More Puppy Photos

We've decided to name our puppy Sandy. Here are some photos from our visit this week.

Here she is running after her mom. She always goes right for her when her mom comes.

Our first visit with our new puppy!

Did you hear? We've gone a bit insane and decided to get a puppy! It took a while, but we finally found what we wanted. We are getting a Labradoodle. Yup, one of the mutt/designer breeds. But, it seems to have all the things we are looking for in a dog (except a bit larger than I wanted) and so I think it will work out great for our family. The Labradoodles are a bit varied in their coat type, so that will be better determined as she gets older. But, from the photo you can tell she will definitely have a curly coat. Isn't she adorable?

She is 4 1/2 weeks in this photo. We'll get to take her home October 5th. Until then, we were told to come visit her as much as we like. The girls are begging to go see her again already!

These are photos of past puppies from the same parents as our puppy. Ours will look something like one of these. Thankfully, these dogs don't shed. Can you imagine with all that hair?

One last camping trip for the year.

This time we went up to the mountains where the Palomar Observatory is located. The weather at our house was hot, humid, and Thunderstormy (is that a word?). But, looking at our schedule coming up we knew it was one of the last opportunities we would have to go. The weather down south looked better, so we thought we'd give it a chance. It turned out perfect. Highs were in the 70's and lows in the low 60's or so. Perfect for sitting by the campfire or snuggling in your sleeping bag. The stars were amazing and we just had a great time singing camp songs and telling stories around the campfire.

We loved our campsite. The first campground we drove in to was a state park and there was a sign saying it was full. We drove around and saw the place just packed with people and cars. It actually looked like a miserable place to camp anyway. After an hour and half drive and all the work to pack our stuff we were all very disappointed. But, a park ranger let us know that we were not in the campground we were looking for. We drove up the road a short distance and found the Observatory Campground. It was not crowded at all and the campsites were well spaced apart. There was no one near us. Perfect!

We tried to go hiking the next day, but the threat of ticks the kids read on the bulletin board scared them so much it turned into torture. Believe me, we were well prepared (dressed and bug sprayed) for ticks, but they still were concerned. Then Brianna got a bloody nose, so we forgot the hike and just went back and enjoyed our camp.

First Day of School

Courtney is in 1st grade! I can't believe my little girl is so big! At first, the long day was hard for her, but she is quickly adjusting and doing very well. Her reading is just amazing. She really enjoy reading The Magic Tree House series. She seems to like first grade and there has been no tears. She happily hops out of the car and walks in with her sisters. YAY!

McKayla is my 3rd grader. She got into GATE for this year (the gifted and talented program at our school) and is very excited. She loves school and being with her friends. Her favorite subject is math, but lately she has really gotten in to reading. It took her longer to catch the reading bug than it took Brianna and Courtney, but now we have to get after her for staying up too late reading her books!

Brianna is on her last year of grade school, 5th grade. It makes me sad to think she'll be a big Middle Schooler next year. I hope she really enjoys this last year of grade school. Her teacher has her doing 6th grade math and she tested at a 12th grade reading level. We still haven't figured out age appropriate material for her at the higher reading levels. She's already read all the Harry Potter books twice.

Our Summer in Review

We had a fantastic summer! We really didn't have much planned, but the days filled up and the summer flew by. I think the kids had a great time. I didn't get many photos, but we were so busy with activities that the kids actually never once said that they were bored! Amazing! Though, they did discover a new TV show they got hooked on. "Avatar" on Nickelodian. They love that show! I set the DVR to record all the episodes so they never ran out. Since they had never seen it, they were all new to them! Don't worry, we had manditory reading time every day, so their brains didn't melt too bad!

Summer is gone, for us. It is hard to believe we are already on our third week of school! Enjoy my quick re-cap!

Working backwards through our summer. McKayla turned 8 and was baptized! Her grandparents were all in attendance. It was a wonderful day complete with dinner at Red Robin. McKayla was baptized along with two of her friends. Those three girls looked like angels.

My parents came to spend the week with us before the baptism. One of the days we went down to San Diego to visit Old Town and the Mormon Battalion. The new visitor's center was great!

The week before that we spent a week in Utah, celebrating McKayla's birthday and the 24th of July. (Both are on the same day!) McKayla and the girls loved that their grandpa Thomas built them a float and they got to be in the parade for McKayla's birthday. The theme was "Pioneers: Past, Present, and Future." We took first place! Jenna especially loved throwing the candy!

The other highlight of our week was a day at 7 Peaks water park. My kids ALL love the water, even Jenna. She didn't hesistate to hit those tube slides with her mom and dad. Grandpa came along, which allowed all the kids to do whatever they wanted and not be limited to what their sister wanted to do. They all had a blast! McKayla and Brianna even went on the super tall super fast water slides at the top of the tower! No pictures of that day, unfortunately. We were too busy having fun to worry about a camera.

Of course, we had to take in several 4 wheeler rides while we were there. Jenna usually fell asleep for a good part of the trip, but she loved the wind in her hair while she was awake! Here she is with her Tigger--the toy of choice for the Summer!

