Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The reunion of all reunions

Ok, this is the LONGEST blog post EVER! But seriously we just had the reunion of all reunions. It all started on July 13 when Anna flew in from Germany. Jenna just went home today. But we had soooo much fun with everyone! Only keep looking if you really care. 'cause it really does just keep going and going and going and going......(you get the point) Grandpa Johnnie putting our baby girl to sleep

Cousins party at the Cothran's!

Adorable Savannah playing with Halle

Anna and her Adorable Baby Bella. Bella was always singing, dancing and entertaining everyone.

The 2 Froot Loops themselves. (Look at even Grama's Earrings and ring!)

The cute Margie and Jakey :)

Froot Loop Neckalace day Shopping with the daddies


Playing dress up at Auntie Liza's house
Eleanor, Mac, Margie, Lizzie and Ammon

so sweet! Garrett rocked Halle to sleep

Love this shot! Grama Annie is reading stories to kiddos. Look at Ethan, Jakey and Mac. The 3 3-year-olds! Halle's special cousin Eleanor.

Cute kiddos swinging the much loved Halle

Grama Annie watching a movie with a lot of grandkids!

Auntie Jenna giving loves to Halle

Grandpa Johnnie Rocking Halle to sleep on the hammock
cousins!

Grandpa Johnnie and Beckham

The "big" kids hangin' out in the trailer

Bella crawling like Halle

Most of us took a hike up to the meadow

The Cothran fam

Grandpa Johnnie

This is the most blissful Alana picture.

The chaos of orange slices and pretzels when we reached the meadow

My hot Aaron man :) with Zorro (Aaron's shirt says "welcome to the gun show")
Xander the way too grown up 11 year old!

Auntie Stephanie with baby Beckham

Grandpa Johnnie and Lizzie

The "Happy Birthday to us ALL!" party! Jenna made the COOLEST rainbow cupcakes!

Um, yeah. This one is for you John. That scarf is awesome... Thank you!
And my husband is good lookin' even in a scarf (and his daughter in the background looks a lot like him!)
From Afghanistan John sent scarves for all of the women. We all put them to our own creative use:
The big kids in the tents (one night there was a HUGE thunder/lightning storm and they all came running inside! Ask xander, he tells it the best)

Pagah stories at the tent. Thanks Pagah!
Party time for the adults! Oh yeah!

Auntie Anna reading stories
Does your FHE set up look like this?
Or like this?

We were sooo glad that Tom and Jen joined us! Tom had just gotten back from a long trip!
This is cutie 3 month old Joel.
I love this Emma B and her cute boys, Ethan and Beckham

The famous Martin family. Margie, the sweetest, smiliest girl, and Jakey the coolest 3 year old.

During a rain storm, Auntie Sarah hid out with the girls underneath the table.

The GINORMOUS slide we rented for a HUGE day of FUN!

Oh, for cutes!
2 cute babies with very wet pants!

Poor Lizzy with blisters on her hand!

3 very cool dudes hangin' in a shark pool

One of the best shots of the whole reunion. It is so wonderful knowing that your siblings love your kids :)

Why not hang out at the kiddy pool? I love my sisters!

I just love this picture of Becca. I know she will probably hate it but she is just too cute!

The MEN
The Women

The official Olympics! Thanks Martins
Dan looks waaaay to excited about this one and Aaron was waaaay too fast at it. Dad, you figure out those stockings yet?

Marrick LOVED the slide! Wahoooo (thanks auntie Becca for being the official kid-catcher at the bottom of the slide :)

Happy Grama Annie! The QUEEN of the reunion!!!
We swam one day at Grama and Pagah's neighbor's pool.

The 3 mischeivious 3 year old boys :) hee hee hee X 3!

This pic cracks me up. You wait around for 20 minutes and kids are bound to make a playground out of anything

Everywhere I turned, someone I knew.

Of course we took 20 kids to the Bean Museum!

The Johnson kids looking at 7 cameras

The adorable Martins. Margie, the smilingest girl, Jakey the coolest 3 year old you'll ever meet and Jim Bob on his way in just a few weeks. :)
Em and the boys. Cute as can be and then cuter than that!
Oh, Sarah and Orion. I could not believe how tall Orion has gotten. He is such a handsome kid! And Sarah is just amazing :)


Halle had some GREAT helpers at the reunion
Garrett LOVED baby Halle! and baby Halle LOVED Garrett! Thank you
Oh my word, this beautiful, oldest grandaughter Katie is such a sweetheart! I have never seen such a responsible, fashionable, sweet 9 year old girl! She was such an amazing helper with baby Halle!
The Johnson kids.
Emma, why do we ALWAYS have to squat?
I did not get one of everyone but you can imagine 7 sets of parents and grandparents along with all of these kiddos. My favorite part about this picture is my 8 month prego sister Becca on the right :) Love ya bex. Jim Bob is going to be so cute!
What a reunion! A little chaotic to have EVERYONE at Grama and Pagah's house! We learned, cried, laughed and had a great time, never to be forgotten. I just want all of my amazing siblings to know how much they mean to me. I loved seeing each one of them and thier beautiful, talented, amazing families. We truly are blessed.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Toa Boy is 6!

