Californa Trip 2014

This year for vacation we went on a trip to  California.  We started on July 3 and drove to Salem and stopped for a visit to see Grandpa Hoisington we then headed down to my cousin Harmony's. We stayed the night and the next morning we rode horses. It was Bray's first time riding a horse he was so nervous at first but at the end was riding all by himself. Even telling us that he was doing tricks. The trick was to make the horse do what you want! We love Harmony and Dan and the Kids. I wish we could of stayed longer.

 We then drove 5 more hours to Ashland where we met my cousin Spring and Brianna. We went to dinner, Tried Lythia water, played at the park and then went and watched fireworks that were wonderful. We then stayed at my Aunt Jenny's house. She was on a trip but Spring was perfect host. Gabby and Kyle slept outside until the sprinkler went off around 4am. We then decided to just get up and leave we at 5:20am.

                                      Trying the Lythia water(sulfur water). It tastes so gross.



We drove 10 hours watching movies, listening to stories. We finally made it to my other cousins house Ian. We had a wonderful visit with Tess and Ian. We spent the day at the Beach. The kids boogie boarded and made sand castles, and just had fun playing in the ocean.
It was another first for Little Man. The bad part was I kept putting sunblock on but, we all got burnt except  Little Man. He wore a rash guard. I think next time I will buy those for the girls as well. After 2 days with Ian, Tess Nancy, John, Kasey and Emily we had to leave. 

We had so much fun visiting my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. Now off to Grandpa Meyers.

Nauvoo Temple

We went to Nauvoo in October. Here is a whole bunch of pictures Kyle took of the Temple. I can't decide which ones I like the best. Which one do you like?

Carthage Jail

While on our trip to Missouri we decided to take a trip north to Illinois to Nauvoo.
On our drive up we stopped at Carthage Jail. It was an experience I will never forget as we learned more about the last few days of the Prophet Joseph Smiths life.
It must of been so scary to see the mob and hear them coming up the stairs. Then hearing and seeing the bullets coming through the door. Them holding the door shut. Watching your brother get hit. It must of been horrific. Joseph went to the window while being shot fell through the window and down to the ground where he was shot many times more. Someone said the Mormons were coming and they all left very quickly. During that time the Nauvoo legend was a large Army.

I am grateful for Prophet Joseph Smith and how he was brave enough to always stand up for what he believed. Even when he was being persecuted for the things he beleived. Never denying the fact that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus and they told him not to join any church. He then restored the gospel to the earth. Moving so many times and being persecuted and chased down for the things he taught. I know he was a prophet and I am grateful for the sacerfices he made for all of us to have the restored gospel.

Lake Michigan

Last October Kyle had a photo shoot in Michigan, and Missouri. I went with him to help. This is our visit to lake Michigan. I couldn't believe there were waves in a lake. I couldn't see the other side of the lake. It surely looked like an ocean to me. I even had to taste the water to make sure it wasn't salt water. It sure was beautiful. We took these pictures at a state park. We ended up doing a mini photo shoot. It was so fun!

Nauvoo Cabin

We stayed in this cute little cabin. That was an original pioneer cabin somewhere in the united States. The owner looks for the old cabins and fixes them up and moves them to Nauvoo. It was so cute the Bathroom looked like an a out house. It was very nice. We liked it!

Georgia Cont.

We love history and asked a ton of people where we might see some civil war or revolutionary war sites. We ended up spending most of our last day exploring such a site. It was a mile walk up the hill. I don't know how they dragged up all those cannons up the hill with out any roads with trees and everything in the way. They definitely were determined. The confederate army was the one who occupied this spot. The museum they had there was wonderful. I wish my kids would of been with us to learn so much about the civil war. Six flags was so much fun Kyles only complaint was that the lines were super long. It was nice to go to amusement park and not be worried about the kids.

Georgia Get Away!

I am still catching up from the months without a working computer. Back in October Kyle had two photo shoots one in Georgia and one in South Carolina. So I decided to go with him and we had a wonderful time!

When we first arrived we found our hotel got something to eat and then went and watched a movie I remember it being good, but I couldn't tell you the name. We woke up next morning and went and did a photo shoot. Then explored on our way up to south Carolina where the next photo shoot was. The people in the south were so friendly.
We went to 1 civil war site, Highest place in Georgia, Found some water falls, Went to a Norwegian town during Oktoberfest and to top it off we went to 6 flags. We had a fantastic time. I have a ton of pictures.



We went looking for some waterfalls and this is the only one we found.



The highest place in Georgia is Brasstown Bald we got there right at dusk so we started climbing to the top. Let me tell you I am so out of shape. Kyle went ahead to take some of these pictures before it was too dark. As you can see it was pretty dark. We then started back in the dark with just my cell phone for light. My cell isn't that bright and of course Kyle had to keep making bear sounds to freak me out. I was freaking out a bit. It was such a beautiful sunset. On our way up to the highest place in GA. We saw a ton a leaves turning unfortunately it got too dark, for me to take some good pictures, but I have a couple of pictures I took from the car window.



As you can see I didn't do those trees justice. In the top picture look at all the reds I had never seen anything like it. This is what I get when I take pictures in a moving car.



Here we are at October fest. The music was loud and fun! Kyle lived in Germany as a child and Heidelberg is where he lived. It reminded me a lot of Leavenworth. It had a ton of cute shops.



