The Badillo Family

Happenings.....

2011-10-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've laxed in my blogging lately. So much has happened, yet I'm not sure what it all was. The kids were out of school for fall break and just recently went back. During the break Makai had his little surgery (he had an undescended testes put back in place). He is doing great and back to being a curious 10 month old. He is growing up way to fast. I don't like it. :( It makes me sad to see him so big. He has 7 teeth now and every once in awhile will stand on his own.
Here he is sleeping off the anesthesia after his surgery.

We also went to the Torrey Pines beach at night to see the phyplankton turn the water electric blue! This was so cool to see. Max really loved it.

Aidan has been playing soccer twice a week with games on Saturday's. He loves it. He was very adamant that he needed to cut his hair so it would keep him cooler.

This is a video of him making a goal. Sorry about the yelling you hear, I get a little excited for him! :-)
He plays really well and loves to be a defender.

This is his team the Green Lanterns: Orlando, Aidan, Shay, Estevan, and Pedro!

My baby girl is 12.....

2011-08-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

(For some reason this was saved as a draft and not a post). I can't believe my baby girl is now 12 and in the young women's organization in our church. She has been looking forward to this day for a year now. She is so grown up and acts and looks way older than a 12 year old. I still feel like she is my little girl. Oh how I wish she were still little again. The older she gets, the older I get. Here is a glimpse of her over the years. (For some reason I can't locate her pictures from when she was a baby, and my scanner isn't working to scan them in.)

Elena at 3 years old! A beautiful toddler!

On her 5th birthday!

Just before her 9th birthday! The first day of 4th grade.

My ocean baby....oh how she loves the water.

10 years old!

11 years old at her 6th grade promotion ceremony.

Elena loves music, almost as much as she loves to read and boogie board. She is anxious to try surfing and lives for the beach. She doesn't like dark chocolate, and likes pizza sometimes, but will be very upset if she doesn't have lettuce and tomato for her sandwiches. She loves to run and is a great sprinter. She is friendly and kind and a sweetheart to all. She is a wonderful babysitter and loves her brothers; most of the time. Beautiful is an understatement when referring to Elena, but klutzy sure does fit her! I can't tell you how many times she has fallen down the stairs in her rush to get somewhere! I keep telling her it's because of her long legs. Oh how I love my baby girl. She is so much fun to be with and I look forward to spending time with her. I don't know she has managed to transition so smoothly from 3 different schools in a year, but she is amazing! I love you so much my girlie! To the moon and back again! Happy Birthday!

Another school year begins......

2011-07-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that summer is over here and the 2011-2012 school year has begun for my kids. Today has been a pretty emotional day.....I was weepy when I dropped Elena off to middle school and then a mess when I left Aidan at kindergarten. My kids are just growing up way too fast for my taste. Max was so solid today; not nervous at all about starting another new school since they were finally able to get him into the school he is suppose to be in, instead of the overflow school. I was so happy that both him and Aidan would be in the same school instead of two separate ones, as well as Elena at middle school. It sure makes my life a little bit easier.

My lovelies all dressed and ready for a new year!

My almost 12 year old! Would you stop growing up already?

Oh my handsome Max! He was such a good helper for Aidan today.

I still can't believe my "baby" is in kindergarten. I was really good at school. He had orientation this morning and then his sweet teacher read the book The Kissing Hand, which of course brought tears to my eyes. I was good and didn't let them fall so Aidan wouldn't notice. He was still a little nervous. But when he kissed me goodbye and said "I love you mom, I'll be ok." I smiled and told him "I love you too!" and walked away with tears on my cheeks. Oh I'll miss him. But he is ready.

Here is Makai chilling while we were waiting for Aidan's orientation to start. (Funny side note: just after the orientation started, Makai had a stinky diaper. I look in my purse/diaper bag and Elena hadn't put my diaper/wipe bag back in after using wipes. And because I was in such a hurry to get the kids in and situated, I didn't think about checking to make sure it was in there. Of course the 1 time I don't have it in there, he poops. Needless to say, by the time we were done with the orientation the gentleman in front of us was probably real happy to leave!)

Me and my little man waiting for the orientation to start. He wanted a picture of both of us on his first day of school!

Viva Las Vegas!

2011-06-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Warning: photo overload!

Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to head to Vegas to stay with my sister Haleigh while she is there for a summer internship. My good friend Mandi invited us to crash there vacation so we could see each other. They moved to Texas just before we moved to San Diego so we were so excited to meet up. We reunited with tears of course because that's just how I am unfortunately. We went to grab some dinner and as we left the area, Mike, Mandi's husband saw these Angry Bird t-shirts and of course the boys "had" to have them! I love this picture of Max and Rocco, the bomb birds, trying to attack the king pig! My boys may or may not have worn their shirts the entire time we were there. ;)

Max and Rocco showing their "angry" faces and Aidan just being Aidan.

Haleigh and my kids in the garden at the Bellagio.

Presley giving us a thumbs up!

Mandi's wonderful husband Mike got us a reservation at the restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere. He took all of the kids to dinner and a movie so we could have some time together. My sister Haleigh joined us and we definitely had an amazing time. The food was delicious and the company was even better. Not sure how we didn't get a picture of all of us, but here is Me and Makai.
After dinner we met up with Mike and the kids at the fountains at the Bellagio, which are always amazing.
Rocco and Aidan just excited! It makes me sad to think we don't know when we will see them again.
Me and one of my dearest friends Mandi in front of the Bellagio.
The gang! We had so much fun and I'm so glad Mandi and Mike let us crash their vacation for 2 days. It wasn't long enough, but it will last us until we can schedule another meeting.

Friday morning Mandi and Mike had to fly back to Texas so we spent the day at the pool at Haleigh's apartment. When she got off work we went to Cafe Rio for dinner and then went to the M&M Factory and the Coca-Cola Factory. Aidan was in heaven to see all the M&M's. We had a great time and took heaps of pictures!

Haleigh and Laney with Ms. Green, Haleigh's favorite M&M!

Max and Aidan with Mr. Yellow and the M&M car!

Haleigh and Laney with Mr. Yellow.

This picture cracks me up! They were all striking a pose with the Circus M&M's! What a bunch of crazies!

The group and their funny pose in front of the Coca-Cola bottle.

As we were leaving we found this statue of Liberty made out of jelly belly's! The kids wanted to eat it! We had such a wonderful weekend. Thank you Haleigh for letting us stay at your place!

End of the school year......

2011-06-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

2010-2011 has ended. I can't believe my kids are growing up so fast! I hate it! Slow down already. Elena "promoted" onto 7th grade and the school had a big "promotion ceremony." Elena was chosen to give 1 of the 4 speeches out of all the 7th graders. She didn't want me to hear it until the ceremony and did it all on her own. She did a fantastic job! She was nervous at first, but was very poised in front of the audience.
My mom and dad and sister Haleigh came out to visit on June 1st and were fortunately here for the ceremony. This is the only picture I got of them the whole visit. :-( But we were so happy they drove all the way from Rexburg to spend some time with us. Even though they had just gotten back from Europe 4 days prior!

Here she is.....a little anxious but oh so beautiful!

Stop growing up already! You are still only 11!

After her ceremony and in her classroom with mom and dad.

With Auntie Haleigh! She was so happy you were there!

Our little family celebrating with Elena.

After the ceremony we went to one of Elena's favorite restaurants Souplantation for all you can eat soup and salad.

The following day me and my mom and dad went to an early temple session loaded with our beach clothes for later. We had a wonderful morning and then Haleigh drove my van with the kids to the temple so she could get some things from the distribution center for her mission! We then went to Mission Beach for the day. It was sunny but a little windy, however, this never stops my kids. We ate and played and relaxed for about 4 hours. Lemuel was able to get off work around 2:30 so he met us there. Afterwards, we took them to Coronado Island to go over the big bridge and see the famous hotel. We had a wonderful time with them. It went way too fast. Thank goodness we will see them again in August!

Lemuel and Makai with Poppa Josh in the background. Makai loves to be up high!

Makai (six months old) and daddy!

Maximus buried Aidan in the sand! He loved it! They also spent the afternoon finding sand crabs that poppa Josh showed them how to find.

Makai

2011-03-06T20:56:00.001-08:00

There is quite a bit to post about but for now here are a bunch of pictures of Makai and one with Aidan. While packing I found a pack of stickers and Aidan was having a good time putting them on himself. He felt Makai needed some as well!

This is when he first started giggling. He was 2 months old here!

What a handsome little guy. He has these huge eyes that just capture me!
Aidan wanted to take some pictures and this is one he took! Makai isn't shown much but I think it turned out cute.
Oh how I love this little guy! His smile melts my heart! We had a little impromptu photo session this morning before church! He was a perfect angel and smiled just when we wanted him to!

Makai Abinadi at 3 months! I forgot to post his stats at his 2 month checkup. He was 13lbs. 9 oz and 25 inches long. He is in the 90th percentile in both weight and height.

Everything is gonna change.....

2011-02-10T19:24:00.001-08:00

This week has been a little nuts. We are trying to pack the house up for our move to San Diego as well as finalize a place to live. For those not aware, Lemuel's job asked him to come fill a position in the territory of South San Diego. We are moving next weekend and still not positive on where we will be living. It's a little nuts, but we know its the right thing for us to move. Elena is having a really hard time right now, and I don't blame her. She feels like she finally made some really great friends and is enjoying school and now she has to move again. Plus, we won't be able to take Lulu our cat (which is hers really). Max is fine with whatever since we are moving closer to the beach. All he asked is that he gets to learn how to surf. Her sure makes it easy on us. Aidan, well, I don't think he really understands. I think it will hit him when he can't play with his buddies, Rocco, Drew, and Ethan. Needless to say, with a new baby, packing, and finding a place, and all the other things for school and such, it's a crazy house. But it's a good move. I'm thrilled to be closer to the beach and excited for a new place to decorate! ;) Lemuel is estatic! He too is excited about being closer to the beach, but also about the new challenges that come with a different area to work as well as wonderful weather! All in all, San Diego will be a good fit for our family. So if your in the area, let me know! We would love to see you!

oh sweet baby!

2011-01-31T10:18:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my sweet baby Makai is 8 weeks already! Time has flown way to fast. I want to keep him small and snuggly a little longer. Here are just a few pictures to showcase how he has changed over the past couple of weeks.
After bathtime with daddy.

chillin' in the swing...one of the rare times he was content in there! He has just recently enjoyed being there for minutes at a time. :0)
I caught him in the biggest grin! Oh how I love this sweet baby! I just love to smooch those cheeks!

Just up from his nap and very happy!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

I know they are long past due, but I wanted to post pictures from December. We had a wonderful holiday season! My parents and sister Haleigh joined us the week before Christmas so we got to spend some fun times with them. We went and saw Tangled, which was so much fun and a wonderful movie! We baked and decorated sugar cookies. Even papa Josh helped; Grammy Karen would frost them and hand them to him to decorate and he would decorate them and then proceed to eat them! Not too many remained on the plate!

My parents also took us to Disneyland on what my dad calls, Christmas Eve, Eve. It was a beautiful day and not as crowded as I anticipated. It was so fun to be there during the holiday season and everything really does seem more magical at Christmas time.

Max and Aidan saw Santa Claus and his reindeer

Papa Josh watching Aidan pull the sword in the stone.

auntie Haleigh and the boys on the teacups

Elena and Lemuel on the teacups

me and baby Makai with his Mickey Mouse ears

two very tired boys waiting for the fireworks to begin

Makai just being super cute! I couldn't get enough of him with his big ears on.

Me and my hubby trying to get a picture with the castle in the background....didn't work out so well!

Christmas eve we always have our traditional pozole and chicken and potato taquitos. We added a seven layer dip this year for Haleigh! As always, everything was delicious!

My precious baby! I can't snuggle with him enough!

Christmas morning, in Christmas eve jammies.

Papa Josh in his hat from my mom!

Dad and Makai watching the kids open presents! It was such a wonderful holiday season, especially with a newborn around. Thanks again to my parents and sister for driving all the way to spend time with us! We loved having you here!

Christmas came early.....

2010-12-07T15:18:00.001-08:00

and my how we are excited! My doctor induced me on Thursday afternoon the 2nd, after an ultrasound showed that baby would be about 9 lbs. Since my due date was actually the 9th, he was scared to wait another week. So about 4:00 he broke my water and started me on pitocin. Makai Abinadi joined us at 1:56 a.m. on Friday morning, weighing in at 8 lbs. 9 oz and 21 inches long. He is healthy and delivery went smoothly. We feel very blessed to have a healthy Christmas baby.

He is adorable and a great baby so far. The kids love having him around and Aidan loves to have a little brother.

Here is daddy and wide eyed baby Makai.

Four of the loves of my life! To bad we didn't get one of all of us together!

Elena is super excited to have him and is a great little mommy and wonderful helper.

(Although, she does tend to monopolize him from her brothers!)

What a great way to start the holiday season than with a new little angel. We feel very blessed to have him in our lives.

Is very blessed.....

