Hello? Is this thing on?

So JJ totally gave me a hard time for not updating

this awesome blog of ours for a long time.

I'm still here and very much part of the blogging community.

I've said before that you can always check us out over at Funky PolkaDot Giraffe -

my pride and joy and where most of my blogging energy goes.

But I also realized that you might want to follow in Instagram too.

My sister said, "I didn't realize that you had a whole other life I was missing out on."

She doesn't have a smartphone and doesn't do the Instagram thing,

but I can totally share the pictures here on a weekly basis.

I will try to remember to come and post so you can catch the slideshow

and find out all about our life as the un-rich and un-famous - not to be confused with infamous.

 I hope all my friends are doing well and hopefully I can get it together and post here more.

However, I was just called as the Primary President, so that might not happen . . .

Adventures in {Camp Spooky}

Saturday the family and I got to attend
a VIP experience in Campy Spooky at Knott's Berry Farm.
I was super excited to take the kids somewhere I'd been
when I was a little girl.


Me and my mom circa March 1981


Luckily Jaime brought her fancy camera and snapped
awesome pictures for me all day long!
I did do the photo editing,
so at least I was partially useful :)

Since it was all about Camp Spooky,
the kids got to dress up.
The Boy was a "Hawaii Guy" and loved posing with all the characters.


The Girl was a "Hula Girl" and she had no interest in going near
any of the characters.


We started the day with a yummy breakfast at Lucy's Lunchbox.
I loved how they served the kids' breakfast in keep-able containers.
Can we say new Bento container???


After visiting with some bloggy friends - like Kara Noel -
we hit the rides with Jaime and clan.
It was a lot of fun watching the kids having so much fun.
I loved being in the park before the crowds and enjoying everything with no lines!

I even did some some!


What was I thinking???


After that ride I was a little woozy for an hour or so :)

The Girl was all smiles starting Woodstock's Airmail,
but her feelings at the end were another story.
Hee, hee


The kids even got to do some trick or treating!


The Boys - big and little - did some of the Big Rides!
Ghost Rider, Montezooma's Revenge and Sierra Sidewinder to name a few.
The Boy was crazy excited to conquer the Big Rides.


The Girls kicked it together and had some fun of their own.


The Dentzel Carousel is a classic!
(see the picture of me above)


Why is my girl so crazy?!




We had a fantastic time at Knott's Berry Farm.
The staff was awesome, the rides were fun,
and there was something for each of us to do.

And we even got to pretend we were hot dogs.
Awesome.



I also loved the jail . . . so did the boys.
They were in awe that the guy in jail knew their names.
True confessions . . . so was I!!! LOL




Thank you Knott's and Camp Spooky for having us!
Bye!
We look forward to coming back!

Disclosure: We were invited to Knott's Berry Farm by GigaSavvy to attend the VIP Camp Spooky Event. I attended because I was wanted to create fun memories with my family. I received parking, breakfast and park admission for free. I blogged about it because I wanted to and not because Snoopy & the Gang told me I had to. All the thoughts & opinions are mine.

Easter Festivities

It was so fun to almost all my siblings and their kids together for Easter.
On Saturday - despite the gloomy, freezing weather - we dyed eggs outside
and had a fun egg hunt put on by Aunt Kenna.

















It was freezing, but we didn't want the kids in good clothes
in case of an egg dyeing mishap :)


Sunday we had church bright and early at 9am.
The kids were all in their Easter best.


Along with our fabulous Easter dinner - which I forgot to take a picture of -
I made Resurrection Rolls with the kids.
They are kind of a visual/object lesson of the Resurrection and empty tomb.


They worked perfectly and everyone loved them.
I did have visions of a baking disaster and
the kids 10 years from now recalling their crazy Aunt
trying to equate Easter with charred marshmallows.


Next time, we need to make a few more dozen :)

Silver Lining

The best thing about the past week?

Bringing all these fab peeps together to celebrate a wonderful man.

To prove . . .

that I was there too :)

Why, Yes I Do!

My friend Jaime asked me today-

Do you have grandparents?
And I said -
Why, yes I do. And they are quite fantastic.
I just posted about them back in May.

So, I came to the blog and tried to find the post.
Um, I never posted the conclusion to our Utah trip back in May!

One of the reasons we went to Utah
was to see my two baby brothers - who happen to be twins -graduate from Utah State.
We decided to pop up to Idaho first and visit my mom's parents.

We had a fabulous time.
We played with the toys I played with when I was a kid.
We had lunch at Craigo's.
We had lovely conversation.
My Grandparents are awesome.

The next day we headed to Logan for graduation.
My awesome Aunt C offered to keep The Boy during graduation.
It was a blessing!
It was long!
Especially the 2nd ceremony -
the dean lady was on crack.

Ceremony #1 was uneventful and quite quick.
Here's my little/big brother's proud wifey.

The Girl was hopped up on fruit snacks.

The is how Uncle Tea felt about the whole thing.

Holla!
Now only 5 more years of grad school :)This is my cute Nana giving my little sister a big hug.
She's always given great - strong hugs.

After an hour break Uncle Tea was up.

His proud wifey and baby.

This is how Will and The Girl spent the 2nd ceremony.
And I was SO glad The Boy stayed with my Aunt C.

My mom and I made them candy leis.
It was fun.
But don't Google for instructions like we did.
Just use common sense.
Or else you get videos like this that go on
to infinity telling you things you already know
and don't zoom out so you can see the entire project.

Happy Family!
Now onto 10 more years of med school!
Woot!

After the ceremonies we gathered at a park for a little shindig.
My Aunt got this cutie cake.
Love the tiny grad cap.

This is The Boy's new BFF - my cousin K.
Srsly.
My family has an obsession with the "k" sound for girls.
I start with a K, my sister is a C, and my baby sister is McK that we shorten to K.
My cousins are K and C.
I remember once when we were all together with my Aunt M
and she couldn't get the right name out for the life of her.
So she just shouted - Who ever you are, get over here!
It was awesome.

My Dad - grilling up the burgers - his specialty.

My dad's dad.
He's the quiet joker.

My dad's parents - the Disneyland lovers.
Come visit us :)

The Boy with his BFF.
The Girl - refusing to take any pictures.
She has done quite the 180 over the past few months.

My mom's sister - the fantastic Aunt C.

My mom and dad.

Have some cake graduate - you deserve it.