Grandpa Loves Weddings and Hoopla

A few weeks ago our beautiful cousin Lisa got married in Utah.  I was able to hitch a ride with my parents for the day to attend the wedding.  It was so great to see my cousins from that side of the family.  It has been WAY too long.  The nice thing about Facebook and the Internet is that it makes you FEEL like you see extended family more than your really do. I realized I have not seen these cousins in about ten years.  We are all spread out in different parts of the country.  I wish I had taken pictures at the temple...but at least I got a few at the reception.  After looking back at the pictures I took I realized how many I took of my Dad.  I could not help myself posting them because they make me chuckle looking back at them.

Here is my Dad when we first arrived at the reception.  This was before I had accidentally spilled that nice lemonade all over his lap. 

Here is Dad...enjoying every minute of the festivities. 

 Here is Uncle John with Lisa's cute little girl, Chloe.  

The pictures and things at the temple took a little longer than expected and then the bride and groom finally arrived!  Here is their first dance. 

I told my Dad he couldn't see what what was going on...and this is what I got. 

Aunt Judy and Uncle John looking great. 

Lisa has found the nicest guy. Not only was he great, but his family was one of the nicest families I have ever met.  One thing you could really see is how much they love and adore each other!  

Cousin, Amy. 

Cousins Amy and Lisa with ME!  I told my mom I should have been standing back cause I look like the giant up front.  Michele and I are only three days apart and I have so many great memories from our childhood.  One thing about Michele is she has a contagious laugh and a giggle that she has not lost!  It was so great to catch up even though it was so quick.  

I had wanted to re-create this beauty of Michele and I at a Cook Family Reunion in 1988.  We had gotten these beautiful "Utah/Duck" shirts for our birthdays I believe.  

Had to include a giggle shot even if it is blurry.  Michele and Amy both looked beautiful! Amy was just a little blonde thing running around back in the day.  She is all grown up now. 

Aunt Judy and Amy

The beautiful bride and groom...I don't know WHY I didn't get some more pictures of these two. 

And I would not feel right without ending the post with my Dad and his little brother, John.  Love these two!  

It was a long day from start to finish.  A LOT of driving, we were in the car about eight hours.  It was totally worth it though!  You have to take any chance you have to make memories.  I only wish we had had more time to visit.  Now that Lisa lives closer we will have to plan something.  Well, thanks for coming along for the ride, Dad.  Even though you are not a big "wedding" person, or a shopping guy, or a big "city" type, and on top of that I knocked that lemonade all over your suit.  Just wanted to make sure that your nieces' wedding was a day not to be forgotten!  :)  hee hee.

Second Cousins

My cousin Robin came up to visit with her family for their Spring Break.  We didn't take them to do anything too exciting...so we hope it was still worth the trip.  The kids had a blast just running around the house and hanging out.  I am so glad the second generation of cousins have just as much fun as the first generation had when we were kids.

This is just one of Annie before heading off to school the day they came...I just think it is so cute/funny how the little girls "pose" all on their own.  Who teaches them these things? 

The kids hit it off right away...and even performed a play for us that first night.  I have that on tape and it was pretty fabulous.  

Yes, that is a huge blow up ball in our LIVING ROOM.  It was actually a prop for the play, they threw it off the balcony as a huge boulder to kill Michael below. 

The adults ran over the visit with my parents down the street and the kids all settled down to some quality television I am sure.  My boys and Robin's girls. 

Robin and Andrew decided to get a hotel (we told them they didn't have to!) and the pool was the best in town I think.  Here are the engineers talking it up in the hot tub. 

Ryan and Sophie

I included this picture mostly just for you to notice the guy here on the right with the long hair.  Check out his facial expression.  He is like, "Man, I thought I would relax in the hot tub alone tonight and I am surrounded by all these crazy kids."  He was not the only one in the pool with that expression that night.  Robin and I couldn't help laughing as the kids got more then a few "looks".  People, this is Idaho Falls, not New York City.  You would think they haven't seen packs of kids before. 

Ashlyn and Michael REALLY hit it off.  They share similar interests.  In fact, while at our house they spent time "looking up facts" in books and writing them down.  You heard me right.  Two peas in a pod.  They must have gotten it from their brilliant mothers.  That's what we did when we were kids, right Aunt Kathy?

