San Diego

So, we took off for San Diego! We left Saturday afternoon, and camped in our trailer at the KOA in southern San Diego (almost to Mexico). Sunday, we found a Sacrament Meeting that was really good, and then we went to visit the San Diego Temple, La Jolla Beaches, and the Mormon Battalion.

I caught this sweet picture of Ethan and Laura holding hands - I can't believe I caught it and I didn't tell them.

Monday, we took the ferry over to Coronado Island for fun, and then went to Imperial Beach for the afternoon. It was cold, but we still had fun. Talin was so funny - I took him into the waves, and when the first wave hit him he started to cry and by the time it left he was laughing! He laughed and laughed at those waves! The kids loved burying themselves. Tuesday we decided to try a different (cleaner) beach and we drove over to Coronado (apparently not really an island :) ), and we LOVED their beach! So clean and we had a blast. Then, Lafe wanted to take the bridge back over (YIKES!) - I'm NEVER doing that again - as I've mentioned in a previous post, I have a strange fear of driving over bridges!!! And, there was NO shoulder, and we were driving in the far right lane so we could "see" - AHHHHHHHHH! I was seriously SO SCARED! Never again. Anyways, we had a great time - very, very, very tiring for the parents - now we need a vacation! The kids found some snails while we were loading up the trailer, and Ethan was very creative. Now, on to summer activities!

Kelcie's 4!

My little Kelcie turned 4 last Thursday, but I'm late posting because it was also the last day of school and we left for San Diego on Saturday, so Happy Belated Birthday, Kelcie! She's still so little and I love that I can still roll her up into a ball in my arms. She loves to snuggle with mom, when Talin doesn't push her out, and thinks she's just as big as the other kids. I can't believe she's four, which means she'll be in Kindergarten here in a year! Wow. She comes up with the craziest things to say and argue. We love our Kelcie!

They WON!!!

Ethan's Diamondbacks Team WON the Little League Minors Tournament - YEAH!!!!!!!! How exciting! Very intense couple of games! He is so excited - "Mom, this is the best day of my life!" I don't really have a picture - Lafe took one on his phone, but I don't know how to get those off. He even got another trophy! He even had a good game - a couple good hits, and then he walked once because the pitcher hit him with the ball (not on purpose). I think it was a 6-inning game in the 1 hour 40 min. time slot - great game.

President's Award

Erin wanted me to make sure I posted her President's Award she got today - only 5 people in her class received it and it's from the President of the United States! Pretty cool, and we're sure proud of her!

Kindergarten Girl!

Laura had her little Awards Ceremony in Kindergarten today - she did so good this year! She got a special medal for reading the most books in her class - 330 books!!! She had such a great teacher and loved being in Kindergarten, but I think she is very ready for 1st grade! Congratulations, Laura!

Little League

Ethan has been playing Little League Baseball for the past 3 months, but I haven't really had any good pictures to post, so I was waiting. Last night they got their trophies and had a party - we were hoping it was their last game - championship game - but, because they lost and it was their first loss, they play again tonight to see who is first and second in the minors league. But, we had a good time last night.

This is Jamie and her friend - one of the moms "painted" the kids' faces to cheer the team on! It was itchy, though, so they wiped it off pretty quickly.

Talin REALLY enjoyed the game :) It was SO HOT, and he fell and bonked his head, scratched his face or something, it was past his bedtime, and he had a pizza face. What's funny is he rarely lets me take a sad picture of him because as soon as he sees the little red-eye light, he smiles for the camera - silly kid!

Science Fair

Erin's Science Project won 2nd Place - woo-hoo!!! They gave ribbons to the top three in each class, and she won 2nd! Her best friend won 1st place, too. She did a project on what kind of paper would be best for a paper airplane to fly the best - she came up with that about half-way through 5th grade and was determined to do it. It turns out that wax paper flies the best - go figure! She did an AWESOME job on her board with lots of pictures and it's so colorful! I think she did a GREAT job!

Home Decorating!!!

After 3 1/2 years, I finally have working blinds and valances in my kitchen!!! Woohoo!!!!! So, my latest project was putting up the valances - let me tell you that bay windows are not the easiest - and I won't let anyone touch them because I'm afraid they'll fall! But, they look pretty :)

Talin, of course, saw me standing the on the kitchen chairs to do the valances and thought that was pretty neat, and being the climber boy that he is, decided to help me.

Band Concert

Erin and Ethan had their End-of-the-year Band Concert on Monday night - AWESOME JOB!!! This was Erin's last concert for Elementary school - can you believe that?!? I could see Ethan rockin' out back there, too. So Fun! Ethan plays alto sax, so he's harder to see because they sit along the back of the band, but Erin plays flute so she's always on the side and usually easier to see.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!!

My friend sent me this e-card and we thought it was so funny - try it out! (Click on the flowers on the sides)

http://www.hallmark.com/ECardWeb/ECV.jsp?a=EG1151712843154M261623045Y&product_id==

More Talin

O.k., another Talin moment. Talin is 13 1/2 month old and can fully open our doors! Now, we have mostly the handle-type door knobs, but still - mine are not usually tall enough to even TRY at this age! So, this morning he thought he was pretty cool opening and closing the door while daddy shaved. You're pretty helpless when he opens the door while you're showering! And, luckily, all the outside doors have actual knobs so he can't open them yet.

All Sealed!

This was my project last night! I just got a new steam canner, and apricots just happened to go on sale!!! So, last night I bottled 14 quarts of apricots for the first time all by myself - and they ALL SEALED!!! And I won't let anybody eat them yet - :)

Piano

Talin wanted to play the piano this morning and I thought it was cute. If anyone sits down to play the piano, he immediately comes in and "helps". It makes piano lessons very interesting!

Talin and Shoes

Talin started this the other day and we all thought it was so funny. I don't know where he got the idea, but he'll put a shoe on either hand and crawl through the house like that. So, I had to get a picture, and, of course, I had to share it with you!

Puppies - again

Erin wanted me to post some more pictures of the puppies, so here are some she took this morning while she was bored because everyone else was at school and she was waiting for the Jr. High orientation day. If you wondered how the whole feeding thing worked with 10.....

Birthdays

Two of my very best friends have their birthday on the same day - TODAY!
This is Sabrina! Despite being in the same ward and neighborhood since we were 4, we actually didn't meet until 5th grade when our teacher assigned us to edit each others books - we came away laughing so hard and it was an instant friendship. We've stayed friends since - this picture is in our 7th grade Pre-Algebra class with the poster we gave out teacher on the last day of school. We now both still live here, only about 1/2 hr. away - which is far when you have busy families. We both have 6 kids, all about 9mo. - 1yr. apart from each other. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!This is April! We met on freshman floor at Deseret Towers at BYU. We had a BLAST!!! Despite my unwillingness to go out and do stuff, she kept insisting and we became really great friends! We've been friends ever since - even with my weird little quirkinesses. ( she is so nice ) This is a picture of us playing a game - probably speed - in my dorm room. She now lives far away in Texas with 4 kids - two of which I've never seen, and two of mine she hasn't seen. We're still aiming for a Women's Conference one of these days! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!