Monday, February 22, 2010

Bean Museum

We went to the Bean Museum at BYU. It was pretty impressive. At first I thought it was going to be a few rooms filled with stuffed animals (big teddy bears all different colors, etc)...you know, the kind you had when you were little. I was pleasantly surprised when we got there!
My favorite was the "Liger!"
Fun group shot!
At first Elsa was nervous about the animals but quickly adjusted. She kept going to the smaller animals and saying "Isn't this a cute little guy?" It was adorable.
Mom and Gracie went on a Museum scavenger hunt. They found everything on the paper! Go mom and gracie!!!!

Ethan loved the Rhino
Look at those scary grizzly bears :)
Dad and Mom by what looks like a friendly "milk chocolate" bear! We had a fun time being silly and enjoying the museum. There was also a whole art section.

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!The kids with their valentines! They had also made cute valentine cards for each of us. I love mine!
Getting ready for dinner
Valentines dinner turned out really good. We had chicken Marsala, Greek salad, garlic bread, fun drinks and for dessert...
Chocolate covered strawberries!
Yummy!
I love this picture of mom and Anna.....so cute!

Planes, family, and fun!

Mom and Dad came to Utah for Presidents Day weekend. It was so much fun to spend time together as a family. We had a fun filled weekend. On Saturday we went to Ogden to visit Aunt Cheri and Aunt Noni. We spent a few hours at the Air Museum.Dad, Steve, Mom, A. Cherie
Gracie, Ethan"E Bird" doing his thing.
Seriously...Grace looks like she could be auditioning for the new Bond Girl! She is fierce.
This was one of Steve and I's favorite planes...we called it "The Tiger" after well, Tiger :)
Ethan's loved this shark plane
Dad, Gracie, and Ethan by a Sidewinder Missile
"The Propeller Girls"
I was surprised at how cool this museum actually is!! It was a fun day. After we went we went shopping and to dinner. Then Mom spent the night with me and helped me prepare my lesson for Sunday. She is amazing and I learned so much from her. We also had fun just chatting and being together. I wish Mom and Dad lived closer.

Gracie's Birthday

Happy Birthday Gracie Girl! Gracie got a bunch of beads and jewelry making stuff for her birthday. She worked hard on this necklace and is quite the little fashion designer. We laughed pretty hard b/c I didn't know how to put the clasp on so she couldn't wear it without the beads falling off.

Gracie with some of her presents!
Happy birthday sweet Gracie...I love you!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Ben and Summer

When I went home for Christmas I flew into Long Beach and spent a night with Alli and the kids and then we went the family the next day at Knotts Berry Farm. Then I also spent a day with them before I flew back to Salt Lake. Summer and Ben as so cute and it is always fun to spend time with Alli. Mom watched the kids so Alli and I could do some turbo shopping! Thanks Mom!Summer and "Pinky" her pig. Look at those adorable dimples! Summer is sure a happy little girl!
Ben was so excited to show me that he lost his first tooth. He told me all about it and then told me that the tooth fairy came!
Summer decided to show me her tonsils. She doesn't mess around, look how wide she opened that sweet little mouth! It looks like she has a little bit of a sore throat if you zoom in.
Summer was giggling and having a good ole time.
Ben sure was cute playing with his trains! I had a great time and get sad when I don't know when the next time I get to spend time with Ben and Summer. Hopefully soon!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Family Fun at Knotts Berry Farm!

It was so much fun to go to Knott's Berry Farm at Christmas time. It was NOT crowded and was very festive. We rode rides, watched Snoopy on Ice, and just had fun hanging out together. It would have been perfect with Becky and Steve and their families!I love this picture of Alli and the boys. Ben was showing Parker that he lost his tooth. He thought that was pretty cool!
Random group shots!

Mom, Alli, Em, and all the kids headed to Camp Snoopy. The rest of us headed right for the roller coasters. Dad, Michael, and Russ road this one roller coaster ride that was like in the water. Look how wet they got (they were soaked even if you can't tell in the picture). Ash and I decided we didn't want to get soaked the first ride of the day!
We had so much fun on all the roller coasters. One of them totally freaked me out though, I seriously thought for a moment I was going to pass out. It was one of those where your feet hang down instead of being in a closed in car. It was still fun but I didn't go on it twice! The one below wasn't scary but was fun.
After the roller coasters, we all met up at camp Snoopy and spend the rest of the afternoon together!
Russ, Dad, Ashli, Michael, Alli, Summer, Mom, Carol, Hannah, Emily, Ben, and Parker.
We had so much fun as a family!
Ben and Parker on the swinging bridge. They loved rigging around on it. So did I...hee hee!
The log ride is a generational family favorite. It always reminds me of Mema. It was her favorite and i remember her riding it on her 80th birthday. I think that should be a tradition for all of us! It is Mom's fav and I know the rest of us love it as well.
Summer and I rode with Michael and AShli. They are so fabulous to be around. Summer was so nervous, can you tell? She was a trooper though!
Russ, Parker, Hannah, Mom, and Dad were in the log right behind us! Parker and Hannah loved it and went on it several times!
Summer and Hannah are adorable all bundled up. The were both cuddly!
This Christmas tree is HUGE. We watched them turn on the tree lights when it started getting dark. Fun family picture! It got a little chilly at night so most everyone bundled up.
Cute Mom with the kids!
Alli and Summer on the train ride. Summer started feeling sick toward the end of the night but was a trooper! We also all rode the stage coach ride together!
We ended the night with a big dinner at the Chicken House!
Parker by the famous Chicken. I can't believe how well all four kids did all day. They were even good at dinner! True Grizzies!!!! A full day of amusement park fun and they were still kicking!
It was such a fun day! Thanks Dad and Mom for including Knott's Berry Farm in our Christmas Vacation! A lot of fun memories!

Christmas Eve

It was so good to be home for Christmas. We had our traditional Christmas Eve, starting out with fun appetizers.
For dessert, mom made big snowflake sugar cookies. I loved them. They were really pretty also, I'm going to remember them for next year!
After dinner, Dad read the Christmas Story out of the Bible while Parker and Hannah posed as Joseph and Mary. Hannah was very attentive to baby Jesus since it was her Minnie Mouse doll. What is Christmas Eve at home without Dad singing "Oh Holy Night." Emily accompanied him and of course I got a tear in my eye like I always do when Dad sings that song!
Parker and Hannah opened up PJ's and slippers, did a gig by the tree and then we were off to look at Christmas lights. When we got home, the kids put cookies and milk out for Santa and were off to bed.