Boys "R" Us

Mother's Day! :)

2009-05-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

I had such an enjoyable Mother's Day today. Of course it started out with the traditional breakfast in bed....they bring cinnamon rolls and then we all eat on the bed together...it is getting more and more crowded on that bed! The line-up changed this year!!!!!!!!!!! Trent now heads it! What a big change from last year!!!!!

Trent 13, Jared 9 (will be 10 on the 22nd), and Byron 6.

Then it was fun to get some pix with the individual kids.

This evening we went on a bike ride up a trail near here. Was lots of fun! The 2 kids without gears did great!

This is the stained glass candle holder Trent made me, and the vase that Jared made....
and the hat that Byron made...:)

Trent's Open House

2009-05-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Trent's open house for junior high was the other night. Here he is with his social studies teacher. She just finished up chemo so was out for some time...she is a favorite of the kids! This is Trent's homeroom teacher...she teaches English. He was intimidated by her at first, but has ended up really liking her!

This is Trent's science and algebra teacher. He is an awesome math teacher. He's even written books about algebra. It's his passion. Trent has enjoyed all 3 of his teachers this year so much. So nice to not have one that you dread....so he has been so fortunate this year.

For extra credit, he signed up to do a 1/2 hour stained glass presentation during open house for his manufacturing technology class. Here he is showing us what he's learned. And I was the recipient of a beautiful stained glass candle holder from him for Mother's Day!

Mother's Tea!!!!

2009-05-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

The first graders put on a Mother's Tea every year in their classroom. It is SO special. They bring out a rose and escort their mom back into the classroom. Then they show them the book they made about you....then they all line up and sing several songs. SO sweet. After one of the songs, they tell the one thing they would change in this world if they could....most kids say something like "My mom would never have to do laundry again" or some such thing...Byron said "If I could change one thing in this world for my mom, there would be no more rats!" ha! Loved it! (Yes, we do enjoy the company of rats...big ones, bigger ones and realllly big ones in our garage from time to time). It was so cute. Then of course for the book, they write all these sweet things about you and how you are so beautiful, best mom, etc. etc....but again, my favorite is the one that was out of the box....his last description of me was :My mom buys donuts not often. Too true! Bringing out the roses to the moms.

Singing their songs.

OH....and one of the best parts of all....each kid makes a hat for their mom out of paper, and decorate it how they want....Byron's had gems and ribbon on the yellow and orange paper. It will go in my hat box with my wedding hat, Trent's Mother's tea hat, and Jared's Mother's Tea hat!

Pioneer Days

2009-05-10T17:28:00.001-07:00

Jared had Pioneer Day this week. I helped teach the kiddos embroidery. Was fun..but didn't get many pictures! They had several stations they went to.

Baseball season!

2009-05-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

This year Byron is the only one in baseball. So hard to get used to! Last year we "lived" at the park. He is loving it. Robert is helping coach, too. Ready to make the catch.

Trent is 13!!

2009-04-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that Trent is already 13! He had Nick and Brandon come over for a party. He chose chocolate cream pie for his "cake"....

Sweaty for every birthday!

Then Nick spent the night...they had bkft in the backyard...

The ocean

2009-04-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Then we went over to Half Moon Bay. Was cold! We didn't spend toooo many hours there!

These 2 hunkered down in a big hold to keep protected from the wind.

San Fran!

2009-04-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

Robert had work in San Francisco over spring break. We got to tag along! The company that asked him to come and speak at the conference paid for our hotel at the Marriott right downtown! We were up on the 23rd floor! What a neat view! The kids had so much fun in the big pool...
Then during Robert's work, the kids and I had fun going around downtown. They had a ball in this huge mall. They were all amazed by the curved escalators. So we entertained ourselves by going way up to the top a few times! :)

Quite the mall.....

Then when Robert was done with work, we all got to play! We went to Coit Tower. We'd never been there before so it was fun.
View from the top.

View of Lombard from Coit Tower (zoomed in of course)

Of course we had to go down Lombard.

Volcano!

2009-03-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

For 4th grade, Jared's class builds volcanoes...then they have a ring of fire and set them all off. Is so fun. volcano

Jared's little buddy class got to come and watch. Since Byron is in his little buddy class, he got to come!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day this year, the boys dipped strawberries. We had white or dark chocolate, and sprinkles, mini-chips, mini-m&m's, etc. for them to use. They thoroughly enjoyed it, and the best part of all, is of course eating them! They love them! :)

Some of their creations.

Then we had Nick and Brandon over for Valentine's Dinner! Was great! :) We always do some "nice" family dinner for Valentine's Day. More fun that way! :)

And, my dear hubby, brought me home roses.....

Party Food

2009-02-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

White Chocolate Raspberry Tart...yum

Just some various food items from a party I had....

Academic Pep Rally

2009-02-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

Trent's school makes a big deal out of academics. They give the kids green shirts if they get a 4.0 and have a big academic pep rally. Awards are handed out by each teacher for best in class (per academy). Trent got one of them! Here he is right after getting his medal.

Sitting beside one of his favorite teachers...his algebra and his science teacher.

