Russ, Shalae, & Kids

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T15:54:00.001-07:00

Noah & Ellie at Suzanne's Halloween craft class...

Noah was a "stealth ninja" this year and Ellie was a {cute} witch!

Lucy at our ward Trunk-or-Treat

(the cutest 50's girl)

Halloween night - we trick-or-treated in my parents' neighborhood (as usual) with Ellie & Lucy

A few times I saw Noah doing this in his bedroom mirror after putting his costume on. I guess it's a ninja move?

October so far

2011-10-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

October happenings:

During Fall Break I took Noah, Ellie, Riggs, & Jax to Skateland.

It was funny to see that Skateland hasn't changed at all since I was a kid - they still do the hokie pokie, they still play the GHOSTBUSTERS song, and they still have the black-out skate. Oh yeah, and it still smells the same and feels so GERMY!!

Watching Noah try to skate was de ja vu from when we went ice skating once - he kept felling and getting mad and wanted to give up. So I forked out an extra $5 to make things a little easier for him...

Noah turned 7 on October 21 and we started the day out at Krispie Kreme. That was actually the only stop we made for free birthday food, but my birthday is coming up and I will be hitting up as many places as possible!

Noah chose PF Chang's for his birthday dinner. We went there on Russ's birthday and he's been talking about going back for about 6 months. His wish came true and he got a mini birthday dessert.

This is just a random picture of Noah and Sophie in some dress-up clothes. Noah has grown a lot since last Halloween!

We celebrated Noah & Sophie's birthdays at my parents' house on Sunday between their birthdays. We sometimes call them our "twins" since they are just 8 days apart in age.

Lucy wanted Noah's Sparky pillow-pet for herself. I love the second picture of her cuddling it!

A few days after our combined "birthday party", we celebrated Sophie's 7th birthday with just our family...

She chose Red Robin for her birthday dinner....

... and she was so happy when the waiter brought ice cream!

Last of all, I was able to start watching Lucy again and I love my morning once a week with her. Here she is in her mama's car, looking cute and stylish in her sunglasses.

Price Family Cruisin'

2011-09-18T15:57:00.001-07:00

To celebrate the retirement of my amazing mother-in-law (Mary Ann), we took a cruise to Ensenada, Mexico with Mary Ann, her sister Barbara, and Russ's siblings (and their spouses too of course)!

We decided to tour the famous blow-hole "La Bufadora" when we got off the boat in Ensenada. It was fun to walk around and shop, try some authentic Mexican tacos, drink the best ever pina coladas & mango coladas, and see what we could of the blow-hole!

It was a pretty sight to see but we never saw the water shoot as high as it does at other times.

I found the picture below when I googled "la bufadora images"... that's pretty cool!

This was "formal night" on the cruise but we weren't very formal!

Matthew & Megan

Krysta & Matt

Barbara & Mary Ann

John & Christy

Megan found a great 80's outfit to wear for formal night... and she still looked so cute! I could never pull that off.

Matt & Krysta celebrated 18 years of marriage on the cruise! What cute lovebirds!

I took a few pictures of the inside of the boat to show our kids but I don't think the pics do it justice...

It was fun to see the different towel creations waiting for us each night when we returned to our room. All of the "crew members" were so nice and always 'at your service'.

It was fun to get away on an adult-only trip. Thanks to Mary Ann for retiring and making this trip possible for us! She has worked hard to provide for herself and her family for many years... I think she's been in education for 25 years or so and 15 or 16 of those were spent as a principal. Like I said, she is amazing!!

Cute kids

2011-09-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

This is Sophie & Noah on a HOT August afternoon... I thought it was so funny!

Noah is playing in a flag football league for the first time. Yesterday was the first time we saw him play and I loved it! I might finally start to learn about the game of football. Noah was a lot of fun to watch - he scored a touchdown, an extra point, and took 5 flags while playing defense. It's gonna be an exciting season!

The picture below is when he caught a pass then scored an extra point. You gotta love the "mouth-guard" face!

phone pictures

2011-08-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm wishing for a new phone, but one thing I would hate to part with are some of my favorite pictures on my current one... they bring back such good & funny memories from over the past 2 years:

1. Russ looking cute on our 2nd date

2. Noah looking cute on his first day of pre-K.

3. Sophie looked so different 2 years ago...

4. This is one of my favorites so I'm making it BIG! Sophie came home from church one day and tucked a shirt into her tights then pulled some boots on. She thought it was a cute outfit!!

5. Russ tried on his snowboard gear the night before heading to the snow. What you don't see in this picture is that he was watching the Winter Olympics and wishing he could be part of it.

6. Newborn Lucy

7. Sad but so funny!

8. I think this is my most favorite picture on my phone. Last year I picked up Ellie from school sometimes on Fridays then she went with me to get Noah at school. He was always excited to see her and disappointed on the Fridays she wasn't with me. Here they were holding hands all the way to the car. It was so cute!!

9. My cute basket liner for my bike... my talented mother-in-law made it then I added the flowers.

10. Lucy got into Noah's marker one day and Noah & I couldn't stop laughing at her expression in this picture!

11. Lucy rode with me to get Noah from school one day...

12. Russ loves to wear his socks half-way off when relaxing - I love that I have a picture of it!

13. We had a scorpion situation one day when Russ wasn't home and I seriously didn't know what to do! I told Noah he had to get it since he was the man of the house while Russ was gone.

14. Noah wasn't too happy. Although he tried to act tough, he was really scared - just as Ellie and I were as we stood back to watch him take care of it.

15. Yes, he is crying. We ended up watching the scorpion for over an hour until Scott got off work and came over to take care of it.

16. My 2 sleepy boys...

17. I love nights when Russ serenades me!

18. My sleepy boys again - I love sleeping pictures!

19. A few days before school started - Ellie was over and wanted to do Noah's hair. She worked on it for a loooonnngg time and he just let her. It was cute!

20. And lastly... Russ e-mailed this picture-note to me one day when he left on vacation. I loved it and haven't wanted to erase it. He's the best!

More Lake Powell Pictures

2011-08-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Suzanne took just as many (or more) pics than I did that I wanted to document of Lake Powell...

Lake Powell

2011-08-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a trip with my whole family to Lake Powell... so fun!

I think this picture was taken on the first morning we were there... everyone looking forward to a crazy tube ride!

It's funny that we had 7 kids out in the water at once. That's all of the grandkids except for Tayler and Lucy.

Speaking of Lucy, she hated the life jacket! So sad because we couldn't take it off as long as she was in the boat, which was kind of a lot for the whole week.

My favorite part of the trip was the wake-surfing. I had a goal to be able to surf behind the boat without a rope by the end of the week... I think my record was only 4 or 5 seconds of staying in the wake after letting go. At least I accomplished my goal!

Russ got Sophie to surf with him and they did great! If I remember right they even stayed up for a little bit after letting go of the rope.

Russ is a pro, he made the rest of us look bad! (Actually a few of the other guys were pretty good at it too.)

Suzanne... always smiling, always holding a tight form... when she surfed AND when she knee-boarded, she looked just like a cheerleader.

We took a LONG tour of the lake on Sunday... through Antelope Canyon, Dangling Rope, Rainbow Bridge, and a few other "landmarks" along the way.

Sophie & Roxy... cute cousins.

