The Larsons

Rugby!

2010-05-23T16:28:00.001-07:00

We went to our first rugby game! We had a fun time trying to figure out the rules while watching the game. It seemed like we were watching football, yet they didn't stop when the ball was down, they would just throw it to someone else. It was pretty exciting to watch. It was the USA High School Championships. We were driving by the stadium and found out that the last game was at 7:30 Highland vs. United. We hurried to Target, bought myself a sweatshirt and a blanket for us all to share. Then went back to buy our tickets. What a fun game! Highland is the team that the Rugby movie, Forever Strong was all about. They have a winning streak of only 9 losses over the last 32 years of games. We witnessed their tenth loss. Glad our kids have no desire to play the game, just watch it!! (So far!)

Here's one of our favorite parts when they start in a huge huddle waiting for the ball to pop out somewhere...

We loved when the ball would go out and they would throw it in. The teams would lift one guy up to try and get the ball.

Camden watching as the winning team does their chant...pretty cool to see and hear!

First and Last Snowman of the Year

2010-03-19T18:55:00.001-07:00

This was our first snowman built with Carsyn in December (I thought I had a picture of it with the cute hat and scarf my mom made it.) But, here it has Blake's little mitten for a hat!

This is our last snowman (we think), built in March. The hat for this big guy is a big bowl!

We're back!

2010-03-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

O.K. I've gotten so backed up on our blog scrapbook that I've decided to start from today and go back when I can. I just haven't taken the time to keep up! SO, eventually I will. My goal is to print this some day and have a nice family scrapbook.....we'll see!!! :0)

Camden's First Big Project!

2010-03-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

Camden did a great job creating his very own book report using art, writing, and an oral report. They displayed it at school today for parents, the principal, and other classes to come see. He was so brave telling everyone about his project! Way to go Camden!

He loves Geronimo Stilton books. This one was "The Karate Mouse". He drew three great portraits of three different characters, made a paper mache Geronimo Stilton head, wrote about his favorite part, and made a time line of the story. He had to read his favorite part to his class and tell about why he liked it. They all made a 'Reading Rainbow' film about their books. He did a great job on the video. My favorite was when he said, "You can check it out at your local library!"

This was his finished project at home. He was very excited and proud about it.

Blake made his own project too. He said his is about the earth. He even drew a picture from the Geronimo Stilton book that he 'read'. He was also very proud of the finished project.

Blake was really concentrating as he glued a piece of yarn on the side of his display. :0)

It Finally Snowed Again!

2010-03-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

All winter the snow wasn't very playful snow! There were a couple of days where we played in it, but after a while it was too icy and you couldn't make snowballs. We didn't really get much snow this year (we think) and pretty soon it was all gone! Until it finally snowed again, and it was great for playing! I wish I would have taken Camden out of school to play in the snow...it melted by the time he got home! But, Blake and I had a great time!! About a week later it snowed again so we rushed out to a great sledding hill and my kamikaze boys went head first down some really steep hills! They both tried snowboarding too. Finally a play day in the snow! We will hopefully make it up to Brighton before the season is over to try real snowboarding with the boys!

Blake's Fort

Yummy Snow!

What a Cute Snowboarder!

Here's my first attempt to share a couple of videos:

(You'll have to pause our music to hear the video).

The GIANT Snowman! All winter we wanted to make the hugest snowman.....finally we did it! I had to use a wood board to roll the middle part up to where it needed to go. The board even broke because the snow was so heavy! My neighbor helped me with the final push and helped me lift the head to the top! He was about 7 feet tall! (His head was so big we had to use the biggest bowl I had for a hat!)

TA DA!!!!

In the sun he melted, melted, melted!!!! This was about 3 hours later when Camden got home from school! He lasted a few days till it was just a small ball of snow, then gone!

Camden was so excited when it snowed again (a week later). It was a Saturday so he was home from school and then it was his turn to play! We went sledding and snowboarding. FUN times in the snow!!!

Olympics

2010-03-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

We loved watching the olympics! Blake decided he want's to do the skeleton when he gets big!!! I sure hope he changes his mind about that one! They became pretty creative with their legos making their favorites: the luge (which is also their skeleton, when they change the guy around), bobsledding, snowboarding, and ski jumping.

Will brought home a gigantic box from work the other day. They made this where they played like they were a four man bobsled team with our neighbors. They also turned it into "Wack a Mole" game!

GO UTES!

2009-11-11T15:44:00.000-08:00

We finally went to a U of U football game again! Will was in heaven! Camden really loved it too. Will even called his good friend Steve during the game...they always call each other at the strangest times, especially if either of them are at a U of U game of any kind. Ahh the good memories at the U.

We started our whole night by riding Trax from Sandy to the U. It took us 40 minutes to ride the train, but no game traffic or parking fees. The boys loved "surfing" on the train-Will showed them how they would ride the public transportation in the Czech Republic while on his mission. It was fun to travel to the game that way.

The boys love 'snowies' (snow cones). When buying a snowie at the game, you have a choice of a 'snowie' or hot chocolate! Of course, our kiddos still wanted the snowie even though it was pretty cold out! I would have preferred the hot chocolate!

The giant stadium-much was added after we graduated 10 years ago and after the Olympics in 2002! There were 48,000 people at this game. (I hear it seats 50,000) They played New Mexico...and won! (I guess New Mexico isn't that great this year, so it was a given that they would win.) It's so fun going to a game rather than just watching on TV!

Blake with every ones beanies on.

Daddy and silly Camden

Me and my little Utes!

Soccer Time!

2009-10-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

Camden started soccer again. He has really enjoyed it so far this season. His coach is in our Bishopric and 4 of them are in the same primary class. It was nice to get on a team where he knew people right away!

In this game, he got his first 'header'! It was a perfect line up and tada! He hit the ball with his head! He was almost in shock that he did it, and was soooo excited! He is great at defense and is quick on his feet! He has been playing soccer at school every day and has decided this is his favorite sport!

We went to a U of U and Utah State Soccer game the other day. He loved it! After watching that game he really tried to keep in his position more. It's fun to watch him play. I love that he has so much fun doing it!

Camden: "In the Zone"

Here is one of Camden's biggest fans! Blake was lounging in his chair with his spiderman umbrella as a sun shade. He has fun watching the game and plays with some friends there too. We decided to wait until next year to let Blake play. We know he'd love it, but thought after baseball where we were busier babysitting everyone else's kids rather than being able to watch our own, we could wait a year!

First Day of School Pictures

2009-10-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

Here is our handsome Camden on his first day of school. He has really done well considering moving to a new state and changing schools 2 times within 7 months! He makes friends so easily. Although, he still misses his friends from California and his buddy Drew who he used to walk to school with every day at our last school. He has finally started a new recess activity by playing soccer at every recess! (Surprisingly, he doesn't play Star Wars at recess anymore!) We are so blessed to have Camden! He is a great boy!!!

Blake started preschool! What a grown up boy! He finally is able to separate from us without crying. He has a great time at preschool every time he goes. He is excited to have 'homework' like Camden. He gets to investigate a letter each week and cut out the letter from magazines and newspapers! We also practice writing his name which he can do all by himself now! What a happy boy he is. We are so blessed to have Blake in our family.

Utah Skies

2009-09-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Camping - Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

We had a great time camping this weekend. I love to be in the mountains for Labor Day...it brings back great memories of Labor Day at the cabin!! We went to a great campground only about 40 minutes away from home. Here are some of our pictures from our trip....

Blake learned how to ride his bike without training wheels the day before we left! He picked it up so quickly!

It rained a little on our first day. Camden found a dry spot outside under our trailer to play army guys.

Speedy Blake

Oh the fun you can have with clothes pins!

Our favorite climbing rocks. We love this picture of our cute boys!!

Blake on his scooter.

The boys loved flying down this hill with their scooters! They were so fast! Helmets were a necessity!!

This is the cozy little spot on our site surrounded by trees.

We visited Snowbird Ski Resort and rode this tram to the top of the mountain!!

The boys were a tad bit nervous at first but had a great time on the tram!

We made it to the top! Next time we'll bring sweaters!! Burr it was cold up there!

We hiked down to this tunnel that has a moving walkway for skiers and snow boarders to stand on as they go to the other side of the mountain! The moving walkway was off, so we got to walk through it. We looked at pictures inside about how they made it!

After the tunnel we took this lift all the way back down the mountain!

The boys were extra brave on this adventure! We were pretty high up!

What a view!!

Back at the campground we were introduced to the coolest adventure ever! Geocaching! You can search for treasures all over the U.S. using a GPS. Coordinates lead you to hidden boxes usually full of trinkets to trade...the hunt is on! We went on a few geocaching adventures to find some great treasures!

You can't camp without S'mores!

Checking the iphone with Daddy for more geocaching spots!

Our new pet! "Cat-e-pillar"!

Another geocaching endeavor!

Tada! The hidden treasure!!

If you take something out, you have to put something back in. Always a tough decision.

What a find!

We hiked up to this little lake with more great views! Once at the top there was a huge rock high above with another hidden treasure. Camden became a mountain goat and ran all the way up to find the box. Blake was our sherpa and Camden was the mountain goat. What a team!

Finally, a post by the Larsons! I have a lot of catching up to do once again!!!!! (At least this is a start, and a current one at that!!)

Summer Storms

2009-06-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

Utah has some great summer storms from rain to lightening and thunder to hail. When we went to school at the U we had some of the best storms we've ever seen. This was a hail storm from a few weeks ago that was amazing. Blake and I were about to go to the store when it started raining and then pouring and then hailing. We waited it out and loved the scenery.

The streets and roofs were so white it looked like it had snowed! (In JUNE!)

