3 Weeks In Washington

Ya, I'm probably going to have to give up on all the back blog posts and just start fresh. I do feel guilty though, but in Scarlett's immortal words, I'll think about that tomorrow.

We got back 24 hours ago from my favorite place on earth. We had so. much. fun! I love my hometown, but I really don't think it matters where we are. If all the family gets together, it's just perfect. And by perfect I mean, filthy kids, unhealthy diets, living out of suitcases and a touch of sibling bickering (and not just with the juveniles). I love every second of it.

The best part? Trevor got to come this time. Try to contain your inevitable surprise. It's been 3 1/2 years since he's been to Washington and 4 years since he's been there for the summer reunion. It made such a difference having him there. 4 kids are 3 too many without reinforcements.

Here are some of my favorite highlights with one big exception, lunch with Granny Great. Why didn't I take a picture??!! We met her right outside the Columbia River temple and had lunch there with our chaos causin' crazy cousin crew. My only excuse is that was the day Trevor flew in and my mind was pre-occupied with the return of my main squeeze. I had stars in my eyes.

The day before we left, we went to P-town to have our parade/illegal firework show with the Strobels. There was only one fire, only minor injuries and only one run away firework hit Carson. I dub it a success. And I'm going to take this moment to say that the 4th of July is one of my most favorite holidays and I am SO proud to be an American! I love my country and I love, love our history. It's perfect, and by perfect I mean like my family's version of perfect. It's flawed but beautiful. Plus red, white and blue just look awesome together.



The Royal Summerfest Parade. My favorite part is the sprayer with the anti-organic sign. I LOVE small towns!



Allred's Pond. Trevor wasn't man enough to jump off the rope swing. He was whining about the cold weather or something. Whatever.



The Windmill farm. This could have been interesting, but Will wasn't in the mood. As the tour guide led us out to the solar field and the windmills themselves, he got...restless. I put him in the car since his chatter was louder than the guide's. Then, he started honking the horn. It wasn't embarrassing at all. And may I point out the top left picture? Sydney gazing adoringly into the face of the dummy. That wasn't staged. Ok maybe it was, but it's still hilarious.




Ginkgo Petrified Forest. We hit this on our way home from the windmill farm. A short little hike to see a handful of petrified wood. I remember this from 3rd grade, especially the gift shop with it's random collection of plaster dinosaurs. Grandpa let all the kids pick out a precious stone. Wasn't that precious of him?



Callahan's Pond. It's lovely to have friends who build their own ponds and facilities to go with them.



Chillaxin' at the Andersen's. Abby and Adalynn picked out their own ensembles on day...they have interesting taste. And can I say that Aftyn is my favorite little person? She totally rocks. I'm mad at Avery though. She got too big too fast and I'm not okay with that.



Will turns 2!!! Did I forget to mention that!? I can't believe my caboose it 2 (I've bet you've never read that on a blog). So cliche but I swear I was just blogging about bringing him home. Remember the whole "water breaking in the mountains" debacle? How is he 2 already? Now I'm mad at William.

We took him to the McDonald's playland for lunch (big spenders, I know. Don't be jealous).



Then we had a little party at Becky's. Mom and I were cracking up at the cake, "Happy Birthday William??" Is it a question? Ahh WalMart employees, bless their hearts.

If I may say, he's, like, the cutest 2 year old ever. I can't get enough of that blond, blond hair. He's so naughty but I love him so much. While we were staying at Matt and Courtney's he, in one half hour, took all the balloons in her office (she has a helium balloon side business) and threw them all over, brought a whole roll of toilet paper into the tub and shredded it, and opened the pantry, knocked down the brown sugar and tossed it like confetti around the kitchen and family room. He may require more intensive supervision, we're looking into it.

He's still a slow talker, but is beginning to put sentences together. He runs everywhere, likes trucks, tractors, the dogs and anything to do with throwing. We love his little mug!



