little boy in a garden

Thinking today would be WARM, I tagged along with my parents to
the TuLiP fEstIvAL.
I definitely should have listened to that nagging suspicion that I needed to change into pants. It was windY and overcast...but the tulips were still beautiful as always.
Jace thought it was pretty COOL being the only
kid along for the day.
He got ALL the bread and actually threw it in the pond
one piece at a time
(usually, it is a race to see who can feed the fish the fastest!).

Spying round the pillars in the
secret garden.

Like I said,
alWayS bEauTiFuL!

wish the flowers in my yard looked like this!

mY liTTle guY!

My favorite tULiP of the day. . .
Just heard the school kiddos come home...
time for me to go be a MoM again!

all dressed up

Dressed up #1:
Every year Tim's school takes students from the teen living class to La Caille for dinner. They get a full course meal for a BIG discount. However the dates worked out this year, I had conflicts all three times they went...so Kenzie got to go in my place. Lucky girl! She was feeling like the queen of her little castle getting all dressed up to go have a fancy, schmancy dinner with her dad.

Waiting for the appetizers a.k.a. snails....which Kenzie actually liked!

The grounds are beautiful...or so I've heard.

This was a house/mansion they drove by on the way. Kenzie says someday she's gonna have a house like this...with horse property of course! I guess if you're gonna dream, you may as well dream big :)

Dressed up #2
Laityn was invited to a Fabulous Book Party for one of the neighbors. She was supposed to dress as her favorite book character....which of course, is a fairy. Doesn't really matter which fairy or what the fairy does, as long as the fairy is involved in some way. The fairy wings that Santa brought came in handy...and Miss Lady was so excited to be all dressed up!

Okay....I really do think she makes the cutest little fairy ever!

After the party, Lady wrote a note to her fairy friends and put it in the fairy garden we made in the back flowerbed. Imagine her surprise this morning when she received a leaf-shaped note back, rolled up and tied with a piece of grass. The note assured her she is a true fairy friend and the fairies love the house she made for them. The note was special enough to make it into her treasure box, along with all the tooth fairy notes. The magic of a seven year old just makes me smile!

mind control

Took Jace to the dentist today to get his first cavity filled. Not exactly the milestone you hope for your 5 year old to reach this early in life....Jace is just ahead of the game on plaque buildup. Anyway, on the way there, I tried to prep him for what would happen. I told Jace the dentist would put a little thing with tubes over his nose, and that it would make him a sleepy and relaxed. He thought on that for a minute and then asked

"So....does that thing on your nose control your mind?"

"Uh....I guess it could."
"COOL!!"

goats, pigs, and llamas...oh my!

We took all the little cousins to the farm at Thanksgiving Point today. In a couple more years, I won't have anyone left to take along...the kids will all be in school all day. Not only does that completely freak me out, it makes me wonder where my youth has gone. The weather was perfect and the crowds were small, so the kids got plenty of the "feeding the animals dried corn" time.

petting the baby ducks

feeding the goats can get a little slobbery

Thank goodness the llamas take the corn with their lips...they have big old sharp teeth under those lips!

"Hey Mom! Take a picture of my silly face!"

waiting for a pony....

Jace being so proud of himself. Can't believe this little man will be in school in September!

It was a great day and the kids loved it all!

little Laityn-bug

So this is just a random little post about Laityn. She has been just plain sweet the last couple of days....Sunday she wore a headband. Apparently, this was a very big deal for her (bigger than it was for me anyway). She was super proud, and really needed a picture of her poofy hair with her special, ribbonny headband. I'll admit, she looks pretty darn cute!

This next picture is the result of our hometeacher's lesson on Sunday. He told the kids about his first experience reading the Book of Mormon. At the end of his lesson, he challenged the 4 oldest to read the Book of Mormon, on their own, before the end of the year. Those who do get their own half gallon of ice cream. Everyone is taking this challenge very seriously...they really want the ice cream :) . Sunday night, after tucking Lady in, I came back a few minutes later to this...

She was reading the first chapter of 1st Nephi by flashlight. She read me the next few verses out loud. These are the moments we love as moms!

