Just Another Day in Paradise

Hi it's me Adam

2011-12-20T16:38:00.000-08:00

I got to be the Joseph in our Ward Christmas Party performance...I was the only boy willing to.

I like getting a little crazy with the blow dryer.

I love my Daddy and can't wait until his finals are over.

I love chapstick.

I like to wear my swimming suits in the winter, just to check on them and make sure they are still ready for when summer comes.

I love my bear Snickers.

I like to be cozy in my bed. My parents leave the side of my crib down now so I can go to the bathroom if I need to and wake up by myself in the mornings.

So now I love to come snuggle Daddy and Mommy in the mornings, with Santa...and sometimes Sarah.

I like to be like my sisters.

I even like them when they are crazy and shove whole packs of Bubble Tape into their mouths. Sisters, what am I gonna do with 'em?

I was so happy to have my big cousins come visit. Scott and Cole helped even out the estrogen around here and Catheryn was very sweet and fun. We played my favorite game, Uno Attack that they sent us last year for Christmas.

For two days straight she distracted my kissy sisters by playing mean Uno with them, and shared her popcorn and pears with me.

We all enjoyed a visit to the Mesa temple. Twice...some people forgot their recommends and names.

I got to ride in the boy car the second time out. I was innocently rolling the window up and down...a lot. They freaked me out when they told me it broke. Then they told me about the child lock button they were pushing and I was in on the joke too, but I was worried for a minute! I think they were getting me back for poking them in the face every morning at 6:30, maybe.

Catheryn and Mom enjoyed their special time doing baptisms in the temple.

Scott and Cole treated me like a king!

Of course I like that.

It was sad to see them go off every day to their tournaments.

While they were away playing racquetball I got to have more of Catheryn's popcorn

and watch Family Ties with the girls. It was so 80's!

Luckily on Saturday Daddy was home to play with me and didn't have to do homework because he was done with finals! We went and did special grocery shopping together. All the girls stayed home to enjoy a nice Arizona winter's day bike ride.

Saturday night my cousins had to go home. Even though Mom woke me up at midnight to say goodbye to them I cried in the morning when they were really gone. No poking Scott. No Cole's special granola. No Catheryn's popcorn...But even with my special cousins gone it didn't take me long to find something else to be happy about. Being 3 is great like that.

It's back to hanging with my sisters, which is great, as long as there is no kissy wissy business going on. I have to keep an eye on those two.

Thankful For...

2011-11-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

this guy, and much much more.

The girls are thankful for soccer season. We've been practicing not running like ballerinas. Look at those bent knees and elbows!

Sarah's athletic stance, she is a watchful guard.

Adam is thankful for the special time he gets playing football with Daddy on the sidelines during the soccer games...when Dad puts down his law book for a football break. Those law books come with us everywhere.

Grandparents came for a special occasion. Rachel's baptism was the week of Thanksgiving, so they came for the whole week! I'm so thankful they could come, we miss family so much and loved every minute of their visit. We are thankful for Grandpa's magic tricks.

Grandma has seen them a thousand times and still laughs, we are thankful for their happy marriage.

We are thankful to have enough people to play kickball together at the park finally.

Tyler is thankful Dad helped us make our first big turkey.

We are thankful for our thankful tradition. From Halloween to Thanksgiving we write on slips of paper things we are thankful for and keep them in the basket until after the Thanksgiving meal and read them together.

Adam is thankful for his cars, I am thankful for my piano.

Rachel is thankful for her baptism.

We are all thankful Grandma's health was sufficient for her to come.

I am thankful for a wonderful daughter starting her life out right by making good choices and developing character.

I am thankful for daughters who love one another. Sarah came into the dressing room after Rachel's baptism and told her how proud she was of her and asked how she felt, and if she was excited to go recieve the Holy Ghost. It was a precious conversation and a wonderful day.

I am thankful for in-laws who shoo me out of the kitchen so they can take care of the dishes.

The kids were thankful for the night we jumped in the car to go see the house with tons of lights in our jammies.

Since its only a block away we let the kids ride in the back. Adam got a little crazy with the Santa in the back.

I'm thankful for a fabulous Thanksgiving with family and for a chance to Christmas shop for my sister Fran this year. Too bad they don't do Barbies, just kidding.

And most of all I'm thankful for the chance to stay home with my kids and that they can stay home with me, we sure have fun together.

They make my life paradise, and as you know, there is no place I'd rather be.

October

2011-10-31T00:35:00.000-07:00

October started off great with General Conference. During Saturday night's Priesthood session we had girl's night in with Mandy.

We supplied the kids.

She supplied the gourmet cupcakes. Notice Adam's awesome Dino hair.

Conference was wonderful as always with many talks meant just for me. We took advantage of the fall break by having a girly playdate with friends.

Time to do some birthday shopping for Rachel, 8 is coming! Adam got cozy in the cart.

We think these lego heads are very funny. Who wants that on their shelf at night? They'll have nightmares!

For Rachel's birthday she wanted to go horse back riding at South Mountain. It was so expensive to rent the horses for the half hour, that for the same price we could drive out to Aunt Luise's and ride horses with Uncle Van for the weekend. She thought that was a much better plan! Adam was so excited to see Uncle Van and was so ready to eat Frosted Mini Wheats with him every morning. He even planned to wear his mini wheat shirt.

Our first day, Thursday, we visited the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center. SOOO Neat!

The missionary talked in front of these pictures and then one of them sneezed and they started talking like in Harry Potter. It was awesome. They got up and walked out of their frames inviting us to follow and hear their stories.

We went from room to room being told what happened by the people in the pictures seeing clips of the movie dramatizing the history. The rooms were decorated to be like camp sites or cabins or whatever setting the next installment would be in.

Adam and the sister missionary became great friends, in every room we went into he would sit right there by her side. In one room she dressed him up in their uniform, what a fierce little soldier.

I turned around and Adam was on the floor. I asked him what he was doing down there and he said, "I'm dead, they shot me with their gun."

At the end we went outside to ride horsies and pan for gold.

On the way home we saw the San Diego temple. I never knew how close it is to the freeway!

We watched a movie and relaxed that night. Aunt Luise's house still is the "lav of luxury!"

Adam knows.

Friday it was time for the real horsie riding!

Rachel wanted to be a part of all the grooming.

Sarah stayed away during grooming and was the last rider so we could stay longer before her allergies became unbearable.

Such a happy boy.

He was most happy just to be with his Daddy.

We had a simple glorious picnic.

Rachel helped with the tack.

She didn't mind getting nuzzled as she led Patrick back into his stall.

This is the happy 8 year old (to be).

That evening Aunt Luise took Rachel out to choose a little birthday cake and ice cream from the store with specail pink princess paper plates and all.

Saturday morning our hosts had a funeral to get to and we started for home. This was at the McDonald's for lunch on our way home. I'm glad they love each other.

When we got home we went for a playdate at our friends' house and they gave Adam a skateboard. He was so happy!

He thinks it's a great place to sit and read?! I love how when I take these cute shots of him when he is doing something random...his face looks back at me perplexed at why I am taking a picture of him doing the most normal thing in the world.

Our little trip was great, but now there is a lot of this going on. Ugh, poor Daddy.

Being Cute

A birthday at the park for Adam's friend Ethan.

Soccer season is in full swing.

Stake day of service cleaning Cesar Chavez Park.

Rachel's actual birthday. She asked for a cooking set for her doll Halley and a "fur real" dog which she named Coco. She didn't use all her money, so the 3rd gift is the leftover cash, which she was really excited about. She is trying to save up to $100.

She made a fairy cake and named her the Wedding Fairy.

Everyone ready to go to the ward party. Adam was Captain Feathersword, Sarah was Hermione, Rachel was Ginny.

Great Ward Halloween Party, we didn't trick or treat because we got sick, but the party was more than enough for all of us to feel fulfilled.

Back to School

2011-08-30T00:58:00.000-07:00

After our trip it was nice to come home and relax. I know Adam enjoyed seeing his toys again after 10 days.

We attended a sealing for a friend, their baby was so happy and squealing with joy during the ceremony.

We started school when Daddy did.

Adam counted and sorted bears with me.

The new bookshelf in my bedroom made it possible for me to sell some furniture pieces on craig'slist. Not that anyone else cares, but for me they were like members of the family and a lot of work had gone into finding them for cheap and making them work. So goodbye black cabinet that I found for $20 at an estate sale and painted black. It held all our current daily homeschooling supplies and art supplies and because it had doors it often became a rat's nest inside. I sold it for $20.

Goodbye Ikea bookshelf that I found in the as is section for $40. Goodnight nobody. Goodnight mush. Just kidding, I love that book though. That book is on this shelf...which was a frustrating shelf when we started keeping toy bins on it because if you look closely it has molding on the sides. This prohibits pulling something straight off the shelf, you had to move toward the center and out to get around the molding, which means you can't fit two toy bins side by side even if there is technically room on the shelf...annoying. We moved the ugly bookshelf from my room into Adam's, ugly yet now functional, I'm thinking about painting it white like this one was. I sold it for $40. I kind of wish I'd sold them for higher based on the multitude of people interested in them. I could have made money on them, but I felt too guilty, that furniture was meant to be a good deal for me and the next guy.

I found the garbage can left like this after the truck left. It just really made me mad because I've been trying really hard to keep that can in operation. They have already broken one side of the hinge and I was very clever to fix it with a velcro strip I had that came with our bike pump so you can strap it to your bike. Now they snapped off the whole other side's plastic and ripped right through the velcro on the other side. I just knew the trash people were going to charge us extra for needing new containers and maybe me angry at my "negligence" so I called hesitantly. What a surprise that they were so happy to replace it, in fact made me aware that the sooner you replace them the better because they have a limited warranty from the manufacturer and it saves them so much money if you promptly report when they need replacement rather than trying to extend their life so long like I did. I actually cost them more money by doing so!

Back to kid stuff, the girls dressed Adam up as a "pirate" and took his picture, this is the first I've ever seen it. The frilly shirt reminds me of Nacho Libre, "These are my PJ's"..."A frilly shirt and slacks?"

We are working on our table manners.

Sometimes it's better not to push it, and just make a fort for a picnic lunch. It is still too hot for a real picnic.

We always love to give Dad a big send-off. We all help carry his breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, bishop book, scriptures, school books, backpack, and water to the car with him. Then the girls serenade with "So long, Farewell We hate to say goodbye!" I've told them over and over it's alvederzein, not we hate to say. Oh well.

In an effort to be "fun Mom" we made playdough. Adam made "cookies" and "snakes."

