Trip to Mesa

We got to go see Cody and Shannon and their kids in July! The kids loved hanging out with cousins, swimming, and playing vids. And Zachary had his first swim! We had a great time there and man, was it hot! Thanks so much for having us Cody and Shannon!

Osh Kosh Airshow

For Father's Day this year we sent Shawn to Wisconsin for a week to see the OshKosh Airshow with a friend from church. My friend who's husband Shawn went with calls it a "mancation". And that is definitely what it was. Airplanes, 24-7. They camped nearby and Shawn loved it how people were camping right next to their own planes. Anyway, we missed him terribly, but I'm so glad he got to go. He definitely deserved to get away for awhile. Happy Fathers Day Shawn!

America the Beautiful

When we got back from Legoland our Pederson cousins still got to stay for Meri's birthday and 4th of July. What a time is was! We got all decked out for the Tehachapi Children's Parade. Nicole rode in the stroller and played tunes on the keyboard with Dave pushing her, Meri and Nate, and Brayton rollerbladed around throwing candy, Orion and Derek rode scooters throwing candy, Jessi, Lauren, and Shawn pushed the guinea pigs in the wheel barrow, Krystal pushed Kurt in the stroller, and with Zac in arm - Ethan and I carried our United States banner(my arm was dead from carrying Zac by the time the parade was over and Ethan kept walking at crazy angles not keeping the banner facing forward so I was so glad when we reached the end of the parade!) But we were quite the party and everyone loved the guinea pigs at the end of the parade. We watched the fireworks from our driveway that night. I think next to Christmas, 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Meri turned 7 the day before and loved having her cousins there for it. She's my kid that makes me feel like maybe I'm a decent mom. I love being her mother. She's bright, beautiful, full of life, and happy almost all the time. Gosh, I love her.

San Diego Temple

These kinds of pictures always crack me up because when you try to get 11 kids to smile for a photo at the same time it's pretty much impossible. This is the best we got. Mostly, everyone was really excited to get to the beach, especially Brayton - and he could see no point in taking pictures at the temple. But it was so worth stopping there. I love temple pictures and this one is so beautiful.

After have our Disneyland passes this year and being pregnant for most of the year I couldn't go on the big rides at Disneyland. So I was really excited to go on a roller coaster at Legoland. I will just say, I will never ever ride this roller coaster again!

legos, and more legos

The water area at Legoland is so much fun. Here's Jessi and Lauren playing in the water.
Meri sitting on a Lego camel in the adventure area. The next picture was Shawn's favorite part of the trip. You are riding in this boat and next to the ride are these water guns you can spray at people as they ride by. Here are Shawn and Meri on the ride getting soaked. The people getting soaked have no way to shield themselves and usually no idea that they are about to be soaked (it's near the end of the ride). Shawn and Dave laughed and laughed spraying the people going by. At the end of our Legoland time, Jessi and Lauren kept hugging and hugging as we were leaving the park. I think it was possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Here's the rest of our fire engine run at Legoland. Such a fun memory.

Happy Summer Highlights

We got to go to Legoland with my sister Krystal and her husband and kids earlier this summer. We had a ball. Usually when I see a picture of myself I think, man I need to lose some weight, but with this picture I'm thinking - man, I really need a new hairstyle! And does Jessi need to go to the bathroom? not sure.
Obama's inauguration in Legos. AMAZING!
One of our favorite guys in Legos.
Us getting ready for our fire engine run. We got such a workout and laughed our heads off.
After Legoland for 2 days we went to the beach in San Diego. I don't have any pictures because our camera battery died and I forgot the charger! I'll have to get some beach pictures from you Kryt! Anyhow, it was a trip to remember and Zac did awesome for his first trip away from home.

Summer Begins

Another school year has come and gone. I am always so thankful for wonderful teachers. If I know my kids are being well cared for and learning alot it gives me such peace of mind. This was a year of terrific teachers. Brayton's teacher was Mr. Scott this year and he had such great time with him. I don't have a picture because Mr. Scott was gone the last day of school. What a year it was!

Big Boy!

Well, as you can see, Zac is really growing. He's starting to do well sleeping in the crib at night! We've made it through the first week of summer! It's quite a bit noisier now having all the kids home all day, but we've been spending a lot of time with friends and having fun. I just wish the weather would warm up - it's been really chilly :( And I just have to not let myself stress about the house being so messy - just enjoy them! Hooray for no homework for awhile!

Zachary's Blessing Day

Ethan is 10!

Jessi is 5!