The Crouch Family

Greg London show

2011-07-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

Derek and I went with Claudia and Ira to see Greg London. He is an impressionist that has a show at the Hilton. He had a great show and has a great voice.

After the show there was this cute little dog that was taking pictures so we snapped one.

I made Derek take a picture in the men's bathroom after he told me about all the pictures they had hanging up over the urinals. There were girls with tape measures, magnifying glasses etc.. I thought it was funny.

4th of July

2011-07-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

On the 4th of July, we had a delicious bbq with Ira and Claudia and then headed out to Boulder City to see the fireworks. It was a great show. It had that small town feel that I miss so much about Elko on holidays. The kids played with their sparklers. It was a great night.

I can't wait to get a job and get my good camera fixed. For some reason these turned out blurry.

Recycled Percussion

2011-07-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

We have been using our house seats membership to see some shows on the strip. Jerrod has been wanting to see Recycled Percussion. They were finalists on America's got Talent. They drum on garbage cans, ladders, etc..... Every audience member was given drum sticks and a pot, pan or some other random object to play during certain spots in the show. It was really fun.

Jerrod with his pot "instrument". Mine was a tea kettle.

Jerrod with the group

White Coat Ceremony

2011-07-09T10:18:00.001-07:00

Derek had his white coat ceremony at Valley Hospital. He now gets to wear a "real" white coat that is long because he is a REAL Doctor!! Pretty cool!

Derek with his program director, Dr. Milne

The Circus

2011-07-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

One of our nice neighbors brought us some free tickets to Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey circus so we took the kids. It was fun for Ava to see what a real circus was after her program she had done at school. In one of the songs in her program at school they talk about how the elephants hold hands by holding tails and when she saw the real elephants do it, it finally clicked what it meant and she thought it was hilarious.

Fishing

2011-07-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

The girls have been begging to go fishing for the longest time so when I found out it was free fishing day I gave Derek those puppy dog eyes and talked him into taking us. We stayed close and went to Sunset park. We didn't catch anything but I think this satisfied their curiosity about it and now we can say that we did it.

Awards Ceremonies

2011-07-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Allison and Emma had their awards ceremony at school. Emma received a certificate for A/B honor roll.

Allison also got A/B honor roll and an award for attendance and science

5th grade barbeque

2011-07-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

Schorr had a bbq for all the 5th graders so they could sign yearbooks and hang out one last time together.

Allison and her friends

Every 5th grader gets to design a tile that they put up in the courtyard. This is Allison's design that will forever be there :)

Since we took a pic of Allison's I snapped a picture of Jerrod's that he did when he was in 5th grade. This must have been right after we met Criss Angel :)

Field Day

2011-07-09T09:34:00.001-07:00

Derek and I went and watched the girls participate in field day. It was so fun! We started out with the kindergarten.

They played a parachute game and tried to bounce objects in the middle.

Next, was the big foot relay

Next was what Ava called the "hopstacle course" They had to climb through the tube, jump through hula hoops and over boards.

Look at that air!

The next activity was the egg carrying relay

The hippity hop ball relay

and.... the ring toss

Afterward, they got some free time to play while Mrs. Dahl took pictures and they had popcicles

Later in the afternoon it was Allison and Emma's turn for field day. We kept going back and forth to try and see both girls do as many activities as we could.

They played duck, duck, goose with a water pitcher with holes in the bottom

Did flour sack races

Derek decided to race Mrs. Oney

They transferred water from a plunger to a big bottle in a relay

Emma getting chosen as goose

Derek got in the game and finally a kid was brave enough to get him but I missed it with the camera

Derek and Allison racing

8th grade awards ceremony

2011-07-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Jerrod received the Presidential Award of Academic Excellence at his 8th grade awards ceremony. To earn it you had to have above a 3.5 gpa over all 3 years of middle school. We are really proud of him!

Camping at Red Rock

2011-07-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

Derek and Jerrod went to Red Rock with the scouts for a campout and a chance to rock climb. They got to climb and repel down a big rock face. Jerrod and the boys did great. Derek got to try too but said it was one of the scariest things he had done. He wasn't a fan.

Dinner time

Jerrod starting his descent

Rusty would have been so excited to chace this lizard!

Some of the leaders: Brother James and Brother Patrick

5th grade kickball game

2011-07-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

Schorr Elementary had it's annual 5th graders vs the teachers kickball game. The 5th graders got beat really bad but they had a good time.

