April in UT: Family, General Conference, and the Stomach Flu

When Rob and I were going to BYU, we loved going down to the Conference Center in SLC twice a year to participate in our church's semi-annual General Conference.  It's such a neat feeling to be a part of the crowds of people coming together to receive instruction and inspiration. And the music! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is just so awesome to listen to in person that the chest-reverberating, goose bump-inducing music is worth the trip alone.  But since we've moved away we've had to be satisfied with watching Conference on the TV/Internet.

Rob and I have been talking about how much we wanted to actually BE there again, and decided we'd better go in April when we'd only have to buy 2 plane tickets instead of 4.  Then we found out that Rob's Dad was going to give one of the talks during the Conference and that ALL of Rob's siblings were going to be there too!   Great, great timing.

Some of the boys

The trip was fast, but in addition to going to watch General Conference, we managed to squeeze in some GREAT grandparent/cousin time, lots of game-playing, a bridal shower for my new sister-in-law Megan, and lunch with some old friends.  Oh, and we did all this while poor Savannah was super sick with the stomach flu. 

After Papa Stan's talk

While it wasn't the most relaxing 4 days I've ever had, we were so glad to be able to see all of our family and support Stan during his talk.  He did a great job.  Even though I felt like I wanted to sleep for about a week when we got home, there's something really special about being with the people you love most and feeling like you are growing closer to God.  I'd do it again in a heart beat! 

Easter in Austin

This year we showed Joy we weren't kidding around when we threatened to come back to Austin for every Easter from now on...

 We packed these two little cheese-balls up in the car, along with their Easter finery and all of the associated holiday paraphernalia, and headed out to Austin for the long weekend. 

We tried to get a few of the traditional Texas Bluebonnet pictures on the way, but Savannah was freaked out by all of the traffic rushing by, and Lily didn't really get why we wanted her to sit down in a bunch of scratchy grass...  Maybe we'll have better luck next year. 

This was seriously the best shot we got...

Once we got to Austin, the Park clan had such a great weekend planned that it was over before we knew it!

Highlights:

• Going to a very exciting Austin Torro's (SA Spurs' feeder team) game and feeling like Somebody Important b/c of our awesome seats.  

Best Day EVERRRR!

• Watching Savannah and Lily figure out that there was CANDY in these plastic eggs!  And then having them ask me for "eggs" every few hours for the next two weeks...meaning, "Mom, would you please hook us up with some more of that delicious CANDY??" 

Must. Get. More. EGGS!

•  Watching the Park kids collect MOUNTAINS (literally) of eggs....and then watching Darrell tease his sons by pretending to steal their favorite candies out of their gigantic pile. 

Mauri would only pick up pink eggs this year...

• This should really go first, but we had a lot of fun helping Joy stuff hundreds of eggs while watching "Forget Paris."  It just kept getting funnier as the night got later and later...

Nolan's basket was overflowing, so he had to resort to other measures to hold more eggs.

Easter Sunday included a beautiful church service, a delicious dinner, and my favorite game to play with the Parks, "Don't Eat Pete!"

Easter Dresses from Grandma Laura

We, as is totally normal when we go to Austin, had a GREAT time.  I am seriously in awe of Joy and Darrell and their awesome family.  Somehow everything always runs smoothly, even with the addition of Rob, me, and 2 little munchkins thrown into the mix. 

Easter Dinner

I know that eventually, I will probably have to host the holiday at our house, but I'm pretty sure I will never be able to top The Park Family Easter....so we'll just keep inviting ourselves to Austin until Joy eventually puts her foot down.  ;)   Thank you, Darrell, Joy, and crew for the great weekend!

Pretty Woman, walking down the driveway!

Olde Oaks Boys Version 3.0

The third annual Olde Oaks Boys reunion happened during March.

This year's crew: Rob, Ben, Gavin, Grant, Andrew (aka Thor) , Autrey, Jeremy, Taylor

I'm starting to realize why, every time my parents saw some of their old college buddies, they insisted they didn't feel like any time had passed....when CLEARLY (from my perspective), they were a bit delusional reliving the glory days.

I feel like hardly any time has passed since we were all in college together...7+ years and 10+ kids later.  Someday Savannah and Lily will want to give me a good dose of reality!

The Group

People started rolling in on Friday night, but the weekend didn't really get started until Saturday.  It was a full day.  The morning started with cinnamon rolls, and then was mostly spent enjoying the beautiful spring weather in the backyard with volleyball, a kiddie pool, and some golf in Rob's personal driving range.

Lounging

In the afternoon we had hot dogs/hamburgers for lunch, followed by a birthday celebration for Andrew and Brant.

I was SO HAPPY for an excuse to buy Costco's Great American Chocolate Cake.  So, so good.

And an Olde Oaks Boys reunion wouldn't be complete without at least a few taste tests.  This year was:

• French Fries: Sonic vs Whataburger vs Jack-in-the-Box vs Burger King vs McDonalds.  Winner: McDonalds.  Runner-up: Burger King/Jack-in-the-Box
• Diet vs Regular Soda; could you really tell the difference?  Verdict: Yes.  But some people just have a fondness for a chemical aftertaste, so they remained loyal to their diet sodas.  
•  Cereal: Name brand vs Generic.  Verdict: Generic cereals were sweeter and crunchier.  We could tell a difference but the group was split with which they preferred. 

