My little brother Devin left today on a LONG flight to fly to Goiana (sp?), Brazil for two years. I am so proud of him and his dedication to serve a mission, and also a little nervous imagining if I was in his shoes on a red eye flight into a country I have never been to, where they look different and speak different then I do, and I know no one there. However, Devin has seriously been so nonchalant about everything it seems as if he is just anxious to be there and start this next chapter of his life. What a good example he is.
Anyway, because of him leaving on his mission, we drove down to El Dorado Hills, where my parents live and many of my siblings, and we spent a week there all together. There were 8 kids, 5 and under, and 11 adults. I know that doesn't sound like very many, compared to many of your families, but in a house with almost all stone floors, the noise got to be quite loud at times with kids screaming and playing, and the fact that in my family if you want to be heard you just need to get louder than everyone else. However, despite what I expected, I enjoyed every minute of it and wasn't driven crazy! It was sooooo much fun seeing my siblings and their families as well as my parents and grandparents. Devin did a great job on his farewell talk, and we did a ton of fun things together: the zoo, water park, Funderland (little kid amusement park), the Temple, and lots of swimming. I took a good amount of pictures compared to what I normally take, but now wish I had taken more. Here are a few of my faves as well as a video...
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| Devin, Adam and Austin jumping to splash us all. Guess who felt the pain? |
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| Chase loving the water wings (and mom loving them too) |
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Collecting accorns as if they were part of an Easter Egg hunt.
Grandpa sure loved their help in getting rid of the potential sprouts. |
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| Kai, amongst strangers, loving the giraffes |
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| Thanks, Mom, for all of your help with the kids at the zoo! |
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Chase and his buddy, Grandpa
And last, but not least, one of the few videos I took of our stay. This was one of our last nights together as we were getting the kids fed before putting them to bed so the adults could eat in peace. All of us had had a long day outside so we aren't looking our best. It is Stoker tradition, thanks to Devin, our DJ, to blast fun dance music and run around and look idiotic. Watching this makes me miss you all so much. Thanks for a really fun week!
Untitled from Mimi Crisenberry on Vimeo.
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