**WARNING: Extremely long post!! Read at your own risk!!**
After my last post about finishing our TV stand, you probably think I've been glued to the couch, engrossed in shows and movies for the past 8 months. Thankfully, no. Well, maybe some of the time. But life got pretty busy over the last several months for our family. Here are the highlights...
MEMORIAL DAY
We enjoyed a little excursion down to San Diego to visit Grandma Berta and Grandpa Mel who were on vacation at Campland by the Bay. (I am so bummed but I can't seem to find any of the pictures on the computer right now. And blogger won't even let me upload any of the videos either!) We had a pirate treasure hunt complete with a message in a bottle, cryptic clues, mysterious pirate voices, and buried treasure (leave it to Grandma and Grandpa to make this super fun for the kids!)...
... we got to visit the Mormon Battalion (or as the kids called it, "The Mormon Italian") ...
... we played on the beach, roasted hotdogs over the campfire (a big hit with the kids), watched the fireworks from Sea World, and made s'mores ...
... and on our way out, we stopped by the San Diego Temple. We even got to meet Mitt Romney at church (I guess he was having his own little getaway).
We had so much fun and hope we'll be able to do it again!
ISAAC'S BIRTHDAY
We celebrated Isaac's birthday at Disneyland. We all had fun that day!
YMCA SOCCER
Shailey, Eli, and Isaac played YMCA soccer together. It was totally crazy to have three kids in soccer at once but they seemed to enjoy it. Eli and Isaac's favorite part about soccer was the tunnel the parents made with their arms at the end of each game for the players to run through ...and the snacks. Awesome. :)
Olivia just hung out on the sidelines doing this most of the time...
...and this. :)
The games would sometimes last into the evening.
I'll be honest, it was a relief to be done.
DANNY'S BIRTHDAY
This had the potential to be a total blast. We had dinner at Benihana's and planned to see Sondre Lerche (our favorite musician) at the El Rey Theater.
Unfortunately, I got food poisoning that evening and had to leave the theater right before he was scheduled to perform. Ugh. I still feel awful about it. We'll have to catch Sondre the next time he's in LA. And I may never eat at Benihana's again.
TRIP TO OREGON
I took an impromptu trip up to Oregon over the summer. It was my first time driving all the way there by myself. I'm glad we went but I don't look forward to making that drive alone again any time soon!
We had a lot of fun during our stay playing...
...exploring...
...and just hanging out!
Did I mention Shailey got glasses at the start of summer? Isn't she adorable?
LAS VEGAS
Vegas was fun but after spending a few days near the strip and all the casinos we were happy to get away from it.
We watched volcanoes erupt, fish and sharks swim, fountains dance, discovered the many colors M&Ms come in (and also discovered that Olivia loves M&Ms) and explored mummy tombs (and other museum stuff!) and visited the Las Vegas Temple.
We also spent a lot of time swimming in the pool and overeating at buffets.
THE GRAND CANYON
This was an adventure! Our entire drive over we watched thunder and lighting storms and prayed the van would make it in one piece. We got to the campground just before dark and set up our tent. We all huddled in the tent as the flashlight batteries slowly bagan to die (oh brother). The thunderstorms continued so we sang silly songs at the top of our lungs to keep the kids from getting scared (I'm sure our neighbors in the campsite over HATED us!) Finally, the kids went to sleep, and luckily we all stayed dry despite a little rain.
Exploring the Grand Canyon the next day was really fun. It was beautiful and I think I took too many pictures that all look the same so I'll only share a few.
The kids became Junior Park Rangers and received their badges.
And then it was time to leave... and the van wouldn't start! So we waited for about 45 minutes before we could find someone to give us a jump. But then they realized that their battery was inaccessible in their car (it was in the back somewhere). So we found another couple who tried to give us a jump, which they did. But the car still wouldn't start. Great. So we called AAA.
After awhile the AAA guy came out and messed around with the engine. We found out it was the starter. Luckily he got it started for us! (Yay!) We were so worried the car wouldn't start that we left it running the entire way home. Yup, the whole way. Food stops? Running. Stops for gas? Running. Bathroom breaks? Running. The car didn't get a break until we pulled into our driveway. Danny was able to take it in to get the starter fixed the next day. Phew! It was quite a trip.
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Unfortunately I forgot my camera on the first day (and week...and month...) of school. Shailey is in 3rd grade now with Mr. Reed, Eli is in 2nd grade with Ms. Deutsch, and Isaac started Kindergarten with Mrs. Bain. So far all the kids are doing well and I'm enjoying my time at home with this little gal. :)
HALLOWEEN
We had good fun dressing up for Halloween. Shailey went as Rapunzel, Eli went as Harry Potter, Isaac went as a mummy, and Olivia went as her favorite animal, a kitty.
OLIVIA'S BIRTHDAY
We celebrated Olivia's 2nd birthday at home. She opened a few presents and we all had cupcakes. It was pretty laid back but she had fun!
CHRISTMAS
We took our annual trip up to Oregon for Christmas. We enjoyed spending time with our families. We watched movies, played games, drank a lot of hot chocolate, ate yummy food, looked at Christmas lights and played with uncles, aunts, and cousins...
Shailey found the pickle on the tree so she got to open the first present.
We got to Skype with Ammon again!
After the chaos...
...it's fun to visit but it always feels nice to be back home!
Now that a new year has begun I will try my best to update the family blog more regularly. A lot of my spare time last year was used up with photo sessions and editing. I'm working on managing that a little better this year by doing less shoots so I can spend more time with the kids and actually take pictures of them! :)
