It's All About Making Memories

Avery's 9!

2012-02-18T10:24:00.001-08:00

Avery turned 9 this past week, so to celebrate we had a little family gathering on the Saturday before. She got 2 Webkinz, Justice gift card, some cash and from us she is getting a room makeover. It was a nice day and she was a happy girl. Happy birthday, Avery! xoxoxo

With her money and gift card she bought this fun and fuzzy chair to use as part of her room makeover. She got that a couple of other things.

Devin's first lost tooth

2012-02-01T14:51:00.001-08:00

So, Devin lost his first TWO teeth this past weekend. His permanent teeth were already well on their way and I was wondering how it was going to play out. On Friday morning he was brushing his teeth and the first one popped right out. He was a happy boy! Then Saturday morning he was fiddling around with the other one and it came out too. The Tooth Fairy made a visit 2 times and Devin is now $2 richer. :)

The above picture was taken right when his second tooth came out.

This picture is only 5 days later and it looks like the teeth are moving forward. Kind of amazing!

Go Avery!

2012-01-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

Avery received an award for the first semester for "Academic Achievement in all areas". Way to go, Avery! We are so proud of you! XXXOOO

Wicked

2012-01-23T15:27:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Kirk and I got to go to LA and see Wicked at the Pantages Theater. I've wanted to see that play since it first came out however many years ago and so when I heard it was coming to LA for a short time I grabbed the tickets. 3 months later we finally got to see it and I loved it! It was a bit long, but still great and well worth the wait. This is the one picture I took of Kirk. :)

Fun Hike

2012-01-20T20:32:00.000-08:00

On the last Saturday of Christmas Break we went up to Santa Rose Plateau for a little 2 mile hike. We weren't able to go to the preservation part because we brought Haley, so we went on another hike. It was fun (when Devin wasn't complaining about it taking so long :)). We had perfect weather for it too!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T10:25:00.001-08:00

Christmas started out with a bang with our annual family get together on the Saturday before Christmas. We were lucky enough to be able to host this years gathering and we had about 35 or so people. So much fun!

The kids had a lot of fun playing on the trampoline and out back. That is Jill, Avery and Lexi. Below is Devin on top of the play house with Ella and Braeden next to it. Then behind it are Kirk, my cousins Randy and Ken and my dad.

My cousin Linda, cousin-in-law Kenny K and my mom.

Cousins-in-law Brenda and Jeri.

Linda's clan - Eric, Caroline, Gail and Linda.

Playing cards - Eric, Damian, Mike, Kenny K and Gail (with little Jonathon)

Tandy brought her chocolate fountain and we had all kinds of goodies to dip.

Christmas Eve was spent at our house and my parents came out and treated us to El Pollo Loco for dinner since I was going to be cooking the whole turkey dinner the next day. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Devin got some fun stuff!

Avery scored with things from her favorite store Justice.

And Justin was super surprised to get an iPod shuffle!

He plans on redecorating his room in Angels decor soon, so this picture will sure help!

Santa was good to the kids.

This is what Devin got...

Avery...

And Justin...

Love how excited they are when they first come down.

Nice new mountain bike, Justin!

Santa even remembered Haley and gave her some dog treats. She's been such a good doggie!

After church we came home and got ready for Kirk's family to come over and Kirk fried a turkey this year. It smelled so good the moment it entered the oil!

Mark doing his yearly job - carving the turkey.

The kids table (Matthew disappeared).

Yummy lunch/dinner!

Avery and Matthew

The perfect gift for Kirks mom. She says she never knows what day or date it is.

The craft table...

It was a great Christmas! We are thankful for our savior, Jesus Christ and having the opportunity to celebrate his birth each year by spending time with family and friends. We hope the spirit of the season will be felt throughout the coming year too!

Christmas Programs

2011-12-20T20:33:00.001-08:00

Last week Devin and Avery had Christmas programs at school. They had been practicing for a couple of months and were able to perform with their own grade levels on different nights. And can I just say how much I love that our school does CHRISTMAS programs and CHRISTMAS parties? So thankful! So, here are some cute pictures of their performances. They did great!

This picture shows how he was the whole time - giggling and having fun with his friend. It was so cute!

I've been spotted!

Thanksgiving break - days 6 and 7

2011-12-12T20:19:00.001-08:00

Friday we walked around main street by the pier and looked in some stores, bought some treats, did a little shopping. It was nice and it was a beautiful day...actually very, very warm! Then we went to the Monarch Butterfly Preserve right down the road from where our camp ground was. It was incredible! There were thousands and thousands of butterflies. They had telescopes set up pointed to some of the areas where they were clustered. Just look at all the butterflies!

No, those aren't brown leaves. They are the backside of the wings of Monarchs!

Amazing!

Then we walked along the path and came across some more fun trees by the beach to be monkeys on.

In the late afternoon the Forrests wanted to go to the beach, but we knew it was going to be chilly, so we opted for the heated pool instead.

This is how Devin ended his evenings every night - watching The Polar Express. We all stayed out by the campfire and Devin would wind down inside.

Saturday we packed up and headed home. It was a fantastic trip! So much fun! And if you're wondering how Haley travels, this is a picture of her asleep on the floor in the back seat of the truck. Kind of snug for the kids, but it works.

Thanksgiving break - day 5

2011-12-11T19:30:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Since we had planned the trip we had been looking forward to frying our turkey. We carefully read up on just the right way to do it and made sure to order the turkey dinner from a local grocery store, worked so hard at getting it completely thawed by the time Thursday came around. So, that morning it was time to unwrap the turkey. I was going to double check that it was ready for later. Come to find out it was a fully cooked turkey that had just been frozen!!! I had been putting it in warm water for 2 days trying to thaw it out. Well, none of us were willing to risk eating that turkey after sitting out so long, so in the trash it went. So sad!

Plan B was just to cook up our tri-tip we had planned to have on Friday night. Still a good plan.

The surf reports were coming in that the tides were high (indeed they were!) and the waves were large (not that I saw), so we headed over to the pier to check it out.

Jeff and Kelly were on to me taking their picture and were conspiring...

to do this!

Of course Devin had to climb and play with other things instead of watching the waves and surfers.

Not too big, but pretty non the less.

Our cute boys...

Our cute kids!

Mev being silly

They are so tired of me taking their pictures by now that the boys scrambled away to be with Kirk, but Avery was a trooper and let me take a few of her.

This is what their duck tape stand ended up looking like. With the help of a new friend, KK, they made bows, wallets and roses.

They decided to take some of their loot and go to the arcade. They ended up making something like $65! Not bad. And they sure had fun!

Later, I took them over to the trees where we took our family pictures for them to climb and goof around on.

When we got back Haley was there happy to see us (although you can't really tell in this picture - ha)

Couldn't resist some pictures of this beautiful sunset.

And then it was time for our dinner. We had veggies with ranch dressing for starters and then mashed potatoes, stuffing and tri tip. Yummy!

It was a very good day.

Thanksgiving break - day 4

2011-12-10T16:39:00.001-08:00

Wednesday morning it was the Forrests turn to have their family pictures taken. They chose the pier. I love the way the one under the pier turned out!

After that was done we headed over to Moonstone Beach. We absolutely love the tide pools and beautiful stones found there! Just look at the colors of the stones that Justin is holding below. The beach is made up of these and not sand. Amazing!

We like to take our buckets or bags and collect rocks to bring home. Honestly, I think this is Devin's favorite thing to do. He just loves it.

Some of the pretty marine life we see each time...

