Welp, it's fall. And that means I had a craving for family pictures. But when one has a fabulous friend who happens to be a fabulous photographer, it's quite tempting! Thanks so much Nicole Leavitt Photography!
I haven't got the full disc yet, but check out Nicole's blog to see our sneek peek:
{click me! click me!}
Coming soon! - Trevi's 6 month photos
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2011
Father's Fiftieth!
My rad dad turned the big 5-0 on October 5. I decided it was high time to embarrass him for once, (he's infamous for doing this to others) so with the help of LOTS of awesome friends and family members, we were able to surprise him.
First off, we had to get him to a location without him suspecting anything...not an easy task. Since he's the custodian at a school, I decided the easiest plan would be to have his principal call him and tell him there was a water leak in the lunchroom (where the party was at) and he needed to get there ASAP! It was a Friday night, and my dad is also known for not always jumping right to things if it involves the school. (let's be honest, female teachers have a tendency to exaggerate problems that he NEEDS to fix) He does it, but more so on his own schedule...I was NERVOUS to say the least. Mainly because I had a room full of 50+ people waiting on him! Thankfully, Susan, his GF :), had a very smooth plan and told him they were going to dinner at 6 (party time) and on the way out the door, he got the frantic phone call and she urged him to fix the problem before they went to eat. And well....SURPRISE!!!
The party was a big success and I finally remembered to take some pictures towards the end. Like I said, I was a nervous wreck the whole time, but by the end my hands stopped shaking and I could breathe normally again. :)
October 5,1961
- Navi & Trevi
-Laci
-Laci
-Laci
-Laci
-Allie
-Allie
-Allie
-Allie
-Allie
-Allie
-Allie
-Allie
-Allie
-Bekka
-Bekka
-Bekka
-Bekka
-Bekka
-Bekka
-Bekka
-Bekka
-Cade
-Cade
-Cade
-Cade
-Cade
-Cade
-Cade
-Cade
-Laci
-Laci(they were all mixed up while hanging...but you get the idea)
First off, we had to get him to a location without him suspecting anything...not an easy task. Since he's the custodian at a school, I decided the easiest plan would be to have his principal call him and tell him there was a water leak in the lunchroom (where the party was at) and he needed to get there ASAP! It was a Friday night, and my dad is also known for not always jumping right to things if it involves the school. (let's be honest, female teachers have a tendency to exaggerate problems that he NEEDS to fix) He does it, but more so on his own schedule...I was NERVOUS to say the least. Mainly because I had a room full of 50+ people waiting on him! Thankfully, Susan, his GF :), had a very smooth plan and told him they were going to dinner at 6 (party time) and on the way out the door, he got the frantic phone call and she urged him to fix the problem before they went to eat. And well....SURPRISE!!!
The party was a big success and I finally remembered to take some pictures towards the end. Like I said, I was a nervous wreck the whole time, but by the end my hands stopped shaking and I could breathe normally again. :)
 |
| My Nana is my hero. Far too many reasons to list here, but she is AMAZING. |
 |
| The 50 wall. I put up pictures all throughout his life and along with my siblings (and a few from my girls), we wrote "fifty fun facts about the old fart" |
FIFTY
FUN
FACTS
ABOUT THE OLD
FART:
He was born
He is the 2nd youngest of 9 children
He has 6 sisters and 2 brothers
He was born in Montpelier , ID
He always gives me cheese puffs and cookies
-Navi
He calls me “Chunky Cheese”
-Trevi
He is the best “Lampa” around.
He is the one I run to when Allie or Cade is chasing me
-Navi
He has only babysat me one time...when Mommy was desperate.
-Navi
He would never say no when I wanted to watch “The Little Mermaid” or “Beauty and the Beast”
-Laci
He wears his Santa pajama pants all year long.
- Laci
He taught me to like macaroni and cheese with pork and beans.
-Laci
He is the hardest worker I know.
He would wake me up for school by belly flopping on my bed and send me flying.
-Laci
He is always willing to help whenever I ask.
He let me think he made up the “Band-Aide” song when I was little. Then when I heard my cousin singing it, I said, “Hey! My dad made that up!”
He snores louder than anyone you’ve ever heard. Really.
-Laci
He shared his love of all things Christmas with me
He would attach our sleds to his team of horses and sleigh and pull us around the yard or while feeding cows.
-Laci
He can’t sleep without all of his little pillows
He loves to watch John Wayne movies
One of his pet-peeves is scratched C.D.’s
He loves movie theater popcorn and often asks for someone to go buy some for him
He always has to have is water jug filled.
