Has it Been 50 Years Already?

My parents were married June 4, 1960. That's 50 years ago. Even though I've only been around for about half of that time, it was time to celebrate. All of my siblings and their kids (except the one on a mission in Brazil) gathered at my parents house for a weekend of family, food, and fun.

Zoe finds hours of entertainment in a pair of goggles

Quality time with the cousins

On Friday we had a nice family dinner after getting a family portrait taken (the first professional one since I was about 5). We talked and played and just enjoyed being around each other. This is the first time I've been with all of my siblings since my Granny's funeral about 11 years ago. We surprised my parents with a new television and then we watched a slideshow of pictures and video of my parents throughout the years (I'll post that tomorrow separately). Then we planned another little reunion for 2012. It was really a great night.

Redneck Tee-ball

The next night we had a catered party at a hotel with live music. It was nice to see some of my parent's friends that I normally don't get a chance to visit with, and again have more time around my siblings. We ate and danced (I have to send out a HUGE "Thank You!" to my nieces and nephews who watched the kids all night - helping them eat dinner and then chasing them around the room so I could talk and dance and generally not worry about them), watched the slideshow again, and stayed until nearly midnight. I made a bed out of a few chairs and Zoe fell asleep. Before the night was over my nephew Bryson sacked out next to her.

COOKIE!!

Me and the Old Softie

Sunday I got to go to stake conference with my mom and a friend from high school. There is a stake center across from my old high school! And hundreds of new homes. And a new Aquatic center. And a library. I barely recognized the area.

Monday we celebrated my nephew Elijah's 7th birthday with a trip to Chuck-e-Cheese's. Now that is a good time. My dad played ski ball!


Tuesday we headed to the Albuquerque Zoo. I love that place so much (it's so much nicer than Utah's Hogle Zoo). It was hot but we stuck it out and saw everything. Owen was asleep about two minutes after we strapped him into the car. Zoe was out after 5 minutes.


Zoe and Owen had a great time getting to know their Eldridge and Darnell cousins and I loved being able to let them run around mostly unsupervised. It was a much-needed family gathering and I can't wait until we do it again!

Hi Everybody!

Ok, I'm back. And with pictures. Without further ado, here we go:

Christmas: was great. We ended up canceling our trip to California at the last minute and headed to Oregon instead. Grandpa Tom was diagnosed with cancer so the whole family made the trek out to spend one last Christmas together. One of Cathy's friends was generous enough to let us and Fern's family stay in her house while she was away. It was great to have a little space to call our own and for Zoe and Owen to hang out with their cousins. We missed our wonderful family and friends in California, but we were so glad we got to see Grandpa one more time.

We spent Christmas day at home. I love being at home for Christmas - we opened presents and stayed in pajamas for two days straight. The big hits of the day were dress-up clothes for Zoe and Cars for Owen - both the movie and tons of hotwheels. We also got them a little tent and a tunnel that are endlessly entertaining.




After Christmas we packed up and headed to Oregon. We hung out with James' sisters, aunts, and cousins. All the girls went out to see The Princess and the Frog one day and had a blast. Most importantly, James got to spend some quality time with his grandpa.


Don't worry, I'll keep updating. For mother's day James let me lock myself in the office to edit and post pictures. It's been a lovely day.

Long Story Short

We're home! We arrived back in Payson at 1:30 am on Wednesday. What a trip. I'm going to start editing and posting pictures soon, but for now here's a brief recap of the trip:

• 5 states
• 34.5 hours of driving
• 2 incidents involving puke
• 3 grandparents
• 2 great-grandparents
• 2 aunts
• 2 great aunts
• 4 cousins
• 9 dogs
• 3 birthdays
• 3 trips to two rivers
• 1 huge box of vintage Transformers
  
• In-n-out, Sums Mongolian BBQ, and Port of Subs
• 288 pictures
• 2 worn out children
• 2 VERY worn out parents
• 13 days worth of memories!

Pictures will be up as soon as I can get to them. There are some gems!

FINALLY!

*I FINALLY got to see my nephew Devin for the first time since he got back from his mission. The last time I saw him, Zoe was 6 weeks old. He and his brother Dillon (who leaves for his mission in July) stayed with us last weekend so they could go to conference. My mom was also visiting so we had a bit of a full house. The kids slept in our room, my mom got the office, and the boys took the kids' room since Zoe's bed has a trundle. It worked out really well and I loved having my family here.

*James and I FINALLY got to go on a date. Our last one was in August. Yikes. Since my mom was here she held down the fort while we went out bowling, then got some ice cream, then trolled the isles at Wal-mart unhindered by little ones (not much to do in Payson after 9 pm obviously). It was bliss. Thanks Mom!

















*James FINALLY sold his Prelude that has been sitting, unused, in front of our house since December. He bought a new car several weeks ago but we're just now getting around to giving the Prelude the old heave-ho. It was bittersweet. But mostly sweet. Good luck, Dylan!

*After nearly 8 years, I'm FINALLY back in the Young Women's organization! Whoo! I got called as the secretary and I couldn't be more excited. Youth Conference, Girls Camp, Mutual, Dances, Girls Camp, Personal Progress, Service Projects, Girls Camp. And have I mentioned GIRLS CAMP? I simply cannot contain all the excitement that is percolating inside of me.

*It is FINALLY James' last week at school. He has a big presentation and a big project due on Wednesday so it will be a few more days before I get to see him on a regular basis, but the light at the end of one heck of a long tunnel is here. And it is a beautiful sight.

*Owen is FINALLY sleeping a little better at night. He usually goes down around 7:30, then wakes around 11 or 12, then sleeps through until about 6, then he goes back down until 8, unless Zoe gets to him first. I don't think we can call it sleeping through the night technically, but it's a lot closer than anything else he's done and I'll take it.