Cody Here We Come

So back in July Rob's family had a little reunion in Cody, Wyoming (where rob's mom grew up). Unfortunately Rob was out of town with the Youth National Team till a couple days in and had to leave straight from there to return to work. In light of this I decided to drive with the kids (including our infamous little vomiter) to Wyoming on my own! Sounds like a great plan right?

Realizing this was a horrible plan my mother-in-law offered for us to drive with her.

Most people thought I was crazy when I told them I was driving with my MIL sans Rob to his family reunion in Wyoming of all places...but I assured them that if they knew my amazing MIL (and family) they would understand.

So we set off...very early...

And made lots of interesting bath room breaks...Mindy being the biggest trooper, driving 7/8 months preggos alone with her four kids!

We stopped for ice cream at an old mom and pop store in the middle of nowhere (a neilson tradition)

which of course the kids loved...

Then after long last we arrived in Buffalo Bill Town, Cody Wyoming.

It was really beautiful and the town was quaint and charming.

Margaret's family were amazing hosts and so generous with their time and love.

And Margaret and Bob arranged for us to do all sorts of fun activities...

We went river rafting!

To Yellowstone...which I opted out of with the baby and the vomiter on the all day windy drive...I've seen it before and I'll see it again I am sure. But the rest of the gang had a blast!

We went horseback riding in and absolutely beautiful mountain landscape...

We went to a great cowboy review show, trolly tours of cody, the famous cody rodeo, and more...it was sooo fun to just spend time with everyone!

We also ran into some friends at dinner one night...what are the chances that you're at the same restaurant, the same night, in cody wyoming? So crazy the way those things happen!

Then the last day we had a fun family reunion with my MIL's fam.

They put out a great spread and we laughed, played, took loads of pictures and had a wicked water balloon fight!

Etta's fav new relative!

We had such an amazing time and are so grateful to Margaret for setting this whole thing up and making it such a special family memory.

There were a few more pics of Etta at the rodeo and of our family (with Liam included!) that were just darling that hopefully I can track down...but that's all for now!

So a couple months ago I realized I had never made ribs for coach. Seeing that it's one of his favorite things, I had to rectify that. So I got straight to work.

Ribs#1: Terrible. The rub was way too salty and I used too much. I tried reducing my braising liquid for sauce but it was too strong and too thin. I was disappointed but coach still ate them so...

Ribs#2: Better. Great in fact. Made my own separate sauce. Minor tweaking needed.

Ribs#3: Delightful. Unbelievably tender but stayed on the bone. Nice char on the outside. Sweet, spicy, sticky sauce. Mmmm...

If you know my husband you know that he thinks I am the best at all things food and has to share that with the world. So he invites everyone over to try "the best ribs ever!"
So nice to be appreciated.

Along with the ribs I made cornbread, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes.

I've made cornbread from scratch a lot but Marie Calendars packaged mix remains my favorite. It's so good! Just don't over cook it and I've even added sour cream for moisture.

For the slaw I made a riff on something I saw on food network. It was cabbage, bacon, and green apples in a lime vinaigrette with Indian inspired spices. Sooo good, and I don't even like slaw.

Mashed potatoes I did my usual gold yukons, skin on, with tons of butter and cream. :)

Oh and of course honey butter, you cannot forget that. I used this local orange blossom honey.

In other news, my friends Stephanie and I started trading sitting every week. I take her two kids from 10-12 and she takes mine from 12-2 or vise versa. If you're are not currently doing this, you should. It's awesome. Just to get some errands done, clean your house, go shopping, or get your hair done. Thanks Steph!

The kids have so much fun together...

They thought they were pretty hilarious with these matching glasses on. They kept putting their heads together and laughing hysterically when their glasses would touch.

This month was also really fantastic because I got to follow coach down to Pepperdine without my kiddies! A huge, huge thank goes out to my MIL Margaret. She stayed here with the kids for the weekend while I enjoyed swimming, sleeping in, nice weather, eating at great restaurants, shopping, uninterrupted volleyball watching, and loads of time with my favorite guy ever and his 15 goofy and lovable little brothers. ;) I had such a fun time with the team but of course took no pictures like a buster!

Oh, well. :) The memories will stay with me in my mind.

Bipolar Me

I am so excited!

I am following Coach to California this weekend sans my tiny humans!

Is it bad that I'm this excited to ditch them with their Nana?

The whole thing about it is that I'm quite sure the second I leave them I'll feel pangs of regret at not packing them along and miss them horribly.

I just have to remind myself that I've done that many times before and I'm nooot quite ready to do it again yet.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Maybe after missing me for a few days they won't sling food at me and pull my hair.

But then what would make me smile at the end of the day?

I am so bummed!

This weekend is The Bijou Market Handmade Event!

It's Fri & Sat 10-8/10-5pm in Provo and I'm missing it!

It is most assuredly going to have more adorable local crafty little nuggets than you can even wrap your head around.

I'm talking clothes, decor, hair accessories, prints, paintings, jewelry, kiddo goodies and more.

Please go for me...

California Part 3

Next we went down to LA for Rob's recruiting and to visit Sara and Shawn. They are always such a blast and so sweet. They arranged a babysitter for us and took us to The Greek for an Imogen Heap concert which was surprisingly pretty awesome. I like her music and everything but she's a hilarious person who puts on a great concert. It was so thoughtful and much needed. Thanks guys!

