Tuesday--Emerald Bay

Tuesday morning was beautiful, so we decided to hike down to Emerald Bay

 After some very fun pictures...

  ...we started the one mile hike down to the lake.

Everyone played in the very cold water...and we watched the sky turn from beautiful blue, to white, puffy clouds, to very overcast skies.  We ate a quick picnic lunch under the trees to stay dry, and then raced back up the hill to the safety of our cars.

When I say we raced up the hill, I'm not kidding.  We ran from tree to tree, to try to stay dry.  It even hailed on us a little!

Happy Birthday to Me!

One of the best things about my birthday this year was that we were all together!!  YEA!!  Our first night in Tahoe we celebrated my birthday with make your own pizzas and cake.  Evidently, angle food cakes are temperamental, because the same thing happened to me in Utah.  It must be an altitude thing!!  

 Anyway, I had the most delicious birthday cake...and pie.

Monday--Lake Tahoe, Here We Come!!!

For our family vacation this year, we decided to try Lake Tahoe.  With the Pearson reunion just down the hill from it, we times it so we could spend some time in Tahoe, and then all show up to Milo and Gale's for the party.

It's kinda scary when this is what I saw as we were driving down the road.  

Todd's pretty good at multi-tasking, though! 

 They were setting up a hotspot so Amy could use the wifi

We left early enough that Todd could stop and try a little fishing on the way...no luck!!!  I love 

But we did get hailed on, a foreshadow for what was to come!

Happy Birthday, Carson

I know, Carson's birthday was two days ago, but he was on a backpacking trip, so we celebrated it today.

Todd took the two older boys for a backpacking trip, so Carson's birthday dinner was fresh fish.  The candles were a nice touch.

Then, two days late, he had birthday pancakes...oops, I mean waffles...

dinner at his favorite restaurant, The Golden Corral, and back home to open presents.  He was so full from dinner, he didn't get to his cake until the next day!

Congratulations, Amy

After almost a year of research papers, lots of reading, and lots and lots of homework, Amy completed her masters today.  I am so very proud of her and her accomplishment.  It's hard to go back to school, but almost impossible to do it while working full time, being a mom to 4 very active kids, and for some of it, primary president!

Today, she turned in her final thesis...

 ...and then we went out to BJ's to celebrate. 

Happy Anniversary Bookgroup

What started as a Relief Society mini class has lasted for 35 years.We have been reading and discussing books for all that time, and decided that that milestone deserved a celebration.  So, off we went to Cedar City, Utah, for the Shakespeare Festival.  I'll admit, Shakespeare isn't my favorite author, so I really wasn't looking forward to the plays, but I knew that it would be fun to be with these friends, no matter what we did. After a 7 hour drive up, we checked into our hotel, had a delightful dinner and went off to see some Shakespeare.  Before the play, there was a delightful program on the Green, singing and dancing, and lots of fun.  And they sold the most delicious tarts.

The Taming of the Shrew was the play that night, and I have to say, it was delightful.  It was funny and very well acted.

I love the perspective of this picture, if only Lori were in it instead of taking it!

The next day, we had another great meal, lunch this time, with amazing Utah scones.

And then off to another play, this time, not Shakespeare, but a comedy names Charley's Aunt.  It was hilarious.  I laughed so hard, I cried in several places.

That evening, we went back to the Green program.  This times it had an English theme.  But the tarts, the real reason we all wanted to go back, were just as good as the night before.

After a good nights sleep, it was back home.  Short, but very sweet with many fun memories made.

Bowling

For a fun outing, out of the hot sun, we decided to go bowling. I'm not a huge fan of the sport, but it was really fun. 

Yes, I'll admit, there were bumpers involved, and at some point, used by all.  But I won!!!  I guess all that practice on the wii finally paid off!!!