TAHOE 2011~

WARNING LONG POST!!

This year for the Andersen Family Reunion we hit up TAHOE!!

Most of the family is from Idaho or Utah, so the reunions tend to be in that area. Matt and I have only made one or two of those reunions, but when Family from California plans the reunion we are SURE to go!!
Matt, the kids and I packed up the Assender as much as it could take and headed out. We dropped off some Wakeboarding stuff in Stockton, then hit Sacramento for dinner and to pick up my sister Sharon. We went up a day earlier than the rest of the group. We stayed in Matt's Parents time share for the first two nights. Here Landon is enjoying breakfast on Wednesday morning.

 After breakfast we all got dressed and ready for the day. I realized I forgot to bring my body wash, so we decided we would do a little shopping until the rest of the family arrived...

 Sharon and I are relaxing in the swing at the time share waiting for Matt and the kids who were playing. After some fun shopping we decided to get lunch... Taco Bell was having crunch wraps for .99$ so we decided to hit them up RIGHT away!!

 After Lunch we headed to the hotel that the Reunion was being held at to see who was there and see how great the beach access was. We packed the kids in the stroller, but not before we hit up the grocery store for dessert. ICE CREAM... we walked by the beach enjoying our ice cream just waiting for the crew to arrive. After our stroll everyone got to the Hotel and we checked the place out. We were all on our own for dinner so the Bryan K. Andersen Family hit up Applebee's. We had an EARLY celebration for Matt's Birthday. It was alot of fun, and the food was GREAT!

 And of course we took the opportunity for some FAMILY pictures...

 The GIRLS

(notice Hailey running, she ran circles around us and she thought she was SOOOO funny)

 THE BOYS

(Matt and Preston TYPICAL crazy shot)

We headed back to the Reunion Hotel, did a little swimming, and then went back to the time share.

The next day on Thursday we had a great breakfast then went Crawdad Fishing.

 We drove then hiked to Fallen Leaf Lake and fished off the Dam. When we were younger my family, and my Uncle Brad's family would go crawdad fishing. We LOVED it. We usually just fished in Lake Tahoe, but this was a beautiful little spot I was glad we hit up.

 Landon enjoyed EATING more than he enjoyed the crawdad fishing...

 Here comes the "LATE COMERS" half of the family left a little earlier and got lost. I hear it was a beautiful scenic drive so not so bad. I also hear my brother Preston was leading the way... that explains a lot! Above is my little sister Nicole and her hubby Brian holding their daughter Katelyn. They left baby John John at the hotel with grandma.

 Everyone had a great time. It started to look REAL gloom because NO ONE was having any luck with the crawdad fishing. Then Matt went over to an area that had still water and saw a few crawdads. I think we ended up catching 3 or 4. The plan WAS to cook them for lunch for those who wanted to try them, but I doubt that happened...

 Grandpa and Sharon are showing Hailey the crawdads in the buckets. My kids LOVED just watching the crawdads for the rest of time we were there. Luckily I had brought snacks and bubbles to entertain the kids up until then. After that we went back to the INN BY THE LAKE where the rest of the Reunion was staying for the remainder of our stay. We had a BEAUTIFUL view of Lake Tahoe. The kids LOVED sitting out on the balcony...

After Lunch we headed over to the beach. This was not the original plan, but the weather forecast said it was going to rain the next day when we had the beach day planned so we jumped in the car and went to have fun.

 
 There was VOLLEYBALL for the oldies and building sand castles for the youngerZ...

 Hailey LOVED helping the girls build the sandcastle...

 The boys built one too. Both were VERY nice...

 Landon helped build a little, but mostly ate snacks and interrupted the Volleyball game. He kept running over to Matt, at one point I think Matt played with him in his arms. What a good daddy and what a cute boy!!

 They LOVE playing in the sand!! Can't you tell?? We got back to the hotel late, and had a late dinner at DENNY'S with the family. The kids ate SO well for dinner, WHAT a busy LONG day!!
The next day we had a NEAT SURPRISE planned for my parents... We sent them on a Romantic Scavenger Hunt around the Hotel...
While we set up the scavenger hunt the kids played with the dad's on Uncle Brian's new toy...

 OHHHHH... Cousin LOVE... So anyways... we gave them the first clue and sent them on their way. They got Sexy Hott Glasses, Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, a Sweet Treat, and a Romantic Questions Game. The final destination is below. We set out a blanket and you can't tell but behind them on the table are candles (you can see the candle wax dripping if you look closely) and left them to play the game and enjoy the drink and sweet treat... they were SO surprised and we think they loved it...

