Back up and running, I hope!

Well, after much persuasion from JJ, I am going to try to get back into the swing of things and update our family blog. After looking at the last blog I posted, much has changed.....beginning with the arrival of our little girl, Paisley in February, 2010, she hasbeen such a fun addition to our family. Life definitely got busier with a newborn in the house, and just when I thought life might give me a break to catch up some things I had been neglecting, we were thrown another curveball...Surprise you are moving to California! So, in June 2010 we packed up our things and made the 5 day drive across the country. We are so glad to be back on the West Coast, back to the climate we enjoy and closer to our family in Utah. The kids are growing so fast, I can't believe how time flies! My favorite holiday is approaching so I will try to post Halloween pictures soon!

So, we had our ultrasound today and....

It's a GIRL!!!!!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our newest member on Valentine's Day, 2010.

Shenandoah National Park

Over Labor Day weekend we drove down to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. JJ used his hotel points to book a room that had a kitchen so we took our own food, the hotel had free breakfast. so the whole trip only cost $15 dollars to get into the park, what a bargain!

We went on a not too strenuous hike that had a nice waterfall at the end...

Bryson enjoying the very comfy fold out bed at the hotel.

Bryson and Preston being "friends" for a minute.

The "boys".

Cute pictures of the gang!

It was a fun trip we actually saw 3 baby black bears and their momma cross the road right in front of our truck while we were driving through the park, it was pretty cool!

First Day of School '09

I can't believe the summer is gone already and yet another school year has begun. What I really can't believe is that Ashley is a sophomore! Bryson started 4th grade and Preston is in second. They were all very excited to start this year, they couldn't fall asleep last night and were up at the crack of dawn today. As you can tell by looking at these pictures, they were all taken at our house this year, a new thing for mom, they all decided to take the bus this year rather than me taking them on the first day, this is the first time in 15 years I have taken first day of school pictures in my pajamas without fighting for a parking spot at 7:30 in the morning. I suppose I could get used to that. It was a very busy summer so it will be nice to get back into a routine....bring on the homework packets!

Take me out to the ballgame....

For Mother's Day, JJ gave me tickets to the Phillies game yesterday, the last couple innings were exciting...Phillies were tied at the bottom of the ninth so it went to an extra inning, but the Dodgers scored 2 runs in that inning and the Phillies just couldn't get the bat to connect with the ball, I thought maybe we would pull it off with the Dodgers star player being suspended, oh well, it was a fun date, thanks, babe!

BIG FISH...

It was a spur of the moment idea to take the boys fishing on Saturday afternoon while Ashley went to a dance. So, I threw together a quick dinner before we went so we wouldn't be distracted by growling bellies. Bryson said the prayer to bless the food and as we started eating he says "Oh, no I forgot to ask Heavenly Father to help me catch a fish". So, we all stopped eating and he said another quick prayer asking that he would be able to catch a fish that night. Well, I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about whether or not his prayer would be answered as I have taken the boys to this spot before and never even got a bite, but I tried to have faith, obviously he had more....we had been fishing for a few minutes and Bryson says he is going to reel in his line to make sure his worm is still there, as he reeled in his line he says "I got a fish!" When he pulled it out we all started to laugh because it was the smallest Rainbow Trout I had ever seen. However, I was relieved that at least he could say his prayer was answered even if he had to put it back.

Here is JJ stuggling to pull in his catch of the day....a big log! Hey, what can he say...it looked impressive!
Preston with his catch...not sure if it is the same one Bryson caught 10 minutes before, but he was happy to have caught something.

So, the sun was going down and we were reeling in for the night, when Bryson yells again that he had caught a fish. I assumed that it was the same poor little fish that had been caught and released twice before, but when I looked over and saw the bend in his line I knew that it was bigger. Here he is with the one and only "keeper" of the day he was very happy and his first comment was "I guess he heard my prayer". Thank goodness for the faith of children to humble us adults sometimes.

So, here is the beginning of the gutting, I will spare you the next picture. As you can see they are all smiling right now, the next picture they were not. This was JJ's first cleaning and the boys first witness of how it is done. JJ did a good job with the cleaning and we took it home and grilled it, it was actually very tasty! So, for a last minute throw together outing it turned out to be a good memory for everybody!

Easter 2009

Well, Easter is one of my favorite holidays so I love to wake up and see what the Easter Bunny brought just as much as the kids.





So, here are the crepes! They were very yummy, thank you, sweetheart!
Here is everybody after the Easter egg hunt, it was fun. It was a little chilly, but at least the sun was out, I don't think it was quite cold enough for Ashley's eskimo coat, though.