1st Annual Bagley Family Reunion

My parents decided to pull the trigger this year and have our 1st Annual Bagley Family Reunion. We all met up for a week at Yosemite. I'm pretty sure my mom spent months planning and coordinating this reunion. She really did everything. The rest of us just showed up. She did an incredible job!

We stayed at the Scenic Wonder Cabins right in Yosemite Park

We all arrived at the cabin by about 4 pm and decided to just hang out, unpack, and eat. My mom brought the best food for the trip. I think we ate food from Omaha Steaks for every dinner.



The next morning we woke up and got ready for family pictures. Karen was the photographer for the family pictures (and really for the whole trip!). She did such a wonderful job.









After family pics we headed off to "hike" to Mirror Lake. Everyone took turns pushing the strollers and giving piggyback rides to the kiddos.







Across from Mirror Lake were stairs up to a place where people have built rock towers. Bryan and I decided we needed to make our own!




If you look closely at the picture below you can see why this lake is called Mirror Lake. You could literally see everything mirrored in the lake.

After our hike we headed home to have dinner and then watch the kids perform a talent show. It was one of the best parts of the trip.
The Comedians
The Magician
The Mama
The Athlete
The Ballerina
The Ballerina + 2 other dancers
The Mom and Dad Imitators
The Grandpa Ballerina

The next day most of the guys went golfing. So, the girls went on a train ride and panned for gold.





We met the boys back at the house for another amazing dinner and then Family Home Evening by Thomas and Kaylyn. They did an awesome job.

For our last day we hiked to Vernal Falls.
While we were eating lunch we saw a squirrel eating one of our apples. It was the cutest thing!

Right at the base of the falls. We were all getting soaked. But it was beautiful!



On the way back down to the car Katie and I saw some guys climbing up a huge rock. We decided we could do that. Thomas decided to join us too. In reality....we couldn't. But Bryan and Elliot helped us get up there. It was pretty fun to sortof climb and to watch Bryan and Elliot get so frustrated at the lack of our skills.

Finally at the top


Heading back down



The guys

The girls

The parents

Packing up to head to Yuba City

Brooke found a favorite aunt at the reunion. I've never seen Brookie go to anyone like she would to Karen.

At Yuba City we celebrated Tyler's bday and had a picnic at the park with the Tolman's

We started Tyler's birthday out by going to Golfland Sunsplash in Roseville


After the water park we headed to Chuck E Cheese's






Then back home to eat cake and ice cream


After cake and ice cream we played croquet


The next day we went to the park to meet up with the Tolman's




Our first family reunion was definitely a success! Thanks mom and dad :)

BA's Baseball Summer

Steve asked Bryan if he wanted to play on the NuSkin softball team this summer. Bryan played with them last year and decided to do it again. Summer and I spent many a night this summer cuddled in a blanket while watching our guys be the rockstars of the team.

It's really fun watching Bryan play sports. It makes me feel like I get to see a little bit of his high school glory!

Bryan up to bat

Steve isn't quite as fun to watch as Bryan is - because he would refuse to acknowledge me and Summer as we would cheer for him :) Which lets just be honest - made us cheer for him more and louder

Stevie up to bat

The Big Apple

Bryan and I took our first (and hopefully not last) trip to New York City. We had such a great time!

Thursday
We woke up early and flew into JFK. Our friends Rick and Ayme are living in DC right now and Rick was able to schedule work in NYC while we were there so we could meet up. We decided to be adventurous and take The AirTran and Subway instead of a Taxi to the hotel. Luckily Bryan and I can follow directions and were able to make it to the hotel! Rick was still working when we arrived so Ayme, Bryan and I walked around Times Square until Rick got off. Our first meal in the big city was at a darling restaurant called Amarone a few blocks from Times Square. It was such a cute little restaurant and was delicious. After dinner we walked around a bit more. We went to Rockefeller Center to see where the tree and ice skating would be.




This was our view from our hotel room


Friday
We decided to spend our first day in the Financial District. We went to a great restaurant called SouthWest NY that overlooked the Hudson River for lunch before we headed over to the Statue of Liberty. We chose SouthWest NY because it has outside seating right next to the river. Apparently it's a popular restaurant because we weren't able to get a table close to the river. We decided to walk along the river to the Statue Cruises station. This was probably my favorite walk in NYC. The weather was incredible and we had amazing views of the Statue of Liberty and the New Jersey Skyline. After touring the Statue of Liberty we walked to the Financial District, to Canal Street, to Little Italy (where we had scrumptious Gelato at Ferrara), to SoHo to eat at Lombardi's Pizza. Lombardi's was licensed as America's First Pizzeria - and whether or not that is true it was delicious! I seriously recommend getting your pizza from Lombardi's! After dinner we did more walking around and sightseeing.









