jefferson trip

this past weekend i had the opportunity, thanks cherisse, to head up to Oregon to go hiking/camping with my dad, brother and brother in laws. it started out about 2 months ago and we finally all got together up there last Friday. we set out at the base of Mt. Jefferson late Friday afternoon and marched up the trail. our resident trailblazer, Adrian inquired of exiting hikers, and found that the mosquito's would be a problem it we hiked all the way to Jefferson Park that night, so we pulled over and pitched out tents in a clearing. we all dove into our mountain house meals and called it a Friday.
the next morning we continued on toward Jefferson Park with the warning from those hiking out to beware of those mosquito's. we found a stream and took a little break to refill on water and rest. josh caught up to us there with roco. he mentioned how he got comments from liberal, tree hugging, 2nd amendment debaters, gun powder haters as he hiked in with his .22 strapped to his pack. shortly thereafter we shot off some rounds as the sound traveled through the valley in hopes that they would just hear it and scurry back to their mom's basement's.
wanting to find a camping spot before we got into the park we thought we had found the ideal clearing in a meadow. upon further review we found it a hotbed for rebel mosquito's. josh who had been there less than an hour had a new plan of attack for this weekend trip. he suggested it to the rest of us then we went before the winded commander and chief. the plan was for josh to head out with jake, grab his boat and we would meet up at Detroit lake in a couple of hours and camp on the island, and take full advantage of the water. luke, joe, ernest and i headed out for some taste of the park but we were lead down the wrong path and after about an hours worth of hiking we realized we had gone on the pacific crest trail south when the north fork would have gotten us there in 5 minutes. with time not on our side we hiked out and met up at the lake.
Luke and Ernest got in some wake boarding before we set up the tents and started the everlasting campfire. with the help from those who had used the campsite before us and decided that they would not dirty up their own trailer park but would leave the trash around our site, a plastic plate came in handy for stoking our fire. Adrian, Ernest and josh found some wood.
before heading back to the dock we went up one of the fingers of Detroit lake to a picturesque location, nice and mellow and quiet. Ernest managed to catch a salamander and go on to later catch a snake that had just eaten. it was back to heathfield lane for some post camping lunch. lamb, an assortment of cheese, nutella and key lime cheesecake, shrimp, and much more.
in the end we were able to hang out and get to know each other better. we heard some funny jokes and some not so funny. thanks to all who made it a great trip. figured out that i need some more gear. look forward to the next adventure.

mount jeff trip

Storrs Family Reunion San Diego

This last weekend we went down to my parents house for a family reunion. We had a great time and the kids had a blast. We each got our own welcome bag of goodies and fun toys. Thursday night we hung out and chatted. Went swimming and watched a movie on a projection screen out by the pool.
Friday we went to Mission beach and played there all afternoon. Then we went to the Padres game all 43 of us and let the kids play in the sandbox behind center field.
Then Saturday we got up early and did a 5k at the park and yes I did finish it! Then we hung out at mom and dads and went swimming, kids had a blast in the art room, older kids had fun in the pool room out back with all the video games, played games and hit balls in the newly finished sport court. There was of course a ton of food everywhere to graze all day. Then we had a surprise luau for my moms birthday with a lot of her old friends. Even her old friend all growing up from Idaho Falls flew in from out of town, Gladys. We had L&L Hawaiian Barbecue cater it and yum I haven't had L&L's since I moved back from Hawaii. Anyway the girls all did a couple of hula dances for grandma and we had a picture slide show for mom. Then we had a fun dance party after that to finish off the party.
Sunday we went down to Sea Port Village to take family pictures...which is always super fun! Then walked around for a bit and then went back to the house to hang out.
I am super tired but the kids had a great time playing with cousins all day long for four days.

memories

Here is a fun little game...

leave a comment on our blog of a memory that you and i (cherisse, austin, makenzie, ethan or tessa) have had together. it doesn't matter if you've known us for a short time or a long time, or met just once, anything that you remember!

next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. it is pretty funny to read the responses.

up and down the five

last weekend we were up in the bay area for luke & greta's wedding. we drove up at 3am on Friday morning and met up with everyone at the hotel, went in and saw some sites, and then back for some swimming. driving in the morning was great and we made it up there in about six and a half hours. our trip back was not so quick as it was in the middle of the day. it was fun hanging out with the dyer side of the family and to get together for luke's special day was fun.

seen and heard

we have quickly realized that we need to write these things down as soon as they happen or else they will be forgotten.

heard - while makenzie and ethan are running around in the kitchen with filled water balloons,
"hey dad can you juggle these, can you juggle these?"
"if you want to play with those, you need to go outside."
"do you want to juggle some food that is not going to break."
she then brings over some lemons.

seen and heard - the kids getting out all of the lemons from the fridge and teaching themselves how to juggle. it quickly turned into dodge ball. while sitting in the office i hear makenzie become the casualty of an errant citrus projectile. then ethan comes running down the hall toward me with a look of guilt. i tell him to go and apoligize to his sister and he turns around and taps her on the shoulder and tells her,
"you ok."

heard - if no one is around tessa, not that we leave her in solitary confinement, but if she sees that no one is around at the moment of her choosing then she will let out a squeal. a bone stirring squeal to let all within a two and a half mile radius know that she is upset about something.

