These are some movie clips I wanted to post a while ago. Enjoy!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Baptism and Trek
Okay, hopefully after this one I'll be all caught up. Also hopefully Carter will continue to nap through this post so I can finish it!
After all the birthday parties we moved on to our next big adventure which was Tyler's baptism. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S 8! Anyway, both sides of the family came out/up which is always exciting and a bit stressful for me. I love when they're all here but I get a little neurotic a few days before hand. I'm a closet worrier what can I say?!
Wednesday my parents arrived (they had been at Suzanne and Waf's for a few days before - see her blog) and were able to catch one of Tyler's baseball games. Now they're not baseball fans so this was a true grandparent moment of sacrifice and love. Ellie also loved it because Grandpa frequented the snack bar as many times as she wanted to go!
That night Andy, Dennis, Lee, Bert and Revis came up to spend the night before they headed out. Our house is slightly small (no basements here) so they were lucky enough to sleep on the couches and trampoline before they headed out camping. This would have been okay except Carter had done something painful to his leg and wasn't able to sleep more than 3 hours (and mind-you with a houseful of people I felt terrible we were keeping them awake so I ended up in the van a lot of the night. Sorry guys!)
Thursday the guys headed up camping and the gals were gathering in Sacramento. McKenna had a performance Thursday night so we stayed until Thursday to head down.
We got to Sacramento and were able to enjoy great company and good food. Kristi, Pat, Heather, Amber, Tressie, Jordyn, mom and my girls (and Carter). We took it easy and laughed a lot. It is always so much fun to be around extended family and I am so thankful to have the family we do. It was also fun to be able to hang out with my soon-to-be niece Amber and get to know her a little better. McKenna wanted nothing more than to hang out with the teenagers. I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S 10!
Saturday we all headed back up and my two sisters and family came up. The guys came off the mountain (which I won't go into much you'll have to ask them. They weren't able to backpack this year and except the poison oak and cooooolllldddd water it sounds like they had a great time.) Then we prepared for the baptism.
Tyler has been working up to this. He is also a closet worrier and generally doesn't like attention put on him. We talked quite a bit about what it means to be baptized and it was him who decided to do it. I am so proud of him and loved watching Dee walk him into the water and baptize our boy. It was one of the most tender moments for me. Dee being worthy to do that is such a blessing for all of us. What a wonderful man/husband/father I married! Tyler has grown into such an amazing kid. His sense of humor has really come out as well as his ability to understand others. He has grown so much both physically and mentally this year it blows me away. I am so proud of him!
Unfortunately the time flew and everyone but Marybeth had to leave (she was able to stay until Tuesday). I am looking forward to next year when it won't be at my house and I'll get to hang out a lot more. It felt way too fast this time and not enough visiting time. Some had a 12 hour drive ahead of them and I am so grateful for everyone who came up to support Tyler. Quite a few people mentioned to Tyler how lucky he was to have such a supportive family and look them as examples. How blessed we are!
I wish I had some pictures and hopefully some of you reading this will send me copies or disks of yours!
After all the birthday parties we moved on to our next big adventure which was Tyler's baptism. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S 8! Anyway, both sides of the family came out/up which is always exciting and a bit stressful for me. I love when they're all here but I get a little neurotic a few days before hand. I'm a closet worrier what can I say?!
Wednesday my parents arrived (they had been at Suzanne and Waf's for a few days before - see her blog) and were able to catch one of Tyler's baseball games. Now they're not baseball fans so this was a true grandparent moment of sacrifice and love. Ellie also loved it because Grandpa frequented the snack bar as many times as she wanted to go!
That night Andy, Dennis, Lee, Bert and Revis came up to spend the night before they headed out. Our house is slightly small (no basements here) so they were lucky enough to sleep on the couches and trampoline before they headed out camping. This would have been okay except Carter had done something painful to his leg and wasn't able to sleep more than 3 hours (and mind-you with a houseful of people I felt terrible we were keeping them awake so I ended up in the van a lot of the night. Sorry guys!)
Thursday the guys headed up camping and the gals were gathering in Sacramento. McKenna had a performance Thursday night so we stayed until Thursday to head down.
We got to Sacramento and were able to enjoy great company and good food. Kristi, Pat, Heather, Amber, Tressie, Jordyn, mom and my girls (and Carter). We took it easy and laughed a lot. It is always so much fun to be around extended family and I am so thankful to have the family we do. It was also fun to be able to hang out with my soon-to-be niece Amber and get to know her a little better. McKenna wanted nothing more than to hang out with the teenagers. I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'S 10!