When we got back the kids began their very profitable business of selling ducktape stuff. Mainly wallets. Our campsite was at the end and it was an ideal location for setting up a table and displaying their goods. You know, the more I think about it, I think they started doing this before we left for Moonstone. Guess it doesn't really matter. But this "business" of theirs ended up being what they did the rest of the trip from the time they got up until campfire time. They made their crafts and then would sell them. Quite fun!

And then it was campfire time, of course. Always a perfect end to a great day!

Then the kids headed over to the Forrests trailer while we adults chatted for awhile.

They all fell just about fell asleep watching videos later. So much fun to camp with friends!

Thanksgiving break - day 3

2011-12-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

Day 3 started out with a bang. Kirk and Jeff took the kids to play 9 holes of golf while Kelly and I went to pick up our turkey dinner from the grocery store. I had pre-ordered it and they weren't sure if the turkey would be frozen or not. We had borrowed our friends turkey fryer and were excited to use it, but we had to be 100% sure the turkey was completely thawed, so we were crossing our fingers. No such luck. It couldn't have been more frozen. So, for the next 2 days I kept filling the sink up with warm water and refrigerating it at night. More on that dinner when I talk about day 5.

After we all got back and had lunch the kids headed over to their sand spot to continue digging their holes.

Check out Devin in the background of the picture below. His hole was deep!

Then, even though it was a freezing 57 degrees, we headed over to the beach to let the kids play in the water. Crazy kids! They only lasted about 1/2 hour, but they had fun.

Love this picture of all 5 kids. It sure looks like it was warm, but don't be fooled!

Thanksgiving Break - day 2

2011-12-03T15:41:00.000-08:00

Day 2 was spent around camp for the most part. We had a little batting practice...

Kelly and I went to Costco to get our meat for the week and then came back and Jeff and she got their smoker ready to have ribs that night. Yum!

Our campsite was right next to the beach entrance, so we headed over there to play in the sand for a bit...

Before dinner we headed over to a great little spot along the beach by our campsite for family pictures. Kelly did a great job!

Then we ate our most delicious ribs. They were a huge hit!!!

Of course, we ended the night with smores around the fire. I didn't take any pictures of that this night, though.

Thanksgiving Break - day 1

2011-12-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

What a fun Thanksgiving break we had! We were gone for an entire week to our happiest place on earth. No, not Disneyland...Pismo Beach! Although it was a rainy start, it cleared up and was a beautiful week. We went with our friends, the Forrests again. They are a fun family to camp with!

This is Kirk setting up in the nice, lovely downpour. And really, this was nothing compared to how it was coming down a few minutes before I got my camera out.

Jeff is giving us his feelings on setting up in the rain.

The kids quickly settled in inside our trailer while the adults got everything set.

Above is Aiden and Avery. Below is Justin, Devin and Tyler.

That night we tried to warm up and dry out by the fire. No chairs. It was still drizzling a little here and there and we didn't want to get them wet.

We arrived there at about 3:00 and just hung out and then ate dinner in our own trailers and had an early night.

Team Parties

2011-11-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

Baseball and soccer are officially over. The kids each had their team parties and it is now time to move onto the excitement of the holidays. Yay!

Here are some photos from the end of the season and the parties:

Avery's favorite position - goalie

Justin always had night games, so it was hard to get clear pictures.

Devin's favorite part of soccer? The snacks at the end.

Avery and her awesome coach, Ben Cherry.

Devin with his coach, Henry.

And Justin with his coaches Jeremy and Marty.

So far Avery is the only one that's decided what she's going to play in the spring (soccer). Wonder what the other 2 will choose. Until then...let the holiday's begin!!!!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

Halloween night

Ward Trunk or Treat. Justin helped out in the haunted house. Scary!

My new look. Look at Avery in the corner. Ha!

Kirk and I ready to go to our friends Halloween party.

Devin's IEP

2011-10-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd do a little update on Devin. It's been a long time. Every year we have 2 IEP's where we meet with his speech therapist at school, his teacher and the principle or vice principle and review how he's doing and make new goals. Recently, I had put a request in to have him tested for Auditory Processing Disorder because of some issues in his class last year and his teacher this year noticing similar things. But still, we feel like he needs more, so at this meeting we made new goals for him, but also decided to do a full Psychological Educational Evaluation done so we can pinpoint where he possibly needs extra help. Depending on how he does it could mean more one to one time, more hours of speech or someone just for him for certain times in the classroom. We are happy to get this done. He's doing really well, but there are just some important areas that need to be addressed. Will keep you updated.

Arrow of Light

2011-10-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fun day at our house. Not only was it my birthday (which really wasn't all that exciting, actually), but Justin received his Arrow of Light award in Cub Scouts. Yes, he's in Boy Scouts now, but they only do the ceremony for it twice a year and he missed the last one. It is the highest award you can receive as a Cub Scout, so we are very proud of him for achieving such an important award!

It was a very nice ceremony out on someones ranch in Wine Country. Grandma and Grandpa Winn even made the trek out to help support and congratulate him. Here are some pictures. It was at night, so they aren't the best quality.

The above picture is after the ceremony with the person (I can't remember what he calls himself) that ran the ceremony and the one that shot the arrows.

Kirk and Justin before it started

Justin's arrow being shot to the target

Standing on the Arrow of Light bridge

Justin and Luke - the 2 boys from our ward that received the award.

Justin and me

This is my favorite picture. Just look at how happy he looks! This was taken when we got home because it was uneven ground and dark there and my dad didn't want to risk falling trying to make his way over to the "stage" area. Oh yes..and Teddy is in this too, of course!

It was a very nice evening. Great job, Justin! Next big award - Eagle Scout! :-)

Last minute mini trip

2011-09-27T18:06:00.001-07:00

On a very last minute whim, we decided to leave town for a 3 day weekend. On Friday, after Kirk got home from work (kids had the day off for teacher development day), we headed to Orange County just for the heck of it. We stayed in Costa Mesa (Kirk's and my old stomping ground for work) at The Westin right across the street from South Coast Plaza.

That night we went to our very first Angels game as a family. Justin couldn't have been more excited about it. It's been on his wish list for a long time now. And even though we sat in the family section way out in left field and they lost, we had a fun time! And I must add that we had dinner there - Carl's Jr. Normally when we go to Carl's Jr. we spend about $25 for our family. Can you guess what we spent there? Come on...guess. You'll never even come close. Are you ready for this? Drum roll...

$70 and some change!!!!!!!!!!! That is robbery!!!!! Just had to throw that in there.

We sat right in front of the bull pin and were able to watch the pitchers warming up. Avery kept asking for a ball from one of the A's relief pitchers and he promised to give her one later, but then never did. Mean! :)

At first this sleeping arrangement looked like a good idea, but in the middle of the night I found him half off the chair and looking quite uncomfortable, so he ended up on the floor with some very nice down comforters for padding.

Saturday the plan had originally been to hit the beach or at least the pool, but it turned out to be a chilly and overcast weekend, so we decided to use the free coupons we got from the Angels game and went to Irvine Park and went to the zoo. Always a lot of fun. Love that park!

The whole park is all decked out for Halloween already, so that was a lot of fun.

Our awesome Angels coupons also included a buy 1, get 1 for the train, so we did that too. Devin's favorite.

Their pumpkin patch was open with a free hay maze and very kid friend haunted house, so we took advantage of those too.

After all that fun we headed back to our hotel for some rest and then headed across the street to the South Coast Plaza where Avery bought this very cute hat and Devin and she rode the carousel.

