Thanksgiving Break - day 1

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!