Thurmanators

Todd and Kelli get Married

2009-10-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

My brother Todd married Kelli Grimshaw on October 17th. Here we are waiting at the Newport Beach Temple for them. We are so happy to have Kelli join our family.
My brothers and I. Greg, Todd and Lori

Megan was a jr. bridesmaid.

Here is the happy, beautiful couple! Congrats!

TANAKA FARMS

2009-10-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

We went on the annual Tanaka Farms field trip with Chase's pre-school class. This is always a favorite field trip for all the kids. Here is Chase and Olivia:

One of the highlights of the day is going on a wagon ride pulled by a tractor. They take you over to a petting zoo area. This is always a fun time. Chase is not a bit scared by the animals and loves to pet, hug and try to feed the animals. Here he is with a willing goat.

Max came along on the trip.

The whole preschool class.

Here the kids are climbing to the top of a hay tower. I love this picture of Chase!

Another highlight of the trip is the chance to pick vegetables. Each child gets to pick 3 radishes, 3 carrots, 3 green beans, and 3 onions. Look at those HUGE radishes! We made some soup that night and put in his vegetables.

The deal is every child gets to pick a pumpkin off a vine to take home. The only rule is that the CHILD has to be able to carry his/her own pumpkin. Chase really wants a big one so here he is trying to carry out the biggest one he can.

Lori's Birthday!

2009-10-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

My college roommate, Stefanie from RICKS happened to be here in Orange County over my birthday weekend. What was just your average birthday turned into something so fun to have Stef here with me to celebrate! She made a birthday cake with my kids --notice the number on the candles-- 29! Yay, I wish...

Here I am ready to dig into the cake

Here we all are minus Max

Max's 1st birthday photos by Aynn Thurman

2009-09-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

My sister in law Aynn came down to California and we did a photo shoot of Max for his 1st birthday! Here are some of the shots we got of this cute little boy.

Here is the "cake" story board.

He was not a fan of the birthday hat but here is the one shot we got!

Totally into the cupcake!

Thanks Aynn! You did a great job capturing the moment of this little boy!

MAX'S 1ST BIRTHDAY

2009-09-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Our little monkey turns 1 on Sept 30. We had a fun celebration for him at the park with friends and family. But before the park, we made his name in pancakes when he woke up on his big day.

At the park:

Jessica (with Olive), Annalee (with Kenndyl) and Christy came to with Max a happy birthday
Owen, Avery, Lexi and Chase playing around

Taylor and Megan eating pizza

Here's the birthday boy

Me with Max and Kenndyl (they are just a few months apart)

We made cake pops for dessert for the kids. This was my first try at making them and I think they turned out pretty good--we lost a few but this is what we ended up with.

Megan and Max
Grandma Virginia came from Utah to help us celebrate.

More kids playing at the park

Zach playing in the sand

Alex, me and our cabose--Max

He's getting into the cake

Here is the monkey cake I made. I think it turned out cute!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAVORITE LITTLE MONKEY-- WE LOVE YOU!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

2009-09-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Megan on her first day of 5th grade. That is the final year at her elementary school. Scary!

Zach's first day of 2nd grade

Megan and Sara end up dressing the same--by accident!

Chase's first day of preschool with Miss Shirley.

Alex's 40th

2009-09-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Alex turns 40 on Sept 4th!! Really crazy. We decide we need to have a big party and what better party to have than one that he really lived in and loved: the 80's! So, we had an 80's party --most came dressed up from the past and we enjoyed Mexican food (Alex's favorite) and of course enjoyed the 80's music.

Here we are--Alex and I

Brett and Christy

Jenny (our fierce margarita mixer--virgin, of course)

Some of our decor: we tried to find some of our old 80's favorites. Aqua Net, Sun In, NERDS, Jane Fonda workout videos, boom box, neon sunglasses, Smurfs, Pictionary, Goonies...the list is endless

Matt and Laura

Brad and Julie

Jim and Adrienne (sidenote: Adrienne is wearing a Homecoming dress that I wore in the 80's)

Rachel and Nate

Diana (with Jake)

Katelyn and Wade (believe it or not he won for best dressed male!)

David and Nicole

Annalee, Steve and Matt

Lori, Adrienne, Laura and Christy
Alex with his cake

Christy, Diana and I

We all had a great time. Alex doesn't really look 40, right? Well, thats what we are telling him anyway.

MAX'S 1ST HAIR CUT

2009-09-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here is our little boy getting his first hair-cut. After the first hair-cut I always feel they look so much older. That is kinda odd since all that was done was cut about 1/2 inch of hair off.

The Snake Party

2009-08-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Jessica and I decide to have a reptile party for our 2 boys; Owen and Chase. Owen is turning 5 and Chase is turning 4. It turns out to be the hottest day of the year but the kids don't care and have a great time with all the reptiles! Here is Jessica and I being so brave with the big python.
A bunch of the kids holding onto the big snake.

Chase and Owen were thrilled with their party -- loved every bit of it!

Here is Chase getting up and close with the bull frog.
Chase and Owen holding a ball python. Neither boy was a bit scared of the animals!

Here is a picture of the 2 snake cakes that we made! We were pretty proud of these cakes although we had to eat them quickly since they were melting before our eyes. It was a fun party!

Balboa

2009-08-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

We took a family day trip over to Balboa Island to spend an afternoon. Here we are going across the ferry to the Balboa Penisula.
Chase picked a corn dog to eat for dinner.

We played a little skee-ball.
And then of course we couldn't leave without having Balboa bars. Max was pretty into this!

Look at that face!

Megan-- a little wind blown.

The boys take a ride on the ferris wheel.

Fun times!

Jr. Lifeguards

2009-08-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

Megan decided to do the Jr. Lifeguard program again this summer. It is a pretty intense program where she is at the beach everyday for 3 weeks Monday-Friday from 9am-3pm. They work them pretty hard and they learn a lot about the ocean. Here is she ready to go:

She and her friend Sara went together.
At the end of the 3 weeks they have a big competition called "the vitamin". This is where all the jr. guards compete in everything they have been working on for the 3 weeks. Megan and Sara were in the group called "the skates". Here is the group of skates taking off at the beginning of the vitamin.

Here is Megan coming with her boogie board out of the water. During the vitamin, they run, swim, high step waves, & paddle boogie boards around buoy's.

She's working hard and staying in the front pack of the group.

She's exhausted but finished 5th overall! Go Megs!

Here she is with some girls she met doing a sand castle building contest.

She claims she will NOT be doing the program again next year! Alex thinks it is so great for her and she does enjoy it while there but it does take a lot of time. We'll see what happens next summer.

