Leftovers- a collage of memories.

I had an extremely enjoyable 28th birthday while I was home- the entire family (both sides) gathered to help me celebrate and eat Mexican food! For the record, I absolutely HATE how Mexican restaurants make you wear that 30 pound hat that everyone wears...I have to try not to think of all the germs that are festering in that 50 year old thing when they stick it on my head. I put on a good face, tho- and the fried ice cream at the end makes the hat wearing bearable.

My cousins twins, Eva and Emma made me these Happy Birthday signs. They also had tootsie roll pops and tootsie rolls taped on them. While camping these 2 girls turned 8...can hardly believe it- it really does go too quickly. My favorite story from my trip is because of sweet Eva, pictured below. While camping she came up to me and said- "Sydney sure is cute, and she's got pretty big ears!" I replied- "Yes, she does- she has big ears like her mama." to which she responded- "Well, accccctually, they might be the same size." I love the unbridled honestly that kids offer.


The new dads and their adorable offspring.

"You are SUCH a good baby!" This was the line Grandma Jo said to Syd all the time- it warmed my heart, thank you Grandma!

Auntie Danielle with her favorite pucker-lips niece!

Love this picture- Grandpa and his sweetie.

Me and MJ...yep, MJ. Another favorite story from the trip: Mom was giving MJ a bath as Danielle and Matt ran an errand- we couldn't find a clean onesie for him so I jumped in and offered to dress him myself...in Sydney's clothes. Matt walked in and double took MJ for Sydney and then when he realized it was MJ he couldn't believe I'd dressed him like a girl...hey, MJ gave me thumbs up!

The cousins on my Dad's side- I am the oldest, and I used to be the tallest...

I got to enjoy a delicious steak dinner at my Aunt Julie & Uncle Dale's house. Uncle Dale introduced Sydney to her first pony.

Camping...one of my all time favorites, but if you are reading this blog, then you probably know me, and you probably already knew that! We went to Cascade Lake again this year- seems like you forget how gorgeous the mountains are when you haven't been there for a year. My favorite things about camping:

1. Drinking early morning coffee when it's nippy out with my Dad.
2. Campfires.

3. No sense of schedule, no where to be, no need to rush...just sit, eat, enjoy and look at the beautiful scenery.

4. Birds. The best sounding birds live in the mountains.

5. The way the pine needles crunch underneath your feet.

6. Evening dips in the lake. For some reason the lake is warmer at the end of the day than it is during the day when it is 100 degrees out.

7. Grandma's biscotti.

8. Smores, duh.

9. Games - which we did a whole lot more before there were babies to watch!

10. Not touching makeup, hairdryers & curling irons for the entire time.

The evenings were a bit chilly, so I took the opportunity to dress her in this irresistible L.L. Bean fleece igloo compliments of my cousin, Nicole...it was the twins years and years ago. In fact, I still remember them wearing it and wanting to cuddle them.

Don't they just look like happy Grandparents? They are! ;)

The whole shebang...corralling everyone for a picture isn't the easiest, but it's always wonderful to have one in the end. Love you all, miss you more.