Saturday, November 27, 2010

Vacation Time!!

The entire family made a trip to Southern California last week. 
We went to see the Utes play San Diego and to go to Disneyland.

Kelli, Jeremy, Keith, MyKelle, Gage and I started our vacation on Friday afternoon,
 driving to Las Vegas. 

Cute Cambree, love that smile.
 MyKelle loves to pile pillows on Poppy and jump on them. Fun game??
 We went swimming on the roof. View was beautiful and view was amazing.
 MyKelle and Gage were fascinated by the palm trees. 
We decided they look like pineapples.
Sorry for the sideways picture - you know how it goes with blogger. 
New York, NewYork in the background. 
 We loved the M&M store, but not the pricey items to buy.
 La Jolla beach. Beautiful, waves, sand, sun, surf - gotta love it.
 Jeremy adores his little girl. 
 Apparently, Gage didn't run away from the wave fast enough.
 We took a tour on the USS Midway.
It was fascinatung. Got a little appreciation of what my father went through in WW2.
Here we are in the Brig.
 MyKelle and Gage loved to sit in the airplane cockpits and play with the controls.
 Gage was actually in his Heaven on the ship.
He was interested in every little part.
 On the very front of the flight deck.
 This is the USS Ronald Reagan. It came into port while we were there. 
Really cool to see. It had been out helping the 
Carnival cruise ship that had lost power at sea. 
 You can see the planes in the background. 
We were able to go inside of many of them.
Adam, Jess, and Carson joined us Monday afternoon. 
Back out to the beach.  So sunny and warm.




 Gorgeous sunset. 
Too bad my cheap camera doesn't show you how pretty it really was.
 Aww, isn't that cute?
 Gage and Carson in their football PJs.
 We went to Sea World. First time I've touched a stingray.
They are slimy. Gage loved it, MyKelle was having none of it.
 Waiting to see the sea lion show. 
Same tricks as 25 years ago, but a different story line.
Kids loved it.
 This was at the Shamu show. It was getting chilly.
 Gage, Carson, Cambree, and MyKelle in front of the Flamingos.
 Cool lookin"
 Feeding time.
Katie and Darin flew in Tuesday night.
 The beach again. This time the boys went boogie boarding and body surfing.
 Darin and Jeremy, hitting the waves.
Natalie, Travis, Addison, and Hailey flew in Wednesday night. Whew, we are all here now.

 Everyone gets in the act of climbing on Poppy, trying to get him to wake up.
 All my grandkiddos ready for Disneyland. They are all wearing their Disneyland shirts
 JoJo got them for Christmas. 
Disneyland was part of everyone's Christmas presents from us.
 With 3 babies and 3 young kids, we did a lot of trading off to ride the rides.
Poppy holding Cambree and Carson.
 MyKelle and Gage join to party, Carson is not too sure he likes the company.
 Disneyland was decorated for Christmas. 
Small World was a whole Christmas around the world theme. 
 Addi was just too pooped to party anymore. 
The kids have more pictures, can't wait to see them.
 Friday was back to the beach. It was cloudy and chilly on the beach, but that didn't keep 
Travis, Jeremy, and Kelli out of the waves. 
 The rest of us enjoyed some good beach time.
Katie and Cambree.
 MyKelle, Addi and Gage loved to play in the sand. 
 Pretty Jess
 Scruffy Adam and precious Carson
 Darin and Gage playing in the waves. Yep, Gage got wet again.
 This was breathtaking as the sun broke through the clouds.
 After perfect weather all week, Saturday, game day, rained all day.
 We got soaked just getting out of the cars at Old Town.
 Cambree likes her Daddy as much as he likes her.
 We have a favorite Mexican restaurant we go to in Old Town.
Family pictures of everyone.



 Across the street is the Mormon Battalian visitors center. 
Things have changed here since I came as a teenager.
I teach this so I was interested to go, but everyone liked it.
The church as gone high tech and has a cool presentation.
 Carson was so interested, he feel asleep on Daddy's back.
 Keith was chosen to dress as a battalion member.
Again, sorry about the sidewards picture.
 Here we sat on logs and boxes to simulate one of the camps along the way.
We went to the game and sat in the rain. 
We all spent $7 on rain ponchos and they were well worth it.
Fortunately we were under the overhang and didn't get too wet.
The miracle was that the Utes won the game.

