Pictures!

We just recently got our pictures back that my friend, Darci, took in June, and we L-O-V-E them!

I can't even say how how talented Darci is, and we could never thank her enough for doing these pictures for us!  All of you with little kids know how hard it is to get a decent family picture, so the fact that we got one that I liked is a major accomplishment! 

This is the winner:

And I just can't stop staring at these pictures of Miley...now I just have to decide which ones to print out and what sizes...

And here are some of the others from the session (not so great of me!) that are so fun to have, and that I may have to get prints off as well!

SOOO excited to finally have some updated pictures!  Yay!

Thanks a MILLION, Darci!

A Brief Interruption...

...from the vacation posts. 

Really, I am just realizing as I go through pictures from our trip that I was not such a great photographer and only got a few good pictures from the Clark family reunion.  So what it really boils down to is that I am stalling so that I can hopefully receive the DVD that my FIL makes everyone of everybody's collective pictures...so that I can snag a few off of there to add to my post.  My pictures just don't do it justice.  :)

So in the meantime, I will show you what we have been doing in the meantime. 

Mostly, a whole lot of this...

That's right.  After our trip we decided to splurge and we bought ourselves some bikes and a trailer to pull Miley in.  To say that she loves it is an understatment.  And Cameron and I are enjoying it too.  It is the perfect way to kill some time in that dreaded downtime between dinner and bedtime (how many times can I say "time" in one sentence??), when we are usually wondering what to do with ourselves.  We have gone every night since we have gotten them, and have made a couple of day rides as well on the weekends, stopping to have picnics.

I figure it is a win-win-win.  We get to spend time together as a family, we are having fun, and we get some exercise, all rolled into one.  What is there not to love about it??

And yes, it is a little late in the summer to be making a purchase like this, but we have nice falls up here, so we figured, why not?

Anyway, we have been keeping busy and trying to enjoy the nice weather while we still can.  You know summer is over when my blogging starts to pick up again...  :)

Summer Road Trip Part 3 - Laramie, July 19 - July 24

The next part of our trip was a down week spent in Laramie between the Polson family reunion and the Clark family reunion.  Instead of making the trip back and forth from Maple Grove, Cameron was able to work from home during this week and not take vacation which was AWESOME!

My oldest sister, Lindsey, had gone back to Arizona after the Polson reunion with her family, and my other sister, Gelsey, was able to hang out for a couple of days, but then had to head back to Colorado to fulfill her maid of honor duties for a wedding that was on Friday.  It was sad that I wasn't able to spend that time with my sisters, but it was also really nice to have some one-on-one time with my parents for us and Miley.  Miley LOVED all of the extra attention that she got that week, even though she was missing her cousins!

On Monday and Tuesday, we just relaxed (really, the whole week was a whole lot of relaxing...it was great!) and hung out with Gelsey and Bode while they were still in Laramie.  Bode and Miley had so much fun playing together, and Miley will still say "Bo Bo" randomly, wondering where her cousin is!

Wednesday and Thursday, my mom and I spent a lot of time shopping and doing crafts.  I taught her how to make the wipes cases that I learned to make a couple years ago, and we spent a couple late nights making those to have around for baby gifts.  We also both made taggie blankets, something I have been wanting to try for a while.

We also just got to spend some good time with my parents catching up, and of course...relaxing.  We were able to eat out at some restaurants in Laramie that we don't have up here, play a few games, and just enjoy being together.  Cameron was also great this whole week...on top of working all day every day, he would come home and help take our dog for walks, wash my dad's collection of old cars, and mow the lawn.  My dad had just had back surgery, and some of these things were tough for him to do, so we were glad that we were able to help out!

On Friday, my mom and I left Miley at home with Cameron and my dad, and we went down to Fort Collins to shop and to go to the wedding that my sister and her husband were both in.  We were able to help them out by watching Bode at the wedding, and then bringing him back to Laramie with us for the night, before they joined us the next day.  We were running around like crazy trying to get all the shopping in that we wanted to, and then spent the afternoon resting and getting ready for the wedding that was that evening.  

