Spring Break 2010

We spent Spring Break this year

in sunny Southern California,

where we...

... dreamed of living

in one of these lovely homes

on beautiful Three Arch Bay

in Laguana Beach

... grabbed our boards

... and played in the surf

...climbed 0n the dunes

... searched for hermit crabs

... played in the sand

...and collected all kinds of beautiful shells.

Camille, of course,
didn't need to put on her swimsuit
because she ABSOLUTELY
wasn't going to get wet.

Well, that was the plan anyways!

It was a picture perfect day
and a fantastic way
to start off a great week.

Happy Easter

Easter was a bit non-traditional this year,

but still a very lovely day.

The kids each got a very lovely basket,

but instead of getting dressed in our Easter best,

we settled down in our jammmies to watch

a wonderful morning session of conference.

After that we had the best brunch ever

with the Walter family's famous

Macadamia Nut Pancackes with Coconut Syrup

served with a delicious egg casserole
and an abundance of fresh fruit.

Perfect.

After that we headed to my parents' house

for our traditional Easter dinner

and a very non-traditional egg hunt.

It was pouring rain outside,

so we hunted indoors...

finding eggs in all kinds of strange places,

and storing them in even stranger places!

All in all, a lovely day spent with

the people who matter most to us.

Watch Out!!

Isn't it amazing

how some memories

are so vivid?

I have a lot of memories

of my little brother

learning to drive.

We all laugh about the time

when we were on our way to Utah

and he asked if he could

drive across the salt flats.

What the heck,

there wasn't anyone around.

So my dad pulled over

and let him jump behind the wheel.

Which is when he tried

to actually drive out

ONTO the salt flats.

Ooops.

And then there was the

constructive criticism

my dad loved to give.

Our favorite

is now a familiar family phrase -

"Stop parking on the sidewalk

for crying out loud!!"

I was just barely

out of the teenage years myslef

when it all happened,

but it seems like only yesterday.

But as I find myself with this

parked outside my front door...

I realize that those memories are decades old.

Can it really be that my baby is already driving?

Suddenly he's happy to go everywhere I go!

And guess what -- I'm happy to have him with me!

Oh, No! Not again...

This little cutie

spent quite a bit of time

at our house last month.

She and Camille are so alike.

The last time she was here

Camille suggested that they watch

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Oh, yes...lets!

Camille's dream come true-

a friend who appreciates her

love of Roald Dahl!

They're bosom buddies.

Two peas in a pod.

We're going to miss you

something fierce, Aloria!

Good luck in Montana.

Playing Catch-Up... February Edition

Honestly,

I don't know

where February went.

It's a busy month for our family,

so I have to do a

"better late than never" post

just for the sake of

Family History.

We celebrated Valentine's Day

at breakfast this year

because we had a birthday dinner date

with Grandma in the evening.

Everyone got their traditional

books and candy to celebrate the love day.

Matthew is a recent convert to the world of Tom Clancy,

Adam is trying a new series,
and Camille is starting on one of my all-time favorites!

The evening was topped with a
delicious dinner to celebrate my mom's
big day...
you know, the one she wasn't celebrating!
Happy Birthday, Mom.
You're the greatest!
Our kids were furloughed from school
on the week of President's Day
(in case you haven't heard - our state is broke!!),
and so we gathered together these friends...
and spent the day at this place.

What a great idea!

The next week was my birthday,

and it was a lovely week!

I got to go out to lunch a couple of times

with some dear friends,

and then I got this beauty of a gift from my in-laws.

A book all about why I am so loved.

No one has better in-laws than I do.

Period.

And the favorite moment of my actual birthday??

Another dear friend remembered

that I loved dried mangoes,

so she brought me some.

And look what I found in the package...

Perfect!!

Matt and Adam spent my birthday weekend

snow camping.

They had a great time,

except that Adam came home with this beauty.
I guess everything can't go smoothly all the time.

Near the end of the month

we celebrated the baptism

of a very special cousin.

Aren't these two adorable???

Afterwards we stopped to visit Grandpa Sanders.

He and Camille got into a little argument

over the delay of our food,

but they soon made up,

and like any good girl would,

she picked the bugs out of his hair

to show him just how much she loved him!!

And then to top the month off,

we celebrated Adam's birthday.

He got a bag of his favorite candy

and a new party game from us,

and Matt and Camille each got him

a new t-shirt.

We spent the evening with family

where Adam collected some new

ammunnition for extended nerf wars

and a new basketball

from his cousins.

All in all, it was a great day-

and a fabulous month!

Hope your February was great as well!

Spelling Bee

I just have to give a shout out

to my brave little girl

who took her rightful place

at the school spelling bee,

even though her knees were knocking

and she was pretty darn nervous.

In the end her nerves got the best of her,

but she made it through several rounds

("against sixth graders, Mom"),

and we couldn't be more proud of our sweet little girl.

Way to go, Camille!

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma!

