THE BEEEEEACH!

We had SO much fun at the beach! It started off a little cool...but then it got nice and warm and we were all enjoying ourselves! To get things going we buried all the grandkids!

And planted a garden!

Sadly...the only one missing is Lekai...but I think I can convince Chad to digitally add his head

: )

Cute little Boston! He's such a boy! He got wiped out by the waves a couple times and while everyone else complained he was like "That was SO awesome!!!!" lol. Love him!

Mikkelle kept falling asleep in the sand...so we propped her hat on her head and snapped a shot. She hung out like this for a while!

I think it must have been warmer in the sand!

and yes she is under there!

Cute little McCoy! Last I saw McCoy he was so little and quiet! Now whenever he says something he yells it! You always know when McCoy is around! I love it!

Cute Alicia and Dan. As fun as this vacation was I think they need a vacation from their vacation.

Not sure what Kayden was doing at the time, but he was having a blast rolling around in the sand!

Sweet little Ryland does many projects with his sea shells. He collects them. This was only a short while after we had arrived and he already had a large handful!

Poor skinny kid was freezing the whole time though!

Haha...some time later...she's still in the sand!

Aaa....Dacie! Mikkelle's gal pal! They had so much fun together! She's such a little beauty!

Lekai was in Heaven. He gets held a lot anyway, but I don't think he was set down alone once in 2 weeks! He loved every minute of it!

This trip was my first time meeting little Rhett! Sad that I missed all his cute baby months but wow! What a cutie! I love all his little expressions! He is a sweetheart!

I love the beach, and listening to the waves! I spent most my time relaxing and softening my feet with God's exfoliator...sand!

Of course Kelby had to get in his "man" picture! And a MAN he is!!! toot toot!!!

Brave children, that water was FREEZING!

The caves...for some reason the camera decided to focus on the flurries...but I thought it looked kinda cool still!

Cute Mikkelle walking the beach....

And enjoying every minute of it!!!

BOUDIN'S

To start off the Hutchings Family Reunion in San Fransico, CA 2011 we ate at Boudins and got a taste of what sourdough bread is supposed to taste like! And it was delicious!

Clam Chowder bread bowl!

Turkey Sandwich...

and Grilled Cheese for the little Mikkelle!

This is Mikkelle's sad face after an accident in the restaurant. You can't see it in the picture but she got a pretty good bump and bruise on her face...

It was so nice to see family again! It had been WAY too long!

Nana looked gorgeous as usual and though Brendon is handsome McCoy stole the SHOW!

Below is what Lekai looked like most of the trip!

Needless to say Mikkelle was extremely excited to see all of her cousins! She loves them all and still can't stop talking about the trip to California!

A Version of Christmas

This year Kelby, Mikkelle and I all went to California for Christmas! It was a lot of fun and it was nice to spend time with family. Mikkelle was the only Grandchild there this year and she was sooo spoiled because of it. She pretty much thought Cat was the greatest and still says some cute things because of her. So of course we did a bunch of traditions once the partay got started. One of them is looking up from under the tree after it's been decorated. It was mine and Mikkelle's first time and it was actually quite relaxing!

And afterwards we put all the pretty presents under! The tree looked Perfect! It was the fluffiest, straightest tree I've ever seen! And they got it for like $20 bucks!

...And I admit...I've never seen so many stockings hung under the chimney...

Jeanie said these (most of them) were Brendons. I've always thought Nutcrackers were cool and we even got one as an ornament this year! It was nice to talk to Brendon this year and to hear how he is doing. Hopefully after his mission I'll have someone else on my side to convert everyone to move to Missouri. : )

I also love that everyone (well almost) that had gone on a mission in their family had a decoration from their mission. Kelby's is the rooster from Portugal.

We didn't get the lights up until a little later this year cause it rained and Nana was the light put-er-upper! She also had to look around for a poopy diaper up there because Kelby thought he could make the dumpter on the other side of the building. Haha...

We also did Gingerbread houses. Kelby's is the one with a HUGE roof and mine is the soap and dish. haha. I was going to make something else...but that fell through. Literally. Nana's had a voodoo man and Cat's had the entire Temple Session. Haha! Although Kent thought it was a car wash!

And what would Christmas be without a little golfing?

Well...actually it would still be Christmas....

But I can't deny how cute they all look! Haha. It's like they are on the golf team in High School!

We also had the traditional Nativity reinactment. I played multiple shepherds. Kelby the scary angel guy (who reminded me of the angel from "total eclipse of the heart" music video) Shaun the Pimp gangster wiseman...Cat the Israeli "don't look at my face" wisewoman...and of course Nanna as the Pop Princess wisewoman. Kent and Amberlyn played Mary and Joseph with Mikkelle as baby Jesus. I hope we don't burn for this one.

I think the Sheperds were frightened...but I don't think it was because the angel was going to eat them.

Labor Day HIKE!

So, for Labor day, Chad and Beth and their Kids, and Nana and Our Family all went and had a picnic near Bridal Falls and went on a hike on a trail. Before we started of coarse Mikkelle, had to get her "pre-hike dirty" on!

She looked like a little raccoon or something!

We played down by the river...

Hung out waiting for the coals to heat up!

Enjoyed nature!

And had a nice time visiting with each other!

And finally the grill was ready, so we cooked up the hamburgers, or chad did (thanks chad!) and ate up! YUM!

Then UP the trail we went!

And up!

(Sorry this is crooked, I've been doing that a lot lately!) And up!

And this was McCoy like the whole time. Awake...but not really awake!

ALMOST THERE!

VOILA! The Falls! These aren't Bridal Falls, but there was no one there and it was beautiful! Everyone who went to the top took turns touching the falls. You could hear some of them screaming because it was so cold (aka Kelby)

Cute Little McCoy

more hiking...

Beth was incredible! Here she is pregnant and is kicking all our butts while she has three kids hanging off her! All in all it was a great day. No one got hurt although Nana almost fell down a hill and Kelby almost didn't fit through the "gate" in the beginning..lol. But it was awesome! Very refreshing! Especially since later on that day all of us would be stuffing our faces : )