We had decided before we left that we would attend the Georgia Temple while we were there. We planned our hotel and everything around us going. It was Kyle's first temple he went to when he was 12 for baptisms. After we were in our hotel the night before Kyle went to look up the temple schedule and we found out it was closed. It had been for a year. If we had known we could of went to a temple in South Carolina. So if you look closely in our pictures you can see men up by Moroni.

Idaho fun!

I went with my Mom, my sister Carlee her son Blake and Lydia and Lilly to visit my little sister Alisa at college and my Brother Jared and his family last week.
We went for Mothers weekend at BYU I.

The drive was something the first day it took us 12 hours just to get to Boise. We ended up stopping alot to feed dear little Lilly. Every time we would stop it would end up being at least 40min. We stayed in a hotel in Boise. The next day was a little better but the 2 kiddies in the back seat were a little more restless. We made it in to Rigby in a reasonable time frame. We then picked up my little sister Alisa and she came and stayed with us at Jared's house. We just hung out and visited.

On Friday we all went up to Rexburg to bring Alisa back for her classes. We went to the BYU bookstore were they were having some specials because of the weekend. The only problem was chasing 3 toddlers around the store. I don't know how people do it with multiples(twins,triplets etc.). Next time I am bringing my double stroller. We went to Gandolfo's the restaurant that my brother and his in laws own and run. It has the best sandwiches. The salads were wonderful. So if you live in Idaho you need to go and eat there. There Gandolfos restaurant is in Idaho Falls. That night we went to a basketball game where we watched my cute little sister Cheer at the game. She was so cute and they did a great job. Lydia was copying all of their moves doing spirit fingers and everything. I might have some cheerleaders in the future. During one point she was able to come up to the stands and talk with us. The kids were so excited! When she had to go back and cheer, they all started crying Alisa. They were just a little tired.

I am so proud of my little sister she is such a great example for my girls. She is always trying to do what is right. She is having a wonderful time at college. Alisa you are the best!!!!!

Saturday my Mom and Carlee went to a Mom's breakfast with Alisa. While I hung out with Ali at the house with all the kiddos. Later Carlee and Jared's friend from High School came over for a visit. She lives in Rexburg too. It was so nice to visit with her and her two little girls. We then went to Sonic for dinner(I love their slushies).

Sunday we went to church in Jared's Ward. I have never been to a ward with so many members. There is 4 wards in this building right now. There was so many people that it was hard to move around. The nursing lounge had 4 women in it. Do the builders of the church buildings get that there is usually more then one baby born at a time in most wards. Please make the rooms bigger for more then 2 people. The meeting was so nice. We then stopped by Nicole's house for a short visit. My Mom picked up Alisa and we all hung out at Jared's. We had a wonderful dinner we all pitched in with a roast we put in the crock pot. It was very good. It was a wonderful trip. I can't wait to go back with all of my family!!!

Jared and Ali we love you thanks for putting up with all of us.

Alisa we love you too.

Zion's Camp Memorial Weekend Fun

We decided to go to Zion's camp again this time for Memorial weekend. It all started that we were going and we invited Tj's boys to play with our girls. We invited grandma and then Rex and Nene came with their boys and camped. Emily Steve and Simon came.Danielle brought the boys up and Kyla for a few hours. Mike and Mo and their kiddies came on Saturday and camped too. We all had a fantastic time visiting and just hanging out.

We had tons of fun at the lake, making smores and just plain playing. The kids tried archery and liked it. It was really fun. We went to Church with aunt Nene! It was so nice to relax and play.

Waterslide fun on the Fourth of July

 

 

We woke up on the fourth and we all put on 4Th of July T-shirts. Thanks to Walmart and their $2.50 shirts. We ate breakfast and went on our way to getting ready for the water park. Bathing suits, sunscreen water socks and some good clean fun.

We ate lunch at the park in the motor home. Then we all were able to get the group rate and we were in. My girls do not do water very well. So we were worried we wouldn't get our monies worth. It worked out great the kiddie area had it's own slides and squirting things. Lydia and Gabby loved the lazy river. Belle and Miley hated the river. Gabby and Miley liked the big water slides. Gabby decided to go on the slides with her cousins. She had a blast.

It was so much fun I think we will do Wild Waves next Summer.

The Fireworks at the Reunion

Reunion Tent City

We made it to Nampa on Thursday and it was hot close to 100 degrees. We set up our tent in the yard of the Holadays. Along with 5 other families. To counter the heat Kyle bought a fan and an extension cord. Which worked well. It was so fun to camp with all of the family.

 

Once we were settled and ate we found out that Cousin Doug was doing a Firework Show that night. So we all lined up our chairs to watch along with a whole bunch of people from their ward. They counted at least 30 children and that didn't count the adults. After the firework show. All of the kids were able to do some Sparklers. It was a lot of fun. Lydia slept most of the show on Grandma's lap.

California fun!!

We just got back from our Anniversary trip to California. It was a few weeks early but it was fun anyway. Kyle ended up having to do a photo shoot in LA so I went along.

Thanks to my fabulous sister Carlee babysitting my 4 wonderful girls plus her 2 as well. It made the trip much less stressful. Thank You Carlee you are the best!!!

We ended up staying at my Grandpa's house in Redondo Beach. It was fun to see my cousins aunts and uncle's. Kyle and I went to the the beach, Disneyland and did alot of shopping. It was a nice break from all my sweet children.