California

We headed out to California a few weeks ago for my brother Jeff's wedding. The girls and I were able to make a whole week out of it. Andy was only able to join us for the last couple of days. Everyone took time off from work and we all met in Fresno. Family members traveled from Texas, Indiana, and various parts of California. It was so fun to be together - all of us - it hasn't happened in over 4 years. A lot has changed since then... It was good to be together again as one big family. Hopefully it won't take another 4 years for it to happen...

My parents drove down to Houston and flew out with the girls and I. It was so nice to have their help on the flights. The girls loved all the special surprises Grandma packed for the airplane and enjoyed being spoiled by their Papa's attention. I think from Houston to L.A. Rachel talked nonstop to Papa. So, we gave him a break from L.A. to Fresno and switched seats around a bit. Once we arrived in Fresno the fun began!

We spent lots of time just having fun and hanging out. I was able to meet up with a few friends from high school as well, which is always nice. Andy was able to fly in late Thursday night right before the wedding on Friday. Here are a few of the highlights:

Monday morning I was able to meet up with Jennifer, a friend from high school, at a local park. Our kids had lots of fun playing together and we enjoyed talking. And then that evening we carried on a Michaelson tradition - Family Home Evening at Woodward Park. And just like old times we enjoyed a KFC picnic and playing softball. This time we were able to add a special event - a baby shower for Ken and Jenny's baby girl due to arrive in mid-February...

Rachel, Ashlyn, and Aaron had so much fun together throughout the week:

Helping Papa in the outfield:
Watching on the sidelines:
Papa helping Rachel hit the ball a few times:

On Tuesday all the adult girls went out to lunch to celebrate with Amy and give her some gifts before the big day. It was fun for all the girls to get together and the guys did a great job of entertaining the kids while we were gone. Tuesday night we went over to Jeff's house and hung out. The girls had fun checking out his dogs - as long as they stayed outdoors. Here's Rachel having fun with her Uncle Jeff:

Wednesday morning Paul, my mom, and I took all the little ones to the zoo. I was able to meet up with Sarah, another friend from high school. It was so much fun to be able to see her and catch up. It's been too long! Every time I have the opportunity to see old friends I realize how much I miss them and how much fun it would be to live closer to them. Between the 4 adults we managed to keep track of 7 little ones. We enjoyed the zoo and then a park nearby.

Audrey kissing the frog:

My mom then kept the girls while I went out to lunch with Nhung, another friend from high school. It was good to see her as well and so nice to enjoy another lunch without little ones! The girls hanging out with Grandma... The weather was in the 70s the whole time we were there and the outdoor pool just wasn't quite warm enough to enjoy...

That night the fun continued as the grandparents treated everyone to Chuck E. Cheese. They have this tradition with their grandkids who love and expect it. We spent a few hours playing and eating.Audrey really got into playing some of the games this time. And of course she loves collecting the tickets! All the kids were able to get a few prizes.

Thursday we kept busy as well. All of us went miniature golfing in the afternoon and that was a lot of fun... Until Rachel feel down and skinned her elbow pretty bad. Luckily Aunt Rachel was prepared with neosporin and she was back to normal pretty soon. It had been years since I had been to Blackbeard's, and it was fun to return to an old favorite.

Drum roll, please... Friday came and it was the most fabulous day. Words cannot describe the experience as we (meaning all the siblings, their spouses, Mom, and Dad) were able to be in the temple that day. That's the first time that's happened and it was wonderful. And of course Amy was an absolute gorgeous bride and Jeff was one handsome groom. Here's a picture of the adults right after the temple sealing:

We then celebrated by going to lunch. Later that evening we returned to the temple with everyone (kids included this time) to take pictures. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the wedding photographers work! But for now, here's some of ours and Jenny's shots:

Family pic (thanks Jenny!):
Grandma Lola (or I guess Great-Grandma Lola to my girls) came in to town for the wedding. It as so good to see her! Audrey meeting Great-Grandma Lola:

My amazing parents:

From the temple we headed to the reception. It was definitely a day full of celebrating. And I think the bride (which that's the only one who really matters) loved how everything turned out. The three girls headed into the reception:

Audrey WAY excited for the bride to make her entrance!

More hanging out time for the cousins:
Rachel whispering secrets with her Uncle Ken:
Cutting the cake:
Dancing (check out that smile!):
Ashlyn and Audrey with the man of the night:
Audrey chilling with Uncle Steve:

Besides the bride and the groom, I think our little family made the most use out of the dance floor. Rachel loved it! She was so sad to have to leave, but once the bride and groom take off, what's the point of staying? Rachel is ready for another wedding... Here are some pictures of Andy dancing with the girls (and yes, I did cut in at one point). Rachel was lucky enough to dance with her daddy to "Brown Eyed Girl". We certainly had fun on the dance floor!

