Jones Party of Six

NJB Basketball 2012

2012-01-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

Trevor has joined the Ladera Ranch NJB for the first time this year. I had to convince him to try it out since basketball is such a great pick up sport. Plus Ryan still plays weekly and I know that he would love to play with his only son one day!

We got a kick out of his uniform...green and red...Merry Christmas...haha!! His team is the Milwakee Buccaneers. He has one of the best coaches in the league and for that we are thankful! Trevor is enjoying the sport and hopefully will continue next year. As of now he just wants to stick with baseball and football!

Baptism Program

2012-01-08T21:08:00.001-08:00

Meredith's Baptism

2012-01-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

Meredith was lucky enough to be able to get Baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on her actual birthday. She was the only person from our Ward getting baptized this month so she had a private baptism. The whole family got to participate!

Meredith before her baptism:

Ryan baptized Meredith. Here they are all dressed in white (which represents purity) ready for the baptism.

We were proud of her decision to be baptized!

The family....

...the real family!

Here is a picture of those in our family who were able to attend the baptism. We know Elder Shipp was there in spirit as well as a few other family members.

The men who were in the confirmation circle:

She got her first set of leather scriptures with her name embossed on them from Grandpa and Grandma Wright.

I decorated with "winter wonderland" theme:

These were the cake pops Meredith handed out after her baptism. There were 60+ people who came to support her in her baptism....she sure is loved....ALOT!!!

Happy 8th Birthday Meredith!!!

2012-01-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

Our sweet "doll" is turning 8 today! Today we reflect on the six weeks Danielle lived in the hospital, the trying to not have to deliver early and the sudden urgency to deliver Meredith at 34 weeks. The doctor and family were all surprised when our 4# 10oz. 16" long baby girl was super healthy. Small, but mighty!

We did not know what to do with such a small baby that would fit into her Daddy's hands:

So we just gave her lots of love and she grew and grew.....

Into a beautiful, TALL, little girl!

In our family it is a tradition to get your ears pierced at the age of eight. Meredith had anxiously awaited for this day to come! We went to dinner at Farrell's.....

Then walked downstairs to Claire's (Meredith's middle name) and she picked out the perfect 4mm cz earrings! Here is her before picture.

The during shot! She did not cry or flinch, however she said it hurt a lot more than she expected!

The After shot...all SMILES! She thought she looked so different and grown up when she saw herself in the mirror. We all agreed!

Happy Birhday Meredith!!!!

Coming up....Meredith gets baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on her actual birthday!!!!

Happy 40th Birthday Danielle

2011-12-30T22:08:00.000-08:00

My 40th birthday started off with a bang! I began the morning with a morning boot camp to get my old bones moving! Then my good friend Erin organized a birthday breakfast for me at Cinnamon Productions. I am so grateful for wonderful friends! Appropriately I had oatmeal for breakfast...since I am soo old now! Haha! I loved the advise I got from my fellow "40's" club members....this is the age when you no longer "care" about all those minor details that use to bog you down. I liked that advise the best!

After breakfast I came home to some wonderful homemade cards from Trevor and Madalyn. I will cherish those forever! Mackenzie posted a sweet blog post to me on her blog also which was touching.

Then the family brought me upstairs to open my gift...... a new iMac! My computer's (pc) hard drive is going bad so Ryan and I went shopping for a new PC last night. However the sales guy really got me excited about a Mac. As we all know Macs are about $700 more than a pc so I was so surprised when the family bought me an iMac. I am so excited to learn how to use it! if there are any mac lovers out there that could share some favorite features that I need to add I would really appreciate the advise!

Ryan was so excited to see if it works that he plugged it right into the wall in our bedroom and got to work. Super simple set up!

While Ryan set up the computer with the help of Meredith the other three kiddos were busy laying on our bed playing with their electronics...hello...anyone home??? I think not! hahah!

After the computer was all set up we drove up to Long Beach to have dinner with my family. Ryan had made reservations at Javiers at the Spectrum since Mexican food is my favorite, but I was craving Soupplantation. I got a bit teased for wanting to go there for my 40th birthday, but whatever! My soup and salad were delicious...hahaha!! After dinner my grandparents and sister came over and we had yummy cupcakes and ice cream.

It was probably one of my favorite birthdays because I able to workout, spend time with friends, and share the day with my family! Thank you to everyone who made this day so special! I am loving 40 so far!

Christmas Day!

2011-12-25T12:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was not a disappointment at the Jones home! Trevor and Meredith woke up around 7:00 a.m. and they were able to convince the rest of us to get up by 7:30 a.m.. So the kids all came down the stair together to see what Santa had left them.

Mackenzie got some Vans:

Madalyn a pair of over the knee leather boots:

Trevor got an ipod touch. Mom did not want him to get this, but I guess Santa had other plans!

Meredith got a Victorious Barbie Doll that sings.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year the family got all ready for church after opening presents. We were grateful for the 11:00 a.m. time slot this year! Mackenzie and I sang in the choir and our Sacrament service was wonderful. It was a perfect way to start out Christmas..singing praises and hearing the story of Christ's birth.

Immediately after church we drove up to my mom's house for Christmas dinner and celebration. The girlies loved the mini pillow pets for Great -Grandpa and Great-Grandma Dickison!

Meredith was so excited to get the navy blue Toms she wanted!

Trevor was most excited about the Bakugan arena and spinners!

It seems the family gets bigger every year! This year my parents had to set up three tables so everyone could fit! I think there were about 31 family members this year. That does not include any of Jim's kids either! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family on both sides!

Some additional gift highlights this year were...royal blue jeans, books, Bop-it, Madden Football, Fossil Fighters for the DS, 500 Days of Summer DVD and earrings.

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve was spent with the Jones side of the family. We drove down to Carlsbad and celebrated with good food and family! The kids put on the annual story of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Mackenzie was an angel, Meredith was Mary, Trevor was Joseph and Madalyn and Dallin were sheperds. Rachel read the story out of Luke.

Since the family is small the Jones Brothers were the three wisemen!

All the Jones boys...what a good looking group!

Trevor has so many similarities with Rodney so I had to get a picture of them together!

The dinner was delicious! Prime rib, twice baked potatoes, salad, homemade rolls and lots of yummy appetizers!

She survived!

2011-12-17T20:36:00.000-08:00

Mackenzie loves to play this.....

However she was born with a plica in the joint of her left knee. This "plica" is a band of tissue about the size of an index finger. Only about 5% of the population is born with this. If those born with it are athletes it will get filled with fluid and inflamed causing knee pain and the knee to "give out". Mackenzie was suffering from all these symptoms so she had the "plica" removed.

She was super brave..did not flinch at the IV, came out of anethesia like a champ and has been recovering pretty well. Today we changed her bandages and were surprised when we saw this.......

BLOOD.....lots of it! This is just a sample. It continues to ooze blood, but I am sure she will be fine in a few days. She has been able to get up and walk on it a little and do her doctor ordered exercises every hour. The doctor said it was a good decision to remove the plica because it was right at the bend of her knee and very inflamed. He said once she recovers she should be pain free!

Singers Company

2011-12-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

This past week Miss Meredith performed in another Singers Comapny performance. The outfits were absolutely the cutest ever!!!

These girls are so crazy!!!

Day after the cruise

2011-11-27T20:20:00.000-08:00

We had an extra day in Florida after the cruise so we stayed at the Sheraton Dolphin and extended our fun!

The hotel is right on the Disney Boardwalk so we smuggled ourselves into the Boardwalk hotel and enjoyed their carnival themed pool and water slide.

In the evening Ryan got to be part of the entertainment. What can I say the cruise was pricey and he needed the tips..haha!

Here are the girls on the plane flight home...we wore them out!

Until we meet again!

