Nor Cal Cousins Renunion

 Me, Jack, Johnathon, Leslie, Brett, Janette, and Lisa

 Johnathon and me!

We FINALLY got a few of us Atwood cousins together on Memorial Day.  Leslie hosted, which worked out great because she really is centrally located between the 4 of us cousins.  We kept trying to figure out the last time we saw each other.  The last time I saw Janette was at our grandfather's funeral in '92, and Johnathon was in '97.  That's just wrong!  Another cousin was hoping to make it, but we had to change the day of the get-together so it didn't work out for her.  [We missed you, Debie!]  We had yummy rosemary kabobs and many yummy side dishes. Johnathon's guacamole was amazing!  We just chatted and laughed ... and laughed some more.  Lots of memories and lots of catching up.  I came by myself because my boys already has some plans and G had to take on-call at the hospital.  He had a great day with the boys.  When I arrived home, they were in the middle of an exciting game of Uno.  Anyway, I had a wonderful time visiting with everyone.  And, I was SO happy that I didn't hit any traffic going home!  I was gearing up for a mess, but it was clear.  We are all wanting to get something on the calendar SOONER than later, so that time doesn't slip away from us. 

Buttermilk Trail & Covered Bridge

On Saturday, we took advantage of the beautiful, sunny weather and headed a bit north to a covered bridge. There were several hiking trails, and we went on one that was highly recommended to us because of all of the wildflowers.

Here we are just outside the covered bridge.

N saw this car parked nearby and wanted a picture of it. He loves old cars like this.

Here's a picture of the covered bridge from an adjacent road.

It's hard to believe that N will be 13 in a few days!! Isn't he handsome???

Mom with N right outside of the bridge

The parental units

The boys crossing one of the bridges





T basking in the sun!

B

Here's J! Such a sweet boy!! On our hike, we saw hundreds of wildflowers. They were gorgeous. The really cool thing was there were little signs telling us the flower names. There was a little river down below that looked gorgeous. We saw a lizard, a bat sleeping in a tree & hanging upside down. We saw lots of butterflies. At one point, I was taking a picture and I took a step back. Something felt funny beneath my heel, like a big twig, only I didn't remember there being one there. I looked down, and gasped. It was a snake! I had stepped on a snake! I tried to scream, but I was still recovering my voice from being sick all week. The snake slithered quit fast down the hill. Yuck!!!


We spent some time by the river. G & the boys panned for gold for a while. No luck. It felt great to rest with our feet in the water. We definitely want to come back. It was a great use of the afternoon. We had a great time. Later, we enjoyed carnitas for dinner -- a family favorite. We pick up the meat at a Mexican restaurant and then make all of the trimmings ourselves. Yum! After that, we enjoyed another family movie. The boys were dying to see the last Matrix movie (yes, we used Clearplay!).

Our Family Visits

T was SO happy that Grandpa sat next to him in our van

Grandpa even came with us to the boys' elementary school Open House

N with Aunt JanEtta

Uncle Eric with nephew Simon

Simon, T & Daniel playing

We had a fun weekend visiting with family. Grandpa & G spent a lot of time together going to a Conference, their Home Ward 50th Reunion, and the Jazz Festival. We all got to visit with Eric, Vince & JanEtta, and their boys on Sunday night. We had a delicious dinner together and enjoyed visiting. The boys had a blast playing together. It was so nice to see everyone.

Celebrating C's Birthday

Princess "C"

She was determined to blow out the trick candles. She leaned in so far that she smashed part of the cake!!


M & N, cousins AND friends

T & B taking a cartoon break together

J LOVES hot dogs, especially BBQ'd ones

Yesterday, despite the looming storm, I took the boys down to my sister's house to visit and to celebrate my niece's 5th birthday. We stopped at a Wal Mart on the way to pick out a gift for C. What was funny to me about this experience was that my boys all stopped at the Lego aisle of the store. I had to scoot them down to the very PINK row of toys. We were almost blinded by all of the pink and princess stuff!

We arrived in good time and the boys ran into the house. They LOVE coming to their cousins' house. There was a bounce house set up in the backyard, and lots of pink decorations. Many of C's friends came and we really enjoyed the party. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, chips, pinata, ... the whole 9 yards. The little girls dug into C's dress-up bin and put on princess dresses, too. We stayed for a few hours after the party to continue to visit, but I wanted to be sure to get going before the brunt of the storm hit (and before it got too dark). We had such a great time, and didn't really want to leave.