Allison and Cyra

Emma's class got to come and watch

Derek trying to teach the kids the wave. It didn't go so well.

Allison after her defeat walking with one of her teachers Mrs. Dahlen

Jerrod's Ordination

2011-07-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

Right after Derek's graduation we were able to have Jerrod ordained as a Teacher at our home. Since we had to miss church because of the graduation, his quorum and leaders came over after instead. It was so cool to see all of his friends at our house to support him. What a good group of young men!

Jerrod with his Teacher's quorum

Jerrod with Brother Barillas, his awesome scout leader

Brother Taylor and Bishop Williams from the bishopric

A view of the crowd. The Ewells came over to be with us.

Disney Piano Recital

2011-07-08T20:51:00.000-07:00

The girls had their piano recital in June. It was Disney themed so they got to pick a disney song to play. Emma picked Beauty and the Beast and Allison picked Go The Distance from Hercules. They did good!

Their teacher Megan went all out on the treats. She is so talented and creative. She made mickey mouse caramel apples and the cookies as well as tigger tails.

Ava's Kindergarten Program

2011-07-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Ava's Kindergarten class performed their play "Under the Big Top" for all the parents. I cannot even express how much I loved it. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Her teachers Mrs. Dahl and Mrs. Bennett did an amazing job. If you have a few minutes you should definitely watch it below. Ava was one of the clowns in the performance.

After the performance they each received their certificates for completing kindergarten and they all sang the song "Stand by Me". It was a little bittersweet. She is our baby and it is the last kindergarten graduation we will have.

Getting her certificate from Mrs. Dahl and Mr. Wronski, their principal.

Ava and her good friend Sara

Jerrod's Court of Honor

2011-07-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

I forgot to blog about Jerrod's court of honor in March. Jerrod earned his Life rank in Boy Scouts which means he is very close to Eagle. We are so proud of him and thankful for all of the awesome leaders he has had!

Jerrod with his leader Justin Patrick

2011-07-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made it. Derek became Dr. Crouch!! It was a great day. We are so grateful for all the friends and family that came to support us. This has been such a long road but one that has been full of adventure for us.

Derek with our friends John and Terrie Anderson from Elko

Derek's brother Jason flew down and surprised Derek.

Derek's family

Derek and his Uncle Steve and Aunt Kolene

All the Crouch's

All the Wahlstroms

Derek getting hooded

Graduation Bbq

2011-07-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we had a bbq for Derek, Ira, Rob and Jamie. It was a chance for us all to meet each others families. We had a great time. We will miss all of our friends from medical school. Luckily Claudia and Ira get to stay in Vegas this year with us.

Claudia, Liz and Cooper

The graduates: Ira, Jamie, Rob and Derek

Their cake with a picture of them in Philadelphia

The Dam Bridge

2011-07-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we all headed to check out the new bypass bridge they built over Hoover Dam. It was really cool. Here are a few pics.

Uncle Steve and Aunt Kolene rented a mustang convertible for the trip so Jerrod and Allison rode to the dam with them.

Emma and Uncle Jason

View of the dam

Grandma and Grandpa at the dam looking so dam excited.

A view of the bridge from the dam.

Jerrod's 14th Birthday

2011-07-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Jerrod's birthday fell on the weekend of Derek's graduation so we were able to have lots of family in town to celebrate with us. Brad and Aimee's family were there as well as Kiley and Brandon and Uncle Steve and Aunt Kolene. We had a delicious tri tip bbq and played at the park together and then had cake and ice cream.

We gave Jerrod some cash and some X-box points to buy a game he wanted

The next morning Papa and Grandma brought over their gift for Jerrod

Dad's big surprise

2011-07-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

My dad has had this Danny Ainge BYU jersey for a few years and we have been saving it to try and find a time we could get it signed. I decided to take matters into my own hands and researched and found an address I could send it to. I sent it off along with a letter and picture of my dad and was so thrilled when I received it back all signed. I surprised my dad with it when they came down for graduation. He was so excited!

Cinco de Mayo

2011-07-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

Our ward had a picnic for Cinco de Mayo. The kids had a ton of fun playing in the water and breaking the pinata.

Dr. Crouch visits Emma's class

2011-07-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Emma's class at school was doing a unit all about their bodies so who better to come talk to them then Dr. Crouch! He did a question and answer session with them. It was so good. A couple days later we went to the school to help make copies and all the kids were so excited to see him.

