What happens when we take a road trip to California for a week and a half?

-We remembered how much we LOVE our portable DVD Player and Dora!
-We get to stay the night in St. George at my cousin Lyndi's beautiful home, for which we are grateful.
-Our kids enjoyed visiting with cousins Madison and Max and playing with their toys.



-We get to go to Craig's cousin, Kacey's wedding at the St. George temple.


-Craig tries to take a little nap while waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the temple. The kids just have to join him . . . too bad they didn't really fall asleep!


-After chasing the kids around at the church for almost an hour, trying to keep them out of the water cups, butter, centerpieces, utensils, etc. at nap time, we left before the luncheon was even served and went to Cafe Rio! We then came home and everyone had a nap!
-My wonderful cousin babysat our children while we went to the reception that evening! Thank you Lyndi!
-We were able to relax and enjoy adult conversation at the reception, while watching everyone else with children trying to keep them out of the three pools, the stream, and the waterfall!

(Craig and I with Craig's cousin, Denett)

-We went to Disneyland and actually had good weather!

-We chased kids around, put them in and out of the stroller, gave them snacks, changed diapers, tried to keep them in line, and were exhausted by the end of the day!
-The kids had fun with this huge ball with water on it. Ambree thought it looked like the perfect thing to lick! Yuck!


-We met up with my brother Justin and his family, and our boys had so much fun together!

-We watched the Pixar parade at California Adventure and Cade LOVED it!




-We even practiced our letters! "A" is for Ambree and "C" is for Cade!

-Cade got a picture with Buzz.


-And went on the "Buzz Ride" three times!

-We got to spend many nights at my parents house, in my sister, Jenny's room! Thanks for the sacrifice Jenn!
-Pro to that . . . we saved money not needing to get a hotel and got to visit with my family.-Negative to that . . .we had to sleep in the same room as our children.
-We got to visit with our friends from our time in California!

-I locked my keys in my car twice in one day! If that doesn't tell you anything about my state of mind that day, I don't know what will!

-We got to go on a dinner cruise for Craig's end of the year banquet without children! Thanks for watching them Mom!

(The Girls: Jennie Barney, Lindsay Palmer, Me)

(The Boys: Weston Barney, Jeff Clark, Craig Poulter, Matt Palmer . . . It was an all white or tropical theme . . . kind of looks like a baptism to me).

-We had a yummy meal and time to reflect on the last 4 years!-My husband's title changed from Student to Doctor in a matter of hours!

-Craig gave a great inspirational message at his graduation and was even asked by leaders of the California Optometric Association if they could publish it in their magazine!

-I was planning on warm weather, so that's how I packed . . . needless to say I was very cold during the ceremony, due to cold, rainy weather!

(The SCCO class of 2008)!

(Our Little Family)

(All the family that attended the graduation ceremonies . . . Bill Poulter (Craig's Dad), Carol Poulter(Craig's Mom), Craig, Cade, Ambree, Me, Joy Williams (my mom), Dennis Williams (my dad).

-We went out to eat at the Cheese Cake Factory the night before graduation and to Souplantation the day of graduation. . . yummy!

-We made it to the beach . . . it was a little cold, so we didn't go swimming, but we still had fun playing in the sand!

-We got to visit with my Grandma Andreason in St. George on the way home and stay the night at her house.

-Cade threw up partly in the car and on Grandma's drive way right before we were going to leave. . . luckily that was the only time . . . I was kind of worried.

-We now have sick kids and I feel it coming on too! Blahh. . . oh well, we had fun, but it's good to be home!

Catch up #3, Derrick is a college grad!

My little brother, Derrick, graduated from BYU! Boy do I feel old now! :)

What a good little school boy. . .

Yeah, let's PARTY!!!

We had to make special stop to take a picture in front of this sign . . . It's just the thing to do!

We ate dinner at Tucanos Brazilian restaurant after the graduation ceremonies with some friends and family and it was yummy! Cade, Holly (Derrick's friend . . . not much more at this point, if anyone is interested . . . he's a good catch!), and Derrick making funny faces.

Cade with his cousin Aiden, making more funny faces! They are a day apart in age and have so much fun together!

An attempt at getting a picture of the kids all together . . . not too much success!

Ambree, Cade, Aiden, and Samantha in front of Tucanos.

Another attempt with kids and pictures and again, no such luck! I guess the girls weren't too excited about Derrick graduating, but you can tell Derrick sure is!

Congratulations Derrick! We love you and are excited to be living so close to you now! Good luck with all your new endeavors!

Catch up #2, A new baby in the family!!

My brother Justin, and his wife Tara, welcomed their second child into their family on April 8th! She is a beautiful, healthy baby girl. They named her Britlyn Mae! Congratulations Justin and Tara!

Catch Up #1, Wedding in Vegas Baby!

Back in March I took the kids and drove to Las Vegas for my cousin Brandon's wedding. Unfortuantely, because of work, Craig couldn't go, but my brother Derrick went with us and helped a lot with the kids. I wouldn't have gone otherwise! The kids actually did really well and even though it was a very quick trip, it was a lot of fun to see family and to witness the sealing of my cousin to his beautiful bride!

My cousin, Tyler, Brother Derrick, Sister Brittany, Sister inlaw Tara, Sister Jenny, me, Brother Justin. All of my siblings were there, except Steven! We missed you Steven!
Cade hanging out with his cousin, Brogan (Justin's son). They have so much fun together!
My cute mom with Brogan!
My cute dad with Cade!Tired Ambree with Grandma!
Even more tired Ambree with Uncle Derrick! Looks like Derrick is pretty tired too! Welcome to the life of taking care of children, Derrick! And you thought playing football was tiring! ;)