Last Lake Trip of 2009

Caleb ready to learn to ski

Cam Standing on the Knee Board

Caleb is a wild man

Gillian Ready to ski

Griffin standing on the knee board

Dad bounced these boys hard.....look at the feet

Gary jumping

Just a few pictures from the last lake trip of the season. Wow! The summer really flies by! It's time to put the boat back into storage and hopefully watch the temperature drop! :)

At the Dunes the Day Before School Starts????? Crazy!!!!!!!

Griffin


Gillian

Taking a break from 4 Wheelin!

I can make it! I know I can!:)

Garrett

Cam

So I was thinking that it would be fun to do something unplanned, spontaneous and out of character for me the day before school started so after a lot of thought, I loaded up the car and took the kids over to Pismo Beach for the day to ride quads, play, eat and hang out with some friends. I didn't finish getting school supplies or even back to school clothes shopping done, my house was a little unorganized and it is 2 1/2 hours over to Pismo but..........we put caution to the wind, loaded up the Bell's quads in the Morris' trailer (thanks guys) and headed out for a super fun day! Even without Gary there we managed to figure everything out. We met up with some of the Holt family and the Wilcox Family. We took the trucks up the dunes and took turns on the quads. The kids played in the water, hung out around the fire pit, roasted marshmallows and ate really well! After our ride, and a few scary moments for mom, we went over to Morro Bay and met up with some of the Henriksen Family, played at the Tides Park and made our way to Cayucos to the Sea Shanty for dinner and ice cream pie. We finally found our way home around 10:30 and believe it or not, the boys did really well getting up for the first day of school. Tomorrow will be the real test though since they have to be at Seminary by 6:00am. :) As we embark upon this last year with all our children home, living under one roof, we want to remember to take full advantage of those "spontaneous" moments and live each minute to the fullest!

Caleb's First Official Drum Lesson

Because all the brothers play several instruments, Caleb always wants in on the fun! He loves his guitar and plays it and makes up songs all the time. He plucks at his little piano and does the same. He can be heard all over the neighborhood banging out beats on Cameron's drum set so we all give him mini lessons to encourage him. Today it was like a dream come true for him when I decided out of the blue that it was time for the boy's drum teacher to give Caleb his first official drum lesson. That boy showed us all what he had and his drum teacher was amazed! Here are a few pictures of Caleb strutting his stuff! Too cute!

A Teenage Weekend!

Dance Off Party Gang

What?

J-Dizzle moves so fast we couldn't even catch it on camera!

Fresno Temple

We had a super busy but super fun weekend! It started with taking Cameron to High School Orientation where Garrett's ASB team greeted all the new incoming freshmen with a crazy, fun party! Lot's of music, games and food. Following Orientation day, the ASB gang came over to our house for more food, swimming, music and hanging out time. After the last teenager left, Gary and I went out to dinner and a movie with friends while all 10 of our combined kids stayed here and hung out. On Saturday, I took Garrett and Cameron to Fresno for a Youth Temple Trip, then out to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (our favorite!) then some final school clothes shopping. We got home in time to clean up, organize and welcome another group of teenagers over for a Dance Off and movie night in our Basketball Court. I didn't win but the kids taught me some new dances and praised me and gary for our efforts. :) Sunday was a YW lesson for me and Seminary Orientation that night! So what am I doing now?????? Planning another party of course:) It is Caleb's 5th birthday and he is counting the days until his "Man Party". Superman, Iron man, Spider man, get it? A superhero party! Back to the planning board! No rest for this Superhero Mom thats for sure!

Beach Fun!

We just got back from Cayucos. We had a super fun visit with "the cousins" as the boys like to say. We took the kids kayaking, to the park, boogie boarding, we ate out at some of our favorite spots, took family pictures at the tidepools and hung out at our favorite beach retreat......."The Hanger House". Marti and Dwight treated Gary and I to a little cabin or bungalow surrounded by wild flowers and herb gardens while the kids stayed with them. It was Heaven!

Setting up for our Pictures

Trying to sweet talk gillian into taking off her sweatshirt for the pics!

It was a beautiful day but a little cold and windy.

On the water with most of the Crew!