Katelyn doing some sweet tricks with her dad. 

Little Aubrey cracks me up. 

Love that tongue!

Joshua

 Speaking of cracking you up...this one does too. I think when Ryan is 80 he will still be doing tricks off any surface into the pool.  Love the toe touch, honey!

Michael and new BFF Ashlyn. 

James

After swimming that night we bid our cousins farewell.  When we got home Michael said all sadly,
"I miss Ashlyn already.  It's just she is the only one that likes to look up things like I do."  

 And on that fun note I must sign off. I have been dying of what I think is Gallbladder pain for the past 36 hours or so.  I hope that tonight it goes away!  I am typing fast and furious and now I must go lay down.  It seems to help.  Peace out, folks, and Robina...thanks for coming to see us in Idaho Falls!  Come again!

Nana Withdrawal

We have been going through some Nana Withdrawals around here.  Nana was here all last week and I don't know why we didn't take more pictures.  Probably because she mostly did a lot of laundry, cleaning up the kitchen, helping with homework, and running kids around.  Not a lot of photo ops in there.  We did manage a few trips to get some Reed's Dairy Ice Cream.  It just would not be a proper trip to Idaho Falls without it.

Luke decided he just liked the chocolate, so Michael said, I will eat the Bubble Gum for you...

Ryan 

Luke, not making a mess at all (with Annie and Joshua in the background.)

 I just thought their faces here were funny...looks like she is trying to rein in this crazy girl. 

 We were laughing at Joshua drinking his favorite drink...Huckleberry Soda.  I guess he has been told he looks like a natural with a bottle.  Don't try and take that talent far, Joshua. 

THANKS, NANA!!!  

WE MISS YOU!!!!!

XOXO

Springbreak leftovers...

I still had a few random pictures from our Spring Break that now seems like centuries ago.

This was how Spring Break started...

 Yep, pretty much a poster for, "COME TO IDAHO FOR SPRING BREAK!"

Our first morning off started bright and early with Michael's Swim Meet.  He just did a fun junior league for a few months and they do one big swim meet at the end.  He did great! 

It was fun to have his cousin Emmaline doing it too. 

These next two are pictures Ryan sent me on the way home from California.  Sophie looks pretty relaxed here!  If only she had been like this the entire trip...

So grateful for technology on those long drives.

Monday of Spring Break the kids were already going stir crazy and fighting.  I pulled out the clay to distract them from each other and this is what I got...

Even the dog knew it was Spring Break...except that she thinks every day is Spring Break. 

As a reward for doing chores one night we went out for ice cream.  

Michael was depressed it was "Soft Ice Cream".  He wanted Reed's Dairy.  Tough life, tough life. 

 We also hit the movies one afternoon. 

And I hit the Laundry Mat.  

My washer is this TINY thing and we have some serious laundry around here.  This was not even "getting behind".  It was like three days total.  I decided to just get it done in a couple hours instead of a couple days of round-the-clock laundry at my place.  

I pretended I was a spy and snapped this picture of these two folding their laundry. I am guessing they are newly married.  They seriously had like nothing and I started folding at the same time as they did.  They had two people and I beat them with like 18 loads of laundry to fold.  The picture above is not even all of it.  Okay, so my piles are not perfect.  I realized that my kids TOSS their clothes into their drawers and so there is no point in military style folding.  I must say I am VERY fast though.  I think I could enter a competition for folding laundry at high speeds.  As I looked at this couples perfect little piles of underwear and whatnot I (rudely) thought to myself, "That's how you do laundry when you don't have kids and you have extra time on your hands."  I know, I am bad like that.  The next time someone ask me what my talents are or what I do in my free time, instead of racking my brain like I usually do (Um, let's see, I am really good at making boxed brownies).... I will tell them I am really fast at folding clothes....that and making up scenarios about random strangers I see in public.  

James threw some water out in front of our door....and look what we found the next morning. 

 And cousin Sadie just looked cute, so I snapped a picture of her...

Ice Crystals seem a fitting way to end Spring Break around here.  

I hope we really catch a break and Spring comes quickly!