SEA town

The second leg of our fall break travels was a trip to Seattle.  We drove home from Utah on Wednesday morning, had Thursday to repack, and took off on a flight Friday morning with Pop Pop.

Tyce made friends on the way...and the kids couldn't believe how fast we got there.  Multiple 11-12 hour car rides will do that to ya.

We all put on our red shirts and made it out for the Friday night lights to watch Ian & Zach (22& 52) dominate at football.  They played the entire game!!  It was so fun to watch and cheer for two guys we adore. (Plus they pummeled the other team!  Which is always awesome...if you're on the right team)

We all put on our red shirts and made it out for the Friday night lights to watch Ian & Zach dominate at football.  They played the entire game!!  It was so fun to watch and cheer for two guys we adore.

Oshyn loved it, but couldn't make it to the end...traveling hard out will do that to even the biggest football fan.

Saturday we made a trip to Pike's Place and the rest is history.  

 We loved every minute of being with family as usual!

Hiking with (some) Animal Housers

What a beautiful time to visit Utah.  The weather was cool (NOT cold) and the leaves were starting to change.  Tuesday morning we met up with some of my old roomies from college and hiked in the canyon.

 It was just what we needed--a nice leg stretching, nature soaking, good time.  I love catching up a bit with girls women I adore.  Its always fun to see their kids grow too.  Thanks for taking us on a nice little adventure Jill & Sara!!

P.S. We even saw a MOOSE!!

Grandma's and Sunday dinner

Almost every Sunday, Grandma Orchard and family have dinner together in Utah.  The drive is a bit far for us to make it every week, but we took advantage while we were in town.  

We had yummy food and lots of crazy/fun cousins!  

Four generations!

We even got to see our favorite Ali!

Wish we could make it every Sunday!

General Conference

Twice a year our church has a general conference.  During general conference weekend, Church members and others who are interested gather worldwide in a series of two-hour sessions to receive inspiration and instruction from Church leaders.  Normally we tune our computer in to lds.org or byutv.com and watch from our living room couch.  This year, since we were in Utah, we decided to try our luck at getting into the conference center in Salt Lake.  Beau and I left Grandma Annie & the Panttaja's with the kiddos and drove up early Sunday morning to get in line.  We were blown away by the number of people there and the amount of signs that said "Need 2 tickets" (or more!)  They had a standby line by the tabernacle so we made our way over there.  The line was ginormous!  We asked the first few people when they got there...4 am...5:30 am...Wow!  After we walked the line and circled the temple, we made it to the end.  As we were walking we talked about how cool it would be to have some extra tickets one day and just come to the end of the line and start handing them out to random people.  Was there a chance we'd get in this far back?  We weren't going to leave until they told us there wasn't.  We were there for about 20 minutes and continued to watch the line grow and grow.  Then, right behind us this couple randomly got handed a pair of tickets by passerby's.  We laughed and congratulated them.  They were a bit shocked, but didn't know what to do.  Their brother was with them but was sitting across the way on a bench.  They didn't want to leave him.  So guess who got lucky??  Yep.  We thanked them profusely and skipped/ran on our way.

This is how happy we were.  

It was magical to be inside such an enormous building.  The construction of this building is incredible with no pillars to obstruct views and seating for 21,000 people.  TV does it no justice.

We had a great time being so close and feel so fortunate to have gotten to see a live conference session and hear the beautiful music of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

 (Still just a tad excited & shocked...)

 One day we will walk the standby line and hand out extra tickets ourselves to make someone's day.

Tricky Nikki Runs Fast

We started off our two week fall break with a road trip.  We drove down to So Cal--through Vegas--onto St. George, Utah to cheer on Nicole (who was running her first marathon).  It was awesome and she ran like a superstar.  

I could hardly believe that when we saw her at mile 23, she looked as though she had just started.

She is amazing. 

We are so proud of her and she accomplished her goal of under 4 hours.  Yay Cole!!

 

Some cute-isms

Cruz was talking about dying in his sleep (not too concerned, just matter-of-fact).
C: If I die in my sleep I would wake up and there'd be sun in my eyes...that'd be Jesus!