UTAH SUMMER TRIP

2009-07-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

Our Utah, 2009 trip was filled with constant fun, fun, fun!! We had such a great time and had each day filled with family and friends! Here we are up at Darcy and Jeff's house enjoying their pool. It was hotter than ever so we managed to find water wherever we could. (Carson in goggles, Max in tube and Zach)

The actual reason we decided to make our trip this year was to attend Alex's mission reunion. He served a mission to Uruguay back in 1991 and he hadn't been able to attend many reunions since we moved to California. Here is Alex with Mike Wilson, a companion and good friend.

This is President and Sister Grow with Alex and Max. Sister Grow is enjoying some of the authentic Uruguayian food they supplied.
One night we had a hot dog roast up in the canyon of American Fork. Beautiful as ever. Here is Megan and Aynn enjoying the night.

One day we got adventurous and decided to go on hike. We were told it was an easy, flat hike that only took about 30 minutes. Well, about 2 hours later we made it to the falls. Here we are at Stewart Falls which is up above Sundance Resort. It was an easy hike, but sorta longer than expected especially for Chase. I ended up carrying him most of the way back. (Alex had Max in the backpack) He was determined to see a snake in the bushes and he was also super hot so the entire time hiking back all I heard was "I'm hot. I want to see a snake." Over and over and over again. He claims he saw a snake in the bushes. We don't know if he did or not but he thinks he did because he saw the bushes move.

Me and Max enjoying the outdoors.

We went to this really cool children's museum in Salt Lake City. Kelly joined us with Quinn and Ansley and Darcy came with Carson and Sabrina. It was really fun and the kids loved it. Here is Anlsey and Chase playing in the grocery store.

Here is the museum again where Chase was in the "construction zone" operating the crane. He was in heaven!

A big family dinner. This is what we love the most, just coming to hang out with family.

Grandma came down from Brigham City to see us.

Max learned all about popsicles on this trip.

Kelly and I hiking the "Y" one morning. That same morning, Alex took Megan and Zach to hike the Y after I got home. While they were up there, it had gotten hotter and the sun was out. They saw 2 rattlesnakes and another snake. They were pretty excited and I was pretty excited I wasn't there for that. Yikes!

ZACH TURNS 7!

2009-07-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

We were headed to Utah for a summer vacation and that happened to land right on Zach's 7th Birthday. We started our drive the day before on the 21st of July and drove to Mesquite, Nevada where we stayed the night. The next morning, Zach's birthday we drove the rest of the way to Orem. We let Zach open his gifts in the car. Here he is with his new wetsuit for his new interest of surfing.

Yeah! It was fun being in Utah for Zach's birthday because we were able to celebrate with a bunch of cousins. We had a party for him that night at Michael and CA's house. Here is the cupcake "7" cake Carol Ann made. The yummiest chocolate cupcakes...

Zach and Quinn

The kids eating Zach's favorite dinner-- BBQ hamburgers!

Zach and some of his Utah cousins helping him celebrate. Happy Birthday, Zach!

Felix's Birthday!

2009-07-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

Many of you may not know that we have someone in our family named "Felix"... well, Felix is Zach's pet webkinz (a cat) and it was his birthday on July 1st. Zach, who is my official party planner decided to plan a party for Felix who was turning 1. Zach was busy for such a long time in his room and when I went up there I found him writing invitations for this birthday party. He decided on the kind of cake we would have and the games to play. Here is Zach's friends with their webkinz getting ready for the party!
We played some old fashioned party games like musical chairs. Here they are running around like crazy. This game was definatly the favorite!
We also played hot potato. Chase and Lexi were the last 2 standing passing the potato back and forth.
Here we are singing to Felix and getting ready for some cake. It was a chocolate cake with blue icing with loads of sprinkles.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FELIX (just so you know I won't be doing a birthday party for a webkinz again...I actually have to plan birthday party's for real people but it was fun seeing how excited Zach was to plan this party.)

CAMP ROCK

2009-07-05T14:17:00.001-07:00

This past week Megan and her friend Sara did a musical theater camp. They went everyday Monday-Friday and learned new dances, songs and their lines. Megan got the role of "Autum" --a girl at the camp. At the end of the week they performed what they learned. This week happened to be CAMP ROCK and they really had a great time! Here they are at the performance:

Here is Megan during one of the dances. When I asked her while she wasn't smiling much, she said she was supposed to look "sassy"!

After the performance we went to dinner all together. I love Megan's hair curly!

SWIMMING LESSONS

2009-07-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Zach and Chase just finished taking swimming lessons. They both really loved going to their classes each day and hopefully are a little better swimmers now. Zach is still trying to master side-breathing and Chase is still learning the basics. Here are some pictures of them:

Chase and his teacher, Mr. Franky

Chase being thrown in the air by his teacher.
Chase learning how to float on his back.
On the last day of class everyone got to jump off the diving board. Here is Chase waiting his turn.
Here he is gettin up his nerve to jump! He did it--I was proud of him, last year he got all the way to the end and couldn't jump.
Zach practicing some of his new skills with his teacher, Mr. Josh

Zach had a grand 'ole time jumping off the diving board and was doing all kinds of crazy jumps.

4th of July

2009-07-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

We spent the 4th of July at Lacy Park, a family tradition since I can remember. Before Lacy Park, we first went to Grandma and Grandpa's and swam--it was a super hot day and the pool felt perfect. After, we loaded up and went to the park. Lacy Park is a really beautiful park and it was fun to go back there. We had a big picnic dinner and thanks to Katherine we had great seats for the fireworks show. We hung out, played games, ate, went to the playground and waited around for the fireworks. It seemed like a looooong wait for some of us (zach and chase) but in the end it was so worth it. The fireworks this year were really awesome! Here are some pictures of us:

Before Lacy Park we went to the ward's 4th of July pancake breakfast:

Zach was sooooo hot at the park that he made himself some shade to eat under, pretty clever, right?

Here is Megan walking into the park:

Here is Megan, Alex and Max eating our picnic dinner--KFC!!

Chase loved the light-up necklaces:
Max enjoyed the day and we wondered how he would like the fireworks. He was sitting on my lap, sorta dozing and when the first one fired off he perked right up and watched the whole show...mesmorized. Also, that day Max had 2 bottom teeth pop through his gums! His first 2 teeth.

GLENDALE CENTER THEATER

2009-06-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday Megan and I had a great time going to see "Sleeping Beauty" at the Glendale Center Theater. I grew up going to this theater and have seen various plays there. It is a really cute, small theater-in-the-round. Every seat is a good seat. We went with some friends and the play was really fun. Megan had spent the whole week previous with my parents and so we met up there and then I took Megan home with me. She loved staying with grandma and grandpa and I think they loved having her there but I tell you...I was sure ready to have her home again.

Here we are at the theater, Annalee, Lexi, Taylor, Megan, mom, and me

Megan and Taylor were able to meet some of the characters and this was their favorite character; Fairy Meanie!

Here they are with 2 other fairies.