At Dangling Rope - Tayler pretended to "almost drop" Sophie in to the fish a few times, but it wasn't so funny when Sophie thought it was a game and snuck up behind Tayler to give her a push - Tayler really did almost fall in (ewwww)!

The family eating lunch & trying to cool down with root beer floats - it was a HOT day!

Rainbow Bridge

We had to hike a short distance to get closer to Rainbow Bridge. This was my view. Kaitlyn & Ellie pretended to be "sisters" this day with their matching swimsuits & ponytails.

Kaitlyn & Noah gave up early so we are the only 4 from our family that made it for a picture. In case you notice my cute shoes, they are 10+ years old. And so ugly! I brought them in case we did any hiking or cliff jumping. Just to be clear, the only reason I had to actually wear them this day was because Noah didn't bring shoes and had to wear my flip flops. haha

After the hot hike to Rainbow Bridge we took a little cool-down swimming break. It was so refreshing, even in nasty lake water!

Roxy was in her own little world jumping off the side of the mountain into the water!

Russ took me, Suzanne, and Auburn on a sisters ride (I think Alisse was back at the houseboat with Lucy). By the end of it my throat hurt from yelling and my hand hurt from holding on as tight as I could to the tube. But it was SO fun!

Some of the kids tried surfing and got up...

Tayler:

Jaxen:

Kaitlyn:

Riggs:

We had to get Lucy out on the tube at least once... so Scott and Alisse joined her for a really slow (no wake!) ride.

The Sue-Shae fam: Ellie, Suzanne, Me, & Noah

Russ knee-boarded with Sophie. She screamed the whole time but at least stayed on.

Noah on the other hand, he screamed even louder the whole time and jumped off before the ride even started.

Everyone was laughing at him and he was mad, embarrassed, then sad. It was funny AND sad at the same time, so although I'm posting it... we're not bringing it up anymore!

Russ got fancy on the knee-board once he had it all to himself:

The Dads went fishing one morning... and made it back to the houseboat over 2 hours later than scheduled. Russ told me they traveled back from a really "far-away" canyon at 6 MPH - something had broken on the motor. (BOR-ING!)

Although we were there for 8 days I could have stayed one more. I love the lake! However... my own bed, a clean shower, and a normal routine was nice to come home to. Thanks to my parents for making this trip possible - our family LOVED it!

Summertime Part 2

2011-08-02T11:56:00.000-07:00

In mid-July I set aside a week to do something fun with Noah every day...

Monday: we saw Cars 2 and had cousin Jack spend the night (no pictures)

Tuesday: we went to the Museum of Natural History where Noah & Jack were amazed by the dinosaurs, panned for Gold, and were "in the movies"

Wednesday: we went to the library and read books then checked some out. (no pictures)

Thursday: we went to Sunsplash - it was a good time but since it was just the 2 of us I was so exhausted from carrying huge tubes through lines & up stairs by myself. (again, no pictures)

Friday: we took a short trip to the lake with Russ & Brad. Sadly there aren't any pics of Noah except for the time he tried surfing with Russ. After not making it the first time, he was done in the water!

I was glad to have some quality time with my Noah boy... he's going back to school soon which is bitter sweet but this was really my first summer having so much time at home with him!

Next up... Lucy girl turned 1! Alisse & Scott had a little birthday party for her... she was so cute and enjoyed everything about it:

"My" little baby is just the cutest thing!

Summertime Update

2011-07-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

I don't have any picture updates for the month of June... it was kind of un-eventful since I was in Summer School. July has been fun so far though, and it's only gonna get better!

Last weekend we did a cabin trip to celebrate the 4th of July then went to the lake the day after.

With this new tube (or should I say 'couch'), all of our kids can ride at once. I can't say Sophie loved it because she was done after the first ride. But the other 3 LOVED it! I did too, other than Noah's head bobbing in front of my face over every bump we hit. It was a miracle I didn't end up with a bloody nose or a fat lip!

Poor Russ, we didn't have another driver with us so the most he got to do was take a swim break with his life-jacket diaper on! Here I think he was showing Noah how to dance!

Silly Sophs!

Captain Russy

We tried out surfing behind the boat... pretty fun even if I wasn't doing it the right way!

Tayler got up too... we're hoping the other kids can learn soon also.

Sophie's hair in this pic cracks me up. She doesn't seem to mind it in her face.

We've been excited for our Lake Powell trip coming up in a few weeks... but after being at the lake this week, we really can't wait!!

May highlights:

2011-06-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

1. Noah's baseball season ended.

2. We had a pizza-making party one weekend night - the kids loved to make their own creations, and it tasted really good! (Ignore my outdated Mary Engelbreit kitchen!)

3. Noah graduated from kindergarten!

4. Tayler graduated from 8th grade... high school next year for her!

5. Noah went fishing with Poppy, Riggs, and Jax... he said he caught 9 fish so he is "a better fisher than Russ"! (so proud of himself!)

6. School ended which means SUMMER-TIME is here! Noah's enjoying the pool and sleepovers with cousins.

April 2011

2011-05-09T12:40:00.002-07:00

During April...

Russ & I ran Pat's Run together. I loved it, we stayed together the whole time and held hands as we crossed the finish line (haha, how romantic!)

The Easter Bunny (Auburn) made an appearance at my parents' house one Sunday afternoon.

No need to take Noah to the mall for a picture!

Notice that Roxy isn't in the picture below. She was hysterical, she is so afraid of big "things" like the Chick-Fil-A "cow man", Santa, a life-size cut out of "Elder Brad", and apparently the Easter Bunny. Even after she knew it was her mom inside, she was still scared to death!

Suzanne made Ellie the cutest lemonade stand for Christmas and it's the season to put it to good use. The kids set up a stand at one of Noah's baseball games...

Speaking of baseball... cute, Sophie!

Easter came & went... we took the kids to the annual Easter egg hunt at Harmony Park on Saturday,

then they woke up the next morning to find some treats the Easter Bunny left behind.

Church time...

Sunday evening we went to Grandma Riggs' house for another egg hunt & dinner, then to Matt & Krysta's house for dessert (although we didn't get any picture there).

(Sophie & Noah with "Speedy")

Lucy's first Easter (& with her favorite aunt)

See... I really am her fave! Alisse packed this cute outfit for her when I babysat a few weeks ago. I LOVED it!

Kaitlyn's 11th Birthday

2011-04-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

We had Kaitlyn on her birthday this year so it was fun to celebrate on her special day.

Russ was putting together her new bike in the garage and Sophie was his little helper out there.

We were all so excited to watch Kaitlyn when she got to go in the garage... like Christmas morning, finding her new cruiser!

She loved it!

Next, she opened up some clothes, pajamas, and candy bars (she requested "chocolate bars" on her birthday wish list!)

We also had a little birthday party for her at Discovery park, and she got a lot more chocolate!!

Kaitlyn put together a cute questionnaire about herself to see which of her friends/cousins knew her the best. We (especially Kaitlyn) had so much fun with this game... here she is giving the answers.

The ice cream cake was a bust! I picked it up during the party, to make sure it wouldn't melt before it was time to eat it. Well... it was so frozen that we waited awhile to cut into it, then when Russ decided to give it a try, our knife broke! (It wasn't even a plastic knife.) I ran to Auburn's house to get another knife and when I got back to the party, the cake was still SO frozen!

