Family Reunion Day 1 and 2

Day 1 was a trickling in day.  Emily and Jared with their two cute kids were the first to arrive.  Henry was soooooo excited to see his cousin Sam.  Sam is two years older than Henry though amazingly patient about playing with younger kids.  Henry idolizes him.  Mary and my Mom and Dad arrived in the evening just in time to go to dinner at Beefy’s Backyard BBQ.  Yummy yummy food and really relaxed environment.  We ate in the backyard near the playground and the hardest part was getting the kids to stop playing and eat.  The adults had no problem eating.  Beefy makes some good burgers!

Day two was San Antonio Riverwalk day.  We did the Alamo, the river boats, and ate at Boudros for lunch. 

The Alamo

The boat (don’t you love Henry’s face?)

Look at my beautiful sisters!!!

Pioneer day—only posted 2 months late

Here’s a quick update.

Pioneer day.  Mormon holiday celebrating when the pioneers arrived in Utah.  Our stake always throws a big party.  Kettle corn, snow cones, bounce house, water balloon games, lots and lots of food, but every year the highlight is the pony rides.  This year was no exception.

Look at that cute cowboy!  And that sweet little pioneer girl.

Lizzy loved the horses.  As in when we got out of the car she made a beeline to them and she mostly just stood and watched them while we waited for our turn.  And here’s what happened when she had to get off her horse.

Is it wrong to find this picture funny?  I need to get the pictures my friend Sarah took.   She takes the best pictures of Lizzy.  Sarah, can I hire you for a photo shoot?

When the family gets together…

A couple of weeks ago all my family but Mark (we missed you Mark!!!) were able to gather for a little reunion here in San Antonio.  First can I just say I love hosting people.  Seriously, it was so much fun planning and organizing what to do.  Anyone else want to come visit? 

Here’s some quick snapshots of what we did—just to tide ya’ll over for the complete play by play.

Sitting around talking.  We Hedengrens do talking well!

Water games in the front yard with the cousins

Meals around our big table.  (It was fabulous to be able to sit around and just eat and talk.)

cousin time  (Nothing says togetherness like a gallop on a pony together.  Go Lizzy and Olin!)

Okay, that’s just some.  later I’ll post about sea world, six flags, guadalupe river, rodeos, caves, boats, and lots and lots of yummy restaurants.  For now I need to go to bed.  Henry’s got school tomorrow and that bus come way too early.  (7:12!!!!)

who’s got the look

Is Henry a future male model?  Please no.  This was his outfit on the way to a swimming party.  All parts choosen by him.  And the poses were all him as well.  As was the request for pictures.

Work it Henry, work it.

Kitchen

Sorry it’s taken me so long to put these pictures up, but for those of you that have been asking, here you go.  Here’s the results of way too many hours and late nights I couldn’t afford.  It was tough, but we think it was worth it.  And I love doing projects with Dell.  He’s great to work with and we always have fun when we’re building something together.

Here’s the new island/bar area.  This is my favorite part.  We took it from painted sheetrock to wainscoting with just some MDF, pine, and paint.  It changes the whole look of the kitchen.

A look at the new granite—love it!  And the new sink—may love it more.  And a peak at Lizzy’s head.  She wanted in on the action.

The rest of the kitchen.  Of course, now we need to paint the cabinets.  Maybe in a couple of months…  :)

shelf baby

Last night Dell and I were hanging a mirror in Lizzy’s room in preparation for the family reunion we’re hosting for the next week.  (More on that later.)  Lizzy siddled up to her dollhouse bookshelf, cleared a shelf and climbed on up.  Dell handed her a blanket and she looked so cozy we had to take a picture.

Henry wanted in on the action too.  But we convinced him the bottom shelf was more his territory.  Since we made the bookshelf we’re pretty certain of its structural load limits.  Or lack there of.

4th of July

With the 4th of July on a Sunday things got spread out and it almost didn’t seem like the holiday really happened.  The 4th we went to church, came home and had naps and then at the last minute decided to join Alec and Dixie, and Sarah at the parking lot of La Cantara to watch the fireworks from six flags.  I’m so glad we did.  We all had a blast.  I loved getting to talk with Dixie and Sarah.  Dell loved having time with his brother.  (Doug was a hero husband and stayed home with the little kids so Sarah just had the two big boys with her.)  And the kids loved waiting for the fireworks and the fireworks themselves.

Lizzy was tired and so wasn’t sure about the whole thing.  But the dog in the background kept her entertained.  She’d walk up and bark at it until it “talked back” then wander off, and then come back and do it all again.

The boys sat on to top of Alec and Dixie’s mini van.  Which was in itself super cool.  And with glowsticks….. awesome.  Then add in some fabulous fireworks and I think it was little boy heaven.  Not to mention the fact that the cool big cousins were so kind to the little kids.  Noble and Liam, you guys rock!

At the first “boom” from the fireworks display Lizzy burrowed into my chest but as the noise continued soon she and I were echoing each sound with a “boom” of our own.  Lizzy was pretty amazed by the colors that appeared in the sky.  She seemed to like the quieter, closer ones more than the big bangs in the sky.  Henry liked the big bangs.  Dell liked all of them, and I loved the ones that looked like golden popcorn shimmering in the sky.  Nice work six flags!  You put on a great show.  And we even made it out of the parking lot relatively quickly.