Tonight for our FHE activity, we were all invited to Laityn's Museum. She set it up in her room with several "awesome rocks", some pieces of real copper, and part of a woolly mammoth tusk (courtesy of her dad). She guided us all through her room, telling us everything she knew about each object. Sometimes I wish I could get that excited over a shiny, smooth rock!

That's right! I own the museum!

What a girl! and what would I ever do without her?

it's all in the faces!

I had to wait for Tim to help me scan these in tonight....no words necessary. Have a good laugh!

lOvE diSneYlaNd!

to market, to market, and hoping to make it to Disney!

So....this post is forever long...sorry! I really tried to be picky about which pictures I posted, but I still ended up with way too many. Anyway, get comfy...this may take a while. We left for California last Saturday. We spent the night in Vegas where we met up with my parents for dinner. We stayed in the same hotel, so Kenzie and Carter drove back with grandma & papa. We didn't get too far in the old mini before our headlights quit working, the blinkers and hazard lights started coming off and on at will, and the whole van started losing power. We pulled into a Chevron just in time for the engine to die...and not start again. Tim popped the hood and started fiddling with stuff (he would have to tell you exactly what "stuff"). Meanwhile, a taxi cab driver parked ahead of us started backing up. Tim and I watched and yelled at him while he backed right in the front bumper of the van. Are you KIDDING ME? How do you miss a minivan? So, we waited for an hour for the transit authority to come make a report. Meanwhile, I called my dad to come back and find us. We tried jumping the van with no luck, so Tim pulled out the battery and we all piled in my dad's car. We bought a new battery, started up the van, and thought all was well. We took off by 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Two hours later, we realized the windows weren't working again, and soon found ourselves pulling off the freeway. We pulled into "the Market". No working gas pumps, just a little store in the middle of the desert. After realizing it was a bad alternator that was draining the battery, Tim and Dad pulled out the battery and drove 40 miles to Barstow. My mom kindly waited with me and the kiddos for the next 2 hours. FYI...there are only so many games you can play before you all start going crazy.

We left the market with a newly charged battery, which barely hung on until Barstow. We went to the Autozone where Tim spent another hour replacing the alternator and serpentine belt. At least the weather was good, and we weren't stranded in the middle of summer!

We made it to Anaheim about 3 hours later than planned. On the way, we got a call from Lindsey about the earthquake in Baja. She was with her family at Legoland when the earthquake hit. She was pretty shaken...literally...and all the rides closed for safety checks, unloading, etc. We finally got into Disneyland around 6:00. We played and rode until almost midnight!

Monday morning, we met up with all the cousins at the park. It was raining and chilly, but it kept the crowds away. Tim worked the fast passes all day, and the kids had a great day!

the cousin's idea of "be silly"

Kenz and Morgan just taking off for Peter Pan's Flight

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride....and not sure what got into Carter!

Ty walking the ramps to Pirates of the Carribean.

Uncle Kelly entertaining Jace while we wait in line.

All the boyz.

Dancin' in the Streets parade

Goofy Hugs!

Tuesday was beautiful and sunny! I could have stayed forever just to enjoy the weather!

Riding the caterpillar train in Bug's Life.

Takin' the train to Toon Town

Coming round the bend on Grizzly River Run

Talkin' to her friends in Toon Town

buggy eyes

Jace fought everyone and everything with his Jack Sparrow sword

Waving to Cinderella in the Pixar Parade

Aaaahh....the bEacH!

really Maddy? You'll never catch that girl!

hermit crabs were crawling all around the tide pools

Jace stood in this hole for a good half an hour

Sand Hand

jumpin' waves

Ty surprised us all and loved the ocean!

such a good papa

Lady informed me during the trip that Ry is her best friend... so sweet!

...and I wonder why I had sand in the suitcases...

Kenzie found this cool spot and climbed up to get the view below

And what trip to Disneyland would be complete without a turkey leg! And yes, it is as big as her face!

Our last night in the park, we found one little spot that wasn't crowded with people...Snow White's wishing well. All the girls threw in a penny...

hope those wishes come true!

The boys all spent the last night of the trip at the A's game.

What a trip! I have almost finished Mount Laundry and the kids are all back at school. I could have stayed another week...just for the warm weather. We made lots of memories that won't be forgotten anytime soon.