2011-11-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

This was definitely a "Dream" vacation and we look forward to "seeing you real soon" Mickey!

Miscellaneous...

2011-11-26T20:12:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures that I liked:

In the main lobby was a handmade gingerbread house. The entire lobby smelled of gingerbread!

There was a detective game the kids could play on the ship. The clues were found in different pictures displayed throughout the entire ship. We definetly got our exercise in running from picture to picture to solve the mystery!

My mom has famous sayings like whatchamacallits, whozi whatzits, etc. The ship had a store name just for her!!

Castaway Cay

2011-11-26T19:17:00.000-08:00

Our favorite stop is always Castaway Cay. We had not been here for three years and it had a few changes made to it from the last time we were there. There are now two "Cookie's", private cabanas and a water slide/play area.

They had the island decorated for Christmas so we had to stop for the photo op! Even the trams were decorated with garland. I love the holiday season. We were so lucky to be able to come during the holiday season and see all the decorations!

Ryan got up early and ran the 5K on the island. He was so glad he did since the had been eating his fair share of Mickey heads on the cruise!

Here are two of my favorite photo spots. I love that the ship can be seen in the backround with Pluto and I love the paintings on the bouyies.

A family tradition is to rent cruisers and ride along the bike trail. The first time Meredith went on the cruise she was 4 years old and was able to ride the entire trail. We all love to ride bikes and have lots of fun and laughs as we do so together!

Horn War!!

2011-11-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

During our day at Sea the Disney Magic was docked at Castaway Cay so our Captain decided to do a "drive by" and have a friendly horn war with the Magic. This was probably the highlight of the trip! The Magic is only able to play "When you wish upon a star" over their horn. However the Dream has six different horns: "A dream is a wish your heart makes", "A pirates life for me", "It's a small world", "When you wish upon a star" are among some of them. It was great to hear all the different horns! Needless to say the Dream won!

Here is a picture of the Magic:

Here is a far off picture of the Dream. The Dream is twice the size of the Magic!

Horn War!!

2011-11-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the Magic:

Here is a far off picture of the Dream. The Dream is twice the size of the Magic!

Character time!

2011-11-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

What would a Disney Cruise be without some pictures with some characters. There were plenty of photo ops available. Here are some that we took advantage of:

Pirate Night

2011-11-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

One of the dining night is Pirate night. People dress as pirates, the characters dress as pirates, Jack Sparrow can be seen wandering around the ship and there is a firework display to end the evening.

Dining on the Dream

2011-11-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

There were three main dining rooms on the Dream: Lumiers, Animators Palate and Enchanted Garden. We had our Thanksgiving dinner in Animators Palate.

The Enchanted Garden was beautiful! I think the Christmas decorations really helped beautify it!

Our server named Mackenzie the "star guest of the night" and brought her a drink to celebrate!

One of our servers Ignacio (NACHO) teaching the kids how to make paper flowers.

We had the two BEST servers on this cruise. They were Ignacio (Nacho) from Italy and Ferdinand (Ferddie) from the Philippines. They were so attentive to us and the kids...providing non-stop entertainment!

Animators Palate had talking with crush. It was amazing how he could interact with us in real time!

My mom's favorite dessert on the cruise is the chocolate souffle' found only in Palo's. She ate at Palo's the first night, but really wanted another souffle' by the end of the cruise. The last night of the cruise the servers bought everyone at our table chocolate souffles'! She was so happy!

Nassau

2011-11-23T18:32:00.000-08:00

On day one the ship docked at Nassau. We had a great view of Atlantis from the rear of the ship. We walked around Nassau, did some shopping and enjoyed the beautiful blue ocean! Mackenzie bought a brown and bronze watch, Madalyn and Meredith bought color changing rings, and Trevor bought a giant konch shell. The people in Nassau were all so friendly!

Disney Dream Thanksgiving Cruise 2011

2011-11-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

We were lucky to be able to sail on Disney's new ship "The Dream" over Thanksgiving with my parents. It was a great time and beautiful ship and our room with a veranda was clean and spacious!

The Dream was decorated for Christmas...here is the lobby:

This ship has a water roller coater called the Aquaduck. It goes out over the side of the boat. The water was cold, but worth it!

Because we have sailed with Disney before on the Magic were were greeted with some goodies in our room!

The kids club on the Dream is fabulous! It does not even compare with the Magic. Here are a few pictures....they do not do this place justice. Unfortunately I did not get photos of the teen club. This place was incredible...the teens even had their own private pool and hot tub! We did not see much of our teenagers needless to say!

Here are some pictures of the sail away party. This is always a fun time to dance!

This is where we ate breakfast every morning. They also served lunch and dinner buffet style if you did not want to eat in the dining rooms. Trevor is our fish and shrimp lover so we had to take a picture of him with the sign!

Our room...our parents were next door in an adjoining room. They had the teenagers in their room.

On the back of the boat on their was Goofy's Galley...a miniature golf course. It was so cute and Meredith LOVED to play!

Here is a shot of the Walt Disney Theater where all the evening shows took place. The shows on this cruise were The Golden Mickeys, Villians and Believe. We were not fond of the Villians show, but the other ones were great! Believe even added the characters from Tangled so the girls loved it!

Harry Potter World

2011-11-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

Ryan, Mackenzie and Trevor spent a day at Universal Studios. They wanted to see Harry Potter World. It did not disappoint! They said it was crowded, but that did not spoil their fun! They tasted butter beer, bought a wand and rode on all the thrilling rides!

They had fun with these signs from the Comic book land:

Christmas jammies????

Florida part 1

2011-11-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgiving break our family with my parents went to Florida and the Disney Cruise for 10 days! It was a fun and exhausting week! We had gone to Florida as a family two years ago and did the whole "Disney Curcuit" so this time we wanted a different experience (knowing we would gets lots of Disney on our cruise).

Our first adventure was an airboat ride in the Everglades to see alligators. This was a fun boat ride! The boat would go up to 45 mph and we were able to see some gators!

Trevor loved being able to hold a baby alligator!

Our next adventure was ziplining. Wow was this fun!!! This was an item on my mom's bucket list so she came along with us.

My mom is deathly afraid of heights , but she did it!!! Here is proof!

Mackenzie:

Because of Meredith's age we were not sure she could go, but once the tour guide saw her and how tall/mature she is he gave her permission to come along. She LOVED every moment of it!!!

Trevor loves nature and adventure so this was right up his alley!

Madalyn:

Ryan:

Here is my mom and Ryan racing. All the while Ryan recorded my mom...priceless video!

There were two suspension bridges:

Yearbook pictures

2011-11-11T14:20:00.000-08:00

Remember the days when your school picture was usually a bit "awkward"? I am one to prefer an outside professional shot..just the right light, outfit, scenery, etc. The coloring tends to be the best and the best results happen. However the annual tradition of backdrop school photos still continue in the school system. Whether or not you like your picture it is what will be forever in the yearbook for all to reflect back on. So today I post my childrens 2011/2012 yearbook photos. Call me crazy, bias or whatever you may but I think my kids look pretty good in their pictures!

Mackenzie- 15 1/2 years old/ Sophmore

Madalyn 14 years old/ Freshman

Trevor- 9 years old/ 4th grade

Meredith- 7 1/2 years old/ 2nd grade

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

Halloween came quickly this year. It seems we were so busy we did not have any free time to carve pumpkins. At least the kids were able to create their own costumes. Except for Trevor (seems I do not have any recycled boys costumes for him so I had to buy him one)!

Meredith was an "Angels" Cheerleader!

Trevor was Harry Potter...and very proud of it!

Madalyn was a princess. Pretty cute for throwing together what we had at home last minute!

Mackenzie was a farmer. Anyone recognize those overalls! She thought they were sooo cool!

