Ali's Wedding: Girls Weekend Away

My best friend Suzy and I left our babies at home with their daddies and flew out to Portland Oregon for our other best Friend Alison's wedding. The weekend was a blast, not only did we get to see Alison tie the knot but we took full advantage of our kid free time and did plenty of shopping, dining and uninterrupted napping. We ate junk food and stayed up late talking just like the old days in Acadia.

We were glad to meet the groom John Bell who is completely deserving of our Alison.


We got to spend some quality time with Alison on her wedding day helping her do her hair and makeup which was one of the highlights of the trip.


When the wedding day was over and Alison was off on her honeymoon, Suzy and I went to see some of the sights of Portland. Here we are at Multnomah Falls.


We're so happy for you John and Alison. Thanks for the great weekend. And thanks to our husbands for all your hard work while we were away.

Family Portraits Summer '09

We had the good fortune of having family portraits taken twice in about a month's time. We feel fortunate because all of our previous attempts to get a good picture of the three of us have failed miserably. We have plenty of good pictures of Anna, Anna and Brittany, Anna and me, but very very few of ALL of us smiling and looking at the camera. So we would like to thank John and Laura for their talents and pacience in helping us get a few great shots for posterity.

John's Portraits- June 16th
The only day that we could coordinate our schedules with John was one of the rainiest days I have seen in Indianapolis. It started early in the morning and literally did not stop raining all day. It seemed like it didn't ever really let up. So with 2 umbrellas in hand we went down to the canal in downtown Indy and John worked his magic.

Laura's Portraits- July 12th
Laura Sudweeks took pictures of the entire Bray crew. Later she did individual family pictures of each of the sibling's families. We didn't have any rain this time, but we did have a blazing sun. The time of day that worked with our schedule had some really bright and hot sunshine going on. We thought an outdoor shot would be good, but with the sun as strong as it was we would all have been squinting and had really harsh shadows on our faces. So we drove around BYU campus and found a building that had some shade and some cool steps and pillars (Carl G. Maeser Building). We decided to shoot the pictures there and they turned out really well.

Children's Museum

Anna's first trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.

We love her HUGE smile. She got her large mouth from her daddy.

Idaho

After Utah we headed up to Idaho to see the Chapman crew. We had a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's house, except for the fact that Anna got really sick :( She puked all night long, and sometimes during the day too. Poor thing! She finally got better, but it took her about 5 days and not too many people at the family reunion got a chance to meet her and see her little personality shine through. She clung to us (primarily Brittany) every waking moment.
After the family reunion, those who could, went up to Island Park (one of my favorite places in the world). Ever since I can remember, our family has gone up to the mountains near Yellowstone National Park to a Cabin, on an island, on a lake; hence the name Island Park. We would go there with all my cousins and go boating and swimming, and fishing all day long for a week. This year are numbers were smaller than normal, but we had a great time anyway.
Bill's Island on Island Park.

Don't our teeth look perdy!!!
Aunt Karan bought a whole bunch of funny fake teeth for us to try in.
My nephew James loves to go wakeboarding with his daddy. He grabs on like so...

And then shimmies down and stands on the board with Derek. He loves to hold on to the rope and pretend like he's skiing. You can always count on James to be your first mate.

We saw a moose right off the dock about 100 ft away.
Grandma and Grandpa Chapman.
Karan, Ryan, Grandma, and Grandpa.

Silly String Fight!

Brittany and I had a chance to visit the Rexburg temple. Neither of us has been there since it was completed. They had barely started construction on it when I was graduating from BYU-Idaho. What a beautiful temple!
A bunch of the family went horseback riding nearby.
Brittany and my sister Jamie riding horses.

How many Tews can you fit on one tube?
Alex and Mary.
Britt and the Bug.
Brittany shedding it up. She has really improved this summer and can comfortably cross the wakes both directions. It's fun to see her progress.
Ain't she a cute little skipper.
Impromptu airport laz-y-boy, baby style. Anna got to take a nap in a quiet wing of the St. Louis airport.

Trip to Utah

We were back home from Washington for 10 days and we headed back West. This time, we went to Utah for a family reunion. We shot more video than pictures of the family events, but here are some pictures from our week in Utah.

We spent about 6 days doing fun filled activities including: eating, swimming at 7 Peaks and other pools, eating, Family Talent Show Night, Picnics in parks, golfing, and did I mention eating?


Cody (20) the oldest grandchild with Anna the youngest (10 months).


One day the family rented a couple of rooms at a fun center. We played wallyball, Wii, pool, and you guessed it...ate a lot of delicious food. Don't you just love family reunions.

Karen brought face paints and painted on anyone that wanted their face painted. She got pretty elaborate and did snakes, spiderman, flowers, and for Annabug- A bug on her face!Reuben hanging out with Anna.


Long lost Ricks College Crew. We went out for ice cream with Brittany's old roommate Lexi and her Husband Dan, along with my old roommate and best buddy Reuben. It was nice to finally meet Dan and to reminisce about old times.



Our old friends Joseph and Melinda and Ryan and Jamee got together for a cookout. Joseph and Melinda showed us their new house and we let the kidlets run around. Bree, Anna, and Liam are all a month or two apart. We had some delicious food and had a chance to catch up on old times. Addison is so huge now. Last time we saw her she was only 6 months old. She was a lot of fun to play with.


Joseph and Bree.
Addison

Ryan and little Liam.