Trip to Elko

2011-07-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

While we were in Elko we got to do lots of fun things. The boys shot the bb gun at targets.

Ava hanging out with Papa

Before we left we got to go have breakfast with Nana

Then we went to say goodbye to everyone at their work. First stop was Albertsons to see Grandpa Wahlstrom. The kids went up to the office to get him so we snapped their picture from down below.

We went to see Grandma's office at the College

We got to visit Grandma Crouch's class room and see Papa working at the school too.

Then we headed to the fire station to see Uncle Andrew and the kids got to sit in the fire truck.

I somehow didn't take pictures of the kids on grandpa's golf cart or me and Grandma Wahlstrom finishing Emma's quilt I made for her. We always wish we had more time to spend with everyone when we are there!

Ashlyn's Baptism

2011-07-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

We were excited to be able to travel to Elko to see our niece Ashlyn be baptized. They traveled from Washington to make it easier for everyone to attend.

Nana with all of her great grandchildren

Papa and Grandma with all their grandkids

Nana with Andrew, Derek and Jason

The whole family

Ashlyn with Uncle Steve and Aunt Kolene

Pink Pinewood Derby Cars

2011-07-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

We were out of town for the pink pinewood derby but the girls still wanted to make cars and have Sister Thomson race them. They both did pretty good. We went for speed vs. cuteness this year and it paid off.

Emma's is the pink and blue one and Allison's is the black and purple one.

Easter

2011-07-08T12:50:00.001-07:00

This year we had a fun ward Easter egg hunt at the park behind our house. It was the perfect place. Allison helped the little kids hunt while Ava and Emma searched.

The Easter Bunny left the kids lots of goodies and a Wii game to share.

Ava was so excited to take her treats for her class to school. We got bubble gum eggs that were in little cartons. She thought they were cool.

Blue Man Group

2011-07-08T12:45:00.001-07:00

We renewed our House Seats membership so Allison and I headed out for a night on the town to see the Blue Man Group. Our first stop was Coldstone for a treat.

The Venetian had some really cool displays so I made Allison pose for me :)

Emma's 10th Birthday

2011-07-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

Emma turned the big double digits on April 6th. To celebrate she chose to go to Steak n Shake to get a birthday burger. Rob, Liz, Carter and Cooper joined us.

They gave each of the kids a cute little car they could decorate

Of course we had to do escalator rides and Emma had to see if she could beat it by taking the stairs. Then we headed home and finished off the night with presents and cake. She got a Claire's gift card and the Wipeout game for her DS from us as well as many cards from lots of family and friends.

Ava's Student of the week

2011-07-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ava got to be student of the week in her kindergarten class. She got to bring home a special teddy bear named Stevie Star and a suitcase full of clothes to play with. Her assignment was to take Stevie on adventures and journal about them. I should have been better at taking pictures! At the end of the week Derek and I got to be her special guests in her class. It was really cute. All the kids told her what they liked about her. After every compliment she would blush, smile and say thank you. A couple things they said were I like the way you play with me, I like the way you do your hair etc...

The first thing she did with Stevie is take him on a scooter ride at the park. We also took him to Jerrod's football game.

Emma's Field Trip

2011-07-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

I got to chaperone Emma's 4th grade class field trip to a local Albertsons store. They took the kids around to different departments and showed them healthy choices. They gave them samples of turkey wraps, fruits and vegetables, whole wheat bread, soy milk and cereal.

Mrs. Oney's 4th grade class

UNLV band festival

2011-07-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Jerrod's middle school band participated in a festival at UNLV. They did a really good job. It is amazing how much better they get each year.

This area was the sight reading competition. They were given a piece of music they have never seen and had to play it for the judges.

Football

2011-07-08T11:25:00.000-07:00

Jerrod started his first season of football. He plays for the Henderson Cowboys as #10. They had their first games this week.

This picture is blurry but it is the best action shot I got. He is still pretty timid about tackling so at least he made contact.

Visit from the Wahlstroms

2011-07-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

My brother Brad and his family got to come to Vegas for my nephew Chandler's lacrosse tournament. We were all so excited to see them. I got to hang out with them on my birthday! It was the kids first time on the strip so we went to see the Bellagio's botanical gardens. They were all decorated for Chinese New Year.

