One of th perks of CA

One of the great perks to living in California is that there is a lot to do without having to fly somewhere. We spent a few days in San Francisco a fwe weeks ago before the kids head back to school (in the morning). The kids loved getting to go to the Exploratorium and the science academy place. Their favorite was the exploratorium because they got to do so much stuff. THey were so busy that RYan and I were juggling to keep up with all three of them. My favorite part was that it is much cooler in SanFran than it is in Fresno. I loved just walking around the streets near our hotel and enjoying the cool weather.

Other than that trip, we have not done much since the trip to the beach with mom and dad. THe kdis did swim lessons and loved them. JOnathan is now a really good swimmer and gets himself all over the pool. He likes to scare me by jumping in and then sinking himself to the bottom and sitting there until he can't hold his breathe any longer. I really do not like that game. Robert is learning that the floaties are really not that cool and he can have a lot of fun without them.The poor kid sinks like a weight so he is working hard to stay up. Katelyn is insane. That girl has no fear. She was by far the bravest kid in her little beginner class. She has no fear when it comes to the water. I think it is because she always had floaties on and did not need to fear, but now she does not want the floaties because she wants to dunk and swim. She can dunk or "swim" a little bit and then push her head up to breathe but only once before she needs help. She likes to be a Starfish where she lays on her tummy and spreads her legs and arms out and puts her face in the water. I am glad she loves the water and is not scared but seriously, her teacher may call it a starfish but I call it the dead man's float and she just makes me nervous because she will hold her breathe for quite some time.

Anyway, that is about all there is to report. Like I said, the boys start school in the morning and they are excited with the mixture of nervousness. They both have teachers that I have heard a lot of good things about so I think all will go really well.

I love you all.

Megan

Summer in bakersfield

We had a little different summer where for the first time we did not leave California. Mark worked all but two weeks and spent 4 weeks at the University of California Santa Barbara- not a bad place to be! Then, he taught a class at the local university and loved it.

So, we hung around here with lots of swimming and popsicles to keep us cool!

Some of the highlights of our summer in pictures:Christian played t-ball. He was a natural and loved it. Elijah did basketball camp, but I can't seem to find the pictures!We went up to Fresno for Jonathan's baptism, which coincided with a visit from Mom and Dad and a few days at the beach all together. Thanks mom and dad for making the effort to come!

Before heading back to work, we snuck in a few days in San Francisco- hiking in the Redwoods, the Exploratorium, wandering the city, and touring the jelly belly factory. It was a fun few days.

Caleb turned 2! We can't believe it, but our baby is now officially in his terrible twos. He is an absolute joy.

Tomorrow is the first day of school and the kids are all in bed- too excited and nervous to sleep, but they are there! Can't wait until next summer when we get to see everyone.

Love you all.

High Adventure

Nathan just got back from a 4 day trip to the Smokey Mountains. He and one other leader took 6 boys on a 30 mile backpacking trip through the Great Smokey Mountains National Park about 7 hours east of here. He was able to enjoy all kinds,....beautiful weather, gorgeous views, pouring rain, steep climbing and sliding down waterfalls...

Nature Center

Last month we had our roof replaced. They told us to expect the workers to show up at 7am. I was laying in bed, sound asleep when I heard some pitter-patter on the roof above me. I looked over at my clock seeing that it was 5am,...and thought, "You've got to be kidding me! those kids better not think it's time to wake up!" I rolled out of bed to investigate. All 4 kids were sound asleep in their beds. Still hearing movement up above. Kinda freaky. I made my way to the front window, pulled back the curtain to take a peek....the roofing crew had arrived! Are you serious?!?! Long story short,..I had to shuffle a few things around upstairs in the attic, when I came back down stairs I was now greeted by 4 children that were now awake, claiming there were loud noices on the roof. Tell me about it! By this time, it wasn't just walking around up there, they were actually starting to pound and scrape and who knows what else.
This is the view from my front window by about 7am when Nathan came home from work.

Since they were going to be working on the roof all day, and there was no way Nathan was going to get any sleep,. we decided to take an excursion up to the Nature Center in Memphis. The kids were fascinated that they got to be there for the snake feeding.

Wow - it really does look like we have forgotten this exists. I still love the posts that are made and treasure the pictures etc. so hopefully we will keep at it and maybe get rededicated to posting at least once in awhile.
I got response back from some of you about the possibility of a Family Reunion but if you have not responded please let me know your thoughts. I am totally open to any and all suggestions so let me know.
Things here are about the same. Dad is getting around quite well now. He is suppose to wear his boot all the time and still be using his crutches but his crutches haven't moved from their spot in several days and he sneaks around the house with out his boot frequently. It isn't very sore anymore but definitely still swollen. He goes back to the doctor on the 27th so we will see what he has to say. Dad is anxiously awaiting the fish arrival at Jim Creek - he says that they will be there on the fifteenth.
I think most of you are aware that I am now only working in the mornings and spending as much time as possible in the garage. Hopefully, I will have a pretty good supply of stuff ready for some bazaars we are doing later.
I guess I better get to work..
Love YouAll!
Mom

My Star Bellied Sneetches

As I was typing the last post about Asher's birthday the kids reminded me of their star bellied sneetch costumes. Several months ago they had a family activity on campus called Dinner with Dr. Seuss. There was a costume contest, and I wanted the kids to be unique, so I made them Sneetch costumes. They were so adorable I wanted to post a picture for all of you to see.

Asher's Birthday

So the title of this post was Asher's Birthday, but the first picture turned out to be the beautiful Ayana Grace. She is such an amazingly wonderful little girl. She is very smart and loves to help her Mom, Dad, and Brother. She loves any kind of art project as well as books and pretend play. She is a great example to our family, and is always super excited for prayers and going to church.
Our little two year old, Asher, continues to be a light in our lives. He is hilarious and loves to make people laugh and smile. He likes to make silly faces and to be sneaky. He has the cutest little giggle and smiles. I continue to believe that Heavenly Father gave him the cutest smile he could com up with because he knew Asher would need a way to compensate for his mischievious nature. He attends toddler lab on campus and greatly enjoys his class. He also loves to go to his nursery class at church and say his prayers, but he could do with out the sitting still for an hour in Sacrament.

He loves Mickey Mouse, so he had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme for his birthday party. We had a small group of friends gather at the park for a barbecue and cake/presents I attempted my first real decorated cake and was quite pleased with my results.
He received a lot of wonderful gifts but some of his favorites were these dress up sets from his sister. They both love to get on costumes and pretend.

It is hard to believe that he is two years old already, time sure flys by! What a wonderful little boy, we are so blessed to have him in our family!