15 Grandchildren

One of our projects for the week was taking photos of all the grandkids together. Ashley brought cute tshirts for everyone to wear with their name and their "number" on the back. Kind of by accident on Thanksgiving morning we got a few pics of the kids lined up on the beach. When we tried to do a more perfect line up on Friday morning there was no cooperation from numbers 12-15 :)

This is as good as it got on Friday morning :) 

Oceanside Pier and Beach

Right behind the resort was the Oceanside (fishing) Pier. It was a fun place to walk an dwatch the people fishing and the people surfing.

There was also a great beach right behind the resort. Several times during the week the kids enjoyed beach activities. The weather was perfect.

Sand in the face!

Cute sunglasses! 

Can't get everyone to "sit" and "smile"! 

Only way to enjoy the beach!

There also was a pool at the resort. Here is a cute collage that Annie made of Weston, Owen, and Papa at the pool.

Visit with Merkleys (November 24)

The Sunday that we were in CA, we all went to church together. A "lucky" ward there got all 26 of us. (hehe) All during the week we tried to get as many photos as we could. We ended up with some good family photos is use for Christmas cards and such. Here is a picture that we took on Sunday of the Petes.

On Monday evening, the Merkleys came to the resort to have dinner with Ron and me. Then about 

6 pm, we all gathered in a lounge room there at the resort- kind of a FHE, together. The Merkleys got to meet all of the kids and grandkids. We shared missionary stories, had dessert, and took a few pictures. It was great to see them. We had never seen Sister (Graham) Merkley since the mission. We are very grateful for Sister Merkley and Sister Savage, for bringing the gospel to our family. 

Thanksgiving 2014

Our big family event for November was for all of us to gather in Oceanside, CA. for the week of Thanksgiving. Daniel was the only family member who could not attend. Since Ashley was coming with the kids alone, I flew out to SLC and then drove with her and the kids in their car. The Christiansens also drove with us. I flew out on Thursday, November 20th. That morning, mom had an appointment with Dr. Lin in San Antonio. Ron went with us and took me to the airport after mom's appointment. I arrived in SLC that evening...stayed at Alison's house. They had purchased a new mini van to drive. They had lots to do that week to get the car ready to go and get packed up. Ashley, also, had a busy week getting everything packed and ready, without Daniel. (He was working in Australia.) Ashley had games, food, and movies already for the kids in the car- it was amazing what she had prepared for the car travel. We finally all left American Fork about 5 pm on Friday. We stayed in St. George that night. We drove on to Oceanside on Saturday. Audrey had been on a business trip in China...she flew into LAX on Saturday and Mike and Carrie picked her up there, on their way from Radondo Beach to Oceanside.  Ron flew out with Sam and the boys from San Antonio. The Simms drove from Santa Barbara to Oceanside on Saturday. We had 5- 2 bedroom deluxe rooms at the Wyndham Oceanside Pier Resort.

Since we arrived at different times on Saturday. The Thompsons and the Andersons went out for dinner together. Us, the Petes, the Christiansens, and the Simms went for dinner after we all arrived. We went to a Pizza restaurant, right there near the resort. 

On Monday, all of us went to Legoland. 

(Some of us went back again, a second day, later in the week) 

What a fun place for the kids. Since it was Thanksgiving week, it was rather crowded, but we got the most we could out of it. The second day, most of the younger kids stayed at the resort...letting the older kids enjoy more rides. 

(I decided to break up the Thanksgiving trip into smaller posts, instead of one giant post...so more to follow.)