A Taste of Outer Banks

For more than a year we planned a family vacation. We had to all decide where we could get together with all the children and all the personalities and have a good time. At Sam's suggestion we chose the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We found a great house on line and then eventually all bought into a date that would work for all of us. At last, our planning ended and we gathered in Corolla, North Carolina at a house called Beach Memories and made some memories ourselves.

Believe me, it was such a relief to open the front door and find it was a beautiful, clean, large enough home for all 37 of us to enjoy ourselves together. Then one by one the families arrived and filled the house with laughter, hugs, and joy at being together. Here are a few of the 350 pictures I took that might give a flavor of this fun week the Dickson family spent together.

WE WENT CRABBING:

In the early morning hours (note the pajamas.)

Jessica and Todd with Chase, Ben and Toby

"I'll save you Sam!" Sage goes after a crab.

In the evening with almost everyone!

WE ATE THREE MEALS A DAY TOGETHER:
Each family took a day to plan and prepare the meals. With 21 grandchildren it was a little noisy getting started. But we have some excellent cooks and the food was always delicious. The "gourmet kitchen" lacked many of the pans and utensils we needed, but we always found a way! One morning the bacon cooking set off the smoke alarm and a few late risers found their way to breakfast after all.

EACH EVENING WE HELD A SHORT DEVOTIONAL TOGETHER WITH EACH FAMILY TAKING A TURN:

We loved it as the children would lead us in a song, as we shared some spiritual moments and someone led us in prayer together. Mostly we loved gathering together!

The first night they surprised Papa with a birthday celebration since our flight to Raleigh took the whole day of his birthday. The children all helped blow out the candles and open the presents. Papa loved that as much as the gifts!

WE SWAM IN THE POOL EVERY DAY:

Adam with Bailey

Mao with a jacuzzi full of children.

Steve with Baby Sam. Sam liked the water better than Charlie.

Papa enjoys Sam with Max.

Playing with cousins is the best! Toby, Halle, Reed & Max

WE SOAKED UP THE SUN AND THE COMPANY:

With 5 babies and many little ones, nap time was no problem. Moms could hang out by the pool with everyone else while the kids slept peacefully inside. The only question was, "Whose baby is crying on which monitor?"

WE HAD THE CHILDREN BE OUR SERVANTS:

Lacey serves Cathy.

Bailey and Lacey have a drink for Todd while Riley looks on.

And the kids thought it was so fun, they competed for the chance to do it!
Toby and Sage serve while Jack leaves satisfied.

WE WALKED TWO MINUTES TO THE BEACH EACH DAY:

Sam and his boys on their way.

Our house is just down the street behind me. The beach is just in front of me down the stairs.

Ashley with a well protected load.

WE PLAYED IN THE SAND:

Riley, Jade and Mackenzie

Max, Lindsay and Reed

Mackenzie makes a castle.

Mackenzie, Jack, Riley and Max

WE EVEN HAD SAND BUILDING CONTESTS:

Adam makes Bailey a car while Reed helps.
Jessie and Sage and some other helpers made this winning castle

Lacey is the Little Mermaid with Flounder

WE PLAYED IN THE SURF:

Some tentatively along the edges--

Kayla

Hunter and Cathy

Toby, Sam & Charlie, Sunny, Alex, and Jack behind.

Riley, Jessie, Reed, Nana, Jade and Alex with one of the twins.

And some with fully immersed commitment!

Alex tortures Charlie while Tristan, Bailey and Lacey brave the waves.

Tristan, Lacey, Jessica, and Bailey

WE PLAYED WITH BOOGIE BOARDS:

Sam and Charlie didn't miss out on any of the action.

Believe it or not, it took Riley a while to be bold in the water. Thank goodness.

WE PLAYED WITH KITES:

Alan and Steve try to position it right.

Alex gets it started with Steve and Papa's help.

Mao figures out how to keep it in the air with Alex, Alan, Cathy and Hunter looking on.

WE PLAYED WITH KAYAKS!:

Toby, Todd, Ben, Jack and Ashley. Someone is going kayaking.