Sarah made a reinactment of Harry Potter's scene when baby Harry's parents are killed by Voldemort, wands and all.

Rachel made a cute little pot.

The last Friday of August we went to the Stake High Priest Dinner with our kids, but no one wanted to miss out on Tennis night, so we packed all the tennis gear and our church clothes to meet Dad at a facility downtown before the dinner. We get so hot and sweaty playing in the heat, but we did change our clothes. We hope no one was bothered by the sweaty couple at the edge of the gym...hmm. It was worth it, tennis night is so much fun, and though it took a good deal of planning, we pulled off both.

September started out waking up to this. What a nice surprise, but where is everyone?

Playing cars together as a family letting Mommy sleep in. Thank you!

It was Labor Day weekend and Daddy gets to swim with us! What a treat, let's head to the pool. Adam is always heavy laden as he walks to the pool because he wants to carry all his favorite floaties and toys. "I get to carry mine tuff," he says. Ok.

We found a ball in the bushes and played a water/volleyball-ish version of kickball with our hands. Very fun.

It's hard to let Daddy go to work again after a long weekend with him. We love to be with him so much.

We find ways to occupy ourselves...dress up in crazy outfits.

Make fun games with our toys.

Play with the neighbors dogs Molly and Bella.

Adam likes Bella.

We have friends over to play horsie with little brothers.

Or make a wagon train.

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Sarah is enjoying increasingly rare snuggles from Adam. More swimming, what else do you do in an Arizonan summer?

Well, you should NOT take a field trip to the Deer Valley Rock Art Center. We were expecting a museum with rock art, art made from rocks. No, the outdoor rock exhibit is a hike just over a mile down a trail and back to see a few petroglyphs. Way too hot, and extremely hard to see. The "museum" part is the air conditioned building you pass through to pay for the hike and purchase overpriced lame jewelry. I'll plan our next field trip more carefully.

On the bright side, I have the cutest alarm clock ever.

All month the Primary prepared for our musical program on Sept. 11. I was so nervous about the adults seeing the way I lead the kids. I worried I may be a...spectacle, and I did hear about it afterwards, but at least I had the kids' attention. I was very glad when it was all over. I practiced a hard piece, for me, to play with the choir and was glad that turned out well and started teaching piano to 3 sisters in our ward ages 7, 9, and 12. I'm enjoying it very much and I think they are too. Sarah and Rachel like the opportunity to play with them while they wait for their turns.

We studied the planets and solar system. The kids were given the assignment to write a report about a planet of their choice on their own, I would help proofread only, all the research, writing and work had to be done alone. I was so proud of them. I required 2 pages of Sarah and 1 of Rachel with a Title page from each. They turned out very nice and they presented the reports orally to everyone Friday night before tennis in the garage in front of the to scale planets they had painted.

A short question answer session always follows where we ask what sparked their interest in the topic and other details about the subject matter, what was the most interesting/favorite thing they learned and so on. It was hot out their, we were glad they were short reports. We were very proud of them, and happy to see they were proud of themselves. We celebrated with tennis and of course shakes. What a great way to end our September.

Utah!

2011-08-01T08:15:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun in Utah! We love our family so much. Wednesday driving up we just couldn't wait to get there, so we drove and drove without stopping for more than 2 ten minute breaks, until we just got too hungry in Nephi and had to stop for dinner. At nine we made it to the Palmer's house. Hurray!

After a good sleep we got up Thursday at 6! We were so excited to be here, I especially love going out in the cool morning and taking a brisk walk. I walked over to Cherry Hill elementary and was flooded with childhood memories. That wally ball wall that was so huge, isn't so huge anymore...I wonder how they shrunk it. We read with Grandma played kickball in the park with Grandpa.

We visited with Andrea and had a nice lunch, the visited with my wonderful friend Meredith and her kids.

We happened to catch them for the last day of their month long visit here from China, what a blessing. Kate and Adam, betrothed since birth, weren't sure what to think about each other at first.

But soon love was blossoming again.

Andrea brought her kids back and miraculously everyone ate my lentil soup, except Sophie, and we took Andrea and her kids to play tennis in the evening. We had a ball, or quite a few of them really.

Adam is so programmed that after tennis comes "shake night," so of course we had to end the evening off with some root beer floats, but no one seemed to mind.

Friday Adam enjoyed the day reading Go Away Big Green Monster with Grandma Shirley, it's their new special thing. Then Grandma and Grandpa Cole took the kids and I to the bean museum

and to the creamery for ice cream,

where Adam insisted on sharing with Grandma...One for you...

One for me.

We came home for a nap to be recharged for a hike to rock canyon with Grandpa Gary.

It was such a beautiful hike.

Nice family time.

Giant dandelion fluffs.

Afterwards we stopped by rock canyon park to show the kids our heart rock where we planned our future together contemplating marriage.

And ate Cheetos.

At night we cozy-ed up for Swiss Family Robinson, I liked watching it with Grandpa Gary because he rewinds the kissing scenes for us so we can see them twice.

Saturday morning it was raining and we prayed for good weather for our water slide party. The morning was spent reading and playing with Grandma Shirley while Grandpa Gary and Daddy went golfing. They laughed and giggled and had so much fun they extended their 9 hole game to 18. I'm so happy they did. While they were gone Sarah and Rachel got to go to the store with Grandma Shirley alone, what a fun outing.

That afternoon we made baby pizzas, and took a nap to get ready for the party! At 2 Alexis and Paul came so we could let the little ones play together first. I'm so glad they did, because they got first go on the waterslide together and were more brave than they would have been I think. After the party we watched the rest of Swiss Family Robinson.

Sunday we went to church with the Palmer's ward and enjoyed seeing some old friends of ours. Jamie Sorenson, Steve Kunzler, Harmons, Dudleys who spoke, and Dave and Kirty Zimmerman, cousins, who are in their ward. Before church we watched music and the spoken word, it was my first time and I rather enjoyed it. There was a very good message about hope and never giving up with gorgeous pictures and video footage of nature set to the music. After church we had tacos and played sink or swim and cracked up all night. Adam had gone to bed at 5 and then woke up at 9, luckily he went to bed again at 11 when I was ready to sleep. He wanted more dinner and he needed to go to the bathroom, so glad he woke up.

Monday morning we packed up and headed out, not without reading Go Away Big Green Monster a few more times though, and helping Grandpa and Ryan with the canoe, and Ty and Grandpa giving Grandma a blessing. We stopped to visit Rachel Carbonell Den Beste on the way up to Bear Lake.

Bear Lake Cabin...time to see cousins after sooo many years! We had a fabulous family night with each family contributing a small bit.

And of course a treat.

The week was so special. The girls were thrilled to be in the girl cousin bunk bed room...Adam wanted to be part of it.

pillow fight! Girls will be girls.

He decided he liked sleeping in his little bed when Grandma Cole let him sleep with Bert, he had helped teach her part of the family night lesson. He reminded us that when Grandma and Grandpa invite you in to pass off your articles of faith not to talk about your success with other cousins to compare. Sup.

In the evening we had a parent meeting to discuss the week's agenda where my Dad surprised everyone with a blast from the past! The purple monkey shirt! He handed out See's chocolates in it. Pogie!

Tuesday morning we went to Bear Lake and rented a boat and banana. We were scared at first that the kids would fly off, but it was so slow and gentle it was a joke. I had fun learning my husband knows how to drive a boat. After all these years, this is a first.

We brought our little rowboat to finish it up, I duct taped all the holes knowing it would last one day and then we could finally throw it away. The twins, Andrew and Caroline, were so cute rowing around.

A cute Daddy and his family in a tippy canoe.

The beach audience.

The diggers and dippers.

Dad trying to convince Adam to come on the boat, not interested. He could splash in and throw mud, why would he want to do anything else?

Cory, Sarah, Rachel, and other cousins worked hard on this awesome sandcastle.

Subak and Peuce! Another blast from the past.

Can you believe we still have them over 20 years later?!

That night we all got cleaned up, had dinner, got the little ones to bed. The men and boys met about mission preparedness. All the returned missionaries shared an experience from their mission to inspire the younger generation. The 6 Moms met and each shared a "Mommy tactic" that has worked well for the family. Fran's was a memorable, meaningful song about making through today to someday.

It was fun to see the husbands bonding too, because of course we women talked a lot longer in our meeting than they did in theirs.

The next morning we explored a cave, it was beautiful up there.

The cave was interesting, but absolutely freezing for those of us who came from 120 degree weather! I got the phone number of our guide for my nephew, she was totally into him and he was oblivious, aren't boys always.

After the cave it was article of faith time. Grandkids had practiced all year for their chance to recite them in a personal interview to Grandma and Grandpa for $13, what motivation. Impressive how they could all do it! Even the little ones knew some. We had an exciting family photo shoot that afternoon with four 3 year olds who didn't want to, and in the evening the parents had a marriage council to share something we've had work well to strengthen our marriages. This was our photo. I can't wait to see the ones of the whole family.

In the morning there was special morning cousin playtime. I loved how they all got along so well.

I got my own special cousin playtime. We had a dance party, and I was in heaven with all my cute little nieces.

So was Grandma. She was so happy to see her little progenitors following in her footsteps.

After dancing the morning away we spent the rest of the day at the lake again, this time with Seadoos. They make awesome hair.

Tyler, Adam, and Sarah having a turn. When I rode with Tyler and Sarah we had the time of our lives. I'll never forget Sarah hanging on for dear life screaming, "This is the best day of my life! I love my life!"

Homemade hot tub with Suzy.

Chillin' on the shore.

Too many photographers everywhere.

Grandma rowing along.

Cousin raft, Whitney, Catheryn, Mallory, Rebekah.

Working on a new sandcastle.

Classic Braxton shot, the girls love him.

Thursday night we had our last special counseling session together and prepared for our departure in the morning. Eric had written a silly song to perform for us about our family's strange Korean/private joke vocabulary words he had to learn when he entered the family. Fran and I talked for hours till the sun began to rise. I was so good all week to go to bed, but the last night I just couldn't tear myself away. After she went to bed I heard my Mom upstairs and went to make sure she was okay. She was crying at the table so sad for it to all be over, and she had a headache. I rubbed her headache away as we talked about how wonderful it all had been and watched the sun rise over the lake. I did get a little sleep and we packed up and headed out to our last activity, the famous raspberry shakes in town. I must have been tired of taking pictures because the one of Braxton is the last one I have until we were in Phoenix days later.

