Last Hurrah!

This weekend is our official "last hurrah" before the baby comes. Next weekend Chris will be in Tennessee taking his final board exams and the weekend after that is when Mom comes to town.
So what did we do? We took the kids camping. This was Tristan's first time camping and with his latest sleep issues (waking up at 5:30 AM) I wasn't sure how fun it would be.
We picked up Chris from work early Friday afternoon and headed to Falls Lake where we hoped there would be a camping spot left for us on this holiday weekend. Fortunately, there was. As soon as we opened the van doors the kids were ready to start exploring. Tristan, especially, was excited, jumping up and down and shouting "hurray!" I was glad to hear such shouts of jubilee because all week long I had been trying to prep him for the trip by telling him we were going camping and we were going to sleep in a tent. The reply was always, "NO camp!, NO tent!"
One problem we encountered was buying some wood for our campfire. Our grocery store had bundles all winter long but now, when I needed it most, it was gone. I tried a woodcutting business down the road but they didn't have any split wood and the person who owned the business wasn't there. His mother was nice enough to give me some rotten wood for free but we couldn't get it to burn. When we got to our campsite there was a list of local vendors who sell firewood so I went to the closest one and not only had the name of the company changed but they no longer had firewood either. Bad luck. Chris ended up going to Food Lion for charcoal briquettes. Finally at about 8:30 we were ready to eat. Tinfoil dinners. Yum!
We kept the kids up way to late--until almost 10 p.m. but we all went to bed together and all fell asleep pretty quickly--even Tristan. As campgrounds go, though, I was awakened shortly after midnight by another camp's crying child, talking children, barking dog, you name it. It was a pretty happening place for midnight. I meant to take some earplugs because I knew things like that would keep me awake. Between campground noises, the noises in our tent (Tristan woke up a few times and I had to comfort him), getting up to go to the bathroom and the rain I got a grand total of three hours. Tristan woke up with the birds at 5:30 AGAIN. The rest of my family, however, slept pretty much all night. We were pretty tired today though.
After breakfast we had a little rest in the tent while it sprinkled outside (what's camping without a little rain?). Then we went to the beach and let the kids play on the playground. We decided we had better pack up so we could get home in time for naps. It was a short camping trip and I'm sure I/we put in more hours preparing and cleaning up than we actually camped but it was so much fun and I'm glad we did it.
(This is the position he usually assumes at home while playing with cars. Notice he is using a pine cone, driving it back and forth.)

Quilt Retreat Pics

Here's the proof. We really did work hard on our beach trip.

Wonderful Weekend

I had such an awesome weekend! I took a four-day trip with some quilting friends to the beach. We rented a beach house to accommodate all nine of us. We went with one mission in mind. . . .quilt, quilt, quilt! And quilt we did, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. I felt like a college student again! We did do a few other things too like eat, watch movies and listen to music, all while working on our quilts of course.
As I packed for the trip I wanted to make sure I had plenty of projects to work on. I planned on making a quilt for our baby and I had a few projects that had just been sitting in my closet. I didn't have anything pressing to finish besides the baby quilt. I packed material and fabric for five quilts plus a felt book that needed to be cut out for the kids. I knew I was grossly overestimating how much I would accomplish in four days.
Taking inventory at the end of the trip, however, there was only one project I didn't touch. I finished three quilt tops, started another and finished the felt book. Combined with my other friends we finished 15 quilt tops in the four days we were there. Not too bad! It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have to make dinner, bathe children, clean the house, shower, get dressed. . . .oh, just kidding I did the latter two.
I'll be posting some pictures soon. I forgot to take my camera but a few people had them.

