Sand and Sun

The beginning of August we were able to meet up with Christians's twin sister and her family up at the Lake. We didn't bring up our jet ski so Logan was bit concerned as to how he was going to occupy his time with two 6 year old and a 4 year old. We assured him it would be fun, but to be sure we brought up something similar to a jet ski, just a bit more work involved. He was not amused! We spent the day on the beach eating and playing in the water. The great part was that no one in my family got sunburned, considering we are a transparent people. Good times!

The best birthday gift!

Yes, it was that time of year again, when my birthday comes around. I do love birthdays. I actually don't mind getting older. I find as I get older, I don't get any wiser, I just enjoy the moments more. My whole family (parents, sisters and all) celebrated at the beginning of the month to celebrate all birthdays that are July. This year I was able to celebrate with my oldest nephew Bryan. He is a joy! He just turned 19 and is getting close to putting his papers in for his mission. He makes life fun and funny. Then on my birthday my husband and boys took me to one of my favorite restaurants for prime rib and the biggest chocolate cake I've ever seen. It was quite yummy. Afterwards we came home to open the presents. That's my kids favorite. The best part for me is to see the wrapping jobs and the faces of a job well done. I received a couple of shirts (both my favorite colors), and a game I could play with my family. I loved every moment of it. If you ask me the moments get better every year. A special thank you to my parents for sharing this day. It's my parents wedding anniversary. I love them both more then they'll ever know. I thank you both for giving me life and being my parents!

Found Them!

So as you can see, I found the missing pictures. My tricky husband had a "secret" stash of extra camping pictures. My favorite is the last one of Dalin feeding our deer from his hand. She was so gentle.

Camping

So the day after school let out, we picked up our rented trailer, because I'm the "princess" camper, and we headed off into the wild forest where there are potties and pavement, to go on the annual family campout. We normally have my sister Linda and her husband and family go with us, but my brother-in-law couldn't get off work. My other sister, Laura and her family would come once upon a time as well, but the kids seemed to outgrow it. So the "big" kids, aka my parents still come thank goodness! We have such a fun time together. My boys LOVE spending time with grandma and grandpa and could really care less that mom and dad are around. I'm definately okay with this arrangement. I have very fond memories of being with my grandparents and I wouldn't trade those moments for anything.

Back to camping. We love this campground. The deer come right into your camp. The photo below shows that. This particular deer came around every night. We got used to her and she apparently got used to us. I cannot locate the picture of the boys feeding her right out of their hands....I know what you're thinking "Gross", but we did manage to bring hand soap to wash. The boys love to climb on this huge rock, and Christian brought his air soft gun to targer shoot. No, not at the deer! We brought targets from home! We also jet ski. This year the water was like glass. No waves and not alot of other boats either. Sorry, can't find that picture either. We eat and eat and eat some more. The boys love to ride their bikes and scooters. We play card games and nap. This is a tradition I hope can last a while longer. I'm not the biggest fan of camping, but we've been doing this camping trip for alomost 14 years now. Summer wouldn't be the same without it. In fact, we've already made reservations for next year! If I find the other pictures, I will post those as well. These are the only 2 I could find.

Life IS rewarding!

This past June was big in ceremonies and awards. Our wonderful nephew/cousin graduated with honors from high school. Reed is the type of person you want your sons to emulate. He's super, uber smart, very atheletic, well liked and just an all around wonderful person. He's not afraid to stand up for what is right and true and his friends really respected that. We have another nephew/cousin that also graduated with honors, but I have no pictures of him. But trust me, Bryan is the epitomy of "good person" as well. My boys will have nothing to fear as long as there are people like Reed and Bryan to lead them and be an example.

Also Dalin scored 100% on his first ever spell a thon in school. He had to spell by writing 25 high frequency kindergarten words. He was so excited and ALL about the medal. Logan also scored 100% in his class by spelling 100 high frequency 4th grade words. What more could 2 parents ask for! Logan also recieved his 3rd Pricipals Honor Roll, which means straight A's, and also Accelerated Reader. He's reading at an almost 9th grade reading level. Logan's punishment, to him, would be to prevent him from reading each night.

Since it was June, this meant the end of the school year. Both boys graduated to the next grade in school. Logan is now in 5th grade. His last year of elementary school. I can't begin to talk about middle school! Dalin is now entering 1st grade. Can't begin to talk about that either, so apparently the post is finished.

