Lake Powell 2011

God was so intentional when He created the Earth, and not only intentional but extravagantly beautiful. I have had the opportunity to travel to some amazing places, and I am always in awe of God's creativity. Now I do think God gave Montanans something extra special, so I may be a little partial and spoiled by God's beauty. But the rock sculptures and the exceptionally blue waters of Lake Powell were incredible!

This trip is high on the list of my favorite vacations. My mom, dad, both sisters and our most wonderful friends, Mike and Siama and their family all went. You'd think twelve people on one houseboat would be a recipe for disaster, but it was wonderful. We all really enjoyed spending time together without any distractions, and no schedules. There was lots of hiking, boating, swimming and sitting in the sun reading. Really, does it get any better than that?!

"Decorating" the campfire area.

Ave & Nana

The girls sunning their legs.

You can't tell by that face but Gray loved this game!

Man time.

Graysen & Auntie Miss

Graysen using his golf club for a guitar, yeah, he's that awesome!

Campfire time

Me & my sis!

Auntie Mandy & Gray

Ave's first tube ride (and a great pic of my bottom, thanks Ben)

Me & Ave

Heading to Rainbow Arch

It was beautiful!

Graysen missed out on the arch, he napped instead.

Ave

Getting up there was easy, getting down was another story!

Mom & Amanda

The boy's rockin' air guitar style

Gray's sweet jelly stash!

Graysen and Papa

Decorating for Miss's birthday party

Melissa's excellent surprised face!

Yep, we're that cool!

Lookin' good!

Back at the hotel, exhausted!

Summer's Finally Here!

We are now well into summer and enjoying every bit of it! But before I begin to share all the fun adventures we have had, here are a few pictures of Ave's end of school performance.

Ave & one of her teachers, Mrs. Twitchell

Santa Barbara and Caity!

Oh, my friend Caity, well we have been friends since Kindergarten days when we were inseparable. It amazes me we have been able to live so close and have been able to see each other here and there! And no matter how long it has been, we always start where we left off, catch up and laugh at old times. She is the description of a true friend.

Well, Cait is leaving for Europe for part of the summer, so we decided to meet up in Santa Barbara before she leaves LA. We first headed to the Botanic Gardens, which were beautiful. The kids enjoyed getting out and running around, despite the fact we walked out of the house without Graysen's shoes. Oh well, I guess that flies when your one and a half. After that we enjoyed a great dinner on State Street, and before heading home, we stopped and let the kids burn off some energy at a beautiful park right by the beach.

Okay, so this is a terrible picture, but just for the record...

Despite what they may say, the Botanic Gardens are not "stroller friendly".

But what a man, right?? Not to mention, Gray thought this was AWESOME.

He's Just Too Cute!

Take Your Kid(s) To Work Day!!

I'd say for their first day on the job, they did pretty well!

Mothers' Day 2011

We had a great mother's day. It seemed to creep up awfully fast this year, as I have yet to get cards in the mail. Maybe they'll get there in time for next Mother's Day?! Anyway, Ben was TDY to Florida again last week but he got home on Friday and we got to spend the weekend together. I even got out for a much needed pedicure on Sunday, aww.

This was my Mother's Day present from Avery. Every mom needs an aluminum foil crown blinged out with Hello Kitty stickers. It's pretty rockin'!

Easter 2011

I love Easter, probably my favorite holiday, and with good reason! Easter is the only reason we hold so much hope and find so much joy in life. Because we see the bigger picture, God's picture. This is just the beginning. Christ's suffering and death was just. the. beginning. and then He rose and brought hope to a hopeless world.

There is so much to celebrate, and of course, it makes sense to do that with an egg hunt, right?! Okay, not really, but it is totally fun anyway!

This was her "favorite" egg.

Do I look stressed??

Yes, we had egg salad sandwiches for days!

Cute butterfly, huh? Thanks to Ann Moore's mad face painting skills!

Ave & Evie

Hey, who's that cutie?

Still lookin'...

Boy, was he happy when he figured out there were M&M's in those!

Easter Pictures? Not so much...

I've decided it's time to learn some mean photoshop skills. Here is the archive of pictures, after many failed attempts and serious bribery, to take a good Easter picture of the kids.

After all that, I think we decided to go with...

THIS ONE!!!

That's the Best Lookin' Mud Pie I've Ever Seen!

She even "garnished" with leaves and baked it in the sun overnight! Gotta give that girl points for creativity.

Avery's Princess Party!

For Avery's birthday this year, she decided she wanted a princess party. Of course, right? But the problem was squeezing one into our already busy schedule last month. So on a Wednesday afternoon, we had a mommy-daughter luncheon with a few of Ave's girlfriends. So fun! It was a great time, the girls decorated cupcakes and just had a great time playing together.

Waaaaay Too Much Fun At The Beach...