We stopped by Chad and Jenny's house on the way back from Bear Lake in Logan and spent the afternoon with them and their 4 beautiful children. Their home was so calm even with small children and so simple, organized, and beautiful right up on the mountainside. We stayed that night at Tyler's parent's and traveled home Saturday. It was hard to leave, but we made such wonderful memories that we'll hold onto forever.

July

2011-07-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

JULY

We started off the month with a temple trip. The kids were begging to get to go to the temple too, so we all went together on Saturday to enjoy the visitors center and took turns in the temple.

Monday was July 4th so we celebrated by swimming together for the first time of the season. Dad was so happy the water was warm.

Rachel rowed.

Sarah and Ty got crazy jumping onto the raft, and I did too, but you don't get to see that picture.

The Wilson's came over for lunch and games.

The girls did an art project of cave paintings. They finger painted their stories on brown paper, crumpling it first for a more rock-like texture. I was impressed with their fun idea for a project.

Adam and Mickey taking in a movie during school time for sisters.

Dad's home, get him!

Adam finally got a teddy bear of his very own. He picked it out on ebay and waited for it to come in the mail. He wanted it to look just like Sarah's bear Chocolate whom he has tried many times to adopt, but it is Sarah's one special thing and she couldn't let it go.

It was love at first sight. He named it Snickers.

Snickers was promptly introduced to Chocolate.

Adam asking for a little dry rice in a bowl. My kids have always loved dry grains, they are wierdos. I insist on lots of water if I ever give in.

Adam sweetly reading his tiny scriptures which he pronounces "fwippers".

At tennis night Adam asked if he could put bugs in his water bottle and let them swim. Sure why not.

On my way to the temple the next morning in the car I got thirsty from eating the toast I had grabbed on the way out. I reached for a water bottle. Guess which one I grabbed. Ew. I was so grossed out. There is nothing like the feeling and taste of multiple dead bugs swimming around in your mouth, it's a miracle I didn't crash. I was able to spit them back into the water bottle, but there was no other water to wash down the terrible taste and I had a long drive ahead of me to the temple before I could get rid of it.

For my birthday I asked for a bookshelf. I've always imagined a white built-in bookshelf on one wall in my bedroom, and finally it will be a reality. We started with lumber at Home Depot on Saturday.

Little by little we worked on it for a week. First we pulled of the trim and ripped out the carpet to build a platform. While we painted and dried all the boards in the garage.

3 days later, Monday, it was my birthday, and they were this far along. I woke up to this cute little spectacle of my family wishing me a happy birthday and the smell of hashbrowns and scrambled eggs told me they had breakfast waiting on the table. What a great morning!

And we had a great party that night.

My kids made me sweet cards.

Adam with the classic olive frog fingers, every kid thinks this is so novel.

Who knows what is going on here...complete ruccus I suppose.

For Sarah's birthday we invited all the activity day girls over for a swim party and other girls from the stake who she wanted to invite.

My friend Johnna came to help keep an eye on kids and her little daughter Rosie is so cute playing with Adam.

We had a great day having our friends over for the day so their mom could get some work done. They are so fun.

For Sarah's real birthday celebration she chose to go ice skating

Then out to McDonald's for lunch.

Sunday we celebrated with brownies and ice cream. She didn't want any presents, but was thrilled to finally meet her goal of saving $100 with her birthday money.

July was coming to an end and it was time for our summer Utah trip, but we made sure to finish the shelves before we left or we knew they would never get done.

Tada!

June

2011-06-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

The kids and I started our swimming season, but forgot the sunscreen. For the a little while we had to hide out at home wearing soft wierdo clothes because they had sunburned shoulders. This is a little sleeping game they made up in our quarantine.

It gave us a nice retreat. We did some science experiments dissolving different substances in hot and cold water.

We caught a caterpillar in the yard, I saw him one night when I picked up the mail, and we kept him to see if he'd turn into a butterfly. You can see his little chrysallis, it looks like a brown seashell.

He turned into a brown butterfly or moth, we aren't sure which, and we let him go. We were happy it happened before we went up to girls camp so we got to see it.

It is always fun to go to Girls Camp and visit our wonderful, beautiful young women. Their theme this year was ER, Eternal Rewards. They had fun making medical puns and decorations, even disposable lab coats for all!

School has ended for other kids which frees them up to play with us, launching a series of play dates and swimming. First Sarah was invited to a 3 day pioneer girl camp. They had to wear pioneer costumes and learn to sew, make a doll, butter and jam, bread, laundry soap, and other things. She had a great time with her friends and made some new ones. After the camp one day we had some friends join us at our house to continue the fun.

The last day was a swimming party, so Rachel, Adam, and I swam too.

Adam enjoyed the pleasure of a raft ride.

Adam is a little possessive of his pool toys.

These swim dates gave him lots of practice sharing them, which was a very good thing for him. He calls them "Mine Tuff." Before we go to the library or grocery store he has to gather his stuff to come with us, at least I'm able to convince him to leave most of the diving rings, torpedos and the swim hat in the car. Most. I should be glad he doesn't insist on wearing floaties everywhere.

We had fun swimming with the Bowens. It won't be soon until the twin boys come and make it impossible to swim.

We also had fun swimming with the Segura's and the Risenmays.

We celebrated Father's Day and gave Daddy a well deserved new tennis raquet, his old one is 20 years old! We love you Dad!

We really do!

The girls had fun making fairy houses. It is really hard for me to let them make stuff out of trash knowing that they'll get attached and have a hard time letting it go, but we did it.

Sarah stepped on a nail and needed a tetnus shot, super mega antibiotics, and special espom salt soaks 3 times a day. She couldn't walk on her foot for days.

Grandparents came for a visit and we had a great time together playing lots of 'sink or swim!' Adam played the dummy hand and gave us all a big surprise when he would trump the book yelling, "I frumped it!"

Of course no grandparent visit would be complete without an outing to every kid's favorite restraunt...McDonald's!

The next out to eat excursion was at Pizzeria Bianco. I'm not really a fancy food lover, but this place was great.

And the company couldn't have been better.

Grandpa made up a new game called mashed potatoes. He stirred and stirred the potatoes until...

They turned into grandkids. The game was a hit. We tried not to work Grandpa too hard though. We had lots of cookies and milk, homemade bread, a Princess Diaries movie marathon, a golf day, many readings on the Nook of "How the Elephant Got His Trunk", and lots of rest and relaxation.

We were so sad to give them up after our vist had been so wonderful. After they had been gone a few days Adam found a chocolate Ensure they had left in the fridge and drank it. He was thrilled with his "chocolate shake from Grandma" and asked to wash and keep the container in his food game because it was so special. We can't wait to see them again in Utah in July! We love you!

2011-06-08T23:20:00.000-07:00

Last night we were laughing about the cute things our kids had done and feeling so happy not worrying about the restraints of time, hooray for an end to homework. It is so nice to get to have extra time together in the summer.

Monday we made brownies for family night and used up the old bananas in some banana bread. I had the best helpers. Sarah was napping, getting over the last bit of our sickness from last week.

Family night was in interactive photo display of the messes they'd left behind and forgot to clean up that I had been taking throughout that day. After the "evidence" we cheered "Rah rah rah rah rah Go Palmers!" and fixed it all. (Brownies were good incentive.) I got everyone on board to help clean up after themselves more as they go along in their day, hopefully it lasts...ha. This was one of the good moments, Adam playing sweetly by himself not bothering the girls while they do school work.

This was the fixing all the messes portion of the lesson. Everyone was all jazzed up to get to work.

Adam was a little too jazzed up from all the rah rah rahs, but we did get him calmed down and helping soon, like I said...brownies are good incentive.

Tuesday we went swimming and did laundry and baths. Adam "went down down down" and kept his mouth closed this time. Progress! He didn't gag and choke or breathe in the water.

Wednesday we scrubbed the toilets and showers. Adam is great at scrubbing toilets and absolutely loves it as his chore. I guess anything with me is fun. He also helps do the windows (he loves the "spray spray") and he enjoys mopping the floor with a rag and bucket of water, but makes a swamp because he doesn't get how to ring out the water yet.

He gets paid 5 to 10 cents a week depending on how "helpful" he's been. He has been so happy to have tithing to pay the past two weeks with his special little pennies he gives to Heavenly Father. I'm impressed how old and full of understanding and capable of real help age 3 is, and yet how little and still capable of so much disaster. I have to remind myself the bad comes with the good. Look at this sweet moment. Rachel playing her violin to Adam as he snuggles in her bed with all his cars around him, precious.

Sarah and Rachel got sunburned shoulders swimming on Tuesday and have been wearing nightgowns all day. Adam has been enjoying learning to play card games with Mom while the girls do their studies. We have learned Go Fish and Memory so far. We also play with his cars. Lots. And lots. Today Sarah wanted to go to activity days, but it was too painful to wear normal clothes instead of the silky nightgown. She decided it wasn't worth the pain and stayed home, which meant we had finished all the school things we needed to do and I had a free hour...so of course I laid down on my bed for just a cat nap surrounded by Adam and all his cars. Adam loves "Yellow Thing" aka my memory foam pillow. He loves special time with my pillow if I allow hime to unzip the pillow case and let him play with it. Yellow thing is starting to have chunks missing, but Adam was being soft with it and putting his McQueen cars to sleep all over it. Then I felt him laying his cheek gently on my face and kissing my cheek and enjoyed his expressions of love for me as I drifted off to sleep. What bliss.

I woke up to find banana bread crumbs strewn about the family room, my bed, Sarah's bed and the upstairs hallway. I asked Adam what he'd been doing. His reply, "Making crumbs." After a time out and discussion of why that wasn't a good thing to do he had to help me vacuum them all up. It took us an hour and a half. They were really into the couch and we used all the different attachments. I realized Adam was having a great time, I thought where is the punishment in this? Yet, the punishment was the time out and the talk, the work after didn't have to be dreary, he'd already been forgiven, so I decided to make the most of enjoying the work together and let it go. I want him to like working with me, and he did get the point of how much work it was to clean the crumbs...though I have a feeling I'll have to remind him again...and again. "Food belongs in the kitchen," I hear myself say over and over and over.

After all the vacuuming I found he'd dumped a container of his special rocks out in between my sheets.(which I keep depositing outside and he keeps bringing back inside) Rocks are dirty and I just washed the sheets Monday. I hate crumbs or any specks in my sheets!!! Dirt and crumbs in the same day. You really pay for a little nap I tell you.

Adam has learned the phrase, "Don't encourage me." It really is funny to hear him telling the girls not to encourage him as he makes them crack up as he runs around doing any number of his crazy dance moves or other comic relief stunts. It makes them laugh all the harder.

