We did something right...

A few days after Andrew and Adrienne got here we had a surprise visitor at our house. It was Doug one of the pastors at our church. I wasn't sure what he was doing here. We were then treated to a surprise every parent hopes for...Andrew arranged to be baptised at our house. He knew we wanted to be there when he did it so he called our church before he left Alaska and planned it all out. We were shocked and so happy. What a blessing to see his life come full circle. We are so thrilled he has given his heart to the Lord. Poor Doug had to get in our freezing cold pool to do it but he was more then happy to.

Disneyland part 2

After 2 days at the parks we were exhausted. We stayed for the fireworks at Disneyland and they were fabulous. We rode every ride at both parks and spent more money then we should have! Jilliann had a blast riding lots of rides...she was even tall enough for the Matterhorn though the snowman scared her. A lot!!

My feet are sore, my wallet is empty and my back hurts...time to go home!!

Disneyland

First, let me say that it is amazing what a woman can make a man do!! Look at Andrew...walking around Disneyland with Mickey ears on. Only love can make you do things like that!!

We had a great time. It was fun to take Adrienne on all the rides and see her reaction since she has never been there. We had dinner with the princesses one night and tried to make it around to see as many characters as we could.

Andrew and Adrienne Visit

Andrew and Adrienne came to visit! We did lots of shopping and I took Adrienne to David's Bridal to try on her dress for me so I could see it. We bought Jilliann the matching one and she loved trying it on and standing on the pedestal to see herself in the mirrors. They looked so cute together. The wedding is going to be beautiful. We ran around and bought all kinds of things for the wedding and had a lot of fun.

Halloween 2008

This Halloween was much less scary then last year. Austin decided he was too old to dress up so he and Johnny handed out candy then watched scary movies in the dark. Jilliann went as Fiona from Shrek but in the end most people just assumed she was a princess...and she is! Christian went as Indiana Jones and really looked the part. John thinks he is going to put the whip to good use the rest of the year. Yeah right! And just went as a Clone Trooper from Star Wars. We went with our neighbor and their 2 boys and they all had a blast. Jilliann got the hang of it after about 3 houses and loved getting candy. She was very cute saying "twick o tweet". I am sure I am gaining an extra 10 pounds. Darn those chocolates!

Beach Dayz

We spent Sunday running around the beach. The kids actually went in the water (and by kids I mean John)! It took Jilliann an hour to get up enough courage to even go near the water and then John swept her up and out into the waves. She got slammed in the face by the first wave but she seemed to enjoy it and then didn't want to get out. I must admit though, I think Kodiak had the best time. He loved running and swimming and playing catch. My arm is still sore from throwing the ball so much. Austin is in to "Merman's" right now. He tends to get OCD about weird things and right now it is turning into a merman. So, he was thrilled to get a "tail" made so he could be one. That boy!!

More Pumpkins

California Pumpkins

We drove to MeMe and PaPa's house over the 3 day weekend. The weather was perfect and a nice break from the 100 degrees we are still in. We went to the pumpkin patch and the kids had fun running around. The big boys went through a hay maze and they went on a hay ride. It was lots of fun.

3 AM

Here is what happens at noon if you wake up at 3 AM. Yeah, at least SHE got to nap!!!

The dog, a cat and a drawer...

2 weeks ago my brilliant daughter was screaming her head off in the little boys room. The cat was also in there screaming his head off. I went in to see Jilliann sitting on the floor holding her arm and the cat half stuck in a drawer flailing around. It was actually quite funny. I assumed Jilliann must have tried to stick him in the drawer and he bit her. I got the cat unstuck and picked up Jilly. She laid her head down on me and cried for a while. When I pulled her back to see what happened to her we were both covered in blood. I eventually realized her finger as barely hanging on and off to the ER we went. She broke the tip of her finger bone and almost severed her finger. The nail has since fallen off and we are keeping it bandaged as much as possible. I took her last week to a hand specialist and he thinks it will heal fine though I cannot imagine how because it looks so mangled and nasty. She loves to show everyone her "owie" but it hasn't stopped her one bit from being a little daredevil. She was on the trampoline within a few hours of being home from the ER and is her usual crazy self. Just one day of peace and quiet is all I really want.....

A walk in the park

We had amazing weather today. It is the first day it hasn't been in the 100's since May. There is some freak storm coming from the west that brought lots of clouds and a little rain here and there. Yeah. So, we spent all day outside playing and working in the yard. It was so nice. We took the kids to the park. They are all getting so big. It blows my mind. I actually got a few pictures of Jilliann with both her eyes open. See, she does have 2 eyes.

Hugs, bugs and just plain old knuckleheads!

Here is a picture of Jilly and her daddy just because. Of course, she is winking. Notice how she is holding his face still with her hand. She is already very "Motherly" or bossy...or both.

Justin found a praying mantis on our fence in the backyard so we captured it. Tonight we are trying to feed it 2 crickets but it hasn't eaten so far. We are going to "try" to keep it alive so Justin can take it to school to show his class then donate it to the science room. Jilliann thinks it is great and wants to sleep with it in her bed. I don't think so!!

And, now that we are supposed to stay out of the 100's and only reach a high of 98 this week we have set back up the trampoline. Yeah. The pool is actually a little cold now. Like usual I cannot get a picture of the 2 little boys where they are not wearing just underwear. Even their poor friends are used to it. They have no shame. It doesn't matter who is here...boys, girls, family, friends, strangers. You can always count on them to be in their underwear.

Happy Birthday Alys the Great

Alys the Great turned 89 on September 19th. Can you imagine?? She was born in 1919. The world sure has changed a lot since then. So, here they are (with Christian jumping in the photo). Grandpa is 92 and Grandma is 89. They have been married 69 years. Geez. That is amazing. She is hanging in there rather well after the trauma we had with her last year. She is fairly unaware and had no clue it was her birthday or how old she was....maybe that isnt so bad!

Finished Floor

I took time out of my busy schedule to clean my house so I could take some stupid pictures of the floor. John thanks all of my blog followers! So, here is the floor finished and with all the furniture put back. When I chose the colors I just asked what was closest to dirt. Same with the grout...you know, they should name a grout color "dirt". I picked earth...which I assumed was close to dirt. I cannot tell you how much I love love love it!! Easy to clean, fabulous to look at but hard on the heads when they fall. Oh well!!

Construction!

Doesn't Justin look happy with all the mess!


I removed the carpet by myself and all the tile too. Such fun!


Ugg...I forgot how much I hate to have my house torn up. It is one thing for it to be messy with toys and such but quite another when it is at the mercy of construction. However, after a long 10 days of chaos my beautiful floor is done. I LOVE it. The pictures do not do it justice. I need to add some pictures with the room put back together with furniture. It is so fabulous I cannot even tell you. Gone is the stained white carpet. John and I busted our butts getting the old tile, all the carpet and the linoleum (and glue) out of there for the workers. But, the end product was worth it....Now I think the carpet on the stairs needs to be removed! John says I have to wait. We shall see.../:-)