Then it was dinner. After that we took the kids to see where we met (our old work) and to watch the planes come in at John Wayne Airport. It's changed a lot in the fact that there are now signs on the fence saying no loitering and it's monitored by Homeland Security. About 3 police cars with spot lights came by us and saw us, but we never got asked to leave. Not sure if that makes me feel very safe, but it was fun to watch the planes come in. The next morning we went to my parents, had lunch and picked up Haley and came home. It was a fun weekend!

Congratulations, Avery!

2011-09-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Avery found out yesterday that she won 3rd Grade Executive Board Member at her school. Quite an accomplishment in a school her size. She campaigned hard and earned her spot on the board and she couldn't be happier! I wasn't allowed to go watch her tape her speech, so I taped it myself before we left for school the other morning. It's only 1 minutes long if you're interested in listening. Way to go, Avery! We are so happy for you!

So proud!

2011-09-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday Devin had his second soccer game and scored 2 goals! Kirk had made deals with the other 2 kids that if Avery made a goal or Justin hit a double he'd buy them their own big bag of chips. Devin, of course, wanted in on the deal and after last weeks game we really didn't think we'd be paying up so soon. He sure surprised us! They were very deliberate goals. On the way home he said "I'm so proud of myself" and then a few minutes later he announced "I love myself!" He was one happy camper! And even more so with his huge bag of chips. Way to go, Devin!

Devin is 6!

2011-09-17T18:13:00.001-07:00

Devin's birthday was Wednesday and he had a fun day! Of course it's always fun to go to school on your birthday and be able to wear the birthday crown and have it be a little about you. At the end of the day I brought in popsicles for the class and when I got there they were singing Happy Birthday to him.

Then his teacher, Mrs. Tyndale, has them mix the words up and sing it silly. Always fun!

Devin with his buddies Jack and Trent.

This was his first year to have a friends party and he had it at Sky High. Such a fun place with bouncy houses galore, ping pong, air hockey and more.

This gives you an idea of what it looks like. A kids dream!

We invited his Primary class plus about 3 other friends. He was all smiles! Happy birthday, Devin. We love you!

The Campaign Train

2011-09-16T18:10:00.001-07:00

Avery is running for Executive Board Member on Student Councel for the 3rd grade. On Tuesday she put up her posters and made sure to talk to all her friends to ask them to vote for her. Today she found out she made it to the finals! She's so excited. Now we need to get campaign stickers made and a couple more posters done and write a speech. Fun for her! Let's wish her luck!

Justin's baseball

2011-09-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Justin was drafted onto our arch enemy team - The Red Sox. Ha! He had his first game last night and did great...even stole a base first time up to bat. They won 11-6. Woo hoo! Seems like a nice team too. Fun times ahead! The picture I'm posting is the only one that came out. I hate night games. I just can't get any pictures in that (non)lighting!

Devin's first game

2011-09-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

Devin had his very first soccer game on Saturday. Oh boy! The sweet little thing didn't have any idea of what to do other than kick the ball. It was quite comical watching him (and some of the other kids) out there. Luckily, they don't keep score at this age, have a goalie or really even care about any rules. But he sure looks cute in his red uniform! Go Red Hawks!

He played against his friend that lives down the street. Seems they were having a little conversation here above.

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-07T08:07:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend we tried a new location in Chula Vista (or Chulajuana as Kirk calls it) and went with some friends. They tent camped while we trailer camped. It was a fun time! And best of all my stubborn kidney stone didn't act up at all making it an even better weekend!

We left Friday. I picked up Devin and Trent from kindergarten and checked Avery and Tommy out a little early and then when Justin walked home with Lauren and Lacey we all took off.

We got there at about 5:00 or so, set up camp and we hosted the first nights dinner having burgers, potato salad, broccoli salad, corn on the cob and watermelon. Our site wasn't the best of locations being on the main drag. Made me pretty nervous actually. After looking around the campground a bit, though, the interior part looked much better and we'll be giving that a try another time.

After dinner we had smores, of course.

They boys got tired around 9:00, so they went inside and watched Toy Story 2.

The next morning....beading. Always a hit.

The boys playing around.

Visiting the Paulsen's campsite.

On Saturday around 11:00 we headed over to Coronado and the kids played in the bay. It was a great afternoon with perfect weather!

Then we saw who we began referring to as "Hover man". Isn't that wild? Never seen anything like that before. Pretty cool!

The kids building up a sand wall.

So proud of their hard work.

But it's more fun to tear it down!

That night we all went out to Chili's for dinner and then to the Paulsen's campsite for smores and Mad Libs and some fun with glow sticks.

Sunday we headed over to the Mormon Battalion Historical Site and learned about the battalions trek west and how they helped settle San Diego.

Avery volunteered to get dressed up like a wash maid.

The Paulsen's

Panning for gold. So much fun!

That night the Paulsen's hosted dinner and served burritos, salad and watermelon. And they made peach cobbler in their dutch oven for dessert. YUM!!!

We had a great weekend! What a great family to share it with!

Let the sports begin!

2011-09-02T12:33:00.001-07:00

This season Avery and Devin are in soccer and Justin is back in baseball.

Avery's first game was last weekend and I got a few good shots of her. She never fails to give it her all. So much fun to watch! It was something like 98 degrees, but at least there was a nice breeze. She played center forward for 3 quarters and does a great job! They played against a very good team, named The Royal Pains (kind of funny name, but also a little annoying since they are very proud of themselves) and unfortunately, Avery's team (The Green Machine) lost. But that's ok. They gave it a good try and it was very hot. We're looking forward to some good games ahead!

Goodbye Cub Scouts

2011-08-20T21:32:00.001-07:00

Justin's last day of Cub Scouts was last week. He is now officially in Boy Scouts. We are proud to say that he earned his Weblos and Arrow of Light (that ceremony won't be until October). Great job, Justin! So, on this night in particular he received his Weblos badge, did the traditional crossing over (the bridge) and was welcomed into Boy Scouts and the always fun, Raingutter Regatta (which he won). Fun night!

Here is Justin being presented with his Weblos badge.

The is Brother Draeger (Justin's Cub Scout leader) saying a few words about Justin's accomplishments.

Justin "crossing over" into Boy Scouts.

Brother Henderson (his new Boy Scout leader) welcoming him into Boy Scouts.

Justin in one of his many races.

Another race...

Another win!

Justin receiving his 1st place prize. FUN!

Back to school

2011-08-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

The kids have been back in school for a week now. Boy, did Avery and Devin need it! This was the summer of fights for sure. Justin started middle school (yikes!), Avery's in 3rd grade and Devin is repeating kindergarten. Yay for school! The above picture was taken on the first day back.

The last of summer

2011-08-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

The last full week of summer we did a couple fun things. First we went to the beach with some friends from our ward. That was a lot of fun! I'm not the one that took the pictures and people kept arriving at different times, so I didn't get many pictures of those we were with, but trust me. It was fun!

Lacey and Lauren with our kiddos

This just enthralled the younger kids. They felt like they were surfing!

Trent

Then over the weekend we went to Huntington Beach to my parents. The first evening my mom and I took Avery and Devin and our dogs to the butterfly park to play around while Kirk and Justin went to look at 5th wheels for fun.

This is how we spent most of our time - playing on our electronics.

And on Saturday we went to the dog beach to introduce Haley to the beach. She wasn't too sure what to think of the waves and would only get her paws wet until she finally just decided to lay down next to Kirk for the rest of the time. It was fun up until we saw some dog poop get washed back into the water. YUCK! Time to leave!