We've had some great lightening storms too that have reminded me of great storms at the cabin (from growing up) where we would count between lightening and thunder to see how far away the lightening is. So, we too have counted to see how far away it is. Angel Moroni even got struck by lightening at the new Oquirrh Mountain temple! We have heard of quite a few lightening strikes. I guess we won't jump on the trampoline in the lightening storms!

Temple Open House

2009-06-14T16:56:00.001-07:00

We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. What a great experience! It's amazing being so close to so many temples! The city of South Jordan is the first city ever having two temples in it! We can see three temples at one time! Draper, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain. We have loved taking our kids to the open houses. The spirit is so strong in the temple, even though it hasn't been dedicated yet. The kids said it felt cozy in the temple. They both really liked the baptismal font and the brightness in the celestial room. We went a few weeks ago with some of Will's family and my cousin and her family.

We started with a short video.

After touring the inside we walked around the temple to take some pictures. Here is the spot that the Prophet, Pres. Monson will complete when the temple is dedicated. The kids loved touching the temple walls. Here is Blake tracing the numbers.

My cute boys

Sharonda's cute kids

This was a 'secret' door that Camden found on the outside...no door knob!

(I'm sure it's a fire door from inside)

Our Family

The group: Grandpa Larson, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Carrie, Daddy, Mommy, Grandma Larson, Sharonda, Zaron, Jill, Kevin, Dalton, Blake, Camden, Jill, and Megan.

Danica and Carrie came a week later and Blake and I went again with them. We hope to take the kids a few more times before August when it is dedicated-what a great opportunity. It is so amazing that temples are just everywhere around here. We are used to driving 1-1/2 hours to get to the temple. Now there are 3 within 5-15 minutes!!! 4 within 25 minutes!!! WOW!

Camden's Last Game

2009-06-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Camden was anticipating this game for quite a while. (He was so excited to have family come to see him play.) Will's family came down for the temple open house and got to see Camden in action! He was so excited as he was out at second base and saw Dalton walk up. He waved to him and saw everyone else too.

Here is Camden up to bat.

Some of the fan club enjoying snacks during the game....Blake and Lilly

Aunt Carrie, Grandma and Grandpa Larson, Aunt Beth, Uncle Jay, Lilly and Daddy...A few more in the fan club.

Uncle Ryan, and Dalton were also in the fan club with Grandpa Larson.

The last cheer......Braves won!! (Camden is #8)

Camden got the game ball!!!!! He had an awesome game. He was the last batter up, the score was tied, bases were loaded, it was the bottom of the last inning, and we had 2 outs! The pressure was on....(For Daddy and the rest of us, we don't think Camden really understood what was going on). Camden got up to the plate and hit the first ball that came at him. It went past short stop and he got a base hit, getting the runner home from third....They won the game!!!! Camden had the game winning hit! Once he realized it all he was soooooo excited!! The coach gave him the game ball! What a cute boy he is!

Camden loved his batting gloves this year. The bat hurt his hands after batting so he tried his gloves and it helped so he wore them at every game. He would put one glove in his back pocket when he was in the infield and kept one on his throwing hand! Maybe it was his good luck. I know baseball is full of superstitions like that?!? He was sure a cute baseball player and had a great season! He was always yelling and cheering his team on. He got so excited when there were good plays. I will always hear the dugout chants...."Lets go Camden, Lets go!! Lets go Camden, lets go! They said it for every boy as they were up to bat, and pounded the bats on the cement in the dugout. What a fun game!!!!

Daddy's Birthday

2009-06-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

We had a fun party at home for Daddy's birthday. We were planning on going hiking to a waterfall somewhere, but I had strep throat which then Blake got too. So, we stayed home and had a water fight! We found some cool water balloons that looked like grenades. The boys loved attacking Dadddy when he got home from work.

Next we had him open presents. The boys were so excited for him to open what they got him. Camden gave him cycling gloves. He really had his mind set on getting them for him. He was excited for Daddy to open them.

Blake gave him a saw with two handles....he knew what he wanted to get him for a long time. He wanted 2 handles on it so he could saw with Daddy!!!! Notice Blake's excitement for Daddy to open his present!

36 candles are a lot to blow out, so he got a little help! (3 on one side and 6 on the other!) This was my first attempt at a carrot cake!

I hope you had a great day Will! I am so thankful for you!! I love you so much!! Happy Birthday!

Blake's Last Game

2009-06-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here's Blake and Will at his last game. Will got to be the assistant coach. What a challenge it was to coach this t-ball team! There was not very much parental support out there so it was pretty chaotic at times! (At this age it should really be one on one...they are only 3 years old!) By the end of the season they figured out the best approach was to have all the kids line up where the pitcher would be and each take a turn fielding the ball instead of tackling eachother every time. I got to help out with the helmets in the 'dugout' and a couple of times when Will couldn't make it on time. I was called 'lady coach' by a couple of the kids. Funny!

Blake and Daddy....Go Volcanoes!!

Enjoying outfield

Blake had a shirt that was about 3 times too big. We had to roll the sleeves just right, tuck it in just right, and put a rubber band at the back of his shirt at the neck to tighten it up just right too. He is definitely my son....every thing has to be just right! Oh, shoes had to have the laces tucked under just right too! He was in heaven though. He really loved playing and loved looking like a baseball player! I love this happy smile!

He had a pretty straight throw and wanted to hit a home run every time. He ate dinner the best the night of a game. He thought it would help him get a home run!

The last cheer - Blake is right in the center of this picture with the sun on his face.

He loved his trophy! He played around at the park after his party and carried it with him everywhere! This is Blake with coach Craig.

Memorial Day

2009-06-10T23:00:00.000-07:00

We had a great time on Memorial Day.

We went to my cousin, Sharonda's house and started the day by turning one pot of flowers into about 20 flowers to take to the Provo Cemetery. Usually we get together in Bakersfield to deliver flowers to all the family member's headstones with family. And usually Aunt Debbie and Grandma take care of all the flowers. Wow! What a task! So we simplified a little and wrapped flowers onto skewers. They turned out pretty good actually!

Here is Blake, Megan, Holly, Kevin, and Camden making flowers.

The finished project

This is Aunt Mickey's headstone. It was interesting to see a different cemetery where most of the headstones were up out of the ground, not just flat.

We carried around the family history book with pictures to show the kids who's graves we were visiting. It was a great tool to have and it was amazing that we found so many of them!

Riggs Headstone

Bullock's

Right across the street from the Riggs and Bullocks Jill found Zaron's great grandparents headstone! Everyone was so excited to find it!

Some of the Stewarts

Checking out cool headstones

Our family

Just being silly. This is at Nana and Dandy's headstone (My great grandparents).

After the cemetery we went back to Sharonda's house for the other traditional Memorial Day activities. My cousin Brent and his family also came. We never couldn't get ahold of my cousin Ryan - we missed him. It is always fun to get together with the Nelsons and Hutchinsons! Wish I would have gotten a group picture of all of us.

We had a barbeque, made homemade ice-cream, rootbeer, and my Mom's potato salad! (My first attempt at the last two items there!!) We tried our best to do all the traditions from home (except swim of course!). Will even made grasshoper pie for me because it was my birthday. Thanks Will, it was yummy!!! Sharonda and Brent both made yummy treats too...we were not lacking in the treat department, that's for sure! Sharonda had me blow out candles on the brownies even....needless to say, I also had a great birthday on Memorial Day!

Here is Blake making the rootbeer.

Camden enjoyed Kevin's x-box because they have the same Star Wars game that Caden has-his favorite game!

It was so nice to get together with family here although we really missed family in Bakersfield too. We love traditions! Thanks grandma for making us such traditionalists! :0) Thanks Sharonda for the fun party!!!

Mother's Day and My Birthday

2009-06-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

On Mother's Day I awoke to breakfast in bed! Will and the boys made me my favorite: French Toast! (I actually ate it at the table.) Camden made a great card and flower from school. They gave me some more great cards and a date to the symphony! These boys really know how to take care of me! I'm so lucky to be a mother! Will also put together our swing for our backyard. We will have a plaque put on it with Jacob's name on it so when we're out in our yard we can think of him too. I love being a mom!

For my birthday Will and the boys decorated the house, made cupcakes and got me some great presents! Blake got me a new game: The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Camden got me some new soft socks and foot scrub! They are so thoughtful! Will gave me a new running watch. Birthdays are always a fun day! My birthday fell on Memorial Day this year so we also celebrated it during the Memorial Day festivities! (Pictures to follow)

The Campout

2009-06-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

We finally were able to break out the tent trailer and go camping!!! We went up in the canyon to a place that just opened Memorial Day weekend. We went Friday night to Saturday. It is so fun to be able to get to a great campground in 35 minutes!

S'mores at the campfire

Getting ready to go fishing

On our way

Two little fishermen, no luck with any fish today.

There was a little patch of snow by our campground so Blake got to try out his snowboard!

Camden enjoyed reading in the tent trailer. His favorite right now are Magic Treehouse books.

We hiked to a water fall where we walked across this bridge. Here are my cute boys!!!

We are hoping to go on campouts more frequently now that the snow is almost all gone!

A New Cousin!

2009-06-10T15:11:00.001-07:00

On May 9th we went to Smithfield to see the newest addition to the family. Beth and Jay had a cute little girl. Check out the hair! It reminds me of Blake's hair when he was born! So cute!

Here she is! The newest cousin, Leah! She is adorable!! She is only 5 days old in this picture.

Uncle Willie, Camden and Blake with little Leah

The proud Daddy and big sister: Jay and Lilly

Grandma Larson and Lilly

Silly cousins: Camden and Dalton

Blake playing on the stairs

We always have a fun time when we go to Smithfield. We also watched the Smithfield Health Days Parade. Danica played in the parade and Camden and Blake got to ride in a tow truck with Uncle Ryan and Dalton. They got to throw candy out to all the people watching the parade! I forgot my camera at the parade so we have no pictures of that one. oops!

