Double Digits!

It's so hard to believe that Bex just turned 10! I think time is going faster as my kids are getting older. She got lots of money this year for her birthday. Money from Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents and Parents. She ended up with $80! So we're going shopping today for a few things, then we're headed to the bank to open a bank account for her. She's very excited about it.
She also made her own cupcakes! Unfortunately she forgot the paper cup things, so we had kind of a hard time getting them out, but they tasted delicious! She loves baking.

Here she is getting some more money.

Her party turned out really fun. Blake was a huge help, and set up the tent for their campout in the back yard, made tinfoil dinners, and helped the girls make smores. Bex had 4 friends come, and they had a great time. I never realized how loud 5 10-year olds can be!

I also never realized how many smores 10-year olds can eat! I asked Blake to make me a smore before they were all gone. Holy cow, I have never had such a perfect smore. I should have taken a picture, but just imagine, golden brown marshmallows, perfectly melted chocolate, all smashed together with graham crackers. It makes me that much more excited for our camping trip coming up!

Happy Birthday Bex! I love you, and am so glad that I'm your mom!

A Very Special Day

We had such a great day last Saturday. Emily was baptized and confirmed by Blake! We had lots of family and friends with us to celebrate. We wish you all could have come, but understand it wasn't possible. Here she is in the beautiful white dress we bought for her. You can't see, but it has a few butterflies on it, which is something Emily loves.

Emily had this big smile on her face the whole day! She wanted me to tell you what happened when she was getting confirmed. As soon as Blake started, she smiled really big and started crying. She says she really felt the holy spirit.

I love you Emily, and I'm proud of your decision to be baptized! Thanks for being a good example.

The kids. We were kind of slacking on the pictures and didn't get one with our family together. We'll have to do that one of these days after church.

We also didn't get a big group picture, so we need everyone to come back to we can do that ;). Here is a picture that gets some of the people in our group. We had over 30 family and friends that came to the baptism. It was so nice to share the special day with all of you!

My friend Kym was nice enough to offer her house for a BBQ following the baptism. It turned out so nice. This is how I spent the afternoon.

I couldn't help with anything, which was hard, but I was definitely comfortable, and catered to. I guess there are some benefits to having a broken foot, although I would not recommend it.

Here is a video that shows Emily's very funny personality. She can make one of her eyes go cross-eyed, while the other one looks straight, but not while she's laughing. It's pretty entertaining. We love you Emily! Thanks for making our lives so fun.

Born on the 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July this year. Our friends invited us over to their house for a BBQ. They had a huge obstacle course/jumpy thing in front of their house in the cul-de-sac, and the kids and Blake had a great time playing on it. Here's a great action shot of Bex.

Blake and Kaleb decided to race each other.

It was a close race the whole way.

And ended in hugs. I think Kaleb won once, and they tied another time. It was fun to watch. Next year I'll be in on the action (I hope).

Becky made a chocolate cake from scratch for Blake's birthday. It was delicious! He helped make the cherry syrup for the top. We all sang happy birthday, and here he is blowing out the candles. Happy Birthday Blake! I love you.

Braces and a cast

Here's Emily with her cute braces.
And here's my broken foot. Kaleb signed his name; Bexy wrote I 'heart' U; and Emily wrote 'Hope your foot stops hurting.' I'm so thankful for the much help that I have received this week with meals being brought in, and babysitting provided. Thank goodness for Relief Society! The kids have also pitched in too, which I appreciate.

Andersens come to visit

We had a great visit with Shaunalei, Micah, Ashleigh and Peter when they came recently. We went swimming a lot, and had a great, full day at the beach. Unfortunately, the day before they were going to leave, Micah did a handstand too close to a palm tree and sliced his foot open, needing 5 stiches. Last time they were here Peter split his chin. I hope these accidents won't keep them from coming again soon. We love you!

I love Peter's cowboy hat!

Micah and Shaunalei had some fun boogie boarding together.

Kaleb and Peter loved collecting sea weed out of the ocean. They made a pile of it. We couldn't see them at one point, then we looked farther up the beach and they were trying to drag this "treasure" back to their pile. Shaunalei finally went and helped them. Emily was quick to point out the bad smell coming from the sea weed, but the boys loved it.

Awards and Jedi Masters

Becky was all smiles during her awards assembly at school. She ended up getting recognized for being on the student council, being on the honor roll all three semesters, and another award for high academics. Way to go Bex!

Kaleb found his own way of entertaining himself at the 2+ hour awards assembly. He found a flip toy in my purse, that flips when you turn it inside-out. We were coming up with new places for him to try it. This video turned out great! (technical difficulties with the video, check back soon)



The week after school was out the kids and I went to Disneyland with some friends for one last time until fall. The park was packed, so we did some things we've never done before and only went on a few rides.

We went to an animation show and got to meet Mickey Mouse when it was done!

We went to Jedi training, and all three kids were chosen. I think it's because they were all wearing their tye-dye shirts from Vegas.

After they all completed their training, Darth Vadar came, and with him Darth Maul! Here Kaleb is lined up to fight Vadar, and he doesn't look too confident.

They all fought extremely well.

Way to go my Jedi Masters! May the force be with you, always!

Changes at home

So I don't know when I'll get new pictures on here since everything takes me 5 times as long now, but I thought I'd update you on some changes we've had recently. I got some good news when I went to the Doctor on Monday and found out I don't need surgery for my foot. He also said it's not a problem for me to travel this summer, but I might still be on crutches, which would be a pain, but we'll see what happens there. The other big change we've had is Emily got her braces on yesterday, plus an expander at the roof of her mouth. She has been so good about them, even though it took her an hour to eat her burrito for lunch yesterday, and she's having a hard time getting certain sounds to come out right. She was so brave! She chose black and purple for her rubberbands, and I really will get a picture of her on here soon. My ward is being so good and helpful with my broken foot. They've set up babysitting and meals for most of this week, which has been really helpful. It's nice to be taken care of, especially with no family close by; at least not until next Wednesday when they start arriving for Emily's baptism. I can't wait to see everyone!