BEACH DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

2009-06-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

We're back playing at the beach this summer! You know the goal-- wear out your kids during some of the long summer days and the beach is just the thing to accomplish that goal. It's always more fun to be with friends so here we are enjoying a great day with some friends:

Chase playing in the sand:

Max was happy there:

Parker and Zach:

I love this one of Zach and Parker playing in the surf:
Zach and Parker took a long time building this castle:
Once the sand castle was destroyed they started digging:

FUTURE BACH AND MOZART???

2009-06-28T15:12:00.001-07:00

Megan and Zach started taking piano lessons this past fall. They have really enjoyed it (most of the time). On the day after the last day of school, they had their first ever piano recital. They both did a great job. They had to memorize their pieces and then introduce themselves and their songs to the audience. Zach played 2 songs: "Old Mother Hubbard" and "Electric Bass"Megan played " Dinosaur Stomp"

GO DODGERS!!!

2009-06-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

On the last day of school (June 18th) we headed up to LA for a Dodger game. This is a favorite thing for our family to do and Zach has recently become a HUGE Dodger fan so we wanted to take him to a game. It was a super fun game and even better the Dodgers won.

Zach in his get-up:

All of us at the end of the game: Lori, Alex, Zach, Megan, Aynn and David

CHASE'S LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

2009-06-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

Chase had his last day of preschool and we went for a little party! He has loved preschool and his teacher, Ms. Shirley. Here he is in the middle of the all the cute girls. He was the only boy in his class this year. Don't you think he'd look happier surrounded by all those darling girls?

BACK TO BLOGGING

2009-06-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I have certainly had quite the rest from blogging--about 7 months. I think its time I try to get back at it. I'm not going to try and go backward right now so I'm just starting from now.

We recently had a fun mini-family reunion here. Shelley and Casey had their wedding reception at Balboa Beach and so some of the family were able to come and help her celebrate. It was lots of fun. Darcy and I learned that we have the potential to be caterers as long as people want hot dogs and chicken salad!

We had 11 EXTRA people staying at our house so we slept here, there and everythere. Here are some pictures of the kids sleeping on the trampoline: Katherine, Duncan & Megan (who forgot to take off her glasses)

And then we set up the tent-- all the cousins loved that!

Here's the group that slept in the tent: Carson, Jessica, Alyssa, Zach and Chase. Everyone did very well, went right to sleep and slept through the night. Except Chase. He came in sometime in the middle of the night to my bed, he said it was really cold out there.
How cute are these 2!? Max and Matthew getting acquainted with each other. They are only about 4 months apart.

IT'S THANKSGIVING

2009-01-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

Prior to Thanksgiving we constantly heard Chase talk about "turkey dinner". He was so excited to have this turkey dinner he even had a song about it that he would sing. They talked about it at school and each night I would prepare dinner he would say "is it turkey dinner?" So, the prize goes to Chase for being the most excited about Thanksgiving this year.

Here are some of our Thanksgiving festivities:

We went to Chase's preschool party where each child had made a turkey hat. On each of the feathers was something they had told Ms. Shirley they were thankful for. So...most kids had stuff like family, friends, mom, dad, you know the usual stuff but not Chase. This is what he was thankful for: rattlesnakes, long snakes, big snakes, worms, and some other worms! I wonder how far down the list I would have been.

If you're thinking, that looks like a cute class of all girls--it's because it is a cute class with all girls except Chase. Can you believe he's the only boy? He doesn't even seem to notice, though.

On Thanksgiving day, we did the annual Turkey Trot in Dana Point. Alex ran in the 10K, Megan ran the 5K and Zach ran the kids run, 1K. But, Alex actually ran a 16K because after his race Megan wanted him to run with her and then after that Zach wanted to run with him also. So, I think he got in enough running for all the eating to be done later.

I'm not really sure how this happened but somehow I missed Megan coming across the finish line. I was there the entire time watching. At one point I saw an old neighbor and talked to him but other than that I had my eyes on the finish line for her. But, I missed her, I'm thinking I must have been talking with Kirt (old neighbor) when she whizzed by.

Zach was pretty proud of himself and his running! But, mostly he was excited about his medal.

Grandma Lorscheider came to visit for Thanksgiving! Here she is meeting Max.

Grandma came and made us her famous "twisties". Here she is teaching Megan how to make them. Yum Yum!

Here's Chase finally eating his much-anticipated Turkey dinner! We ate at Auntie's house and had a great time. Sara and Heidi came to play soccer here in California so their whole family came and had Thanksgiving with us! We went to a few of their games to see what great soccer players they are.

Also, our friends Cory and Paige came for Thanksgiving and Cory ran in the 10K with Alex...did I mention it was pouring down rain?? Oh, they were soaked. We later had dinner with them over the Thanksgiving weekend before they left to go back to Houston. It was fun to catch up and laugh with them!

HALLOWEEN!

2008-11-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

This Halloween we had an Indian, a skeleton, a pirate and a chicken! We had another year of Halloween fun starting off by not having to go to school! (I'm pretty sure the teachers were happy about this). Later in the afternoon we walked down to the neighborhood party -- we played some games and had dinner there. After, we got together and all took off trick-or-treating. This year Megan, Sara and Taylor went by themselves! I can't believe I have a daughter that old to go trick-or-treating by herself. I remember going by myself and thinking I was so old. We ended the night with Alex making the kids the traditional "witch's brew", this year it was rootbeer.

Megan and Sara as the Indians

Zach as a skeleton-- he didn't want to wear the mask because he said he couldn't see too good in it and it was hot!

Chase the pirate. This is year #2 of being a pirate. Those of you who see him often know that he is a pirate really almost everyday.

Max the chicken (looking a bit cross eyed)

The whole gang ready with buckets in hand.

"Witch's Brew"-- Sara, Megan and Taylor checking it out.

ONE MONTH OLD

2008-11-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

Max--One Month

Max is officially one month old. Part of me feels like this time has just flown by and other days I feel like he's always been a part of my life. I love having a newborn in the house...they are just so sweet, innocent and a real blessing. But, I'm remembering the challenges that come along with newborns--mostly sleepless nights. For a quick update, he is definatly getting enough to eat and weighs over 8 pounds now. He had some eye goop going on so I took him in to the doctor when it didn't clear up with putting breastmilk in his eye (yes, the dr. told me to try putting a few drops of breastmilk in his eye). It turns out that he has a clogged tear duct that had got infected so now we are doing eye ointment. I also found out that day that he has a heart mummur. My dr wants us to see a ped cardiologist to find out what exactly is going on. I'm not really nervous...yet.

PUMPKIN CARVING

2008-11-01T14:50:00.000-07:00

As always a good, fun, messy time carving pumpkins! It's always more fun to carve with friends so luckily the Austin's came over to help us with the carving. This year Megan and Taylor decided to use the same face for their pumpkin, Zach and Parker decided to draw their own face and Chase and Lexi were happy to be in on the fun this year! Max and Kendyl just snoozed away. The whole group with their finished projects.

