More fun pics at Salt Creek Beach!

 Kohler was super cute with all of the cousins.  Here he is talking to Eden (Mary Kay's little girl).

 It was super fun having my mom and dad there too.  Dad is holding baby Noel, then there is Suzanne, my mom, MaryKay with Will, and Tony.  Melanie couldn't be there because she and McKenna were at Girl's Camp and Steve/Ali couldn't make it because they are in Utah and couldn't leave work.  We sure missed them!

 Nice boogie-boarding Spencer!

 Wow - who is this good lookin' kid?
 I'm too young to be HIS mom, right??  Whoa . . .

 Kelsey and I bought this fun hat at Target to share.  We loved it!

 I wish I could say that Kelsey gets her awesome legs from her mother.  (but . . . alas  . . . she doesn't!)

I love this picture!  She only tried it once and we got such a great shot with the shadow and everything---so cool!

Awesome California Weekend!!

Friday morning . . . 3:15 a.m. . . .  Tom wakes me up and says, "Honey, it's time to get up.  You can sleep in the car---I'll get the kids up."  I let Tom get to bed early and I stayed up packing last minute stuff so we could get on our way super early to get MAXIMUM BEACH TIME!!

 With a potty stop and a grocery stop, we were on the beach by 10 a.m.  That's pretty awesome if you ask me!!

 We went to Salt Creek Beach (one of our favorites) and I fell in love with this tree.  It looks like the bottle brush bushes we have in AZ but more full and with a trunk that has personality!

 Yes - we all relaxed and got really sunburned! (even with sunblock--we stayed ALL day and forgot to re-apply :)

 (I just LOVE this swim suit on Kelsey!)

 Mom and Dad finally came later in the afternoon with Suzanne, Tony and their kids.  We finally got to see our new baby niece, Noel!  She was absolutely adorable!

 I got to hold her on the beach, listen to the lull of the waves with the cool breeze-- and needless to say . . . I was in heaven!

More pics to come!!

You smile . . . I smile!!!

The last Wednesday before school got out, I was at my gym on the treadmill.  I hadn't walked for more than 2 minutes when a commercial came on the TV advertising that Justin Beiber was performing live in Phoenix on September 29th and that pre-sale tickets were going on sale, that day!  

I grabbed my keys and water bottle and booked it right out of there.  You see, Kelsey has never been to a concert before.  It's not something I'm sad about either.  I think there are some great things about live concerts but there are also some very sketchy things that go on at live concerts that I'm not particularly sad she hasn't been exposed to yet.  But, a lot of her friends have gone and many have seen Justin Bieber in concert before.  So---she is 14 and now is the perfect time for her.  I was determined to get these tickets and I was on a mission.  Pre-sale tickets went on sale at 12 noon MST which was 11 a.m. my time.  I sat on that computer and phoned my sisters to get them in on the deal too.  

At 10:58 a.m. I logged in to Ticketmaster.  I was ready.  As I began to search for the button that said "purchase tickets not" I could not find it.  11:05 came and went.  11:10 came and went.  Now I am dying!   After a lot of phone calls and STRESS with Ticketmaster, it looked like we weren't getting any tickets. Big ticket companies and corporations scooped them up and now I would have to wait until the public sale on Saturday, which meant, I would be buying them for triple the price on Craigslist.  ugh!!!

Then, for some reason, I thought of googling the Justin Bieber concert just to see what would come up.  Arenaglendale.com  was advertising tickets and when I got on their website, sure enough---they had a TON for sale! I couldn't believe it! I quickly called my sister and we were able to buy what we needed, and for a decent price, comparatively--for a JB Concert.  (I just checked that same website yesterday and the tickets are exactly triple what we paid for them!)  I couldn't wait to tell Kelsey after school and I knew she would have fun telling her friends so here is the text I sent her (oh, and by the way, "OMG" around our house is "Oh My Gosh!" - We tell the kids to try and not use it because most people use it taking the Lord's name in vain---but I guess this time she was totally surprised and it was a OMG moment!!!)

When her daddy came home, Kelsey threw her arms around him to thank him.  It was a lot of money to spend on tickets and she was SUPER grateful!!!!