All about Kaitlyn:

We love Kaitlyn! She's such a good kid - so creative, always making friends & being a good friend. She's helpful, smart, very talented, and always so happy. She's so fun to give presents to because she LOVES everything and is always so grateful.

March recap

2011-03-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot of fun this month so far. First up, Russ's birthday... we had a few different parties with both of our familes to celebrate and went out to eat the night of. Looks like he loves it when I take pictures of him!

I guess I shouldn't be talking... looks like I loved having my picture taken in the one below!

What can I say about Russ at 38? Besides how much fun & handsome he is - he LOVES his new man cave.

He also LOVES LOVES LOVES his baby, I mean his "i-pad touch by apple" - and relaxing with his socks halfway off.

Next... at the end of Spring Break my mom, sisters, baby Lucy & I took a trip to California. There wasn't much on the agenda - just eating, shopping, and celebrity sighting. We did A LOT of shopping, of course we hit up all our favorite eateries, and we actually spotted a few celebrities too!

One day we went to The Grove basically just in hopes of seeing someone famous. We saw Mario Lopez and Howie Mandel on the set of Extra. That was pretty exciting but not really the caliber of stars we were looking for.

We were driving around LA, getting lost of course like we did the ENTIRE time we were there - and we ran straight into the L.A. temple. We had to get out and walk around, the grounds were so pretty. Except.... Auburn saw a rat run across the sidewalk and that combined with the cold wind made me want to get right back in the car.

My favorite place to eat when we go to California is El Torito Grill. I actually don't love any of their meals but the tortillas, honey butter, guacamole, and corn cakes are SO GOOD!! Lucy got to enjoy some of the ice cream we got out of Auburn's birthday weekend!

We were there on Auburn's birthday so we did her favorite thing all day... shopped! Of course we did the OC swap meet, but we also found Old Navy, Gap, Tilleys, Target, Nordstrom Rack, H&M (I really wish I could post the picture from the dressing room there) and I'm probably forgetting some. That night we went to dinner at Mrs. Knotts, Auburn's request that we usually don't fulfill when we take girls trips. We did it this time since it was her birthday, then the rest of us liked it better than she did! (Sadly my mom is missing from this picture because she had to leave the trip early. We all felt kind of funny that we were at dinner without her, like we were some teenage sisters out without our parents or something. Teenage sisters with a baby that is.)

Auburn was blindsided by the birthday dessert and singing - she was so embarrassed!

One of the most exciting parts of our trip was on our way home. We thought we had seen all the celebrities we were going to see but we were wrong!! We were sitting at the gas station next to this guy and all of the sudden Auburn says "oh my gosh you guys that's Gavin Rossdale!" He then opened the back door to his Range Rover and Auburn jumped from the front seat to the back, saying "Are there kids in there? I'll know it's him if I see his kids." Sure enough, it was who she thought it was. We were snapping pics through our windows and since I was the driver I was so embarrassed. I had just come from inside of the gas station before Auburn realized it was him, but I didn't see his wife who was inside at the time, dangit! He pulled up to the gas station and picked Gwen Stefani up then they drove off. It was so fun to spot a famous family!

Finally - Noah started playing baseball. Here he is in line with is team at the opening ceremonies.

At his first game, he struck out one of the two times he was up to bat. He seems too young to be sad about striking out! I liked how in t-ball, everyone got a turn to bat each inning and there were no strike-outs. But at the same time, coach pitch is much more exciting to watch. It's gonna be a fun season - he has a lot of his buddies on his team.

We also celebrated Kaitlyn's birthday this month - that will be a post of it's own!

Birthday Boy

2011-03-14T14:43:00.001-07:00

The cute boy under the glasses is my sweet husband... at 19 years old, ready to go on a mission.

Well today he has officially doubled his age since then!

He is still so cute, even at 38 and after his 5-mile jog this morning!

I love him, everything about him makes him perfect for me. I'm so lucky to be married to Russ, even if he is a lot older than me (I'm nowhere near 38 BTW). One thing I love about Russ is that he is just as excited as I am to watch The Bachelor finale for part of his birthday festivities tonight. Seriously, we've been waiting for it all week. I love that he's as into it as I am!

Also, today is my sweet niece Ellie's 7th birthday.... I can't believe she's so old!

Valentines Weekend

2011-02-25T09:42:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago we started the weekend off at the ASU women's gymnastic meet - Russ's sister Callie is on the team. It was really fun to watch and the kids had a celebrity sighting...

Sunday morning, the 13th - we celebrated Valentines Day with our kids. They are all straight out of bed to open a few treats and enjoy a PINK breakfast in these pictures...

That night, my family celebrated with a Progressive dinner. We started out at our house with appetizers then moved on to Alisse's. After those 2 stops, I forgot to take pictures. Oh well!

And then on the real day... February 14th - Russ got off work early and took me to Oreganos! It was a fun day, I love all my Valentines so much ~ my husband, kids, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, grandparents, and in-laws!

♥ ♥

San Diego get-away

2011-02-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Russ & I took a 2nd honeymoon / early Valentines trip back to the same place where we went for our honeymoon... the first time - San Diego! We had so much fun the first time so I was SO excited to go back!

We took our bikes with us and never even used our car except for the travel from AZ & back home.

Russ was dreamin BIG every time he stopped to watch the boats.

That's the hotel we stayed in... we got a good deal, it was nice...

... and we had a great view!

Russ dreaming again... videoing the boats pulling in & out of the harbor (I'm not sure what we'll ever do with that video!!)

One day, we took a ferry over to Coronado Island and rode our bikes all around the town. I loved it! Now I was the dreamer - I took pictures of all these houses for my inspiration "someday"!

We were looking for a treat when we came across this cupcakery at Cornado Island. Perfect I thought! The cupcakes actually weren't great and the italian soda was gross. I was wanting a Sprinkles cupcake after that.

My favorite part about the trip was just being with Russ & having him all to myself - we have so much fun together.

Dangit... I uploaded this picture sideways - anyway, it's a picture of the Gaslamp Quarter. It's a really fun place with good eats, shopping, and a fun atmosphere!

Oops - another sideways pic! Russ & I found a geo cache. It was a pretty well hidden one and tiny!

This little tiny slip of paper was the "log book" we found inside the tiny little magnetic container.

I'm wanting to plan another "just us" getaway already! The weekend went by WAY too fast!

I LOVE my valentine!

Cabin Trip

2011-02-10T19:46:00.002-07:00

A few weekends ago we took a trip to the Riggs Pinetop Cabin with most of my family. It was a great weekend... relaxing & fun.

We took a few hikes throughout the weekend to GEO CACHE! Russ & I have done a few of these at home & on vacations... nerdy but fun!!

Here is Russ finding the first geo cache

The kids couldn't beleive that we actually found a little "treasure" in the woods.

On the hike, Noah tripped and hurt his knee. Sweet Ellie was being his nurse & massaging it for him. I love the little relationship they have!

What a romantic look on Russ's face!

Self-timer pics are so funny!

Russ & Ellie... holding hands cuz they are "birthday buddies"

("Ellie, I'm a happily married man"...)

Jaxen & Kaitlyn - best buds when they get together

Sophie wore pajamas the whole weekend...

The kids entertained themselves and kept busy the whole weekend... even if it was inside playing DS games.

Us girls played shang-hai ... a MUST at the cabin!

We were gone from home for only 48 hours - but don't worry we brought plenty of junk in case we got snowed in!