Chase having fun digging out the "guts"

Zach wanted the traditional Jack-o-lantern this time.

BIG ROUND THINGS

2008-10-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

It sure is interesting to have a baby as seen through the eyes of a 3-year old. Chase has been so fascinated by this baby but especially fascinated with breastfeeding. He keeps asking me why the baby doesn't have teeth, why he can't walk, etc. etc. The other day I was feeding Max and Chase was there sitting by me when he was interrogating me about the feeding process. I was explaining the baby gets big and strong drinking "mom's milk", blah, blah ,blah. Chase then says to me "Where did you get those big, round things anyway?" Too funny! Yesterday he then said to me, "Which one of those round things has juice?" When I told him they both have milk, he seemed pretty bummed for the baby that Max only gets milk and no juice. He also insists that he can hold the baby by himself. He will tell me " get your hands away...I can do it by Myself!". Oh, he scares me...

MEET LITTLE MAX!

2008-10-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Max was born on Sept 30th at 4:51pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches (our smallest baby). We named him Max White Thurman. (White is my maiden name) This was my first induction and eventhough I was nervous about it, all went well. I got to the hospital at 7am and was happy to find out I was farther along than we had thought. I was dilated to a 2 and about 50% effaced which meant I was put on pittossin, the famous induction drug! After a little while, I was "feeling it" and luckily the anasthesiologist was available to give me an epidural. So after that, I was feeling good and spent a big portion of the day watching TV and reading (which seems crazy that I was in labor doing that!). Anyway, nothing much was happening and I was starting to worry--you know not much else to think about except everything that COULD go wrong. Finally, around 3:45 I started feeling more heavy contractions (even with the epidural), my nurse, Lisa came in and checked me to find out I was a 8 and 100% effaced. Around 4pm I called my mom to tell her to come over if she wanted to see this one at birth and then Lisa called Dr Thein. Around 4:15 I thought I was dying, the contractions were intense and I really needed to push. After that, the student nurse came in and gave me a shot to stop my contractions because Dr Thein was still 1/2 hr away and appartly no one else wanted to deliver this baby. My mom and Lynn (alex's mom) arrived around 4:30 and 10 minutes later Dr Thein came in. We got all ready and in stirups only for me to say "I really don't need to push anymore". So back on the pittosin I went. I started to push and to be honest I really felt I was pushing for a super long time but come to find out it was only about 10 minutes. After the fact, I learned that Max was still high in the birth canal because the cord was short and it was wrapped around his head. Luckily, I couldn't see the heart rate monitor through the pushing since his heart rate was pretty low during the pushing. Anyway, he came out but was sunny side up (like Chase) and came down twisted--I don't really get it but thats what Dr Thein told me. Anyway, it all went well yet I have to say I'm glad I'm not planning on doing this again...that is hard work!

Here are some pictures of Max:

The rude awakening of this world!

Dr Thein, Max and me

All settled down as the "burrito baby"

I'm already in Love!!

LAST BEACH DAY BEFORE SCHOOL

2008-09-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Here we are enjoying a final day at the beach before school. A beautiful day is was and we all had such a great time! Even the moms (Annalee and I) got into the water!

Max loving the sand! He never minded crawling around in the sand.

Megan trys out some snorkeling. She and Taylor see an eel--pretty cool!

Zach trys the snorkeling next but struggled getting the breathing down so it didn't last too long.

Max and I.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!

2008-08-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so he turned 6 on July 22nd but I still wanted to post my happy birthday wishes to my favorite 6 year old. We went to the beach on his actual b-day. We actually met up with some of my old childhood friends, Chris and Tiffany Cutri and their mom Gilda. It was great to see them! A majority of my childhood memories have this family in them. Also Alex and Chris played soccer together as little kids, they were on the team called the "Gauchos". When Chris saw Zach he said that is exactly the way he remembers Alex looking as a little boy (& I thought Zach was the one who looked more like me). After the beach we went to Ruby's for dinner with the whole gang. We also had a super fun party with Parker (also turning 6) at Scooter's Jungle with all their friends. Here are some pictures (although I don't have any of Scooter's Jungle, my battery ran out but my friend took some just don't have them yet).

Zach getting his new bike for his birthday. This is the only thing he really wanted!

Zach gets his ice-cream sundae at Ruby's. They came out to sing to him and he was so embarassed he went under the table but popped out once the ice-cream was there.

Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Bill give Zach $20 for his birthday! Look at that smile, he's really into money right now! But in true Zach fashion, he lost the money within a few days but luckily he has a pretty nice Grandma who gave him $20 more.

I love you Zach!!

UTAH TRIP!!

2008-07-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time over our 4th of July Utah trip. We really packed in as much stuff as possible and I think we did a pretty good job. Here's some pictures of our trip:

The morning of the 4th found us cheering on these 4 runners at the Provo Freedom Run: Shelley, Kaylene, Megan and Alex. They all did a great job, it was Megan's first time running a 5K --she did great during the race but did throw up after! After the race we headed for the annual 4th of July parade.

We then headed for Carol Ann's house for a fun BBQ and swimming day followed by fireworks. Here are all the kids watching another neighbor's firework display.

The above picture is showing Alex, Megan and Zach along with Brad and Quinn up at the top of the "Y". Zach was very interested in doing this hike although I think he may need to keep hiking a little more to have more stamina. It did help that CA and Big Mike hid treats for the kids all the way up the mountain!

We were able to go up to Provo Canyon to roast hot dogs and have s'mores to celebrate Parker's 6th Birthday. Here is Chase on one of Annalee's dads horses he keeps up on his property. Megan was finally able to see the pony, Dewey that is much talked about by her friend Taylor. It was a really fun evening up there.

This is Matthew David Thurman, the newest addition to the Thurman clan. His blessing was one of the main reasons we went to Utah over the 4th. It will be so fun to have a boy cousin so close in age to our little boy coming soon! After the blessing, we went to a park and had a fun picnic with family and friends.

This day found us at Thanksgiving Point where we played at the "Noah's Ark" sprinkler place. It was super fun and a good way to cool down. Here we are in the Bear Cave area. We then went back to the water area only to find out it had closed down due to someone "pooping in the pool". I know you're thinking that must have been one of your kids but Nope I was no where around at the time.
Alex and I were able to have a night out with our friends Stef and Gabe (and their newest little guy, Patric). Stefanie is one of my closest friends and definatly one of my most favorite people. We met years ago at RICKS College.
How cute are these 2 future BYU students! We went to BYU to see what was new there and found ourselves in the bookstore where Zach and Chase wanted to be completely outfitted in BYU gear: sweatshirts, shirts, hats, socks...they ended up with one sweatshirt each. Oh, and of course I got cinammon bears, they are the best there!
Here we are up at TibbleFork Canyon in American Fork. What a fun night! We had dinner, played a little in the water, watched Brad try to catch a fish and then had some s'mores and rides on the 4-wheeler.

