Hooray for Cheap Flights!

In a phone conversation with my mom, she mentioned that since she was off work for the summer she wished she could find a cheap flight to California. She really wanted to come spend a week with me and my kids. I couldn't pass that up so her wish was my command. I immediately got on the internet and found cheap flights. Woo Hoo!! Mom was coming to spend a week with us. It was going to be great!! Kids would be out of school, the weather would be warm....not rainy season...we got mom for a whole week and not just a couple of days, and we had BIG plans. The ocean and sunny beach were calling our name. We were so excited we could hardly wait.....but we had to do just that. Mom's plane came in a bit late that day but she did indeed make it....FINALLY! The only thing missing was Grandpa Karl. Boo, Hoo, Hoo! sniff, sniff, sniff

Since the flights were so affordable, Maddie

got a plane ticket for her birthday to go home

with Grandma. She was overly thrilled with her

gift!! She couldn't wait to fly home with Grandma

and have some alone time in Utah. We were

scheduled to drive up later and pick her up.

When Mom was here, we had tickets for the Padres

game. I was glad mom was with me because Jeff was

at a conference all day and couldn't go. We went

without him becasue a while back we had the chance

to participate in a Mormon service project that gave

us the opportunity to go on to the field before the

game. Sounds great, right? Maddie was really

excited about it until we got there. We had to wait

A REALLY LONG TIME until we were allowed

on the field and it was HOT!

Lauren and Parker were also totally bored

We were finally allowed on to the field and it was so

LAME! We weren't allowed on the field, we were

on the DIRT around the field and even then we were

somewhat yelled at. "Don't do this, do that, walk faster,

hurry up ."Blah, Blah, Blah. Not worth the wait!

The only impressive thing was all the Mormons

in their yellow "Helping Hands" shirts. We got

some recognition for all our service. YEA LDS!!

I did get a few smiles out of them while we

were standing on the dirt

Parker drew pictures with his feet

Can you say NOSE BLEED?? Yes, we were about

5 rows from the top of the stadium. No wonder the

tickets were so cheap. They said row 18 which I

didn't think was too bad. I guess I didn't realize it

meant row 18 in the highest section. So much for

discount Mormon Night at the Padres game.

LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY!

It was fun to be with our ward. We had fun for

about a minute then kids got bored. We were

so high up they couldn't tell what was going on

in the game. So what did I do to make them

last a little bit longer and make all our

efforts and expensive parking worth it??

Bought overly priced cotton candy!

They totally enjoyed it and I got to watch

for about 10 minutes longer.

Father's Day

Father's Day was pretty non-eventful this year. The last two years we had sick kids and the reason I remember is because Lauren was sick with the swine flu one year and the next year all 3 kids spent the day puking. That isn't a tradition I wanted to continue so I was grateful when all the kids were healthy this Father's Day. Jeff started his day out by taking his mom to the airport very bright and early in the morning. This made it hard to do breakfast in bed so he got yummy bagels instead. We went to church and he opened his gifts later that afternoon. Not the most exciting gifts but at least we showed him a little bit how much we LOVE HIM!!! As Parker says....."the best dad ever!"

Old Navy #1 Dad shirt and a

nifty new crescent wrench

A kiss from his sweetie...

Parker was the photographer.

Glad he didn't miss us

An awesome red charcoal grill

Perfect for the beach and for

grilling with your favorite little buddy

....and finally dinner.

Delicious tri-tip steak

School's Out!

Summer is nearly over and I am just now getting the chance to blog about the end of school. I figured I'd better post about the end of the school year before the new school year begins. Can't let the end of 3rd grade and Kindergarten go unnoticed!!! So, here it is......ENJOY!

Maddie's school had an open house where the kids

displayed some of their outstanding work.

Maddie's class did past, present, future...it was great!

Lauren's class had a musical performance. It was cute!

Lauren was so excited she could hardly wait for the

day to come. However, she insisted on dressing herself

and she protested letting me do her hair. Oh, well

self-expression is important....right?

Little Miss Annie Oakley

Maddie's class also did reports on famous historical

Americans. The kids did all the research themselves

and wrote a short report. Parents and other visitors

went to the classrooms to hear the reports. If you

wanted to hear a certain one, you pushed their

button and they started reporting. SO GREAT!

Lauren really wanted her hair cut before school was

out because she wanted everyone to see how

cute she was....she's not lacking in self-confidence!

Here's the before...

it was getting so long

.....And after.

She is right, she is cute!

Lauren rode a bus to school everyday and

we had the worlds GREATEST bus driver.

We will miss our Miss Diane!

There was a Kindergarten Luau that I got to

volunteer at. It was fun watching Lauren

in her element. She LOVES school.

Lauren and her good buddy Jade

Lauren with her teacher Mrs. Revell

We LOVE this woman and will miss her!

Lauren and some of her friends

~~~~~

Maddie and I are involved in a mother-daughter

book club. We read a book about a dog's life and

then met at the dog park to discuss the book. Can't

wait for the next meeting...we are reading a good one!

FINALLY....the last day of school

June 17, 2011

Do these two look happy or what??

Bring on the summer fun!

Birthday Celebrations

Maddie was so excited about her birthday that she got up extra early that morning. It was a good thing because we needed to be out of the house by 6:30 AM in order to make it to Disneyland when it opened (lines are shorter!!) and Maddie wanted to open presents before we left. We didn't make it out of the house until 7:00 AM but I figured that was pretty darn good, with all things considered. Maddie was very pleased with all her gifts.....

Her new favorite wii game

A little reading material - Maddie LOVES

penguins. Can't wait to see the movie

Finally a BIGGER scooter. She has so

outgrown the last one.

Squirmmels- magical fuzzy worms

A light to clip on to her bed so she

can read until all hours of the night.

Such a BOOK WORK!

Ahhhhh, Disneyland with Grandma.....a real treat!

Maddie's birthday button. Think it's time

for a bigger hat???!! You can't really see

Grandma too well but her and Maddie

have the SAME glasses. FUNNY!

My handsome stallions....and a white horse

Cotton candy that's bigger than your head....YUMMY!

Is that a look of satisfaction or what?

Parker didn't want to go on the Haunted Mansion

ride so I stayed outside with him and he indulged

....and finally, Little Lu and Jeff on the

Matterhorn. We love this ride!

Nine is Fine!

What? Maddie is 9 years old already?

Where is the time going?

Baby Maddie

Maddie 2011

As tradition at our house would have it, we

celebrated here. It was a magical day indeed!!

More pictures coming soon.

Love ya tons Maddie Girl!!

New Threads & Super Student

Thanks for the new clothes. We LOVE them!!

Always has to strike a pose!

Little fashion diva....she added the

scarf and the belt to make it cuter

Lauren loves these shorts. She calls

them teenager shorts

P-A-R-T-Y A-N-I-M-A-L

Perfect for Miss Maddie!

Maddie also loves to strike a pose

Maddie was honored at her school for being

student of the month. GOOD JOB GIRL!