We are Family...I got my Earl's with me

Oh the Earl Reunion. It was jam packed full of food, activities, fun, family, and craziness...and I loved it.
Here was the schedule:

Friday
Fun run 8-9am @ David's house.
9:00-9:30 - Breakfast.
9:30-10:00 - Kids program
10:00-2:00-Fun time: food, boating, large slip'n'slide
12:00 - Lunch - sloppy joes
2:00-5:30 - Nap time/food prep/song writing prep for Sat.
5:30-6:00 - Take family pictures
6:00- Dinner - pork tacos
6:30-9:00ish - Evening activities: including "awkward family photo caption contest", and cupcake wars.

Saturday
7:00 - Golf @ Moses Pointe
9:00-11:00 - Craft/visiting/kids playing
11:00-2:00 - Swimming, games, volleyball @ Grandmas.
12:30 - lunch (Pizza & sno cones will be provided)
2:00-4:30 - nap time/food prep/practice songs
4:30-6:30 - Amazing race @ David & Peggy's
6:30 - Dinner - Hot dogs/flank steak
7:00-9:00ish - Presentation of songs.

All my friends laughed when I told them that a) we had a pretty tight schedule for our reunion b) most of it consisted of some sort of competition and c) dancing and singing was required. The Earl's do gatherings, like nobody else I know.

It was quite stressful getting everything ready for our parts in the reunion (the cupcakes, and song presentation) but once we got there, the stress just seemed to melt away. Q was in heaven being around so many kids and so many things to do, and getting back to "normal life" with just her and her mommy was quite difficult for her. What can I say, the girl likes a party. She was also the only child, that I know of, that had a complete emotional breakdown because her part wasn't "big enough" in the family song production. I had to promise her some performance time when we got home in front of just our family to calm her down. I don't know where she gets it. ;)

Friday: started off early with a 5k walk/run at 8:00 am. I didn't go. It was a very long day previously, and we didn't even get to bed until well after midnight, and I wasn't going to wake Q up that early...it was a good decision for both of our sanities. We got there just as the latter groups were arriving back at David's and we were there to cheer and give hugs to everybody. And with that we were off on a non-stop day of visiting, playing, laughing, and eating.

We got to go out on the boat and over to the sandunes for a little bit, which was so fun. I am not much of a "water sport" person, but I LOVE just riding on the boat and visiting. Q was in heaven.

Then they brought out the huge slip n slide!! what a fabulous idea! Q, elsie, and chloe couldn't get enough of it, and even played out it well past anyone else.

That evening we did the family pictures. 

yep, Jared conned us into doing a "gunz" picture.

The whole Earl crew

Cousins!

That night was cupcake wars, and Kim and I entered our "Take 5 cupcake" that we invented. It was a peanut butter filled chocolate cupcake, frosted with chocolate ganache, sprinkled with crushed pretzels, and drizzled with caramel. It was a rich cupcake, but it won a little award...so I was stoked.

The "judges"

I think one of my favorite parts of the weekend, was the awkward family photo game, where we split into families, and had to come up with different captions of pictures presented on the screen. I do love a good roast, and our family knows how to bring out the zingers!!

Saturday:
I am not the most crafty person, but I do love to craft..especially when I have plenty of wonderful conversationalists surrounding me, so Saturday's girl time with crafts was perfect. Kim and I kind of took over the flowers making table, and become the reluctant "experts" on cinging fabric.

Anything involving food, the pool, and grandma's backyard is going to be a hit, and Q and I had a blast that whole time. Q spent most of the time in the pool, and was perfectly content paddling herself around and making new friends. She was all to eager to participate in the swimming races, and won herself a bronze and silver. The rest of the afternoon, we hung out on the grass, eating wayyyy to many sno cones, and watching our team (Kacey, corbin, jared, aaron, kyle, and cort) dominate at Volleyball...who knew Jared was so sporty?

We couldn't drag ourselves away from grandma's soon enough, so the kids went without a nap, and Q would pay the price later on, when she cried herself to sleep, missing me during the amazing race.

It was so fun being a participant in the Amazing Race this year. I know all the hard work that goes into planning and executing the race, and I was super impressed! It was so fun. Our team was awesome, and we even had a team mascot!!! I was just impressed with myself, that I didn't hold the team back...personal goal achieved! haha. I did quite well with trivia, basketball lay-ups (thank you newport high p.e. class), and name that date (some were decided because of my hairstyle...see it pays to change your hair every year). That ropes course kind of kicked my butt, and left me sore for a couple of days, but the fact that I completed it, was huge....it also further cemented the notion that I could never be on Survivor.

our mascot

The song presentations were absolutely hilarious! I was so proud of everyone. Most of the families said they did them last minute, but I guess with this talented bunch, we just can't help but be awesome...even with little preparation!