Casey and JR. Should pregnant moms kayak? Both of ours did!

Jessica and Sam ride a wave!

Sam and Tristan make it all the way to shore on that wave!

Brothers and sisters all catch one together and I got it on camera! Sunny with Sam and Lindsey with Adam!

SOME WENT GOLFING:

Uh-oh! I didn't get any golfing pictures. Adam, Harmon, and Alan got up early two mornings and went to a beautiful golf course and had a great time golfing. Jade joined them one morning and had a great game. But the best thing of the whole trip for Harmon was when he decided to go one more day on his own. He had the best game of his life and shot a 66. He took a picture of the scorecard, had one of the men playing with him sign the card verifying he actually got that score and saved his ball to be preserved with the card. He smiled for the rest of the trip.

WE WENT TO SEE A LIGHT HOUSE:

The Toblers said it was so worth it and convinced others to make the climb!

Bailey, Jessie and Lacey on their way up.

Tristan and Bailey stop at a window well for the view.

Todd, Ben and Toby enjoy the view.

Cathy, Mao and Hunter at the top.

A little windy for us. JR, Kayla, Nana and Mackenzie. Casey had to stay at the bottom since we didn't want any babies delivered at the top of the lighthouse.

WE WENT TO THE WRIGHT BROTHERS MUSEUM AND PARK:

Outside the museum, with another part behind them.

Todd, Baby Sam, and Sunny by the replica of the Wright Bros plane.

Ben explaining the principles of flight to Reed.

Mothers, babies and toddlers. We have many. Casey, Sunny with Sam, Lindsey with Kate, Jack and Hunter

Walking the path of the Wright Brothers's flight. Sage, Halle, Kayla, JR, Riley, and Mackenzie.

Just Jack!
Off to the monument. Only Tristan bothered to turn and smile at me.

A little hike with babies in your arms on a hot day deserves a place to sit and contemplate the monument

Mackenzie, Halle, and Sage get a birdseye view of the Wright Brothers' flight path.
Reed decides to fly to the top of that hill with a little help from his dad.

Halle, Mackenzie and Sage sit next to Wilbur on this bronze of the first plane to fly and imagine what it felt like to fly down that hill.

Fathers and sons admire the accomplishment. Mao and Hunter, Reed and Sam.

Sage takes a step back in time and gets in on this historic moment.

Not a bad place to climb even on a hot day, is it Halle?

IN OUR SPARE TIME -- WE PUT TOGETHER PUZZLES,

This table was perfect for puzzles.

Who is going to put in the last piece?

Dad and Sam are working on another one.

Alex, Adam, Jade, Sunny and Papa with the finished product. Lighthouses of the Outer Banks

COUSINS GOT BETTER ACQUAINTED

Tristan plays with Max.

Jade had never even met Chase before.

Alex and Reed do a little bonding.

AND OCCASIONALLY ESCAPED FOR A LITTLE QUIET TIME.

Jade and Alex shared a room in the quiet part of the house (except at mealtimes when it sounded like the thundering herd was coming through the ceiling. Hard to sleep in here, but they managed.

IN THE EVENINGS WE PLAYED GAMES--

The last ones seated at the poker game--Adam, Harmon, Alex, Ashley and Todd. I know this picture shows up on Papa's blog, but we were so into having fun, these two are the only pictures I took of this nightly event.

We had a lot of fun at the arm wrestling competition, until Mao and Todd broke the glass on this table. The girls wrestling was the funniest. Some of our girls held their own!

--WHILE THE CHILDREN SLEPT!

Ben and Riley thought they could stay up a little longer. Too much fun all day, though.

ONE LAST DEVOTIONAL:

Tired and tan we gather one last time. Several of the families had plane flights that left a day earlier than the rest, so our numbers were reduced.

Sam, Sage, Sam and Lindsay.

Nana gets a rare snuggle with Max. I am trying to store up until I see him again.

Jennifer, Adam, Bailey and Jade waiting for the program to start.

AND THEN WE MUST SAY GOODBYE

One last hug for Toby from Aunt Lindsey and Halle.