Roxy just bein cute...

The boys (& Elle) hanging out upstairs.. watching the History channel I'm sure (BOR-ING!)

What's not boring though... is just sitting & staring at Lucy. She's so much fun right now.

We'll just say that Sophie "forgot" everything at home. I packed these jammies for her so that's basically all she had. Luckily when it was time to go to dinner one night, we had these snow bibs to "dress her up in" LOL!!

We had fun with the mirrors... obviously... some things never get old!

Noah & Kaitlyn got some last-minute sledding in before we headed home...

... and we got one last geo-caching adventure in too... this one we almost gave up on before finding it. It's amazing that this one was hidden back in 2005 - so many people had signed the log book before us - the first ones were named "The Price Family" - pretty cool!

We missed having Bryan, Auburn, Brad, & Tayler with us - but had a great time at the cabin!

January so far...

2011-01-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we met up with Mary Ann (Russ's mom) & his brother Matt's family at the lightrail station on Main Street. We then rode the lightrail (with our bikes in hand) to Tempe Town Lake. From there we spent the afternoon hanging out at the Park & riding to In-N-Out for lunch. It was so fun & a perfect day outside!

So cute... Mary Ann & her boys

Kylie, Sophie, Rachel & Tayler (with Chad & Krysta in the background)

A few days later, on MLK day - we rode bikes from Auburn's house to Discovery Park with my family and spent several hours just hangin out there (no pictures)! We're loving the weather & bike rides right now!

Here are the cute little girls of my family... Roxy, Sophie, & Ellie - all matching!

Even Lucy got a cute pettiskirt that kind of matches the other girls! As Alisse said about these pictures ... "Our daughters have seen better days"!! hahaha, TRUE!

Finally - I started watching Lucy again last week. Alisse had about a month off work for the winter break between semesters - and Lucy is such a different baby now than she was last time I really babysat her! Noah was a great helper after he got home from school - he pushed her around in the stroller to keep her entertained while I did some homework. I'm excited to pretend that Lucy is mine one day a week!

New Year's Eve

2011-01-07T17:57:00.001-07:00

Alisse, Scott, & Lucy came over for a few hours on New Year's Eve but we just sat around. BOR-ING!! Russ even fell asleep before the Baldwins left.

I got my pajamas on and wanted to get in bed but decided to try to be a funner parent than that. I woke Russ up a little before midnight so that we could celebrate with the kids.

Uncle Lance gave the kids some firecrackers & smoke bombs... so we spent about 10 minutes outside then decided it was way too cold out there!

I'll take boring New Year's Eve nights with this guy ANY DAY over anything else. I am so thankful for my Russy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We're excited to see what 2011 brings!

Christmas Day

2011-01-07T17:39:00.001-07:00

Christmas morning before the kids woke up...

We had to wake them up at 7:45. Isn't that unheard of on Christmas morning?!

Sophie got a Leapster-

Noah got a DSi-

Tayler got an iHome & a new phone-

Mary Ann came over for the craziness!

Kaitlyn got a pink electric scooter-

We had a fun morning & then the girls had to go home.

We headed to my parents' house for the afternoon. Here we are opening stockings-

Lovin Lucy on her first Christmas...

It was the year of home-made gifts. I'll have to post more pictures, but for now here is what my mom did for each of us. I was so surprised that she gave us these quilts. She worked on them all throughout the year and named them each. Mine has cute crowns on some of the fabrics & is named "Royalty". Must mean I'm her favorite.

We went to Russ's dad's house on Christmas night but didn't take any pictures.

The next morning, Russ & Noah played with new toys as they waited for me to be ready for church.

Such handsome boys in their new matching ties!

Christmas Eve 2010

2011-01-07T17:03:00.001-07:00

Well this first picture was actually a few days before Christmas... Alisse was having a gathering at her house and since Lucy was not feeling well she asked me to pick her up and take her to my house. Since we only live four houses away from each other, I stopped by on my way home from somewhere and just put her in the car like this. I think she loved it!

Christmas Eve afternoon - we got together with my family at Suzanne's house so that the kids could exchange gifts with each other. Here's cute Lucy opening her first Christmas present!

She got a baby cabage patch kid {Heidi Morgan} and she really did love it as soon as it came out of the package.

Lucy gave Kaitlyn a pillow pet... she was so happy. She wanted a pillow pet SO BAD!

One of the Gibbons' kids gave Noah a monster truck Wii game... just what he wanted also!

Another of the Gibbons gave Tayler some athletic sandals... she wears them every day & loves them.

Ellie gave Sophie a bunch of stuff including a barbie movie. You can see by her face how excited she was!

We had a fun time eating pizza & candy and opening gifts.

For Christmas Eve dinner, Grandma Price had us over. We ate & hung out, opened up the awesome FLIP camera she got us, and watched the kids perform the nativity scene while Uncle Matt narrated.

Sophie was Mary...

Tayler was a shepherd...

Kaitlyn was a cute angel...

and Noah was a wiseman.

After that we went home & got ready for Santa to come!

Family Pictures

2010-12-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Alisse (my sister) was so nice to take some family pictures for us... I love the way they turned out!

The next few pictures kind of tell a story...

This pic is my screensaver - I love it!

(we're cuties:)

That same day we had some pictures taken of my (Sherwood) family too.

{Not too bad considering that it was a rainy day!}

Santa

2010-12-23T10:51:00.001-07:00

We had a fun time last weekend when we took the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop. Everyone looks kinda scroungy ... ESPECIALLY Noah... who was also a total sweat bomb! But.... someday we'll look back at this picture & remember just what real life was like!

This Santa was a grouchy one and even kind of chester-ish I thought. People like that shouldn't be allowed to play "Santa"!

Tayler didn't want to sit on Santa's lap but I sure did get a picture of my other child... Lucy!

The next night we saw Santa AGAIN at the Arnett Christmas party... he brought Noah & Sophie some fun toys!

We're pretty much ready for Christmas Eve to get here... can't wait!!!

Dunes trip

2010-12-23T10:44:00.001-07:00

We took a trip to the dunes a few weeks ago... Noah loved it!

The story behind this picture is that everyone felt more safe and confident riding in whatever car Russ was not driving... He told me "watch" as he got in the driver's seat... and just as he predicted, everyone flocked to the other car. LOL!

Greg & Noah ended up joining him.

Noah and Jack were little buddies on this trip and had fun racing each other & just hangin out.

Disneyland!

2010-11-12T18:07:00.002-07:00

All of our kids filled up the jar of "warm fuzzies" - or PUFFLES as we called them - and earned a trip to...

DISNEYLAND!!

DAY 1:

The shuttle picked us up from our hotel and we were on our way!

Take 1: Kaitlyn's not too happy about the bunny ears Tayler gave her...

Take 2... Kaitlyn's happy now... Tayler not so much!

We started the day off with a rapids ride at California adventure - it was SO hot outside and it felt good to get wet!

N is for Noah - Too bad "CALIFORNIA" doesn't have a T, K, or S for the girls.

Suzanne & her family (plus a few of Lance's nieces) met us there... and Aunt Suzy wanted to ride the jellyfish ride even if it wasn't with one of the little kids. LOL!

Tayler & Noah on the jellyfish ride.

OK now this was hilarious to me. A bunch of us were getting on the swings and Noah says "I wanna ride with Quincy"! haha I had to get a picture cuz I was teasing him. There were more times that they chose to go together - I tried to get a picture every time but didn't.