2010-11-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

I feel extremely blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life. Two very close ones threw me an AMAZING baby shower last night. The decor was so beautiful and the food and desserts delicious! Mandi and Cyndi you are so fabulous and I love you so much! You truly outdid yourselves. It made me feel pretty special! Thanks to all who attended and showered me and baby with gifts! They are much appreciated. I didn't get many pictures, but here are the few I got. I'll put up more when I can snag them from Cyndi.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hope your Halloween was as spooky fun as ours! Here are the kids before heading to our ward trunk-or-treat on Friday night.
Aidan wanted to be a Viking from "How to Train a Dragon!" I whipped his costume up from scraps of material my friend Cyndi had in her garage and think it turned out pretty darn cute! He chose the colors for his shield and we cut that out of cardboard and then embellished it. He sure got lots of compliments, and to me, he is the best looking Viking on the ship!
Max was a vampire! He didn't want to wear white face paint because he said it would be too itchy and the teeth we got for him, were adult and didn't allow him to close his mouth, so that was out as well! But he sure pulls off a great looking vampire!
Elena debated about whether to dress up or not until Thursday. She kept telling me she just wanted me to make her a t-shirt that said, "This is my costume!" But she finally found something she liked and decided to be a Mobsta Girl.
She sure fits the part in this picture! She is just way to grown up for me!
Lemuel "helped" Max and Aidan carve this pumpkin! It turned out fantastic and he too got lots of compliments from the visiting trick-or-treaters!

Here is a picture of Aidan's ghost lantern he made at Max's school Halloween party along with Max's Frankenstien pumpkin lantern. They looked great outside next to my "BOO" sign I made.

One last picture of the spooky jars I made at Max's request. You may recognize some of the items from this post here. I painted the tray and added some additional jars and filled them with different candy items. I got the idea from House of Smith's blog and then did our own! The kids loved having it up, as well as all of our visitors! :)Sorry about the picture quality of the last 2 pictures, I took them with my phone!

Disneyland in October...

2010-10-16T11:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I pulled the kids out of school early and we headed to Disneyland. The kids were really excited and couldn't wait to see all the Halloween decorations out and see the changes that Disney made on the rides, and I was anxious to see the new show Color of Wonder. We got there and I didn't anticipate it being as busy as it was! Come to find out they were doing their Halloween Party at Disneyland and so that park was closing at 7. We headed to California Adventure at 6:30 and it was packed, but the kids ran around and tried to do as many rides as they could. It was busy, but we still had a great time and our friends the Both's ended up heading there as well. Lemuel came and met us after finishing his day in San Pedro and then we headed home super late. Here are just a couple of pictures I took throughout the day.

I love this picture and all the fun pumpkin carvings were so adorable!

Waiting in line for the Haunted Mansion; they made it into a Christmas/Halloween ride where two holidays collide! It was fun, despite Aidan and Max getting a little scared! ;)

Elena really wanted to try and pull the sword out,

and of course the boys had to have their turn as well!

All in all it was a good day. I was pretty exhausted at the end, but we made it and we can't wait to go back on a day that is a little less crowded!

50's Daddy Daughter Dance

2010-10-16T11:13:00.000-07:00

Our kids school had their second annual Daddy Daughter Dance and Lemuel took Elena on a little "date." They had a great time and really enjoyed their time together. My good friend Cyndi made Elena her poodle skirt and scarf. I wasn't much help this time around; only cutting out the poodle, (which is about the extent of my sewing skills). They had a taco bar at the dance and then Lemuel took Laney out for slushies afterward. They sure looked adorable!

Aidan.....

2010-10-11T17:12:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post some of the silly things that Aidan says so I don't forget them.

Yesterday we were in sacrament meeting and the meeting was all about missionary work and the speaker said, "that we need to be tools for missionaries." Aidan turns to me and says, "tools? I don't want to be tools, I just wanna be a boy!" He said it loudly enough that the couple in front of us were laughing. It was pretty darn cute!

A little help from my daughter......

2010-09-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Elena loaded the dishwasher up Saturday night and ran it. Suddenly, I heard from the bedroom Lemuel yelling, "Laney, what did you do?" I wasn't real sure what was going on, but then Aidan ran into my bedroom, shouting, "WE HAVE A LEAK! A GIGANTIC LEAK! COME QUICK MOM!" I thought to myself, what now? I heard Lemuel telling the kids they needed to clean up the mess and when I walked into the kitchen I found this:
Elena couldn't find the dishwasher detergent so thought the liquid dish soap would work just fine. Needless to say, my floors are super clean and it only took them 15 dish towels to clean up the mess!

They sure had a lot of fun cleaning it up!

Aidan thought it was so cool! He loved cheering the bubbles on as they continued to erupt from the dishwasher! Now my children know not to fill the dishwasher with liquid dish soap!

Thrift Store treasures!

2010-09-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

So I hit up Goodwill yesterday while Aidan was spending some time at a friends house and I found some fun little things. Right now they are just a mismatch of items, but with some epoxy and spray paint, they will be perfect for what I have in mind! Can't wait to get started! Oh and I got them all, including the tray for only $12!

Where are you fall?

2010-09-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

My favorite season is fall and living here in California we really don't get one. It's still in the high 80's. However, I've put up my fall decorations, have my pumpkin candles burning and this morning I am making pumpkin cookies! Do you think if I wish hard enough fall will come? Maybe, just maybe!

(This is just a sample of some of the fall decor we have up)

My little pumpkin topiary by my front door that I put together with items from the garden clearance center at Target!

Top of our entertainment center

My fireplace mantle all dressed up! I love the warm colors of fall. The kids have already started to get excited about Halloween decorations and can't wait to decorate. I've been on the look out for some fun/cheap/spooky but not too spooky ideas!

Elena's 11th Birthday!

2010-09-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is 11! I still can't believe how grown up she has gotten. She had a great birthday, even though it was on the second day of school. She really wanted snickerdoodles brought into her class for a treat so I had to bake 5 dozen cookies that morning. We went to lunch at In-N-Out, then I took her back to school.
Max and Aidan picked out some jewelry for her for her birthday. Aidan was so proud that he picked out this purple necklace all on his own. Max got her some earrings she really wanted.
Grandma and Poppa Josh got her a keyboard so she can start piano lessons! She was so shocked and excited. She loves having it in her room and plays on it everyday.
The only thing she really wanted for her birthday was a cruiser. Lemuel and I found the perfect one while in Venice Beach on our anniversary. The bike shop broke it down for us so we could fit it into our little Honda and we hid it under a sleeping bag in the garage for over a month! She was so shocked!
It's a beautiful color if I do say so myself! She loves it and is so glad to not have to ride Max's anymore.
We finished off the night with strawberry cheesecake with our friends the Both's. She said, "that was the best birthday ever!" I still can't believe that she only has one more year until she is in young women's. My baby girl is growing up way too fast! I'm so proud of you and the young lady you are becoming! You will forever be mi amorcito! Happy Birthday!

First Day of School!

2010-09-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

School began August 23rd. This year the kids were actually really excited for school to start. Laney especially, since she is in 6th grade and now, "rules the school" or so so she says. She has Mrs. Olinger for her teacher and couldn't be happier. I think she has now realized that 6th is going to be harder than 5th grade and that she may have more homework, but she is enjoying it. Maximus was only excited to start so he could see his friends again. He is in 4th grade this year and has Mrs. Diaz for his teacher. He is doing so much better this year in reading and the school year just began. He has already taken 3 AR tests and seems to be really enjoying school. He told me the other day that he actually likes school for a change. I pray that this lasts at least through the holidays!
Aidan is home with me this year. He is still only 4, but can't wait for his turn to go to school. I, on the other hand, am super happy to have him with me one more year! I just can't believe how big he is getting and it makes me sad to think that I really only have him home a little longer!

Holt Reunion

2010-08-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

At the end of July we drove to Idaho for a Josh Holt family reunion. All of my siblings were there and their kids. We were only missing Rebecca's husband Josh and her step-kids Bryson and Alyssa. It has been more than 2 years since we were all together. We just spent time together which was what we all needed.

The girls all made friendship bracelets and Auntie Haleigh helped all the boys make ones with there names on them.
Poppa Josh, Hiram and Lemuel played water kickball with all the grandkids. Although, Max sure didn't last long since he is now acclimated to our hot California weather and thought the water was freezing! It was pretty hilarious when the St. George cousins and California cousins came in Thursday night stating they had frostbite because there toes were so cold and wanting hot chocolate! Great memories!
We also got to meet our two new nephews that were born this year. Hiram's son Joey is not pictured but here is his big brother trying to play UNO with Rebecca's baby Jace who was only 2 weeks old in this picture! It was sure adorable!
Grandma did bubbles with the grandkids as well. (Max, Addi, Aidan and my mom)

Me with my newest nephew Jace. Not sure how I missed out on a picture of Joey.

Me, Rachel's daughter Olivia, baby Jace and my sister Rebecca. It was so fun to have a new infant in the house!

Amy planned some temple crafts for the kids and here are the boys painting there blocks. They all chose the same color!

Addi, Elena, my sister Amy and her son Will and Max working on the crafts.

Olivia and Aidan painting away.

Saturday night we celebrated my mom's birthday by heading out to BIG JUD's for dinner! Here is Lemuel attempting the 1 lb burger! We had heaps of food for all of us and we all enjoyed burgers, delicious onion rings, (which I am constantly craving with this pregnancy) fries and ice cream cones. Max was so excited to see the giant burgers and sure ate his fill! I think he even ate as much as the men!
Here is all the gang, minus my dad who is taking the picture and Becca and baby Jace who had to attend a wedding!

Emma, Lemuel, Aidan, Elena, Max and Sam enjoying their ice cream cones!

Max, Aidan, Will, Sam, Emma, Addi, Elena, Max and Lemuel posing by the BIG JUD's wall!

Sunday night we roasted smores, had a wonderful talent show and then family devotional and showed a slideshow that Amy and Haleigh put together to celebrate my parents 35 anniversary!
Here is Aidan performing for the talent show. He showed everyone his "robot dance!" I didn't get pictures of Max and Elena because my battery died on the camera. But Max showed everyone the pictures he drew and Elena read a story she had written about the family!

We had so much fun playing games, visiting, sleeping, quilting, eating way to much food, golfing, and just enjoying each others company! It was a wonderful way to spend together. Most of the families left early Monday morning, but we stayed until after lunch and went with my parents, sisters Rebecca and Haleigh and my brother Hiram and his wife Alanna and their boys. We went to lunch at Craigo's for their all you can eat pizza buffet! My kids were in heaven! There we also celebrated Haleigh's 20th birthday! We left with joyful hearts and full bellies! Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful weekend! And thanks Hiram and Alanna for planning it all! We loved every minute of it!

Fourth of July!

2010-08-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

I have heaps of pictures to post from our summer so be forewarned. I will try and play catch up before school starts.

To start off lets go back to July 4th! We had a wonderful holiday and shared it with our friends and neighbors the Urmston's, Walker's and Garner's. We had a potluck BBQ, then did fireworks and ended the night with an outdoor movie. Lemuel made his chimichurri which was delicious as always, and Jill's dad made amazing tri-tip! The food was so yummy!

Aidan and I enjoying the party

The Urmston girls, (Grace, Mia, Sam) and Elena loving the camera!

Here is Ethan Walker, Drew Urmston and my Aidan watching the fireworks. Some got a little loud and Aidan kept covering his ears!

Here are all the Urmston kids, along with ours goofing off for the camera! They were loving every minute of it!

Drew, Aidan, Max and Ethan wanting another picture!

Again, posing for the camera; Aidan Max and Drew

My friend Jill made this awesome cake that when cut looked like an American flag! It was a perfect dessert for the 4th!

Lemuel and Aidan thoroughly enjoying Jill's delicious cake!

The curious mind of Aidan

2010-06-08T14:39:00.001-07:00

So today I was at Target in the bathroom with Aidan. He had some interesting things to say that I wanted to record. Lately he has been very interested in Jesus and the things he can do. So specifically today he was remembering 2 weekends ago when we were cleaning the church building. It was a little late and dark outside. He kept getting really nervous when the lights weren't on saying there were ghosts. So I had a talk with him about the church being the Lord's house and that he protects it and that there weren't any ghosts. He then told me, "yeah, Jesus lives here so he scares the ghosts away!" Well today in the bathroom at Target, he is sitting on the throne and says to me, "lets talk about Jesus. So Jesus protects the church and he protects our house...and daddy protects our house too cuz he has the priesthood." I said that's right, then he proceeds, "and Jesus sucks all the ghosts up with the vacuum! That's how he protects us!" It was so sweet and so real to him that I couldn't help but smile. He seemed so proud of his conclusions. He is growing up so quickly and I just can't believe my baby is not my baby anymore. It makes me a little sad.

School's Out For Summer!!!!

2010-06-06T22:06:00.000-07:00

I have been told on NUMEROUS occasions that I needed to update my blog. There is so many pictures to go back and load, but for now, I am just updating the past week. I promise to get back to the rest later.

I am so excited that school is over for a bit. More so for the fact that we don't have anyplace we have to rush off to in the morning and can relax a little. Although I am not loving the already hot weather. Thank goodness for the pool!