I know it seems like I'm bragging about all the accomplishments of my family. Oh, wait...I am! I am so proud of my kids and my nephews. By this time next year my nephews will be honorably serving their missions...even more to be proud of. My life is rewarding!!!!

Disneyland

So I'm a bit behind in posting. Our trip to Disneyland took place in May and it's now July. I have many pictures of many happenings since then but I'm trying to do it in order. Next up after Disney is our nephew graduating high school, family camping, fourth of July, and others.

We caught an early evening flight. What a beautiful sunset. The flight to LA always seems to take soooo long. The anticipation is killer! I'm not sure who is more impatient me or the boys!

The first day in. Christian was in a seminar at the Disneyland Hotel. So the boys and I spent the first couple of mornings in the park on our own. Christian caught up with us at lunch.

One of Dalin's favorite rides. Lucky for us while we were in Disneyland the lines weren't very long on any of the rides.

A sweet moment between father and son. I love these moments!

This is taken on our daily run to a Churro cart. It makes me sooooo happy!

I won't bore you with yet more pictures of my all time favorite ride. Let's just show us on the boat going in this time. The boys were excited to FINALLY ride in the front.

A nice Disney worker offered to take our picture to show we were all there together. Notice the hard working canoe riders in the back. That's a ride I don't enjoy! We cheer them on from the sidelines, though.

Catching Up

We caught the tail end of the Parade. It doesn't show us but we enjoyed it while enjoying yet, another Churro. MMMMMM!

My happy place, continued!

So I'm sure you are all waiting with baited breath on pictures of our recent trip to Disneyland. Well.......you'll have to wait a bit longer. My sweet husband is the only one who can download the pictures on to the computer. He shows me each time, but if I don't do it everyday all the information and instruction is gone, by the next day! I'd like to blame him and on and on, however, we need to feel sorry for him instead because he's has to deal with me and my "techno-not" brain. I can prattle off phone numbers of anyone, even as far back as my best friend in first grade. I can also program the old VCR's to record or set the blinking time. But something simple, I'm sure, is too much! So in the meantime, be patient, like my husband is with me, and soon the ever anticipated pictures will be posted. Here's a hint, though, of how the trip went...... I didn't want to come home!!!

My Happy Place

The title is a hint of one of our absolute favorite places to go. We have the Disney park entirely memorized to make for very efficient planning and crowd avoidance. And now that Dalin is a bit taller he'll pretty much be able to go on every ride and Christian and I won't have to take turns sitting out...that's if Dalin can let go of his stubborn side and enjoy the process of doing something new. He is very much a planner! I don't know where he gets it :) My sweet and wonderful, and most amazing parents ( yes I'm buttering them up) will be watching Jin Ji and Sumi for us. This will bring their total dog population to 3, with 2 only being 6 months old. All I can say is I love you both, and will return the favor ANYTIME! The boys will miss some school, but this is also in the planning. This way it's not spring break when EVERYONE goes. I am soooo excited! I have memories of riding on Small World with my parents when I was just 2. I was always fascinated by the dolls. And since then, my memories of that song have been sweet. My dad and I used to listen to my Small World record (yes, I said record to date myself) when The Wizard of Oz was on. I hated the wicked witch of the west and so my dad would take me into the back bedroom and there he and I would sit and listen to it and look and the book it came with over, and over. My cell phone also plays it when you call me. I do love all the rides and just the atmosphere of being at The Happiest Place on Earth, but Small World is my Happy Place.

Tennis, anyone?

This past saturday Logan started his private tennis lessons. He was very excited to learn a new sport. He's gone from soccer, to Tae kwon do, to basketball, and now tennis. I honestly don't mind that he tries new things, as long as he keeps trying. As he and I stood and watched some people play on the court we were waiting for before his lesson started he watched with awe at the power these people hit that ball. He told me, "yep ,mom, I think this is my sport!" I laughed inside myself, just proud of his confidence. It also helped that his instructor was pretty. She's from Macedonia. She told me he has great eye/hand coordination, and learns quickly. Of course I knew that!! We are scheduled for the next 6 weeks, and Logan couldn't be more thrilled! So watch out, Wimbleton here we come!!

Award, Home Runs (sort of), and Easter!