Tayler, Molly, Kaitlyn, Suzanne, and Ellie on the swings.

I love this pic of my family (minus me!) - in line for the Toy Story ride.

All the 6-year-old girls - so cute!

This was on the California Screamin ride - Me & Russ in the front, Kaitlyn & Suzanne behind us.

It looks like Tayler rode this one alone?

Sophie was denied on soooo many rides because of her height. It worked out nice when the little kid rides were close to the "big kid" rides!

Bumper cars / boats / fishes... ? I rode with Ellie on this one and we didn't move the whole time! She was a little confused & I was cracking up!

Here are the love birds again, sitting together on Tower of Terror.

This was the funnest ride for me! I wanna find my family's pic from 1996 on this same ride in Florida and compare the 2 - I was reminded why back then we rode it over & over again.

Sophie, the 6-year-old baby/diva.

Guess who Sophie saw as soon as we entered Disneyland?

All the kids in our big group in front of the castle...

Sophie the street entertainer!

Sophie couldn't ride Indiana Jones so her and I hit up the Jungle Cruise instead...

Kaitlyn & Noah holding hands as we walked through the Space Mountain line.

Tayler's face is the best! This is on Space Mountain.

Kaitlyn, Noah, and Russ all decided to bust some moves for the camera this time around. That became one of the most entertaining things we did - to plan what we'd do for the picture on each ride!

California Adventure's "World of Color" show was really good! This is at the end of the night on our first day there. We were so exhausted!

DAY 2:
I woke up to find that Sophie climbed in bed with her older sisters. (I don't know why I love taking pics of people sleeping so much!)

Day 2 started off nice when we realized Sophie was tall enough to ride the Matterhorn. She was so happy!

Some people were brave enough to get on the teacups... (Ellie, Noah, Suzanne)

Noah in Toon Town...

(Noah, Tayler, and Sophie on the boat in Toon Town)

I asked Russ to hold my sunglasses for me - then the next time I looked at him something about him looked a little odd.

I don't know if anybody liked Autopia as much as I did. The first time I rode with Quincy, and she steered but I controlled the gas pedal. We kept bumping Kaitlyn in front of us & Quincy was cracking up - which made it so funny! The second time I rode with Noah - and I again had control of the gas pedal. The first few times I bumped the car in front of us, he would say "Mom, it says no bumping" as he pointed to the picture of "no bumping". Oops! The car seemed out of control from his steering and he couldn't stop his rolling laugh. So fun!

My favorite times were when our whole family could go on rides together. Here are all the kids in front of Russ & I on the Matterhorn.

This picture was really fun - we planned to make "funny faces" - Russ and Noah's are the best!

We stayed at the parks until after midnight when they were closing. The best moment that day might have been when we got on Tower of Terror one last time and somehow got Sophie on with us! I think it was so late in the day that the workers became more relaxed about it or something. Too bad I don't have a picture of it :(

DAY 3:

For our last day of the vacation we relaxed a little and drove toward the beach. We went to the Balboa Fun Zone and took a harbor cruise. This was so cool - we saw a lot of celebrity homes - I didn't think to get my camera out until the end of the tour so I missed taking a lot of good pics - but this one was so pretty - it's George Cloony's home.

Some of the other pretty homes belonged to Mark McGuire, Vanna White, and my favorite was John Wayne's old home. The house was so pretty with a beautiful garden in front of it. This home below is owned by the person who started Yahoo!

We also hit up the beach as the kids requested - it was so cold out there!

We had so much fun. This was our first big family vacation with all of us together and it was a total success! I wrote down everyone's favorite memory of the trip -

Russ: the harbor cruise & football on the beach

Shalae: when we all got to go on a ride together

Tayler: Sneaking Sophie on Tower of Terror & the harbor cruise

Kaitlyn: buying Piglet, riding all the roller coasters - Indiana Jones was probably her favorite

Noah: Riding Space Mountain & Thunder Mountain Railroad

Sophie: Tower of Terror, Matterhorn, Toy Story, Toon Town, "all the rides"

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T17:30:00.001-07:00

This year Noah wanted to be Wolverine for Halloween.

I am the lazy type - not only with myself (not dressing up) but also with Noah. We always get the store-bought costumes and I don't put any effort of creativity into it. Maybe it would be different if I had a little girl?? But maybe not!

My sister-in-law Megan, however... well, just look at her little girls (Blake & Collin). They were the cutest pirates - with costumes put together by Megan & Mary Ann, my mother-in-law. They are both so talented!

Megan was in town last week & she hung with us on Saturday night in my parents' neighborhood. It was a fun night with lots of trick-or-treaters & fun costumes!

I am so sad that my camera didn't capture any better pictures of baby Lucy - so cute in her ASU cheerleader costume! I'm sure Alisse has plenty of good ones though. ;) Lucy was worn out at the end of the night.

Blakers was worn out too! She was loving that Suzanne (I mean Sandy) was rubbing her feet.

Triathlon

2010-10-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

We participated in a triathlon put on by our stake last week. It was such a fun experience!

Here's my cousin Krista - she did all 3 events.

My brother-in-law Scott also did all 3 events.

And my sister Suzanne - she did all 3 events and swam for Russ, Tayler & I. None of us wanted to do the swim! In this triathlon, we were allowed to put together a "team" and use one another's time if we didn't want to do all 3 events.

Perfect photo-op of Suz & Scott in the pool!

Once Suzanne finished the swim, her and I hopped on bikes for the next part of the race.

I really liked biking - however.... about 4-5 people passed us on the route and we didn't pass up ANYONE!! haha

Russ & Tayler were waiting to join us for the run - and here they are coming to the end of the 2-mile route...

Russ was trying his hardest to cross the finish line before Tayler!

We had a great time! I'm hoping our stake does this every year (easy for me to say)... maybe next year I'll train for the swim so I can say I did the whole thing!

Twins

2010-10-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

Noah & Sophie are our "twins". Not really, but their birthdays are just 8 days apart. Noah turned 6 on the 21st and Sophie turns 6 (tomorrow) on the 29th.

On Noah's birthday, I took treats to his class. They all sang to him -

and he was so proud!

He got out of school a little early and we went to Krispy Kremes to get a free dozen donuts (and more for his party)!

This year was his first "friend" party.

He got lots of good stuff!

Since we had the girls over the weekend, we celebrated with our families at Discovery Park.

Brooklyn, Noah, and Sophie are the 3 October birthday kids!

Then on Tuesday night we celebrated Sophie with just our little family. Here she is trying on one of her gifts - she's so cute even with her hair all over the place!

Happy birthday to our 6 year olds!!

Noah through the ages

2010-10-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

October 21, 2004

Noah's birth day

October 21, 2005

One year old

October 2006

2 years old

November 2007

3 years old

December 2008

4 years old

December 2009

5 years old

(& struggling with his smile)

October 21, 2010

6 years old

I ♥ my birthday boy!

Fall Break

2010-10-20T14:49:00.001-07:00

We took a little trip to my father-in-law's cabin at the beginning of fall break.

The night before we left - Russ, Sophie & I went down to Russ's shop to pick up some 'toys' to take with us. Russ let Sophie sit by him in the big truck...

I was excited to see it for the first time - this is 1 of the first 2 NRG semi trucks on the road!!

