Oh Canada......and 8 states along the way.

Roadtrip!!!

We had been siking ourselves up for this trip for a long time. Canada is a long way away from Texas, especially with 4 small kids in the car. I can honestly say we had some adventures along the way.

Tatum had no trouble entertaining herself, thus the body artwork done in the early stages of our trip.

Our car broke down in Colorado adding a little extra relaxation to our trip since we were stuck in a hotel with no car to get us around.

We stopped in Utah for a few days visiting good friends and showing our kids our roots at temple square.

Picnicing in Wyoming

Family Reunion in British Columbia, Canada

We finally arrived in Canada-first to Calgary and then another 6 hour drive to our cabin on Shuswap Lake, British Columbia. HEAVEN, even if we are sharing a cabin with almost 50 other family members. Its all about spending time together right?!

Addyson with her cousin Kayla

That is some seriously cold water....seriously!!!

Ethan exploring nature with dragonflies.

Margaret Falls, supposedly you are supposed to be able to walk behind the falls but as you can see that was not the case. But Dave had to try it of course while I bit my nails and freaked out a little.

The kids were prepared to swim in the pool under the waterfall......um sorry kids, that aint happening. It was a great hike and so pretty though.

It looked like a good tree to climb I guess.

Lee Family Talent Show

No Lee family reunion is complete without our Lee Family talent show. Here are just a few our family's talents:

Paige is Justin Bieber's biggest fan and should really get a spot as his backup dancer, she has some pretty sweet moves, not to mention her sidekick Tatum is possibly the cutest backup dancer I have ever seen.

Addyson also did a little Justin Bieber number with her cousins Kayla and McKenna. There was even some rapping thrown into it.

Ethan showing off the stuff he has learned in Karate.

Dave couldn't let the young kids outdance him.

We had a great week at the cabin and enjoyed our time spent with family. The kids don't get to see their cousins in Canada so we were so happy to give them the opportunity to get to know them a little better.

Oregon

On our way home we figured what the heck Oregon is just south of British Columbia lets pay my brother and his family a visit especially since my Dad was visiting at the same time. We miss living in Oregon for sure. Visiting in the summer is hard because it is so perfect but I had to keep reminding myself that the weather is not that nice most of the time and we do really like Texas, just for different reasons. It was so nice to be outside and not dying of heat exhaustion. We took the kids for a hike through the greenest trails they have ever seen.

The kids with Grandpa Peterson.

Family is the best!

It was really hard to leave Oregon and get back to the road but we were excited to sleep in our beds and get back to our schedules. The ride home was rough with everyone getting sick, me getting a kidney stone, and taking the long route home but we made it alive. So many adventures, we would do it again in a heartbeat!

Addyson's 9th Birthday Party

Okay, so it has been a long time since I have sat down and blogged, needless to say that I am a bit behind. The more behind I get the less motivated I am to spend hours posting pictures and journaling about the happenings of our family so I am just going to start with the most recent and maybe I will slowly slip in some old stuff.

So, the most recent news at our house is that our oldest Addyson turned 9 years old! She celebrated her 9th Birthday with a "Spa" Themed party! Months ago when she was planning out her party she told me that she wanted to go to with a bunch of friends to get pedicures and of course the $$$$ was all I could think about- thats like $25 per girl. And where she randomly decided that she wanted to get pedicures I have no clue because the last time we tried that with her she sort of freaked out and refused to let anyone touch her feet?! Anyway, so I decided to have her friends over to our house for a fun night of pampering!

The girls loved the face masks!The cucumbers were Addyson's touch.

Paige was in heaven at Addyson's party- she loved hanging out with all of the older girls and she always digs girly stuff!

Four of the most amazing friends volunteered to help get the girls beautified!

We got the girls all sugared up on cupcakes and a candy buffet and let them loose and party!

All of the girls invited showed to Addyson's party, she has some pretty wonderful friends and was very lucky to be able to celebrate her Birthday with so many friends! Happy 9th Birthday Addyson!

Cruising to Mexico

Just in case I haven't said this enough, We have the greatest group of friends! They are so great, that they were all willing and excited to take 5 days away from jobs and kids to

Par-tay! With 27 kids between 8 couples that was no easy feat but we did it and it was a blast!
5 a.m. the morning of April 17th our amazing friends Earl and Cyndi(the newlyweds) picked us up in what we like to call "The Party Bus". Earl has a bus just laying around to haul people around and what better time to use it then to haul 14 of us down to Galvaston together. We arrived, boarded our boat, had some food, and slept! Exciting, I know, but we needed our energy for the good times to come.