We watched another movie at home together to wrap up the wonderful day. We were pretty tired. T didn't get out of bed once ... that's how tired we all were.

Our Friday & Saturday Adventures

Me, Mom, and my sister, L

The kids spent quite a while playing outside, both on Friday and Saturday

N with Grandma right before he left for his Boy Scout Over-nighter
He would have rathered stay home with the family. He didn't want to miss out on anything. We said we'd not watch a new movie and we'd save him some swarmas.

The kids on the "ice cream" intermission

Mom with L

Hama with T

B didn't want them to leave!

On Friday afternoon, my sister and her youngest daughter came up to my house to hang out and visit with Hama before she headed back to Utah. We had swarmas for dinner. They were SO good. We got jammies on and pulled out blankets & pillows to watch a movie together. We watched "Shrek". We had an intermission so we could have ice cream. My niece just wanted the whipped cream, and she left the ice cream in the bowl! Too funny. We had a nice waffle, bacon & egg breakfast, and then the kids ran outside again. My Mom kept telling me that she was going to take this beautiful weather with her back to blizzard/snow-bound Utah. No Way!! We had a great time visiting together ... so much so that I totally forgot that J needed to be at a friend's birthday party!! Dad zipped J over there late, and J still got to enjoy most of the party. We will miss having Grandma here. She cooked us several wonerful meals and we really enjoyed her company. I want that Pistacio Chicken recipe, please. Come back anytime!!

Are We There Yet?

J was sick all through last weekend. We thought he had strep throat, but the culture came back negative. He was pleasant even though he felt lousy.

Okay, I thought we were FINALLY in the clear. There has been at least 1 family member sick since Christmas Eve! I'm not kidding. I'm going a little crazy. We've had sinus infections, sore throats, colds, pink eye, and just whatever. This morning, G & I were looking forward to having us all go to church together when we realized that B had a fever. We did the switch today: G went with N & J to Sacrament Meeting. Then he had to leave early so that I could get there for Primary with T. G hasn't been to Primary for 3 weeks, and he really misses it (and the kids miss him there, too!) I can tell that B is feeling better because he's starting to bounce around and his sarcasm is spilling out. I hope this is the end of this craziness. Thank goodness for my Bunko night and a scrapbook night (both last week) because I was starting to go cookoo from being in the house so much. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm hopefull we will all be healthy.

Fluffy World

Love those Kool-aid smiles!

Our boys like to build forts, especially in the corner of our living room. They'll pull off all of the pillows to the couches and build "Fluffy World", a name they made up. Usually they can't all fit, so they have to take turns wiggling in. They will grab pillows & blankets from their beds and use those, too. Sometimes, the card table and kitchen chairs migrate to make "Fluffy World" bigger. My siblings and I used to make elaborate forts, especially in our backyard. So, I can really appreciate the fun it is to make forts and to play together. Yeah, my house is pulled apart, but they are playing together and building memories.

General Conference

N & J finding the edge pieces

Mom lending a hand

We really enjoyed listening to General Conference on Sunday. Dad made a huge breakfast of biscuits and gravy. B was particularly in heaven! We worked on a puzzle together throughout most of the day. The boys got out their "Conference Bingo" boards and a bowl of M&M's to play during the 2nd session of Conference. This has actually helped them pay more attention to what the speakers are saying. Of course, they love to eat their bingo pieces. I've found that my boys listen better if their hands are busy with a word search, maze, or puzzle. Our primary handed out Conference Packets to each child filled with conference activities. They enjoyed working on those on Sunday as well, and G & I appreciated the relative quiet. I enjoyed the talks and appreciated the topics. I also appreciated spending the day at home with my family. Since we were gone all day Saturday, we watched part of the 1st session of Conference for FHE, so that we could sustain our leaders. We talked about how important that is and why. I look forward to receiving the Ensign to read through the talks. We finished off the day with a great Pasta al Forno and homemade bread. We didn't finish the puzzle on Sunday, but it was sure fun to start it.