Sophie also had fun with Russ on the forklift.

This post really isn't all about Sophie - but I thought her outfit was hilarious - the pants are too short but look fine when they're tucked in to the boots. She didn't want them tucked in though!

We had such a good time riding around on these for a few days at the cabin...

Noah said his favorite was the dirt bike because it went the fastest.

Tayler had fun riding quads as usual...

... and so did Kaitlyn. She did it all by herself - she caught on quick and did a great job!

This pic was taken at what we named the "family rec center". This is the same place (close to the cabin) where we went sledding back in February when it was covered with snow. We had a close call back then, getting the truck stuck in the snow - and we had a close call this time too with one quad rolling down a hill - luckily nobody got hurt!

One day we saw a snake on the trail we were riding on and I wished I had my camera. That was a memorable part of our trip but riding the quads and just being together was the best!

I was excited to see this face the morning after we got back... I know she's not mine but I miss her when I don't see her for a few days. She's getting so big, acting way too old, and she's very vocal lately! She was so happy when I got my camera out, but then as soon as she saw it, she stuck her lip out! She's still the cutest little thing even with a sad face!

Lately...

2010-10-05T17:16:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we took a weekend trip to California. Noah grabbed some "sunglasses" for the trip and put them on as soon as he got in the car. Russ nudged me to look back at him and he was just sitting there, like no big deal at all - it's normal to wear goggles if you don't have sunglasses I guess!! hahahaha

We didn't take very many pictures on the trip, just a few when we stopped at Huntington Beach. It was such a pretty day outside!

A few weeks ago we hopped on an opportunity to get some free food... it was "princess / prince" day at Chick-fil-A and free kids' meals were given to anyone dressed up. I guess we were desperate - I mean, not desperate enough to be creative for making Noah into a prince - but Sophie's little costume is a FAIRY dress-up outfit (NOT princess) - and we had Kaitlyn use Sophie's wand and one of her crowns to turn herself into a princess. We ate for really cheap that night!

Noah started playing soccer - I signed him up on the same league as Auburn's kids, so him and Roxy are on the same team and then Riggs & Jax wear the same uniform although they're on an older team. The games have been miserable because of the weather! I hope it actually starts to feel like fall around here soon!

Things that may cause drowsiness

2010-10-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

1. College football Saturdays

2. Uncomfortable "beds" like the top of the playroom table, the treadmill, or squished in-between!!

3. "Thinking" about what you did to get a red light at school.

4. For me, it's reading. Every time I sit down with Noah to do his homework & read a book after school, I can't keep my eyes open. Sometimes my speech starts to slur towards the end of the book - that's how tired it makes me!

Save the date!

2010-09-14T20:23:00.003-07:00

Visit this blog for a lot more info:

http://adaisyoriginal.blogspot.com/

I ♥ my boys!

2010-09-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

Such handsome boys... I love them both for so many reasons.

First up - Noah: I've said it before - he can be such a sweetheart sometimes. He drew a picture of me & him together and wrote our names.... something about the sloppy handwriting and the people drawings he does are so cute to me. For some reason I can't throw this one away:

One day for homework he was supposed to draw a picture of the members of our family. I told him to make it nice - and "make the boys look like boys and the girls look like girls". He thought that meant to color the boys with a blue pencil & the girls with a red/pink pencil. (I love it. The boys have spikey hair and the girls have long hair but are bald on top.)

I love this picture of him too - he fell asleep in the car one night with his 'super noah' cape on still.

Now on to Russy: I don't need to list all the great things about him on here... but I love how he doesn't put up a fight and just lets me take pictures of him. I know someday I will look at this picture and remember how much I loved when he had his guitar out. He was NOT playing here to see himself in the mirror - I think I had kicked him off the bed to put sheets on it or something. I love how he will play the guitar for me anytime I request it. A few weeks ago he woke the kids up with a "rock concert" (and made-up songs) in the hallway. Him & I were cracking up but nobody else in the house thought it was very funny!!

I also love how great Russ is to Noah. They are great buddies & Noah tries to be just like him. Today they wore matching clothes ... we took a trip to Target & the two of them ended up in the sports aisle playing catch with a football. I had to get my camera out when I found them because Noah had put his hat on backward just like Russ. Now that I have the pictures though... Noah's hat is off. What the heck? Anyway, it was cute.

A few days ago I heard Russ ask Noah what the best thing was about his life. Noah said "that I have you & mommy & the girls". I feel the same way - I ♥ my family. I love being a mom / wife to my favorite people!

Weekend Fun

2010-09-01T14:42:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Kaitlyn & I went to a scrapbook "late niter". I loved it but I think Kaitlyn did even more.

We've talked about making some banners for the holidays @ our house and Kaitlyn chose to make an Easter banner - it turned out so cute!

Tayler was at a slumber party so Sophie wanted to crawl in bed with Noah ... this is what Kaitlyn & I found when we got home that night.

The flash from the first pic woke Noah up a little and when he moved I saw his one arm under Sophie - total cuddlers!

Saturday we went to Saguaro Lake - the perfect activity for our family. Everyone loved it!

We decided to head in when it started raining pretty hard - and within about 5 minutes the rain stopped & this is what we saw:

So pretty! There was actually a double rainbow but the second one didn't show up in the picture.

Warm Fuzzies

2010-08-25T19:20:00.003-07:00

About 6 months ago we had a family home evening lesson based on a talk given by our prophet.

We talked to the kids about service, being nice, being helpful, being peacemakers, etc. The talk by President Monson gave us the idea to fill a big jar of warm fuzzies - each one representing something nice done by our family members that should make them feel good inside. Somehow, the 'warm fuzzies' were renamed to 'PUFFLES'.

The green puffles are Tayler's, the purple Kaitlyn's, the blue Noah's, and the pink Sophie's. The orange represent our whole family working as a team.

We promised the kids a REALLY fun vacation that they could help us plan - if all of them had their puffles inside the big jar (and out of their own individual jars) by a certain time. And... the person with all their puffles out of the little jar first would receive a special treat.

Well, Kaitlyn is officially the nicest, helpful, & most thoughtful kid we have!! Her puffles have been empty for 2 weeks now... and the others still have a little more to go. Tayler is pretty close but some certain 5-year-olds need some help! We're trying to create many opportunities for them to earn puffles and we really hope they get to go on the vacation with us! ;)

So for Kaitlyn's special treat - we took her out by herself one night & let her pick where to go. I straightened her hair (her favorite) and she looked so cute!

She chose Texas Roadhouse...

... she wanted ribs!

It was fun to spoil her!

She was all about taking pics to document our night!

Afterward she picked Bahama Bucks for dessert... yummy!!

I'm so proud of Kaitlyn. From the very beginning I knew she'd probably be the winner. She tried so hard to please us, to be a peacemaker, to always ask what she could do to help around the house, and more! I'm excited that she'll be joining us on vacation!!

2010-08-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we tagged along on a lake trip at the last minute - and had so much fun!

It was Noah's first lake experience.

Russ's partners invited us - some of them happen to be my cousins, so here's Noah with his second-cousins, Jack & Lilly.

Tube rides are always fun! Even little Charlotte loved it - she kept saying "faster"!

Noah & Jack loved jumping from the boat, into the tube, then in the water.... over and over and over!

And Russ was king for the day.

I'm ready to go back!

Cute Cute Cute!!!