 After the Romantic Morning we went to Emerald Bay and took another "LITTLE HIKE"... The drive there was AMAZING. At one point as you were driving out to the bay you were up on a hill surrounded by Lake Tahoe and Emerald Bay to either side of the car. It was BEAUTIFUL, but we "LOST" our camera for this part of the trip so you just have to believe me that it was AMAZING. This is a picture of Emerald Bay I found Online... the picture just does NOT do the place justice!!

 

We were told this hike would be FINE with strollers. Little did we know it was going to be a WORKOUT getting it DOWN the hill to the bay... We rested at the bottom and saw the beautiful waterfall. Just as we were going to head back to be on time for lunch we saw some of my cousins heading back as well... I was DREADING pushing this sucker back up the hill so we offered to "pay my cousins in candy bars" to push the kids back up the hill...
GENIUS!!
Best IDEA EVER!!
It was not hard talking them into this. Three of the older boys took my kids; McKay, Conner, and Kyle... they took turns RUNNING UP THE HILL with the stroller... we kept yelling "CANDY BAR" and they would yell it back at us. They are young and athletic so I was not worried about them at all... a few of my girl cousins took my sisters kids back up the hill... they were behind me most of the way so I am not sure who all helped but Brianne and Hannah started... when we got to the top the boys were just sitting there with the kids like it was no big deal... LOVE THEM! YOU GUYS ROCK!!
So after our "NICE LITTLE HIKE WITH STROLLER ACCESS" we went back to the hotel for lunch...
After Lunch WE were in charge of CRAFTS with the KIDS. In THIS previous post I talked about the glitter tattoos and face paint we did for the kids... Here Hailey is with her MERMAID on her face... she LOVED IT! But we did a few other things too!!

WE also had them make Juggling Balls... Matt was going to show them how to juggle, but I guess it took so long to make them we did not really have any time for that... we also made a Pillowcase for our cousin on his mission, AND we made Homemade Ice Cream too!!

Here I am painting a Tattoo for Preston. His tattoo was VERY intricuite... He is on the Football team at NHS, so he requested one wing (the mascot is a Nighthawk) an "N", a football and his number 64... I had to mix colors and pull out all the stops for this one. But I think it turned out nice!:)

We were BEAT after that... we had dinner, then did a Family Talent Show. I did not get any picture because Landon got sick and we had to leave half way through but Hailey represented the Bird Family and did a little HULA action. It was cute, and my dad represented for the BKA Family by telling jokes and throwing our Sunsweet goodies to the crowd. My dad is the controller at Sunsweet; our family LOVES it because every Christmas and sometimes for birthday we get HOOKED UP!~

The next morning was Saturday and it was also Matt's Birthday. We had breakfast, surprised him with a little piece of cake and a Happy Birthday Chorus then headed home...

The reunion was a BLAST!! We are SO glad we were able to attend. I got to see my cousins I have not seen for a few years and it was truly a

GREAT TIME HAD BY ALL!!!

LOVE LAKE TAHOE and LOVE MY ANDERSEN FAMILY!!!

Happy BIRTH~FATHER'S DAY ~

EVERY YEAR...

EVERY SINGLE STINKIN' YEAR...

My husband's birthday lands within DAYS of Father's Day...

This year he turned 31 on Saturday then Sunday was Father's Day.

I don't think he minds so much, but I sure do.

How do you get amazing presents for BOTH things and not have them mix??

Well I guess fortunately for ME; every stinkin' year we also get

Fresno State Football Season Tickets.

My husband is a TRUE FAN!

He bleeds BULLDOG red... no, really he does!

And this year we bought our tickets with a family in our new ward so I will have a girlfriend to gossip with at the game!! SCORE! SO... I use these tickets as Matt's BIRTHDAY Present...
For his ACTUAL birthday we were on the Andersen Family Reunion in Tahoe. I knew I needed to do something special for him. It was the last day of the Reunion, and my son was sick so it was not an easy task. That morning at breakfast we sang "Happy Birthday" and in came my mom with a piece of Strawberry cake and a candle that said "Too Old to Count" ~ He was very surprised and enjoyed the cake. Since the Reunion was ending that day, I let him go Frisbee Golfing with The boys and I packed up the car. After they returned from the fun games we hit the road on the way to Stockton for some WAKEBOARDING!! We had planned on taking out the whole family, but since Landon was sick I stayed at home with the kids and Matt got to enjoy the boat with his parents and a few other people. Then that night; Aunt Jeanine watched our kids and Matt's parents took us out to eat. It was a very fun filled day for him indeed!
The next day FATHER'S DAY consisted of Church and Relaxing. Since Matt got a KICK BUTT birthday present we decided to go the "Home-Made" route for his Father's Day gift.