Random shots in the month of May:

2009-06-10T14:30:00.001-07:00

Mice in the Pantry! Check out these giant mice!!!!! I don't know where they came from!

Camden bought a skateboard with his own money. Another bargain finder like his father. A whopping $5.00 at D.I. What a deal! Will gave him some skate lessons in the basement. Camden is getting pretty good at skating now. His goal is to learn to do tricks before we move into our new house because it is really close to a skate park!

Our yard has been a bit weedy! We've been working quite a bit at trying to get rid of all the dandelions in the yard. The boys said they knew how to get rid of them all....pick them! So here they are picking the dandelions!! They call them "puffy heads"!

Blake and his yummy cookie at the good ol snack shack at the ballpark!

Camden loved his free snow cone after every game.

We went up in the canyon to find a place to camp. We found a cool little waterfall. It's great being so close to the mountains!

I found Blake in the bathroom getting ready all by himself! He was so cute and really focused.

After Spring Break...

2009-06-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

(Still catching up a bit...)

After Spring Break we found ourselves a new home! We are excited to finally get more settled here in Utah. We have been searching for a home to buy ever since we knew we'd be moving here (August) and finally found one! This is it. We have loved our house and neighborhood that we live in right now, but sadly knew that we were renting it and would eventually move. We have made some great friends on our street and ward and know we will still see them often! We'll start moving again on June 20th. Luckily we have a lot of things still packed from our move before!! We're excited for this next adventure of ours.

After Spring Break we started another season of baseball! Camden plays for the Braves - now using a pitching machine! He was really nervous at first to hit off of the machine but quickly figured it out and has become quite a good hitter! He played catcher a few times and decided he doesn't really like playing that position because of the fast machine! So he prefers second base which is where he mostly plays now.

Camden getting on the catcher gear.

Here is Camden playing catcher!

Blake plays t-ball. His team is the Volcanoes. Here are some pictures from his first game. He didn't have his team shirt yet...more pictures to come! T-ball is so fun to watch. These little guys just dog pile the ball and hope they end up with it! Blake is always so focused out there. He really keeps interested in the game for a long time. When most of the boys were playing with the grass or running off the field, he stayed in a 'baseball ready' pose with his hands on his knees ready for the ball. Too cute!

Camden is helping out here on first base. Will is the assistant coach, and Camden got to help a little on the field too, when he wanted to. I just love this picture.

Last year we captured this picture of the boys when Blake got to go out on the field with Camden on his last game. I love this picture too!

After Spring Break Camden used some of his money that was in his bank account in California for a lego project! He built this all by himself! He is really getting good with legos!

After Spring Break we went to a Bees game with our friends the Bergstroms. We love going to Bees games. They have a great stadium, fun family activities, and they are affiliated with the Angels! So, we get a bit of California right here in Utah!

Here's Jeff, Will, Wendi, Me, Drew, Camden, Will, and Blake (Yep, two Will's!) Drew and Camden get the silly award in this photo! We always have a fun time with the Bergstroms!

After Spring Break Will had a morning off from work so we decided to have a "Happy Day" - a fun special day, just because.

Will made a menu for breakfast. The kids could choose whatever they wanted-and he made it for them. We had a fun morning. Will walked Camden to school too.

After Spring Break Camden went on a field trip to a local aquarium! (I had no idea we could find sting rays, jelly fish and octopus in Utah!!) It was fun to see him having a great time with his new friends here. He really has adjusted well to moving during the middle of the school year. He is so good at making friends instantly.

Blake and I tagged along at the field trip. Here he is hiding in a little cave.

Spring Break...Continued

2009-06-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Just catching up a bit!!!!.........

So, the day after we went to the zoo, we went water skiing with Lisa, Brad and their kids. Shelby and her kids came too. We had a fun time out at the lake even though it was a bit chilly! It was fun on their new fast boat!

Here are some of the boys wishing they could drive the boat!

Happy Cousins! Camden, Rohan, and Hunter

Blake and Nixon

Aunt Shelby hanging out with Carsyn and the little guys

Cold Caden

Tyler just chillin'

On Saturday before Easter we were getting ready for the traditional egg hunt. We colored easter eggs and made sugar cookies with grandma.

Off to the park we go!

Shelby trying to take my picture!

Aunt Sharon and my Mom

Grandma and some of the grandkids. Just before the hunt!

The men waiting for extra candy!

Random snap shot..

Ashlyn, Nixon and Blake checking out the goods!

Will sent me flowers for Easter! (He was in Utah while we were in California!) This was our first Easter apart from eachother! We got a knock on the door and I received a box! Inside were flowers and instructions on how to put them together. They turned out beautiful! I love tulips in the spring! What a fun surprise! Thanks Will! He also got me a box of bordeaux chocolate from Sees!!! Dangerous! (I needed to share more than I did!) Yum! What a nice hubby!!! I love you Will!!

Easter morning! The kids woke up to find their baskets at the end of their blow up mattresses! Then they headed out to find more eggs outside!

Blake and his Basket

Camden and his Basket

One of the highlights was good ol silly putty! They were amazed it could copy pictures!

Blake making a copy of the comics with his silly putty.

Just had to take this cute picture! Blake was so serious reading the comics during breakfast!

On Monday Lisa and I took off for the beach! We ventured out to Ventura and found our way thanks to Lisa's cool I-phone, you can never get lost!!

Caden and Camden digging for treasures (always looking for sand crabs!)

Happy Blake and Nixon

Blake found a red clay rock and went around marking everything with it!

The beach buddies!

On Tuesday we went to Aunt Sharon's house and played with more cousins. Blake found all the beeded necklaces and....tadaa!

Sharonda and Amy's kids put on a fantastic play written and directed by the girls themselves.

Finally we were reunited with Will!!!!! Yeah!!! He flew in on Thursday in Burbank, so we stayed in Anaheim and went to a place we have wanted to go to for a while now. The Discovery Cube! We had a great time together!!!

Outside under a gigantic dinosaur...my most favorite people in the whole world!!!!!

The Pulleys: You sit and pull yourself up. They were so strong!!!

Camden:

Blake:

Virtual Reality Volleyball!!

The highlight of our trip...the Anaheim Ducks donated everything for a whole floor of hockey fun! My kids were in heaven!!

The Zambonie!

Goalie Gear

Blake making a goal against a virtual goalie!

Camden and his slap shot!

Will scored!

Here they had pucks shooting out of a wall as a player skated toward you!

Camden catching a puck!

Blake the goalie!

They got to design their own uniforms. Notice, The Bakersfield Condors!

Blake and his uniform.

After the museum we went to Newport! We love visiting Newport. It brings back good memories of the fun times we had there while Will was in grad school!!

We road the ferry over from Balboa Island. Blake just woke up from a nap. Looks like I need one too!

We played on this great climbing structure forever! Camden played the best game of tag with a whole group of kids there and their dad. We had fun playing around too. Blake even climbed to the top of this!

Blake sliding down the sand to the water. It's amazing how much the shore changes over time!

Camden found a treasure of sea weed!

Out on the pier.

Balboa bars!

Here was one of the main reasons why we came to California for Spring Break....My little brother Josh got married!!!! Congratulations Joshey-ha!!!! Marianna was a beautiful bride! Josh was a handsome groom! They had a beautiful wedding at Marianna's mom's house. Here's just a few of the pictures I took...I can't wait to see all the professional pictures!

Josh and Marianna

My cute grandparents.

The little guys hanging out. (Jack, Blake, Sean, and Nixon)

Playing outside of Grandma and Grandpa's house with the cousins. What a fun trip!!!!! We can't wait till we all get together again!!!!! We love family!

The Zoo

2009-04-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

We made it to Bakersfield! On the way there we ran into my one of my cousins, Amy and her kids in Beever on her way to Sharonda's house!! What are the chances of that??

Our first adventure was the movie theater. we all saw Monsters vs. Aliens 3D...if anyone needs 3D glasses, we have some! $3.00 a piece just for the glasses!! The kids really liked the movie. We had a pretty packed agenda for the week. We love to play with our cousins!!

My sister Lisa and I took a couple of road trips. Here is our first: The Zoo.

Cousins reunited! This is after our picnic before we went into the zoo.

We started out with Blake wanting to be held. I told him I couldn't carry him the whole time at the zoo. Caden said, "I'll carry him!" So here he is strong Caden with Blake. Eventually we got a wagon.

Here is Blake ducking from the "amel" (He kept calling it an amel) It was a camel. He was afraid it would spit on him!

Next were the "mingo's" (Flamingo's) Those were my 2 favorite animal names of the day.

This was one of the kids favorite birds. They couldn't believe the feathers are just red, not blood.

Shark King!!

Another favorite was the Sting Rays. They got to touch them and feed them.

Two hungry boys!! They liked the fish with eyes!

Strong Nixon and Blake with Queen Carsyn.

What a funny group!

Camden's new pet "Squiggles" He really got a few people believing this was really chasing him!

Carsyn found two pets to take home. (Tiger Blake and Tiger Nixon!!)

So, this is just the beginning..... Eventually I will be caught up with our blog and our trip to California. We have a LOT of pictures, and had a LOT of FUN!! Thanks Lisa! The zoo was so much fun!!!

Missing Us

2009-04-26T18:02:00.000-07:00

My parents, the boys and I drove to California on Monday the 6th to visit for 2 weeks! Will couldn't come until the following Wednesday which was the longest time we have ever been away from each other (10 days)! It felt like FOREVER!! While we were gone, he kept emailing us pictures of what he did or saw. It was nice to use technology to keep in touch while we were away from each other. He worked a ton and played some too.