Twirling away:

Saturday was spent just hanging out and getting ready to travel back home on Sunday. That morning we joined the bride and groom as they opened their presents. Ken and Andy played some golf as well. On Saturday night we finally put together a game night down in the lobby of the hotel:

Audrey happy to chill with Grandma Lola while the others played games:

Andy spent most of Saturday night and a good chunk of time at the airport on Sunday getting some things straightened around. Somehow the lovely United/Continental systems had my parents as no-shows on the flights to Fresno, so they just went ahead and canceled their reservations to go back to Texas. Needless to say, everything worked out, but what a pain!!! Anyhow, some final fun pictures:

We landed around dinner time on Sunday. On our way home we grabbed some dinner. And let's just say, Audrey made a mess of my frosty in the car... Luckily it was all over her though and not the car.

California was such a good time. It was so much fun to see everyone and to have everyone together. Andy met Rachel (who's been married to Steve for 2 1/2 years) for the first time and we all met Amy for the first time. We are so happy for Jeff and Amy. Marriage is a wonderful thing and it's amazing when you are able to find that "one". We wish Jeff and Amy the best in the years to come and are glad that they were the reason for all of us to get together!

Are we excited?!?!?

A Great Time Out

I was spoiled last weekend and got to spend it with my mom. Just me and her and it was fabulous! We met in Dallas and enjoyed almost 48 hours of good food, shopping, talking, and wonderful speakers. On Saturday we attended Time Out for Women, which is a conference to uplift women. My mom and I began this tradition years ago and then I had to move over to Europe and mess it up. So, we picked the tradition back up this year.

On my drive up to Dallas I stopped off at a little Dutch store located just north of Houston. I stocked up on some Dutch favorites. It was quite odd to walk into this cute little shop and see food with the Albert Heijn label. Weird!!! It's definitely cheaper to buy the stuff in Holland! Just like it's cheaper to buy American stuff in America. But once in awhile, it's fun to splurge!

Friday afternoon my mom and I shopped at the outlets and enjoyed a good dinner. No little ones to keep happy and no diaper bag to haul around! Can I just say that packing for just yourself is fabulous! :)

On Saturday we enjoyed the conference. The talks and music were centered around having hope. It was truly inspiring. I had an empty seat next to me and throughout the day I thought of various women in my life who I wish could have been there with me. A scripture that they quoted several times can be found in 1 Peter 3:10 - "...love life, and see good days...". The key word being "see". We each have the ability to make the most out of our days, weeks, months, years, etc... And things aren't always going to be fabulous, but we can have a hope for a better day and try our best to see good days. We definitely enjoyed the speakers and music that day.

Saturday evening we did some more shopping and another good dinner. And then Sunday morning we slept in until almost 9 AM. It's been a long time since I've slept that long. It was heavenly! And then we parted ways after an early lunch. It was so nice to spend some time with my mom. She is definitely a best friend and I cherish the time that I get to spend with her.

Of course it was good to come back home. One time when I spoke to Andy on the phone over the weekend he commented, "I don't know how you get anything done". And then when I got home Rachel informed me that daddy needed to take a day off work and I needed to teach him how to do her hair. Love it! :) Although Andy did a fabulous job doing the girls' hair. When I got home on Sunday they both had cute ponytails with bows. Rachel has commented a few times the past couple of days that I need to go back to grandma's. Wahoo, send me and I'm there! :)

Keeping Up

I was surprised this morning when the girls were playing away and not paying attention to me at all - the best way to observe their play. Audrey was being the mommy and Rachel was being the baby. Audrey was putting Rachel to sleep and sang the "ABC's" to her. I grabbed the camera and Audrey humored me by singing through them again:

Audrey is keeping up with Rachel (click "here" for Rachel's performance) - singing away at 22 months as well! :)

Quite Different

Audrey has no fear of bugs, worms, or other gross things. Rachel is a bit different. It's fun to watch them explore the world. Audrey may become more reserved as she grows up. The other day she was more than willing to mess around with a worm.

Girls will be girls...

I got my haircut the other day and the hairdresser suggested I purchase some curlers. She said that maybe I could make the curls in my hair more even and it would be a good break for my hair from the flat iron. Well, I haven't had the opportunity to give the curlers a try. But the girls discovered my new purchase and enjoyed them all afternoon yesterday!

San Antonio

It has been quite strange not having a trip to plan the last 4 months. I'll have to admit, I've been a little restless. So, when Andy and I bid on some tickets to Sea World at a silent auction in August and ended up taking them home; I was very excited. We had to use the tickets by the end of the year. And after looking at our schedules, this past weekend was the best fit. We enjoyed a 3-day holiday to San Antonio. Some friends joined us for 2 of the days and it was so much fun. Definitely a needed break and some good family time!

We got to San Antonio right around lunchtime on Friday, so we decided to enjoy a picnic lunch at some Japanese Tea Gardens. The girls had fun checking out the fish and roaming through the trails...

We then took a train ride through a neighboring park. The girls enjoyed the little ride.

After the train ride we explored the park a bit. Rachel wanted to walk across this stream, but I wasn't brave enough to take her all the way across... We then headed to downtown to check out the Alamo. Andy and I have been before, so it was just a quick walk through...
Then we walked down to the Riverwalk for some dinner.