Uncle Mike giving Megan and Emi a ride on the 4-wheeler. They saw a deer as they were cruising around.
This is the way Chase made his way down the hill to the water. You should have seen his bum!
Here we are up at Hill Air Force Base. We went up to Kaysville to spend some time with the Jewells. Hill Air Force Base happens to be the place my Grandpa worked for years and years and retired there. I was looking for some kind of monument for Carl but never did see one!
What's better than Utah corn? Our last day of vacation found us back at CA and Mike's house for more swimming and BBQ with the whole fam. It was fun to watch as the cousins got close as they played so much together. Oh, one other thing...Alex took Megan and Zach hiking up to Timp Cave along with lots of family members. Zach ended up hiking in flip flops because he says his shoes were "uncomfortable".

That was quite a long post so I apologize for that but I just wanted to document as much as possible. I didn't write about my treasure hunt with Lynn looking for the Prophets tomb stones, so let me know if you're interested in that story!! Lets just say I now know where all 15 Prophets are buried, maybe I can win a trivia question about that one day.

Can't wait to go back and see you all again!

DANCE RECITAL

2008-06-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

Megan had her dance recital last Saturday. They did a jazz dance routine to the song "What I like about you". It was a cute dance and eventhough I wasn't too sure about the costumes, they did look good from the audience. Megan has taken dance with her friend Taylor for 2 years now. I hope she will want to continue. Here are some pictures from the performance:

don't these girls look so old with their make-up on, both dads were dying!

Grandma and Grandpa came down to see the performance:

Megan with her teacher.

A FAMILY FIRST

2008-06-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

We went on our first family camping trip a couple weeks ago. We didn't go far--in fact it took all of 20 minutes to get there. We went with our ward so we had lots of friends there to play with. I had given Alex a tent for Father's Day last year, this was the first time we had used it! The kids all loved it!

First, we had dinner on the way (In-N-Out)-- we're not quite considered "true campers" yet. After we set up camp--I timed Alex to see how long it took to put the tent up, only 30 minutes which I didn't think was too bad for the first time and then he told me Steve came over to help out! The kids brought bikes and rode around the campsite checking everything out. In the evening, we made s'mores around the campfire and had an entertaining talk by Grandpa Dyer!

Then it was bed time. At some point in the middle of the night, Chase got cold so he and I spent the rest of the night together in my sleeping bag. I couldn't get it zipped up all the way and I couldn't really move so it wasn't the best night of sleep I've had but it works. In the middle of the night, I kept hearing rustling sounds around and I was convinced that coyotes or bobcats were circling our tent. (It was probably a squirrel!)

In the morning we had a yummy breakfast and then packed up to head back home. It was fun time and I hope we can go at least one more time before next year!

CHASE MAKES ME LAUGH

2008-06-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

For a while I've been meaning to write down some funny things I think Chase has said. You know how everyone always says "don't forget to write that down or one day you'll forget." So, before I forget...

One day I was picking up Zach from school and we say a lady wearing a burqa (spelling?) Chase yells out, "look mom -- I see Mary" (meaning the mother of Jesus).

I got the kids some new toothpaste (bubblegum mint, if you can even imagine that). We brushed his teeth with it and he says "I love this new toothpaste, its so yummy". I said "Oh, good, I'm glad you like it, What does it taste like?" (thinking he's going to say gum) but instead he says "quesadillas" What?! I think he was just trying to think of something he thought was good.

A couple days ago we were driving in the car and we were talking about friends. He was telling me about his friends but then he says "Mom, you're my best friend". Now how could that not make my heart melt? Thank goodness for those little moments in a mother's life, right?

I will always say to him "you're so funny" or "you're so cute" or something like that and he always says "mom, you forgot...I'm Chase-y)" Just one more, one time we were driving and a driver ahead of me was doing something I didn't like (can't remember what). Anyway, I say outloud to the driver "What are you doing?" A couple seconds later I get an answer from the back seat saying "Nothing, I'm just in my seat."

He's a funny kid and I love that he makes me laugh each day! What would I do without the humor? I'd be crazier than I already am!

ONE LUCKY DAY!!!

2008-05-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

I'm warning you that this may be a longer post than my usual but this is such a fun story for me to tell that I have to write it all down. It all started when my friend Annalee got these ticket vouchers for American Idol. It was for the Tuesday taping (the last night of competition between the "David's"). She asked Jessica, Christy and I to go along with her for this adventure...of course, we were all up for it! After finding babysitting for the 12 kids we have collectively we breathed a sigh of relief and headed up to L.A. The line seemed to go on and on and on yet we were optimistic since we knew the Nokia Theater could hold up to 6 or 7,000 people. But, after several hours being in line, we decided we were getting a little hungry. For those of you who know where the Nokia center is you know there is no where really within walking distance to grab something to eat so luckily Jessica had her iphone (which saved us so many times) and we called Pizza Hut. Jessica asked if they could deliver to a girl in a yellow shirt standing in a long line at the corner of 12th Street and Cherry in downtown L.A. Good 'ole Pizza Hut had our pizza there within a 1/2 hour. Now wasn't that genius?

Well, the time is going and there we are still waiting like nice patient people but we soon find out that we are #2100 in line and they are for sure giving tickets out to people up to #1700--so by 4pm we find ourselves out of the line looking for perhaps another option of getting in! First we send Jessica and Annalee to do some inital looking around, when they didn't come back soon I convince Christy to bail and find them. We find them, alright, sitting looking pretty gloom on some stairsteps too tired to move. They had asked several American Idol people and were shot down more than once. Well, we then decide we are not getting in but while we are there we might as well go see the red carpet and maybe get a glimpse of a movie star or something. We start walking and I see this box on top of a trash can with "American Idol" written on it. I normally don't go dumster diving yet this circumstance called for it so I open the box to find a ton of blue wristbands. We had seen some people earlier with wristbands so we decide to put them on and see if that helps us somehow. By the way, we have no clue what the wristbands are for.

We continue (with our wristbands) toward the theater when we see this "ticket guy" who we had talked to before (he dismissed us rather quickly then) but we said, acting innocent "Where do we go with these wristbands?" Well, that got his attention and he was saying "What?-- you have wristbands? You should be in the theater with those wristbands, those indicate you are going to see the dress rehearsal." Christy confesses that we found them and just really, really want tickets to get in. We then quickly abort our wristbands and he says "ok, follow me". We, at this point are as obedient as ever and I even think I was holding my breath as I watched him thumb through the left over tickets. He then gave us 2 sets of 2 tickets. And we were off running!