We were also in LA for birdie's actual birthday so we had to do a little celebrating. Shawn in true fashion couldn't just sing happy birthday so we got all sorts of percussions and such to give a memorable birthday singing to. Singing, cupcake, that was probably enough for her but we had to go to.....

Disneyland!

Not sure how this picture happened considering we gave our camera to the professional photographer there to take it but whatever, you get the idea.

I couldn't get her off this tiny doorknob although she was eternally bothered it didn't open.

"It's stuck mommy, open it!"

So first of all this was probably the most busy I've ever seen Disneyland in my life and it was scorching hot...not the best day ever. Two year olds don't really understand waiting in line for 30-60min. However, we still had tons of fun thanks to daddy. He held, fed, and watch over liam while Etta and I road all the rides. He was one expensive babysitter but I think it was worth it. ;)

First we went on Alice in Wonderland which is completely psycho and terrified Elizabeth. It was hard to get her to go on another ride after that. We decided to drag her kicking and screaming on to small world knowing she'd love it. People probably thought we were nuts. And as we pulled in to the dark tunnel she lost it...but as soon as we came around the corner and she saw all the singing people she was transported to another world and she was in heaven!

Then we went over to the princess land they have now. A special place where they can meet all the princess and have a little moment with them. So we waited...and no I didn't pose her this way.

Then she got to meet Jasmine! Which was hilarious because she's never even seen Aladdin and she sooo excited.

Then we saw Ariel who she couldn't focus on becuase..."look mommy, Belle!!!"

She was really shy with Belle but the look on her face says it all.

We were bummed that there were only those three because she loves Cinderella but just after we finished they had a show with Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty and they came out for greeting afterward. This truly blew her mind...she looovvess Cinderella and still talks about this moment.

She's was pretty wiped but we still had more rides to do!

So we went on the merry-go-round...shorter lines, and one of her favorite things.

And dumbo...at least we know I had fun right? Hahaha...classic.

The boys with the girls. These two make for pretty good seats to see over all the crowds!

We hit up a few more rides, toon town, the train, and the big parade before...

She was done, so we got a funnel cake and parked it outside the gates to chat with our great friends we don't see nearly enough.

Les Homlesses

We couldn't make it home without stopping in Vegas to see some more of our favorite people...the rowl-outs. We met Giuseppe for a little pancake house and tried to ready to kids for one last drive...

All in all we had so much fun. It was our second trip with both kids and we definitely have some kinks to work out. It's getting more and more difficult to just show up on someones doorstep and crash...for us and them. ;) But I'm glad we went and you better believe we'll do it again because no matter how crazy it is that's just what you do.

:)

P.S.-I've loaded smaller pictures due to the sheer volume but you can always click on them to see them bigger.

California Part 2

Next on our trip we took a little drive north for some of this...

But we'll come back to that. Here's Etta post vomit and yes, she's biting her toe nails. Strange child...

My brother Andrew and his family live in San Jose and came down for the weekend. So we had a little bonfire/beach fun.

Etta had such a blast with all of her cousins. It's so fun to see them whenever we can since he is my furthest sibling.

Andrew and Alyse

Julia, Andrew, and Me

Not a great pic but the only family one we got...climbing around the rocks searching in the pools.

All the kids having fun at Dennis the Menice park despite the cold...

I love coming to Carmel. It's truly one of my favorite places, the beach, the shops, the aquarium, cannery row...it brings back so many memories every time.

Etta loving the swings as always...this park is really awesome. I can still remember going here as a little girl...and my nieces and nephews are just adorable.

Went to Dametra Cafe a new favorite right down the street from the beach house in Carmel by the Sea. It was tiny, delicous, and charming. The owners come out and sing and dance. Even a customer got up and beautifully sang I left my heart in San Fransisco. It was so fun.

Now the reason for this not so on the way detour from southern cal is that every morning we'd wake up at the beach house and get all bundled...

Walk 30 seconds over to my grandparents...

Past the house...mmmmm, love it here.

Down the back driveway...

Through the golden gates...

To paradise...

Needless to say Rob was in heaven...it's just breathtaking. And it was awesome to be right there because you couldn't stay or park anywhere. People stayed hours away, parked 30-60 minutes away then took in shuttles. Yikes!

Now I've been to pebble many a day on walks with my grandpa, but seeing it in full tournament swing was pretty awesome.

The mowers out in the morning...it was very cool. There was just a buzz about the whole place. The grounds were in amazing condition. It wasn't hard to spot the celebs...especially Tiger. He had more cameras and security following him than I could even imagine...I don't know how he can focus. Then he had people shouting all sorts of things good and bad in his direction. It was crazy but very cool to see him play up close.

A lot of what I saw was the practice rounds which was actually really neat. You'd watch them hit a shot that maybe wasn't so great while they get a feel for the course. So they take it again and nail it. Just to cement the stroke they'd take it a third time and with scary precision they'd stick it exactly where they'd hit the second shot. They were really amazing to watch.

I didn't go every day so Etta and I would do a lot of running around town...

While Rob did a lot of this...

We also had some unseasonally nice beach days for Carmel in June and we were loving it.

Our good friends Mike and Beth joined us for a second time in Carmel and although mike did get to go to pebble, he also did a lot of this...

Thanks! They are always a blast to have around and troopers in any situation. Cause heaven knows I couldn't carry both kids and we all know where Rob was...

It was so fun. I think I have more pics too from the aquarium and such (one of the best in the country...so fun!) I'll have to post later.

Then coming up we drove back down to LA for rob's volleyball stuff aaaannnnddd...Disneyland!