Our first big summer trip.

We survived our 7 day long road trip to California, via Las Vegas, and we had a lot of fun. First of all, I have to say that the kids did amazingly well during all the driving and travel. I was surprised and expected a lot more whining and complaining than occurred. I think it helped that they were all so happy just to get to do so many new and exciting things, and to get to spend time with our loved ones.
We began the first part of the trip by driving through to Las Vegas, about 8 hours from our house. We stayed two nights in the Excalibur hotel, and while in Vegas I was able to visit with a friend of mine that I haven't seen in over 12 years. It was so great to see her and meet her two babies; it was definitely a highlight of our trip, at least for me.
While we were in Las Vegas, we also did a few of the other family-friendly activities, like watching the fountain show at the Bellagio hotel, and seeing the lion exhibit at the MGM Grand. Mostly the kids just wanted to spend their time at the pool at the Excalibur. As hotel pools go, it was definitely above and beyond average. There were actually 3 separate pools, two with waterfalls and slides.
After leaving Vegas, we headed to southern California. Our final destination was Corona Del Mar, but we made a few stops on the way there. Since Chris and I both served our missions in that area, we wanted to see a few of the places that brought back memories for each of us. The kids were a little less enthused about this part of the trip, and more eager to get to "grandma and grandpa's house", where they would get to spend time at the beach!We then spent 4 days enjoying time in California, where the weather was perfect and there were flowers and palm trees everywhere, which made me very happy! We did spend almost an entire day on the beach, where the kids never seemed to tire of playing in the sand or trying to "catch a wave"! Unfortunately, that much time in the sun, despite multiple applications of sunblock, left Chris and the three older kids with horrible sunburns. Chris and Sophie both had some blistering, and they were all in some pain the next day. We decided to stay out of the sun for the most part, after that, and went to an awesome children's museum called the Science and Discovery Center. We were able to occupy several hours there.On the drive home, we took one last detour through Apple Valley, California, in the desert. Apple Valley was where Chris and I were both serving when he was my zone leader for a few months, and being there made us both wax nostalgic. It felt great to be in that area again.
Finally we were on the road again and headed home, but by the time we got to St. George, UT after driving about 6 hours, we felt too worn out to drive the remaining 6 hours and decided to stay the night at a hotel. It was a relaxing respite before ending our trip back in Idaho.
By the time we got home, we had over 500 pictures on our camera. After editing and deleting duplicates, etc., I've narrowed it down to 239 photos. I'll post a few of my favorites with this blog, but for those of you that may be interested, click on the following link to go to the web album with all the pictures from our trip:

VegasCalitripJune2009

Now it's time to start preparing for over a week of camping and a family reunion in a couple of weeks!

The Best Dad Ever!

I'm sure we're not the only ones who feel that way about the dads in our lives, but I wanted to let Chris know how much we love and appreciate him. Here he is with all his kids and the cake we had to celebrate Father's Day.
Elder L. Tom Perry: "Fathers, by divine decree, you are to preside over your family units. This is a sobering responsibility and the most important one you will ever assume, for it is an eternal responsibility. You place the family in its proper priority. It's the part of your life that will endure beyond the grave" ("Fatherhood, an Eternal Calling," Ensign, May 2004, 69.)
I'm so grateful that I have a husband that makes his calling as a father his main priority. Happy Father's Day, Chris!

More Sophie-isms.

I'm sitting at the computer, it's about 9:50 pm, and Sophie, who has been in her room since around 8:30pm and should have long since been asleep, sticks her head out of her bedroom door. Here's our conversation:

Mom: "What are you doing up? It's almost 10 o'clock and you're supposed to be asleep!"

Sophie: "What? I like 10 o'clock. I am a nocturnal human."

Hmmm...I think she's been watching a little too much of Bindy, the Jungle Girl on Animal Planet.

The Bake Family Goes Camping ~ Movie

Just click on the above post title to watch a little video I made. Keep in mind I'm an amateur!

Pup-date.

Yesterday I took Zipper to the vet to get his Bordetella shot so he can safely stay at a kennel while we're on vacation in a couple of weeks. While we were there, the vet did a check-up on him. He only weighed in at 6 lbs. 1 oz., and he's pretty much full grown. I was kind of surprised; I thought he'd be around 10 lbs. What a cute little fur ball. Sammy is worried about how he'll be while we're gone and I hope, for his sake, that everything goes alright. I'm not sure I could deal with how sad he would be if anything happened to his little "Ga", as he calls him. (I think he calls him that because that's how Nicolas used to say "dog", and it kind of stuck.)
Here's just a cute picture of Nick watching t.v. I couldn't resist grabbing the camera.

Way to go, Jaeddenn!

We just returned from attending our nephew's baptism. These are the best moments in life and we're all grateful that we were able to be there to enjoy the spirit shared by Jaeddenn and his sweet family.(All the cute little cousins together.)

Sophie-isms.

Those of you who are familiar with our funny girl, Sophie, know how verbose and animated she can be. Here's a good one from this morning. I was outside sweeping the front porch. She came out to see what I was doing at the precise moment the garbage truck pulled up in front of the house and proceeded to pick up our trash. She said: "Wow, mom! This is the first time I have ever seen the garbage man this close up; I LOVE that guy...can I have an Otter Pop??"