So, later that night, I caught the girls "celebrating" by roasting marshmallows over the stove!  ha ha!!!

You Smile . . . I Smile!!! (one of my favorite Justin Bieber songs!)

Happy 70th Birthday Dad!

 HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET DAD!

Last Saturday, June 2, my sweet daddy turned 70 years old.  I can hardly believe it!  We are having a big family celebration this Friday night in California in conjunction with Luke's baptism and Noel's baby blessing (Suzanne and Tony's kids)  The photo here was taken 4 years ago and it feels like yesterday.  Time is WHIZZING by and I want to put on the brakes so badly . . .

I am so thankful that my parents are still so in love with each other after 46 years of marriage!

 I have been working on a photo album as a gift for him.  It has been so much fun going through photos and even the ones my siblings email to me for the book.  All of my sisters and brother even wrote a nice birthday message to him and I put that in the book as well.  I really hope he likes it!   As I looked at the photos, I noticed that he has been present for all of the major events in my children's lives.  I mentioned that to him the other day when we were talking and he told me that he has a good LDS friend who would never drive far or take a plane just to see a baptism or blessing of one of his grandkids.  He told my dad, "Aw, I just tell my kids, ' just send me a photo'."  Can you believe it?  I thought all dads were like mine---but I guess I am sadly mistaken.  My heart goes out to anyone who doesn't have the support and love from a father like mine.   

Here's my daddy and me wolfing down a Hula Pie at Sunnyside, Lake Tahoe.

Dad with newborn Hailey.

Spencer as the captain of Grandpa's Boat on Lake Tahoe!!

Showing off their bounty from fishing on Lake Tahoe.

Kohler and his grandpa playing a serious game of tether-ball!

 My dad has been such an influence on our children.  He is their only living grandpa on this earth and because of that, he really tries to go above and beyond in his role as "grandfather."  I love him for that!

 My dad is all about making memories.  That was a top priority for him as a father.  He held many busy callings, Stake YM President, Bishop, Counselor in Stake Presidency----but still made our family his main calling in life!

 I am eternally grateful to have a dad who loves me so much and would do anything for me.  I still need him around . . . and I hope and pray he will be here for many more "memory making" moments to come!  Happy Birthday Dad!!

Summer Goals

Summertime is wonderful.  I love it because it's a time for me to be with my kids and not be driving around like a crazy women to all of the dance classes or music lessons.  I also love the elimination of homework at night!  But, for some reason, my "task-oriented" mind cannot just let my kids sit around and Facebook or watch TV all day.  I want them to be able to relax . . . yes . . . BUT, they can do that after lunch!  From morning, up until lunchtime, they are working on projects and goals we set together.  So far, it's going pretty well!

 Hailey really took to her goals right away.  Since she just finished kindergarten, we decided that she could try and read one chapter book before we left for California next week.  I also told her that she could earn summer spending money ($2 a chapter book). Well, I sort of forgot that this kid reads on a 2nd grade level and is a little smarty pants!  She quickly ran upstairs and found every Magic Treehouse Book she could find.  She sat down and began to read.  She read . . . and she read . . . and she read . . .and that little squirt finished the entire chapter book in about 40 minutes!  So, later on that day, I had to take Kelsey to Goodwill to find some really cheap blouses for our upcoming Pioneer Trek.  Hailey wandered to the toy section and found this gigantic stuffed giraffe!

 Of course I told her we were NOT buying any toys today--just stuff for the trek.  Then she said, "But Mom . . . it's only $1.99 and I have two dollars now from my book!"  She was right----and that gigantic giraffe came home with us.  He took a spin in our washing machine (just to be safe!) and has been her reading companion ever since!

 By the way, since Tuesday, she has read two more chapter books.  She's on a roll!

This is how I found her this morning and it just cracked me up!  I love it!!!

The Making of the Gigantic Shave Ice

Our kids don't live on a farm, but we have a farm project that involves the entire family.  It began a while ago with mostly Tom and I pulling the weight as we worked out (and are still working out) the business end of things.  But this past holiday weekend, the kids really got their "hands dirty!"  

 It took most of the day to get this far-----so now all we have to do it paint it!  Actually, it was a lot of fun---doing something none of us have ever done before . . . and doing it TOGETHER!