FAMILY TRIP Continued...

OK...back to the family trip...

After we left the mansion we drove six hours south to visit my family. It was wonderful to see my parents and spend the weekend with them. On Dec. 30th, they celebrated their 50 year anniversary or something...ok...not quite...maybe 37 years....right? At any rate; I'm sure it was totally romantic for them. (sorry Dad). Haydn was waiting for us at Grandma and Grandpa's house.



Rachel, Haydn and the boys had fun playing together.

After a few days; we decided to drive an additional two hours south. We had a wonderful New Years Eve with Jerry, Lucy, Maddie & Tiger and we were so happy to see our great friends and family (and family that happen to be great friends) during the short while we spent there.



Katy's youngest daughter, Josie

Side Note: I can't wrap my brain around how fast time flew while we were on this trip!



The boys loved playing with Katy's oldest daughter Hannah but I didn't get a picture of that, darn!



Rachel & Tiger.

New Years Day was spent with the Johnson Family. We enjoyed lunch at the Olive Garden. Followed by games, movies, delicious cookies and great company at Katy & Daves. Thanks Guys!

One of the many scheduled events that we attended on this particular trip was the annual Harris Family White Elephant Party.


In addition to 'scoring' some super-nifty gifts (or NOT) I also had the opportunity to 'catch-up' with family that I hadn't seen in quite a while.



Kevin holding handsome Baby Thomas



Baby Thomas with his Mama-Kim

Kim; my life long friend married Jeff...my cousin. That makes Kim my buzin or cuddy? Take your pick cousin buddy! ;-) Whatever you call us...I'm glad it is...what it is.

Before we began the long haul back home we stopped at the Wild Life Zoo with my Mom. The kids and adults alike had a blast. Great idea Grandma!

Mike & Ray-Ray

Haydn, Caleb, Jordan & Ray in the Reptile Exhibit Area... Did you see that snake?



Grandma & The Boys checkin' out the Meerkat's



Jord & Grandma

The zoo was great! And our time with everyone although too short was just splendid. We were able to squeeze in visits with few -but certainly not all- of those we would have loved to have seen. (Hoopes Family, five minutes...just wasn't enough time!) Thanks to Jerry & Lucy for being the best hosts ever! They always give us a warm, cozy, comfy place to stay. Their company is a pleasure and a joy!



Jerry, Maddie, Mike & Rachel

We did experience a bit of car trouble on our way home. Just over half-way (of half-of-the-way) on our 1300 mile journey northward everything electrical went out on our Mercury Mountaineer. God Bless "AAA"! One hour after we 'died' and were stranded-in the middle of nowhere- our lovely tow truck driver came to the rescue. Plans were altered and the 'breakdown' cut deeply into family time but...what can you do?

Well...we stayed the night in a little hotel...opting for the one with an indoor pool. We swam and played and ate a late dinner at the hotel restaraunt.
Suprisingly, our vehicle malfunction actually turned out to be a lot more fun than expected.
Thankfully, our car was fixed the following afternoon and we were back on the road. We drove through our old neighborhood and stopped to see our friends. We love and miss this family tremendously. They were wonderful neighbors and are now our life long friends.

Carlos w/ Sean, Alicia, Caleb, Jordan, Valerie, Mikey, Vanessa and Vivi

The last 'big event' of this trip was Dave & Jafia's wedding. It was a beautiful day and we are so glad to have Jafia in our family. Congratulations you two!

The Newlyweds!

We stayed our last night with Carrie, Jared & Weston. Jared fixed a delicious french toast breakfast for us. We said our 'good-byes', piled in the car....again...and drove home in a blizzard! Seriously! (normally an 8 hour drive took about 13 hours)
Despite the fact that we had a vomiting baby, breakdowns, crazy weather and unexpeted events on this little adventure we enjoyed every second of it. (well....almost!)

OUR FAMILY TRIP...

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of every stop that we made and every person that we visited. (What was I thinking?!) So, my word will have to suffice as I describe some of the eventful and very non-eventful experiences of our trip. After several hours of driving we arrived at Stephanie's home and spent the night. We played Guitar Hero until the wee hours of the morning. It's a pity and shame that no evidence of this evening exists as I was a 'PHENOM' at Guitar Hero. In all the history of this game I can assure you that there has been no other like me.

We awoke early the next morning and made our way several more hours to a mansion in the desert. Upon arrival at the mansion we were greeted by family-o-plenty. It was a spectacular three days with Mike's entire family.

Here are some pictures of the weekend events:

Rachel loves babies and had a chance to hold cousin Lexy. She was very overprotective of Alexis and demanded, "Give my baby back!" every time I tried to hold her. Cousin Jenna is waiting patiently for her chance to love on the baby too.

Me & Karen

I'm confident there are random pictures of everyone hugging somebody and saying, 'here get a picture of us!' It isn't very often that you get all of the siblings, spouses and grandkids under one roof. Talk about insanity and heaven wrapped up in a nice little package--I truly loved every minute of it!

Mike & Ray pose for a 'quick pic' while waiting for the real family picture to be taken.

Steve & Madeline

"Bringing Sexy Back!"

I love this picture! Steve is hilarious!

Jordan, Aunt Karen and Caleb

One of the favorite activities of the weekend was making use of the indoor pool.

Rachel & Aunt Karen

You can actually see Ray mouthing the word: cheese

Greg & Kylie

She is growing up so fast. What an absolute sweetheart.

With this many kids in the pool...

well...you can imagine why I'd be reluctant to get in the pool...right?

Rachel & Grandpa

Grandma & Grandpa and all the Grandkids

We decided to cease the opportunity and have professional pictures taken. (This is my amateur version of our professionals.) Olivia is our professional everything; she is a great photographer and the most talented graphic designer I know. She spent countless hours taking photos of the family in it's entirety. Individuals, groups, bridals, weddings etc. As soon as I get copies I'll post them.

