Best of Oh Nine

This year, 2009, went by so fast! I thought I'd update with a few of my favorite moments.

The deer in the backyard. A daily occurrence. This year we saw more male deer than ever. One of them we named stumpy because one of his antlers is very short.


The beautiful fall foliage in my yard. It was here briefly and then the wind blew them all away.


Lazy summer days. Our "new" baker's rack on the porch was a fun place for the children to grow their flowers and the cats to take a nap.


I made it to Elephant Rock up the Mueller Park trail in Bountiful. I've tried several times and always ran out of time. As you can see, I nearly ran out of light as I finally made it close to sunset. Had to run down the trail before it got too dark. It's about 2 hours of walking to get to the giant granite rock.


We walked in the Bountiful Handcart Parade and were the only handcart entered. We were on the channel 2 news and in the Deseret News and Davis County paper. Austin, Becca, Rylee and Maddie walked with us. We ran out of candy about 2 blocks in because the girls were a little too excited to throw candy (and because we underestimated how much we would need!)


Tim on a rock. That was the theme of our trip to Lake Tahoe. He was quite the rock climber! It was a beautiful place to explore, hike, swim (cold lake) and relax with the family.


Andrew and I in Tahoe. Just a few days away from our 18th anniversary. Aren't we cute?


Our new addition to the family...Ninja. Maren wanted a kitten for her birthday and our neighbor's cat just had kittens. He's turned into one of our favorite cats and we love him!


Exploring Park City on a weekend retreat. Our Marriott Timeshare was offering a special on weeks in May. So we invited my parents up for a spell. Stayed for Maren's birthday and Mother's Day.


Easter was fun. All the girls looked so cute!


We love our backyard in the winter. Sledding and snowmen. Fun in the snow.


We had a zoo season pass this year and spent quite a bit of time there. The new merry-go-round is fun and the train still entertains. Too bad pass holders don't get to ride for free!!


Went down to St. George and Zion National Park in March. It was nice to just get away for the weekend. The trails were a bit muddy but still fun!


Emma's birthday in January was a hit! The theme was Teddy Bear Picnic. I cut sandwiches in flower shapes and all the kids brought their favorite stuffed animals. It was cute and the kids were great!


Andrew and I went to Maui in January. It was perfect!! Romantic and warm. We saw whales and explored the trails down to the shore on all sides of the island.


California in June/July with my parents. Disneyland and the beach. We had dinner with Alden and Emily and Camille. One of our favorite places to go.


Lawrence family reunion over Labor Day in Eden, Utah. We all had fun eating, playing games, taking pictures, eating, surfing, and fishing. And little Camille is my newest little niece. We don't get to see her because she's a California girl.


We had tickets to the Bees games this year. Every game we went to it rained or was canceled except the one with the San Diego Chicken visiting! It was still fun being at the ballgame!


The girls "finally" got there Nintendo DS's for Christmas! Now they're a lot more quiet.


All the girl cousins together at Thanksgiving Weekend. We hosted the BYU/Utah football game at our house. (OOH the tension...) Maren, Emma, Rylee, Maddie, Camille. Soon we'll have a little boy cousin to coo over.


The annual Cherry Hill reunion. A chance to catch up with the Hansen side of the family.


Our rock family we made at the family reunion. Josh is very tall!!


We went surfing at the Flowrider in Ogden. I highly recommend it for kids. Unlike anything I've ever done. And you should see the video of all the wipe outs!!


Cherry Hill. I posted this picture because we hardly saw Josh this year. He's always working or hanging out with friends. He turned 18 this year and can't wait to see what he does next year with college!

Other things accomplished this year...
I read 29 books. That's a record for me.
I started a watercolor painting class. It's been fun to stretch my artistic skills.
I went skiing for the first time in 7 years!
I signed up for a personal trainer and I'm sore every week.
I'm a member of the first Saturday quilt club at Quilter's Haven, Scrapbooking Thursdays, church choir, and the No Guilt Book Club.
And I still find time to cut hair.

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!