Thanksgiving - Because it's January

I know Thanksgiving was so last year but I'm posting pictures anyway.  I might make it to Christmas pictures before next Christmas.

We invited ourselves to Teresa and Dave's house in the Bay Area for Thanksgiving.  Luckily they were both raised with "The More The Merrier" and it didn't even phase them too much.  I did mention I felt a bit like Cousin Eddie from the Lampoon movies, but it turned out awesome.  There were three other families there also so it was a party!

Thanksgiving day started with football and swords in the backyard with mad cooking in the kitchen.  There was also a bed jumping/frolicking/kid laughing crying happening upstairs.  Thanksgiving night we played games and ate pie.  A lot of incredible pie.  We learned some new games, although the rules varied with whom was playing.  Ha ha.

The day after Thanksgiving we went on an adventure to the beach - I can honestly say I've never been to the beach around Thanksgiving.  Yeah, that rocked.

Let me tell you a bit about Teresa.  She is my closest cousin in age and personality.  She is super fun and super cute and I've always wanted to be like her.  Do you have a cousin like that?  Yeah, she's all that.  I do have to mention she is 7 days older than me.  Not a big deal - unless when you're a kid she always said, "I'm older so I get to decide."  Well - karma has a funny way of turning that action around.  Now I'm 7 days YOUNGER than she is.  Ha ha.  :)  Here are some pictures of Teresa and I and Dee and I at sunset.  Fun stuff.  Love that they live so close now!

We also went for a hike to work out some energy and lose some of that pie.  Beautiful place they live and as you can tell it was nice and warm for us.  

It was awesome to see them and enjoy Thanksgiving with such cool people.  There were lots of kids to play with, adults to talk to and great food to eat.  It was fun to laugh (yes, POWELL laugh) with Teresa and hear  her view on childhood shared memories.  I am thankful!

Where to begin?

Happy 2013!  

Starting the New Year feeling this behind isn't good.

I'm not sure where to start, I have soooooo many pictures.  And excuses. And so much has happened since my last blurb.

Maybe this one will be without pictures, maybe it'll be stories and the pictures can come later.

First the excuses.  

I got an iPad.  It was supposed to be in last July for our anniversary (Dee won it through work - Yay Dee!) and it didn't come until October.  Love it.  What does that have to do with my blog you ask?  I rarely use my computer any more.  However, I haven't figured out how to access my pictures to update them to my blog.  Complicated technology, I know.  

Next and more time-note-worthy is Tyler started home school in October.  It's a long complicated story involving high expectations and a teacher not delivering (when I say "high" I mostly mean "teaching").  It has had it's ups and downs: one of the ups being Tyler gets to be home all the time and one of it's lows being Tyler gets to be home all the time.  Selfish, I know.  I had about 4 hours to myself a week with Carter being in Pre-School - which might not seem like a big deal but this was the first time in 13 years to have 4 hours a week to myself.  Selfish, I know.  

Some of the good out of that is I've learned a lot of things I had forgotten from school, things I distinctly remember thinking, "I'll never use this again!  Why do I have to learn this stuff?!"  Surprise!  I've also been reminded of things I enjoyed learning.  It has also been fun getting to know Tyler on another level.  He's a funny kid.  Most importantly I see a love for learning returning to Tyler's eyes, I love when they get excited about something they learned, get excited about learning.  This is why I do what I do.  

As for adventures that include a lot of pictures to be posted at a later time:

Thanksgiving was spent with my amazing cousin Teresa and her family.  We weren't turned away when we invited ourselves to their house (no, really) and had a GREAT time.  They recently moved to the Bay Area and it was the first time in history I can recall being at the beach around Thanksgiving.  It was great company, great food and a great time!  I laughed so hard (although not the Powell laugh that reared it's ugly head...LOL) and loved sharing stories and commiserating with Teresa about our family and youth.

December flew through with projects at school (not Tyler's though, ha ha!) and a performance for Ellie - LOVE the Christmas song she learned this year - Carter's Preschool (he had his pants zipped this time - forgot to mention that about Thanksgiving, talk about funny!) and a big one for McKenna at the middle school.  Our friend even called it a "McKenna variety show" because she was in so many numbers.  That one also included the snack bar which I am always crazy enough to volunteer to run which means I spend a week baking like Mrs. Claus.  

Christmas break this year included going to Utah for two full weeks!  It was different for me this time.  Better.  It was the first official time we didn't have a baby I had to get up with or follow around to make sure they didn't get into stuff.  I slept in.  I played with adults.  We got to see lots of family but didn't feel rushed to do so.  We played in the snow.  We saw sites (Temple Square) and went on a date.  My entire family was together a couple times.  It was a wonderful time and my heart feels so full being able to be able to go.  

