Return to the Lake

I don't think it's any secret that we love to go up the canyon to Payson Lakes. It is so beautiful up there. We especially love showing it off to our family. For the first time in several years, James' dad and stepmom visited us during a warm-weather month so we packed up the car and spent the day hiking to the grotto and playing in and around the lake. It was a great day.

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!

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!

ConGRADUATIONs!

So this is only, like, 10 days overdue. I'll explain what we've been up to in a later post. Let's just say my ability to blog (or do anything productive for that matter) has been greatly hindered as of late.

Anyway, James graduated on May 1st! It was wonderful. President Monson spoke in the morning and our friend Kayla watched the kids so I could enjoy it. James' dad and mom were both able to come out for the festivities and cousin Jessie even made an appearance.


I picked up the kids in time for the actual "walking" portion of graduation (Convocations). And of course Owen started kicking up a fuss during the part where James was going to actually receive his diploma so I pretty much missed the moment and didn't get any video of it, but what matters most is that James is done! He finished! And we are so so so so proud of him!

We went to Cafe Rio for dinner then had cake and ice cream back at home. Then we all vegged out and watched a movie (it had been a very long day). Everyone had to leave on Saturday, so it was a really short visit, but we were just grateful to have family around to help us celebrate properly.


Here is a shot of Owen. He was crying in his car seat the entire time we were trying to take pictures after graduation. But he and Zoe had a blast with Jessie. Is there anyone in this world who doesn't?

Quotable Quotes

The first 2 weeks in our house have flown by. Having 2 separate sets of guests definitely helped. My parents came for nearly a week and brought some of my things that had been cluttering up their own house. Now they can clutter up our house! Actually, I am so grateful that they came. Among my many treasures were a day bed (to accommodate any guests *hint hint*), a nuggle-sized table and chairs, my cedar chest that my dad made for me, and various keepsakes from my youth. It's all just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of my crap they still have at their house, but it's a pretty good start.

Shortly after they left, my niece and her friend - I kid you not her name is Deshka - came for a couple days for a snowboarding trip to Park City. My niece is only 5 years younger than I am so it was fun to hang out and catch up when she wasn't busy with the Provo singles scene. And it was great to break in our "guest room."

The biggest addition to our family lately has been Zoe's vocabulary. She is seriously starting to master the art of the sentence, with such phrases as "Turn the light on/off" and "I want it." She has also mastered the tantrum that more often than not follows "I want it" with any sort of delay or refusal at whatever she has requested. She also picks out the most important nouns and verbs from what we say and repeats them back to us. Her new best friend is definitely Dora the Explorer, and so she has learned such helpful words like : flashlight, rope, froggy pond, Swiper, Tico, Isa, backpack, map, etc.

If repeating everything we say isn't enough, Zoe has started to make up her own words for things, completely unprompted. While giving her a bath a few nights ago, she simple started saying "nanum" and then laughing hysterically. For the next half hour that was all she did - say nanum and crack up. As the days have gone by I think I've figured out a pretty accurate definition for the new word - Nanum: v, to lay down on one's stomach in the bath tub and drink of the water therein. What, do you have a better word for that? I didn't think so.