He went to a couple of Salt Lake Buzz games (Closest thing to an Angel or Dodger game he could come by).

He did the MS walk with my cousin Emilee and her family. Here were some fellow walkers who had the force with them as they walked....he knew our boys would love to see their picture.
More walkers. He rode his bike from our house to meet them, got a flat tire, fixed it and got there just in time to start.

He showed us the pretty sky we were missing, calling them "Simpson clouds" like on the beginning of the cartoon, "The Simpsons". He was worried all along that we would not want to come back to Utah and we would all be moving back to Bakersfield again, but we're all back, and love it...just wish we could bring more family back here with us!!!

The temple is finally all lit up!! He took this picture to show us. It has been lit up in fazes: the bottom, the middle, the top. But while we were gone, the whole temple was lit up! Our ward is assigned 2 days to help with the open house. We are so blessed to be so close to temples everywhere! This is the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It has been exciting watching the progress of it. It will open in August!!

Finally Will was able to come to Bakersfield. We picked him up in Burbank, played in Santa Ana and Newport. More pictures of our trip are to follow!!.......

More fun with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-04-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday Morning Conference

First thing in the morning Camden was ready to play more games with Grandma and Grandpa. He is really good at making up games and rules to those games.

We had a baking morning. My Mom made yummy breakfast pizza and the infamous Coffee Cake (We call it Conference Cake and have it every General Conference. YUM!)

Blake was ready to bake first thing in the morning too.

Saturday night Will and my Dad went to the General Priesthood meeting at the Conference Center with My brother in law Ryan and Nephew Dalton. They brought back a treasure from Grandma Larson. A box of Easter treats and an icing decorating kit. So, Bright and early, Blake was ready to use the new tools. We made sugar cookies and had a great time decorating them! (Thanks Grandma Larson!!)

Later we went for a drive to show Grandma and Grandpa around. We had a fun walk where the boys collected golden rocks! What a fun day.

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

2009-04-04T16:38:00.000-07:00

My parents came!!! We had such a good time with them! The boys were so happy to have Grandma and Grandpa here. They never left their sides. Suddenly Will and I seemed to disappear to them-they only wanted Grandma and Grandpa!!

Snuggling with Grandma in the morning

Games with Grandpa

We got to go to General Conference at the Conference Center Saturday afternoon! We had a wonderful time there too! Thanks Emilee for watching our kiddos!!

Star Wars Battle

2009-04-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

Another from March 30th: After the snow was melted, The boys were invited to a Star Wars Battle with our neighbor friends across the street. They love playing with Drew and Will. Most often they play Star Wars or Legos - two of my kids most favorite things. Another fun play date with Drew and Will!

SPRING??

2009-04-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

March 30th:

So after a few warm sunny days, the thought of spring was in the air, Camden was off track for spring, and it suddenly snowed again! Our trampoline was a solid white blanket of snow- a good few inches. We decided to jump on it with the snow on it. It was really fun! The snow balled up as we jumped. Then we got out the sleds and had even more fun. Notice the great action shot at the end. The boys shoveled snow, played in it and once again had snow ice cream. So that's the beginning of spring in Utah.

Our little Karate Kids!

2009-03-31T08:40:00.001-07:00

This weekend we rented Karate Kid. Our boys LOVED it!

They watched it twice and played Karate forever after it!

Here is the greatest trick of all time being performed by

Mr. Camden Miyagi

Blake rocked out to the music during the Championship Meet

Blake's favorite is when Mr. Miyagi heals Daniel (The Karate Kid) a couple of times by clapping his hands together, rubbing them quickly and then putting them on Daniel's shoulder or leg. Blake was dong it all night Saturday and at church on Sunday during primary!

They both loved Mr. Miyagi. He was like Yoda to them!

What a deal!!

2009-03-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

My thrifty hubby found a lawn mower at DI for 5 cents!!!! Yes, 5 cents! He brought it home, tried it out on a sunny Saturday (a couple of weeks ago) and no luck, it didn't really work. I said, "Let's just throw that away and buy one at Home Depot!" But, he did not give up. He continued his search and found another lawn mower on KSL for only $15.00. This one didn't work either. So, he creatively combined the two by taking out the engine from the $15.00 one, and putting it in the 5 cent lawn mower. It worked!! Now we have a great working lawn mower! Total purchase, $15.05.

Here's Will, trying to hurry out of the picture. :0)

The two mowers

His little helper checking out the final product.

1/2 Marathon

2009-03-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is Will...wanting to brag about my wife!

THE EVENT:

So, Becky, the dedicated, committed, runner decides in January to run a 1/2 marathon by March. For all those who know Becky, she LOVES the warm weather. If it is not 95+ degrees...she is cold. When we moved to Utah December 29th, there was over a foot of snow and the average temperature is about 29 degrees. When most of us would roll over and push snooze at 5 AM (and the temperature outside is 17 degrees), Becky would get up, get ready for a run...beanie and gloves, and head out into the frigid winter morning to run 5, 6, 7+ miles. Several times during her training, she would come back covered in snow. These were the warmer mornings, usually around 30 degrees so it can snow. Need I say more about dedication.

THE TRAINING:

Her training was going very well until about 3 weeks before the event. Becky was on an 11 mile run when she came home, nearly in tears from pain in her knee. She was gone nearly 2 hours and I had figured she was having a great run. Her knee had given up on her from IT Band tendinitis. She really had to back off on her training and did everything she could to treat it. Even the night before the race she was worried it would not hold up. She is committed.

RACE DAY:

Race morning was a frigid 30 degrees with winds 10-30 mph. It was cold and windy! No fear, my dedicated, committed runner of a wife would not have it any other way. She trained to hard to give in to knee pain, cold temperatures, and wind. We cheered her on at 5 different locations along the course. She looked great and finished with a great time. It was so exciting to see her complete a goal she set for herself 3 months before. I am so proud of her!

POST RACE:

It is now Monday, 2 days after the race. Becky went to aerobics this AM and is wanting to go on a run tomorrow...need I say more?!?!

I have a wonderful wife who teaches me the value of hard work and dedication. Great lessons are learned when we persevere through difficulties and trials. In the end, we receive a greater reward.

Freebies

2009-03-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

We love to find free events...here's the latest. We went to the Olympic Oval last Friday and watched speed skating. It was the "ISU World Cup Final". This day was just long track, so no Apolo Anton Ohno! We thought it was going on for a few hours but realized we made it for the final race!! Oh well, it was still fun to see!

This picture they were skating so fast it was hard to get a good picture of it! The winner of this race was from the Czech Republic and of course is who we were rooting for!

This skater was just skating slowly around at the end as everyone was cleaning up. It was easier to get a picture!

We were wishing once again that we would have attended an event when we came for the 2002 olympics! I guess now we just pretend like it's the olympics (7 years later!!).

This is actually Camden's little stuffed hockey bear from the Olympics in 2002 that came to life! He attacked Camden with silly string!

As we were leaving, this guy was changing his record on the wall. We realized it was a big to do as everyone else was taking pictures and getting autographs. So, we took a picture too and then found out it was Shani Davis who won a gold medal in the 2006 olympics! We tried to get Camden to get his autograph but he wouldn't budge!

Then on Saturday for another 'just about freebie' we went to a University of Utah basketball game! (It was a "name your ticket price" game so, Will named our prices for the game at $1.00 a piece.) His dad, Ken came with us. He took lots of pictures and we forgot our camera so, we'll have to get some from him!

We LOVED it! It was so fun to see the Utes play in person again! Much more exciting than just watching on t.v. It brought back good memories of walking to the games from our little apartment at school. College sports are like no other. So exciting! I was almost in tears (I know, silly) to see this last home game for Seniors this year. They all get so excited! There are tons of families, kids, etc. Everyone wearing red. What fun! Way to go Utes!

A picture for the Races...

2009-03-06T13:35:00.001-08:00

Just wanted you guys to see your trampoline. It got a little cold in the snow the other day! :0)

So, Caden, Carsyn, and Nixon, do you think we should jump on it with the water spraying on it today????? How about we eat popsicles on it?? CRAZY huh! :0)

ISH 2

2009-03-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

After Camden left for school on Monday Blake wanted to be "Ish" also, so here is our other cute little "Ish" who made a wish for fish on his dish!

Ta da!!

ISH and Art

2009-03-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Today at school the kids got to dress up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character. Camden was "ISH" who wishes for fish on his dish.....here he is before he left for school.

A couple of weeks ago his school had a "Gallery Walk" where we walked throughout the school looking at all the art the children did. This is an Eric Carle work of art! Camden says it's a shark. Blake loved the cookies.

My camera was out of batteries. When we replaced it, we must not have fixed the date. Oops.

Camden is really liking school here. They have a lot of great activities for them. He has made friends really quickly. Although he does miss some of his old friends from school in California. He said he still wants Hayden and Tanner in his class again!!

Cozy 'Temple' Jammies

2009-03-01T17:20:00.001-08:00

So a while after the Temple open house, we went to the store and found some pajamas on sale. (Christmas clearance stuff). Blake really liked these jammies and said they're so soft! He liked the idea of the feet on the bottom too. So, for $7.00 we came home with Christmas Jammies in February! Well, Blake wanted to wear them every night and few days included! Eventually he has been calling his jammies by name. He named them "Temple". We asked, "Why do you call them temple?" He said, "Because they feel warm and cozy like the temple". Isn't that awesome? I'm sure he felt the Spirit when we went to the open house then likened that feeling to his cozy comfy jammies. Too cute! I love the special spirits that our children are. They teach us all the time!