Pictured: Caleb, Jordan, Gabe, Jenna, Grandma w/ Lexy, Kylie, Grandpa w/ Dallin, Marin, Caden, Jasmine, Rachel & Alex

Mom celebrated her 65th birthday--shhh---while we were all together. She looks amazing!

SHE IS AMAZING!

PROOF: Check out the amazing-'mess' she (and Dad) made below...

8 kids in 10 years...

This is Mike w/ all of his siblings

Pictured: Steve, Dave, Karen, Russ, Greg, Mike, Doug & Jeff

(youngest to oldest)

Here's Ray posing with her new Aunt Jafia

She and Dave were married on January 5th--another part of our trip.

TO BE CONTINUED...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN--ER!

Who needs pumpkin carving templates when Olivia is around--she is quite the artist! Per each childs request, Olivia drew a picture on each pumpkin. By the end of the night not only did we have regular jack-o-lanterns we also had a scary skeleton, pirate ship, and Super Mario pumpkin. Talk about a diverse display!

Mike and the kids 'gutting' their pumpkins.

Jenna, Liv and Marin

(If you look closely-you can see Caden in the back ground.)

JUST A FEW DAYS LATER...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Caleb and Jordan are at the age now where they like to pick out a hodge-podge of items and create their own unique costumes. I'm not exactly sure what they are supposed to be...

'Phantom-Skeleton-Reeper-Ninja's'...whatever they are...they are INTENSELY SCARY!!!

As for little Miss Ray...she refused to wear anything princess-y or too girly she insisted on wearing the tiger costume. She'd literally growl, "I tigo--rar, rar!"
And of course---let's not forget our super cute 'doogie' DAISY!

Her costume: Clean Dog!

Just days before Halloween she spent several hours with the best dog groomer ever. Daisy was washed, clipped, brushed (maybe even massaged?) and she returned smelling more than acceptable--she actually had a very pleasant scent and her fur was so white and soft. (The Halloween bow and bandanna came complimentary of "D-Divas!" ) What a spoiled puppy!

FALL...and then some!

New city, new season and new experiences. (OK...so this post might be a little late.) This is our first season change here. We went from summer to fall in what seemed to be a BIG hurry. However; the last several weeks (with the exception of today--it's rather rainy) have been just lovely. We've had some high 60's and low to mid 70's temps which have been perfect for all sorts of outside activities.

We took the kids to "The Merc" for the old hay-ride, pumpkin patch, corn maze experience. I'm hoping this is our first of many tradition to come -at least for as long as we live here- the kids seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves!

Mike, Ray, Caleb & Jordan

waiting for the hayride to start.

So many pumpkins to choose from...remember guys you've gotta carry those back to the tractor.

Cabe, Jord & Ray

Kings (and Princess) of the Hay Castle!

Mike & Ray

"Daddy, could you please carry me AND the pumpkin...PLEASE....?"

Somebody has Daddy wrapped around her teeny-tiny pinky. These two are so sweet together.

Last minute, Olivia and the kids decided to come up for a visit. In the wee morning hours; Super-Woman herself (Liv that's you!), loaded three kids and her pregnant self in the car and made the long drive to stay with us for the weekend. Eight hours later (about noon my time) one of my "best girls" and cute nephew and nieces were here hangin' with us.

What a nice surprise and a super great time!

Vomiting, Visitors and Explosive Diarrhea. How could it get any better?!

I have been thrilled to have my parents, Haydn, Carrie and Weston come to visit. What an exciting time! My family must really love me...four days of driving for two days worth of visiting. I surely wanted to make this trip worth everyones while as I knew the amount of travel that was involved and I wanted to make sure that they might be inclined to make the trip again sometime. So, how much stuff can we cram into two whole days? We did quite a lot considering my crew had been battling some sort of stomach bug -off and on- for the week prior to their arrival and their crew had some weird diarrhea symptoms on the way up. It's kind of strange to throw all of these various germs in a bottle-so to speak-shake it up and dump it on everyones plate. It's like a game...how sick can you get...?



The good news: I DIDN'T GET SICK, AT ALL. (maybe that's cuz I'm the only one that washes my hands--hee, hee!) Pretty much everyone else; with the exception of Mom & Dad (although he has a chronic headache--and they might be sick now?) spent at least a day barfing, or pooping or a combination of the two. How awful! I really, really hope this doesn't ruin our chances of having repeat visitors in the future.



Anyway, below are some pictures of everyone feeling healthy and having fun. We mostly did a lot of haning out. We went to the local mercantile; this place has the best homemade fudge, ice cream and a deli. They also sell all sorts of crafts and other locally grown or made items. One of the days activities was a three mile walk around the neighborhood (for the fun of it) which turned out not to be the most fun for everyone. (a little harder walk than anticipated w/ little kids and hills, etc.) So, it is probably fortunate that I did NOT have my camera to document that particular event.

How cute are my parents?

It was really awesome to be able to spend time with them.

Haydn, Ray and Weston

Despite the fact that these three little cuties didn't feel great they still seemed to enjoy playing together.

My little buddy Haydn was the master chef.

"Anybody want an egg?"

Haydn has always been so tender towards Rachel. He and his parents stayed with us for a while when Rachel was a baby and he seemed to have a close bond with her.

He said she was his 'sister'. Cute!

The kids are just taking a little rest and watching some "Blue's Clues" in my bed. One of Rachel's favorite places to relax.

HEY GUYS! Thanks for making the LONG drive for us. We hope you are feeling better.

Still new at this...

While I work on getting the hang of this, here are a few pictures to help me practice uploading to blogspot. Enjoy!