Pedersen Reunion Part 1- Driving and Rexburg

We began planning a Pedersen reunion about a year ago. It's been awhile since Daniel's whole family was together. A whole year of planning and saving went by pretty fast! Before we knew it we were actually on our way. When we put all the pictures together from everyone's cameras, we have around 1,300 photos. So it might take me a while to post all the good ones!

Thursday was Daniel's last day at work. And I mean his very last day at that job (more about that in another post). We had planned on leaving around 5, but not surprisingly we left way later than that. I think we started our 14 hour drive at about 9pm.

We only lasted about 5 hours before we stopped for this...

Friday morning we got up early to begin the rest of our drive. I was a little nervous about being in the car so long but the kids did really well! Some of the toys only lasted 2 minutes, movies were great time killers and of course lots of snacks!

We stopped in Rexburg to look around. Daniel went to school at BYU-Idaho and we lived here for about a year and a half shortly after we got married. We met up with Daniel's old boss on campus. He gave us a quick tour in his campus truck and the kids got to check out the big mowers.

One of the perks of the mini van, diaper changes anywhere!

On campus there is a huge garden. Daniel actually helped build part of it. There are tons of flowers, paths, places to sit and water features. Our kids loved 'smelling' all the different flowers!

Can I just say I love photographing this girl? Her smile is sometimes goofy but she takes good pictures.

I'm still trying to figure out how to use our camera. Did I mention we finally broke down and bought a Nikon DSR camera? I.LOVE.IT

We met up with Daniel's sister Amy in Rexburg. Her son took a tour of BYU-I campus because he wants to attend there in a few years. We went over to the Rexburg Temple with them to walk around and get photos. The temple was still being built when Daniel and I left so we didn't get to see the finished product. Of course it's a beautiful building. The picture above is Johnny and Amy's youngest Amanda. They are about 8 months apart.

Taylor, Amanda, Johnny D, Megan and Addie. 5 of 11 cousins :)

Fourth of July 2011

We washed cars.

Swam.

And ate popsicles.

Addie is not a fan of fireworks. At all. We had an incident involving a fire pit, hot ember and her nose. For about a year she would not go close to any type of fire. This year we convinced her to hold a sparkler. I have to say I was beyond proud of her. Of course I don't have any pictures of it. Darn. There were tons of huge fireworks in our neighborhood so we pulled out some chairs and watched everyone else send hundreds of dollars worth of 3 second entertainment up in to the sky.

Father's Day 2011

I honestly don't remember everything we did for Father's Day this year. I'm sure I cooked something yummy and was super nice to Daniel all day. :) I surprised him a few days before with a new car stereo installed in his car. This was a tricky task because I never know what days he is car pooling or not and if he is, is he the one driving or would I still have access to his car. Luckily my mom was here so we used her as an excuse to leave his car home. We asked him if she could use it that day to go run a couple places (he knows she would not want to drive his truck around). I guess he was kind of annoyed that he had to drive his truck (that gets horrible gas mileage and is not fun to drive in stop and go traffic because it is a stick shift). That night we went out on an ice cream date and I suggested we take his car. He was pleasantly surprised when he got in and saw the new radio. I couldn't imagine driving 3, sometimes 6 hours a day with a radio that only works half the time. He deserved a new one.

Addie made him a framed picture at preschool. She was pretty cute giving it to him. It's fun to watch her because it was actually from her. It wasn't something that I purchased and said was from her.

Happy Father's Day love!

*I don't know why the bottom 2 pictures are rotated sideways and I can't fix them, so just turn your head. :)

Addie's 4th Birthday

I realize that Addie's birthday was almost 2 months ago. Here I am just now getting around to blogging it. That's how behind I am! We haven't even sent out 'Thank yous' yet. I am a bad mom. :/ I did get some cute pictures this year though.

We kept our tradition of getting pedicures (my mom was in town so the three of us girls got to go!). Maybe next year Addie will be tall enough to have her feet in the water AND her back touching the chair. Or I just need to remember to bring a pillow for her to lean on.

Unfortunately, I had strep throat (the second time this year!). After the pedicures I decided to take Addie to the doc. to see if she had it too. Yup. So that night after her birthday dinner at her favorite place (okay it's one of our favorite places too!) my mom and Daniel went to the doctor to make sure they didn't have it. Luckily they tested negative but Johnny ended up having it. By the time we got home it was kind of late but we let her open presents anyway after we put Johnny to bed. I'm happy to say that she was pretty excited about all of her gifts this year. I can't believe she is already 4 and looking older everyday. Happy Birthday Ad!!

Motivation (or lack thereof)

I got on to blogger the other day and realized that is has been over a month since I blogged. I then thought that is really unacceptable. I see the pictures/videos piling up on our computer waiting to be blogged and shared. I also have a box of "projects to do" that I had high hopes of completing this summer. Yet, day after day I sit on the computer looking at all of the cool things I could make or buy, I take naps or read books. Never really accomplishing the things that I want to. So, I fully intend to catch up on blogging and do a couple of sewing projects before we head to Utah in 2 weeks! Wish me luck (and a little motivation!).

In the meantime, here are 2 random videos.

Addie was giving a concert to an imaginary audience. I would have recorded it from the front, but if she saw me she would have stopped singing. :)

Daniel downloaded a push up app on his phone. Addie was trying to keep up.