Megan and Korrin

The kids went swimming at the hotel. It was so cold.

Saturday, we got to hang out again and watch Chandler play in his lacrosse games. The girls had fun at a park at the sports complex.

Valentine's Day

2011-07-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

I always like to find different ideas for cute valentines that the kids can make. This year we decided to do a butterfly. They turned out cute and the girls had a lot of fun making them.

DARE graduation

2011-07-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

Allison graduated from DARE. Officer Rico was her instructor. Since she is student body president she got to present him with a gift. They sang a song at the end that I think I will sing to her often. It says D: I won't do drugs, A: won't have an attitude, R: I will respect myself, E: I will educate me. haha.

State Basketball

2011-07-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of living in Las Vegas is every other year we get the state tournaments for high school sports. This sometimes means a visit from my parents. My dad got to referee one of the state championship basketball games that was played at The Orleans. It's always fun to watch him do his thing. We have just had to learn to ignore all the people in the stands that disagree with his calls :)

Christmas

2011-07-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year. The kids are getting older and more expensive for sure! Jerrod got a hiking backpack for Scout camp and an xbox. Allison got a desk she has been wanting for her room and a camera. Emma got a DVD player and Ava got her DS.

The boys got helicopters from Papa and Grandma Crouch. It's becoming a Christmas tradition.

Allison's 11th Birthday

2011-07-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

Allison had a good birthday. We went ice skating with her friends and then came home for cake and presents.

Atira gave her a cute scarf and some yummy chocolate

She got to open a few presents early when her grandparents were here. She got a sole to skate from Grandpa and Grandma Crouch and a new church outfit from Grandpa and Grandma Wahlstrom

She got an art set from us. She loves to paint and draw.

Ice Skating

2011-07-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

For Allison's birthday she wanted to go ice skating with some friends. Santa Claus was even there at the rink skating with the kids. We had a great time and only came home with a few bruises.

Atira, Kailey and Allison

These little walkers they had were a life saver for Ava

Hot Chocolate time

Firefly

2011-07-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

To celebrate finishing school a group of us went to Firefly to celebrate. It was a really cool restaurant overlooking Fremont Street.

Nursing School Graduation

2011-07-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

In December we had our pinning ceremony for nursing school. It was downtown at the Cashman Center. It is a great feeling to be done with school for now and to have accomplished something that was for myself! I know it will be a huge blessing for our family too. I am excited to work as a nurse!

Both my parents and Derek's parents drove down to celebrate with us.

Derek and the kids got to come on stage and place my pin on me.

Claudia and Ira came to celebrate too!

Kristin and I

I could not have made it through without some great study partners and friends.

Me, Sindney, Liz B and Liz S. We are missing Jen and Kyla!

Christmas Piano Recital

2010-12-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

Jerrod, Allison and Emma had their Christmas Piano recital. All the kids got to come in their pjs and we had donuts and hot chocolate for a treat. They all did a great job. Jerrod played Old King Wenseslas, Allison played What Child Is This? and Emma played the 12 days of Christmas.

Ava Loses her First Tooth

2010-12-30T20:16:00.001-08:00

Ava lost her first tooth. It got so wiggly that she finally let Derek pull it out. I have to admit I got a little teary eyed when she told me she had a loose tooth. It just means she is growing up!!

Finals Week

2010-12-30T20:08:00.001-08:00

I made it through my last semester of nursing school. It has been the funnest, hardest and most rewarding thing I have done for myself. I couldn't have done it without lots of support. This picture was taken on the morning of our last final. These girls are only some of the hopefully lifelong friends I have made along the way and thankfully we all made it through!

Liz B., Kristin, Kyla and Jen.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-30T20:05:00.000-08:00

This year we had a great Thanksgiving. Claudia and Ira were in town so we had them over. We played a game where we went through the alphabet and had to say something we are thankful for for all the different letters. We are so grateful to have made such great friends that have been our family for the past 3 and a half years. I am so sad to think that life will take us in all different directions in the next 6 months.

Watch Dogs

2010-12-30T20:02:00.001-08:00

The girls' elementary school started a new program this year in an attempt to get dads more involved. It is called watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students). Derek had the month of November off so he signed up to help out one day. He got to help in all 3 classes and have lunch with all 3 girls. He even got to sing a solo in music class!

