New Glasses!

Annabelle got new glasses!

Oh, wait, wrong glasses picture. Here are her new real glasses:
Like mother, like daughter.
Jonah trying on Annabelle's glasses:
Who is this in disguise? So cute.

Easter 2011

Russ and Charity wedding pictures

My younger brother Russell and his bride Charity were married Sat Apr 16 in the San Diego Temple. The sealer talked about our potential as a married couple. Also about being kind to each other. The ceremony was wonderful.

Everyone looked beautiful together.

This is Navena, Iliana and MaKaylee Nye:

This is Hailey Slaugh and Jasmyn Nye:
Congratulations Russ and Charity!

San Diego Beach

Friday we met at the beach. None of the kids had ever been to an ocean beach before. So experiencing the water and waves was an adventure. The water was very, very cold. I at first decided not to get in. But then I saw Kolby, Levi, Jasmyn and Hailey, and maybe even MaKaylee and Little Joe, oh and Jed too, just run all the way in as far as they could and start jumping in those waves and having so much fun! I decided to be brave and forget about the cold. Walking in slowly did not work. I had to just run all the way, splashing all the way, until I couldn't run any further. It took a few minutes for my breath to come back. We jumped into the waves, rode the waves, and had a blast.

Discovering the tiny clams on the shore was fun, too. Oliver, Navenah and Iliana were collecting shells when we noticed some of them move, wiggling down into the sand. So we examined all the shells more closely and discovered most of them were alive. When we tried to pick them up they closed up tight. We had to wait until water washed over them for them to stick out their little foot and move a bit.

Great day at the beach. Russ joined us there.

Friday night we had a family get-together with Russell's family and Charity's family. Joe and Miriam grilled for us and provided dinner - yum! We got to hear stories from siblings/parents like how you met your spouse, where was your first kiss, who liked who first, etc. It was a wonderful evening.

Sea World

I flew into San Diego late Wednesday night. Thursday, Apr 14, the whole family (minus Russ, Charity, and Ezra and my kids) went to Sea World together. We enjoyed seeing the sea lions, sea turtles, sharks, star fish, octopus, and of course the dolphins and killer whale!

We had front row seats for the dolphin encounter show. In the splash zone! This dolphin above came right up for a few seconds. I could have stepped forward and touched it! We definitely got splashed! I don't have pictures from the killer whale show. I chose to sit much farther back to avoid getting soaked. By the end of the day most of us were wet and cold from the wind.
This is a gondola ride out over the bay and back:
Same:
A small pool with lots of star fish. You can reach in and touch them. We even picked one up, set it on our arm under water, and let it curl itself around our hand! This is 8-year old MaKaylee:
I really enjoyed the day! So fun to spend time with nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, mom and dad! I had to introduce myself to 5-year old Navenah. Then she took my hand and had me run ahead with her everywhere. So fun.

"I Love the Sprinkler"

The weather was warm enough to pull out the sprinkler! Here are some fun video clips of mostly Finn experiencing the sprinkler and water balloons. Click Here.

Just a funny face I caught:

That evening we lit a fire and roasted marshmallows. Simple family activities create wonderful memories.

"I Love the Sprinkler"

The weather was warm enough to pull out the sprinkler! Here are some fun video clips of mostly Finn experiencing the sprinkler and water balloons. Click Here.

Just a funny face I caught:

That evening we lit a fire and roasted marshmallows. Simple family activities create wonderful memories.

Lounging at Daddy's work

It is Grace's turn to be sick. Weird that her stomach bug waited a week after Olivia had it. Grace threw up a few times last night. But none today. Still a bit of a fever and still not all better, but no more throwing up today.

We got to watch the first session of conference in my bedroom. Annabelle, under the weather Grace and I laid on the bed and watched. Jonah and Olivia did puzzles on the floor. I got to listen fairly well! I was very happy about that. Annabelle asked, "why are they always talking to moms and dads? What am I supposed to listen for?" But we enjoyed the stories. I will talk to the kids tomorrow at breakfast if they remember any of the stories.

We missed the second session running errands. Then Ezra had invited us to visit him in the hospital as he was not busy. He's on a 24 hour shift. All the other anesthesia residents are away at a conference, so the anesthesia lounge was empty. We brought up a pizza and watched a movie there together. Ezra didn't get to stay long with us as hoped; he was called away to give some epidurals and help with a C-section. Oh well. We still had fun being at Daddy's work.

April Fools

Annabelle planned ahead for April Fool's Day. The night before, she gathered nail polish, a bowl of dirt, vaseline, and made a fake parking ticket. She warned us all to watch out for pranks! After she had gone to sleep I checked her alarm clock. It was set for 6:20am. Too early! I changed it to 6:40. Still plenty of time to get her pranks in.
The next morning I heard Jonah at 6:15am, "Get out of my room, Annabelle!" She was trying to paint his nails red, but he had woken up. Later when I was up she came pouting that someone had stollen her vaseline and dumped out her dirt. So her pranks were spoiled! I tried to tell her she was pranked, and she should laugh about it, but that didn't help.

Since Annabelle was getting in to planning pranks, I decided to try a few of my own. I switched the cereals to different boxes. But as breakfast was about to start, Annabelle pulled out 2 new boxes from the storage room, so my prank almost went unnoticed. Olivia was surprised when she asked for cheerios and corn flakes poured out. We laughed together.

But here is my best prank: I served cupcakes for dinner! Click here to see!

Oh, I forgot about the parking ticket. Annabelle and I found an image of a fake parking ticket. We printed it, filled it out, and stuck it on Ezra's car. He was fooled for a minute! Annabelle had good prank plans, didn't she? The vaseline was to rub on the toilet, then sprinkle dirt over top I think to look like a poopy mess. This was a prank intended for Grace.

Oh, I forgot to mention also that two days ago I almost sat on a toilet seat covered with vaseline. In my bathroom. Jonah had tried to fool me early! Tricky, Tricky.

Did anyone play pranks on you?

Horse-Couch Race

Pretend play last weekend:
Horse-Couch Race