Tinkerbell

I was going through and reading old posts and saw one about Tinkerbell, our cat. Tinkerbell was the pet my sister and I thought we would never had. When I was about 12 my brother Ron came home from UT with a new kitten in tow. He found her on the train tracks down town. She was too young to be away from her mommy so we had to give her special milk and we kept her in the bathroom at night. You see, my mother DID NOT do pets. She still doesn't. So the fact that she was this compassionate was shocking. What was even more shocking is that she let us keep the kitten when my brother headed back to Utah. Thus began the life of Tinkerbell.

Well, our dear kitty has finally passed away - 19 years later. She is literally the oldest cat we or any of our friends and neighbors have ever known. She didn't have teeth, was deaf, lived through several different "owners" that haved lived at this house, and was always running from the little kids. Right before we left for Disneyland Kevin mentioned she wasn't eating anything. I then saw her eye was infected. We called Shannon to come and take her to the vet (because she was technically Shannon's kitty). When she came the next day we couldn't find her. We never saw her again.

I have to admit that I kind of miss her. She wasn't the friendliest kitty, but it just feels like she has been in our family for so long. So to you Tinkerbell, farewell. We will miss you.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Last week we took the girls to their first baseball game. My dad's partners had box tickets to the A's/Ranger's game and we gladly accepted. What a treat, too. They had food come in and that night there was a fireworks show after the game.

Truly, this is the only way to go to a game with small kids. It was so nice to be able to let them roam around the sky box while the adults could mingle and watch the game. I can't imagine trying to juggle 3 kids and keeping them in their seats. Honestly, I hardly watched the game. I was just glad to get out. The game started a little late and the girls were VERY tired by the time it ended, but since we had already told them about the fireworks we couldn't just leave. They would have had a major melt down. So, we hauled them out to the stands and bundled up. Unbelievably, it was VERY cold that night. BUT, it was worth it. The fireworks were amazing and the girls LOVED it. Chloe and Charlie sat on my lap and Chloe was so excited she was shaking when she screamed out at them. This was the latest we have EVER had them out at night, but it was totally worth it.

Baby Wyatt with Daddy Carson. He is such a cute baby!

Most of the time the kids were playing in the closet. What nuts!

(Ben, Chloe, Austin, Charlie, & Nolan)

Brian, Corinne, Ben, & Austin

Jon, Becky, Nolan, & Reagan

Papa Bear and Gma

We had an extra ticket and invited Kevin's mom to join us

We brought blankets to sit on the field, but it filled up before we could get down there. So, we settled for the seats.

Journal Entry

While we were away at Camp Crim/Andrus we had company at our house. On August 1st, Shannon and Carson blessed Wyatt. His parents, sister, brother, and a family friend came for the event. The family friend, Wiesman, is from the Congo. Carson's parents met him while they were serving a mission 3 years ago. He has since then come to the states to study English at BYU. It turns out he is translating the Book of Mormon from French to Tchallupbah (?) a native language from the Congo. Normally, when the Book of Mormon is translated, it is from English into the new language. Since Wiesman is still learning English, the 1st Presidency told him to use the French translation. There are few people who speak this language and even fewer that can translate it correctly. While we were away, Wiesman was busy translating in our house. In our HOUSE! What a great privilege and honor. He translated 6 chapters of Jacob while in our home. I had to write this. This is something worth sharing & remembering.

Camp Crim

The weekend after Disneyland we had a Andrus/Crim reunion. Kevin's cousin, Kirsten, lives up in Colfax, which is about 45 min north of Sacramento. They have a huge piece of property that we all camped out on. Literally. It was nice to relax outside and have the kiddies run around wild and not worry (too much) about where they were. It was absolutely beautiful up there and the girls had a blast. This was our first actual camping trip and the girls did great. It was useless to try and put them down before dark. And even then, it took a few scoldings to be quiet and go to bed. Me and the girls slept in the tent both nights. Kev opted for the van for the first night. He was attacked by mosquitoes and had drunk a lot of soda and would be getting up A LOT that night. The second night he ended up going to his uncle's cabin. He was having an allergic reaction to all the bites and was miserable. It was either going to the cabin or home for him. Thankfully, we girls are pretty tough and did alright by ourselves. We did so well, we are going camping again this weekend!

Loved their place out there

(click on images for larger view)

Chloe spent most of the time with Bella and Alysia. Charlie went back and forth between the older girls and playing by herself. She is still pretty young to fit in with the older girls. Tilly did great hanging out with Ella and Trye. These three little ones were all born w/in 6 months of each other.

When we got there, one of the first activities was the "slip n slide."
We were so hot on Friday that we all took off to the river to cool off. Wise choice, indeed!

Saturday we went to the lake. It was only about 30 minutes from camp. We were able to go out on the boat and jet skis. We even tried to take Tilly out on the boat, but right as we left the dock she FREAKED out and wouldn't have it. I don't think she liked her life jacket. Poor thing.

Charlie did pretty good on the tube. Kevin said she lasted a little longer than Chloe. I love her expressions. They are pure innocence and joy!

Chloe is such a happy girl! I love her smile and she sure loved being on the boat!