Caramel Apples with the Ewells

2010-12-30T19:58:00.001-08:00

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday and since the kids had scored enough candy at the trunk or treat, we decided to not go trick or treating. We met up at the Ewell's house to make Caramel Apples. They tasted pretty good!!

Amy decided to take advantage of Jerrod's bald head and made him into a pumpkin.

Shark Reef

2010-12-30T19:42:00.001-08:00

Derek took Ava to the Shark Reef the day before Halloween. They have free admission for kids in costume. The girls were all going to go but the older girls were having a little trouble getting along. Ava rubbed it in all day that she got to go by herself.

They had coloring pages and a shadow puppet show for the kids after they went through the reef.

Since we never got pumpkins carved I found a small craft pumpkin at Michaels for Ava to carve last minute.

Trunk or Treat

2010-12-30T19:31:00.001-08:00

Our ward had a trunk or treat this year again. Ava went as a Barbie Mermaid, Emma was a Hippie, Allison was Little Red Riding Hood and Jerrod made quite the commitment for his costume as an old man.

He was a really good sport and let Derek shave his head. The next day we shaved it all off for church and there was a little boy in sacrament meeting who said "Mom, look, Jerrod is bald!!"

The Thomson Family's caterpillar ride is always a huge hit with the kids.

Halloween Parade

2010-12-30T19:25:00.000-08:00

The kids had a Costume parade at the school. It was a lot of fun to see everyone dressed up. I could not get Ava to smile at me once. This was the best face I got. One where she stuck her tongue out at me.

Ava's Kindergarten Class

Harvest Festival

2010-12-30T19:19:00.001-08:00

Schorr Elementary had their annual harvest festival. I was so excited that Derek was able to go with us for the first time since we have moved here. We had yummy BBQ sandwiches, caramel apples and the kids played lots of games. I got a few pics before my camera died.

He's Home!!!

2010-12-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

Derek finally got home from Michigan!! He surprised us and left a couple of days sooner than expected. I decided I wouldn't tell the kids. Our rental is for sale which has been hard. We have had to get ready for the house to be shown at short notice. I decided to tell them that someone needed to come see the house. They were so mad since it was a Sunday. When Derek got here he rang the doorbell and Ava answered the door. She just looked at him and said "Dad!". Then she just started giggling and tears started rolling down her cheeks. She said, "my eyes are watering". We all shed some tears. We missed him so much!! I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. First thing they wanted to do was show him the new trampoline!!

All Hail The Chief!

2010-12-30T19:10:00.001-08:00

Allison decided to run for Student Body President and won! She was so excited and I was really proud of her for having the courage to give speeches in front of the school.

Springs Preserve

2010-12-30T19:05:00.001-08:00

The Springs Preserve had free admission so my friend Kiley and I decided to take the kids for a fun day. It was so HOT! We didn't get to see most of it because we didn't want to be outside. The exhibits were fun. We got to watch a movie on how the Las Vegas Valley was formed, learn about animals indigenous to our valley and learn about flash floods.

September 11

2010-12-30T18:57:00.001-08:00

To honor our veterans, our ward put together a service project on September 11th. We met at 5:30 AM to help clean the grounds around the veteran's cemetery in Boulder City before all the visitors came. We raked up pine needles and picked up countless pinecones. I was so proud of how hard the kids worked!

Camp Rock 2 Party

2010-12-30T18:54:00.001-08:00

The girls invited tons of friends to watch Camp Rock 2 at our house. Jerrod spent the night at a friend's house to avoid the craziness. We had fun eating Caramel Corn and watching the movie.

Court of Honor

2010-12-30T18:51:00.001-08:00

Jerrod had a court of Honor for Scouts and received 8 merit badges! We are proud of him. He is so lucky to have great leaders!

Back to School

2010-12-30T18:41:00.001-08:00

It's the month I have been waiting for for 5 years!! The day all my kids were in school all day long. haha. This was a big school year for the kids. Ava got to start kindergarten and Jerrod and Allison are big kids on campus. Jerrod is in 8th grade, Allison is in 5th grade and Emma is in 4th grade.

The Friday before school started we went to meet the teachers. This is Mrs. Oney. She did her student teaching in Jerrod's 5th grade class and has taught Allison and Emma 4th grade. She is awesome!! The kids humored me once again before school for pictures. Jerrod was just excited to have a parent out of bed when he left :) (He just leaves so early).