2010-08-20T16:24:00.003-07:00

I just added some new aprons to our site ... check them out here.

This one is for sure my favorite... I love everything about it!

I know I don't need it but it would be fun to have an apron collection!

There are matching oven mitts or "pot-mitts" that coordinate with all the aprons too.

I love this one too... cute how it almost looks like a dress - and the flower tops it off.

How cute is this lollipop Christmas apron - yes it's just one apron, you can take the top part off to make it just a half apron if you want.

and... these are both really cute too!

(I've already been told that I over-use the word CUTE.)

Kindergarten

2010-08-13T16:33:00.001-07:00

Noah on his first day of school - so handsome!

He was so excited to use his new backpack & lunch box, and wear his new shoes.

As the class was walking in to the school, he kept looking back. I was a little worried until he turned the corner and looked back one last time with a smile on his face. Then he blew me a kiss. He can be so sweet sometimes (but not always)!

Grandma Vicki & "Mama Suz" were there for his first day. Then Russ was there for the second day, and on the third day (since I had the day off work and had time to walk back home) - he rode his bike. Every day has been something fun for him!

I'm relieved that Noah likes school so far & looks forward to going back each day. The best part is that I get to drop him off & pick him up every day (that didn't happen last year). I've looked forward to being able to do that for a long time & since I do now I feel like my life is pretty perfect!

Summer 2010

2010-08-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Catching up on our events of the summer...

Noah lost his first tooth & then another the next morning.

The new ones growing in are pretty scary!

My sisters & I took our kids to Brimhall pool & Noah did the high-dive until the lifeguard told him he was too young. Waa waa!

Russ & I celebrated our 1-year anniversary of meeting each other with a 'stay-cation'. This was our view from the hotel. (It was so pretty especially at night but I couldn't get a good picture in the dark.)

We lived it up with shopping, massages, the hotel pool / lazy river, and best of all eating out every meal!

The past year has been so much fun with Russ in my life!

Noah's friend has a 'dirt bike' on training wheels and he asked me to take a picture of him on it so we could show Russ. He LOVES to impress him.

We also spent a fun Saturday at Sunsplash with all of our kids before school started. I wish I had at least one picture to document it - we all had a good time!

Lucy Girl

2010-08-13T12:56:00.002-07:00

It had been over 4 years since any babies were born in my family, so waiting for Alisse & Scott's baby to be born was so exciting!! I got to be in the room - this was my first experience witnessing a birth since the time Noah was born so it was special to remember what that was like.

We could tell as soon as Lucy was born that she was so pretty! I think she looks just like Scott, but feminine of course! I didn't want to leave the hospital, like she was my own baby or something!

This is her still in the hospital, believe it or not. So cute!

Noah will be a great big brother someday!

Lucy has the cutest dimples - and she smiles (or 'half-smiles) all the time.

She loves her Aunt Shalae!!

I love living close to the Baldwins... today I got to have her all to myself for about an hour while Alisse got ready for the day. I told her how pretty she was over & over ... she just stared at me almost the whole time with her big pretty eyes. She is such a sweet baby - Alisse & Scott got lucky!

CLEARANCE SALE!

2010-07-11T14:53:00.001-07:00

Yes we are still in business... just trying to get rid of some inventory!

Click here for our clearance items.

Catch-up

2010-06-29T07:49:00.003-07:00

Why do I feel behind on blogging if I haven't posted all the pics from my camera?

I couldn't let Sophie get away without taking a picture of her with all her protective gear & hair in her face...

Noah & his friend David after a t-ball game

Noah's classic 'trying not to smile' face when his coach was talking about him at the end of the season

Noah with his Early Learning teacher - Mrs. Leopold - and his classmates on the last day of school

One night we visited my Grandpa Sherwood who was at an extended care facility

Sohpie looked so cute this day... she wanted to tie her shirt in a knot to the side - she's so funny! I finally found a way to do her hair and keep the bangs out of her eyes. She loved it, win win for us both!

Tayler went to girls camp and taught us some songs when she got back. Kaitlyn & Noah learned the actions too...

... while Sophie watched and pretended to drink her baby's bottle.

Here, we're talking about the good and not-so-good things the kids had done during the day. We have a jar of warm fuzzies (called "puffles" in our house)... and the goal is to empty the individual jars and fill the big jar to earn a fun family vacation. We'll see if we can do it in time for what we're planning!

Russ with the kids before church on Father's Day -

I'm lucky to be married to someone who is such a great father & step-father.

(Noah has since then gotten some longer pants!!)

We took a trip out to Russ's dad's house on Father's Day & met the baby horse... she's SO CUTE!!

Some of the kids took a ride on the mama horse...

Our Rocky Point Vacation

2010-06-23T20:56:00.001-07:00

We took a trip to Rocky Point a few weeks ago with my whole family, minus Alisse, Scott, & Tayler. We missed them but still had so much fun! It was my first time & now I think it might be the place for a perfect family vacation.

Sophie was so cute playing in the water.

Riggs, Jax, & Noah

Noah & Sophs

The sun wore us out!

Jaxen & Kaitlyn loved being in the water.

Riggs & Jax played softball with Sophie and she surprised us with how many times she hit the ball! It was cute because later that day she wanted to teach Noah how to do it since she was a pro!

One night we pulled up to what I thought was a mechanic garage... actually it was a stand serving some yummy tacos. I had 5 and Russ had uh... 8 or 9 I think. Even Sophie filled up on them - they were that good!

I loved that we never bothered with our hair, make-up, or putting together decent outfits to wear out on the town. (Auburn's work out clothes with the cute sweater was the best.) In Russ's words, "Orange County would never allow that"!! hahaha

One day the kids put on a dance recital for us and each one of them got involved. This was serious stuff for Kaitlyn & Ellie who coordinated their outfits and choreographed the dance.

Riggs was the lead singer (Eye of the Tiger).

Each of the kids took a turn to dance to their choice of song. Noah chose a "man song" which was The A-Team Theme song. We all laughed so hard and it didn't phase him. He was so aggressive and constantly "punching" or kicking ...

or doing a "starfish" jump.

Elles knows how to put on a show.

Kaitlyn

Roxy

Jaxen

Cute girls

We loved riding quads & taking Ranger rides...

The little girls were so cute with their matching hair!

Other than one really windy day, the weather was perfect for playing on the beach...

Sophie met a little boyfriend and played with him forever. Then Noah joined.

My mom was suckered into a pedicure but she said it was really nice!

All the girls got bracelets with their names made... they sat there watching the man make them and for some reason it was so funny to me!

The boys played some wiffle ball.

There's Jax & Kaitlyn again living it up in the water...

I of course didn't a picture of Russ & I until the last day when I was totally mis-matched!! Oh well it's Mexico.

Russ is such a cute dad! The kids loved when he took them on quad rides.

The last night we were there, we painted all the girls' toenails & fingernails. It was so fun, like a girl party because there were 4 of us "painters" and 4 kids.

Kaitlyn & Sophie showing off their nails:

All the kids before we left Mexico:

Our kids ready to roll out:

We had to make one last stop before leaving Mexico at Thrify Ice Cream.

mmm mmm good!

We are so thankful to my Uncle Gerry & Aunt Cynthia for letting us stay at their house... it was perfect! We had so much fun. Other memorable parts of our trip include:

*Taking the quads to the estuary ... kinda scary when Russ was driving, but so much fun!

