Michael's FIRST Haircut!

A couple Sunday's ago my dad was giving haircuts and Michael REALLY wanted one too. Although his hair is much thicker than what it used to be (which isn't much) it still has not grown in length. But I figured why not?! What would it hurt anyway? So I had him shave the sides and back and trim up the top. He LOVED it! In fact, that night after bath he checked himself out in the mirror to "make sure his hair was still cut!" AND the next morning he got pretty upset that his hair was going to grow back and it wouldn't be cut anymore. So I explained that he would just keep getting hair cuts from now on!

The finished product!

See! I TOLD you he had hair!!! (okay, so that's the 3 other boys hair, but still!) ;o)

Free Concert!

My mom told me about a free concert KUZZ was putting on with American Idol runner up Bo Bice and wondered if we wanted to go. So, we accepted and went on a little date. My mom didn't realize that they opened table registration several weeks prior, so our seats weren't great, but it was still fun and nice to do something together.

Little Miss

Emma has a tendancy of just playing when she's supposed to be sleeping. This is how I found her several nights in a row.

Swim Lessons

I had heard that swim lessons at the same place they went to last year was having their 3rd & 4th sessions for only $5 per child (under 5)!!! So, I signed the kids up for both sessions! They go M-Th from 10:45-11:20 and they are loving it! They're in their 2nd session right now. They have 2 kids per instructor and Michael was able to have Aaron in his class with him. He's doing pretty well. He's not swimming on his own yet, but he sure tries! He keeps jumpin out to start swimming, but the teacher kept grabbing him before he could get too far! He's still got one more week, so maybe he'll figure it out by then!

Emma's doing really well, too. she loves to jump in the water and is not afraid to go under. She even tries to swim on her own as well. She jumps out and tries to swim, but doesn't quite move her arms and legs like she's supposed to. I'm just glad my kids aren't afraid of the water! Her first session she had a kid with her that did nothing but cry the WHOLE time! It wasn't until about the last 2-3 days that he wouldn't cry! She ended up with him again this session, but he's much better!

We also had Sarah there during mommy & Me with Lindsey, so the kids had a blast seeing all of their cousins every day!

And here's Amanda & Abby. This is pretty much how Abby chilled for most of the time! She did go under a few times, but this was the position of the 1/2 hour! She's such a momma's girl!

Just Us Girls!

Emma has been going through a phase recently where she is almost unbearable with her tantrums! It's been so frustrating because it doesn't seem like anything works. We've tried being nice, we've tried being mean, and nothing! So, I thought that I would try some one on one time with her and see if that would help. (I am convinced that she needs to go back to taking naps, but I need her to go down early so that she's not up late, but it hasn't happened yet) I took Michael to my parents for my dad to watch him and then Emma and I went to Mac N Cheeza for lunch. I hadn't been there yet, and thought it was pretty good!

Here she is drawing on the giant chalkboard.

We shared some yummy mac n cheese!

Threw back a few....(okay, so it was strawberry soda, but I thought it was funny!)

Went to Build a Bear, and then saw "Despicable Me". I thought it was really cute! She liked it too, but had to go potty right at the good part at the end. By the time we got back, everything was fine and the movie was just about over. When we got out, I took her to the arcade area for her to play around (not actually play, just pretend.) They had a crane game with stuffed animals from the movie. She wanted to play, but I wouldn't let her. Then, a little boy came in to play (he was about Michael's age) and on the first try he ended up getting 2 of the same toy (a stuffed unicorn) and gave one to Emma! (SCORE!)

Here she is with her animals...(this is why she needs to take naps again!) That night we all went out to watch Ron's softball game.

I hope to make this a regular thing because I just think it's important!

Just Married!

I have known Sonnet through church for several years. I've always found her to be smart, funny, and fun to be with. We went to seminary together, girls camp, and we've been in the same ward for the last few years. So, naturally, when she was spotted around with a new boyfriend, I was really excited for her! I teased her a couple of times just to make sure she knew where I worked! ;o) Christian lives in Tehachapi, so he frequently stayed at my parents house if he couldn't/didn't need to head back home. One evening, my dad called asking for general information about how much an engagement ring would cost. Long story short, he came in, picked out the perfect ring, she said yes, they came back to get his ring & a matching wedding band for her, and they were married a couple of weeks ago! We are so happy for the both of them and wish them the best of luck! Congrats you two!

This is a cake that Amanda made for their last YSA break the fast (on the 4th).

At the reception, Emma & Aaron cutting a rug!

Emma & Uncle Ry Ry dancing!

The happy couple!

Independence Day

Saturday, the 3rd, we bbq'd at my parents house and then headed out to Shafter to see the fireworks. We set up "camp" in the park and had a good time! A couple of Ryan's co-workers and their families came as well, so we had a pretty large group. Emma didn't care for them much. She wasn't really "scared", just not interested.

He looks so big in this outfit & hat!

Best Friends!

Enjoying some Capri Suns.

Sunday, my parents hosted break the fast and bbq'd hot dogs, and when it got dark, we lit off a few fireworks. Monday wasn't filled with too much since it was just any other Monday (Ron has to work and I normally have Monday's off anyway!) We had a fabulous 4th and are so grateful for those who have fought for our freedoms! THANK YOU!!!

