I wish, I wish

Stella is my little friend.  Her mom is one of my closest friends in the ward and my neighbor on the block we live.  Every so often I get the chance to babysit Stella.  She is such a sweet little three year old and SO girly.  Basically she is the perfect little buddy for me!

The other day when she came over she brought a whole bag full of nail polish.  She was so excited to use it...please note the long dribble on my big toe!

I sat back just laughing and loving how much fun it is to be surrounded by such joy for life.  I miss that now that I'm not teaching.

Hopefully someday Dallas and I will be able to have our own little "Stella", a little buddy to paint toe nails with, sing Disney princess songs with, giggle, and read books to.

I wish...I wish...

Perkins Family Reunion

Like I mentioned in the previous post, I was waiting to write about the Whitt and Perkins side so Dallas could participate in the blogging, but with his insane schedule I think I'm on my own.

Can I just quickly say how blessed I am to have married into such great families!? My in-laws are incredible and have done everything possible to make me feel welcomed into the family.  They are fun, loving, hilarious, and unbelievably generous.  There is only one that I do not get along with too well...Kelly, but I can't hold it against her since she's a dog and I'm allergic :)

After the Whitt family reunion up at Bear Lake, we drove to Casper to meet up with the Perkins.  After spending a calm night doing laundry and trying to recover from one family reunion, we drove down to Alcova Lake for three days of boating, playing games, eating, and laying out in the sun.

Ashleigh was being shy for the camera with no make up on.  I kept telling her she looks gorgeous regardless!  We are so excited for her and Robbie.  They are pregnant and due in February, the first grandchild in their family.

Kristie and Drew took advantage of the gorgeous deck overlooking the lake.  It was perfect for a relaxing nap.

Grandma Marline joined us for our time at the lake.  She is such a sweetheart!  Robbie showed off his wakeboarding skills.

After three days at the lake, we all drove 6 hours to Alpine, WY, which is about an hour south of Jackson Hole.  When we got to Alpine we took a gravel road for an additional 30 miles out into the middle of nowhere.  I seriously thought we were lost, but we eventually found the "Box Y Ranch" where we stayed an additional three nights.  

I have to admit at first I was a little overwhelmed by all of the stuffed animals.  The owners are professional hunters and have won several awards, so there were displays everywhere.  It was such a funny feeling coming from San Francisco to Wyoming...they are very different!

The ranch was made up of several different cabins and then a main cabins where they cooked the meals for us.  We each got our own cabins.  It was such a cool experience staying here.  The cabin was very nice inside, great beds, nice showers.  There wasn't electricity unless you were in the main cabin, so they had gas lamps that they lit at night.  The food was amazing; good hearty home-cooked meals.

Drew borrowed 3 ATVs and a dirt bike from one of his colleagues and we had a BLAST using them.  We would spend almost the whole day out exploring different trails.  It was absolutely gorgeous looking out into valleys covered in beautiful trees and not seeing a single person around.

Like father, like son!  Drew and Dallas loved the dirt bikes and luckily there were no accidents!  After riding to the top of one of the surrounding mountains we decided that we needed to show off our gang symbols...yeah we felt real cool...

I couldn't get over how beautiful everything was.  I left thinking that maybe I would be ok with moving to Wyoming someday, I just don't know how I would be able to leave the ocean behind.  I wish the pictures did the scenery justice!

We had so much fun with the Perkins family!

Thank you, Drew and Kristie for setting all of this up.  We love you both so much and are so grateful for such amazing parents!

Whitt Family Reunion

I've been waiting to post about the Whitt and Perkins family reunions in hopes that Dallas would participate in the blogging effort, but with his busy work schedule I am thinking that is NOT going to be happening anytime soon.  He is working so hard and is currently on a client in Carson City, NV so he has been spending the weeks there and then flying home for the weekends. 

I figured he wouldn't mind if I did the writing and caught things up a bit.

The first week of August Dallas and I drove out to Bear Lake, Utah, which is just north of Logan, for the Whitt family reunion.  I have to admit that I was really nervous spending an entire week with so many people that I hardly knew.  Dallas kept reassuring me that I was going to love them and they love me, but my nerves were still getting the best of me when we drove up to the gorgeous lodge.

Within a few minutes I realized that Dallas was totally right and I had NOTHING to worry about!  The Whitt Family is made up of some of the most hilarious, loving, and spunky people I have ever met.  They made me feel right at home as a new addition to the family.  

Dallas's mom, Liz, passed away four years ago and it breaks my heart that I never got to meet her.  It was so good to hear stories about her and the influences she had on those around her.  It gave me a small glimpse into why her son turned out as incredible as he did.  Liz was the oldest of six kids, all of her siblings were able to be there; her sisters Deidre and Kathy, and her brothers Scott, Steve, and Sam.

Grandma and Grandpa Whitt are pretty amazing to put this whole reunion together!

There were lots of fun activities throughout the week.  Grandpa Whitt has quite the collection of guns that he brought, so we all took turns target shooting.

I wasn't too bad!

Bear Lake is not only famous for it's gorgeous blue waters, but for it's most famous Raspberry Shakes.  There was a huge Raspberry Days fair going on while we were there, so the girls went shopping through the different booths for one of the mornings.  

In the afternoon Dallas and I took Grandma down to try one of their famous shakes, which turned out to be pretty darn amazing!

Grandma Eva is pretty impossible not to love.  She is so full of spunk and humor that I couldn't stop laughing around her.  She helped take care of Dallas while he was a little boy and it was so cute to see their connection.

After milk shakes we drove around Bear Lake.  It was a gorgeous day and I could not get over at how beautiful the color was.  It was a perfect opportunity for jumping pictures!

One of the last nights we were there Grandpa got us all tickets to a BBQ and then a melodrama at the Pickleville Playhouse.  It was such a fun night!  The musical was a major hit; I had not laughed that hard in so long.  Dallas was pulled up on stage and showed off his theatrical side.  The food was great and the entertainment was even better!

Outside the playhouse, Uncle Sam and Aunt Tracy's family: Abigail, Michael, Megan, Ryan, and Daniel.

Uncle Jim and Aunt DeeDee's family: Thomas, Jacqueline, and Robert.  Uncle Scott and Aunt Karen's family: Luke, Sarah, and Allison.

Uncle Steve and Aunt Karen's family: Wade and Erin and her husband Nate.  Uncle Lance and Aunt Kathy

Dallas hanging out with Grandpa and Uncle Jim after dinner.  We were waiting out a massive hail storm before entering the playhouse.

We took up the whole first three rows.  The main guy was so funny and there was a lot of improve throughout the evening, which made it that much better.

That last night we were there we had a big bonfire that cousin Daniel built.  He was pretty proud of this considering there had been a big thunderstorm right before!  We all roasted marshmallows and played the Minister's Cat.

I was able to get the best shot of Ryan for his new profile pic on Facebook!  

We had so much fun spending time with the Whitt side of the family.  I loved meeting all my new cousins and getting to know my aunts and uncles better.  I feel truly blessed to have married into such an incredible family!
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!  We sure do love you guys!!