California in October

We went out to California for the weekend for Peter and Donna's wedding and got some serious cousin time! And beach time! 

My mom bought all these goofy animal noses, which were a major hit.

 And then we went to the beach, and it was still warm enough to swim! My major motivation behind this was that I have been married to Jason for 8 years and he has still never attended a proper beach bonfire. Beach bonfires were a major part of my teen years, and it's nearly blasphemous that he has never been to one! So we got all the fixin's for a bonfire and we went!

Finally it was time to go. Tanner still refused to take off his cheetah nose (thanks, Nana!), so he got to take it home.

And here we all are, saying goodbye to the palm trees sun and parents in California. Until next time, folks!

Peter and Donna's wedding

The last Keithly kid finally got married! Peter married Donna on October 1st, 2016, and the wedding ceremony was beautiful! From our viewpoint, we could see Peter and Donna making their vows over a stunning waterfall (hard to see in the picture), over a plant-covered pergola. SUCH a nice venue!

It was so fun to have the family all together! Here are a few pictures we got from the event:

Donna, the bride, looked so beautiful! Peter really got lucky!

Donna and my mom

Peter looked so happy!

Peter and siblings: (L-R) Kenneth, Scott, Natalie, Peter, Donna, David, Karina

Dad's got it made in the shade.

As do Tanner and Sam. The fans were a nice touch, as it was pretty hot that day.

The adorable (*and only*) granddaughter, Lily

Scott and Ken

My little rascals

Ken and Tiff, et al

Natalie (p.s. I tried on that dress first!)

This one of Natalie and Max is super-cute!

We had a fantastic time with the family in California, and I'll blog soon about the other fun things we did while there.

Ensenada, Mexico Cruise

I cannot believe how much fun it is to go on a "booze-less" cruise with my two besties (Mom and Natalie) for a weekend! This was my first cruise ever, and I would LOVE to make it an annual experience!

Natalie, me, and mom with our toes facing the Long Beach Harbor before departure

Landing in Mexico! Here's our Carnival Cruise ship

There were several excursions but we were only in port for a day, so we chose to blow all our money on cheap Mexican goods and trinkets from all the shops.

I can never get over how beautiful sunsets over the water are!

Cool swan ice sculpture, that I took, like, 20 pictures of for some reason, and then deleted all but this one. Because really? Who hasn't seen a swan ice sculpture? In case you haven't though, here's one!

We ate and ate and ATE!! And I didn't get sick once, even being 13 weeks pregnant! This is me dancing next to one of the serving staff at dinner. Because that's the kind of thing you do on a cruise, apparently. There's no shame in making a fool out of yourself. And trust me, we encountered enough drunk people to know that this is a FACT of weekend cruises to Mexico.

I got this text when I finally get cell service again. Jason took the boys to the Old Settler's Day parade (my favorite parade of the year, right here in Olathe!). Looks like they survived just fine without me.

Nana bought Tanner a Carnival Cruise Ship lego set, which of course, he loved to assemble.

Tanner's an Artist

I like to think of myself as the artist in the family. But lately, in the art department, Tanner is taking the cake! Here are a few of his recent pieces:

1. Fire Truck

2. Police Car

3. Pirate Ship (called Pooll)

4. Star Wars 

(Darth Vader in the middle, and other invented robots throughout)

Nothin' like Mama's cooking

Recently we got to feed the Elders dinner. We try and feed them once a month because we like having them in our homes, and we like to give them near-impossible challenges such as: (1) Make sure the lesson somehow relates to pirate kings. or (2) Can you find a way to compare the Atonement to trains and teach our kids about it? Somehow they always rise to the challenge and it is inspiring (and entertaining) to hear what they come up with.

We had a special Elder who helped us to move a few months back so we decided it was time to thank him properly. His companion had already been transferred, but Elder Roberts has been in our ward for several months. We were hanging out on the driveway one afternoon, playing with sidewalk chalk and swatting at mosquitoes when the Elders drove by our house and stopped to talk for a few minutes. I asked them what they wanted for dinner in a few days, and of course they had no preference. So then I asked them what was their favorite recipe from home. Elder Roberts told me it was his mom's Hawaiian Haystacks, and the special Top Secret chocolate cake recipe that has never left the family. 

So then I asked for his mom's phone number so I could get the recipes.  She was happy to oblige, and even gave me the Top Secret chocolate cake recipe!

Here is a picture of the Elders eating dinner. I know 18-20 year old boys can eat. But MAN, did Elder Roberts EAT! We actually had no leftovers of the dinner, but we had some cake left so we sent it home with him. Tanner still hasn't forgiven me for this act of charity, but nevertheless, it was not our cake to keep. And it made someone happy. Thanks for all you do, Elders!

School Kids

School started for us, and it was a BIG deal this year. First off, because I REALLY needed it to happen when it did. Because every day was starting to look like this:

1st School Kid: Tanner

Age: 5

Grade: Kindergarten

This was the First Day of School breakfast. French toast with whipped cream!

Tanner has been so excited to start Kindergarten! He met his teacher at Back to School night (ice cream social), and he has two friends in his class that he already knows.

2nd School Kid: Sam

Age: 3

Grade: Preschool

Sam was so excited to start preschool, he simply could not celebrate with Tanner on his first day because he wanted it to be his first day as well, instead of having to wait 24 WHOLE HOURS for his own First Day celebration. The look on his face says it all as we were getting ready to drive him to his first day of school.

3rd School Kid: Karina!

Age: Is this question relevant? OK, I'm 31.

Grade: Post-Grad

It may not seem like a big deal to many, but I was SOOO excited for my first day to take a class of my choosing! With both kids in school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I simply could not pass up the chance to go myself! I am taking a music theory course at the local community college.

4th Kid (Not a school kid): Jason

Age: 33

Grade: Does it matter because he is working hard to support our family! And yes, I forced him to make this face. Because it makes me laugh.