Bye Ben, hope we are together again soon!

"Bye, Dad," Lindsey with Kate says, "It was worth it."

The cars are packed but we are not ready to part. Jade says good-bye to Jack and Harmon.
Sam and Max, ready to attend church in Nagshead, gives Jade one last hug before they must part.
One last early morning farewell to the beach (and the crabs.)

GOOD-BYE, BEACH MEMORIES! WE LOVE THE MEMORIES WE HAVE OF OUR TIME IN THIS HOUSE.

Jessica in the last picture on the front steps of Beach Memories.

What an adventure in Corolla in the Outer Banks of North Carolina the Dickson Family had.

NOW I AM FINALLY DONE!!!

ARIZONA CATCH UP

I know, I know I am about a month behind! We have just come back from a fabulous trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. But the days since then have been crammed with many consuming activities. I still want to document our quick trip to Arizona. It was so fun and we got to see a few of those we love so much. I will put Arizona up first and then post some great pictures from Outer Banks in a few days.

I have been missing Arizona and we have not seen Dad and Marge in months. So with very little notice we headed to AZ seriously early in the morning. Arriving just before lunch, we went with Dad to see Marti's most recent expansion of Scrapbooks, Etc. It is huge and beautiful. What a business she has built!

After a quick sandwich we picked up Marge and went to Doug's new facility. Who would have thought Bazzill would grow to such an extent? We remember when he had just one cutter. It is an amazing operation! It was fun to see the whole process, especially after taking orders a few times for all their things.

Dad and Spence were able to get enough tickets for us to accompany them to the Diamondbacks game. It was so much fun! We ate hot dogs and cheered and talked and talked and, of course, ended up winning the game. They have wonderful seats right behind the D's dug-out and home plate. We really had a wonderful time! I was glad to be able to spend some time with Spence, too.

The next day, Alan and Doug went to play 9 holes of golf and had a good time. I spent a lazy morning just talking to Dad and Marge. Then we ran over to see the Jones' remodeled home. It is beautiful, naturally. Here are some of them--Haley, Marti, Doug and Kevin--forced to pose in front of their redone fireplace.

We joined them for lunch and got to see Nathan, Lacey, and their cute little Sydney. Here they are in front of the restaurant. Hope they all come to the beach next week.

Alan has a homing device built in that leads him to any Bass Pro Store or Cabellas in the vicinity. We had to spend a few minutes and a few dollars at this one not too far from Dad's.

After spending a good hour at Barbara's and catching up with her a little, we all went to dinner at a "Cowboy" type restaurant close to the Jones' area. Spence and Louise put their children first and couldn't come to our last minute dinner plans. It was so fun to be with everyone else, though. We have to steal these minutes when we can.

Having Sunday commitments, we awoke early Sunday morning and made the quick dash back to California in time to teach our classes and fulfill our commitments. It was worth the driving for the great time we had.

CELEBRATIONS!

MOTHERS DAY

Mothers Day was especially fun since Sam and Lindsey with Reed and Max dropped in from North Carolina and surprised us. I had all three of my sons with me for a couple of hours. When has that happened lately? It will happen again soon at the Outer Banks in NC when the whole family will be together again.

JR, Adam and Sam with me in a group hug! I miss the giant hugs my sons used to give me so often.

Max says "I do!"

Reed and his oven mitt puppet posing together.

These pictures were hard to get--moving targets. Lindsay tried to corral them for me. They were on their way to Maui with Lindsay's family the next day. Lots of plane rides and things to do to keep them excited.

Sunday dinner with a group again. Could I ask for a better Mothers Day? And I didn't have to cook or clean up. Thanks guys. (Don't look at me on the phone back there.)

ONE MORE BIRTHDAY DOWN

My birthday celebration at JR & Casey's. Casey made me a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. My favorite--what a treat. I am not crazy about birthdays any more or getting so, so, so-o-o old, except that I always think about my brother Ron, whose birthdays stopped at 48. Boy am I glad to have another birthday and share it with my children and darling grandchildren that I love so much. Everyone called me on that day and sent flowers, gifts, schmaltzy cards and emails. I felt very loved and honored.

