San Francisco

for the first couple days rivers and i were on our own. we had a great time exploring the big city, and conquering the steep hills, just the two of us.

we really prepared ourselves so when tammy, emma, and my mom arrived we could play as tour guides. (okay not really. monica got off work and like always, was the funnest tour guide around). 

then we ran into some familiar faces at bubba gump shrimp: rivers meets his uncle ryan, aunt julia, and his cute cousin emi. 

rivers absolutely loved spending time with his two sweet aunts and grandma sharon. (btw isn't the newest member in our family adorable? emma is a sweetheart).

i love spending time with my sisters. they are the best!

the storm hit when we reached the bridge. but tammy and i had fun weathering it together. . . just gotta' prove: "we were there." 

thank you auntie monica! we had the most marvelous time! 

grandma sharon & grandpa ted

rivers had an excellent time visiting grandma sharon and grandpa ted (he even had a bonus and got to meet uncle troy and aunt laura - whom i believe he is secretly in love with. he was all giggles and smiles for that pretty lady :) rivers loved dancing with grandma sharon. every chance they got they would dance. she taught him all kinds of moves. and he even earned a dancing name: "thunder down under" (not exactly the type of dance group i hope he'll look up to. but the name did seem appropriate.)  he loved hanging out with grandpa ted. they watched the news together and chatted for long periods of time about anything rivers could think up. fonzie fell madly in love with rivers. every time we would step out of the house, fonzie came running and would sit down sweetly to examine the miniature person. we all took long evening walks together each night, and went to movies at price's high class theaters. yes, rivers definitely got to get a small taste of some of my favorite memories from growing up.

grandma melba

during our time in utah, rivers got to hang out with grandma melba. since the tough times last winter, grandma moved to a place in price to be near my mom and dad. it works out great for visiting. everyday rivers and i were able to stop by and visit. we went to lunch a number of times, escorted grandma to sacrament meeting, chatted with all the ladies playing bingo, and visited frank - the lonely, kind man who sits in the same rocker all day everyday. rivers seemed to follow grandma's lead and brighten everyone's day. rivers loved visiting grandma. he loved dancing for her, playing peek-a-boo with her, attempting to touch her puffy white hair, but mostly he liked eating his hands for her. this picture of the two of them means the world to me.

auntie

during my years in hawaii, i loved hearing all the locals refer to their beloved elders (regardless of relation) as auntie or uncle. assuming this tradition in our family, my wonderful friend will now be named "auntie kalista." auntie kalista, her kind husband james, and their adorable daughter addi drove way out of their way (on their long trip across the country) to come visit baby rivers. with them they brought authentic australian gifts and a hand made quilt for little rivers. we enjoyed walking through my favorite park and eating vegan burgers at the northstar cafe. afterwards we took pictures in the parking lot, while our husbands chatted with drunk men who wanted to commit suicide. then we came home, looked at photos (while kalista attempted to teach me some basic skills of photoshop - which i think are incredible - thank you kalista) and james and ben chased addi and canberra around the house while rivers snoozed snugly in his bed. the little family then stayed the night, and enjoyed a pancake breakfast before taking off to our nations capital city. thanks so much for the incredible visit! 

zoo

grandma and grandpa take rivers to the zoo

hanging out with grandma sharon. . . so many good times ahead for these two.

all the mommas and all the babies.

rivers had a big day. by the end we were fresh out of clothes. so lucky him, he went home in his underwear.

columbus has one of the most incredible zoos. last year it was ranked the number one zoo in america, and i can see why. we had such a marvelous time there. we saw so many incredible animals, and we only got through asia, africa and australia. there are so many more places yet to see, so we're making plans to go back.

sisters

it's an incredible thing to have sisters as great as mine. we're all best friends. each with our own distinct personality but each with so much light and love for life and each other. it seems the older we get the closer we become. i love hanging out with them. whether we're hitting the slopes at alta or sitting in the front room at midnight - laughing about anything and everything - we're having fun. i'm constantly amazed at the support group God has given me for life. i wouldn't trade anyone for anything. thanks girls, for all the good times.

besides the wii

so i lied. we did way more on christmas day besides playing the wii (come on guys, we aren't complete nerds. don't underestimate the madsen family so much!) to begin: my sweet little nephew - austin (eric and melissa's 20 month old son), fractured his femur a couple days before they were scheduled to come to price. so, as you all can imagine, they didn't make the flight from LA to price. instead, we had a conference call, to wish little austin a merry christmas. and watch the little guy open a couple presents. he seemed slightly amused to see a crowd of somewhat familiar faces staring at him through a computer screen (technology, it truly is amazing).

after the call, we ate more candy, went sledding, played the wii, and worked on projects. yes, my mother likes to make a party out of everything. and amongst our piles of christmas goodies, we each received a project we had to create and present to the family that night. ben and i gave a drug presentation with sock puppets (the puppets we made was: a weed, a fried egg, a bum crack - yes, that was ben's idea for "crack," and a druggie), tammy and mason flew kites to cameron's guitar music, troy and laura told a moose story with painted rocks, and monica and matt made paper airplanes and we had to wear these massive bear-like white furry boots (of which my sister-in-law, julia, sincerely thought i owned, and yes, wore. hmmm, what else does she think i wear?). anyways, so we had to wear "my" polar bear boots and throw the airplane at a target. and the winner was . .. .

monica and matt!

my dad threw one good shot.

but tammy threw a better one (yep. she won! tammy, you should have been a pilot).

it was an incredibly enjoyable christmas day. and i know i always say this but i love my family.