THIS is what I made (with help from the kids AND Auntie Ally!)

 The T-Shirt says "My kids walk all over me..."
and that is just what I had the kids do...

 Walk ALL over the t-shirt.

 (Hailey, Age 4)

(Landon, Age 2)

He also got a book "Family Ties" and a picture frame for his office.

I tried to make it something he could wear now, and then LOVE later when the kids are older and grown up.

We made Apron's for our Fathers as a present that said "My grandkids walk all over me..." and we think they both loved that too. OF COURSE we used the iLoveToCreate.com product to make them.

I used the Fabric Paint for the foot prints, (I just used a paint brush and painted it ALL over the little footies) and sponged Black Slick paint on the cute letter cut-outs my cousin Allyson helped me make on her cricket...(THANKS ALLY!)

It was a FUN project and got LOTS of smiles on Father's Day!

Glitter Tattoo's and Face Paint ~

If you are looking for something FUN for people of ALL ages LOOK NO FURTHER!!!

EUREKA...

I have FOUND IT! ~

Check out this new line from iLoveToCreate.com . Tulip has pulled out ALL the stops with these amazing new products. I took a bunch of different things to try out with my cousins at our Family Reunion in Tahoe. Let me tell you I think it was a HIT!!

FIRST let me introduce you to the GLITTER Tattoo

 You can buy these cute little glitter containers in packs of two or in a full Glitter Tattoo Kit...

 The kit comes with 6 glitter colors, 5 reusable vinyl stencil sheets, applicator brushes and body adhesive. You can also buy additional vinyl stencil sheets like these...

You pick out your colors and your stencil and where you want to put it and you GO TO TOWN...

 Place the stencil, put the body adhesive on, then use the applicator brushes to put on the glitter... EASY

And just LOOK at the results!! SO CUTE!~

 And you can put them ANYWHERE you want! ~

 A lot of the girls wanted to get their initial on their ankle...

 others got FUN Birds...

 SUNS...

 and butterflies...

Very easy for the girls to apply themselves too!
My older cousins ( age 12+) were PROS after applying just one tattoo!!
And the neat thing about these were that they went swimming shortly after application and they stayed on! Water alone will not wash this off, but rubbing alcohol will easily remove it!! They LOVED it!
Obviously the Glitter was more for the GIRLS...
Now let me introduce you to something BOTH boys and girls LOVED!!

The Face and Body Paint

These come as a stand alone color, or in kits. You need brushes or sponges to apply the color and tulip gives you great options in the brush sizes. The kits come with 8 face paints, a flat brush and a round brush. You can free hand paint OR use the stencils also used with the glitter...

 Find your stencil, the place you want it, the colors you want, and PAINT AWAY...

 We had arms being painted...

 Backs being painted...

 FOREHEADS...

Anywhere they wanted...

 YES, I have BYU fans in my family...

The boys were more particular than the girls with their tattoos. Here I had to mix colors to make brown and hand paint little accents for my brother. Luckily I love him enough to do it. AND the colors mixed well and looked GREAT! ~ The body and face paint washed off with just soap and water. So if you want something more permanent go with the glitter! :)

The un-used paint dries up in the holder and very little is wasted. I really liked that! You just need a few cups of water when you change colors. One that you keep clean to dip the brushes in before they go into the paint and one for cleaning the brush color off when you are done.

This would be PERFECT for a Birthday Party, a church youth group activity, a BBQ to entertain the little kids, or a Family Reunion like I used mine for! Honestly, the possibilities are ENDLESS!!

So next time you are planning... well... anything keep these FUN Kits in mind!

SLACKER!!!

