Girls Getaway!

I went with my in-laws on our 2nd annual girls weekend! It was so fun and relaxing. We played a ton of games, watched movies, ate a ton of food! laughed a lot and best of all relaxed! Don't ask what we were doing in all these pictures... we are crazy- that's all I can say :)

Can't wait for next year!!!!

The Condo

Tegen's football team had a game in Driggs on October 2nd at 8:30 a.m. We would have had to leave our house by 6:00 a.m. to be there on time so we decided to stay in a condo for the weekend with a bunch of friends who also had sons playing in the game. We went with the Taylor's, Nebeker's and Belnap's. We always have such a fun time together. This was the guys all making breakfast for everyone. Thanks boys!

Overview from the loft...

When we all get together there is 15 kids! We were only missing one baby in this picture.

All of the adults...

On Sunday we went for a drive to Grand Targhee ski resort just to walk around and let the kids burn off some energy. I'm sure we look like quite the group when we go anywhere together. I think restaurants cringe when we all walk in the door :)

It was a gorgeous fall weekend and we could not have asked for better weather. The kids all had a blast There is never any fighting which is amazing for that many kids. Someone is always bound to feel like the 3rd wheel but they all get along great! The scenery was beautiful and it was such a fun weekend! I'm always thankful for good friends! Oh yea- and our boys totally slaughtered the other team- it was the perfect weekend!

Our first NFL game...

Santa brought our family tickets to the Arizona Cardinals game for Christmas. We loved (almost) every minute of the game! For some reason these pictures uploaded all out of order. #11 is Larry Fitzgerald- Tegen's football hero! He was playing with an injured elbow that day. We were kind of upset because when we got to the game we found out that this was basically a "throw away" game for the Cardinals. They had made it into the playoffs the week before so they benched all their best players (except for Fitzgerald). So they didn't care AT ALL about winning. It's a good thing too because they got their hiney's kicked!

This is Kurt Warner- the quarter back. I really admire him as a person. He seems to be a genuinely good person- but what do I know?

We convinced the popcorn/peanut guy to take our picture. Ed had to buy a $6 box of cracker jacks from him though!

This was outside the stadium before we went inside. It was SO hot that day. We loved it!

This is the whole team warming up...

This was almost the end of the game. We got killed 7 to 33.... YIKES! To top it all off we were surrounded by Green Bay fans.

Gotta love the foam fingers!

This is when they were being called out onto the field- going through the tunnel...

These nachos were $8 a piece. If you ever go to a game bring lots of spending money! Ed and I had a $6 coke. What a total rip off. I really wanted water but it was $4.75 per bottle. I decided that I didn't need water that was laced in gold that badly!

Huge team huddle before the game. It was kinda cool to see all those players that we watch on t.v. all in one spot...

Okay- those were completely out of order but oh well. You get the idea. We had a blast even though our team got trashed. The only bummer that day was that Tegen's camera got stolen. I was so upset- so was he. At the end of the game we stood up to leave and Tegen realized that his camera wasn't in the drink holder where he put it. He got the camera (a really nice one too) for Christmas so it was brand new. It just makes me so sad to realize that there are people out there who have no moral conscious whatsoever. I'm guessing that they'll feel pretty good about themselves if they ever realize that they stole a 9 year old's Christmas present. The saddest part is that he had taken a ton of pictures of our whole trip and the game and he lost all of those memories. Darn it! Other than that we had a fantastic time and we would love to do it again someday!

Our fabulous but way too short vacation!

We had SO much fun on our little family vacation! Sorry- be prepared for mega picture overload! We went to Phoenix to watch the Arizona Cardinal vs. Green Bay Packer game and stopped to have lots of fun all along the way! The first day we drove to St. George, Utah and stopped to see the temple there. Talen fell asleep at dinner so he was passed out in the car so Ed and the older boys are standing in front of the manger scene.
I think this temple is absolutely gorgeous....

The boys were all fascinated by the palm trees. In my world anywhere where there is a palm tree it's okay by me!

Of course the minute we arrived at our hotel the boys were all about going SWIMMING! I can't believe I am putting a picture of me in a swimsuit 8 months pregnant here but I had to have proof that I actually went swimming with my family. The picture is fuzzy because there was a ton of steam in the pool area.

