thanksgiving ot'seven

so this year was the year to have everyone invade so cal and our house. the hunsakers and remaining heathfield laner's came down via the motor home and a 20 hour trip, being capped off by some rush our traffic. they got here Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning josh and i took the kids (makenzie, damon and ethan) to Disneyland. Rachel came along for the ride gratis and so did jean. we ended up getting on most of the rides that we wanted to.

part of the fun of taking the kids is to see how they react to the characters as well as the rides. one of the places that ethan loves is Mickeys toon town. there at goofy's house you can play in his backyard, there are slides, things to climb on, jump off and just let some energy out. one of the the funniest things that i have ever seen happened here. ethan loves the fact that there is a leaky hose that squirts up water, Ethan likes to fill his mouth up and spit it out. not only does he recycle the water but he guards that feature from all of the other kids in the area with his little lobster pinch. damon saw what was going on and got in on the action. well Damon does not believe in the "dispose of the water in your mouth before leaving the hose area." so damon would walk around with the water, cheeks to capacity. so i am over by the hose area and i loose track of where damon is at for a moment. i look over to the slide to see a man wiping something from his face and shirt. then i hear him say "that kid just spit on me." i am not sure, just then i see damon pop his head out and in that instance i put it together as damon goes down the slide, runs over to the hose and refills. i felt kinda bad not going over and apologizing but i was laughing too hard. don't get in damons way.
towards the end of the night we ended up over near space mountain waiting to see if the line would die down. after grabbing something to eat we were next this giant marble ball. it is 1000 pounds and floats on water. it spins around. josh and i kept slowing it down and spinning it in the opposite direction. our sons had a different idea of what would be fun to do with this giant rock that was constantly wet. ethan and damon would disappear to the opposite side of the ball that we were on and then lick the ball. they would stand there with their tongues extended and just lick it as it went around. by the end their shirts were soaked.
being down here around Hollywood, not that Perris is just over the hill from all of the studios but there is always the chance that you will see some stars. at Disneyland i have seen Ricky Schroder, and a few other not so famous people. but today was to be different we rode on the tea cups with Heidi Klum and her kids. her husband, Seal, was on the side taking photos. i wish that i would have been more attentive to snap up some paparazzi type pictures, but the only ones that i got were not too clear of them. in each of these pictures they are in them, or one of them is in them, just in case you were wondering. they had their faces painted up, so you could not recognize them right off. later that day i ran into some friends from BYUH who were visiting from Vegas.
on Thursday we did the turkey bowl at the park, only to relive the memories of that over the next few days, they were whisked away with the wintergreen smell and some icy hot, getting old stinks. cherisse and i, and we took the kids, went down to the storrs for thanksgiving down there while the rest of the dyers went out to long beach. it was fun to see the monsons and the rest of the gang.
Friday morning we decided that we were going to have thanksgiving with the dyers today. a few jetted out to see if they could find some black Friday deals. Adrian went and picked up luke who flew into Ontario. then the boys took the kids over to the march air museum, but before we stopped by the perris fair grounds to check out the kart racing. after looking at all of the displays inside we then went to look at all of the planes outside. the wind was blowing harder than my sister trying to save a buck on a sandwich in London. Claire and Emily were nice enough to take the kids back to the motor home. we then fought the dust storm to see all the planes. later that day we had the turkey with all of the fixings. i liked it because it seemed like there was the right amount of food, not overdone like the typical dyer thanksgiving. that may have been because my fridge was not bulging with leftovers until 2008.
so once the dishwasher was loaded the guys hopped in the white sienna and rode off west to the LA convention center to check out the auto show. the la auto show is one of the largest in the world. some of the highlights were the concept cars, the $1,000,000 lambo Reventón, the nissan g-tr, Aston Martin’s V-8 Vantage N400, the ferrari's, the $350.000 volvo (why), mercedes, and the Porsche display. old man dyer was amazed that there were no Studebaker's, spend most of his time checking out the Fords, Chevy's and the new Dodge mini-van, and left the show with the most free stuff. he also spent the most time schmoozing and asking questions like, "what is a scion? Dr. heder told me about that i think." afterwards we went in a long search of the Hollywood sign, only to find out that it was not lighted. the evening was capped off by driving by celebrity houses off of sunset. you know that you are not in turner anymore when someone does not have room in their garage, and has to park the Ferrari on the curb in front of their house.
7 am on Saturday morning some early risers kicked off the first ever dyer family fun run. i will have to post the results later. everyones favorite post run highlight was watching ashton burn up the asphalt.
later on we attempted to take family pictures which was mainly a battle of keeping the little boys out of the water and mud. good times trying to organize the brood to get some quality shots in the late afternoon. that night the condensed milk challenge was scratched but the 2007 ping-pong champion was crowned, Luke.
Sunday everyone was up early to make it to church, 8:30 am, and for tessa's baby blessing. cherisse's family sent the precedent by being there 45 minutes and they dyers rolled in to the chapel just in time. afterwards we headed back to our place for some food and to help pack up those who were driving back to OR and UT.

i would just like to say thanks for the help, time, effort, and the memories of this family function. thanks.

