California Beach Memories

After the couple days with Ben and Val in Disneyland we went to visit Brent and Heidi and their cute family.   My kids wanted to go to the beach more than anything, and despite the forecast for rain and cold we ventured to the beach with swimming suits and all.  I told the kids it would probably be too cold to swim, but they could run through the water and look for shells.  The day turned out to be nicer than expected--the kids were undeterred by the cold water and enjoyed looking for shells and swimming a little in the water too.  We practically had the whole beach to ourselves and stayed for four hours!  This was definitely a highlight of our trip.

 

These two cousins were cute to watch.  They played all day together like they were best friends.





I love this picture of Brent showing us something in the tide pool.  I thought the tide pool's were the coolest things, and I loved watching for little creatures.





These girls also had so much fun together!

If you look closely, you can see the star fish that we spotted in one of the tide pools.

You can tell this cute girl was a little cold, but she wasn't about to put her clothes on!

Jared looks for sticks wherever he goes.

Jedi Training Academy

Jared has become a bit of a Star Wars fan.  Last year for movie nights we watched the original three Star Wars movies.  I'd always been a little hazy on the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars, and knew my brother would be ashamed of my Star Wars ignorance so thought I should watch them once to get it all straightened out in my mind.  Jared went crazy over them--he knows way more about Star Wars than I do so I think the kids at school must talk about it.

He was thrilled when he heard about the Jedi Training at Disneyland.  Ben and Val told us they chose kids out of the audience to train to be a Jedi, and then they got to fight Darth Vadar and Darth Maul.  Ben told Jared and Xander they would have to be really loud and raise their hand high if they wanted to be picked.  All morning before the show Jared told me he was going to practice his begging so he'd get picked.  It's funny how nervous I was as the guy started choosing kids--I knew Jared wanted it so bad, and I wanted him to get picked!  Amazingly, his begging practice must have payed off because he was chosen from the audience and got to practice his Jedi moves.

When Darth Vader and Darth Maul entered the scene you could see the amazement in Jared's eyes.  Half of the kids fought Darth Vader while the others fought Darth Maul.  After the show was over Jared said, "They must have really had the force with them because they chose the best fighters to fight Darth Maul, and they knew to choose me to fight him."  

Now Jared wants a Star Wars birthday party!

Disneyland!

This year for Spring Break we went to Disneyland! The best part about our trip was that my brother Ben and his family met us there and we got to spend two days of fun with them.  Ben works for Pixar Animation as an incredibly talented animator.  One of his perks is some free passes to Disneyland which he graciously let our family use.  It was fun to have Ben and Val show us the ropes to ride as many rides as we could, and waiting in lines was a breeze with cousins to hang out with.  We spent one day at Disneyland and the next day at California Adventure.  We loved every minute of it (except maybe the times Nate had enough and screamed at the top of his lungs in his high pitched voice and made it look like we were kidnapping him or something).

It seems like most of our Disneyland pictures are blurry and grainy, and I'm afraid the camera must have been on the wrong mode all day.

I had to include the giant Mr. Potato Head--that guy just made my day!  He even took out his ear for us!

We went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at the beginning, which Ellie did not like at all.  She still tells me daily she didn't like all the bad guys in that ride.  Her favorite part of the whole trip was that she got to ride the entire time in a stroller!

Sometime during the first day I realized that one of our bags was missing.  This was the bag that we were bringing on each ride since it had our cameras and our next days admission passes.  We could remember the last time we had it, and realized it was missing within twenty minutes of losing it.  Scott and I both backtracked looking for the bag.  My heart was heavy as I thought about the next days tickets we may have just lost.  After one of the workers told me they treated abandoned bags as bomb threats, I was pretty sure we'd never get it back.  Scott went to the lost and found clear on the other end of the park.  Gratefully, in the twenty minutes since we lost it it was turned in!  I was so grateful for this blessing.  Ben commented that this was why Disneyland was called the "greatest place on Earth."

Thanks to Ben and Val and crew for a great time!

Mommy's Little Helper

Ellie's Sunbeam teacher asked us to email pictures of Ellie helping me, helping Scott, and helping a sibling. Ellie is at that age where she wants to do EVERYTHING with me. She's actually truely become quite a help (when she wants to be). She likes to make lunches with me in the morning. I put her in charge of making baggies of carrot sticks or crackers--she always ends up wanting a sandwich for breakfast. She helped me make zuccini bread the other day. Again, notice her aversion to cameras. She wouldn't act normal or give me a cute smile once she saw the camera.

