One year older for Ryan Jane

Our 'Bopsy Boo' is 9 years old!  When Ryan was a baby we called her the "baby" and it kind of evolved into the "Bopsy" then "Bopsy Boo" or the "Bops" and it has just stuck!  She actually likes the nickname and I am glad.  We love our Ryan girl.  She has so much personality and is very quick-witted so she keeps us laughing all the time.  She can almost always be found with her nose stuck in a book.  In fact, most days the kids will pile into the house after school and after a while I will begin to wonder where Ryan is.  Sure enough, she is in her bed, under her covers reading, reading, reading.  If she's not reading she is emptying the dishwasher with her MP3 player in her ears while she serenades us all at the top of her lungs.  We love our Bops.  

One of the best parts about birthday celebrations is getting to meet the kids at school for lunch.   That didn't happen last year since her birthday was on Saturday so she was pretty excited this year.  Her pick?  Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets and a strawberry milkshake.  Mmmm. 

We had a nice little family party at home.  She didn't really want a big party.  But, then again, with our family of 7 it's always a PARTY!! 

If you'll notice...Don has a very interesting mustache drawn on his upper lip.  Since Ryan's birthday was on Monday, we had our traditional Family Home Evening but instead of having a lesson, we created a short video all about Ryan.  We were all interesting characters and Don was the interviewer with a very thick accent.  His questions were centered around why we love Ryan and how she has blessed our life.  It was actually a really funny video and Ryan loved it.  So...then it was time to gather for pictures.  I was busy trying to get the automatic timer set up on the camera and didn't even notice that Don still had his mustache!  

Ginger made her this cute, very sweet card that made Ryan feel special.  I love sisters.

I made her a new tied fleece blanket since her old one was used to catch her throw-up on the way home from our trip to CA.  I was ready to wrap it in a bag for the 23 hour drive home and wash it when we got home, but I liked Don's idea better.  Throw it away!!

Hope you had a good birthday, Ryan!

Back to School 2011

The carefree, endless days of summer are gone and now it's back to alarm clocks, packing lunches, reading logs, bus schedules, and homework!   Oh how I love summer break.  But, I have to admit that by the time we are halfway through August, I am ready to get back to early bedtimes and a more disciplined schedule.  The kids were ready, too.  And pretty darn cute...

Ethan was a little sad to be going back to school without his FAVORITE teacher from Kindergarten, but once he met his new teacher he was excited!  

1st grade here we come...

4th grade for Ryan this year 

Gilli had to be there to walk Davis to his new class and see one of her favorite teachers, Mr. Brown.  Davis rules the school this year in 6th grade...

Gilli was no longer a "SEVIE", as she was often called last year, but now she's a big, bad 8th grader!  And Ginger was off to the Freshman Center starting high school.  Yeah, don't get me started.  How can I possibly have a child in high school?  She started the wonderful world of early morning seminary as well, which means she is up at 4:40 every morning to get to the church for her 6:00 class to study the scriptures with all the other youth from church in our area.  Early, yes, but what better way to start the day than that?  

My house was eerily quiet as it always is on the first day of school, but that doesn't last long.  :)

Trip to CA: Part 3... still going!

Since we couldn't stay in one house with every family we planned Girl's sleepovers and Boy's sleepovers so the kids could be with their cousins.  On Girl's night we loaded up on candy and treats and watched the Justin Bieber movie that was a big hit with the ladies.  

On Boy's night, I promised the boys that we would get donuts for breakfast and they were so excited.  Boys are so easy to please.  And darn cute, too.

The kids love hanging out at Grammie and Grampa's ranch.  This is a special tree fort that some of the kids built together and they spent many hours playing and talking.   I love that our children are so close to their cousins and that they have so many! 

Taking a dip in the pool to de-sand after the beach.  Who needs showers when you have a pool?

And our trip to CA would not be complete without a traditional ride on Grampa's 4-wheeler cruisin' around the 20 acre ranch.  The kids love it!!

Our trip finally came to an end and we were so sad to go!  It was such an amazing trip packed with so much family time  and wonderful memories, but it was time to get back to the real world.  Until next year...

                                               

Trip to CA: Part 3 continued--Ventura Aquatic Center

July 20.  Three years since my sister, Ginger, passed away.  What were we going to do that day?  We knew it would be a tough one for Ginger's husband and children so my sister, Kate, had the idea to meet at the Ventura Aquatic Center so we could have a good distraction and just enjoy being together as family.  So we joined the locals...Rod & kids, Jason & kids, and Kate & her kids and had so much fun!

There were water slides and swimming pools and splash play areas so all ages were happy.  

Ethan was a bit nervous to go down the big slides at first, but once he saw his cousins go he was all over it!  

Cute Brady boy.

My sis, Kate, and I stopping to feed lunch to the army of kids that were with us. 

It was a coooold 72 degrees that day.  Yeah, my kids and I have gotten used to 100 degrees in Texas with extremely warm water to swim in so we were cold!  But, it was a good and happy day for us, just as Ginger would have wanted.   

