August Update! Back to School

We headed back to school on August 18th. (I think! It was a Tuesday.) It was a great first day. The kids were up early and excited about their new year. Courtney was a bit nervous about starting Kindergarten, but despite many questions about why I couldn't stay and concerns about the new routine, she did great. I was totally prepared for tears, because that's just the way she is. Even a substitute in primary class can cause an outburst. But, she did amazing! No crying at all! Just a happy excited kid. What a relief!





Brianna started 4th grade this year. She is going to be very busy. She is now involved in Soccer, band, GATE, piano lessons, gymnastics, and activity days. I swore I would never over-schedule my kids, but that's just the way it is for the time being. Thankfully, soccer is seasonal!



McKayla started 2nd grade. She loves school and her friends. I think she is friends with everyone. She isn't as busy as Brianna, but still has soccer, gymnastics, and piano.





Oh boy, my baby is in Kindergarten! OK, so she's not really my baby, but it feels that way. She is so ready intellectually. We'll have to see how she handles it emotionally. She doesn't turn 5 until November. The first three weeks were great, but lately we've been having a hard time saying goodbye. She still insists that she LOVES Kindergarten, however.




Soccer started a few weeks before school. Brianna and McKayla have shown a lot of improvement over last year. Courtney is just beginning and her little team is so cute!

McKayla never stops running during her game. She plays so hard. The coach calls her "the enforcer." She is a defender.

Jenna is so busy! Like all kids, she loves to try on big shoes. With all her big sisters, there is no shortage of those! Also, she finally learned to smile on cue! I'm sure I had the other girls trained long before this, but we are a lot busier these days...

I just happened to think of grabbing my camera during one of my girls' dress-up moments. They are all about imaginative play, but Brianna doesn't participate in dressing up as much anymore.

Chris and I finally made it to see Wicked! Loved it! So nice to go on a nice date with my hubby! We're thinking we need to take the kids to see a broadway musical soon. Maybe the Lion King...

We took a quick trip to the Wild Animal Park after school on a Friday to see Dino Mountain. It was a lot of fun. The girls just loved the sounds of the dinosaurs and getting their little passports stamped at each stop. Jenna learned to ROAR just like a dinosaur!

Another fun and busy month. I love spending time with my family. They are so much fun!

Fun in July

I realize that it has been a really long time since I've updated this blog. So, for starters, here is a quick recap of our main activities for July.


Brent and Peggy and their kids came for a quick visit. We were able to give them a short introduction to the Southern CA beaches and San Diego. The girls love having their cousins come to visit. Hopefully next time they'll get to stay longer.




McKayla turned 7! Her birthday was celebrated by a special date with Chris to Knott's Soak City. Her favorite gift was the Sansa Clip she bought wiith her birthday money. It is a really great little mp3 player.

I love this picture of McKayla because it totally captures her fun, bubbly, and LOUD personality!




Courtney lost her first tooth!!!!!!! (Soon followed by a second!)





I did actually finish those dresses that were leading my blog for so many months. The wedding was beautiful and my girls, of course, looked adorable. Unfortunately, they weren't so keen on posing for pictures. We actually ended up having to leave early too because Brianna really wasn't feeling good. Turned out she had a very high fever. Poor kid!







Here's a picture of my family with my parents and my grandparents.




My girls standing outside the Fresno Temple gates.




We had originally planned to go camping in Yosemite after the wedding, but things were so busy we decided to cut it down to a day trip. Brianna, even though she didn't feel good, was a good sport and didn't want everyone to miss Yosemite. So, we headed up there and enjoyed the BIG TREES!








I love this picture of Courtney and Jenna walking hand-in-hand!





The next week we headed to Utah for a 10 day vacation from home! Chris still had to leave to Arizona for work, but us girls got to stay and relax. I love going to John and Karen's house because it is actually a relaxing vacation for me. They are such wonderful hosts! The kids have a blast too!



This trip they got to see their cousins Brooke and Holly. They were finishing up a nice week with Grandma and Grandpa.

Jenna just loves the hot tub!! Unfortunately she has no fear when it comes to going under!

The older girls got to go on an all day 4-wheeler trip in the mountains with Chris and John. They loved it!






Overall, a very fun and busy month! August will be posted soon!

Fun Weekends in June!

I have had so many fun things to blog about, but I've been super busy making 4 flower girl dresses (for my 4 girls of course!) and preparing things for a new round of teaching piano lessons (I found a website with tons of cute ideas!) that I haven't even wanted to sit down at the computer. Rare for me, actually. You can see the bodices completed, all in a row. I have attatched the puffy skirt to Courtney's and just need to add the zipper and decorative stuff. But, first I have to do the skirts for the other three. I'm trying to do them like an assembly line so that they will be finished relatively close to each other. Otherwise I'll have some unhappy girls!

Here's Jenna in a dress Grandma Thomas made and just sent in the mail for her. What a fun suprise! It fits perfect!

Several weeks ago we hit the first annual car show in our town. We knew the kids wouldn't be terribly interested and we only stayed for about an hour. It was fun looking inside and seeing which was the oldest car we could find. This one from 1923 won! They got a treat and got to actually sit inside this way cool hot rod. Chris could tell you the name and year, but sorry, I have no idea! Still, I think the favorite part was a snowcone on the way out.