Draper Temple Open House

2009-02-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

We went to the open house at the new Draper Temple. It was beautiful. The kids really loved it. They were so excited that they were going to go inside the temple! They had a real reverence about them there. After we toured the temple we went in a stake center right by the temple. These pictures are from there. They had a wall full of pictures of other temples and a map of where they are all over the world.

Handsome Camden. (A tie only lasts so long with him)

Here they are checking out the Temples around the world. (With cookies in hand)

The bus ride back to our car at another church building. We sat at the very back of the bus.

Cracking the Code!

2009-02-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

After our Monster Truck show we went to dinner at Trolley Square. There are two huge safes in an area there. While Will took Blake to the bathroom Camden and I each took a safe and tried to open them! There were 100 numbers on the dial. We were playing like we were secret agents with our ear up to the door listening for a click as we turned the combination lock back and forth. I tried one safe and Camden had the other. Then we switched back and forth a few times. A security lady walked by I said to her, "I bet you know the combination to these!" She said she didn't know it and she didn't think anybody knew it - people always try. After she left, Camden pulled his safe that he was working on, and...IT OPENED!!!! We were SO shocked! We laughed so hard! The inside was giant! A person could have fit in there. It was a little eery so we closed it back up (after we showed Will and Blake). Once we closed it I thought, maybe it always opens with a few turns of the dial. I tried it again. Nope, it was securely locked! We have no idea what the secret combination was but, it was opened and here is the proof!!! CRAZY!

Valentine's Day Monsters!

2009-02-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day we went to a Monster Truck Show with some friends from our ward. We had a great time! The boys LOVED it! It was SO loud they really liked their earplugs too. (They handed them out as we came in...I didn't think they would wear them but they did the whole time!) Enjoy the show!

Camden and the Snowy Day.

2009-02-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to a peaceful white snowy morning. Camden and Will started the morning by shoveling the snow in the driveway. Then Camden stayed outside to wait for the snow to make the snow mound get bigger! He laid on it for a while with mouth wide open eating snow as it fell. (This is one of the hills that was a sledding hill and a fort! They have been dying for it to snow again so they can build a snow fort again!!)

Here is one of our great snow plows.

Then Camden had to test out the trampoline with snow on it. He was eating more snow as he got off. (Lisa, we put the trampoline up on Saturday....there was no snow on the grass that day. If you want your trampoline back, we're still just borrowing it!! Come up and get it!! :0)

Camden and his friend from across the street have been riding their bikes or scooters to school everyday. Today they walked in the snow.

Off to school they go!! What a pretty morning!

When school got out wet snow was blowing like crazy in the direction the boys would be walking home, so I picked them up today. They had a snowy day schedule by staying in for recess doing puzzles and later watching a movie. Just like the good 'ol rainy days.

Just Playing Alround...

2009-02-07T10:59:00.001-08:00

It started snowing a few Sundays ago, just lightly, and the boys were so excited! They got out every one of our little bowls and cups to catch snow for snow ice cream! After half the day they didn't get much, but the next morning there was maybe 2 inches of snow in each little bowl and cup that quickly melted and turned into ice. So, no ice cream but it was a great idea!

While waiting for their collection they played in the stairway!! Reminded me of some good 'ol days at the cabin!!!

Happy Birthday Lisa!!

2009-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today is my sister Lisa's birthday. These pictures are for you Lisa!!

Hope you had a great day today! Love ya forever!

What a cute baby girl! I think you must have been my real baby doll!!

This was a pretty old picture to scan. (Lisa is pretty old now!!)

The only school photo of you I could find.

Maybe this was the year of the Star Wars birthday cake???? :0)

Happy Birthday Lisa!! We love you and miss you!!!

The Basement

2009-01-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

We finally got our winter running gear set up in the basement. Will bought a $15 TV at D.I. he always finds the deals! So now we have something to look at while we run on the treadmill. The other day I was getting ready and it was really quiet upstairs. This is what I found in the basement. They were so excited and said, "Mommy it works!!!" They chose to watch tv laying on the treadmill in the cold basement, not on the warm sofa upstairs!! Funny boys!

We had a great time in the basement playing hockey. The boys also like to ride their bikes down there and race cars across the basement floor. They have found a place to play while it is still pretty frozen outside.

They were plum tuckered out.

We went to a Grizzly game for a night of faster hockey. We have to say, our #1 team is still the Condors. It just wasn't the same without the entertainment either. The dancing granny, the shirt guy, and the little blimp were missed. It was cool that the Grizzlies had 2 zambonies out at the same time though! They lost the game by one in overtime-it was an exciting game. Santa gave us tickets to go see the Condors play the Grizzlies! We'll be sporting the Condor gear that night!

The Move

2009-01-07T20:43:00.001-08:00

Here is our giant moving truck. You would have thought we would have needed a special license to drive this baby! Will did great with it. It felt really strange driving off with our whole house inside our car and moving truck!!! Thanks for all the help everyone!

My mom made the coolest travel bags for the kids. (And me, with The Twilight Series books on tape...when I was driving by myself I got to listen to some of it. Thanks for letting me borrow them Mom!) The boys had cute scarfs and beanies (Will and I got beanies too!) made by her and funny glasses shown on Camden here. They loved putting them on to make funny faces at the cars we passed. One time while Blake was riding with Will he said while wearing his funny glasses, "Daddy, Nobody is laughing at me!" They also really enjoyed their books my Mom made them with a map from Ca. to Ut. and what we would see all along the way. Camden drew pictures of Windmills in Tehachapi, The giant thermometer in Baker, a roller coaster in Vegas, and the St. George Temple. He even drew one of some "Uncle Joshua Trees". Blake also drew great pictures of them. Great activity Mom! Thanks!!

Our moving truck was packed to the brim and Grandpa Larson took leftovers in his truck to bring up on New Years Eve. (Thanks!) Here is our car with bikes of course and the back stuffed to the brim too. We were fully loaded!!

Who is that boy in my car?

He even got the camera!!

The long drive...a couple of times I drove on ahead and stopped to shop for a little bit while I waited for the big rig. Most of the time we stayed together. We had fun talking on our walkie talkies until we'd get in on someone elses conversation! We also used our cell phones quite a bit (Of course not in California though!). This is where we almost say goodbye to brown and green!

These are my 3 cute boys in the big rig. They (all of them) loved the big truck. They watched movies and listened to tunes on an i-pod. The stereo wasn't the greatest with no CD player.

My parents gave all the grand kids fleece blankets for Christmas. They came in really handy on this trip! They LOVED having their own cozy blanket!

The beanies and scarfs my mom made came in super handy too! This is when we left the hotel in St. George. It was pretty chilly that morning! Notice the yummy Great Harvest pumpkin choc. chip bread. Breakfast-and no knives. We just tore it off to share it. They loved it! They thought they were giant muffins!

Blake went with me this morning and Camden took the big rig!

Blake and I took the scenic route and stopped by the temple. The St. George temple always seems the whitest to me. I'm sure it's because of the background. When we come upon it, it stands out so much next to the red rock background and the blue sky. Here it is up close. Every temple is so beautiful!!!

Now there is more white stuff!! But what a perfect day to move! The weather was a beautiful! It had been stormy for almost the whole week before we moved, but not at all on this day! I love this mountain up ahead! It was a very peaceful drive.

We arrived and found the best playing hill in front of our house! This is where hours of fun began! This mound has become the sledding mound. The one across the street from us is the snow fort. Fun!

Here is our house. We met our landlord for the first time and got to go inside it for the first time. We feel really blessed to have found this house! Our landlord was awesome and the house is too! We love the neighborhood too! All the young men of the ward shoveled our driveway and walks for us. The Elders Quorum helped us unload everything in no time. We are grateful for all the service that has been given to us.

The next morning Camden was checking out the backyard. He was amazed that the fruit would not sink! (I'm not quite sure how he came up with the idea.) I'm thinking he may be a scientist one day!?!

A view out our back yard looking east. I love that you can see the mountains everywhere. It is a very pretty area!

Blake joined in on the fun!

Here's Camden on the sledding hill on New Years Eve. Seriously, HOURS of fun!!!

Now I'll have to catch up by posting our New Years! We have been busy busy busy! And we do miss our California friends and family!!! Wish everyone could be here with us!

Beautiful Day!

2009-01-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful day out today. The sun was shining, skies were blue with some clouds and the mountains were awesome! This is a view from our front yard looking east to the mountains. There are more great views from our backyard and to the west. The boys loved playing with the neighbor boys on a snowboard and sled on a big snow mound out front. We also had a great snowball fight going on. Wish our family from home could be here! We sure miss you guys!!!

Oh What Do You Do in The Winter Time When All the World is White?

2009-01-05T20:45:00.000-08:00

It snowed today again. It is so pretty and peaceful when it snows! We've been having fun in this winter wonderland!

Here is our back yard with remnants of one of the snow barricades from our snow fight on New Years day. Notice no green!! The boys want to go outside all the time.

We love to play in the snow!

Today we caught snowflakes on black paper. Pretty cool to see the crystals on each flake. Interesting learning moment!

Next we made snowflakes with paper. Camden went to town on them.

Blake loved it too. He wanted to tape them up all over the window.

This is Blake in his cozy spot. After being outside he likes to lay out our U of U blanket and put this chair on it in front of the fireplace. Notice the jammies! He wore them almost all day today!

This is the snow fort the neighborhood kids have all been working on over the past few days. It is really cool in there!

Their eyes were cold so they wore our snow boarding goggles. Cute kiddos!

Coming inside after being outside for a while....it was only about 25 degrees outside!

