It's a Boy!

Today we had our ultra-sound. It's a boy! Hooray!

A Magical Halloween

For halloween this year I got my dream come true- the Harry Potter gang. Ethan was Harry, Orion was his best friend Ron Weasley, and Meri was his other best friend Hermione Granger. Meri has been wanting to be Hermione for awhile and we talked the boys into completing the group. The night before we had a night of hair dying. I think my favorite costume turned out to be Ron's because of how great the red hair turned out. Orion was also really excited to carry the broken wand and that he has a rat just like Ron does. Brayton was Ash Ketchum with his pal Pikachu played by Jessi. They were really cute too. That night instead of trick-or-treating we went to Disneyland. We got alot of great comments from people about the Hogwarts friends and people even recognized Ash and Pikachu! We met up with our Larson cousins there and had a ball (and a very late night) at Disneyland. The kids had so much fun riding rides and hanging out with their cousins. Happy Halloween everyone!

Shawn's Birthday

Last Sunday was Shawn's birthday. We had cake after church and then headed to Disneyland for 2 days! We had a fabulous time! Highlights of the trip were swimming at the hotel, Brayton fighting Darth Maul, Splash Mountain, the carousels, Soarin' California, the Toy Story ride, the rafting ride, the parades, and the "screamin" roller coaster. We had the best time and hope to go back soon! We have only been once before 3 years ago so the girls don't remember so much. It was so fun to be a part of the magic!

Happiness Slide Show on Earth

Labor Day Fun

Below is a slideshow of our trip last weekend to see my brother Adam, his wife Elida and their boys Diego, Ezra, and Alan. Not sure why Weezer showed up on the slideshow, oh well. Anyway, we had such a fun time with them. We did a lot of swimming, went out to see some tanks, found a couple geo-caches, and just had a terrific time being together. Jessi and Alan were 2 peas in a pod and were inseparable. All the kids had a great time together. They couldn't get enough of the pool and being with their cousins and despite the intense heat and the large sign telling us NOT to climb on the tanks we obviously enjoyed ourselves a great deal. And hunting for geo-caches are a first for us. Adam and his boys search for them all the time. So we enjoyed that new adventure. Thanks Adam and Elida for a super time!

First Day of School

First day of school line up: Brayton 5th grade, Ethan 4th, Orion 2nd, Meri 1st. Jessi also started pre-school. The kids all like their teachers so that is a huge blessing. It was nice to not be starting a new school this year also. I always get kind of sad to see the summer end. We had so much fun this summer. I enjoy the kids so much - they are a lot of fun. But I must say it is quite peaceful around the house! not to mention, the house actually stays clean for a while without everyone here to mess it up all day!

And yes, we are expecting a new baby early next April. We are thrilled, the kids are excited and were quite surprised when we told them. A new adventure! p.s. we are not going to China next summer. :) Don't you love my husband's sense of humor.

Greetings from Yuma

We are in Yuma this weekend to visit Adam, Elida, & cousins.

Preston's baby blessing

Earlier this month we went to see our new little nephew Preston have his baby blessing. It was great to see all the Teares. The kids loved being with their cousins as usual. Congratulations Josh and Sarah! Preston was so fun to hold. He's just adorable! And the best thing (according to the kids) about Josh and Sarah's place was Phyllis the snake who patiently let the kids play with her multiple times. 1. Jessi with cousin Lucas and little cousin Preston 2. Sarah, Josh, and baby Preston 3. Orion and Phyllis 4. Phyllis wrapping around Meri!

beach trip

In July we went to the beach and up with Cody and Shannon there. We all had a ball. The kids loved seeing their cousins and playing in the waves and sand. 1. meri and jess 2. Orion and cousin Jaidyn 3. Brayton and Ethan booging boarding

Next summer

We have been enjoying watching the 2008 Summer Olympics. It has inspired us to plan a visit there next summer. We want to take our six kids to see some of the inspirational sights in the Land of the Dragon.

Here is me playing aeronautical engineer. This the Wildfire race plane that I have been working on for years now. I am designing the landing gears doors for the plane. One funny thing about this photo is how the hair on the top of my head has changed from blond to a fleshy pink color. Is that weird?

a few more

Here is a picture of Brayton's water color painting. I had each of the kids do an outdoor scene. Orion did mountains, Meri did a forest, Jessi- a rainbow, Ethan - the desert, and Brayton - beach sunset. I was so happy with how they all turned out we framed them and hung them up. I need to get pictures of the others. (Brayton took a pic of his for a Webelos thing). I love the next picture because it's just how I think summer should be- swinging and popsicles. The last picture is of these little monkeys the kids decorated last week. This week is our no electricity week - "The Old Days". I have to admit, I chickened out and we decided to do no electricity for 2 days (thurs and fri) instead of all week. My sister Krystal does this with her kids and they do no electricity ALL week! wow! But we are still doing some activities that have to do with what it was like to live back then. Today we learned about the first 49ers and how they came to California looking for gold. We went on a gold hunt and found some gold! (Well, dollar store gold anyway). We also harvested radishes from our garden. Tomorrow we will wash our clothes by hand and hang them out to dry and bake bread. I really want to make soap and candles at some point too so we'll see if we can figure that out. Tomorrow those who are brave enough are going to sleep in teh backyard under the stars like the cowboys. And Friday we will go on our family camp out. I'm really enjoying this summer. I love not having to be too many places at a certain time and just doing our thing.

more summer weeks

Here are the sugar crystals we grew. Last week, after science week was "Artsy Fartsy". We did lots of art projects. Here are the kids with the salt dough temples we sculpted with our friends. Then we have some fingerpainting and Ethan with his pastel chalk drawing.

rocket scientists

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!