Skyline Park

We were so thankful we stayed two weeks in California, because the first week was wet and rainy.  Week two was much nicer!  We were looking for a place to go for a day trip with the family... something family friendly, cheap and fun for all ages.  We were originally thinking about Muir Woods, but then my brother-in-law suggested Skyline Park in Napa.  Seriously brilliant.  Cheap, no crowds and only 30 minutes away for all of us!

Ethan, Brayden, Matt, Kate and Dallyn finding swords  sticks while we ate lunch.

Lots of beautiful picnic areas everywhere!

I could have admired this view ALL day.... sigh....

How nice of the park to provide a port potty.  It looked attractive, but the smell was horrific.
Given it's location along the trail, it probably doesn't get a lot of maintenance. 

Megan and Kate

At first the road was surrounded by oaks and scrub brush, but the deeper we walked into the canyon, the prettier it got.

Ferns, rocks and a waterfall... what more could you ask for?  Is this really just a few miles from downtown Napa?

Moss and lichen were growing on EVERYTHING!

Nine cousins made this hike.  Lyndi was missed, but stayed home sick with a 24 hour flu bug.  

This lake was our final destination for the day.  It was absolutely gorgeous!

Proof I was there.... I often have to ask people to take my picture or I won't end up being in any at all.  I'm so glad all my kids have a love for the outdoors.  I love spending time with our family!

20 Years and Counting...

I'm not sure if it was fate or not, but we ended up being home visiting during our 20th wedding anniversary.  This beautiful LDS temple was where we were married in Oakland, CA. 

This is the view of the Bay from terrace on top of the Temple

This temple has always been my favorite.  It's the temple I grew up going to for baptisms, and it's the temple I vowed I would be married in.  I was lucky that Eric was also from the Bay Area, so there was no debate about our wedding location when the time came!

Pictures like this make me Sooooo homesick for my Bay Area.... 

There is a beautiful christmas light display at the Oakland Temple.  We were lucky that the night we picked to go was pretty quiet.  We really did have the place to ourselves.  (Maybe because it was COLD and windy....)

Every year the temple has been closed during Christmas vacation for one of it's bi-annual cleanings.  They will open up one day during that time to accomodate live sealings.  So, we've never been able to go back to the temple and do any work there for our anniversary.  Since I knew we'd be there for our 20th anniversary, I decided to check the schedule again, just in case, and guess what... they were open! We were able to take some family names and go do proxy sealings for some of Eric's ancestors.  It's been too long since we've been in the sealing room, and I was super grateful to be able to go back and be reminded of the special blessings that come with a temple marriage.

This was the only picture I managed to get of Eric and I in front of Our Temple.  I'm so thankful to have him in my life.  Best decision I ever made!

Family Pictures

We spent our entire Christmas vacation visiting family in the Motherland of Northern California.  It was stressful and exhausting in many ways, but also so fun and rewarding!  

Here's some family pics we took in my grandma's backyard while my brother and his family were down from Eureka.  We had less than two days together, so we decided to do our family pictures while we were visiting my grandma.  She has a picture friendly backyard anyway, and I love being able to kill two birds with one stone.  

Thanks Annie for teaching me this trick to get a fun picture of all the kids together.  Afterwards, Brayden said, "Why does everyone have to tickle me?" I promised him that next time, I'll ask everyone to tickle Ben instead.

I'm so excited to be an aunt again... and we didn't know it yet when we did the pictures, but Adam and Delia are having a GIRL!  That's going to pose a real challenge for the woman whose favorite color is black.  I don't know how much self restraint my mother will be able to exhibit.  I wasn't a big fan of pink when I had Megan, and neither is Delia.  Poor mom!

This picture was a chore to get.  Brayden was not in the mood to cooperate.  And you can see how forced most of their smiles are.  I can almost guarantee Taylor was muttering something under his breath like, "just smile, so we can get this over with."  

 I don't think Grandma expected to be put into our family pictures that day in her backyard, but she should have known better.  Of course, she was dressed pretty cute, so maybe she suspected, and decided to be prepared!

