SWIMMING LESSONS!

I don't have any pictures for this one, but the biggest news of the Summer is that McKayla learned to swim. She is a darn good swimmer too! She swims about ten feet, takes a breath, and keeps going. She jumps in, dives, etc. It is so fun to watch. She can't touch anywhere, so it is a bit scarey for mom. Still, she is quite good. She went from being afraid to go under water to swimming like a fish. She finally decided not to be afraid and she did it. She'd been swimming with a float suit, so she pretty much already knew what to do. Courtney learned to swim with a float suit this year. That was a big deal because now she can go all over the pool, wherever she wants to go, and I don't have to hold on to her. Swim lessons were a success! Brianna improved her strokes and learned the backstroke too.

First Day of School!

Tuesday was Brianna and McKayla's first day at school. Brianna started 2nd grade and McKayla started first. I got to start a daily ritual that includes 4 trips to the school! Kindergarten and 1-5 grades do not start or end at the same time! Poor Courtney, I think she will soon tire of the constant in and out of the car she has to do! We have to walk McKayla to class and pick her up at her classroom, so that is even extra walking for Courtney!

Oh well. All in all, it was a great 1st day and the girls seem to have some great kids in their classes and great teachers. McKayla was so excited about starting school that she couldn't stop smiling. Today she had homework and couldn't wait to get started. I've been told that McKayla's teacher is the best Kindergarten teacher in the world by just about everyone in town. So far, on day 2, she hasn't let me down. Brianna is in a class with all new kids because we changed tracks this year. This time she has 12 girls in her class instead of just 5! I've heard that these girls are really nice, so I'm excited for her to make some great new friends.

Backyard Update

Well, we continue to add plants to our yard. This spring I planted 80 trees and shrubs. However, the big project was the cedar patio cover we built. We stained the wood to match the trim of our house. It turned out great! It is amazing how much we enjoy sitting outside now. We get afternoon shade anyway, but the extra bit of privacy you feel when sitting there is wonderful!

Summer Vacation

In July we headed up to Oregon for a 2 week family vacation. We stopped off in San Francisco for two days so that Chris could do some business before we headed further north. We stayed at a Courtyard Marriot near Fisherman's Wharf. The girls had a great time swimming almost all day long. We were on the 17th floor of the hotel and Courtney kept going over to the window at night to look at the lights. She loved "Cisco." The next day before hitting the road we went on a tour of Alcatraz!

For some reason, McKayla has had this fascination with "going to the dungeon." She even voiced her plan if Mom was to ever have to go to the "dungeon." She says, "Grandma and Grandpa can come and take care of us. Then we can go and visit you through the little window!" I assured her that I would never do anything that would make me go to jail. She replied, "Well, maybe someone else would do something bad and say you did it!" ......

So, McKayla particularly liked this trip. The audio tour is amazing. The sound effects and narration by former prisoners and guards were very well done. The tour took 3 hours, but not once were the kids bored.

Next we enjoyed some time at my parent's home. Chris and I went golfing. We also got to enjoy a real rainstorm and a classic Eugene Emeralds Baseball game.

At my parent's cabin we met up with all of Chris' family for a reunion. We hadn't seen Greg and his family for 3 years, so it was great to see how big all the kids had gotten. The cousins all had a wonderful time playing together and the weather was wonderful, not a bit of wind! For the Oregon Coast, that is a huge deal!

After the Thomas gang left, my parents and Brent and his family came out for the 4th of July. Chris and I went to dinner for our Anniversary and noticed that there was a pie eating contest taking place in Old Town on the 4th. We convinced my dad to sign up, and even got Chris and Brent to join in as well. They were a huge hit. The crowd all sided with "Grandpa" and even were cheering, "Go Grandpa Go!" I think he ate like 6 pieces of pie in 2 minutes! However, Chris and Brent gave him quite a run for his money. Unfortunately, everyone was so focused on Grandpa that Chris ended up losing some time as he had to wait to get more pie!