I promise pictures will come. I only have 500 or so to filter through... back to the iPad of avoidance.  :)

October...

The end of October flew and here we are jumping full bore into holiday season so I figure I'd better post before I take a zillion more pictures.

I was able to go on a field-trip to the High School petting zoo/farm.  (Told you it was a small town.)  It was so much fun to spend the morning with Carter and his little buddies.  Plus I got to hold a two week old piglet which totally made my day.  (Told you I am now a small town girl.)  

 This was us on the hay ride.  If it looks like he doesn't want to be on my lap taking a picture it's because he doesn't.  However, sometimes you have to love your mom in front of your buddies.  Just wait until you're a teen-ager and I'm STILL loving you in front of your buddies!  Probably won't be able to sit you on my lap and hold you there, though. 

And of course, Halloween.  Spiderman (with the glasses, that made me laugh), a football player and a turtle - with make-up.  Don't know why, that was big sister's doing.  They made out with some pretty decent candy even with rain and most importantly they had a good time.  

Family, Fun and Fall

It's been a while.  In order to not feel behind I'm going to start with today and go backwards.  We'll see how far I get.

I guess I can't start with today because today has a bit of a back story (ha ha don't I always?)  We usually visit Utah twice a year to see family.  This year we took our Southern Utah trip and Disneyland because of Ellie's baptism when lots of family came out here.  This worked all fine in my mind but there are so many people I haven't seen in our family for almost a year.  Even those that were able to come out I haven't seen in 6 months.  I am homesick.  I don't remember being this homesick since the year Carter was born and everyone felt so far away.

This has been building for a while (pretty much every year when it gets SO HOT here is when it starts) but seems to be compounded with time.  Little things would set me off like seeing a changing leaf, smelling the heater turn on for the first time, knowing I wouldn't see my new nephews until they were 6 months old, being at a soccer game with my kids and knowing our families would LOVE to be there.  Ya.  It seems silly I know.

Long story short (with heartfelt prayers answered, btw) my sister Suzanne and two of her boys came for a visit since her husband would "be in the neighborhood" (meaning only 4 hours away instead of 12).  AWESOME!!!

Suzanne and baby Zev.  He is SOOOO happy and sweet.  I was happy as can be just playing with him.  It was great having one on one time with Suzanne.  Miss them!!

 Enos and Carter.  They are only 9 months apart and play well together.  However, they do NOT sit and take pictures together well.  The first couple I tried the "1,2,3 click" and they both jumped up at 3.  The last picture I said, "1, 2 CLICK!"  Ha.  I'll show them.

This is Zev and Tyler.  As soon as Ty saw him he grabbed the iPad and took a picture with him.  Funny boy.  

They couldn't stay long but their visit was such a lift and blessing I can't even truly describe.  I can make it until Christmas now!

Fall is also in the air (FINALLY!) This was our pumpkin harvest - all volunteer pumpkins I might add.  We painted a number of them while we listened to Conference.

And these are our doors.  Super cute, I know.  Thanks Pinterest.  I cut Ellie off in this collage and don't know how to fix it.  Just pretend there is a super cute little girl who helped me create the monsters.  

We love the coast...

I'm going to try again to post about when we went to the coast last month.  My computer has decided to only work when it feels like it so wish me luck.  Part of my problem is I love pictures.  This means I have 108 pictures from our coast trip to shuffle through to summarize.  Wish me luck!

The first day we hit the beach as soon as possible.  We had sun (always a pleasant surprise in this part of the world) and just had fun playing.  I was so proud of myself for bringing swimsuits and a change of clothes for all the kids.  We usually think, "It's too cold, they won't get wet."  Ha.  The top collage is the girls and the bottom is the boys.  The girls are generally always in the water and the boys play in the water for a while then migrate to the sand.  

This was the first time Carter remembered going to the ocean, which is always a treat.  He was pretty tiny last time we went.  He loved it.  Loved it.  He and Ty made a lovely sand castle.  We traced shadow people.  Dee set up a soccer field with their flip flops at the goals.  

The next day Dee had to work so the kids and I explored the town.  We hit the zoo/park first.  If you get a chance to go to the Eureka Zoo, it's super fun with kids.  Tiny little zoo with a great petting farm. Just over the fence from it is an amazing park with HUGE sequoias with a slide built right in the middle.

Next we learned of a children's exploring museum we checked out.  We were the only ones there so we took it upon ourselves to discover everything!

