Family Pictures!

We had our family pictures done by a friend in the ward.  Her name is Winter Collins and her photography company is named Winter Wonderland.  We took them at an orange grove about a mile away from our house and they turned out good.  I don't like the process of getting ready for the pictures and taking the pictures but I always like from the end result.

A Week of Thanks!

I am finally posting again.  It has been long overdue.  Talia and Tucker had a week off at Thanksgiving it was so wonderful to have a break from school.  The highlights of week included spending an afternoon with our dear friends, the Cheslers from Portland, going to Wild Animal Park and spending Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Holmes.  Unfortunately I only have pictures from Wild Animal Park and seeing the Cheslers.  I was a slacker on Thanksgiving and didn't take any pictures.

We went to Huntington Beach to meet the Cheslers.  We went to the beach for a couple of hours and the kids had a wonderful time.  The weather was beautiful and Tucker even got in the water.  He is crazy!  After the beach we went to Red Robin for dinner and then the kids and dads went go-kart racing.  First the kids went and then the dads.  The moms didn't want pay the extra money to go.  It was fun to watch them race and everyone had a great time.  The afternoon and evening we spent together went way too fast but it was so good to see them always.  I am so glad that my friend's parents live in Huntington Beach so that they come down to southern California and we get to see them.

Talia, Tucker and I have San Diego Zoo Passes which means we also have passes to the Wild Animal Park in Escondido.  We had been to the zoo but never to the Animal Park.  It is about the half distance the zoo is so the drive was much nicer.  The Wild Animal Park was also not crowded.  We had a great day looking at all the animals.  We went on a little safari ride and it was almost you were in Africa seeing the animals out in the wild.  Talia was able to see her favorite animal the Giraffes.  The highlights of the day were the elephants.  There were 17 of them and several baby elephants one of who was only about 2 months old.  Very cute until he started to fight eating poop.  Another highlight was the baby gorilla.  I don't think I have a baby gorilla at a zoo.  It was pretty cool and he was pretty cute.  It was a very fun day and we hope to go back again before our passes expire.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving day with our close friends the Holmes.  They are in our ward and live a few blocks away.  They hosted since they had some family in town.  We missed our family and it was hard to be away from them on Thanksgiving but being with friends helped.  I started the day out running a turkey trot with my friend which was great.  It was only a 5K nice and short.  Trent and Tucker went and played in the annual Turkey Bowl our ward has each year.  They had a good time.  I was asked to bring the green bean casserole, rolls and pies.  I made delicious homemade rolls with cinnamon honey butter, green bean casserole from scratch, and a triple berry and dutch apple pie.  Thanksgiving dinner was amazing.  My friend Britta's turkey turned out great and her stuffing was delightful.  Everyone ate way too much.  After dinner the dishes were done and the kids played.  That evening the moms and kids went to the movie Arthur Christmas and the dads stayed home with the baby and watch their own movie.  Arthur Christmas was a fun movie and everyone enjoyed it.  It was a very busy but fun day!  We are so grateful for the many many blessing we have been given and are grateful for a day to celebrate gratitude!

Student of the Month!

Talia was chosen Student of the Month for her class in November!  I am so proud of her.  I have to brag for a minute and just say what an awesome student she is.  She is very intelligent and is always so helpful to her teacher and fellow students.  Thanks for working so hard and always doing your best in school Talia!  We love you!

Happy Halloween Week

We celebrated Halloween for a week.  We started by going to Disneyland and California Adventure for an afternoon.  The kids had minimum days and so we were able to go shortly after lunch.  It wasn't very crowded and we were able to go on a lot of rides.  It was fun to Disneyland all decorated for Halloween! 
We continued the celebration with Talia and Tucker each going to a Halloween party hosted by friends.  Talia made pies and Tucker had a costume party and won the Best Prize Award! 

The Saturday before we Halloween we had 2 more parties to go to.  We had a Swim Halloween Luncheon and the kids had a blast.  They were able to swim but the fun part was that they were able to go down the slide and the high dive.  There were some swimming games involving bobbing for apples and moving pumpkin around in the water.  I forgot to put sunscreen on them and they got sunburned.  I guess that is what happens in October when you live in California!  Saturday night we had our ward Trunk-Or-Treat  which included a chili dinner and costume parade.  We took the neighbor boys with us and gave out a lot of candy and the kids brought home way too much candy. 

Monday night we went trick-or-treating with some neighbors.  It was perfect weather and we even drove the kids up to a neighborhood where they handed out full size candy bars.  Talia and Tucker got pretty excited about that score!  I bought their candy from them after they picked out a few pieces to keep.  Trent takes it to work for the office manager who has a candy jar in her office for the employees and visitors.  It works out great and then we get ride of the candy!  It was a very fun filled week and we made lots of fun memories! 

