Black River 2011

Christmas Traditions

we just got back from kyle's parents house. addison is loving that maeli and cameron are in town and is so worn out from all the "cousin plays" as kyle likes to call them. we watched "tangled" in the theater while grandma and grandpa took care of cameron, addison, and charly. later for dinner we of course went to the mckay favorite - texas roadhouse. we will have a movie gift exchange with all the mckays tomorrow night.

kyle took several pictures and heather made me crack up looking at them because she is making a different face in each one. addison and maeli are around the tree playing with toys. cameron is also on the other side of the tree passed out on the floor like grandpa on the couch and shawn who already went to bed. colin is playing the piano and everyone else can be seen in the picture. it was perfect to unwind next to the christmas tree, listening to music.

we had our annual christmas parties this year with both sides of my family too. we always eat first (a potato bar with the mccleves and soup bar with the browns) and then gather around for the fun gift exchange. friends were invited to both family parties and we had a great time with everyone.

this year, before we started opening gifts we heard funny christmas formal stories from jalee and devin who are both going to mesa high, and each had horrible dates. it was so fun to hear the stories from them - i'm glad they can laugh about them!
above: dad trying on the gift he went home with. amazing! below: santa leaves gifts for the grandchildren under eighteen. always one of the highlights of the night.addy opens her santa gift - books, her favorite!i wasn't thinking and forgot my camera so i grabbed these photos from alison's blog. the brown party was at clint and debbie's this year, my favorite place to have it at. new this year was the fire pit in the backyard. it was a big hangout and addison loved it.

above: cute grandma and grandpa! it's their first christmas together and we couldn't be happier to see them so happy too! below: the gift to steal this year. matt and celeste ended up with it, they're lucky!

(braiden, celeste, dylan (cj's baby) and matt's dad.)

some of the cousins having a fun time together. thanks for the pictures alison!

Wet n' Wild McCleves

On Saturday, the entire McCleve clan went to Wet N' Wild together. The water park was pretty awesome with their fun slides, kiddie area, and wave pool. We had so much fun and Addioson loved playing with her aunts, uncles, and cousins. We took many pictures and videos, here are some.Above: Brittney and Addison in line for the wave pool. Addison loved the pool until we put the lifesaver on her and then she was terrified. I think it made her feel like she had no control with that huge thing on her. Below: Aunt Kenna showing Addison around the kiddie playground. She loved it.
Above: Addison fell asleep on Brittney while taking a break to drink a bob. Brittney laid her down to take a nap while we went on some slides together. Great Grandma McCleve watched her for us until she woke up about a half an hour later. Below: Taking a quick rest from the sun. Doesn't Addison looks so cute?!


A few hours of swiming really wipes out your energy and makes you super hungry, so the whole family trekked out to the parking lot for lunch - three three-foot subs, potatoe salad, chips and veggies, and sodas!


Below: L-R. Kerstyn, Kasey, Aunt Jenell, Aunt Connie, Grandma McCleve and others enjoying the good eats.

Busy eating is Jesse, Michelle, and Jalee.All the food was gone when everyone went back inside the park. It was a great time to chat and fill up!

Below: L-R. Chealyn, Chad (Fiancee to Chantell), Chantell, Caden, Uncle Loren, and Aunt Brookie.

Camping Season

this is what addison looks like right now. i love that baby along with her adorable fat rolls and buddah belly!

tonight i am packing for a camping trip. addison and i leave tomorrow afternoon and kyle will join us friday night with michelle and jesse. my dad's family made it a tradition to camp as a family while those who get drawn for hunting season do their thing. when grandpa mccleve unexpectedly passed away six years ago while hunting with my uncles, the tradition was put on hold. i think that some of my uncles have gone a few times since, but it hasn't been a whole family affair again until this year. i am so excited to be able to spend time with my family around a campfire, sing songs, play cards, explore, eat, build forts and all sorts of stuff i haven't done in so long! this will be addison's first campout and it's gonna be great. she is just shy of seven months now. my mom is cheating and isn't really camping. she insisted on renting a motor home; said she's done her fair share of camping in a tent. i can't wait to show you pictures of dirty faces and ratty hair topped with huge smiles!

here is most of the stuff i am bringing. i still have to pack a tent , sleeping bags and stuff like that. isn't kyle cute all squished to one side? what are you doing for your weekend?