This picture was too cute not to include.  My aunt and uncle were at my grandma's house the day we did our pictures, so they became our photographers.... and my Aunt Karen, just had to sneak into this one.  Love it!  

Four generations of girls... and another girl on the way!

I love this picture... the last year has been a rough one for my grandma with her health, and quite by accident I caught her and my mom having this private moment.  I wish I knew what she said to my mom... it was obviously funny!

Cousins

Now I know why I've slacked off so badly on the blog.  Now that I shoot photos in RAW format, it's so much more work to make them blog ready.  (But it's worth the effort...)

Here's some shots from a photo shoot we did just for fun in my hometown with Taylor and my niece, Ashlyn.  They are three days apart and super close.... despite the 800 miles of interstate separating them.  (Thank goodness for cell phones and Facebook, right?)

Ashlyn hasn't had any senior photos done yet, so we went Downtown and had some fun taking pictures of her and both of them together.  These are some of my favorites!

Next fall, Taylor will be who knows where serving a church mission, and Ashlyn will be going to college somewhere in Utah... if not BYU Provo, then I think Weber State is choice #2... then Utah State... can't wait to see where she ends up!  She's one talented and beautiful girl.  I'm so thankful we have her in our family.  

             

                  

 

A New Year

One of my four goals for the year is to blog at least once a week.  I figure Sunday will most likely be my mandatory blogging day, so I'm starting off easy with posting some pictures we had taken over Thanksgiving weekend.  Annie Critchfield came to visit her family for the holiday, so I quickly booked some of her time.  As you can see, she did a fabulous job!  Thanks, Annie!  (She is currently living in Provo, UT, but comes to Phoenix to visit her family here a couple times a year.)  Check out her blog (linked on her name) or her Facebook page.  She is awesome!

2012 in a Nutshell

Since my blogging has been less than stellar this year, I'm going to attempt a short recap...

Our year (2012) in a nutshell:

Eric:

• Survived another year as EQ President.  Got released when our ward boundaries were rearranged, enjoyed 10 glorious days with no calling, and got called back again to be EQP in our new ward.  He's a trooper.  
• Became a cycling addict.  Literally... he LOVES to ride his road bike.  He even got me out of bed on Friday mornings during the summer at 4 a.m. to go for rides with a group of our friends.  
• Spent 10 days in China on a "man trip" with my dad, my brother, my uncle and my cousin's hubby. He had a fabulous time.  I'm so happy he was able to have this "once in a lifetime" experience.  Highlights included the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, watching my dad and brother eat scorpions and shopping for Rolex's in the Chinese Underground shopping market.  

Christy:

• Took a couple spring classes at Chandler Gilbert Community College.  Learned a lot about hmy new Mac, Photoshop, Illustrator, and my camera.  Decided to keep my photography skills in the "hobby" category and not pursue it as a "business".  
• Ran my first Ragnar.  I say first, because I'm already signed up to do another one in April of 2013.  Get to run the SoCal race with some of my bestest best friends.  Hoping to avoid pulling my hip flexor and screwing up my IT Band just a few weeks prior to the race this time around.  Injuries notwithstanding, the hardest part of the whole thing was being up for 40 straight hours with no sleep.  That almost killed me.
• Survived another year at Girl's Camp as the 4th Year Hike Leader.  The second time around was so much EASIER... at least, I knew (more) what I was doing.
• Got a job working for our school district.  I'm a part time aide for a boy in 6th grade with autism. I only work on days my kids go to school and I absolutely love my job!  

Taylor:

• Spends most of his free time swimming, running or weight lifting.  Consumed hundreds of protein bars and protien shakes, as a result.  
• Took over the Montero and started driving it full time when Eric got a new car.  I got bumped back to the Suburban.  :(  I'd rather be driving the Montero, so he better take good care of it.
• Ran Cross Country and did Swim Team all at the same time.  He went to XC practice at 5:15 am and did swim practice after school until almost 5 p.m. every day for 3 straight months.
• Getting ready to be seriously preparing for his mission, now that he will be able to leave sometime next summer.