Ava wanted to ride the bus for her first day so I drove them to the bus stop, waited for them to get on the bus and then followed the bus to the school to make sure she got off and got to class ok.

Golfing with Grandpa

2010-12-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

While we were in Elko Grandpa Wahlstrom took Jerrod and his cousins Kirkland and Garrett golfing. It only happens every once in a while. Grandpa has to build up his patience in between trips :) They are getting better though!

Last day in Elko

2010-09-25T10:03:00.001-07:00

On our last day we went to the skate park again so Ava could try out her new scooter. While the boys went to a movie the the girls went to see Charlie St. Cloud. Then my mom and dad took me and my sisters to a basque restaurant called the Star for dinner.

On our way out of town we stopped to see Grandma C.'s grave marker that had just been placed. It is still hard to believe she is gone. We had such a great time on our trip. We missed Derek like crazy but I was so glad we got the opportunity to spend some time with family!

Ava's 5th Birthday

2010-09-25T09:49:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Ava's 5th birthday with all of our family while we were in Elko. She has wanted a Hello Kitty party and a pinata since her last birthday so that's what she got. We were able to Skype Derek in for most of the party so he could be a part of it. He had even sent her a special birthday package. She had a great day.

Hike to Island Lake

2010-09-24T23:37:00.001-07:00

We went up to Lamoille Canyon, and decided to hike up to one of the lakes. It was a 2 mile hike up to the lake and the kids did really well. We didn't get to stay long and enjoy the water but it was fun.

The dogs got hot. They would burrow into any bit of shade they could find.

Ginger got into the water and then went and dried off in the dirt. She was so dirty.

Back to Elko

2010-09-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

We were excited to get back to Elko because my sister Holly and her boys had come to visit. I hadn't seen them in almost 5 years. It was so good to see them and get to know Garrett and Kirkland all over again. Jerrod was in heaven with boys to play video games with! Since there isn't a huge variety of things to do we took the kids to the city pool.

This was Lizzie's first time at the pool and she had a blast. Ava kept coaxing her over to the edge so she could do cannonballs and splash her but Lizzie didn't seem to mind.

We even got to witness Garrett's first date. He went on a date with Kimber who was born on the same day. We grew up with her mom and her and my sister shared a hospital room together after having their babies. We didn't embarass him too bad.

One night we got to go visit our friends Tom and Dawn Olivas. It was so good to see them. They were like surrogate grandparents to Jerrod before we moved away.

Ava and Holly

We also took the kids to the skate park one night.

On the Road Again

2010-09-24T21:50:00.001-07:00

Monday morning we headed home. We stopped to take a picture of the Idaho Falls temple where Grandma and Grandpa Wahlstrom were married. We also stopped in Burley to see my grandma one more time. I wish we lived closer to her. The kids had such a fun time at her house.

After saying goodbye to my grandma I took the kids out to the cemetery to see my grandpa's and my cousin Spencer's gravesite. They died within a week or so of each other and Spencer was my age. I told the kids they could smile but they thought that was weird.

We went to another cemetery in town and saw my other set of grandparent's graves and my Uncle's. It was neat to be able to show them where they are all buried and tell them a little bit about them.

We also got to see the Twin Falls temple.

Reunion Day 3

2010-09-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we all gathered at the main cabin to watch Derek's cousin Alex get his high school diploma and we also read a little bit about Grandma C and got to tell stories about her. Derek's Aunt Cindy typed up Grandma C.'s tape recordings of her history and his Unlce Steve printed them into book.

We all gathered for family photos and afterward we went back to our cabin to find a little visitor who ran underneath the dishwasher.

I decided that I wanted to take the kids to see a little more of Yellowstone so we headed out to see the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and to try and find some animals.

Here are 6 animals I spotted

After we left the grand canyon area we got stuck in a little traffic jam. We were wondering what the hold up was until I looked up the road and saw a huge bison walking toward us.

Thanks to the buffalo jam we were gone a good 5 hours so we stopped to get a little treat on the way back to the cabin.

Everyone was shivering. Nice change from our Vegas heat!

Rafting Trip

2010-09-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

The second day of the reunion we all decided to go River rafting. We had a great time. A shuttle took us up to the starting point and on the way the kids serenaded them with classics such as "My First Kiss", "I Want to be a Billionaire", "Airplanes", etc.... The guys that drove us up were quite impressed I think.

A little ways into our journey, we found a rope swing and let the kids all swing off of it into the river. Uncle Andrew won for best swinging I think.

