Cali, family, fun, and the 4th

This was one of my favorite pictures from our trip to California (explained later), and I almost forgot it, so I had to put it at the top.  

Today was Dax's first Independence day, so of course we had to deck him out in matching Fourth of July Gear.  We started the day early by going to our ward/community breakfast at 8:30 A.M.  Well at least that is when everyone else showed up.   We of course rolled up around 9:00 A.M., but this time it wasn't my fault.  It was my darling husband who wouldn't get out of bed!  

I love, love love, this pic!  My adorable boys!

This is Dax and Beckham.  Beckham was born on Dax's due date.  As you can see, they are best buds! :)

All tuckered out after the festivities.  I know this because it was only a 3 minute ride home.

Last weekend we made the trek down to Susanville, California to meet up with some of my family.  Yep, the one and only home of Theodore Giesel.  What's that you say?  You don't know who that is?  Sure you do, it is Dr. Seuss.  Now that might be something only an elementary teacher knows, but nonetheless, we were there.  Now it's not that we are such Huge Dr. Seuss fans, it's just that it was halfway between Vancouver (where we live) and Delta (where they live).  We had such a great time.  I haven't seen my sister's family in over a year, and in that year she had the darling Danika.  Danika is 10 months old and so much smaller than Dax, who is 5 1/2 months old.  Her other 5 kids, yep, five, you can count em', have grown up so much.  The twins were toddlers the last time I saw them and now they are 2 1/2.  Daicee and Garrisen are fun as ever and Hannah is quite the almost 9 year old (I think she is almost as tall as I am, too)My dad, his girlfriend, and Alex also met us there.  I haven't seen Alex in over a year either, and somehow in that year, he has become a man.  He is the most adorable 13 year old on the planet, I think.  He is now taller than me, stronger than me, but informed me that he doesn't weigh more than me :).  And last but not least, it was so good to see Dad and Paula.  They came up when Dax was born, but it has been a while and Dax has definitely done some growing since then.  I wish I could have seen my mom and little bro Jordan, but that will have to wait for another day.  Sorry about the novel that most of you probably skipped, but I wanted to record some memories somewhere.

The whole gang, except Paula, who took the picture.

My dad and his two youngest grandkids.  My niece has the cutest hair, it is a natural mohawk.

The boss yelling at me for taking pictures.

This is Tosha's husband and Danika.  We spent most of the time in the pool because it was so hot.

Tosha and Danika

This was Dax's first time swimming.  He had such a blast!

We drove a few miles to Eagle Lake.  It was beautiful, but for some strange reason all the pictures turned out hazy even though when we were there it didn't look hazy.

Here is a close up (a not so flattering one) of me and my favorite thirteen year old boy!

Paula and the twins.

We had such a fun time playing in the pool and playing games together after the kids had gone to bed.  Good memories were made, and I can't wait to see them again in November!