Our Ward had its annual Trunk or Treat with a costume parade. Here is Meredith in the parade (yes the 50's girl next to her is her age...Meredith just towers over the girls her age)!

On Halloween night our neighborhood got together for our tradional dinner before trick or treating. Here is a picture of some of the kids.

Mackenzie had a volleyball game that night and Ryan was out of town so my wonderful parents drove down after my mom got off work at 5:00 p.m. in the traffic and took the younger two trick or treating, passed out candy and dropped Madalyn off at a friends house for a party.

What would I do without such great parents??!?!!? Thank you!!!

Donations for Giraffes

2011-10-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Meredith's Brownie Troop took a trip to the San Diego Zoo over the summer with the money they earned from selling cookies. They had some money left over so they decided to donated it to the program for giraffes. The girls had so much fun and were given a certificate for their donation. Above is an article in our local newspaper about their troop. Meredith is the one in the pink sunglasses!

SJHHS JV Tennis

2011-10-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

Madalyn is the tennis player of the family. That of course makes mom happy because mom loves to play tennis too!

She decided to try out for the high school tennis team this year. She has been playing for a few years and decided this would be her activity of choice in high school. She, being a freshman, made the Frosh/Soph team. She was ranked in the top two on the Frosh/Soph team. As the season began and she was winning more matches Coach Mann's decided to move her up to the JV team! She was so excited for the opportunity to move up. While the matches are more difficult now, it is a good challenge for her and it is motivating her to get even better!

When Madalyn plays doubles her partner is a friend that we have known for years. She loves being paired up with Cassie!

49ers Flag Football

2011-10-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Living in South OC it seems to be a given that ALL kids play (and love) soccer. The two older girls played until they were 13 years old and never really loved it, but as the parents we "made" them play. So when Trevor told us last year that he doesn't like to play soccer we decided why spend $$$ on something he does not like and try something new as a fall sport. He does basketball in the winter and baseball in the summer. So we signed him up for the Ladera Flag Football league. We had heard people sing praises about how organized and well run this organization is. Well we will add to those praises! Trevor LOVES flag football! We love the coaches and organization of it all!

Trevor is a 9 year old boy in a league of boys ages 9-11 years old. It is a pretty big span, but the boys all support eachother and the coaches are so encouraging (and competitive)!

Trevor is lucky to have gotten on a team with such a wonderful coaching staff...Darren King is the best!

Trevor is the smallest guy on the team, but he can sure hold his own! During the first two minutes of the first game he made a touchdown! He is the only player on the team that was chosen to play on both the offensive and defensive lines.

We are happy with the choice to switch from soccer to flag football. It has really helped boost Trevor's confidence and taught him how to work together with a team!

He runs it down the line and.....

TOUCHDOWN!!!

Pinewood Derby

2011-10-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

Trevor and Ryan worked real hard designing and executing this years Pinewood Derby car. So without further ado...introducing...wait for it....

THE AMBULANCE OF AWESOMENESS!!!!

Here is last year and this years cars:

Lined up all ready to go.....

He got first place in this race!

Trevor's car received the award for "BEST DESIGN"!!

First Day of School

2011-09-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of school! Here are the girlies before they left for high school:

Mackenzie is a sophmore this year on the volleyball team. Madalyn is a freshman on the tennis team. This is an exciting first year of High School for her as a freshie!!

Trevor and Meredith are both in elementary school. Only two school to go to this year (elemenary and high school)!

Trevor is in 4th grade with Mrs. Rademaker for a teacher and Meredith is in 2nd grade with Mrs. Globus as a teacher (for now...that may change...keep you posted!).

The three oldest reported having a great first day of school! Meredith says her teacher is "mean", however I have only heard great things about her so maybe she is just setting a standard in the beginning of the year.

It was only the first day of school and we were busy running around with school, volleyball and tennis. Not sure what tomorrow will bring when we add football on top of all that tomorrow! I am exhausted just thinking of all the different places I have to be at the same time for the next four months....wish I could be duplicated!

Cub Daycamp June 2011

2011-09-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

This was Trevor's first year at cub daycamp. It was held 15 minutes from where we live at O'Neill Regional Park. Every morning the boys would meet in the Avendale parking lot and then we would carpool to camp.

Here is our group of boys (notice the crazy orange hair? It was so hard keeping track of them because all the boys wear the same shirt so our leader thought it would be fun to color their hair so we would know that they belong to us!).

I worked at cub camp on Wednesday. Since my older two were away at girls camp I put Meredith in the siblings camp. She ended up having archery with us at the same time so we got to see her. It was so cute to see them be so excited to see eachother!!

Since the girls were gone alot this summer the three of us had lots of hanging out time. It reminded me just how easy having only two kids can be!

Here we are in workshop. The "boys" were making a tool box. Well, something must have happened the day before because our troop of boys were all so behind in cutting their wood. So here is Stephanie and I jamming to get our sons tool box finished. It was actually pretty hilarious...our time was up and we kept telling them to "hold on"...we knew if we did not finish there it would never get done at home. Sooo long story short...Stephanie and I made these great tool boxes...hahahaha!!!

Trevor's favorite events of the week were archery and the water games. He actually made a bullseye and was one of the "chosen" few that could pass the magic line to get his picture taken with the bullseye!

He Is We

2011-09-04T17:07:00.000-07:00

For Madalyn 14th birthday she received tickets to the "He Is We" Concert at the Epicentre in San Diego. The concert was August 2nd. I, the mom, was lucky enough to be able to take six beautiful girls to the concert.

Before the concert we had some Taco Bell.

We were told the concert would begin at 6:00 p.m. (it did), but little did we know there would be four other bands playing first so He Is We did not perform until 10:30 p.m.. It was a fun and late night!

I brought my niece, Rachel, along. She is a big fan of "He Is We". It was great having her come along! Especially since she called me the "coolest Aunt ever"!

Here are the girls sitting on the stage after the performance

(Claire, Madalyn, Hailey, Emily and Sheryl)

We were right up front for the performance. Here are the lead singers Rachel and Trevor. One of the favorite songs of the evening was "Happily Ever After"

After the concert we waited around to get autographs from Rachel and Trevor...

It was a great night! Such a wonderful group of girls! Sorry to all the parents who waited up for their daughters to get home well after midnight~!

Stake Volleyball Tournament

2011-08-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Brother Keawekane organizes a volleyball tournament for our Stake, the RSM Stake, San Clemente Stake and Laguna Niguel Stake. Our stake had three teams and the other stakes each had one. The kids will practice 3-4 times together before the tournament. The tournament was held at the Antonio Buildings grass area. There were three courts and each team played about three games. The Mission Viejo Stake's three teams placed 1st, 3rd and 6th!

Mackenzie got to participate in the tournament this year. She had a great time!

Here she is serving:

Resting between the games:

Super Activity August 2011

2011-08-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Bishop Grossen has a boat and loves to take the youth in our ward out on the lake. Every summer he plans a super activity for the youth ages 14 to 18 years old. This year they drove to El Capitan in San Diego County and had a fun day of wakeboarding and tubing! There were three boats of youth having a great time on the water! They left at 5:45 a.m. and got home at 11:00 p.m.. It was a long, but fun filled day!

Here is Lexi, Madalyn and Mackenzie on the Banana boat (before they were thrown off)!

Madalyn before her first attempt to wakeboard:

Mackenzie wakeboarding:

Palm Desert July 2011

2011-08-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Our family took a short trip to Palm Desert and stayed at our favorite resort in the Desert the Desert Willow. It was such a great time to get away from volleyball, tennis, tutoring, work, etc and just relax.

Madalyn had a little "slipping" accident in the bathroom!!!

If she does not fall on her own, her Dad will pull her down (in the water)!

Had lots of fun rides on this waterslide:

Played lots of water basketball and volleyball:

Caught some rays:

This is proof that I was there since I am the one taking all the pictures!

