Dinner at Big Boys

This post is dedicated to Cory and Brady. To Cory because he is obessed with taking pictures of expensive food, and to Brady because you have become his "intern". We hope you can appreciate this fine meal we ate in downtown Kalkaska, Michigan.
After a long day of driving with Mom, Dad, Ryan, and the boys, we pulled up to a famous Big Boy restuarant. I wish I could have captured the atmosphere a litter better in my pictures, this was a fine diner that allowed only the best dressed! Infact Mom and Dad were all ready for the occasion with Dad's suit and Mom's dress. Luckily the diner let the rest of us in with just our regular street clothes. We were sitted in a fine little booth with crumbs left from the guest before to tantalize our tastebuds. When my salad came I was so pleased! A pile of iceberg lettuce with a big slice of cucumber on top, the blend of these flavors make my mouth water.
You can see the excited look on Dad's face when he received his meal - stir fry! With 2 pieces of toast sticking up at a 90 degree angle, making his entree look like a masterpiece.

Ryan's double bacon cheeseburger was a spectacular piece. It was so shiny with the grease dripping off the bacon, it glistened in the sun. Ryan even added his own touch by putting the ketchup across the french fries in a criss cross manner.

Not only was the food inspiring, but so was the conversation. It is nice to eat with four little boys who were so patient in waiting for their food. They sat so quietly and never said a word unless they were spoken to and they never teased each other or Uncle Ryan. We fit right in the Big Boy crowd and didn't stand out a bit with my four boys, my brother, and my parents dressed up with nametags.

Editors note: I actually have to say we had a blast at dinner. It was so fun trying to sneak in pictures of our food without looking weird (hint, hint Cory). Thanks for the inspiration Cory and Brady for this post!

Memories of Michigan

Our trip to Michigan was so fun. The only thing that would have made it perfect would have been to have Paul there too. But he was at scout campout at Lake Powell with a bunch of 12 year olds and scorpions. Luckily I had Ryan along to help me with the boys. We could have never survived the airport or airplane without his help. Here are some of our favorite memories of our trip:

Playing in the lake (the boys especially like having Ryan throw them in the water)
Grandma's cooking! YUM!
Our road trip to Traverse City and seeing Lake Michigan.
Minature golfing at the Pirate's Cove

Stopping at a sandwich place along the way to Petoskey (at an old barn) where we

got to feed goats, eat cherries, and try homemade blueberry doughnuts.

Celebrating Ryan's b-day with a delicious Dominican dish.
Listening to Grandpa's famous Chipmunk story. (This is the most requested bedtime story at our home.)

Collecting Petoskey stones

One of the biggest highlights of our trip to Michigan was collecting Petoskey stones along the shore of Lake Michigan. They weren't that easy to find. But luckily with a spray bottle and a little lake water, we able to uncover quite a few treasures!
How to find a Petoskey stone:
1: You can only find them in Michigan.
2: They don't stand out among the other rocks, only after in rains can you initially see their beauty.
3: If it is not raining, you can spray a bunch of rocks with water.
4: Once they are wet, you will be able to see rocks that have fossilized coral in them.
5: Take the rock and get it polished. The missionaries like to carry one in their pockets and rub the rock until it becomes shiny and you can see its beauty.
6: Take Grandpa with you, he can find them without even getting the rocks wet!

Bonafide at Aspen Grove!

Bonafide: this was our family motto at Aspen Grove. We had t-shirts with Bonafide across them and a big 81 (thats right there were 81 of us). You may be wondering why would that be a family motto? Well I found out it means that you are proven and true, plus Paul and his cousin Brett thought it sounded cool. They got the idea from a movie, any guesses which one? This picture (above) is of all the Elda's great grandkids. It was impossible to get a good picture of all of them, I love seeing all the different little personalities.
After looking back at our pictures of Aspen Grove, I was so sad to see I didn't have pictures of a lot of things. For instance, Bryson doing the dunking booth (on a dare) and seeing his face after falling in the cold water. Or watching the boys get a hug from princess Bhelle as she gave them a Christmas present from Grandma (she did her Christmas in July). And Paul and the boys staying up late playing games in the old cabin while Mommy slept in the lodge (and saw a mouse). That could have been a pretty funny picture too! But here are some of the moments we captured: Mckay after a morning at Rompers, he loved going to his class.
Oops, I can't get this picture to rotate. This is Garrett at the Aspen Follies. Our family took 2nd place, and we aren't bragging or anything.
Eating a meal in the cafeteria. One of the best parts of Aspen Grove: no cooking!
Paul and I did the ropes course one day with a bunch of the adults. That is another plus about Aspen Grove, it was a vacation for Mommy and Daddy too, because the kids went to their own classes and did lots of fun stuff as well.
Garrett and three of his cousins getting ready to perform the last night at Aspen Grove. They were the CUBS and had the neatest little cheer.
Tanner dancing with his 2nd cousin, Emma. His older cousin Allie was teaching him some moves.
Bryson having a little hoe-down with his cousin. Of course Bryson wouldn't dance with a girl!This would be a really fun Edwards' family reunion (hint, hint!)

Sparks were flying!

Hey, I'm talking about the sparklers on the 4th of July! But, who knows? Maybe there were sparks flying between Ryan and Erica's roommate. I'm hilarious! After coming home from Boise to a terrible rainstorm, we were worried that are outdoor activities wouldn't work out. But luckily the weather warmed up a bit and we were able to enjoy Scott and Natalie's famous dutch oven cobbler and do lots of fireworks. Then, of course watch the fireworks in Midway.
Garrett is pondering how this sparkler thing really works. Okay,we all know Garrett better than that, he is planning is next move on how to tease Uncle Ryan.
McKay was a little hesitant to hold a sparkler, but decided it was pretty fun!
Tanner can't contain his excitement.
We love having Erica around. She is so cute the the kids. Even Jessica's kids loved Erica.

Our trip to Idaho

We had so much fun staying with the Edwards' fam in Boise! We are very jealous of their swimming pool. How would it be to have a swimming pool so close? This is where Tanner mastered the art of doing front and back flips in the pool.
The boys loved going to the Boise Hawks baseball game and then watching the fireworks afterwards. We even did some rock climbing at a local park. (Bryson is the king of the world!) Not only do we like the swimming pools in Boise, but they have amazing parks. The kids were in heaven. We had a delicious BBQ and to top it off, Scott made this amazing Peach Raspberry cobbler. It was delicious. Thanks for the fun weekend guys, we miss you! Now our boys want to move to Boise.