His favorite ice cream is pralines and cream
One of his favorite foods is soft shelled tacos
He loves Butterfingers, Baby Ruths, and Almond Joys
-Allie
He hates snakes more than anything
His favorite thing to buy at a gas station is Mountain Dew
He’s always craving German Chocolate Cake
He has a nickname for most everyone. Sometimes when I’m referring to someone, I have to stop and think of their real name before my Dad’s nickname for them comes out.
He always finds a way to get his truck stuck. One winter when I was helping him in Amalga, he got his truck stuck in a ditch by a pond. When the guy came the next day to pull him out, he blamed me and said it was his teenage daughter who was still learning how to drive.
He has a huge collection of Christmas books. I always loved when he'd read them to all us kids every night before Christmas.
-Bekka
He likes to set a new "record" each year to see how long he can go into winter without turning the heater on. Last year we made it to Thanksgiving. This year he informed me that he's going to go into December before he touches the thermostat.
-Bekka
Everything I know about animals and farming, I've learned from him.
Don't play board games with him unless you're willing to bend the rules and put up with cheating.
He has his own dictionary of words he's made up over the years. It didn't take me very long to figure out they weren't real words when I'd use them around my friends and get weird looks.
He can be fast asleep on the couch and nothing will wake him up or disturb him, but as soon as you turn his TV channel, he's fully alert.
A big pet-peeve of his is when I miss his calls on my phone, but I swear every time I call his phone, it starts ringing on his nightstand.
He thinks he can go ANYWHERE on his 4-wheeler.
One of his most common quotes:
“Good thing I’m quick and agile at the same time”
He has driven his truck into the same pond more than once.
He can quote any line of “The Outlaw Josey Wales”
He is scared of anything that resembles a snake
He wants a Harley
His favorite TV show is “Sister Wives”
He knows the family tree of every cow in the herd
When you help him herd cows you better know how to translate all his hand motions and/or read his mind.
One of his favorite John Wayne quotes is: “Hurry it up! We’re burnin’ daylight!”
 |
| The birthday boy, himself |
My dad is a jokester and a teaser. He loves to laugh and is good at making other people laugh too. He is the hardest worker I know. He is also tender-hearted. He is sentimental, patient and loving. He is brave and was the rock in our family while my mom was sick and after she has passed away. He is generous and is always willing to help others. He is spiritual and is the one I go to when I have question about church docterine. My dad gave me wonderful childhood memories and is now creating memories as a grandpa with my girls. I love him more than I can explain and I am so grateful I get to be his daughter!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Land of Disney - 2011
Disneyland! We had tons of fun and I will refrain from making this blog into a chapter book but there are enough pictures to make it plenty long...
Right after we walked into the park we saw Snow White. Navi was still in a little bit of shock and was scared to get a picture with her. Our cute Godfrey cousins Payzli and Ayda showed Navi it wasn't scary to get a picture with princesses and that was all it took...
Casuse when Ariel came walking around the corner she all but jumped out of my arms! We watch Ariel at least once a day, and sometimes more, so she is no stranger!
She looks a little scared, but she's really just possessive of her favorite princess!
After seeing Ariel, she was a little braver to go back and see Snow White. Although, she still wanted Mommy to hold her.
Cute Harper Ella. She and Trevi were such good babies the whole trip!
Navi slipped back into scared-diness when we saw Fawn and Tinkerbell. But I think it's mostly cause she was tired and hungry.
Then we found the carousel and the world was at peace again.
Minus the fact that Navi thinks she needs to smile with her eyes closed. It doesn't matter how hard we try to get her to open, she usually just closes them tighter. But in a funny way, it's kind of cute.
And our favorite ride was the new Little Mermaid ride. Although Navi doesn't look very happy, she really did like it and we went on it more than any other.
Thanks to the fast passes and stroller passes, waiting in line wasn't too bad. (ok, and lots of snacks for the girls)
Trevi and Harper were both content to take naps in their strollers. Thank heavens for good babies!
We fondly call this the "Buttars smile".
And one of the highlights of the trip - lunch at Ariel's Grotto with all the princesses! Grandma has the only picture of all the girls with Ariel though, whoops.
Navi loved the bumper car ride because she got to drive all by herself.
And since we were right up front next to the water, we got a bit wet. But Trevi was asleep in her stroller and Navi was a good sport. And Mom got a churro so she was nice too.