We have some crazy and exciting news to share. We are expecting our fourth child in December. This has been a little shocking and completely unexpected. I went to a doctor's appointment on March 10th and my doctor told me that we would have to do a hysterectomy in order to rid my body of the endometrioses and the cysts completely. After my tubal rupture in 2002, I was left with severe endometrioses and cysts that have continued to plague me. Last June I had a laporoscopy to remove one ovary and some cysts as well as clean up some endometrioses and scar tissue. That helped for a couple of months and then the pain returned. So in March we discussed having my hysterectomy done in May. Needless to say, Heavenly Father had other plans and within a month I was expecting. This baby is sure meant to be part of our family. We are excited and happy. We will be starting from scratch, since we really did think we were done with Aidan. Elena and Max are really hoping for a girl! Aidan is just happy to not be the youngest and can't wait to be a big brother. I am 13 weeks now and finally over most of the morning sickness. I still get nauseated, but not quite as bad as what I was. I'm mostly tired and come 3 o'clock, I am wiped! :)

June seems to be a pretty easy month for now, just working on getting girls camp ready and anticipating our trip to Idaho in July. We are sure excited to be heading there for a bit and see the family.

Well it's late and I'm exhausted! I'll post more tomorrow and try and upload all the pictures I have!

Spring Break!

2010-03-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

It's finally here! I was so excited to have a day off, (since Saturday's and Sunday's don't allow us that opportunity anymore) and so excited to sleep in today, but my eyes popped open at 7 a.m. to feet in my face. Aidan had mysteriously showed up in our bed sometime during the night. But, despite the early rise, today has been spent relaxing, playing outside, cleaning, laundry and preparing for a day at the beach tomorrow. The weather has been wonderful the last two weeks and should remain nice until Wednesday, then it's suppose to rain. The kids are just excited to not have school and I am excited to not battle with homework for a week! :)

Just for catch up the past two Sundays have been pretty crazy, but we are hanging in there and surviving and serving as we have been asked to do. Lemuel was called to serve as the executive secretary in the Spanish branch and also as the 2nd counselor in the elder's quorum and to be over hometeaching for the branch. Needless to say that with his callings, and mine Sunday's are a little nuts. He has meetings every Sunday starting at 6:30 and my ward council meeting starts at 8:30, so I need the kids to be all ready to go to church by 8:15 so we can get to my meeting on time. Then Lemuel leaves his mtg early at so he can man the kids for a half hour before the branch begins sacrament meeting at 9. Then I come join them in sacrament meeting around 9:30 when my meeting has finished. We finish up meetings and then yesterday with the Easter program and the kids singing, we attended sacrament meeting again, so I could take the sacrament and then the kids could sing. It was a busy Sunday but we all came home, had lunch and then Lemuel, Aidan, and I took a much needed nap! And then all watched a movie together as a family and had breakfast for dinner! :) It was a crazy day, but a good day! And we did have rest in there as well!

I'm sure a lot of you have similar days and callings and I know that everyone is busy and I so admire the wives of bishopric members and presidency members and am grateful for all the time they put into making wards and branches run!

Needless to say, I am really excited for a day at the beach! I love the beach and wish I could be even closer than we are now. It may seem strange, but I feel myself when I am at the beach! Corny I know, but I love the water, the smell, the sound, the sand, everything! I can't wait! I know it won't be very warm, but it's enough for me to just be there. Wish you all could join us!

2010-03-09T10:13:00.001-08:00

On our way to Ikea for girls day! I'm so excited to break out of our town for the day!

Marvelous Maximus!

2010-03-07T18:38:00.001-08:00

Max had a busy February. To start off he had his blue and gold banquet and pine wood derby. He earned another bead and received the most decorated car award. He wanted his car to be "rock and roll" so we put a guitar and some designs on it to make it look the way he wanted it. He painted it black and lime green. It was fabulous and so Max. He really had a lot of fun at this event.

Here he is showing off his car!

My boys! Max, Lemuel and Aidan watching the races.

Receiving another bead. He loves scouts!

Max was also the student of the month for the month of February. He was the student for bodily kinesthetic. He is such a sweet boy and is kind to most around him. He wishes school only consisted of P.E. and science! :) He is very involved in all things science at the moment.

Max and the principal Mr. Jager.

An autobiography was given as Max's big book report assignment. He choose to read about Crazy Horse, the Sioux warrior. He did an excellent job and his teacher said she was amazed at how well he stood up in front of the class without being nervous. He was a little soft spoken at times, which isn't like him, but got an A on his report and was very excited! I m so proud of him for working so hard on his report.
I made the costume for him. I added some felt along an old pair of his pants and then cut them into fringe. He didn't want to be bare-chested during his report, so I had to improvise a vest. I bought one at Goodwill in Aidan's size and then adjusted it accordingly. I got the idea from my mom when she was making one for my nephew so he could be a cowboy! Thanks mom for sharing your talents! I think it turned out really well.
Way to go Max! You had a wonderful month and I am so proud of you! Love you heaps and heaps!

2010-02-27T15:34:00.001-08:00

testing...testing...is this thing on?

How did you spend your Friday night?

2010-02-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

Not sure how you spent your Friday night, but at our house we had a house full of boys. Or really two extras. We shipped Elena off next door to the "girl house" and we had "the boys" at ours. They had a great time and filled the entire living room with a fort.
Aidan had his first sleepover with his friend Drew from next door. Although, he ended up in our bed since the boys had used all the blankets and he got cold! :-) It was fun though.

Da boys: Aidan, Max, Brayden and Drew.

It was a great way to spend the night!

Hawaii......

2010-02-17T11:48:00.001-08:00

In January Lemuel had the chance to travel to Oahu with some tennis friends. He did something he has always wanted to do and that was travel somewhere and play tennis as long as he wanted! His friends were headed there for a tournament and he got to tag along. He played, ate, played some more, and then stopped at Waiamea for one afternoon and also had the chance to visit some good friends there. I was super jealous of his opportunity...and it was hard being here with the kids while he was gone, but I survived and will get my reward sooner or later! :)

At Waimea bay!

Waikiki Beach!

My hub and one of the Porter boys he played with back in the day!

Can I get a Whoot, Whoot!

2010-01-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

Elena needs a big shout out! She has been working so hard this year in school, and has been rewarded by being on the honor roll the past two quarters. She was also student of the month in December! (yes, I forgot to post it then) She has also reached her 100 point button for AR reading and is involved in the BOB or battle of the books competition. Elena also just finished doing her science fair project on keeping things warm. So here is a big ole' CONGRATULATIONS for being such an amazing student and for working so hard in school. I am super proud of you! I love you!

Laney and Mr. Jager the school principal.

Laney getting a little bugged because dad kept taking heaps of pictures!

A new look.....

2010-01-20T10:52:00.001-08:00

So I decided to change my hair color. I went quite a bit darker than I ever have and am still contemplating cutting a good chunk off. It needs a good trim at least. Change is good right?

Mom, this is for you!

2010-01-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the kids blankets. Sorry it was a little late in coming. I love how they turned out. Lemuel keeps asking me when I am going to make him one. I guess he is next on the list and then I will have to make me one. He keeps trying to "borrow"' Elena's.

Here are some pictures of the kids blankets. Sorry it was a little late in coming. I love how they turned out. Lemuel keeps asking me when I am going to make him one. I guess he is next on the list and then I will have to make me one. He keeps trying to "borrow"' Elena's.

Christmas Day!

2010-01-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

I realize it's a little late in coming, but here are the pictures from our Christmas day! We told the kids they couldn't get up, or rather wake us up, before 7 a.m. Elena woke up at 5 and waited until 7 to wake her brothers up. I think Aidan would have slept for another hour at least if he hadn't been woken up! :) Here is a picture of the kids with the loot Santa brought.

Laney is digging into her gifts. She got some clothes, boots, Wii games, a bracelet making kit from her grandparents, a new blanket, and some other little things.
I made her this blanket and am pretty proud of myself. Granted I did have A LOT of help from my friend Cyndi, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Laney has wanted a "fuzzy" blanket for a year or so and I finally made her one. She was pretty happy!
I also "made" blankets for the boys. Actually I bought the fuzzy blanket and then appliqued a monogram for each of them and then Cyndi embroidered around the edges. I am super happy with the way they turned out. (and yes, the M on Max's is backwards. I realized that after I had already affixed it and started the embroidery.) I love that it looks so clean on both sides and the monogram is on both sides.
Lemuel got some new tennis shoes. He was very surprised! Granted he told me specifically which ones he wanted, but he didn't realize I got them. :) (I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to Christmas!) It was fun to surprise him! Don't you love the gloves he got from Elena? Pretty studly!
Max got heaps of games, legos, whoppAir, clothes, Bopit game from grandma and grandpa, and science stuff.
The little man got some legos, hot wheels, pirate toy set from grandma and poppa, clothes, Wii games, and a blanket. He loves legos and was so excited to get these. He will play with legos for hours.
Here is the aftermath! It is amazing how quickly it can become such a mess! All in all, we had a great Christmas. We had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, and monkey bread. It tied us over most of the day and then we had some friends, the Collins family, over for leftover pozole and taquitos. We taught them how to play Greed and had a relaxing evening.

Christmas Eve!

2009-12-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone. I just can't take my tree down yet....I hate it when it's over. :( I'll break down the house tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve.

For the past 4 years on Christmas Eve, Lemuel has made pozole for dinner and I make tacquitos. This year Lemuel wanted the pozole to be as natural as possible so he went and got the dried hominy, which required soaking and picking the skin off of each piece, as well as taking the tail off of the hominy. He began this process on Wednesday the 23rd and then began cooking the rest of the pozole. He wanted it to be all done that day so that it could sit and the flavors could mesh for an additional day before we ate it. Needless to say anything that Lemuel cooks is delicious, but this was fabulous! A lot of work, but worth it. I made potato tacquitos to accompany the pozole and it was topped with Lemuel's amazing green salsa.

Here are the boys anxiously awaiting our traditional feast!

The pozole....

the tacquitos.....

Laney all ready to eat!

My boys enjoying their dinner!

Here is a video for Lemuel's family he wanted to post!

I forgot to take pictures the rest of the evening, but we played chimes again, which was interesting with just 5 of us. My brother Hiram gave these to us for Christmas so we have our own set now. We also read from the Christmas the birth of our Savior, sang songs, and shared stories. We ended the night with another tradition of new pajamas and dessert; apple pie and ice cream with homemade caramel sauce! Then we all piled in our room and watched Elf! It was a wonderful night and so worth all the effort. I loved seeing the kids all excited for Santa to come and enjoying wonderful memories together.

Surprise!

2009-12-23T20:57:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, you are all shocked that I have finally posted. I'm not going to make excuses, I just promise to be better. I'm not really sure why it has taken so long to blog. I have heard numerous complaints of my lack of posts, so I hope that all I am going to blog about is worth the wait!

I have heaps of pictures to post so be prepared for a long post.

For Thanksgiving this year we headed home to Idaho for the holiday. It was a long drive, but so worth it. We had a wonderful time with 3 of my sisters and their families along with my amazing parents. We finally got to meet a new nephew, James, my brother's son. He was so easy going and fun to have around. We missed out on Hiram and Alanna joining the fun, but they were busy relaxin on a cruise ship! Rebecca and Josh were in California with friends so they missed out as well!

Here is little James. He is anxiously awaiting his brother to join the family!Laney loved having James around and loved holding him!

My sister Amy made delicious caramels while we were there and my little man and Will couldn't keep there hands off of them!

The grandkids helped my mom decorate their "travel" tree, which has ornaments from all the different trips, reunions, vacations we have had over the years. The kids loved doing this as they remembered where a lot of the oranaments came from! Mom and Haleigh couldn't unwrap them fast enough to keep up will all those helpers!

My mom and 8 of the 11 grandchildren.

Rachel entertained kids with a Christmas tree craft and the girls kept

busy with dress-ups and games!

The kids had so much fun playing in the little snow that was there and managed to roll snow from the whole yard to make snowmen! They had a blast and didn't seem to mind the cold at all. They were very proud of their snowmen and Elena, Emma, and Addilyn even made a little village!

I didn't get a picture of the full spread on the table but we thoroughly enjoyed the feast that was prepared. My mom and dad did a fabulous job of hosting and feeding the masses! My favorite part was my mom's homemade rolls with homemade jam, and frozen corn from the garden! It was amazing!

Friday was our Christmas party! Since we wouldn't be getting together for Christmas mom and dad planned Christmas as well! We made watches for the girls, and the boys did picture frames! After dinner the party began. My parents always get Christmas shirts for the kids and they were a hit.

We played chimes which was very entertaining to say the least!

Lemuel couldn't quite get the ryhthm but was very dedicated to trying!

Some of us trying to stay on beat!

My mom was a fabulous director!

More of her students trying to keep time!

This picture of Amy and Will sums up our performance! I love this picture! :)

Next on the list was acting out the nativity!

Here is Olivia as a shepherd.

Jake was Joseph, Emma was Mary, Sam was a donkey, Grandma was a shepherd along with Lemuel and Max, and Aidan and I were wisemen. Lemuel was a switch-hitter halfway through and joined us as the third wiseman at the end!
Elena was a angel and she couldn't stop laughing! We are definitely a pretty entertaining bunch!

Aidan doubled as King Herod and a wiseman.

Here is our crew in our costumes.

After the nativity we watched an amazing video clip called "Is there room?" It really brought the spirit in as we talked about the birth of our Savior. We ended our night with our spirits rekindled and full of love.