It was the ideal vacation for all of us. We had our hubbies (with no kids) for some great couple time and we had super fun friends to hang out with in between. Dave and I don't always have the same interests but each of us felt free to do what we wanted because we knew that the other always had someone else to hang with.

The girls had a lot of "girl time"

The guys had their "Guy time"

Lots of relaxing, sunbathing, reading, chatting

Late night hot tubbing.
Late night junkfood fests and games.
Good times with Darla at the Karaoke Bar.
Dancing, even those who don't dance- they danced:)
Getting dressed up and eating nice dinners.
All the girls on Formal night
And the men!

The first stop was Progresso, Mexico.

Dave is not much of a sunbathing type of guy, as you can see by his ghostly glow. So, he opted to skip the beach and check out the Ruins at Uxmal with the Newlyweds, Justin, and Andrew.

When we went to Progresso on our last trip we visited the Chichinitza Ruins, which was very cool but we weren't allowed to climb the pyramids- not cool. At Uxmal they were able to, I was a little jealous.

Justin, is the photographer of the crew. He took some amazing pictures.

While they were hiking around the ruins in sweltering heat the rest of us were enjoying some sun and sand on a private beach. We played a little sand volleyball, got massages, and swam in the ocean.

It is a good thing that we had an ex spanish teacher in our group to do the negotiating. Dave T. was able to get us a screaming deal for the private beach- Raul was our guide who hooked us up with transportation to and from the beach and he even threw in some ice cold Cokes. We learned a lot from him and about him and he even invited us to his home on our next visit:)

Second stop- Cozumel, Mexico

We chose to do an excursion that involved rock climbing, repelling, zip lining, and snorkeling. It was a great excursion for me- that stuff makes me feel so alive! I loved it!

Dorky picture but I love it!

Enjoying the sunset on our last night. We even saw dolphins leaping in the water.

Our last day at sea we had a big scare when the captain saw a lone buoy in the water a little late and took a VERY sharp turn which caused the boat to tilt quite significantly sending everyone into Titanic mode. There were people screaming "we're sinking"! We even had friends who were standing at the edge of the ship contemplating jumping! I would be lying if I said that it didn't scare me but alas we lived to tell about it:)

The aftermath in the cafeteria. I lost my mongolian grill- dangit!

On our way to the shuttle from the pier we noticed camera crews trying to get stories about "the tilt" so of course some of us couldn't resist getting in front of the camera and telling the most dramatic story possible. Unfortunately the camera crews later interviewed children, which of course trumped our story.

We really missed our kids and were excited to get back to them but it was definitely hard to re adjust ourselves back to working and running and stress. I just wanted to lie down and take a nap. I realized a couple of things while on this trip: 1. I really can be a fun and adventurous person when I am not stressed 2: I am not as old as I feel 3: I am very very lucky to have been able to go on this trip. We made some of the best memories and got even closer. A bi-annual couples trip just may be our new tradition.

Paige turns 3!

Can you hear my heartbreaking? My baby Paige turned 3 last week, she is getting so big and so smart. It seems like after they turn 3 they get grown up really fast! Not to mention year # 3 has been the hardest with my older two. So, needless to say I am sad. Her Birthday really snuck up on me because I think I was in cruise mode for so long so I didn't get to do as much for her as I would have liked but I think that she had a Great Birthday.

She was so excited when she woke up and found the house decorated for her Birthday. All day long when we were out she kept asking when we were going to go home to her party.

Ready for her day of fun with mom.

I took Paige to the mall where we went to Build-a-Bear and she got herself a doggy with an outfit(which I think she took off like an hour later, guess she doesn't like the clothes on her animals). I also took her to the Disney Store where she could spend her Birthday $ from Grandma. We had lunch and headed home, she had an exhausting day:)

That evening we celebrated as a family by singing Happy Birthday and having cake and ice cream. Grandma came over bearing gifts too.

I loved sharing the day with Paige and spoiling her rotten. It was really fun to just forget about all of the stuff that I had to do and just focus on making her day really fun and memorable. Paige is such a sweet girl who is pretty perfect when she is getting lots of attention. Paige is a blessing to our family and I love the personality and fun that she brings to our house. We Love you!