A table full of french fries

And to finish the day off, we put the kids to bed, picked up a babysitter, and went out for some frozen yogurt and a killer game of Laser Tag.  I don't remember who the winner was, but I do know that Shilo has vowed to practice so that next year "EasyTarget" will NOT be such an easy target!  :) 

It really was a pretty exhausting day. 

Sunday, most of the crew was gone, but the Goggins' and Jones' came to church with us before heading home. 

Practically Cousins: Savannah, Sloan, Adele, Lily

And just because it blows my mind that this was life just 1 year ago:

And Adele was just an itty, bitty baby, so she was probably sleeping during this picture. 

I'm pretty sure we all spent at least a week getting caught up on sleep, but it was SO WORTH IT!  We're so glad everyone made the effort to come, and every time we do this I keep thinking, "Why don't we all see each other more often??"  Can't wait until next year!

And a big thank you for Diane and Amanda for loaning us your kids' sunglasses to keep our girls quiet during church!

Cool as a cucumber

How YOU doin'?

February Hot Chocolate Race Report

This post actually belongs in February....so it's about time to get it on the blog.

Way back in October, my sister-in-law in Dallas, Laura, asked a few of us other sisters-in-law if we wanted to come up and do this Hot Chocolate Run with her, happening at the beginning of February.

Since I'm always up for chocolate and some cool race swag, I agreed. Joy, my Austin sister-in-law, also signed up.  We were going to do the 15k, and Laura (who would be about 7 months pregnant in Feb) was going to do the 5k.

Alia, Christa, Joy, and a giant mug of Hot Chocolate

Then, just a few weeks before the race, my oldest/bestest friend Alia-in-Tucson told me that she was coming to the race also!  I was pumped--purposely ignoring the fact that I'd done hardly any training at all in the last few months. 

The morning of the race dawned perfectly cool and overcast.  Joy, Laura, and I managed to do some tricky, back-road maneuvering to miss most of the crazy traffic and get Laura to her start on time.  We managed to find Alia (due to a small miracle) before the race, snapped a few pictures and got ready to go. 

Alia, who had been doing a LOT of training for this race, was going to run ahead and try for a new PR.  I was going to stick with Joy and hope she could distract me enough to make it through 9.3ish miles. 

Posing with our post-race "hot chocolate" bowl: some melted chocolate w/ various dippers, and a cup of hot cocoa. 

Unfortunately, and totally unfairly, Alia ended up not being able to finish her race b/c of a back injury, while I cruised through, having a blast asking Joy stupid questions like if she HAD to get a tattoo, what would it be and where?  (Answer: "Tattoos are stupid and I would never get one.")

Joy eating her hard-earned chocolate dipped banana

Post race I paid for my lack of training with some SERIOUS soreness that had me wondering if it would be better to just amputate my legs above the knees.  But all told, I had a great weekend in Dallas.  I just wish Alia had been able to finish her race! 

Sharing with my bowl with Lily to thank her for coming and waiting for us in the cold, windy weather

The Rodeo, round 2

March seriously FLEW by here in the Ellis household. And April is set to be even busier. So here is some catch-up!

Last year was my first experience with the Houston Rodeo. And anybody who knows me knows that the most important part of an event like this is...the food. Definitely.

Last year we didn't go in with a very organized plan, not really knowing what to expect, so we used up some valuable tummy space on a few less-than-amazing eats (e.g. a giant turkey leg).

Next year I'll come up with a more flattering corn dog eating pose...

This year I had a plan. We were driving down to meet up with some of Rob's old co-workers and boss, so we weren't going to have too much time to wander. My check-list was 2 items long: a GIANT, most-delicous-corndog-ever; and deep-fried-cookie-dough-that-tastes-like-you-died-and-went-to-heaven. 

My mostly devoured deep-fried cookie dough, and Rob's deep-fried Reeses

 We came, we ate, we conquered. And, as we sat and watched the rodeo munching on some kettle corn for dessert, I was one happy lady.

As a side note: I don't have a picture of the mutton bustin' event, but Rob and I are already thinking about buying a sheep so Savannah and Lily can start training.   Man, I can't WAIT until they're 5! 

Playing in Puddles

Yesterday, after many, many hours of rain, the sun came out. And with the sun came two little girls just discovering the wonderful world of puddles!

Life in Snapshots

The UPS guy is really familiar with our house--I'm an Amazon Prime superstar.

Um....Hi, Mom. 

This time my diaper box held two grinning surprises!

We're in a BOX!

These are from early December, when the leaves were still falling in Houston.  

My Girls

I LOVE that we could be outside playing in the leaves, without coats on, in DECEMBER.  Awesome. 

Running around the driveway is super-fun.

Always ready with a smile!

Nothin' to see here...just breaking into the neighbor's back yard...

Almost every day we spend an hour or two (at least) outside the house, playing in the gravel, getting dirty, and soaking in the new sights and sounds. 

Exploring is always better with a buddy. 

Focused. 

This is another afternoon playing in the driveway. 

Ready for my close-up, Mom. 

Mom, don't bug us.  I'm on a very important call. 

And the mullets were finally getting out of control, so Mitzi helped with our very first haircuts! 

Haircut secret weapon: The Backyardigans playing on the iPad.