This was the outdoor pool that was FREEZING! This all the boys being brave and jumping in for a minute!

Friday morning we stopped at the Hoover Dam to take some pictures. I was terrified of the the height. I'm glad we didn't do the Grand Canyon like we originally wanted to.

There was this disgusting wall of gum so of course we had to add ours to the collection. EWWW.... Gross I know!

Some nice people offered to take our picture as a family. I'm pretty sure this is the only picture of our whole family that we got the entire trip.

This a bridge that is being worked on. When it gets closer to completion A-Core will be working on it so Ed thought that was cool!

Once we arrived in Phoenix the boys became obsessed with the pool. It was a really nice heated pool with salt water instead of tons of chlorine. I think they all swam on average about 4 hours per day. They love to do all kinds of crazy tricks with their dad!

The pool area was gorgeous....

Bombs away..........

This would be what I did while they all swam! Lounging by the pool with a book- what could be better than that?

What a bunch of studly men...

King Tegen....

We found this awesome little theme park called Castles and Coasters. It had 4 different miniature golf courses, several small roller coasters and a huge arcade.

We all loved miniature golfing...

Tegen was proud of his hole in one on this hole!

Unfortunately our fun had to come to an end. This navigation system totally SAVED US! It was so helpful to enter an address and have "Flossy" tell us where to go and the fastest way to get there. The navigation system's nickname is Flossy. It was so funny to hear the boys talk to it and say "K Flossy tell us where to go!"

The boys did marvelous on the drive home. We were in the car for almost 14 hours straight. We stopped for gas 3 times and those were the only potty breaks we took too. I must say I was impressed with myself that I was able to go so long without having to stop too. Being 8 months pregnant in the car ALL day made for one LONG ride- but we made it!

I am so thankful for all the wonderful memories we made on our trip. There is nothing better than being with your family minus all the interruptions of daily life. I feel so blessed to have such an awesome family who I absolutely LOVE to spend time with!

The Taylor's Cabin!

In November we went to our friends' cabin with them. The Taylor's have become good friends because 1) they get our strange sense of humor and 2) they have boys that are all our boys ages and they get a long great! Yes. I believe it's quite scary when we all show up someplace with SO many little boys! Anyway- they invited us to their cabin which was so nice. It's in an awesome location- not too far from home- and has a beautiful view of the lake! Talen and Alex couldn't decide if they wanted to be inside or out. They are so funny together!
There was barely a skiff of snow on the ground but of course all the boys just HAD to go outside to sled. What crazy boys!

This is the fun little room they all slept in, and played in, and made messes in.... (It's actually quite a bit bigger this was just the one corner)

The adults went on a Rhino ride on Saturday. Just a short one to go check out the surrounding scenery. It was a bit chilly but fun!

Thanks again Taylor's we had a blast!

Girls Get-a-Way Weekend!

I went away last weekend to a cabin with all of Ed's sisters, mom, and sis-in-law. It was heavenly! We didn't do anything but laugh and play all weekend! Ressha and Meisha climbed up the wall.

They played a game called Flippin' Frogs. You have to flip frogs and make them land on a tree that rotates and a timer goes off and some of the frogs flip off. You'd have thought we brought the kids with us- he he!

We did nails...

Learned to make watches and jewelry...

Here's the finished product...

We ate constantly! Look at what all that food did to my belly. Ha ha! Actually, Cassi and I are due within a couple of weeks of eachother. Please excuse the no-make up, sweatpant look (hey we didn't have to try to impress anyone there- you better believe we stayed in sweats ALL day!)

A picture of all of us who was there: Shanda, Cassi, Jarae, Meisha, me, Varleen and Ressha.

Another picture...

Yea- there they were climbing again! What crazy girls. As for me- I kept my two feet firmly planted on the ground!

I seriously don't think I've laughed that hard in a LONG time. We played games all weekend and laughed and laughed! And sang "Relax... don't do it..." (Inside joke!) Did I mention that we ate.. a lot? It was a true girly weekend and I loved it! Can't wait for next year!!!