We got a special surprise package from Grandma and Grandpa Simpson...books about snow! What perfect timing! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Last but not least, the infamous snow ice cream!!! (I loved making this at the cabin growing up) We collected snow in a bowl by letting it sit outside while it was snowing (not much) and whipped up the concoction. They loved it.

So, that's what we do in the wintertime when all the world is white!!! I have a ton more of fun pictures about our move that'll come sooner or later!

World Record?

2009-01-05T13:26:00.000-08:00

After my kids saw my sister's blog about the guy who wore the most shirts to get the world record, they wanted to try it too! So, Caden, here are your cousins with their many shirts on too. Camden had on 15 and Blake had on 10! It got a little difficult for Camden to breathe-they kept getting tighter around his neck!! Next time maybe different shirt sizes would be good! :0) They laughed at Lisa's video and the picture of Caden. Funny Boys!

Here's Camden from November when he tried it with our coats on!!

Coming Soon....recent posts from our move!!! (I have a lot of catching up to do!)

Christmas Eve

2008-12-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve the kids get to open one present. These had their new p.j.'s so we could take them with us to the Christmas Eve party! Growing up I remember we got to choose one present. We could even open one from our siblings because there were so many of us!

We have done this nativity for ever! I love it! I remember wanting to be an angel or the star or Mary. My Grandpa would always read from Luke 2 as we acted out the story. I'm so glad our kids get to do the same now! Camden was a shepherd and Blake was Joseph this year. Thanks for the great party Aunt Sharon!

What a cute Joseph and Mary!

A Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Crawford

2008-12-21T15:02:00.000-08:00

We visited half way at an outdoor airplane museum. We didn't realize it would be so snowy but the boys fully loved it! They ran through the snow, made snow angels, a snow man and saw cool planes! We also went to Camden's new favorite pizza place and played games. We always have fun when we get together with Will's dad and Kelly. Thanks for the fun!

Running and running in the snow!

A double snow angel! (The bottom one looks extremely cold...he did not want his jacket!)

What cute boys!

The Stealth and the Fam.

The first snowman of the year.

Blake with his Dracula Teeth and new tractor!

Camden's new Remote Control Car!

The next morning Camden woke up bright and early ready to test the charged up car! BURR!

Will had a great time with Camden's new car chasing the kids on the trampoline! (I tried to post a video but it didn't work!) They were laughing so hard!

Moving Boxes

2008-12-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas is almost here which means our move is almost here! We are moving 4 days after Christmas! We have been packing, singing Christmas Carols, packing, wrapping presents, packing, writing Christmas cards, packing, and packing some more.

Here is Blake helping me pack. He did his whole closet full of toys.

He wanted a box for every toy. (We'll go through a ton of boxes with this little helper!)

Here are our most prized possessions to take with us on our move.

We decided not to tape them up yet though!!!

We are excited for our new adventure to Utah! We have been checking the weather daily remembering that this is a really cold time to move!!

Here is a great picture we found on a biking web site. We will definitely have to put a bike trainer in our basement so Will can still have some good rides over the winter!!

Hello winter!! Here we come!!!

A Visit at Nana and Dandy's House

2008-12-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

We love visiting my Grandparents house. The kids always ring the giant bell out front then are greeted with warm hugs and kisses from my grandparents.

Grandpa greeted them and picked Blake up flipping him upside down! They definitely don't seem as old as they are! Looks like Camden was waiting for his turn to be flipped! Luckily he just got a hug!! :0)

After visiting inside for a while, eating m&m's, coloring, and playing with the cars, we always visit the animals outside (the deer, the turtle, and the bears). The boys always love their back yard. I love it because it reminds me of the cabin ... I guess it's all the animals!

Everytime we're there the kids ask for icecream. They know Nana always has homemade icecream in the freezer! Yum yum!

One of Grandma and Grandpa's famous saying is,

"You scream, I scream, we all scream for icecream!"

Their front yard looks amazing always too. There are always flowers and the grass is extra green right now. The boys enjoyed it by rolling all around on it!!

I took another picture of my grandparents together but promised not to post it! So it looked great with my grandparents as happy as ever. We love to visit them and can't wait to visit when we're in town.

Camden's School Party

2008-12-19T13:53:00.000-08:00

Today was Camden's Christmas party and last day of school. They decorated an icecream cone Christmas tree and exchanged books. He will miss his friends at Norris.

Camden and Blake decorating their trees.

The boys book exchange

Happy Anniversary!!!

2008-12-16T07:10:00.000-08:00

"Love is not about finding someone you can live with. It's about finding someone you can't live without."

Today is our 14th anniversary. I am so happy Will and I found each other! I can't imagine life without him. It is amazing to think of how quickly we married after we met. We have always felt we have known each other forever. We met in August of 1994, got engaged in September and Married in December. I know without a doubt that we were supposed to meet and to be sealed for time and all eternity. It's awesome to think about the fact that we are still best friends and love each other more than ever. I am so thankful for my awesome hubby!!!! He is the best!!!!

Happy Anniversary Will!! I love you!!!

Here we are on our first date at Leo Carrillo!! I couldn't believe my mom took our picture at the time, but now I'm actually glad she did!!!! Thanks Mom - it's fun to see us in the 90's.

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

2008-12-13T08:47:00.001-08:00

I love looking for a Christmas tree! Every year we search the Christmas tree lots for our tree. We enjoy picking up trees, checking out the size, smelling them and twirling them around to check them out. We look for the tallest tree and the smallest tree on the lot. Some years we even search high and low for a "Charley Brown" tree to buy. Occasionally there's a lot with a bonfire to get warm. LOVE IT!!! Usually we do end up going back to the cheapest lot to buy our tree, but always search high and low first. This year Will found the best deal on the radio! He bought an $18 gift certificate for a Christmas tree on 'your radio store'. It was good for a $50 tree at a really cool lot! They had the bonfire, passed out candy canes, and helped put the tree on the car! There was also a fake snow hill to sled on and a fake ice skating rink to try. Although they had the cool entertainment, we only took the candy canes and the tree.

What handsome boys!

The tallest tree!

The smallest tree.

Playing in the "forest".

Happy boys with candy canes.

Strapping the tree down.

Unloading the tree at home.

After cutting off the bottom of the tree a little the boys wanted this to be their own tree in their room.

As for more tradition, after it is all situated in the house, Daddy puts on the lights while we rummage through and reminisce over all the ornaments. We decorate the tree all together and Will gets to put the star on at the very end. We turn off all the lights in the house (except for the Christmas tree lights of course) and then sing "Oh Christmas Tree!" and other Christmas songs. Due to all the fun festivities, I forgot to take a picture of the final product, so I will have to post that next time!!!

Gingerbread Men

2008-12-11T13:26:00.000-08:00

We decorated Gingerbread men for preschool today.

Here's Blake and Nixon eating lunch by Goldie.

Are they done yet?

Blake

Nixon

Kaylee

The group...we missed Breyson.

We had fun this Christmas making treats for others too. We got together with Aunt Lisa and the kids to make a ton of treats. The kids love decorating the sugar cookies and eating them of course!

The Christmas Parade

2008-12-11T08:45:00.001-08:00

We had a great time at the Christmas Parade. We went with my parents and some of the cousins. It was amazing there were so many people out. We had to park far far away and it was crowded everywhere! The kids had a great time. We ate pizza and had hot chocolate and suckers from grandma (that even the people walking by enjoyed!) while watched the show. I think the favorites were some fancy cars and the skatepark as we left! (We actually left before they saw Santa) It was a fun night!

Fog Delays

2008-12-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

I love fog delays. A fog delay is called when it is just too foggy outside to safely drive to school. You get to go to school usually 2 hours late. Growing up it was the best waking up, getting ready for school and finding out we got to stay home for 2 hours!! We would have hot Cream of Wheat for breakfast or warm cinnamon rolls! Something warm and toasty! Last year we introduced Camden to Cream of Wheat and it was not a hit. So, we enjoy a bowl of hot oatmeal! Yesterday and today were the first fog delays of the year for us. Camden is loving it too. He gets so excited to check the news when he wakes up to find out he gets to stay home for a couple of hours. He then loves getting to school a little early so he can play in the fog! Here is a picture taken yesterday outside our front door...some of the fog had drifted away by the time I took it though.

A few of my favorite fog stories are about fog in Turlock and here at home: In Turlock we tried to go to the mall to shop for Christmas. My Dad had to drive with his head out the window to look for the lines on the road as we drove on the freeway! Another in Turlock when John and I got lost trying to go to Seminary early in the morning, and when we tried to get to school we ended up in front of a cow pasture with cows staring at us!!!!! At home we were chased by some kids after leaving a gift on some one's door step. Luckily we could hide in the fog but when it was time to find my parents in the car...we couldn't find them! We ran around the neighborhood and finally met up with each other! Lastly, when Will and I met he couldn't believe we ever had fog delays. He came to visit me once and had to also drive with his head out the window to see the lines on the road...all the way through Tehachapi and into town! True Love!! He then understood why we had fog delays. (By the way, he grew up with "Black Flag" days where you could not play outside during recess because of the smog!) Now, we will be leaving fog delays and smog delays for snow delays!! Aren't delays fun!

Lights! Lights! Lights!

2008-12-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here is the lighting crew putting up our Christmas lights!

Daddy's little helper held the string of lights for him.

Daddy's other helper, first on the roof! He helped with getting the bulbs just right.

All the boys up on top.

They also had to check out the chimney to see how Santa magically comes down our little metal cylindrical one.

