Santa Fe/Albuquerque continued.....

The huge water/bouncy slide
Trying to warm up on the pavement. Alegra wasn't really wet but she just follows what the other kids do!
Mia and Sasha
The back of the ampitheater where the slide was set up
Cruz chillin' in a chair by the slide

Ryan came in late Monday night. Sasha was so excited because on Tuesday it was finally her birthday. She turned 6 on Tuesday. Naomi said she has been counting down for over a month. We all went to the pool in the morning and then we had to pack up. Sasha really wanted to go back to a crepe place we had been to the other day in the center of Santa Fe. We loaded the car and went to have some yummy lunch at this French Pastry shop. After lunch we took off for Albuquerque. We were short on space so Grammy drove down a few hours later with Aunt Susie and Uncle Dave. At about 3:00 p.m. we arrived at Ryan's tour bus at the back of the Hard Rock amphitheater. It was totally cool for me to see the behind the scenes to a concert. Ryan is the headliner for this festival, the ID Festival, that has been touring across the United States. It is basically an all day festival but Ryan is the last to play each night from 10:00 to 11:30 p.m. There was this huge bouncy/water slide thing set up right by all the tour buses. At first we thought the tour manager got it for Sasha, but it was actually for all the artists. The kids were basically the only ones who played on it though. It was nice to be able to have it for the kids to play on because it was 100 degrees out. Ryan had tour stuff to take care of and Naomi was busy trying to get the tour bus ready for Sasha's party. We started Sasha's party when Grammy, Aunt Susie, and Uncle Dave showed up. Naomi had ordered Subway (Sasha's favorite food) and had all sorts of yummy food to eat, along with a delicious cake. The kids also had a pinata to break. Cruz grabbed so much candy, it was pretty funny.
Naomi getting ready for the party inside the tour bus
The kids in the bus hanging by the bunks
Alegra fitting right in backstage :)
Party Time!
Before the show started Naomi took us into the Merchandise tent inside the concert area. Cruz went with me !

Pinata!

We started to get the kids to bed at about 9:00 pm in their bunks on the tour bus. Alegra had a hard time falling asleep because she was not totally used to sleeping in a bed. Cruz was wired because he was sleeping in an RV/Bus again. Finally by 9:30 they were out. Naomi's babysitter had flown back into town at about 5:30 that night, so I luckily got to go to the show while she stayed in the bus with all of the sleeping kids. The show was AMAZING. We had special seats and when we got to our area they had this huge clock ticking down time until Ryan came onto stage. The crowd went wield when he started playing. He had a whole stage that his crew sets up just for him at every show. He is really high up and there are screens with cool visuals all over the place. It was pretty awe inspiring. I am so proud of Ryan. He has worked and continues to work very hard. He lives a crazy busy life with weird hours. We talked for a few minutes after the show but I could tell he was pretty beat! We transferred the kids into the rental car and me, Grammy, and the kids took off for our hotel (Ryan, Naomi, and the kids stayed on the bus because they were driving to California in the middle of the night). We stayed in a hotel near the airport in downtown Albuquerque. We flew back home on Wednesday. We had such a fun time and it was really cool for me to see Ryan in an actual concert. Shawn and I have gone to his shows when he has been at SLC dance clubs but this was so much bigger and cooler. The crazy thing was, there were about 6,000-7,000 people there and that was the second smallest show in the whole tour. In the next couple of days he plays in several locations in California and there are over 10.000 tickets sold, crazy!!!!

The Family at Ryans show. My cousins Nicole and Kristen came right before the show started because they had a PTA meeting.
Naomi and me
Grammy taking in every minute of the show. This was her first real show too. She started to cry when he came on and the crowd went wild, it was pretty amazing!!

KASKADE IN ACTION!

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Sasha, Alegra, Hailey, Mia, Isla, Dylan, Tyler, Cruz, and Logan who didn't want to be in the picture.


The kids and I flew out to Santa Fe, NM on Friday evening. It was a fun getaway. We went out there with Grammy Raddon and met Aunt Naomi, Mia, Sasha, and Isla. Ryan, my brother, has been on a month long bus tour across the United States. His family has been with him most of the way. They had a 4 day break between shows, and the worker that my brother is, accepted 2 gigs in Europe over that break period. Naomi and the kids flew to the Albuquerque where the next show was and had a few days off. We all met up in the airport Friday night and drove down to Santa Fe together. We stayed at this awesome home/condo just outside of Santa Fe. It was perfect for all of us, had 3 rooms and 3 bathrooms, and a pool within walking distance. I have some family in Santa Fe so it was so fun to be able to hang out with them. My Aunt Susie and Uncle Dave live there and their 2 daughters (my cousins) Kristen and Nichole both live their with their families. We got to spend lots of time with them and our kids got to know each other a little bit, which was nice. On Saturday my Aunt signed Naomi and I up for a cooking class at her cooking school. Aunt Susie even offered to help my mom watch all of our kids so we could go. I was a little nervous to leave all the kids with them, but Naomi and I had a great time at the class. We ate what the chef prepared during our class and it was simply amazing! My mom and Aunt Susie luckily survived, although they were rather tired. They took the kids to the Children's Museum in Santa Fe and the kids had a blast. THe rest of the afternoon/evening we hung out at the pool. My cousins came over with their kids and we ordered dinner at the poolside, so fun! My cousin Kristen has 2 boys (Dylan 9 and Tyler 6) and my cousin Nicole has a girl and a boy (Hailey 9 and Logan 5). On Sunday we relaxed and went into town for lunch and a little shopping at the Indian market. They have gorgeous jewelry there. That evening my Aunt planned a picnic in the mountains for the entire gang. It was perfect because there was a playground for the kids to play on too. Monday we signed the kids up for horseback riding at the lodge we were staying at. The horse guys were so good with the kids. They even led the horses in a trot so the kids could go fast. That day we got birthday presents and decorations for Sasha's birthday. That afternoon we hung out at the pool some more. We had a great time being with our cousins and getting some more summer fun in.