All in all, this was a great trip. I am looking for this annual event for years to come!

DLand Part II

I guess I did something right this time... more videos of WoC. Seriously Awesome.

DISNEYLAND!!!

We finally got away!

Kevin and I finally got a much needed vacation. Back in April Kevin and I volunteered for Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day" promotion and scored some free tickets. At first we were going to take a quick trip- three days. Drive down, go one day, and come back-leave Friday night and come back Sunday. Then I thought, let's take the girls. It would be so fun. But then I took a look at the cost of a ticket for Chloe and said no way! I then proceeded to scour the on-line sites for hotels.. for weeks. I just couldn't decide and we still hadn't decided what our plan was going to be. After looking on the Disney website and caved and got so excited to go. I just knew we would have to have 2 days at Disneyland and CA Adventure. So... here it goes:

Tuesday night: We started packing and cleaning up the house. We put the girls down and proceeded to get ready. Kevin decided he needed to go see a movie with a friend and so I was left to prepare alone.

Wednesday: I knew it would take a couple hours to actually get on the road. We were basically packed, we just needed to tie up the loose ends AND I HAD to go to the chiropractor. By 12:30 we were on the road, 4:30 we were out of the grapevine and by 5 we hit traffic. Can I just say that LA traffic SUCKS!! It took us 2 hours to go about 45 miles. Disgusting. After we checked into our hotel we headed out towards Disneyland to get some grub. We weren't actually in Anaheim, but in Placentia. Once we found the little "downtown" area I immediately wanted to change hotels. The excitement is everywhere around Disneyland and I just wanted to soak it in. But, after thinking it through it made sense to save the money. We would only be sleeping there and not hanging out.

Thursday: We were up early. very early. Well, it felt early. We got up and out to be at the park when it opened. I was giddy. Kevin nearly scolded me half a dozen times for walking too fast, dodging people, and just plain being a dork. I couldn't help it. I was so excited. We got our tickets and made a mad dash. Unbelievabley, the first hour or so it was really slow. Once CA Adventure opened we went to get our tickets for World of Color. Everyone we talked to that had gone recently said we HAD to go. We were so glad we listened. What a spectacular show. The rides, the food, the nostalgia of just being there was so fun. We stayed open to about 11:30. Seriously, an AWESOME day. *As a side note, we saw SOO many kids at the park even after all the shows. Some parents are so incredibly irresponsible. Children should not be out that late. It was so sad to see these little kids falling apart, sleeping in strollers, etc. Really? Take them to bed!!

Friday: We tried to get up early. We got there about 9am. We were so exhausted from the day before, but were determined to get our fill! We spent the whole day soaking it all in, riding our favorites again and taking a few pictures. I didn't get as many as I would have liked, but ohh well...

Saturday: We planned an "extra" day to recoup from Dland. We decided to do a session at the Newport Beach temple. This was my first session at a mini temple. It reminded me of the Sacrament temple. It was absolutely beautiful. Afterwards, we were able to meet up with my old roommate, Sharon, for lunch and to chat and catch up. So fun! I love that girl!

That night we were able to hang out with my friend Mandy. We crashed at her place for the night and went to church with her in the morning before we headed home. I am SO glad we started our road trip home an hour north of where we were the previous days. Again, LA traffic is the pits!

All in all, this trip was FABULOUS! I am so glad we were able to get away and detox. I can't wait to go and do it next year!!

I can't figure out how add more videos. This is a clip from World of Color @ CA Adventure.

Santa Cruz

My department at work planned a beach trip in July - July 13th to be exact ;) We were supposed to meet at 11:30 for lunch right off the boardwalk at Santa Cruz. After a 3 hour drive (when it should normally only take 1), we finally arrived. The entire department arrived late. Thankfully, we brought our lunches with us in the car, or we would have NEVER survived. Surprisingly, the the beach had a little inlet that kept a little pool right in the middle of the beach. It was perfect for the girls. We were able to let them play in the ocean without being near the waves.

And this is what I found...

Charlie has been quite the little stubborn booger when it comes to bedtime lately. One night I found her like this.

*sigh*

She is just too cute.

Dishwasher!

I don't know how anyone ever survived without a dishwasher. Our pooped out and broke over 6 weeks ago and this pic is just an inkling of what it has been like. Seriously, when your sink is full of dishes and you have to start there before you can clean anything else... let's just say NO motivation. Thankfully, Kevin is such a good sport. He has cleaned the dishes so faithfully. Let's just say that after two new dishwashers, this one better be a keeper. Thank heaven for that blessed person who invented this wonderful contraption!

First Steps

I am a little late on this post. Actually, very late. Chantelle has been walking for months. She is so mobile it is insane. It took us several attempts to get what we got and even what we got isn't much! Goodness! I love this little one!

Happy 4th of July

Because the 4th was on Sunday, we decided to keep it low key and celebrate at home. I attempted to make red, white, and blue cupcakes- not very successful. Kevin bought a few sparklers and the girls went at it. The thought of keeping the girls up until it was dark enough to really enjoy them was out of the question. Maybe next year. Enjoy our only photos of the day!