Well, crazy busy was our week. To mix in with the crazy was the back to school thing. We've been off the month of March....so nice! But now we need to get our grooves back into the art of routine. Homework, carting children back and forth, reading logs, making lunches etc. Ohhh, it hurts my brain. Then in the midst of all that we had the Cub Scout Blue and Gold dinner and pack meeting. Christian is our Cub master, and several others put on a very nice evening. Dalin was so excited to go he kept telling me "this will be the best night...EVER!" Logan earned 3 awards this last month. Well on his way to achieving his goal of earning the Arrow of Light which is the highest a Cub Scout can earn. Logan's ultimate is to earn his Eagle. Then on saturday we went to Dalin's first T-ball game. I have to say it is sweet to watch. Dalin did great, and managed to hit the ball and get on base and made it all the way around. We haven't really explained to him that every body gets a chance to hit and run the bases. Yeah, maybe we're not entirely honest, but I wouldn't burst his bubble to save my life. After the game we grabbed some lunch hurried home to catch an hour of conference, the boys rushed out to get haircuts, and then came home in time for Christian to leave for the priesthood session. We did color our eggs the night before. So when we woke on Easter the Easter bunny had done what he does best. We then were able to eat our cinnamon rolls, and watch conference and just "be"! I love this time of year to reflect on my Savior and listen to conference. Although, it snowed and was frigid cold, we still felt the warmth of having family around and eat yummy things. Isn't that why we have holidays? So we can eat? Just kidding!! Enjoy some of the pictures of the past week. They may or may not be in order, I'm new at this so cut me some slack!

6 going on16!

We celebrated Dalin's birthday earlier this month. Another cause for having family over to eat chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Our Dalin is a character. His vocabulary is off the charts, with smart alecky lines we call "Dalin liners". They come out of the blue and either make a stop in our tracks, laught hysterically, or put him in his room for some needed contemplation. He is generally a happy kid, with bouts of being so goal oriented that there is no tolerance for other peoples flaws or mistakes. He loves learning to read, singing, riding his 2-wheeler, coloring, and being and doing anything with his brother. If I can count on anyone to help me and leave with a responsibility to get something done...it's him! I can't believe he's 6 years old. After 6 1/2 weeks in the intensive care nursery after being born 2 months early, his life is going quickly in my eyes. We love him dearly!

Sweet Time

Last night my wonderful husband and I were finally able to schedule a visit to the Temple. It's been a long time since we've been able to attend for various scheduling issues, but we had a moment and ran with it. My great parents took the boys over night and had their time. Dalin kept saying to me in a rather teasing tone that he and Logan were going to have more fun then Christian and I. Dalin reminded me of the traditions that my parents have started when they get to spend the night, there's usually a dinner out, then a stop at the store for doughnuts, my dad pops popcorn with a huge scene of events too difficult to explain but let's just say it involves singing and pounding spoons on the kitchen counter, then they get into PJ's and watch a movie and stay up as late as they want or can stand. Now that I think about it and see it in writing, it does sound like a ton of fun! But I wouldn't change a thing as to what I was able to do with my eternal husband.
As I sat in the room waiting for the session to start I began to cry thinking of my wonderful grandma who bought Christian and I our temple clothes as a wedding gift. Then I thought of the woman I was going through for and felt her strong spirit. I needed a kleenex already and I had been in the room less then 5 minutes! I love my life!

We are approved!

It's official, we received notice by LDS Family Services that we are now approved as prospective adoptive parents! It's been a long road and tons and tons of paperwork and getting to know each other as husband and wife with all the questions about each other...and it's done. So now we wait! But we work hard to network with any and everyone we know to spread the word about our endeavor to adopt. So please help us by keeping your eyes and ears open and to also tell 2 friends and they'll tell 2 friends and so on and so on.........! We made a link in the top right corner under the family picture which will take you and possibly a potential birth mom directly to our adoption profile through LDS Family Services. We are hoping to add a baby girl to our family. Thanks so much for all your help and please keep us in your prayers.

A new beginning

Today we created a family blog site without too much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It is amazing how many design choices are available to us, and we are now mildly surprised that we are unable to find a stock witty introduction that we can simply cut and paste onto our family blog. Christian is convinced that he will now have to spend a fortnight tracking down in our family computer the adware and spyware that can accompany purportedly "free" software. Lisa is equally convinced that Christian was looking for an excuse to use the word "fortnight." Lisa also points out that when there is a posting in the "third person" voice, it is Christian doing the typing. "Hey, I am figuring out this blog site stuff, so I am invoking the 'I control the keyboard' privilege.' " O.K., privilege relinquished...