Shasta September 2011

I want to at least highlight a few of the really fun things our family did during 2011 before I move onto 2012.

This picture was taken during our Shasta trip with my sister Tammy's family. It was SO FUN to be there with them and watch our kids hang out on the lake together and ride quads around exactly where we did as kids.

And here is a picture of my sisters beautiful kids. No they do not all have different fathers and no none were adopted.

Highlights from the trip were Kenyon, Adison and Avery all getting up on wake boards and knee boards. Adia wake skating for the first time. And although you couldn't pay me to show a picture of it Tammy and I got on the tubes to provide the days entertainment... I have NEVER seen all of our kids (and husbands) laughing so hard. BTW - it was nowhere near as fun as I remember!

Here is Adison on the kneeboard

We all wondered if she would be smiling after the fall - and she did!

For all my other kids that wouldn't be a big deal but for this little princess it really was... I was so proud of her for trying something new. She did great!

Happy 30th Birthday Kyle!

Well my sweet hubby turned 30 the first weekend of October! He is such an awesome person and I so wanted to make sure he felt that on his special day. I tried to think of something he would love (which means it had to be cheap and has to include close friends). And I must say that I am so proud of myself for finally pulling off a surprise for him after 15 years of knowing him and never managing to do it before (and I have tried so many times). The big surprise was a trip to my family's cabin at Lake Shasta with a few of our closest friends and none of our kids (among the 14 kids we 4 couples represent we managed to get away with only 2 of them and since none of them belonged to Kyle he could care less!). We had such a great weekend with them and it was the perfect way to spend his last few days of youth!

Here are the party people!

Carolyn, myself and Jeanna -our first day on the boat.

Crazy Carolyn was the first to get in the COLD water... she is so fun!

Here is Carolyn and her hubby David - we worked really hard on him trying to look nice in pictures... something very hard for him to do. ALthough he is super nice for some reason his facial expressions don't always show that.

David on the slalom ski.

Jeanna got up on the wakeboard (every second counts)

and her poor feet payed a huge price for her victory!

Although after her hubby Brian got stuck in the boot for what seemed to be an hour I think maybe they are just babies and we need to get them some custom boots for next time. I do have pictures of Brian that look pretty cool out there but this one has to be my favorite.

Kyle, Bri-guy and David after finally getting Brian out of the wakeboard!

The Robertson gang.

Sweet little Jovie LOVED looking at the water and didn't seem to realize leaning

over the edge of a boat going fast is not the best idea!

Jovie, Stephenie and Travis.

They weren't with us on the first day out and unfortunately the 2nd day there was much colder.

Old men soaking their sore muscles after an exhausting day on the boat.

I enjoyed cooking for everyone and hopefully they enjoyed the food.

Game night! So fun! Kyle you can see is aging quickly as he yawned his way through the game.

Little Isaiah and Ky-guy!

You can't get the boys together without a little cards.

And here is their failed attempt at making me a yummy madori sour BLENDED!

Maybe next time right?

You couldn't bring this cute little baby and skip a photo session.

Isaiah is Brian and Jeanna's 5th baby

(2nd one they have been blessed with through adoption)

Travis really appreciated the cabin having the NFL ticket and although he wasn't cheering for the Cowboys we still let him watch the game. I guess he is used to a bigger TV because he stood 2 feet from it the whole game.

Thanks guys for an awesome weekend!

I hope this becomes an annual event for sure!
And since we got home the day before Kyle's real birthday I had to have a little party that day too. Kenyon picked a Transformers theme and since Kyle was transforming into an old man i thought it was perfect!

Thank you to my good friend Glory for helping with the desserts - so cute and so good!
Here is Kyle's grand entrance.
Do you like how nicely I dressed up the kids for the event?

Just a few of the people who agree that Kyle is so worth a celebration!

You can't have a party with our friends and not provide 2 bounce houses to keep the kiddos (around 30 of them) entertained (and outside).

I think Kyle's favorite part (well not really) was that I had put up pictures of him throughout his life to embarrass him and give our friends some great things to tease him about from here on out! Notice the one of him dressed like a cheerleader!

Happy Birthday Kyle -

I love you and hope you enjoyed your parties!