Vacation??? No...Family Time!

For those of you who are NOT on Facebook, I am making this post.

I am here in Vancouver, Wa at the inlaws enjoying time with good friends and family. I am here so that I can leave my girls with gramma and grampa to meet my husband of almost 11 years, for our annual Les Schwab Assistant Manager meeting. It is the one time a year that we are away for our kids and and we get to feel like newleyweds all over again. It's AWESOME! I am in serious need of this right now and I can't wait until Monday when I will fly to SF and meet my man at the airport. THe girls will have tons of fun at gramma's and I'm not worried about them at all. I'm sure I will be ready to see them again after 5 days but for now I am daydreaming of the Hilton and meals cooked and served, a bathtub, dressing up, sleeping in and all those glorious things!!

Happy Birthday Derek!!

Happy Birthday to my one true love and best friend!! You make me laugh every day and you are an awesome Daddy. You work hard to provide for us and you are such a good man! I love you, forever.

Our day at the Lake(s)

We enjoyed a day at Lake Tahoe and Spooner Lake yesterday. It was Derek's day off and I like to take advantage of the time we have together as a family. It' s important to me to do things together and make memories. We hiked 2.1 miles around Spooner Lake. It was beautiful scenery and we saw lots of little creatures, no big creatures thank goodness. Afterwards we headed down to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe. It was very busy but we found a good spot and the girls had fun in the sand and water. It was a great day!!

Montana

In front of the Snake River/falls and Idaho Falls Temple (My family was sealed here 28 years ago)




Leaving my parents house. Traditional picture in front of our car

Girls with Grandma and Grandpa

Going for a ride in Grandpa's '48 Ford


On the Carousel in Missoula

Park overlooking the river by the carousel

Bryanna= 3 fish Daddy and Grandpa=0 fish

4th of July celebration. Grandpa did all the fireworks!

We ventured off in the blue minivan to see my parents in Montana, 15 hours away from Carson City. We drove through the night so that the kids could sleep halfway there but Derek and I ended up being very exhausted so we won't be doing it that way again. Being in Montana is very relaxing and quiet. My parents live an hour away from the big town so we only went up there one day to go to the Carousel and park. The girls had fun swinging on Grandpas homemade swing and obstacle course. They picked radishes from the garden, played a marching band for Grandma and even got their own Little Red Hen book from Grandma since that was her favorite book as a child. Grandpa took them for a ride in his truck, the bobcat and his beloved '48 Ford. We made some great memories, ones I know my girls will always
remember. We decided on our way home we would stop in Idaho Falls to stay with my Aunt Dorothy. It just happened to be the weekend of their family reunion so I got to see most of my cousins and that was fun. I always love to visit Idaho Falls, I have a lot of childhood memories there. All in all I am very glad we made the trip. Time spent with my parents is rare and wonderful. I wish that we could see them more often, if only we didn't have to drive 15 hours!!!

Happy 4th Of July

4th of July 2008, Virginia City, NV



We are going to be enjoying the fourth with my parents in the middle of no-where Montana. We are excited to see them and the girls are excited for all the adventure in the woods! We hope you all enjoy your 4th celebrations. We are so grateful to live in this country and for the freedoms we have and thanks to those who paved the way for us and those that are serving to protect it!

My Wish List

Here are some of the things on my current wish list. It's fun to browse online and at least act like you might be purchasing something even though you know you really can't!! It's just fun!

Gracie on 2 Wheels

Gracie has reached one of her summer goals: riding her bike without training wheels!! Our goals for her this summer was to do just that and also tie her own shoes. She came up to me one day and said "mommy I just learned how to snap-check, and I can ride on two wheels-check!" She is obviously keeping track and very proud of herself. We are proud of her too! Go Gracie Go!