Let's dig a hole. A really big hole. Mom and Dad broke ground on their addition which will include (cue choir of angels) a BASEMENT!!! A blessed basement to banish...I mean invite children to hang out in. It was so crazy/scary to watch. Crazy because they had this rad trackhoe to pluck out 30 year old trees like they were sprouts and power through Caliche like it was butter. Well, not really like butter. It took some patience and some serious power to crack through it. The scary part was watching dad do some digging and accidentally hit the foundation of the house...right next to the bathroom...while Trevor was in the shower. It sucks that the foundation is cracked but you just can't put a price on that memory. He thought the whole wall was going to come in on him. And forget having a playground, or swings or whatever else in a backyard. The kids would much rather roll around in a big dirt pile. Some where my mother-in-law is weeping.



On our way home, (almost 22 hours in the car...ugh) we stopped to stay with Trevor's aunt and uncle. He wanted to meet baby Alice. I don't blame him. She's so sweet.

The travel time was long...soooooooooo long but really pretty. So many mountains and valleys and farm land. Oh, the farm land! It's so beautiful this time of year! And it makes me so proud of where I come from and so grateful that I get to return there and share it with my family. I'll end it now so my sisters can stop their gagging.

Zoe's Baptism

I got to take a quickie trip to Washington this past weekend. Will was invited too, but only because he is still under the dreaded age of 2, and therefore, can still fly free. My marvelous sisters (aka R-Unit and C-Baby) picked me up at the airport and we spent the afternoon being super productive. Productive by (deep breath) going to the beauty supply store, going to Old Navy, having lunch with Melly and Reed (love those two), shopping at Crazy 8, and Macy's, hitting up Target, Cash and Carry, Costco, the Party Supply store and my dad's meat guy, Sammy. Sammy is located in a sketchy part of town. We are so brave. Then we went back to the airport to pick up the rest of the "formerly Andersen" girls. The sisterly gang was complete. I was in heaven.

Friday was your basic day in Royal and a trip to Royal isn't complete without a trip to "town". We had a girls day and did lunch, shopped, and didn't count the calories of the Blizzards we got on the way home.

Saturday was the day we were all there for. Zoe Ciel was baptized! I am so proud of her and was so excited (cough) to speak and not bitter about it at all. My goal was to keep it under two minutes and give as little false doctrine as possible. I still don't understand how the twins and Courtney got dibs on leading the music and saying the prayers, but whatever.



Zoe looked beautiful in the dress that Grandma Louise pretended to make for her and there were so many people there to support her.

~It feels weird to write "Bishop Allred" since we graduated together. But to be honest, we all saw it coming.~

~Zoe's buddies.~

~The whole fam damily.~

We had a great luncheon afterward and the food and company were fabulous. We even had enough time in the day to take a sibling walk down to Harvest Foods. FYI Matt and Heather speed walk racing is classic comedy and a real bladder buster...not that I would have first hand knowledge of that.


~I have to note here that Holly was FREEZING COLD the entire trip (except for the time that she was sure that the house was 100 degrees inside). Here she is warming her hands on a cookie sheet that had just come out of the oven. Heather is showing us what we were all thinking...unbeknownst to Holly.~



Sunday dawned too soon (and not just because William was up all night with a 104.5 degree temperature). It was such a perfect little trip and I was sorry to see it end, but after seeing all my buddies, I got over it in a hurry.

Amy Got Married!

It was a month ago, but hey, I have my excuses and I'm going to use them til they're squeezed bone dry. Amy got married. To John. We like John. But more importantly, Amy likes John. They got married one year to the day they met. How romantical.

The best part of the weekend was that it was sans kids. The worst part was that it was also sans Trevor. Curse being an adult and have responsibilities like supporting a family and working and whatever. I did, however, get to go to my very first night club (if you don't count Club Omni in Provo...and I don't). It had been years, years, since I had been dancing. The girls night out was so fun, due in large part of the girls I was out with. The club scene just made me very happy that I live the life I do, which is genereally, clubless. And boys have really dumb pick up lines these days. On a more materialistic note, we did find Amy's super hot bridal shoes!

I digress. Amy was married right on the strip and asked me to take a couple of pictures before and after the wedding. I'm always willing to comply.