During dinner the sunburns were acting up and we had a squirt bottle on hand to cool down the effect. Adam likes to help spray, as I mentioned, and not only sprays his sister's shoulders, but deeply enjoys spraying his own face. I've never seen a kid enjoy squirting himself in the face with water so much.

spray...flinch...spray...flinch...

But things can get out of hand very quickly and the suddenly the whole family room will be damp (I know from recent experience), so I redirect Adam's spraying to the plants in the backyard which he thouroughly sprays in a one for the plant, one for me manner as we finish dinner.

After dinner dishes were done, all the plants (and Adam) well sprayed, toys picked up and teeth brushed we had our family prayer and the time to sing Adam his song arrived. As I pick him up in his blanket to do so I always wrap it around him in what we call "hot dog boy" style because he is all wrapped up like a hot dog. Tonight he wanted his arms out and struggled to free them when I picked him up to sing. When his arms were finally free from the blanket I found why he wanted them, he wrapped them sweetly around my neck in the sweetest little hug. He always "goes boneless" and hangs limp over our shoulder at this time of night, but tonight he gave me the most tender hugs and snuzzled in with such love that I couldn't help but think, "I'm the luckiest of all women in the world."

2011-05-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

A cute tired-after-Disneyland boy.

Very cute.

Adam playing Flynn Rider with his sword and satchel, it was my turn for the frying pan.

The kids had fun swimming with Kirstie at the Reeve's while April and I did a little spring cleaning.

Dad got everyone outside to say goodbye to me as I left for the temple, they're giving me their best "teenager" faces.

I found Adam jumping on my bed with my purse.

He dumped it out and gathered up all the money and asked, "Is this for me?" Nice try cute face.

We played a fun game outside while waiting for Daddy to come home, yes home. It is so great to get to see Dad for dinner now that his school is out!!! Adam was running after Rachel with his gun trying to catch her.

Instead he caught Sarah and she was his prisoner.

Watch it Dad or you'll be next.

Disneyland Last Chance Edition

2011-05-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

We made the trip to Disneyland one last time before our passes expired, even though we did have to get Adam a ticket. I guess we just can't help ourselves! Actually some very sweet friends of ours generously chipped in so we could come. Thank you!

We had a plan to go right down Main Street USA, trying to ignore the scent of fresh baked waffle cones, and go to the Snow White fountain. Hi Mickey!

Beautiful. We can't help but sing along with her, I'm sure we aren't the only ones.

Small world was the first ride of the day. A crowd pleaser to all.

It is so much fun to see the kids' faces light up and see what excites them.

The hidden Mickey is made by these balloons casting a shadow of a Mickey head on the ceiling in the last room.

Monkeying around in Toon Town, Sarah was cold so wore my sweater. It made her look more like me to me, and more grown up. I couldn't believe it fit her as well as it did.

Goofy posed for me then came right to my kids, who weren't standing by me, took one in each hand and walked all the way down the roller coaster with them and spun them around a little. So fun.

We were on our way there anyway. We rode it twice. Adam went once with Rachel,

Who held him very tight,

and once with Sarah, but both times with no hands!

What a ride!

Next came "teapcups" as Adam calls them.

Dad always sits this ride out...even looking at the picture makes him dizzy.

But we love it!

We all enjoy Alice, but that Caterpillar is getting a little small for the six of us.

Fran wanted me to show the new railings they installed to make it safer...aka ruin it.

Still not home. The white rabbit never is.

Adam was prepared to wait it out until he came. We convinced him to come on a boat ride with us instead.

The girls love sitting on the front ridge of the boat.

Adam was absolutely adorable. A main motive for this trip was cement in Adam's mind all the memories we'd made. He has been so young that so many of the rides were new to him.

He was very concerned about being eaten by Monstro.

After being eaten he was tuckered. Rachel offered to carry him, and to her delight he accepted.

Such a precious moment.

Saddle-up for the carousel. I was nervous to let Adam ride alone, but he did great.

We wanted to "brush and brush and brush and brush" that hair.

The Cinderella Castle. Last time we saw a gray cat scaling the side. It was so out of place and creepy, because of the scale it seemed gigantic.

The young Dumbo group.

The not so young Dumbo group.

Since we go through the exit with Aunt Luise for the Peter Pan line, we have line memories of flattening ourselves to the wall as other wheel chair families squeeze past.

But we have a great view of the mermaid mural.

Pixie Dust!

Waiting for us.

Us waiting.

Waiting and getting silly.

Ready!

For the Wildest Ride in the West!

The Hidden Mickey...can you see it? This is to the left of the track as you go up the hill.

After Thunder Mtn the girls rode Indiana Jones and went through Tarzan's treehouse to meet up with Adam and Tyler. This is what I saw looking down from the top of the stairs.

Such cute buddies.

We rode the jungle cruise together.

Adam started out fine sitting by himself, but crept into Tyler's lap as he became increasingly more afraid of the animals...and the gunshots didn't help. He would barely look up. They must have seemed so real and wild.

Guess where we went next.

Tiki Room! So restful.

One of Tyler and Adam's all time favorites.

MINE!

Adam was so excited for the Matterhorn next. I always worry about him on that ride. It is so rickety and he is just so little and could fall out so easily.

Well this time I had reason to worry. He bonked his head on the rail. Poor guy.

But he still loved it.

Autopia Cars, that is the smile of a boy who loves cars and anything to do with them, but especially getting in giant toy ones that really go...and getting his very own license to do so.

Adam couldn't contain his excitement, he just had to lick Dad.

Finally the wait is over! They are off!

Driving Miss Sarah was so proud of pushing the pedal by herself the whole time.

I'm sure you can see this Hidden Mickey.

Time for Space Mtn...Nice Posing.

Hidden Mickey between the seats.

Last ride of the night. Blast those aliens for Buzz!

An ariel view map of the Disneyland Complex. I like seeing it mapped out this way and thinking back to how it used to be when I was a kid.

Home with our fabulous hosts.

We got off to a rough start on Day 2.

We saw McQueen and Mater, but no smile.

We rode King Triton's Carousel

And there it was. He was thrilled to learn Woody's ride was next.

After Toy Story Mania we went to Bug's Land and flew on Flik's Flyers while Ty waited,

and rode the Ladybugs while Ty and Adam waited

...they really don't know what they're missing.

But they sure know how to BONK!

Rachel was thrilled to drive her own bug.

Adam asked slyly as we walked out of the ring, "Did we GET Mommy?!"

We rode on Heimlech

Then Dad and the girls drove the bumper cars again while Adam started in on our treat for

Aladdin.

Ahh, it was warm and cozy in there...and dry.

Rachel and Dad got brave and rode Tower of Terror, she looked like she felt the terror part.

We found the Hidden Mickey on Sulley in Monsters Inc.

It's always nice to see Roz, especially because she always comments that Adam is such a cute little monster.

After MuppetVision 3D, Beast's Library and Singing to Ursula, we split up.

Ty took Adam and Rachel to Turtle Talk with Crush while Sarah and I went to the Animation Academy. They draw on an overhead and teach you step by step how to draw a character.

That time it was Daisy Duck.

By 4:00 the rain had cleared and we were ready for Bear River! Ty took the girls while I sat on a bench with Adam to eat suckers, it was a very happy moment.

After a very short wait they were back, and drenched. It was time for the tram to take us back to reality...and work the next day.

We had a marvelous time and felt so grateful for one last chance to go enjoy being together at Disneyland...until next time.

My My May Already

2011-05-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Adam got the Great Books collection down for a little light reading. How studious.

We finished eating up the last of the giant marshmallows that we had from our camping trip. I've never seen such big ones.

Sarah was invited to a very fun Harry Potter party at her friend Meg's. They really made it cute with potions class, herbology, divination, even a trip to Honey Duke's in Hogsmead.

Meg had made chocolate frogs and her little brother Heber was eating bites of them and then wanting to "share" them with the party guests, which they of course politely declined. He began putting the chocolates on their chairs when they wouldn't take them and one unsuspecting girl sat one and got all chocolatey. He is such a cute little boy. Adam loves playing with him when we visit teach there.

A quick Mother's Day shot. Here Tyler had made me breakfast because he cancelled morning meetings. He hears me say every now and then that you eat with your eyes and a lot of food prep is in the presentation. He called me down and said, "Now eat this with your eyes." He had created a beautiful plate display with eggs, toast, strawberries, and one of the See's chocolates his mother had sent. Yum.

I was very loved on Mother's Day and presented with sweet cards and poems from Sarah, new bike tires from Ty and Adam, and a bag of cherry tomatoes from Rachel. She knows they are my favorite indulgence that I just can't justify to include in our budget. I was telling her how I think they taste like little drops of sunshine and she secretly asked Dad to take her to the store so she could buy me some with her own money. What a sweet gift it was.

Later that night our friends the Reeves came over and made lasagna and enjoyed Mother's Day with us. You can see Adam really likes Kevin.

I love being a mother in my kids' silly moments.

And in their sweet moments.

Dad used a sick day! He actually got sick and for the first time I can remember he stayed home from work. He wanted to start the morning by snuggling up on the couch to watch a movie with the family. Times like this I'm so glad we homeschool. We watched Holes. Of course he mostly rested by catching up on Bishop stuff, but we made sure he got a good nap and got to bed early.

We have a tradition of getting to throw our workbooks when we are finished with them. The girls really enjoy it, especially this time when Dad was here to watch. Lucky coincidence.

We had enchiladas, salad, and olives for dinner. I just noticed Sarah's face at her cute siblings, silly poser.

The kids made book report diaramas. They both read Candy Fairies books, so they both used lots of candy in their scenes.

Adam insisted on making one too. He called his Candy Mountain.

The chicks are ready to start hatching, we can hear them peeping from inside the eggs.

Thursday night during date night we heard cheaping in the garage, it was midnight.

We woke the girls up to see their first little chicks and transfer them from the incubator to the box. Rachel named the yellow one Cuddle, Sarah appropriately named the black one Midnight.

By morning Peck had been born, then came the twins Sugar and Spice (they weren't from the same egg but the girls called them twins because they looked alike and were born at the same time). Of our 18 eggs 13 total hatched, but 9 died due to being lame, so sad. Cuddle, Peck, Sugar, and Spice were the four healthy survivors. It was most sad when Midnight died, he was Sarah's favorite. He died the same time Shadow (Grandma and Grandpa Palmer's dog) died in Utah. She drew a picture of her with the two of them in heaven.

We took a last minute Disneyland trip thanks to the help of some friends and had to leave the babies for two days. They were well taken care of by another friend and by the time we got back they were growing up quite a bit. We were popular in the neighborhood for a little while.