heard - last week we were at the thunstroms pool and there was a birds nest just above the (which is a cave/grotto) and so the kids couldn't go swimming in there. So today we were over there swimming again and kalia came over to kenzie and said,
"kenzie, kenzie the birds are gone they are not in the hot tub any more we can go swimming in there."
"o, are the birds on vacation?!"

heard - makenzie, "mommy, when i cough i think that i have a cold."

heard - i told her that while in san fran we were going to go to a park that i use to play in when i was a kid (in front of my grandma's house). makenzie wondering how i got there,
"o what car did you ride in."
thinking back to those 11 hour road trips down to SF, "a herbie van (vw bus)."
"mommy, what car did you ride in." short pause, makenzie answers, "a pink limo."
"yep makenzie, a pink limo." "that's a fun car."

heard - "mom, i am going to be princess leia, and an ice skater."

heard - after i got done singing a made up song
"dad your silly." "why am i silly?" "because you are speaking english."

heard - while in a grocery store in melo park,
"we need to get some milk for your cereal." makenzie, "i don't like milk." "milk is good for you. it give you strong bones, and has lots of vitamins in it." makenzie, "chocolate milk make you healthy. regular milk makes you sad."

heard - when we were leaving at 3am on our trip to san francisco makenzie woke up for about 30 minutes and was full of things to say. we got out the camcorder and recorded some things that she was saying. toward the end cherisse asked,
"is there anything else that you would like to say kenzie?" "um.., no that's all. a motorhome, you should get a motorhome. dad that would be fun, huh."

Wicked

Friday night my parents, Lori, Tiffani, Briette and I went and saw wicked in Hollywood. The boys and the kids came and we all went to dinner at Baja fresh and then we went to the Pantages Theater and the boys went and played with the kids at the grove. It was amazing and any of you who have not seen it yet should go! GAlinda totally reminds me of my little sister Briette. Needless to say she got a new nickname. Tiffani and Briette were dropped off right where the road and sidewalks were closed, the doors were closing in 5 minutes so they had to sprint in stilettos about a mile around two city blocks while I waited at the gates to give them their tickets. Yes they just made it...good thing there were all dressed up to go for a jog. Thanks to Austin for getting me the ticket for mothers day.

brett and i took the kids down to the grove. it worked out great. tessa and kashmin were entertained by the throngs of people gathered around the water fountain and all who had come to see the premiere of sex and the city. we met up with a friend of mine and made our way over to the farmers market for some pinkberry. i thought that the time would drag by but it was over before it begun. the reason that we took the kids along was so that the little ones could be "topped off." ended up being a late night with some traffic on the return trip.

say what?

when getting ready to go down to San Diego yesterday this is what transpired. ethan has this odd fascination with a certain pair of board shorts. he will want those on regardless of the weather, luckily it is usually warm. underwear or diaper he could care less, shirt occasionally. so ethan all dressed and i asked him:

Austin: Hey Ethan you ready to go to San Diego. Ready to go surfing?
Makenzie: Uhh.. He's gonna get KILLED.

what am i suppose to say to that.

catching up

here are some pictures of the things that we have been up to the past couple of weeks. took a trip down to Laguna beach last weekend. a trip down to Disneyland with makenzie and ethan. attended Lauren's open house the Saturday after getting back from Utah. got a visit from another toad and i left my contacts in too long and manage to irritate my eyes to the point of total discomfort. the bright flash was annoying, hence the look on my face.
tessa has a new fascination with sand. she likes to eat it and get in it. at the beach she never really sat still until she was off the towel and on the sand. able to dig her hands in and get fistfuls, then gum it to death.

lollys wedding

smack-a-lack-a-ding-dong

this is what ethan did to me the other night. i was putting him down to sleep and he whipped his head back and smacked me in the lip. this was a couple of minutes after it happened. i resembles some sort of skoal cancer lip. there was not that much blood surprisingly. looks worse than it felt.

2008 roady

we just got back from a long road trip. here is going to be the shorter version of our trip with pictures and stories to fill in the gaps and expand on the whole trip. the beginning of our trip was to fulfill something that cherisse wanted to do with her mom and see where she grew up and where her side of the family was from. that was in northern Utah and southern Idaho. at the end of our trip was Lauren's wedding in salt lake.

Friday we left and made it up to springville to meet up with the rest of the caravan (storrs, jensens, and thunstroms). a quick stop to see cheryl's dad in SLC we made our way up to portage, Utah. we ended up in Logan for the night after eating at the bluebird cafe. the next day we made our way up to Idaho falls. around Idaho falls on Monday.

Tuesday the rest of the group headed back and we headed north to rexburg. i have not been back for 8 years and it has changed a ton. after seeing emily we went up to west Yellowstone. we did Yellowstone for 2 days seeing all sorts of animals and attractions. Thursday we made our way back down to SLC for the wedding.

Friday the girls headed out to get their nails done and josh and i took the boys down to cabellas. that night we had dinner with the gang at the Joseph smith memorial building. Saturday up early for the wedding, then swimming with the hunsakers at their hotel. back into our clothes to head over for the reception. sunday we finally got out around 3:30 and home around 3 in the morning.