I can't forget, we also celebrated Will's 4th birthday!

He was so good and waited so long to open his much anticipated cowboy boots!

A very happy 4 year old! Happy Birthday Will! So glad we got to be there to celebrate!

Thanks again mom and dad for an amazing holiday weekend! We loved every minute of it and really appreciate all the worries and work that went into it! We love you!

Banduccii's Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday for playgroup, Aidan and I and some friends headed to Banducci's pumpkin patch. This was our first time and I was mighty impressed. They had a great little set up that was geared for kids. We learned how a pumpkin grows, went through a corn maze, and thankfully didn't get lost, picked out a pumpkin, and unfortunately through some small ones into the pond. :-) It was such a fun experience and Aidan just loved it. He was very thorough with picking out his pumpkin. He started out with a big one and "hugged" it just the way the guide told him to, only to set it down and find a "smaller" one that was his size! :) He loved it!

Here is my little poser sitting on a cute pumpkin bench.

Aidan and Rigdon aka "Riggy" which is what Aidan calls him. They have the relationship of brothers; they fight, they play, they fight, they play! But this picture was taken when they were having one of their better moments!

Da boys! Rigdon Both, my little man, and Rocco Collins.

Me and Aidan inside the corn maze.

Double trouble! Aidan and Rocco

Here they are peeking out of the corn stalks. Aidan found an ear of corn and promptly said, "Oh look a mom a corndog!"

A scarecrow and a crow! Which is now what Aidan wants to be for Halloween.

Pumpkin Patch with my little man.... (warning! heaps of pictures to follow!)

2009-10-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

Trying so hard to carry it around....

My little man huggin his "too big" pumpkin!

Aidan with some of his playgroup buddies.

Me and my little man

Now he switched over to a "smaller" one that was his size, and he loved the baby ones too!

50's Bop and Chili Cook-off!

2009-10-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

This past Friday was a busy one in our household. I spent the day with some friends playing changy-rearrangy in my living room. Trying to figure out furniture placement in order to make my living room bigger. I think we pretty much achieved what I wanted, but not quite sure if I love it yet. (It's now starting to grow on me!) In between all the changing furniture I finished the poodle skirt and shirt I was working on for Laney's daddy daughter 50's dance at her school! It was a lot of fun to make, thanks to my friend Cyndi's MAJOR help. I never could have figured it out on my own! :) It turned out cute despite it not being pink as Laney put it. (Who would have thought that for school and her birthday when all she wanted was lime green clothes and scarves, that she would now want a pink skirt instead of a green one!) Anyway, while cooking chili and cornbread for our ward chili cook-off, I helped Laney and the hub get ready for the big dance. I was super excited for them and think they looked pretty darn sharp!

Not quite sure why my hubby has such a tough guy look on his face, but he sure played the part quite well don't ya think? I sure thought he looked "cool" in his "Danny" attire! He even wore white socks!
They had a wonderful time dancing to the jive and "Hoedown." They even had pictures taken at the dance that turned out adorable! Now if I can only figure out how to scan them in so I can post them.....

While they were out dancing the night away, me and the boys headed over to the church for the chili cook off. Little man fell asleep on the way over, but woke when I told them there was food and pumpkins. It was a relaxing night and the cultural hall was nicely decorated. I even won the grand prize for my chili! However, it wasn't my recipe; I called my friend Melinda for hers. She said she has never lost a chili cook-off with her recipe. It's a great recipe and Lemuel even liked it, which as most of you know is a big feat! Thanks Melinda for sharing your recipe and making me the "winner!" I brought home a ribbon, a little trophy and a bouquet of tootsie pops! It was a fun night for the entire family!

Garage sale shopping!

2009-10-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

My friend Mandi introduced me to the world of garage sales! I love this mirror I got while doing just that one Saturday morning. I forgot to take a before picture, but this is the after picture. It was a not so lovely gold. I used some spray paint that I had leftover from last year, and distressed it with some brown paint I took from Mandi's supply. I love the look! It hangs proudly in our bedroom! And the best part is that it cost $2! Amazing!

I have been taking to heart the counsel that President Uchtdorf gave us in the Relief Society broadcast last October. He states,

The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty. Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children. You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.” If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination. But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.4 Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things...What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside. If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.

I love this talk and it really hit home to me when I reread the talk this summer. I would always sale myself short. I would not try something for fear of failing. I thought I out grew that trait I started in high school, but often I would find myself falling into the same circumstances. So with a nonexistent budget, I am finding things around my house to use or from garages sales for extremely cheap! It is amazing the things you can do with a little bit of creativity and a lot of inspiration from friends and blogs! I am happy trying and doing new things. It makes me smile and feel proud, and I think we all need to feel that way over something that WE have done! So go out and create! No matter what it is! JUST TRY IT!

Project table!

2009-10-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

I am not really doing so hot in posting. It is October already and I just can't seem to catch up with all that is happening around here. I'll just go ahead and post some of the things I have been working on. This past month I bit the bullet and decided to refinish our kitchen table. As you can see from the picture below it was a nice ugly shade of blonde and just wasn't working with my children anymore. If you look closely you can see the marks from a permanent marker that leaked through the paper and stuck to the table. Plus the finish was starting to peel off. So, with a whole lot of sanding, and 1 gallon of black paint, some power muscles and a portable band saw of my friend Karen, (who cut the rounded part off of the chairs) I transformed it into something I am so much happier with.

Can you see the difference in the chairs from this picture to the bottom one? Sorry the pictures are not so great, they were taken with my phone since I couldn't find the cord for our camera!

I love it! It is big and black, but oh so much better! I love the chairs without the rounded top. It looks so much less country to me. It's amazing what a difference some elbow grease can do. It took a bit longer than I wanted it to, but it is done! Total cost of project $20 for a gallon of paint, and I still have quite a bit leftover for other projects around the house! Yippee!

Finally an update.....

2009-09-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all of your concerns, yes we are alive! Sorry it has been awhile since I posted. A lot has happened in the last month. I still can't believe that we are almost into October.

Since the last post my Laney turned 10! She had her birthday at the end of August. She didn't want to have a birthday party this year, she wanted gifts. So we surprised her with clothes, clothes, and more clothes. That is all she really wanted, so it was easy! She started the first day of school on her birthday.

A week later I celebrated my 32nd birthday! I still can't believe I am 32....I still feel young I just don't look it anymore! ;) For my birthday the only thing I wanted was to spend some time at the beach. So we headed to Escondido so the hub could pick up stuff for work, and got stuck in MAJOR holiday traffic. We finally arrived at Ocean Beach in San Diego at 4:00 in the afternoon. We stayed until the sun set and then headed to some friends house for the night. The next day we were back at the beach around 10:30 or 11 and stayed until 5 o'clock! We had so much fun! The weather was in the 80's all day! Despite the crazy crowds, the kids were in heaven and boogie boarded the whole time. We headed back to the Wilson's and showered ate dinner and then headed back home. We missed all the traffic and had a very quiet ride back. The kids were pretty worn out. It was a perfect birthday!

Another event that took place after Labor Day was that my little man started a joy school! He loves going to school and loves that he is a big boy now! Once a week I get 3 hours all to myself! it seems a little strange, but I can get quite a bit done in 3 hours without having to stop!

He was so excited to get his own backpack for school. He choose a Spiderman one.

On September 12th we had our ward temple trip and headed to LA for the day. The kids did a service project of planting flowers at the temple grounds, the hub did a session and I helped with baptisms! It was a beautiful day and I love to be able to spend it with the kids as well. I think it helps them appreciate the temple a bit more.

In the mist of all of our crazyiness, our beloved cat Yoshi ran away. The kids have been very distraught. He was such a great cat and the kids really miss him.

There is so much more to post, but I gotta dash, I have a leadership meeting in an hour! I promise to be better. I have been fully chastised for not blogging enough! ;)

Hogle Zoo-Salt Lake City Utah

2009-08-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

On August 1st we had a Crookston Family Reunion at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah. We met up with my mom and my sister Amy and her boys. My dad and brother in law were playing a round of golf before meeting us for lunch. The kids had a good time despite the heat.

Laney, Will, Sam, Machi and little man just before entering the zoo.

Sam and my little man checkin' out some monkeys. Little man lookin' like one too!

Machi, Sam and Will by the cool new elephant that they built that makes noises and actually blows air through his nose!

This is all of my mom's brothers and sister and their spouses along with my grandparents. So neat to see them all together again! I know my grandparents loved having them all there.

Me and my herd with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Lucy.

Laney with Auntie Haleigh

Little man on Grandma's back with Laney by the gorilla's trying to cool of in the misters.

Little man the size of a toddler gorilla, despite not having go go gadget arms!

His hands don't quite match up!

Machi's are a little closer but no match for the gorilla.

Mine are pretty darn close although you really can't see it since little man was taking the picture!

Me and the kids in front of a new gorilla statue.
They have made quite a few improvements since the last time we were there.

Laney and little man riding the train with Will and my brother in law in the background.

Machi and Sam chugging along on the train.

Laney chillin on the playground.

Little man posin' by the giant caterpillar

My mom, sisters Haleigh and Amy, my pops, and Laney staying in the shade while the boys played on the playground.

Machi hiding out in a giant egg.

We had a great time and it was awesome to see all my aunts and uncles as well as some of my cousins and their children. Being in California, we don't get to see everyone very much. We met for lunch and then all went separate ways throughout the zoo. Wish we could have spent more time together talking and visiting, but it was good to spend time with everyone. I had a wonderful time visiting with my grandmother and she told me some fun little stories.

First Day of School!

2009-08-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

Yeah! The 2009-20010 school year had begun! Laney is pretty excited to be starting school again, Machi, not so much. He tried to tell Laney he didn't have to go today and that he was going to stay home and help me today! :) Laney was up at 6:30 all dressed and ready to go. Mostly because she has had her outfit picked out for the last week. She has Mrs. Plugge, the same teacher she had last year, and Machi has Mrs. Scales. I tried to take the camera with me to the school this morning, but Laney told me I couldn't because that would be embarrassing!

Machi-3rd Grade

Laney-5th grade

Family Photos in Elko!

2009-08-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

While in Elko Rebecca's friend came and took some pictures for us! Here are a few I snagged off of her facebook acct until I get the CD.

My handsome Machi! Of course he found a board he could "surf" on.

All the grandkids minus little James.

Me and my little man! ♥

My beautiful Laney. She is becoming way to grown up! I can't believe she is almost 10!

Me and my kids. Wish we had the hub with us!

My sisters from youngest to oldest, Hae, Becca, Rae, Me and Amy.

All the ladies of the family, minus my sister in law Alanna!

Nevada Reunion! (its a long one)

2009-08-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

At the end of July we had a fun filled family reunion where my sister Rebecca lives in Nevada. Her and her husband lease a dance studio which was right across the street from the hotel. We spent much of our time there eating, playing and spending time together.

The kids were so good and loved spending time with all of their cousins. I love little Livvy sitting in the chair. She loved that thing and stayed in there a lot of the time. She just wanted to fit in with the bigger kids. She was very comfortable there.

We had craft time, and

Played dress up!
In the basement of the studio there are years worth of costumes!
So me, Hae, and Becca all dressed up for the kids. Haleigh was Oscar the Grouch, I was an alligator and Becca was Big Bird! We were dying! It was so hot but it was so funny
us trying to squeeze into these paper mache masks!

The kids also spent quite a bit of time playing dodge ball and freeze dance.
Thankfully no one was hurt.

My little man wanted to dress up to and ended up putting on the alligator costume!

It was pretty big on him but he was in heaven!
On Saturday morning the boys; consisting of my dad, brother in law Josh, and brother in law Matt, headed out for a golf tournament. The ladies and children hit the local youth rodeo. The kids lasted about an hour there and then we went to a gigantic playground. We stayed there for about 45 mins and then hit the city museum. We saw the original Pony Express Cabin,

and lots of stuffed animals! I loved little man and his cousin Will jumping up and down like kangaroos! It was so funny!

Little man also loved the alligator and did his best imitation of it!

Machi with his head in the mouth and his cousins Sam and Will.

This is all the ladies watching the youth rodeo.
(Mom, Amy, Becca, Hae, Livvy, Rae, me and little man)

We went to Dairy Queen one night and had blizzards and ice cream cones!
(Me and my little man)

Sam, little man and Machi enjoying some cones!

Laney, Becca, Poppa Josh, Bryson and Josh chillin at the DQ!

Saturday night we had a BBQ at Becca's house and then enjoyed the beautiful weather outside. Becca and Josh put up a screen on their garage and the kids watched "Bedtime Stories"

and the adults played "Ticket to Ride."

We had so much fun together. We always do. It is so great to get together. We had everyone there except my hub and my brother and his family.

Becca made a delicious cake to celebrate my mom's birthday!

It was a wonderful trip and Becca and Josh did so much to make it wonderful. All we need is a big space to meet and hang out. We are usually pretty good about entertaining ourselves with old stories, silly antics and lots of kids to keep us occupied! Thanks Becca for all you did to make it wonderful!

This is why no one ever wants to sleep with the little man in hotel rooms! ♥

Summer: part 3

2009-08-13T21:19:00.001-07:00

The hub takes the kids out to play tennis pretty regularly but this day little man wanted his turn. Max was kind enough to pull him down to the courts! They had a grand time.