Madalyn with her third appendage (i-touch):

Played games:

Took my mom to our favorite Mexican Restaurant Las Cansuelas Terraza for her birthday dinner!

Happy Birthday Mom and Grandma!

Pioneer Trek Preview

2011-08-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

The Mission Viejo Stake's Youth Conference was the Pioneer Trek this year. The theme was "Press forward with a Steadfastness in Christ". Mackenzie and Madalyn were both able to go and Ryan was able to go as a big brother. All three were in a different company. Our Stake is the largest youth group that Riley Farms in Yucaipa has ever hosted (over 250 youth..not counting any adults). The Riley family and staff were all very impressed by the youth...I am not surprised...we have some of the best youth around!

Here are a few sneak peaks at their adventure.....

Hopefully there will be more to come as "Pa's and Ma's" send me their pictures!

Should I be worried???

2011-08-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

These are two different boys. Should I be worried?

Probably not...they are all just "friends"! I just got a bit worried when I saw different people had photoshopped these pictures and put them on facebook! Oh the life of a teenager!

Trevor's 9th Birthday Celebration!

2011-07-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

Since Trevor's birthday fell on a Friday this year he was able to have his friend party on his actual birthday. It was a "water themed" party that I was able to throw together in two days! Luckily we used a lot of left over decorations from Madalyn's party last month!

Each boy got to take home a bubble wand and sea creature gummies:

Here is Trevor with his cake that he was super proud of!

As the table centerpiece I put the goldfish that Trevor and Meredith won at our Pioneer Picnic last week on the table. The fish died.....boys thought that was funny!

He got money from Grandpa and Grandma Wright along with Harry Potter Legos. He was so excited about the Lego's that he stayed up late that night to finish putting it together! He also got three Power Balance bracelets. Yes, we know they do not work, but he thinks they are "so cool"!

Meredith has no idea how lucky she is to have a brother 17 months older than her...the only girl among a sea of boys..haha!!

The boys played a few water games, ate dinner then played the donut from the string game:

Mackenzie and Madalyn had to get in on the donut action too! Since it was a bit warm out the chocolate got all over the kids faces! They loved this game! I loved that I could send them outback to the pool to clean all the chocolate off!

Hope you had a great birthday Bud!

Happy 9th Birthday Trevor!

2011-07-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Nine years ago today Trevor joined our family! He brought a whole new dynamic to our family. Being the only boy of three girls you can be sure he recieves a lot of "flack" from his sisters. They think he is "gross"! But he really is just a "boy"...through and through!

As a little boy he loved horses so I thought I would add this one in the mix:

Here he is with his best friend and sister Meredith. They really are best friends! When Trevor has an opportunity to use the "dollars" he earns at school to buy something from the treasure box he usually will buy something for Meredith first then something for himself. He is very thoughtful!

Treovr LOVES celebrating his birthday!! He gets so excited and counts the days down until his big day. When someone wishes him "Happy Birthday" he gets a big smile on his face!

Happy birthday Trevor!!!

4th of July

2011-07-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

While the older girls were at EFY we had a quiet 4th of July at home with the younger two. It was a super fun day! I had forgotten how easy having only two kids could be!

Here is Meredith and Ryan making the traditional homemade ice cream!

We set up the slip and slide in the park next to our home. Afterall we did not want to ruin our own grass :)! They had a blast sliding on the slide and evenually having a water fight with eachother!

The rest of the day was spent swimming, barbequing and watching our community fireworks. We are always amazed at the great firework show Ladera puts on. It was super long and ended with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir...gotta love it!

Especially For Youth 2011

2011-07-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

The week of July 4th both girls had the opportunity to attend EFY in Provo, Utah. They were at Brigham Young University in the Yellow group. They each brought a friend, but they were in the same company. Both girls had an amazing time! They met new friends, got crazy, attended many classes that taught them so much, grew spiritually and gained a stronger testimony of the gospel.

Each company had to come up with their own group name. Our girls company was "meat house" from the scripture Malachi 3:10. They had to come up with a name for their group based on that scripture...some of the options were "prove me now" or "windows of heaven"...no their group chose "MEAT HOUSE". They are soo funny! Crazy teenagers!

Mackenzie in the cirlce of Presidents. All these kids are President over their church groups.

This is a very unattractive picture of Madalyn and Spencer, but I had to put it in because I did not have the picture of his proposing to her.

Their cousin Dallin was there the same week so they were able to see him too!

Here is Mackenzie with their EFY counselors Charlie and Ariel. They absolutely adored their counselors!

Girls Camp 2011

2011-06-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Young Women had a Ward girls camp this year. The theme was "An Apple A Day": Faith, Hope, Endure. Our Ward chose to go camping at the Kern River. One day the girls went river rafting on class 4 rapids. Unfortunately there are no pictures, but from the report I got they had a blast!!

Here is the group just before they left:

My two beautiful daughters Mackenzie and Madalyn. I feel so blessed to know that they truly love eachother and spending time with eachother!

On their hike day the girls took a few pictures:

They did not get any pictures of them sliding down a natural waterfall. Apparently the water was freezing (about 40 degrees). The girls said the coldness took their breath away, yet it was also so much fun!

Boise State Bronco's 2011

2011-06-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Trevor was on the Boise State Bronco's Single A baseball team this year. Ryan was his manager with Chad Marquis and Kamryn McCluskey as the coaches. The trio joined together so they could avoid Sunday practices. Most of you know that our family does not participate in sporting events (among other things) on the Sabbath. Starting in Single A batting practice is scheduled on a Sunday. To avoid this Ryan signed up to manage and provided batting practice on a night other that Sunday.

It was a fun season! Trevor really has some natural baseball skills.

Trevor loved having his Dad manage the team (even if he had a hard time listening to him sometimes)!

This picture surprised us all! Trevor has his Dad's form to a T! We had to take a double take!

Of couse the best part of the season for these boys is getting a trophy!

Madalyn's 14th Birthday Party!!

2011-06-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

Madalyn had her first coed birthday party this year. It was TONS of fun..even the boys had a great time :)! The evening started off with food from Las Golondrinas...yum! The girls all congregated to the courtyard leaving the boys to the kitchen table. A few of the boys decided to move their chairs into the courtyard to join the girls! We also had yummy, super chocolate cake just for Madalyn!

A few of the brave boys who started the "boys move into the courtyard" trend!

We then moved over to the grass area next door and played some fun games! The first one was the M&M game. The kids lined up boy/girl and with a spoon in their mouth had to transfer M&M's. We kept adding more M&M's to the spoon to make it more difficult!

Next we played big, better, best. The kids were divided into four groups and given a paperclip. They were then assigned a street to go door to door and trade items for something that was big, better or best. Once back they had to "sell" their item and explain why it was so great! Here's what the teams came back with:

Pumpkin

Laundry hamper

Cookie jar aka Urn

The winner was this replacement battery for a Mac computer! We could not believe someone would just give this away!

Lastly we played capture the flag!

Here is the entire gang at the end of the evening (minus Jacob and Sam):

As the evening rolled on the boys got a bit silly...planking on the pool and backyard fence!

The evening ended with feet in the jacuzzi visiting with one another!

Daisy Bridging 2011

2011-06-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

Meredith's Daisy troop bridged from Daisy's to Brownie's this past week! Our troop had their own ceremony instead of joining with all the other troops in the district. It was nice and personal. Each girl's name was called and they walked across the bridge, got their brownie sash and a flower.

Here she is as a Daisy:

Meredith and Abigail as new Brownie Girl Scouts!

All the girls in the troop. They are all such wonderful girls!