As soon as we spotted this moose, we all were so excited. It was our first wildlife spotting!

Yellowstone Day 1

2010-08-20T21:42:00.001-07:00

We got to Island Park Friday night, had an ice cream social at the main cabin and then headed down to our family cabin for the night. Steve and Andrew talked Allison and Jerrod into playing a game of Liars Dice. Allison was quite good at it. hmmmm....wonder why :)

The girls all settled in outside with cups of hot cocoa. They thought they were so grown up as they were laughing and talking.

The next morning we decided to go rafting before we headed out to Yellowstone. I'll post about our rafting trip by itself since we have so many pictures. The kids thought it was really cool to ride in the back of Uncle Jason's truck.

This was our family cabin. It was so nice. If anyone wants to buy it, it is for sale. Only $300,000 I think. Not bad.

After rafting we headed into Yellowstone to go see Old Faithful. On the way we saw a herd of elk so we stopped to take some pictures.

Next we headed up to Old Faithful. The kids were freezing and of course we got there about 10 minutes after it had erupted. So we had to kill 90 minutes or so in the lodge.

After it finally erupted we turned around to go back to the lodge and there was the prettiest rainbow. For all you bachelorette fans....it prompted me to tell the story of Chris and his rainbow in Tahiti. Everyone laughed at me :)

Once we got back the kids took a dip in the hot tub at the main cabin and then we headed to our cabin for a movie and some of Aunt Jamey's caramel corn.

Idaho

2010-08-19T21:49:00.001-07:00

Our next stop was Idaho. We were able to stop off and see some family on the way to the Crouch family reunion. Our first stop was Twin Falls. My aunt Susan lives there so we stopped to say hi to her. We drove by the Twin Falls temple. It is very pretty.

Mom and Aunt Susan

Our next stop was in Burley where we went and stayed the night with my Grandma. Once we got there we went over to see my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Kathy. It was so good to see them!

My Uncle Bruce has a dairy farm and Ava's one wish from the trip was to pet a cow so we went to one of Bruce's neighbors house to see some animals. It was like a big petting zoo. There were horses, cows, goats, pigs, peacocks, dogs, cats etc......

Later that afternoon we met some family at the local park. We were so grateful some of them could come meet us.

This is my Uncle Neil giving Jerrod a ride in his sweet car

Uncle Neil and his new wife Karen

This is my cousin Brent, his wife Carrie and my Aunt LeeAnn and Uncle Ken

After the park we went out to my grandma's house. She has the prettiest view so we took a few pictures to remember

My future model :)

The kids playing pool in Grandma's basement. Nice carpet huh?

The kids with Grandma Bowen

The next morning, we went to go see my dad's sister Karen. It was so good to see her. It has been way too long. We had a nice visit with her and then the kids and I headed toward Yellowstone for the reunion while Jenny and my mom headed home.

On the way to Island park, we stopped to see the Rexburg temple.

Elko part 2

2010-08-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

After we got back from Salt Lake we spent a couple more days in Elko. Uncle Andrew invited us to his house one night to light some fireworks he had gotten and to roast some marshmallows and make smores.

Allison spent a lot of time pulling Kallista and Ava in the wagon

next stop Salt Lake City

2010-08-18T21:54:00.001-07:00

The next leg of our adventure was in Salt Lake City. We rode up with my parents to go to see my brother Brad and his family and to attend a wedding reception for Kasey Yardley, our neighbor we grew up with.

The first stop was of course at Cafe Rio. Grandpa Wahlstrom has to eat there whenever he is near one. Ava must have been starving because she kept eating and eating.

Sorry Dad, you have to quit giving me ammunition!

The wedding reception was in Alpine Utah up by the mountains. The kids were so excited to come tell us that there were deer over by the fence. We had a great time seeing old friends. The food was so good. They barbequed pulled pork and corn on the cob and made dutch oven peach cobbler. Kasey's dad is a good cook!

On Sunday, I decided to take the kids and Jason to temple square. It had been a long time since we had been there so they didn't remember a lot of it. The first thing we did is tour the conference center. We had a great tour guide who told us lots of stories.

This is on the roof of the conference center. The guide said that the goal was to make it feel like you were in the mountains. It was hot so we didn't stay out there long.