Beautiful days

2009-01-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

The boys enjoyed some beautiful days outside. One day they took out blankets and books and soaked up the sun.

2 Missing Teeth!

2009-01-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Byron lost both his front teeth...and during Christmas vacation! "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...."...so cute! :)

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

Phil and Jacquie had a bunch of us over after mtg. on New Year's Eve to bring in 2009! Was great fun!

After everybody left, we ended up staying wayyyyy too late...one little boy fell asleep. He often sleeps in this position.

The Polar Express

2008-12-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Byron's 1st grade class put on a production of the Polar Express. They've been doing this play for years. It is always so cute.

A Sad Wreck at the Continental Divide

2008-11-30T23:57:00.000-08:00

Not much I want to say about this wreck, except that a 4 year old boy was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected. His head and face took the impact of the windshield and the pavement. We were 2nd on scene. I stayed and took care of him for the hour it took for life flight to get there. (Rural, so took a long time.) I could not even tell what he looked like. However, his one year old sister who was seatbelted, was fine and still beautiful as she ate her Cheerios in someone's warm van....Janet heard on the news that night that this little boy suffered traumatic brain injury....SEATBELTS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!

The boys together

2008-11-30T23:52:00.000-08:00

Rydel and Trent, Jared and Byron

Buds....

Raquel's new pet

2008-11-30T23:49:00.000-08:00

Raquel got a new hamster to take with her to college when we were there. Needless to say, Jared was enthralled and hopes we can get one now!

The View from Roy and Wendy's house

2008-11-30T23:43:00.000-08:00

Isn't it a gorgeous view??

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

Lots of people packed into Mark and June's basement! And LOTS of food to go along with it! Ranae and Raquel! 2 very sweet girls!

Robert and me along with Gary and Lisa, and Roy and Wendy. Steve and Kim were not there.

Roy, Robert, and their mom (Donna) and dad (Howard)

Lisa, Wendy, Raquel, and Ranae.

On the Farm

2008-11-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

We went to see Robert's side of the family over Thanksgiving. Here are a few pictures from the farm. What a beautiful sunrise!!!

Trent helped out Grandpa haul some stuff...he got a ride at the same time!

Steve with his HUGE truck!

Byron John

2008-11-30T21:55:00.000-08:00

Jared Scott

2008-11-30T21:48:00.000-08:00

Trent Robert

2008-11-30T21:46:00.000-08:00

Some new family pictures

2008-11-30T21:42:00.000-08:00

Byron (6), Jared (9), and Trent (12)

Was time to update our family pictures. Mom and Dad were here so was a perfect opportunity.

Lefse, of course!

2008-11-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?

Mmmm....I can just taste it...I need to make some more! It does not last in this household!

Lighthouse

2008-11-30T21:31:00.000-08:00

One day we took a walk down to a lighthouse. It was so pretty over there.

Lots of steps down!

Robert and I at one of the look-outs (or rest stops, whatever you wanted to use it for! )

We made it down!

Dad didn't go down, so he found some shade and waited for us at the top!Do ya think it might be windy over here most of the year?

Trip to the Coast

2008-11-30T21:14:00.000-08:00

When Dad and Mom were here, we took a couple of days and went over to the coast. We picked the perfect time to go! No wind, and the weather was awesome! We even got a little warm when we went on a little hike!

There is the neatest big tree over there. You can go inside it and it is like a big room in there!

This picture is from Mom's camera but it shows more what it looks like on the inside of the tree.

I always like silhouette shots of my men!

We so enjoyed the scenery!

What a good picture of both Mom and Dad! :)

Sand Fun

2008-11-30T21:00:00.000-08:00

Then we went and found a fun beach. It was so fun. The kids had a blast in the sand as usual.

The boys had such fun filling their shirts with sand and looking "fat"...Jared would sure get some funny looks from people walking by!

Byron at play

2008-11-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of cute pictures of Byron!

Halloween

2008-10-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

This year we had a convict, a Ninja, and an alien! Byron decided to do a puking pumpkin like Trent has done in the past. This was his design.

Jared and his pumpkin.

And the convict with the bloodied, stabbed, pumpkin.

What a bloody mask! This is Brandon.Nick, Trent, ,Brandon, Jared, Byron, and BrysonBryson looking pretty scary!

A HUGE haul! Lots of good stuff! :)

A Visit with Gpa and Gma!

2008-10-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

We had a great time with Robert's parents. They came down for several days. These pictures are from our day at Six Flags! We sure enjoyed the day over there!Jared and Byron in front of the pumpkins. Trent was off on the roller coaters at this time!
Riding Thomas the Tank engine! This was the speed of the rides Byron liked!

Jared got to ride Roar, finally! When we went this summer, the lines were sooooo long that he was unwilling to wait. He tried several times to go. But this time, he was able to ride it several times! This was coming off the first time!

Howard and Donna even road Roar!

And here's the proof!

Zoomed in on a hummingbird while we were eating.