One of the many nap times - Naomi, Mia, and Cruz
"Wrangler Only" - Sasha, Cruz, and Mia
The 3 of us
Cruz and his horse Poncho!
Alegra and Grammy
Alegra couldn't wait to get her turn on the horse
Trotting!
Celebrating Sasha's birthday the night before her birthday. Naomi picked up an ice cream cake while she was in town on Monday.
Mia and Alegra. Mia bent down to be closer to Alegra and then Alegra had to copy Mia by bending down too!

Happy 70th Birthday Grammy!

Today is Grammy Raddon's 70th birthday, but we actually managed to throw a surprise party for her last Sunday. My sister in law Ali called me a few weeks back and was like, "it is your mom's 70th birthday, we have to do something special!" My family isn't big into celebrating birthdays but I did agree with Ali on this one. She was great and organized the whole thing. We decided to have dinner with the family on Sunday (which is pretty normal) but then we invited some friends over at about 6:30 to surprise her and have dessert. It totally worked. We had a nice family dinner. Rich, Katie, Nicholas, Clara, and Ezra were even in town so that was extra special. Mom sat out on the back porch and talked to her sons while Ali and I went inside to clean up and get the dessert table set up. It worked perfect. Some of my moms friends showed up and we kept them inside until we opened some presents with Grammy. After opening presents we said, "lets go inside for some dessert!" When my mom walked through the door and saw all of her close friends there, she burst into tears. It was very touching. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Grammy and had a very enjoyable evening chatting with all of her close friends/family.

We got grammy an apron with the kids picture on it and written on it 70 Reasons we Love Grammy. I included our list below:


70 Reasons we love Grammy:
Kind, Smart, Wonderful, Amazing, Caring, Beautiful, Athletic, Organized, Clean, Elegant, Careful, Calm, Delightful, Generous, Agreeable, Faithful, Diligent, Prayerful, Nice, Obedient, Thankful, Youthful, Joyous, Courageous, Learner, Listener, Do-er, Patient, Stupendous, Wife, Mother, Caregiver, Exerciser, Friend, Daughter, Sister, Grammy, Loveable, Accessible, Superb, Helper, Inquirer, Non-elderly, Educated, Traveler, Practical, Inquisitive, Instinctive, Happy, Important, Fearless, Cooker, Optimistic, Neighborly, Lovely, Tan, Humble, Thin, Responsible, Remarkable, Receptive, Salt-lover, Terrific, Tidy, Productive, Precious, Spiritual, Steady, Sweet, Natural

She is an amazing woman and definitely all of these characteristics.
Susan, Elaine, and Calay (Elaine's daughter) came. Bud and Penny. Wendy and her boys. Brett and Sarah and their kids. K and Craig Carpenter and Jim and Pauline Fontaine. Some old Idaho friends, family, and then long time Chicago friends (that live in SLC now). It was awesome!

Boys Camping Trip

Tired guy luckily took a nap on the way up so he was good to go for a while once they got to their camp spot!
Cruz found his binoculars and walk-e-talkies to take with him!

Shawn and Cruz went camping on Monday night. They have been talking about doing this for a few weeks now, so I am so glad it finally worked out. They just drove up the Canyon to Albion Basin and luckily there were a few camping spots open. They took hot dogs and some potatoes, onion, carrots, and zucchini in tin foil to cook on the fire. They also took some s'mores for dessert. Both boys had a blast. They cooked dinner, went on an adventure hike, played some games, and slept in the tent together. I loved seeing the pictures. They both had so much fun!

balancing
I love this picture!
Dinner
Shawn and Cruz's tic tac toe game, nature-style!
They had fun exploring in the dark!

"I wanna be just like my brother!"

Alegra was already dressed when she watched Cruz get dressed. This is what she did!
She also likes to get all my hair bands and my hair ties and put them all over her body!

Hike to the Watertower

Shawn took all the kids up to the water tower last night so I could clean up the kitchen after dinner. We decided to have the kids spend the night at our home until Grammy was feeling 100% better. Shawn was so awesome to take them and keep them entertained so I could straighten the house. By the time they got home they were all so tired we did quick baths and straight to bed. They were all asleep within 5 minutes, I love that!!!

Cowabunga Bay

We went to the local water park today. You can see this water park from off the freeway, so for over a year I have been promising Cruz we would go there. Today was the day!! Actually, Grammy was taking Nick and Clara and Ali was going to go with her 4 kids, so I thought it would be a fun day to go. What ended up happening though was Grammy got the stomach flu so Nick and Clara went with us and Ali and her kids helped me watch them. It ended up working out perfect, except Grammy was sad to miss out on the fun. Hopefully she feels better soon.

Alegra taking her nap on the go, such a good girl!
The boys!

They had a "lazy river" so Cruz was in heaven. He LOVES lazy rivers!!

"googles"