Everyone loved the chicks, but soon they became too stinky and we gave them to my friend Gabby. Here Rachel is introducing them to their new owners.

Goodbye Chickies. Thanks for the memories.

Sarah meeting Midnight.

Rachel meeting Cuddle. It was a great first pet experience for our family and we learned a lot about life and death and we'll never forget it.

Mess Makers

2011-05-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

I am battling messes of every shape and size. Last night for Mother's Day sweet friends of mine came over to cook me lasagna, which tasted great, but did not look fashionable on my white church sweater. I treated it and had it soaking in oxyclean still when the girls went up to do their routine and spit out their red toothpaste(who buys red toothpaste?!) on top of it, which made almost a worse stain than the lasagna to begin with. Happy Mother's Day.

Then this morning Adam dumped out a baggie of cereal leftover from his church bag all over Sarah's bed. After it was cleaned up he dumped it out again on the carpet in his room. Ten minutes after that was cleaned out he dumped out a bag of beans into the dirty laundry basket I was getting ready to wash, you can guess what delayed me. After picking all the beans out of the dirty clothes, I employed Adam in making a painting to keep him busy. Then he helped me make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. He asked for a few slices of cheese to eat while he waited for the sandwiches to cook, which he then proceeded to crumble into tiny bits and scatter around the table and kitchen floor, which was nicely mopped. After lunch Adam got a hold of that bag of cereal again and dumped it out on the family room carpet. I got wise and got rid of the bag of cereal and put Adam in bed for a nap.

When he woke up I was folding 3 loads of laundry, which suddenly were no longer folded. We had a snack of pears and crackers which he crumbled into bits and scattered across the now cheesy and crumby floor. I took away the one remaining cracker that he had yet to crush and made him get down and walk through the crumbs. I talked to him about how yucky it feels to walk through and why I don't like him making messes with his food and how we have a table to catch the crumbs so we don't have to walk in it and can clean it up more easily. He agreed it was yucky and promised to eat over the table and not destroy food, so I washed his feet and let him go play.

He went happily into the family room and threw the pillows from the couch all around and pulled off the couch cushions. At dinner he filled his soup bowl with water from his cup overflowing water onto the dining room table (over the carpet) and himself, and as I went for the kitchen rag he splashed in it happily with his hands and spoon. His spoon privileges were revoked and he was sentenced to eat with only a straw in the kitchen. He refused to eat whereupon he was given the choice to sit and eat or go to bed. He chose to go to bed, so his teeth were brushed and sent to bed...where he is singing loudly, but not making a mess, at least that I can see.

Up Springs April

2011-04-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Adam loves squishing his peas as he eats them saying, "beanie beanie beanie." He started the game with his friend Paxton when we had them over for dinner.

It gives Rachel the giggles when he does it.

Some silly game where the kids were pretending to be rhinos pushing the pillows around with their noses.

Scott and Cole came in town for a raquetball tournament. They really enjoyed Adam.

And Adam enjoyed them.

It was wonderful seeing family, we don't get a lot of visitors, and we were thrilled to see Cole again after his mission. It had been a long time since we'd seen each other. We got to sit and chat and learn more about raquetball for a few hours before we needed to get home and pack for our camping trip that night.

Why does it always rain when we go camping!? At least our tent didn't leak. This ward campout was close by so we didn't have to waste time driving which was great, because for us time is an issue.

In the morning as we ate breakfast Adam was standing under the edge of a tarp that had a big puddle on top of it. A huge gust of wind came blowing the tarp up and dumping all the freezing water on top of Adam. The poor little guy was shivering and miserable, but he had a sweet friend that was trying to cheer him up.

After we closed up camp the girls went rock hunting with Dad and our friend Mike Jones while I got to take all the wet gear home to deal with and sneak off to the temple.

Sunday the kids enjoy getting a chance to play together more than other days.

Dad doesn't always get to come home for dinner, so we bring dinner to him and make sure he keeps his strength up. Adam knows right where to look in his drawer for Tic Tacs.

A crazy week follows as usual. I got on a spring cleaning kick and Adam kept himself occupied nearby as I cleaned out all the cupboards and did my favorite activity, got rid of stuff.

Tyler and I have been watching an episode of Psych each week on Thursdays. He bought me the first two seasons for Christmas for us to use for quick date nights. It has been great to have 40 minutes together to laugh and be together, it's not long granted, but you take what you get when every minute is demanded for homework and other responsibilities. I laughed seeing "the blueberry" as I drove around.

Tennis night arrives, we made it through another week!

Saturday my friend Rochelle went to the temple for her first time. What a neat day that was.

Adam found Dad trying to take a little cat nap and thought it would be a good time to play their "sleep game." They pretend to sleep and wake each other up with Adam's light up McQueen, only this time Dad wasn't pretending.

But he was still a good sport.

The following week was spent taking our cars in to get fixed and continuing the spring cleaning. Its so easy to get Ty's car fixed because this room is set up so well for us to hang out forever. They have a fun set up and a neat track. If we bring our little cars and a snack we can be happy for a long time.

Tyler's sister Tiffany and her family came passing through on their way up to Utah on the Saturday before Easter. The kids made themselves a little Easter egg hunt with crackers and cereal.

The girls were excited to show Eli the eggs they are hatching for science. Rochelle's son let us borrow his incubator and supplied us with eggs hatch. We had to turn them every morning and night for 21 days and keep their temperature just right with a little warm water in there to keep it humid.

Easter morning the kids enjoyed the traditional of following Egg Clues all over the house to find our surprise.

It was the movie Tangled and a Tangled princess set with a Maximus and Flynn Rider complete with satchel.

Adam was thrilled with his present, a real tennis racket. Now he finally has one with strings not just cloth.

Adam and Rachel having a little recess break.

At the end of April Dad's work building had a little circus with games for the employees and he asked us to come visit that day.

Adam got to dunk the guy in the dunk tank.

Dad won the highest score of the day on this basketball game. 98.

Dad is so fun to visit. We love you so much, you basketball champ you.

2011-04-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

I miss the girls saying cute little kid things, they are getting so grown up that they don't happen as often. I read my book of funny things they've said and this tickled me.

Rachel gave me a sweet compliment after their bedtime song,

"Mom your voice is so pretty you could sing in a vand. (I think she meant band.) And your so beautiful even when you have not had a shower yet and no lipstick on and even if you were bald."

I'm glad she loves me so much and thinks her mother is beautiful.

March Marches On

2011-03-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

Rachel lost her first top tooth,

we let Adam do the photography.

He wanted to document his teeth too, he is always sure they are loose like his sisters'.

Sister McClelland came over during spring break with Sabrina for a sew-a-thon.

Then they performed a fashion show of all the doll clothes they had sewn, and what a show it was!

Then St. Patrick's Day came, which had everyone digging for green in their closets, which makes for some interesting outfits.

It is a special day around here because it is the day Ty and I met.

And we celebrate by making our traditional shamrock cookies while talking about missionary work and how we can be good missionaries like St. Patrick who introduced many souls to Christ.

Ty worked from home for a few hours and enjoyed seeing me in action. We happened to be doing yard work as part of school this day and learned how to prune and thin bushes and vines and pull weeds.

We had some rainy day homeschool fun when I decided to host an impromptu dance jam with a few homeschooling friends. They had fun learning to choreograph.

I'm happy to report this potty training thing is working, but I need to figure out how to get away from the suckers. The girls would do it for a chip or a raisin, but this kid is too old, he knows how to negotiate.

A fun park visit after the library. When I told the kids we were going Adam said, "Yay Sand." Sure enough the first thing he wanted to do there was just lay in the sand. Boys.

I like seeing all my kids playing together.

This teen girl was cracking me up. Her friends helped her get in the baby swing then left her stranded and she really couldn't get out, until finally they came back to help her out.

Adam likes to hide in the pantry and wait for someone to open the door

so he can say, "Welcome to the Himalayas!" (It's a line from Monster's Inc.) Sarah started the game, now it's a family classic.

Rachel enjoying a cozy moment with Adam, you can see who enjoys it the most.

Time together as a family! Use it well, the seconds are ticking.

Tennis night was a little colder than usual. Adam got chilled, especially after dumping the water bottle on himself. He was very patient to wait until we were all done, because he knew shakes follow tennis. Thin Mint cookies in Chocolate ice cream are worth waiting for.

The girls love their lessons, Dad is so fun and encouraging.

We had our family dental check-ups, of course only I had a cavity. We love special Daddy time when he meets us at the dentists and talk or play hopscotch out front while we wait for our turns. Adam liked watching the cars pass on the busy road, "Look, lot's of McQueens."

I got wise and found a way out of the suckers. We made a sticker chart and Adam got to fill each day with stickers when he went and at the end of the week he'd get to open his present.

Because he loves to wrap his own presents, he already knew what it was going to be. New McQueen sunglasses, his old ones broke. What a cool dude. He has been so great. I was expecting it to be so hard. After the first week of of him holding everything until the naptime diaper I got wise and didn't let him have a nap one day. That was the first day of my new life. He went in the potty, and did ever since. I think we had 3 accidents total and he stays dry all night. I think he's part camel.

I taught Adam how to play restraunt with real water for once, Rachel quickly wanted to take my place.

Please don't eat your brother.

Part of school lately has been learning how to cook lunch so that if I ever go on bedrest again the girls will be prepared to cook and take over. They were so proud of themselves making this lunch all by themselves.

Happy Kids.

2011-03-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

When we got home this guy was tired and wired, ready to celebrate turning 3!

This face always gets me worried, what is he up to?

And ready for his birthday, he loves helping wrap his own presents.

Rachel was sweet to play trains with Adam while his cake baked.

Adam wanted a Bullseye cake,

and some cupcakes and grilled cheese sandwiches.

We did presents with Dad at night. He got a tiny Dirty McQueen with a shovel from
Mom and Dad,

McQueen shorts from Grandma and Grandpa Palmer,

shake and go Chick Hicks from Grandma and Grandpa Cole,

and homemade cards and a track from his sisters.

What a great party it was.

And after the party came the real work.
Time for potty training.

After 6 long days with absolutely no success, we finally went in the potty...sort of. I was so happy for this breakthrough that I could care less it was on me. I learned quickly boys are a little different than girls.

Adam finally earned that red sucker I'd been offering if only he could go in the potty. You can see he was feeling pretty great!

And so was I!

Disneyland pre-3rd Birthday Edition

2011-03-09T17:29:00.000-08:00

Time for our last trip to Disneyland, for the next year or so. Our passes expire in May, but Adam turns 3 on March 11th, and we'd rather not waste the money we could put towards a pass on his tickets for just one trip. So this is it until the next round. It was a great birthday celebration for Adam, as you can see he was thrilled. I love the outfit of that other girl in the picture, she is decked out in all her favorite random things no doubt.

