Family Fun

February was a rough month for Michael. He worked a lot of long, hard hours and we didn't see him very much. When the stars aligned at the end of the month giving him a day off and the kids free of illness, we took advantage of it and had a fantastic night out. We took the kids bowling and they loved it! Trevor loves balls and even though he couldn't pick up bowling balls, he still like to touch them. Lynette kept trying to give Trev pointers and kept insisting on carrying her ball all by herself. Michael and I are really super awesome bowlers and we had a fierce competition going to which I won one round and he won another. Trev kept trying to chase after the ball and fell a couple times on the slick isle. He entertained a couple other people nearby with his antics. It was great.

Afterwards we headed out for Chinese. MMmmm yum. Trevor enjoyed the eggroll...and would try anything else and Lynette nibbled a bit here and there. Its a good thing we liked it because that "Family meal for 3" fed us for 5 days!!! Yeah, it'll be a while before I want to go out again for chinese. So much fun, though. Times together like this this past year have been few and far between, making each one of them so important. Sure do love our little family.

Trev's turn- everybody chips in to help.

Miss thang.

After Lynette's turn she would turn around and walk away. She just like to push the ball and go- oh and dance. The girl likes to dance.

Gettin' down.

Made me a little nervous watching her carry that thing around.

Perfect form.

And what's a post without a cute picture of Trev doing what he does best- make messes.

Day at the Beach

You can't take a trip to California and not go to the beach, no matter how short your stay. So on the morning of the day we were to leave California we bundled up our kids and set off with Michael's siblings to a nearby beach. It was cold- not what you hope for. But still, its a beach, and even though the kids were wearing their coats, they still enjoyed it.
We drew pictures in the sand, kept and eye out for shells and pretty rocks, and basically just enjoyed the sound and smell of the ocean. We were only out there for about 1 1/2 hours before the cold finally drove us back indoors, but it was nice.

Trev was extra cuddly on our beach excursion. He liked walking around for a little bit and even once I had to chase him away from the waves, but he always came back to mom for extra warmth.
Aunt Tara was Lynette's buddy. They drew pictures in the sand and had a great time. I really wished we'd have brought some pants for Lynette to wear, though.

Michael really enjoyed catching up with his siblings. Its been a while since we really got to spend time with them.

Blowing bubbles in the wind was a highlight.

My CRAZY sisters-in-law Lacy and Tara couldn't leave without taking a plunge. They charged out in the water screaming and splashing and encouraging us to join them. Uh, no thanks.

Michael is such a ladies's man.

Disney on Ice...again

So in January our cousins called us up to see Disney on Ice with them again and we had so much fun the first time around, how could we say no? My cousin works for a law firm that has a box up at the top we all got to sit in, it was a lot of fun. I don't recall the name of this performance but it had something to do with holidays...they just went through every holiday and celebration. The kids loved it...eventually. Lynette, just like last time, got totally freaked out by the dim lights, cold temperatures (afterall it is an ice rink), and the LOUD music. Okay- so why the loud music? Honestly, everywhere I go they just play music way too loud and it drives me nuts. Sports games, dances, restaurants, movies its all just WAY TOO LOUD. Are they trying to make us deaf? I get pretty irritated by it because I have sensitive ears and since I'm a musician I really would like to keep them that way! But of all places- why at a kiddie show? Children do not like loud music. It scares many of them- and my daughter is no exception. It took quite a while for her to get accustomed to it and then once she finally did the program went into its "Halloween" portion and do you know what that consisted of? All of the villians...on ice...at the same time...dancing to scary music...and plotting evil deeds. It terrified her.

So here's our happy cute family.

Here's Lynette at the beginning of the show. Some kid had given her a disney toy to play with and do you see how she's clutching onto it for dear life? It took a lot of coaxing to get her out this far...she wanted to stay in the box far away from the loud music and Cruella DeVille and Maleficent and Jafar and...

A little further into the program we coaxed her out even further..

And once Mickey had gotten rid of all the villians the girl finally started to enjoy herself. That's better.

Unfortunately Disney on Ice does not make for very good pictures. Lets play a game- can you guess who's in this one?

How about here? (Okay, so I know this was the princess segment)

And here? I know one of them is really hard to tell but if you can figure out the red hat girl you just might get them all.

The Grande Finale

And here we are all cute again. Fun night. Thanks Chandlers!