Midnight at IHOP

At the end of every semester Brittney and I celebrate by going to IHOP late at night and getting some breakfast. We started this tradition when we were dating. After our first semester (which is really hard when your dating and then engaged and making wedding plans...ect) we were so excited to be done with school and have a few weeks of break where we could just take a little breather. We were really happy that now we could spend some more time with each other (which for engaged couples there seems to be never enough time). The first time we celebrated at IHOP we decided to do it at 3 AM in the morning requiring us to sneak out of our houses. I remember crawling out of my bedroom window in my room downstairs climbing out of the window well and getting into my car and driving over to Brittney's. Some of Brittney's family were already up so she didn't have to sneak out ( which I thought didn't make it as exciting). Since it was so early in the morning for some reason we were in a very laughing mood and everything seemed really funny. Our server probably thought we were drunk because we were laughing at everything. This year we went at midnight. We were already at Brittney's parents house and they wanted to watch Addison while were gone. It was great fun and a good way to start the summer.

Eat At Pete's

Tonight Brittney and I went to the temple to see her sister, Michelle go through for the first time. We are so excited for her and her fiance Jesse to get married friday. So every time brittney and I go to the temple we have a tradition to go to Pizza Mart (home of the large pizza for only $5.50) on Stapley and Main. We go in and order our favorite pizza with sausage and jalepenos. While we wait for the pizza, we play the Original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game. Brittney's always Leonardo and I'm Michealangelo. We kinda stink at the game so by the time the pizza ready we've already died. (We get better each time though). Sometimes after going to the temple Brittney will beg me to go to Pete's Fish and Chips because her McCleve family would always go afterward (though she's never been). So after the temple I let her convince me to break our traditon and we went to Pete's. I was a little disapointed because I love my Pizza Mart, but in the end we had a lot of fun. But next time it's gonna be Pizza Mart!

I didn't get to play the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game, but at least I got to ride the pony.

"For your own safety please do not give money or food to the vagrants."
Brittney modeling her food.... mmmmmm.....delish!

Family Traditions

when this past school semester ended - i think it was december 18th - kyle and i went out to eat to celebrate. we have this tradition that in order to celebrate, we eat breakfast at three in the morning. kyle started this when we were engaged after the fall semester of '07. the whole time that we were dating and engaged, we got to bed somewhere between two and three thirty every night, sometimes even later. it was so hard when we had to wake up for 8:00 classes and then go to school, back to some more classes, and then hang out for the rest of the evening until the early morning hours. the only thing different about the weekends was that we didn't work (kyle did some saturdays) and we didn't have school, just church. so as you can see we never got any sleep. but the only time we complained was when our parents would call us home because they wanted some sleep. in our minds, we never saw each other enough and never spent enough time with each other. school was the enemy, the reason we were tired everyday. we had no fault, of course. if we could just sleep in a little and then start the day we would be fine. so the natural thing for us to do would be to celebrate when school is over for the break. and just to be spiteful, we went at 3:00 am and had breakfast at ihop.

the first time we went, kyle acted like he was drunk the entire night and i was so embarrassed when he let one slip right before the waitress came over. i had never seen him act like that before and thank goodness never since. we did the same thing at the end of the spring '08 semester, and pictured is the tradition living on at the conclusion of the fall '08 semester. i did change however going at three in the morning. i'm pregnant, so it really didn't appeal to me to stay up until three or wake up at three and be tired all the next day. we went at ten. kyle and i get to bed late enough as it is, something we really need to work on before addison comes in four short weeks!

this past time at ihop was so fun. it's always a treat when i get to hang out with kyle. not that he's always gone, i just can never get enough of him! so yummy!

kyle ordered an amazing omelet with a side of buttermilk pancakes, and i ordered stuffed strawberry crepes and a plate with egg, hash browns (mmm) and sausages. the over-easy eggs turned out to be my favorite next to the hash browns. neither kyle or i could finish the crepes because we thought they were a little too sweet. what a fun tradition, one i'm excited to pass on our kids when they start school. i can't wait for a new semester!