This is the front of the conference center
Next we went to the visitor centers on temple square. The kids wanted to see this statue and I wanted to take them to see a new exhibit which is a scale model of the Salt Lake Temple. This model shows exactly what is inside of the temple and shows you how it is all laid out. It was amazing all the detail that went into it right down to the tiny door knobs.

This is the reflective pool in front of the temple. Ava was tired and started to cry and told me she was not leaving til she saw her reflection. Before we left for Salt Lake I had had some issues with my car battery but the car had been running ok. On our way back from temple square we went to leave and the car was very dead. We couldn't even get it to start using jumper cables. Luckily, a mechanic happened to be in the same parking lot we were and his girlfriend had an extra battery in her car she used for her stereo. He turned her battery upside down and touched it to ours and the car started right up. I told everyone it was a miracle in temple square.

After our adventure downtown we headed back to Brad and Aimee's house for a barbeque. After dinner all the girls put on lots of plays for us that were "wildly" entertaining.

Here are all of the cousins that were there including Zeus. We had so much fun seeing everyone!

Monday morning Grandma and Grandpa had dentist appointments and then we headed back downtown. While grandpa shopped, we headed back to temple square to see the temple model again and to go see the Joseph Smith movie. I was so glad we did. It was very powerful. We also went to the observation deck of the Joseph Smith Building.

After the movie we took the Trax train to the mall Grandpa was at. The kids told me I was lame to take pictures but they will thank me someday!

I had to take a picture of this silly tree that is on the way to Salt Lake from Elko. We always called it the basketball tree. The kids were done by this point so I only got a quick one from the car.

Elko part 1

2010-08-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

We decided to go on a big summer trip since we were lonely. Our first stop was Elko. We enjoyed the cooler weather. We got to spend a couple of days with all of the grandparents. Jerrod even got to mow the lawn for the first time. We don't get to do that in Vegas! The dogs were so excited about the cool grass they just kept rolling in it and grazing. Jerrod also got to drive the girls around in Grandpa Wahlstrom's golf cart. He thought he was pretty cool. Grandma kept telling him to slow down. haha.

The big move

2010-08-18T21:33:00.001-07:00

We recently moved to a new house. The owner of our previous home foreclosed on us forcing us out. We were lucky to have a family in our ward who was moving to SLC and were willing to rent to us. It was a long two weeks moving without Derek. The kids were a lot of help to me so I rewarded them with a little gift. I ordered a trampoline for the backyard. They have had a lot of fun with it and I hope no one gets hurt or I will never hear the end of it from a future orthopedic doctor :)

The kids wanted to have a sleepover on the trampoline. It lasted a total of about 5 minutes before they all came in.

Honor Roll Assembly

2010-08-18T21:30:00.001-07:00

Allison and Emma both made the honor roll for their last quarter of the year. We are very proud of them. Keep it up girls!!

4th of July

2010-08-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

For the 4th this year we decided to go out to Lake Las Vegas and watch the fireworks. It is really pretty out there but the fireworks show was pretty short. We were all missing Derek too. On the way home we stopped for some Sonic sundaes. With the economy in bad shape so many businesses and hotels have closed down out at the Lake. It is such a nice place to take the family too and a better alternative than the strip downtown. Once we finally made it home the kids had a lot of fun lighting sparklers.

Visit from the Drapers

2010-08-18T21:18:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to have the Draper family pass through Vegas on their way to California. They are good friends we met in Reno and we miss them. It is fun to see how much our families have changed.

Derek leaves for Michigan

2010-08-18T21:14:00.001-07:00

Derek left on July 1st to head to Michigan for 3 months. It was very hard to say goodbye!! He made his 2000 mile trip in just 2 days. He is trying to find an orthopedic surgery residency that will accept him. We are so proud of him. It takes a lot of courage to go across the country alone and go for something you really want. No matter what happens he has done so well. Who would have thought we would have come this far!!

Enjoying Summer with Friends

2010-08-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

We wanted to make sure and get together with some of our friends before they all went their separate ways for their audition rotations. We met one night at the park for dinner and made smores and then the next day ate leftovers by the pool at Jamie's house. Summer went way too fast especially since we only had a little while to be together!

Ira, Derek and Ava roasting their marshmallows

Ava Learns to Ride a Bike

2010-08-18T21:02:00.001-07:00

Ava finally talked her Dad into taking off her training wheels. She learned how to ride with only two wheels within about 5 minutes. She was so proud!