Davis' Belated Birthday

My sister, Ginger planned this night for her girls to give them the campout they had been asking for. It was down on my parents' 20 acre ranch and the perfect place for a family bonfire. So, she invited all who could come to make smores and hangout together. It was the perfect time to celebrate Davis' birthday since he had kind of been forgotten on the wedding day. He was thrilled to know he would be having a party with all of his cousins that he doesn't get to see very often. It was a great night for all of us and one Ginger's girls, Erin and Jenna will never forget.

Boys will be Boys

At Sam and Amber's wedding reception, there were a zillion grandkids and I had asked my boys to stay with the party and "don't get dirty". Yeah, right. I found Davis and Ethan doing what they do best and when I went to discipline them for climbing trees in their good clothes, I had to run back and grab my camera before I made them get down. I love my little boys!

The Reception

This marked the 6th wedding reception for my parents at their home in California. It was another beautiful evening. We danced and ate and visited and took a million pictures.


This was one of several pictures that my sister, Ginger, so happily took of our little family. She followed us around for what seemed like forever, trying to help me get a picture with the right background, the right lighting, and without goofy faces from my son, Davis. This was really the only one that turned out. Even though she's not in this picture, I can picture her in my mind's eye, trying to get my little ones to smile. I love this picture for that reason.


I am so sad that Summer, Jen, Clint, and Alan weren't able to make the wedding! Summer had a c-section just 3 days prior and Jen had a newborn baby as well, so I guess we'll forgive them for not being there!



It was a glorious and wonderful day. One that we will all cherish in our hearts as one of the last we shared together as a family with Ginger.

Sam and Amber

On June 23, 2008, our little family packed up our van and made the 20 hour drive down the Pacific Coast to California for a one month vacation with all of my extended family. Our first stop was at my sister, Ginger's house where we stayed the week before the wedding. It was a busy time packed full of shopping and prepping for the big day, but we also managed to squeeze in a couple trips to the beach and local pools as we were desperate for some California sunshine!


Amber and Sam's wedding day was wonderful! (Amber is one of my younger sisters.)They were married on Davis' 8th birthday, June 28th. I love family weddings. It is such an exciting time and so much fun to get together with everyone and see old friends and family you haven't seen for a long time. We are so happy for Amber. She found herself a great husband, one who loves and adores her. They are a perfect match and we all felt that Sam would fit right into our big family immediately. It was a special day to be together in the temple with so many of our family members. We were sad that a few were not able to make it down for the wedding, but we were happy they were helping to make our family even bigger by welcoming new babies into the world!

These pictures were taken just outside the Los Angeles Temple.

Daddy Day

Happy Father's Day to Don! The kids had fun spoiling their dad on Father's Day this year.

Gillian is showing off the tie she MADE for Don during her Activity Days classes. It turned out pretty cool!

Horseback Riding with Grandpa!

I grew up on a 20 acre ranch with lots and lots of horses. Most of the horses were for show or breeding, so we didn't do a lot of riding while growing up. But, now my dad has some old, very tame horses so, while we were in California he invited the kids over to ride one night. Gillian was really sick, so she didn't get to go, but Davis, Ryan and Ginger loved it!


Grandpa is known for cruising around the ranch with a pile of his grandkids going for the ride. We miss those days!

2008 Family Reunion at the Beach House

Every year, my family (my 10 brothers and sisters, their families, and my parents) gather together in ONE huge house on the beach where we spend the week swimming, surfing, boating, playing, talking, laughing, and eating....and this year we added, and vomiting! Despite the fact that almost half of us got sick, we still had such an amazing vaction. We soaked up some much needed sun, pigged out on way too much junk food, and just enjoyed being together as a family. We took about a million pictures, but here are some of my favorites.....
This is ALL of us, except for my youngest sister who couldn't come because of a brand-new job as a CES seminary teacher! She was definitely missed.

Terrific Kids and Terrifying Parenting Moments

Most schools have a program where students are chosen as "Student of the Month" or something similiar, but our school doesn't do that. They have a different program where the Kiwanis Club (whoever they are?) comes at the end of the school year and has each teacher choose one student during the month of May and one during the month of June. They chose a student who has a positive attitude, good character, and responsible citizenship. To our delight, both Ginger and Gillian were chosen by their teachers for the month of May and were honored at an assembly with the entire school. They called in advance and told us it would be a surprise for our girls. The funny thing was, they thought we had just come for the fun of it and ended up being able to see them by chance. We are such good parents to go to the assembly's just for fun! (Ryan and Davis were grounded for a month for NOT getting chosen, by the way).

The best part of the whole assembly was when Ethan turned white as a ghost and looked like he was going to "lose his lunch". Don quickly took him out, but he kept calling for me, so Don passed him off to me right outside the auditorium. Within 10 seconds I was covered in throw up. Don ended up taking him to clean him up, missing the entire awards program while I videotaped with an arm full of throw up. Good stuff.

I'm Back!

To all my fellow bloggers, I've missed you! Life has become a little crazy over the past couple months and I have not had time to do anything with my blog....or even check yours. (And if you think I'm behind on my blog, you should see my bathrooms.) Yikes! I have been doing some work at home and let me tell you, being a working mother with a husband who travels is not fun. But, it has been such a blessing for us at the same time. Anyway, I am slowy starting to get my head above water. I am going to catch up this coming week if it kills me! Stay tuned...