Travel Log

I didn't mean for this to be a travel log but I have to write about my trip to Utah. We had such a great time and each year I go I remember why I make the trek out every summer.
First I have to say that my kids did great on the flights. It was such a long day travelling it would not have surprised me if they were miserable. We held it together until the car ride from the Las Vegas airport to St. George. Kennedy was just getting over a cold and I think that combined with the ear pressure from the airplane, the long day and sitting in the back seat of the car was just too much. As we turned into the Target parking lot in St. George she threw up. Poor thing. She was much better the next day and we were able to have a healthy trip the rest of the time.
Our first major event was preparing for my niece's baby shower. Tyffanee is expecting her first baby, a girl, and we decided at the last minute to throw a shower for her. Even though she isn't from Beaver we have a lot of relatives there and we had a good turn out with a few out-of-towners, including her mom, sister and mother-in-law. Since we decided to host the shower last minute (five days notice for guests) we gave the option of going in on a group gift. This turned out to be a great thing because we were able to get her a Pack-n-Play, a Baby Bjorn and a high chair. She also got lots of cute clothes, blankets and other fun things. I'm so excited to see my cute niece be a mom.
Our next great adventure was celebrating Pioneer Day. My sister came to town and Kennedy enjoyed playing with her cousin, Megyn. My niece, Alyssa, also stayed with us along with her friend Mary. We had a houseful but the more the merrier. Beaver starts Pioneer Day off with their own tradition. At approximately 6 a.m. dynamite can be heard in intervals all around town. Wake up! Time to get ready for the day. After listening to this for about 15 minutes I am ready to get up. My sister and brother-in-law head to the high school track to do the 5K. Alison and I walk because I am usually not in shape for it. It's a fun time to have with my sister, however.
After the 5K we rush home to shower and get ready for the parade. This year Beaver was hosting a little league tournament so a lot of the floats were trucks filled with cute little baseball players from all over the country. The rest of the parade was unremarkable. I was a little disappointed this year. After the parade we head down to the city park where there are kid's foot races (which we never do because I hated them when I was a kid), snow cones, hot dogs, moon bounce and slide, and old friends. Everyone who left Beaver comes home for Pioneer Day and we hope to see each other at the park. It's our yearly reunion. I saw more friends this year than usual, which is fun.
After the festivities at the park we made ready for a family cook-out. We were going to head up the canyon but it turned out to be a rainy day so we went to a local park instead. My mom and her two sisters still live where they have always lived--within two blocks of each other. They all gather their families together and we have a potluck. My cousin, Wade, brought his pony and cart to take the kids on rides. Kennedy loved that. Meanwhile, my dad and I went to check out some antique cars parked along the block--about 7 or 8 cars all belonging to the same man. He happened to pull up in his 1922 speedster and offered to take me for a ride. I love antique cars so I took him up on it. He couldn't convince me to drive it though. That was the highlight of my day.
I told Kennedy that if she took a nap she could stay up for the fireworks. She thought that was a great idea until they actually started. She wanted to go home right now. She then told me that the next time I tell her that she can stay up for fireworks she WON'T take a nap. She made it through and I enjoyed the show too.
I was able to visit with some of my dear friends whom I don't get to see very often. I was able to visit my old high school friends Melanie, Kerrie, Debbie and Alison. I met Lucy at Thanksgiving Point and we went through the Dinosaur Museum. We had a nice visit from Chris's brother and his wife. They spoiled the kids for a whole day. My mom and I took the kids to the "This is the Place Pioneer Park" which was fun. My sister and her kids volunteer there. It was a fun place to spend the day. We also met Nana and Poppa at Thanksgiving Point for a few hours and toured the beautiful gardens there. We had such a good time and it was nice for the kids to see the Kelsey Grandparents since they haven't seen them for a year. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. We feel so loved when we go back to Utah.
Some other highlights of the trip were shopping at many quilt stores, reading the final book of Harry Potter, going on walks with no humidity, and just relaxing a little bit. Now it is time to get back to reality.

Normal People

I've really slacked in the blogging department since we moved to our new house. I can think of two reasons:
1. Our computer is in an upstairs location just outside the kids' rooms. So, when it's nap time I don't usually get on the computer anymore.
2. Life has been really busy!
Almost two weeks ago we took a trip to Washington D.C. I want to write more about that when I am able to download some pictures.
This past Friday Chris finished his residency. . . .just like that! After almost 12 years of knowing him he has finally reached the goal he had in mind when we met. It's been a long haul and we have had some ups and downs but it's finally here.
I was invited to attend the departments end-of-year luncheon. I made arrangements for Tristan to go to a friend's house and I took Kennedy with me. It was a nice buffet-style lunch with a lot of the people from the department there--mostly physicians, residents, techs and some support staff. Chris was awarded an outstanding research award which I missed because I was taking someone to the restroom. The residents presented him with a nice gift certificate to Orvis. Some of the doctors stood up to say some nice things about Chris. Then Chris got up to say a few words. He said he wanted to thank three people. He thanked me first and much to my surprise he got emotional. That made me get teary eyed too. Then he thanked one of the secretaries and his mentor Dr. Marks. He presented Dr. Marks with a quilt I made for him. Again, I will write more on the quilt when I'm able to download the picture. It was a nice day and I had such a giddy feeling in my heart all day long. So glad he's done.
He started his new job yesterday and had a fabulous day in the clinic. After almost 12 years of having smaller goals to reach and moving every 3-5 years we aren't sure what to do next. I guess just live like normal people!

Mickey Mouse Park

Last Sunday we packed up the kids and flew to Orlando where we met two of my siblings, Alison and Steve, and their families. Before we left I knew it would be a great vacation but also very difficult. Tristan is still taking two naps a day and is not used to "sleeping on the go". Nevertheless, we love to travel and we haven't traveled much since Tristan was born 14 months ago so we gave it a shot.

We visited Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom but the best part was being there with family. Little Kennedy adores her cousins. Since we got back we she can't stop talking about Tamsyn, Megyn and Mandy-forget Mickey Mouse!

Some of the highlights from our trip were:

1. Being with family (of course)
2. Kennedy's face when she got to hug Alice in Wonderland



3. The Philharmagic show at Magic Kingdom
4. Baby giraffes at Animal Kingdom
5. Swimming with the kids
6. Free hot breakfast at the hotel!
7. Finding Nemo the Musical
8. Watching Kennedy entertain everyone