~We met Elvis. I'll be honest, he creeped me out. The opportunity was too good to pass up though, and I had him hold the rings!~

I just love this girl and I couldn't be happier for her!

We Went To Utah

And Braxton was baptized. It was awesome...




...until Sunday. Let me briefly explain. I left Thursday night, a day earlier that expected. I loaded all four of my chitlin's into the Corolla (yes that's right, the Corolla-the mini-van was having surgery). We made it to Vegas in good time and all got settled down to bed. Will, having had a nice 3 hour nap in the car didn't get settled down...until 2:30am. Everyone was up at 6:30am, ready to hit the road again, which I refused to do until 8am. That decision put the older boys into a fit of dismay, but really, it was their well-being I was concerned about. My goal was not only to stay awake at the wheel, but also to have enough patience in that little car not to purposely careen it off an embankment along our way. It all ended well and we made it to Eagle Mountain in decent time. The boys jumped right in with the cousin routine (in fact they didn't leave Eagle Mountain until it was time to go back to California). We had suprized the Bergholm family with our day early arrival. Tricks like that are always fun to dole out.




~Dexter and Carson have no problems jumping right in. I love it.~

Saturday went off beautifully. Brax was baptized and confirmed a member and it was a beautiful experience with an unnecessary amount of food. Tell the truth Heather, you're still eating left-overs aren't you?



~The whole family group, the big Berghom group, the small Bergholm group (this shot cost me $5...I bribed Dexter to smile and then Wes didn't) the whole group, friends and all.~

The mom/sister/girly types hit the mall afterward (to all of us over 18's displeasure). Shopping in a mall isn't as fun and wonderful as it used to be. We left the hard-core mallsters and went to Old Navy instead. Much more my speed. Then, it was off to the Distribution Center and Deseret Book to finish getting Braxton all his baptism gifts. Holly and I scored big Braxton points (the more points you get the more Braxton likes you...I'm pretty sure Holly and I are now his favorite aunts) with a leather soccer scripture case. It's freakin' rad and the second we walked into the store it screamed Braxton's name to us. It's true. We heard it all the way across the store.

~The mom/sister/girly types.~

I digress. After that, my tummy started feeling, um, not right. That yucky feel ended up lasting two days. I was up all night...doing a little soul searching...on the porceilan throne. That's all I'll say. Also up that night was Brett. Flu-ish symptoms. That morning Wesley and Dexter and Heather felt it. That afternoon, Braxton and Holly joined our fun. It wasn't really fun. Dexter projectile vomited on me and Heather. This is where I'll enter my "I told you so" to Heather. I saw it coming but she insisted that he wasn't pale like he had been when he had tossed his cookies earlier. Pale schmale.

My great buddy Ashly braved the quarantined area to come visit me Sunday night. I miss her. We laugh a lot together. She introduced me to my husband so I'll love her forever even if I didn't like her so much.

The good news is that my kids escaped from Utah unscathed, or at least with all their cookies un-tossed. Our Monday ride home was uneventful, unless you want to count the constant rain/snow all the way to Cedar City. We made it. We're whole and next time only half my kids are invited.

Before Birch Bay

So...I took a lot of pictures on our trip. Some may say I have a problem. I fail to concur. It is, however, a bit daunting to look at them all and wonder how in the world to blog about all the memorable memories that were had in those two weeks. Just posting what I'm about to is barely going to make a dent. But, as we all know, I'm pretty decent at denting things (i.e. cars). So I guess the only way to attack these 1120 pictures is head on.


Callahan's slide. Easily the Royal City hit for my spawn. I rather enjoyed not stressing about near drownings since the water was shallow and Abby wouldn't go more than a foot from shore. There were only two tragedies, Kylie picking on Courtney who, in return, gave Kylie the worst bloody nose I have ever EVER seen. And Preston hauling booty down the slide and biting it at the last possible moment so that his orbital bone hit concrete at full speed. His black eye looked pretty rad though.