Goodbye summer vacation. Hello school!

Utah Trip Day 7

2011-07-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

On our final day we were all feeling fine and actually played around with the idea of staying in Vegas another night. But the reason for leaving Utah was to get home so I could deal with my stone, so we left the hotel, went to breakfast, stopped at the lion exhibit at MGM and went to the M&M Factory (always a must) to see the 3D movie. Then it was homeward bound. Looking back it was a great trip. We did some fun stuff. While there it was a little harder to see that. But I know the kids had fun and that's what's most important!

UPDATE: We've been home a week and 3 days and I still haven't passed the stone. Our terrible insurance wanted a lot of money for the procedure the doctor wanted to do, so now I am just hoping to pass it on my own. Good thing for strong meds! Wish me luck. :)

Utah Trip Day 6

2011-07-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Love this picture of Tamara's youngest boy, Thatcher. He was quite taken with Kirk. So cute!

Had grand plans of going to Heritage Park where "This is the Place" monument is and going to see The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island today, but when we got up Avery wasn't feeling well. After much debate Avery decided she felt good enough and didn't want to miss seeing it, so we got into the car and stopped at McDonald's for breakfast where it hit Avery hard and she started crying and not feeling good. We had had it by now and decided to throw in the towel and just head home. Wasn't looking good for my procedure and it was too dangerous for me to drive that distance not knowing when that pain would hit again, so it was go home with Kirk or risk it and he especially wasn't willing to risk it. At that point it just felt like we weren't meant to stay. So, we headed back to Tamara's, packed up pretty quickly, called Sara (my friend from Boston that was there with her kids staying at her moms and had been on vacation up until that day, so we hadn't seen each other yet) and she, her kids and her mom stopped over for a quick hello/goodbye before heading to Las Vegas to spend the night. So sad. So many months of planning and looking forward to this trip and a week early it was ending...just like that. To say the least I was SAD! Avery slept in the back a lot of the way. Luckily, she never threw up - was just nauseous. We called The Orlean's on our way to get reservations for the night and we were there by about 7:00. Grabbed dinner in the lobby and ate in our room (minus Avery) and then went to bed.

Utah Trip Day 5

2011-07-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

We did a lot on this day, but still didn't fit everything in that I had planned. It didn't help that in between doing these fun things Kirk was talking to or on hold with the insurance company. I have a friend in Salt Lake that is a Urologist. Convenient, right? Seriously, love her and am so grateful for her help through all this. She wanted to do a procedure to actually take out my kidney stone so that I didn't have to worry about it driving home alone with the kids, but the insurance company was saying no, I had to come back to CA. Kirk was pretending to be in CA and not in SLC with me and able to bring me home so they could see the importance of me getting this done while there. No such luck. They wouldn't budge. So, this was all going on while doing these fun things...

The movie at the Joseph Smith Building was on the Prophet Joseph Smith's life. It was very interesting and the kids were really good through the 68 minute movie! So grateful for these wonderful depictions of the history of our church. And even more grateful for Joseph Smith. He was truly an amazing person!

We then went over to see Brigham Young's house. In all the times I've been to Salt Lake I've never done this tour! Beautiful home!

In the grounds around the home.

Right after taking this picture we ran into a former past singles warder of mine, Don Love. He sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and invited us to a concert of theirs on Friday night. Said he would leave tickets at will call. So nice and we were excited to go! Too bad things went South and we weren't able to use them.

View from on top of the Church Office Building (another first for me)

View of the top of the Conference Center

The Capitol Building

We toured the Conference Center, which was very good!

Went over to temple square and found this new model in one of the visitors center. So neat that the kids (and everyone else) can see what the inside looks like.

Temple Square

Inside the Tabernacle

Still wanted to do the Church History Museum, but not enough time. We had tickets to the Angels minor league, The Bees. So, we went to dinner and made it just in time for the first batter.

Reggie Willits. Kirk's "favorite" player (said very sarcastically). He finally got sent back down and we were able to see him.

It rained a little towards the end of the blow-out game (12-3). Bee's lost, but we had fun!

Tamara called while we were doing Temple Square to tell us that her youngest, Thatcher had the stomach flu. Lovely. My first thought was Avery or Devin will get it and most likely it will be Avery. She's very susceptible to sickness. So, we were sure to stay away for as long as possible. Gone the entire day and not back until almost 11:00...I think we accomplished that. Great day!

Utah Trip Day 4

2011-07-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

Normally when we are on vacation we don't go to church. I'm not sure why that is, but I didn't grow up doing it and certainly Kirk didn't, so we just never have. But this time we planned to go with Tamara and her family. And Tamara happens to teach Avery's age, so she was the luckiest. They have the 9:00 - noon time slot and we were in Salt Lake so we, of course, didn't leave their house until about 1 minute to 9:00 and were there just in time for the opening prayer. Amazing! Devin was only a little hesitant to go. They have Primary first and Sacrament last, so there wasn't a lot of warm up time for him, but Tamara's son Cooper is his age and was in his class so that helped.

I was only in Relief Society for maybe 8 minutes when I could feel the pains starting up again. After waiting only about 5 minutes I decided it was going to continue, so I left to go take some Vicodin. The pain came on pretty strong and pretty quickly and by 9:30 I knew I was headed down a bad path, so I went to get Kirk, talked to Tam (who told me not to worry and she would take care of our kids - such a great friend!) and we headed to an urgent care clinic. Once there and after vomiting (even after they gave me anti-nausea meds) they told me I needed to go to the hospital to get stronger meds and a Cat Scan. We lucked out and no one was in the waiting room when we got there and the urgent care place had called to give them a heads up we were on our way, so things moved along nicely, thankfully. It was confirmed through a cat scan that I did have a kidney stone and it was pretty high up. After 4 doses of Morphine and still being in pain, they finally gave me something stronger and it did the trick. Ahhhhh, the relief! After a quick stop at the pharmacy for more drugs we made it back to Tam's around 4:00. I was really doped up, so I passed out for the rest of night. I had urged Kirk to take the kids to see his Aunt Katie that lives in Roy and not wait for another day because I wasn't sure how things were going to go and didn't want him missing out on seeing her. She's elderly and we're not sure if he'll be able to see her again. They had a nice visit and I had a fantastic sleep!

Utah Trip Day 3

2011-07-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

We found out our entrance pass to Zion's was also good at Kolab Canyons, so on our way to Salt Lake we stopped there and drove up the pretty dive to the top where the nice ranger took our picture. This is when my kidney stone first starts to make it's ugly invasion of our trip. I told Kirk I needed to stop and get some Advil or something because I was feeling a little crampy and I was suspecting the beginnings of a kidney stone, but hoping otherwise. By the time we stopped at the gas station at the next off ramp my pains had really started in. I took both Aleve and Advil and nothing was touching the pain. About 2 hours into the drive we pulled off the road so Kirk could give me a blessing. I'm so thankful for having a worthy priesthood holder in our home! An obnoxious and painful hour later the pain had gotten so bad that I had to roll the window down and vomit. Unfortunately the kids will always remember this part as I think I shocked them with what happens when you vomit out a window at 80 mph. Needless to say the van was a mess. I know...yuck! Kirk was able to pull over very quickly to let me finish my business and then when I was done my pain was gone too! We were only about 1/2 hour outside of Provo at that point, so we decided to pull off in Provo to get the car a much needed wash. Then it was onward to Salt Lake where we were going to be staying at my good friend, Tamara's house. We got there, unpacked a bit and then headed over to a hotel her sister-in-law was staying at so the kids could all go swimming. While there Tamara got ahold of her neighbor who is a doctor and he prescribed me some Vicodin just in case I may need some pain relief soon. The kids had a great time swimming, but poor Avery's eyes were allergic to the chlorine or something because her eyes were as red and puffy as I've ever seen and she couldn't open them for hours after we were done. Finally after running to the drugstore to get Visine she was all better. We had a great bbq of hot dogs, hamburgers, steak and lots of yummy fruit. I think the kids went to bed around 11:00pm and Tamara and I stayed up to visit and catch up until a little after midnight. It was a nice evening.