Swim A Thon and Swim Meet

We have been very busy with swimming activities in October. Talia and Tucker participated in the annual Swim-A-Thon.  They can swim for 2 hours or 200 laps.  Talia swam her 200 laps in about 1 1/2 hours and Tucker swam for the 1 1/2 hours and swam about 125 laps.  They both did a great job and had a lot of fun.  There was a lunch and a raffle afterwards. 

 Talia and Tucker also participated in a Swim Meet this month and did an excellent job.  Talia swam in 5 races including a 500 Free and took time off every race!  Tucker swam his first 100 and 200 in a meet and did a great job.  They were all new times for him so hopefully next meet his will be able to take time off his races.  It is fun to see them improve and I really admire them for all the hard work and effort they put into swimming.  Way to go Talia and Tucker!

Trip To Washington - Richland

We were able to split our time in Washington and stay with the Jeppsons for part of the time.  We spent lots of time with Grandma Rae and Grandpa Lee and their Howald cousins.  Grandma Rae took us minature golfing and to Costco for lunch one day.  Talia and Tucker also went swimming everyday we there and love the neighborhood pool with the slide and diving board.  Rebecca, Montel, Callie and Maysen  came to visit for the weekend while we there.  We were so glad to see them and had enjoyed our time with them.  Thank you for coming to see us!  We went to a water park and to Red Robin for lunch.  We also were in town to hear Trent's Aunt Jeannie and Uncle David report on their mission to Russia.  Afterwards they had a family dinner and were able to see Trent's cousins and a couple of his Aunts and Uncles.  It was a wonderful chruch meeting and dinner.  It was great to hear all of their stories and experiences they shared.  We loved spending time with everyone and were not ready to go back to reality.  The kids missed the first 3 days of school for the wedding and the trip but it was definitely worth it!

Trip to Washington - Mattawa

We were so excited to be able to fly to Washington to see our family!.  Talia, Tucker and I were able to go early and spend 10 days.  We split our time between the 2 families. It was a very busy time as we were preparing for Nancy's wedding but we were able to do fun things everyday with the cousins.  The fun activities included: a water balloon fight, making balloon flip flops, decorating Tye-dye spray t-shirts, breaking a pinata full of candy and toys, boating, fishing, 4-wheeler rides and a movie afternoon with popcorn and all the snacks you could eat!  It was just fun for Talia and Tucker to spend time with their cousins.  On Monday Talia, Tucker and I drove to Mary Hill State Park and met up with our friends from Portland, the Cheslers and Christensens.  We had a great time talking, eating and swimming.  We are so grateful we were able to see our dear friends.   We actually brought Maysen, Talia's good friend back with to us Mattawa for 5 days.  She fit right in and Talia loved spending time with her during the week.  She was so helpful with all the little cousins and we were so grateful to her family for sharing her with us. 

It was fun to finally meet Marshall and spend some time with him.  He was very patient and brave to stay at my mom and dad's with the other 20+ people staying there.  Wednesday night my parents, Ross, Stephanie, Betsy and I were able to go to the temple with Nancy and  it was a wonderful night.  I am so grateful I got to share experience with Nancy.  Betsy and I went and watch the movie The Help afterwards and it was amazing.  I LOVED that movie.  I can't wait until it comes out on DVD to watch it again.  We picked up Janet and Jana at the airport after movie.  Thursday morning Betsy, Nancy, Marshall, my mom and I all went to the church to decorate for the  reception.  Janet and Stephanie stayed home to bake all the cupcakes (over 300).  Everyone else got to stay at Grandma's to watch the 13 grandchildren.  The decorating was done within a couple of hours and looked amazing.  Nancy colors and themes were beautiful.  Thursday afternoon and evening was spent making some of the food that would be served at the reception. 

Nancy and Marshall's big day was finally here!  The temple ceremony was beautiful.  Nancy looked gorgeous and it was such an amazing day.  I love being in the temple with my family.  Trent flew in Thursday afternoon and we picked him up Friday on the way to the wedding.  It was good to see him and I am so glad he was able to go the wedding.  There was a luncheon at the stake center after the wedding and it was good to see so many family members.  I was able to see several Aunts and Uncles and my Grandpa and his wife, Ellen.  After the luncheon we cleaned and rushed home to get ready for the reception.  My mom and sisters had been busy sewing and all the grand kids had matching dresses or bow ties.  They looked adorable!  There was lots of good food at the reception and it was fun to even more family members and friends.  It was a long and buy day but a very good day.  I am so excited for Nancy and Marshall and glad he part of our family now.