The Princess, The Pillager and Picasso

The Princess Ball was last weekend and Bree couldn't wait! She was so excited to go out with Jer and it also just happened to be the day she got to take her earrings out for the first time. What a day! She wanted to wear her baptism dress, and I admit, I saw red punch when she asked. But she came home nice and clean! Isn't she the perfect princess?

And here is her handsome prince. They had a delicious dinner at Olive Garden and then went to the ball where they danced and made wands, crowns and corsages. Breanna would like the Princess Ball to be every weekend.

The next day, we found The Pillager. He didn't get very far. He just parked himself on the kitchen floor with his loot.

Don't need a spoon, my finger works just fine.

My tongue works pretty good too. This lid is scrumptious!

Nice breakfast, Luke! We need a Luke Lock for our fridge!

And finally, Picasso. The other night, Luke and I were drawing and he started naming everything as he drew it. It was so cute. He made the yellow mark and said, "chick", and then drew a dot and said, "eye". He's completely brilliant.

Trying out Jackson Pollock's technique.

And good looks to boot! Sorry ladies. We asked him today if he had a crush on Brittany M. (older woman....she's 11) and he emphatically said, "YES!" This boy is taken.

Just Us!

Last night, we snuck away with the kids to a resort less than an hour away from home. This is the first time we've ever done anything like this, and I tell you, we have been missing out!

We had the BEST time!!

Our suite was amazing...the kids didn't want to leave it. But when we mentioned the pools.....

I think there were 8 different pools.

It was so fun to just hang out with each other and not have any distractions.

This is where the kids came barreling out of the water slide. I tried to get a picture of them in action, but it didn't happen.

This place was so great. Every 30 minutes or so, someone from the resort would come out with an activity for the kids to do. One activity was a slide race.

Jake enjoying one of his prizes from the slide race.

Bree fiercely competes in the toy dive.

Jake and all of his loot.

TheTreasure Hunt

Luke on the hunt.

After swimming, we went back to the room ordered pizza, and stayed up late playing games (Carcassone, Puerto Rico and Ticket to Ride - whew!) and watching football. Then we swam all day the next day. This is definitely a new family tradition except next year we'll stay even longer!

Chicks Retreat

This year, we had a ball in San Diego! We were just a bunch of silly, giggly girls the whole weekend and it was so fun!

Taking the ferry across the bay to Coronado. We missed Dee and Ere this year and thought about them lots!

After pedis, manis and massages (thank you mom!!), we decided to take the Surrey around the bay. It was oh so fun. We managed to ring our bell at everyone we passed, do Chinese fire drills with the Surrey in motion, and even get stuck right in front of a Quinceinera photo shoot. Mom got so tired out doing all that pedaling in the back. Ha! One passerby ratted her out right away.

Beautiful day on the bay!

Cute sisters!

That night, we went to a movie and then to Ghiradelli's for ice cream (hot chocolate for me and Spinder!!) Yummy!!

Me and Nat

San Diego night life is hoppin! We had fun walking around downtown.

We met up with Dad on Saturday for a day at the races. Mindi and I popped out of the sun roof to get his attention and he came a runnin'! I bet all the people in front of us were locking their doors. (He was actually trying to get to us before the light turned green.) Nice form, Dad!

Here we are at the races. Dad gave us a few bucks to play with and everyone won but me! I think I've learned my lesson - ha ha!

We ate at the most yummy Mexican place, but they messed up our bean burritos twice and it took over an hour for us to get our food. You would think a bean burrito wouldn't be that hard! Spinder made good use of the extra time we had by filling out the comment card. She had a thing or 2 to say. You go Spinder!

And of course, there would be no retreat without these two who made it all happen! We love you mom and dad!!! Thanks for treating us to an amazing weekend!!

Back to School - It's Deeee-wishus!!!