Utah Trip Day 2

2011-07-24T10:37:00.001-07:00

I think this was probably the best day of our trip. We got into Zion's at about 10:00 and it was only about 78 degrees so far. During the summer they don't allow private vehicles on the main road, so we boarded the bus and headed to our first hike - Weeping Rock.

We were lucky enough to be able to see this beautiful deer on our way up.

This was a very friendly hike for kids. Only about .5 miles. It's a little steep, but it's so short that it doesn't matter. We had fun walking up and looking at all the pretty scenery.

And here we are at Weeping rock where the water trickles down non-stop all year round.

The view from Weeping Rock - gorgeous!

On our way back down.

We ran across dozens of these cute little things, but we never fed them just like we were told. They sure at gutsy little guys!

Our second hike was along the Riverfront on the way to The Narrows. We had originally planned to actually hike The Narrows (a hike through the Virgin River) until we read up a little more on it and didn't feel comfortable doing it with Devin. And it was a good decision because as we found out once there, just around the bend the water was about up to my chin. And it's moving water. I would have been too nervous having 3 kids that can't touch. Yes, 2 can swim, but still....too much for me. But we enjoyed the hike there and stopping to play in the water here and there. Didn't get to stay too long, though, because Devin had to go to the bathroom so bad we practically had to run back down to the restrooms.

The entry to The Narrows. Justin and Avery really wanted to try to get to the other side, but decided against it when they saw adults going through and it was up to their knees. The rocks were slippery and since we had decided not to do the hike we left our walking sticks back at the car.

A group starting their hike up The Narrows.

Our final hike - The Lower Emerald Pool. This was a very steep hike and seemed long. It could have been that it was just because it was our last hike and hotter (probably around 94 degrees), but we were kind of over it by then.

It was pretty cool, though. Literally. The water runs over the top and switches with the wind. We got a little wet, but it sure felt good!

Justin in front of the Lower Pool. I'm assuming this pool is fuller and prettier in the Spring when runoff is higher because this was just...not pretty. :-)

Another "friend" on our way down. Just one of many. I found it interesting that the squirrels up higher seemed to have bushier tails than their cousins at the bottom. Wonder why that is...or if it's even true.

When we got back to our hotel we all hit the very small pool. Refreshing! It was a great day!

Utah Trip Day 1

2011-07-23T15:32:00.001-07:00

We left at 8:00 am sharp from my parents. We had driven there the night before. The plan had been for us to take both our cars so that when Kirk flew back into Long Beach the following week my parents could pick him up and he would have his truck there to drive home. We drove to State Line and stopped at Carl's Jr. for lunch. I'm not sure why, but that was the best decision ever. They had a play area and they thought it was awesome! We then drove on to St. George where we stopped to see the temple and actually walk through the visitor's center. So beautiful and peaceful. Our hotel was in Hurricane, which is only about 15 minutes from there.

When we arrived at our lovely hotel (yuck! Seriously couldn't stand the carpets and upholstery. I couldn't think about it too much or I would have seriously had to leave). We took our bags inside, relaxed for a short time and then decided to head over to Zion's since when you buy a pass to enter it's good for 7 days. We were about 1/2 hour from the entrance. We drove the part that we were allowed to and saw just how beautiful Zion's is. We even got to go through the over 1 mile tunnel. That was VERY exciting!

Once on the other side of the tunnel we found this really neat area to climb up, so we pulled over and hiked up a little. It made for pretty pictures.

After all that we went over to the Visitor's Center for a potty break and to look around.

After we left the park we went to a little place called Pioneer Restaurant (only in Utah, right?) and had dinner. It was surprisingly good! I'd go back again for sure.

By the time we got back to our hotel it was about 9:00 or later. We had showers and went to bed. Ahhhhhh. Nice day! I was certain this was going to be one of our best trips ever. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The trip that should have been...

2011-07-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

We have had our summer vacation planned since February. We planned to go to Utah for 1 week as a family and then Kirk would fly home and the second week the kids and I were going to hang out with my friend, Sara and her kids who were going to be there visiting her mom. This was our plan:

Thursday - Saturday: Zion's National Park

Saturday - Wednesday: Stay with my friend, Tamara and do the touristy things of Salt Lake

Wednesday: Take Kirk to the airport to fly home and we go check into our hotel.

Wednesday - Sunday morning: Hang with Sara and kids, play around Provo and Salt Lake

Sunday - Tuesday morning: Stay with my cousin, Linda

Tuesday - drive home, stopping in Vegas to do a few fun things

This was what was supposed to happen. Unfortunately it's not what actually happened. I will post our trip soon.

FHE

2011-07-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks back our friends, The Benedicts, invited us over for a movie night in their backyard. At first the kids played in the jacuzzi while the adults visited, but once it got dark enough the kids got out, changed and started to watch Toy Story 3 and we adults made good use of the jacuzzi.

Thanks, Benedicts, for a fun filled night!

Early birthday

2011-07-11T22:29:00.001-07:00

We are going to be gone for Justin's birthday, so we celebrated a little early over the weekend. Justin is turning 11! Yep...11! Wow, still can't believe it. All he wanted (once again) was cash so he could buy a new DSi XL. Once everyone was gone that is exactly what he got. Lucky boy. It was nice to have our family here and we appreciate their love and support. Happy (early) birthday to our sweet Justin. We love you!

What a 4th!

2011-07-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic 4th of July this year celebrating with a lot of our neighbors. We had a block party with our house being the center of it all. So fun! One of our neighbors opened up their pool for the kids to use, we had a pie eating contest, water balloon fight, a bouncy house, baseball, BBQ and fireworks! We started at 1:00 and ended at 9:30. We love our neighborhood!

After the water balloon fight

Pie eating contest. Yuck!

The winner - Hunter!

All kinds of yummy food was shared.

Hitting balls

The line to bat

Then the moms took a turn

Doing poppers before the fireworks started

Great times!

One that didn't get away!

2011-07-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, 4th of July weekend, I was able to take Justin to a private lake owned by the Irvine Co. called Rattlesnake Reservoir. An old-friend Ken Murata who is a member at the lake HOOKED US UP. We've fished for bass at other S. Cal lakes but this was Justin's first real crack at catching some really nice fish. Did not disappoint. Here are a few pictures.

Justin's first fish of the afternoon caught on a drop-shot worm. Way to go.

Even the old-man got into the action catching this nice one with a spinnerbait.

Another quality bass taken late in the day on a spinnerbait. The action really started heating up late in the afternoon, about 1 1/2 hours before sunset. We pretty much fished one spot during this time and landed 15 to 20 bass on it. Ken who always entertains while fishing, was no different this time, donating about 5 spinnerbaits to the bottom of the lake all to Justin's amusement.

