Aquarium of the Pacific

Talia and Tucker had Veteran's Day and the Friday after off from school. Trent took that Friday off and we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It was a fun day and the Aquarium was great. There was lots to see and learn and they had 3 touch tanks. Talia and Tucker loved being able to touch the Bat Sting Rays. The Sting Rays would get excited and come up out of the water so that they could pet them. It was amazing. Tucker enjoyed the Diamond Sting Ray and Tiger Shark touch tank as well but Talia was a little a nervous about touching the sharks and larger Sting Rays. We were able to watch several of the marine animals being fed and watched the Sea Lions doing tricks. We fed some Lorakeets and Trent got pooped on twice. The birds liked him a lot! It was a very fun day and I am so glad we were able to spend it together.

Candy Cane Shop

We went to Logan's Candy Shop tonight to watch candy canes being made by hand. It was a very interesting and amazing process to watch and Talia and Tucker got to shape their own warm candy cane. I tried a piece and eating a candy cane from the store will never be the same. The warm fresh candy canes were DELICIOUS! It was a fun evening to spend together. A lady in our ward planned the evening and made all the reservations. I guess the candy cane shop is booked until Christmas and that is why we had to go so far in advance. There were several families from our ward there and it was a lot of fun. They have the largest handmade candy cane hanging in their shop. It is 13 years old. Hopefully we can do it again next year. It would be a fun early Christmas tradition to have.

Happy Haunted Halloween!

This year for Halloween we had a very full weekend. We went trick or treating twice and had one party to go to. By the end of the weekend we were partied out. This year Talia and Tucker wanted to have scary costumes. Out with the cute and in with the scary. Talia was a vampire and Tucker was a zombie with minimal face make up. He doesn't like to wear or have his face painted. I told him I would never buy another costume with mask again. Whoever reads is my witness and needs to remind me next year at Halloween. Talia and Tucker ended up with WAY too much candy. They got to pick a small handful for their sugar day next month and sold the rest to us for money to go and buy a toy. The funny thing is that they could hardly wait to sell us their candy. Trent took the candy to work on Monday and it was out of the house. Yeahhh! It was a fun weekend and I always love to see the Halloween fun had by my kids. Warning the pictures are scary!

Annual Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins for the Family Home Evening before Halloween and had a great time. Talia and Tucker picked a really tall and skinny pumpkin for their dad. Tucker loves carving the pumpkin but gets really grossed out by the pumpkin guts. I cleaned out his pumpkin for him and helped him with the harder cuts. He had a scary jack-oo-lantern. Talia cleaned and carved her own pumpkin with a little bit of help. Her jack-o-lantern was cute. Here is a picture of the 3 jack-o-lanterns. I didn't carve one because Tucker's was a joint effort.

Week With Mom and Grandma

This post is long overdue. My mom was able to come and visit for the last week of September and it was so fun to have her here. The week went by too fast. We spent the time shopping, walking, watching Talia and Tucker swimming at practice and Talia at her meet, playing Wii with the kids, sewing, making flowers for a pins or hairbow, going to the movie, talking, more talking and going to the beach. It wasn't the warmest day when we went to the beach and grandma was a trooper and went boogie boarding with Talia and Tucker anyway. I am so lucky to have such an awesome mom whom I love dearly and admire so much. Thanks for coming to visit mom. Thanks to my dad for sharing her with us for a week. Thanks to Trent who donated his miles to fly my mom here. It was a wonderful week. Unfortunately I never was able to take any pictures while she was here. I tried to take pictures and even brought my camera to beach but forgot to put the SD card in the camera.