Brianna decided to get her hair chopped while we were there. She looks so much older!

The week before THAT, Kevin and Helga and the kids visited for what we hoped would be a fantastic week on the beach. Unfortunately, up until recently, we had a very cool summer. In other words, cloudy and cool at the beach. Not so much fun when you are hoping to soak up some sun and enjoy the water, but hopefully their trip was fun overall. Here we are celebrating Kevin's  birthday--look at all those candles! Poor Kevin.....

The fourth of July was spent at home. We went to Temecula and watched their amazingly huge choreagraphed fireworks show in the park. The kids had a great time and we managed to hit minimal traffic coming home.

We spend the first two weeks of Summer in swimming lessons, all the girls passed and Brianna even certified as a Jr. Lifeguard! Several days, as soon as they got out of the pool we headed to Disneyland. Crowded, of course, but always fun.

We went to two baseball games in the early Summer season, one to celebrate the last day of school. Then, the first day off we headed camping. We finally found a wooded/mountainlike area nearby to camp. The girls loved it! Well, until the sun came out on the last day and the flies arrived. We were glad to go home at that point!  Here are the girls playing in the dirt by making mud!

Handsome didn't like the dirt so much. We had to give him permission to lay on the chair by the fire. Wimpy dog!

In addition to swimming lessons, the girls began the summer with their dance recital. We tried out dance this year. I figured girls got to give it a try sometime. So, they all got signed up.

McKayla chose Jazz dance as her style.

Brianna preferred Hip Hop and had a blast!

Courtney fell in love with the Ballet costume and chose ballet. She soon found out, however, she doesn't like to dance ballet. I think she is more of a hip hop girl. Oh well, she survived several boring months of ballet class and declared she is NOT doing is again! At least the dress was pretty! They danced to "Lonely Goatheard" from the Sound of Music.

BIG NEWS! Courtney graduated from Kindergarten! For the first time, the state allowed the kids to actually wear graduation hats and get a "Diploma." Believe it or not, this was actually legislation that changed to allow this. It was so cute watching those kids!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jenna!

In April we celebrated another birthday-Jenna's! It's hard to believe that she is already 2 years old. The day she officially turned 2 she potty trained. She took about 3 days and was pretty much good to go. I'm so thankful. She stays dry at night, tells me when she needs to go, and  (when she isn't being stubborn) will go on demand. Unlike the other kids, I haven't worried about going places with her and wondering if she would have an accident. It's been WONDERFUL! I thought it would be so hard because we are always so busy going places, but she learned quickly and it hasn't been an inconvenience at all.

Anyway, on to the birthday stuff! Jenna has realized that she LOVES birthday paries. She loves to sing "Happy Birthday" and she LOVES to blow out the candles. We had an early birthday for her when Chris' parents were here. The next morning she was begging for "Happy Birthday, again" and I was busy getting the kids off to school and told her "no more birthday, we're all done." Well, Chris came downstairs and she went right and asked him. He said, "OK" and got out  the cake, put the Winne the Pooh characters back on it, along with some candles and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" again. She was thrilled! In fact, when she said, "again" we did it again, and again, and again. Too cute.

Then, a couple days later the girls thought we needed to do something on the actual day (like Jenna knew any better), so she got ice cream with a candle then too. Once again, we sang "Happy Birthday." It has taken a few weeks, but I think she has finally quit asking for us to sing!

Here is a photo of her with the Mentos she got for her birthday. Her favorite gift, actually. She thinks they are gum (which she swallows too) and will happily munch until the package is gone--if we let her!

Jenna is really an amazing kid. She follows her sisters' example exactly (not always a good thing) and thinks she is so grown up. She LOVES to go to nursery and LOVES to play with other kids. She will remember their names and call out to them and say "HI" no matter how far away they are or how much older than her they are. She is just a social kid. Wherever we go, she will survey the crowd and find some stranger to befriend. (yes, a little scary) At church, she loves to find someone (anyone other than mom) and curl up on their lap. I don't know why she won't sit and be quiet for me, but she willingly does for other people! Last Sunday I saw some grandmas sitting together, who Jenna has not yet visited, trying to get her to come sit on their lap. It didn't work, but I was touched that they too wanted to share in the love she gives.

Jenna loves the water and loves to jump on the trampoline. She knows just who to ask to push her on the swing and she doesn't hesistate when they come over to our house to ask them to do just that! Jenna also loves to cuddle (just not during sacrament meeting). We love that. She thinks video games are great (calls them "beams") and will sit and play wii or DS even when she really isn't able to control anything.

The kids love to get her to sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and listen to her animal noises like "moo moo" and her long drawn out "Baaawk."

Jenna has learned to defend herself (though sometimes a bit roughly) against her sisters. They don't like that part, but they do love her for everything else. We're so thankful to have "girl #4" in our family!

Happy 10th Birthday Brianna!

While we were in Oregon, Brianna turned 10! I can’t believe my baby is in the double digits! I remember my dad making a big deal about it when I turned 10. Crazy!