*Finding a dead baby seal washed up on the shore at the estuary (so sad)!

*Noah lost his shorts in the ocean when Russ was trying to help him "unload" the sand! hahaha. We quickly covered him with Russ's shirt but Noah was panicking. About an hour later Suzanne found his shorts washed up on the shore.

*Eating lots of junk food, of course!

*Suzanne, Noah & I all got kinda sick - must have been something we ate.

*As we were waiting to cross the border, there were local people trying to sell stuff along the road. Russ noticed some generic towels hanging with characters such as Disney princesses or Lightning McQueen - only the Mexican version of a Cars towell said "LIGHTYEAR" across the top instead of "Lightning". I was cracking up!!

*Although nobody got a picture of it, one day 11 of us road the water whale - behind a boat in the Ocean. Some of us were scared, some were loving it - but definately a fun memory that I wish I had a picture of.

Tayler's 13!

2010-06-07T18:55:00.001-07:00

Tayler's the cute girl in the green dress... the night she was inducted into NJHS. Last week, she turned 13 and I am just now getting around to the blog birthday shout out!!

She partied with her friends at the movies and the park... where it was fun to see a bunch of teenage girls be silly together... they had pizza, birthday cake, opened presents, and played volleyball...

Sunday night we also celebrated with my family and got some cute shots of the birthday girl...

(we forgot candles so we used what my parents had... 12 + 1 = 13!)

Tayler is beautiful inside and out and I speak for each member of our family when I say we LOVE her!

from the mouths of babes...

2010-05-01T08:37:00.001-07:00

These are our babies... OK - not really 'babies' since they are 5 years old, but sometimes they say the funniest things.

NOAH was playing soccer with my brother Brad (his UNCLE obviously), and said "Brad, if I beat you, you're gonna have to tell everyone in Brazil that you got beat by your grandson". hahaha

SOPHIE introduced me to a little girl at Russ's football game as her "grandmother". I couldn't stop laughing, and said "you mean stepmother?" A little bit later on, I told Sophie she couldn't take things out of my purse and when she saw her friend doing it, she said "Paige, my grandmother said no." LOL!!!

A few days ago, NOAH was in his room and randomly said to me "Mom, when I turn 8 I need a new room. I asked why and he answered, "Cuz mom. Monkeys... and 8 year olds... don't make sense." I started cracking up. He made it sound like his bedroom is full of stuffed animals or something. He only has one shelf with some monkeys on it, but apparently he's outgrown it. In fact, now that I think about it - he tried to take them off a few weeks ago and give them all to Sophie. I was still laughing out loud about it a few minutes later, and then he said "Mom, you don't need to tell everyone I said that." (He knows when I think something is that funny... I share it with Russ and my family. AND on my blog I guess!)

Elder Brad returned home!

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Look at the biggest smiles! Welcoming Brad home at the airport was pure excitement... especially when we spotted him out of the many people walking towards us:

Brad served in the Brazil Jaoa Pessoa Mission (I could be spelling that wrong). He was gone for 2 years and our first words after seeing him were "he is soooo skinny".

All the girls with our "bee bee" brother:

Russ met Brad for the first time, and we're excited for the girls to meet him soon!

Brad set a great example for all these kids.

PROUD Parents!!

Noah LOVES having Brad around. We went out for lunch and Noah wanted to be right by him. On the way home he told Brad "Let's take a ride in your truck, then you can change, then we'll play catch..." (it went on and on). Then later that day, he asked me if he could spend the night with Brad. haha

We are so happy to have Brad back home and we are thankful for the blessings that came to us while he was serving a mission. He was a great missionary and I'm sure the people of Brazil miss him already. I'm looking forward to hearing more stories about his mission as time goes on. I am also already excited / nervous for when Noah turns 19 and serves a mission. He has a great example to look up to.

Fun weekend

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My weekend started on Thursday when I took the day off work to chaperone Noah's class at the zoo. It turned out that Noah was the only one I was in charge of but him and I had a good time together. I loved being able to be there with him, that's something I couldn't really do until recently - and he loved it too.

Thursday was also a great day because I got my cast off! Seriously that thing was BUGGIN! The funny thing is that Russ and I were matching for one night before I got mine off... I broke my wrist, then 4 weeks later he broke his pinky finger. We totally posed for a pic - and Russ said "this better not end up on a blog". Oopsie! The self-timer function on cameras can be so handy sometimes!

Friday was the day my family had been anticipating for the past 2 years... Brad returned from his mission to Brazil!!

Saturday was a good day too... no pictures, but we watched conference and spent all day together - it doesn't get much better than being with people you love all day long. :)

Sunday of course was Easter and we woke up to find goodies the Easter Bunny left. (The girls weren't with us - hence the reason Noah is the only one in pictures!)

More general conference watching on Sunday was perfect for Easter. We also took a long drive, enjoyed sitting by a creek in perfect weather, and had fun that night at a family party. I was telling Russ how the 4 days leading up to Sunday night were such good days - and then it all ended perfectly too... Noah cuddled up in bed with us all night - something that never happens - I loved it and had to get a pic of him the next morning. I have so many sleeping pics of him - I love it!

March Recap

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March has been a month full of parties! Ellie turned 6 and had her party at the gym...

... Russ joined in on the fun - since him and Ellie share a birthday, he figured it was partly his party too.

On his actual birthday, we served Russ breakfast in bed

and later that night, my family got together and celebrated all the birthdays in the month of March: Auburn, Russ, Ellie, and Kaitlyn.

The little girls put on a dance recital for us. (Ellie's costume was the best!)

For a Spring Break treat, we took all the kids to the zoo. It was fun to have Tayler, Kaitlyn, and Sophie with us for the first time... even though Sophie missed out on most of the fun since she was sick and sleeping.

Next up - Russ, Noah and I joined the Hess family in Palm Springs for a little getaway hosted by Megan. We had such a fun time hangin with them and playing games, laughing, eating junk food, shopping, and swimming!!

We got to spend part of Kaitlyn's birthday with her and did something special... go out to eat, somewhere other than fast food! The Red Robin waitresses sang to Kaitlyn and gave her free ice cream for her special day.

Kaitlyn also chose to go swimming during her birthday weekend. The kids had fun in the water but I was freezing as it was on the chair. So instead I snapped some pics...

We had our families over for a party Sunday night to celebrate Kaitlyn for one more day. I never got my camera out but it was a happenin party... or at least it felt like it with about 30 people in my little house!

Finally, Noah has had his first 2 t-ball games and they are so much fun to watch. He was so proud that he got 3 "home runs" during the first game (since he was the last batter and got to run all the bases every inning). I also overheard him tell his dad on the phone that his team got "3 TOUCHDOWNS all because of me". LOL!

Go #12!

It's been a fun & busy month - but we're ready for April! Uncle Brad comes home in less than 2 days - Noah is having a countdown.

Happy Happy Birthday Kaitlyn Dear!!

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This is Kaitlyn

a.k.a.

Kate

Katie

Skateland

(and many more I'm sure)

Kaitlyn's got a smile like her dad's ... when she smiles, her eyes smile too. I love the way her face lights up when she's happy! When I first met the girls, I went on and on about how cute Kaitlyn's personality was. She makes friends easily, she is helpful and fun to be around, she's very creative, and today she is 10 years old!

Happy Birthday to this special member of our family!