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my brothers family.

i took some pictures of these guys this weekend. 

how cute are my nieces?! 

 

 

a love letter to north carolina

back in april, spencer's dad turned 60, and his birthday wish was to complete a century bike ride with his son. -zero hesitation from spencer on agreeing to that.

and so the planning began. 

the kids and i weaseled our way into the plans (i'm not a very good sport about missing out on the fun), so in september we all spent a week in north carolina together. 

spencer and i lived in charlotte when we were first married and his parents live in the raleigh area. it had been two years since we'd been back, and that canopy of trees as we pulled into the airport was a breath a fresh air from the smoked filled fire ridden home we'd left behind in the west.

i haven't traveled a whole lot, (though i'd like to), but in my opinion north carolina is one of the most beautiful places on earth. the trees, the architecture, the weather, the woods, the beach, THE BBQ, i wish i could package it all up and bring it closer to home.

nana and papa marshall put so much time and energy into preparing for us to come that it was debatable whether or not it was more magical for us or the kids. a million thank yous, gosh you guys are nice.

"nana camp" included a picture clue scavenger hunt with treasure, going to the beach fun bags, gobs of sand toys, a driving to the zoo soundtrack, homemade gak, papa's hideout, a 60th birthday party (with talenti gelato), and olive even made and served us dinner one night.

we spent two days at the beach (my favorite place to be) and harrison was a first timer. he chased the waves and laughed when they'd reach his feet over and over again. i love that both of my idaho kids have seen the beach for the first time on the atlantic coast. its now a tradition that we plan to uphold (this is not an announcement), just saying.

spencer and his dad went on their beautiful, long bike ride and diane and i got a girls shopping afternoon as well. 
fyi: furbish in raleigh-go.

the food was good, the fun was excellent and the company was the tops. reality since has been a hard pill to swallow.

on the sunny side of the street.

today is my dad's last day at work. he worked for hewlett packard for 33 years, his one and only job after college. 
he walked to and from work every day, AND made the trek home at noon most days to have lunch with my mom. 

when i was younger, and interviewing for job positions, i was often asked the question "what sets you apart from others?" and my response was always the same, "if there is anything my dad taught me, it's how to work hard", and i meant it. (i usually got the job, ha!) 

my dad is such a rock in my life and such a great example of hard work and dedication, both in tangible and spiritual applications. 

i wanted to put something together for him (retirement is a BIG stinkin' deal after all) and had seen this idea done before here and here. 

i convinced all of my siblings to play along with 24 hours notice and here's what i came up with. we're showing him at dinner tonight!

congratulations dad, happy retirement! 
Dad's Retirement video web - Broadband from Andi Marshall on Vimeo.

*NERD alert.

and then she packed up my heart and headed back to arizona

my sister was here for the month of july. she drove all the way from tucson, az with four kids, one of them nursing...yeah.

with the exception of the week they stayed with us, the kids and i all but moved into my mom's house. we spent as much time as we could with them. i only have one sister and we're 17 months apart. she is my favorite and i couldn't get enough of her and those sweet kids. aren't sisters the best?!

they were here for: 
the fourth of july and papa's annual water fight
lots of swimming and runs to the snow cone shack
pedicures
popsicles
picnics at the park
slip-n-slide
stinkin' hot sunday walks by the river
the wastewater treatment plant. uh. it's actually cool, and only mildly smelly.
a backyard movie night and my 30th birthday
lots of tinker toy and lego-ing
sooo much pretend school. that ella is a dream with the younger kids.
hand made ice cream in a bag
feathers and hairdos
the zoo and carousel
a couple trips to the mcdonalds play land. 6 and sometimes 8 kids most of which were 3 and under...duh. mama needs a break sometimes.
family pictures
and a sweet baby blessing

they were here just long enough for me to forget what my days were like before them...
and i cried when the van drove away.

i hate it. it's the worst. it can shove it.
but at least we have july 2012, we'll always have july 2012.

