She sure knows how to throw a party

Okay, so I know Dad and Mis have already blogged about this, but I had too many priceless pics to pass on this post. I think all of the fun juice in our family ended up in Misty. Not that we all aren't fun in our own ways, but I am fairly certain that none of the rest of us have vision (or energy?) to pull off such a great party. I for one don't have the vision. I thought you could only do themed parties for people under the age of 10. I guess dad is a kid at heart, so maybe it still applies.

So this was for my dad's b-day (clear back in July- I am still behind on posting). Misty wanted to do a luau and she thought of all the details.

Hawaiian haystacks, tropical fruit kabobs, and sherbet floats in coconut glasses! And Nate to serve it up! It was awesome!

Of course we limbo-ed. I am surprised how good my brother and sisters were. I'd have to say the kids had the definate advantage here.

Mis made everyone 'grass' skirts, and Nate made Misty a bikini top. Thanks for helpin out Nate! I for one thought she was showing a little too much skin- just saying...

Dad was a good sport about wearing his crab hat, although we all agreed he is not crabby. This was more like a happy party crab.

So this confirms that there must have been something more than sprite in those coconuts.

Wow Mist! What a super party! It was so much fun!!!! Thanks dad for having a birthday!

Pukefest 2010

Sorry for the graphic title. Ever since last year's Mower reunion where over half of the attendee's caught stomach flu, our family get-together's are hereon out known as pukefest. Luckily this year was fairly uneventful in that category. (phew) We went to Park City and stayed in a decked-out Marriot resort. It was totally set up for families- which was cool. Any time of day there were several things going on in the resort in addition to the swimming, arcade, kid's hang out room (my kid's fav), excercise room, ect.

When I got home I was surprised how few pictures I had of this part of our trip. I think despite the fun-ness of the resort, I was a little high strung not knowing where my kids were always. They would split up into cousin groups and there were several times I wasn't sure whose room they were in, or where they had headed next. It was a little stressful to me, although no one else seemed to be concerned. Maybe I am psycho paranoid. I was able to keep tabs on the little ones, which was a comfort.

I wish so much I had gotten some pics/footage of everyone playing table tennis. They would hit once and then set the paddle down and the next person would pick up and hit and like 12 of them would play together. I'm sure there is a real name to the game, but I don't know it. It was cool to watch. It's always fun to see the competitiveness kick in. They are all really good.

I didn't want to do Park City without taking the kids to the Alpine Slide. I hadn't been since high school. It wasn't quite all I had remembered, but I am still glad we took the kids. Riley and Parker came too, which made it extra fun for them. I had Zack with me, and he wanted to go fast. I should've sent him with Jeff. I am turning into a chicken liver. Oh well. We couldn't have been too slow- no one rear-ended us.

And so ended our really super duper long several-trips-rolled-into-one trip. Although each thing we did was fun and I loved seeing everyone we saw, I am glad to finally not be living out of a suitcase. 16 days is long to be on the road with 6 kids.

A Trio of Tri's

Jeff's goal this summer was to do 3 triathlons. (I guess he caught the tri-bug) I personally think paying $$$ to go through that kind of pain is a little nuts, but Jeff likes how it keeps him motivated to train- which I TOTALLY understand (since I am struggling in the motivation category lately)



So 2 of his races were really close to home, which was very nice. He did the Boise Spudman and one in Emmett, which is like an hour tops drive. The other one he did was in Burley, Idaho. We pulled our super cool trailer down and camped on the golf course with the other racers. I was all pooped out from our huge trip and wasn't real optimistic about how fun the trip would be, but I did my best to bite my tongue. Turns out it was much more fun than I anticipated, and it didn't take too long. phew!

The hardest part of trying to be supportive as a family is getting the kids to sit and wait between transitions. We only actually get to cheer him on for a few seconds, but sit and wait a couple of hours. Burley was nice because there was actually a nice shaded grassy spot to wait. :)

Looks pretty darn good for right after that grueling of a race! I also saw my high school friend Anna finish. She runs a ton of these! I told her my excuse for not attempting a race myself, which is that I can't swim worth a darn, but she told me when she first decided she wanted to begin triathlons, she couldn't swim either. That makes it even MORE amazing! (and unvalidated my excuse, thank you very much)

The swim at Burley was in the Snake River so we got to go cool off after. It was also a reward for the kids patience waiting for the race to end. Good thing daddy is pretty fast. We may not have lasted. I didn't get in to swim though- too many people have told me this is where you fish for 5 ft. Stergeon. That's enough to keep me dry.

I confess we flaked out of going to the Emmett one to cheer Jeff on, but here is the finish of the Boise race. Although this is not the best picture, I love it because there is Lexie and Zack running the end with him to the finish line. They were so excited to try it. I bet they waited a half hour in their little strategic spot to see him coming so they could join in.

So, I gotta hand it to him. What a great accomplishment. I am not sure I have that kind of motivation. If you were to ask Jeff the best part of his triathlons this summer, I think it would be hands down beating former NFL Eagles tight end Chad Lewis.

Nielson Reunion

Once again, I am blogging when I am supposed to be doing something else. Jeff stuck me on billing- but don't worry, I will get around to it sooner or later. On to phase 2 of our July trip. Back to M&D's we went to hang out for 2 days w/ Misty and Nate who didn't make it to LP this year :( so we had some catching up/hanging out to do.

Then started the Nielson reunion, complete with awesome food, games, and fireworks! Yeah!

Could this be considered dirty money? Each kid brough home a handful of sand with their treasure. And this weren't no chump change. Each of my kids made out purty durn well.

This confirms the good food I was talking about...

Mel hosted some crazy 'Minute to Win it' games! They were SO FUN! Way to go Mel!

Here's to Grandma. What a great lady she is. We love you Grandma! Thanks for the fun get together! It was sure good to see you - and everyone else!

LP #2

Sorry, I know I already put a bunch of LP pictures in my last post, but there were a few more I couldn't bear to leave out.

There. I figure you gotta see it to believe it. Actually, I don't think the picture does the candy cupboard justice. It's like Halloween x 10.

Dad lost the little thing that hooks on the ends of his glasses to make sure he doesn't loose them (are they called chubs?) so being the brilliantly resourceful guy he is, he found a small bungee cord could serve the same purpose. This could quite possibly be my favorite picture.

Lexie liked riding with the big boys. She didn't want anything to do with the "boring" slow rides. They caught some pretty sweet air, but it was nothing compared to the tube wars! (Moydie vs Aaron)

Payters b-day hit the day before we headed back. We did a cobbler in the dutch oven for her cake, which I thought was a good compromise seeing how I don't know how to do a cake. She only got one big candle since all four of them melted together, and she said "Yuck!" when she saw the cobbler. Aww, sigh. At least I can say I tried. She did like her presents though, so I think I redeemed myself, and we did her real party once we got home to Boise.

This part was awesome! I can't believe I have gone to LP for 20+ yrs and never seen this part before! It was facinating to me. I love this type of stuff. These ruins are a short hike up a canyon I had never been to before. It took quite a while to get to the canyon on a wave runner.

Wow, huh! Jeff and I just went with Bug and Moyd. It will be fun to show the kids someday!