We make it through the theater (even with Jessica's iphone and Annalee's cell phone) and me in my flip flops (which was a no-no on the sheet of paper on what to wear). We head to our seats when we then discover we are in the VIP section. Can you believe it? We couldn't! Jessica and Christy were in row 6 and Annalee and I were in row 8. Just 2 rows ahead was Justin Chambers (aka Alex) from Grey's Anatomy, all the previous top 12 idols in the row ahead of that, Clive Davis just to the left, Simon's girlfriend on our row just over a section and I sat right next to a producer from FreeMantle (the co-producer of American Idol from London--super cool guy and friend of Simon's).

It was a terrific show! But the fun doesn't stop. We are still on our "high" and decide to go find a fun, trendy place to eat in L.A. As we are driving to this place we are of course talking about Idol and who should drive up right next to us? Fantastia from a couple seasons ago. We roll down our windows and start yelling for her and saying how we "love her and her song" (which just minutes earlier we had discussed that some of us liked it okay but others really hated it). Oh well, she seemed happy to be noticed and she even stopped traffic for us to take a picture.

What a fun day for this pregnant desperate houswife! Thanks to Annalee for getting us the tickets, thanks to Christy, Jessica & Annalee for making those 5 hours go by so quickly, a big thanks to Pizza Hut for delivering to the corner in L.A. and a thanks to the "ticket guy" for those awesome seats and of course to my mom who watched my kids ALL DAY!

Lets plan for next year...

A LITTLE COWBOY

2008-04-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

Chase on a pony ride at The Irvine Park. He and his cousin Paige were the only ones short enough to ride the ponies, the other kids were all too tall! So he had a great time being the only lucky one on the horse that afternoon!

HAPPY EASTER

2008-04-01T21:56:00.001-07:00

Chase, Megan and Zach in their Easter outfits. Chase insisted upon wearing his tie outside of his vest. He was really quite proud of having a tie.

I LOVE SWEATPANTS

2008-04-01T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yep, you guessed it...we didn't want our house to be a bore so we are adding number 4!!! I'm 13 weeks pregnant and due October 6th. We are all pretty excited about adding another little chick-a-dee to the bunch.

So today I went to this sequential screening thing. It's basically a big diagnostic study to help determine if your baby may have any chromosomal disorder. I went because a couple friends have done it and really liked the cool, detailed ultrasound done. I told the doctor that if he should "see anything" to let me know. So we went through the measurements of the baby and all the important stuff and then he said "I think I see something". I started looking more closely at the ultrasound and didn't see anything so I thought maybe it was a girl then I said "Oh, I see something" and then Alex says "I see something" and the nurse said "Oh my gosh, I totally see something" and tadaa...there it was 100% BOY!!

I'm going to admit I was a little disappointed, I was kinda hoping for a girl but now I'm getting to used to the idea of another little boy. I do love my little blondies!!

My jeans and pants are definitely getting a little snug (okay...tight) so luckily there are sweatpants. I'm just dreading getting out that box of maternity clothes since I know I'm stuck in them for the next 6 months.

By the way, I'm open to boy name suggestions...

HONEST ABE

2008-03-14T16:27:00.001-07:00

Here's Megan dressed up like Abraham Lincoln. She had to do a biography in school and she chose to do it on Abe. After the biography, she did an oral presentation on him and had to dress up for it. Luckily, we borrowed this cool beard and hat from our friend. The good news is that she ended up getting an A+ on the biography and the presentation. Yeah!

Too Hard to Say Good-bye

2008-03-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

Well, this is not the greatest picture of my Grandma but it was a recent one I had. Grandma got into a car accident a few days before Christmas and unfortunately never was able to fully recover and return home. She was 91 and lived a great life yet I still few she was "robbed" of years. I was already making plans for her 100th birthday. Although the past 2 months of watching her in the hosptial and going through lots of ups and downs was difficult, I feel it was a blessing for us to be able to be with her so much during the end of her life. My family decided it was time for her to come home and stop trying to make a body stay alive that was ready to die. She came home on a Friday under hospice care and died early Monday morning. I was lucky enough to be with her that weekend and was able to see how peaceful and calm she looked that Sunday prior to her death. The one thing I learned through this process is hospitals are great at keeping people alive and we just don't let people die anymore. Medical help has come so far that it is now easy to keep a body living, but the question comes is it really living? I guess because I believe I will see her again it doesn't seem as sad to let someone go. Although I say this, I admit this has been the hardest death I've yet to bear. I cried my eyes out and still whenever I pass by the funeral announcement that says "Passed Away on Feb 25, 2007" I tear up.

Having said this, I do like to remember all the good times we shared. I had the unique opportunity of living within minutes of her. I went to her house every Sunday after church. During those years, we would make up dances to "Skip to my lou" while Bob played his harmonica. She also helped me learn to cook and to draw (although I can't really draw anymore). She was the one I would call when I was running away from home (yes, that happened more than once and I even had a suitcase packed). I also remember her taking me to the Pasadena Mall to go shopping and going to Twohey's for hot fudge sundaes. Its hard to write down a lifetime of memories but seriously she never missed an event in our lives; graduation, birthday's, blessings, baptisms, holidays, baby showers-- it really didn't matter how big or small the event she was always there. That is what will seem the hardest, going to a family party without her. I am happy for her and the reunion I know she is having with other loved ones passed on. I'm sure as much as we wanted her to stay they wanted her there more!

She was such a great example of living life to the fullest! She loved life and loved her family and friends. She was always ready to go and enjoy. I guess what I want to say is I truly loved her and am forever grateful to have had her in my life and in my children's lives.

R.I.P. Darth Vadar

2008-02-21T07:38:00.000-08:00

We had to say good bye to our black goldfish, Darth Vadar on Sunday morning. We woke up to him floating around on the bottom of his bowl. I think good 'ole Darth Vadar was the longest pet we were able to keep around. Sadly, I can't even remember when we got him but he did have a friend named Goldie who died about 3 days after we got her. So we are now officially pet-free (just the way Alex likes it). I'm sure the kids will talk him into some kind of pet again...but thats the big question what kind of pet to get? Anyone think they have the perfect idea for a pet, let us know.

Happy Birthday Megan!

2008-02-06T13:29:00.001-08:00

Megan turned 9 on Saturday--Feb. 2nd (she likes to say on Groundhog Day). Anyway, I can't believe I have a 9 year old and that she has been baptized for a whole year already. Megan is such a joy to have as a daughter and I wanted to write down a few of the reasons why I love her so much:

Being the first born, it is because of Megan that I became a mother. After holding her for the first time, I truly understood the meaning of unconditional love.
She always tries her best! Whether at school, sports, church assignments, whatever it is she has this desire to always try her best.
She is a very loyal friend. If you're a friend of Megan's, you will be for life!
She is very obedient. This quality mixed with the one about doing her best makes her a teacher's dream to have in class. Every teacher she has had this far in her young life has made it a point to either tell me or write me how much they love having Megan in their class.
She somehow tolerates her brothers--trust me its not always easy but I can tell you they do love her.