Basketball Camp

I wanted to sign Michael up for T-Ball this year, but the dates didn't work out with our trip and I didn't want to pay the money for him to miss 1-2 games (out of 4), so I looked into some other options and found this Tot Basketball camp which I thought he would like MUCH better! If we were to rank his favorite sports it would go Golf ('cause of daddy), Basketball, Hockey, then Baseball. He does love to play all of them, but the others are played more frequently. He would probably play golf more often, but that's not something that he can play in the house much, so he is usually shooting hoops in our little tikes hoop (which he's outgrown!) This kid has been playing basketball since he was barely tall enough to shoot a basket when the hoop was on the lowest setting and he stood on his tip-toes! The class was only a week for 45 min a day and he loved every minute! They start the kids off doing jumping jacks (which was probably the cutest thing ever!), and some arm stretches and then they ran a lap around the gym. They learned how to dribble, pass, shoot, and play defense. Michael was probably one of the best kids they had, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom! :o) Most of the kids were pretty small and he just has a talent for sports!

Here he is getting hydrated.

After each practice, they huddled together while the coach talked to them with their hands in the circle....

...and then they would yell "Basketball" while they lifted their hands up!

Look at that form! He even got some air!

To keep Emma occupied, I gave her my camera to play with....

Almost Home

When we left the zoo, the plan was to drive to Medford, OR and stay the night, and finish the trip the next day, BUT when we got near Medford (around midnight or so) we started calling for a hotel and they were all booked up for some soccer something. There were a couple of rooms, but one was a suite and the other was just more than what we wanted to spend for just a few hours. SO we just kept on driving. I drove from the OR/CA border till about Sacramento while Ron slept, and then Ron took over (it was around 5 am). Around 7:30am, just north of Tulare, I woke up to our vehicle sliding sideways and a big cloud of dust! We then did a complete 360 in the left lane of the 99!!! The car died, but Ron was able to start it back up and move over to the shoulder. We found the next exit so we could check out the damage (we borrowed Ron's grandpa's Yukon because we needed more room). The only damage was in the very front, but it wasn't good! The bumper was cracked almost all the way accross! I asked Ron what happened and he said that he was looking in his rear view mirror at a semi that was behind us in the right hand lane, and when he looked back at the road, the road had a right turn and the front tire hit the dirt and we started sliding, he tried to correct, but ended up putting both front tires in the dirt as we were sliding sideways, and an oleander branch hit the front which spun us the rest of the way around! We were just so grateful that Heavenly Father was watching over us and kept the car from rolling! Needless to say, we were up for the rest of the drive home. We ended up getting home around 8:30/9 am, but Emma had had a rough ride home and was complaining about her ear, so I made an appt to take her in that morning. So, after a few errands, filling perscriptions, and having some lunch, we came home and CRASHED! All of us! All in all, it was a fun trip and we had a great time visiting with our family! We love you guys!

Here's a couple pics of the damage!

Last Stop...The Zoo/Aquarium!!

The day we left, we decided to make a stop in Tacoma at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. If you're ever in the area, I recommend this place! It was decent priced and had LOTS to do! Fortunately, Ron's mom was able to come too and spend one last day with us, and then just headed back up as we headed down south.

While we were buying tickets, Michael had to go to the bathroom, so the lady gave us our tickets real quick and I rushed him to the restroom. When we came out, we were greeted by this guy!

Emma decided to chase him around and backed him up into a corner....

....so he did this! We found out that they had a whole bunch of peacocks throughout the park. It was pretty cool to see them walking around with their pretty feathers!

First stop: The Lemurs! this little guy is a black lemur that was just kinda hanging out....

....while his cousins were all huddled up on the rock trying to stay warm! (And yes, we sang the "I like to move it move it" song!)

Grandma & Emma in the birds nest.

A cute little meerkat. He looks a little sad :o(

A wall of cockroaches....Gross!

Wallaby

They had a mock vetrinary office that the kids could play with.

We went to look at the elephants and I didn't even notice until my MIL said something, but I look over and saw this....(Enter your own thoughts here______)

And here's the exhibit we WANTED to see!

We found these glasses....."I'm too sexy for my shades!"

About 3 weeks prior to our visit, this mama tiger gave birth to a couple of baby cubs! They didn't have them out to where you could see them in person, but they had monitors on her. The daddy tiger was out and we could see him, however, he was pretty far back to get a picture and when we were there, one of the trainers came out to talk about them and answer questions and he said that they just recently found out that the daddy had a massive tumor which was causing some breathing problems. They started him on chemo treatments, and it seems to be helping, but they don't think it's curing. The tumor has shrunk immensely, but everything was still up in the air. He also mentioned that this particular breed (the Sumatran) is slowly depleeting and there are only a few left. They are trying to breed them using the ones that are already in zoos, but that is an iffy situation. At one point they tried to breed this female with the brother of the daddy and he tried to kill her. So anyway, they're really cute and it was interesting to learn about them.

Also new at the zoo were these cute Clouded Leopards. There were 2 of them, but when we got there, it was feeding time, and they fed them seperate. But after lunch, they had them both in there playing with the trainers. They were like oversized cats with giant paws. But, they don't get very big.

A cute little river otter!

This monkey just looked so sad. We decided he looked a little like grandpa smeesh! ;o)

These monkeys were "relaxing in style"

Sea Horses! (I thought they looked pregnant!)

The touch pools.

Sea Otters

These sea lions were so funny! They would swim toward the glass on it's back until it looked like he was going to hit it, and then he would flip on his stomach, swim to the other side of the pool, swim up and lift out of the water, and then swim towards us on his back again! He did that over and over and over!

A giant walrus! He was huge!

When we went to the car, there were peacocks in the parking lot! And they like Cheeze-Its!