Vacation?

I have heard it said that mothers don't ever go on vacation, they go on trips.
How true that is!
This summer we went on a trip to San Francisco, then down to Sequoia National Park, including King's Canyon, and then back to Reno. We hit every temple along the way, and visited (well, tried to visit--it was under construction) where the Donner Party wintered after they were stranded by a freak snowstorm.
We shared the story with the kids, but Adrienne didn't believe it really happened. You never would guess something as terrible as that would have happened at such a beautiful place.
This photo is of the kids and Burke overlooking the spot where the pioneers crossed the mountains.
This photo is on the grounds of the Oakland Temple. The view is of Oakland, the San Francisco Bay, and the smog.
We crossed the Bay Bridge and got to see a working seaport. Burke and I were impressed with the barges and big cranes, but the kids were more excited to get to the hotel and the pool.

Once we arrived in San Francisco itself, we decided to explore outside of downtown and visit a cool park that was described in my travel guide. It was actually a hiking trail that led through the cliffs to the ocean. It was gorgeous and much cooler than the heat of Oakland.
This little trail and the time we spent in the ocean ended up being my favorite part of our stay in San Francisco.
This pic is at the trail head of Land's End.
We actually got separated when Adrienne had a little potty issue and Burke took the kids one way along the trail, and I took Adrienne the other. The older kids got to see a nifty little spiral on top of the cliff. It was probably good that I didn't go up there, or they wouldn't have been running around on the top of a cliff. It was pretty steep.

You can see from this photo (or maybe not, Burke zoomed in to get this picture) how high he was compared to the ocean below, where Adrienne and I were hanging out.

This is the zoom out of the same beach from Burke's vantage point.
You can see it was a pretty quiet and peacful place. I didn't see a lot of tourists there, so hopefully it will remain a hidden gem that we can visit again in the future.


We spent a while there and let the kids play in the water. We didn't have them wear their swimsuits because the ocean was so cold, so we weren't prepared for the sopping wet mess that resulted. It was worth it though, we all loved it. A video of the kids playing in the water, except for Nathan who didn't want to take off his shoes. (Crazy kid).

A few miles away was another much more crowded beach. It was also very pretty, but so cold. I couldn't believe that there were people swimming in bikinis.

After a long day of traveling and playing, we decided to head back to our hotel. We swam, ate, and rested up to come back to San Francisco the next day.

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was full of family time and busy with projects that I stayed up way too late to finish (pajamas).
I got sick a week before Christmas and lost a week's worth of time to sew, wrap, and finish shopping.
Thankfully, Burke took most of the week of Christmas off of work and we were able to get things done.
We woke up Christmas morning, checked out our stockings, and headed to church. I was a meanie and made the kids wait until after church to open the rest of the gifts.
It sure made it last a lot longer than usual, and we had an opportunity for the kids to focus on the real reason for the season before the gift mayhem commences.

Another 'Do

I have been asked to do a class on hairstyles for our ward Relief Society, so I have been working on trying to figure out some ideas by reviewing old styles we have done, and adding the newer ones I haven't posted, so bear with me.
I have been organizing them on my Pinterest hairstyles board (which is completely amazing).

This style is a waterfall braid done on my youngest. I decided that it wouldn't stand up to a day of playing at school, so I combined it with an inside-out, or a Dutch braid, using the "fallen" pieces added in to the top of the braid. It turned out to be very pretty and relatively easy, although I wasn't completely happy with how I finished it. The bus was on its way, so we had to hurry.

Christmas Hair

Yep, I know I haven't done much with my blog, but I did these cute styles as the kids were headed out the door for their Christmas program at school. The bus was coming down the road as I took these shots, so forgive the blurriness.

We tried some new things, some worked; some not so much. But they were fun.

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and I resolved to exercise more and blog more, so check back and I will try to catch up and keep it up to date.

Getting Noticed

Nathan has finally noticed girls. Kind of. He came home from school and told me he thinks he might want some chlorine.
Hmmm....
Chlorine? I asked him why and he told me he thought it smelled nice.
Really?
Then...
I asked, "Do you mean cologne?"

Yep.

A Road Trip

We got home on Sunday, but I developed a cold and haven't done much besides laundry since we got back.
Our trip was awesome.
And was nine days long. 51 hours of that were spent in the old minivan.
Yes. 51 hours. We have a timer in the van that you can set if you ever want to see how much of your life you have spent in an uncomfortable front seat, throwing food to the kiddos in the back, begging for a potty break, or trying to change the cd to something everyone can agree on.

We got to see Reno, Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Monterey Bay, Walmart in Fresno, Sequoia National Park, King's Canyon National Park, Yosemite, and the Walmart in Reno.

It was an adventure.
It was good.
It was hilarious.
It was frustrating.
It was exhausting.
It required multiple loads of laundry to be done in San Francisco's hotel.

But, it was great.
More to come when I finally get the laundry done.

A Special Birthday

Nathan turned 12 this year. Unbelievable. He has grown and changed so much over just the last year alone. It is hard to imagine him as the little baby I brought home from the hospital as a newborn with bowed legs (he was breech for the last 4 months of my pregnancy) and a cone head (vacuum assisted delivery).

He got a new DS for his birthday. We wrapped it in a giant box so he wouldn't know what it was. He was very surprised. So was Kade (and maybe a little jealous).

Here is his happy dance.

He got to pick a couple of friends to take to a little park nearby for a mini party. Burke took them and said they had a great time. I am so grateful for great friends. They are both a good influence on him.Nathan feels a need for speed.His friend Jordan.

His friend, Trevor.

He received the priesthood by his father the Sunday after his birthday. The next week, he got to pass the sacrament. He was so nervous, but did a great job. I think I may have been more nervous than he was (don't drop the tray, don't spill the water, don't trip, don't go to the wrong place, etc.) There was no need to worry. He has been fine (or the mistakes haven't been picked up by my mom-radar).

He now goes to young men's and I find I miss him in Sharing Time. He has a great time with the boys though, and seems to be fitting in well there too.

It is a great thing to have two priesthood holders in my home.