We woke up Friday and drove straight to Disneyland. Fran wanted pictures of the parking structure to understand where it was built. We were on the Donald level, I think the fifth story, of the structure looking down into the bus parking. You can see the tip of the matterhorn towards the right amongst the treetops and on the left you can see tower of terror, the brown building. Further right than the matterhorn you can see a bit of the huge escalators that take you down to the tram loading.

We appreciate all the greenery and plants. They make every area look so nice, even if its just for parking.

Here is a shot from the tram line of the structure itself, the escalators down are the diagonal white and black line coming towards Rachel. I like how you can see a green lamp-post. They all have a Mickey head perched on top, what attention to detail.

I find it funny after 6 hours of driving we choose to ride the autopia cars. Go figure!

Adam rode in "Sally" with Rachel.

Peek.

Space Mountain. We met a girl from New Zealand who was on a big tour of America before moving to London to be a nanny. She was all alone, so we made friends and Sarah sat with her in the front. Rachel actually kept her eyes open!

After that we took the train over to go on Pirates, Tarzan's Tree, Jungle Cruise, and Tiki Room. We met this long time friend along the way, still chewing, poor herbivore.

Here we are monkeying around in Tarzan's treehouse. You can see the girls each clutching a very special bag with the "Mickey Temple" on it. Wonder what they bought? With their own money they each bought a little black velvet bag filled with fake plastic gems from the store by Pirates. They always love feeling the precious stones and have long wondered if they should buy them. They finally decided and have been oh so happy with their purchase.

Wake up Jose! Adam was so excited to wake him up and since he visits the Tiki Room often, he of course knows the drill. As soon as we entered Adam started saying, "Wake up Jose! When is he going to wake up?"

Small World

Loving it! What a fun birthday party!

They do such pretty lighting effects on its facade.

Getting excited for Dumbo

It's too Noisy!

Mom and Rachel on Dumbo

Sarah, Adam, and Dad on Dumbo

We were so thrilled to see this lighthouse by the Storyboats lit up. We've never seen, or noticed, that before!

At the end of the night we ran over to see the World of Color at California Adventure. We've never been interested enough to stay late enough to see it, but we thought we ought to see it at least once. Now that it isn't such a big deal anymore, we knew there wouldn't be a huge crowd, so we went to see it. The girls fell asleep sitting on the pier leaning against this fence and were saying, "Now can we go?" Yes it was that exciting. We left.

Oh by the way, look what we parked by. A jag. It reminded us that we'd be with Aunt Luise when we came back next.

The next morning, Saturday, we went to California Adventure. First we saw the Pixar Pals show.

They wanted the audience to growl, scream, and laugh. What a cute little monster participating so well.

At animation studios we learned to draw Pooh Bear then went to Turtle Talk with Crush, Dude.

Time for the Aladdin show!

Beast's Library, we didn't have time before the show, so we had to come back to finish up.

We had never noticed this picture as you go into the library. Depending on where you stand in the room Sleeping Beauty's dress changes from pink to blue.

Riding the snack boxes at Bug's Land all together is rare because Dad doesn't like the spinning rides. He's a good sport, and was able to keep his "snacks" down.

That was it until Monday. First a nice restful Sabbath. We had a family testimony meeting then asked Aunt Luise and Uncle Van to tell us more about their mission in Nauvoo.

Sampling the styles of the day.

Monday Matterhorn Day!

We were thrilled to learn Adam could try riding too.

All hands up!

Phew, he loved it!

Toon Town, we visited Minnie's house.

And helped her wash her dishes

Mickey! When Adam sees this picture he says, "Look Mickey was so happy to see Adam!"

A nice duet.

Yum, Pluto shares with Rachel.

Adam wants some too.

Sitting in Mickey's chair.

I like how the walls look like a padded cell from an asylum.

Adam wanted to ride next to Sarah on the Roller Coaster, I was a little worried to let him. I guess I thought she'd let him fall out, but they did fine together.

I like snapping pictures during the ride, you never know what you'll get. Adam's cute little hand...

Chip and Dale's Treehouse

Goofy came by for a visit while we ate our lunch.

Then we tried the Roger Rabbit ride. I don't know that I've ever tried it, maybe with Fran long ago. I wasn't missing anything. It was probably the longest line we waited in and was very lame. Now we know.

A teenager-ish face if I've ever seen one, just kidding. She was trying to figure out what they were saying, they tell jokes and make crashes on the other end of the line.

The cute little family I came with about to be eaten by Monstro!

The cute little family I came with waiting in line for Teacups, much less dangerous.

Bye Dad, he bailed.

We went on Alice and met up with Aunts and Uncles at the exit.

Aunt Luise, Uncle Tory and Aunt Dora made it in time for the Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show. They lavished all of their attentions on Adam while we waited for the show to start.

We had 15 minutes, it was just enough time for Tyler and the girls to ride Thunder Mtn and be back before the show. The lines were awesome. So was the show. Tyler wonders how they can find guys so ugly.

After the show we found Jasmine and Aladdin, she was wearing this cloak so we were so excited to get a picture of her actually modest! To our surprise the people behind us in line saw her cloak and said, "What! She is all covered up! We're out of here!" It cracked us up that the modesty that we appreciated so much deterred them. Ha.

After the show we rode pirates of the Carribean, which Adam still does not like and snuggles into Daddy and hides for.

Tory and Dora visited Pixie Hollow for their first time.

Then it was teacup time! Uncle Tory's favorite! He fastened down his hat under his hood so they could really fly.

Dora opted to spin with Adam at a less dizzying speed.

Tory and Dora joined us for Small World then caught the Toon Town train to get home to bed. We stayed in Fantasy Land to finish off the night. Rachel loves this ride, more than anyone.

Waiting in line for Peter Pan, being exhausted and refusing to give up and go home.

Off to Neverland with Peter. We read the original J.M. Barrie version on our car ride out, so we were really excited to know how the real story went and see the ride with fresh eyes.

I always wanted a picture of this mural and I finally got a chance to snap one. The mermaids in Disney's version are so rude it always bothered me, but that is exactly how they were in the original, very cheeky and jealous of Wendy's attention from Peter, yet beautiful all the same.

The carousel.

So romantic.

Sarah loves Snthis apple, hahaha (in a witch-like cackle).

At Snow White's Cottage about to embark on her Scary Adventure

Pinocchio's Blue Fairy

End of the night pictures at favorite spots, the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique window

Rachel in front of the castle

Sarah thought this toilet paper marketing mural in the bathroom was too funny!

Buzz, Adam is so excited to see him he never takes his eyes off him.

The hidden mickey in the buzz line

The jets, last ride of the night.

Let the memories begin it says, but for us they are at an end...but we had one more day!

We started off with a bang, thank you sir, waka waka waka. It's screamin! Rachel got really brave this last day, knowing it was her last chance to show what she is made of and take on those big rides she never dared try.

Rachel's first time was a success! She looks like she is slunked down asleep, Ty and Sarah are happy and enjoying it, and Mom looks excited, very excited.

Woody and his army guy friend, he looked so strange all green I just wanted to keep looking at him, but he slunk around real fast and sneaky it was hard to get a glimpse of him. Woody came up behind me and put his arm around my shoulder as we were walking to Toy Story Mania.

Getting geared up for the Mania

The whole crew

Beep beep. Chariot coming through.

Riding King Triton's sea creatures.

Taking time to examine a real sample of the sea. Everything is so interesting.

Adam getting squirrely during lunch at the Taste Pilot's Grill. There was a huge rocket booster behind this fence, so cool. He loves being here, no matter if he on a ride, line, or behind a restraunt. It's just great to be on vacation with the family!

Soarin'

I think Aunt Luise had about all the fun she could handle.

Ready to fly.

We shrunk down to buggy size for It's Tough to be a Bug.

I want some of these glasses, wouldn't they be stylin' at the pool? They would probably give me crazy tan lines from those eyebrow antenna things.

It's fun to show Uncle Tory the little kid attractions that he's never explored before.

Spinning pictures are the greatest. Capture that moment!

Tuck and Roll Bumper Buggies

Rachel was hesitant to try Tower of Terror, but once again knowing this was her last chance...

and hung on to Dad for dear life!

After that Ty and I had to put on our secret identities and do some crime fighting. I'll just tell you, we were "incredible."

We had just enough time to change back into our "civilian clothes" to say goodbye to Uncle Tory before leaving the park.

Here we are waiting for the tram to come end our fun.

As always Aunt Luise has been a wonderful hostess, friend, and life of the party.

As always we wave goodbye to our beloved Aunt Luise and Uncle Van.

As always we reminisce about the great time we had as we drive home...

and then zonk out.

Well deserved rest after so much diligent play.

February

2011-03-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

After all the fun of my parents being here life had to go back to normal, but there are some benefits to that. Instead of running to "nuggle" with grandparents in the mornings, they came to me. Ahhh...Paradise. There really is no place I'd rather be.

And after all that fun we were sick...for a long time. Who is in that bundle of blankets?

Peek it's Sarah and Adam.

Dad playing a "sleeping game" with Adam.

Tennis Time. We have really enjoyed playing tennis together as a family. We bring the scooters for the kids to ride around collecting balls while Mom and Dad play.

Then the girls have their lesson.

Adam and I gave Cream a birthday party.

I think this may be the first tree Sarah has ever climbed. We just don't have great trees here, she was lucky to find a climbable one.

Just when we were all better my friend got very sick and we were able to take her kids for the day. What a blast!

Random: Tyler's picture from 1st grade titled "The All American Teddy Bear" that he doesn't know what to do with. Well, here is the memory forever. He was only 7, what a prodigy.

After being healthy a few short days, sickness again. I found some nice things about being sick, there isn't much laundry. Everyone wants to stay in their jammies.
Also everyone is very cuddly.

Scriptures

Adam being cute during scriptures.

Welcome home, the end of another tough, character building week.

I love Friday nights, all together at last!

These kids are going camping (for pretend), a very good thing to do when Dad is over an hour late and we have to distract ourselves. We know he is late doing very good and important things, good thing we have great imaginations to keep us occupied and supportive.

It pays off, he's home and it didn't even feel like we waited a minute!

These guys play the funnest games together, here are some others. Kids in a closet.