 As soon as Dee was off work we went for a hike.  It was colder that day (again, side note that when we left our house the forecast said it was going to be 105.  At the coast the high was maybe 68.  So the cold was really cold.)  so we didn't want to play in the water.  We hiked up by Trinidad (my favorite place!!!)  We hoped to see a whale, but no luck this time.  

These last set are actually at Trinidad beach.  On our hike there we found a banana slug and lots of other treasures.  

And finally just a few of my favorite pictures.

 I'm not sure if you can see the feet print.  Love this one.

 I realized I didn't have a picture of me at the beach.  I gave my phone to Ty (who was the only one near me, everyone else was at the water) and asked him to take a picture.  Unfortunately, his hands were covered in sand and he was holding the phone with his palms and trying to use his nose to push the button.  As you can tell, the picture didn't turn out well, but it makes me laugh every time I see it.

 And of course, this one.  The mustache and hat were actually the happy meal toys. Love his expression!

School Started

School starting is a mix of overjoyed and extreme sadness in our home.  I LOVE having my kids home.  I LOVE them being here.  I DO NOT love the bickering.  I DO NOT love the constant mess.  When school starts we are both happy to get moving on a routine again, but sad to lose our flexibility.  Ahhh life. 

These are the first day of school pictures.  

*Disclaimer here* apparently Tyler was having a bad picture day.  I didn't realize until later they ALL turned out weird.  He saw them just now as I'm posting this and did a belly laugh at how they look.  He is still chuckling through his toothbrush.  Anyway, he started 6th grade this year.  He's excited about his teacher, whom he also had in 4th grade.  He had quite a few friends move schools this summer so we are hoping a great set of GOOD friends turn up.  He starts Flag Football next week and is super excited about it.  He is also 5'1, I should mention.  As you can imagine he spent a lot of this summer eating to reach that incredible height.  He's going to be a tall kid!

Little Ellie started 3rd grade which is the biggest in the school.  She's VERY excited about that.  I think it comes from being tiny her whole life.  Being the oldest AND the loudest is pretty important.  She has a great class and loves her teacher.  She started soccer again and loves it.  What can I say, it's Ellie.  She loves life!

McKenna, too, is the eldest in her school.  However, her next stop is High School. WHAT THE HECK?!  She's in 8th grade this year and loves the social-ness of school.  She is adjusting to a different year with most of her friends in the other class but I'm sure it will balance.  Not that I worry about stuff... 

She tried out for the school soccer team this last week and will find out Monday.  I know she'll make it.  She rocks. :)  Also in fairness to her massively competitive side I should note that she is 5'2.  Thus far she has been able to stay ahead of Tyler, but I think next summer that might all change!

*Side note here, while taking her school shopping I realized I had seen all the clothes before.  IN THE 80'S!  Weird, right?  Don't mind the neon, sick of the skinny jeans and the tight flowered pants just made me laugh out loud.  And the vests.  Ahhhh, good times.

This little man started preschool.  He actually went half a year last year to a fabulous private preschool but this year he is in preschool at the big-kid school.  There were driving issues, but that is for a whole other post. As you might be able to tell he was SUPER excited to go.  Like, so excited he forgot to cry for his mom.  Like, so excited he forgot to wave to her.  Like, so excited he didn't see me watching him through the window with tears on my face.  I'm not much of a crier but there is something about that last kid growing up so fast it hurts.  Sometimes I just want time to slow down but instead it seems to speed up.  

I digress.  He loves preschool.  He loves his new buddies whom he doesn't know their name but he calls them things like, "The blue shirt who played Power Rangers with me."  He loves his new lunch box and his backpack.  And, my favorite part, he loves when I come pick him up.

He started soccer too now that he is "finally four".  I'm so excited to watch his games.  I love U-6 because they are downright funny!

Off to a new year.  Off to a great year.  Best kids, best lessons!

The rest of July FLEW!

Suddenly it's August.  For a quick recap of the rest of July:

Dee and I had our 16th anniversary.  SIXTEEN!  The best part?  We still like each other!  He had to go to the coast for work and we arranged our kids to be in other places and I went with him.  It rocked.  We saw a movie,  I shopped while he worked, we hiked around, we ate at a fancy restaurant, non-kid-oriented stuff. (I also have to throw in, during that time it was 107 at our house and the coast was a high of 68.  NICE!)

The next weekend we headed to Mt. Lassen to hike.  No reason, just needed to get away to someplace cooler.  It was in the 80's which is lovely and fun with the fam which is also lovely.

There is more but it's taking forever to upload so it'll have to wait.  Mostly I can't believe July is over!!