Back down they come.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house. It was so fun having everyone over! Aunt Sharon made yummy turkey, stuffing, and ham, and her homemade noodles. Mom brought the traditional yummy rolls and pies, everyone else brought the rest...salads, potatoes, green beans and pretzel jello of course!! It was truly a feast! My whole family was together: Mom and Dad, Jeff and his family, John and his family, our family, Shelby and her family, Lisa and her family, and Josh and his family. Also Aunt Sharon and Uncle Ron, and Amy and Troy and their family came. Grandpa Larson came too. We talked, ate, played some games (a dangerous soccer game included) and laughed together. I only wish we could have taken a picture all together! Thanksgiving will always remind me of the cabin: food, family, fun, puzzles, games, staying up in our bunk beds, fire in the fireplace, snow, and getting snowed in so we could miss school!! Making memories as a family is what it's all about! I love Thankgiving time!

The beginning of the feast!!

Ashlyn and Mason stayed late. We played the wii, Scrabble, and tried putting Camden's dinosaur together again.

I did get a picture of Jeff and his family. I love when they visit. The kids go crazy over Mason and Emma. We always love having their family around.

One of my favorite stories about this Thanksgiving that I want to remember is about my Grandparents. They were at the Temple during this week of Thanksgiving. They recently celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary. So, because they were down in LA they chose to go to Knotts Berry Farm for Thanksgiving Lunch. That is where they went for their very first Thanksgiving together! They were on their honeymoon then, and apparently are still on their honeymoon now. I love that! They are a great example to me of what an eternal couple should be.

Camden's Birthday

2008-11-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

Camden's birthday started early. Right when he woke up he got to open presents! Blake was so excited to have Camden open the Star Wars guys he picked out for him! Camden was excited too!

Next he started getting phone calls which lasted all day long. Here is Camden talking to Nana and Dandy. He is getting so grown up! He also got a Tech Dech Skate Park which is in the background of this picture. He played with that all day too.

Grandma and Grandpa Simpson visited that night with a Star Wars Space Ship and guys!!

After his pizza dinner we had Donuts for his cake. His favorite...Maple Bars from Smith's Bakery!

A few days later on Saturday we had his "Mario Kart Wii" Birthday Party with family.

A few rounds on the Wii

Uncle John entertaining the little ones.

Mario game...who is that boy?

And who is that one?

A cupcake race on the track! (And a cool Lego Start and Finish line made by Daddy!)

Fun with Balloons!!

It was another happy day!

After everyone left we completed the masterpiece from Grandpa Larson!!

Happy 7th Birthday Camden!! We love you!!

Happy Birthday Camden!!!

2008-11-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it has been seven years since we had our cute Camden! What a blessing he is in our family! Here are a few pictures of him at birth, 4 months, and 18 months. What a cute boy!!! Wish we would have had a digital camera back then! My scanner didn't do these pictures justice!

Camden was only 5 pounds, 10 ounces. What a cute little guy! This picture shows when I first got to touch him-I had to have a glove on!

Here is Camden in the bubble that helped him breath in the NICU. He also was in an incubator for a while. It's amazing all that he went through to get here! We are so blessed to have Camden in our family! We love you Camden!! Thank you for coming to our family!!!

On this day we also remember Camden's twin brother, Jacob. What a special spirit to be with our Heavenly Father already. We are thankful to know about the Plan of Salvation and look forward to the day we will be able to see our Jacob again.

Our week of Halloween!

2008-11-02T15:27:00.001-08:00

This was a busy Halloween! We started with dressing up in a variety of costumes, going to a pumpkin patch, party party parties, and trick or treating. The funniest thing this Halloween seemed to be Blake's variety of costumes. First he was going to be Wolverine then for his preschool party he was Superman, then finally for Halloween night he was Dash. He also had to be like Camden quite a bit and dressed up as a storm trooper. I think we should open up a costume shop!!!! We also didn't decorate much because we are trying to sell our house. We didn't want to frighten any buyers away!!! The pictures start with Halloween and then go back in time to our first Halloween activities.

We went trick-or-treating with the Race cousins. Carsyn's the witch, Caden's the skater punk zombie, Blake's Dash from the Incredibles, Nixon's Wolverine, and Camden was Captain Rex from Star Wars the Clone Wars. We could hardly get out our door. Every time we opened it there were more trick or treaters! The kids loved passing out candy and going trick-or-treating of course. We had fun visiting Grandma and Grandpa Simpson too!

Here was the tail end of our trick or treating group. They did not like the scary houses, and when we went up to a house that looked a little scary, Blake would put on his little mask as shown in this picture. I think he felt a little more safe with it on!

Here is Camden's second grade class on Halloween day. They had a party and a parade. Camden is the cool Storm Trooper, Captain Rex on the right side of this picture.

Rex and Superman in the parade. (Blake had to dress up and wanted to be in the parade too.)

Camden and his buddies from his class - and his little buddy Blake.

There were two Captain Rex boys in Camden's class. The one on the left has a helmet that goes all the way around his head. He had boots, and a really cool expensive costume. Camden is the one on the right. He kept looking at the other boy all morning and asked, why does your helmet go all the way around your head? Why is your costume different? He told us it was $50 at Party City! I told Camden he still was a great Rex with his cheeper costume!!

Costume exchange. Camden has on Blake's costume. (It is too big for Blake). Blake is wearing Camden's old costume from 2 years ago.

Blake had to have a Superman Jack o lantern! Notice Superman flying above the 'S' logo!

Camden drew this cute face on his own. He says it is himself. Notice the missing teeth. Too cute!

The little Jack o lantern in the middle is one Camden made as Blake. They loved carving pumpkins!

We missed our ward Trunk or Treat so we went to Lisa and Brad's trunk or treat with the 5th ward. Here is everyone lined up with their treats. Julie, Sean, Jack, Ashlyn, Carsyn, Blake, Caden, Camden and Nixon. What a great looking group of kids! (We should have made them all sit a little closer.) We had fun but missed Shelby's and Jeff's kids!

Blake's a Storm Trooper for the day while we played with some more cousins: Nixon, Sydney, and Ty.

Here are a few pictures from Blake's preschool Halloween party. He started out as Superman and ended up as Wolverine! I think Superman was his favorite costume. What a great pose!

Nixon is on the left and Blake on the right. Two little Wolverines!
This is our little preschool group trick or treating at our bedroom doors in our house. Blake had to play it again and again after the party.

The preschool group: Nixon's Wolverine, Kaylee is Cinderella, Blake is Superman, and Breyson is a Chunky candy bar. Too cute!

We went to the pumpkin patch and Blake stood at this wagon for quite a while cleaning his pumpkin with a baby wipe.

Here's a little pre-Halloween dress up....Blake is Wolverine, Camden is the Batman in the middle and Nixon is the other Batman. My kids love to dress up!

Fun Saturday Event

2008-10-26T15:18:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to the grand opening of one of the bike stores here in town. There was a professional bike rider there named Jeff Lenosky. He holds the Bunnyhop World Record and has won quite a few Championships. We had a fun time watching his tricks. He jumped over ten people and over a motorcycle! I loved Camden's response (this picture shows it well). He said, "I just can't watch!!!" (as he peeked through his fingers). Then he cheered for him after he completed his trick. As soon as he was finished, Blake headed straight for him to get a better look at his cool bike. We won a shirt, flip flops, and two water bottles! The boys got autographs and a picture with him. Blake has been carrying his autographed picture around with him all day today. We love free event Saturdays!

Patriotic Camden

2008-10-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Here is Camden during the first game of the World Series the other night. He is our patriotic boy. As soon as the 7th inning song, God Bless America was being sung, he stood right in front of the TV and stood in salute.

Every time we see a flag blowing in the wind he'll say the pledge of allegiance as we drive by. He loves the pillow case that my Grandparents gave him once that has a bunch of good old American classic songs printed on it - like God Bless America, The Star Spangled Banner, Home on the Range, Yankee Doodle, etc. He sings them all. We love our patriotic Camden!

Blake and Super Heroes

2008-10-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

Blake loves Super Heroes lately. He colors them all day long and loves to wear Batman, Spider man, or Superman pajamas. These pictures are so cute of him as he colors. Notice the tongue in the first picture. His mouth gets really chapped under his lip because of this. He would not put anything on it to help it to heal until I bought some Carmex that is in a yellow tube with a red top. I told him it smelled yummy (Cherry Flavor) and was Iron Man chap stick! So he put it on all by himself (of course) and it worked! We have cured his chapped mouth because of Iron man chap stick...hurray for Super Heroes!

Quirky Quirks!

2008-10-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

OK Gals, Here's my list of 6 quirks.... thanks for the tag Krissi! :0)

1. I cannot stand little rocks in my shoes! Sometimes when I run, little rocks get in my shoes. I have to really think hard about something else because it bothers me so bad. I'll bang my foot one way or the other to try and get it up to my toes where maybe I won't feel it so much. Sometimes when I can take it no longer, I have to stop in the middle of my run, take off my shoe, dump out the itty bitty rock - yes, very itty bitty -put my shoe back on and go! Annoying! I usually do a double check before I put them on to make sure there are no rocks from a previous run. Some days I'm lucky and am rock free! Ya never know!

2. I can't stand sock fuzzies! I often turn my socks inside out to get all the lint or fuzzies out of my sock before I put them on.

3. I have to put Chapstick on everytime after I brush my teeth.

4. I too am quirky about closet doors. They all have to be closed before bed.

5. I have to have my sheet folded over my blanket just right before I fall to sleep and I have to be super close to Will. I like no space (thus the reason for our queen bed, not a king).

6. Lastly, more on socks. I cannot stand miss matched socks, or holes in socks!! When I do the laundry I have to match the kids socks that are a little stained with the other slightly stained socks or, sometimes Camden will put his socks on so one is inside out, and the other is not. I quickly help him notice the difference and help him change it. Finally, if I see any holes in socks, they're trash - Will likes them to last as long as possible so occasionally he'll wear them holey....until I notice and in the trash it goes. We just don't like to spend money on stuff you don't really have to. But non-holey socks are a necessity!!!

