Out of State - Part Two

The second week of our visit to Idaho and Utah was the baby themed week. Fisher's family had three new babies born in a one month period and they were all girls! We were able to see all three nieces/cousins during our visit.

Here is the youngest Halee, only ten days old and look at that smile :) (weird picture of me, but she looks cute). Curly and Lou were obsessed with all the babies and were always wanting to hold them and "help" take care of them. It was cute. Curly is holding Ellie (named for our German grandmother). She is the second oldest niece (by a few days) and Fisher's youngest sister's first baby - which is always so fun! (By the look on her face, I am not sure how much she appreciated Curly's kindness) The oldest niece, Zemira, had to come all the way from Washington to see us - but she made the trip. I know I took a picture of Curly holding her but I must have grabbed a camera that wasn't ours... but here she is with her dad.

I also got to have lunch with two of my best friends from High school, Margie and Ashleigh. My brother commented that he thinks it's cool that I am still close to my friends - I think it's cool too!
Seeing Grandparents and cousins is definitely the highlight of our visits (and the reason we go). Oma patiently let the grand kids help her make these graduation cap treats. I think only a few were gobbled up in the process.

Lou and cousin McKay are only two days apart. They are quite the pair.We were able to spend a special morning with Grandpa and Grandma Woodbury, my Uncle and Aunt, cousin, and my sister and sister-in-law. We met at Grandma's house for a delicious Mother's Day brunch (we all contributed) for Grandma and then helped with a few house and garden chores. Somehow I didn't get a picture, but it was a great morning.

The culminating events of our visit were the Graduation of my brother in law, Ryan, and two baby blessing. He received his Masters in Civil Engineering and then held the blessing of their first daughter on the same day. The following day, Zemira was blessed at a family meeting. Fisher was able to come for these special events and we are so glad we could be there.

No Money

I will get the pictures up from our second week up North soon, but meanwhile, I need to record a funny Lou-ism for all posterity before I forget.

While in Salt Lake we visited our old stomping grounds at University of Utah. My SIL and her daughters were with us and as we were walking home we passed the University Bookstore which is also home of a bank we used to frequent. Curly and Lou love going to the bank (for the suckers) and Lou asked, "Can we go to the bank?"
I said, "No" and she responded "Why?"
I explained, "I don't have any checks to take to the bank."
As we continued walking her two year old cousin began mimicking Lou and asking to go to the bank.
Lou shouted in response, "No! We are not going to the bank!"
When her cousin asked again, she increased her volume to full lung capacity and proclaimed,
"MY MOM DON'T HAVE NO MONEY!!!

Out of State #1

I love Spring time...we don't really have "spring" weather in Phoenix, but I love the nostalgia of Spring, it is a time of so many changes. This spring we had three nieces born into Fisher's family, my brother graduated from BYU and another brother-in-law will graduate from Utah state, both with Master's degrees. I didn't want to miss out on all the exciting family events, so I planned a two week trip to Utah and Idaho. Someone has to work around here, so poor Fisher had to stay home.

My mom took pity on me and volunteered to fly to Phoenix for a short visit before helping me make the long drive to Provo. She came last week. We drove to P-town on Thursday, attended BYU graduation on Friday, shopped with my sister on Saturday :), visited my grandparents for the weekend, spent Sunday evening and night with mom and dad Lake and Lake cousins, had a play-date with old college friends, and headed to Rexburg on Monday...phew. Unfortunately, Spring has not come to Rexburg yet and I didn't bring my coat.

Here are a few pictures of all of our fun!

We picked up Grandma from the airport, hit the zoo, then stopped by Fisher's work. That is his boss posing with us. (Thanks to my mom for all the photos)

Picnic lunch with Grandma

Having fun in warm Arizona - Sprinklers at 7 pm. We went from 90* Phoenix to 40* Rexburg
Lou's pouty face...

We came around the corner of a brown hill and suddenly ... those beautiful Wasatch mountains!

In Provo - Lou and cousin Gracie, modeling galoshes...and only galoshes

Arriving at Grandma W's! We lived here for six years and we love to go visit!

Go Bro! Newest BYU MBA! My sister and I with T-man.

Walking to church. We got to attend our old ward. It was so great to see our friends!

Lou with a dance costume on upside down on the favorite toy at Grandma's

My cute mom

Fashion show for Grandpa

"Riding" the giant pig

We are in Rexburg for the week with cousins Lettie and Gracie visiting too. Then we head back to Utah for a week with family there and more graduations and baby blessings (and Fisher gets to come - YAY!)... more to come later.

Easter Dessert

I forgot to take my camera to the Easter dinner we were invited to at Fisher's boss's home. I wish I would have had it to capture the look of delight and shock on Lou's face whenever she spotted another "hidden" egg. Some new friends (we met there) kindly sent me a few of their photos. We had a delicious outdoor dinner in the beautiful weather and the Easter egg hunt of the century.

We made the bunny cakes behind the pink shoe and I think this picture was taken right before the cute blond girl on the right dug that fork she is holding right into the middle of the cake and took a big bite. It was pretty funny.

Girls + Party + DC = ...

On Monday I returned from the ultimate girls getaway - the location of which probably will never be repeated. With two sisters living in Arlington, VA and working or studying in Washington DC, it was the perfect opportunity for a visit to the east coast. The opportunity became a girls getaway when my mom, aunt, sister, and sister in law decided to go also! So away we went, no kids, no husbands - seven woman on the loose in Washington DC. We stayed in this darling town-home on T street NW in Ledroit Park. The weather prior to our arrival had been rainy and cold, but the sunshine arrived when we did and the blossoms started to emerge during our visit.


As we all had visited DC before, there wasn't pressure to see EVERYTHING so we picked a few favorites and just enjoyed spending time together. My close friend Jill works at the Red Cross and gave us a behind the scenes tour. She also joined us for several outings. My cousins Elsie and Nikki also live in Virginia and joined in on the fun.

Beautiful, original Tiffany windows in Red Cross building

My sister and cousin both work for work for Congressman Herger (CA) and so we went to watch the house in session. We chose a very busy day, the Saturday before the historic Health Care vote. We never made into to watch congress, but we did observe a lot of protesting outside the capitol. It was exciting to see freedom of speech in action...though it didn't actually produce the results the protesters were after.


We also visited the American History Museum, Eastern Market, the Portrait Gallery, and FDR memorial. I think Washington DC is a beautiful city and loved walking its streets and seeing so many symbolic memorials. It felt surreal to be there with so many of my favorite people.

During our visit, my youngest sister turned 20! We celebrated by eating lots of good food (all week). We ate out at some yummy restaurants and ate in with some gourmet chefs (namely Aunt Pika and my mom)

Birthday dinner of delicious German food

I think this picture is funny. My sisters gave my SIL and I late/early b-day/valentine's gifts... I think they just wanted an excuse to buy cute little baby shirts which won't fit either of our children... or they are sending a very direct hint.
On Sunday we enjoyed lunch outside at my sisters house and a barbecue dinner with all our friends and family at the town-home. It was a memorable last evening to a memorable trip that flew by all too quickly.

Monday morning dawned cold and rainy, no doubt the city weeping to see us leave. Spring Break was over. I was able to sit in on my sister's class (she is in the same grad program I did) before leaving for the airport. It was sad to say goodbye too my friend, cousins, aunt, sisters and mom. Lucky for me I had these two and Fisher waiting for me at home.