So here's to our little "meggy moo-moo" -- Happy Birthday, I love you!

Thank You, Kari

2008-01-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

As you can see, I have a fun new header for my blog. This is from my talented and beautiful cousin Kari! Thanks so much...I told her I'd start blogging more once I had a cute header so now I'm ready to go! More posts to come...

ONE OF MY FAVORITE'S

2007-12-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

I had seen this quote years ago and loved it and just came across it the other night looking through some old Christmas books of mine. I thought I'd share it with you.

This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.
-President Howard W. Hunter

San Fransico Trip

2007-12-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

Alex and I went away for the weekend to San Fransico. We left the kids with my parents and we had such a great time! It was great to be together--just the two of us! We were able to meet up with some old friends while there. We went to Tiffany and John's to meet their twins and remember old times and then we were off to see Brett and Kathryn for dinner. We had such a great time, laughing and remembering our days in Glendale together. We rented bikes and biked all around the city, across the Golden Gate Bridge and into the city of Sausalito. What a great city! Then we were off to Alcatraz, which was the favorite of Alex's. It was super interesting and there are a couple inmates still missing (which made it all the more creepy and exciting). We had fun doing some shopping in that great city of shopping. I've never seen such a HUGE Old Navy! It was fun to have all the high fashion stores together with chain stores so we could mingle in and out of whatever. Our last dinner was a recommendation from Alex's sister Courtney. She said we HAD to go to Tomasos's. This is a little restaurant in the strip-club area of town ( a little sketchy). It ended up being the most fun ever. We were told by the hostess that you have to try their pizza and lasagna (what they are famous for)--she was right...the best pizza we have ever had. We even met some people there and we ended up sharing food with them. Too funny! It was a great trip. We loved every bit of it and can't wait to get back.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-12-16T10:40:00.001-08:00

WE'RE IN A HOT ZONE!

2007-12-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

Last night Alex and I came home from a fun YW Board Christmas party and all was okay until Megan came down at 11pm... she had thrown up all over her bed. I went up to clean it up and put her in the guest bed and then went to bed. I started to feel sick and didn't know if it just had to do with the smell and clean up of her throw up but NO, it turns out I really was sick. Pretty soon, she came in again to inform me she threw up again on the guest bed (she missed the bowl...entirely). Next thing I know Alex is up throwing up. Poor Megan got hit the hardest, she threw up the entire night. We ran out of clean beds so we made her a bed on my bedroom floor and so we had the fun opportunity to hear every single time she threw up. Anyway, we all stayed home today and I'm hoping we'll be better tomorrow. Chase and Zach had flu shots and seem to be doing okay. (I guess there's something to be said about getting one of those flu shots!)

Oh, by the way Zach peed in his bed last night so pretty much I have tons of sheets to do yet don't have one ounce of energy to do it. The joys of motherhood!

TAGGED !!

2007-11-10T21:18:00.000-08:00

Well I guess my time is up, I've been tagged with this particular tag by Rebecca, Kelly and now Jessica...so I'm goin' for it.

RULES:
1. List the link to your tagger and also post these following rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird, etc.
3. Tag 7 people at the the end of your blog also leaving the links to their blogs
4. Let them know they are "TAGGED" by leaving a comment on their blog

THE FACTS...strange or not ~

1. I used to talk in my sleep and I've been sleepwalking on an occasion. I would wake up doing some really random things. The absolute worst was one time I began to climb on a dresser near my bed and then whole thing fell over--including the fish bowl. It was such a mess. I always wonder what could I've been trying to do--climb Mt. Everst!

2. I've been known as the "capital queen". That is someone who knows all 50 states capitals. Impressive, I know. Although, I don't think I can claim to be "capital queen" anymore.

3. I LOVE cookie dough and really any kind of dough (cake batter, brownies, banana bread, you name it and I'll at least give it a try)! I think I may love the cookie dough more than the actual cookie, either that or I'm so stuffed on cookie dough I can't bear to eat one more thing.

4. Once when I was younger I got busted for riding on my 16 yr old neighbors new moped and I hid in a closet (don't ask why). I guess I got tired in there and fell asleep under some blankets, my parents started looking for me and searched everywhere calling my name but I didn't hear them and they ended up calling the police. Eventually one of their friends (who came to help look for me) started going through the blankets in the closet and found me there asleep. I think my parents were both happy to see me alive yet so stinkin' mad they could barely talk to me.

5. My dream vacation is to go on an African safari. I think that would be so awesome!

6. I never remember meeting Alex for the first time. We grew up together and he's always been a part of my life. He's seen me though all the stages of life, including the dorky, awkard junior high stage.

7. I've never colored or bleached my hair. One time (about 5 years ago) I tried to add a few highlights and not one person noticed...therefore I figured I'll save my money and use it on something else...like shoes.

Okay, so I don't know who has done this or not but I don't think I've seen this tag by Annalee, Julie, or Jenny! So I'd love to see what you have to say!

HALLOWEEN

2007-11-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

Another year of pumpkin carving, candy, costumes and witches brew. We had a fun Halloween this year and completly exhausted our kids. Here's a few pictures of the kids in costume:

Chase with his pirate make-

up on Making "witches brew" . Alex does this every year with the kids and they love it!! This year it was Root Beer witches brew.

Chase as a pirate

Zach as Darth Vardar

Megan as "Hermoine Granger" from Harry Potter

Fun with The Jewells

2007-11-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

The Jewell's came for a weekend visit. We had a lot of fun with them and glad they came to see us. Here are a few pictures of our weekend together:

Zach & Sabrina "helping" make a cake

At one of our favorite places--Ruby's!

all the cousins (& Alex)

Way to go Alex!!

2007-10-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Zach & Chase waiting for dad

After the 26.2 miles

We returned home from our weekend trip to St. George where Alex ran in the marathon there. This is his 3rd time running this race. He had his best time ever at 3:46:18. He had a pretty good run (except for some stomach problems in the middle of the race), the weather was perfect and he was able to run with his friend, Cory until mile 17. We all had a good time cheering on the runners! Brad and Kelly (Quinn, Ansley and Holden) came with us and we had a lot of fun, as we always do when we're together. It was a quick trip but we did find time for Cafe Rio and to take the kids to see the temple.

I NEED YOUR HELP!

2007-09-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my little angelic son Chase decided to pour himself a glass of milk while I was up blow drying my hair. I came downstairs to find 1/2 gallon of milk all over my rug in the family room. I got all the milk up that I could, washed with water and soap. My house stunk so terrribly bad for a couple days but I kept trying ... so now my house doesn't smell like sour milk anymore but if you stick your nose down on the spot in the rug it is a horrible stench! I've tried baking soda, alcohol (read that on on-line), club soda. Any other ideas????

