Brock's Salt Lake City Visit...

I am a little more than behind on blogging; Brock's visit was two weekends ago, and I am just now getting to it. I apologize. We had so much fun, but we never have enough time - so we packed everything we could think of in four days. Lagoon (the amusement park in Salt Lake) was one of the highlights - all the other highlights will have to be stored in our memories as I didn't take any other pictures. Oh, such a bad sister!

I insisted that we play the "Horse Racing" game; Brock won.

And we got airbrushed tatoos. I acutally had one lady ask me if mine was real... she said that the purple color of the monkey was exactly what she had been looking for... ummm... OK?

JJ loves to play games, and more often than not, he wins! We give the prizes away to little kids - I love to see the look on their faces when they get a toy.

Brock's Visit... (cont.)

I wait and wait, and most often, not very patiently, for my brother to come down and cut my hair! Oh, the luxury!

Brock and I found a yummy looking pancake mix (and it truly was delicious), so we tried it out Saturday morning.

And being the wackos that we are, we had to arrange the ingredients with our new favorite pancake mix front and center so that we could get a good picture.

Lazy Lake Days...

JJ and I are so blessed because each year in July we get to take a long (and usually much needed) vacation in Washington for two weeks, just to relax and hang out with our families. Last year was the exception. JJ was not able to go because he was in Kyrgyzstan, so this year we lived it up. Although we spent most of our days on Loon Lake at my parents' home, we also were able to travel further north to Priest Lake for five days, to play with his family on an awsome island in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately, we do not have one picture from Priest, as I forgot my camera :0( I hope these pictures make up for it - in true "Erin" fashion, I do not blog forever and then post one huge one... Here it is!

The puppies love the peddle boat and anything else lake-related!

Cousin Mac, me and Cousin Oliver in the hot tub goofing.

Cousins Mark, Oliver and Scott with good friend Andy (in the flourescent shorts) spent many an hour playing our "redneck" game called "Washers". I think we even kept the next door neighbors up late one night - my dad hooked up a flood light in the tree. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time...!

Our once yearly "floatilla"; what is that, you ask? Well, each person has a floatie of some sort, then we form a line, each person hanging on to the person in front of them and we paddle around the lake (really we just paddle in little circles) with one person leading.

And the person in charge??? Brock, our captain (also the one who had to pull everyone else since he drew the short straw for the lead position)! Check out those buns of steel holding that flag up! Needless to say, we did a lot of laughing and not much else during our annual floatilla.

Husband and wife, hanging out in the boat, having a great time!

Lazy Lake Days... (cont.)

The puppies really can be sweet when they are getting along... ha, ha! They are truly the best of friends!

OK, I admit: we eat well at the lake. Cousin Oliver, Brock, Aunt Martha and JJ having a bite.

Grandpa Wendell and Dad were chatting on the deck.






Cousin Mac and Aunt Marty giving a private concert.








Naps are definitely in order at the lake.

I love this picture! Two sisters noodling about the lake.

And of course, my hubby. God love him - he is so silly!

Lazy Lake Days... (cont.)

This year, JJ and I were fortunate to have our good friends, John and Marisa Christensen, with their two kids, Braden and Sierra, join us at the lake for five days. We had a great time with them hanging out, swimming, boating and fishing. This was their first time to Washington and although the drive was long (12 hours with two six year olds! Yipes!), they decided that it was well worth it.

The picture for the family Christmas card! Ha, ha!






Dad and son catching some fish. (Thankfully we were not dependent upon them for dinner - I heard that sunfish taste awful!)

Cute little Sierra.

John drove the boat while I went skiing - thanks, buddy!

Lazy Lake Days... (cont.)

John and Sierra with a BIG catch!





JJ and Sierra flagging while Braden was being pulled behind the boat in a tube. Fun!

Sierra and Braden are ready to head out in "Grandpa Jerry's" boat.

The Christensen's cruisin' the lake in the peddle boat.

Lazy Lake Days... (cont.)

Brock and Aunt Martha relaxing on the deck.





Uncle Rick and my dad drinkin' beer. It really is funny for me to see my parents drink now - they never did when I was growing up. (Well, I should say that I never saw them drink :0)





Working on my tan.

These are my mom's new "lake birds", Alaska and Amber (coincidentally my dad's favorite beer - do I sense a theme to these lake days???)

Mouse Ears and Sunshine...

For those of you who know my family well, you know that our very most favorite place on earth (next, of course, to the cabin on Loon Lake) is Disneyland. JJ and I went there for our honeymoon a year and half ago, and since then, we have talked, as a family, about going back. So, this past Christmas, in lieu of gift giving, we all pooled our money for a trip to Disneyland. Thanks to Molly, our resident travel agent, and my husband's awsome military discount, we were all able to go this past week for four of the most enjoyable days I think I have ever spent with my family. In addition to JJ and Maya, once our two newest family members, Brock brought along his new beau, Vince, who completed our "family". What a time we all had!!!

Our now extended version of the old "Matthews' Family".

"Ed and Mil" in front of It's a Small World - one of my very most favorite pictures of the two of them.

Vince and Brock in Tommorrowland... We had such a good time with Vince, and I believe that he is reflecting the same sentiment about us, too. Whew! What a relief! Our family can get a little crazy sometimes, especially on vacation.

JJ, the group clown, tried on every hat he could find. Brock and Vince however, needed a bit of convincing for me to get this pic! Thanks, guys! You look great!

JJ and I sporting our "Pirate" Mickey Ears. It's hard to tell, but JJ's ears even have a gold hoop earring on one side, just like a real-live pirate!

Disneyland (cont.)...

The first day that we were at the parks, we attended the "Princess Luncheon" at Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure, thanks to Uncle Brock, who made all the reservations. Maya looked so cute in her "Fairy Princess" dress that Brock bought her; she was much too young to really appreciate what was going on around her, so I guess we could say that it was more of an adult indulgence on behalf of our little princess. So fun!

Waiting to go into Disneyland and California Adventure, we took LOTS of pictures of Maya in her new outfit. She was such a trooper, and didn't fuss once when we put layers of clothes on her, followed by her dress... Once again, this was much more fun for the adults than for her. :0)

Although I am sure she did not appreciate being plopped in a stranger's arms, she did not make a peep while we got pictures of her with the Little Mermaid, Ariel.



Uncle Brock and Maya with Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.

Needless to say, by the time the fourth and last princess, Cinderella, glided by our table, Maya had had enough. She was hungry and ready for a nap, which equated to a bit of a cranky child. We figured that Uncle Brock could stand in for her, which was appropriate considering that this enjoyable lunch was all his idea. Thanks, Brother!

Disneyland (cont.)...

JJ and I at my favorite place on earth!



Miss Maya wearing "Auntie Sissy's" mouse ears.

Playing dress-up after riding "It's a Small World". Not traditionally my favorite Disneyland ride, but with Maya riding along, it became truly magical.

This picture was taken as we were saying goodbye... After lots of hugs and a few tears (OK, really, I cried all the way home - ask JJ), we decided that this had been the very best family vacation ever!!!