Lake Tahoe/Mothers Day Weekend

 While Jason was out of town the last few months, he accumulated a free night at any Best Western hotel.  We decided to make a weekend out of it and go to South Lake Tahoe.  The grandparents each took a night with the kids, so our kids had a wonderful weekend also.  Friday night my dad took Ollie to see 'The Pirates! Band of Misfits' movie and bought him popcorn and a Slurpee (which he wasn't a fan of) and then took him to McDonalds.  He was a happy kid.  The next day they went over to grandma Miller's house where they played in the kiddie pool and rode the four wheeler.  Life could not be better for those two, in fact there was quite a show of weeping, whaling, and gnashing of teeth when we brought them home (which may have partially been caused by late bedtimes all weekend).  Jason and I had a great time.  We didn't do anything extravagant, but it was just nice to be together.

We left Friday evening around 5:30.  On our way to Tahoe we stopped at a delicious BBQ place in Placerville where Jason had a Groupon credit.  We didn't get a picture that night but we did stop on our way home and take a picture.  If you are ever in the area try Hog Wild BBQ, it was SO good.  By the time we got to Tahoe it was about 8:30.  We went straight to our hotel and spent the evening watching 'Storage Wars'. We don't get cable at home, so it is a treat to watch different channels.

Saturday we got up, ate breakfast at our hotel and headed to the Tahoe Flea Market.  I saw it on the way in the day before and had to go.  Here I am with my finds, a mini cupcake pan and a book for the boys, all for $4.

After the flea market we headed to Emerald Bay.  Our friend Brittany grew up in SLT and said a boat tour to Emerald bay is a must.  We didn't take a boat tour, but we did drive up to enjoy the view and walk around.

 Jason contemplating the meaning of life while enjoying the view.

Brittany also told us that they get ice cream at Camp Richardson every year when they camp.  Unfortunately for us it was still closed :(  We decided to plan a camping trip to Camp Richardson when we are back from ND.

That afternoon we walked around the the Shops at Heavenly.  Heavenly is a beautiful ski resort in Tahoe, it reminds me of The Canyons in Park City.  The lift comes right through the shopping area into the hotel.  We had lunch there, checked out all the shops and then saw 'The Avengers', which was awesome.  I loved it.  After that we did a little more shopping and we both were really craving Thai food so we hit up a Thai restaurant we saw when we came into town.  It was delicious.

 Sunday we got up and went to sacrament meeting then walked along the beach. Our hotel was not the nicest we have ever stayed at, but this was our view of the lake from our room, that part was nice.  

 The drive to Tahoe from our house is so beautiful.  On the way home we stopped and took a picture of the Foresthill bridge.  It is the tallest bridge in California and has been in a number of movies.  It is about 10 minutes from our house.

 We came home for a little bit and then headed to my aunts house to celebrate Mother's day with our family.  It was such a nice evening.  Jason's parents joined us and brought the kids over.  We ate, visited and played volleyball. 

The players

The spectators

 This is usually where I find Jason while we are at the McIntosh's, picking uncle Scotts brain on house construction.  

I just wanted to throw this picture in.  Last week my cousin Sam went through the temple and this is everyone who could make it that day.  He leaves for the MTC this week and is going to serve in the Philippines.  We are so excited for him.

It was a wonderful weekend.  I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who takes me to do fun things and who is just fun to hang out with.  I am also grateful for such great parents who take good care of our kids so we can enjoy some alone time.  

Lehrfelds Come To Town

Our friends the Lehrfelds came up from the bay area for a visit this weekend and we had a great time with them.  When we first moved to Campbell, Carlie was my very first friend. She came and visited me when I was 8 1/2 months pregnant, counting down the days until Ollie was born.  She has been a great friend ever since.  She watched Ollie while I worked when he was really little, until just before Max was born.  Jason and Ben served in the EQ presidency together and share many of the same hobbies.  We love the Lehrfelds and are so happy they came to visit.

They got here late Friday night.  Saturday morning Jason coerced Ben into helping him move a bee yard.  While they were gone, me, Carlie, and the kids hit up a couple of yard sales.  We went on a walk and played at our favorite park. After lunch and naps, we headed over to Jason's parents to say hi to Jan and show Carlie and Evie the bees.  From there we were off to John's Incredible Pizza where we spend the evening eating and playing lots of arcade games.  After the kids were in bed we played 'Rate Your Mate' (thanks Paul and Amy).  It was a good day.