As I was trying to convince Cruz that what one parent says goes, I said, "Daddy and I are on the same team,"
C: But you don't wear the same shirts??

I asked all of the boys 'if [they] could choose their name what would it be?'  Oshyn and his friend couldn't think of anything different, but Cruz knew right away...
C: Awesome

Tyce was beating on Cruz...
C: TYCE!! I'm NOT a piñata!!

Who knows when but I loved it...
C: That's rumiculous!

When swimming with goggles...
C: My goggles are soggy!  (He meant foggy :)

Trying to work the heart strings...
C: Oshyn I want you to share because your my best friend.

I was telling someone in our family not to be cocky--Cruz chimes in with, "Yeah!  Don't be a peacock!!"

After church I ask the kids how their classes went.  About a month ago Cruz tells me that a little girl in his class was trying to run away and he yelled out to her, "Stop in the name of underwear!!" (Gotta love Captain Underpants :)

Cruzer likes to let me know the good products they advertise on TV.  One day I was looking for something for hanging pictures and he pointed out the 'Nam Strips' (Command Strips).  Then he told me all about how you can easily place pictures and when it comes time to remove them, there will be no damage to your wall.  Ha!

Tyce is a copy cat (according to his brothers).
When questions are asked--Who wants to...he yells "ME!!" just like everyone else.  Its kind of fading now, but the boys used to set him up...
C: Is Oshyn a scaredy cat?
T: Ya!
O: Is Cruz a weird-o?"
T: Ya!
H: Do you love Mommy the most?
T: Ya!
He runs his mouth all day and probably says (or lets be honest--YELLS) MOM!!  about a kazillion times a day.  Tyce is always telling me to 'LLLook-Mom! LLLook!' and I can't help but smile at his 'Ohhh yeahhh!'
Car rides are entertaining for many reasons but I'll never get sick of his singing and dancing.  He has yet started lip syncing too--which of course is hilarious and he knows it.
The other day we saw a train and he proceeded to have a conversation with it.
T: Oh no train!!  See you later train!!  I love you (luh you) train--mwah!!
I love his grocery cart hugs from the little seat and how he started dancing with a big balancing straddle.  I can't remember if I documented his diaper change trance.  He used to try to roll over, get angry and yell when I'd change his diaper.  The moment I started singing a song he would relax and find his happy self.

Tonight I told the boys we were having hot dogs (which is extremely rare).  Tyce started dancing and sang, "Hot dog party!  Hot dog party!! Hot dog party!" (Anyone have that book??)  He doesn't forget much :)

As for O, he is big on 'What would you rather(s)":
ie. Would you rather walk to Santa Cruz or be a pioneer?
He could go on for days...
Everyone is growing up sooo fast!!

Cruz Nicklaus

A good day of golfing with your Daddy & Pop Pop.  Nice form!

Everybody has 'em

Just when I start feeling bad because I just lost my temper with one of my little ones, the oldest one runs down the hall and loses "his lunch" in the process (times 6 the rest of the evening) spraying our ENTIRE hallway.  By the time I clean everything up and am getting ready to hit the sack I go to transfer the last load of laundry to the dryer and realize I washed THREE of little man's disposable (read "NOT washable") diapers.
I guess its just been one of those days.  Tomorrow will FOR SURE be better.

"The Farm"

Thanks to the Kerr's, our family has had a little glimpse into what its like to have a ginormous garden, or what our kids call "the farm".  They grow everything under the sun and even have a few cows that we love to feed.  We go out to their house, which is about a mile away from ours, and help out wherever needed.  The taste of fresh raspberries, strawberries, corn, kiwis, cabbage, tomatoes, squash, apples, pears, nectarines, peaches, plums, pomegranates, broccoli, green beans, melons (do you get my drift??) has been fabulous.  But the best part has been teaching our children where things come from and the work that goes into it all.  It has been a blessing that keeps giving!  Thank you Kerr's.

Epic Tarp Surfing--Lodi Style

After watching this video we were determined to recreate.  So here it is on a mini scale.  Enjoy!  I do--every time I watch it :)

P.S. I should probably mention that the music is from 'Wentworth & Mordemere' and Sam Jones is our tarp man