Mission Beach

Casey Ann's parents rented a beach house at Mission Beach in San Diego, near Balboa Park this summer. So we made the 19 hour drive to San Diego to hang with her family for a week. Very long drive, but... we had lots of fun. I think we were about 5 houses from the boardwalk. There was also a roof-top terrace that you could see the bay on one side and the beach and the other side. The weather was great and kids had a hay-day with all there cousins. Thanks grandma and grandpa!!

Brynley digging in the sand

Posing at sunset.

Sadie with her "wind blown" hair.

"Big Kahuna" (Diesel)

Having the time of his life.

Not quite tall enough for the roller coaster at Balboa Park.

Logan, Grandpa Rick, Sadie and Kennedy.

This is the Wave House, where they have two man-made wave machines where surfers can get their surf on and let everyone check out their skills. This was really fun to watch.

Getty up cowboy.

She wasn't very happy to ride the carousel (yeah right).

Chillin' in the beach house.

Grandma and Grandpa relaxing. Grandpa doesn't do that very much.

Sydney.

Hasting and Peyton.

Grandma Jackie and Diesel.

These guys were really good at the Wave House at Mission Beach

Family Pictures

While we were in Thatcher, we took family pictures of everyone together and with our own individual families. Here's a couple of them. I think there's 26 or 27 grandkids, with one on the way (Ruth and Jordan).

Grandma Ruth (isn't she beautiful?)

The whole Family

My beautiful wife and I.  (She makes me look half-way nice.)

Sadie, Diesel and Brynley

Football Fun in Cedar City

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we (my dad and the kids) traveled up to Cedar City to watch Levi play in his last game this season. Eric and Tosha drove to Cedar from Denver with Casey Ann as they were heading down to Thatcher for Thanksgiving. Kim and Danny were also there with their kids heading down to Thatcher from Seattle. Ruth and Jordan also made the huge trek from Orem to see Levi play. Then, Casey Ann's parents were traveling from AZ to UT and stopped by to see everyone also. Mom and Jim were also there with us.

The kids loved to yell "Go Wevi", as Sadie says, during the game. We got to go down the to field afterward and talk to Levi and take some pictures with him. Those kids sure look up to Uncle Levi. He's one of the grandkids' favorites.

Kim was trying to get Levi's Autograph but was adamantly denied.

Levi and his mommy.

The crew.

Collin bumbin' a ride from Mitch.

Levi and his fans.

Mitch, being Mitch.

High-fives for all the little people.

Dan the man.

Waiting to talk to Levi.

More of the crew.

Diesel loves his cousin, Mitch.

Ruth and Jordan.

Little miss pouty face.

Tosha was definitely cold.

More crew.

Mackay looking cool.

Grandpa Mack and Kendra.

Casey Ann, Diesel and Jackie.

Sometimes Frazzled, but Grateful

Sorry for not keeping our "fans" (okay, friends and family) updated on our comings and goings lately. With Casey Ann commuting to Denver during the week and my school schedule, I haven't had the time nor energy to post recently. I finish up my finals next Tuesday (YEAH)! Then I get a break for about a month before I start up again. Also I've been rearranging and archiving our photos and I am ready to add a few things now. Casey Ann will only commute back and forth until next week (YEAH!), and then we're packing up and moving to Denver (NOT YEAH about the packing part). We are excited to move though, we think. It has been really cold and snowy there lately.

I'll tell you what. Being a stay-home mom can be very mundane and challenging at times. I'd definitely rather be working 8 hours a day sometimes. It's great to be with the kids and watch them development and grow up, but until you've done it for an extended period, you can't really appreciate moms and wives and how much they do and accomplish during each day and with a smile (most of the time).

As I've told several of you before, stay-home moms need a raise. They are not paid enough. I don't think I intentionally took Casey Ann for granted before, but I definitely know now that I did. She is the best mom and wife I could every imagine having. She does so much for our little family and we appreciate her and all she has done for us. It's definitely hard to hear my kids say they "miss mama" or "want mama" when they're not happy and are so used to her being here. They especially miss her at night when we say prayers. It's so sweet and touching to hear them pray for her while she's away. Friday's are our most favorite day of the week. That's when Casey Ann comes home for the weekend. And Sundays are sad as she flies back.

We're also thankful for Eric and Tosha and Josh and Robin for taking such good care of Casey Ann while she's away. They have really helped her alot with things while there. They have literally come to her rescue in the snow on more than one occasion. It will be nice to live near a sibling again there.

Head Over Heals

We went down to Moroni, UT last summer to celebrate the 4th of July with my mom's family. They have a big celebration every year. Brynley actually won the "guess how many pieces of gum are in this jar" and it took us 4 months to eat the gum. I thought she'd want to eat it all, but she didn't like that kind of gum very well.

Anyways Levi wanted to show off for the cousins and show off his skills on the trampoline. Hope coach Mendenhall doesn't see it.

Random Family Pics

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