Fishing Trip with Dad and Grandpa

Greg decided that he wanted to take the girls on a fishing trip up to the La Sals by Moab with his dad.  I told him I thought he was braver than I was but he was sure it would be fine and the girls were so excited.  Actually when they go places with just their dad they are amazingly awesome.  It is probably because he is much more relaxed than me.  

Me waiting for Grandpa to arrive.  I decided to post it because I actually look good in a picture Greg took of me.

The girls waiting for Grandpa to come. 

The best part of the trip-the snacks.

Both girls caught a fish but after only a few minutes decided that they didn't want to fish any more.  They just wanted to pretend fish and eat snacks by Grandpa.  I am sure they talked his ear off.  Greg said they were so incredibly good.

More snacks.

Sneaking another snack.

Proof that the snacks were good and Brailie was worn out.

Can you say bedraggled?

One more chip face.

And even after a long day of fishing they still had huge smiles.  I think it was a big success.  Oh and it was cause the men caught almost 75 fish between the two of them.

On the way home pics by my hubby.  Aren't they great?

Fishing in Monroe and the big catch

While in Monroe the dad's took the kids fishing.  Allie is in love with fishing-she was so excited.  Brailie fell asleep on the way home from out picnic so she didn't make it on this trip but she is in love with fishing too.  This was Allie's lucky fishing trip.

Chatting with Zach

Cute fisher girl

Help from a pro

The big catch-it was Allie's first fish ever

Yep Allie that is just how I was-I will catch em but I ain't touchin em.  Way to go girl.

Easter Weekend At Grandma's in Monroe

This year for Easter we went to Monroe to Greg's parents house there with his brother Ryan and his family and sister Carrie and her family.  The weekend involved seeing baby lambs, a big Easter egg hunt, a fishing trip and tons of playing with cousins.  The girls had a blast.  I think Allie could have stayed and played for a week longer and probably gone with minimal bathroom breaks, food breaks and sleep. 

A lamb that had just been born (okay so they are not cute until they are at least cleaned off and fluffy is what we learned from this experience).

Looking for the lambs

Easter egg hunt

A full load of candy

Another full load.  She was happy when her basket had 4 eggs in it and thrilled when it had 37

The loot

In Grandpa's footsteps.

Pioneer Day Weekend Part 1-The Cousins Collages

Over Pioneer Day weekend (July 24th) we went to Greg's parents new house in Monroe for the weekend.  Carrie and her family were there and so was Ryan and his family.  We missed Kalen and Mandy and their kids this year.  I took about 500 pictures over the weekend and have just begun sorting through them to find the good ones.  I decided to make a collage of each of the cousins that was there.  More pictures of the weekend to come.

Grandma's Easter Egg Hunt

Grandma set up an Easter Egg hunt for the girls April 16th since they would be gone for Easter.  They were both feeling pretty sick but they really enjoyed looking for the eggs.  This was Brai's first official Easter egg hunt since she was still little last year.  She totally got the hang of it.  Grandma also gave the girls dolls for Easter and they love them.  Thanks Grandma.

Pioneer Day Weekend

We went to Monroe for Pioneer Day (July 24th) and the festivities they put on and to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Parsons new house for the weekend. Let me just insert that we love the new house: roomy, lots of bathrooms, room for the kids to run and I personally covet the kitchen and the glass front cupboards and the over sized island. Anyway all the family came at some point in the weekend which was super fun for Allie. She adores her cousins and loves playing with them. I can't believe that she isn't shy or hesitant around them at all like she is with some other kids. She just dives right into the fun. It was so great to see her with the other girls playing and running and of course her and Zach got along great as well. All in all it was a pretty good weekend. We had a showing of the "terrible two's" when it came to bedtime a couple of nights (those who were home are probably thinking "ya, terrible two's-more like horrific two's") but it could have been worse is what I have to tell myself. The weather was perfect and the festivities were...well festive.
The day started off with a parade-note to self: when watching a parade do so from the shaded side of the street and avoid having your brain baked by the sun. I knew this but we were late getting to the parade and had to take what we could get. It didn't seem to bother the kids much.
Allie ran back and forth between everyone giving a commentary of what was happening in the parade (possibly a future career path-who knows).

After the parade daddy took Allie down to the park where his family was selling cotton candy and snow cones while mommy and Brailie took a much needed nap. Allie got to ride in this fire truck (super cool).

Later that evening Grandma kicked us out of the house while she was having a class reunion so we all went out to eat and ended up at a restaurant with a broken air conditioning. People-if you having no AC in the middle of summer put a sign on your business door stating that fact and offer a 10% discount. We had hungry small children and were settled when they bothered to inform us that the air was actually broken so we stayed anyway. We were compensated with extra ice. After eating (the food was mediocre I might add), we went to Greg's cousins to see his elk and other animals.

Ignore the wonderful hairstyle my daughter is sporting and imagine her giving a running commentary to her cousin Rylee about the animals in the fences. "Wanna come see? Come on, lets go."

Rylee was not as enthused as Allie. Good to see a bit of my farm side coming out in her.

Brailie getting friendly with this mule.

The evening finished with fireworks. Allie's words were, "oh wow, that was my favorite one." (said after most of them)

On day two, cousin Kinsey came and that added even more excitement cause now all the cousins were together and they played and played. Grandma said she wanted to get a picture of all the cousins together. Now when ever I hear those words my blood pressure immediately starts to rise because I know what a task it is to get all the cousins together and I also know that there is about a 1 minute window of time that the picture will actually work and I don't want to be the parent who's kid is not cooperating-causing the picture to have to take much longer than necessary which usually leads to children crying, parents yelling and empty promises of ice cream and other treats if they will "just sit still." Guess what-I was that parent-my child would not cooperate. AHHHHHHHH. Before the babies came out the cousins were just sitting waiting so perfectly

And then we have this:

and this,

and this. And then Allie was everywhere.

Brailie actually loves to get her picture taken. She always smiles for the camera.

The reason no cousins wanted to have their pictures taken was because of this pile of left over ice from the snow cones. It was just too tempting and much more fun.

And then we have this-the family picture. It doesn't happen that often that we get together as a family so we wanted to get a family picture. Can I just ask the question: Are there any families out there in which the taking of a family photo brings out love, joy, closeness and agreement? In my life experience I would have to say NOPE!!! Something about families and cameras just don't seem to mix I have to say. Then the photographer says, "Smile you are supposed to look happy." We'll let the pictures speak for themselves. (P.S. Greg says, it looks like I am trying to get him to stop pinching my bum but I was trying to hide Braille's bottle).

Good times, good times. Thanks family for getting together. We had a good time seeing everyone and our children had a blast. It is fun to get to travel to visit Grandma and Grandpa. "Over the river and through the woods..."