The coolest kid on the block turned 6! Oh Yeah. Ammon the toa man had a big birthday! We celebrated it cool style. At home as a fam and with friends a few days later. Happy Birthday dude.Here is my sweet Toa boy at age 4 dressing up as Super man and building trains:
Oh my how you have grown! Here's what we did for the actual day... (as per Ammon's request)
Swimming Lessons
Open presents from his family (Picture of a bird from Lani, Pickles and cotton candy from Mac, A Rolley thing, trucks, sunglasses and an outfit from mom and dad)The Rolley toy. Cool, but inflatable (we all know what that means sooner or later:)Cake at 9pm (that Ammon decorated)Then on Saturday we celebrated with friendsAnd Ammon got the swim party cake of champions
Time for the shaving cream slipn'slide (idea from sis Becca...good one but messy!)

check out cousin Lexi!
Ammon is my love muffin. He can be SUCH trouble but then the sweetest boy imaginable. He dotes on his sister Halle and calms her down when she fusses. He idolizes his sister Alana and plays with Marrick. He is the one that cuddles with me in the morning, has to have his kiss goodnight, has to tell me a joke before turning off the light and loves to ask me about what it will be like when he grows up. He loves to ride his bike, he LOVES cool clothes, he likes to play ball with dad(his way), he is good at swimming, he is a great artist, and his smile will melt your heart. He is such a handsome, sweet, fun boy. His real laugh will make anyone around laugh (no matter how naughty whatever mac just did was). I love you my Ammon Toa boy. You are the sweetest thing!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Happy Birthday AMERICA!

Alana and Ammon got to do the COOLEST thing this year for 4th of July! Grama Annie was on a committee for our church's stake to come up with an idea for a float. (each stake gets the opportunity like ever 20 years) Her train idea was chosen and this amazing, adorable float was made by some talented people in our stake. Ammon and Alana got to ride in the engine and Aaron and I got to ride along as we paraded down the streets of Provo. Hooray! We got to be in a parade!I should have gotten a better picture of the whole float, it was so adorable! The baloons were white clouds floating above. Alana yelled, "All aboard!" the entire parade and Ammon rang the bell and blew his train whistle. So cute!The amongst all of the faces we saw..... Hey, we know you guys!!! Nana, Popop and Rachael!Then we had to come home and celebrate with a good ol' American BBQ.


Bike riding and fireworks to end the day! Happy Birthday America!
Our home, sweet home.
God bless all of our soilders serving for our country. Especially Uncle John and Uncle Tom. We love you guys!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

30 years and a Vacuum

I got a lot of things for my Birthday.
First: I have been wanting a light-weight easy vacuum that I can use on hard wood floors. I LOVE the Miele vacuums but just didn't want to spend $500 on a vacuum! I did a lot of research and found a very comparable Eureka Electrolux. Very, very cool, light weight and good :). Second: A non-clogged kitchen sink!!! Thank you baby! I lived with a completely clogged kitchen sink and dishwasher for a week and was done! Washing dishes in the backyard with the hose? My dishwasher overflowing! Yeah. So, after hiring a plumber and my husband saying, "NO WAY" to $190 to snake a sink, he rented one himself for $18 and even though it was harder than he thought, cleared out our lines :) (he also fixed the clogged toilet and bathroom sink in the same week! Go Aaron! Our fix-it man :) He looks happy eh?! Third: Nana, Popop and Auntie Rachael came to visit. People I love, that love my babies, play with them, and put them to sleep. They even watched the kiddos so Aaron and I could go play on a day date! Thank you! We love you and thanks for coming!So precious

Hooray for Auntie Rae!

Fourth: A fixed swamp cooler by the hottest fixin' man ever!(it comes in 3's right?)
Fifth: A Party for ME! My bestest friend Shiray threw me an awesome BBQ birthday party. She had center pieces and a banner for me! It was such a fun party too. Thank you Shiray! You seriously are the best!
Races for the big kids.Here come the little ones... Go Mac!Then the Grandmas?Are those two just the cutest ever or what?!! Yup, they were runnin'! The little kids did boys against girls for tug of war.
Then it was the adults turn.
The Grandpas
Grama Annie lovin' Halle


What a great day. Even though I was having some problems about turning 30, it turned out to be just fine. I figure that know I can shock people by telling them my age, how many kids I have and how long I've been married. I am thankful and proud of all of it! I could truly never ask for more!

Happy 6 months Halle!

You have never met a happier, sweeter, kinder little baby. She loves everyone and smiles at anyone. She talks, coos, squeals and sings all the time. She has a calm spirit about her. Don't forget, she is a Cothran so when that wild bunch of kids come running by or Mac spits water she laughs and squeals like it is the funniest comedy ever. She is starting to sit up a little and inches forward on her tummy like a worm. She sleeps through the night and then some and only fusses when she is hungry or tired. I cannot believe she is already 6 months old! Halle Grace we'll eat you up we love you so! Happy half a year baby.
Oh, I just love flowers! (and eating them?)

Our happy 4th of July baby