She's Home! :)

...and she had a fabulous time.  Phew!

I Actually Let Her Go....

A few months ago when talk of girl's camp surfaced in Young Women, our cute President (Julie) assured me that although Anna wouldn't turn twelve until the week after camp, she would make sure Anna was included.  "Great!" I said...but in my head, I thought, "Hmmm...I hope it doesn't work out."  I know, terrible, huh?  Well, she is my oldest, and I wasn't ready for her to go!  When I came home and talked with her, she most definitely said that she wanted to go if she could, and I knew I couldn't keep her home. 

We only had a few tears yesterday evening as she was packing up.  Nathan came in and said that he would miss her while she was gone and made her a little sentimental...it was very sweet!  But, she left for camp this morning, and luckily there were no tears (it probably helps that Scott is going up tomorrow morning and staying the rest of the time.)  I'm sure she would be fine even if he wasn't going, but it sure puts my mind at ease!  I can't wait to see pictures of the whole thing, but I'll have to wait until Thursday.  In the meantime, here are some pics of the departure:

 

Anna with Aimee and Nathan (Ryan was a little grumpy for pictures...)

Some of the other cute girls going (one of these girls has Anna for a secret sister...I can say that now that she's gone... :)

More girls....do they look ready for camp, or what!?

My awesome Laurels (who aren't really mine anymore since I was moved to Beehives to be with Anna!) 

Anna and the girls she's riding up with...they will have so much fun!

"Are you sure you want to leave your mother?" (And grouchy baby brother?)

Yep, I think she will be just fine...

Yay, camp...maybe I'll even go next year! :)

Mi Vida Loca

Oh, where to begin?  I feel so badly that I haven't kept up will everything we've had going on.  Here come lots of pictures!

First off, I had a great Mother's Day....how could I not with these four cuties?  They were all helped Scott make a delicious teriyaki chicken dinner complete with some super yummy lettuce wraps.  Oh, I'm getting hungry just thinking of it!  Of course the kids were very sweet and perfectly behaved and didn't argue one bit the whole day.  (Well, a mother can dream, can't she???)  They did try their best to make it a fabulous day, and it was. :)

You can't go wrong with a dessert that looks like this:

Okay, I really need to stop with the food....it's lunchtime...

That week was also Aimee's fourth grade "Gold Dust or Bust" play.  It is one of my favorites, and she was wonderful.  Here she is in her 'gold miner' outfit:

Isn't she pretty?  I think so...

And here we are at the Angels vs Braves baseball game with Scott's office:

We love the Angels! :)

Ryan has been growing up right before our eyes...little stinker!  The other day we were talking about how big he is getting and Aimee said, "He's going to be a toddler soon!"  (Hmmm...that's how much we baby him...he's almost two and we're thinking he's not even a toddler yet?! :)  He loves to 'write' and draw....especially on things he's not supposed to... 

...he has found some fun hiding places around the house...

...and spends lots of time getting into things like the flour and sugar, toothpaste, and especially my make-up.  That is eyeliner on his lips...about two minutes before we had to leave for an appointment.  Luckily it was just enough time to snap a few pics and clean it off before we had to leave! :)

Nathan was the "Beary Special Scholar" in his class and had a fun weekend with Scholar Bear:

Scholar Bear even brought him lunch from McDonalds...a super treat!

   
                              

Nathan also got to bring us to his class:

We had lots of company the week of Memorial Day...first cousin Landon, then a couple of days later Maylee and Brooklyn (and Jeff and Heidi!) came.  What a fun week!  They got here Wednesday evening, and we got to spend Thursday at Disneyland with them.  My kids were in heaven (and got to miss school for the day as an added bonus....)  Friday evening Jeff's family came to our Ward Talent Show to see Scott and the kids perform "The Duck Song" skit:

Here is the link if you're wondering what "The Duck Song" is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-szzzveZl9k

We were so busy with Disneyland and everything else going on that I didn't even take out my camera until the last day they were here:(  Aimee and Anna set up a little party for Maylee because it was her birthday was coming up soon:

Ryan and cute little Brooklyn...Ry-guy loved having a "baby" around!

We had so much fun with them, and hope they come back to visit again soon!

Nathan's 'Kindergarten Farm' play was next on the calendar.  Nathan got to be a farmer and a scarecrow...he did an awesome job! 

"I am a farmer working morning to night,

Making certain this farm is running right.

With fields to plow and animals to feed,

It's not easy to find the time to weed."

"Being a scarecrow isn't all fun,

Standing for hours and hours in the sun.

I keep the birds away from the crops,

When they see me, their pecking stops."

How did I get such a cute little Kindergartener?  I just love him.

And on to Scott's birthday!  It was the big "37" this year...wow...that's creeping up pretty close to 40.  We made him a Coconut Caramel Cake from my favorite recipe blog.  It was delish!  Ryan's favorite part was blowing out the candles.  Nathan would start lighting them and Ryan would blow from where he was sitting and get them all out.  Nathan had to start over several times.  I couldn't believe Ryan's aim...I've never been able to blow out candles like that little guy can!  We were laughing pretty hard by the time they were all finally lit.  I'll post a video some time...it was hilarious...

Whew!  Okay, we're over half-way done...stay with me...

Aimee had a field day and barbecue at school:

Anna attended her last 'Activity Days' before she turns twelve...I had to hold back the tears!

Nathan completed his first round of swimming lessons with his fabulous teacher, Miss Amanda.  He's swimming like a little fish now!