Dance Recital 2011

2011-06-26T16:03:00.000-07:00

Meredith had her first dance recital this past Saturday. She takes Ballet 1 with Miss. Claudia, whoms she adores! The concert was very well done and the girls did a fabulous job! Here she is performing her "Ribbon Dance":

Track and Field 2011

2011-06-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

The YMCA on our school site was offering an eight week track and field course. We enrolled Trevor because

1. He loves to run

2. We wanted to improve his speed for baseball

He had a great time! It was a very well run program. At this level all the kids competed in all the different meets (400m, 200m, 100m, 50m, long jump, football throw and relay). Here are some pictures of him at his meet against about six other schools in the district.

His favorite event was the 400m (he got second place). He got 1st on the 50m, 2nd on the 200m and 3rd on the 100m.

Trey, Trevor and Dallin

Trevor, Aidan and Payson

Happy 14th Birthday Madalyn Nicole!

2011-06-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 14th Birthday to our favorite 2nd born daughter! From the minute you were born we were so happy to have you be part of our family! You are beautiful, you keep us laughing, honest, hardworking and have a beautiful testimony of your Savior Jesus Christ.

We love that you and Mackenzie are not only sisters, but best friends. Family is so important to you!

(2 years old)

(6 years old)

Now that you are fourteen you get to go to Church dances, Youth Conference, Super Activity and High School! We hope you enjoy your special day with all your friends and family!

If you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere!

2011-06-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

Madalyn's 8th grade dance was Friday, June 17th. She looked absolutely stunning in her dress and shoes! It helps that she is a natural beauty inside and out in our eyes :)!

Before the dance she met up with some friends from church for "pre-dance" pictures. There were eighteen kids from our church there with three others missing from the pictures. She is sure blessed to have such a great youth group to share this experience with!

Claire, Madalyn, Addison and Samantha:

Madalyn and one of her BFF's Hailey:

She sure has lots to choose from..haha!

Here is a picture of the entire gang (minus 3). They lined up in height order with Madalyn only 5'4" she is on the shorter side. We think she is still growing! What a good looking bunch!

Her sparkly shoes! I tried to convince her to get heals to help give her a boost in the height department, but these went so well with her dress that I could not argue...too bad they did not have any in my size!

Daddy and daughter!

Pictures at the Dance 2011

2011-06-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

The theme of the dance was "New York, New York: If you can make it here you'll make it anywhere". The MPR was completely transformed into difference scenes of New York: Central Park, Manhattan, Skyline, Broadway, the Statue of Liberty and the Subway. I asked Madalyn to take lots of pictures of the decorations at the dance, but these are the only ones she took. The rest were of crazy girls dancing! At lease I know she was having a great time!

When the students entered the MPR the hallway was decorated like a subway tunnell with the grafitti provided by the parents. She took pictures of the note I left and the one Mackenzie left for her:

Performances 2011

2011-06-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

June is always a busy month with end of the school year performances and Singers Company performances. This year we only have two children with performances since our older two have chosen athletics over performing arts recently. Luckily they are able to get a lot of performing opportunities at church.

So we start with Meredith's Singers Company Performance. She did a great group of songs including "What a Wonderful World", "It's raining Sunshine" and "Grandma's Feather Bed". She had a solo in Grandma's Feather Bed. That song has a lot of words (fast also), but the girls all did such a great job!

Trevor and Meredith's music performances were back to back this year. Works out perfect for us parents! Their music teacher, Mrs. Baker, was voted as the best music teacher in all of Orange County! She does a wonderful job at directing the children. The harmony and tone of the third graders was amazing!

19 Year Anniversary Getaway

2011-06-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know Ryan and I do not go away with eachother sans kids very much. So for the third time in 19 years we decided to sneak away for the weekend and go to Palm Desert. We stayed at the Westin Desert Willow Resort..we love this resort and have stayed there before.

We started our vacation doing what I like to do...keeping busy! We took a 20 mile bike ride through the San Andreas Fault. We got our own private tour which proved to be very educational! There were three stops along the way to learn about the landforms, vineyards, date farms and the Salton Sea.

In some areas the landforms were horizontal and some were verticle.

Our self portrait infront of the aquaduct:

Toward the end of our ride we rode through a grape vineyard and then stopped at a Date farm. I LOVE DATES! Ryan is not real fond of them :)! I got to sample all sorts of different variety of dates and have a date shake..yummy!

Here is Ryan with our personal tour guide Clotair (from France). He use to pilot hot air balloons but after he retired he started this business. He has some great stories to tell!

We thought this golf cart was cute. We teased Mackenzie and tell her that we bought this as her first car! She did not appreciate that!

The rest of the weekend was spent doing what Ryan likes to do on vacation: lounging by the pool, going down the water slide, playing water volleyball and water basketball, tanning, reading, going to a movie and eating (I like all those things too).

This is our new favorite Mexican Restaurant on Hwy 111 in Palm Springs. Can't wait to go back and eat there in July!

Here is the view from our room:

Love Notes

2011-05-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

I got a note from my favorite son...I think you will understand why he is my favorite son after reading this.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways....

1. I love when you blow on my neck because it feels cool.
2. I love the way YOU cheer me on in baseball.
3. I love how you pick out my clothes because I can't.
4. I love when you make me breakfast because it is delicious.
5. I love how you play with me when I am bored because your fun.
6. I love the way you make dinner every night because I like your cooking
7. I love when you say you love me because it sounds nice.
8. I like how you bug me at night because I love you.
9. I love when you are so nice to me because you love me.
10. I love when you tuch me in because I feel cozy.

But does it really matter because there are a bazillion more things to say so why don't I just say "Happy Mother's Day"!!!
Love,
Trevor
(Now you can understand why he is my favorite son!)

I got some pretty wonderful one's from my three daughters also, but I need their permission before posting!

Easter 2011

2011-05-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Easter was late in the month this year (April 24th) so the kids were not off of school to get all the traditional easter egg dying done. So the day before Easter we dyed our Easter eggs. It is always fun to decorate eggs for eachother! It was a beautiful, sunny day!

The final product:

When we woke Easter morning the sky was dark and grey. Looks like it might rain! Not good since I had tables, chairs and decorations all set up outside. Plus we had over 500 eggs to hide in the yard. We were hoping that the rain would hold off...no such luck...30 minutes before everyone showed up the rain began! Ryan and I had to run outside and move all the tables/decorations under the cover. Then we moved a table indoors. Luckily the house was big enough for everyone to still be able to sit at the tables and enjoy their food and the company. It made me realize that the decorations and fluff are not what make an "Easter Celebration". It is just being together with the family. This year we were able to have both my side and Ryan's side of the family over so it was a great group of family!! We are so blessed that the majority of our family lives within 45 minutes of eachother!

So back to Sunday morning...

The kiddos came down in the morning and got to see what the Easter bunny had left them:

Mackenzie got new volleyball knee pads and a bag.

Madalyn got lace tights and a movie "The Outsiders"

Meredith got silly putty, dance tights and a bathing suit.

Trevor was the most excited (can you tell???)!!! He got the Pokemon White DS game that he has been asking for months for!

Then we had our inside morning egg hunt

(thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all the $$ filled eggs)!

Here they are in their Easter outfits:

Easter Continued...

2011-05-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Once the family all got to our house we had our traditional Easter egg hunt! Over 500 hidden eggs for 10 kids!

I do not have many photo's because I did not want to be out in the rain so I chose to stay inside and watch from a distance :)!

Meredith had so much fun playing with and carrying around Karli the majority of the time! She loves to be the "mother"!

Ryan and Dallin had a little friendly competition of arm wrestling. Let's just say that MY HUSBAND still has the muscles! Keep working on it Dallin!

Meredith thought this jelly bean shaped egg was funny!

Huntington Beach to Coronado Bay= Ragnar 2011

2011-04-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

What do you get with:

-twelve of your "runner" friends

-200 miles

-27 hours

-a relay

-Extremely little sleep

-97 to 45 degree weather

-call yourself the LR Racers

The SoCal RAGNAR RACE!!!!