Chase as a Girl!!

2007-09-11T22:09:00.001-07:00

So I thought this was so funny. We went to Disneyland the other day with family and my niece picked out this Sleeping Beauty wig for her gift that day. We tried it on Chase and couldn't stop laughing. So I guess I know what he may look like with long, blonde locks!

Happy Birthday Alex

2007-09-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

Alex with his biggest fans on his b-day

Zach got him a new measuring tape

Happy Birthday Alex! He turned 38 today and doesn't like it when he turns the even numbers (I have no idea why) But anyway, luckily he's got a young face and is young at heart since he's getting a little nervous about approaching the 40's. A better father for my children I could never have asked for -- he is kind, loving and always patient with them. He is also a great husband, someone I plan to grow old with (of course he'll be growing older faster than me--haha!) We love you!!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

2007-09-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Day One! Megan was very nervous and couldn't eat breakfast but couldn't wait to get out of here fast enough to "get the show on the road". She started 3rd grade & is in Mrs. Morgan's class. She is most excited about learning cursive handwriting this year. She said after school, "I love 3rd grade!" Lets hope that lasts all year...

Zach was also excited about going to day one of kindergarten. (although he called my mom to say he got his high school teacher's name) We got to school a little early and showed him where Megan's room was, she happened to be at recess so he got to talk and see her for a minute. As we walked over to his classroom, I suddenly felt the "death grip" on my hand and he was pulling me away from the class. I was thinking...oh boy, this is not going well at all. He said he wasn't going in and that he would "watch through the window." I finally coxed him in and then he did really well. That was a scary start, though. We'll see how it goes tomorrow! He's excited because he met a new friend named Jack and he likes him because he has the same name as Jack Sparrow. So as long as everything relates back to pirates we'll be doing good!

His teacher also had Megan for kindergarten asked me if he would be a teacher's pet like Megan was and I laughed and said "you tell me in a couple of weeks!"

1st Day of School

2007-09-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

Zach-- ready to go!

Lauren, Lainey, Megan & Nicole

FUNNY COMMENT BY ZACH

2007-08-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I struggled and struggled with Zach & potty training (mostly the poo-poo part). So I don't know why but these past couple of weeks he has been having some "accidents" in his underwear. I don't know if its just thats its summer with lots of stuff going on and he dosn't want to take the time to go poop or if he just ignores all warning signs until way too late! In any case, it happened again today and I was pretty frusterated so I told him he would have to be in a time-out for the entire day if it happened again. No beach, no swimming, no play dates, no movies, etc. I ushered him back into the bathroom for "cleaning up" when he came out a minute later and said "mom, do you think I will be out of that time-out by Christmas?" I had to laugh, too funny!

SHE DID IT!!!

2007-08-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

Back in February when Megan turned 8 we told her she could get her ears pierced. She was pretty excited about the idea until the time came and then she decided she wasn't ready. But, yesterday driving in the car she told me she thought she was ready to get them done. Last night we had to go to South Coast Plaza to return a rug (a whole different story for a whole different time). As luck would have it a Claire's was right next to the Pottery Barn (where we were). So I showed Megan that she could get her ears done right then and there. She jumped at the chance and went for it! We all got to watch and she was very brave. So, now she gets to wear these earrings for a long 2 months and clean them 2/day. By Halloween you'll get to see her in a new pair of earrings!

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-08-13T23:09:00.001-07:00

MOONLAKE RESORT

2007-08-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

We were off for a family trip with all of Alex's siblings (minus Courtney who we missed having there) to a "camping" trip in Utah. Our first stop was at the Granny's Drive In in Heber for milkshakes. This is were we all met up and then headed up in the mountains together. It wasn't a true camping trip in that we had little rustic cabins, a small bathroom with a shower, a fridge, sink and stove. That's my kind of "roughin' it". The kids all had such a fun time being together with their cousins. We went hiking, the kids all went fishing with Uncle David, we went out on the lake in some paddle boats and kayaks, horseback riding, we even saw a pretty deer walk into our campground! Luckily, we never saw a bear! The lake is super cold so we didn't really get into that but the kids loved playing at the waters edge and the boys especially loved all the mud! Each night we had a bon-fire and sat around the fire laughing and talking. Zach's favorite part was adding more wood/paper plates/ leaves/whatever he could to the fire. It was a great trip!

Zach & Parker's Pirate Party

2007-07-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Zach and Parker's Pirate Party. We had lots of fun getting into the "pirate" mood. We walked the plank and had a cannon ball toss and then the most exciting part was when Jenny--our local pirate payed us a visit! She came totally dressed in pirate costume and face painted skulls and crossbones (& mustaches) for all the kids. The kids loved her!! At the end of the party, the kids got to go on a treasure hunt and ended up finding the "golden booty" (aka their goody bags). All and all it was a fun party.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-07-25T22:01:00.001-07:00

Zach Turns 5!!!

2007-07-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

Wow! Zach made it to 5 and I as his mother, made it with him! Its truly been a journey. I have to admit, I will never forget seeing him for the first time...it was love at first sight for me. Zach is my 100% boy (except when he dresses up like Vanna White or in Megan's clothes)...he keeps me constantly running and on my toes. Here's a few things I will never forget:

1. Calling 911 not once but twice (the police came over) we probably have a red flag by that phone number

2. Throwing shoes over my back fence (not just his shoes, but his friends too)

3. Convincing Miss Laurie I was pregnant (when I wasn't)

4. His love for ALL animals - he probably should have been born on a farm

5. His passion for the American Flag (we couldn't go anywhere without a flag with us)

6. Putting a BB up his nose (& then lying about getting it out)

7. The time he took a leap into the swimming pool at his first swimming lesson and sank to the bottom. (he screamed the entire first week of lessons after that)

8. A million or so pair of underwear I went through to get him potty trained.

9. Taking a record-breaking 8 months to get adjusted to nursery

10. His overall love of all the tiniest things in life!

Myrtle Beach

2007-07-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

We headed across the country to Myrtle Beach, SC for a family reunion in June. We met up with all the Lorscheiders and stayed at the beach for a week. We had such a great time. All 25 people (plus and minus a few on any given day) stayed in the same house!! No one even got thrown out. We spent a lot of time in the water (warm water is sure easier to get into then our cold California ocean). We also went swimming a lot in the pool, went mini-golfing, built sand castles, rode beach cruisers right on the water, and even touched alligators at the Alligator Adventure Park there in Myrtle Beach. It was a great vacation. Great times...great memories!

Dance Recital

2007-06-29T23:05:00.000-07:00

This is Megan's first dance recital with her friend Taylor. They did a jazz routine to a Hair Spray song. We loved watching her perform and we were sad that Alex wasn't there to see her. He'll be there next time for sure!!!!