26 May 2009

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day this year, we headed up to the cabin. It is a family cabin up American Fork Canyon, by Tibble Fork. I'm pretty sure my grandparents bought it back in the day, or everyone chipped in...I'm not really positive how it worked out. I guess I should ask my dad. Anyways, when we first went up there it was a tiny little thing. Only had a few rooms, I don't remember it too much. What I do remember, is the swing we had hanging from one of the pine trees. I loved that thing. It swung you way far, and pretty high. Then the forest service guys made us take it down. Sad day.

Basically we divided the time at the cabin between the four brothers, my dad and three uncles. We alternated weeks and get it about once a month. Of course during the winter, you can't drive all the way up. Anyways, about 12 years ago we finally tore down the tiny cabin and started building the cabin we now have. I remember being up there as the walls got higher and higher. It was really amazing to watch it grow. We built it ourselves; I think the only thing we didn't do was lay the foundation.

Moving on...so it was me, my parents, my sister Ang, my brother Michael & his wife, Emilie, my brother Adam, his wife Sandy, & their kids, Cassie & Peter, my brother Jeff, his wife, Courtnee, & their kids, Rocco & Reggie, and my sister Gina, her husband, Lynn, and their kids, Alysa & Kaden. Wow. That is an awkward sentence!

Me and Ang went up at around 1pm because I was still trying to sleep off my food poisoning. We took up sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a frisbee, a football, and our longboards. We had plenty of activities! It was really nice to be up there with everyone. It seems like it has been ages since I was at our cabin. Last summer at some point. Anyways, hooray for a family outing!

View from Tibble Fork Reservoir.


Reggie & Cassie, on the porch.


Ang, Cass, & Reggie, blowing bubbles.


Reggie, looking adorable.


Cassie, way too excited about the bubble she just created.


Regg & Cass, in the wagon.


Peter & Rocco, in the wagon.



Ang and Cassie.


Gina, Ang, Alysa, Kaden, Lynn, and Regg.


Hummingbird!


Alysa, sitting on the porch.



Lynn, Alysa, Courtnee, and my mum.


Kaden, Rocco, and Ang.


Regg, being cute of course.


Alysa, Ang, Reggie, Kaden, and Rocco, playing with the chalk.

25 May 2009

21st Bday

Well I am finally 21. Crazy talk! I ended up having a pretty good birthday. I worked my birthday, Thursday, but took off Friday. I was planning on going to Wendover with my sister and a few friends to hit up some slot machines. Unfortunately, I had a few friends bale out last minute, so it was just me and my sister. Then again, there is no one else I would rather go with!

The day before my birthday, Collette, a friend from work, took me out to lunch. She has been to Wendover multiple times so she gave me the low down on how things work. I have to admit I was a bit nervous, just because I had never been gambling before nor had I been to Wendover. Anyways, so Collette had tons of tips for me. She told me which casino she preferred to stay at and which casinos were best depending on what games I would be playing. She is so great! I love her!

So then my golden birthday arrived. Or as Melinda, another friend from work, would say, my magic birthday. Basically I turned 21 on the 21st. Anyways, at work I always take the 'mail run'. I go to the post office, bank, and Squire. Sometimes I even stop off at one of our agents. So while I was gone, the girls from work decorated my desk. They are so funny. Then Cali took me out to lunch. We went to Brick Oven with Melinda, Liz, Conlee, and my sister, Ang. It was way fun. Cali couldn't help but tell them it was my birthday so they sang to me. It was pretty embarrassing!

Later in the day, my work bought me a birthday cake and sang. Then my family sent me some flowers at work. They were gorgeous. I just realized I didn't take any pictures of my flowers! Tragic! Anyways, that was my day at work. All-in-all it was pretty good day at work.

When I got home, I opened presents. I got a tripod for my camera, some new shoes, books, a game for the wii and one for my DS, and an iPhone. Michael and Emilie couldn't stay for dinner, so the rest of us went bowling. It was a ton of fun. Cassie thinks bowling is pretty entertaining. And another plus, Peter was letting everyone hold him! He has been a mama's boy lately, and wont let anyone else have him. I can't remember the last time he let me hold him!

The next day, Friday, I spent the day with my mom and sister. We went up to the Gateway Mall and and went to lunch. Then we went to dinner with my entire fam for my birthday. I chose to go to China Town. They have the best cream cheese wontons ever! Yum!

Saturday morning, me and Ang left for Wendover. It was a pretty entertaining drive. When we were about half way there, we stopped to get gas and some snacks. I ended up with some powdered donuts that were not too great. Ang somehow got it in her head that if you threw them at another car, they would puff white stuff everywhere. So then she decided to do an experiment and threw them at our windshield to see if that really happened. Then while we were going down the road at 85mph, I filmed her little test. And yes, we laughed way to hard at it. And yes, I sound like a man. What do you do?


So we got to Wendover but couldn't check into our hotel until 3pm, so I pulled $200 and we started playing slot machines. Let me tell you, it wasn't all it cracked up to be. We both got bored pretty quickly. We wanted to try playing black jack, or roulette, but the tables were so crowded that we decided against it. Needless to say, we won't be degenerate gamblers anytime soon. It was pretty boring! I am sure playing tables is more interesting, but I doubt I will ever find out.

Well, we checked into our hotel room and then headed down to a buffet. Big mistake. They had the best deseret bar ever! We over indulged a bit. After eating, we both felt a bit sick, so we went up to our room and ordered a few movies. Then at like 8pm, we got bored and walked to a gas station for some snacks. Once again, big mistake.

I woke up at about 4am, and immediately threw up everything I had ate the night before. I was so sick! When I finally stumbled out of the bathroom, my sister had woken up and was like, 'uumm...are you okay?" It was horrible! I was able to fall back asleep but when we got up at 9am, I was still feeling way sick. We hit the road at 10am, and was back home by noon. I immediately went back to bed. I slept until about 9pm and went down and sat with Ang and my mom for a bit. I slept on and off until 10am, Monday morning.

Well, the trip to Wendover ended up being an adventure, just not the kind I expected!

23 May 2009

Easter!

I'm trying to remember how long ago Easter was. Needless to say, I am rather late posting these. For Easter this year, we all headed down to my brother Adam's house. He lives down in Spanish Fork with his wife, Sandy, daughter, Cassie, and son, Peter. They are all pretty darn adorable.

My other brother, Michael, and his wife, Emilie, came down as well. Emilie is getting so cute these days. She is expecting a little girl, and is due in the first part of September. They are planning on naming her Lucille Victoria. We are so excited for them! I can't wait to get another little niece.

Anyways, back to Easter. So at Adam's, we ate some dinner and then hid some eggs for Cassie. She thought that was pretty fun. We ended up hiding them a few times because she kept wanting to find them again. My parents got her and my nephew Easter baskets full of random stuff. Her favorite part was definitely a bubble gun. Cass is pretty much obsessed with blowing bubbles. That is probably her favorite thing to do when she comes over to our house.