Trevi was a bit surprised by the flash on the Toy Story ride. :)
We waited in line to see "Punzel" forEVER. When we got in line it said it would be around 20 minutes. 20 minutes later we were just about to the front of the line and then it quit moving. We couldn't figure out why but by that point we didn't want to leave when we were so close. After another 20 minutes, when we were just about to give up and leave, the line started moving again and we found out it was because there had been a "suspicious looking box" that had been left next to Rapunzel's house. So they had to bring in special dogs and everything to sniff it out. It's probably a good thing that we didn't know all of this before! By the time we finally got in to see her, Navi was tired and ornery, and I don't blame her. But Punzel was really nice and talked to us for quite awhile so it made up for it.
Our Kingston cousins were able to drive down from Bakersfield and meet us for a swim day.
It's amazing how many times Navi can create a goofy smile but they make me laugh every time.
And I can't say enough how good Trevi was. She is our little sweetheart.
How can you not have a fun vacation with these cuties? Yes, Nate too.
Right after we walked into the park we saw Snow White. Navi was still in a little bit of shock and was scared to get a picture with her. Our cute Godfrey cousins Payzli and Ayda showed Navi it wasn't scary to get a picture with princesses and that was all it took...
Casuse when Ariel came walking around the corner she all but jumped out of my arms! We watch Ariel at least once a day, and sometimes more, so she is no stranger!
She looks a little scared, but she's really just possessive of her favorite princess!
After seeing Ariel, she was a little braver to go back and see Snow White. Although, she still wanted Mommy to hold her.
Cute Harper Ella. She and Trevi were such good babies the whole trip!
Navi slipped back into scared-diness when we saw Fawn and Tinkerbell. But I think it's mostly cause she was tired and hungry.
Then we found the carousel and the world was at peace again.
Minus the fact that Navi thinks she needs to smile with her eyes closed. It doesn't matter how hard we try to get her to open, she usually just closes them tighter. But in a funny way, it's kind of cute.
And our favorite ride was the new Little Mermaid ride. Although Navi doesn't look very happy, she really did like it and we went on it more than any other.
Thanks to the fast passes and stroller passes, waiting in line wasn't too bad. (ok, and lots of snacks for the girls)
Trevi and Harper were both content to take naps in their strollers. Thank heavens for good babies!
We fondly call this the "Buttars smile".
And one of the highlights of the trip - lunch at Ariel's Grotto with all the princesses! Grandma has the only picture of all the girls with Ariel though, whoops.
Navi loved the bumper car ride because she got to drive all by herself.
World of Color was awesome! Waiting for it to start for over an hour, was not so awesome, but what can you do?
And since we were right up front next to the water, we got a bit wet. But Trevi was asleep in her stroller and Navi was a good sport. And Mom got a churro so she was nice too.
Trevi was a bit surprised by the flash on the Toy Story ride. :)
We waited in line to see "Punzel" forEVER. When we got in line it said it would be around 20 minutes. 20 minutes later we were just about to the front of the line and then it quit moving. We couldn't figure out why but by that point we didn't want to leave when we were so close. After another 20 minutes, when we were just about to give up and leave, the line started moving again and we found out it was because there had been a "suspicious looking box" that had been left next to Rapunzel's house. So they had to bring in special dogs and everything to sniff it out. It's probably a good thing that we didn't know all of this before! By the time we finally got in to see her, Navi was tired and ornery, and I don't blame her. But Punzel was really nice and talked to us for quite awhile so it made up for it.
THEN came Mommy's favorite people to meet. :) We were walking towards Tower of Terror when Nate started tapping me on the shoulder. I figured it was because Navi was whining and he wanted me to help her so I kind of ignored him. :) Finally he said, "Look!" and pointed a bit behind us showing me Kasey and Vienna from the Bachelor/lette. (yes he noticed them, and sorry Nate but it's funny) I was so bummed that I had ignored him and they had passed us. But luckily when we got over to Tower of Terror they came just a few minutes later. They sat down on one of the ledges and all of the sudden I felt a twinge of braveness and decided I should go over and ask for their picture. On the show, they were always kind of annoying, but seeing them in person was a different story! They were really nice and gracious to get a picture and shook my hand. I really wanted to ask Kasey to show his "guard and protect you heart" tattoo in the pic, but let's face it, my brave limit had been reached. Anyways, they were really nice and it was the closest I've been to a real celebrity...if you can call them that.
Our Kingston cousins were able to drive down from Bakersfield and meet us for a swim day.
It's amazing how many times Navi can create a goofy smile but they make me laugh every time.
And I can't say enough how good Trevi was. She is our little sweetheart.
How can you not have a fun vacation with these cuties? Yes, Nate too.
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