Aimee had a business day at school (we sure seem to have a lot of those!)  Here she is at her "Wheel of Questions" with her teacher (it was Decade Day where they dressed like their favorite decade...she doesn't usually have big hair like that...)  Mrs. B. spun 'math' on the wheel and Aimee gave her a multiplication problem that stumped her.  Luckily she redeemed herself and spelled 'regretful' right!

Nathan got to join in on the fun until Kindergarten started:

And since we started with Mother's Day, we'll end with Father's Day.  The kids had a fun day hanging out with Daddy (they especially like that he doesn't care what they wear in their picture with him...unlike Mom who makes them stay in their church clothes...)

Ryan helped out by opening most of Daddy's presents for him while he was looking at the cute things the kids made him at school:

Okay, Nathan wants to take over the blogging for this next picture and tell you about the present he gave Scott for Father's day:

daddy got a picture of a fish that said good things come to dads that bait.

Very appropriate, since the past two summers at the cabin Scott has opted out of the fishing license and spent hours in the boat and on the shore baiting the kids' hooks.  What a Dad!

We made Scott a Fresh Peach and Cream Cheese Pie from you-know-where.  Yum!  Ryan (and the rest of us) sure enjoyed it!

I think that catches us up.  Hopefully since school is out (finally!) I can keep this blog updated a little more often.  Now I'm off to enjoy our first official day of summer...yay!

Memorial Weekend

(This is for you, Crystal...)

Memorial Day Weekend was much anticipated this year.  We haven't seen much of Scott during the week for the past few months (work is keeping him very busy), so a day off was more than welcome.  Nathan couldn't believe that Daddy got the day off too...yay!  We started the weekend off with a big, juicy watermelon:

It was from Costco, and it was delicious!  Nathan's been begging for one for months, and I always give him the same line:  "They won't be any good until summertime."  Well, he broke me down that day, and it was a good thing!  That was one of the best watermelons I've had in a long time.  Yummy watermelon = happy Nathan:)

After a good breakfast of cereal and watermelon we got to work cleaning for company.  We cleaned like you wouldn't believe.  It was fabulous...I love a clean house!  Of course, it didn't last very long, but for a few hours my house was almost spotless....ahhh, life with kids. :)  Here they are taking a break from all of the cleaning.  Poor children! (Ha!)

Finally, cousin Landon (and Eric and Angela) got here!  We're always in for a fun time with Aunt Angela around.  (And Uncle Eric too, of course!)  We were laughing that Ryan is a year older than Landon, but Landon outweighs him by a couple of pounds.  That boy is such a cute little chunk!  Ryan thought he had his cheeks full of air (like the girls do when he 'pops' their cheeks), so he kept trying to squish the air out.  Only problem was that there was no air...just chubby cheeks!  It was pretty funny.  Ryan loved having a baby around so he could be the "big boy" for once.

And here he is teaching Landon how to slide out back:

Landon wasn't sure whether or not he liked it!

Nathan was the Beary Special Scholar, and Scholar Bear got to hang out with us for the weekend.  (Finally! He was the last Kindergartener to be chosen, so he had to be very patient!) They did all kinds of fun things, including basketball :

We played at the park, went to the mall, got frozen yogurt, snuck in a little UNO....good times! 

Thanks for coming to visit, guys!  Come back soon... :)

Easter

Easter this year was a bit crazy, but lots of fun!  I worked a little deal with the Easter Bunny so that the kids wake up to their baskets on Saturday morning in stead of Sunday, which works out especially nice with a 9:00 a.m. church schedule!  A couple of years ago they came up with the tradition of sleeping down in the family room to try to catch him (or her), but it hasn't happened yet.  This year that sneaky Bunny hid their baskets and then strung different colored yarn (one color per kid) all over the place.  The kids had to follow the color of yarn that coordinated with their baskets to find them.  Scott wasn't too thrilled with the mess that Bunny made.  He might stay up next year to supervise! :)

These pictures don't do the job justice, but it was pretty hard to walk through the house.  You had to be pretty limber to get around with all of that ducking and maneuvering in the maze of yarn.

Ryan (and the other kids) thought it was pretty cool, though!

Yay!  Everyone found their baskets!

We had to hurry and get cleaned up because we were hosting a "surprise going-away party" for Anna's friend, Brooke, who was moving to Utah:

That led to a full day of playing with friends, which was great because I got all kinds of things done for Easter dinner while they entertained each other!  Finally we got down to business coloring eggs:

As you can see, we are very serious about our egg decorating around here:

Well...most of the time...

....and on to Easter Sunday!  We were feeling "pink" this year:

Ryan happened to find one of his old binkies (that he would never take as a baby) and thought it was the greatest thing ever.  I let him play with it for the afternoon, but after that it was outta here!

Cute Aimee:

Cute Nathan:

(he was a little concerned about wearing a pink tie until I told him that I'd seen the other Nathan (Nathan D.) at church with a pink tie before too.) Phew! Thanks, Sarah!

Anna, keeping Ryan happy during pictures:

And finally, after several attempts, one shot with everyone smiling and looking in the general direction of the camera at the same time....amazing! :)

I found a great recipe for cinnamon roll dough that you make the night before, so I had a piping hot, delicious breakfast to use as an incentive to get everyone ready for church on time.  Hey, I know what works!  I also got to teach an Easter lesson in YW (I love teaching, and I love those girls), and we had a yummy dinner with my favorite...Strawberry Shortcake....for dessert.  And, of course, I was grateful to reflect on our Savior, the number one reason that Easter is my favorite holiday of the year.  Happy Easter 2011!