Cousin Gathering 2009

We hosted the 2nd bi-annual Lawrence Cousin Gathering the day after Thanksgiving. Andrew supplied the sandwiches and everyone else brought a dish to share. I think it all turned out great. The weather cooperated so everyone could get up the driveway and almost everyone made it. We even had a set of twin girls from Stacie's family join us for the party. The kids enjoyed having lots of friends to run around with.


Gavin, Stacie and Brian (with one of the twins).


Alden, Ashley, and Austin enjoying food.


Tim's too cool for food.


Tacie, Dustin, David and Andrew laughing at stories.


Camden rolling around under the table while we talk.


David and Steve chowin' down.


Tacie and Dustin staring at the pop bottles!!


Everyone listening to Matt's Walmart Black Friday Story!! Only he could have put up with the craziness that night!!


Andrew, Brian and Angie. The three oldest!


Matt is quite the story teller!


Austin and Becca taking a break from kids and listening in.


Maren and Tayler staying busy on the Wii.


The newest addition, Camille.


Kristen, Jenny and Matt. (Jenny hates her picture taken. This exact picture taken 2 years ago!!)


Rylee gets a ride from Becca. Becca's expecting in January!!

I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of the kids playing downstairs. They had fun playing video games and fooseball. It was fun catching up with everyone. We should do a summer get together next time! Thanks to everyone for bringing food and for coming to our home. We love you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Tahoe

Here we are in Lake Tahoe. An 8 hour drive from Salt Lake. Elevation 6200 ft. The lake is 22 miles long and 12 miles across. The temperature rarely exceeds 80 degrees in the summer.

This overlook is on the north side of the lake on highway 431. We stopped here just as we were leaving. It definitely gives you an idea how big it is.

A sticker Josh picked up. They didn't have any more of the English version. "Keep Tahoe Blue"

We went trout fishing at a farm. All the kids caught a fish. Then we cooked them up for dinner.

Cascade falls. About a mile hike along the Cascade Lake trail. A fun little river hike ending in a waterfall. Tim had fun crossing the river about 100 times. The little girls only crossed twice.

Fannette Island in the middle of Emerald Bay. There's a tiny castle turret on the top.

The old fashioned paddle wheel boat takes tours of Emerald Bay. We rented a boat and happened to follow it in. In the background is Fannette Island and Eagle Falls.

Playing in the sand at Rubicon Point.

Tim enjoying the wind in his long hair.

We had so many pictures of Tim on a rock that I thought this was a nice change. Diet Pepsi on a rock.

The old lighthouse on the Rubicon Trail. The kids think it looks like an outhouse. Kinda smelled like one, too.

One of the rest stops on the outside of Incline Village on the north side of the lake. The kids liked this place so much, we came back again. Tons of big boulders to climb and jump on right next to the shoreline.

Lower Eagle Falls. The kids were very tired by this point. Beautiful view.

Lower Eagle Falls at the very bottom. It's so picturesque, Disney couldn't have done a better job planning this one out. We got here just before the sun disappeared behind the mountain. Perfect.

From the top of the Vikingsholm Trail overlooking Emerald Bay.

We found some lunch at Meeks Bay and had some water time. The boys waded out to this rock and explored the water.

The top of Eagle Falls. Another couple was getting their bridal photos taken here so I made Andrew sit with me. This picture was taken about 2 weeks before our 18th Anniversary.

And the kids joined me. We are right on the edge of the falls and if Josh took one more step he would've fallen down the falls. He likes to scare me.

The Upper Trail to the Eagle River. Tim had such a good time jumping over the river and making Josh follow him.

While we wait for Josh and Tim to find their way back across the river, we explore the rocks.

A big redwood tree at the bottom of Eagle Falls.
As you can see, we had fun exploring the wilderness and enjoying the trails. We rented a boat one day and did some tubing in the cold lake. Trout fishing and hamburgers and shopping. On the fourth of July, we saw the fireworks out over the lake. Swimming and racquetball, mini golf and barbecuing. I think we'll come back to this place. Josh says we need our own boat next time!

While the Girls Are Away...The Parents Will Play

My parents were kind enough to take Maren and Emma down to Lake Powell for the Father's Day weekend. We have never had this happen before where suddenly we are little children free. My parents used to take Josh and Tim down when they were little but the last time was when Maren was a newborn.

So as you can see, the girls got to go tubing behind the boat. They both say that this was their favorite thing they did down at Powell.

Big smiles.

Maren pretending to be Mocha, the dog.

This picture cracks me up! Is she cold, angry at grandpa for taking her picture, or stuck? I love it!

Passing time playing on the sandy rocks. Emma looks so cute in this picture.

Maren loving the sunshine and being at the dock. There's ice cream and candy at the dock!

And while the girls are down at Powell, Andrew and I head to the mountains to do some hiking. We started up Big Cottonwood Canyon and hiked the hidden falls trail at the top of the "S" bend. About an hour to the top of the overlook and you can see the run off from the snowpack. Beautiful.

Then we hiked up to Donut Falls. About a mile up the trail. I remember from my childhood, there used to be a cave to go into but if memory serves me, about 2 or 3 years ago, the cave collapsed and this is what it looks like now. Sad but still beautiful.

We then headed over to Little Cottonwood Canyon and took the Snowbird tram to the top. Still tons of snow but not enough to ski on. Such a wonderful view considering all the rain we've had in June. This is the one good day we've had in a long time!

We thought about hiking down but, a) there is too much snow. I can see myself slipping and hurting my tailbone again. And, b) they made you sign a release form before you went so they would have no obligation to pay your hospital bills if you had an accident.

So we took the tram back down. Along with everyone else.

Then we went on the Alpine Slide at Snowbird. Not as fun as the Park City Alpine Slide but it was still good.

The next day we went golfing at the Eaglewood Golf Course. I haven't played golf in about 2 years and even then it was a scramble game so I had no idea how bad I was playing. I found out I need a lot of practice! My average was a double par with my end score being a 62 on a 36 par course. Ouch! We also went to a movie and dinner and didn't have to pay a babysitter. Wow that was weird! Great weekend. Thanks to my parents for letting my girls drive them crazy so we could have a break. I almost feel human again. (Oh, and for those of you who are wondering what my boys were doing while we were gone...they were working! Ironic, eh?)

Girl's Big Night

Emma and Maren had their big dance recital on Friday. Grandma's and Grandpa's and Ashley and Steve all came to see them dance. There were 30 dances in all and the girls were only in one each. A long night to sit through to see them but it was worth it. They did really awesome and Emma even scored some extra stage time. I laughed so hard, I cried. She just sat on the stage with her arms in the air and didn't realize her friends had left already.

After the show, we all went to Iceberg to get ice cream and relax.

Of course, my dad is the life of the party! He also stuck spoons out of his ears but that picture was blurry because Emma took it!

For the cost of the dance concert, we could have gone to a Broadway show but the girls did great and hopefully they'll want to take dance again in the fall. (but at a different dance academy!)