Rexburg...

Luke graduated from BYU-Idaho about a week ago and here are a few Dyeriffic moments from the occasion...A father and his son,

Dad taking a nap outside the bookstore. Keep in mind that there were quite a lot of visitors milling around, all of them noticing dad, but letting the man sleep. We thought it was hilarious! I think that maybe he's just making up for all the sleep he'd lost over the years...Now when is mom going to take her nap?!?

The proud parents...this one was the best of the bunch...it was "approved."

At the Business School commencement...and Lauren giving her best "Mom" face: "No, I said NOT to take my picture!" Mom, on the other hand, is soaking in the moment.

The graduates and their mothers...p-r-ecious!
Congratulations, Luke and Greta!

british invasion

so this past weekend mom came down and paid us a visit. apart from christmas and Zions we have not had her British accent down here in over a year and a half. makenzie disowned cherisse and i and wanted grandma to do everything with her. ethan on the other hand had someone that he could show off his dancing skills, running skills, yogurt eating skills, acting like a dog skills, as well as his temper skills. the first night that she was down here we ventured out to PF Chang's where we got enough food to feed the little girls plus some. filled up the fridge on left overs that were devoured in the next couple of days. took mum out to cabazon to get her "outlet" on and managed to find some good deals. Sunday we had one of those Sunday dinners with roast, potatoes, Yorkshires, brown sugar carrots, and the rest of the regular stuff. delicious. mom also made some other things for us like some Moroccan chicken and pomegranate gelato. it seemed like not much time at all that she was down here and we were dropping her off at the airport but it was fun to have her down here. until the next time.

a few from zions

all of these pictures crack me up.

3 amigos - the 3 amigos sitting there. you go from dirty to cleaner to cleanest. someone has taught makenna to cross her legs. cherisse and i are proud parents because ethan is sitting, and sat long enough to take a picture. makenna being the oldest of the 3 sat down, i am not sure if she did it on her own or was instructed to, either way she set the example. i know that no one told her how to sit, but very proper.
april and ashton - april making sure that ashton is clean for the ride back home. ethan on the other hand i think rode home wearing his banana Popsicle as well as some pizza.
mom and popsicle - mom asking something about the ingredients in the Popsicle, if it is safe to be in the tree, how many credit card points were tallied up with the purchase of that camera, who put all of the farm equipment in this little park, if there was a travel agency in the hurricane, if i knew that i had a bogie in my nose, how much money lauren wanted if mom could pop that zit on the back of her neck, why it would be a good idea for all of us to move back up to move up to oregon, upset by my answer to someones question as to how many days she has been in the same clothes, or many other possibilities.
shasta lauren - lauren on her 4th shasta soda. gotta try them all.
ethan & adrian - ethan having fun with poopy papa. dad making sure that the hat is still protecting the wisps of hair that are still attatched to his scalp.
nighty night - last but not least dad trying to get some old man afternoon sleep. just a little nap. as i remember this was short lived. at one point he was all sprawled out and relaxed, so relaxed he let one of his little friend slide out. we all had a good laugh. nothing like dad to break the silence and wind. just helping everyone feel comfortable and relaxed.

Gems from the basement

Some classics unearthed from the basement.

I am not full of wit at the moment. But if anyone wants to add captions with some humor for these pictures, feel free.

Classic Dyer family photo.

2 words
lauren's glasses!
dad's stash!









The front door.
A) Mom and dad were hoping one of the kids would walk out the front door and disappear, one less mouth to feed.
B) This will show those crazy 7th Day Adventists from knocking on our door!

"thanks for showing us what the super vacuum does but we are not interested, let me show you out the door."
"we have all of this candy and no one comes to trick-or-treat"
notice the flowers to hide the fact that there is a huge pit just on the other side
"why don't you invite your friends over to play?"

Us Dyer kids sure do know how to have us some fun.

Claire is happy to be on this ride.
nobody told us that we needed snow to ride on the sled.
notice all of the rocks and other potential dangers that OSHA would have a hay day with.
another one of austin's games for everyone to participate.
pre thrill-ville
"don't worry Claire i have a good grip around your neck, you will be fine"

Styles for potential mocking

that is what i wore last night when i went down to Disneyland with makenzie and ethan.
this picture was probably taken right after the gates opened, did not want to miss a minute of "happiest place on earth"
8 kids @ Disneyland, what a bold adventure for mom and dad to take us on
i think Luke still has those shorts, ask Greta

As portrayed in this picture, mom does not only pick her own nose, her children's noses, pop pimples, but also extracts the boogies from all of nature.

another one for moms "being funny" portfolio
they don't have moose in england
with a little hollandaise sauce, brown sugar carrots, these things are a delicacy in eastern Africa and we can have them for thanksgiving
just another nostril that mom can check off her list
this was the 35th nose that mom violated in the animal museum that day

Ahh.. no words..