Lily and Max on our walk.

Jason continued to utilized his time with Ben.  Here they are cutting holes in our bedroom ceiling.  Jason is kind of anal about cleanliness so Ben is assisting with the vacuum to avoid a mess :)   Now we have speakers in our bedroom, all part of Jason's whole house sound project.

Ollie and Evie at John's Pizza.

"We had fun!"

Lily didn't want to go to bed Saturday night so she hung out with us until she absolutely couldn't stay awake.  Here she is crashed out on Carlie.  She loves her momma.

Jason and I went outside last night and checked out the "super moon".  We agreed that it looked a little bigger and quite a bit brighter.  Then I woke up at 4 in the morning and the moon was shining so bright through our window I had to take a picture.  It doesn't fully capture it, but trust me, it was bright.

Sunday we walked around downtown Newcastle where they were having a old car show.  It was a beautiful day to get out and walk around.

Ollie and Evie found a nice shady spot for a snack.

The railroad tracks go right through downtown so when a train came by we rushed over.  The kids loved watching it so close up (although Ollie obviously thought it was a little loud).

When we got home we prepared lunch.  We bbq'd hamburgers and hot dogs (fancy I know).  We christened our deck and ate outside.

I made a chocolate cake.  Max was more than happy to lick the spatula for me, but not so happy when I took it away.

Just so you know, if you have any kind of trade or skill and come to visit us, Jason will take advantage of it.  I keep telling him people are going to stop coming if he keeps putting them to work on house projects with him.  Luckily Jason has good friends who put up with his non stop questions.

The kids really put our little play structure to good use.  It was so fun watching Ollie and Evie play.  I swear when we were home, we hardly saw them.  They kept each other pretty entertained and got along 90% of the time :)

This was a really cute little moment, until Ollie started squeezing a little too tight.

The best we could get of all the kids.

Max helping Jason wire the speaker controls.  

Thank you for making the drive up here to visit us!  We miss you guys and can't wait to come down and visit when we get back from ND.  

I was thinking about it today and Evie is going to be one of those friends that Ollie has known his entire life.  I love that.  So I went back and found some pictures of Ollie and Evie through the years.  So precious.

Ollie playing in Evie's playhouse.

Camping at Yosemite.

Ollie wearing Evie's pants.

At a birthday party.

Watching a movie.

This weekend playing on the iPad.

This and That

As I mentioned before, our friends Paul, Amy, and Clara came to visit us last weekend.  We always have so much fun with the Nash family and we miss them so much!  While they were here they went in the bees, we visited the Sacramento temple, went to the Folsom zoo, ate at our new favorite pizza place and played games.  It was so fun.  Here are some pictures I stole from Paul and Amy.

This is my favorite.  So sweet, father and son.

I finished decorating my big, huge empty wall.  I am pleased with it.  I really suck at decorating and so I am just relieved to have it done.  I may make a few tweaks here and there but for the most part I like it.

We found a place in downtown Newcastle that we like to take the kids to for their haircuts.  This was Max's first haircut done by someone other than me.  I just had her trim around his neck and ears because I love his long hair.

 Jason found out that there is a model airplane club in Auburn and they meet on Thursday mornings.  So one morning before preschool I took the boys to watch.  They loved it and one guy even brought his plane over and showed us how it all works. 

I never get a picture of all of us. 

 That same day, my little sister Letty got back from BYU-Jerusalem so Max and I (Ollie was at preschool) headed to the airport with my mom to greet her.  I even edited Max's shirt to make it more appropriate.  We missed Letty and are so happy to have her home.

If you follow me on Instagram you have already seen all these pics, my apologies.  On Saturday Jason and I went on a hike put on by the Placer Land Trust.  It was fun to enjoy the beautiful day and scenery.

 That night, since my dad was out of town, I was my moms date to see Oklahoma with their empty nester FHE group.  I love Oklahoma so it was really fun.

 One thing I love about having a house is that we can host big groups for dinner.  Sunday night we had my family (plus Jason's dad) over for dinner.  Afterwards we went on a nice walk around the neighborhood.  It was such a nice evening.

 **I just wanted to mention that my friend Kelly asked me to guest post on her and her friend Caroline's cooking blog twolittlechefs.blogspot.com and it is up today.  Check it out, try the recipe and let me know how you like it.  They have tons of delicious recipes, I have followed them for a while now and salivate over every recipe they post.