That night, we went to the Grand Sierra Buffet and stuffed ourselves with all the yummy food.

Saturday- we checked out Kings Beach, Lake Tahoe with our friends Khyl and Danielle and also Phil's sister Emilee and husband Shane.

Lake Siskiyou with the Walkers

After our long trip to Utah, we came home, did some laundry and got packed up to go camping two days later with Phil's family. Our family at the lake

The best part of "camping" was hanging out at the beach with the family

Our little man Kaylin hanging out with Auntie Em on the beach Eating on the beach Zachary with Aunt Melissa and Uncle Aaron

Phil at the lake fun dome thing. It was pretty entertaining seeing the brothers out there on these giant blow up mountains. I think that Phil is showing off his Karate kid moves here.

Family Reunion Time- Part 2

The Cabin highlights

Having my entire immediate family together-28 people in all (and under one roof I might add).

Arts and crafts with Michelle and me. We did placemats, tye-dye shirts, 4th of July watches and sports bracelets, and lots of coloring and painting.

Playing with cousins

cousin Rebecca and Zachary
Chloe (or as we like to call her "Baby Cho-Cho)

Washing Grandpa's car with the cousins, Sydney and Ian
Horseback riding in the rain. Here is Zachary and my mom.
Kaylin and Corbin along with Kiera and Uncle Stephen.
Hanging out at the Kamas pool and watching Kaylin go down the big slide by herself and the high dive!

Our festive family picture on the cool stairs at the cabin
At the Oakley Rodeo! I don't know what it is about the rodeo, but I love it. I especially loved the bull riding and the cool motorcycle stunt in which the clown jumped a truck and trailer.

Ann-Marie and Andrew horsing around. I think that she was trying to stuff candy wrappers in his pockets. Andrew was being a punk because he had those seats that you could bring with you and have some back support and wouldn't lend them out to the pregnant woman! Rude, huh?

Kaylin eating ice-her new addiction which was fueled by Grandma and Grandpa the whole trip with their fancy snow cone maker.

Karaoke night with the family. I think that I almost peed my pants because I was laughing so hard. (Janessa was my back-up dancer in case you were wondering.)

Thanks Mom and DAd for a great trip! We had so much fun and we are so grateful to have such a great family!

Family Reunion Time- Part 1

Over the Fourth of July, we had our annual family reunion at the Cabin in Oakley, UT. It was so nice to see family and visit with everyone. As always, we try to visit as many friends in Utah, but this year just ran out of time. Sorry to those we didn't get to see. We did manage to visit some of Phil's aunts and uncles and Grandma which was really nice. Here are some pictures and highlights of the trip (we took a lot of pictures so it was hard to narrow it down).

Thanksgiving Point

*Thank you Heather for the free tickets to the dinosaur museum and the petting zoo/pony rides.

The cousins by the dinosaurs

Our kids on one of the dinosaurs

Max and Kaylin in jail at the petting zoo

Temple Square

The kids wanted to stop and take a picture by ALL the pretty flowers. This is one of many pictures taken.

In front of one of the fountains

Family picture
Inside the Church History museum. The kids got to dress up like Mary and a wise man?

Lake Tahoe trip

Last weekend we went with our friends, the Halberts, to Lake Tahoe. We stayed in a really nice condo by a couple of ski resorts (no we didn't ski) and just hung out all weekend. We watched some movies, made lots of food and played some games. We also got a chance to play in the snow. Here are some pictures...

Another trip to Utah

It seems like the only trips we take are to go visit family in Utah. This trip was no exception. My girlfriend needed a driving buddy so I hopped on board and we drove with our kids to Utah.

Highlights:
Staying with Heather and Jay and seeing cute baby Lauren
Spending the day with Grandma and Shaunie
Spending the day with Kristin
Going to Rodizio Grill and Cafe Rio (yum)
Going to see "Phantom" at the Hale theater (not the Andrew Lloyd Webber one) with Heather
Celebrating Lauren's first birthday
Seeing Janessa and Jordan with their baby girl Claire for the first time

Heather and daughter Lauren

Newie and Kaylin

Baby Claire and us

This was one of the princess at the Saftey Convention we went to. That's where Kaylin and Zachary got their faces painted.

Aunt Shaunie with Kaylin and Claire