California

I know, I know, this was two months ago. I got busy, then thought it had been too long, then got busy again, then thought, "what the hey?", and that brings me here.
So, yeah, the kids and I went to California for a week in August and had a great time hanging out with family. I didn't get to see absolutely everyone, but I did get to see a lot of people that had not for a long time, and will not see for a long time.

So this is us at Bridal Veil, a section of the American River, but up in the sticks. Our family loves coming here, and August is really the only time when the water is not totally freezing. My brother-in-law Jedd showed us how to Hippo Race--a game he made up that involves not drowning, but practically doing just that. You carry a ridiculously heavy rock across the bottom of the river, heave the rock onto the shore, retrieve it, lug it back across the river (with several feet of water above your head and no air in your lungs), and chuck it into the grass. And yes, I played with my bro Dan, my sis Mary, and Jedd (the champion). I think I got second place because of extenuating circumstances with the others.

Jedd and the rock

The kids and me on a boogie board.

Bekah wearing her cousin Steven's shirt.

When we got back to Grandma Jill's, Jedd made his awesome pizza and bread sticks. My other bro Matt brought his cute wife Kacey and son Brycen. The kids had a lot of fun up in Uncle Dan's bunk bed, but for some reason I cannot find any picture of that.

The next day my sis Rachel, three of her kids, and my kids and I went to another part of the American River. We met up with a friend to see the gold discovery site in Coloma. We went through the visitor's center and some spots in town, then hit the water. This is a guy panning for gold and showing the kids what he's up to.

So this is Alex finding some gold.

Alex's gold nugget.
It is just a grain of sand, so no debt pay off yet.

Cali, parte dos

We only got one evening to meet up with my Dad and Linda because they ran off to Vegas for their anniversary! I was a little jealous of all the fun stuff they had planned, but I'm really glad I got to see them, if only for a few hours.

Linda and Kacey pushing kids on swings

While we were all playing frisbee and yappin', the boys found some wicked awesome dirt to slide down the hill in and throw on each other. This is Alex afterwards.

Rachel's kids and my kids, before parting ways.
Brian, Alex, Jason, Rebekah, Steven, Natalie, Elizabeth.

Mary, me, Rachel.
I know Jedd took a better picture of us, and Rach was supposed to email it to me (hint, hint, Rach)

I spent a couple of days up the hill with Matt's family. We went to the pool where Matt played as a kid.
Alex and Grandpa

Bekah and Grandma

On Friday we took a trip down to see my brother and on the way stopped in to see my favorite lady over in Clovis. We took my grandma to get Lebanese food (holy good!) and let the kids play at McD's.

Last California Post

After Clovis, we finished off the 6 hour drive going to Arroyo Grande where my bro Nathan lives. He and Heather had just had a baby (Connor is so cute!) and we were lucky to also be there when his other 3 kids came, whom I had not seen in a really long time. Mary goes to school in Virgina, and so we decided that even though we only had 14 hours in Arroyo Grande, 8 of which were sleeping, we had to stop by the west coast before we left it for a really long time. We were just blocks away from the ocean, so we ran over there and spent like 15 minutes getting our fill of the wind, sand, water, and dunes before dashing back to Nate's.

They had to fill their shoes up with sand before they left.

Mary, me, and Heather

Bekah was very content on Uncle Nathan's lap.

Lily, Jasmin, Alex, Bekah, Jaden (behind the balloon)

The kids got to see all their first cousins and most of their aunts and uncles and grandparents and great-grandparents, so it was a great family-oriented trip.

Excuses, Excuses

"Alex, do you have to go potty?"

"No. My bladder isn't full of pee yet."

-------------------------------------------

"Bekah, please don't pick the glue off of that."

"I'm sorry, but I have to."

--------------------------------------

"Alex, could you please help me set the table?"

"No, I just don't have time right now."

Could someone get me scheduled in this 4 year old's book?

Rebekah's Commercial

Number of times Bekah fell on her head this week: 10
Most feet she has fallen from (on her head) in her life: 4
Number of times she has re-bruised the same spot before it healed from a previous bonk: 3
Number of times she cried from falling on her head this week: 2
The comedy of watching all her klutzy blunders: Priceless

Does anyone else chuckle at this?

reticence revealed

I realize that it has been a long time since I posted anything. The great thing about it is that I have no excuses. Not a one. However, it has been a while, and I figure I'd better have something darn good to write about to make up for it. I had lots of fun thinking of all the things I could write about: my secret life as a professional badminton player, my hidden addiction to orange soda and sardines, or my experience as a paid participant in a program designed to determine if humans really can function without cell phones. While none of those are true, I might have something else fun to report. If it were a movie title it would be: The Guymon Prodigy 3 (coming Winter 2009).
Yes, the third installment of a child will be added to our family. We are excited but have actually lied to people a few times in the past months, but now we can be truthful and hope we haven't lost any friends over it.

In other news, Matt started back in school this week. Over the break we hung out with friends, spent a day in Columbia, and another one in Nauvoo, Matt washed the cars twice, played with the kids, camped with friends, went swimming, and did some other random things. Amazingly, and quite against Matt's original requests for his break, we didn't watch very many movies. I think maybe 2 was all. I promise to post pictures soon of things--there is an awful lot to fill in, including the trip to Cali. In Columbia, Alex saw the pediatric opthalmalogist for the first time in like 2 years. Alex now has to wear a patch for 6 hours a day. But, it has only been a few days, and Matt and I can tell that it is helping a lot. Bekah is her usual self. The other day she said her shorts were "crookwards". Made sense to me.