There were reports of bad snowy weather in Utah, so we drove home right after the game through the night. After we got out of San Diego, we had no rain or snow at all. 
We arrived home safe to broken limbs all over our yard from the storm here.
We realize our blessings, not only in traveling but in being together and building memories.
Thanks kids for the fabulous week.
Can't wait for Oregon this summer!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

My Newest Blessing

Hailey McCall Gines
Born 10-19-10
10:59am
7 lbs. 11.5 oz.
20 inches 
Every part perfect!!!


Thanks to this great Momma for allowing me to be a part of this miracle day.


Do you love this face or what??


 Sisters: Hailey and Addison
And Momma Natalie


Proud Daddy Travis


She has a set of lungs and has demonstrated them to us already.


Addi is a happy sister that Hailey is finally here.
We don't think she looks like Addi, but we are not really sure who she looks like.
She has a beautiful round face and not a lot of hair, but what she does have looks a little red.
I am grateful for precious miracles in my life. 
Blessings from a loving Father in Heaven.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Happy To You MyKelle



This beautiful one is 6 years old today! 
SIX, seriously, where have those 6 years gone.
 I can't imagine my life without her. 
So have the best day ever my little one.


 She is a character and so grown-up. 
A big help with the little ones.


We LOVE you sweet girl, MyKelle.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

18 gallons of paint later...

Our garage is painted!!!!! And we have only lived in this house for 31 and a half years!
We wanted to really think about the color. 
White is good, don't you think.


These 2 walls use to be entirely covered with shelves. 
We ripped them out, you know we have a truck to fit in the garage now.
We have made many trips to the dump and we are not done yet. 



We kept these shelves because they hold my Christmas decorations so nicely.


Keith's work bench and all his tools use to be on this wall. He is relocating them to the shed, with wonderful new workbench and shelves.


Saved these 3 cupboards to put my junk in.
Oh happy day.
And that is what we did on this fine Conference Saturday!
Thanks Keith for having a "bee in your bonnet" so we could finally have a clean looking garage.


Tuesday, September 7, 2010

End of Summer Fun

Katie, Kelli and I were able to go to The Lion King on opening night. 

It was amazing, even though we were way high. 
The costuming and movements have to be seen to be believed. We had a great girls night. 
(See the man in the background. He was my high school history teacher - Mr. Bailey. weird)





Carson LOVES his Johnny Jump up. He runs- okay walks- all the way forward and then picks up his feet to glide back. So dang cute.


We let Cambree try it, but she's still a little too small to figure it out.


Our 2 newest Ute fans. How cute is that. They both went to the fan fest with their Daddies. 


This cute old man has moved into my basement. Dad has so much fun watching his great grandkids. He has a huge grin on his face the entire time he is around them. Carson loves him and Dad always gets a big smile out of him, which delights Papa. What an opportunity for the kids to really get to know their Great Papa and for Dad to know all about them and their cute personalities.


We had the Sunday night 4 wheeler rides in the yard. 
Addi and MyKelle love it, but Addi wants to go faster than MyKelle is comfortable with.


Gage is obsessed with the Jeep. He rides with his arm "out the window" just like the big guys. He will ride this until the battery is dead. He doesn't like to share it much with the girls either.


Cute Jeremy took them on rides forever.


Adam found a jump in the yard where he can catch a little air. 
Don't know how much Jess loved it.


Can't get this picture to turn, but isn't Cambree the cutest ballerina ever?


Labor Day we went 4 wheeling up Farmington Canyon with Travis. 
We made it to the farthest pond. It was beautiful.
Addi loved climbing on the rocks.


Pretty scary couple, cute helmet hair don't you think.


Nat has 6 more weeks to go until I have my 6th grandchild. 
Doesn't she look great. 
Love the fall, wish it would last and last.