Little man decided it was his turn to play. I love this look on his face! He is so excited. he doesn't care about actually hitting the ball yet, he just wants to know he is involved!
I ♥ this picture! It is so great. I love it when the boys are playing nicely together and having a good time. It is even better having the tennis courts just down the road from us. The boys can't wait for it to cool off a bit more so they can play more often.

So most of July was spent prepping for this:
Our ward girls camp. Since May, when I was called as the young women's president, we have been working so hard for camp. With all of us being to mostly new to the program, and coming in in May, we had a lot of work to do. Thank goodness I had A-M-A-Z-I-N-G camp leaders. We had such a good time and we are all ready looking forward to next year and so glad we actually get a year to plan! We have already started planning and thinking of things to do. It was such a wonderful week. This was taken the night of our skits! We had 13 girls attend, 4 non-members and 4 leaders.

Summer: part 2

2009-08-13T20:56:00.001-07:00

The hub left for Mexico for 2 weeks at the end of June and came back on the 5th of July. While he was gone I basically worked on getting ready for camp and entertained children. He went to his home town for a week and then headed to Chiapas to help a friend do some work on a school down there. He had an amazing trip and was able to see 4 out of his 6 siblings. He relaxed, played tennis, ate, saw family, visited friends, and oh yeah, did some help with the school project!

We spent the holiday weekend with my parents and my sister Rae and her family in St. George. We had such a fun weekend. We swam, shopped, ate, swam, ate, chased kids, and watched fireworks. Of course I forgot my camera, but was able to snag a couple of pics from my sisters blog. (Thanks Rae!)

I had promised Max that he could pick out some fireworks to light off.
Poppa Josh was "kind" enough to help him! :)
Machi, Emm, Poppa Josh, and Addi.

Laney, Addi, and Rae's niece swimming at the hotel pool!

This is the girls minus my mom who somehow escaped being in the picture...not sure how that happened because she was right there. ;) Laney, me, Addi, Emma, Rae, and Livvy.

Sunday morning we headed to church with Rae and the family and then came back to the hotel packed up and went to Rae's to pack a lunch and then headed the supposed 6 hours to LA airport to get the hub. However, it took about 2 hours longer with traffic. I figured leaving by 11 in the morning would keep us out of traffic but I was wrong. So we ended up with a 10 drive. Thank goodness the kids were pretty good. Little man only slept about 1 1/2 hours the entire time. But he was really good. We had a good weekend with family and were so excited to have the hub home!

SUMMER: part 1

2009-08-13T20:25:00.001-07:00

I have so many things to blog about and I can't believe this summer is almost over. Needless to say this post will be a long one! At the begining of June I had a laparoscopy that should of only been a 3-5 day recovery, but ended up almost 2 weeks because I got sick! Not a fun way to start the summer. Once I was up and at em again, my good friend Mandi and I packed a lunch and headed to Avila beach for the day. We had such a great time and it was a perfect day. We spent 4 wonderful hours there and then headed to a fun little place called Avila Valley Barn. I forgot to bring my camera, but they have farm animals, (adorable miniature goats), and a yummy old fashioned ice cream shoppe. The kids were in heaven and it was a great way to end the day.

Mandi was showing them how to find sand crabs! They had a blast but only found a couple.
Mandi, Rocs, Laney, and little man.

Little man and Presley grabbin' some grub!

Little man, Machi, and Presley building some castles.

This is my favorite picture! I just love his smile and the way his lashes stick together.
He was so happy and loves going to the beach
(even now as he looks at the pictures he is asking to go to the beach!).

I keep hoping we can make another day of it before the summer ends, this time with the hub!

I ♥ MY HUBBY!

2009-07-20T19:44:00.001-07:00

He did an AMAZING job shuttling kids from house to house and taking care of them while I was at girls camp all last week! Thanks babe for taking care of the kids so I could spend time with my young women!

So much to blog, so little time......

2009-07-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I have the time, but I am anxious to finish up some things around the house before we head to St. George for the weekend to celebrate the 4th with my family.

Here is just a brief recap of the past week:

Lemuel has been gone since the 22nd to Mexico. He spent the first week spending time with family and enjoying the beautiful weather. This week he is volunteering in Chiapas working on a school for the very poor children there.

We have played and relaxed the last week and a half. Max had the opportunity to head up to San Francisco for a couple of days last week with some friends. Laney, Aidan and I hung around here, spent time at the pool, and had a slumber party.

Last week for our mutual activity we did some river rafting and boy was that an amazing experience. We laughed so hard and had fun trying to soak the other boats. It has been super hot outside so floating on the river was especially nice.

Today we will finish up around the house and then head to the pool again to cool off! (Hard to do when it is 110 outside!) I will have pictures to post when I get back from our little getaway trip.

Badillo happenings......

2009-06-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

I have slacked off in my blogging/journaling duties these past weeks. Last week was a little crazy. Thursday the 28th of May was Lemuel's 36 birthday! I know, he is getting old! Shh! Don't tell him I said that! :) Unfortunately, he had to work early and late that day. While he was gone, I discovered our freezer was not working. So, I called our landlord and told him the situation, he stated someone would be out to take a look at it later that afternoon. I had to make a trip to Costco as we were in desperate need of groceries. I got the needed food and avoided buying anything that would require freezing, since I wasn't sure how long it would take to get the freezer fixed. I picked up ice on my way home and shoved everything from the freezer into a big cooler. Our landlord called back that night and told me that they couldn't fix the freezer and that he wasn't going to fix it. We were stuck. I was trying to figure out how we could finagle getting a freezer until we could afford to replace the fridge entirely. Lemuel got home around 8:30 that night and I told him the news. We talked and ate dinner and then I went to my friends house to get the ice cream I had left there for Lemuel's birthday celebration. When I came back, Lem said that the fridge wasn't working and that everything was warm! I freaked. By this time it was 10 'o clock at night and I didn't know what to do. Remember, I had just made a Costco trip for groceries. So we woke up our neighbors to put what we could in their garage freezer/fridge and borrowed more coolers from the Both's again, and they graciously let us shove more food into their fridge. It was a crazy night. We did end up celebrating and having cake and ice cream for Lem's birthday. We were planning on heading to the beach the following day, but those plans changed when we realized we needed to figure out a fridge. Our landlord came to our rescue and called the next morning and said he would replace it. However, we had to wait all day for the fridge to show up. Lemuel's day off was wasted...well, he did get a round of tennis in so he was pretty happy.

Then Saturday we packed a lunch and headed to the beach. It wasn't the greatest of days; the weather at the beach would have been beautiful if it wasn't windy. But because of the wind, and the low temps of 62 degrees, it was pretty chilly. We packed up our stuff and headed to the park just up from the beach and ate our picnic there and the kids played on the playground for a couple of hours. Then we jumped in the car and headed towards Pismo Beach. Lemuel really wanted to eat at this crab place for his birthday. He has wanted to eat there for the past 6 months. On our way to Pismo, we found this adorable little farm called Avila Valley Barn. It had animals and a huge produce store, along with an ice cream parlor and old fashioned candy store! It was great and something that I just know my Grandma Ella would love. It was fun and best of all FREE! However, we did buy a berry pie and some honey. The kids loved it and can't wait to stop there on our way back from the beach and get ice cream next time!

We celebrated Lem's birthday at the Crab Cookery and both Lemuel and Max were in heaven. It was a great restaurant and great food! Just what Lemuel wanted. I am still kicking myself that I forgot the camera! On the way home, we drove along the coast and Lem pulled over at these cliffs and him and the older two hiked down to the beach. They played in caves and pools and had a blast, while I stayed in the car with Aidan and read stories. I was worried about playing along the cliffs with him and didn't realize that Lem was going to hike down to the beach or we would have gone. Next time! It was a great day and a great way to end his birthday. We all had heaps of fun.

So now back to normal life. Young women's is busy as I am trying to still figure out how to run things. I know I am not doing things the way they should be yet, but I am working on it. Girls camp is only a month and a half away! I am a little nervous about that but I have A-M-A-Z-I-N-G camp directors. They are so great and have really made me at ease about the whole situation. We have 10 girls going and I am ecstatic! Lemuel is still trying to get counselors called for the Sunday school presidency and figure out teachers, lessons, and planning. Slowly but surely our callings will be in place....hopefully!

This week will be crazy. I am scheduled for my laporoscopy on Tuesday morning. Hopefully that goes well and we can finally figure out what is causing my chronic pain. (I have had it every since my ectopic pregnancy ruptured back in 2002!) The Dr. said he will take out the fibroid tumors, endometriosis, cysts, run some dye through my remaining tube and probably take out my left ovary. I am praying that this will take the pain away so I can finally feel like myself again and ease the burden off of my family! They too have struggled with my pain for way too many years. Tomorrow is a big day as I have laundry and housework to get done so that I am ready to be laid up for 3-5 days and my hubby doesn't go completely crazy! I better make a dash to the library so I have something to occupy my time. I will update when I feel up to it. Not sure when that will be. Hopefully soon. Till next time on the......

What we have been up to the past couple of weeks........

2009-05-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Elena had her 4th grade program last week. They sang songs about how "The West" was really won and she was a square dancer so she got to dance in the program as well. It was fun to watch her perform. She is on the top row the 5th one from the right! Can you find her?

Elena doing her square dance!

Lemuel had to pick up some things in San Louis Obispo so we headed down with him and stopped at the beach for a couple of hours! Eventhough it was a 103 in Bakersfield, it was only about 79 at the beach! The water was cold of course (nothing like Hawaii) but the kids loved it anyway.
Aidan was in heaven as always. That boy just loves the water! He found crabs and shells and kept racing in the water.
Max and Aidan raced up and down the beach chasing seagulls and playing in the waves! Max went so far out, I didn't get any good pictures of him. I love this one though of Aidan following his brother!
Last week for playgroup we went to Grandpa's Farm and Aidan had a blast. He was trying to be a cowboy here, but then he got shy when I took the picture!
The goats just loved him, maybe because he brought a quarter and feed them food, but he loved them. He just laughed when their tongues would come through the fence.
Aidan wanted to bring this little guy home with us. I told him he needed to stay here because he would probably end up getting lost at our house! Either that or tortured by the kitten.
Elena had her 4th grade end of the school year party on Thursday. I forgot the camera, but she had fun swimming with her friends and hanging out away from school.

Max has his next Wednesday and we will be helping there again. Hopefully I will remember to bring the camera. The kids are so excited to be done with school. Only 2 and 1/2 more days! Can't wait.

Well, we are off to the pool to soak up some sun and cool off for a bit! I'm sad that we are missing out on the Holt family weekend at Lagoon and putting flowers on the graves of our family members. But, I hope you all have a great memorial weekend.

Family Guy - Lois Mom Mum Mommy

2009-05-06T14:50:00.001-07:00

Ever feel like this? I saw this and I just cracked up! I have had this happen way too many times to count! Hoping if I ignore it, they will go away. I have never seen Family Guy but thought this clip my friend sent me was pretty good. Enjoy!

Day at the park......

2009-05-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Daddy and his boys!

Amy, me, mom, and Rachel relaxing while the kids play at the park.

Lemuel and Poppa pushing our boys.

Picnic time!

Max got Baptized!

2009-05-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend with family and friends. My sister Amy and her two boys arrived Thursday afternoon and then my parents and sister Rachel and her three girls arrived Friday afternoon. We went to In-N-Out for dinner and then went over to Max and Elena's school carnival for some games. Despite the rain, the kids had a good time. Saturday we had a picnic at the park and let the kids run off some energy for a couple of hours. Despite one little fall and a couple of sunburns, we had a fun time. The baptism started at 5:00. There were 8 boys and 1 girl being baptized! What a fun sight it was to see all those future missionaries sitting on the stand. Max was the first one to be baptized. As you can see by the look on his face, he was super excited! I asked him how he felt when he came to sit down by me and he said, "I feel all brand new! I am clean!"

Lemuel helped him pick out a new suit and Max picked out his own zipper tie! Aren't they a handsome pair?
I just can't get over how much Max has grown in the last year. He is such a caring boy and loves his family very much. I am so proud of him and his decision to be baptized into our church!

The best family picture we could get.

All of the cousins except Allysa, Bryson, and little James. Pretty cute group of kids if you ask me!
Grandma Karen and Papa Josh drove 14 hours to be with Max on his special day!
We are so grateful that everyone skipped work, classes, and lessons to be there for him! It really meant a lot to have you all there!

Aidan is 3!

2009-04-30T20:51:00.001-07:00

Even though this is a little late in coming, I just have to post about my baby turning 3 on Sunday the 26th! I can't believe he is 3 already. We tried to celebrate his birthday after our 1 o'clock church, but Aidan couldn't stay awake. He crashed while Lemuel was making dinner; Aidan requested carne asada tacos. By the time we could get him to wake up it was 8:30 p.m. So we rounded Elena and Max up and celebrated his birthday with chocolate cake and ice cream! He was thrilled to receive a light saber, memory game, bubble machine, a bat and ball and his very own computer from Grandma Karen and Papa Josh. He loved every minute of his birthday. He did tell me however, that he didn't want to be 3, he wanted to be four!

