Spring Break April 2- 6th 2011

Spring Break this year was the first week in April. That also means it Conference Weekend!

We drove up north of Seattle to Everett, Washington and met our good friends, the Mathisons!

There was some bad traffic in Seattle, so we were extra thrilled to arrive at their beautiful home and see our great friends.

The kids were thrilled to see their turtles we met in Nebraska!  When Caleb and Liahona found these turtles in their back yard in Lincoln, they were the size of a quarter.  We're glad they made the move well.

Heres Montey, Allie, Tamara, Liahona and Makayla playing in the backyard.

Quinn and Eric had fun catching up and they went to priesthood session of conference together again.

Sunday morning Tanya had bingo boards out for conference and doughnuts too! Fun Fun! 

We left Sunday night to head into Seattle and stayed at a nice hotel there.  It was the Hyatt Place downtown.  There were two queen beds and a hide a bed, so we fit just right. 

It was walking distance to the space needle, so Monday morning we headed right over.

Some of our friends from Ridgefield were there too, just two doors down at the hotel.

It was fun to go play with them too!

The Draper and Harmon kids getting ready to go up to the top!

And is was chilly up there.

Playing around and enjoying the view.

Then our Draper group went and caught a ferry across the sound.

We had lunch over there on Bainbridge island.

I think the ferry ride was the highlight of the whole trip.  The kids loved it.

They ran around and hung out outside in the cold.  We got hot chocolate and enjoyed the ride.

If we go back to Seattle, we will ride a ferry again.  Maybe in the summer when its warmer.

Then we ate lunch and went and played on the beach.

And tried to get a family picture.

Then back to the hotel to swim!!

Quinn loves throwing the kids across the pool!

One cute little dude ready to warm up.

Did I mention he was all potty trained for this trip?!  Our first family vacation in a while with NO diapers!  Way to go big guy!

Then dad stayed back with the little ones while Makayla, Dylan and I walked back to the space needle with the Harmons to see it at night time.  It was really pretty with all the lights on.

Tuesday morning the Mathisons came and met up with us and the Harmons at the Aquarium.

It was a fun place with some hands on activities for the kids to touch and explore.

These touch and feel tide pools were really great.  Most the kids were brave enough to try touching something.

Here we are in a ring of jelly fish!

Then we all went for lunch on the pier.  Tanya, however, sat with the kids at the non-seafood table with the kids!

We had a great weekend in Seattle.  We're so grateful for good friends that make vacations even better.



Braves Baseball- Spring 2011

Dylan is playing Ridgefield Little League this year, and is on the Braves.  Quinn and our friend Joe Vance are the coaches.  They are doing great and having a great season so far!

Dylan loves when he gets to pitch, and has been pitching really well.  His hitting is getting better too.  Last week he hit an in the park HOME RUN!  It was a great hit and he just ran and ran!  Hes is pretty quick!

Here are some great pictures from the season:

Dylan is #7.  He bats first, and sometimes bunts!

Mom likes to yell, "down and ready boys! Down and ready!"

look how good Dylan listens. ;)

Sliding into home- he loves to slide.

Dylan like to play catcher too! 

 It is fun to watch him grab a wild pitch and just dare the guy on third to try and run home.

We do gets lots of rain in the northwest, but when the suns out-

LOOK how beautiful the green is!

Dylan has a real great group of boys his age.  They are so great- I love going to watch them play ball.

Way to go Braves- what a fun season.

Orlando March 3rd-7th, 2011

Quinn had an orthodontist conference in Orlando, and I was able to go with him this time.  When he was in his residency, the residents would always go to these conferences, so I was excited for a turn.

This month was the SureSmile conference in Orlando Florida.

Quinn and I left on a Wednesday night and flew through the night, to land Thursday morning in Florida.  I should have taken something to help me sleep, because I could not go to sleep!  We were so tired when we landed, but thanks to our new iphone, we got our car and found an IHop.  Then we went to our hotel to see if they would check us in early- and they did!  It was such a great place.  Walt Disney's Swan and Dolphin hotels.  When Quinn was in dental school, he had to present some research at this same place.  He and I flew out there, and left about 24 hours later.  This time, I got to go in and check the place out.

We got in our room, showered and rested, and Quinn got signed in for the conference and we were off to Universal Studios!

Quinn was so excited to go on rides, but I made him stop and take a picture with Diego and me for the kids.

Later we found Donkey and he had some nice things to say about Quinns hair!

This was the first ride we ran to.  Then when we were a few people from the front, it shut down.,  We waited about 45 minutes, then decided to go try some other rides.  Later it was open, it was a fun roller coaster- Quinn went back and did it again.

Then, back to our hotel to get ready for the welcome reception for the conference.

This is the view out of our window.  We were in the dolphin, the swan hotel was across the way.  There are water taxis to epcot and downtown disney.  And just a short walk from Disneys boardwalk.

We headed down poolside for a windy evening with lots of food and lots of orthodontists and their staff, all of which I knew none.  Quinn ran into a couple he new, but mostly we found some yummy food, then sat by the fire on the beach until I was too cold.  Quinn said I was a party pooper, when the residents go to these, they stay and visit until late!

Friday morning, we went and had a yummy breakfast there in the conference center.  All of our meals were included with the conference.  It was so nice!  Then I went to a meeting with Quinn, and he was off to classes.  I took a walk around and met him back up for lunch. 

This is looking back at our hotel walking around the boardwalk area.

Friday night they had a fancy dinner and the theme for the night was "outer space".

Some offices and staff were all done up- Quinn and I just went and ate.  I should have taken a picture of the dinner! A green salad with pear, yummy steak and crab cake with mashed potatoes and carrots. And a chocolate desert. Did I mention the food was yummy?

That's buzz light year and the aliens behind Quinn:

Saturday I woke up and went running- then came back and got a picture of our huge room.

Then I started packing because the next nights, we moved to a less expensive place until it was time to go home.

After lunch Saturday Quinn finished his last classes, and we met up and went to Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom!

Not as great as Disneyland, but it's close...

Everythings smaller there, the lands, the castles, the rides... but we were able to do just about everything- except Space Mountain which closed.  But for that the park stayed open longer! 

Much smaller here, but still one of my favorites:

Its a small world.

Or as I call it at the Magic Kingdom:

Its a small, its a small world.

Saturday we moved to the other hotel close by, then Sunday morning went to church at a very colorful, culturally diverse ward.  It was fun to hear all their testimonies and know the church is such a worldwide church.  Right across the street was the temple, so we went and got pictures:

Then passed a Winn Dixie, and thought of Makayla because we read this book for mother daughter book club in Nebraska.

Heres the view out of our other hotels window.  We enjoyed the sun on Sunday, then flew home Monday morning!

A nice couple from our ward stayed with our kids on the weekdays, and they spent time with their cousins and grandparents on the weekend.  They survived, and so did we.  It really was a fun trip!