Saturday we all headed back up and my two sisters and family came up. The guys came off the mountain (which I won't go into much you'll have to ask them. They weren't able to backpack this year and except the poison oak and cooooolllldddd water it sounds like they had a great time.) Then we prepared for the baptism.
Tyler has been working up to this. He is also a closet worrier and generally doesn't like attention put on him. We talked quite a bit about what it means to be baptized and it was him who decided to do it. I am so proud of him and loved watching Dee walk him into the water and baptize our boy. It was one of the most tender moments for me. Dee being worthy to do that is such a blessing for all of us. What a wonderful man/husband/father I married! Tyler has grown into such an amazing kid. His sense of humor has really come out as well as his ability to understand others. He has grown so much both physically and mentally this year it blows me away. I am so proud of him!
Unfortunately the time flew and everyone but Marybeth had to leave (she was able to stay until Tuesday). I am looking forward to next year when it won't be at my house and I'll get to hang out a lot more. It felt way too fast this time and not enough visiting time. Some had a 12 hour drive ahead of them and I am so grateful for everyone who came up to support Tyler. Quite a few people mentioned to Tyler how lucky he was to have such a supportive family and look them as examples. How blessed we are!
I wish I had some pictures and hopefully some of you reading this will send me copies or disks of yours!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Birthdays galore but few pictures
McKenna's first. April was her 10th birthday and she got a "big friend" party this year. She chose the bounce house which was a ton of fun (and a little exhausting for those of us older than 10).
Ellie's May birthday was next. Her's is an "odd" year (she turned 5) which means she got a family party. She wanted to go to the zoo but the closest one is 2 hours away and we talked her into Turtle Bay and a picnic lunch at the river.
Tyler's May birthday rounded it off. He also got a big friend party at a gymnastics place. He had a great time and we were all so tuckered out in the end! The bad news is my camera is lost and I hadn't downloaded the pictures yet. Just use your imagination.
I'm having a hard time with my kids getting older this year. McKenna not only acts 10 but she looks it too. Ellie starts Kindergarten in a few months and Tyler has grown so tall he caught up with McKenna!
That's all the ranting for now, I catch you up on the final stuff on the next blog!
Ellie's May birthday was next. Her's is an "odd" year (she turned 5) which means she got a family party. She wanted to go to the zoo but the closest one is 2 hours away and we talked her into Turtle Bay and a picnic lunch at the river.
Tyler's May birthday rounded it off. He also got a big friend party at a gymnastics place. He had a great time and we were all so tuckered out in the end! The bad news is my camera is lost and I hadn't downloaded the pictures yet. Just use your imagination.
I'm having a hard time with my kids getting older this year. McKenna not only acts 10 but she looks it too. Ellie starts Kindergarten in a few months and Tyler has grown so tall he caught up with McKenna!
That's all the ranting for now, I catch you up on the final stuff on the next blog!
Spring Break
Over Spring Break we decided to do a camping vacation. We started at Suzanne & Waf's where we went to the park and had a pretend birthday party for all those Spring birthdays. The next day we mosied on down to the Santa Cruz Mountains. The campground was amazing, we went to the Redwood National Forest. It was packed but you couldn't tell with all the trees. We FROZE the first night but were sure it would improve since the weatherman told us so. The next day we went to the Santa Cruz boardwalk where we played half a day at the Boardwalk and the other half at the beach.
We went back to camp exhausted and that, good camping food and a warmer night helped us catch a good night! Saturday we played around camp and Suzanne, Waf and the boys came up for the day. We hiked and sat around the fire and got really dirty and just enjoyed being together and outside.
Sunday we packed up (not an easy task when you have all but the kitchen sink...) and headed home. That is a brief summary and doesn't do justice to the best vacation we've had in years, but it will have to do for now!
I'm Back!
There is sooooo much to catch up on - first let me explain. I've been without internet for a good month plus. At first I thought I would die and had forgotten how to function without it. I was paying bills late, I wasn't able to balance my checkbook, I couldn't look at missing assignments for school, I couldn't recheck library books, etc. etc. I didn't realize how addicted I had become until I was going through "rehab"! However, after friends looking at the problem, a hired tech and our DSL people come to find out...our computer is too old. Huh. That is an expensive purchase when all I want to do is music, pictures and internet. So I thought no problem. I'll just wait. Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. I can live without. Twitch. Then my parents were coming to visit (story about that in a minute) and mom calls and says, "Charleen (or internet angel as I now refer to her) has a computer she doesn't use anymore, would you like it?" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAA** Not only did they bring it, dad hooked it up and Dee and Waf were able to get me connected. I feel like a cast has been taken off, or maybe my life-jacket was put on. Regardless, lets just say I'M BACK! Woot! Woot!
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