Scenes from the homefront. Can you spot Courtney's guns, Matt's non-double chin, Carson talking to his absent father, Abby and Roxy on a stroller walk, Grandma with a bunch of babies, and Matt with an oh-so-pathetic-I-have-strep-throat-and-have-to-help-with-cherry-harvest-and-there's-nothing-to-eat-in-the-fridge look.


If you look up the phrase "two peas in a pod" there is a picture of these two girlies. Two plus weeks of togetherness and NOT ONE FIGHT!


Nothing says "small town U.S.A." like a community parade. Let's play "I spy" again shall we? Can you spot the skateboarding apple (who was my high school softball coach), a politician campaigning with his sign in a bail of hay, a mariachi band, a 12 year old driving a tractor, a picture of a random car that Brett made me take (I'm sure it has much more significance to people with more testosterone than I), the "Country Charm" Jr. Miss float, and the best looking bunch of kids this side of the Columbia River.

So Very Overwhelmed...

~This is SOOOO where I want to be right now.~

I can't stand not updating my blog. I love it, but sometimes somethings need to be set on the back burner. As much as I would love to sit here and tell you all of my wonderful and dang near perfect vacation to Washington, I just can't justify it. I am required elsewhere. Elsewhere being every room in my house that has to be packed up and moved in less than two weeks.

Where are we moving to? NO IDEA! That's also on my "To Do" list, find a place to live. We have been so blessed to live in this house for the past 3+ years. It has been sold, however, and it's time to move on, no matter how reluctant I am to pack.

Also, on my "To Do" list? Get Preston to and from Scout Day Camp everyday this week. Then send him off to the river with Uncle Cory and Co. Take the kids to movie day on Wednesday and swim day on Friday. I think we'll bypass Beach day, I don't have it in me. I got caught up on laundry yesterday, but I'm behind again. Don't ask me how it happens, I don't know. Then I'll fill out the multiple applications for rental properties and pray that someone is crazy enough to house me, my husband, four kids, two dogs and eight fish. If not, I'm sure I can spare a child or two. Maybe that will up our odds.

I'll ask you to pray for my sanity...it may just get accidentally packed up in a box along the way.

Parental Advisory! This One Is Graphic!

I had to post this before Trevor officially bans me from it. Not that his controlling nature (take a second to laugh that off) would stop me. He's afraid he'll never live this down. While we were in Sac Town, Trevor got to experience something new. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but first a few keywords to warn you. Nose. Hair. Wax.

Amy has a stronger stomach than me.

Cousins that wax together...need professional help.

Trying to pull it himself but chickening out.

Josh steps up.

I bet it stings.

And lastly, you have been warned, it looks yummy!

In case you were wondering, he loves the finished product. And the pain wasn't nearly as bad as he had anticipated. He regrets not having his ears done like David.

Let the mocking commence!

Signed And Sealed...It's Official!

~The happiest baby in the world.~

It was a bit of a whirlwind weekend but one we wouldn't have missed for the world (that's a lot of "W" words). On Thursday Jan. 21st, Dean was officially adopted. We braved (or Cory did) the rain and headed down to San Diego. Cory and Gina let me hitch a ride and once Abby, Will, Wes and Brandon all got in...it was a cozy journey.


~Making it official.~

During our 10 minute stint in the courtroom, I'll admit it, there were tears that I had to fight back. Some were from seeing this whole process finally be finalized and some of those tears fell when I dropped my camera and broke my MFUL (Most Frequently Used Lens). That one hurt. I'm still not over it.


~Standard "Judge" shot and the crew that came out to support them (Rick's Brother took the picture so that I could prove I was there).~

On to the best part of the weekend. Friday, we loaded our brood in our shiny new van and headed up to Sacramento. We love going northward and hanging with all the fun folks there. Grandma Lady was a gracious hostest and our kids loved spending some quality time with her.



Saturday brought more tears. So many family members gathered in the temple to see Dean sealed to his mother and father. So sweet and so special and something I'll never forget. The love was palpable in that sealing room.



Thank you Rick and Sunny for allowing us to be a part of your amazing weekend. We love you and are so happy for you!