Thursday, July 14, 2011

San Diego

Isn't it amazing that the Utah Bar Association has their conference in San Diego every four year.  It was a great excuse to get away.

We headed to St. George on July 1 and spent some quality time with the Tolman's at the Silver Creek pool.  It was a fun coincidence that their family has a vacation home in the same development as Mimi and Pop.  After celebrating the fourth in St. George we headed to San Diego.  We went to the San Diego Zoo, the beach and the USS Midway Museum among other things.  We also ate out so much that I have been excited to cook every night this week.  I don't say that very often.

Here are some fun pictures from our trip.


Watching the Koalas--turns out there isn't much to watch as they sleep a lot


Graham loves birds, but was cautious during this close encounter with a peacock.


Riding the Skyfari is a must!


Graham was more interested in singing to this plaque than watching the orangutans, who were very entertaining.




Clowning around with Drewbie and Jamison Tolman


Graham loved the beach.  We stayed right through his nap and he went into a nap-coma the second we got in the car.


Apparently sand doesn't bug this kid.


The USS Midway was very cool.  Graham got to climb in lots of planes and touch buttons galore.




We also spent a lot of time in Seaport Village, which was right across the street from our hotel.  Lots of fun sights and great food, especially the Greek restaurant.

Bikes

It is official, we are now a biking family.  Jesse got the Weehoo I-Go for Father's Day.  It is amazing!


I also got a new bike and besides our trip to San Diego and the crazy hours Jesse had to work before and after, we have been on the bike every evening and weekend that we could.  There is nothing better than exercising together as a family.

Last night we were getting ready for our evening ride and Graham climbed into the trailer without our help and this is what happened.



It is the worst feeling when your child gets hurt and the bump on his noggin was much worse in person, causing us to feel like inferior parents.

In an attempt to make Graham and ourselves feel better we headed to Harmons for some gelato (in the car and not on the bikes).  It worked.

Quirky

I guess all kids are quirky in their own way, but my son never ceases to amaze, amuse and sometimes concern me. 

Back in May we were at Grammie and Pa's house and he got his shorts dirty so he wore cousin Kate's home.  The next morning he wanted the exact same outfit of his shirt and Kate's shorts back on.  I put them over his jammies and he was pretty excited about it, which I thought was weird.


Last month this loose thread on Binky Bear caused a near colossal melt down. 


Sometimes I wonder about this kid.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Turning 30

Turning 30 isn't all that bad, especially when Beyonce also turns 30 this year.  Seems to lessen the blow.  We had a fun get together with friends and family.  Here are some pics of my "pretty in pink" party.




Although I didn't get any pictures of the adult guests, these are a great representation of how much fun the kids were having.


The BYU Football Cowboy Ball

Although this happened back in May, it still deserves a post because it was absolutely amazing!

The BYU Football team has a charity called "Thursday's Heroes" that connects the BYU players with kids who have special needs or who are experiencing challenging circumstances.  The kids get to go to the Thursday practice, hang out with the players, and get tons of awesome gear.

Holly Mendenhall put togther a fundraiser for the charity.  Due to the fact that Mimi and Pop know the Mendenhalls and they are very generous, we got an invite.  Thanks Mimi and Pop for a wonderful evening!


There was an auction to break some of the players out of jail.  Dinner with that player went to the highest bidder and Mimi and Pop bought JJ Di Luigi, starting running back.


Bruce and Mary Smith, friends of Mimi and Pop, are huge JJ fans.


We all had to get our picture with this guy.


Oh, and then there is the quarterback, Mr. Jake Heaps.


And Cody Hoffman, wide receiver. 

It was so fun to meet all the players, eat some amazing food, and dance to country music which is only allowed on this special occasion.  It got us totally stoked for football season.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Family Fest--April 2011

April turned out to be a family filled month.

Emma came to visit and we were able to meet Caleb Duss.

Graham was especially excited about the new baby.


Then Spencer graduated from BYU



And Tiffany and Eli were able to come!




April (Snow) Showers

Here goes an attempt at bringing my blog up to date...

Our spring was down right dreary.  This is what I awoke to conference morning.


In an attempt to lift my spirits, I turned to crafting.  Here is what my Easter mantle looked like.




I later added this little diddy in place of the Jelly Bean topiary.



Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Feeling Crafty

It is a bit of an understatement that I have been feeling crafty lately.  After the madness that comes with Christmas, I felt like I had time on my hands to get creative.  Here are some of the things I came up with.


"Bitty Banners" for friends...


and babies


An owl that I saw on etsy and reinterpreted


"Freezer Paper" stenciled shirts, thanks to my crafty friend Darcie


And finally, a bird silhouette that I had been putting off for at least six months. I had covered a square canvas with scrapbook paper and black ribbon, with the intention of printing off a tree and bird silhouette to trace on.  I could not figure out the logistics of a perfect silhouette so I just put it off, and kept putting it off.  One day I decided it was do or die.  I started free-handing and it actually turned out.  The best part was that I found it quite therapeutic.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

And the winner is...


Me!  I was the winner of the Oakeson family bracket.  Some of you might be thinking that we don't have a national champion yet, but with the way things have been going this year everyone's bracket is already dead.  As of Saturday I was in the lead, and although I had picked Kansas to win it all (the only no. 1 left), I just needed them to make it into the final four to seal the deal.  I was shocked when I got into the car after church to hear that VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University--I had never heard of them either) was beating them by more than 10 at the half.  After they lost, Erin needed North Carolina to win to take the lead from me.  With $100 on the line, I was rooting for Kentucky to win.  The finals should be very exciting this year and I will be so relaxed during the games after I have a massage and facial with the winnings!

Pretty Party




I had a visiting teaching luncheon last Saturday.  I think Graham's party awakened the sleeping party planner in me.  Looking forward to my next excuse to start planning.

A Boise Birthday

Spencer decided to head to Boise for his birthday and since work wasn't too busy for Jesse, we decided to tag along.  We also celebrated my dad's birthday a little early.  The weekend was full fun activities, including BYU Basketball (they were still winning at that point), a Basque restraurant (delicious) and the Boise Zoo.