DC cont.

(Had trouble uploading all my pics in my last post...here are the rest of my favorites!)





































And, did I mention that I fell in love with our forefathers while I was there? Especially AL and GW!!

DC

I had the opportunity to visit DC this summer...yes, just ME! I left Wayne and the kids at home (with the help of my parents) and met Elizabeth (BFF/mission comp) in Washington DC for a week of touring the sites!! It was my first time visiting there and I LOVED it!! I look forward to returning with the whole family! What a great, meaningful, patriotic experience!! Here are a few of my favorite (of over 300) photos:

Happy Birthday Syd!

My poor 2nd child whose Birthday is last in the line of Spring birthdays!? We did celebrate, of course, I'm just exteremly late on the uptake (upload)! Happy Birthday my sweet Sydy, we love you!!

Happy Birthday MJ!!

Can my first baby REALLY be NINE years old?? It does not seem that long ago when on Easter Sunday morning while Wayne was passing the Sacrament in church I watched him as I grimaced through each contraction that became more and more painful as they came...just over six hours later, with little to NO pain and only a couple pushes...out came our beautiful baby girl! She continued to impress us (although we didn't realize the extent of our impression until her three siblings followed with NOT so great eating/sleeping/baby skills) when she slept through the night at only 6 weeks old, behaved like an angel even in church and was just the sweetest little baby! Now, at 9 years old she continues to be a GREAT girl...good example, hard worker, obedient and loving! She still continues to impress us DAILY with her artwork and creative creations! This girl is already ready to "sell" (according to my little brother who is a credentialed art teacher) since her artwork is already publicly displayed!? We sure love our little/big girl! Happy Birthday My!

Birthday morning. We obviously like to come right down and open presents!


Maya requested a square ("not a rectangle Mom") yellow cake with cookie crumbs on top...here's what she got. Hope it met her expectations!?




Some of her latest artwork displayed in our home!

This is the piece publicly displayed at the Robert L. Trigg Education Center. (Please excuse the photo quality...lack thereof...this photo was thankfully taken by my mom on her cell phone)

Water-colored piece displayed at the school art show





I love my girl!

Happy Birthday Buddy!

I can't believe my only son (third child) is now FOUR years old!? Where has the time gone? He's such a great kid! He got to have a birthday party at home, a dinner out with our family at the restaurant of his choice (is Chuck E. Cheese's really a restaurant??), a baseball birthday cake & ice cream and lots of love!! Unfortunatly, I was too busy having fun at Chuck E. Cheese to even remember to take photos, so our photos are limited this year. Happy Birthday Buddy! Love you!

Wayne lead a game of duck-duck-goose while I was organizing a transition from one activity to another...I was sooo glad he was able to come home from work for the party (ahh, the beauty of a short commute!)

We just did cupcakes for the party...he got to blow out FOUR candles on the top cake!



On the morning of his birthday he arose early (like normal) and drug all of us downstairs to watch him open his gifts!

Please excuse the bead-heads...just proof that it was early!!

The evening of his birthday, after C.E.C., we came home and had baseball cake! Honestly, who looks more excited in this photo...Z or me???

The Nut Tree!

A few weeks ago the girls had the day off of school so we decided to meet Grandma (my mom) in Vacaville at the Nut Tree shopping center! We enjoyed lunch at Fenton's (Zach...not so much), the train, the carousel (jayne not so much), playing on the playground and in the various safety vehicles! Good times. Thanks Gma!

Latest 'funnies'...

OK, so I know I've been a TOTAL blog slacker as of late, but let's just face it, WINTER is not my best season...I truly am a CALIFORNIA girl at heart...I love the SUN, WARMTH and BRIGHTNESS...the RAIN, FOG, and GRAY skies...not so much. So, is that my poor excuse for not blogging or what??? Anyways, ALL excuses aside, there is someone who I spend ALL day EVERYDAY with who ALWAYS keeps me smiling no matter the season...here are some of my recent, favorite and funniest moments with her:

I do realize that the photo is a bit blurry (just glad my dad was taking pics because i forgot my camera) but how funny is it!? We were at MJ's 3rd grade American Indian exhibit and my Dad was playing with Baby J, she just loved wearing his glasses and toddling around. Funny thing was, if she didn't maintain a smile on her face (thus raising her cheeks) the glasses would fall off, so she just kept this silly closed-mouth grin on the whole time...so funny! BTW...yes, she is walking now! One of my FAVORITE stage...a new walker!!

So, the other day I took the dog's blanket out of his crate to wash it and while I was putting it in the washer Baby J proceeded to crawl into his crate. She was so happy in there! Hey, who needs a pack-n-play when you've got a dog crate!?

Once you get past the crusty food left on her face from dinner (this photo was taken in the 5 minute interim between dinner and baths) you'll see what I saw crawling toward me when I looked down the hall to see what she was up to...she had actually found these goggles (which belong in zach's tool set), PUT them on and was cruising around house with them on! By the time I got the camera out she had taken them off so you'll see Sis' hand holding them up to Baby J's face. It was FUNNY!