Chloe was so happy to see us when we got home! :)

The Crooked Shirt

2008-10-22T21:45:00.001-07:00

We inherited this lovely shirt from these lovely people...and Byron LOVES new clothes. So on this Wed. night, he was so anxious to wear it. I had not done my "last minute inspection", so we were all seated on the couch waiting for the first to arrive....suddenly he decided he needed a drink, and when he came in, I noticed his shirt's buttons! But the 1st people were coming in so I never said a word, as he would have been mortified! But I thought it was so cute!

And of course he wanted me to take a picture of him with the dog!

Crazy Hair Day

2008-09-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

Today was crazy hair day at school. Byron wanted his hair all spiked up in the front. Thanks to a bunch of gel, it stayed all day!

And Jared with his very spiky hair! :)

Pumpkin Face

2008-09-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

I got my fall decorations out...and there is just something abouot these 2 faces that seem so real to me....even though there is nothing "real" about them! And I just can't help but be in a good mood whenever I see them!

2008-09-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

I think I've mentioned before on this blog that I have become more of a foliage person than a flower person (as far as our yard goes....) Jared had to bring in 2 leaves for science today, and these are the 2 he chose....I like how they look together! I'm thinking next year I need to move some plants so they are side by side!

Soup's On!

2008-09-22T20:21:00.001-07:00

Jared LOVES to do "experiments"...Sunday he came home from meeting with some acorns in his pocket and wanted to do some experimenting! So, first, he boiled them, then added some milk, sugar, salt, and pepper....and of course leaves...he cooked it quite some time, then after it cooled, he peeled them, chopped them, mashed them, etc....it was quite a concoction! He was so proud of the fact though, that I gave him such freedom at the stove! He's always interested in helping us bake and cook, as well....hopefully when he's a chef someday, he'll come up with a little more palatable recipe than this one! Byron, ever learning from his big brothers.

I'm Shrinking!!!

2008-09-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

I remember learning in school that we are taller in the morning and shorter in the evening....this is due to the compression and re-expansion of the spine .... and it sure holds true for me! Since Trent has been ever so quickly creeping up on me, he is constantly "measuring" himself against me....well, one night we thought he might have caught up to me, so we measured for real....I was shocked that I was only a bit over 5'9"! Does this mean I've already shrunk 1"??? So, remembering the "tall in the morning" bit, we re-measured in the morning...sure enough, I was a full 5' 10"...WELL...I came home from work the other morning, so it was my "night"(plus, I'd been on my feet most of the day before as well), and Trent's "morning"...as soon as he came down the stairs, he and I simultaneously said "Oh my!"....because he was WAY taller than me!!! Here's the proof!

Then, when I got up (which was actually only about 4 hours), we were much more similar in height! Crazy, eh?

Those chins are a lot more even in this picture!

New Friends

2008-09-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

So it seems that Trent and Nick are becoming friends. They go to the same school, and this day was the start of their biking together. They (along with another boy) meet about 1/2 way to school and bike the last blocks together. They wait for each other for lunches...They bike back the few blocks together...Sometimes when I'm in Trent's room telling him good-night, his phone will beep with a text...it is Nick texting him good-night...I'm so glad these two are becoming friends!

"The girl" is 2

2008-09-03T22:00:00.001-07:00

Well, Chloe (or "the girl" as she is often called), turned 2 today! Of course, w/ 3 boys in the house, the day cannot go by w/o a bit of fanfare! So, Chloe had a party.....first the pictures with ribbons on her collar.....

Then we had to sing happy birthday, of course!
Then the "cake"...which really was cinnamon rolls as ordered up by the boys, none of which Chloe was allowed to eat! She wasn't quite sure what to think about the liberty she was given to have her paws up ON the table!!!
Then the present.....a new big bone....don't you just love her big ol' tongue in this next picture? I don't think it was because of the bone, however.....I think it was because she was getting pretty close to a cinnamon roll!

And here's a couple of pictures from 2 years ago...this first one is when Kelvin and Leila still had her...what a cutie!
And this was her right after we brought her home.....she was almost 3 months old here.

Fair Day

2008-09-02T18:56:00.001-07:00

We took the kids to the fair over the weekend. We lucked out and had fantastic weather! I was sure hoping it would not be 105, and by the time our fair day rolled around, it was in the 80's!! How lucky could we get?! Pardon the pictures.....rather than bringing our "good" camera, we brought our old (first) digital camera....and it does not take very good photos! But it was sure easy to pack around! :) I love this picture of the kids with the llama. They loved the petting zoo. We had to go twice.

Waiting for our pizza to cook.
Byron loved the "carousewheel"....he rode it twice.
The view from the top of the Ferris wheel.
Wow, those seatbelts look like they'd really hold ya in, don't they?

Waiting for a roller coaster ride...they were first in line so got the front seat!
Just coming back in from the ride.
Trent likes these swings.....in the picture below he's the lone rider.
And this one is just perfect for Byron!

18 years!!!