Walking in the Garden

This is my last wedding post- I promise! The home Lanara's reception was held had a gorgeous garden that the kids and I ventured through. It was lovely, every turn had new surprises- pools, waterfalls, japanese garden area. I couldn't resist taking pictures.

Such a tired boy.
Love that face.

Pixie in the garden

Its a rare thing to have a picture of just the two of us. So it's treasured, even in bad lighting.

I don't know how I kept landing in the bright sun in all these pictures- must be my Ray heritage.

Hmmm...not our best.

My sister-in-law Lacy and Lynette.

Good-looking guys.

Cutie-patootie

Fun with the camera.

Mama's boy.

I don't know what this is but I thought it was cool.

My handsome boys.

Wedding Bells

So this weekend my hubs and I are heading off to California for his sister's wedding and it dawned on me I never posted my brother's wedding pics yet! Ryan and Sarah were married December 30th in the San Diego temple. It was slightly chilly, but very nice. I flew out with my kids, and my sister and her husband. They were a few rows behind us so they ended up being not as helpful as I could have wished. I ended up going back that tiny airplane bathroom about 5 times during that trip, for diaper changes, for potty-training toddler, and my particular favorite was when my potty-training toddler poured water all over herself and I got to strip her down in the bathroom, put a diaper on her, and wrap her in my coat so she was wearing something. Exhausting.

Anyway, back to the wedding. It was a nice little fanfare with the meeting of the family (so funny to me that my brother who spent his entire growing up trying to get away from his large family married a girl who was one of 10 kids as well!) They were great. The ceremony was the shortest I have ever attended. The sealing practically started before the bride and groom were even in the room. No words of wisdom or advice...nothing- just the ceremony. Odd. The reception was held in the Bride's family home and it was lovely. I especially enjoyed myself once I was able to put my kids to sleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms. After the wedding I drove back to Idaho with my parents in the car for 9 hours with my brother and his kids. Thank Heavens for DVD players. It was great seeing my family again, although I was sad Michael wasn't able to be there. My kids enjoyed getting reaquainted with their cousins. It was a nice trip and I'm so happy for my newly married brother!

Check out the dress. It was Sarah's design, with the lace on the bottom donated from her grandmother's wedding dress.

So cute.

My suave brother. I LOVED his tux. It was dark chocolate brown- so stylish. What I love even more about this picture, though, is the dual profiles of my brother and my grandpa Ray in the background. There is no question where Ryan got his nose.

Mother and Son.

One naughty little flower girl. She was running all around the temple grounds. You can't tell in this picture but half of her dress is soaking because she kept playing/sitting in the puddles on the ground from the rain.

My favorite moment. The kids loved being in "jail" almost as much as I loved having them stuck there.

Dirty criminals.

Say "cheese"

In our family a wedding luncheon is not complete unless there's at least two musical numbers. We girls got to do some lovey number (as always). We spent a good 20 minutes earlier that day practicing and memorizing choreography to go along with it (my sisters are dancers). But when the moment of truth came did we do it- not one single solitary step. I was going to- but why should I when my dancing sisters weren't? I love singing with my sisters.

By the way, a week before the wedding Ryan had an argument with our parents about the musical numbers. He did NOT want us to do it. He thought it would make his in-laws uncomfortable, and was embarrassed and threatened to walk out of the reception if we did it...

But he didn't. Probably because he was too busy snuggling with his new wife. But he sure rolled his eyes and scowled at us enough. Oh, Ryan...you're such a funny boy. Thanks for being a sport.

I'm really sad these pictures didn't turn out. The fellas in the family sang "Kiss the Girl" from "Little Mermaid" and it was hillarious. I have one introvert brother, Cameron, who's a senior in high school. He's the quietest of us and when he does say something its usually "What are you
TALKING about?" But every once in a while he just pulls out a bomb of personality and this song was one of those moments. He kept taunting Ryan during the song "C'mon, kiss her. Do it, do it" in this ridiculous accent. Ryan finally retorted "If I do it will you stop singing?" We were dying of laughter. The in-laws may have thought we were weird but man it was fun. Long live traditon!

Such a bad picture, and I can't figure out how to delete them once I put them on this thing...sorry.


I didn't get any pictures of the reception and I'm very dissapointed in myself, but oh well, with two kids to chase after I'm surprised I got any. It was great and we're so excited to have Sarah apart of our family. Yeah for marriage!