We were heading in at the end of the day, 8:20, or so when Justin hooked into this 6.10 lbs. monster. He was trolling his spinnerbait when all the sudden his rod doubled-over and the fish started pulling line. We all thought it was the normal ho-hum 3 pounder, but much to our surprise when the fish came up to the side of the boat we realized it was not. Ended up being almost 7lbs. and was the absolute best way to end the day. In all we caught and released 25 to 30 fish. To see his excitement and smiles is priceless. Way to go Justin. Big thanks to Ken for getting us out and making it all possible.

New hair

2011-06-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

After growing her hair for about 19 months, Avery was finally able to donate 11" to Locks of Love. When she learned of her little friend (who is now in remission!) having a brain tumor and then losing all her hair to chemo she was convinced she would grow it out long enough to be able to donate. And she ended up with an extra inch (you have to have 10" minimum). Since then she has learned of my 2 cousins fighting cancer and losing their hair too, so this was extra special to her. We are proud of her for having this long term goal and achieving it! And you look fantastic in your new "do", Avery!

Before (she had been wearing it in a ponytail, hence the big dent)

Getting ready

After!

Camping Lake Casitas

2011-06-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

After Sacrament Meeting on Sunday (Father's Day) we headed out to Lake Casitas for a 3 day camping trip. It's just inland a tad bit from Ventura and close to Ojai. We had planned to rent a Pontoon boat to do some fishing, but after finding out it was $175 for 5 hours that plan went quickly to the wayside. This was Haley's first camping trip and she did great! Although, she must have been a little stressed out because she got a bit backed up and we had to feed her canned pumpkin to start up her system again. Other than that, though, she was a dream.

Mainly, we just stuck around camp entertaining ourselves, but Kirk did take Justin and Avery fishing a few times (this was always Devin's punishment for whatever he was doing wrong, so needless to say he never went, poor guy. He's been having a rough time with school being out and his schedule interrupted). They had a really fun water park that we enjoyed on our last day. It had a lazy river, which was the kids favorite. It was a very fun time!

Playing around our campsite...

Kirk trying to rewire our new "happy lights". No luck, but I did a little finagling and was able to combine our old ones with our new ones so now we have all the pretty colors. It's the little things that make me happy. :)

Lake Casitas -

Visiting ducks - always a fun time

New ginormous marshmallows!

So messy, but oh so good!

Our favorite time of day - campfire time. Time for "Guess who I'm thinking of", stories of when Kirk and I were young and scriptures...and of course smores.

Haley's spot for bedtime.

Water Park day...

The Lazy River...

We went for 2 hours and then took a break for 2 hours and went back for 1.5 hours.

Our campsite

Our view

Our sweet Haley

Happy Fathers Day

2011-06-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to our favorite daddy! Our ward had an activity for the kids to make your own tie for a present for your dad and then all the dads would wear them to church on Sunday. We were to bring a old tie that Kirk doesn't wear anymore and any and all craft stuff. We completely forgot to get there on activity day, but we did it at home. Here is what our kids made Kirk. I think it's just the cutest tie out there - a sure one of a kind! We also made him a darling recordable book to have forever and ever with their cute little voices saying their favorite things about their daddy. Hope it was a great Father's Day for all your dads too!

Strange happenings

2011-06-16T10:21:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back our next door neighbors had a gazillion bees making a beehive in their front yard tree that is all too close to our driveway. There were bees everywhere...including 3 in our family room (not to mention the 14" lizard that made it's way into our family room also that same day! How did that happen?!). Another neighbor 3 houses down (also named Kirk) and our Kirk decided to take matters into their own hands. Neighbor Kirk placed his trashcan under the branch where the hive was and used a tool to cut the branch off and it fell right into the trash can! Bullseye! There were angry bees everywhere. This picture doesn't even begin to show how many there were, but these are the ones trying to get back to their queen probably. The trashman came a couple days later, took it away and the remaining bees didn't know what to do, but they eventually buzzed away and we've been bee free for weeks now. Yay!

Our fearless Kirk's!

Some cute little sparrow birds have made nests up in the corners of our roof, but one mother is not taking good care of her babies very well. We have now had 2 babies that have fallen to their deaths. Poor things! It's a long way down. Yesterday Avery actually saw this poor little guy fall. I know it's kind of morbid to take a picture, but it was very interesting to me to see all the little parts being formed. I hope she builds up her nest a little more to keep this from happening. It's too sad!

This is so you can see how far these little guys fall. Ouch!

Sandi's visit

2011-06-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Sandi and Jessica took a road trip and came to Huntington Beach for a few days. The kids had just gotten out of school, so it was perfect timing. Kirk had to stay home to work, but I took the kids and we all camped at Hotel Winn! We had such a nice time. We attempted the very chilly beach (the kids and I only lasted a half hour, but Jessica and Sandi stayed a couple hours) ,did lots of visiting, got treated to dinner at Chili's from my parents (lucky us!), visited South Coast Plaza where a couple dancers from one of my favorite shows (So You Think You Can Dance) Pasha and Ayna, were performing a couple routines to promote their traveling show. That was a nice surprise. I asked them for their picture and the woman said only if I got in it too, so I did! Ha!

Sandi treated the kids to a carousel ride.

We also played some cards and just had a lot of fun.

Can't wait to see them again. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Meet Haley

2011-06-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

We have had the dog bug for a long time now. The souring we had from Bella had faded and we were hoping to find the right dog for us. So, the search began a few weeks back. We knew we wanted an adult dog so we kept checking the shelters. Kirk found our baby at the Riverside Animal Shelter. She was listed as a Golden Retriever mix, but we aren't sure what the mix part is. She sure looks Golden to us! What a sweetheart she has turned out to be! Seriously, she is the perfect dog! She's 3 years old and doesn't have any bad things to report on. We got her the Friday before Memorial Day and it's been fantastic! She doesn't bark, jump, have accidents and she's minds when you tell her to get out of the kitchen or off the couch and she's fantastic with the cats. She's the perfect addition to our family! We are in love.

Justin's moving on

2011-05-27T21:45:00.001-07:00

Well, it's official. Justin is no longer in elementary school. Makes me so sad! He's growing up. Yesterday was his 5th grade promotion and some awards were also given out. We are proud to say that he met his goal that he's had since 2nd grade and got the Presidents Award. That means he has made honor roll every trimester in 4th and 5th grade. Way to go, Justin, our smart boy! And I have to say I am also proud that he even had that goal at such a young age. I love that he has that in him! Great year, Justin! We are so very proud of the boy you are and your wonderful example to those around you! I put a very short clip of Justin getting his certificate at the end.

Devin's 1st year is done

2011-05-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

Before Devin even started kindergarten we knew we would have him repeat it. School just isn't an easy thing for him and so we want to give him a great start and allow him to be a little older in his grade rather than younger. He did a great job this year, though. He has come a long way and it isn't the school district retaining him, it's us. That's great news! On Wednesday he had his kindergarten end of the year program and BBQ. It was so cute and he did such a good job! I'm putting a very short clip at the end of this post just to show you Devin getting his groove on. So cute! Congrats on a great first year of kindergarten, Devin! We are so proud of you!

Bye Bye Baseball

2011-05-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

Baseball is officially over and we are sad. It was a lot of fun having 2 kids playing this season. Sometimes it was hectic, but more often than not it was fun! Both teams had a great run during the playoffs. Avery's team came in third and Justin's I believe was fourth. Here are a bunch of pictures taken over the course of the season. Good memories!