Here he is so excited about his cake! He loves chocolate cake!

He couldn't have been happier! He loved it. After it was all over, he turned to me and said, "Is it my birthday tomorrow?" I smiled and said, "Sure I can wrap your presents all over again if you want." Such a happy boy! Oh how I love my baby! Happy birthday little man!

Happy Birthday MAX!

2009-04-27T12:36:00.001-07:00

Friday was Max's birthday. He wanted breakfast in bed with pancakes sausage and bacon. I told him he had to choose between bacon or sausage because he couldn't eat that much meat for breakfast! So he decided on sausage. We brought in breakfast and he didn't eat much. He was so happy it was finally his birthday. Unfortunately, he said he wasn't feeling that hot but really wanted to go to school. I gave him some claritin thinking it was his allergies.

I took homemade Oreo cookies as his treat for school and all of the kids were very happy. He came home from school and was real lethargic and said that he wasn't feeling well. He had a low temperature and so he rested on the couch until Elena came home. He was so excited to get his hamster he has wanted for 2 years. I told him he had to wait for Laney and daddy to get home so they could see him open his present.
Needless to say, we decided against the hamster. I didn't want one in the house having a bad experience as a child with two hamsters my parents gave my sister and I for Christmas. So, I found this little kitty that had been in an abandoned house. Big props to my friend Clarissa who rescued me and the kitten when I found out it had fleas and bugs. She spent a couple of hours giving it a bath and cleaning it up really good. He is a little tiny thing and only about 6-7 weeks old.
Max named him Yoshi. He is a really calm quiet kitty and the kids just adore him. We went to dinner to celebrate both Max and Aidan's birthday at CPK. Max really wasn't feeling well, and ate only a little bit and laid on the bench most of the time, but Aidan had a ball and loved getting his own birthday sundae!
Saturday Max got to have a birthday party. We went to the park and relay games and water balloon toss, and water balloon volleyball. He had a good time and the weather was perfect. He was still a little low, but loved having his friends there to celebrate with him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAXIMUS! WE LOVE YOU!

Crazy little story.....

2009-04-24T15:31:00.001-07:00

So last night I was up late trying to put my house in some type of order and finish planning Max's birthday party. I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen and was taking the rubbish out to the bin. Mind you this was about 12:30 am. Just as I opened the door to come back into the house, a little frog hopped in the house. Of course it spooked me just a little. It was a fast little bugger! It hopped straight under my couch! So here I am at 12:30 a.m. with my front door wide open, hoping I can persuade the little frog to jump back out into the wild. I moved the couch a little. There he was. I grabbed a magazine to kind of push it backwards. It didn't like that idea much and jumped under the couch again. So I moved the couch again, praying I wouldn't squish it, since I so didn't want to be dealing with a squished frog on my carpet. Again, it jumped under the couch! This was a very pesky little frog! So I tipped the couch on its end, again praying the couch wouldn't fall on top of it and squish him. Finally I persuaded him to get out of the house! He listened to my little pleas and hopped out the door!

hhhhhmmmmm........

2009-04-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know where to begin, or what exactly I want to post about, but I just need to journal to express my feelings. Needless to say it has been an interesting week. Not too much going on externally, however, internally my mind hasn't felt rested in a week! Lots of things running through my mind; plans to make, ideas to form, birthdays to plan, cleaning to do, and decisions to make are just to name a few. I have felt an overwhelming feel of the Spirit and the fullness of the gospel this past week. Struggling with answers and finding peace and realizing Heavenly Father isn't very far away. Feeling very humbled. I attended our stake relief society conference last Saturday. I spoke with a friend just before that and she told me, "just wait, you will feel like every talk given will be directed to you and helping you find answers." That is definitely how I came away feeling. The messages shared were just what I needed to hear, and helped me open up my heart and listen to the Spirit more.

On top of everything I have been dealing with emotionally, my cramping hasn't improved at all and seems to be getting worse. When I am in pain, I get really irritated and ornery and very short tempered, which my kids and hubby don't appreciate very much. ( I don't blame them.) And, I can't get in to see my doctor until the 30th, which seems like a really long time. So, I am venting now and trying to find a way to deal with the physical pain other than narcotics. So not fun.

However, I did have a great time at my Zumba class this morning. It is so much fun. I can't move my hips like a Latina, but I can sure pretend! My in laws would be proud! :-) Not a pretty sight but it makes exercising so much fun! Our teacher even threw in some hula and hip hop to round it off. Such a great morning. Now if I can just shake the aching pain.......

HAPPY EASTER!

2009-04-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter Sunday. The kids saw their Easter baskets, we had a french toast breakfast and then sat down to talk about the resurrection and atonement. I think Elena really understood more about the Savior's last week this year than she did before and she was really emotional. It was so genuine and heartfelt to hear her questions and comments. She is becoming so grown up and so compassionate. It was a beautiful way to start the day. The talks and the lessons shared at church were just what I needed and it was a wonderful reflection on the blessings that I have in my life.

We took pictures after church and of course couldn't get Aidan to stay put or to keep a straight face. So this is the best I could get.
What a poser! He just wouldn't stay put and then when I finally got him to, he pulled this face! Oh well. I'll take what I can get.

My beautiful Laney. So grown up! I still can't get over that she is going to be 10 in 5 months! She is growing up way to quickly.

I have such handsome boys! Max is almost 8 and can't wait to be baptized next month! He posed so nicely for this picture. Unfortunately, he wasn't happy that his tie didn't have a zipper on it. Go figure!

After our Easter dinner of shoyu chicken, rice, rolls, salad, and deviled eggs, we had a little egg hunt! It was a lot of fun, however, nothing compares to egg hunts with family and friends! It was a quiet Easter, but it was good to be together. We had a great weekend.

Spring Break Happenings.......

2009-04-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe that spring break is over and that it is the middle of April! We spent the first part of the week doing typical household things that I needed to get done. We went to the park on Wednesday for a couple of hours. Then on Thursday we headed down to the LA Zoo along with some friends the Collins, and the Boths.

Here is everyone that came besides Cyndi (she is taking the photo). We had a great time despite the crowd. We were worried about getting stuck in traffic on the way home but since we left at 3:30, there wasn't any and we made good time heading home.

Brayden, Max, Aidan, Elena, Cambryn and Rocco

Some of the kiddos excited to start the day at the zoo.

Friday the kids played with their friends most of the day then we hit up Costco and Target for last minute Easter items. Then Saturday morning we left at 9:30 to head to LA again for a day at the temple. We arrived just after 11 and got the kids settled at the rec. room and then headed to do a session. It was a beautiful Saturday and a perfect day to be in the temple. We finished our session with uplifted spirits and headed to meet everyone for lunch. The ward had subs catered in and it was a great lunch. We changed our clothes and headed to Six Flags for a couple of hours.

We arrived at Six Flags/Magic Mountain around 4:30 to HEAPS of crowds. We knew it would be pretty crazy with both counties on spring break, but since the kids have been spoiled with no crowds every time we have been there, they didn't want to wait for 2 hours to ride one ride. So we spent the time in the kid section and they rode all the little rides as many times as they wanted. Aidan loved every minute of it and didn't want to leave. We headed home after a quick stop at In-N-Out for dinner and got home around 10. We had a great day and the kids loved it despite not being able to ride the big rides.

A week of track meets........

2009-04-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

One of the many things I love about the school my kids go to is that every April they have a school wide track meet. Wednesday was grades k-3 and Thursday was grades 4-6th. So lucky me got to attend two days of meets! It was heaps of fun and Aidan loved being able to play on the playground for hours!

Max ran the 200 yard dash and also the 200 relay.

This is Max coming in 2nd! He was in the lead up until the last 15 yards and then he started to slow down. I told him "you almost came in first, you just needed to push a little more at the end." His reply, "I would have but I didn't think he was that close to me!" He ran a great race and was such a good sport. He went up and high fived all the other boys! Such a good kid. His relay team took 2nd as well. It was so much fun to see all these 2nd grade boys "chest bump" and pat each other on the back for doing such a good job!

Elena did the long jump and took 1st! I don't have any pictures of her jumping, only video (which I can't get to load), but this is her getting congratulations from her friends! She also ran the 200 in a relay and they took 1st as well! I wish I had that on video because she kept looking back at me making certain I was watching and then right at the end, (she was the last leg) she slowed right down and almost stopped as she she crossed the line and cut the ribbon! It was so funny to watch!
This is Elena's relay team! They were in the lead on each leg of the race. Way to go girls! The meets were so much fun to watch. I am so proud of Elena for trying something different and doing the long jump. She already told me she wants to try the mile next year.

Aidan was a super cheerleader as you can see from this video. He kept cheering and cheering for Max. I just couldn't help posting it as well! He was such a great sport as we sat through all the races. Good job kids!

Another year......

2009-03-31T21:44:00.000-07:00

Come and gone. I can't believe we have lived here in California for a year now. Time really went quickly. We have all grown so much since we moved. It was difficult for us to leave our friends and family, but we are finally feeling settled here. The kids are doing really well and have adjusted as much as any can I guess. Laney still misses her friends from Friday's Station, but all in all enjoys the weather. Max on the other hand keeps asking me when they can go to Utah to play in the snow. I told him Monday would have been perfect since they got so much over the weekend. Oh well.

Spring break is next week and I am trying to find some fun activities to do with the kids for 7 and 1/2 days. The weather is suppose to hold at around 75 so we should be able to spend most of the time outdoors. Which is great because when it is cold, my house gets TRASHED! So if anyone has any great spring break ideas, pass them along. My kids have already vetoed cleaning. But I might be able to persuade them to help me organize closets....... in exchange for time at the beach or zoo. Here's to me keeping my fingers crossed! :0)

VEGAS BABY!

2009-03-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

Last night we got back into town after a fabulous weekend. Huge props and thanks to my amazing sister and brother in law for housing my husband and kids for the weekend. Lemuel went to St. George with the kids while I headed to Las Vegas with some pretty great girlfriends! Melinda, Katie, Kahea and I all had an AMAZING time! Kahea scored a spectacular deal on a hotel room and then because our room was occupied (when we arrived at 1:30 in the morning) they upgraded our room to a poolside suite and gave us $75 for dinner and free drinks! Plus we had 6 free buffets we could use with the hotel deal! It was AWESOME! We stayed at the Las Vegas Hilton, just off the strip. We laughed, we ate, we danced, we shopped, laughed some more, ate some more, slept a little, lounged by the pool, tortured guest servies, played games, watched TWILIGHT, and then ate more! It was a spectacular weekend and just what I needed.

Me, Melinda, and Katie doing some people watching while Kahea did some shopping.

Las Vegas is the perfect place to do serious people watching. Boy did we see some interesting characters!

All the married ladies dolled up for a night out!

Lounging by the pool with our FREE virgin pina coladas!

We strolled the strip but didn't get too far. We realized that we don't need to do much of the sightseeing to have a good time. We just had heaps of fun talking and laughing. We only got as far as the Venetian before we called it quits.

Great memories were created this weekend. Three nights and 3 days just wasn't long enough. Can't wait for next time!

BNP Paribas Tournament!

2009-03-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Lemuel and Max were invited to attend the Paribas Pro Tennis Tournament in Indian Wells (southern California). It was a dream come true for Lemuel. He has wanted to watch a pro tournament since I met him! They had a wonderful time and Max loved being able to see all the players and get their autographs on a giant tennis ball Lemuel bought for him. This is a view from the suite they were in all day Saturday.
Max loved the gigantic tennis balls and raquets. They watched, Andy Roddick play, along with David Ferrer, and other top players. They said that Roger Federer was really nice and very willing to sign autographs but that Nadal wouldn't.
This is one of Lemuel's favorite pictures from the whole weekend. (He took heaps of pictures)

Max got Roger Federer's autograph and Lemuel was in awe to be that close to him! (he is going to be embarrassed when he reads this) He couldn't wait to come home and show me all the video clips and pictures he took. He said he was like a kid in a candy store. He really enjoyed the whole time they were there. I am so glad he got this opportunity to spend some quality time with Max and relish in one of his dreams.

March?

2009-03-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that we are half way through March already! The past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy around this house. I was really busy all of last week with stake leadership meeting, our tri-ward birthday celebration, and then a relief society board meeting breakfast. Once the week ended my house was TRASHED! So I spent most of Saturday afternoon and early evening putting it all back together and doing some deep cleaning I neglected during the planning of the enrichment. Since then it has been pretty stable other than typical family things.

I had a wonderful afternoon on Monday. Aidan fell asleep in the car on the way back from Costco so I put him in bed, grabbed a book and headed outside to relax and enjoy the sunlight. It was a beautiful afternoon. After a crazy couple of weeks it was nice to just enjoy the outside.

Now I am busy trying to get laundry done and housecleaning done so that tomorrow I can pack for my little trip to Vegas with some girlfriends!

Marvelous Maximus...

