Oceanside

In July, we went on our annual Gardner family beach trip to Oceanside, California. It was sad that Marcus couldn't be there, but luckily everyone else (minus Brian of course) was there. We were in a new house this year-- it's getting harder and harder to fit everyone in one house, but it's a blast. And I know for a fact it is a favorite family tradition! Be warned, lots of Ada pictures :) Well, there are lots of pictures in general (since I actually took my camera and didn't just steal my mom's pictures), which is why it took me longer to post about the week.

The house

The "backyard"

The pier-- we were a little closer to it this year

Apparently that's some military ship off in the background that helicopters land on-- Marcus would know what it was called :)

Nighttime

Our home base

the big tent

Notice, I'm under the umbrella to not fry in the sun-- you can see the shadow

Gage

Gage

Reading-- with crazy CA hair

Sunburn? I was so careful.

Ada wanted to see a picture of herself and her toys

She assembled them all for the picture

And then she decided to scoot up really close to me to steal my cake, one little bite at a time.

Ada and G-Daddy

Dad, my mom's cousin Paige, and her two dogs

Ada helping Grandpa and Mimi open their 50th Anniversary present from my mom -- two books she put together online with pictures of all our beach trips and the family growing up.

Grandpa reading inside

Trevor being a 'lame old person' -- sitting under the umbrella napping :)

Kade

Alyssa (Jake's girlfriend) napping. She and Jake drove all night to get to the beach as early as they could after work.

Gage watching Kade and Jake play paddle ball

Yoga. Seriously. A lady on the beach asked my family if they wanted to join in yoga a couple days, and most everyone participated :)

Trevor and Jake

Jeff

Trevor, Jake, Alyssa, Jeff

Kade and Jeff

Trevor

Jessica helped demonstrate

Kade skim boarding

Ada was afraid of Trevor, until she had him read to her -- she loves books!

Brad, Ada, and Jessica

Debbie reading to Ada

Ada wanted to show off her shell

my dad and mom

Brad -- Ada kept cracking up every time he fell playing paddle ball

Trevor digging a hole (with Jake and Jake's friend Michael)

Trevor taking out some boogie boards

Mimi getting some sun

To celebrate the big 50th Anniversary, we all went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Mimi's choice :)

Jake, Alyssa, my mom, and me (I was obviously searching for the non-fish option)

Getting ready for some crab :)

We walked around a little after dinner

Michael, Trevor, Alyssa, and Jake

we ALWAYS take pictures the last morning we're there.

Jake, Alyssa, me, Grandpa, Mimi, Kade, Gage, Trevor

(not pictured: Ada, Marcus, and Brian)

the currently small Page family

me and my big little brother

Waiting for a table at Mimi's Cafe. If I remember correctly, we're all watching Ada. Naturally :)

We LOVE Oceanside!!!

Page Family Reunion in Park City

This week, my family went up to Park City for a Page Family Reunion. Almost all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins were there for at least part of it, and it was a lot of fun to see them. I was only up there two nights (my day off), but I was glad to make it up for at least a little bit :)

We had family history presentations about all of the in-law families. I really enjoyed talking with Marcus' parents about where their families came from to prepare my few minutes about the Hardys. Sadly I missed most of the other presentations, but there will be a dvd to catch up on later :)

While I was there, we also played some Minuit-to-Win-It games. My team won :)

My mom and I have similar concentration faces

I met my step-cousin's daughter (Tyrel and Tricia's baby Baylie). This is a picture with Grandma Nanci. :)

We had some crafts planned for the week. In this picture Trevor had just had his hands waxed. He loves that. I made sewed some placemats-- I should've taken pictures of me at the sewing machine for you all to believe it! :)

This weekend was the Art Festival in Park City, and my mom and I walked up and down the street a billion times looking at all the paintings and projects... and of course looking in some of the shops. This picture is for Marcus:

My mom and the bear

My mom loved the junk animals, so she bought an opossum. It's really cool actually! I have a picture on my phone that's better, but since my phone is so new, I'm not sure how to upload it just yet.

We took family pictures with a photographer (I believe he's my dad's cousin). Sadly, half the kids in my family weren't there, but we still took some pictures.

My cousin's son (Matt and Jolynn's son Cooper) wanted to make sure we took one of him too. :)

Some of the group waiting for their pictures

Nana and me

Matt and Jolynn's kids Cooper and Sydney

My dad with his parents and brothers and sisters

Dennis, Jana, my dad, Nanci

Jonne, Ken, Nana, and Papa

Nana and Papa with all the grandkids sporting the tie-dye

Trev and his girls (cousins Cadie and Corie)

My greeting whenever Trevor sees me

It was a beautiful weekend in Park City, and it was a lot of fun to see the Pages together.

Paden's Home!

Marcus' brother Paden recently got back from his mission in Texas, and Marcus was able to fly down from NY for his homecoming talk this past Sunday. I obviously don't have pictures from the Sacrament Meeting (FYI, his talk was phenomenal), but I do have one of Marcus and Paden together outside their parents' house. Marcus was so excited to see Paden and be able to spend the weekend with his family.

And of course, a random picture. No, it's not a cupcake. It's Luke!

Marcus and me :)

It looks like I'm kind of tan from the beach in this picture... don't worry, I'm already super white again!

And if you're keeping track like me, Marcus will be home for good in less than two weeks. Seriously. Can you believe it's already August?! Yay!

Ward Pioneer Day Party

Tonight was the ward Pioneer Day party, and it actually was a lot of fun. There's a huge pavilion and grassy area behind our stake center, and it was the perfect evening to be outside.

First they had a parade with the primary kids. Emma was having a great time watching all of them.

(This is Ammon-- he's one of my nursery buddies)

And they had a musical number before dinner. These four guys have sung in our ward a couple times-- they're amazing!

After dinner, they had some activities and a couple more musical numbers. I put together a small string group with six kids from the ward. Four of them were in my orchestra at Sunset View either last year or the year before. And Tim took some pictures so I could post them (thanks!).

It was a little stressful, but we lived :)

And then we socialized. Look Marcus, proof: (haha)

I'm glad I went. I had never really celebrated Pioneer Day before, and it was a lot of fun with such a great ward.

Albert's Drawing

While I was in New York, Marcus and I met a guy named Albert on the Brooklyn Bridge. He was selling pictures he drew, and we had to support him, which was easy to do because they were fantastic! Marcus is a sucker for things like that, which is great because I love getting drawings on trips-- I have one from Paris too. The one we bought in New York is a street Marcus walks down every day to get to work by the Empire State Building. I had it framed when I got home, and they finished it today. Marcus really wanted to see it, so I thought I'd post a few pictures for him.

its new home :)

ignore the mess please

Marcus loves his signature on the bottom. Weird?

Yay-- LOVE IT!

Red Velvet

I finally did it. Cupcakes from scratch. Not to give away all my secrets, but cake mixes really do make great cupcakes. Instead of decorating for this month's family dinner, I wanted to make a good Red Velvet cupcake (since everyone on Cupcake Wars can do that!). And I thought they were pretty good. Usually I don't really eat any, but I had two of these.

The frosting wasn't fancy or anything, but it was good.

I was a little nervous about taking them because I wasn't sure if they were good or not. Luckily I had a great taste tester.

I think she liked them :)