Mackenzie, Kayla and I admire my delicious cake. Thank you Casey for not putting a candle on for every year. We look like we are blowing out that many, though.

Quick Utah Visit

When I went to Utah during Jack's stay in the hospital I shot some cute pictures I just have to post before I move on.

Halle is such a good help with Kate!

Just Lacey!

Love that Kate smile.

Just home from the hospital, but big smiles for everyone. We are happy he recovered so quickly.

Halle posing for me.

They actually look like sisters in this shot.

Jessie with her Nintendo DS.

Sunny and Riley. Look closely and you will see Riley always posing.

Alex practices piano quite a bit and it shows!

Tristan (phone in hand, of course) with a great new hair cut.

The only shot of Sage where he wasn't pulling a face.

Ashley, their nanny, with Riley and Charlie.

Sunny with Riley and Charlie; Sage popping in.

Alex with little brother Sam, just up from a nap.

Some of My Favorite Faces In Utah

When we were in Utah at Conference time, we had several times we were all together. Sunny and Steve open their home to all of us and we have a great time together. I took dozens of random pictures, but could only pick a few.

Steve and Sam

Jessica and Charlie

Lindsey and Kate

Harmon and Kate

Adam says every picture of Kate is the same because she has such a big natural smile. Here she even smiles her face off with a pacifier in it!

Halle and her unnaturally dark curly hairdo!

The Fierce and Scary Pirate Jack!

The sweet and loving big sister Riley with Charlie.

Jessie and Lacey.

Sorry, girls I didn't post the crazy ones that came after these.

Travis and Jade trying to calm Charlie.

Jade, Lacey, Bailey, Sage and Jack on the trampoline.

Tristan, can you see the good looking boy under the hair!

A normal position for the mother of twins--Sunny with Charlie and Sam

Conversation! Always lively.

An unlikely pairing, but great picture--Adam with Alex

Bailey and Jade on their way out the door.

Alan with Rosemary

Our weekend was so crammed that the only way I got to see Rosemary was that she came over to Sunny's to see us on Monday morning before we hit the road for home.

CONFERENCE?

Last month we went to Utah over General Conference weekend. Alan had Friday and Monday meetings and I had no Sunday RS obligations. Adam had much to do on his house to get it ready for sale. So the 3 of us headed to SLC. On Saturday we saw portions of Conference. But we also saw Riley's soccer game, Bailey's dance recital and Lacey's volleyball game. What are these Momons thinking, scheduling over Conference?

Riley plays on a 4 year old team with all boys. She is a full head taller than all of them. She is also the best player by far. But they are still 4 year olds. The pregnant mother just behind Riley was the coach of the other team. She kept trying to drag her players to be in position to block the ball since they didn't seem to get the game. Before the time was up her team didn't want to play anymore. I wonder why?

Bailey is on a cute dance team and we were lucky enough to be there to see her dance at a competition. She is very good and really projects and loves to be in front of an audience! None of my pictures during the performance turned out since we were so far away. Isn't she cute? How we remember when she and Lacey were little and used to perform for us after Sunday dinners! How time flies! We are excited to have Bailey and her family in California so we see them more often.

Lacey is playing on a volleyball team with her friend Kennedy and this was only their second game. They are just learning to play the game. They play in a coed league and with older kids. But they both were pretty good for their team. Don't these girls look alike except for their color hair? They have a lot in common and have a great time together. Besides they live across the street from each other.

We missed some of conference, but we couldn't pass on the opportunity to watch our grandkids perform while we were there. Steve's wonderful grandfather, Britt McConkie, passed away between Sunday sessions which added sadness to the visit and one more distraction from Conference. Luckily we have other ways of viewing and reading Conference later. It was a wonderful historic Conference. It is something to see the mantel fall on President Monson. I always think that my love for the previous prophet will make it harder to accept the new one, but the Lord helps us feel that love, acceptance and reverence for the successor.