2009-02-27T16:39:00.000-08:00

Last week Max brought home a letter from his teacher, Mrs. Wheeler. In it was a letter informing me that Max was chosen as the "Student of the Month." His teacher told me that I could tell him or I could surprise him, whichever I preferred. Of course I kept it a surprise. I arrived at his assembly and tried to keep out of sight but he spotted me right away, which wasn't really hard since Aidan was yelling "Max! I'm over here! It's Aidan!" at the top of his lungs. I still don't think Max realized why I was there until they called his name! I couldn't even capture the look on his face since he was facing the opposite direction, but he was sure excited. He smiled through the whole thing. I took a video of what his teacher had to say about him. WARNING: the video is EXTREMELY shaky because I had a two year old climbing around my legs the whole time. (you may even need to turn your volume up)

Max with the principal Mr. Jagger

My two favorite boys in the WHOLE world!

Aidan was pretty proud of Max as well. He went right up to him and gave him a big hug and said, "Good job Max! Why you on the front?" He didn't understand what was happening but he clapped right along with the rest of us. Congratulations Max! We are so proud of you! You have worked so hard this year and really deserve to be honored! WE LOVE YOU FOREVER!

The mastermind of a two year old.......

2009-02-27T15:47:00.000-08:00

This week has been pretty crazy. Last night I met with my enrichment board to make our invitations for our birthday celebration. However, I forgot half of the cutouts at home so we were only able to finish half of them. So today a couple of friends came over to help me finish them up. While we were busy working on these,

my little devil was instigating this;
They had a blast and because it was such a nice day, I didn't mind too much. The patio and fence is covered in mud and water, but they had a blast. Three out of the 5 kids were pretty much covered. Aidan's friend Elle was even painting mud on him.
Good thing it was nothing a little water couldn't clean up! He told me he didn't want me to hose him off though because the water would be cold, so we threw the lot of them into the tub. I know for a fact it was my little mastermind that started it all. But they had heaps of fun!

A For Elena!!!!

2009-02-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Awhile back I blogged about Elena and her science fair project. Well, she finally got to bring home her poster and got the results from her project...........A+ for LANEY! She got an A and because her teacher thought she did a great job on her board, she got extra credit hence the +! I am so proud of her.

She worked really hard to find just the right snails and extra hard on the habitat. She was good at making certain the area stayed moist and that the snails could breathe. Just to refresh your memory, for her project she created two different habitats for snails and fed them three types of food; lettuce, leaves, and grass. The snails all flocked to the lettuce and only nibbled on the leaves. Here are the pictures she took of her habitats.

What a morning.....

2009-02-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

I had an interesting morning today. I have to preface it by saying, Elena's job is to load up the dishes at night and clean off the counters after dinner. So this morning we had Lemuel's boss over for breakfast. Yes, you heard me correctly, breakfast. That was the only meal that his boss would be in town for and Lemuel wanted me to make his favorite. So I made a batch of these.

Everyone ate and they all said it was really good. I waited to eat until after the kids had left for school. Because Lemuel and his boss were working in the office area, I headed to our bedroom to eat and watch cartoons with Aidan. I started to eat my beautiful plate of crepes with strawberries, bananas, cream syrup, and a dolop of whip cream. As I took the much anticipated first bite, I tasted something a little off. Not sure what it was, I took another bite. Then I realized what the problem was, it tasted a bit like this

and a little like this
The taste wasn't very strong, but you could detect a hint of something not quite right. I thought to myself, how is that possible, and then I thought, were all of them like that. So I tried the other one on my plate and it tasted fine. Thinking it was a fluke, I asked Lemuel when he came into the room if his had a strange taste. He said to me, "It was the strawberries." Then I realized, it was the cutting board I had used. I had diced up garlic and onion for dinner last night and left the cutting board on the counter. Instead of loading the plastic board into the dishwasher, Elena had just put it into the cupboard. So all of the strawberries I had sliced on the board tasted like garlic and onions. I was so embarrassed. I said to Lemuel, "Why didn't you say anything? I would have cut up some more strawberries on a different board." My sweet husband said, "Well, I didn't want to embarrass you." And you didn't think that I would be embarrassed knowing that your boss was eating garlicky/oniony strawberrries? I told him to apologize to his boss for me. So when I went out there, as they were getting ready to leave, I told him I was sorry about the stratwberries. He didn't know what I was talking about since Lemuel had yet to say anything, so I said have Lemuel tell you about it! I was humiliated! Hopefully he didn't notice, but with my luck, I'm sure he did! I doubt his boss will be wanting to come to our house to eat again. What a morning!

My little gentleman.......

2009-02-18T19:32:00.000-08:00

I went to pick up Max from school on Friday. As I was waiting at the gate for the kids to come out from their Valentine parties, I looked up to see where Max was. I watched him as he followed his class out to the gate. All of a sudden a girl behind him tripped and spilled her backpack and all of her valentine's all over the ground. Without being told or asked, he dashed back to help the girl pick up all of her things. He then proceeded to help her put everything back in her backpack and then even helped her up! Then he carried the rest of her things to the pickup spot. He made sure she was okay and not hurt. When he finally arrived, I asked him if that was one of his friends and he said, "No, she is in a different class. She just needed my help." I was so proud of him! It brought tears to my eyes to see him behave so gallantly. My little boy is growing up so fast! I can't believe the difference a year has made in him. He is still as stubborn as can be, but man oh man is he a sweetheart! Oh how I love my little gentleman!

Spring is in the air........

2009-02-17T16:15:00.000-08:00

Well, not really, but I just had to share a picture of what made me smile today. Aaawwwww! Aren't they pretty? I sure thought so. Not to rub it in or anything, especially to all of you who still have snow on the ground and months of winter still ahead, but I wanted to share! :D We are getting lots of rain (which makes the grass so green), but thankfully no snow!
This tree is in our backyard. As you can see, they are just starting to bloom. Can't wait for the whole tree to blossom. I'll post a picture of that when it happens!I needed someone in the picture so Max jumped in to accommodate me! He on the other hand would rather be in the snow. He keeps asking if we can go to Utah so we can play in the snow.

Our day at the ocean......

2009-02-15T17:35:00.000-08:00

(warning: picture overload! )

We drove over to Pismo Beach, which is a little beach town just north of Santa Barbara and found a little beach to hang out at. It was a little chilly, about 53 degrees, but it was just what I needed. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but the ocean just does things for me. It makes me clear my head and relax, and it makes me appreciate my surroundings more. I love it. It feels like home to me.

The kids loved it as well and wanted to run straight for the water, but we told them it was too cold. (my camera was on the wrong setting here so the first picture is a little blurry.) We told them they could take the stairs down to the beach, and what do they do the minute they get down there? Take off their shoes and socks and run for the water! They caught on real quick how cold it really was, and stayed on the beach until it was time to go.
The rocks were fun to climb and so cool to look down and see the spout holes that have been made by the water. Aidan loved dropping rocks into them.
Aren't they so cute? I love Aidan's cheesy grin on his face as he was smiling for the camera, but watching the birds instead of looking at me!
This is one of my favorite pictures! Little do you know that just after this picture was taken, I slipped on the rock and fell REALLY hard on my upper back. I knocked the wind out of me and snapped my neck pretty good. I am pretty bruised and sore today. I was so worried about breaking the camera, I didn't even catch myself. I literally went two feet in the air and landed right onto my back! Not a pretty sight. Good thing it was just us, so I wasn't too embarrassed. Sore, but not embarrassed. :-D
My pensive Laney. She loves the ocean just as much as I do. She just kept saying, "Mom it's so perfect here! Can we stay overnight and come back tomorrow?" I had to keep reminding her that we have church tomorrow and we will come back next week. She was so disappointed to leave. But so glad that we came. She said to me, "when my friends and family come to visit, we need to bring them here. They will love it! "
Max loves the water. He asked me, "can we just get some of those 'wet clothes thingys' so we can swim in the water even when it is cold?" I just smiled and said, one of these days. He used the telescope and kept his eyes out for any sea lions or dolphins but no such luck this trip. Maybe next time.
Aidan was in heaven! He chased and chased the sea gulls and scared them all away, much to the relief of couple who were having a nice quiet valentine picnic (that is until we showed up :D). He ran and ran and threw heaps of rocks into the water and loved watching the splashes he made. He was so proud!
Thanks to my amazing husband who humors my crazy antics to go out on a holiday weekend and allow me to fill my need of being close to the ocean. It was a busy day. But it was a perfect way to spend a day with the ones I love!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

2009-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Or as Aidan calls it, "HAPPY HEART DAY!" I remember growing up that my parents always made Valentine's special. When I was in high school my dad always got us girls a flower and my mom always did something as well. I try to uphold that tradition by doing a little something special. We usually order heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and I try and do something small for the kids. This year, we are heading to the coast. It isn't warm enough to be in bathing suits and get in the water, but I really just want to be by the ocean. I miss it. So for Valentine's Day, my handsome hubby is taking me and the kids on a coastal drive, and maybe we will hit the zoo or Magic Moutain for a little. Who knows?

So for the kids I just got them each a stuffed animal and some candies, and then I added a book my mom sent for the kids. They loved it and it made them feel special. I love seeing their eyes light up for something so small. I got Elena a seahorse, Max a dinosaur, and Aidan a monkey of course! (He has been called chunky monkey since he was little by his auntie Melinda and it stuck)

Aidan told me his monkey's name is "OOO EEE" (or in other words, sounds that a monkey makes) It was so adorable I just had to put up this picture.

Happy heart day to you all! I'm off to treasure the ones I love!

The things we accomplished.......

2009-02-10T08:40:00.000-08:00

This past week was a good one. I accomplished a lot, at least I think so. We got a new car, which I absolutely love. I finished our taxes thanks to a good friend who helped me all day on Friday. We made it through the flu bug with Max and Aidan, and I got started on our enrichment birthday celebration invites.

Yesterday was a holiday and the kids didn't have school. We planned on packing a picnic and going to the park, but the weather didn't cooperate. It is rainy and cold and will be the rest of this week. So we ended up running errands. NOT the older kids favorite thing to do, but they had to get done. And of course we had to make a trip to Costco for some necessities. I did get to the post office and the library as well. Then when we came home, their friends were able to play so they spent the next couple of hours enjoying a day off.

The kids are really excited for Valentine's Day and doing their school valentines. Aidan has his little playgroup party on Friday I think and he wants to do his OWN valentines. Since I was a little, my mom always made sugar cookies for every holiday I can remember and all of us kids would decorate them. I remember we would have neighbor kids over as well. She always made a huge batch and they were so yummy. I have been trying to uphold that tradition and the kids have been asking when we were going to do cookies. So, I figured I would make a batch of dough up tonight, but I can't seem to find my heart cookie cutter. Hopefully I can find it....if not, trouble right here in river city! :D It's probably hidden somewhere since the kids were using the cookie cutters for playdough the other day!

We made it......

2009-02-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Through the week that is. It was a little crazy, not sure why, but it was. I was still fighting off that nasty chest infection on top of helping Elena with her first science project, planning enrichment, meetings, food shopping for my 72 hour kits and then the everyday stuff. But I am so excited to say that I have put together 72 hour food kits for each member in our family! I am so happy. I don't know how we will eat it since I haven't put the rest of it together, but at least we will have food. Our relief society is really pushing for every family in the ward to have at least 72 hour emergency kits and a 3 month supply of food by the end of the year. I am taking that challenge and doing everything we can to be prepared. We are going to make it. All of you out there that already have yours done, a HUGE pat on the back. Any great tips or ideas would be so appreciated!

Elena did her science project on snails this week. It was titled "Dinner Guests!" She collected 3 snails and made a habitat and put 3 different types of food and watched it for 3 days. She had heaps of fun and learned a lot. Not so sure about the snails though as they were constantly under attack. Aidan thought they were pets and wanted to carry them around with him. I forgot to take a picture of her display board she made. I will when she brings it home. I am proud of her for all of her hard work. Although she did say she would totally do something different next time. She did have fun.

Thoughts......

2009-01-25T18:26:00.000-08:00

The past couple of days, (while I was in a drug induced daze :)) I was thinking about this next year and what I want to happen. I have personal goals that I want to reach this next year, but I was thinking about how I can "try a little harder to be a little better" when I remembered this quote:

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of

children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know

even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. "

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think sometimes I am so focused on myself that I forget to "find the best in others" and to "win the respect of intelligent people" just to name a few. So one of my main goals this year is "to try a little harder to be a little better" by starting with the small things; such as watching what I say about people and to stop being so involved in my own problems that I lose opportunities to serve those in need. By doing these small things, I hope I can "leave the world a bit better."

Yuck!

2009-01-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

This week has been a bit of the yucks. Aidan and I have been feeling pretty yucky. We both have the sore throat, cough, head cold junk, which isn't fun for me let alone a two year old. However, I will take our sickness over my cousin Jenn's family's sickness anyday! Plus to top it off, I started potty training Aidan. Needless to say it has been a very yucky week! We haven't left the house much. He will go on the toilet if I prompt him to, but won't tell me he has to go until afterwards on his own. I know he will get it. I just hope it won't take forever. I am determined to not buy any more diapers! I say that with my fingers crossed.

Some interesting facts.......

2009-01-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

The things I have done are BOLD....this was fun! I hope you all do this one too!
1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14. Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight 22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31. Hit a home run . 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie or on a TV show 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen. 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma. 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar. 72. Pieced a quilt. 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone 78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee

Not a lot, but something......

