The Perfect Weekend

Last weekend can be summed up in one word....Perfect. I loved every minute of it. All my family was in town along with some of my mom's family that lives out of town. The whole week whenever I'd think about seeing my parents I'd get so excited. The week was full of preparing my parents house where we are staying for everyone to come. When Thursday rolled around we got an e-mail from my parents saying they'd be in Saturday night instead of Friday afternoon because of a communication mix up. Needless to say we were bummed, really bummed. We had plans for Friday and Saturday but we just adjusted things. Friday we went through with our plans to have a family dinner for all those that were in town. We had a huge pizza party and played games, it was a really fun night with everyone, afterwards some of us went to see "Saving Mr. Banks."

Daren, Shana, Emma, and Peter

Shana and Baby Emma

Daren and Tyson

Playing Dodgeball

2013/14 Babies and their Moms

2013/14 Cuties

Playing "Bump"

Oh just chillin

Crab Soccer

Saturday a group of us went out to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast. Can I just say where has this been all my life? Afterwards we all went shopping a bit then got things ready at the house for Mom and Dad, and some went swimming at my sister's hotel. It felt like forever for 9:15 to come, when my parents would arrive. We all met at the airport around 8:45. We had a huge group there and all the grandkids were so excited, I was getting so anxious! Finally they arrived and we cheered! Like really cheered!!!! And hugged, and cried. Afterwards we took them to the house to see their new home makeover. They absolutely loved it! We stayed up late chatting and catching up.

Getting so anxious!

The best sight ever!

Nephew and Brother- Jaron and Daren

Misti and Emma

Sunday were their talks and we all arrived 30 minutes before so we could save seats for over 60 people. We took up about 7 rows....almost half the seats in the chapel!!! It was awesome! The bishop had everyone who is related to the Lewis' stand up! Their talks were amazing and it was so good to hear about their experiences. They had a hard time leaving, but they also had a hard time coming back. They really miss Peru and the people there. Afterwards we had a dinner for family members full of yummy food and great memories.

Mom and some of her siblings

The grandkids could get enough of having "Cita" back.

It really was the perfect weekend. I will forever remember the excitement, joy, and happiness just to have my family all together and finally have my parents home.

Be My Valentine

I love Valentine's Day. Chocolate, flowers, kisses, hugs, date with my best friend and time with my little man...what's not to like about this special day? This year it was my turn to plan Valentine's Day, so since I absolutely love plays I decided that's what we were going to do.  I found that Centennial High was putting on Mary Poppins, they are only 1 in 4 high schools in the country that got the rights to put on the show.  

Most of the day we did things around the house to get ready for my parents to come home from their mission in ONE WEEK! EEK I'm so excited! Keith surprised me with flowers :). Then we dropped Carson off at his cousins house where he had a Valentine's party with his cousins. They made a heart shaped pizza, jigglers, decorated cookies, made Valentine's for one another, watched a movie and ate candy :) Keith and I headed to Fiesta Guadalajara for dinner. Definitely was craving some Mexican food. Afterwards we went to Target where I got to do some shopping for my present. Then we headed over to the play. My favorite part about the play besides the music was definitely seeing Mary fly! It was pretty sweet! We both loved it and had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Hope your Valentine's Day was sweet too!

                               At dinner....I got a huge burrito and Keith ordered Tamales.

My Three Year Old

My sister gave me this great idea of taking a photo of your kids on each birthday and writing how old they were along with some of their favorite things and interests. So here is my three year old in a nutshell.

Two Birthdays

Seriously how is my little man already three? We were fortunate enough to celebrate C's birthday twice, once with Keith's family last Friday before we left back to Idaho, and twice with my family today. We kept it low key both times but usually that's how I like it because I don't have to stress about making everything perfect. In NJ we made homemade pizzas, had cake and ice cream and opened presents then hung out as a family and played with Carson's presents. We had to go to bed early that night since we had to wake up super early to catch a flight. 

Today we hung out and got things prepped for a couple of my sisters and seven of C's cousins to come over then headed over to Carl's Jr down the street so the kids could get some playtime in since it's cold and rainy outside. Afterwards we had cake/ ice cream, presents, and the kids watched Tangled for a bit. Two perfect birthdays for my little man. I love his cheesy smile in these pictures. 

Carson and his cousin Brielle at Carl's

Full Bellies

Awaiting the cake

Can't see it real well but it was a basketball cake

Hiding from the camera

Presents!

Love his smile!

New Jersey

He sure loves his only Penrod cousin

Playing with Thomas

Making homemade pizza with Grandma

I have to admit I sure did love the bundt cake I made

Valley Forge

One thing I do love about the East Coast is all the history and being able to visit and experience historical sites from the 1700s, the beginning of our country. Last weekend we took a trip to Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. Valley Forge was the site of a military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777-1778 during the Revolutionary War. George Washington was their Commander. It was crazy to see the cabins they built and lived in, very small and cold, since they lived there during the winter. Most of the men succumbed to starvation, death and disease.

Some of the cabins the soldiers build and lived in

Carson and Tennyson

Cannons

George Washington's headquarters

George Washington Memorial Cathedral