Lagoon 2009

My mom and Dad came for a visit and Jeannine stayed for a week after the funeral.  So Jeannine stayed home and watched Talan while we went to Lagoon for the day.  It was a wonderful combination!  We couldn't imagine doing a day of Lagoon with Talan and I don't think that Jeannine could imagine doing a day of Lagoon! So it worked out perfect! Talan and Jeannine became more acquainted, and we walked and rode ourselves silly! 

Ethan and Bradon were the ultimate riding buddies!  

They were absolutely fearless going on every ride they possibly could!

Carsten and Reagan had fun riding together too!  Their hight plus their ride intensity interests were a perfect match!

Marvene's Funeral

David's mom and dad came,

with Kay and Teresa.

They all stayed at our house with us and it was really quite fun!  It turned into a mini reunion.  Karl and Shannon and lots of the Slades came from near and far to hang out and enjoy one another's company.

The funeral was beautiful in every way.

Until we meet again, goodbye sweet Marvene.

We love you!

Orem Owlz

The Gregory's are so much fun!  

They are always up for a party taking their kids all over the place.  We had a good time joining them at a recent Orem Owlz game.  We sat out in the grass while the kids rolled down the hill, gave each other rides on a blanket and had some good old fashion summer time fun!  Thanks for the invite Gregory's!  We had a great time!

Reeder Shimai

Haws Shimai and Reeder Shimai 4/13/95

My mission companion Reeder Shimai came to visit me a few weeks ago.  She now goes by the name of Denise Daniel, however I think she will always be Reeder Shimai to me!

It was a lot of fun getting caught up on what's gone on in our lives over the past 14 years.  It was amazing to find out that our lives have many parallels.

We were both married around the same time.  Our first born were both born on the exact same day.  Our husbands both work in the financial industry.  We both have 5 kids.  I have 4 boys and 1 girl and she has 4 girls and 1 boy.  Not to mention that when she came over to visit, we were both wearing the same color shirt!  

SpOoKy!  

We are living very similar lives on opposite ends of the country.  She lives in New York, just a 30 minuet subway ride from Manhattan.  I've always said, it's good to have friends in fun places! 

Reeder was my second companion in my second area in Japan.  We lived in Ibaraki.  I was her last companion before she went home which means (in missionary talk) I killed her!  We survived the Kobe earthquake together along with lots of good times.  

A few things to remember: 

Eikaiwa, Sport Night, Chirashi dendo, White Day, Burnt Bagels, Osaka Sumo Tournament, Hard Rock Cafe, Face plant bicycle crash (by Reeder), James Taylor concert and Ricks Choro, Mugi in the mornings, The Chiropractor, Fuller Choro (My Arizona brother) and last but not least..."The Beast!" compliments of Matsumoto Shimai.  Along with lots of teaching appointments, bicycle rides and helmet hair!

Good times had by all!

52 out of 222 isn't so bad!

Warning!  This is the longest post I've ever posted to my blog.  View at your own risk!

Adair Family Vacation 2009!

Rexberg...

We drove to Rexberg, Idaho, checked into our hotel room and then found this cute little splash park for the kids to splash around in.  Unfortunately the water was freezing cold and the kids wanted nothing to do with it.  Well except for Talan! 

It took him awhile to warm up to the idea of water shooting randomly out of the ground but finally he found the courage to go and touch it.

What a cute little water bug!

We gave my cousin Kate and her husband Nate a call and luckily they had a few minuets available to visit with us before they were off to the movies.  

Yellowstone...

The next morning we woke up and went to Yellowstone National Park.  

We saw nature at it's best.  

We saw a bald eagle,

And hot pots.

Gorgeous isn't it?  

How could something that looks so cool be so hot?

I'm seriously starting to think that National Geographic has nothing on me!  Awesome picture if I do say so myself!

There was a tour group being guided in front of us.  Ethan jumped right with their tour to soak up all the information he could.

Another National Geographic moment!  

A buffalo and her babe!

We went to Old Faithful, and Faithful she was!  

We sat and had a homemade lunch underneath the trees as we waited for her to go off.  It was pretty neat!

Ethan

Bradon

Carsten

Reagan

And Talan.

We went to a beautiful waterfall.

We hiked some 600 feet down the switchbacks to the beginning of the fall.

This part was way cool!  Totally worth the hike!

Carsten broke this bench on the way back up.  Just kidding!  But it looks like he did!

Look very closely as I capture a rolling bison!

I took these pictures out the window of the truck...

While we were moving!

Like I said, National Geographic has nothing on me!

This is what an 18 month old looks like when you strap him to a car seat for hours at a time and then when you let him out you immediately strap him to a stroller.  

Talan wasn't loving Yellowstone too much!

We saw Elk.  At least I think this is an Elk.  I don't know, I'm not much of an animal expert!

And then for Ethan, we drove out of our way to see the hot springs.  At first we couldn't find them.  They looked as though they had all dried out.  Then as we were pulling out to leave we spotted a glimpse of this.  Absolutely breathtaking!  We pulled over to check it out!

  

Talan got to go on a much needed walk.

And we got this cute picture minus half of Ethan's face.  Sorry Ethan!

Really I wasn't kidding when I said that we saw nature at it's best!

Swimming...

A vacation just isn't a vacation without some good old fashion swimming!

Ethan

Bradon

Carsten

Reagan

Talan

Bear World...

We went to Bear World.  It's the coolest place just outside of Rexberg.

We saw baby cubs.

Another National Geographic moment with mommy and baby goat.

In the petting zoo you could find Carsten real close to the exit gate at all times.  You never know when one of those baby goats or chickens might attack!

The whole family!

The kids rode on a few kiddie rides and LOVED IT!

While Talan hung out with us.

Now that's a RACK!

We drove through the Bear World park and saw...

This rack!

This rare white guy, bison, grizzly bears and black bears.

We followed behind the tour bus that feeds the bears and got up an personal with the bears.

We loved how they would sit on their bums to beg.

A visit with the Adair's...

Karl and Shannon live just outside of Pocatello and so on our way back home we stopped in for a quick visit.

It's been almost a year since we have seen them.  It's amazing how quickly kids grow!

A visit with Eric...

My cousin Eric lives in Logan.  We stopped to see him and we took him out to dinner.  We went to Chili's and it was seriously the nicest visit to Chili's ever!  We got the first class treatment by all the waitresses.  I think that Talan must have stole their hearts.  That or they were trying to make a good impression on Eric!

After dinner they took Bradon's new rugby ball and played a little football/rugby in the parking lot.

Good times!

So 52 out of the 222 pictures I took isn't so bad is it?

So there you have it.  It's like you were right there with us on our family vacation... except you didn't have to listen to Talan scream the whole time!