2009-01-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

For some reason the past week flew by me and I didn't really blog about our happenings. Not that there was much going on, but some small things did happen. First off, Elena made the Principal's List (which is a good thing)! She had to earn a 3.5 to get on the list and she got a 3.65. She worked really hard this past quarter to do better in school and I am so proud of her. All of her hard work paid off. She got a certificate and a little pin that says, "I made the Principal's List. She is pretty excited.

Elena really wanted to cut her hair short! I was so against it, and still am but figure I should let her make her own choices. So, she promised me she would do it everyday she could cut it. She loves it and told me that it now fits her personality better to have it short. (what does a mother know :)) She is growing up way too fast. She even started flat ironing on her own.

Max really improved his grades as well. He is finally starting to enjoy school and reading. His teacher said he should be getting straight A's because he is so smart, but he just has a hard time motivating himself. I wonder where he got that? It couldn't be from me..... ;) He is really enjoying reading thanks to all the great books my mom got him for Christmas. He has already read 2 of them and can't wait to read the rest.

Aidan has been quite the character this past week. He loves being one of the older kids in the nursery. He looks forward to playgroup and nursery every week. He did have some run in's with corners and bushes this past week. As noted on the picture he scratched his head up pretty good playing in the bushes after church and then another long bruise happened after playing hide and seek in the closet about 2 inches away from the first one (not in the picture since it happened after the picture was taken). I just had to take this picture. He was suppose to be in his bed. When I came into my room he had taken over my bed and was curled up with his hand under his chin. So cute! I couldn't resist.

This past weekend, a friend called me and asked me if I would help her finish decorating a cake for a wedding and help her decorate the table. I said sure as I have never done anything like that before. It was a lot of fun. I wish I would have brought my camera because it turned out great. I didn't do much, but learned quite a bit. It was a lot of fun!

Tag! I'm it again!

2009-01-07T18:49:00.000-08:00

(Thanks Mandi)

Fill in with one word answers

1. Where is your phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? tennis
3.Your hair color? brown
4. Your Mother? amazing
5. Your Father? inspiring
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? weird
8. Your dream/goal? travel
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? tragedy
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? debt-free
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? skinny :)
15. One of your wish-list items? tobefit
16. Where you grew up? Rexburg
17. The last thing you ate? veggie patty burrito
18. What are you wearing? jeans
19. Your TV? watched
20. Your pet? dead
21. Your computer? lifeline
22. Your mood? happy
23. Missing someone? daily
24. Your car? van
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? Costco
27. Your Summer? wonderful
28. Love someone? definately
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday
32. Something you crave? Rumbi's
33. Why you blog? journaling

I tag..........Melinda, Kahea, Katie, Jenn, Rachel, and Alicia

New Year!

2009-01-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

I still can't believe that 2008 is over and a new year has begun. I am extremely glad that '08 is over. I am ready to start new this year. I have lots of resolutions and goals for this year and things to look forward to. Bring on the new year!

This past week we were so lucky to head south to visit some of our really good friends the Millers who were visiting their families for the holidays. We met up at a McDonald's for lunch and a playground and then headed to Jeff's parents to relax, visit, and swim. We left our area with 45 degrees on the thermometer and headed to 75 degree weather! It was a great day to swim. It was so fun to catch up with them and see their new little guy! We also got to see Walid and Bethany Kaakoush and their 4 kids. The kids all played so good together and they all had a blast. There were plenty of boys and girls to play with.

(Walid and Bethany left before we broke out the cameras)

Baby Enoch was sleeping so we didn't get a picture of him but here is Max, Asa, Asher, Elena and Aidan. Look at what happens in 10 years!

I was so happy to see Kim again! We laughed and talked and reminisced about all the great memories we have. I wish it could have lasted longer. I wish we were closer. :( It was so worth the 2 hours there and 2 hours back to see them. Hopefully this year we could visit them in Hawaii! We love you guys!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-25T20:01:00.001-08:00

(Christmas morning! Aidan was really excited can you tell? :))

I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope you are all having a fun filled day with good eats and lots of smiles and laughter. We have had a great day despite Max coming down with the flu. (I am still trying to figure out if it is because of all the candy and sweets he's had the past couple of days or if it is the flu. I am pushing for the candy and sweets because the flu is not on my agenda for this next week. :)) But, he has still managed to play to his hearts content with the fun things Santa brought him for Christmas. Laney and Aidan have had a great day as well. We spent all day yesterday cooking to prepare for today and the next couple of days. We cooked up delicious pozole and taquitos; our Christmas Eve tradition. Lemuel always does a fantastic job of cooking. The meal was great and the program was good too. We read some of my favorite Christmas stories, watched the first presidency Christmas devotional, sang songs, read and reenacted the birth of our Saviour and then opened up a present of new pajamas! I even made cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for dessert last night. It was a wonderful evening.

Last night I warned the kids that they couldn't come into our room until at least 6:30. Despite Laney waking up at 3:45 AM she didn't wake Max up until 7:00! I had to wake Aidan up. He probably would have slept for another hour if we let him. But once Laney mentioned Santa and presents, he was wide awake!

We opened gifts and had a a big breakfast, then played and napped and just enjoyed each others company! We have felt so blessed this holiday season to all be healthy and happy. I hope you all have had a memorable day and remember the reason for this wonderful holiday season! We love you all! Merry Christmas!

Temple Trip

2008-12-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we had an amazing day. Our ward planned a big temple trip to the Los Angeles temple. The youth and some pretty incredible moms babysat about 30 kids at the temple apartments so that those who wanted could attend the temple. They had crafts, games, movies, toys, and lunch all prepared for the kids. We were lucky enough to fit in a temple sealing for a lady in our ward who was sealed to her husband (who passed away 2 years ago) and son, as well as do an endowment session. It was such an amazing uplifting 3 hours. We came out of the temple to the grounds covered in Christmas lights! We went to eat dinner that was provided and then took the kids to tour the grounds, see the Christmas lights, and roll down the big hill! :) It was such a great day, especially to share it with our children. Elena and Max had so much fun. Here are just some of the pictures we took.

My handsome hubby all dressed up.

Two amazing kids that didn't fight the whole time! (or so I was told)

What a great way to enjoy the holiday season!

Poser!

2008-12-12T10:56:00.001-08:00

I went to get the camera out of our bedroom when Aidan promptly said, "Take picture of me!" Then he proceeded to pose. I didn't have to coach him at all.

Then he said, "turn it around" for me to take another picture at a different angle!

He is such a poser! But he's pretty darn adorable if I say so myself!

Ward Christmas Party

2008-12-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we had our ward Christmas party. We had a good time and really enjoyed the program and you can't top having Santa come! The kids had a lot of fun and it was great to see them perform some songs.

Elena and the achievement day girls sang a cute song called "Mrs. Santa Clause." This is a very short clip. (I think Lemuel was trying to take a picture and then realized it was on video.)

Then all of the primary sang "Away in a Manger" but for some reason I can't get the video to post.
Max was very determined to sit on Santa's lap and inform him he would like a Wii. Elena said she was too old to sit on Santa's lap so no picture of her.

Aidan loved it. I think he was more excited about getting the toys than anything!

Trying to keep Aidan from eating the dessert with his fingers!

The primary kids singing "Away in a Manger."

Elena and Mia Urmston

After we got home we sent the kids to bed. I was finishing up in the kitchen when I went to check on them and this is what I found. I love it when they are behaving so nicely with each other and reading Christmas stories is such a great way to end the day! Are they cute?

Christmas Tag....

2008-12-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged...again!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate all the way!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? Definetly has to be wrapped.

3. Colored Lights or white lights on house/tree? white are on my tree but I love the mix of red and white.

4.Do you hang mistletoe? I wish I did, I have the perfect place for it. Maybe I should find some....

5. When do you put your decorations up? Always the day after Thanksgiving!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I love the snacks! All the different dips and treats!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? The Christmas my sister Amy and I got hamsters! We tried to sneak out and see what Santa had left us, but the noise from the hamsters running in the exercise wheel scared us and we ran back to bed! Good memories!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What? There's no Santa Clause! I still believe!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Of Course! We always get new pajamas or slippers

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Usually we have 2 trees but we only have room for one at our new place so we have red and silver ornaments up along with ribbon.

11. Snow. Love it or Dread it? I love to look at it and I miss it when I don't have it especially at Christmas time. But not so much when I am shoveling it.

12. Can you ice skate? really, really slowly! :)

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? The year I got the My little pony castle!

14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays to you? Spending time with my family and cherishing the Christmas activities.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? I don't know if I have a favorite dessert but I love soft gingersnaps during the holidays.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? lots to list, but probably reading Christmas stories and reenacting the birth of our Savior.

17. What tops your Christmas tree? a bright red bow. (the star broke in the move)

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I love giving! It makes it so much more enjoyable to watch everyone open their gifts!

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? I have a lot, but three of my all time favorites are "O Holy Night" sung by my dad, and "Believe" and "Little Drummer Boy" by Josh Groban!

20. Candy canes. Yum or Yuck? I love to look at them, but don't care to eat them. Now if they are chopped up and mixed in brownies or ice cream we are talking!

21. What do you want for Christmas? hhhmmmm....... photoshop elements for Macs so I can start digital scrapbooking.

Whew! That took a lot longer than I thought but it was heaps of fun! :) I tag......Melinda, Katie, Kahealani, Rachel, Jen, Jenni, Stephanie, Susan, Becca, Alicia, Kristen, Ann Marie, Katie, and anyone else who reads it! Love you all!

Christmas is coming....

2008-12-03T08:23:00.001-08:00

The goose is getting fat! Could you put a penny in the old man's hat! YEAH! Christmas is on its way. I love it outside. It has cooled down enough to feel more like fall, but it's December. I love this time of year! I can look outside at night and see the Christmas lights. I love coming into the living room and seeing the tree all lit up. The kids had their Christmas corner (where I give the some money and they shop at school for their family members) at school this week and they are already asking if they can open the presents under the tree. I might have to move them so they won't be tempted. They are as excited as I am! :~}

Family photos

2008-12-03T08:15:00.001-08:00

We finally took some family pictures. We went to a place called Hart Park and had a friend come and snap some pictures. I think we got some pretty good ones, although, I have been informed by my daughter and hubby that we are wearing black next time and not brown. What was I thinking. ;~} Anyway here are some of my favorites.

This is one of the best ones of Aidan. It just captures his exuberance! I love it! He was so excited about playing in the leaves.

One of the family. We only got a couple of family photos that turned out ok. The kids pictures turned out a lot better.
What a beauty she is, but I am biased. She loves to get her picture taken and told me this one is her favorite.
Max is so big now! He looks so much older than 7 here. What a handsome little man he is!

In this picture Aidan looks so pensive which is so unlike him! He is usually going, going, going! Just like the energizer bunny. He wouldn't take his stick out of the photo.

Just the two of us!

I will save the others for our Christmas cards. So you will just have to wait and see which one we use!

Thanksgiving Week!

2008-11-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

This week went by to fast. We loved every minute of it and hated to see it end. Mom, Dad and Haleigh got here Monday afternoon just as Elena was getting out of school. It was so fun to have them come early so we could spend time with them. We took them to Dewar's for ice cream after our gratitude family home evening. Although the weather had chilled down a bit we still had a good day. Tuesday we spent the day shopping and getting ready for Thanksgiving. That night, mom and dad watched the kids and Lemuel, me and Haleigh hit the 9:30 showing of the new Bond movie (which was really good!) The next morning we headed to Magic Mountain in the pouring rain! Despite the rain we had such a great time! Because the weather was poor, the lines were very short! We loved the rides and laughed and danced in the rain. Christmas songs were playing which just made us all even more excited. What a great treat from Grandpa and Grandma.

When it started to get colder we left the park and headed for a nice warm meal. What better place than In-n-Out! Haleigh really wanted to eat here while she visited and we couldn't disappoint her!

Aidanisms

2008-11-19T21:46:00.000-08:00

Monday night we were having family home evening and we were discussing honesty. In the lesson it talks about the Ten Commandments. Aidan was holding up a picture of the Ten Commandments when he turned it around so he could see it and said, "Eeww mommy it's dead!" At first I couldn't figure out what he was talking about, then I looked at it again and then at Aidan and he shook his head and said, "It's scary momma, it's dead!" I guess to a 2 year old, that is what it looks like. He thought it was a gravestone. ;)

This morning while we were reading scriptures, Aidan was quietly eating his cereal. Max was reading in verse 28 in 1 Nephi that said, "...Wherefore Laman and Lemuel did speak hard words unto us, their younger brothers, and they did smite us even with a rod." Aidan turns to Max and says, "Bite? No, no bite! Max that not nice." It was so cute to hear what he got out of our reading.

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-16T20:40:00.001-08:00

I am so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas I can't contain myself! This week is sure to be a crazy one with all that I have going on, but then next Monday my parents and little sis are coming to visit and then my other sis and her family are coming Wednesday night! I am so excited. The kids are counting down the days and can't wait to see their cousins. I love the holidays!

I have been listening to and practicing some Christmas songs for our enrichment dinner and program and just love them. They make me get giddy for the holidays! I am totally one of those people who can't sleep on Christmas Eve because I am so excited for the morning! I love wandering the stores and seeing all the decorations. But I am mostly looking forward to spending some with my family. Only one more week! [giddy, giddy] :-)