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.

up and down the five II

Thursday kenzie, ethan, tessa and I flew up to Washington to surprise shalyn and the kids. It was ethans first time on an airplane and he was so excited....until we went to board the airplane and he realized that daddy was not coming. He would not go with me and kept screaming no I want daddy. "Daddy go airplane with me. I want daddy go." He was crying and holding on to austin's leg. It was so sad, but after about 10 minutes I got him on the plane and he was fine and excited to push all the buttons he could get his hands on. Kenzie that night before was crying saying that she was not going to have any fun in Washington because daddy was not going to be there. I want daddy to go on the airplane. Daddy is going to be all alone and sad because I am not here. I want my daddy to go. Yea I feel like a good mom...my kids want their daddy to go and are crying because he is not going. Hello....here I am...mom is going...nope only wanted daddy.
Aaron Grover was nice enough to come and pick me up from the airport and take me to shalyn's house. It was fun seeing old friends from Hawaii again. I haven't seen Aaron in about six years so it was fun to catch up. shalyn was out and about so after 5 minutes of waiting she got home and we surprised her as she was getting out of her car. we had a good time playing at a beautiful park with a lake, picnics, mariners game, snoqualmie falls, huge rain storm, walle and playing with cousins.

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.

the last two weeks

A little catch up from the last couple weeks. Briette, Tiffani, Paige and I went to Sea World. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a lot of fun. Then we went to Oceanside Beach with Briette, Tiffani, Paige, Katie and Cortnie. Thanks to Katie for taking all our kids in the ocean to play in the waves.
We also had the opportunity to run into our friends Jeff and Judy at Disneyland. the last time that we saw them was at Disneyland around thanksgiving. We met up with the Garners and Fords and had dinner in old town Temecula. then over to the fords for desert and catching up since we all left byu-h. Last week we met up with the Kearns @ Disneyland, who were down for a week. we just missed out on being able to hang out with the Nilsson's and Hatch's.

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.

v.i.p @ the magic kingdom

Last week Tiff and I took the kids to Disneyland. We decided that we would go over the California Adventure and take the kids to the playhouse Disney live on stage show. We asked a Disney employee if we could sit on the side in front and he let us. So as we were waiting for the show to start Ethan started dancing with the employee and I guess the guy took a liking to Ethan, so after the show he said if we would wait he had something for us. A few minutes later he came back with Disneyland pins for the kids. Then he told us to go over to see crush the turtle and tell them that we are v.i.p. and we could be seated first and get to stay and talk to crush after the show. So the kids got some one on one time with crush. Then we got to sit right in front for the Disney pixar parade and a ton of the characters came up and played with the kids. Then the boys met up with us and we went over to Hagen Daaz for some free ice cream. Then we went over to Disneyland and watched the parade and then hit up a ride before the park closed. So all in all it was a great day at Disneyland.

lollys wedding

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.