Big Bear, Baby!

We headed to down to Big Bear, CA last weekend for our annual vacation with my family. It was a fun  activity filled couple of days. We all arrived late Thursday night, so things didn't really get started until Friday morning. We kicked things off with a quad lift ride up to the top of Snow Summit ski resort and a picnic on to of the mountain. It was so beautiful up there and we could not have asked for better weather! The cousins had a great time running around and exploring. 

After lunch, we divided up. The Quarders and the Malans rode the lift back to the bottom, while Grandma and Grandpa, Megan and Kylie and us hiked down. My stupid, arthritic knees lasted about about 200 yards down the hill before they were screaming in protest, not good when the trail is 1 1/2 miles long. So frustrating, and though I'm glad I did it, I have no interest in going through that again! Kylie and Jenna had to much fun, and Jenna was a champ! I was crazy impressed with how well my Dad did with his back injury and all. He even gave up his hiking poles about half way down so that I could use them. We were also joined by two random dogs who Kylie and Jenna fell head over heals for. They were much better at listening to Ky then they were Jenna, who spent the rest of the hike calling to them. It was really quite stunning up there and it was great to get a little time in nature. 

The kids put on a kazoo/noise maker parade with Grandma and Grandpa. (They were in heaven!)

 There was lots of Buzz Lightyear, giant cowboy hats, playing in cupboards, spinning wheels, and mud! All the very best stuff for kids of all ages. 

 There was dancing in the rain and huddling up in the sauna. There were too many kids in the tub and great family meals around the giant dining room table. 

 There was a ton of crafting; alphabet stickers on construction paper, tie dying shirts, bead & pipe cleaner jewelry, and sticker stories.  There was bocce ball, left, right, center, and an attempt at Settlers of Catan (which was a giant fail).

 I took family pictures of my brother, Scoot's family and my sister, Sara's family. I think I'm getting a little better. Still have a lot to learn, but I learn a little something else each time it seems like.  

 We had a fabulous talent show, spurred on by Ms. Kylie Mae and her excellent gymnastics. 

On the last day, Jenna got her second ever hair cut. Thanks again, Aunt Jen! 

 And then we all headed to the Big Bear Reserve/Zoo. Jenna loved seeing the big bad wolf and birds. 

 Then we headed to the park for a picnic, playing, and finally our good-byes. Yet another fun weekend. I am so grateful for the efforts my whole family goes through to get here and allow us all to get time together. So often if feels as though our time together is rushed when I am in town and these trips allow for much calmer time together. I think it is especially wonderful for the cousins to solidify relationships with both each other and with their aunts and uncles. Love you all and can't wait to do it all over again next year! 

I'm A Democratic Delegate!

So on Monday, April 16th I went to a luncheon for local democrats. The President of the Washington County Democratic Party happened to mention during the lunch that they still had spots open in our district to be a delegate for the Utah Democratic Party. So after the luncheon I approached her and said I would be interested in helping out and the next thing you now I'm at the Utah Democratic Party State Convention to place my votes in the primaries to which candidates we were going to send out into the world to run for various positions. It was a bit overwhelming, and I was very grateful that I had Casey's mom and aunt there to kind of lean on. They have both been delegate for a few years now and were a huge help in getting situated with the process and knowing which caucus to attend and the roles of the caucus'. I chose to attend the women's caucus and the stonewall caucus. They were both very interesting and it was interesting to see how they each had their own way of deliberating if and who to endorse. The whole day was such a great learning experience and I was really proud to be a part of it. 

 My mother-in-law, Lorrie and me

Below is my MiL's dog. (His name is Boo Radley, in case you were wondering) They, Lorrie and Boo, have a very co-dependent relationship, that I don't fully understand. Which is okay, I didn't understand a lot of parents until I became one myself. So, all that being said, throughout the entire morning of the state convention she was obsessed with me checking in with Casey on how Boo was doing. Asking me to text him asking to remind him to speak kindly to Book, wanting to make sure that he had defecated, that he had been out for a walk, to remind Casey that Boo was her precious baby boy. All of these being separate texts. I finally told her I was not going to discuss this topic again. Casey in response sent me the proof of life picture for his mom. {As well as proof of taking a s@%t, but I will spare you that picture.}

We spent Sunday enjoying the park and having a BBQ at Aunt Val and Uncle Larry's. Jenna got to try hitting a ball off the tee and she was phenomenal! Casey nearly exploded with pride, especially since she was batting lefty. Funny the things men find fabulous. 

