Charlotte, NC

We watched movies

What a fun weekend! Nothing better than getting together with some college friends and turning it into a little mini-vacation! My friend Meredith and her husband Patrick have three cute little girls and live in Charlotte, NC. Neither Dave or I had ever been to Charlotte prior to this weekend and we both came away talking about how much we liked the area -- beautiful homes, friendly people, scenic, etc. We packed a lot into the weekend and here are just a few of the "highlights."

Had fun at Freedom Park (click on this picture and blow it up. Lacey's face registers the humidity! That makes me laugh!) This is a train we played in at Freedom Park, a delightful park in the city with ponds and ducks, picnic tables, parks, etc.

We did the "30 Day Shred" with Jillian Michaels (Meredith, by the way, it didn't work for me! I weighed myself when I got home and GAINED weight! Must have been the BoJangles....)

And we ate. Yes, we ate, and thus the reason for the 30 Day Shred having the opposite effect on me! Here we are at Mama Fu's. Yum!

And we went to the local Farmers Market where I sampled fresh South Carolina Peaches and boiled peanuts for the first time. Fabulous! (The weekend, not necessarily the boiled peanuts..... :) )

5 Minutes + 2 Unsupervised Toddlers =

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Here I am, bursting at the seems with Tan-man at last year's Cubs vs. Nationals game.....

And here I am this year..... still bursting at the seems a bit from one too many nachos, but much more comfortable! I know Dave has his eyes closed, but it's the only picture we took of us! Gotta love our $10 nosebleed seats :) But it did offer us a beautiful view (above) of the National Monument. I kind of love that about this park. The only baseball park in the world with an eagle view of the National Monument. Cool, but don't get me wrong..... it's got NOTHING on Wrigley! And, the Cubs won 6-5. Go Cubs!

Cardall Family Reunion 2009 - "The Best is Good Enough"

We just returned from 8 days of fabulous fun! The Cardall (my mom's family) Family Reunion took place in Provo, Utah. The last reunion we had was in 1992, so it was so fun to all be together. Of the 71 living members of the family, 56 attended the reunion, so we had a great turn out! Dave and I flew out 4 days before the reunion started so that we could visit with friends and do some fun things around Utah. Here are just a few highlights of the trip......

First (above), is my cousin Seth during Laser Tag. My Aunt knew a guy who just returned from Iraq doing training with the military, so he brought all his laser training guns to Rock Canyon Park, and we had so much fun!

Tanner and I met the soon-to-be Governor of Utah on the morning of the 4th of July.

We did an awesome Family Fun Run starting at Canyon View Park to Bridal Veil Falls. It was beautiful. Here is Dave with cousins Seth and Scott after they crossed the "finish line."

The view from my Aunt's house where we watched fireworks.

Dave and Tanner in front of his building. Nice of BYU to name their business building after our little guy :)

Kerry and Lacey in front of the new Oquirrh Temple.

Lacey at the cemetery. We started our reunion off at the cemetery where we decorated and visited the graves of our grandparents and other family members who have passed away. It was a great way to remind our kids of our relatives and a great way to start the reunion because we were all there together.

Maret and Lacey at Seven Peaks Water Park.

Chuck-a-Rama is an inside family joke, so we had to put this on the agenda! We all showed up at "The Chuck" in our neon green family reunion shirts and it was quite a sight! This is my Uncle Dick and Aunt JoEllen.

This past week was so much fun, partly because of the non-stop activities we did, but mostly because of how wonderful it was to be with family. The Best is Good Enough.....