Family Time

We are so lucky to live where people like to visit! Miriam and Marc came for some fun this last week. Thanks for a really fun time guys! Love you all! I have a million cute photos, here are a few!

No trip to So. California would be complete without a visit to the beach...so here we are. Porter dug a big whole in the sand and then Uncle Charlie filled it in for him. He was stuck, yes, he is standing upright in the sand.

Ellie, the other little mermaid

Charlie always helps the kids make great sand things, like this whale! Chloe and Ellie wanted to ride it. Isn't it cool?!

Liberty, Drex and MaryJane try to bury themselves in the sand. Too silly.

Loralei, almost cute enough to eat, right? She reminds me so much of Mir as a baby, but Marc thinks she looks just like him. (I beg to differ!)

Love this! Too cute, Garrison.

Chloe floats to shore on her boogie board. Doesn't that look relaxing?

LEGOLAND!

MJ and Drex in the lego boat.

MaryJane, Drex, Quin, Libby and Charlie. Ren and I were across from them. This was one of those really fun swinging boats. But it doen't just swing back and forth, it swings side to side and twists all around, while going back and forth. I had a headache before this ride started, this nearly put me over the edge. :)

MaryJane poses in front of the Mexican Hat Band! I think they were playing La Cucaracha!

Garrison really wanted the police car. (There was a fire truck, coast guard, and several others.) Maybe he'll be a cop! He and Marcus take this 'puppy' for a spin!

This little airplane ride was quite fun, even for me. Ren loved it! I have about 5 shots of Mir, Loralei and Garrison. In every one, Garrison is laughing hysterically. It is awesome! He had so much fun on this.

Ren takes his flight!

Loralei, Garrison and Marc. I think Garrison must be thinking..."Wow, they make all these from legos? That is mind boggling." This was on the boat that toured around the little lake.

Quin, Drex and MJ on the boat tour.

Talented Kids.

I'll try not to brag, but Porter and Chloe both had concerts recently. Both did very well. Porter plays the trumpet in the 7th/8th grade band. They even performed at Disneyland this year. The highlight was, of course, spending the rest of the day there with his friends. But I'm sure it was a great experience!

Chloe plays the flute in her 5th grade band. She didn't want us to come to her concert. So she was grumpy and didn't want me to take her photo. I saw a friend of ours take her photo (for which she smiled most prettily) so I gave her a guilt trip and she finally smiled for me too. What's up with the attitude?

FHE

Here is a recent Family Home Evening. Rusty got this great game, Yahtzee Free For All, for his birthday. (Thanks Mark and Teri.) We play it all the time. All the kids can play, ok, maybe not Ren. But he tries. He will take all the dice and throw them and yell a most robust "YES!" We just all crack up at him.

What's so funny, Chloe?

We are a happy family...most of the time! :)

Happy Birthday Girls!

Ellie turned 9 in March and MJ turned 6 in April. I can't believe how old they are now. Chloe and I had a discussion recently about what things would like in 10 years. And when I add those short ten years to their ages, I am scared. My babies are old!!!! :) Thats it, no more birthdays. I love them so much.

Ellie and her friend, Marisa, with MaryJane at ChuckeCheese.

I'm six! (Doesn't Ellie look so cute back there?)

MJ was lucky to have her cousins, Drex, Quin and Liberty come out to celebrate her birthday with her! They gave her a barbie car (Drex picked it out) and Ren wanted it so bad...he threw the biggest fit. LOL

Sweet Melodies

Ok. So I was blog surfing and came across this blog...

http://deardaisycottage.typepad.com/

It is a cute blog, I guess...but the music is great! I couldn't click off I was enjoying it so much! I thought of my mom, of course and that I needed to make her a cd with all these songs on it. But until then, mom...listen to this!

So, I love music and I love dancing. I just wanted to grab a partner and dance to these tunes. In fact, since Rusty doesn't really dance (that I know of?). I thought of an old friend of mine, we went out some in college. Really great guy, cute, nice, all the right stuff and boy could he dance. Like dance for real. I mean, leading me all over the dance floor dance. I remember coming home from a date and telling my mom that it was like a magic spell...we'd be dancing and I'd be in love. But when we stopped, that stopped too. I must really love Rusty cause he doesn't take me dancing and I still love him!

Happy Mother's Day!

Especially to my mother. I am blessed with a wonderful, generous, beautiful mother. If I can do as well as she did in raising us kids, I will be doing great! I have often wondered how she did it, 7 kids, so close in age. I am glad she did. I had a very happy childhood. I am one of the lucky ones. :) I am now a mother. I am very blessed to mother 5 amazing kids.

Today was a fun day for me. I felt very honored and loved. The kids woke me up with hugs and kisses, Elle, MJ and Ren anyway. (Porter and Chloe were asleep.) Rusty made me french toast with the yummy homemade syrup...with the kids help. I had fallen back asleep, and was woken by MJ asking me if I'd like my breakfast in bed or if I wanted to come down to eat with them at the table. I wanted to come down, but she really wanted me to eat up in bed. I know I was just being practical, but I didn't want to spill syrup on my covers, so I went to eat with them. So, church didn't start until 1, so we had a leisurely morning playing yahtzee free for all and talking. The kids did the dishes and that was nice. We got ready for church in relative peace...even Ren seemed to sense that today was special. He let me take off his firetruck shirt, to put on his church clothes. (Usually it is a battle, he is really picky about his clothes. I know, weird.) We got home a little after 4, Rusty again made lunch/dinner, which was delicious (burritos and quesadillas). We played Porter's new game...Settlers of Katan. Later we took a walk with our good friends, the Muirbrook's. It was a great day.

Good news...Natalie and Tony welcomed baby girl this morning at about 12:30 am. Nice mother's day gift, huh? Haven't decided on her name yet...tba. All is well with her and Nat.

New Beginnings? What?

Maile, Chloe, Julia and Madison

A knock at the door came not too long ago. It was the Ashdown girls, dropping off an invitation for Chloe to New Beginnings! What is going on? Chloe can't possibly be old enough for this! I know she will be 12 in November...but I was just really taken back to realize that she will be 12 in November! :) She is of course thrilled beyond description. She is very disappointed to be the only girl in her class that won't be going to girls camp. She is 5th grade, and the other girls are 6th. By the way, when would you let your daughter start to shave their legs...our latest issue! :) Anyway, Chloe is so wonderful! I can't believe my baby is getting so big.