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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Cali and Hannah

We were excited when Hannah agreed to join us on our road trip to Utah!  Besides being a good driver she is just fun to have around!  I think Cali really appreciated having her life long, childhood, best friend along too.

Before we left I of course had to get some photos of the two girls!  It was almost as bad as the photo shoot of the four kids together!!  I won't tell you what they were doing to each other before I took the photo!





We love these two cute girls!!!
Jacky and Addi had to join in for a jumping picture.

What I Put Up With...

So can you tell I've been in a bit of a blogging mood today -think this is my fifth or sixth post today.  OK - so maybe I'm using blogging as an avoidance behavior???

I just have to show you what I have to put up with when I want to take a photo of my children.  Since I only have all four of my children in one place a few times a year I have to take advantage of that.  You think they could be a little more cooperative!

I actually think they were more cooperative when they were little!!!!
Aren't they cute!
Finally  - a good one!  This was our second attempt at a photo shoot!!
Well, almost a good one -thanks a lot Clark!!
I just want you to know that this was totally unplanned but their outfits actually coordinate!  I coordinated too so I had to get at least one photo with me in it too?  Maybe we could Photoshop Jim in????

Wilkes Family Dinner

One of the very best parts of any trip to Utah is being able to be a part of a Wilkes Family Dinner. 

I never thought I would want to move to Utah but it never fails, after a Wilkes Family Dinner,I think I may just change my mind.  Who knows -maybe some day I will. 

Wynn and Emily were kind enough to host the Wilkes Family Dinner on Sunday afternoon.  I think just about every Wilkes that currently resides in Utah was there (except for Eric and Diane who we missed)!  The David Wilkes family, Lane and Chelsea and kids, Wynn and Teresa and family, the newlyweds Marcus and Kendra and McKay Nelson who is now at BYU was there too!


Of course the best part was that these two handsome faces were there too!

There was some High School Musical Karoke going on...

some baby snuggling....

and Clark even got in a little LSAT studying...

and I couldn't resist taking a photo of Addi as she stumbled around wearing my reading glasses.

And of course there was some trampoline jumping.  I think we are the only Wilkes family that does not own a trampoline.  I guess I was just too scared from a certain trampoline jumping/ accident 20 or so years ago....

And then of course there was some good eating that went on.  We enjoyed some yummy chicken and steak that Wynn grilled and then Tricia helped keep us all entertained at the table!


Even David....

and Wynn enjoyed giving me a hard time by refusing to look at the camera....

The kids enjoyed dinner out by the trampoline...

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And then a game of chicken foot!  Look what you Reber's started at the beach!!  I don't think a Wilkes family gathering will ever be complete now without a game of Chicken Foot!!

Can't wait for the next Wilkes Family Dinner!

Twirling Girls

I made Jacky and Addi a little surprise - twirly skirts!
I had some fun fabrics left over from the aprons I had made for girl's camp and they were just begging to be made into a cute little twirly skirt! 

I just happen to know two little girls who would look just perfect in them so I took them with me to Utah.

I was right - aren't they darling!!!
I think every little girl, and maybe every big girl, needs a skirt they can twirl in!!
Thanks for being such cute little models Jacky and Addi!!
Happy twirling girls!!
PS - no worries.  I didn't make Ward a twirly skirt.  Instead he got a copy of Redwall which was Clark's favorite book when he was Ward's age.  I understand Ward is enjoying it as much as Clark did!

Only in Utah

So I couldn't resist....


 Only in Utah....

To save you time - that's 12 kids!!

College Girl - First day of School.

It is almost impossible for me to come to terms with the fact that I now have two sons that are graduated from college and a daughter who is a junior in college!  I guess the one good thing about it is that this year we only have ONE child in college!!!  And we are so proud of her - she was just given a full tuition scholarship.  She has had half tuition the last two years and we were delighted when this year they decided to give her a full tuition scholarship.  A tender mercy for our family right now.


After arriving in Provo/Orem Friday night we got Cali all moved in Saturday morning.  We gathered things up that were scattered all over Provo.  The things she had stored at Wynn and Emilys, the two suitcases Logan had brought back with him, the box that the Jensen's took in their car and the two boxes Brian had brought in his truck!

We headed over to her new apartment at Monticello.  An older apartment complex but one that is right across from South Campus so very convenient.  It is suppose to be a great complex with great wards so she is excited.

She did not know any of her roommates so she was a little nervous but everything looks like it is going to be great!

After helping her unpack her clothes etc. we headed up to campus to buy her books.  The textbook industry sure is a racket - one book cost $150.00!!!!  Cali has decided on Theater Education for her major so she will actually graduate with a teaching certificate.


Her room is all ready for her!

From there we headed to the grocery store to get her cupboards stocked and she was ready to go.

She had an early class on Monday - 8 a.m.  We picked her up during her break and headed to Cafe Rio for lunch!

Happy first day of school Cali!

Provo Food Adventures

I always have my list of favorite foods I need to eat while I am in Provo.  This trip I added a few new things to the list.

On Saturday we met Logan for lunch.  He had some gift certificates for Sammy's so we headed there for lunch.  I had only eaten there once before and fell in love with their pie shakes so I was excited to go back.
Their burgers are yummy and their sweet potato fries are the best.  I was excited to discover that in addition to pie shakes they now have cupcake shakes.  I couldn't resist!
I am so making a cupcake shake at home!!!  Logan had a strawberry cheesecake shake which was pretty amazing too!
Saturday night we tried out a new place - Cafe Paesan which was started by the owners of Cafe Rio.  It is an Italian Bistro.  The food was good but I think I will stick to Cafe Rio from now on.

We picked up dessert at my favorite place - The Chocolate.  I want to own that place.  We took slices of cake back to Wynn and Emily's with us to share.  We also stopped and picked up some Tillamook ice cream to go with it.


My favorite cake at The Chocolate is the Kitty Katrina - pure vanilla bliss!!!


Sunday we enjoyed a Wilkes family dinner at Wynn and Emily's (more on that in another post).

Monday we did a little shopping at Ikea and Tai Pan to pick up a few things for Cali and me, of course.  We then met Emily, Addi and Tricia at Cafe Rio for lunch.  Clark was able to meet us there too when he finished work.  I love that place!!

Emily had raved about Taco Amigo's fresh peach shakes and Monday was the first day they were available.  We decided to get one to share with the four of us - what a mistake.  It was so good we were fighting over it!!!
Monday dinner was Magleby's Fresh (Clark had some coupons)with both boys and in addition to dinner we enjoyed a piece of their amazing chocolate cake


and the warm, yummy Buttermilk Pie - we had two desserts and six forks!!\





Oh yeah - and there was that second trip to Taco Amigo at 10 p.m. at night for some more peach shakes!!

Road Trip

Early Friday morning (6:00 a.m.) to be exact Cali, Tessa, Hannah and I hit the road to take Cali back to school.

We were driving Jim's car since the Suburban will no longer make it over the mountains.  We were packed full.  Fortunately we had several other friends headed to Utah who were able to take several of Cali's boxes since only her suitcase and one box would fit in our car.

We made it through Portland before rush hour traffic and were greeted with an amazing sunrise!
Mt. Hood was amazing!

No worries - I wasn't taking the pictures as I drove.  Hannah was being the cameraman in the back seat!

We all took turns driving which was great!


We were excited to finally hit the Utah state line!
We arrived in Utah about 7:30 p.m.  Thanks to Wynn and Emily for letting us stay with them!