Cameron and Sean

Garrett and Griffin

Gillian and Caleb in our "Enchanted Beach Garden"

Gillian:)

Houseboat Heaven

We just got back from our annual houseboat trip to Lake Don Pedro. As always, it was sooo much fun! Our kids would be the first to say that the houseboat trip is the highlight of their summer and is rated by all of us as our favorite family vacation!

Eventhough we didn't get to connect with some of our good houseboating buddies, we did have a few friends up to the lake and lots of fun/comical memories were made. lol.

All the boys continue to improve in their wakeboarding, skiing and kneeboarding abilities. I am always very grateful at the end of the week to know that everyone is safe and no major accidents occured. We weren't sure how this trip would go since within the first few minutes of being out on the lake gillian almost had her toe cut off when caleb slammed the ski storage door on her foot (accidently so he claims) and then about 20 minutes later she sat on a bee and got stung in the bum. That poor girl cried a lot for the first hour or so of our vacation but it really got better from there, thank goodness.

Caleb and gillian learned to knee board. It was super cute to watch. Caleb was a maniac out there and really sees himself as a professional knee boarder now. He even taught our friends to knee board. I got some great video. Too funny!

Tubing was probably the highlight of the trip in many ways this year. As the kids get older the tubing gets harder. Meaning everyone likes to be pulled faster and crazier. It is kind of dangerous but I close my eyes most of the time and say a little prayer.

Thanks Henriksen family for coming up for a few days.....we had a blast!

Summer Fun Is the Best!

Baby Girl Turns 3!

Gillian had her first tea party today for her 3rd birthday. She wanted a Strawberry Shortcake party of course, so I decked everything out in pink, lime green and red! We painted everyone's face or hand with strawberries, played with strawberry playdo, colored in Strawberry Shortcake coloring books, made strawberry shortcake for a treat, had strawberry sandwiches and fruit kabobs for tea and drank strawberry lemonade too! It was very cute! I am super tired! The whole family helped! Our house is a sea of strawberryland still! We had a lot of fun!

The Invitations!

Strawberry and Me!

Time for Tea!

Some of Gillian's Tea Party Friends

A Birthday Note To Gillian...............

Gillian,

I can't believe how the time has flown! I still remember everything about my pregnancy with you, your birth....you being in the NICU for 2 days, your beautiful rosy cheeks and blue eyes (which are now a beautiful green color). You were the best baby and you loved your schedule but you didn't mind being interrupted from it either. You have always been very easy going.

I never put you down except for naptime and night time not because you were fussy but because I wanted to play with you all the time. You were then and you are now my little doll. Now that you are 3, I guess we can't keep calling you "Baby Girl" anymore..........but that is what you will always be to me. :)

I love your spunky personality. You can be a little shy and afraid of new people sometimes but you always warm up quickly and really, truly love all the people in your life. You don't like dresses very much but we have an agreement that we both have stuck by very well. I get to dress you on Sundays and for special events out or parties and you get to dress yourself the rest of the time. Most of the time you are mismatched and your hair isn't combed but that was our deal and soooo I stick by it and so do you. lol

You love learning!!!!! You read all the time (although most of the words are made up), you like to practice writing your name, you take every direction very seriously at preschool or at home when we are teaching you things and then repeat your newly learned skills meticulously. You love to fold laundry and put things away but that doesn't apply to your toys or playhouse. You change your clothes at least 5 times a day and talk and talk and talk to your imaginary friends.

You love your brothers and are happy to have any of their attention. They love you just as much. We all know this is true when we find one of them playing dolls or letting you dress them up in your room because it makes you feel so happy. Your relationship with them is very sweet.

Your favorite color is pink of course but you are by no means just a girly, girl. You are a perfect balance......... you love your jewelry and playing with your dolls but you try as hard as you can to keep up with caleb and we expect that you will love sports as much as all the boys in the family do. I am sure that you will out-wakeboard, out-boogie board, out-ski, and out-sport them someday. But don't tell them I said that. hahaha

Right now, you are mommy's girl but daddy has your heart! You know right where to go when you need a little love and understanding. haha. I wouldn't say that you have daddy wrapped around your finger because he doesn't want you to be spoiled but you have a very special relationship with him that reminds me of me and my dad.

I love you so very much and I'm grateful everyday for having the opportunity to raise you here on earth. Just as my dreams of having a baby girl to love and grow with seemed out of reach,I was blessed with you. You have enriched my life in more ways than I could ever express to you. Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Girl!

Mommy