Meet 3 - Auburn

So, on our way to Utah (to take Eugene to EFY and for the rest of us to take a break--pictures of the fly-fishing trip Cher and I took will be posted later--if we ever get the pictures from our guide), we made a leisurely stop in Auburn to participate in that day's swim meet. We were 90 minutes into an 11 hour drive. Fun, but that should tell you something about how much we loved swim!

Two cuties, one with lots of patience, and one that we'll say cannot wait to be in the pool (or we cannot wait to have in the pool:)

Hayden enjoying our favorite mid-morning swim snack--popcorn! This was Meet 3, and Hayden originally did not want to swim in the meets. He promised to swim in 2, and here he is yet again. Sun, water, and popcorn. So simple.

Getting out of the water can be cold sometimes. Callie has found some sun and warm asphalt. Whatever it takes, I guess. Of course, dramamine may have been a contributing factor--all of the kids have trouble with the windy part of I80 through the mountains to Reno.

Callie getting ready to race standing between Ed Mavy, a good friend, and coach Kevin (on whom I'm pretty sure she had at least a small crush--but who wouldn't fall for a guy that paints his fingernails, shaves a mohawk into his hair, and dyes it blond?).

Elvis Graduated June 2011

Congratulations to Elvis who graduated in June. We are proud of you and happy you made it.
Walking with his class. There he is in the second to last line. Fashionably late?

Receiving his diploma. Sorry about the distance, I didn't have the telephoto with me, and don't have the steady hand to use it anyway:)

His final day as a wolverine! Sadly, Elvis also moved out two days later. We hope he finds happiness and success through hard work and righteous living.

Fallen Leaf Lake

Our first camping trip after school ended was to Fallen Leaf Lake. It is an amazing lake and campground right next to Lake Tahoe. We borrowed a friend's tent-trailer and loved it so much we had our own a few weeks later. This place was beatiful and there are bear sightings almost every day--we did not see one:(

Another view of the family in the tent trailer. I grew up in Alaska and actually resented these and other RVs because it seemed like everytime I turned around my favorite camping spots were paved under to make room (sorry Beyer's Lake). With a family and California, I now don't mind so much.
The better looking part of the family walking toward the lake.

Beautiful. The family and the mountains. You can see the snow. The weather was nice, but cold at night.

My favorite shot.

Another favorite of my favorite people.

Here we have bundled up for dinner. A wonderful tinfoil dinner made in the dutch over. We love dutch oven cooking by the way.

Some yummy bread we made in the dutch oven being held by my beautiful bride.

Peach and strawberry cobler (dutch over of course). So good.

It got cold enough we moved inside--though it may have been less about the cold and more about being in the tent trailer. The kids love it too.

Getting ready to fish. This end of the lake was very shallow for about 30 yards. Hard to fish. But fun to spend time together.

We took an adventuresome hike through a gully to a dam where the lake runs into a stream heading toward Lake Tahoe. No fishing in the stream until July 1. Looked like the fishing would have been good too.

Playing one of our new favorite past times. Callie and Hayden cannot get enought Uno.

Second Meet

If you're wondering what you're looking at, it's Hayden just about to touch the wall in first. This came to be a pretty common thing--though there are a few boys in Auburn that had his number:)

Callie diving in. She has great dives and can dolphin kick very well.

Hayden showing us good form in freestyle.

Huddling in the early morning cold. Imagine getting in the water!

First Swim Meet

So, our first swim meet experience was in the rain. We are told it was the first time it rained on meet day in 12 years (or somewhere around there). We had a great time and things just got better as the season went on. Thanks to the Mavy's for introducing us and for Callie for her insistence/persistence.

Note again the cell phone pictures. First meet, and we forgot the camera:)

Memorial Day

Memorial Day was overcast but fun. We had a picnic at the Temple and then swimming and a BBQ at Nana and Gramps. I apologize for photo qaulity on some of this stuff--we don't always have a nice camera handy, but a cell phone is always there.

This last pic isn't from memorial day, its the day before. I don't remember why they merited such big ice-cream, but they got as much as they wanted. I think ice-cream should be a never-ending tradition.

Mother's Day

This year for Mother's Day, I was made a wonderful breakfast of eggs, biscuts, fruit, and a green smoothie. Jeff took pictures while Callie & Hayden followed orders and went to work. Everything was so yummy. It was a relaxing morning with Jeff at home as his Sunday meetings were just about all canceled. It was so nice! (no pictures of older boys, as they were sleeping in. Bells slept in until it was just about time to eat, which Jeff was really happy about :)

For dinner, my parents and brother and family came over for dinner. My parents organized the whole thing again, we just had to provide the house and salad and drink. It was great! It's so fun to get together and share laughs and memories.