Labor Day and Trent's Birthday Weekend

We had a very fun and full Labor Day weekend. Trent's parents came down to visit for the long weekend. This was the first time they had come to visit since we had moved to California and we were very excited to have them. Trent took a few days off and showed them around his office and took them to lunch on Thursday. That night we went to swimming practice and they got to watch the kids swim. Friday the kids went to school and Trent, his parents and I all went to Disneyland and California Adventure. I went and got tickets for the new World of Color show while Trent and his parents went on a few rides. I met up with them and stayed through the morning. Then I drove back home to bring Talia and Tucker back to Disneyland after they got out of school. Talia and Tucker talked Grandma Rae into going on the Grizzly Rapids ride at California Adventure and the 3 of them ended up getting quite wet. The highlight of the evening was the World of Color show. We lucked out and got and some great seats thanks to Grandpa. The show was amazing!!!!!

Saturday we spent the day recovering from Disneyland. We went to the movie, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Saturday afternoon. It was a very good movie. Sunday we spent the day relaxing, going to church, helping Talia and Tucker practice their parts for the Primary Program and playing Apples to Apples Junior. Grandma and Grandpa had never played it and we all had a great time. Tucker won the first game and I won the second.




Monday was Trent's birthday and it was so fun that his parents were here to celebrate with him. I made him blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Trent, his mom and I went and did little shopping in the morning. We bowling that afternoon for 2 hours. Talia got last place the first game and first place the last game. I got increasingly worse as we continued to bowl. It's a good thing that we only bowled for 2 hours. After we went bowling we went out to dinner at Lucille's BBQ in Chino Hills. It was delicious and Trent was in heaven with his Baby Back Ribs. We had brownies and ice cream when we got home. It worked out well that his birthday was on the holiday and we got to spend the whole day him. We are so grateful for Trent and for the awesome husband and father he is. Trent's parents flew out Tuesday morning. The weekend went by too fast. We had so much fun with them and hope they come back soon. Thanks for coming to visit us.

Family Pictures

We haven't had our professional family pictures or pictures of Talia and Tucker taken for awhile so we went through the painful process and here are the rewards of our efforts. We were reminded that it really isn't very fun to have your picture taken for an hour. My cheeks hurt from smiling afterwards. We were able to get one family picture out of probably 100 where we were all smiling and looking at the camera. We took the photos in downtown Riverside where there are some amazing buildings. I love the architectural details of the old buildings in that area. I am very glad we went through the whole process and am happy with the pictures we ended up with. We used Addison Parks Photography and she did a good job especially when you consider who she was working with.

First Day of School

YEAHHHHH! I had to do that because I am finally caught up with my blog and only 2 days behind schedule. Our first day of school came way too soon. The kids went back to school August 11th and none of us were ready for it. The kids were starting at a new school again, Susan B. Anthony Elementary and were a little nervous. This makes three (four for Talia) new schools in the past 3 years and I really hope we are able to stay at this school for more than one year.

I made Talia and Tucker one of their favorite breakfasts, Apple Pancakes and walked them to school the first day. We live less than two blocks from school so they have been walking to and from school by themselves. They love the new freedom and I love that I don't have to drop them off and pick them up from school. Talia started 5th Grade with Mrs. Neugebauer and Tucker was started 3rd Grade with Mrs. Lehman. I would have taken a picture of them in front of their school or in their classrooms but they are too old and cool for that. Both of them came home after school with positive things to say and have enjoyed the school year thus far. They are both making friends and I have been very impressed with the school and their teachers. I have volunteered to be the room parent and PTA liaison for both of their classes and help in their classes so I will be busy. I am excited about it. Happy School Year!

One Last Hurrah

Our summer was way too short. With switching from a year round track to a tradtional school year our summer break was only 6 weeks. It was gone before we knew it, especially when we spent 2 1/2 weeks in Washington and Oregon. A few days before school started I took the kids to Disneyland and Trent met up with us after work. It was crowded like it always is in the summer, but the we had a great time anyways. Talia and Tucker were able to go on Splash Mountain twice thanks to fast pass tickets. We rode Thunder Mountain (one of our favorite's), explored the Pirate's Cove which was a lot of fun and went on a canoe ride. Tucker gave the man behind him a shower with his excellent rowing skills. We met Trent for dinner and then afterwards went on the Indiana Jones ride with Fast Track tickets. We tried to watch the Fantasmic Show later but didn't have great seats. What we saw of it was amazing. Next time we know where not to sit. It has been fun to live close to Disneyland this last year and be able to go so many times.