2008-09-01T14:58:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? We've already been married 18 years!!!! And we've been together for 23!! Here we were in 1986....after we'd been dating a year. Robert was 20, and I was 17.We definitely don't look like we did in our 20's!!!Ah....even a little kiss! :)Now that Trent is old enough to "babysit", we left the 3 kids home and we celebrated at the Cheesescake Factory. That place is SOOOO good!This was a Vietnamese wrap....shrimp, noodles, carrots, asparagus, and other veggies wrapped in the rice wrap, then dipped either in peanut sauce or an oriental flavor sauce. Was fantastic! Next, we shared Thai Chicken Pasta....with peanut sauce...maybe doesn't look so good in this picture, but it was delicious!
Oops...guess we started on the white chocolate and caramel macademia nut cheesecake before the picture! It was also sooooo good!

School Daze

2008-08-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe the summer is already over and the kids are back to school! Trent is now in 7th grade....starting a new school.....lots of adjustments! Jared is now a big 4th grader and goes one more hour than last year....and Byron is 1st grade, so he goes the full day (sort of) as well..... The kids always like Chloe to line up as well! She's so cute sitting there!

Being dropped off in front of his door!
Byron with the same teacher the other 2 boys got! Our boys all got great teachers this year so we are thrilled!
Here's one nervous boy!!! The light was just behind him so the picture didn't turn out so well. I took it from the van....
And he's off.....my thoughts were with him all day that day...wondering HOW his first day of Jr. High was going!!!

Flowers

2008-08-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

I received some flowers recently from 2 very special friends.....these first set were from Sandy and family.....

And the pink bouquet was from Nyla....both of these ladies were roommates in college 2 different years! It was SOOO special!!!

Hot August Nights

2008-08-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

Talbert and Karen invited us up to Hot August Nights with them! They are veterans, but we've never gone before. We had a great time! These are all pictures from Trent....he took dozens!

Water fun!

2008-08-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

Took the kids over to a park with a water area today. They had great fun. I'm always so glad that Trent, though he is going into 7th grade, does not worry about what people think, but just has fun with whatever age of kid he is playing with! So he might have been twice the size of the other kids, but had just as much fun!

There is a bucket that fills up, then every few minutes tips over.....here it is coming down on them.

No....Jared didn't know this little girl..but it sure was fun to point the water gun at her!

Byron's 6th birthday

2008-08-06T16:16:00.001-07:00

Can you believe it? Our baby turned 6!!!! Sunday was "the day"...we started out with none other than cinammon rolls, of course! What could be better than that for a birthday breakfast!!?

Those fingers taste pretty good!
After we got home from lunch, he decided he wanted to open his presents, rather than wait till Monday when we were going to have a few people over. We scrambled and got them wrapped and opened before we left for meeting!

Byron loves stuffed animals. He uses them and uses them. They are not doomed to the lonely corner of forgotenness (I like to make up words)....so he was thrilled to get this lion he'd had his eye on for some time now!
Monday night we had Mariah and Morgan, Kyla, Kaelynn and Bryson, and Brandon&Nick over. The kids had a lot of fun! The adults had a lot to visit about! And we all ate a lot of food! Byron was kind enough to want pizza for his birthday dinner, so that was pretty easy for me! He also wanted the same oreo and strawberry cheesecake pie that Robert had for his birthday! Seemed weird to not have the traditional "cake and ice cream!"
And Morgan is learning to play the piano....so she played "Happy Birthday" while the rest of us sang! So cute!

Chah-lay!

2008-07-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

This is another little video we think is so cute....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

It's summer! Make sure to keep well hydrated!

2008-07-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this video might not be in the best of taste, but I laugh every time I see it....and so I thought it best to not be selfish in such a situation.....after all, there just might be somebody out there that needs a good laugh! Hope you enjoy watching it!

Mudpies

2008-07-27T22:25:00.001-07:00

And of course you have to have beach time when you go to the ocean!

These 2 kiddos turned out some mighty fine mudpies. They are going to give Marie Callendar a run for her money!

Crabbing

2008-07-27T22:17:00.001-07:00

We had never crabbed before, so Talbert taught us how! It was so fun!

We had lots of fun looking at all the little crab in between the rocks, too. There were starfish as well! Was so neat!

This was the rock jetty we climbed out on to drop the nets from.

We caught quite a few!
Then Talbert cooked them up. Jared was so happy! He loves crab!

Camping with Talbert and Karen

2008-07-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Talbert and Karen went camping with us over at the coast. It was so nice. We ended up with a super campsite! There was this "sand dune" right out our door, and overlooking the bay, so it was so fun for the kids. They played and played. And since there was this sand dune and some trees, we were so sheltered from the wind, and it felt so private. We were just a few steps away from the beach. I would take Chloe on a walk down on the hard sand in the mornings and evenings when it was so beautiful. We had such good weather. We couldn't have asked for nicer days!

Lots of kids got buried!
Oooh...Trent lost his head but found it in the sand...time to pick it up and put it back on! (Or am I supposed to say Jared lost his head since it is his face?!)
The girl thoroughly loving it and so glad to not have been left behind! (At least we like to think so!)

Such sweet girls....

She got pretty tired after some of her walks! She loved the ocean...it would "chase her" and then she'd chase it back! We'd often find her here on the bed sleeping!