waiting for the peterson van

alisa, ella, owen and liam

the newest grand baby-lila jane

pizza at the park

this family and their eyelashes...i die.

water fighting

serious about popsicles around here.

lots of late nights and short naps taking their toll.

slippin- n-slidin

andrew came the last week and we took some pretty cute family pictures

my brother nate and his family moved here the last week the petersons were here. with popsicles as bribery we got a photo of all the grandkids in one place at the same time. if you only knew the victory that is this picture.

did i mention i turned 30?

i turned 30.
it made me feel old, but the celebrations were unparalleled, maybe people felt bad for me? jokes...


a lunch date, swimming, a backyard movie, cupcakes and popcorn with family.

AND- a surprise weekend visit from aubry. who was solicited to help spencer put on a dreeeaammy surprise-ish party. it was a surprise until aubry showed up friday night.


spencer kept this thing under wraps for weeks and i didn't have a clue. he scoured my pinterest for decoration ideas, he planned a menu and got the best party planner i know to step in as his right hand wo-man.


and speaking of aubry, she came all the way from salt lake equipped with perfectly sprinkled cupcakes, extra frosting and decorations. 

even sunday's nap was a party.

i'd say dreeeaammy was successfully achieved. i still can't believe it all.

girls trip 2012-monterey, ca

six of my college roommates "shanty girls" and i met up in monterey california a couple weekends ago for a girls trip. most of us graduated in 2004, so it's been 8 years since we lived together. there was one other "reunion" in rexburg in 2008, but my point is that we don't see each other often enough so this was a dream come true.


two of my roommates grew up in salinas, so that was our home base for the trip. and the itinerary was something like this scheduled around regular stops for diet coke, potty breaks, and phone nerding-INSTA!


wednesday:
monterey
a "nature walk" in big sur and time spent sittin' in a "crick"
an overload of comments about the landscape from me, you should have heard how many more rambled around in my head that i didn't say out loud...apologies. but it really is the most beautiful place i've ever seen.
san jose and super taqueria


thursday:
monterey bay aquarium-the best.
carmel-the most charming city on earth
casanovas-hands down the best meal of my life
the beach
17 mile drive-the lone cypress


friday:
corrina's birthday!
santa cruz
breakfast at gayles
shopping
THE BOARDWALK!
the beach
a late arrival into san francisco
the dodge caravan on lombard street and the golden gate bridge
a midnight dinner at the cheesecake factory
a pile of girls on 2 queens and 2 rollaways at the drake hotel


saturday:
san francisco
tartine-morning bun.
the ferry building
to die for cheeeeese and bread and miette bakery treats for lunch
a bay tour with hans on the emerald lady
new friends from indonesia
a photo op with a budding actor
in-n-out, duh.


it's a slow and hard detox after a trip like that.


and as fun filled as it was we've agreed to offset it with our next trip being at some all inclusive resort where the only traveling we do is between the hotel room and a towel on the beach.


these girls are some of the best of the best. it was a good trip.
and so begins the photo overload: 

where we stayed...basically in a picture book, those shipleys.

morning shanty babies

the handiwork of our incredible host.

stowaways, don't you just want to squeeze 'em

ainsley! the sweetest always smiling shanty babe

anderson, the newest shanty babe, he fell asleep while i was holding him one night. talk about fueling my baby craving.

bums.

yes, robin has pants on.

a candy shop in carmel...i mean.

pretty sure something mildly inappropriate was happening here.

my red headed friend of 18 years.

i can still smell the ocean in this picture-aubry and carrie

5 seconds after the big reveal the kids got there hands on the party.

eat here.

i think this was my favorite day of the trip. the santa cruz boardwalk and roller coaster.

i'm asking for an instax for my birthday

what's san francisco without the fog.

it's pretty much like this.

best $10 bay tour, even the ticket boy was cute.

and there's more here.