She really wanted to go sandboarding for her birthday, but the rainy weather pretty much nixed that idea. So, we went to see, “How to Train Your Dragon” and made yummy cheesecake to celebrate. For gifts she had already gone shopping with me and picked out some purple plaid Vans, some skinny jeans, a pair of denim “skimmers” and a shirt. She is in 4th grade and has started taking note of the things kids are wearing and is wanting the popular fashions. My girl is growing up!

A few weeks later, delayed by the unexpected event of the previous post, she had a slumber party with a few of her closest friends. I took them to see, “Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief ” and then we came home to pizza, cake, ice cream, karaoke, and lots of jumping on the trampoline and staying up late talking!

Brianna is just a great kid. She works so hard in school to earn perfect scores on nearly everything and is really enjoying playing the piano. She can be so serious sometimes and quiet. But she certainly wasn’t at her party. She had a great time. I loved seeing her laugh and have a good time with her friends. I’m thankful to be her mom!

A New Calling for Chris

Well, partway through our vacation in Oregon Chris started getting messages from the Stake Executive Secretary at church. He said that a member of the Stake Presidency needed to meet with him right away. Our curiosity was immediately peaked! Chris called back and said that we were in Oregon and couldn’t be home until Sunday. The reply, “When on Sunday?” “Sunday Night” I’ll let the Stake President know.”
We hear nothing until on the way home Chris gets a phone call from the member of the Stake Presidency asking to meet with him as soon as we got into town, even if it was late. So, we rolled into town at 7 pm on Sunday night (school the next day) quickly changed our clothes and headed to the stake center with all the girls in tow. They were amazingly cooperative after having had such a long drive!
Turns out, a new Bishopric was called that morning, minus one. Chris was asked to be the 2nd Counselor that night. They let it slip when the callings were made in sacrament meeting that the 2nd counselor was out of town and that call would have to wait. Everyone immediately surveyed our large ward to note who was missing! You can imagine the speculation that spread throughout the next week!
So anyway, a new adventure for us. Chris’ parents made the trip out the next weekend to be here. His dad ordained him a High Priest. It was such a wonderful experience to have them there. We really appreciated their efforts to make the last minute trip.
The good news is, the girls are already used to Chris being gone at night, so the transition has been no big deal for them. So far, we’ve experienced many blessings from the calling and are so thankful for the opportunity Chris has to serve in this way.

JUMP FOR JOY IT'S SPRING BREAK!

The view from the Cape Perpetua West Shelter. Someone took the photo for us and missed the coastline, but doesn't that family look great? :)

The kids had a week off, so we headed up to Oregon for a long overdue visit to Grandma's house and the beach house. Chris says it was the best family vacation we've had in a really long time. It really was great. The long drive was actually ENJOYABLE! The kids were good, Jenna was amazing, and we didn't feel exhausted when we were finished. Even with the huge delay getting over the Siskyou's, the road was closed for a few hours, and the flat tire we discovered the morning after we got to Oregon, the travel was just FUN! Sounds weird, but it really was.

Well, I do have to admit that we broke the trip into two days. One day Chris worked in the morning in Oakland. So, the kids got the luxery of swimming in the hotel pool a few times. They just love to swim and Jenna discovered that she still loves to jump in!

I enjoyed watching the girls "explore" once we got to my parent's house. It had been so long since we had been there that Courtney didn't remember it at all and McKayla really didn't either. They kept opening doors and saying "Where does that go?" Mark, Shari, Madilyn, and Chloe visited on Easter while we were there. My girls really love seeing their cousins. That is one thing they have really missed out on in their life is living close to cousins. So, they always treasure the visits they get to have.

The cabin was great! We had a huge wind and rainstorm the first day. At one point we all even backed away from the windows because a HUGE gust of wind and rain hit, coming right off of the ocean. Then, almost as fast as it came, the sky was clear, the wind was gone, and the rain ended. I just love Oregon! One of the days we were out geocaching when we got caught in a major hailstorm. Poor Jenna started crying because she was riding in the backpack and her face was just getting pounded. We pulled her out and covered her up. But the rest of us kept saying "ow, ouch!" all the way back to the car! McKayla was a trooper and let me snap her photo!

Here's a photo of Jenna along our favorite trail near the cabin showing off the geocache we found.

The most unique part of our trip was finding all the floats along the beach. We started by finding some huge ones, and then when Chris was down with the girls they found a small glass float! So, that became our focus the rest of the week--get down to the beach and find the glass floats before anyone else does! We did some asking at the Cape Perpetua visitor's center and they said that there had been some earthquake activity off the coast that loosened some debris on the ocean floor. That combined with the offshore winds brought the floats in. One day we saw tons of them out in the ocean, but the winds weren't blowing the right way so they never came in.

Here is a photo of our "booty!"

One of the days we headed up to the Marine Science Center. The kids got to see the octopus get fed and change color as a result. They thought that was really cool. Even Jenna totally understood what was going on and kept telling us, "Eat crab, mouth, see?"

We managed to get a warm day and the girls enjoyed a refreshing dip for their toes. Jenna decided to just take off her pants all together. It's great to be a toddler!

All in all, a wonderful wonderful wonderful trip! The girls are begging to go back again soon!