Newport Beach

We went to Newport Beach again this year and this was our best trip so far!  The house we stayed in was so nice and just 1 house off the beach with a view of the ocean (I guess that's what we get when I'm in charge of finding the house!  Haha!)  We were so lucky to have amazing weather...it was warm and clear almost the whole time.  The Steeds came this year so besides the Riekena boys, Austin, G'ma & G'pa, my mom's whole family was there.  It was so fun to hang out with everyone!  We spent everyday at the beach (except for Disneyland day) all day.  It's so nice being right by the house so if anyone needs a snack or a break from the sun we have somewhere to go.  At night we would play games, go for a walk/bikeride down to the pier for ice cream, and just relax.  On the last night the boys went to the Angel's baseball game and the girls had a shopping/dinner night (which would have been much more fun without Paxton!) 

We drove this year to save money (although I'm not convinced it actually saved us anything).  We stayed in Mesquite on Friday night on our way down which was fun because the hotel we stayed at has a great pool so the kids got to swim. On the way back on Saturday we stayed in Vegas at the Treasure Island hotel.  We met up with our old neighbors that live there now for a huge (and expensive) buffet at the Rio.  We wished we would have made it to Vegas earlier in the day because by the time we ate and went to one place we were so tired we just went back to go to bed.  I had a lot of fun things I wanted to do with the kids while we were there so I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to do any of it.  The drive wasn't too bad altogether, though, and the kids did pretty well considering how long it is...I would do it again. 

Anyway, it was such a fun week...you know it's a good vacation when even after 10 days you still don't want to come home!  We miss the beach!

Warning: Picture overload...and I haven't posted the pictures of Disneyland and beach pics from my mom's camera yet so there will be more to come!  :)

Tony and Pax playing football in the beach house.

My cousin Nikki's darling little girl Allie...I love this sweet picture!

Playing in the ocean...of course Macie is the poser!

Tony trying to teach Macie how to body surf.

My little model neice Halle!

Macie and Allie being buried in the sand...they wanted to be mermaids!

These young (and hot!) guys came right in front of us and started throwing a football back & forth...Pax couldn't resist a football being thrown without him being included so he ran right over and demanded to play with them!  This guy was cute and threw it to him a few times!

The Steed Family

Mom & Dad

Sandy, Jason & Makenzie

The Duffys

The Shapiros

The Hutchins

Stephanie, Charli, Nancy, Mom & Sandy

Grandma Thelma with her "girls!"

Pax was an absolute MONSTER during pictures...this is the best I could get of him!

Tony is like a little kid when he's at the beach.  This was our last day and he was trying to build a sandcastle...within 5 minutes there were about 5 random kids that came to "help"...it was funny!

4th of July

A little late posting on this but we had a great 4th of July this year.  I didn't appreciate it being on a random Wednesday since I already have Wednesdays off in a normal week and had to work the next day, but whatever!  We are pretty routine on the 4th, but I love traditions so that's probably why!  We started the morning off by going to the Murray parade.  It was okay, but the group of zombies who were there to advertise for a haunted house were a little obnoxious...it's July people!  I also miss all the floats...those are the best part and it seems they get less and less every year!  The kids loved getting candy, though.

After the parade we all went to lunch at Jason's Deli, then hung around and relaxed for a little while until we went to my parents' house for their annual BBQ.  It was a success as usual with way too much good food and lots of fun.  After we ate we lit some fireworks across the street then when it got dark we watched the Murray fireworks from the hilll across from my parents' house.  This is my favorite holiday and it never disappoints!

Moose did great during the parade...he layed there the whole time and only got excited once when the dog part of the parade passed us by!

Macie with her new American Girl Doll McKenna!

Some of the crew watching fireworks

This is the face Pax would do whenever loud fireworks would go off...he would get so excited!

Dance Pics

Macie's dance studio does spring professional photo shoots of each of the dancers in their costume.  Macie's turned out pretty cute.  It was hard deciding on just a few poses.  These were my favorites, though.

Macie's Spring Dance Recital

Macie had her spring dance recital last week.  They danced to "Let's Go Fly A Kite" and Macie did such a great job.  She actually knew it so well that she kind of rushed it a little, but she did really good.  I am so proud of her!  I have to say, one of the best parts of having a girl is getting to watch dance recitals...I really enjoy them.  I look forward to watching her grow as a dancer!

Macie is on the left end.

Macie's Preschool Graduation

Macie officially graduated from preschool!  It has been such great weather this spring and of course the one day we really needed good (or just non-rainy) weather it downpours all morning!  So we had to move it inside...which was a little crammed.  But the kids did a great job in their program.  I was lucky and got a seat on the floor right in front, Mom stood a few people behind me, and Tony got stuck up on the stairs and couldn't see anything so he eventually just left and went to work.  Each of the kids were assigned a poem from the school year that they had to recite with a partner.  Macie and Tyler did the "Easter Bunny" and did awesome.  Macie knew every word.  She is so good at memorizing things!  The part that got me choked up was when they played the graduation song and put on their cute little graduate hats.  And Miss Lorie said really nice things and got choked up herself.

Paxton was a little stinker (should have left him with a sitter)...so between trying to entertain him and keep him quiet, take pictures, take video, and try to actually enjoy the whole thing, it was a little overwhelming!

Oh, and when we went outside afterwards for refreshments and pictures it was back to being beautiful weather!  :)

Macie receiving her "diploma"

That little monster on the left is Pax...most of the time he's a sweetheart...but not that morning!  His face says exactly how his attitude was!

Teacher/Grandpa Avery, Macie, and Miss Lorie

Turns out Tyler AND Dallas are planning on marrying Macie!  Cute little preschool crushes!

Macie and Dallas

All the kids made pictures of themselves for the wall.  So cute!

I have been amazed at how much Macie has learned over the last 2 years in preschool.  She is so smart and has learned things that I would have never thought to teach her at home.  Preschool is really so important...she is so prepared for Kindergarten.  I can't wait to see how much she continues to learn and grow throughout her school years ahead.  I know I'm going to be blogging about her high school and college graduations before I know it!