Jail

Wrestling Match

Jam Session

Miss Rachel lost her first top tooth, which is a very big deal in growing up. Adam is living in a "loose tooth world" with none of his teeth ever coming out. He always tells us his teeth are coming out and shows us by trying to wiggle them. Tyler says his little brother Ryan yanked all his teeth out early for the Tooth Fairy money, let's hope Adam waits or he'll be living on yogurt and smoothies for years.

We are into very good park weather.

I love that we are in a stage where all the kids can play together.

And I love to see them get good exercise.

I love seeing Adam so excited to feed the ducks! I don't think he remembers ever doing it before.

I also love seeing that these sisters are the very best of friends.

Here Come Grandparents

2011-02-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

Adam and I had a birthday party for Bullseye. We are preparing Adam to understand what his 3rd birthday will be all about, so all of his friends from Mickey and Bullseye to Thomas the train have been having birthday parties. It also helps him learn how to play imaginary games.

Dad was having a hot chocolate party with these two while I took Rachel to a birthday party. Way to make the moments count!

Loving every sip.

Saying goodbye to Daddy. I love how Adam is in mid-air with satin and fur girl slippers on.

So happy with prizes from the library. New t-shirts, smile buddies, sticky hands, and books. Just what we need, more stuff.

Grandma and Grandpa Cole stayed in California for a few weeks after the Disneyland trip to relax and visit with Ross and Jenny. On their way home they came through Arizona to see us again. They picked up the girls and took them to Sedona for a special getaway.

They played miniature golf.

Watched Nanny McPhee Returns

Explored the Resort

Found huge icicles

Goofed around

Went Hiking

And had an absolutely wonderful time with their wonderful grandparents.

Meanwhile back at home Adam and I caulked the showers and sinks, painted the doors and trim in the bathroom and entry way, and babysat our neighbor Nixon while his mommy was having a baby at the hospital. Here is my buddy Adam in his favorite baseball shirt.

Grandma and Grandpa come back and Adam finally gets to have Grandpa all to himself. Chase!

Tackle!

Having fun with Nixon.

Saturday it was time for Nixon to meet his new little brother.

Mom, Dad and I went to the temple after we dropped him off at the hospital. After the temple we picked up everyone to celebrate with our Valentine's tradition. These grandkids are ready to be spoiled with ice cream.

Sarah, Rachel, and Adam got Bubble Gum. I got Cherries Jubilee, Ty got Rocky Road and Strawberry

Mom and Dad got Sundaes

Watch this folks

I have a tongue

And I know how to use it!

Sunday it was fun to have Mom and Dad attend our ward and be with me in primary and nursery. They had helpful ideas of how to get the nursery kids more involved in singing time. That night we hosted the Bishop/Youth Fireside and talked about the Sabbath then ate brownies. I love having those firesides here and having the youth over!

Mom and Dad stayed in town till Thursday because they got snowed in. Not from Arizona snow! They wanted to wait till the Utah snow melted to drive back safely. I was so happy to get extra days together, I have the best luck!

Mom found me reading to the kids.

So I read to her too.

Grandma playing with the cars that they brought Adam. They were the coolest! A fourpack from Disneyland that looked like Zurg, Buzz, Woody, and an Alien made into cars! They wanted to give Adam something special to play with while being left behind when they took the girls. He did just fine.

Disneyland Christmas Edition

2011-01-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

This year we celebrated Tyler's 32nd birthday at Disneyland. It was absolutely freezing so we took precautions by bundling up as much as we could.

Adam had been begging for Woody and Jesse's ride for weeks, so we started with it.

Ariel's carousel

Tyler mostly wanted to see that huge Christmas tree and all the fun decorations. Check.

We learned about Walt's special apartment over the firestation. Oh how we wish we could go up and see it.

We headed to Tomorrowland for lunch and got to see the Jedi Training. Adam got freaked out by Darth Maal who came after him on purpose! I can't believe he would pick on a poor little 2 year old! He was scared to death.

Visiting Buzz helped cheer him up.

Grandma and Grandpa Cole arrived and met Aunt Luise and us in line. What a party!

Space Mountain

Time for the Christmas parade.

We saw the dancing reindeer, which I'd never seen in person before only in our Disneyland Fun movie. It was a great parade with all the princesses with their handsome princes and all of our favorite characters, even Santa.

Small World all lit up

The "snow." The girls and I went running over to dance under it and feel it. It was really tiny little bubbles like foam from a soap dispenser.

Adam's cute face wondering at the snow.

Small World "freezing over" during the snow

The castle "frozen" after the snow

We went to tiki room to warm up. It's hard to say who likes it more, Dad or Adam.

Then rode Pirates of the Carribean, Adam hid safely in Daddy's shoulder.

Sarah posing at a very cute checkout counter.

I was surprised to learn my own father had been a member of the secret elite Club 33. So I took a picture of him by the secret elite green door.

We stayed for the firworks, for the first time. It was so neat because it was done to Silent Night and other Christmas Hymns, very moving.

This time Aunt Luise tried renting a scooter from an outside company. It was much cheaper, but we worried it may run out of batteries. By the end of the night she barely coasted back to the car.

Tuckered.

The next morning we went to California Adventure. Uncle Tory came with us this day, but Aunt Dora was sick. It was fun for my kids to meet him, they really hit it off. Adam was excited to see Nemo and Dory.

We all went to the Aladdin Show.

Playhouse Disney, Uncle Tory loved it as much as Adam, but Tory wasn't jumping around, popping the bubbles, and squealing excitedly like Adam.

Loving on Dad waiting for Turtle Talk with Crush. Righteous Rachel got to talk to Crush for a long time. Surfin' Sarah did last time.

Ursula stealing our voices. We had fun sing Bear Necessities together then acting out Bambi and Flower. My mom did the voice of Flower so funny. "Oh that's alright, he can call me a flower if he wants to." Then my girls were Bambi, "Perty, perty Flower!"

We had fun trying our hand at drawing Minnie and Mickey at the Animation Academy.

Toy Story, we had to go again because Grandma and Grandpa Cole had never been on it!!!

The last ride of the night on the carousel with Grandma. Classic. This brought back memories of so many "last rides of the night" with my Mom on the carousel.

Father and Son studying the maps, planning the next day.

We started at Fantasyland and found the hidden Mickey in Mr. Toad's eye.

We saw Rapunzel, though we didn't wait in the hour long line to meet her.

We noticed day by day they added one row of these new foot rests to the carousel. Cool.

They also added new handles on the poles. You can see proof. Rachel and Uncle Tory's row didn't have handles.

Adam's row did. Two golden handles, one on each side of the pole.

We all rode Dumbo.

Then teacups.

Then we headed to tomorrowland for Autopia

Uncle Tory was very pleased when Adam wanted to hold hands.

And he was pleased when Rachel wanted to ride with him.

Blasting space creatures to conquer the Evil Emporer Zurg.

Grandma wanted to go on the jets, because Grandpa will never go with her because he gets dizzy, so she figured this may be her only chance to have someone to go on them with. We have never ridden them with the kids because Tyler gets too dizzy too and I'd rather ride Dumbo, it's a much more magical view. So here is Grandma finally getting to enjoy the jets, introducing it to Sarah and Rachel.

After the jets we took Adam home. He started biting and acting wierd. He just needed to go to bed, but Grandma and Grandpa Cole stayed with the girls until real late. I was glad they got to have that fun chance. My parents are really fun at Disneyland and know every knook and cranny. I hear they spend their time going on the Toon Town roller coaster (10 times and hurt poor Grandpa's back), Big Thunder Mtn, I think they tried Indiana, but it closed down, then Jungle Cruise. What a special night for them. I felt like a very grown up Mommy to not freak out letting my kids be at Disneyland without me, they had the best care takers possible though.

The next day was all about rest and a special temple trip. We had a magnificent day doing sealings together in the Los Angeles temple as a famly for our family names.

I'd never been to that temple before, but my aunts and uncles in attendance and parents had all been sealed there. While there my Dad showed me the room he was sealed to his parents in the day he returned home from his mission. They had driven straight there from the airport! As I looked into the room I felt a wonderful closeness to them I've never felt before and appreciated for the first the part they've played in the righteous heritage I've been given. I've never met them, but will someday.

My handsome husband for eternity.

I love this picture of us storming the temple, on our way to do important work!

Back to Disneyland. We sure rode that Buzz Lightyear ride a lot.

Adam just lit up so much seeing Buzz we couldn't deny him the pleasure. This trip was fun seeing him more and more "get" Disneyland. He understands and loves it now like the rest of us, too bad our passes are almost up and he'll be 3 so soon.

This little door holds a magic and wonder to me that shows on his face.

Waiting in line for Peter Pan. You have to remember most of your time at Disneyland is spent just being in line together. I didn't want to forget these moments.

Grandma on the carousel with the girls again.

My best shot of Rapunzel's hair. It was really fun having seen the movie this time to see the hair and know all about her.

Casey Jr.

I think this was my first time not riding in the caboose or animal cage ever! I rather liked it, I could see so much more!

Uncle Tory suggested we see his favorite show, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. Great Show! I wish he could have been with us and seen us enjoy it, but he couldn't come with us on the only day it showing. We had lunch at the Golden Horseshoe and stayed for the show. I always thought it was an extremely fancy restraunt in there and never ventured in. It sells the same things as outside and for the same prices.

Most of all the girls and I were thrilled and surprised to discover that it is where they filmed the Rider's in the Sky music video that plays the Woody's Roundup Medley at the end of Toy Story 2's Bonus Features. We recognized it immediately, but had to watch it again when we came home just to make sure. It was so exciting for us to feel like we were walking right into the movie, and to know now that we've been there!

As an unexpected side effect the girls were so motivated by the amazing string talent they really wanted to get home and practice!

Bug's Land in the Flik's Flyers

Francis Lady Bugs (with Charlene Francis)

Priceless face!

Funny shot.

Tuck and Roll Bumper Cars, Rachel gets ruthless!

Heimlech Chew Chew Train

It's Tough to be a Bug 3-D Show

Tower of Terror

The cool Woody out of Legos in Downtown Disney

Those girls are ready to ride. Sarah couldn't wait to break in her new boots Rachel gave her for Christmas.

Sarah and Adam running free

Rachel was the only one who could help with grooming. The horses are a little afraid of Adam, like he might be a dog and we don't want him to get kicked. Sarah can last there longer if she doesn't participate with all the dust, dander, and hair.

She also gets to ride first so we can stay longer.

Mom and Adam's turn

The spectators

Dad and Adam

Funny Boy

Sarah's style of Happiness. She is planning that farm of hers already. She is studying out which state will be most conducive to the crops she is planning to grow.

In heaven

Dismounts like a pro.