Run, drive, sleep??? Repeat...

Ryan joined up with some friends to run this year since it was being held in the OC. He had a blast!

Here they are before they took off for the start line:

Ryan during his first leg (8 miles)...in all he ran about 20 miles.

This is in Corona:

There are no pictures of his second leg because it was at 3:00 a.m.. He ran for 5.9 miles.

Here he is on his third and final leg (6.1 miles). This is on Imperial Beach with Tijuana in the backround:

Just before he passed the finish line the rest of his team joined him for the victory run!

Group shot of the LR Racers!

What would a race be without a medal!

Here is Ryan's number, medal and slap bracelet that was passed to all the runners:

Spring Break 2011

2011-04-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

Capo's Spring Break was very early this year...well actually Easter is really late this year! We had a fun filled week with activities everyday! Here is the low down:

On Monday we went with my parents to the San Diego Zoo. The weather was perfect and we got to see the animals in a very active state...not just lying around!

A "take my picture" moment!

Giraffe's...there was one that was only six days old!

Rhinosaurus..we were able to see them running laps around their enclosure chasing eachother!

Meerkat...when I see them I hear the voice in my head from "Meerkat Manor"!

The Panda was out and active while we were there:

Here are some more "take my picture" moments!

Tuesday...I took the three younger kids (and a friend of Madalyn's) to Calafia Beach. (Mackenzie went to Disneyland with some friends) It was the PERFECT beach weather! We had a blast...however the water was a bit cold for me. Trevor and Meredith had a great time in the water!

Wednesday...Trevor needed to visit a firestation for his cub scout stuff so we went with some friends to a firestation. Ladera has one of the nicest firestations I have ever seen...the firemen even all get their own "room"! The kids got to sit in the truck,

learn about the hoses and gadgets on the truck,

and the best part was spraying water out of the hose!

The fireman even convinced me to take a shot at it. I could not believe the power!

After the firestation tour we played at the park, but that got "boring" so we picked up a few friends and went to SkyHigh in Irvine. This is a place full of trampolines! The kids all had a great time jumping into the foam pit, playing dodge ball and just jumping around!

Thursday....I had to work, but when I got home we went shopping at the mall for Madalyn's 8th grade dance dress. We only made it to a few stores when we realized we had been there over two hours and it was after 7:00 p.m. so we decided to head on into Ruby's for dinner.

On Friday Ryan took the day off (since he was so jealous of all the fun we were having) and we took the family to see Soul Surfer. It is a movie about a competive surfer and her arm got bitten off by a shark. It was truly an inspirational movie and I loved how she focused on her faith in Heavenly Father to keep her positive attitude and get back in the water to surf again.

Saturday was a volleyball tournament and lunch with family. All in all we had a fun week!

April Fools Cake

2011-04-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

I am the best mom in the world! I served my kids cake for dinner!

APRIL FOOLS!!!

It was actually a turkey, ham and roast beef sandwich with tinted cream cheese frosting.

The Little Red Hen

2011-03-22T15:47:00.000-07:00

Our Elementary school has a tradition of the first graders performing in the play "The Little Red Hen". Because of budget cuts and class size reduction being cut the teachers felt like there were just too many students to put the play on as part of their regular curriculum. With so much too learn...the "fun" stuff has to be eliminated. However Mrs. Kovaleski did not want these first graders to miss out so she offered the play as an afterschool activity. We are so happy she provided this opportunity to our Meredith! Luckily one of her best buddies is Mrs. K's son!

Meredith auditioned and got the part of Bob the Pig! She did a great job!

When the Little Red Hen asked her to help plant, water and pick the wheat "Bob the Pig" sang..."The job's too big" said Bob the Pig "The job is just to big! Oink"

She did a great job and had so much fun!

Take a bow!

Here is Meredith with two of her favorite friends Abigail and Luke!

Our thanks goes to Mrs. Kovaleski! She was the director and workhorse behind this play! We were lucky to have her as Madalyn and Trevor's first grade teacher. She also had Trevor for second grade. Maybe we will get lucky and have her as a teacher next year for Meredith in second grade!

Pre-Dance (semi-birthday) Party!

2011-02-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

In our house the kids get to have a big "friend" party every other year. This was an "off" year for Mackenzie. Since her birthday was on the same day as the RSM Dance I suggested she have a few friends over for a "pre-dance" party.

A few of her closest friends (about 30 of them) descended on our home last night!

We decorated with a Valentine theme and set the mood:

They jumped on the trampoline:

Played Wii Sport Resort:

Posed for pictures:

Honored Mackenzie with a crown and "Happy Birthday" song:

Just hung out and acted like silly teenagers:

Before everyone departed for the dance I took a group shot of all who were there. Our small gathering of a few friends ended up looking like this: (and this is not even close to all her friends)

Happy 15th Birthday Mackenzie!!!!!

Happy 15th Birthday Mackenzie!!!

2011-02-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

Jump for Joy...its MACKENZIE'S 15th birthday!

Just think in six months you will start learning to drive and in one year you will be able to date- yikes! But for now let's just enjoy the moment and time when you turn 15 and do not have to worry about all that! You have brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. You may be a drama queen, but we love how strong, independent, and motivated you are!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl (aka..Kenzerbug)!

Meredith's birthday celebrations!

2011-01-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Meredith started her birthday weekend with mom bringing her lunch from McDonalds at school. In the evening she celebrated at Farrell's with a carmel sundae! She loved standing on the chairs and having everyone sing her her!

Saturday was her friend "baking themed" party.

Each girl got these darling aprons when they arrived. We made homemade strawberry freezer jam:

The girls made their own lunch (pb&j sandwiches with their homemade jam):

They played some classic games, jumped on the trampoline, decorated cupcakes and opened presents:

These are a bunch of great girls! There were so many more that Meredith wanted to invite, but unfortunately I could not handle 30+ girls. She sure has a lot of friends!

On Sunday we celebrated her birthday with the family. She got "Twinkle Toes" by Sketchers from Grandpa and Grandma Wright. She has wanted these shoes so badly and was so excited to finally get a pair!

The kids loved the blue frosting!

Our gift to her was the rip rider:

Happy 7th Birthday Meredith!

2011-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

This cute thing turns 7 on the 7th of January! It is her golden birthday!

I love this sassy picture of her. It shows her sweet side and her sassy side. Meredith came into our lives unexpectedly and very early. She was our SURPRISE baby. What a wonderful surprise she has become! She is a girl who is helpful, compassionate, funny, loving, snuggly, eager to learn and has captured all of our hearts. She loves all things snuggly (stuffed animals), men, helping others, reading, riding her bike, jumping on the trampoline and her baby dolls.

WE LOVE YOU MAE MAE....HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy New Year with a Special Baptism

2011-01-01T15:42:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 1/11/2011 at 11:00 a.m. we were lucky enough to be in this City (Logan, Ut):

For the baptism of Danielle's step-brother-in-law Andrew:

Andrew and Lisa have been married for many years and have three beautiful children. Lisa was born and raised in the church, but Andrew was not. He had a few word of wisdom issues and just was not sure if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was really the true church. Back in October when he and his family drove down for Scooter's mission farewell he started really pondering the truthfulness of the gospel. He was really intrigued by our belief in eternal families. Well after meeting with the missionaries and taking discussions he decided to be baptised! What wonderful news for the entire family! Richard and his family drove all the way from South Carolina to be part of this special day! Richard figured out that the entire family added up traveled over 25,000 miles for this special day.

We are excited to watch him and his family grow in the gospel and recieve all the blessings that are waiting for him. This family already has a date to be sealed for time and all eternity together in the SLC Temple next year.

