Young and Spry

We took a quick trip to Utah over Labor Day weekend.  Two reasons.

1) Madelyn's one request for her birthday was to go swimming with the cousins at the pool in Lehi, UT.  It was two months late, but she didn't care.  At one point we were all going around the lazy river, and all the kids decided to pile on top of me so that I could pull them around.  After two times around I was exhausted.  I suggested that Rebekah should then carry me around.  She had me in a vey strange hold, and I realized how ridiculous I looked, and I started laughing until tears were running down my face.  It wasn't that funny, but it was.....ya know?  We also went up AF canyon and had a BBQ.  Everywhere we went, all of the cousins wanted to ride together in "the bus" (our new bohemeth of a van).

Look, there's still one seat open for A.J. when he grows up;)

Look at that face!!!

2) Grandpa Liddell turned 90 years old this summer, and we wanted to celebrate!  Despite BYU's first game being a loss (Liddells are HUGE BYU fans), we had a wonderful day with the Liddell clan, and Grandpa hung in there the whole day - actually, I don't think he wanted to go home at the end of the night;)  This man has lived quite the life (officer in the Army Air Corps, newspaper reporter for Deseret news, etc.), and it's always fun to hear his stories.  Reminds me of my Grandma Petersen, who would be 101 this year;)  We got our traditional four Joseph's photo...

 ....and then Grandpa insisted on one with just him and our Joseph.

I think Grandpa sure loves the fact that we named J.T. after him (Joseph Thomas).  I think they look a lot alike too:)  I hope J.T. always knows what an honor it is to be named after him.

The kids cried when we had to head back to California.  It broke my heart.  Quick trips like that are always hard, but worth it.  We love our families!

This Incident Shall Henceforth be Known as the CCI

So two of my sisters came out for a visit - Lorraine (and her kids) and Rebekah. They didn't want to do the same things they did the last time they were here, but lunch at Fisherman's Wharf is a MUST, no matter how many times you've been there.

 We were lucky enough to see a bunch of jelly fish swimming around in the water while we were there - big ones too.

Sorry about the side-ways video.  My movie-making program won't allow me to turn the videos, and I kept forgetting to take videos side-ways on my phone, ugh.

We also took them to Phil's Fish Market, and they liked it so much that we adults went a second time:)

Rebekah is making a short documentary about "The Clam Chowder Incident", but until she publishes it on Youtube, I can't go into it, other than to say that, in my defense, they have dang good clam chowder there!

The BIG thing that we did was go to California's Great America, which was very fun, and also very sad because Joe couldn't go with us. I wish that I had known about this place sooner, and how awesome it is. 

 This is us after we went on Rip Roaring Rapids.

 This picture does not do justice to how soaked we were.  I couldn't have been more wet if I had actually jumped into the water.  I love Madelyn's and Alex's faces.  Guess which one said, "I want to go on that all the time forever!", and which one said, "I am never going on a water ride again!"

The way they go about getting you soaked is very calculating because at the end of the ride is this....

....in which you can pay $5 to get somewhat air-dried out. 

The wooden roller coaster was my favorite, but the most thrilling was the Drop Tower - 227 feet with a top speed of 62 mph. 

I pretty much screamed the whole way.

Alex loved the water rides, but he wasn't much into the "thrill" rides......if you want to call "The Mouse" a thrill ride;)

And finally, I like this stop-motion sequence of how big of a geek my sister and daughter are.  It speaks volumes:)

You're welcome Loraine........don't kill me;)

Madelyn's Baptism

I made Cora's blessing dress, and bought her baptism dress.  I bought Madelyn's blessing dress, and always told her I was going to make her baptism dress.  Talk about leaving things to the last minute....but Madelyn did not let me forget;)  I finished it up Friday night, just in time for her baptism on Saturday.  We were both pleased with the final outcome.

 No white shoes were to be found, so pink shoes were the obvious choice for this girly-girl of mine;)

 

 She wanted a big bow AND a flower.  I obliged.

We were grateful that Joe's parents were able to make it out for the day.  Madelyn's grandpa played the piano for the program, and her grandma gave the talk on the Holy Ghost.  Madelyn was joined by 2 other children in the stake that day, and it all turned out nice.  The one thing.....I've often heard of the water being too cold, but never too hot.  Madelyn's face coming up out of that hot water was quite the picture - poor girl;)  But no worries, she had a wonderful day.

Here are 8 things that Madelyn thinks you should know about her:
1) I like ladybugs
2) I love my family
3) I'm kind to my dad
4) My mom spoils me
5) I love my dog named Bo
6) I like to go swimming
7) I love to play Big Brainz math games
8) I love going to Activity Days

Here are 8 things that I think you should know about Madelyn:
1) she likes to be right
2) she REALLY likes to be right (yep, that deserves repeating)
3) she thinks she's right ALL of the time
4) she is Miss Silly McSillypants, most days of the week
5) she loves dresses, skirts, dress/church shoes, purses and other accessories
6) she's self-motivated
7) she's determined/stubborn 
8) she tells the weirdest jokes