Following and learning everything they can from Uncle Van. (I like this huge bag of chips Adam is diving into.)

Thanks Uncle Van, for sharing your passion with us.

Going home and not so happy about it, but it was a great trip and we promise we'll be back soon!

Christmas-time is here

2010-12-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

Snuggling Daddy for precious moments before he goes to work in the morning. We can hardly bear to let him go.

During finals and tithing settlement we miss Daddy, so Friday instead of family movie night we opted for a game so we could be more interactive.

Twister always ends up like this. Very interactive, in fact it doesn't get any more interactive than this.

Ending the night with chocolate time.

The next morning we cleaned the church and went to Shane's birthday party at Scooptacular, we had a great time.

Monday family home morning we learned about the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.

Adam and Rachel vigorously leading the music.

A random shot. How did those pants get left on the way to the Christmas tree?

The primary article of faith banana split party. The more you know, the more you get! All that hard work pays off.

My little baker. The holiday baking has never beckoned me as it did this year. I wanted to try making everything.

We made caramel and chocolate dipped pretzels for Dad to give at work and for neighbors. We had so much fun during our dipping party we started dipping everything we could think of in chocolate: vanilla wafers, crackers, chips, marshmallows, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, popcorn...

Hey, I told those kids to do their schoolwork. Where are they?

Aha!

Daddy gets to join us for dinner now that finals are over. We have our own violinist serenading us during dinner.

Another random shot of Adam, this time cheering up the girls. Howdy.

Another fun movie night.

I found these little sweeties reading Christmas stories from the Friend by the tree together.

Finally Christmas Eve!

The Reeve's joined us in time for chocolate time and singing.

We all watched ELF, hilarious.

Then Santa came and the kids came down to see what he brought.

Sarah and Rachel were thrilled to see Hally and MayLynn. They were so sure Santa would bring them, they had brought down their horses (from Santa 2 years ago) to meet them.

Rachel and her pig

Adam was happy to see Mac Truck.

Sarah was thrilled to see the back-ordered outfit for her doll that she thought wouldn't come for weeks. Grandma and Grandpa Cole had helped by finding the exact outfit in stock at their Toys R Us and sending it in the mail just in time!

The packaging can be so difficult.

Adam happily organized his cars and kept saying, "I got everything!"

Mom's favorite gifts, special childhood cards from Aunt Fran, Psych from Ty, letters from my girls, and behind you can see my awesome picture of my siblings and parents from Lo.

The girls had a great time snuggling up to watch a movie in our delicious blanket from the Elders with their new dolls.

During their movie and Mom iced and heated Dad's migraine while he talked with family members. Adam stayed nearby lining up his cars again.

Mom forgot about the rice bag she heated Dad's with, but Adam didn't. He ripped it open on the bed and ate as much of the rice as he could before being discovered.

Merry Christmas!

We love snuggling Adam and resting after so much Christmas fun.

Time to put away the tree and decorations and prepare for another great year.

Thanksgiving and a visit from Grandparents

2010-11-30T10:05:00.000-08:00

Finally a vacation!

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Sedona with Grandma and Grandpa Cole. Here the kids are presenting Grandma Cole with pictures and stories made just for her.

Ty studying for finals every chance he got.

Out exploring the premises with Grandma.

Our Thanksgiving Feast

Watching Toy Story 3 for the first time courtesy of the Wilson's letting us borrow it. The next morning we went to see Tangled at the theatre together. Great Movie!

During our whole Thanksgiving weekend with Mom and Dad in Sedona, a morning walk with Dad was my favorite part. Sarah came along and I couldn't help but be reminded of myself at age 9 taking walks with my Dad through little known Korean streets early summer mornings and almost running to keep pace with him, but never letting it show. She kept up nicely.

When we got home we played in the park after unpacking.

I heard O Come All Ye Faithful playing from the ice cream truck. It took me a minute to figure out why that was wierd. Only in Phoenix would there we an ice cream truck patroling during this season. Still it was an invitation to come to Him. It helped me decide I'm going to redouble my efforts to read and pray and study and really come close to Him this season, and bring my kids with me.

Grandma and Grandpa Cole came home with us after celebrating Thanksgiving at the condo. We trimmed the tree together.

Then we had our traditional singing around the tree

and read scriptures by tree light.

For the next few days we had fun math help. Grandpa drilled Sarah on mulitplication

while Grandma drilled Rachel on addition. You can see Adam is getting a head start on his subtraction, haha.

We went to the biggest See's store I have ever seen. It's a free standing store in my old neighborhood, just a few blocks from our old condo, that I never got to go to.

Every year Gma and Gpa sent us a gift certificate for a pound of chocolates and I've always been "saving" them. This year I got brave and we cashed them all in. Yep, we picked out 4 pounds of chocolates! Mmmm.

Adam caught on quickly to chocolate time each night. I was very impressed how much self control this little two year has to just sit with 4 pounds of chocolate and wait.

Someone loves Grandpa.

Lots of someones love Grandpa.

I guess all that love wears him out.

Time to love Grandma then.

I gave Grandma a haircut. Brave.

Playing at the park together and having another brisk walk on our last day together.

We had so much fun and can't wait to see you again! Thanks for spending Thanksgiving with us!

October and November

2010-11-23T21:19:00.000-08:00

Still great weather for walk and rides or scooters. We spent a fun day with our friends Nixon and Susan at the Botanical Gardens.

First we went to the butterfly pavillion where we learned about Monarch Butterflies.

Then we boarded the hayride to the pumpkin patch where we chose and decorated pumpkins to live music and saw the animals in the petting zoo.

They loved the full grown miniature horse.

After decorating pumpkins we went back to the butterflies for the releasing of new butterflies. Adam about to release a butterfly.

One in my hand. They were refrigerated to force hibernation state and then the warmth of your hand would waken them as you put their tracking sticker on the wing. Then they flew away. It was magical.

We have called Adam "Boojie" (also Boojie-Pie, Little Boojer, Boojaroo, Booj, and such) since he was a baby, who knew there was a Boojum tree? Too funny.

When I asked Adam what he thought about there being a Boojum tree, this is the reaction I got.

That Friday night we hosted a pajama party to celebrate Rachel turning 7!

Sweet Sister Cheatam made her birthday cake

and I sewed these little beauty masks for a game and hand out.

The girls made the decorations.

First we played a pillow jumping relay game where you had to put on Rachel's Dad's "huge" Jammie Pants

Then we matched up which girl brought which snuggle-buddy

then masked them all and made them hunt for theirs.

Success

The next game was a similar to musical chairs, but with the snuggle-buddies.

We danced until the music stopped and had to grab one of the snuggle-buddies and "go to sleep."

As the girls got "out" they were treated to a makeover by me, then nails with Mandy. Everyone wanted to get "out."

They loved that one on one looking into the mirror at the makeshift vanity. Priceless.

Time for presents.

Time for Cake. Best, least stressful party ever.

Doug and Mandy stayed afterwards to celebrate their birthdays, which are on the same day, and eat the cake Sister Cheatam surprised her with.

Sunday, on Rachel's real birthday, she opened her gifts from the family. Icabod from Sarah, Razor Scooter from Mom and Dad, Pillowpet from Gma & Gpa Cole, and Jasmine/Aladdin Barbies from Gma & Gpa Palmer. Notice Adam loves the Jasmine, though I wish it were Aladdin. He even carried her around in the store.

Sarah finished up soccer season. I think it was too much for me, but I'm glad she enjoyed it while it lasted. Here she is by her coach and friends waiting on the sidelines.

Look at Sarah run after that ball.

The whole team

Adam happily peppering his toast. He loves the salt as expected, but pepper?! Whatever.

He loves the cute little glass and metal container they go in and out of. I had this in mind and looked for this for years, finally I found one at the dollar store! The girls get a kick out of him liking pepper. He actually ate that toast too.

Halloween is not one of our favorite holidays, but we participate for the kids. On Saturday the 30th we trunk-or-treated at the church parking lot. Sarah was a witch, Adam was Mike Wyzowski from Monsters Inc, and Rachel was a pirate.

All the kids sat down with their treats and Tyler with his law book. I know which one I'd rather be.

Sunday the 31st we went to dinner at the Abegg's where they planned a few festivities for the kids. So fun.

Jamming out after the movie on Friday Family Movie Night. Sometimes the music during the credits just gets us going.

Magically we get sick after Halloween, hmmm. It must be all that nutritious candy.

The kids like to make "Pumba beds" out of pillows and laying blankets over the top. You know those days where you just can't find any position to get comfortable because your so sick and achy. Next time try a Pumba bed. (They call it that because of the little beds Pumba makes in Lion King 1 1/2.)

When my kids are sick and I'm not it's fun to dote on them, but it's a different story when everyone is sick including you. Ug.

Good home teachers came to give us blessings. Adam has always been terrible for blessings and squirmed and screamed through them. That Sunday after he watched me and the girls get blessings he hopped off the couch saying "my turn!" He was so reverent and I was so happy to hear he "will continue to grow, and grow to handle the foods you're allergic to." Yay!

My blessing said "you will feel energy flow into you" and within a few hours I did. It really felt like a surge of power and I was able to get up and start preparing the things I needed to for the baby shower I was hosting in a few days and picking up all the slack that had accumulated while I hadn't been tip top. It was a very neat feeling and so special to know the Lord sent me the strength I needed when I needed it so I could accomplish the things I needed and wanted to for my family and friends. We were all well within two days!

Here Adam is thinking he can use this tiny chair for dinner. A sucker isn't usually part of dinner, it's his treat for letting me cut his hair.

Working on the patio in nice weather.

We're so glad when Daddy comes home!

We are glad he is strong enough to handle all the love.

What is going on here? Complete and utter chaos. It's a paper airplane war of course!

The neighbors want to get in on the fun. What kid wouldn't want to be in our family?! Yes, we let her in.

Family Home Morning, Drawing the Plan of Salvation

Buddies

I took the kids to the Phoenix Art Museum, I wasn't prepared for so much nudity, so we won't be going again. We did have fun and learn some things, and Sarah walked smack into the walls in the Firefly room, so funny. I is a dark 12x12 mirrored room with fading multi-colored led lights hanging from the ceiling at all lengths. It was awesome. It felt like we were floating in outer space. At first Adam was really scared and clung to me like he felt he really was going to float away, it was so neat.

Afterwards we stopped by Dad's office and watched the sunset together while he ate his dinner before running over to school.

Then of course posed in front of his office on the way out.

I don't know who snapped these, but I like them. I suspect one of the girls.

Here the kids are marathon shopping with me trying to get Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. What troopers.