MAN I am slacking on the posts this month! AHHHH!~ I have a good excuse though... I have been on VACATION for half of June... :) I promise to step it up and do better AFTER my last vacation in July... PROMISE. SO you have stuff to look forward too!!
Ugh, yeah... so today I spent half of my life CLEANING...
No the house was not a mess... well I guess it was... Anywho...
This CRAZY heat has brought nasty little ANTS back into the neighborhood.
YEAH. My bug guy had just sprayed on Monday, and Wednesday I had to call him back to spray because they were coming in my front door area. My kids found them because they were looking out the front window for Daddy. Sweet little Landon proclaimed "LOOK MOMMY... ANTS..." GREEEEAAAAATTTT... I better call Patrick... (that is my bug guy) We are actually good friends. When we first moved into the house we had to have him come over a few times for problems we were having, I have not seen any ants for like 5 months then BAMMMM hot weather hits and they are back in FULL FORCE... So he comes and sprays Wednesday and I wake up Friday Morning to the ants coming in on the other side of the door...
UGH. Just the sight of these Ants crawling around my front door makes me feel like they are all over me. Patrick left me with a few ant traps (food bait to take back to the nest) and I cleaned up the ant trail and put the bait at the door and have not had any more problems... YET.
ANOTHER Cleaning activity I had to day was because of my wonderful children.
Carpet, Kids and Shredded Cheese DO NOT MIX!!
So after getting the ants under control I look in on the kids in the playroom...
All I see is Happy Smiley Children surrounded by Shredded Cheese... REALLY??
Costco size bag too... UGH! ~
And you can't just use a vacuum and ROLL over shredded cheese on carpet... I had to use the extension cord to my vacuum. I proceeded to vacuum every square inch of that DANG room... 45 minutes of my life I will never get back! Needless to say BOTH kids were on time out and took naps...
CLEANEST PLAYROOM IN THE WORLD!!
I hope the weekend is better...

PUMP IT UP BABY!!

I took the kids to Pump It Up today. They LOVE this place... actually HAILEY loves this place. Landon cries and whines the whole time in the lobby as we get ready to go in. THEN throws a fit until I make him go down the big slide... THEN he remembers that he LOVES this place and proceeds to go on the slide 50 more times. HA HA!~
I love taking them because I love seeing them enjoy things like this. It is the little things. I wonder if they had a place like this when I was younger?? ANYWAYS... I did not snap any photos because I was busy running all over making sure both of my kids were alive. I am SO Looking forward to all the summer fun we have planned! :)

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT

 TO MY SISTER NICOLE!!

I hope you had a wonderful one driving from

Idaho to California!

I can't wait to see you!!!!

(and those sweet little kids of yours)

LIFE LESSONS ~

Today I checked my e-mail (not something I do all too often) and I had enough time to read most of them. My Dad sent me something that I really needed. Too often I "sweat the small stuff" or I find myself feeling like life is too hard for me to handle. This really put things into perspective for me. I decided I wanted to share these LIFE LESSONS with all my blog family and friends... ENJOY!! 

                "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught
                me. It is the most requested column I've ever written."

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, Cleveland, Ohio.               

 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.               

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.               

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.               

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.

Your friends and your parents will. Stay in touch.               

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.               

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.               

 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.               

 8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.               

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.               

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.               

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.               

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.               

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
                journey is all about.               

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.               

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God
                never blinks.               

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.               

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.               

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.               

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one
                is up to you and no one else.               

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no
                for an answer.               

 21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
                Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.               

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.               

 23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.               

24. The most important organ is the brain.               

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.               

 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years,
                will this matter?'               

27. Always choose life.               

28. Forgive everyone and everything.               

29. Don't worry about what other people say about you - it doesn't matter.               

 30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.               

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.              

  32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.               

33. Believe in miracles.               

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you
                did or didn't do.               

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.               

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.               

37. Your children get only one childhood.               

 38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.               

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.               

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,
                we'd grab ours back.               

 41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.               

42. The best is yet to come...               

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.               

44. Yield.              

  45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

GREAT Advise.

I hope this helps YOU just like it helped me! :)

Chyna Lee Smith

Let me introduce you to my AMAZING cousin...

She was on So You Think You Can Dance last night and she ROCKED IT! ~ ENJOY!!

Goodnight Book . . .

These kids are SOOOOO Lucky.

Auntie Sharon read them "Goodnight Little Monsters" book before bed one night while we were visiting. Sharon took Hailey to the Library and let her pick out her own book. And that is what Hailey picked... THANKS AUNTIE SHARON!! The kids LOVED it!!