Six Flags

2008-07-27T20:31:00.000-07:00

Of course we had to take them to Six Flags! It was sooo packed....

Jared enjoyed this little roller coaster.
Ooooooh...Robert, I hope you can manage this one! :)
Gary, Lisa, and Kyle at our dinner break!
Byron was so scared on this ride. It was an ark that swung back and forth. I had to keep his eyes covered the whole time. If I would take my hand off, he'd immediately press my hand over his eyes again! This picture was before we got started....

Kyle and Trent LOVED the roller coasters....they were lucky enough to get front row seats on this one!

Taking Gary and Lisa out on the boat

2008-07-14T20:17:00.000-07:00

Robert's brother Gary, his wife Lisa, and their youngest son, Kyle came to visit. We took them out on the boat. They had soooo much fun tubing! I didn't get any pictures of the skiing though, b/c Jared, Byron and I were sent to shore to lighten the load....(hmmm...should I be taking a hint there?)
As for the tubing, Robert gave them some wild rides.
Then they started to get fancy...

Sometimes they were able to hold on.......And sometimes they weren't.....

And then there's Byron...we ALMOST got him to go on the tube with us...but then he decided it was safer on the boat! No wonder, one time Jared and I were on the tube, and we told Robert to pull us REAL slowly to show Byron how it would be. "See Byron, just like this...you wouldn't even go in the water."....right then, b/c it was so slow, the tube took a dive....totally "submarined"...and Jared and I were left in the water with the tube far below! That did NOT do much to reassure him!

Robert's birthday

2008-07-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well, Robert had his birthday! I think the kids were more excited about it than he was! We went to Chevy's for dinner, then came home to dessert and presents! :)

The kids get such a kick out of this picture! I had to post it!

4th of July

2008-07-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

We spent July 4th with our friends, Talbert and Karen, and their 2 delightful girls! We went over to T's parents' house so the kids could swim! They thoroughly enjoyed it!
Waiting for the fireworks to begin!

More waiting...

Boating

2008-07-03T23:36:00.001-07:00

We had a great time boating today. We went to a new lake. It's only about 45 minutes away. There were only a handful of boats, the water was warm, and the weather was beautiful! Ready to hold up the flag whenever his brother wipes out!
Jared agreed to go as long as we didn't go too fast!

Trent likes the wild rides!!!
Obviously!
Then there's Byron...he's still too afraid to go on the tube, even slowly with me....so, he eats..and eats....and eats some more.....then we stop and swim, and when he's done swimming, he eats some more!
I gave them a wild ride! Robert also waterskiied today.
And, as has happened I believe every time we've boated, a certain little boy falls asleep! :)

2008-06-30T11:32:00.001-07:00

Byron was so pleased...Chloe was lying on his leg.....she LOVES her bedroom as we call it....if we can't find her....there she is....in her little den all snug as a bug!

Waterfall

2008-06-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

Shiver.....

Father's Day Pictures

2008-06-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

The boys wanted Chloe in the line-up as well. I have a feeling she'll always be in the back....As for the other boys....well, at the rate they are growing, who knows what the final line-up will look like!

Father's Day

2008-06-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

The boys all had their homemade (or shall I say schoolmade) cards for Dad. It was very cute.
Oooh...a lawn edger!
My dad likes....

Baseball

Mom

Father's Day

basketball!

Dear Dad,

Happy Father's Day! You are an

awesome dad!

Love,

Byron

M:akes me happy

Y:es! He helps me

F:ather of Jared

A:wesome person

T:he best person in the world

H:e makes people happy

E:xcellent dad

R:obert's the best!

(by Jared)

2008-06-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

This year the Little League decided to have a "T-ball all-stars game"....Byron was invited to play. It was so exciting for the boys b/c they actually got to play on the real field for the first time....be in real dugouts, etc! Here he is all ready....going for the home run.

Oh...missed...sure got the T though!
Oh, MAN! Missed again!
There we go...finally got a good hit!
Rounding 3rd...

Trent announcing when his little brother came up to bat!

The Sandy Beach

2008-06-29T22:06:00.001-07:00

This beach was a sandy beach we went to....you can see it's quite a hike down. Was fun.

These are the dunes we enjoyed climbing. From the picture you can't really see how steep they were. The last 10' or so were hard to make....the sand kept slipping out from under you and you had nothing to hold onto! It was so fun! Especially jumping or running down them!

During this day, Byron just kept up so well with his older brothers. We did a lot of hiking, and only being a 5 year old did not stop him. At times, though, he'd tell me, "Mom, I think we should go back to the hotel to rest".....WELL....we went back around dinner time, and while I was giving him a love, I thought he felt warm...we got back to the room, and sure enough...102 fever! The next day Jared woke up with 102 as well! So that was the end of the fun for us! But I felt so bad for Byron....doing all that while he was sick! They were both sick for several days.

The Tide Pools

2008-06-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

These are some of the tide pool life we saw.....

Miwok Village

2008-06-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

While we were there, we toured the Miwok Village. It shows a lot of old Indian houses....the kids sure enjoyed going in them!

