Pioneer Day

Yesterday was Pioneer Day and our stake had a big celebration to commemorate the occasion. The kids were so excited to get dressed up as pioneers - I think they asked me if it was time to get ready about every 20 minutes... all... day... long...
Finally, it was time to get dressed up and head out.


Lincoln helped his friend JD with the covered wagon in the parade.

"For some must push and some must pull"


And Leah hitched a ride in a handcart.

The youth used these for their Pioneer Trek a couple of weeks ago and it looks like they held up pretty well! Considering all the work that went into them, I wouldn't be surprised to see them make an appearance every Pioneer Day.


Afterward, we cooled off with every pioneer's favorite treat...

SNO-KONES!!!
(Yes, that is the proper spelling - it says so right on the cup)

We had a great time and it was a fun way to remember all that was sacrificed for us so we could worship as we do today. Peter was named after a great-great-great grandfather who crossed the plains with his family when he was 14. The kids love to hear the story of his life and this activity kind of helped to put it in context.
We're looking forward to next year already!

Reunion

My dear sweet husband took a few days off work last week so I could escape for a little (much needed) girl time with some of my roommates from BYU days. We missed those who couldn't make it, but had a fabulous time!

I flew into Oakland Thursday evening and on Friday morning Jennie and I drove down to San Luis Obispo where we met up with Shannon and Melinda and stayed in a gorgeous historic house right in the heart of downtown. We were all in love with the beautiful detailing throughout the house - and especially with the kitchen which was the perfect blend of updated appliances and restored original fixtures.

While we spent most of our time talking and laughing, we did squeeze in a few other activities such as:

Hiking Montana de Oro
Unfortunately, the fog rolled in as we were climbing so our view disappeared! The flowers were beautiful, but this is what our view should have looked like...


Getting Chinese foot/body massages
(for you Lori!)


Going to a show of the Great American Melodrama near Pismo Beach



and walking on the beach at Morro Bay
Jennie's 2 month old baby joined us for the whole weekend, and Shannon's little boy missed his mama so he came along to the beach on Monday to give his grandma a break.

Sunday afternoon we were able to spend some time with Melinda's family who live there in SLO. We hung out with her brothers quite a bit at BYU as well so it was fun to see them again. These reunions (we try to get together every three years or so) have created some wonderful memories - I love seeing everyone and admiring their beautiful families and renewing these incredible friendships.

These amazing women truly helped me make the most of my time at BYU and create a home away from home. Hopefully next time we'll be able to draw in those who couldn't make it this year - mark your calendars girls! We'll see you in three years!

Journey Beyond

I think we have one of the best library programs ever! The theme this year is "Journey Beyond" and every week they have special events that teach kids how they can have an adventure through books with the help of their own imagination. We go at least once a week - sometimes twice since not all the branches have the same programs. So far this year we've learned about bugs and reptiles, musical instruments, dinosaurs, and dancing the hula. This week we saw a puppet show about Texas and created our own cowboy/cowgirl costumes.

Howdy pardner!

It's always fun at Grandma's House...

Last week Andrew had a conference in DC, so we decided to hang out at Grandma's house while he was gone. We had a fun packed week despite the buckets of rain that came down on us.

After our trip to the airport on Wednesday, we spent the morning making lots of fig jam and celebrated with the obligatory trip to Ikea! We made sure to rest up so we would be ready for a trip to the zoo the next day!

We started out with a train ride
and made it through the dinosaur exhibit(which was almost too realistic...one of the dinosaurs even spit water)

before the skies opened and we got soaked!

It didn't seem to bother Eli too much - nothing gets in the way of naptime!

We took shelter under the carousel for a little while


And then slowly made our way back to the exit by way of the bird house, Natural Encounters, and the aquarium (unfortunately, escaping the rain usually meant air conditioning, which was freezing since we were wet!)

We had a great time, but on Friday we decided to do something a little less wet!
So we headed over to Monkey Bizness for a little jumping and sliding.



On Saturday, Grandpa was able to play with us too - so we met up with cousins to go fishing. Of course, we got rained on again, but that just gave us an excuse to play in the fountains as well.We had a great week even though we missed Andrew while he was gone.
Thanks Grandma and Papa!
You're the best!

Vacation

Mom, I have a great idea!  Let's go on bacation!  

I have my bacation hat on, so let's go!

I love this age when kids start to connect the dots and make associations between actions and events - like figuring out that Christmas and birthdays mean presents.  

In this case, Peter has figured out that vacation means we get to play and do cool things and he knows that when Dad wears his hat, he's not going to work - therefore, the "bacation hat" means that we're going to play!  

Hooray for bacations!