Here is a picture of the family (minus Mackenzie, Deeanna and Scooter). Mackenzie flew home from Utah early for a dance.

front row (l-r) Richard, Tiffany, Heidi, Scott, Ryan, Danielle, Brad, Lisa, Andrew, Lara and Mark
middle row (l-r) Tristin, Sheridan, Payson, Kaylee, Madalyn, Pam, Jim, Luke, Haven, Erik
back row (l-r) Ireland, Larkin, Simeon, Cameron, Dallin, Kyler, Meredith, Trevor, Brittany, Sandra, Cassidy, and Zack

Sledding

2010-12-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

The next morning we woke up to this:

So we decided to hunt out a place to go sledding. We ended up by the Temple in Daybreak. There was a park that was nicely covered in snow. Since it was snowing so much and there was no cover so I kept my camera in the car and did not get any pictures. Infact, I did not take any pictures for the next three days. Such a bummer! We had a wonderful time visiting close friends that we have not seen in years, the girls had a sleepover with our friends children. How thankful we were that they all got along so well! Too bad I did not get any pictures.

Our last day in Utah was spent in Logan for a very special day. However I will write about that in another post as this special day is how we started out a New Year 2011! There was no better way to spend it!

Lights at Temple Square

2010-12-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

After a busy day of walking around SLC we got to experience the lights at Temple Square as a family. Visiting Temple Square is one of my favorite childhood memories. We went to the visitor center and had a good time watching all the Mormon Messages and Commercials and seeing the replica of the inside of the Temple. The kids really enjoyed seeing what the inside of the Temple looks like.

The red and orange lights were so powerful!

Here is a small nativity on an "endless" fountain pool. The reflection of the nativity and lights was just beautiful!

Scattered around were different nativities from other countries. We thought the "Hershey Kiss" nativity was funny!

Here is a picture of the kids inside the Tablernacle.

Visiting Church Sites in Salt Lake City

2010-12-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

Our first full day in Utah was spent visitng different church sites in SLC. The weather was cold, but there was no snow on the ground so we thought we would take advantage of the good weather. This was a good choice because the next two days were full of non-stop snow!

Our first stop was at the Conference Center for a tour. We have done it once before with the girls and it was so nice to go back to learn even more. It was still decorated for Christmas and the David Archeleta performance. It was beautiful!

Here the kids are standing outside:

Here are a few shots from inside:

Here we are up on the roof top:

Nice view of the SLC Temple:

Next we visited the Church History Museum. The kids loved standing behind the pulpit and calling everyone to repentance. It was quite embarrassing as I was across the room and could hear them shouting it out. One of those "that is funny, but those are not my kids" moments! haha!

Trevor LOVES Captain Moroni. Everytime he sees a Temple he looks for Him. He was so excited to see one in the museum!

We ate luch at the Lion House. It was so busy, but worth the weight. We all rolled out of that place. We could not believe the number of people with dessert on their trays...how do they have room to eat all that food??!!!??

After lunch we snuck over to the Beehive House for a tour. One thing we have learned about Trevor on this trip is he LOVES tours. He just soaks in everything the tour guides tell us.

We visited Welfare Square and got to learn more about the church welfare system. We are so blessed to have such an inspired program in our church. We were amazed and the number of members and non-members who benefit from this system all over the world. The kids were amazed at the story of the children in Etheopia who had gone without food for so long that their tiny bodies could not digest food. The church supplied a nutrient (sorry I cannot remember the name) to these people so they could survive. We also got to see the different type of humanitarian packages that are sent throughout the world during times of natural disasters, famine, etc.

At the end we got to sample some of the products that they make on site. We sampled the cheese, bread, chocolate milk, peanut butter and jelly. We could not get enough of the chocolate milk...it was sooo good!

Later we went to the Joseph Smith Building to show the kids the view of Temple Square and to watch the movie. The goal was for Meredith to get a little nap, but she was so into the movie that she did not rest her eyes!

UTAH Road trip

2010-12-27T14:41:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to take all the kids on a road trip to Utah. Trevor and Meredith had never been to Utah and I have not seen the Christmas lights at Temple Square in years so this was my excuse to go! Here are some shots on our way there:

A traditional stop at Iceburgs on the way up for a Mini (yes those are mini's) shake- yum, yum!

Drove by the burned up Tabernacle in Provo. The whole place was gutted...so sad!

Stopped by BYU to show the kids around and visit the bookstore:

We found this shirt at the BYU bookstore. As a family we cannot stand the taste of Mountain Dew, buy our nephew, who is currently serving a mission in South Africa, is addicted to the stuff. So we got a good laugh out of this shirt! Especially since just four days earlier when we were on the phone with him he told us they DO have Mountain Dew in South Africa with much happiness!

Christmas at home 2010

2010-12-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning began with all the kids assembling in our bedroom around 7:00 a.m.. Then the traditional trip downstairs with a photo.

Santa brought exactly what all the kids asked for this year. The list went like this:

A 32 gb itouch for Mackenzie:

A digital camera for Madalyn:

Pokepark Wii game for Trevor:

A Go Go Puppy for Meredith:

For the past year Trevor has been asking for an ipod, but we told him he was too young and needed to wait a few years. Well, Madalyn has an itouch and decided she no longer needed her ipod so she gave it to Trevor for Christmas. He was soooo excited!

The big ticket present this year was a group gift. After a late night/early morning with our neighbor/Bishop the TRAMPOLINE was completed!

The kids were so excited! As you can see from the picture the enclosure was not completely done, nor was the ladder put together, but it was good enough to jump on for now. It was super foggy and cold in the morning so the kids had to wait a few hours before they could jump on it. I am sure it will provide years of entertainment!

Christmas at G & G Wrights 2010

2010-12-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Later Christmas day we traveled up to Grandpa and Grandma Wrights house to open presents, eat, and celebrate with the extended family.

The kids were spoiled by G & G Wright as usual...some of the great things they got were...Toms, baby dolls, Wii Resort, tennis shoes, tons of gift cards, etc.

Ryan and I were also super spoiled...new cookware, a hedger, gift cards. We will be eating well on gift cards this next week!

Uncle Brad made this hat for a Christmas party he attended this Season. Isn't it hilarious?!?!

Since Scooter is gone serving his mission in South Africa I decided to make a display/countdown board for my mom and sister. Needless to say I hit the "tears" jackpot!

One of the best parts (for the kids) about visitng Grandma and Grandpa during the holidays are all the "musical" toys. My parents have at least 25 different musical displays...my kids listen to ALL of them...sometimes all at once!

Here are Trevor and Meredith playing with their 2nd cousin Carli. She is the cutest little thing! She has all four of my kids wrapped around her finger!

Here she is bouncing on their belly:

At the end of the evening we had our families 2nd annual gift exchange. There were a lot of good presents for us all to choose from. We got lucky and came home with See's candy and a Snuggie (thanks Uncle Doug)!

Volleyball banquet

2010-12-24T23:31:00.000-08:00

Mackenzie's volleyball banquet was a week ago. It was a nice event held in the high school auditorium. Coach Brandon and Coach Austin spoke about each girl individually. It was nice to see that they really took time to get to know the girls. The best thing the Coach said about Mackenzie is that "she is an asset to this program for the next three years". We were so happy to hear that!

One of the mom's put together a yearbook for each level of volleyball. It is fabulous!! Tons of pictures, stats on the girls, etc. We really appreciated all the time she put into making these books special for the girls.

Mackenzie with two of her favorite teammates (Celeste and Anika):

Christmas Card Fun!

2010-12-24T14:25:00.000-08:00

The week of Thanksgiving I decided I needed to start thinking about what to do for Christmas cards this year. So I came home from work on a Tuesday around 3:00 p.m. Told the kids to hurry and put on something "festive" for some Christmas pictures, drove over to the lemon fields here in Ladera and snapped a few shots.

