Fathers and Sons

So what do you do while Daddy is away at the Father's and Son's outing?  (I know, he tends to have to go despite no boys!  He was cooking breakfast AGAIN!)  Well the girls and I pulled out all the stops.  We headed straight for In and Out.  The kids had read books to get free cheeseburgers and we had been waiting to cash in.  And of course since we saved the mula on the cheeseburgers, we decided we needed 5 chocolate shakes!  YES!  And then we drowned ourselves for hours in Anne of Green Gables.  The girls all slept sleepover style and then in the morning, Kate had a tea party for the girls and I was the maid.  Phew!  I don't think we could have squeezed much else in to the 18 hours he was gone.  :o) 

Our 1st Track Meet

Kate ran in her first track meet this last Friday. There are so many kids who have come out for track at her school that she only got to be in one event, but she was chosen for the 4x400 meter relay. Kate ran the second leg and did great. She passed 2 other runners and then maintained through her leg. She even gave a good push at the end and gave it her all. They got 3rd place. Awesome Kate!!!

BFF

Are we still as hot as we once were?!?!?! Well Janalynne is!

Jeff and Darin kept making us giggle. I guess it usually doesn't take much though.

It looks like 1999 all over again!

There are certain people in life that you meet that always will be your friend. Sometimes you meet briefly and other times you live with them for years. My college roommates from BYU certainly fall in the BFF(as all my girls would say!) category. Four of us lived together for three years. And despite the fact that I am in CA, Jen is in China, and Allison and Janalynne are in Utah, we are still friends. And even when it is months and months between talking, we can easily pick up at anytime and renew the friendship.
I was ecstatic when Janalynne emailed and said she was on her way through the central valley around Christmas. They stopped through and we finally got to meet their cute kids! Krislynne and Kate were so cute. I wish we could live closer because I am sure they would be good friends! Thanks Jeff and Janalynne for taking the time to see us! We were so happy to see you!!!

Pictures of our trip to San Fernando

One of the oldest libraries in California

Sarah, Ellie, Kate, Abby

Kate and Ellie- BEFORE she was tramatized.  :o)

San Fernando Rey de Espana

With fourth grade comes the opportunity to research one of the California missions. Kate chose San Fernando's mission in northern LA. We had a free day at the end of December and decided it would be a fun educational trip to go and actually see the mission. We had a great time exploring the entire mission from top to bottom. The girls were amazed at how intricate and fancy everything is in the Catholic religion. I have no problem with Catholics, but if I can be honest I was kind of creaped out by it all. I could hardly pull Ellie away from the display counter where they had a row of graphic figurines of Jesus Christ on the cross. I thought she was going to start cyring on me. "Why is Jesus bleeding?" "What are they doing to Jesus?" We of course had taught her about the crucifixtion, but it was quite dramatic to "see it." We did learn a lot of California history and the paintings and the architecture were amazing. One of thing of interest was Bob Hope is buried there. He has his own garden off of the chapel they have there. It is a beautiful spot and his entire family will be buried there. Bet you didn't know that did you? Picture here is our replica of the mission. Now let's hope Abby and Sarah can pick this mission too! After all, Ellie was tramatized enough for a lifetime. Hee hee!

Christmas Eve

This is the first year the kids actually wanted "perform" the Christmas story. We have done it many times with family and friends, but never just our little family. In case you haven't noticed there are quite a few males in the story and well we are just a tad lacking in that department. But that did not stop my oh so creative girls. And the best part was no one fought over who got to be what. Sarah was so VERY sweet as Mary. She was very protective of Jesus and it made her blubbering Mom cry. I couldn't help but envision the future. Darin/Daddy got to be Joseph. Isn't he handsome?!?

Then we had in the supporting roles, Abby as our beautiful angel, Ellie as our WiseWoman (crown, cape and present included), and Kate as our shepard with lambs hanging all over and a "staff" to boot.

Here is our shepard, afraid in the fields as the angel appears to bring good tidings of great joy.

It was really a very spiritual experience.  We sang, read scriptures and enjoyed the night.  Thanks Darin, Ellie, Abby, Kate and Sarah-you made our night so great!  I loved it.

Twinners

Mother of twins. Yes I am. Let me give you a glimpse into what it is like to be a mother of twins.
Here is the scenario:
Christmas Eve
Plate of goodies for Santa and a glass of eggnog
Sarah and Abby in jammies
Mom with the camera
Mom: "Smile!"
Sarah goes bug eyed, Abby smiles
Mom checks the camera
"Sarah, you look goofy. Smile!"
Mom says okay 1, 2, 3
Sarah smiles, Abby goes bug eyed
Mom sighs
3rd times the charm
And so it is. If one isn't doing it the other is.
It is a CRACK up! (MOST of the time!)

Would I trade it for the world?!?!?! NEVER EVER EVER. Love you Sarah and Abby!

Christmas Jammies

 

Cozy, cute, fuzzy and warm.  What is better than a new set of jammies on Christmas Eve?  Maybe four sweet girls IN those jammies.

Let the Chaos Begin

Ahhh, those Fall days when the leaves change, the air gets crisp and you just want to eat all the yummy apples you can.  A sign that the first day of school has come.  NOT!  It is hot, it is dang hot and there are only leaves turning brown because they can't stand the heat one more day.  It is way to hot to breathe, eat, sleep and especially to cook.  It is August.  School is here.  UGH!  I know I am one of those weird Moms that like my kids home.  It is nice to be together (usually) and I enjoy not having a schedule to stick by.  If we want to go somewhere we do.  If we want to sleep in, we do.  And like I have admitted before, I don't really care for homework.  I know it is important and that it is good for my kids, but really I think it is one of the necessary evils of life.  I just want to let my kids run wild in the backyard for awhile and eat snacks and go for a bike ride.

Now there are pluses to this annual event.  It makes me get up in the morning and get going.  I finally admit that I am a night owl.  I haven't wanted to admit it.  I am supposed to go to bed early and rise early.  I know it is better.  But I admit, I am not one of those people.  Being on a schedule really does help me be better.  And secondly, I now have three kids in school all day.  Eee gads.  Amazing.  Unbelievable.  When they were 2 and were constantly destroying EVERYTHING, I could not invision this ever happening and now we are already there.  Mind boggling.

So now that I have bored even myself with my rants and random thoughts, I will post the pictures we have all been waiting to see.  The FIRST DAY SCHOOL PICTURES.  My cutie pututies:

PS Sarah is in the brown shirt and Abby in the orange.  In case you need a little help!  :o)

CANNON BALL!

happy birthday to the best cannon baller I have ever seen. You can rock the water out of the pool like no one's business Dad. You still have it in you, no matter how old you are. :o) We are thinking of you today on this special day.  We love you so very much Papa!