Saturday
Ah....the bomb scare. We started the morning at Thalia's for brunch. I've learned that whenever my boss recommends a restaurant, I'm going to eat there. The restaurant had such a great vibe and the food was ridiculously good. After brunch we took a taxi to The MET. There was a Picasso Exhibit while we were there. So, we spent most our time with Picasso and European art. To tour all of The MET would take days! The building is amazing. After the MET we headed back to Times Square to get in line for tickets to a play. We got our first choice - A Behanding in Spokane. Christopher Walken was the lead and was hilarious. Before the play we freshened up and then headed to dinner at Junior's. While we were eating we experienced the first events of the bomb scare. The people eating outside at the restaurant were evacuated. At this time we had no idea why and didn't think much about it. After dinner we had to walk about a block to the Schoenfeld Theater. While we were walking to the theatre we noticed the robot they use for bombs. We assumed they were shooting a movie right in Times Square. Luckily we decided to head to the theatre early because the police blocked off the streets about 10 minutes after we got to the theatre. Our show was postponed for about a half hour because they were waiting to see if more people would filter in. Finally we got word there was a bomb scare and the roads were blocked off. And since we were stuck in the theatre they would do the show. So, it worked out for us because they let everyone move up and we were in the front row. After the theatre we were escorted back to our hotel and were pretty much stuck there because everything was blocked off. So, we decided to eat dessert in our room. The guys went next door to get chocolate cake and then we ordered some milk and ice cream from room service. We had no idea how expensive room service would be in a Marriott in Time Square. I think we paid $50 for 4 glasses of milk and a tiny carton of ice cream. It was yummy though!







Sunday
We started the day with Sacrament Meeting at the Manhattan Temple. We weren't able to do a session at the temple, so we were glad that we were able to at least see it up close and personal. After church we walked to Central Park. The park is actually really beautiful and it was packed with people. People were sunbathing and playing catch and just reading. After we walked around Central Park we headed to the West side to eat at Gray's Papaya. This was one of the places I was most excited to eat and it was the most disappointing too. Apparently Gray's Papaya is Regis' favorite hot dog place and it was featured in the movie Fools Rush In. But it did not live up - it was fine but nothing to brag about. After lunch we headed back through Central Park to the East side to go to the Guggenheim. We loved the Guggenheim. It is such a nicely laid out museum. We were able to see everything and our feet weren't killing us at the end. Late at night we went to the top of the Rockefeller Center to get the view. We found out that it is much faster to go to the Top of the Rock then it is to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Plus, on the Top of the Rock you get a great view of the Empire State Building.








Monday
We woke up late and hung out with Ayme in the hotel room for awhile. After we packed up a bit and got ready we headed to Serendipity. It really is the most darling restaurant and has the yummiest food and most delicious frozen hot chocolate. We will be going back to Serendipity any time we go back to NYC. After lunch we walked down 5th Avenue for a little while and looked at all the pretty shops. We went into Bloomies for a minute (It made me feel like I was hanging out with Rachel & Monica). After our walk we went back to the hotel to say goodbye to Rick and Ayme and then headed to the airport to go home.

We loved New York and we loved seeing Rick and Ayme again! Can't wait for next time.

Visiting Cindy & John and the kiddos

At the end of May Bryan and I took the drive to Dallas to visit the Merris'. We packed up the Uhaul with the rest of their things and started the drive.

Here is Bryan right at the start of the trip. He drove the whole 20 hrs.

And here I am trying to settle into my little space. Apparently Bryan and I decided that these are all the pics we would need for the trip. Because I don't have any pictures while we were actually with the fam.

This is what JJ was doing while we were driving. This is him talking on the phone to us and waiting patiently. (pic from Cindy's camera)

It took JJ a minute to get used to me and BA when we first got there. But, after about 20 min he warmed right up. (pics from Cindy's camera)

Poor Cindy and JJ got sick while we were visiting. This morning JJ was especially bad. He was sleeping on the big couch with Cindy and I was seating on the love seat on the other side. When JJ woke up Cindy had left and he immediately called out for me. I went over to check on him and he let me cuddle him while feeding him yogurt. It was sad how sick he was - but it was kinda fun cuddling him. (pics from Cindy's camera)

We had a blast with the Merris'. We can't wait to go back to Texas (but hopefully it will be much less windy when we visit again).