May 7th-11th, 2008
Behind the scenes there was a lot of buzzing going on as we all were coordinating a surprise party for my Dad for his 70th birthday. Thank you to all who worked so hard to pull the party off. It was so fun and so many family and friends where there. Thank you Ronz who did an amazing slide show of Dads life.
I decided to fly to Utah a few days early to spend some extra time with my siblings. I was just going to hang out at the condo but the day before I left, I got a light-bulb idea to drive to my sister Michele's house in Wyoming. It sounded a bit crazy at the time because I was traveling with the kids with out my hubby because the plane tickets that worked around Marks schedule cost $850, hundreds more than mine and the boys tickets cost put together, argg!! Anyway, the kids and I had a wonderful time. Michele let her kids play hookie from school and all the kids played till they dropped. Between the trampoline in the back yard and the park directly accross the street, my kids were in play heaven.
My favorite part was just talking with my sister. I enjoyed every minute of chatting with Michele. Her ears were probably very tired when we finally went to bed. Sorry Chele. But I have to say the kids favorite part of Wyoming was helping their cousins feed their 4-H pigs. Now, you would think because I was raised on a farm that my kids would know about animals and be so familiar with them. Yes, it is sad to say that most of their exposure has come from a book. Unfortunately my kids are city slickers.
Playing in the pig pen here is a little different than their pig pen bedroom back in Cali.
Lukie prided in making funning faces every time I tried to take a picture. I had to get sneaky with my shots.
Here Michele is working her tail off while I'm acting busy while taking pictures of the kids.
Logan wanted to take his cousin for a ride, but luckily for Mallary, he wasn't strong enough to move the wheelbarrow.
These two were just so cute together, unless Logan wanted to show who was stronger, then poor little Mallary wasn't an even match for Logan the heavyweight.
Here is another one of Lukies poses. The "I'm adorable right?" pose is what I think was the look he was going for.
After the rendezvous in Wyoming. I drove back to Utah. I picked Suz and spent all day with her on Friday running errands and getting things done. It was so nice to catch up on her life and....she probably got an ear full as well. I liked having one on one time with my siblings, I feel you get to know them better. It can get pretty chaotic when we all get together after all there are nine of us and if you mix in all the kids then just forget about a quiet room in the house. All of my brothers and sisters (sans Trevor) got together at the condo. I had a great time. The kids loved playing with their cousins. My kids don't even acknowledge that I exist when cousins are around. Sometimes that is nice but sometimes I start to feel like what an empty nester might feel. Here are a few of the pics while we were at the condo.
Suz and Breanne. Little Breannes skin was tinted orange because she ate so many sweet potatoes. I wonder if I could eat something that would make me look tan?
Here Madison is being the beautician on her aunt Chele.
Logan was passing out the vitamin waters to all who would accept. Paige ended up accepting most of his donations and then would pass them back up the line back to the case of vitamin waters. I don't think he caught on because he did this for about a half hour, thinking he was sharing with everybody. We all had a good laugh.
Jay was trying to make 3 women happy at once. Amazingly enough he had no problems with this tough crowd.
Dal and Misty holding down the fort.
Now for the birthday surprise. Drum roll please. Sorry this is quite a long post but a lot went down this week.
We all headed out to Roosevelt on Saturday afternoon. Suz and I barely made it there in the nick of time. I guess I should have budged extra time so when we came to a stopped fire-engine that was putting out a boat fire, I would have had time to watch it and not be stressed. Pretty bizarre. Well, we managed to get there about 10 minutes before Dad did. We quietly waited at the stake center waiting for dad to arrive.
Russ and Ran had the door covered waiting to jump. Then.....well Dad ended up coming through the back door. You could tell he was shocked. I think it took him a bit to figure out what was going on. Here is a video of the initial surprise. I have to apologize because I was really excited and emotional and I forgot I was filming and so the camera is all over the place. And yes I sound really loud...sorry. Its the only video I have and I would love it if any of my siblings that have pictures or video to send it to me and I'll replace it with the one I have. I'm definitely not made for the media business.
Me, my boys and my Grandma Watkins (my dads mom). I can only hope I can as mentally sharp as she is at her age.
A rare siblings only picture. We are missing Trevor here.
A picture with the birthday boy and little Breanne was having nothing to do with anyone else but her mom.
Obi-Wan vs. Superman and the strongest super Hero is..... The oldest of course
Mckee told Luke that "I will protect you if they turn this plane on"
This is their favorite hobby.... except maybe catching lizards
Mck and Luke at the Grand Canyon... Logan was almost in the picutre