The girls have been bugging us for months about when we would get to go to the beach again. The weather has been unusually cool here, so we hadn't really even thought about it. But, finally two weeks ago we decided to head over anyway. The weather was in the 60's and cloudy and we had no intention to swim. Everyone understood we were just going to play in the sand and enjoy the playground and such. Well, we got there and the weather was beautiful! Sunny and warm and NOT CROWDED (well, not for a Saturday in June in Southern CA!). We had brought along extra pants, knowing those would likely get wet, and zip up sweatshirts. So, we relented and let the girls get soaked. They had a blast! We've done this before (last time I think it was January!) and we decided the kids scream and laugh and have more fun in their clothes, playing in the water on a whim, than when they sport swimsuits and make a day of it! Too funny!

Brianna is doing some body surfing. We didn't bring the boogy boards along because of our "no swimming" plan!

Jenna is experiencing the beach for the first time in her memory! Such precious moments! When Chris first set her down on the sand she just stared down at her feet, then looked up and stared at the ocean, then stared at her feet again. She wasn't sure what to make of it all. But, after a little walk hand in hand with Dad (don't you love how tiny she looks next to her dad?) she was in love! I love the scream of delight as she runs away from the water!

For the first half of this year my friend from high school, Rebecca, was living in a nearby town with her husband and kids. It was so fun to catch up with her and see her two adorable little kids! We were able to get together a few times at my house and at the park and such. I wish we could have gotten together more often, but between our sets of kids someone often got sick and messed up our plans, and those darn school-age kids tend to fill up my schedule too much! I'm glad we were able to get together one last time at the little Children's Museum in town while my two oldest were in school.

The last event to share was our visit to the local Airshow (seems we've done a lot of local stuff lately doesn't it?). The girls weren't terribly interested after the grand entrance of the parashooters, but they did enjoy seeing the planes up close, sitting in a fire truck and bulldozer, and playing in the kids play zone!

Oh yah, another weekend we went to the "grand opening" of the big shopping center in town. We had some shopping to do, so we figured we might as well have fun too. McKayla was at a big birthday all day-long event, so we felt carefree with only three! :) There was free face painting, which the girls took advantage of. Whenever we are at Disneyland or the Zoo they always want to get it done, but it is like $20 or more per kids and I'm not about to spend over $60 on face painting that will get washed off in a few hours!

Courtney is riding a 2 WHEELER!

Courtney got a razer scooter for her birthday last year and has rarely ridden her bike since. Well, until about 3 weeks ago. We started going on some family bikerides again and realized it was time she get out her bike. She has a little bike, perfect for learning on! We had to have her practice using the breaks and going downhill and everything, but soon we realized she was ready to move on. We raised up the training wheels and went for a longer bikeride. She was balancing a lot of the time. So, we convinced her to try without them on. She was nervous and would only go a very short distance, but we could tell she could do it. We had her practice the next two days, still only going as far as the house next door and back before she insisted on going back inside. By day three I had her riding up and down the street all by herself! This was the first day she actually rode for more than 4 minutes. She wouldn't admit it, but I could tell she was excited. The next day she asked to ride again and she hasn't turned back since. In fact, she is the one who tells me she needs to go "practice" riding her bike.

Yesterday she even asked to move up to the big bike. I got it out and she rode it easily. She can only touch the ground with her tiptoes, but she still managed to start and stop on her own. She loved the speed! These pictures show her on the little bike.

My little girl is growing up! She's been practicing her reading every day too. I just can't believe how fast she has grown! I think she is 4 years old going on 8!



See the tongue! She is making noises as she goes down the street! Obviously having fun!

Pictures from Samoa

Sorry it took me so long. Here are some photos from Chris' recent business trip to Samoa!





They had to visit all the schools, including some on the various small islands. In order to do this they needed a plane. The governor of Samoa let them use his plane.

An LDS Temple in Apia, Western Samoa. There were church buildings everywhere. He ran into missionaries too. I guess there are a lot of members of our church there.

Aerial view of one of the islands.

This is a beach on the Mauna islands of the American Samoa. It is one of the top 10 beaches in the world. Beautiful and secluded!

Chris was so excited about his picture with Charlie the Tuna from the starkist tuna factory! He kept telling me about it and was anxious to show it to me and kept asking when I'd get it put on the blog. Too funny! I think he must have seen a lot commercials as a child!

They went to a traditional bar-b-que where they cook a bunch of foot in a pit in the ground with banana leaves and coconut shells and some interesting seafood.

Isn't it beautiful? I want to go with him next time he visits! We keep talking about Hawaii, but the thought of crowds of people turn us off. Samoa is a bit more cultural and, well, dirty, but it sure looks peaceful! He said he might have to go to Hawaii for work next, so I may make it there too. We'll see.....

Kid Quotes to Make You Smile

"It feels like there are bugs on my feet!" Courtney, feeling the tingly sensation of the feeling coming back to her feet after an unusually long time spent sitting on the toilet!


" Whenever Jenna smiles it makes me feel good. I get all warm and happy inside." McKayla

"You know Mom, I feel safe at Grandma and Grandpa's house." Courtney

McKayla has no problems with her self-esteem: "I always have good dreams. Last night, I dreamed about myself!"

"MOM ! THERE'S CORN IN MY NOSE!" Courtney, who has also had other things mysteriously end up there.

"Hey look at that airplane! It is cleaning the sky!" Courtney spotted a jet airplane on a clear blue day with its cloud trail. It guess it looked like scrubbing bubbles!

"But I like it that way!" McKayla's response when Chris and I pointed out that she had a wedgie.

"Mom! Sparkly things are NOT garbage!" Courtney, after spotting something I had thrown away and neglected to sufficiently hide. (Do your kids pull things out of the trash that they declare are treasures?)