in the beginning

ok. so here i am again trying to back track the last year or so. mostly i'm just going to put on vactions so ppl can see. so lets start with going to sacramento last july. we went to see my sisters and to get away from my busy life. we also went to go see the strauss festival that i danced in while i was in high school. so here's some of the pictures from that. while we were there my sister took us to a library by their house and they had a sing-a-long that was going on. so the kids had a great time. (and once again i'm not sure how to make the pictures go with the words....soo..see the pictures above. )

ok...so i think i kinda have an idea of how to put the pictures in now. they still don't look very good. so anyways.. we also went to a marathon?...half marathon?... something my 2 sisters were running in and a bunch of ppl we know from sacramento. i drove my mom, the kids, and i to the finish line because i'm not a runner. it was a run to support the alzhimers ass. and a lot of the ppl i knew ran in it to support the jensen family. diane jensen directed all teh stake plays i was in. she also was the cheoragrapher for strauss festival i was in, dance festivals, and roadshows. so pretyy much....she put on my life. everything she did i was in. i love her very much. anyways 5 years ago she found out she had alzhimers. more to come on her.... just 2 weeks ago she passed away and i went to her funernal. but that's for another blog day. so here's the pictures for the race.

nick and kate and brother in law ken (cherie's husband) after the race

this is the lewis family




this is ryan lewis and brian falkner and brian's daughter.

just after the half marathon cherie, ken, and the kids.


cherie and ken crossing over the finish line...they're behide the lady eating. :(

laina eating a cookie that was almost as big as her head. and she ate the whole thing

this is cameron fisher and kate and cherie

this boyd and diane jensen. they came to my wedding and they boyd took my pictures. this was the last time i got to see diane. even though she couldn't remember me it was so great to see her.

every time we go to sacramento we have to stop at my fav. ice cream shop in the world. leatherby's. so here we are eating our yummy ice cream.

lex only took one bite and said he was done.. it was $6...never again. :P

elaina very much enjoyed this trip.

clockwise: mom, lex, cherie, camille, ben, rachel, sarah, elizabeth, ken, i think bryan?, and andrew.

then it was off to strauss island in elk grove, ca. i love going to strauss. it's just a bunch of dancing telling a story through dance. one year we did cinderella, another year we did clock figures coming to life and falling in love, and this year was about a carnival coming to town and 2 ppl meeting and falling in love. sooo..her's the pictures for that and i think i have a video too i'll put on.

this is the zimmerman's. they're the ones that started the strauss festival when they took a trip abround and saw it being done. so they started in elk grove and it's been going on for i believe about 15 years now.



some pictures of them dancing.

before the preformance the dancers walk around in the auditance. this is cheyrl my sister's sister in law and jon...he used to be one of my old partners i danced with.

this is everyone watching. ppl bring blankets and folding chairs to sit on and they all sit around the island the dancers are on. it's a really pretty place. i wish i took pictures of the surrounding area when it was still light out. soo..left to right... top: nick, cherie (waving), my mom, and ken. bottom: elizabeth, camille, a friend?, nathalie, and kate.

this is of them dancing and my friend nathalie. i danced in strauss with her also and she was my best friend going up. i just love that girl. :)

this is of a singer they had that year. he was excellent! it will show the 2 ppl that fellin love going on a boat ride while he's singing to them. anyways... i love strauss and i wish i loved closer so i could still dance in it.

we also went to a waterpark while we were there. it was tons of fun and it was free!!! in california they just have parks with water play areas. lex loved it!!!

lex running through the water with cousin elizabeth behide him.

elaina (crawling) aunt camille, ben, and rachel (camille's kids)

lex going through again.


all the kids are standing on water spouts trying to keep the water from coming up.


laina having a great time. :) she didn't like the water spraying at her though.

this is ben screaming at the water coming up because the kids stopped plugging it up.

this is cousin nick. he LOVES to play in dirt. so he found a mud hole and had at it.

these are pictures of another libray we went to where they had musical instruments from all over the world that the kids got to play.

rachel playing the banjo

a bunch of kids playing instruments. rachel's in teh pink shirt and lex is the short one. :)

close up of rachel

rockin out. lex had the biggest smile on his face the whole time he was up there.

elizabeth was the first one called up to help. she's playing this dancing guy that tap dances.

the day before we left we took a trip to see the sacramento temple. i had never seen it before. it was really pretty. the thing the kids thought was really cool is they could go in to use the bathroom. lol. they were all very cute when they walked in with their arms folded and didn't say a word. and that's saying something for lex. :)

cherie, the kids, and i

elizabeth, laina, and kate at the temple! :)

this is a video i found that i took at cherie's house. lex and elaina loved being there. for 2 weeks after this trip lex kept asking to go back to aunt cherie's house. and i'm sorry in advanced to my mom for filming her and then putting it on here. :)