They had these little bird-house like openings. Many of them were really quite deep into the ground. Some were sweathouses.

Ocean Time

2008-06-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

We had a fun trip to the coast. Robert had to work, so we got to go along with him since we are out of school now! It was about a 5 hour trip. One day, the boys and I took a daytrip to a neat point right on the coast. It was beautiful. This place had a bunch of tide pools. We saw sooo many neat things...clams, tons of shells, etc. all sticking to the rocks while the tide was out.

We so lucked out with the weather. Usually it is so foggy and cold there. Even quite windy. But we ended up shedding most of our layers. It was even clear blue sky!

It was quite a hike down to the water. At one point, this steep staircase was more like a ladder as much of the dirt was washed away underneath.
There were so many rocks to climb on and around. We thought the middle one in the picture above looked like a toad.
We had a picnic lunch down there. The beach was so deserted that when one person showed up, we felt intruded upon!

On top of one of the rocks we climbed up on looking down at the tide pools.

2008-06-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

Just a few random pictures from our yard...I'm more of a foliage lover than a flower lover....and I especially love the yellow and purple leaved plants that so contrast with the green....The deep purple plants don't really show up in these pictures....they look faint in color when in actuality they are quite deep!

Let the Summer Begin....

2008-06-06T21:41:00.000-07:00

As soon as breakfast was over, it was time for the slip-n-slide!!!

I love this picture!!!

First Day of Summer Vacation!

2008-06-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

The boys are used to getting up early, especially Byron. He "slept" in this morning by not getting up till 6:30. Jared was up shortly after that. They wanted pancakes...so we decided it would be fun for them to make their own. On the left is Jared's bunny, then his mouse on the right.

Byron made Micky Mouse pancakes.

This was Jared's airplane attempt. (Yes, he has a big appetite! This afternoon at 3:15 he ate 11 taquitoes and was STARVING by 6). We let Trent sleep in, so he's not in these pictures!

2008-06-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

A very special card and flower from a VERY special teacher! We were SO lucky to have her for all 3 of our kids!

Last Day of School!

2008-06-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

Our kids all had fantastic teachers this year! It was hard to see this year end b/c of it. And it was really hard to see Trent leave campus...this is his last year there....this fall he'll be in middle school on a different campus. He really "felt" it, too....took him a long time to finally leave campus.

Fast and Furious

2008-06-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Jared's 3rd grade class had snail races! We had to get up early in the morning to go "snailin' ". Since Chloe arrived on the scene, we have way fewer snails than we used to! Normally, we think that is a good thing, but at 6 a.m. it would be nice to find a snail quickly! But....Chloe to the rescue...she got up in the "garden" (as Byron calls it) and quite quickly located a snail for us. We called her off, and got the lucky critter captured safely. Jared's came in 3rd in the whole class! After coming home, I thought that would be the end of the snail...but I should have known my son better....he wanted to keep it for a pet! He went back out and finally found a 2nd one...he named them Fast and Furious. Now they have a nice habitat and make a fine centerpiece for our table.
A few snail facts for ya: Did you know that snails live an average of 5-10 years! Some live up to 15 years. They aren't mature until they are 2, and start laying eggs at 3. They can only survive 8-10 hours without food! They have to eat parts of rocks to maintain their shells. Jared has quite the habitat in there...fruits, vegetables, dog food, leaves, rocks, branches, and he's being really good about "watering" them every day, too. Not sure how long these snails will survive! But they've been seemingly happy in there for 3 days now! And nothing like a little snail smell to enhance your dining experience!

Meeting Line-up

2008-06-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

I thought the 6 kids all lined up ready for meeting on Sunday looked so cute. L to R: Jared (9), Kendra (9), Trent (12), Kelsey (15), Byron (5) and Kyla (11).

Jared's 9th birthday party

2008-05-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Jared was lucky enough to have his cousins here for his birthday party! We postponed it several days so that they'd all be here!

Jared stats: Height: 4'9 1/2" Weight: 83 lbs. Shoe Size: 7 Clothing size: 12 Grade: 3rd. Favorite restaurant: Applebee's Favorite Activities: playing baseball, computer games, creating....he aspires to be an inventor, a scientist, an artist.....but he is always creating some new invention or idea. He is also always saving some animal or another (worms, snakes, etc. in our back yard). He loves animals sooo much...and they seem to love him too!

More Convention Photos

2008-05-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Bryson and Jared get along so well and are such good friends. They were always together. I took these pictures without them even knowing it. They were laughing at a Garfield comic book they were reading out loud together.

Lots of games are played at this table during convention!
And lots of football games (3 flags) were played outside our trailer door....there were LOTS of boys...sometimes I'd look around inside our trailer and count 9-10 boys at one time!

We had rain a couple of the days there....there was always a pile of shoes at the door b/c there were always so many people inside! :)

Jared's 9th birthday

2008-05-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

Jared turned 9 at convention. I can hardly believe it! We brought his favorite cake to convention and had a few people in for cake and ice cream!
Mariah enjoying her cake and ice cream.
Cate and Mel and Dalene came over as well.