Birthday Celebration in Portland

The last part of our trip was in Portland. My sister, Janet was so kind to let me borrow her car to drive the kids and I to Portland. We stayed there for 3 days and visited with friends. We were able to go to 2 of our favorite parks in the Tigard area. Talia and Tucker had lots of fun playing with their old friends. It was as if we had never left. I stayed with my dear friends and it was so good to see them and spend time with them.

I celebrated my birthday while I was in Portland and Debbi, Holly and Liz spoiled me. They surprised me by inviting several of our friends to join us for dinner at PF Changs. It was wonderful to see everyone and the evening went by too fast. After dinner Holly, Debbi and I went and watched Eclipse. They hadn't seen it yet and I was willing to watch it again. I actually think it was better the 2nd the time. Our time in Portland went by too fast. My sister-in-law Brooke also spoiled me for my birthday. We went and got pedicures together and it was so fun to be pampered. We had to say good-bye to our friends before we knew it. Thank you to everyone that let us stay with them and thanks to my dear friends for a wonderful birthday. We are enjoying living in California but we sure do miss Portland. My camera battery was dead so I wasn't able to get any pictures except one of Talia and her friend Maysen. I will at least post one picture. My friend took pictures of my birthday dinnner so I hope to get a copy of it.

Fun Family Time

The week after Twin Lakes was spent in Richland for a few days and then in Mattawa. Talia, Tucker and I were able to spend lots of quality time with our family. Trent flew back to California on Monday to go back to work. In Richland we spent our days playing with cousins, swimming at the neighborhood pool, watching a movie with cousins, ice blocking with Aunt Ruth (thanks) and playing at the park. The days in Richland went by too fast. I was able to get together with my friend from 3rd grade and it was fun to visit with her.



We spent the second half of the week in Mattawa. All of my siblings were there, most of their spouses and all of their kids. There were 24 of us at my parent's house and it was very full but it was so much fun to be all together. There were 2 water balloon fights (one which included grandpa getting all wet), lots of fun on the shark slip n slide, decorating t-shirts, rocks, and flip flops, swimming at the river, jumping on the trampoline, several rides on the four wheeler, and lots of playtime with cousins. I had a great time visiting with my family. My mom, sisters and I had a girl's night out and went and watched the movie Eclipse and it was soooo good. My grandpa and his wife Ellen came to visit one day and it was nice to see them. We didn't want the week to end. Thank you to both sets of grandparents for spoiling us!

Tucker's Birthday and Baptism

Tucker turned the big 8 the day after Twin Lakes. We were in Richland for his birthday and baptism. He started off the day with monkey bread for breakfast and opening presents from grandparents and aunts and uncles (he opened his presents from Trent and I before we left for Washington). We went to church on his birthday and he was sang to in primary. After church we had Cafe Rio for dinner. It was Tucker's request and he has very good taste. Thanks to everyone who helped make it.

His baptism took place on his birthday at 4:30 p.m. at the same baptism font where Trent was baptized. His grandpas were the witnesses and we had over 40 family members there to support Tucker on his special day. Both of his grandmas gave very good talks and Talia sang a beautiful musical number during the program. After his baptism Trent did a great job when he confirmed him. It was such a nice program. We were so grateful that Trent's parent's Bishop allowed us to have Tucker baptized in Richland and that there were so many family members there. Thank you to everyone that came.

After the baptism we gathered together at Trent's parents house to have dessert. Tucker wanted to have a chocolate fountain with fruit, cream puffs, cookies and marshmallows. It was delicious and was a very good evening spent with family. It was such a wonderful day and I hope that Tucker always remembers his 8th birthday and Baptism Day. We are so grateful for Tucker and for his kind and playful spirit. He brings much happiness to our family and I can't imagine life without him. I am so grateful that he chose to be baptized and I'm very proud of him.