Christmas cards are something I usually stress out about...you know...finding that "perfect" photo. This year I was "over" getting that "perfect" photo! The whole process took 30 minutes for me to take the photo's, upload the pictures and order them. No stressing about it this year! It was a mission accomplished and victory for me!

Plus they turned out pretty cute if I say so myself!

Incase you are wondering which ones I chose it would be picture #2, #6 and #7. I would have posted a copy of our card, but our scanner is broken.

Singers Company Performance

2010-12-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

Meredith's Family and Friends performance for Singer's Company was this past week. The girls were all so cute! Meredith even had a solo and did a fabulous job! This is not her first solo, but she really sang out and pronunciated her words well this time!

Here she is with her favorite Grandma! Better look out Grandma...she is almost as tall as you- haha!

Community Tree Lighting

2010-12-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

Our community had their annual tree lighting and Meredith performed with her Singers Company. We love our community...the kids got to decorate sugar cookies, drink hot chocolate and Santa rode in on a horse driven sleigh! I did not get any great pictures, but here are a few:

Neighborhood Decorating Party

2010-11-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

The day after Thanksgiving our street has an annual decorating party. The guys all get on the roof to hang lights and the kids have a blast playing and hanging out with one another. When we all bought these homes (brand new) seven years ago we had no idea who our neighbors would be. We have been neighbors for seven years and each year the friendships and deorations have gotten better! We are so blessed to be part of a wonderful street with the BEST possible neighbors! It truly is PRICELESS!!

The first Christmas we made matching candy cane signs for the yard, then came the white lights in the top of the street trees, then the red, white and green rope lights around the base of the street trees and then we began decorating the center island tree and last year we began stringing lights between two houses across the street from eachother to welcome people onto our street...each year it just gets to be a better display!

To be honest, Ryan is the biggest contributor...he LOVES to hang lights! Some people do not realize that about him, but we call him Mr. Griswald. There are some conditions though...the display must be classy...greenery, ribbons, red/white/green lights. NO blowups, elfs, etc (he does not mind them on other peoples yard, just not on his)!

Here are some of the kiddos playing in the driveway...yes they manage to pull out every toy from every garage to keep busy!

Meredith and Griffin eating a sandwich on the ladder!

This year Ryan was able to enlist the help of Madalyn. She was a bit scared on the roof, but did a fantastic job! She learned how to change the fuses, find the "one bulb" that is out and fix it, and attach the lights to the house with clips (as not to ruin the paint job with staples).

While I was inside decorating a ring came at my doorbell. When I opened it I found a few of Santa's helpers on my porch singing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". They organized it all by themselves. It made my day!!!!

Madalyn might have just found herself a winter job!

Bobcat Patch

2010-11-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Last months pack night Trevor was able to present the flag for the first time.

He was so proud!

He also earned his Bobcat patch. He had earned it two months ago, but because of the Pinewood Derby he did not receive it until this month. He has been so excited in earning patches! Let's hope the excitement last until he achieves his Eagle Scout!

Scooter's Mission Farewell

2010-11-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

Our nephew, Scooter, was called to serve a mission in Durban, South Africa. He will be in an English speaking mission, but will have to learn the language of Zulu which is what those in the villages speak. When he got his call we were all so surprised at the location! He was to report directly to the Johanesburg Mission Training Center on November 11, 2010.

On October 31st Scooter had his farewell. It was attended by many friends and family who love and support Scooter. After his Sacrament farewell there was a luncheon held at the Long Beach City College Institute.

On Sunday, November 7th Scooter was set apart as a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was now officially Elder Shipp!

On Tuesday, November 9th Elder Shipp boarded a plane at the Long Beach airport to Johanesburg, South Africa.

Lots of tears were shed that morning...tears of joy and tears of missing him! We are all so proud of him and his decision to serve a mission. We know it is the best thing for him. We know that he will grow and learn in the gospel as he teaches and comes to love the people of South Africa. We will miss him, but we would rather he be serving the Lord than hanging out with us. Madalyn's facebook status that morning Elder Shipp left was "we may be one penny short, but the world is one missionary richer".

So for now here is our final farewell...see you in two years!

More Volleyball 2010

2010-11-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Volleyball season has officially ended. Mackenzie's team ended up placing 2nd in the league. They were almost able to beat Mission Viejo HS, but fell short in the third game (by 2 points). It was a heartbreaker. However placing 2nd is still great! All these girls put so much effort into improving their skills and they all still have three more years...so look out!

Happy Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

Since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year we celebrated on Saturday. We carved pumpkins:

Madalyn's pumpkin is on the left and Trevor's (mom's) is on the right

Meredith's (Dad's) pumpkin is on the left and Mackenzie's volleyball pumpkin is on the right. I wish I could of gotten a good angle on Mackenzie's pumpkin...she carved out the word "volleyball #12" with a person hitting the ball...all freehand!

We did not want to put too much effort into Halloween costumes so I sent the kids looking through our two over stuffed Halloween costumes bins to come up with something. You know I can get use to this "almost free" Halloween! Also, we have tons of girl costumes that we were able to share a few with some friends!

Meredith decided on Madalyn's old Pirate Costume:

Trevor decided to be Mario (turns out it was a VERY popular costumes this year). He wanted to be Goofy, but I convinced him to save that for next year when he would actually go our trick or treating on Halloween!

Madalyn and all her girlfriends were "Super Hero's". Love the capes and the iron-on "Super Maddy"!

Mackenzie didn't have time to put too much thought into her costume so she hurried and made a tutu the night before and added some butterfly wings, atennas and a wand. We will call her a "stylish fairy"!

Our church put on a great Trunk or Treat activity on Saturday night. They served chili, cornbread, salad and drinks. There were lots of games and face painting also. At the end of the evening everyone decorated their trunks in Halloween style and the kids went "trunk or treating" to all the cars!

Here is Mackenzie with some of her girlfriends:

Here is Madalyn with all her cute "super hero" friends!

This is Nate...isn't his costume fabulous?!?!?!

Meredith got a flower painted on her cheek:

Remember how I said Mario was a very popular costume this year...I was not kidding. Here is just a sample of all the Mario's that were there that evening! They were all chasing eachother around claiming to be the "real" Mario! So cute!

Mia Maid/Teacher Etiquette Night

2010-10-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

The Mission Viejo Stake Youth Leaders had an etiquette night for the youth ages 14 and 15. The youth learned proper etiquette on the computer, with boys/girls, dancing and eating. It was a fun night for the youth.

A few parents were asked to set a themed table. I decided to do a movie theme. At each place-setting there was a line from a movie. The kids had to guess which movie the line was from. A great conversation starter!

For example here is one from Napoleon Dynamite:

Mackenzie was able to attend so I got a picture of her table:

San Juan Hills Volleyball 2010

2010-10-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

This past summer Mackenzie decided to change her "extra-curricular" focus from musical theater to Volleyball and Basketball. She went to a few camps at her high school over the summer to help her develop the skill. Then she announced that she was going to try out for the Volleyball team. As a parent I was a bit nervous about her not making it since her experience (compared to others who were trying out) was practically non-exsistent! I thought it was going to be a "sorry you did not make the team" life lesson.

Well, weren't we all surprised and elated when she made the Frosh/Soph Volleyball team! We were all so excited for her and so was she!! The practice and game schedule has been difficult (for mom) to keep up with, but the experience has been wonderful. The all day Saturday tournaments were tough, but were also lots of fun with lots of playing time.

Mackenzie has been developing her volleyball skills and her team has really grown together.

She picked the #12 because it is the day of her birthday (and it was an even number)

Here are her two coaches: Austin (asst.) and Brandon (head)

Here is the team...lot of beautiful and talented girls. #1 and #18 are sooo talented and their volleyball talent is amazing!