And yesterday we continued our tradition of hitting up the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. Jenna was fabulous until we tried to take a group picture. She was bound and determined to swim in the fountain and as that was not an option, this was the consequence of being told no. Good times.

As we were wrapping up Jenna starts quoting Russell from Disney's "Up". As he and Carl are dragging the house through the wilderness, his whine begins, "I'm tired. My knee hurts..." Only Jenna changed up the words just a bit. So for the 30 minutes, in the sing song voice, Jenna crooned, "I'm NOT tired." It was hysterical! Wish I had a video, not just the pictures.  

Breaking Dawn: Part One

 Angie, Michelle, and I went to the premier of Breaking Dawn: Part 1...the tradition continues. This year we were joined by Angie's friend, (and my new best friend) Jennie Christensen who was feeling a little left out because she didn't have a ridiculously cool I <3 Vampires shirt. And who wouldn't?! They're fantastic. (Thanks for picking them up Ang) I'm so glad we have continued this, even though the movies are silly, it's just so fun. 

The End of an Era

I flew down for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. My sister Sara and I have officially seen every single Harry Potter movie on opening night. I'll miss this. They haven't always to been easy to get to, this one included. By time I finally got a flight in, rented a car, drove to Mission Valley, I literally sat down to the start of the movie. Loved the movie, love my sister, love this tradition! 

Christmas Eve

My mom knitted all the kids' sweaters for Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve so that everyone else could just hang at home and do whatever. It was a lot of chaos this year it felt like. Usually we are pretty methodical about how we unwrap presents. Starting with the oldest and working our way down we all watch as each person unwraps one present and then we start the cycle over again. That way everyone can see what we each got and gratitude seems a bit better. But with the family growing the way it is and the kids being way too excited to wait 45 minutes between turns, we ended up with a free for all. It was a good night with the family.

Princess Jenna graced us with her presence.

My dad and Holly were of course dressed festively

Grandma Chris and Jenna

Kylie Mae and me

Chris and Chloe reading. One her favorite things to do.

My sisters, Sara and Jose {Megan}

My mom and Bob

I made each of the nieces and nephew a quilt for Christmas and it was fun watching their (or their parents in Shiloh and Cooper's case) reactions.

Chloe and her quilt

My mom also knitted each of the grandkids sweaters and bought matching shirts and skirts to go with. They are really cute.

Kylie, Chloe, Cooper, Jenna, and Shiloh

While we were in town I did a trade with Sara's friend Tracey who owns her own company Huchi Gear that blings out t-shirts and what-not. She added names to Casey and Jenna's stockings. My stocking isn't really conducive to that right now, so I am on the hunt for a new stocking. In exchange The Jenna Rose Collection made her a custom birth announcement keepsake frame. You can see it here. I love how they turned out, especially Jenna's. You may recognize the bow embellishment as the one that Kim Henrie made for our Christmas pictures.

Then we put all the kids in their Christmas pajamas. We tried to get one last picture before bed, but this was the best we could do with 4 tired toddlers...

Then the kiddos headed either home or to bed. One of the traditions in my family is that Santa Claus hides our presents on Christmas Eve and leaves our stocking with them so that we know they are ours. Usually all of our presents would be wrapped in the same paper with Santa on them but I spaced it this year. My mom put together this awesome written history of where this tradition started from (her Grandpa started it forever ago after not ever having Christmas when he was a child). She also included a bag of goodies of all the things that would go in the stockings when my Grandpa was young and then it got passed to my mom's generation and now to us. It was an incredibly thoughtful gift. So one last thing before bed...hide Jenna's gifts with her stocking...