Berkeley & San Francisco

Last weekend we went to Berkeley for my Aunt's wedding. We stayed in the Double Tree Inn at Berkeley Bay.  It was so beautiful and had a wonderful view of the bay.

Christine and Arthur

My sisters (Jana and Tina), Me, My Aunt Christine, and my cousins (Regina and Julia).

Don and I after the reception.

Berkeley is a crazy city, there are people everywhere.  We got lost on our way to the wedding (it was up in the hills) and almost missed it, but got there right before it started. We saw a drunk guy ride his bike into a tree and then fall over into the road and we saw way too many women who don't believe in bras (when they say Berkeley is full of liberals they are not kidding).

Saturday morning we went to see the bay bridges in San Francisco (also a very crowded city, too crowded for me).

We had fun.  It was interesting to see something new, but it wasn't really my cup of tea.

I feel accomplished!

What a week! I finished painting the last room, unpacked the last box, canned peaches, read a book, got a second interview to teach online college, and I get to spend the weekend in San Francisco.  Plus I just made cookies and I love the way my house smells right now. Who says that being a stay at home mom is boring.

Lake Mead

This past weekend we went to Lake Mead with my sister Tina, her family and Todd and Emily. I love the lake, I seriously could live there, but Don doesn't want to live so far away from everything.

On Friday we just drove out there, nothing spectacular about that.  On Saturday we relaxed in the water, went wakeboarding and visited Hoover Dam for the Dam tour.  Sunday we got a little early morning boarding in and then lounged around the lake all afternoon.  Then we headed home in the terrible I15 Sunday traffic. 

Don and Todd relaxing in the water by the Dam.

Todd and Emily- What a cute couple!

Donald-having fun in the water.

Eli and Don- Goin' for a dip.

Eli finally stood up on a wakeboard.  He didn't really get up, but he did stand so he is making progress.  We didn't get a picture of it, but here is our victory picture after he did it.

Me and Don trying to take a picture of ourselves (no matter how many times I try this, I still can't get a good shot).

Donald boarding

Me boarding (Not a great picture due to the sun in the background, but you could definitely tell that we got up at 6am to get some good water).

Don boarding- What a cutie!

Don't we all look so safe in our new helmets?

Add one weekend of fun, 7 hours of driving, 4 traffic jams and 6 people squished into our truck, 

Mix well,

Bake at 100 degrees

Serves up 2 very tired, yet adorable kids.

(Don says they sleep just like me, Oh Boy!)

Love Lake Mead- can't wait to go back in September!

Farewell to Friends

Our friends, Brent and Maia Boring moved to Texas this week.  I knew I would miss them, but I never thought that saying good-bye to them would make me cry the whole way home.  Love you Borings, we will miss you!

The Boring Youngs

(You can actually see a tear in my eye if you look really close:( )

Larissa (Don't you just love her face), Eli, Seth, Kirstine, Hannah, and Donald.

It was hard to get a picture where they were all smiling right, but they look cute no matter what.  These sweetie Boring kids will certainly be missed.

Lake Powell

July 28th-Aug. 1st

 

Oh how I love Lake Powell!  This is definitely one of my favorite places in the world.  I had never been camping there before, I have only ever gone on a houseboat, but it was an awesome campsite and lots of fun.  We went with the Borings, Emmons and the Kaisers.  We had a couple stormy afternoons, but we also had amazing early morning glass. 

Ahhh! Beautiful Lake Powell.

Our Family at Rainbow Bridge

Amazing View

Brent wearing goggles in the middle of the storm on our ride back to camp from Rainbow Bridge.

Eli getting ready to wakeboard.

Donald shredding it up.

Brent catching some big air.

That's me, I really can jump, but we didn't get any pictures of that.

Don boarding.  A few minutes after that I drove over a tour boat's wake and Don launched off of it, the boat also launched into the air. Crazy!

Eli and Brent boarding together.

We had a great time.  I wish we were there right now, never can get enough of Lake Powell.

Trip to Utah

July 24th we went to Utah for the Stewart family reunion on the 25th in Benjamin.  We had lots of fun and got to meet some previously unknown cousins.  Hopefully someone will send me pictures because I forgot my camera that day.  Then we spent the next couple days with my family just hanging out.  On the 27th I got to see my friends Wyatt and Jared from high school.  On the 28th we left for Lake Powell but first I had a park visit with some more friends from high school.

(Anna, Me, Kristen, Wendy and Keri)

It was so fun to see them all again, I haven't seen them since Eli's baby shower over 6 years ago.  The strangest thing is that when you sit down and talk to people you went to high school with, nothing seems to have changed, we all sound the same and act the same, so I felt like it was still 15 years ago before we graduated, except that there were 13 children running around.  Where did they come from?!  Good to see everyone, let's not wait another six years to do it again.

My baby is not a baby any more :(

July 22, 2009- Happy Birthday Eli! 

For Eli's 6th birthday we had a swim party at my dad's house.  He invited all his friends, loved his gifts and munched his cake.  Lots of fun and lots of kids.