Point Loma Lighthouse

On Memorial Day we ventured down to San Diego to see Point Loma. We toured the lighthouse and Cabrillo National Monument, then hiked down to the shore to see some tidepools. These tidepools were nothing like the ones in Oregon, but the kids were just as fascinated by them. On the way home we stopped at Solana Beach so the girls could do a bit of swimming in the waves. All in all it was a great day.

La Brea Tar Pits

We heard about the tar pits and decided to take a trip and see them for ourselves. They were very interesting. The place was rather stinky and tar was oozing up all over the place. We had to watch our step if we ventured off of the sidewalks! The girls like the adventure and Courtney especially liked the movie showing the animals getting stuck in the tar millions of years ago. Archeologists are still recovering thousands of bones from these pits dating back to prehistoric times. It is pretty amazing.

1st Grade Field Trip

Each grade gets one field trip a year and I was able to go with Brianna's class on her big field trip to Riley's Farm where they learned about pioneer life. I have been volunteering in her class all year and it was fund to go and just have fun with the kids. They were all SO good on this trip!!! The picture at the top is Brianna and her best friend Megan.

What I learned at General Conference/The kids are really listening!

So I have discovered the truth in the idea that our kids really do learn something by watching General Conference--even when they are 4 years old. Now, we only make our kids sit through the Sunday Morning session, but they generally are around for the others too.

Anyway, ever since conference McKayla has a favorite saying, "I'VE LOST MY CTR RING AND I CAN'T CHOOSE THE RIGHT!" Then she starts giggling. She even knows the whole story that goes along with the quote! Thankfully, she thinks it's really funny and knows it's not a valid excuse for doing something wrong.

I must note that during this story she had snuck over and was playing with legos with Courtney (the only one allowed to play with toys during that session, at least for the first hour). We didn't think she was actually listening! What a thing to absorb!

ULV Dinner Gala

One of the perks of Chris' job is that he, in behalf of the company, gets to make large donations to the colleges and universities they manage. Often it means he gets to gather a foursome for a golf tournament. But, once a year we get invited to the President's Dinner Gala at the University of La Verne. This is a VERY NICE event held for all of their sponsors. This last year they took our picture. It is a rare occasion that we actually get a nice picture taken, so I thought I'd include this one.

Goofy Teeth

The last time we went to Chuck-e-Cheese, McKayla picked out a set of goofy teeth as one of her prizes. Well, these teeth have been a big hit and Chris and his dad thought it would be hilarious if we all got a set and wore them on the roller coaster when we got our picture taken. So, the night before we went to Disneyland Chris and his dad went all over town in search of some of these teeth. The ones they found weren't as good as McKayla's, but they did the job. This is the first attempt we took at a crazy picture along with some others that I snapped of the video screen with our photo on it. They had a great time wearing those teeth all over the park. They got some pretty interesting looks from other people too! It's amazing how teeth affect your total appearance.

BRIANNA TURNS 7!

It is hard to believe that Brianna is already turning 7 years old. Time goes by so quickly! For her birthday she requested that her Grandma and Grandpa Thomas come down and go to Disneyland with us. So, that's what happened! She was very excited because she was finally able to "fly" her own rocketship on one of the rides. (you have to be 7 years old) She also wanted a new 20 inch bike, and she got that too. So, I think she'll agree it was a pretty great birthday. She even got to skip school to go to Disneyland! I spent most of the morning on Saturday constructing a 6 layer princess castle cake for our party at home. It turned out pretty good and it tasted yummy!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I failed to mention that Chris and I weren't the only ones who had fun while we were on our little excursion. Our girls, who we left behind, had a blast! Their grandma and grandpa let them have way too much fun. Grandpa was an amazingly good sport at letting the girls use their make-up on him. And, I'm afraid my girls really like to pose for the camera! I think the pictures tell it all.

