Family Day -- ALL Day!

Last week, we had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my side of the family. We spent 2 hours on Saturday morning (6/13) taking family pictures at a nearby park (Thanks, Betsey!!)
Then, we went over to a bigger park, had lunch, played and just hung out for most of the afternoon.

Here's N & M on the see-saw toys ... go figure!

J climbing the slide

My brother, T with "Hamma" (aka Grandma), watching family members play Bocce ball

G taking advantage of the shade

L playing Bocce against Boppi (aka Grandpa)

G and me in a game against each other. G won this time. I usually beat him, but it just wasn't my day. We played with my parents.

Hamma with me, N and 2 of my nieces playing Chicken Foot (Dominoes). So fun!

Some of the grand kids just having a blast playing together.

N with his cousin, M. I try to get a picture of these two each time we see them. It's been fun to look at their pictures together over the years. N is quite a bit taller than M. N is standing on a step that is below M's step. M liked feeling as tall as N ... even if it was just for a moment!

Later, Dave & Tami were on their way, and the rest of the family came over to my house for an impromptu pasta dinner. We all chipped in. It was yummy and it was great to spend more time together. The kids ran all over and most of the adults played a few rounds of dominoes. This time we played "Mexican Train". It was a whirl-wind day, but enjoyable. We all just dropped into bed that night! So happily tired ...

Six Flags & Twilight Camp

N & T waiting to go onto the Cobra. T loved this roller coaster. It was perfect for him.

J getting ready to ride the Cobra. I was able to go with him on this ride. It was fun to ride in the WAY back!

The boys with The Joker and The Riddler. We HAD to get a picture with them!

That is B on the top left. He LOVES this ride. I think he rode it at least 5 times.

So, we packed A LOT in on Friday. I took the boys down to Six Flags on Friday to make use of our season passes. We were able to stay a few hours and enjoy ourselves. We had to leave by 2pm in order for J to make it back in time for Cub Scout Twilight Camp. What I didn't count on is a major traffic jam getting home. Instead of it taking us 1 hour, it took us 2 1/2 hours to get home due to a grass fire along side the freeway WB and an accident going EB . So, I ended up having to take J down to Twilight Camp to meet up with his den. Luckily, we got there JUST as they were starting their stations. Phew!

J was so excited to try his hand at archery. During the week they also did bottle rockets, Lego cars, kick ball, water games, Indian Teepees, carnival games, small boat racing, marble games, and BB guns.

Here are some of J's den mates. One of the boys only attended 2 of the days due to a family vacation and was not there on Friday. J had so much fun @ Twilight camp and is looking forward to next year.

Jelly Belly Factory -- Family Visit

I'm playing a little bit of catch-up on my blog. We had family staying with us most of last week, and we had a blast! We had a house full, but loved all of the fun we had together. The boys enjoyed being up in the mornings with their cousins C & S. On one of the days they were here (June 10th), we headed down to the Jelly Belly Factory for the tour. We even got Boppi (aka Grandpa) to come with us and enjoy the morning. We really enjoyed being together. Boppi sat next to T in the van on the way down. He loved that!

I had a hard time getting any pictures of Allison's boys! To say they are a moving target would be an understatement! The bottom line was that they had fun seeing the factory and getting some treats. We didn't stay for lunch (too expensive). We located the nearest Wendy's via my GPS (love that!) and enjoyed lunch together. Everyone seemed to be happy with that.

Dad with Allison. I love this picture!

The boys loved the Jelly Belly cars! They wanted their picture with the love bug.

Me with my Dad, waiting for the tour. We didn't have to wait long at all. It was a perfect day to go. No buses dumping off a billion preschool kids this time!

My sister and I enjoyed spending time together. She headed down to our other sister's home for a visit there. Boppi, T & I headed back home. Can you tell who is in that jelly belly picture? There was amazing Jelly Belly artwork all over.

My Girls' Weekend @ Tahoe

My blog has been so neglected lately! I've been extremely busy!! My first update is of my 2nd annual Girls' Weekend, which took place last weekend.

On Friday afternoon, my friend Jan picked me up along with a few others, and we headed up to beautiful Lake Tahoe. We were all very excited to get going, and thoroughly enjoyed the car ride. At Tahoe, we each enjoyed our own room with our own bathroom. So nice and relaxing!

Saturday was a rainy day, so we didn't get to do our planned hike. We enjoyed hanging out indoors by playing games, chatting, eating, napping, soaking in the hot tub, etc.

Later on Saturday, we headed down to King's Beach to see a movie, "Angels & Demons". I thought it was very good. Above, is a picture of Lisa & me before the movie.

Part of our group before the movie (Jan, Raimi, Lisa, Me & Holly)

This is a picture of me, Keila & Holly ... one of the many times we piled into Jan's Suburban!

On Sunday morning, we attended the North Tahoe ward. We snapped some pictures outside after church. Here I am with my dear friend, Raimi.

I love this photo! It just shows us laughing and just enjoying being together. We laughed so much that weekend.

Here is the group: Lisa, Jan, Lisa, me, Raimi, Kristin, Patti, Stephanie & Keila. We're missing Holly from this photo. Maybe we can photo-shop her in!

We finally got to see the lake after church on Sunday. Gorgeous! We went back to the condos, had a yummy chicken salad lunch, and then piled back into Jan's Suburban and headed home to our families. I had such a wonderful time. We laughed, ate, talked, played games, ate, talked, laughed and laughed until our stomachs hurt! We stayed up both nights until 2AM just talking. I am so grateful to my friend, Kristin, for setting this up for us to all enjoy. I am so thankful for my hubby's support. Love you, G! ... I think it's safe to say that each of us already have our bags packed for next year!!

Court of Honor

Last night, B&N had a Court of Honor. They have been anxiously waiting to receive their merit badges. N advanced rank to STAR scout and received 3 merit badges: Citizenship of the World, Aviation, and Traffic Safety. He's almost done with about 3 others. B was so excited to receive the 2 merit badges he's completed, but instead, he got an application to Boy Scouts! It was overlooked, and he cannot receive the merit badges until it's completed. A complete oversight!

Does this look sum it all up?!?! IF he had been able to receive his merit badges, he would have gotten: Citizenship in the World and Aviation. Next time ....

Happy 11th Birthday, B!

B is such a 'ham'! He loves getting a laugh out of those around him

Happy 11th Birthday, B. I cannot believe that 11 years have gone by! We LOVE having B in our family, and enjoy his wit and quick sense of humor. He is also so tender and loving. We LOVE you, B.