It's Christmas time!!

TWAS THE DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS...

My Mom dropped in on us for a VERY surprise visit. We were all so surprised (except Trav who plotted with her to keep it secret). We are having so much fun with her!

We decided to brave the elements and head to the Spin Park down the road and see just how dizzy we could all get. (Gramma wouldn't even try any of the spinners!) Hmmm. The kids had tons of fun... until George and Claire both froze and we had to go. It was just as well since it started to snow not long after we arrived at home.

Henry and Natalie on the treadmill-of-sorts

(well, Henry on it, Natalie off it)

Natalie and Henry on the little double-decker swinging things, just relaxing after much spinning.

Henry, preparing to go down the super fast, tunnel enclosed slide

Natalie, inside the torpedo-shaped vomit-comet (this thing spins WAY too fast for my liking!)

Claire, just chillin'

Little George, staring as everything else in the park spins

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!

Henry, Natalie and Claire, playing with the Wii that G'ma and G'pa Sewell got the family for Christmas

Henry and Natalie "boxing" on the Wii

Giddy up, Little Georgie!

I bought this little horse at a yard sale for $2 (score!) Trav took it all apart and sandblasted it, I sanded and stained it and made it a new mane and tail, and Bruce (our handy neighbor) reshaped the face a little, attached the mane and gave it a new handle. It took a bit of effort but it's now the perfect rocking horse for our littel cowboy! AND HE LOVES IT!

Saturday Afternoon in Cannonville

A few Saturdays ago, we went up to Cannonville to hang out with Grandma Fletcher, Aunt Rosie, Uncle Rex, Uncle John, Jack (John's son), Kristen (John's daughter) and her family: Aaron and kids Jaden, Josh, and Jenna. Kristen lives in Arizona and wanted to spend her birthday in Cannonville. Since Kristen is both my first cousin and Travis' (my Uncle John used to be married to Trav's Aunt Nedra) we decided we better show up and catch up on all the family news. We took along Henry's best friend, Tevin, just to show him a good time.

And a good time is exactly what we had!

When we got there, Aunt Rosie was already going strong, getting the Dutch Oven dinner going. Soon John & Rex and the crew showed up and a bunch of us took off to go hiking, with Uncle Rex as our fearless guide. We had a fun afternoon of visiting with family we don't see enough of and left after a delicious meal. It was a Saturday well spent in one of my favorite places on earth.

Never mind the sign. I just thought this was so cute of the funny red-heads bonding on Grandma Fletcher's couch.

Whenever we happen to plan things perfectly and Uncle Rex is in Cannonville, he takes us all up on the Red Rocks to go hiking. First it's up to the Merry-Go-Round, then down the slide. As a kid, this was all great fun. That was before I grew up and learned to fear. I barely made it up and I certainly wasn't going down any "slide" to get down.

(L to R) Jack, Aaron, Uncle Rex, Jaden, Natalie, Claire, Josh, Henry & Tevin

The brave ones moved on to bigger, redder rocks. George, Claire, & I stayed behind.

Natalie, a little too close to the edge, checking out the great metropolis of Cannonville

Uncle Rex, Tevin & Henry

Everyone up on the Merry-Go-Round

Tevin, skiing down the gravel. (I don't know where his other leg went. No wonder he needs a stick to walk!)

Natalie, Henry, Tevin, Josh, Claire, & Jaden on the gravel mound.

Henry, George, Claire, & Natalie up on Little Red Rock

The kids up on the "Merry-Go-Round"

Uncle Rex, being a good sport while George tries to feed him his glasses.

. George trouncing through the brush in his cowboy boots.

The Entire Spooky Crew

Natalie was a 20's Flapper

Claire wanted to be Fern from Charlotte's Web. We found her a prize-winning pig for $.50 at the thrift store and I sewed a spider to it. Overalls and braids and she was good to go!

Showing our love for St. George's newest landmark, In-N-Out Burger, I made the boys In-N-Out uniforms out of a bed sheet and a yard of red fabric. Trav made them engraved name tags at work. In-N-Out was kind enough to provide us with paper hats. (I sewed George's to make it small enough to fit his little head.)

George was not having any fun at our little photo shoot.

After much time and many tries, this was about as good as it got. Not everyone is happy. Not everyone is looking at the camera. But everyone is in the picture. Good enough!

Sweet little Natalie Kate in her Flapper Girl get-up

Getting ready to catch the bus on Haloween. (That's Henry's buddy, Tevin in the tie.)

Lexi McInnes and Claire on their way to preschool at Mrs. Kathy's.

(Claire changed her mind on "Fern" and decided to be a witch instead.

Un-original, I know, but cute nonetheless.)

3 out of 4, looking for some treats at Carol's house

Hanging out with Great-Gramma Fletcher and Aunt Rosie in Cedar City

These are the many moods of George, all evident in a 4 second video.

Happy Halloween! (Did you want onions on that?)

On Halloween, I took little George to In-N-Out for an early lunch. (Is 10:30 too early to eat I double-double...I think not!)

As soon as the grill crew caught sight of him, he was a huge hit.

It was hillarious!

Juan stopped working long enough to take a picture with him.

Taking a break from work, George chows down on some fresh french fries. Yum! Yum! (And an XL lemonade to wash them down, of course.)

Back to work for the little guy! Sweeping the floors...
looks like some kid has dropped a bunch of fries under the table.

Ashley, giving him some tips. Everyone was so helpful.

Summer Vacation 2008 (the 1st half)

We started out our trip with a long stretch of NOTHING. We drove about 10 hours our first day, stopping only once (in Tonopah) before reaching our first of several destinations: LAKE TAHOE

Striking a pose by the fountain in front of our hotel

After lunch (at the Hard Rock, of course) we walked around and checked out a bunch of the little shops, looking for the perfect souvenir.
We spotted a bear and stopped for a photo.
Our hotel had a private beach, just a few blocks away. The kids played around. George found a bottle lid that he carried with him the rest of the night. It was really very cute.
After leaving Tahoe, we headed to Roseville. We stopped to visit some dear friends of mine, Elva and Lou Bosco whom I hadn't seen in 21 years (yikes!) not since their son Robbie's wedding reception. It was so good to see them again and get to show off the kids. Trav couldn't help but give them a hard time BYU since he's anything but a Y fan and they are True Blue (go figure!) We all had a really nice visit.

Simply couldn't resist the Forrest Gump shoes, just begging to be filled.
Man! That was one hungry starfish! (This was at the San Francisco Bay Aquarium)
Outside the Hard Rock in San Fran
(Isn't that a lovely hat Claire has on? Of all the things in a souvenir shop, she has to pick out the sparkly red chauffer hat. Ugh.)

The kids with Scuba Sam (the aquarium mascot)
This has to be my favorite picture of our entire vacation. This was Claire on the boat ride to Alcatraz. What a shot!

The entrance to Alcatraz

Trav and George and the audio tour
View of San Fran from Alcatraz
I so need a sign like this somewhere in my house!

I took these two in the little supply room.

We drove north a bit and went to see Old Faithful and the Petrified Forrest

Natalie Kate, looking awfully sweet
Yep... Old Faithful

Claire and a Petrified Bear (can you blame him?)
at the entrance to the Petrified Forrest, by a ginormous, very old tree

3 out of 4 out on Fisherman's Wharf
Trying thier hands at the pulley lift

Waiting for our boat cruise around the Bay
Claire wanted to take a picture with her and the "Archies". (She call them that since that's what they say... obviously! "Arch! Arch!")

After 5 nights in San Fran, we headed south. On to Santa Cruz,Monterey Bay, and Fontana, before heading home.