St. Louis

This past weekend my mom and I (along with Grandpa and Uncle Todd) flew to St. Louis, Missouri for my cousin Chris' wedding. It was a whirlwind trip but so much fun. We flew in late Thursday night and came home Saturday night. I am so glad I got to go. It was wonderful to see the Cates family and meet their newest member and her family. They seem very happy. Brad and Sherri hosted a lunch on Friday. It was fun to catch up with people. Jaime had made a shirt that she was wearing before they got ready for the temple, it said "Worth the Wait", and it's true she was so great and cute! Good luck to them and I hope they are very happy together. ...Chris and Jaime Cates...
Their cute new family. Garrett is 8 and Hailey is 5 (not sure of the spellings, sorry). Sweet little Hailey is a doll and looks so much like her mom. What a cute family!
They were married in the St. Louis Temple and it was lovely. The temple was peaceful and beautiful but this one seemed maybe more calm and quiet. I believe they were the only wedding of the day. After some pictures everyone went out to dinner. It was yummy and lively and very fun!

On Saturday we had almost a full day before we needed to go to the airport so we drove downtown. We ate lunch at Hannigan's and watched the USA vs. Ghana world cup game. Such a bummer that USA lost! When we sat down we asked the bus boy what they are known for to the locals. He said the fried ravioli is a St. Louis tradition. So we ordered some and wow they were so good! I may have to try to recreate them at home. The restaurant was next to the waterfront of the Mississippi River. The river was so full that it was covering the river walkway, the first floor of the parking structure and was coming up the steps of the Arch. It was so big and beautiful though. On previous trips we had been up to the top of the Arch so we didn't bother to go up this time. But we did drive across one bridge and back over another across the Mississippi River. Then we headed to the airport. It was such a fun trip. I can't wait to see everyone again, soon I hope!

Backyard Swimming!

Grandpa and Grandma S bought Alli this nice little pool. They filled it up in the morning and left it in the sunshine. So then by the time we came over at about 5pm, it was not freezing cold and actually a little bit warm. Thanks Papa and Labu, smart thinking! I know it will get a lot of use this summer.

Palm Springs

This post should have been put up a while ago but I have been in a blogging funk and just haven't gotten around to it until now. In May we went to Palm Springs, California for a week. It was a wonderful vacation and such a nice break from the daily grind of life. Spending so much time together was the best thing in the world. We loved it! My entire family went--Melanie, Dave, Allison, Robyn, Craig, Josh, Kim, Scott, and Grandpa Sanders. We did a lot of fun things but also spent a lot of time relaxing. Here are some things we did.

WARNING: lots of pictures....

Dave, Alli, Kim and I went to the Children's Museum. There were lots of fun exhibits and activity centers. Some of them were for older children but Alli liked most of them. She loved shopping in the store, reading books in Grandma's Attic, playing in the courtyard with the balls, chalk, and sandbox, riding up on the pulley system, and just cruising around looking at everything. Ummm, this face is the most precious thing in the whole wide world!

After the museum we met up with everyone else and had a little picnic by this very cool little water play area. It was really fun until Allison fell, scraped her knees, and stepped on the ground that was too hot for her bare feet. Luckily she is tough and recovered quickly.

There was lots of time spent at the pool! They had a couple of waterslides. A small one for little kids and a bigger one for everyone else. It was so funny to see Kim and Dave going on the bigger slide. It was twisty and fast. They got tossed all around and flew out at the bottom. Allison liked the little slide and even would go by herself but mostly she liked when someone went with her. Almost every night was spent in the hot tub and pool. Alli would always love to sit on the first step of the hot tub. She would say "tubby, bubbles" and sometimes it was just shortened to "tubbles".

Allison and Grandma loved to snuggle and play in the big bed!

We went to Knott's Soak City. This funnel waterslide was the highlight and everyone rode that one over and over. There were lots of other waterlides, a splash zone, wave pool, and a lazy river. Alli, Grandma, and I spent a lot of time in the lazy river. There were only a couple slides for little kids but our little bear went down them. At first she liked it but then after a few rides she started to tip over while coming down, ending up on her stomach or back, instead of sitting. Then she didn't like it anymore.

Oh, Disneyland my love. We spent a great day a Disneyland. Allison still talks about the Mouse and Pooh Bear. When we talk about it and ask her questions she seems to remember it all and gets excited.

We met Mickey Mouse and Pinocchio.

Here is Allison waiting for the train, knocking on Snow White's door, and riding on the Nemo submarine with Grandpa and Grandma. This was big because my mom is really claustrophobic and never would ride the submarine ride with us but she was brave and rode it with Allison. Way to go Mom! We discovered that Alli covers her little nose with her hand when she is nervous or scared. It was the cutest thing to see. She was a champ though and rode most of the rides. She didn't cry and seemed to like them.

We played on the playground in Toon Town. Then she had a little nap while the others went on some big rides. It was drizzling a little so it was a nice break.

I love this picture! Look at our tiny girl smooshed in between these big boys. This was on the Snow White ride.

These pictures are so cute and show her personality. She is friendly and then that's enough. We always say it looks like she is thinking, if I don't look at them then they aren't there. :) She has also had a good "stink eye" look since she was born. Funny, cute little girl!

The parade was so fun. We were dancing and loved seeing all the characters! This was seriously a highlight. They do a great job.

And this is my favorite picture.

Wow, longest post ever! Sorry but hope you enjoyed!

Mmmmm,

SPAGHETTI!!!

These pictures make me smile every time I look at them!