Welcome to our World

Hubby put in some long hours after returning home from camping so he could be home for the 4th of July. He volunteered to flip pancakes at the ward breakfast and made me a ton of gluten free/dairy free ones. He got to play soccer for the first time in a long time and we all had such a good time we stayed for hours.  For dinner he was a master at the BBQ for our family, my parents, and a new family in the ward. When it was dark enough 5 neighbor families gathered next door to watch all the fireworks that had been purchased. One neighbor even bought illegal ones, which were extra exciting. No city fireworks for us this year and we didn't care!  This was way more fun!  Family, friends, and neighbors blowing up stuff together -- a great way to celebrate our wonderful nation's birthday. The kids can't wait for our next Independence Day.

We now have more pets than children at our house. After K and D managed to convince me to buy them guinea pigs for their birthday presents months in advance, our good friends announced they would have bunnies available soon. M had been talking about having a pet rabbit for at least a year. She cried when I told her she needed to wait until her birthday for a bunny. I realized she was just as good if not better with the guinea pigs than her older siblings. After realizing our friends would be the best people in the world to buy a bunny from and they had intentionally bred the two rabbits they thought would be best for small children, I was pretty convinced it was the right thing to do. Then, when I picked up K and M from dance class, the girls were holding baby bunnies. There were even three white ones, just like M wanted. There was no way I was going to make her wait an entire year for her dream to come true when it was right there in front of her!  I felt trapped and overwhelmed a...

Albeit a crazy turnaround, after being home for about a week we drove to RMNP to go camping with my husband's family.  We were so excited to be camping with cousins. The children had so much fun climbing rocks near our campsites together and were good little hikers when we took them places. Wednesday we did two short jokes around Sprague and Bear Lakes and rode the shuttle bus a lot. What a route to get from point A to point B! The four 8 (and almost 8) year old girls shared a tent, so we were down a child in the camper. It was so fun to hear them giggle. And after our first hideous night of sleep, I was just hoping K slept better than we did. M had to go to the bathroom twice and D once and N was the a terrible sleeper all night long and they all got thirsty, blah blah blah. I tell you what, my precious 2-year-old may be the death of me yet. Either that or I'm going to have to start drinking caffeine regularly again for the first time since high school. Our second day ...

What a joy it is to see your children giving your husband the cute little letters they made and singing to him at church.  I am so glad I have the husband I do and that God has granted us this time together on earth. During the Sacrament meeting talks I couldn't help but be grateful I had a dad who helped me feel my Heavenly Father loved me. The most important part of my testimony is that God is perfect, knows everything, and cares about me. It was also really fun for all of us to head over to my parents house and surprise my dad with his present. His lawn mower had died and he had asked to borrow ours again. Dan and I had considered buying a new one for ourselves for weeks, so we have our old one to him and then my husband's Father's Day present was to buy the Honda he had been eyeing.  My dad was so surprised!  It's fun to make someone happy like that. And the Honda does such a better job on our fescue in our south facing back yard. Before I felt like I was try...

After 3 days in a row of amusement parks we were very ready to relax at our beach house in San Diego. We played in the bay and let the kids watch tv while we did laundry and one of us went grocery shopping. M preferred the bay because it didn't have big waves and K and D disapproved for the same reason.  A couple days later we went to the Pacific Beach with big waves and had a grand time. N was much more courageous this time with the ocean and I would literally have to pull her out of the water when she got too cold and force her to warm up in a towel. Reminded me of my son's first beach vacation when he was a year old! My children were pretty surprised at just how amazing Sea World was. There is just something about being able to have cleaner fish nibble you, pet a shark, feed a flamingo, and see dolphins and other creatures swim right in front of you. The shows were great and my kids really got the message not to litter or waste water.   June gloom was...