fall break at the beach

my parents got the family together for a family reunion in Newport Beach.  it was kind of like this:

a quick trip to California

we were able to head out to California for a quick weekend just before the kids started school.  it was fast and furious, but this is my favorite memory of the trip.  

California weekend!

 can you believe i traveled to California with my 4 kids at 8 months pregnant to celebrate my sister's graduation from her Master's program, and I didn't take a picture with my sister?  (sorry Ash, we really did come to see you.)  

but the star of this blog post is the beach.  we love our beach time, and the two days we were able to spend were glorious.  the weather was awesome, the kids entertained, the company wonderful (thanks mom, dad, Austin and Holly), and we even saw dolphins.  in a word, our weekend was perfection!

Daddy was jealous of our beach time.  he would be so proud of his little groms. 

the weekend was full of celebrations.  Friday was dedicated to Ashy's graduation  the kids are so excited that she is a teacher, they gave her a whole bag of Smarties!  

Saturday was a birthday party for this guy.

his Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles spoiled him with cars, trucks, and superheros.  and we even got a sneak peek at the new Aquabats season!  thanks for a great weekend California!

California Christmas part one

we had a great week in California to celebrate Christmas with our family.  we started things out with visiting uncle Austy and aunt Holly's new house, and took the festivities over to the Costa Mesa civic center Peanuts' Christmas display.   

the kids had so much fun checking out all the cool set-ups of Snoopy and the gang!

Colin has mixed feelings about Santa.  he is really excited to see him, but wants nothing to do with him up close and personal.  it's kind of a funny situation, here he is all excited and waving in line saying, "Santa, Santa," then it's out turn and his smile turns upside down.  no lap sits for sure!

i' pretty sure Santa would have appreciated it if Austy chose to forgo the lapsit this year too!  

it was a nice way to spend Christmas Eve-Eve.  

a quick work trip with my boy

Bubba was my assistant on a recent trip to CA for holiday mini-sessions.  since Grandma and Grandpa were out of town, we got to stay with Sawyer and Ali.  (and of course Emma and Kobe)  Colin's love affair with dogs runs deep.  he was pretty unstoppable when it came to chasing Emma and Kobe around, (and hugging their rear ends, what's with that?)

 he had to come with me to the Friday sessions, and was a trooper as long as I gave him his favorite toy, my toothbrush.  (had to make a Target run for another.)

 and he did not contain his love to live dogs only, he shared the wealth with the stone variety as well.  a bonus, since the stone dog cannot move, he was able to plant kisses firmly on the dogs face and not the back side.  much less germy, i hope.  

the sessions were fun, the weather was semi-stormy, the company was lovely, but my time was short.  see you soon California!

God be with you 'til we meet again

so, it wasn't for a fun reason.  but Bubba and i took a little trip up to Monterrey, California.  it was a really quick trip, but we got a few hours of down time, so Barrett and I took our kids for a scenic drive through Pebble beach.  Colin was so happy seeing all the golfers, and about came out of his skin when he saw about a million sea lions.  

 and hanging out with these guys was the icing on the cake.  

 so, the reason for our trip was a sad one.  my Uncle Ralph passed away, and we went to the funeral.  it is never easy saying goodbye to the people we love.  nor is it easy to see the grief and pain of your family who lost their husband, father, grandfather, brother.  but there is a silver lining to moments like these.  the family reunion we had this weekend was a celebration of generations of love.  we feel blessed to know that our time to be separated from lost loved ones is brief.  we are so thankful for the Lord's plan of happiness that allows us to be sealed to our families through generations, and for eternity.  

Colin was able to meet is doppelganger finally.  everyone says he is the spitting image of my cousin Matt.  seriously, Colin, this is a good thing.  lots of people would love to look like that when they're 40(ish).  incidentally, growing up everyone though i looked like Matt and strangers mistook us for siblings often.  

 remember in September when i took a family picture that included 2 of my cousins.  well, here are a few more.  (we were still missing, Collier and Jane.)  and some of our kids are pictured, though by my count 35 are missing!  yeah, i have a big and also awesome family.  and also, sometimes when i talk about my many cousins i feel like people assume it's so big i don't really know everyone or something.  well, this is not the case.  we were raised very close, (some geographically) but mostly close in that we got together often, and made time to attend each others special events (baptisms, graduations, etc.) each of my cousins is also my friend, and those in my age group are among my very best friends.  so looking at this photo i see nothing but a huge group of dearly beloved people.  it's a great blessing and a privilege to have friends like these that you get to call family. 

 my mom and her siblings, including my sweet aunt Nita who lost her husband of 60 years!  what a great example!

 and our little Beardsley contingent.  so fun being with my siblings, even if i was a little whacked out from lack of sleep, and our reunion lasted all of 30 hours.  we definitely made the most of it.  

(dear family  i have barely begun to go through these images, but i will send disks out soon)

back to the beach

so, we thought our last trip to the beach was going to be in August, but i had some photo sessions scheduled in Los Angeles, and they coincided with my dad's 60's birthday, so we made a trip out of it.  all of my siblings, came into town.  (except Collier of course) and my parents rented a beach house.  i really wished i wasn't working!  but, we made the most of our time for sure!  the kids got right to work digging, digging, digging in their weekend backyard.  

 while i was at the beach, i definitely snapped some pics of these cuties.  

 i love these shots, my generation of 3 sisters:

 my mom's generation of 3 sisters:

 and the next generation of 3 sisters:

 here's all nine of us!  not a bad looking group!

 we even got to see Sawyer before we left.  

so, i feel like a schmuck, i don't even have a picture with the birthday boy.  but in my defense, he was golfing and hanging with the boys a lot.  but seriously, i need  a picture with my dad, i think the last one i have is from my wedding!  

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!

a last hurrah in California!

the weekend before school started we packed up the family and headed to California for a last ditch session at the beach! even though we've made a happy home here in AZ, we still miss the beach!

 we were happy to have good friends on vacation too!  the kids had some beach buddies to play with, and Colin was able to take a nap peacefully in Mirium's arms.  

I hope these two enjoyed their vacation, it's off to school when we get back!