Just last week we celebrated

my Grandmother's 90th Birthday

with a fabulous birthday bash

and an intimate family dinner.

I've lived near my Grandmother all of my life,

and I have loved every minute of it.

She is a lovely, kind lady

and is constantly thinking of others.

She has a cheery outlook on life

and makes everyone feel special...

no easy task considering that

she raised 10 wonderful children

(though I'm partial to the third one)

and has more than 70

grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

This picture was taken four years ago,

but she pretty much looks just like this --

except she's starting to get a few gray hairs...

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

When I grow up,

I want to be just like you.

Ode to Toddlers

For the past three days, I have been the parent of six -

thanks to a dear friend who needed to leave town on short notice.

I never really wanted six kids,

but it was fun to see what it would have been like.

{All three of hers are younger than my youngest.}

I came away with an appreciation for those of you

who have that many,

and a lot of fun memories of the "toddler years."

Just for fun, I thought I would list

The Top Ten Things I Miss About Having Toddlers:

#10 - Physical Exhaustion

Sound crazy?

You have to have teenagers

to understand that the

physical exhaustion of having toddlers

is nothing

compared to the emotional exhaustion

of having teenagers.

#9 - Utter Pandemonium

I do get to experience this one once in a while

{picture 6 teenage boys playing Settlers

and eating their way through your refrigerator},

but there's something special

about the kind of pandemonium that toddlers create.

#8 - Conversations with the Television

In our house we yell at the television

{think football},

but we never ever have sweet conversations with the television.

I miss that.

#7 - Pointing at Cows

Between us and the boys' schools there is a lovely field

full of cows.

I love those cows,

but I'm the only one in my family who gets excited about them.

Not so with toddlers...

they love cows too!

#6 - Squeals of Joy

{picture the field of cows here}
One great thing about toddlers is that you always know

when they're happy.

We have squeals around here too

{think big brothers teasing little sister},

but, in general, they are not squeals of joy!

#5 - Happy Helpers

Toddlers love to help with EVERYTHING

from cooking dinner to unloading the dishes to

"helping" you go to the bathroom.

If you've got toddlers and they're driving you crazy in this regard,

take my advice...

enjoy it -because you're going to miss it!

{Trust me on this one!}

#4 - "Like this?"

When you're teaching a toddler,

you show them what to do and they say,

"Like this?"

And then they do it.

It's so fun.

Don't ask me about how to teach a teenager something.

I haven't figured it out yet.

#3 - Being Called Mommy

To a toddler,

any woman who is taller than them and has children

is their mommy.

It was fun to be called that again.

#2 - Snuggle Time

Those random moments

when they come up and snuggle in your nap

for no apparent reason.

Priceless.

{I could probably get Brad to snuugle in my lap,

but I don't think it would be quite the same.}

#1 - Rocking Someone to Sleep

I did it with all three of my own babies,

and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything in the world.

If you have little ones,

never miss a chance to rock them to sleep.

Time slips by so quickly

and you should take advantage of every minute.

So glad I did.

Thanks, Dave & Kyra, for letting me love your kids for a few days. It meant the world to me.

What We Didn't Do in San Francisco...

Last Tuesday

the kids and I

took a little jaunt to

San Francisco

with my mom,

my cousin Debbie

and her two adorable girls.

We were going to ride the trolley cars,

until we found out they were $5 a person-

ONE WAY!

Pleeeeaaasssse...

We've got better things to do with our money,

AND we know how to walk!

So we walked down by the wharf

and did some shopping.

Did I say shop?

I guess we didn't technically do that either.

{Trying things on was way more fun!}.

Then it was time for lunch,

but we didn't go here.

Why would we spend a fortune

to eat in the rainforest

when In-n-Out

was right around the corner?

(And 1/4 of the price!)

Then we saw these cuties.
How fun would that be?
Not $70 an hour fun, I'll tell you that much!

{I guess the trolley wasn't so expensive after all!}

After getting lost about ten times

we finally made it to Chinatown

so we could tour this place.

Oops.

Didn't do that either.

They wouldn't let us in... said it was "too hot inside."

Whatever.

So we did some more shopping,

but still no buying.

These glasses were fun,

but the store made us

claustrophobic

and we had to get out!

Oh, yeah-

The trip did have a purpose...

taking a gander at this loveliest of all Christmas trees.
Thanks for having us, Sandra!

For all that we didn't do, we sure did have a lot of fun! When we finally got home, I was exhausted! {All that driving wore me out!} So I decided to take my fortune cookie's advice...

I came home,
crawled in bed
and read Princess Academy
{have you read it?}

and then the next day I read
Book of a Thousand Days.
I highly reccommend them.
{And I think you should start
with Goose Girl - my favorite!}

I love vacation!!

I'm Gonna Miss This...

The kids have spent two weeks straight

sleeping together in Adam's room.

They've stayed up late wrestling and laughing,

waited with anticipation for Christmas morning,

and even slept in a little bit.

Tonight everyone's back in their own beds.

Too bad.