Our Summer Weeks

When I was a kid my mom often would do theme weeks during the summer and my sister Krystal and I have kind of continued that tradition in our own ways. The kids and I came up with 10 weeks we wanted to do- Our first week was in San Ramon with our family. Our 2nd week was called "Food Fair". We made lots of different things that week - the kids mostly decided on what to make (as you can see by their choices of foods loaded with sugar). Our favorites were treat pizza and sweet spaghetti. We also learned how to make freezer jam and made some fruit roll ups with our food dehydrater. Our 3rd week was "Science Center". We did a bunch of science experiments and at the end we launched rockets. The boys LOVED this!

Here are a few more photos of Meri's birthday: Ethan learned "America the Beautiful" on the piano and played it for her to start her party. The next one is her reaction when she opened her monkey webkinz. The last one is of her being blind folded while we brought her bike in. It was a really fun day.

more 4th of July photos!

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a ball this past 4th of July. It was so nice to be together this year - last year Shawn was with family in San Ramon and the kids and I were up in Oregon with family waiting for our house to be done. We went to the parade and a carnival at a park in town. The kids loved the petting zoo and having a look inside a fire truck. They also enjoyed a bunch of rides there and getting a popsicle from the ice cream truck. Later we went over to the church for a ward social which turned out to be a lot of fun. The kids rode their bikes all over the church parking lot with friends and had a great time. And Shawn was in the ice cream eating contest. We stayed and watched fireworks on the church lawn and had a great view there. We even made it through the fireworks without any of our kids freaking out and screaming for the noise to stop. Although Jessi hid in a blanket the whole time. It was so nice to enjoy the fireworks! I love this country and I'm so so grateful to live here.

Happy Birthday America!

Our America turned 6 years old on July 3rd. For her birthday we went to see Kung Fu Panda and had a lot of laughs and even spilled half the bag of popcorn like we always do when we go to the movies. She got her 2 wishes come true for her birthday. One, she has been dying to have the monkey Webkinz because it's "pet of the month" for July. And two, she has been wanting a bike for months. She had a small one someone had given us that she's been riding but it is just way too small for her now so she would always be bugging Orion to let her ride his. So now she has her very own bike and can't get enough of riding it. We love our Meri!

Playground Complete

Well our back yard is coming along. After much hauling of sand from our driveway out front - many calories were burned in that activity by all of us, and Shawn using his engineer skills to put together our Costco playground, it is now complete! Hooray! The kids are loving it. And I am loving that I can send them out back to play. It is so fun. Our next project is to get the sprinklers and grass in around it.

Trip to San Ramon

As soon as school let out we headed to San Ramon for Tiffany's wedding. She looked beautiful and happy and we had a great time at the reception. The girls loved having matching dresses with their cousins and the boys tolerated putting on a tie. We had a great time hanging out with all our family there. We spent a week there swimming, making root beer with Grandpa, playing with him and all his Legos, eating his homemade donuts, going to one of the Redwood Forests, going to the Monterrey Aquarium, and getting in plenty of play time with cousins - oh, and we can't forget getting sick with the cousins too, yes, the barfing kind. Ugh! But it didn't last too long so it wasn't too bad. Shawn and I had a wonderful night out going to the Oakland Temple, then to Olive Garden, and then to see Prince Caspian. It was such a treat! So much fun! Thanks so much to Matthew and Amanda and Alicia for watching the kids that night. I have more pictures, but they are on a disposable camera because our battery died right after the wedding so I will try to post more later. It was a great trip. The kids were upset to leave. It's just so much fun there! Thank you so much Dad and Cheryl and Matthew and Amanda for having us! It was so nice to relax and unwind. I was feeling very pleased that I got Ethan's baby book finished and I finally got to read New Moon and Eclipse while I was there too and LOVED them both! It was such a fun way to start our summer!
kids with the happy couple, boys with cousin Chance, Jess with cousin Andy, Meri with cousin Mady

Last day of School

Here are the kids on their last day of school. Yes, I made them all wear their school t-shirts to show school spirit. It has been a great year. The kids have all done really well this year and worked hard. We were blessed with wonderful teachers for each of them and it's just been a really good year. Even though it was an adjustment with the move last summer and making new friends and missing old friends, it has been good and a good growing year for all of us. This fall Brayton will be a 5th grader - his last year in Elementary school - I just can't even believe it! Ethan will be in 4th and Orion in 2nd. Meri will be in 1st grade which she is thrilled about. She can't wait to see her brothers at recess she says.

Spring Recital

We had our Spring Piano Recital a couple weeks ago. The kids did so well and it was a lot of fun to hear them play. Even Jessi played something!

T-ball fun

Orion and Meri recently played on the "Knights" team for T-ball. This was our first time doing baseball and they just loved it! Orion's favorite was playing 1st base and Meri's was catcher. They really had a ball!

Jessi turned 4!

May 17 Jessi turned 4 years old! She's getting to be such a big girl! Her birthday was on a Saturday so we spent the day together as a family working in the yard, eating cake and opening presents. Oh, and had McDonalds for dinner. It was a great day! As you can see she still is crazy about Ponies and Littlest Pet Shops. We love our Jess!

ready for sand

Well, are all ready for the sand. Here's the area we have for it. The wall and border are in place and the sand with be delivered tomorrow! So the playground will be up shortly! Yahoo!

Ethan the 9 year old

On May 4th Ethan turned 9 years old! We celebrated his day Star Wars style per his wishes. This year he has been crazy for those Star Wars Galactic Hero guys. We had Princess Leia Hair Do Cinnamon Rolls, Bossk berries, and Chewbacca Chocolate for breakfast. Then went to church as it was Sunday. Then came back home and made Wampa Waffles topped with Sith Syrup and Bith Butter. On the side we had Jedi Jiggle, Greeto Cheetos, and Yoda Soda. It was a really fun day and we are so grateful to have Ethan in our family!