Family Reunion Day 2

SUNDAY:

We all went to my mom and dad's ward for church. After, a ward member took some family pictures of us all. I'm pretty impressed with how great they turned out!

My parents with their 18 grandchildren
(Preston looks like such a stud!)

There's a picture of us when we were kids (I'll post it on here when I find it)-we call it the stair step picture-Kevin was the tallest and down to me being the shortest. My mom wanted to "recreate" the picture. It's not quite the stair-step anymore, but it was a fun picture to take.

Kevin, Ryan, Tamsen, Emily, Megan

Then Ryan wanted to get a picture of the MEN of the family! :-) I've got to say, these are some really good looking men!

Patrick, Ryan, Todd, Nick, Kevin, Dad (Russ)

After church we had lunch at my parents house, visited, rested, played games, and went to see Tamsen's chickens at her house.

Jana and Kevin

Tamsen

Amelia (2 yrs old)

Finley (8 mo old)

Meg and Avery (3 yrs old)

Avery and Nick

Tyler (2 mo old) and Bridget (6 yrs old)

Tage (4 yrs old), Sara, Finley and Amelia

Meg and Emily

Mom, Dad, Tamsen

Finley and Amelia

The chickens, surrounded by Ashleigh, Maura, Talon, Bridget

Bridget holding a chicken

Preston petting a chicken

My mom showed Tamsen how to hypnotize chickens, so Tamsen showed us!!! I was amazed by it. Please excuse my annoying commentary. :-( This chicken stayed hypnotized for 2 minutes!!!

Ryan and Sara napping

Todd and Patrick

I taught the family how to play Wahoo and the older boys loved playing it!

Kevin snoozing

While the boys were playing Wahoo, Amelia laid down next to me to watch and a minute later she was sound asleep! She's such a doll!

My dad snoozing

Some of the kids went to the basement to play--Here's Bridget and Talon helping to tie another quilt.

Ashleigh and Cooper

My grandma Ballard and my nephew Tyler

After our down time we headed back to the church for the blessing of Tyler Bruce Ballard. It was nice to be there since I think he is going to be the LAST grandchild! That's a sad thought....

Ryan kept the kids occupied and quiet while we waited to begin. He's so funny!!!

After the blessing we had a little "talent time". Any of the kids who wanted to, played a song on the piano. It was very entertaining! :-)

Then the kids all sang some primary songs

Then we had dinner at the church. We all ate and visited, and then played a couple "Sunday approved" games...Adams Family, and Going on a Cruise. So much fun!!!

(Yes, those are veggies on Preston's plate--shocking, right?)

While waiting for our turn for the Adams Family game, I noticed Ashleigh leading the music while the other girl cousins sang. It was so cute!

And the little boys played under the table. Hee hee.

Errands....

Betsie and I got together to run a few errands and have a day out together with the kids. We went to IKEA first....

We got inside and Betsie went to get the 1 and only cart that was on the main floor. Just before she got there another lady came and took it first! RUDE! And what made it worse is that when we saw her upstairs she didn't even bring it up with her! She left it at the entrance!

The kids all wanted to ride up the escalator to the upper floor....I was first with a couple of the kids, and betsie was in the back half with a couple more kids... Josiah and Jennidee were behind her. I think what happened was they didn't get ON a step, they were on two steps so when it separated and it started going up, they fell down and started rolling over on each other down the escalator while it was going up....I kind of freaked out, but froze and didn't really know what to do. Bets went into mom mode and let go of the kids she was holding hands with and like sprinted down the escalator to help get Josiah and Jennidee up...NOT an easy feat!!! One of the IKEA workers ran towards the escalator to help, but stopped at the bottom, I think, when he saw that Betsie made it down there, but hello, she still could have used the extra set of hands!!! We all made it to the top, but the poor kids were crying and so scared! Jennidee attached to me and Betsie comforted Josiah. After they calmed down she was able to assess the situation. Jennidee had some scratches on her back and this is what Josiah's face looked like. It was so sad!!! needless to say, we avoided the escalators from them on!
After IKEA we stopped for lunch at Subway. I am amazed by how well behaved Betsie's kids are!!! They never threw a tantrum, they obeyed Betsie every time, they were so calm and happy. It was such a joy to be around them all!!!