Fun to connect with old friends at convention, and make some new ones!

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T20:24:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day.....as usual, the kids spoiled me with breakfast in bed (ok, Daddy always helps, too! ). Robert brought home flowers....and the kids had something homemade. The cards they made were so sweet. Mother's Day is by far my favorite holiday. I love it WAY more than birthdays!!!

The Line-Up that we do every year...it's changing!!!!Next year I won't be in the front!
Phil and Jacquie were here for the weekend! Here she is with 2 of her boys!

And the whole family!

More of the Boys

2008-05-01T19:21:00.001-07:00

Just took a few pictures of the boys when we went out to eat. You can see it was a very sunshiny day!

Good Smellin' Dog

2008-05-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

Chloe had a bath last night and was so cuddly in this big blanket. Trent thought it looked cute and took a picture!

Water under the bridge

2008-04-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

Robert got to go away for work this week! He was given a boat tour of the new Bay bridge being built...he said it was amazing going right underneath the existing Bay bridge, and to be right up and close to the one being built. Here is directly under the existing bridge.
The existing bridge is a double decker. The new bridge will have a separate bridge for each direction.
This doesn't look too wide...however, it is 80' wide....wide enough for 5 lanes of traffic.

This is the color it will be painted....

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

2008-04-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Lauren!!! How old are you, anyhow? You must be around 40, eh? (Notice I didn't say which side of 40...just that you are "around" 40!) Here are some old pix for ya....here are Lauren Dean (as we always called him) and Daryl..ages 8 and 7.

Stanley, Daryl, and Lauren warming up in Grandma and Auntie's house after some serious sledding down their hill! I could be wrong, but if I remember right, I think their pants were in the dryer!
This would be Daryl and Lauren's 8th and 9th b-days....in the back are Shirley, Joanne holding Kelvin, and Stanley standing tall! In the front are Grandma, Daryl, Lauren, and me!

Generation Gap

2008-04-10T20:02:00.001-07:00

Ok, so yesterday Jared came up to me with a look of incredulity and awe in his eyes... And he said" Mom, things are SO different now than they were in the 90's!!!" I had to smile.....But in the eyes of an 8 year old....I guess the 90's WERE a long time ago! Even though he was talking about things like automatic sliding van doors, and Lauren and Sandy's "neat microwave" that has a fan that tilts out when turned on, it caused me to reflect a bit on the 90's.....
Yes, Jared, in the 90's we were newlyweds....now we'll be married 18 years this year....
In the 90's we had tots and thought the crying in the night would never end....now we have a 12 year old and we are desperately trying to hold on to the years.
In the early 90's we were adjusting to early adulthood...now we are classed as middle-aged....
In the 90's we had no idea how rich we would be in 2008....rich in love, rich in family, rich in friends....Yep, the 90's was great, but 2008 is even better!

Happy Birthday, Trent

2008-04-10T19:52:00.001-07:00

Well, can you believe it? Trent is already 12 years old!!! We celebrated his birthday by going out to the restaurant of his choice, then coming home to cake! We missed our cousins! Trent is really feeling it tonight, not having any family around!

The other 2 boys went out and bought a little something from them out of their own piggy banks...this is Trent telling Jared thank-you.....
And Byron...

And this is the proof that I'm still taller than him (only 1 1/2 inches) at 12 years old!!!! :)

Stats:

Height: 5'8 1/2"

Shoe size: 12

Clothes size: (now we are into mens'sizes!) Shirt is small to medium, and pants are 32x32.

Favorite activities: Sports and computer! He loves playing basketball (center...howdja guess?), and he's first base and clean-up hitter on his Majors baseball team(he just hit a home run!) He also enjoys playing racing games on the computer. And did I meantion reading? Or what about reading? Oh, and one of his favorite activities is reading...you get the picture! Reading is like breathing to him....he could NOT live without it! He LOVES books of any kind!!!

Happy Birthday Brother!

2008-04-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Daryl! Thought you might enjoy some pictures I found from our growing up years!

Here he is at one....look at those eyes!
Age 4Age 5...in the shirts Mom sewed for us.
5th grade6th grade

11th gradesenior
Daryl (soph in college), Tonya, Elaine, Lauren
1990

Mommy, does this count as a bath?

2008-04-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well, beautiful weather officially is here. The 2 boys got out the sprinkler this afternoon and had lots of fun jumping thru it!
Byron (above) and Jared (below)

One Last Slumber Party

2008-03-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

The kids spent their last evening together having a "slumber party"....the girls had been in school this week, so they couldn't have any late nights.....so we let them stay up late on their last night since it was a Friday. This is how we found they looked in the morning....

The Rainforest Cafe

2008-03-29T20:47:00.001-07:00

What a perfect ending to a day at the zoo...eating at the Rainforest Cafe! We originally were told we'd have a 2 1/2 hour wait, so when we walked in at 6 (expecting to just wait around in the gift shop), we were pleasantly surprised to find empty tables and they were able to seat us! It is such a fun restaurant for kids! (us too!)
This is the tree above our table. The cheetah would growl and move every few minutes. We sat directly under the starry sky. Sometimes a shooting star would go through the sky.