must not have been heathfield lane, i see grass
the first time that Lauren and April started fighting
largely unknow child #9 that lives in the basement with 4 legs, 2 butts, and 2 arms
i know for sure that this is not Luke and Austin, well maybe

SF

So we went up to SF this weekend to hang out with mom and dad. We also met up with some extra night in a hotel, we got to go to Disneyland with friends on Friday night, we would have gotten their pretty late on Friday had we gone up then. By driving early in the morning the kids slept until we got there. I stopped once to get gas and they woke up just before we got to Dublin, just east of Oakland. We met up with the Fords, our friends from BYUH who now live about 30 minutes away. We set out from Perris about 3:45 in the morning for a couple of reasons. There were no potty breaks as everyone was sleeping, less traffic, kids wake up and we are there, not much to see between here and San Fran, and I can listen to the radio.

Our first stop on our trip was Walmart. Not that we are die hard Sam Walton fans but we had to pull over and change a diaper and get the kids dressed for the real world and not their mobile beds. After the parking lot pit stop it was back on the freeway that was not going to be that free much longer. We took the 680 and went north up to the Jelly Belly Factory. we finally found the place that I thought i knew where it was at and eventually had to ask directions. we had driven by on our way up for Christmas in Oregon and I thought that I knew where it was but obviously not. Cherisse was very patient with me through the whole back and forth in either direction.

This is where it all goes down for the kids, for makenzie this was like Graceland. It was not like the tour of the Tillamook cheese factory but what do you want. I would say cheese is somewhat healthy for the fact that is mentioned on the food pyramid. Besides the jelly beans that are flavored after some fruit I would say that they don't count. So we toured the factory with our hats, we all looked like we just got off our shift at In-n-Out and then headed over to see how they make beans and other sweet treats. The first jelly belly art work that you see when you walk in is Ronald Reagan. He helped put them on the map. They had a ton of flavors and so were nice and some not so nice. At the end of the tour they gave us 2 boxes each of some ant bully the movie. In their there were some flavors like grass and ants to name a few. They also had some Harry Potter ones that had some great flavors from bertie bott. Some others that cherisse tried but I did not were the sport beans ones that she said were not that good. they also had a sample stop where you could try anything that they had and I had a toasted garlic, cinnamon toast, buttered toast, 7up, kiwi, and pomegranate. some were good and some were not.

After the factory we grabbed some late breakfast and what should have been lunch and headed into the city via the Golden Gate Bridge. The rain continued and we made our way across the bay on a bridge north of the Golden Gate and over to the 101. Coming down the 101 we got off right before crossing and headed up the hill to where the gun turrets were. We got some great pictures of the bridge and the city from up there and the whole bay opened up at times. We were getting blocked out with the clouds and rain that would come and go. Some times we could see all the way to Oakland and when the clouds would roll over the hills that we were on it was tough to see the freight ships waiting to enter the bay.

Once we got done with our picture taking on the north side of the bridge we went over to the south side to meet up with Adrian and Jean. the rain really started coming down then and the idea of walking out on the bridge a little way got washed down the storm drain. a quick consensus of what we were going to do next and we then followed the lead of Rand McNally who knew his way around the Lombard's, Haight, and wharfs. first up was where the hippie movement got started. back to dad's old stomping grounds where he died his first tie died shirt and sold beaded necklaces to earn his first pair of Birkenstock's. not really, i think that was trying to hit jaywalkers, just kidding. so from there we went to those famous houses that are at the beginning of "Full House." the rain was down to a sprinkle then so it helped for pictures. down the curvy Lombard street and then over to fisherman's wharf for a cable car ride.

The cable car ride was something that i always look forward to doing when we go to SF. it has only been a couple of times since being married but it is unique.
part of the reason that we took this trip back to SF was for the simple fact that when it says on your camera to format the memory you should not do that unless you really wanna loose all of the pictures that you have left on that card. here i just want to mention that there are an insane number of tolls to pay just going over the bridges. i thought that for sure they were even going to ding us when we left over the bay bridge the next morning but that was the only time we cross and did not have to pay. four bucks here and another fiver there it all adds up.

Once we got back to the cars the fords went back to the hotel and dad and I went back downtown to rescue moms credit cards, and pick up mom and Cherisse. after getting checked into the hotel, dad and I ventured out on van Ness to find some food. there was no chicken nuggets or any sort of fast food. I think that dad had his heart set on buffalo stew but we settled on some hamburgers and salads for those waiting. the food tasted great and I was finally able to get more than 30 minutes of sleep.

the next morning we took a while to get up and going with the kids and we made our way out to grab some breakfast at Ihop on Lombard street. after finding parking we all ate are way through some omelets, pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, sausage and that was just all that dad ate. not really we all found something we liked. from there dad and mom took off to grab some sourdough bread and head north on the five and we saw a few more things and then took off south on the five. it was a lot easier traveling in the early morning while the kids were sleeping as our trip home took a few more hours than the trip up. Sadly we saw a horrible accident that required a helicopter to land on the north bound side of the freeway to get those injured to the medical attention that they needed.