Apple Hill

Yesterday, N, T & I met up with my sister and her family up at Apple Hill. (G took B & J to their soccer games, which they both won! Yeah!!) We all had a great day. We went to 3 different farms and just enjoyed seeing everything (except the lines, of course!) G was very happy with the pies I brought home. It's nice because you can even buy frozen pies to cook later. B looked forward to the freshly pressed apple juice. That's one of our family-favorites. N enjoy hanging out with his cousins for the afternoon. The boys enjoyed a maze made out of hay, a train ride, caramel apples, and seeing all of the crafts. T took his first horse ride, and he just loved it. We got back home in time for G to go to Conference. We invited my brother's family over and we made a yummy dinner for everyone at my house. The men joined us after conference. The kids ran all over the place and had so much fun together. We got to catch-up and we laughed a lot. They all didn't head home til pretty late because we had such a good time visiting. We'll have to do this again next year, guys!!

Having a Ball!!

Gerald relaxing on the cool lawn

Nathaniel

Benj

Joshua

We had so much fun last night for FHE. We went to a nice park and ate a quick dinner. We then played several rounds of Bocce Ball. Every one won at least 1 game. Sometimes it was very difficult to see the little white ball in the tall blades of grass. That just added to the challenge of it! It felt so nice to get out together. The weather was perfect with the cooler temperature and the slight breeze. Gerald took Timothy on a big walk, then relaxed on the lawn. It was a great evening.

Little Shadows

Ever have a day where you constantly have several little shadows following you around? You know, the ones that will give you a play-by-play while in the bathroom? The ones that you trip on as you walk from one room to the next? The ones that stand right in front of you no matter where you are trying to go? Even the ones that seem to be right behind you when you want to sit down? Ever happen? Well, despite all of the bumping & tripping today, there were lots hugs & kisses, peppered with tickles & giggles. Those little shadows are in constant motion. Maybe I'm the one in the way ... Hmmm ...

A Good Day

I really enjoyed the slightly cooler weather today. After swim lessons, the boys were able to play outside a little today. They watched cement being poured for a neighbor's driveway, rode scooters with friends, and jumped on the trampoline. T went for the hose, again. No surprise there. We even ventured out the Sam's Club all together -- I know, BIG treat!! They DID get either an Icee, smoothie, or ice cream cup. No complaints there. Also, they enjoyed tasting all the different samples of food and drinks. The cheese sticks were a hit. We called it a night after a couple episodes of the Muppet Show. Good, classic stuff! Just one more day of swim lessons. That sure went fast.

Simple Pleasures

An amazing thing happened this morning: we all slept in! This rarely happens. Rarely!!

First item of business: sterilize T’s toothbrush in dishwasher. Check. Apparently, I took too long to come up and help T brush his teeth last night, so he took care of business himself using the water in the toilet. Yum. Second item of business: finish pulling out chunks of dried, blue play dough out of carpet. Now I remember why I really don’t like play-dough. It always seems like a great idea at the time of purchase, but then I quickly remember all that it entails. (Remember the can opener & birthday candles?!) What in the world would I do all day if I didn’t have these things created by my little “wrecking ball”? Hmmm …

J, T & I sat outside early this morning and searched for all types of bugs. Rollie Pollies are the favorite, and I've been informed that the grass is their house. T couldn't figure out why all of the dried-up worms all over the sidewalk weren't moving. He tried to feed them blades of grass. He then told me that they weren't hungry. Ah, I guess not. They had fun and I enjoyed the cool, morning breeze. Simple pleasures. This was a good reminder for me to just slow down and enjoy.

B enjoyed playing the video game Sim City 4 for a good chunk of the day. He's constantly asking things like "What's the difference between a road and an avenue?" or "Why doesn't Roseville have high-industrial ....?" He'll analyze his surroundings and compare it to what he's learned on his game.

N was just happy to get back into the water for his swim lesson. He's getting the knack of the flip-turns, and his form improves each day. He really likes his swim instructor. This has been a big confidence boost for him.

T was just anxious to get back home so that he could play with the hose out back. He was wet, muddy, but happy. At least my garden was well watered! The patio is covered with little, muddy footprints.

All in all, it was a great day. The weather was cooler, and that's always a good thing especially after that heat wave we just had. Like I said, simple pleasures ...