It's Been A Long Time

I haven't even looked at my blog in years but I also haven't put together any photo albums, written in my journal, or anything else.  So I thought posting here would be better than nothing.  Spring 2011 we sold our house and bought a bigger one across the highway.  Considering how horribly the economy tanked, we were lucky to sell our house.  I was sad that we sort of broke even (paid a little out of pocket at closing) since we had been there 11 years and had put so many improvements (and money) into that house.  On the other hand we have a great house in a good neighborhood: almost 3,000 square feet, 4 bedrooms and an onsuite room, 3 bathrooms and 3 car garage, lots of yard.  Kids are growing up super fast.
Little T. started kindergarten, Big T. is now in 4th grade, Little J. is in middle school, Big J. started seminary and High School.
A few months ago my Dad lost his battle with cancer. What a wonderfully great man.  I really want to be like him when I grow up.
Right when we moved Tim got hired as the principal at the High School. It has been crazy busy for him and much more stressful.
I attended Girls Camp as an assistant one year and then as the Director the last two years.  I have amazing assistants who helped to create great camp experiences. My testimony has grown from those experiences.

San Diego Vacation (Part 1)

Tim took his personal days and we took a vacation a couple weeks ago. We chose San Diego because we've never been and because we wanted to try out Legoland before our kids outgrow it. When we arrived, the kids were the most excited about their separate/partitioned room with bunkbeds and the pool. It was nice to finally upgrade and get more than just a standard room for all 6 of us. I was a little surprised how small Tim and my section was but it was worth it to have bunk beds for the kids and separate space for Tim and me.

The next day was our Legoland Day:

Little T. wasn't big enough for the real driving cars but was just as happy with these fake ones.

He also loved the boats they had that aren't on a track or anything. You actually drive them yourself. He was very proud of himself.

Little J. showing his stuff. Yes the lego statues and other decorations around the park are all truly made out of legos that have been glued together. They even had a full size car made out of legos. I think it weighed like 3,000 pounds or something even though it is completely hollow.

This was little T.'s first ride. A helicopter that went up and down and you could make it turn. It had helicopter noises and he really enjoyed it.

The older 3 boys got to go to Volvo driving school and actually drive little cars around town. They had turn stop at stop signs and watch for others when they turned. It was fun for them.

Daddy and Big T. driving the boats.

Little J.

Big J.

A fun roller coaster for the kids and just the right speed for me.

They liked it so much they went on it again with Tim.

They also had MindStorms which Big J. and Little J. were old enough for. They build a robot lego and learn how to program it to do certain tasks (go forward for a specific length, turn, etc. then shoot balls into a hoop, turn around and come back). My kids thought it was great and wanted to buy one they could take home but when I told them it was around $300.00 they quickly changed their mind.

While the older boys waited in line for a log ride (very small and not worth the wait) Little T. played in the water at one of the several puddle parks they have. He had such a great time and probably could have stayed there for hours. He figured out quickly to step on certain things to make the water shoot up near him, on him, or around him.

There was also a pirate play place with slides, rope climbs, and several other fun things to knock over, climb on, and explore around.

Knights Tournament is this ride you see Tim and Big T. on. You can choose level 1-5 (the kids all had to do 2 I think because of their height). Each level is a different ride on this robotic arm thing. The other boys went on it too but here's one shot of Little T. sideways with his dad.

There was also a giant water area and the older 3 boys played with their swimsuits and got soaked. Every few minutes a giant bucket dumped water over the entire play area. The kids loved that. They even had little "water slides" or rather slides with water.

All the boys tried to stand in the spot they would get the wettest when the giant bucket dropped.

While the older boys played, Little T. snuggled up in a towel with his dad and took a nap.

This is MiniLand USA (or actually just a small portion of it-all made of legos). There is NYC (behind the boys), Las Vegas, and many, many other cities and areas. There were working legos boats with skiers, drag racers, a trolley, etc.

The kids insisted on getting a picture with this Darth Vader.

Be watching for Part 2 - Sea World, the Beach, and the Mormon Battalion

More from Easter Vacation

Our visit to SF (the boys are in front of the famous crooked road). We drove the road after this picture and I'm amazed at the houses along the road (and all over SF). I would be afraid to live there because of earthquakes. It's a crazy place to drive - oh, no wait it's a crazy place to let Tim drive. He definately made it fun (and about gave me a heart attack. The kids loved it though).Below is the Exploratorium. The boys were fascinated with all the things to do and explore. I enjoyed it too but after a couple hours I was ready to go.
My cutest boys sitting on a little chair

Walking along part of the Golden Gate Bridge was a very fun thing. We enjoyed going underneath the bridge and walking along it. What a beautiful background.

Six Flags was great. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the shows. There were some serious thrill rides which some were too large for our kids. Little J. is quite the daredevil though. He really enjoyed a couple of the serious rides.

We also enjoyed the butterfly house. Some of the butterflies were larger than I've ever seen. Little T. enjoyed it too; he pointed and got all excited every time he saw one (which was about every three seconds).

Little T. had enough. Isn't he the cutest thing?

Mom and the boys on a ride at Six Flags.

Back to Easter Vacation - the Ocean

Big T. at the ocean

Little T. and MomBig J.
Little J. (my little GQ man)

While in San Fransisco we took the boys to the ocean with hopes of finding some tide pools, letting them get wet in the waves and basically seeing what we could discover. Unfortunately it was windy and cold and high tide. We still had a good time and the boys did find a few treasures.

Vacation

Over Easter Break we went on a short vacation to California. When going over the mountain all the kids had their hands up on the windy road saying, "wheeeea, wheeeeaa, ..." We wondered why we were spending money to go to Six Flags when our kids were just as content driving on a windy road and pretending they were on a roller coaster. The baby even got in on the action too. He LOVES to do whatever the other boys are doing. We stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour and free jelly belly's. It was a long line but it's sort of a right of passage. Big T. was too small to remember when we went this time. I'm always amazed at how much sugar they can put into one tiny piece of candy. My kids tried some of the new flavors like "Toothpaste" and "Vomit". They both taste just like their name.
One of our stops was John Muir Woods. We saw some giant redwoods, went on a nice family hike and Big J. got to pass off part of his requirements for his Forester Activity Badge for Webelos.

This is a giant slug Little J. found on our hike. He insisted we take a picture so he could show his school teacher. It was fascinating and gross (in my opinion).

Mesa Falls, Reunion, and Yellowstone

These are some pictures we liked from Mesa Falls, Reunion and Yellowstone.

More vacation

After the reunion we went to Salt Lake City. Of course the kids loved playing with their cousins some more. They also loved the water park. Tyler's favorite was the wave pool. The other boys loved the more adventurous rides. We all had a blast.

Vacation & Summer

School is out and summer is here. Our vacation to the Family Reunion was fantastic. We saw more animals at Yellowstone this time than ever before. My favorite site is still the paint pots but Yellowstone falls was fabulous this early in the year.
Yellowstone was my favorite. The kids favorite part of the reunion was playing games with the cousins, and air hockey. Thanks to all my family for all the fun!