Trip to CA/Part 3: Moorpark, CA

After our adventures in Morro Bay we headed down the coast to Moorpark, my hometown.  We stayed at my parents' house and just enjoyed family time with cousins and aunts and uncles and Grammie and Grampa.  And, of course, we hit the beach several times.  

The big girls...Erin, Gillian, Nicolette, Abigail, and Isabelle

The young boys...Brady, Carson, Ethan, Gabriel, and Tyler

The young girls...Hayley, Ryan, and Jenna

My big sis, my momma, and me....living the good life just basking in the sun while the children played.  It was a gorgeous day at Zuma Beach.  

Gilli, the pro boogie boarder

Getting ready to ride the waves together

Cute little Holly growing up so fast.  She is my sister, Ginger's baby.  

Cousins, cousins, cousins!  And to think...this isn't even half of them!  

Trip to CA/Part 2: Morro Bay AKA The Great Beach House Debacle

We left Bakersfield in the morning of Gillian's Birthday and headed straight to the coast! Morro Bay, CA.  It was only a 2 hour drive but the kids were beyond anxious to get there and see their cousins that they hadn't seen in years.   We finally arrived at the house we were staying at, which was owned by my brother's friend.  It was an amazing house with a gorgeous view of the beach and Morro Rock and the entire little town of Morro Bay.  It was quite spacious and really nice.  We were so excited.  We quickly unloaded our stuff and drove a few miles over to our family-owned Beach House to see everyone.    It was instant madness...squealing, laughing, hugging, etc and I loved it!  The 2 families staying there got all unpacked and settled in and the women instantly left for the grocery store as it was almost dinnertime and we had NO food!  At the checkout line I got a call from Don and he says, "We have a little bit of a problem over here".  I honestly couldn't think of one thing he could be talking about.  He went on to explain that his cousins two families had just pulled up from UT and they seemed to think it was THEIR turn to stay at the family Beach house.

Oooooh Nooooo!!

Don seemed completely calm, cool, and collected.  He told me that everyone (meaning 2 big families) was moving over to the place we were staying so just to take the groceries over there.  Thank goodness we had that place or I don't know what everyone would have done!  I hung up with Don and told my two sisters in law what had happened.  One of them instantly burst into tears and I don't blame her.  She had just pulled in from a looong drive with 5 kids from Nebraska and had already unpacked and was all settled, ready to stay there for the full 2 weeks, and now she was homeless!   Well, to make a long story short, everyone packed into our place and it was wild and crazy fun amidst trying to find another beach house to stay in. We had to be out of that place after only 4 days so we all packed up and moved to Don's sisters house 30 minutes away, while we searched and searched for another beach house to finish off the vacation.  It was a lot of packing and unpacking, but we didn't mind because we were ALL together and it was really a non-stop party!  The kids were great with their cousins and we loved our adult time as well.
Here we are celebrating Gillian and Bradley's birthdays on the first day of arrival.

Aunt Melissa was so awesome to spend her day making these fabulous cakes since we had all been traveling all day.  

Happy 13th Birthday, Gilli Bean!  Another teenager in the house.   

Aren't these cakes awesome?  Yes, that is a cake even though it looks like logs on a fire!

Standing room only.  :)

We spent the better part of each day at the beach.  Exactly my kind of vacation.  It was amazing.  I love and miss the beach so much so it was so therapeutic for me to just sit and watch and listen to the waves rolling and crashing.  It was a little colder than the beach where I grew up, but I didn't care.  It was perfect to be surrounded by family and away from 108 degrees back home in Texas!  

The kids had so much fun reconnecting with their long lost cousins and thoroughly enjoyed the long, warm summer days with nothing to do but sit on the beach.  Rough life.  

I married into the best family.  I could hang out with these girls all day, every day.  They make me laugh so hard and have this way of boosting my self-esteem whenever I'm around them.  We were sad to be missing two of the women as well as Don's mom.  :( 

The boys loved their "guy time".  I think they played golf ten times, I lost count.  They deserve it, though.  They are good hard workers and good husbands.  Steve is so good he even takes care of the pregnancy's for his wife.

We spent one morning exploring the tide pools at Avila Beach.  It was so beautiful and the kids found some really cool creatures.  

Ben found this huge crab and then proceeded to attach it to his mother's earring.  It made us all crack up so hard!  It's a good look for you, Stacy.  

Here we are (most of us) packed into Reece and Melissa's house.  They were so willing to allow our crowd to completely overtake their home for a few days and we were all spoiled with Melissa's amazing cooking.  

We spent a gorgeous afternoon visiting Montana de Oro--a required destination for any trip to Morro Bay.  It is the most beautiful place and so serene and peaceful.  

The big kids took off right away to climb and explore.

The girls tasting Bel Frites, the most amazing french fries ever! 

We hit the San Luis Obispo Farmer's Market/Street Fair, the Cayucos candy counter, walked on the Pier and just had the best time with everyone.  And that brings the 2nd leg of our trip to CA to a close and we were sad to leave!  We love Morro Bay and we miss our family!!