After the wedding, we drove back to Laramie with Bode.  Unfortunately, due to a lack of coordiantion between us and my sister, we didn't have any diapers or anything with us, so we figured we would just change him when we got back.  Well, apparently he had had a bit too much to drink, and the diaper was just too full so he ended up being VERY wet all over when we finally got home.  Since we didn't have a change of clothes for him, we threw him into some of Miley's pink pajamas for the night.  :)  Sorry Kipp and Gelsey...I just had to post the pictures.  :)

Saturday, we spent the day packing up to leave on Sunday for Cameron's family reunion.  We also spent the day cooking and cleaning, because Don and Cindy and their family were coming into Laramie that evening on their way from Maple Grove to the reunion, so that we could caravan down together the next day.  We invited them over for a barbeque, and Miley was so excited to see her Minnesota cousins again!

Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes and hit the road for the Clark family reunion near Durango, Colorado.  We had so much fun spending time with my family, and felt lucky that we were able to get some time with our whole immediate family, our extended family, and then some quieter, more relaxing one-on-one time.  We miss everyone already and hope to see them again soon (up here??).  :)

Clark family reunion coming up next! 

Summer Road Trip Part 2 - Park City, July 15 - July 18

The next part of our epic summer road trip was a Polson family reunion just outside of Park City, Utah.  We rented a beautiful lodge that had 6 bedrooms, a huge kitchen and dining area, living room, game room, movie room and beautiful views!  There were 24 of us staying there including my entire family, some cousins that we haven't seen in 3 years (the year that 4 of us got married!!) and one of my cousin's daughters, who I don't think I have seen since she was about 2. 

It was a quick trip (we spent part of Thursday driving there - about 6 hours - and part of Sunday driving home, so really only two full days) but we packed a lot of fun into the time that we did have.

On Thursday evening, everyone just kind of got settled in, and then people headed into Park City to find somewhere to eat.  Unfortunately, Miley wanted nothing more to do with the car at this point (I guess 20 hours in a car in a week can do that to a 2 year-old!), so Cameron and I stayed back to get her to bed, and to not bug everyone else with her serious crankiness.  :)

Friday morning, we were able to invade my dad's good friend, Ray's, house to swim in his amazing indoor swimming pool.  His house in Park City is incredible, and it was so nice of him and his wife to let 24 of us come over!

Friday afternoon we had planned to go on a train ride in Heber, Utah, but with kids still out of whack from traveling and such, we decided to just enjoy the lodge that we were staying in and hang out with each other.  Friday evening our cousins took on dinner, and made a delicious barbeque with salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, and fruit pizza.  Yummy!

Saturday, I think we tried to pack a few too many activities in, and so some of us had to split up and do our own thing in order to keep kids on schedules, and to allow everyone to do what they wanted to do.  A few family members went on a mountain bike ride, while Cameron, Miley and myself went with my sister, Gelsey, her husband, Kipp, and their little guy, Bode, to Olympic Park.  They guys got to do a couple of the zip lines there (Gelsey and I were out, both being pregnant) so we hung out with the kiddos, and let the boys have some fun.  :)

Saturday afternoon, some people went shopping at the outlet mall, and then my sisters and I were in charge of dinner that night, so we stayed back and made taco stackers, corn, watermelon, and 7-layer bars for dessert.  Since we missed out on the shopping that afternoon, Gelsey and I quickly ran to the outlet malls about an hour before they closed, and missed out on all the 2-year olds going crazy in the sandbox....

...so then it was time for a major bath before bedtime!

In all of our spare time (ha ha) we were able to get in some time hiking around the lodge, playing pool, foosball, video games, and we did one evening where we each filled out some questions about ourselves, and had to guess who it was.  We also stayed up late every night with our cousins (till about 1 or 2 in the morning...yes that is 2 or 3 Minnesota time!) talking about everything under the sun.

On Sunday, we were all able to enjoy a big breakfast together, and then people had to start going their separate ways.  It was so fun to be able to see so many family members that we hadn't seen in a long time.  I only wish it could have been for longer!

Next up...down week in Laramie.  :)