More Random Pictures

  Here's a few more random shots that didn't make it in anywhere, but I had to share.:)

I know it's hard to tell, but these are antelope!  There was this whole herd of them just hanging out in the farmer's field across from Wal-Mart.  We HAD to stop and stare for a little while.

After petting the rays at Sea World: "I gotta wash my hands." (Mary still says that everytime she sees this picture.:)

I took this after Jason and I had a temple date.  I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked.

This is from Mary's birthday party at my parent's house.  I love how excited Papa (my grandpa) is to be singing to her.  (He just loves her, and calls her Mary J.  So cute!)

This is a llama at Farm Country.  I love that he looks like he's saying, "What?"

Waiting outside Chuck-a-Rama with Aunt Kristianne and Cousin Max.  Love those cute smiles!

  Thanks for letting me share!

Thanksgiving Point Fun

  A little while back Jason ran in the Thanksgiving Point Half-Marathon with his sister and brother.  (They did a fantastic job, by the way.) In the race packet there were wrist-bands for all the activities at Thanksgiving Point, so we decided to go make a day out of it.  I mean, how often do you get to do that sort of thing for free?  What a fabulous time we had!  My kids couldn't believe we got to do Farm Country and the Dinosaur Museum in the same day.  (Usually it's one or the other due to cost.)  I particularly enjoyed the fact that Jason got to come with us this time.  He's usually working when we go, but this time it was Saturday.  The kids absolutely loved pointing everything out to him, too.:)

I love the smiles in this picture.  They were so excited to get to pet that little lamb.

I just had to inculde a picture of Isaiah's favorite.  He's been obsessed with pigs lately, and was absolutely thrilled that there were some to pet.  I guess they are pretty cute.:)

Jason told them to look sad for this picture.  Awesome!

Goofing around at the museum

Digging for dinosaur bones

ROAR!

  What a fantastic day!  I hope we all get to go back again soon.  (Maybe I can talk Jason into running another race...:)

Baseball and Gymnastics

  I really love how active my kids are.  Sometimes it's hard for me to keep up!  Isaiah just finished baseball season, and he totally loved it!  He was so excited that he got to be in coach pitch this year.  He did a great job, too.  The funny thing was about halfway through the season he went from hitting almost every pitch to missing a lot.  It took us a while to figure out that his swing speed had gotten a lot faster, and so his timing was all messed up.  But, he practiced hard and before long he was back to getting hits, this time with a lot more distance due to the power and speed in his swing.  It was awesome to see his face light up when he'd connect and hit it far.  Way to go, buddy!

Look at that stance.  He's so ready to go!

This is actually one of the only times I caught him holding still in the outfield.  He was always jumping around or trying to talk to somebody.  I guess he still does have 5-year-old focus.:)

  Savannah had her first gymnastics exhibition a few weeks ago as well.  It was a lot of fun, and I loved how official the teachers made everything.  It was just like a real meet, right down to how the students walked and rotated to each event.  So cool!  Savannah was great, too.  She's doing such a fantastic job learning how to tumble and dance around.  She loves swinging over the bars especially.  There was even a little awards ceremony at the end, and all the students took turns standing at the top of the podium.  Good practice, right?:)

A lot of the pictures ended up blurry because of all the movement, but I love how in this one she's the only one in focus.  That's where our attention was anyway, right?

Look at that smile!  She was so proud.  Her mom was, too.:)

  Way to go, you guys!  Great job!:)

Such a Big Girl

  In April, my little Mary turned 4!  She is such a big girl!  Sometimes I can't believe how grown up she is.  But, if I ever forget, she'll remind me.:)

Yes, that is a Twinkie with candles in it.  I already had to make a cake for the family party and cupcakes for another one, so on the actual day of her birthday we had Twinkies.  I can only bake so much!:)

Opening presents--most of which had to do with the movie Tangled

Blowing out the cupcakes, which, of course, are pink

Mary's pink princess cake, with ice cream cone turrets.  (She's become almost obsessed with princesses lately, and asked for a castle cake.  Thankfully, I at least had an idea of what to do.  The rest came through looking at pictures and some trial and error.)

Happy Birthday, Mary!  We love you, big girl!

Ms. Toothless

  Savannah took a while to start loosing her teeth, but once she did, they all started to go.  All four of her front teeth fell out within a few months of each other.  My dad has started to call her "Toothless."  It does make for a cute smile, though.

