Chiquita Banana

Fun times at the Puyallup Fair with the Rosengrens, Alexis, and Stephen and Stephanie's family

Goodbye summer.

Our annual trip to Utah did not dissapoint. So many cousins were able to gather from both sides of the family for back to back reunions.
We started off our Smith family reunion with a hike up to the Y. Of course Matt chickend out as he is loyal to the "other" team. Actually he forgot hiking shoes, a likely excuse. I was happy to leave Samantha along with several of his children. :)

We also went to Seven Peaks water park (a must each trip), several trips to the Missionary Training Center (my parents serve there), a girl tea party, dance offs with all of us playing "Just Dance" a fun wii game, and lots of great food!
Thanksgiving Point is one of our favorite places so here are the Smith cousins after we spend 20 minutes gathering them from the fountain to take this picture.

My sisters and I at Thanksgiving Point (along with Kirsten's daugther, look-a-like, Cosette)

After a great few days with the Smiths it was time for the Nickel party. My sis in law Candice and I had the pleasure of planning this years event. What a blast!
The Nickel Family Reunion started with picture day at Temple Square.

Each family was a team and we had various competitions over the few days we were together.
Team Marshall and Erika

One of the many talents at the family talent show. We actually had to cut it short since the kids would have kept going all night! Such show offs we have. Here is my Hannah and Heather's Emma dancing to "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

Besides the talent show we played minute to win it, family race, dad race, mom race, movie nights and Jordanelle State Park (great place and a highlight for sure)
Now the kids are back in school and we wait until the next vacation. Mexico in October with our good friends. The kids are so happy to have up to date passports.

Spring Break

Over spring break we drove up and spent a couple nights in Bellingham, WA. The kids loved the hotel pool and I loved the gym next door. Each morning I woke up early to have my "quiet time" before the busy days. Marshall didn't come with us so it was all me. I did go with a couple other moms and their kids which made it very fun. The purpose of the trip was to visit the Vancouver, Canada temple open house.

I have taken them to one other temple open house and they loved going again. What a sweet experience for them to be in the House of the Lord. Each of them told me how much they loved it. After the open house we toured Vancouver and Stanley Park.


All the crazy kids we took on the trip. This is just four families worth of kids!

Leaving Canada, what a beautiful sign.

On the drive home from Bellingham we stopped at the tulip festival. There was a ton of traffic, but worth the trip. I told my kids to enjoy it because we wouldn't be making the trek ever again. Yes, the traffic was that bad! The city is tiny with a ton of tourists.

Flying kites at the tulip fields-it was a perfectly windy day.

Sequim, WA

Last weekend our family took a trip to Sequim, WA with Marshall's classmates. We rented a huge house that was built like a castle. There were several master bedrooms, each with royal dress-ups. My girls were in heaven, my boys not so much.

Marshall and Samantha relaxing and eating fruit snacks.

Marshall and Emily dancing/swinging

My beautiful Hannah, who almost looks older than me now. She is getting tall!

Emily is living in her own world, and we love it. It is a happy place!

My wonderful girls. We are happy to out number the boys.

Sweet Sara in pure bliss.

Thanks to a great resident, Ellie for taking the great pictures!

Days at the Park

Today it is stormy out and although I do like to snuggle with my kids...
One of my favorite things to do is take the kids to the park with a soccer ball or baseball gear. Here are some pictures of our latest trip to the park for a picnic. Hannah was our photographer for the day. Tyler wasn't with us...he was just getting back from a camping trip. He loves scouts and I love that he loves scouts!

Alderbrook Inn

Sometimes it seems like Marshall is working constantly. He just finished a rotation of night float where we rarely caught a glimps of him. One of the only perks of having a husband in residency is the fun family vacation they send us on each year. This year we went with his co-workers to the Alderbrook Inn, in Union, WA. It was beautiful and only about an hour away.
Tyler and Samantha jumped in the pool holding hands about 100 times. The pool was 8 ft deep at that end. Samantha started swim lessons a couple months ago and loves to swim!

We checked out last Sunday and were heading to church.
Sweet Sara.

Tyler, Sara, Emily, Samantha and Hannah

December Activities

U.P. Wildcats undefeated team! This is our end of the season party. What a great team we had! (Hannah is second from the right if you couldn't tell)

Coach Tyler always instructing the kids.

Okay, you might think this is lame, but this is actually pretty good for me. We made a mini gingerbread village for family night this week. The kids had a blast and we had a good time together so that is really all that matters, right? I really love this time of year. Tomorrow is the last day of school!