Family trip part 1: St. George

It is kind of funny to me that in the winter I am a bad blogger because I have nothing to blog about and in the summer I am a bad blogger because I have TOO MUCH to blog about! So I am going to do my best to get all caught up in the next week or two! Wish me luck! :)

The week after school ended we ventured out on a 10 day trip to California. We decided to drive because of all the $$$ we could save. We were a little worried how the kids would do,but it turned out to be not nearly as bad as I had thought it might be. We broke the drive up by stopping in St. George for about 3 days. We stayed in my parents condo and looked forward to sunshine, laying by the pool and just relaxing. Well it ended up raining the entire weekend...except for Sun. So we took the kidos to the indoor pool (forgot the camera), played tennis in-between rain drops, played at the park, and went for walks. We had a fun time and it just made the kids excitement for Disneyland even greater! Here are just some (I take way to many pictures I know) of my favorite shots from the weekend!

I-Fly

Well Darin turned the big 3-0. I was trying to come up with a fun plan for his big day. I thought about a large party with all of his friends and family....but he has never been a huge fan of large crowds so instead I tried to think of things that would just make him happy. On his big day we went and visited him at work with balloons and cake. That night I had my parents come over and watch the kids so we could go to a movie and out to dinner. We love going to the movies and we don't get to do it very often! Well the next day I wanted to do something really fun! His dream is to go skydiving. I told him after our last child's wedding he can go skydiving....I am just a big worry wart and have this terrible fear he will DIE if he attempts skydiving and I will be left to raise our kids alone!!! So the next best thing.....Simulated skydiving at I-Fly. It was actually a lot of fun and I think he had a fun time doing it! The funniest thing however is that Camden was totally bummed he didn't get to go. We told him he was to young, but we were wrong.They let 4 year olds do it!!!! So he begged and pleaded and ended up having the time of his life with his dad! He is such a little dare-devil! It was hilarious to watch and he loved it!

Oregon

Back in May, Darin had a conference he wanted to attend in Oregon. He graciously invited me to come along, and because Myah can still fly for free and is still the hardest one to leave, she was invited to hang out with me during the day while Darin was in his classes. We had never been to Oregon before and it was beautiful! We lucked out and got a sunny beautiful weekend without any rain or clouds. It was about 75 or so in Portland so one evening we decided to drive out to the coast. We had heard how amazing it was and wanted to see for ourselves. We were all in shorts, sandals and t-shirts. Luckily I had the impression to bring jackets just in case. Well once we arrived at the ocean, we noticed everyone bundled in coats, scarves and hats. The temp. reading in the car had dropped 20 degrees from the warm sun in Portland and it was freezing!!!!! We went and had dinner and walked out to the beach to get this picture and we were ready to get in the car and crank the heat! Who knew the beach could be so much colder than inland....it was amazing however and I am glad we got to see it. Just the car ride there made it worth while. It was beautiful!

Myah did a lot of riding in the car. This was her first little while being turned forward in the car. She loved it for a while....but the novelty wore off pretty soon!
This little guy saved our lives in a new city. We had never used navigation before and it was especially helpful to me when Darin was in class. I'm not sure if I could have found him to give him a ride home without it. It was worth every extra penny!

We were so lucky to meet up with some friends while we were there. This is Mark and his cute wife Lindsey and their kids. Darin and I have been friends with him since middle school. It was so fun to get to spend time with them. Friday we went to the zoo with them (no pictures...I forgot my camera but convinced Darin to let me buy a little point and shoot for the remainder of the trip! What a nice guy!) and on Sun. they invited us to their home in Corvallis for dinner. Corvallis is beautiful and especially fun for Darin to see. His parents lived there for a couple of years while his dad was in school. I think Darin was about ready to pack up and move there it was a darling little town! It was great spending time with you guys. You were great hosts!

This is Nicholas, Karlee and Myah. We are just missing Macy...she wasn't in the picture mood! The twins are a little older than Myah, it was fun to see them play together! So cute!!This picture is to remind us of the waterfalls we wanted to see before we left for the airport. The navigation wasn't ALWAYS what it was cracked up to be!Myah was a little upset....she really wanted to see some waterfalls!We had a really great time and it was fun to get away! We forgot how easy life with only one child is.....to bad we didn't appreciate it at the time...we just thought it was hard! We missed our boys though and we hope return to Oregon with them soon!