Megan:

• Survived the 4th year hike!  She was one of the slowest hikers, but she made it, and I think she had a good time, too.  Can't wait for her to be a YCL next year at Girl's Camp.
• Got new (and adorable) glasses.  She was having a hard time reading the board at school, but she loves her glasses so much, she wears them all day.
• Joined the swim team.  She swam JV... but she has real potential with her Butterfly.  Amazing form.  She just needs to get more speed.  
• Megan got her driver's permit.  We need to graduate beyond the church parking lot.  Good thing Eric has more patience for drivers training than I do.

Ian:

• Graduated from Elementary School and started 7th grade at the Jr High.  His best friend and he got 4 out of 5 classes together.  They were both super nervous about the Jr High transition, so this was a huge blessing!
• Had fun playing Flag Football and running Cross Country.  
• He grew somewhere between 4 and 8 inches.  I won't know for sure until I ask the pediatrician at his next physical in the spring.  Let's just say he went from short and stalky to tall and beanpole skinny.  He's a scrawny giant who is just an inch shorter than Taylor, but already has bigger feet than his older brother.  Can't wait to see how tall he gets when he's done growing for good.
• Makes us laugh every day with his sense of humor and wit. :)

Brayden:  

• Spends all his free time watching Spongebob, jumping on the trampoline, or building legos. 
• He loves 2nd grade and has a phenomenal teacher.  He is doing really well riding the bus by himself every day.
• He is a very thoughtful gift giver, and will plan out a gift for someone months in advance.
• 
  

Ward Camp Out

Since our dear friend became the Bishop, our ward has had an annual campout every summer.  The reason behind this has to do with the fact that he is the father of all girls and they love to camp.  Every time he left to go on a Priesthood campout, they would get jealous.  So, the DR2 "Everyone is Invited" Ward Campout was born!  The last two years we've reserved spots at Long Valley.  This is the same place the Stake does Girls Camp, and it's one of my most favorite places in the whole state of Arizona.  

Bless Kyle's heart for having hot dogs.... Brayden would NOT eat what they served for dinner.  If it hadn't been for Kyle, Brayden would have gone to bed VERY hungry!

We were both nervous and excited to bring Max this year.  We knew he would love Long Valley, but we were worried that sleeping in the tent with us (and not in a confined space or kennel) might be a dicey proposition.  

He found a comfy spot between Megan and Ian and I made sure he was covered up with a blanket for the night.  All was well until Jeff's dog Husker, a cute, but naughty, Jack Russell Terrier, escaped from his tent at 5 a.m. and started making the rounds to "visit" other tents where dogs were sleeping.  Let's just say Husker made a few enemies that morning!

Eric was in charge of the kids Geocache activity, so he and I went out for a walk to plot all the points and hide the treasure.  Long Valley doesn't look this beautiful during girls camp... it's still too dry up there from the spring.  But after six weeks of summer thunderstorms, the wildflowers were everywhere!

And so were the butterflies.... they were huge and not afraid of people at all.  When they landed on you, it felt like they were biting you a little bit.  Super crazy!  (Maybe Ian should be a hand model?)

Kate brought up fun games for the kids to play, but adults were getting into this one too... How many Oreos can you stack on your forehead before they fall.  I think Eric and Megan and one other person all tied at nine.  Truth be told, I think Eric had the unfair advantage with that chair.  It's a natural recliner!

This view always reminds me of Girls Camp.  It's the road that leads to the area where the YCL camp always is.  But now it will always remind me of my last campout with the DR2 ward.  Since we moved here to AZ over seven and a half years ago, we've been in this same ward.  And these people have become my family.  Three weeks ago, we were moved into the G3 ward.  Overall it's a HUGE blessing for us, as the new ward has a much bigger Young Men's/Young Women's program.  Rumor has it that there are 47 YM in our new ward... SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!  More than half of our DR2 ward came with us over to G3, so we haven't been thrust into a new ward where we don't know anybody, but we are still sad about being pulled away from some dear friends that stayed behind in the other ward.  Boundary changes are always bittersweet, but I plan to make it my personal agenda to push for a G3 ward campout up at Long Valley every year.  It's such a fun activity!  Can you tell I love camping?