Pictorials de mi Familia

Over July 4th weekend we were able to get our family pictures taken (THANK YOU KRISTIN!!!). We try to do this every year so we have updated pictures to send out at Christmas. This year we took them a little earlier than normal this year, which is A-OK. Except that we'll have a new little one by the end of the year (Bryan and Chelsey). Here are a few highlights.

Mike & Nicole's family

Erik and Sandy's family

Bryan and Chelsey family
The girls

Another of the girls

Grandma and the kiddos

Me and Boy #3

Momma and me

The whole familia (pretty darn cute!)

Summer Trip - Stage 1.5/2.5 - Isanti

My mom and I were able to visit her sister Laretta in Isanti, MN (an hour north of the Twin Cities). The day we got there, they got major tornado warnings. My cousin Mandi and her family were at a campground nearby so they also waited it out at Laretta's house. We headed down to the basement to wait it all out, so I didn't get to see/hear much of the storm. We did go out to look at the wall cloud, but quickly headed back inside.

This is Mandi and her daughter Ella on the steps leading downstairs.

Laretta and Mom playing it cool in the basement.

We also had the opportunity to go to the St. Paul temple on a Tuesday evening. I had never been inside a small temple before. It was VERY small, but of course still beautiful. It was nice to go with family, even though there were only 3 of us.

Laretta and Mom outside the temple.

Mom and I outside of the temple.

After we were done we went to Olive Garden and had some VERY delicious food. I had to text Lauri Jo (Laretta's daughter) every so often because we wanted her with us. It would have made the trip that much more enjoyable.

One thing about Minnesota that I LOVED was how green it was. On I-90 headed east, the freeway was lined with corn and soy beans. Every piece of land was used for crops. After a while it got monotonous, but it was still beautiful.

Summer Trip - Stage 2 - Duluth

While in Minnesota, Laretta had us drive up to Duluth, which is on Lake Superior. It took us a while to find the downtown area because all of the exits were closed. We ended up on the wrong side of town. Plus, we ended up crossing a big bridge over into Wisconsin. I had never been there, so it was nice to be there...even for about 5 minutes.

Our friend Atty (aka Miss Attitude, aka the GPS) finally got us to where we needed to go. There were lots of fun shops, a nice bridge to walk over, and lots of light houses to see. Plus, it was cooler since it was on the lake.

This is Laretta and Mom walking across the bridge.

Mom "holding" one of the lighthouses.

Me sitting on a moose (who was copping a feel) outside one of the shops downtown.

Mom getting comfy with a monkey in one of the shops.

Me standing in Superior.

Mom, Laretta, and I sitting next to Lake Superior.

Mom and Laretta by Mr. Moose.

As everyone there said, have a Superior day!

Summer Trip - Stage 1 - Gillette

My mom went on a trip the middle of July. Our first stop was Gillette to visit my brother and his family. We spent 2-3 days there before heading to Minnesota.

We had to make our stop at Perkins for dinner. This is Hayden and Hannah enjoying dessert (cookies) outside. They can only handle the inside for so long.

We went and got pedicures. Hayden and Hannah were pretty good considering we were there for over an hour. They even soaked their feet with us for a while.

Hayden took over his own chair, thinking he was all that.

Hayden towards the end. He was keeping us entertained.

The Mountain

The day after the big 4th weekend, I went to the mountain with my brother and his family as well as my cousin and his family. We had a picnic (a very windy one) and then went on a small hike down a little canyon.

This is Whitney by some snow. She thought it was pretty cool. We later had a small snowball fight--really, it was more Mike throwing them at me.

Elle and BrookLynn posing for me at the bottom of the small canyon. It was so green and pretty on the mountain.

Mike and Wilson climbing the rocks we ate by.

Such a cute picture! Elle and Whitney exploring around the rocks.

More July 4th Pictures

I didn't get all the pictures on the last post, so here are a few more.

Erik and his family watching the fireworks.

Michael and his fire. (He lit a bunch of the sparklers, and together they created this.)

More fire.

Yet more. (Mom ended up with a couple of brown spots on her grass.)

The parade of sparklers.

2010 Trip Stats

Miles traveled = 2900 (which I drove 2300 of)

States visited = 7 (Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska)

Hotels stayed in = 4 (unless you count Hotel Hendershot in Gillette, WY and Hotel Spitzenberger in Isanti, MN)

Temples visited = 3 (St. Paul, MN; Nauvoo, IL; Winter Quarters in Omaha, NE)

Times gone to Nauvoo pageant = 2

Times asked for referrals = at least 6

Pictures taken = approx. 200

Times Mississippi River crossed = 8

Times we ate out = too many to remember (probably around 15-20)

Books on tape listened to = 3

July 4th

The weekend of the 4th was a fun-filled weekend. We started on Saturday morning with the Mayes extended family yearly breakfast. It was quite the gathering. That evening, we had our family reunion at Mike's old house. We had Navajo tacos....yum, yum. I think one of our new traditions is having pinatas for the kids.

Here is Wilson and Mike taking a swing at the pinata.

Hayden enjoying some of the spoils from the pinata.

Uncle Gilbert, Aunt Loraine, and Mom

Hayden taking a swing at the pinata

Many of the kids:
(back) Emmalee, Alea, Maren, Sariah
(front) Hannah, Bekah, Nellie, Elle, BrookLynn, Bubba

On Saturday night, we did a few fireworks in front of Mom's house. I guess it was illegal to do it the night before the 4th because a cop soon showed up at the house "suggesting" that we don't light any more until the following day. It was a little ridiculous. Okay, a lot of ridiculous. So, we waited until Sunday to light the rest. (Our stake president did them on Sunday, too, so we felt like it was an okay thing for us to do. What's worse: breaking the law on Saturday or breaking the Sabbath on Sunday?)

Erik and Whitney watching the fireworks.

Sariah and her sparkler

Nicole and Wilson

Hannah

Bekah Boo

Hendershot Family Fun

At the beginning of July, our whole family was together in Lovell. Most of us were even under the same roof. My newest nephew Ethan was blessed on July 4th. I didn't get any pictures of him in his blessing outfit (darn it), but he was a cutie. This is him the night before. He's getting so long. Still a skinny little thing, though.

This is Wilson the day before he fell and scraped his head pretty badly. You can sort of see some marks that were already there.

Chelsey and I took Hayden and Hannah to the whale pool for kiddies over at the park. Hayden wasn't too sure about the water at first. He really got into it right before we left and wasn't to happy to go. I got just as wet as him. His ankle was sprained so I had to carry him all over the wade pool to get him to the different areas. What a character.

This is Hannah. (You can see the whale in the background.) She loved the pool. She went down the whale quite a few times and made some new friends while there.

This picture of Sariah is adorable. She's getting to be so tall. They had also gone to the whale pool and came over in their swim suits. She put on one of Whitney's tutus...

Sariah and Hannah...Too cute for words.

Hayden and Wilson (2 of the 3 boys) sitting in the back of Bryan's truck. Neither one of them like getting their pictures taken. Thus the side view.

Hayden, Wilson, Hannah, and Whitney in the back of B-Ry's truck.