Abc's--I Tag Trissy, Mandi M, and Linz!

A - Age: 32
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Laundry and Ironing
D - Dog's name: don't have one
E - Essential start your day item: cereal with Lactaid, until Oct.!
F - Favorite color(s): green
G - Gold or Silver: silver
H - Height: 5' 7"
I - Instruments you play: piano, recorder (neither well at all)
J - Job title: mom
K - Kids: 3 girls, 1 boy (until Oct.)
L - Living arrangements: we own a home
M - Mom's name: Jan
N - Nicknames: Mom
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: none
P - Pet Peeve: whininess
Q - Quote from a movie:
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: 3 brothers, 1 sis
T - Time you wake up: about 7
U - Underwear: clean
V - Vegetable you dislike: asparagas, olives, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and lima beans (for starters)
W - Workout style: clutter-bustin' and kid-wrangling, and currently, de-weeding squats
X - X-rays you've had: teeth
Y - Yesterday's best moment: watching the kids with their Daddy
Z - Zoo favorite(s): monkey house and penguins

SeaWorld Trip

Not a great shot of the San Diego temple, but it was really cool to see it emerge right next to the freeway on our way to SeaWorld. Our view on the way back was more picture-worthy, but my camera was out of battery-life at that point. :(
Aviendha loved playing in the Elmo playground at SeaWorld. The yellow pipe behind her squirted water periodically. Attached to the ship behind her you can see a yellow ladder with a little fence under it...
Ninna insisted on trying to get inside that little fence for almost five loud and frustrating moments. She only gave it up because I redirected her to another area of the playground. Crazy kid; nothing inside it, but there was a gap so she just had to get through it!
Undoubtedly Aviendha's favorite part of the playground. There were three tunnels in a row that she could climb through, over and over and over. I wandered around with her here while Adam took the other three up and through the older kid climbing area--cargo nets, bridges, etc to explore! We skipped the three Seasame Street-themed rides on the other side of this area in favor of the dolphin show.
Check out the teeth! Gracie, Ginny, Sharra, Ninna, Sam and Mom after wandering through the shark encounter.
This guy was right up next to the window "talking" to everyone. Probably telling you he/she was ready for some more fish. You could pay $6 for three little fish to feed through some tubes further down in the wall. We just had fun laughing at him/her and his/her antics for the crowd.
Sam wanted to know what these two were doing. I said, "Just lying in the sun." Sharra corrected me with, "No, Mom... they're basking!"
Anywhere you were able to feed the animals, these guys were hanging around waiting to help relieve you of the expensive little treats! These birds, don't know their name, were not as aggressive aa the seagulls swooping around.
We got to pet and feed the rays. Ginny wouldn't touch them, but would touch the water.
Aviendha wouldn't even put her hand in the water once she saw these guys swimming toward her.
Sharra didn't want to feed them, but she follwed them back and forth along the wall to get a good touch of one. Success!
Sam was just as fascinated with them as Sharra. Uncle Stan bought a tray of fish for the kids to feed the rays with. You put the fish between two fingers and held your hand under water and wait. The rays would come right up and suck it out of your fingers. Uncle Stan held Sam's hand in place, but Sam was great and didn't drop the fish into the pool.
Ginny and Sam with Penguin Pete at SeaWorld. We had fun at Seaworld, but the price was a bit much. Not someplace that we'll try again. Even the Shamu show and dolphin show didn't make it worth it for me. We would much rather go to the Aquarium in L.A. again next time around. Thanks for the fun ice creams, though Grandma and Papa!

We're having.....

another BOY!!! All the kids are thrilled, but none more so than Sam! :) When the technician pointed out the genitals and asked Sam what "this" was, Sam said, "Uh...a mouse?" Ha hahaha, don't know where that came from. I guess that's what "it" looked like to his young eyes. his response when we told him that it meant he's getting a brother, big grin, silence, then turned to me and said, "See, I told you! I was right."

Catching Up

This is one of my favorite shots from Baby Animals days this year. We got to have Grandma and Papa join us on this fun day. Grandma Julie was a great photographer for us for most of the day!
Easter Sunday! These dresses were ones we got for the girls in Hawaii. Sam is saying cheese, even though it's with a grimace. That probably has something to do with the fact that he's holding a Lego Bionicle blade in his hand. He got a box full of Bionicle pieces from the Easter Bunny and insisted that he hold it in the picture. I said that was fine as long as he smiled and held it out of the way. hahahha
Grandma gave the kids a can of silly string each in the basket from her. They had a ball trying to get Adam with it. He had just as much fun turning the tables on them. Thanks, Grandma!!
Aviendha found Adam's old XBOX headset and was wearing it around the house all morning. She kept talking into it like a telephone.

Sharra turned seven the first week of May! She designed this cake herself; I helped her put it together!
We went to a brand new park in DayBreak with my parents when we went to visit before Mother's Day. This was one of the kids' favorite toys. The kids hang on the bar while an adult spins them around. Sam insisted on going faster and faster. He thought that was great until he couldn't hold on and did a belly flop in the sand below.
Sam, Ginny and Aviendha (after Adam showed her what to do) had a ton of fun throwing rocks in to the lake by the DayBreak community.

We spent Mother's Day with Grandma in Farmington. This was one of our attempts to get everyone smiling before church!
My mother's day present--yup, I wanted some sand for the sand box and I got a huge pile in our driveway! The kids were in heaven.
Aviendha loves to go ride with Daddy. He keeps to the yard and usually she's got a helmet on, but this time she was loaded and riding before I got it on her. She leans back against Adam with her legs draped over his, completely at ease; it's so cute!
Is that Wolverine or Sam? While playing outside, Sam dunked his head in the water and then tried making "spiky hair", but he was desperately in need of a hair cut, so the middle part laid back down. It was pure coincidence that it turned out to look like Wolverine's. Once we pointed it out, he pulled some skewers from the drawer to make claws. Well, then I just had to get the camera.
I'm the crossing guard! Sharra's First grade class put on a play for us. She did very well, remembered all her lines despite being nervous in front of everyone. Ginny and Sam knew all her lines too!
Sharra was also chef in her class play. They took a field trip a few days later to our Hyrum community helpers and her class got to sing the appropriate songs at each stop. They were a hit!

While waiting to have her vitals checked and eye drops put in, Aviendha was fascinated by the grippers on the bottom of her hospital footies. She was at Primary Children's to have an eye exam under anesthesia. A long and early process for a 15 minute exam, but she was a trooper like always and did well through it all!
The family life specialists at Primary Children's hospital helped Ninna feel comfortable by letting her play with little-sized medical tools on her hospital dolly. That rocking horse was her favorite toy in the waiting room.
My visiting teacher brought us some foot soak beads and foot cream so we could do foot soaks while the boys were away. The "girl party" as my girlies were calling it was a huge success. Even Aviendha held perfectly still to have her feet taken care of. She just wouldn't hold still for her picture! We had dinner in front fo the tv while watching BOLT.

Adam, Papa, and Sam ready to head out to Father and Son's campout up at Cinnamon Creek.

I made some pillows for the girls that I've been meaning to get to for a while. Here they are, excited to have them. Awww..lovapillow!