It's so easy.

let your voice be heard.

call the Governor.

we don't need this in our schools.

free therapy

Today

Today marks the first (official) day of violin lessons for Jaydon and Joel.

They've been practicing their "bow hold" all week.
We'll see what the future holds

some quiet time

Believe it or not.
I love these.
These give me peace, satisfaction and happiness.
How, you ask?
Besides being delicious, healthy and easy,
They keep my kids occupied for quite a while.
It's true.
I warm up a bowl of these little treats and they are quiet, fed and busy.
I can testify.
They are great for ages 2 - 8 (from my experience).
edemame. Yummm.
The kids love to pop the beans right out and eat to their heart's content.
How could I argue with nutritious soy beans for a snack?
Try 'em. They are addicting!
And they bring such peace a quiet to our afternoon.



Of coarse, this brings me peace, satisfaction and happiness in a completely different way. Oh wow.

A HUGE THANK YOU!

It just so happened that Mom and Dad were down in San Diego for a conference for work (Dad's "semi-retired"...).

It also just happened to be our Stake Temple Day.

We lucked out, and so did the kids. We dropped the 4 little ones off at this amazing hotel in BEAUTIFUL San Diego to spend the day with Grandpa and Grandma. They enjoyed their time eating lunch at DW's, the in-hotel-restaurant, ordering all the chicken and fries their appetites could handle. Then, they made their way to this glamorous pool to spend literally hours bobbing, swimming and playing. True resort living.

After spending several hours at the beautiful San Diego LDS Temple (this was our first time doing a session there...soo nice) we headed over to meet up with G'ma and the kids. Dad got out of his conference and we all headed up to the room. How could we pass up the offer to have dinner at the hotel
(just Ryan and I) and "charge it to the room"? So, we did , and are very grateful for the evening out.

We just wanted to say, Thank you Mom and Dad, for making this day so wonderful for us! We are happy we got to see you and appreciate the chance for Ryan and I to spend the day together.
We LOVE you!

Happiness is...

The family's first time fishing.
At our Lake.
In our neighborhood.
Quite a learning experience.
Baiting the hook.
(choosing the bait first)
Finding the perfect spot.
Casting.

No fish.
Better luck next time.
Fun, regardless.

Rolling down the hillside.
Climbing on the rocks.

Great family time.

The best part:

Eating the chocolate chip cookies
we brought!

I love this girl!

I was going through Emily's back pack today and I found a paper all about her "favorites". Here's what she had to say:

A LIST OF MY FAVORITES:

SNACK: fruit
T.V. SHOW: High School Musical (she's never seen the t.v. show)
ANIMAL: elephant
ARTICLE OF CLOTHING: p.j.s
COLOR: blue
PERSON: mom (wow, I did not set her up for that!)
SPORT: none
BOOK: Indian in the Cupboard
SUBJECT: playing (mine too, uh oh)
HOBBY: soccer (but notice, "none" on sport, and she's never played soccer, bless her heart)
CARTOON: Yogi Bear (she did see that once)
PLACE: school... (to learn about "playing")
HOLIDAY: my birthday
WORD: my (interesting)
MOVIE STAR: Hanna Montana (she knows her from all the other kids at school; never watched her).

I love her sense of "self " and all of her fun ideas! She's just growing up way too fast! I'm sad to see that happen.

on a golden afternoon

The after school schedule is pretty busy around here. We've got snack time, homework time, piano practice... But on Thursday afternoon, we decided to make life a little more hectic, and FUN!

Emily has been dying to bake some cupcakes with her baking set. So, complete with apron and chef's hat, she whipped up a batch of dark chocolate cupcakes...completely on her own (including cracking the 3 eggs, a huge feat for an 8 year old). She made 12 regular cupcakes and 18 mini. I love to see the baker in her come out.

Meanwhile, Jaydon and Joel were practicing their sweet Jedi moves on the trampoline. With light sabers in hand, they were doing flips, handstands and other crazy stunts, all in the name of "Jedi". These are the kinds of tricks that moms want to turn their eyes away from (but peek at the
same time).
Sometimes I think they REALLY
believe that they
are

Jedi Masters! I have to say, they were completely entertaining the two little ones that were watching their every move. Jack and Ezra had a blast being with the "big boys"outside. They were digging in the dirt, jumping on the tramp, digging in the garden dirt, playing with tractors and digging in the dirt (good thing we have PLENTY of dirt in our back yard right now).

So, after all the backyard playing / lightsaber stunts, the cupcakes were cool enough to frost. Emily filled each of her little frosting containers with colored frosting (which she colored on her own) and let the boys pitch in on the decorating process. I don't know if more frosting made it on the cupcakes or into their mouths, but either way, they all had a good time.

There was no problem finding volunteers to eat some cupcakes. You can imagine the two who were first in line to gobble some up!

We had to finish off the afternoon craziness with a bubble bath for the filthy little ones. After plenty of dirt play, they were dusty brown and ready for a good scrub (plus, I didn't want them walking around my house like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown...a little puff of dust following...). It's always fun to make bubble beards and silly hair in the bath.

It was a crazy afternoon, but fun! Finished just in time for the Dinner Time Witching Hour. :)

can't get enough pirates...

I wish we had close-ups of everyone...

But here are the ones we DID have.
(sorry in advance to the family members who didn't want their picture on the WWW).


The Whole Pirate Family

Jane de Belleville
(don't mess with her)

The Grand Calico Jack
and Alvilda the Pirate

Pirate Anne Bonney

Captain Jan de Bouff
&
Charlotte de Berry

Henriques the Englishman

oh wait, THIS is "the Englishman"

Long John Silver (the silver's under the black) :)

Redbeard

Captain William (the)Kidd

oh wait, where did HE come from?

the last Hurrah!

These pictures show just a few highlights of our final summer fun.

Well, this one was not so fun.
This fat lip is how we started our trip.

Then it got better as we flew kites on the beach.

The boys loved getting "nailed" by the waves.
They stayed in the water for HOURS every day.
I've honestly never seen hands get as pruney as theirs. (eeewww).

Emily is a fish. A mermaid. A dolphin.
This girl would sleep in the ocean if she could!
Here she is showing off one of her many sea shell treasures.

Ezzy loves the sand, but is still a little nervous about the waves.

Don't forget the Pirate Theme Night

Emily got to be Elizabeth Swan

Here are a bunch of grown-up-kid pirates!
(the 4 kids and our spouses)

Jumping pictures are always so fun
(right Kasey?)

And here's our little Captain Hook.
He wasn't quite sure if he should be happy about this whole thing
or nervous to be around a bunch of weirdos!