The Zoo

We made it to Bakersfield!  On the way there we ran into my one of my cousins, Amy and her kids in Beever on her way to Sharonda's house!!  What are the chances of that??  

Our first adventure was the movie theater.  we all saw Monsters vs. Aliens 3D...if anyone needs 3D glasses, we have some!  $3.00 a piece just for the glasses!!  The kids really liked the movie.   We had a pretty packed agenda for the week.  We love to play with our cousins!!

My sister Lisa and I took a couple of road trips.  Here is our first:  The Zoo.

Cousins reunited!  This is after our picnic before we went into the zoo.

We started out with Blake wanting to be held.  I told him I couldn't carry him the whole time at the zoo.  Caden said, "I'll carry him!"  So here he is strong Caden with Blake.  Eventually we got a wagon.

Here is Blake ducking from the "amel"  (He kept calling it an amel)  It was a camel.  He was afraid it would spit on him!

Next were the "mingo's"  (Flamingo's)  Those were my 2 favorite animal names of the day.

This was one of the kids favorite birds.  They couldn't believe the feathers are just red, not blood.

Shark King!!

Another favorite was the Sting Rays.  They got to touch them and feed them.

Two hungry boys!!  They liked the fish with eyes!

Strong Nixon and Blake with Queen Carsyn. 

What a funny group!

Camden's new pet "Squiggles"  He really got a few people believing this was really chasing him!

Carsyn found two pets to take home.  (Tiger Blake and Tiger Nixon!!)

So, this is just the beginning..... Eventually I will be caught up with our blog and our trip to California.  We have a LOT of pictures, and had a LOT of FUN!!  Thanks Lisa!  The zoo was so much fun!!!

Missing Us

My parents, the boys and I drove to California on Monday the 6th to visit for 2 weeks!  Will couldn't come until the following Wednesday which was the longest time we have ever been away from each other (10 days)!  It felt like FOREVER!!  While we were gone, he kept emailing us pictures of what he did or saw.  It was nice to use technology to keep in touch while we were away from each other. He worked a ton and played some too.  

He went to a couple of Salt Lake Buzz games (Closest thing to an Angel or Dodger game he could come by).  

He did the MS walk with my cousin Emilee and her family.  Here were some fellow walkers who had the force with them as they walked....he knew our boys would love to see their picture.
More walkers.  He rode his bike from our house to meet them, got a flat tire, fixed it and got there just in time to start.  

He showed us the pretty sky we were missing, calling them "Simpson clouds" like on the beginning of the cartoon, "The Simpsons".    He was worried all along that we would not want to come back to Utah and we would all be moving back to Bakersfield again, but we're all back, and love it...just wish we could bring more family back here with us!!!

The temple is finally all lit up!!  He took this picture to show us.  It has been lit up in fazes:  the bottom, the middle, the top.  But while we were gone, the whole temple was lit up!  Our ward is assigned 2 days to help with the open house.  We are so blessed to be so close to temples everywhere!  This is the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  It has been exciting watching the progress of it.  It will open in August!!

Finally Will was able to come to Bakersfield.  We picked him up in Burbank, played in Santa Ana and Newport.  More pictures of our trip are to follow!!.......

More fun with Grandma and Grandpa

Sunday Morning Conference

First thing in the morning Camden was ready to play more games with Grandma and Grandpa. He is really good at making up games and rules to those games. 

We had a baking morning.  My Mom made yummy breakfast pizza and the infamous Coffee Cake (We call it Conference Cake and have it every General Conference.  YUM!)

Blake was ready to bake first thing in the morning too.

Saturday night Will and my Dad went to the General Priesthood meeting at the Conference Center with My brother in law Ryan and Nephew Dalton.  They brought back a treasure from Grandma Larson.  A box of Easter treats and an icing decorating kit.  So, Bright and early, Blake was ready to use the new tools.  We made sugar cookies and had a great time decorating them!  (Thanks Grandma Larson!!)

Later we went for a drive to show Grandma and Grandpa around.  We had a fun walk where the boys collected golden rocks!  What a fun day.

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

My parents came!!!  We had such a good time with them! The boys were so happy to have Grandma and Grandpa here.  They never left their sides.  Suddenly Will and I seemed to disappear to them-they only wanted Grandma and Grandpa!!

Snuggling with Grandma in the morning

Games with Grandpa

We got to go to General Conference at the Conference Center Saturday afternoon!  We had a wonderful time there too!  Thanks Emilee for watching our kiddos!!

Star Wars Battle

Another from March 30th:  After the snow was melted, The boys were invited to a Star Wars Battle with our neighbor friends across the street.  They love playing with Drew and Will.  Most often they play Star Wars or Legos - two of my kids most favorite things.  Another fun play date with Drew and Will!

SPRING??

March 30th:

So after a few warm sunny days, the thought of spring was in the air, Camden was off track for spring, and it suddenly snowed again! Our trampoline was a solid white blanket of snow- a good few inches. We decided to jump on it with the snow on it. It was really fun! The snow balled up as we jumped. Then we got out the sleds and had even more fun. Notice the great action shot at the end. The boys shoveled snow, played in it and once again had snow ice cream. So that's the beginning of spring in Utah.