Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day!

My little sister came for the weekend and helped the kids make

a Mothers Day Movie. 

Wilson was a little confused when I was crying.

They were definitely happy tears.

Grateful for all the women in my life!!

And for the little people in my life. :)

Great Mother's Day Read Here. 

My Big Sis Rocks!

Liz added her MBA from BYU to her repertoire of degrees at the end of April and we were so excited to celebrate with her!

It was a gorgeous day and we had to have a fun photo shoot of such a great day!

 Love these people!

  It was so fun to have them all in town and put them up at the "Thomas Hotel" :)

 I added this pic because you can see that 16wk baby bump that I feel like popped out SO fast!  Seriously the baby is like the size of an avocado but it looks like the size of a watermelon already!

 Oh Aunty Liz, how we miss you living close to us!!

 Love the look on Zina's face in this one. :)

My boys!

We had a delicious dinner back at our house after with pot roast and garden veggies, spinach orzo salad, fruit platter, corn souffle, and it's been long enough that I can't remember what else but it was delicious!!

Congratulations Liz! We love you!

Washington Stop

After some of Lauri's delicious spaghetti and meatballs we hit the road again for Seattle area.  We were so excited to see our old BYUI buddies!

 We spent our first night at Brian and Britni's where Mark diagnosed Brian as "sick."  Which in turn caused him to have to miss work the next day and play with us instead.  It sure is convenient to be married to an "almost" doctor. :)

It was a pretty chilly day but we took the kids on the ferry to Whidby Island....and we didn't even get off.  Yep, rode it there and then rode it back. :) The kids loved it!

We stopped for fish and chips after and then went to a nearby park/beach.

Wilson and Tesila swinging together.

Love this sweet, sensitive boy!

There were train tracks that ran right by the park. Sammy was in HEAVEN!

The Thomas & Hansen kids!

Dalia, Rockwell, Tesila, Zina, Wilson & Sam

After a quick jaunt to Fred Meyer (we felt as if we'd walked right back into the Fred Meyer in Soldotna AK!) we head over to Mat & Bri's for some oh-so-good mexican food and some reunionizing. (yep I just made that word up)

At the top Eric&Amy and on the couch Mark&Becca, Brian& Britni, Mat&Bri.

Mark lived with these guys at good old bunkhouse while we were dating and it was really fun to see everyone again.  When I think of my memories with these people in Rexburg it just makes me laugh...out loud.  Some of funnest craziest people e.v.e.r.

and yes I know "funnest" is not a word. (sorry Liz)

And we may have multiplied just a bit since college days.  

At the top - Zina & Tesila

On the couch - Carly, Parker (Eric&Amy's), Wilson, Olivia(Mat&Bri's), Dalia, Rockwell, and Hudson(Mat and Bri's.

And of course my sweet Sammy on the floor. :)

These people still know how to party.  I fell asleep putting my kids to bed but Mark stayed up until 2am with Bri, Britni, and Brian playing games.  Thanks for the great time you guys!

And then we hit the road.....again.

We spent the night in Boise and made it home Thursday night just a couple hrs before my family pulled up for Liz's graduation the next day!

Vancouver 2012

After we had our fill of Grandpa's straw bales and Grandma's home cooking we headed on down the road for our annual Vancouver trip!

What a beautiful drive!! I did it last year with my mom and sister-in-law in July but doing it in April was breathtaking the mountains were still covered in snow but the valleys were showing signs of spring. Swans swimming on half frozen lakes and green buds starting to sprout in mountain glades. At the tops of the mountains we were driving through snow banks still higher than our van. We did get stopped for 3hrs from a rock slide that was more like the mountain falling down over the road but the sun was shining, we were packed with food, blankets and toys and happily waited for it to open. We spent the night in Revelstoke BC and the next day made it to Vancouver in time for dinner. We were so happy to see our cousins and aunts and uncles that we only get to see once a yr. (and probably longer as soon as we move :(

 3hrs worth of backed up traffic.  We were the 3rd in line.

Heading into the mountains toward Banff.  Mark really wanted to stop for the night in Banff and really regretted that we didn't when we got stopped from the rock slide. 

What good little travelers I have!!

(Thank goodness because we are about to make our biggest trek ever! 

Utah to AZ for graduation then AZ to Michigan!

(but that's a whole other post!)

 We stayed at Matt & Michelle's and although the 1st night Sammy was terrified of Brigham

he soon came to love him (as much as two 2yr olds can love each other anyways)

 Michelle & Brigham took us to the Vancouver Aquarium which my kids loved.

 Especially the dolphins and Beluga whales.

After lunch at Stanley park we met up with the other Van-Keeler's at one of our favorite spots for dinner- Barnett Beach.

 Zina remembered Barnett beach from last year and begged to go back.

She loves loves loves searching for crabs, sea shells, and starfish.

 And we found plenty of all of them!

We celebrated Camden's 5th birthday at Burnaby train park.

 Uncle Todd pushed the kids SUPER high on the tire swing.

 They loved it!

And everyone loved the train ride!

Not the greatest picture but from the left: Zina , Jacob, Liam, Wilson, Camden, Sam(in Mark's arms) Brigham and Uncle Todd.

 We love our cousins! And spring blossoms!

 Liam, Wilson, & Camden!

 Happy Angry bird birthday Camden!!

 The pinata was a hit.

 and the pinata (or Uncle Todd!)  may have gotten the better of a few of the kids....at least they were his kids. :)

We had a fantastic time in Vancouver.  Michelle and Lauri fed us delicious food, and Uncle Matt and Uncle Todd even took time out of their busy schedules (um like finals week - we have great timing!) to play.  Our last day we spent hunting through Mundy Park (another of my favorite places) and playing at the Coquitlam Rec center wave pool and water slide.  The kids LOVED it.  Especially Wilson who for the first time was tall enough to go on the waterslide.  He probably measured his height like 20x and  then raced up the stairs to go again.  He was SO proud! :)