Vacation!

This year since Ben's family reunion was here in Utah (which means money saved on our yearly vacation fund), we decided that it would be a good time to go to Disneyland again. My sister Laura and her family joined us also. Last time we went I was pregnant and Riley was just over a year old. So pretty much everything was new to me and the three little boys. I was able to ride all the rides, even when I really didn't want too, and Owen rode all the rides except for the one he wanted to- California Screamin'. He was too short and he let everyone know that he was not happy about the injustice. I had to drag Riley into the haunted mansion (which after the first room, he really enjoyed). Ethan was able to go into the invention center and Jake had fun with the new Star Tours. Jocelyn and the cousins were obsessed with pin collecting and Will just pretty much just hung out and went along with whatever ride he was taken on. All in all it was a great time. A little too hot the first couple days but that didn't stop us. One of the new things we did was the World of Color. We sat in the very front and enjoyed the show and the "light mist".

We spent the first day we arrived in California at Newport Beach.  The kids loved playing in the water and Jocelyn was able to make a great shell collection.

The moment we walked into Disneyland, characters were starting to come out. We grabbed a quick picture with Minnie. We were able to meet a few other characters, but for the most part the kids didn't care. They wanted to ride the rides.

That cute little guy with the red shirt peeking out of his Jedi robe is Owen. He was picked for Jedi training and was able to stand right next to Mace Windu. He spoke to Owen a few times because Owen could not get his lightsaber to open. It was hilarious! I don't have any great pictures since I videoed most of it. 

Cars Land was amazing! It felt like you were in the movie.

Ice cream at the cozy cones-twice!

Lots of fun to have Laura and her family go with us. We spent most of the time together and it was great! Owen loves Makayla and Lakota. At any point if I lost site of him I would look for those two cute girls and Owen would be attached to them! 

It's hard to stand in line, iTouches can really be a life saver!

The Lego store was really a huge hit for our family. We ended up there twice and walked away with a lot of legos. The kids opted to spend their souvenir money on legos! I must say that Jakes studying of how to fill tubs from the pick-a-brick wall really paid off. The Lego workers were impressed by how much he was able to fit in his cups. He was pretty excited. No pictures though- I bailed on Jake, and Ben. The kids and I headed off to Disneyland!

The last day in California we were suppose to go to Legoland. Well, since the kids spent all their money at the lego store, they chose the beach instead. I was all for it! Relaxing on the beach for free was a perfect!

Batman And A Bounce House

This year we decided that Owen needed a birthday party. For weeks we have been teaching him the importance of friends and being nice to them. As far a church goes, some weeks went well and others, well, not so well. But he tried, I could tell, whenever we would have discussions on how to treat friends he seemed to calm down and be more cautious. He was so excited for his party. What 4 year old wouldn't be with a bounce house and Batman masks. Popcorn (he calls it cop porn) was thrown in there too, it's his favorite snack. We stuck to inviting only his primary class and had a bunch of cute kiddos bouncing at our house for 2 hours! They bounced like crazy and seemed pretty tired when they left. Owen fell asleep that night without his normal books, drink and cup-o-cereal, before 8 pm! I should rent a bounce house more often!

 Owens primary class- They all loved the Batman masks and buckets I made.

I love how Owen changed his shirt when Chase showed up- so they could match. 

Owen loved all of his presents.

Cupcakes were a hit!

They pretty much did this the whole time!

Birthdays

Birthdays seem to run really close this time of year in our family. Kinda feeling bad I haven't had the time to blog each one but at least they are getting blogged, right? So Jake's birthday starts out the wave of celebrations. His birthday was back in August and he happened to be at scout camp- nice leaders let him go since he was turning twelve that week. I was kinda sad that he was gone and not home to celebrate but Ben was headed up to help out so I loaded him up with fun stuff for the scouts to celebrate with him- and by stuff I mean a pirate pinata (which I was told looked like the camp cook- missing teeth and everything :), Whoopie coushins, and donuts. From what Ben said they had fun. Wish I could of seen it. We did a little celebrating after he got home and cleaned up.

My three priesthood holders. Ahhh!

This year we took Jake to the store to pick out his presents. He really did not need more legos! But what a happy kid!

Rileys turned six just a few weeks later. What a funny kid he is. He is very similar to Jake and asked for  Hero Factory (updated bionicle) stuff. Lucky kid received 4 different ones. Everyone got in on the building action. He had a great day starting with running thru his streamers and heading off to school with Ninjago suckers (I stayed up late with Ben making them and ignored his comment "you realize they are just going to rip it off, right) So not the point. He loved them and it made me happy too.  

Kiddo woke up early and crawled under the streamers! When I got home from work and found out, we all headed to his room to witness the running thru. 