SILLY SILLY QUIRKY ME!!!

General Conference

2008-10-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

We went to Utah last weekend and got to go to Conference! We didn't have tickets so we were just going to take our kids to Temple Square to be there for Sunday's morning session. A friend from home called us while we were in Utah saying another friends mom had extra tickets and she lives in Salt Lake! We were so excited! Will and I left our kids up in Logan with his sister Carrie and were able to attend the Saturday morning session. Our seats were awesome! We were on the bottom floor about 15 rows back. What a blessing from Gina and Megan (and her mom!!!) Thanks guys! We have always loved being able to get into conference. As soon as Camden turns 8, we will take him too- then Blake at 8, etc. I'll forever remember the spirit that I felt when I was 8 and I saw and heard President Kimball at the Tabernacle for Conference. What an awesome opportunity to see and hear the Prophet of God!!!!

This is Sunday morning at Temple Square. My mom has always said the flowers and the birds must be so happy to live in such a beautiful place. My kids loved it too.

We went into the Tabernacle (now an over flow area) to listen to a few speakers. (I know why the children are supposed to be 8 to go inside for Conference.) Our happy wiggly guys loved being able to sit at the top of the Tabernacle. It's amazing to see the size difference of the two buildings. The Tabernacle was always filled up to capacity, and now the huge Conference center is always filled!! We loved showing them the Tabernacle, and we sang the intermediate hymn in there. Blake covered his ears because it was so loud! We loved it!!

This is in the Visitors Center. Camden loved this model of Jerusalem. He looked at it for ever. He remembered it from the last time we were there. It talks all about the life of Christ. You can touch a title and it highlights it on the model showing you where it took place. He really had a reverence about him as he studied the model, listened to the narration, and looked at the pictures. We all could feel the Spirit as we learned about the Savior here.

Some of Camden's favorite people in the Book of Mormon: Helaman and The Stripling Warriors.

Blake watching Moroni bury the Brass Plates. We all really enjoyed the Visitors Center.

One of my favorite pictures from our trip:

MS Ride

2008-09-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

(Slide show at the end)

What a great weekend! We stayed in Camarillo Friday night, then the boys and I drove to Santa Barbara Saturday morning while Will rode his bike there. The weather was perfect for the ride!

Will raised a total of $1,200 for the MS Society! Thank you to everyone who donated! The event raised a total of $750,500!!! What a great cause to ride for! At the beginning of the race the announcer said, "While you climb those tough hills, think of those people suffering from MS and all that they go through."

There were over 1,000 riders on Saturday! There were a lot of teams riding together; it looked like the Tour De France! My batteries died when they all took off - it was a great sight seeing so many cyclists! The batteries also didn't work when I tried to take a picture of the host of Amazing Race! He was riding with a team and he got to speak at the beginning of the ride.

Will said the first 30 miles was FAST. He rode about 26 mph in the middle of about 50 riders - a few teams. He said it was fun to draft and be in the middle of it all. Next time we'll have to get a real team to ride with. (Our "Team Larson" just cheered on the side of the road!). Will rode 100 miles from Camarillo to Santa Barbara in 5 hours and 13 minutes.

We were at the start line at 6:30 am, went back to our hotel for breakfast, then drove to the beach to wait for Daddy and play. After the race there was a huge blow up slide that the boys went up and down about 30 times. (Sorry, didn't get a picture of that either.) They enjoyed the drummers, watching all the riders and of course playing at the beach!! They slept well last night! (Will included).

Here's our slide show of the big event. *If the slide show has stopped, click on the x in the right hand corner and it will play again.

We wish Will would have had a camera on the ride to take pictures. He said it was beautiful. They climbed up to about 1500 feet elevation (and started at about sea level)! They had rest stops along the way and tons of food and drinks throughout the ride. He only stopped for lunch (they had Subway sandwiches for them) and stopped for water. Next time we'll mount a camera on his helmet so we can see it all! What a fun day.

Preschool Fun!!

2008-09-18T14:55:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from today. What a great little group! We missed Kaylee though.

Making our counting books

Tasting apples.

Nixon giving Breyson a ride.

The Three Muskateers

Ten Apples Up on Top!

Tadaa!

Late Night Dentist

2008-09-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

It finally came out! Camden's top tooth was super wiggly forever. He would not let us get close to it - he knew we were trying to pull it out. After bribing him with a toy, he wanted to try it himself. He tried 3 times and he couldn't do it. He was crying and crying because he wished it would just fall out by itself! Finally we made a deal that we would pull it while he was sleeping so he wouldn't even know! He said o.k.! After we put the kids to bed he said, "Mommy, make sure you do it in the middle of the night because sometimes I'm just laying with my eyes closed!" So, in the middle of the night (10pm) we barely twisted it and out it came! (It was barely hanging on.) Tadaa!! He was so excited when he woke up the next morning without a tooth! It worked! Now the tooth fairy gets to visit us!

Play Time

2008-09-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

The other day I was making dinner while the boys played outside drawing on the cement with chalk.....I checked on them and this is what I found!!!! It felt like I was in the middle of the Cat in the Hat book when I gave them a bath. Red everywhere!!! It went from place to place to place!

Police Man Blake one morning after taking Camden to school. Later that day he had to wear the fireman rain boots to soccer practice!

Blake and Nixon (Obi Wan Kenobi and Iron Man)

September

2008-09-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from this month so far.

We visited my grandparents for my Grandpa's 82nd birthday. They are both so young for their ages! The boys always love visiting there (and so do I). In fact, we went one day and G & G were gone. Blake sat on the porch just waiting and didn't want to leave! (Funny he was being shy when it was time to sit next to grandma though!) Every time we visit, the boys always go straight for the m&m's, get out all the cars and visit the deer, turtle, and bear outside. They also love to ring the big bell outside on the porch. It's always fun to visit Grandma and Grandpa!

This is the way Blake colors now. He really tries to stay in the lines-in fact he gets frustrated when he can't! When he colors Spider Man he colors the individual squares first to make the whole picture!

Homework time! This is one part of school that Camden doesn't really like yet...does anyone ever like homework???

Camden's first year of Soccer! He is LOVING it! He said he even likes it better than baseball! That is huge for him! He made his first goal at practice yesterday and kept yelling WHOOO I made my first goal ever!!!! He is a great runner going all over the field!

Blake took a picture of himself during Camden's game. Too cute!

Ninja Blake

Blake helping with the infamous Sunday Night Cookies

Tagged

2008-09-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

I was "tagged" by Stacy to list 3 of each of the following: joys, fears, goals, current obsessions, regrets, and facts about me. It's been interesting to think about the answers to all these...so here goes: Oh, I also have to tag 5 more people - I'll comment on your blog telling you to do this same thing!!!!! Don't forget to tag 5 more also! Check your comments! (Lisa, Amy, Jill, Kristin, and Emily M.)

JOYS:

1. My Family

2. The Gospel

3. Morning Runs

FEARS:

1. Losing another child

2. Seeing accidents-I wish I could help them

3. Jumping off the cliffs at Rainbow Pools by Yosemite! (I had jumped off cliffs into water at Lake Powell before, but this gave me a sunburn while I waited for the courage to jump! I finally did it, but was pretty fearful! I'm sure I wouldn't be able to now!)

GOALS (These seem to always be on my list of goals)

1. Read my scriptures daily

2. Exercise

3. Organize family photos and

4. Practice the piano (I know, only 3 responses, but I could only limit it to 4!!)

CURRENT OBSESSIONS

1. Hanging out with my hubby

2. Playing with my kiddos

3. Tatsu at Magic Mountain (In the last 2 visits we've been on it 4 times already! We went for our last anniversary and went 3 times in a row!!....This last time we had over an hour wait to get on it!)

REGRETS

1. Wearing flip-flops all summer long. (I need a pedicure - BAD)

2. Selling ALL of our Thomas the Train stuff at a yard sale a few weeks ago. (A woman really liked a tent train that we had and then we brought out the huge bin of train stuff....she quickly asked how much? I looked for Will's advice, he was busy bartering with someone else, I know he does great deals....so I said $20.oo???? um, $15.00???? I looked for Will's help again but he was still busy. She said I'll take it! (Usually they say no and try to get things for $5.oo or less!!I was wanting to take the box back inside..She was smart) She handed me $15.00 and off she went and so did Thomas! Uggggg I get sick just thinking about all those great times we had together playing trains and what a great collection we had! Since the boys had lost interest in them I was thinking about keeping them for their kids some day, but finally realized it's just 'stuff' and was ready to part with them...so I thought! I am NOT a good sales person! Luckily when I sold furniture for my Uncle I was never as bad!!!!! I was surprised when Will couldn't believe I sold it for so cheep! I guess all I can say is some little boy is SOOOOOOOO happy to have all those trains!!!!! I hope they are well loved!

3. Never going to an event at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah! We went to see it all. Camden was 2 months old. We walked all around checking everything out, took lots of pictures, noticed how expensive it was to even see Curling, and didn't want to pay for an event ticket. Now when will we ever have a chance like that again??? We should have paid for the tickets!

FACTS ABOUT ME:

1. I met my wonderful husband in the ocean.

2. Two of my favorite movies are Goonies and Anne of Green Gables! I would love to go on such a great adventure (As Goonies)! And I'd like to see where that movie was filmed- somewhere along the Oregon Coast. Also, I'd love to visit Prince Edward Island and see where Anne of Green Gables was filmed!

3. I love going to craft stores - like the one in Smithfield! And I love browsing through School Supply Stores!!!