I lament the fact that this day has come. I dread this day. Why can't summer last forever? This year was especially gut wrenching because we put our kids in a new school. It's the ultimate conflict when you just want what will be best for your kids, but you have no way of knowing exactly what that is until you make a somewhat blind decision and just go for it. So we searched it out and after much consideration, we decided to make the change. Breanna was excited about it, but Jake really wanted to stay at his old school with his friends. It was such a difficult decision for us to make, but we are excited for the great things this new school offers and we hope that the kids will soon love it. They were pretty excited to go school supply shopping and get everything ready. We dropped them off and Luke pretty much whimpered the whole way home saying,

"Where'd Jake go? Where'd Breezy go?", over and over, like a broken record. My stomach was in knots the whole day and I got to the school 30 minutes early to pick them up cause I somehow thought that would make the time go faster. I was so happy to see them walk around the corner, smiling! Both said they had a good day. Jake has a male teacher for the 1st time and he's really excited about that. Breanna is thrilled that her teacher has the exact same hair as her (she blow-dried her hair the next day to make it match exactly!). And they are on their way to making new friends. Yay! Now, could someone tell me how many days until fall break?
Now, I am giving fair warning to all crafty people. I am the antithesis of crafty, so you may want to proceed with caution. Having said that, it is our tradition to make a school bus cake on the first day of school. That would mean this is our 6th cake which might lead you to believe we have perfected it by now, but nooooooo. This was by far our saddest school bus yet (ha!). This year, it was kind of a rushed deal (making excuses), but we got 'er done. She's a beauty. (Good thing no one will be taking her for a ride.) Luke couldn't wait for a taste, so he grabbed a handful just as the kids and I finished carving the masterpiece.

And the other small problem was when I went to grab the yellow food coloring, it wasn't there. But Jake and Bree thought making a green school bus was even better than making a yellow one. I completely concur!

All done! Time to dig in!

Luke took one bite and said,
"This is DEEEE-WISHUS!!!"
Evidently he couldn't get enough.
(I can still hear Jake and Bree (and me) laughing hysterically when we turned to see Luke doing this! Oh my goodness, we love this kid!!!)

Here's to many more happy days at school!!!!

Breanna's Baptism

This is the real reason Breanna has been so excited to turn 8. She was grinning from ear to ear all day long as she waited for this. She is such an amazing, sweet, fun loving girl. Breanna, we are so glad you are in our family and we are so pleased with your decision to be baptized!
Daddy loves you so much! After Breanna was baptized, I met her in the changing room and she just giggled with delight as we hugged. She said she felt so happy and clean!

We were so thrilled when we found out Rachel and her mom, Debbi would be coming!
I love this picture of Rachel and Bree.

It's pretty amazing to think that Rachel is the reason we are all standing here today. What a difference she has made in all of our lives.
And we were so happy that Jackie could be there too! It made the day so complete. The seven of us have never been all together, so this day was incredibly sweet for me. It is impossible to say what Jackie and Rachel have done for Jeromy and I. It's overwhelming to think about.
We love them beyond anything words could say.
Here is my side of the family. We missed Dee and Ere's family, but were so glad Nat and Mind's could be there and of course G and G! Grandma gave a beautiful talk on baptism. Grandpa gave the opening prayer. Aunt Mindi led the music and Aunt Nat held Luke's attention with and endless supply of dum dums! I honestly would be nowhere without my family!

Jer's side of the family. Today was especially sweet because baby Conner got blessed too. It was such a wonderful day. We were missing Ryan and Ashley. Trev and Alayne were there, but I just realized they aren't in this pic! Grandma S gave a wonderful talk on the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Grandpa said the closing prayer.

Mike, Jackie, Rachel and Debbi
Grandma S, Debbi and Breanna
Emily, Amber, Nicole, Jake and Breanna sang, "I Love to See the Temple". It was so beautiful. Jake and Breanna sang the 3rd verse about being inside the temple and it was angelic!

Breanna, you are beautiful inside and out! We love you!