Rileys favorite things right now are Hero Factory and Ninjago. He is a very creative kiddo. 

While he was at school I made his cake. Simple. Easy. He loved it!

And this weeks was Owens birthday. He turned four. His day was a little rough, his streamers in front of his door were hanging, not across for him to break thru. Ben adjusted the unfortunate streamers and he was happy. Also, two wammys for him, first sunday- church is just really hard for him. Second, it was stake conference! 2 hours of sitting is so out of his world. He did good-lots of water breaks and finally for the last half hour he hung out with Ben and Will in the hallway. we all survived, barely! After church we headed home and opened presents. He was excited for his Batman Helicopter and We thought he would like the scooter we picked out for him. Unfortunately- it was not fast! (his words when he saw it) The day before we had gone to toys r us and he had picked out a hot wheels razor scooter- bright yellow. He thought it was fast and said so, over and over. Ben and I felt liked he still needed a beginner scooter. That's what we get for thinking. On Monday the cute radio flyer scooter was returned and replaced with a red hot wheels scooter with light up wheels. Apparently the color does not make it fast (thank goodness) he loves it and does well on it. phew! 

The only picture is have of the ill-fated scooter. He is saying "see it's not fast!" 

While I was sleeping (I had worked my graveyard shift and gone to church and really couldn't wait to take a nap) Ben played batman with the kids and made Owen's halloween birthday cake. Owen was so happy when  I showed him the Halloween sprinkles. So Ben was in charge of decorating. It turned out cute and best of all Owen loved it, and as you can tell, this kids is hard to please sometimes!

A little bit quieter

This cute kid started preschool last week and 2 days a week it is a little quieter around here. Boy does this kiddo need school! He could hardly wait to start again. He is at the same school with the same teacher- different kiddos. He still loves the bus ride and doesn't even wave goodbye as he runs to the bus! He's doing so much better but he will be qualified for preschool services till kindergarten. Yeah for  a good preschool and some help with this kids sparkling and overwhelming (at times) personality. It's a relief  to have people understand what the needs and why he acts the way he does. He is already improving since last year and I'm excited to see him continue to change and interact with other kids since this is the only way he is going to get better- intereacting with other kids. I'm so glad that he loves to go to school and I am glad ( a little ashamed :) ) that is a little quieter around here. I'm off to do some much awaited sewing hmmmm- Jocelyn's baptism dress or a skirt for me?

Waiting for the bus....

And waiting.....

And waiting.....

The first thing he said to the bus ladies was "I been waiting!" 

15 years....

The first 15years of forever....my prom - could those glasses get any bigger? Could Ben get any skinner? He could use my glasses for a hula hoop!!! It is so fun to think back on this time. This week as I went thru all the letters that Ben and I wrote to each other (back then in ancient times it was long distance to call each other so we used the good ole' post office), so many things I had forgotten came back to mind. We have both come a long way and I love it! ( thank goodness my hair changes in the process!)

Our Wedding day

Aug. 23, 1997

And Now!

Thanks Husband for a great night of yummy food, shopping, and a sweet proposal! You did a great job of planning and can't wait for our big 20 year getaway!

And they're off.....

First day of school! yeah! I'm not the only one that is excited- the kids have been super excited for school to start also. We jam-packed the last week of summer with activities (more post on that soon)  and after all of the fun they are ready to be back in school. They all looked super cute in their new clothes and Jake yesterday, summed up seventh grade day in one word- Awesome. Today everyone else followed and the house is kinda quiet. Owen is yelling that he needs help with his wii game- he really does miss his brothers and sister when they are gone. School starts next week for him and he is super excited.

Ethan - Eighth grade. Taking band again this year and other fun classes and also on leadership team again.

Jake- Seventh grade. So excited to be taking guitar this year. Hopefully all those piano lessons will help him learn quickly! Loves his new guitar and has thanked me for it many times. Half the neighborhood is in his grade and cute as ever to see them at the bus stop yesterday. Couldn't resist a picture. This is probably less than half of them!

Jocelyn- Second grade. A little nervous this year because she only has one other neighbor kiddo in her class. Although she was pretty excited to pick out where she would sit in her classroom at back to school night. She has gotten to be such a good reader over the summer and its fun to se her read just for fun. (not because it's on her job chart!)

Riley- First grade. Already had his DRA testing and did well- thank goodness summer school paid off! He is sooooo excited to eat lunch at school.

 

So anywhoo it's pretty quiet around here, except Owen is still yelling at me(I'm waiting!) Before you think I'm ignoring him- I already played and died miserably. Mario galaxy is my least favorite game. Now give me harry potter lego or skylanders and I rock. Unfortunately he doesn't want to play either. Sigh. I'm off to play the wii!