After lunch we hit the big sale at Kid 2 Kid....I got 16 articles of clothing for the kids for $47! Pretty good deals, if you ask me!

Then I got lunch for Nick and his co-worker and we all went to show Betsie where he works. Then we branched off--Betsie went home to put the kids down for a nap and I took my kids to Cookie Cutters to get their hair cut.

Here's Preston's new do!

I had earned a free hair cut-from getting P's hair cut so often-so I let Ash get her hair trimmed. They took about 2" off and then they styled it. I LOVE how they do her hair. I seriously have no talent in that department. I like having her hair done, then she actually looks like a cute little girl rather than a ragamuffin. Lol. :-)


We had to run a bunch more errands on our way home. It made for a long (HOT) day, but it was so much fun spending the day with Betsie and her awesome kids!!!

little visitors

I was so excited today when Betsie mentioned that she needed some alone time. I offered to have the kids come over and play at our house so she could be alone for a while. We had so much fun together! The kids were a little shy at first and kept to themselves and didn't say much, but after about 10 min they were all playing well together and chatty. Ashleigh took the lead on everything and loved being the oldest of the Call cousins. She stuck with Jennidee and Emma mostly, but also initiated activities and ideas of things to do together with everyone. We had Oranges and Mac N Cheese and then off they went to play. We had only one problem with Preston not wanting to share his toys, but after that they were all great together!

Emma

Jennidee and Emma

Emma and Ashleigh

Jadon

Jadon and Jennidee

Preston, Josiah, and Jennidee

Emma, Josiah, and Jadon

Cousins picture#1

Ashleigh and Jadon

Josiah

Jennidee and Emma

Emma

Jennidee

Cousins picture #2

Jennidee
The Sit N Spin was a big hit!

Preston and Ashleigh

Jennidee, Ashleigh, and Emma

Preston and Jadon

Can't wait to watch them for Betsie again! :-)

Snoasis

Finally we were able to get together with Betsie and her kids and we all went to Snoasis together! It was all very relax and chill and so nice to just sit and and visit.

Emma

Jennidee

Jennidee, Jadon, and Betsie

Josiah, Ashleigh, and Preston

Emma, Nick, and Jennidee

Sunday fun

I went on an hour long bike ride with Ashleigh, her friend Hailie and Preston. We had a few fumbles, but otherwise, it was lots of fun riding all over the neighborhood. Preston told me that he doesn't want his training wheels on anymore, so I told him that daddy could raise them up a little bit and we can see how he does like that. He didn't like that idea. he just wants them off. And he wants a kickstand. He's a funny kid. He showed me he's ready to ride on 2 wheels by riding Ashleigh's bike--she helped--holding on with both hands so she was balancing him....not quite proof that he's ready, but it sure was entertaining!


After we were done riding bikes Ashleigh pointed out to me that we have a lot of weeds in our yard. I told her and Preston that if they wanted to pull them out I would pay them (pay jobs!). She asked me how much and I said I could give them both a dollar if they pulled them ALL out, or I would take them to Snoasis. They both decided on Snoasis. Nick's off work early tomorrow--which is unusual, so we're going to go when he gets home. Hopefully Betsie and the kids can come too...we miss seeing those kids!!! They've been sick pretty much the entire time they've been in Utah so we've had to keep our distance to avoid getting it. It's pretty sad. We miss them!!!

Nick Playing his Cello

I am constantly amazed by Nick's musical abilities and talents. One of his favorite bands is Apocalyptica. He can listen to them a couple times and then pull out his cello and play it right along with them. Personally, I think that's pretty impressive! :-) The prior videos I've posted are HERE. Enjoy! :-)

Trip to Mill Creek Canyon

The kids and I went with my mom to scope out the spot at Mill Creek Canyon for our family reunion. It was so pretty up there--so green and cool! I think we found the perfect spot--bigger clearing, near the stream, lots of places for the cousins to run and play, etc. It's first come first serve though, so I'm just hoping the spot we picked out will be available on the day we want it. We had a lot of fun!!! :-)

Preston and Meg

Ashleigh, Meg, and Preston

Part of our spot
Ashleigh and Preston

Another part of our spot
Ashleigh and Preston

Preston insists on taking his pants all the way down when he pees....I think it's hilarious!!!