Enjoying some Mexican food and water along the Riverwalk:

Even though the weather was somewhat cooler (around 85 degrees), it was still pretty warm. But definitely better than the last time Andy and I went!
After dinner we hit major traffic. What should have been a 25 minute drive to our hotel, ended up taking over an hour. So, we only had time for a quick swim. We had promised the girls all day long that we would go swimming, so we couldn't back out.

The next morning we had some time to kill because Sea World doesn't open until noon during off-season. We saw that the hotel was holding a rubber ducky decoration/race for the children. So, we headed down and the girls took their decorating quite seriously...

The ducks were raced down the lazy river. Rachel's was close to the front for quite some time, but fell behind. So, neither of the girls received prizes. Rachel was quite upset, but it's something we all have to learn....

We then headed off to meet our friends at Sea World. Once again we hit traffic, so our friends (who were coming all the way from Houston) beat us there. Luckily only by a few minutes though. Here's Jace and Rachel ready to head into Sea World:While the moms and two little ones saved seats for our first ride, the dads took the older ones for a roller coaster ride. So, here's Rachel all ready to go on her first roller coaster, called the "Shamu Express". Just wait until you see what she went out later in the day...The first show we went to was called "Azul". The girls loved it! Audrey got into it so much. She was clapping, dancing, pointing, and cupping her mouth. It was so much fun to watch! The girls enjoyed the dolphins, beluga whales, acrobats, and birds. Definitely a good way to start the day!
We then wandered around for a bit checking out some of the sea creatures. We tried to convince Rachel to join in on the below picture, but she wasn't interested. And of course Audrey was too busy making sure the otter wasn't going to get her...

Rachel enjoying "The Cannery Row Caper", a show with sea lions:Feeding dolphins - this was an adventure! Rachel was quite nervous at first, but eventually cooperated and warmed up. You can hear her crying in the video at the very beginning. Silly girl!

Sea World definitely has things figured out charging $6 for 4 little fish. They have to be making a profit and of course the dolphins are getting fed as well... Andy says next time we're bringing our own fish! :)

The girls and I checked out a child-friendly Haunted Forest while some braver people of our party went on some rides:
The guys continued riding some rides while the moms and kids saw a cute Halloween show put on by Elmo & Friends. It's probably a good thing we sent the guys on rides. They would have been rolling their eyes the whole time. But the kids enjoyed the show...

And then our final show of the day was "Believe". Definitely the most popular and well-known.

After the show Allie and I got the chance to go on some rides. Rachel told me she wanted to go on one with me - the only one she could because she is just barely 39 inches tall. So, our little 4-year old went on this ride:

Allie and I were so nervous for Rachel, but she did great. She had no desire to go on it again, but she was definitely brave. If I were her, I would have been in tears. But she did it. Who knows when she'll ever want to try such a ride again... We finished off the night with Jace and Rachel going on "Shamu Express" again. We definitely enjoyed our day at Sea World. Here we are at the end of the day (a little bit tired and a little bit wet, but still smiling):
I am definitely a fan of the Sea World in San Antonio. I've been to the San Diego and Orlando parks as well and San Antonio is my favorite. It has tons to do. In the summer there's even a water park. You could stay busy there for two full days. So, if anyone's ever interested in visiting, we are always game!

We stayed at a really nice resort while in San Antonio. The next day we just planned on enjoying the water park at the resort. We waited for a few hours in the morning, because it was a bit of a crisp morning. But by noon it was feeling pretty good and we enjoyed the water for a couple of hours. Here are the kids playing on the balcony while we waited for the weather to warm up:

And then here's a picture of Audrey and Baby Weston. She cannot get enough of this guy... And who can blame her. She is still talking about Baby Weston.
The water park had a lazy river, several pools, and water slides. Rachel was brave once again and went on the water slides with Andy. They wouldn't let her sit on his lap, so they had to get a double tube and she sat in front. I wish I had gotten a picture of them going down the slides, but Audrey was keeping me busy. Rachel told me it was Daddy's day to go down the slides with her and next year it can be my turn...

We enjoyed our little getaway. It was fun to have friends join us and it was good to spend time as a family. And this is just the beginning of our fun-filled month!

Armadillos

An amusing conversation on a recent road trip:

Andy: Rachel, guess what I just saw?
Rachel: What?
Andy: An armadillo.
Rachel: Cool.
Andy: Yeah, but it was dead.
Rachel: My papa shoots armadillos.
Andy: Yes, he does.
Rachel: Now there are 2 dead armadillos!

We were laughing so hard! My dad does hunt armadillos when they are tearing up his lawn. Just recently he got another one and that's why it was fresh in Rachel's mind. My brother Steven has even had the privilege of joining my dad on an armadillo hunting adventure. The hunting stories are quite humorous. I'm sure the neighbors wonder what's going on at 11 PM when they hear shots. Nothing like living in the country! And luckily no one (except for the armadillos) have been injured.