Her real help comes about with Nathan.  She continues to love that boy like he is her own.  Today at lunch I smiled when Ellie swept Nate in her arms and said, "Come on Bud, let's get you lunch" and then proceeded to put him in his booster seat, put his tray on and then give him some craisins to munch on while I made the rest of his lunch.  She knows what he needs even sometimes when I don't.  She feeds him when I can't, and runs around chasing him which he loves.

One day while we were in the car the older kids started calling Nathan a monster.  As if on cue, Nate started flailing his arms and screaming--generally acting crazy just like a little monster.  Ellie remarked to Nathan, "Nate, you don't have to act like that--the kids were just pre-teasing you."  I rather like her combination of 'pretend' and 'teasing.'

This winter a pipe in the ceiling of our church burst and flooded the entire building.  There has to be extensive work done before we can meet there again.  Ellie must have picked up on what was going on.  I realized she didn't completley understand it when we drove past the temple and Ellie pointed and said "Look, the temple!  But that's not our temple."  I wasn't sure why she didn't think it was ours so I asked her and she said, "Because ours exploded and we can't go there anymore."

Brynn's Baptism

Cute Brynn was baptized on March 5th.  She thought the month she had to wait from her birthday to her baptism was the longest span ever and was so excited for the day to finally be here.  We were blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa Porter, Caleb and Abby with us for this special day.  They arrived just a couple of hours before Brynn's baptism on Saturday and left the next morning--it was a quick trip but we were grateful that they made the effort to come. 

Scott gave a great talk on baptism, Grandma Porter led the music, Abby played the piano, Abby and Kaitlyn sang a special musical number accompianied by myself, and Caleb said a prayer.  Both Grandpa Porter and Caleb got to be witnesses to the baptism, and Caleb thought it was so cool that he got to be a part of that.  So did I.  It was such a sweet service, and we are so proud of Brynn for the sweet girl she is and her strong desire to always choose the right. 

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  I am grateful for the happiness I enjoy when I am doing what is right, and want my children to know if they follow the commandments, read the scriptures, and listen to the prophet they will find true happiness in their life as well.

A New 'Do

A couple of weeks ago I took Kaitlyn to get her hair cut.  Her hair had gotten so long, and she needed some weight taken off to revitalize her curls.  The hair stylist recommended a stacked bob for curly hair and said it was really cute.  Kaitlyn was up for it, but was shocked when she saw the finished product.  Her curls were definitely revitalized--and it made her hair about as short as her ears.  She cried.  And, I knew how she felt--because I have cried after several shocking haircuts.  I straightened her hair for her and she felt much better.  The next day at church she made her debut with a new 'do--she got so many compliments I think she decided she likes it after all! 

I have to help her straighten it, but we got her a shower cap so she doesn't have to wash it as frequently, so it hasn't been very hard to maintain.  Cute Brynn asked me if she got her hair cut could she wear a shower cap too?  In a couple of months I'm anxious to see what it looks like curly again.  I think Kailtyn has enjoyed the change.

Long Hair.  Short Hair.  Curly Hair.  Straight Hair.  It doesn't really matter--this girl is beautiful no matter what!

Valentine's Traditons

When I was a kid I remember my mom always made us  big individual  rice krispie treat hearts decorated with our initial in M&;M's. Every Valentine's Day I intend to do this for my kids, but haven't.  This year I made them for everyone.  The kids thought they were great--I'm pretty sure the ones my mom made us were much bigger than the ones I made for the kids, but I thought these were plenty big given the fact that almost every Valentine they get from friends comes with several pieces of candy!

This year the girls helped me make a nice dinner for Scott.  I made Fettucine Alfredo with Shrimp--it was actually the first time I ever bought shrimp and had to call my friend and ask her what to buy!  Since I can't stand the look or texture of shrimp, I never even think to buy it.  Scott and the kids loved it!  We made red jello with bannanas, garlic bread, fresh broccoli, and had red cranberry juice to drink.  The girls decorated the table with a red tablecloth and a balloon centerpiece.  They folded the napkins fancy, and printed a menu.  We all had a fun time making a nice dinner, and Scott loved it!  I think we need to make this a tradition.