Memorial Day Weekend 2016

For Memorial Day Weekend, we headed to Bend to attend my cousin Madisen's wedding.  

The first night we got there, we went and ate at Dandy's.  It's a drive up burger joint with like 3 things on the menu.  The waitresses are on roller skates.  My mom worked here in high school so we thought it would be fun to show Brizzy where Nona worked as a teenager.

The next morning, we headed over to an awesome park, where Wembley and Nona followed the ducks around the pond.

And Dad tried to catch a fish.

But no success.  Briz still loved it all the same.

We had a high quality meal at Denny's where Wembley would not sit still (surprise).  We like to keep things classy.

The afternoon of the wedding was beautiful and warm!  It was located on a ranch out in Bend.  The ranch was so beautiful. Nick and I wanted to stay there another week.  We tried to keep Wembley occupied while we waited for the ceremony to start.

And Briz felt so special.  She thought she was part of the wedding and wondered why she wasn't standing up in the front with the bridesmaids and the bride.

My sweet little girls posing in their fancy dresses.

Wembley was exhausted because she didn't have a proper nap that day.

Waiting for dinner and speeches and Briz showing off her awesome teeth.

Wembley loved that she got to eat crap for about 3 hours straight.  

And Briz wanted to get as close as possible to the father/bride dance.

We put Wembley to sleep and let Briz party a little bit.  She loved dancing with her Nona.

A cute shot of Madisen and Alex and their little guy Sjur.

The next day, we went to Sacrament Meeting in my grandma's old ward.  I used to go there a lot as a little girl when I come to Bend and visit her.  I was surprised by how many people I recognized.  It was fun to hear stories about my grandma, my mom, and other family members.    After church, we headed over to the cemetery.  This is a special cemetery because we have a lot of family buried here.  First grave we visited was my Grandma Kay, my Dad's mom.  My middle name was Kay and it was where we got Holland's middle name.

We then visited my Great Grandma Ives (Grandma Kay's mom).  Since my grandma wasn't alive during my life, my Grandma Ives was sort of my grandma on that side.  

We visited my sweet niece, Kendall.  Kendall died when she was 8 years old from a brain tumor.  I believe its been 13 years or so since she has died.  

And we visited my mom's mom, Meme.  My grandma died when she was 62, when I was 18.  I still miss her so much.  I know she would be having so much fun with her great grand daughters.  

We also headed over to St. Charles hospital, where Nick and I were both born.  In Nick's baby book, the first visitor that came to the hospital was my Meme.  (my grandma and mother in law were good friends back in the day).

We then headed back over to the park and roller bladed around the path they had there.

We spent a lot of time visiting the horses, and Briz begged every waking moment to ride one of the horses.  She finally got her dream come true and rode a horse around the coral for a little bit.  She also got to practice grooming the horse.

We hiked through the ranch that led to a canal.  It was freezing!  But I dared Briz to go in as far as she could.  She didn't last very long or go very far.

We went on a hike up Pilot Butte.  It was a great little workout carrying Dubs up the butte.  Loved spending time in Bend with so many of Nick and I's roots there.  It was beautiful and warm and so great being together as a family.  Normally for Memorial Day we sit at home in the rain twiddling our thumbs so we thought it was a pretty great weekend.

May 2016

The month of May brought some more sunshine, and excitement for summer to begin.

Briz first ended her year of dance with the most adorable dance recital ever.  The song above is Singing in the Rain.

And the cutest little South American dance, acting like birds.  

She had a couple more "magical" songs, from Willy Wonka, the Rainbow Connection, etc.  

As always, she was in dancing/performing heaven.

At one recital, I didn't have any kids, so I gladly let Connor sit on my lap and keep me entertained.

Miss Heidi talking about Brizzy being brave.  She isn't scared of trying new things and is always a great helper.  She got to have a solo performance as Red Riding hood in one of the songs, and she LOVED it.

With her two friends from her ward, Blair, and Reagan.  

I got a little teary taking this picture, because I just want to soak up how innocent these girls are.  

Strawberries came on early, so we took a couple trips down the street to Baggenstos.  The Mount Hoods were unbelievable!  

Biggest downside to the super sweet strawberries is that you have to do something with them asap, so a day of picking, freezing, jamming, and or/baking pretty much takes up the whole day.

Wembley is pretty much the worst picker ever.  She wants to eat all of the strawberries and as soon as she decides she's done with that, she sits there and whines.  She also takes off her shoes.

As always we returned to the library weekly where Wembley destroyed the library computer.  She likes the idea of wearing earphones, but still pretty much refuses to keep them on.

We planted blueberries on the side of our house, and the started to blossom.  

We also got a few raspberries (oddly enough, they actually didn't really come on until October).

Big highlight was that Wembley actually let Brizzy put her to bed.  Favorite thing in Brizzy's life!

One night we braided Brizzy's hair so it would be all wavy the next day.  She was pretty excited anticipating the beauty it would be.  But when she woke up the next morning, her hair was HUGE and frizzy and she cried.  

Wembley caused more trouble this month when she pulled over our cheap Ikea shelf.  I wasn't too sad about giving it away and some of it breaking, but it puts some major dents in my nice wood floors.

We went to more of Dad's softball games since the weather was improving.  This night we were in a hurry, so we brought mac n cheese to go.

Wems was feeling a little sick one day.  So I let her cuddle in my bed and watch Daniel Tiger.  I don't let her do this very often, so I tried to enjoy it.  I love it when she's sick because she sits still and cuddles with me!

Brizzy's special week

Brizzy had a very special week for her 6th birthday.

Wembley got to come to class for Brizzy's birthday moment.  

Briz got to sit in the teachers chair and the kids got to give her a compliment and/or ask her a question.

For the day of her birthday, we went with her cousins to the Clackams Aquatic Center where we went down waterslides, swam, and rock climbed.

Then Briz got her big present: she flew to Utah by herself to spend a weekend with her grandpa and grandma, aunts, and cousins.  It was her idea.  And I was all for it, until we went to the airport.  And I thought I was going to have a panic attack.

I was full on crying watching her get on the plane. It felt so wrong.  But she was perfectly fine and excited.

When the plane took off, my stomach dropped.  I knew logically she would be fine.  But it went against everything I feel as a mom to keep my kid close and protect them.  Luckily I knew once she got to Utah she would be great!  And she was.  She had a total blast and really didn't miss us at all.

While she was gone we had great weather, and Wems and I played in the water.

We also celebrated mothers day.  It was a very restful day.

We had a great day at church and enjoyed the sunshine outside.

We also went exploring the rhododendron garden with Wesley and Megan.  Look at that look of adoration.  It's very much one way.