Fourth in Line

Well, I'm supposed to be going to bed, as I just finished choreographing my newest aerobics routine for aerobics on Thursday (Chris got an IPOD for Christmas and has been collecting music like crazy and we finally have something that has come out in the last 10 years! That's how outdated our collection was! So, good-by oldies and hello today's hits!)

Anyway, I quickly checked my e-mail and somehow realized that I hadn't put any pictures of Courtney in my blog lately. . .

So I have this yellow dress and hat that I had my pictures taken in when I was 2 years old. When Brianna and McKayla turned 2 they also had their pictures taken in it. Well, when Courtney turned 2, life was a bit busier and I just barely got them taken! I didn't even go to a studio, I just opted to take them at home. Somehow I just didn't feel up to the whole ordeal. Anyway, the pictures turned out cute. Here is a couple. I'll try to scan the other girls' photos in and add them later.

New Hairstyles

We had haircut day this week.

Brianna got her first "real" haircut by a professional. We decided to try some layers. McKayla decided she wanted to try out something different as well and wanted me to straighten her hair with the blow dryer. The results look pretty good, I think. I got my haircut as well, and McKayla took a chance at trying out the camera for herself. After many attempts (Thank you digital cameras) she got some shots with my head in the pictures.

Brianna is hoping that for once maybe she'll get attention about her hair instead of McKayla. It's hard on her because EVERYWHERE we go someone always comments on McKayla's red hair.

Another Cute Quote

We were walking into the church today to exercise with the ladies and there were hoses all over the floor from the cleaning group. McKayla wondered why everything from the classrooms was in the hallways and asked what was going on. When I told her she replied:

"WHY CAN'T JESUS CLEAN HIS OWN HOUSE?"

This kid just keeps coming up with them!

A moment to treasure

Last night as I was puting Courtney to bed, McKayla showed the greatest bit of love for her little sister. Courtney would not settle down. She has graduated to a big bed, and she doesn't always cooperate now. Anyway, one of my tactics is that if they don't lay down for bed and stay in bed they get one toy taken away. It hasn't been used much, but it tends to work. Courtney has this puppy that she loves and she sleeps with it every night. Well, when she wouldn't lay down, even after reminders about the toy, I took it and walked out of the room and closed the door. I was standing by the door, waiting for Courtney to decide to cooperate. Courtney can't open doors and she was struggling to get it open and crying heavily. McKayla quickly came to her rescue saying, "Don't worry Courtney, I'll help you." I sent McKayla back to bed and McKayla, struggling to hold back her own tears, said, "Don't take away her Rosie! She needs it to sleep! It's her special puppy!" She was so worried for her sister, I was very touched. My girls argue, like all sisters I guess. But, to see her stick up for her like that and be so genuinely concerned was wonderful. I never intended to keep her puppy, I just was going to hang onto it until she layed down in her bed. It worked, she settled down and didn't get up again. After I left I heard McKayla singing her a lullaby....

"NO More Diapers for me. And I feel great, I am proud of me!"

So this post is a bit late, but the week before we left on our trip to Thailand (the first week of January) Courtney decided she didn't want to wear diapers any more! Hooray. It took only 2 days and she was pretty much accident free and could go potty on demand.

She got some motivation from a book she got for Christmas called, "The Potty Book for Girls." The title of this post is a quote from the end of the book that Courtney loves to repeat. It's pretty darn cute. I gave the rest of our diapers to Brianna's teacher (his 12 month old wears the same size as she did!), and we are now free from diapers. Life is great!

Disney Princesses: A Dream Come True

We just bought annual passes to Disneyland and this week I took my girls by myself! They were dying to dress up in their costumes and visit, so I let them. It was a great photo opportunity. My girls loved meeting the princesses. Courtney is usually afraid of meeting the different characters, but when we saw them she walked right up to each one and gave them a giant hug. It was so precious! The princesses were very nice and made her feel so special, and the other girls too. It was a great time.