We had decided to go with a Tv show theme because a) this is our family afterall and we do love our tv shows. and b) we would be required to actually sing, not just lip sync, and I believe the Bates may be the only Earl crew with absolutely no "singers" in the bunch (aka: complete tone deaf). So what we lack in actual talent we try to make up in presentation and charisma.

The whole weekend was such a blast and I have to give some serious props to the David and Peggy Family (Kacey) for planning a fabulous reunion filled with so many fun activities and moments of joy. I loved it!

Somebody's getting married...

Our good friend Clinton (aka: Coco) got married a few weeks ago, to a girl who actually grew up close by him (but they never knew each other), but she has been living in Utah for the last 12 years, going to school at BYU and then teaching. So they had a reception down here for all her friends. Luckily we were able to attend and see our Coco. Q was so excited the whole day. The reception was a beautiful garden soiree in a friends gorgeous backyard, with tons of different pies filling the tables and large suckers for the kids. Q was in heaven. I usually hate attending wedding receptions, but I'm glad I made an exception for Clinton. It sure was fun to see him.

I got a new attitude I'm wearing a new dress (New), new hair (New)

yep, I've been talking about it for a long time now, and I finally did it. I got extensions! My natural hair is not the kind that should be longer than at my shoulders, so the only way I was going to have long hair that was actually pretty was to get the extensions. So far I am lovin it. 

My friend Piper did them for me, and the process was painless and quick. She used "hotheads" extensions, that are tabs of thin hair that you sear around your hair at the base. They should last until I need another highlight of natural hair. She then removes them, does my hair, then reattaches the hair again, and they should last another 4-6 weeks. pretty cool huh? 

The hardest parts have been getting used to sleeping with them, since I'm not used to having all that hair around my neck and back, and of course when the hair is wet it's pretty darn heavy. 

but other than that it's been awesome. 

Yeah for new hair! of course i'm sure in a few months I may have something different...you know me. :)

Everybody's working the for the weekend

Kim and Aaron headed out of town for a few days, and we had the pleasure of hanging out with Elsie for a couple days. Q was in heaven, and I loved having someone around to entertain Q. They played so well together, and were non stop with their activities: painting, barbies, dress up, legos, blocks, pretend. they barely even watch tv, which was amazing.

The girls put on a "fashion show" for me, and insisted I took pictures when they came out. I really wish I could post the picture of Q's first outfit, but it wouldn't be appropriate for public. but I was laughing sooo hard. let's just say when they said they wanted to do a fashion show, I didn't think Q would go in the Victoria Secret "Angel" direction, complete with wings, heels, underwear, and nothing else. She did strike an excellent pose though! 

On friday I took the girls to see the new Ice Age movie, then to the mall to run around the play area.

 The movie was super cute, and has a dang catchy theme song.

That night we got ready to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We made gold medals, an olympic symbol chain for the wall, and map print outs, and a find that flag game.

Saturday we headed to seven peaks for a little bit, then played again the rest of the day. These girls were just sooo good! It was a great weekend. 

Pioneer children sang as they walked...

Pioneer Day (July 24th), in most states, involves maybe a picnic or bbq, but in Utah it gets an official holiday with parades, fireworks, and fairs to celebrate.  Spanish Fork had their "Fiesta Days" fair during that week of the 24th, so Kim and I took the girls down to one of the parades. The big parade was on the 24th, but Kim was going to be gone so we checked out the smaller one. It ended up consisting of just horses, wagons, and a few cattle but the girls were entertained hanging out in the street, and Kim and I were comfortable in the perfect weather sitting on the blanket talking. So...Success!

On the 24th I took Q down at night to check out the fireworks. We got their at 9:30, got a place to park, and hung out in our car to watch the fireworks that were to start at 10. Unfortunately, they weren't going to start the fireworks until the rodeo got over...um what? So Q and I hung out for a bit, playing in the car, and letting Q poke her head out the sunroom to watch all the "unofficial" fireworks going off around the park. When it was close to 11:00 pm and still no fireworks, I decided to pack it in and head home. Q thought all the fireworks were the "show" so she didn't feel gipped, and we got out of there before getting stuck in major post-firework traffic. Win-Win. 

every time Q would stick her head out the sunroof she was would exclaim "I'm a giraffe in a car"

gotta love silly pictures

I wanna be a Dentist...

A couple weeks ago I took Q to her new dentist. What a great office. the waiting room had free arcade games, a big screen showing a movie, a play house, a fish tank, and lots of toys. Q was ecstatic. The hygienist were so nice, and Q did awesome with the cleaning, and the fluoride trays. The dentist was super nice, and was pleased that Q was cavity free!!  He did say that within the next year we need to look at working on fixing her bite, and then of course fixing the space in her teeth as her teeth come out and permanents come in. But it was a successful trip and Q left with a Princess Tiana toothbrush and a balloon flower!

We Love the Dentist!