Her tooth has to be in a baggie so it won't get lost in her bed and the Tooth Fairy can find it in the dark.:)

California Dreamin'

  Back at the beginning of March we were able to go to California for a family vacation.  We were planning on going last fall, but my lovely health issues wouldn't allow that.  Thankfully, we were able to go finally, and what a blast we had.  We decided to drive to save the money, but in retrospect I think we'll fly next time.  (My kids did FANTASTIC in the car.  It was more their mom who had to keep stopping to exercise my legs.  We got really good at cleaning up after being car-sick, too.:)  We stopped overnight in Vegas and had fun at Circus Circus, then left the next morning in order to get to our hotel in Aneheim by around lunchtime.  We hit the beach that first day, although I think the locals thought we were nuts.  To us, 60 degrees was very warm since it was snowing back home, but they were all bundled up in sweatshirts and long pants, if they were even on the beach at all.  We did get a few of them smiling, though.

Jumping the waves with Daddy

Savannah was so excited to find seashells.  Thankfully, we convinced her to leave them at the beach...:)



I just love this picture of Isaiah.  He was THRILLED to see the ocean, and couldn't stop jumping around.

  Next came a few days of Disneyland.  For those of you who've never been during the off-season, I most highly recommend it.  Sure, a few of the rides were closed, but the longest we ever waited in line was 30 minutes, and that was for Space Mountain and Peter Pan.  (The normal wait was about 15 or less.  Awesome!)  I absolutely loved watching my kids react to everything.  They were so excited, they could barely stand it!  There's just something about the magic of that place for kids, and even their parents.:)

This was taken just before we went in.  Do you see those smiles?

Group hug!

There's a great story with this picture.  Mary LOVES Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  We had waited in line to see Mickey, but had yet to really see Minne.  We were walking through California Adventure when Mary suddenly starts jumping up and down and takes off running.  We look up just in time to see her run to Minnie, who was also jumping.:)  We were lucky to get the camera out in time.  Thanks for making my girl's day, Minnie!:)

A Family Portrait (with a little help from Lightning McQueen and Mater)

About halfway through the day, Savannah and Mary decided to start posing for all of the pictures, since I had taken so many.  Aren't they cute?:)

I love how Mary can't even stop looking at Mickey long enough to take the picture.  She was SO thrilled!

  Something else I absolutely loved about this trip was that we decided to just make eating at the park part of the plan, so it was in the budget.  Because of that, we didn't just go to the cheapest places, and as a result had some FABULOUS food.  (Although, most of the food at Disneyland is fabulous.)  My favorite was Cafe Orleans, just outside Pirates of the Carribean.  They have the most amazing parmesean-coated french fries, with a tasty remoulade sauce for dipping.  We loved them so much, I searched the internet for days when we got back until I found the basic recipie, and then played with it in the kitchen until they were replicated.  SO yummy!
  We also hit Sea World while we were at it.  It was a little strange because almost nobody was there, but it was also fun to have everything more to ourselves.  We got great seating for all the shows, and walking between the arenas was a lot more pleasant.

I can't believe I actually got this shot.  My timing had been off with my other attempts, but I decided to give it one last try.  Boy, am I glad I did!

The sea lion show was absolutely hilarious!  Here are some of the performers pretending to be CSI investigators.

Waiting for the pet show...with Angry Birds.  (That's about how the trip went.  Any time we were sitting anywhere for longer than a couple of minutes, whether it was in line, at a show, at the hotel, or in the car, at least one of the kids would say, "Dad, can I play Angry Birds on your phone?"  I think we passed most of the levels off on the first day...:)

Petting the rays in their swimming pool--so fun!

  We had an amazing time, and I can't wait to go back!  Too bad it takes at least three years to save up the money needed in order to go...:)

So long, California!  Hope to see you soon!

The Make-Over

  So, the other day I hear my girls calling from upstairs, "Mom!  Come look at us!" Here's what I found:

I think we're going to have a talk about making it look like your not wearing any makeup when you put it on.  Then again, I'd love to be able to get away with wearing eyeshadow like that.:)

It's been HOW LONG?

  I can't believe how crazy my life has become!  Between school finishing, swimming lessons, vacations, sports, doctor's appointments, and everything else, I barely have time to breathe!  I have tons of pictures to upload, and hopefully soon I'll actually have some time to do it.  Stay tuned!:)