Lauren and Sandy....our dear cuzzies.
One of the many fish tanks.
The kids held up sooo well after a day full of walking!
This is the volcano dessert. We all shared it. YUMMY

Each kid got a little something from the gift shop. Notice the croc behind them...it moved back and forth opening up its mouth.

The snake would move back and forth and stick its tongue out!

This tree was NOT in the cafe. It was just in the parking lot outside, but when I looked up, I thought it looked so pretty against the dark sky!

The gang at the zoo

2008-03-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

Here we are all together at the zoo.

6 Monkeys

2008-03-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

No zoo picture would be complete without a picture of a bunch of monkeys! Kelsey

Kendra

Trent

Kyla in her cool shades.

Jared

Byronian James

A few of the zoo animals

2008-03-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Friday Lauren and Sandy and girls, and we all headed to the zoo. It was in the upper 80's....we saw lots of neat animals!On These were my favorite pictures:

It was feeding time for this tiger. They put a whole chicken up in a tree, then let him out of his cage. He ran out, and reached up so high in the tree to get his food. He was soooo tall when he did that...amazing how big of a cat they really are!

"The Desert Blooms....."

2008-03-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

We so enjoyed looking at the desert flowers. I can remember Virginia R. speaking about how the desert blooms and how beautiful it is....I'd never seen desert blooms before! They are beautiful!

It was amazing to me to see these beautiful flowers on the cactus. You can see there are so many blooms still to open...would be so neat to see!

Bougainvillea
Hibiscus

A Nice Evening With Friends

2008-03-27T22:43:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went out to Paul and Heidi R's for a swim and pizza...It was so nice to get to know them a little bit....now we can visualize more where Lauren and Sandy will go to conv, who they meet with, and who the kids are that Kelsey, Kyla, and Kendra are always talking about, etc. etc. We had such a nice time......

Singing around the piano

2008-03-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

It was special last night to hear the cousins singing around the piano before meeting.

The New Van

2008-03-27T15:00:00.001-07:00

Here's a picture of our new (to us...it's a 2005) van! It's a Honda Odyssey. We are really liking it!

Dress-up

2008-03-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

When our kids get together, one of their favorite things to do is to play dress-up. They come up with all sorts of different combinations. I only got a few pictures of the many costumes that came downstairs!

Meeting up with some Good Friends!

2008-03-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

We had dinner last night with Kevin and Rosella and family!!! It was SOOO good to see them again! We are already planning our next trip down! :) Trent and JJ started visiting right off the bat, and after awhile, the other kids started to play and get acquainted, too! We so enjoyed seeing them again!

All the kids together. This was our first time to ever meet Bronson! Kevin and Rosella and kids.
Lauren and Sandy and kids.

Dying eggs

2008-03-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Kelsey organized a great egg hunt for the kids. She decorated bags for the boys, wrapped up some little gifts, filled and hid eggs, etc. etc. We ended up doing it on Monday night since Sandy had stomach flu when we arrived Sunday night.
Then the kids changed into PJ's (to avoid getting dye on their clothes) and dyed eggs. They had lots of fun. When it was all over, Kyla and Trent had lots of experiments and concoctions going on over there!

Best laid plans of mice and men.....

2008-03-26T10:40:00.001-07:00

THE CULPRIT: We have been so looking forward to our trip to see Lauren and Sandy and girls! We could not wait to leave! Our departure date got changed a few times, but finally we were on our way! Until 1o p.m. when we broke down....majorly....finally got a tow at 1...got to our hotel at 2 a.m. The next day it was in the shop, and wouldn't you know, it wasn't as bad as we'd thought. (Robert thought we'd blown a head gasket, thereby basically totaling our 10 year old car, as it is hardly worth anything anymore).....so we stayed around waiting for it to get fixed....so, after 2 nights in town, we were on our way again! YEAH!! Called up Lauren and Sandy and said we are coming! Only to break down about an hour on our way...this time in daylight, and at an offramp....so...the problem was not fixed after all....and it indeed was a head gasket....so...back to town...went car shopping (we'd been thinking of buying a car this summer), decided if we didn't find what we wanted, we'd go back home....ended up that we found a great used car.....and FINALLY got on the road again...so 3 nights in a yucky town when we wanted to be with our family! But all in all, it was not a bad experience...frustrating of course, but not bad.
The hotel we stayed in had jets in the bathtub.....so the kids had their own little Jacuzzi....Jared stayed in there too long and got reallllly hot...so here he is laying on his bed with ice to his cheeks! The room had 2 queens and a hideabed..so was perfect! We finally arrived at Lauren and Sandy's Sunday night..only a few days late! :)

Kindergarten Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

The Kindergarten kids got to have an Easter egg hunt! They decorated baskets (grocery bags rolled down, painted, and filled with grass) and each got to find 20 eggs. It was a beautiful day for the hunt.
This is the basket Byron decorated.

Then they all sat on the sidewalk and ate to their hearts' delight (and to their little tummies' discontent!)