Serious about camping and baseball

2011-05-26T18:34:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago our friends called us to invite us camping with them. It's the same family we camped with during Spring Break. Avery and their son are on the same baseball team and their older son plays and Justin plays. We all assumed baseball season would be over for our teams by then as the playoffs would be going on and we were all banking on all the teams not making it that far. We sure know how to make things interesting! All 3 teams continued to win through the playoffs. Great for baseball, bad for camping. It got to the point that we would lose our money if we canceled, so we just kept waiting. Thursday evening Avery's team and Justin's team both played at the same time. Although Justin's team did a great job, they couldn't quite deliver and their season ended that night. Avery's team, however, won again making it so she had to play Friday night - the night we were supposed to leave camping. Kirk was determined to still go regardless of what happened. We met our friends at the game Friday evening and we both had our trailers ready to go. The Mariners won AGAIN!!! So, our friends, feeling it would be too much to go camping AND make it to the game the next morning at 8am, took their trailer and headed home. We, however, drove to our campsite only to set up camp, eat dinner, shower and go to bed. We had to wake up at 5:45 to leave by 6:30 so we could get to the ballpark by 7:30 am for our 8:00 game.

That is where the season ended for the Mariners. They ended up being the third team in their division! Way to go! What a season!

So, the Forrest's headed to our campground at that point. Made for an interesting start to our camping weekend.

Saturday ended up being very warm and the place we stayed at (Rancho Jurupa, the same one we stayed at during Spring Break) has a really fun water park that the kids got to enjoy after lunch

The boys getting ready to watch the water dump on Avery.

We camped with another family that the Forrest's know.

Left to right - Tyler, Justin, Avery and Anthony

Climbing the rocks while drying off.

Heading back to our trailers.

Of course baseball!

Devin playing his own version of baseball.

Dinner. Justin, Tyler, Anthony, Avery, Aidan

Sunday morning fishing. Really? Think we can catch something this time?

This is the other family we camped with. Jenaia, Ryan, Tony

No fish caught in 10 minutes? Forget it. Let's climb some trees!

Hmmm. If we push this table over here maybe we can get up!

Success!!!! A trout caught with a hot dog?! Congrats, Kirk!

Renewed interest in fishing now that there really are fish in there!

Our group riding our bikes back to our trailers.

Kirk actually took all this stuff on his bike!

Another fun trip! Let's do it again soon!

Father and Sons Campout 2011

2011-05-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

From what I hear it was a fun time! This year Kirk took Devin and he had a blast. Although, it was cold and even rained a tiny bit, the kids had fun. It was a big turnout and the kids each had friends there to play with. They even caught some fish! Here are a few pictures Kirk took.

Small, but doable tent for the three of them. :)

Derek Scott, Parker Chase, Rick Chase and Justin

Devin with his buddy Tyler Bahen

Bedtime!

Justin, Jake and Luke Draeger

5th Grade Project

2011-05-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

Justin had a state project due this month and part of it included making a big cookie with edible things to indicate mountains, rivers, etc. Justin was assigned Utah. We made a snickerdoodle and this is what he ended up with. Chocolate chips for mountains, butterscotch chips for Zions Nat'l Park and Bryce Canyon and blue frosting for some lakes (with the Great Salt Lake having sugar crystals). Looks like a yummy Utah!

8 IS GREAT!

2011-05-10T14:55:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Avery was baptized! She waited an extra 2 months so that she could share her special day with Lexi (her cousin). It was a very special day. We started out early with her baseball game. Had time to go home, change and relax for a short bit and then headed over to the church. My cousin Linda gave a wonderful talk on baptism and Grandma Winn lead the music. Uncle Mark, Aunt Sylvia, Matthew, Grandma Sumida, Grandma and Grandpa Winn were all there to support her on her very important day. Mike and Nick were the witnesses. And it was so nice to have more family to be in the circle to confirm her! After the baptism we headed over to Damian and Tandy's house for a wonderful luncheon. It was a very yummy and beautiful spread!

Congratulations Avery, for taking the first very important step in your eternal progression! We are so very proud of you!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures we took of the girls in their special dresses a couple weeks prior.

Devins Mothers Day program

2011-05-09T11:51:00.001-07:00

On Friday Devin's class put on a Mother's Tea. They sang us songs and read from a book they made. It was a lot of fun to watch my cute little Mev perform. He did a great job! And he read his part perfect. After the program we had strawberry shortcake and pudding to choose from. Devin and I chose the pudding. Yum!

This is what Devin wrote on his page. I must have just taken him to the park because I don't do it very often. :)

Notice how huge he made me there in the middle. Yikes! I choose to think it's because I'm the center of his universe and not because I need to drop some lbs. Ha!

Easter 2011

2011-05-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

We had a nice Easter this year. We didn't go anywhere and no one came over. It was just us and still fun. The kids woke up a little early to see their Easter baskets before church. The main Easter egg hunt had to wait until we got home from church, but the Easter Bunny had mercy on them and hid a few inside too. Not much to say other than it was a great day!

The day before Easter we colored some Easter eggs. Almost forgot this year!

Indoor Easter egg hunt

Outdoor hunt

Easter just wouldn't be the same without our traditional bunny cake!

Spring Fling

2011-05-06T10:17:00.001-07:00

I'm a bit behind, but I wanted to be sure to get some pictures up of this years Family Spring Fling at Jeri and Ken's. It was great to see everyone as usual and the food was fantastic! It was cold this year and even snowed earlier that morning, so we were all couped up inside for the day. No backyard badmitten this year. :( And we didn't get a group photo this year either. Boy, I'm getting lazy! But here are a few that I did take.

Steve and Dylan

Kara, Brenda, Christi

Mary, Jean, Randy

The Ken's taking it easy.

Christi, Thelma, Maureen, Avery

Kara, Jeri

Devin, Avery, Gina, Justin

Devin and the best playmate ever, Brenda!

Spring Break Trip #2

2011-04-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

On the second week of our Spring Break we went camping with some friends from baseball, the Forrests. The dad is Avery's coach and she played for him last year too. They have 2 cute boys ages 9 and 7.

We went to Rancho Jurupa in Riverside. It's the regional park there and it's our second time going. We like it a lot. Nice and close, lakes, parks and it's huge so lots of opportunities for bike riding. We had a great time! It was our first time camping with anyone else and it was a lot of fun! The kids got along great and Devin was the best he's ever been! We're looking forward to going again with them sometime in the near future. Here are a bunch of pictures I took.

This is Devin, Aidan and Justin

Tyler and Devin

Aidan and Avery

Tyler and Avery playing Connect 4 on Tylers bunk in their trailer

Nothing like a good campfire

Fishing (no luck, of course)

Kelly and Jeff

Aidan, Avery, Justin, Tyler and Devin

This place has a fun rock climbing park and the kids loved playing there

Swinging at the playground

Having lunch at our campsite

The kids doing friendship bracelets and beading necklaces

Coach Jeff helped Devin learn to throw properly. Devin is now his biggest fan!

Miniature golfing at the campground. This was a highlight!

Avery and Tyler

Not sure exactly why Kirk is holding our trash can, but the guys were barbecuing our dinner.

The kids had fun giving each other rides on the back of the Forrest kids bikes

And this gives you an idea how huge our lots were. The Forrests trailer is on the left and we are the right. This is when we were packing up to leave, so nothing is outside.

Spring Break Trip #1

2011-04-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Warning! LOTS of pictures!

