I was tagged

Your eight questions are:

1. What is your favorite candy bar, and why?  

Milky Way.  They are so creamy and delicious.

2. What is your greatest accomplishment, to date?

I couldn't narrow it down so I am going to give you my top two greatest accomplishments, you'll have to decide which one is the greatest.

* giving birth to 5 children

* fully recovering from a broken neck and leg and completing a triathlon

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Anywhere with Chad.

4. If you were a vehicle, what would you be?

Probably a minivan or a suburban.

5. What is your dream date like? (the activity, not the guy--you've already got him!)

Spending the day at a resort on the beach near a warm ocean--body surfing, snorkeling, cliff jumping, riding the waves, renting a jet ski, eating out, etc.

6. What is your earliest memory?

Getting a big red tricycle for Christmas.  I think I was around three years old.

7. If you could have anything to eat right this moment, what would it be?

Frozen Custard

8. You have an unlimited credit card, and you have one store to use it in. What store do you choose?

Costco--I could buy lots of different stuff clothes, shoes, tons of year supply stuff, and lots of fun toys, snacks, and treats for the kids.

California Family Vacation - Sept. 19-22, 2010

We had a fabulous vacation earlier this week.  We headed to my sister Kayla's house in Huntington Beach, California right after our church meetings on Sunday, Sept. 19th, 2010.  We left around 12:30pm and arrived at her house shortly before 7:00pm.  The trip was fun.  I prepared 12 paper bags for the kids to open every 30 minutes.  Half of the bags had different activities in them--shapes bingo, coloring contest, ABC sign game, read a chapter from Narnia, word search/dot to dot, read a story from the friend--and the other half of the bags had snacks in them.  With all the activities the kids didn't even miss their video games and movie players because we happened to be traveling on Sunday.

Monday we had a lazy morning as we waited for the sun to come out.  When it finally came out from the clouds we headed to the beach.  I read a book and watched the kids while everyone else played, and played, and played some more, staying for 5 hours.  It was SO wonderful.  The water was too cold for me, which is why I read most of the time.  I only got in when I borrowed Kayla's wet suit, but everyone else braved it for at least a little while.  Chad and I even tried to surf but we weren't too successful.  I chickened out shortly after I started paddling out.  I saw the waves and remembered getting slammed down by them on my last visit.  I decided I didn't want to be tethered to a board when a wave slammed me down so I promptly started paddling back to shore.  Chad donned Kayla's wet suit and tried to surf too, after getting slammed a couple of times he came back in and said he doesn't have a desire to get good at surfing.

Monday night we went out to eat at Ruby's.  It is located at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier.  We got hamburgers and milk shakes.  I was kind of disappointed in the shakes because they tasted like a burnt out blender smells.  Kind of gross.  But the hamburgers were really good.

Tuesday we went to Knottsberry farm.  It was a blast.  I am so glad we decided to go there instead of Disneyland because we saved about $100 a person.  They had some amazing roller coasters for Chad, Kayla, and I, and they also had lots of fun stuff for the kids.  We never had to wait in any lines.  I was glad we decided to go on a school day because I know that made it so there were no crowds.  We practically had the park to ourselves.  Bryant was brave and road some of the less intense adult roller coasters, we finally convinced Spencer to ride the Big Foot Rapids which he loved.  Karalee and Rachel were so fun to watch together.  They had so much fun.  Marlee and Jaki even got to ride a few of the rides and they stayed happy the whole day.

Wednesday, Sept. 22nd, we went swimming in Kayla's neighborhood pool before our long drive home.  Aside from like a million pit stops, the trip went smoothly and we are happy to be home again.  Here are some of the pictures from our trip.  The blog has a new format and some of the pictures got out of order.  Oh well.

Chad and Spencer got really good at the skim board

Lunch time!!

When I saw Marlee laying down, I realized she was ready for a nap.

Bryant about to embark on his first ever roller coaster ride!

Karalee had the grin so many times during the day.  Priceless!!!

 

 

Cabin Trip - Labor Day 2010

On Labor Day weekend we made a quick trip to Art and Brenda's cabin.  We left right after church on Sunday and stayed one night.  Hallie Bauer, my niece, came with us.  We had a good time relaxing, jumping on the bean bag, watching movies, and going to play in the creek.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for letting us stay at your cabin again!!

 

Here's Hallie jumping from the top of the stairs onto the giant bean bag.  

 

Three jumpers in a row

I was trying to avoid a farmer's tan, hence the rolled up sleeves.

Catchin' Crawdads

Spencer is an author

Spencer started writing a book. It is so cute I thought I would share what he has finished so far.

Lots O' Pictures!

As I started making this post I saw tons of pictures that I haven't shared on the blog yet. Some of them are quite recent, some of them are from earlier this year. I'll stop writing so you can feast your eyes on all these gems.

I wonder where she gets it?

This summer, Bryant and Spencer had to do some exercise every day as part of their chores. Here is Bryant doing his push-ups. Marlee was so cute as she started copying him.

I can't remember if I posted this one already or not, but Marlee fell asleep during lunch. I do remember that I was working on a lot of Primary stuff that day.

SO cute.

We switched to 8:30 church last month so now we get to enjoy long, lazy Sunday afternoons.

We invited Amy, Josh and Mary over for lunch and to slip n' slide last week.

I love my Bryant boy's cheeks.

Spencer made a rocket pack out of his K'nex

He was kind enough to share with his sisters

Chad is in the zone. Do your husband do this too?

I get lots of pictures with Marlee's eyes closed.

The kids wanted to take a picture of me.

Marlee is a climber!

Karalee is really good at making her bed. I help her pull the covers up and she does all the pillows. She is doing so good and getting her chores done every day.

On Monday mornings Karalee has a playgroup. This is Karalee and Sammy making fruitloop necklaces. We were sad Kylie wasn't able to make it that day.

Some of my favorite mothering moments are when I watch my kids' eyes close, they are so peaceful at those moments.

After listening to Elder Stevenson's talk about encouraging our children to visit the temple grounds to touch the temple, so the temple will touch them I have tried to take my children to the temple every few months.

I took the kids to visit the Fire Department so Spencer could learn about fire safety and pass off his last requirement to earn his Wolf in Cub Scouts. We were glad Amy and her family were able to come with us too.

Bryant was impressed with our visit and he wants to be a fireman when he grows up.

This is the last picture. Isn't she a beauty!