Happy Christmas

We love our new Christmas PJs! And Shawn came up with a brilliant way to display legos. This is what he helped Zac make for Ethan for Secret Santa. Ethan is our Lego Lover and he has been collecting lego sets that have littered his desk and dresser top with no place to go. So Shawn came up with this fun idea for displaying them and I must say - it is awesome. And now Ethan can actually use his desk to do homework on! Happy Christmas to all. And Happy New Year!

Christmas Day

One thing I love about living in California is that there is a good chance you'll have good weather for Christmas. This was the case this year so the kids were able to get out and try out their new riding toys. We got a Rip Rider and a Green Machine and Zac got a trike. Jess had been dying for a Bitty Baby and I love watching her with it. She named her Valerie and loves taking care of her. It was a wonderful Christmas. I can't wait til the next one. Next month Brayton will turn 13 and so this was our last Christmas with all our kids being "young" kiddos. Now we enter the teenage years. With this new phase of life we brace ourselves, but also watch with excitement as our children turn into young men and women.

Christmas Eve Culdesac Baseball

Something we've never done before was play baseball on Christmas Eve. Orion's friend Jack came over and brought his bat and homemade tee so the kids had a ball playing ball. I don't think Orion made it out of his pjs for all of Christmas break! This is how they passed their time waiting for Santa's arrival. Zac enjoyed playing spectator.

The Temple at Christmas

Well, I'm finally blogging again! Christmas was wonderful. For the first time since moving to California we went down to the LA temple during Christmas. A friend had shown me a schedule of events going on in December and we decided to go see the hand bell choir on Shawn and my anniversary. It happened to be on a really rainy night so it rained the whole way down and while we were there, but the hand bell choir was amazing and completely worth it. The lights at the temple were beautiful. The visitors center has finally been finished - it's been being redone for the last I don't know how long and it was really fun to walk around and feel the spirit there. There's a lot for the kids to do and completely worth it. If you are ever in the area, we highly recommend going to the visitor's center.

fall fun

Last time I tried to post these pictures, they weren't showing up, so I'm trying again. Fall is my favorite time of year. I love going to pumpkin patches, harvesting gardens, feeling the cool air, and anticipating the holidays. It's nice to be back in the routine of school and homework hasn't even been too horrible so far - such a relief for all of us! The kids are enjoying their new classrooms and activities. Brayton and Ethan are on a Robotics team with Shawn as coach which they are loving. Orion is still drumming, Meri still gymnastic-ing, and Jessi started ballet which she is loving! I'm back to teaching piano 3 evenings a week and doing pre-school a couple mornings a week. Shawn is still executive secretary and I'm still 2nd counselor in YW. Between scout camp outs and Meri going to activity day girls and all the rest of it, we stay really busy. We are looking forward to General Conference next week to relax and listen to the words of the prophets. And after conference Zachary will be 18 months - going to nursery! yay! Hope you all have a wonderful fall. Here are a few fun photos: Meri with our neighbors puppies, Jessi enjoying her corn on the cob, and our sunflowers. Hope the pictures come out!

back to school

Well, the kids are back in school and it's quite peaceful at home now during the day with it being just Zac and I at home - especially when he's napping! The kids have awesome teachers this year including our middle-school boys and we are off to a great start. Homework hasn't even been too horrible. :) Hooray for wonderful teachers and wonderful kids!

meri's new look

Well today was the day. Meri got her braces. She was very brave and enjoyed picking out the colors for them. Just in time for school so she can show all her friends. This is just phase one. It's mostly to fix her underbite so she doesn't get a Jay Leno chin. Since I know nothing about braces this is all new to me, but she does look super cute with them.

4th of July

For the 4th most of our family was still here so we went to church, had a big BBQ, and watched the fireworks from our front yard. Yes, it was a happy 4th. And the only one who cried during the fireworks was Jessi. Our kids have in the past been very sensitive to loud noises. One of these 4ths we'll have everyone enjoying the fireworks! :) And now on with the rest of the summer...Last week Orion had cub day camp an hour away so it was lots of driving for me. ( I was counting on a bunch of boys from his den to go so we could carpool, but no such luck, hence the driving, ugh.) But he had a great time, so it was worth it. So today was our first day of a real summer day with nothing to do. And it was really nice. Happy summer.

dressed in white

Meri's special day was last weekend. She got baptized on her birthday. She got to wear a dress made by my mom from one of her temple dresses. My Dad came and practically all the Teares came. It was such a great day for her. So nice to have so much family here. For one night we had 22 people sleeping here in our not-so-big house! But we did it and it was super fun! We were so happy to have everyone here. Thanks so much for everyone who came to be there for Meri and thanks Mom for the beautiful dress. We love you all so much.

cousin swap

So in Arizona we swapped kids. We took all the boys, Cody and Shannon took all the girls. We had a ball. I love that my kids have all these awesome cousins to be friends with and grow up with. My favorite things were watching Lucas eat tomatoes like apples and seeing Shawn and all his creativity and the boys creativity with the PVC pipe marshmallow guns. what an awesome uncle and dad. He even spray painted them! And by the way, Happy Fathers Day to you Shawn! You are the best!

Jaidyn's baptism

Our travels finally took us to Arizona for our niece Jaidyn's baptism. She looked so precious on her special day. What a treat is was to be there. Cody and Shannon, thanks so much for having us!

the Mayan Adventure

I have to put this on here because it was really cool. I got to see my dear friend Shannon while in SLC. What a treat it was. We met at the Mayan Adventure. We had never been before. The food was decent and the company and the entertainment was absolutely wonderful! We were seated on a balcony area and before we know it these divers come up behind us and start doing flips and jumps into the water way below us. They were even high fiving the kids before they did their dives. We loved it and I loved seeing you Shannon. If only we lived closer our kids could be best friends too!

Temple Square

Then we went to Temple Square. We visited the old Tabernacle (Jess loved that little seat in there), the new one (the tour was way too long, but very interesting and amazing), and the Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy theatre (awesome). I love Temple Square. And we got to see Josh and Sarah for a brief visit amidst their packing. We can't wait to see your new house! It was great to see you guys even if it was just for a few minutes really late at night. :) My only sadness in visiting SLC/Provo area is that there are so many relatives and friends there that we didn't have time to see. We love all our Utah family and friends so much. Hugs to you all!