The kids have 2 weeks off for Spring Break, so we planned a couple of camping trips. For the first one we decided to go back to Pismo Beach. We had so much fun last summer there we wanted to go again and it didn't disappoint. We had a blast! When we arrived it was raining. Yuck. Camping in the rain isn't the best, but it's okay for 1 day. And that's all we got. It got warmer and warmer every day and ended up being even warmer than when we were there in July last year! So, with it raining the first day we hunkered down in the trailer and just relaxed, did some beading (a favorite), played with our electronics and ate dinner.

Day two we went to the outlets to buy Justin some much needed new shoes and then did some biking, playing catch, played some ping pong, etc. All the usual camping stuff. Lots of fun.

Day three we headed up to Cambria to a place my friend told me about. It's called Moonstone Beach. There are tide pools and the beach is made up of lots of really pretty little stones. The kids had a ball collecting all kinds of stones and looking at all the neat things in the tide pools and even played a little in the surf. I had packed lunch, so we ate in the bed of Kirks truck and fed the very friendly squirrels that were around. This was my favorite day of our trip. It really was a very cool beach! We then made a little stop in Cambria at a bakery and treated ourselves to very decedent treats. We made our way back to our campsite in time for dinner and a campfire.

Day four was beautiful. We started the day at the driving range and then made our way to the beach for a few hours of fun. The kids had a ton of fun collecting a million sand dollars. After 28 we made them stop. I have never seen so many in one place in my life.

Day five we packed up and headed back home after a very fun filled few days! Traffic was horrible, but the trip was worth the headache. I'd rate this one right there at the top of the list! FUN!

And these cute little things were our resident friends that visited us quite often at our campsite.

Daddy/Daughter Date

2011-03-25T15:50:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago the kids school hosted a Daddy/Daughter date night set to the theme of the 50's. They had pizza and snacks and a DJ. They had a fun night together and got this picture taken while they were there. It's the boys and my turn at the end of April. Can't wait!

Crazy hair/mustache day

2011-03-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Baseball moments

2011-03-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

I brought my video camera to the past couple of games. The first one shows justin almost getting hit in the head at the plate. He ended up being walked and scoring a run. The second one is of Avery getting on base and sliding into home and scoring as well. Way to go, Sumida kids!

Fifty Nifty

2011-03-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

About a week ago the entire 5th grade at Justin's school did a performance of Fifty Nifty during Friday Morning Line-up. Enjoy!

Watch DOGS

2011-03-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

The kids school has a program that asks the dads of the students to volunteer on campus at least one day during the school year. The idea is to have a male presence on campus for more security. Last Friday Kirk took his day and had lunch with each of the kids, volunteered in their classrooms and on the playground. DOGS stands for Dads Of Great Students. What a great dad!

Take me out to the ball game...

2011-03-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

Baseball season has begun and we have 2 players this year. Justin is playing for the White Sox and his best friend, Hunter, is also on the team, so that makes it a lot of fun. Avery is on the Mariners and has her same coach as last year (we love him!) and a few of the same players, which makes it a lot of fun too. They both have played 3 games so far and have won 2 of them. Should be a fun season. Go Sumida's!

On opening day they both had games back to back and my parents came to watch. So nice to have Grandma and Grandpa Winn cheering them on! Avery was also 1 of 2 players on her team to receive the coveted Big League Chew for all her awesome hits at the plate. Way to start the season again, Avery! (Too bad, but Justin's coach doesn't do team ball or gum or anything. Guess he's getting too old for that stuff?)

Gotta Keep Reading!

2011-03-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

Avery's school put on a performance today during their weekly Friday morning line-up. It was the entire second grade and it was really cute. Enjoy!

And the Oscar goes to....

2011-03-04T19:10:00.000-08:00

US! We had so much fun last Sunday. My friend, Natalie (on right), invited me and another friend (Mechelle, middle) to go to her moms for an Academy Awards party. We left straight after church and enjoyed the jacuzzi, painted each others toes and then enjoyed the awards eating a bunch of yummy food and critiquing everyones dresses. Such a fun time! Can't wait to do it again next year!

Such sweetness

2011-03-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday Justin's old Primary teacher hosted a pizza party for all her old students. She taught his class for three years and was released last summer. She just loves 'her kids' and is the sweetest to each of them. She still makes them cakes for each of their birthdays. Seriously, one of the most thoughtful and loving people and Justin is lucky to have her in his life. And she was sweet enough to invite Avery to come too. We love you, Sister Burd!

(This picture was taken with my camera phone, so not good, but at least I got one.)

Sickness, sickness, sickness

2011-02-18T21:18:00.001-08:00

This what our house looked like for pretty much the entire week. That high fever that Avery had at the start of her birthday weekend ended up lasting 6 days and Devin joined her topping out at 104.1 Sunday night. Justin stayed home Monday because he wasn't feeling good and had white dots in the back of his throat, so I just figured keep 'em all home. Justin's didn't develop into anything and went back to school on Tuesday, but I had Avery and Devin home all week. Avery went back Thursday, but not Devin. And now it's a 4 day weekend. Everyone is well and ready to get out for some fresh air, but it's supposed to rain most of the time. What timing. Well, at least everyone is feeling good and we are ready to start the new school week healthy and happy. I love the picture of Avery with our cat, Jagger. He just loves the kids and is so tuned into them when they aren't feeling well. He's the best cat. I just love him!

Avery's 8th birthday

2011-02-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

This year was the year for Avery to have a friends party. She chose to invite just a few girlfriends and have her party at Mulligan's Family Fun Center. But it wouldn't truly be Avery's birthday if she didn't get sick. Seriously, the poor girl gets sick on her birthday every year. I really need to remember this for future planning. She came home from school on Friday with a fever of 103.0. So typical of her and we're so used to it, but yikes! Now what? I didn't have the phone numbers for a couple of the girls to cancel it, plus the party was paid for. So, I did what any horrible mother would do - rationalized that she got it from her class (which, I do know is true, but do realize it was rationalizing), so the girls were already exposed, warned Tandy (who said no problem), drugged her up and made the best of it. She started the day with 103.0, but after the meds it went down to about 100. One of her friends that she invited is the daughter of the principle at her school (so, for those of you that know Shelly, mums the word, okay?), so we were hush hush about her being sick. Aren't I terrible?! Anyway, she ended up having a great time upstairs in the party room where they enjoyed pizza, soda and cake and then went downstairs with their tokens to enjoy the arcade. Fun time for them! And hopefully no one got more exposed then they already had been.

Love these pictures of Devin playing with Kirk and how proud he is when he scores!

Avery and Lexi - her 3rd cousin, twice removed, down the road, around the block...oh, I just can never remember what generation cousins they are, but aren't they cute?

Happy birthday, Avery. You are growing up so fast...too fast! Can't believe you're the magic age of 8 and will soon be baptized! Hope your day was fun even though you were sick. We love you!

Early birthday present

2011-02-03T21:06:00.001-08:00

Avery got a big surprise when she got home from school yesterday - a brand new bike for her birthday a little early. She was beyond thrilled! Can't believe she's going to be 8 in just a little over a week.

Camping Santee Lakes

2011-02-01T13:48:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we took the trailer out for the first trip of 2011. We headed down to Santee Lakes in San Diego to give it another try. Last time we went there was during Thanksgiving break and it rained the entire time, so we wanted to see what it was really like. We had a great time doing all our usual things. This time we took the kids friend from next door, Hunter. They all had a really good time together and it was just a fun time in a nutshell. Here are some photos I took.