Independence Day!

4th of July was a lot of fun this year. Friday night we went out to Matlock to stay the night with some friends. We camped in their backyard and had lots of fun. Saturday we had TWO parties to go to, so it was a busy day.

First we went to Chris' Dad's house for a BBQ. There was a lot of great food and fun conversation....I got to make the Potato Salad for the first time, and I think I did pretty good - Nadeau's are pretty picky about their potato salad, so I was a bit nervous.

This party was much more relaxed then the second one we went to - as Allison, Tim and Julie are showing...

After that we went to my parent's house and it was CRAZY. TONS of people - my dad turned the back yard into a parking lot. I think I'm starting to be more like my husband - big groups are starting to be a bit much for me.

While it was light outside, we did some of the kiddie fireworks...

Later, when it got dark we did the real fireworks - no pictures, I was enjoying it too much. I swear it lasted for over an hour and they were incredible. Cleaning up the next day wasn't so fun, but it was worth it for the show we had. We love 4th of July - probably one of our FAVORITE holidays.

Diaper-Free Party!

I have been telling Allison for MONTHS that as soon as she was potty-trained we'd go to Chucky Cheese. Well, she is completely potty-trained now, so a couple weeks ago we went - and it ended up being a BIG party!

There was lots of yummy food....

And TONS of games for the kids...

Grandpa, Mia and Mark having some fun...

I think Allison might be enjoying this more than Mia...

Taylor on the horsey....

Mark looks a little bored...
Allison flying high in the sky...
And even the adults had some fun....

Robin & Sidse shooting some hoops....

Kevin and Chanel getting in on the action..

Kevin and Robin checking out a shooting game..

And by the end of the day we were TIRED....but Allison still had enough energy to model the prizes she got....
I can't believe she's getting so big. We've been doing this potty-training thing for about a month now, and the first week had a couple of rough moments (ask, and I'll tell you about the playground sometime), but since then the only accident we've had was once at night - and that was my fault because I didn't make her go potty before bed. She is such an amazing little girl! I look at her and am amazed that I have been blessed which such an awesome kid.

Father's Day

Father's day was great this year! We spent the morning at my parent's house and had a great time with everyone there. I am so grateful for a wonderful father - I'm glad we have this day every year to remind us of that!

The kids did not want to stay inside. They have so much fun playing at grandma and grandpa's house - there's just so much room to run around and play.Somehow they got all the grandkids (minus Crystal) to ride on this jeep. It was pretty funny.

After church we went to the Nadeau's house and had a BBQ there...tons of fun. Allison got to play with MORE cousins (this kid does not have a shortage of cousins!).

Overall it was a great day spent with lots and lots of family. I was glad to be able to recognize Chris and all he does for our family (although he kept calling it Mother's Day to tease me because I kept asking him to do things for me!). Allison sure loves her Daddy and I am grateful for the special relationship they have..oh and by the way, Allison it POTTY TRAINED (two weeks without any accidents - AWESOME!.

Water Fun!

Last Saturday we went out to Lake Nahwatzel for a party to celebrate some friends being in town. Unfortunately Chris had to work, but Allison and I had a blast.

For once in her life, she didn't freak out on the boat!

Becky tried to teach her how to float with a life jacket on - didn't work too well.

It was just a little bit cold!

Thanks to Brian and Becky for swimming with her - I didn't bring a swimsuit!

Camping

We tend to go camping a lot in the summer - it's one of our favorite things to do. Every year we go up to Wynoochie Lake the first weekend of June - which is when Steelhead fishing opens in the lake. This year pretty much the entire Nadeau clan came for at least a little bit. We had a great time.
Allison sure loves her daddy - especially when he lets her wear his sweatshirt.

Papa made the girls a swing - so cool! They loved it...
Rose is such a cutie!

Allison didn't want to stop!

New Calling

I got a new calling at church at church today - Enrichment Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency (or 2nd Counselor). Yikes! I'm really excited about this new opportunity - I had been in Young Women's for like 3 1/2 years or something crazy like that - but I am going to miss my girls and the other leaders a TON. It's going to be really hard for me to not go up to the church every Wednesday night....but I think my husband will enjoy having me home more. Just something new to get used to, I guess....not sure if I'm happy or sad yet - a little of both I guess.

So, if anyone has some good Enrichment ideas, I'm going to need them! I was the Enrichment Counselor once before when I was at BYU-Idaho, but that was with a bunch of young girls that just wanted to have fun. This is totally different, I have to try to please all the women - 18 to 99 - it just seems a little bit overwhelming!

Forest Festival 2009

Yesterday we went to the Forest Festival Parade to watch all of David's family and Jared walk by. It was a lot of fun, but HOT, HOT, HOT - we all got a little bit burned.

Brian, Becky, Crystal and Sara came down to watch the parade with us (by the way, I even got CHRIS to come - it's a miracle!)

Allison got a Pinwheel and LOVED it!

David's family was towards the beginning of the parade - David was a previous Paul Bunyon (the boys version of the queen of Forest Festival), so he got to ride in a truck with a bunch of other past Paul Bunyons. I thought it was pretty cool they let his entire family ride along, too.
Jared's band was towards the end of the parade (he's in the picture somewhere). They didn't walk past until the parade had been going for an hour and twenty minutes. So, after his group passed, we quickly packed up our stuff and headed home - there was still a LOT to come and we were totally done!

I don't think we'll ever get Chris to go to another parade, but we really enjoyed ourselves and LOVED having family to watch for...