Disneyland and Kendal's Birthday!!!

Wow, again, I have been really slacking! But here I am! For fall break we went out to my mom's in California for Kendal's b-day, and to go to DISNEYLAND! Here we are out front. It kinda looked ugly because they had drained all the water! But we were still happy to be there, as always!
Brian's like, "Can I have at least one pic with the kids?" Haha!

Picture op with Dumbo. We always start out our Disney journey with the Dumbo ride. They've always loved it and surprisingly, still do!

Mama and Karsey.

And for your viewing pleasure......baby butt crack! :)

Then we celebrated Kendal's birthday! She wanted a luau themed party. There were so many great deals at the dollar store for tiki/luau party supplies that I jumped at the chance! I loved her cake and it was delicious as well! Although, we still don't understand how the flourescent pink frosting got tracked all over my mom's carpet!

Kendal with some of her new digs! Thanks to Laura and Jennifer for the cute tutu and hats they made for the girls! It was so fun to see you guys again! Kendal LOVES her tutu.

Keaton making a weird face, that unfortunately, has been inherited from me......

Three sweet hula girls. They were so excited when we were decorating my mother's beautiful backyard and patio. Plants actually are green in California.....sigh.....

Okay, so my mother went a little overboard and bought fish to put in fishbowls as centerpieces for the party! The kids had a blast with them! Thank heavens they didn't come home with us. Sorry, mom!

One of the games at the party (besides the miraculous scavenger hunt!) was a fishing pond. We set up a sheet and had the kids decorate fish to attach to it. I always loved the fishing pond as a kid.

This is backwards, but what else is new with me? This is us on our way up to Cali at mom's favorite rest stop. The kids had fun playing in the ginormous trees that were there. The restroom was creepy though.....can you say powdered soap? Uggghhh!

When Tweenism Rears it's Ugly Head, A Decade too Soon

Imagine my alarm when this greeted me the other day. Be afraid for me, be very very afraid for me!
Because one pose just isn't enough......

Seville Pool: It's Where the Party's At

We figured these were the last days to get in some pool time, so last weekend we set out for the Seville pool. We always have so much fun there, and it was the perfect time to review swimming skills with the kiddos. As you can tell, Karsen was not up for cheesin' it for the camera. (She may also have a mouthful of golfish crackers, I'm not sure.)
When are the fountains gonna come on?.....Ahhhhh!

Looking for hidden treasure in the pirate cave of doom!

Perfect 10.

So this is where the air goes....ohhhh!

Brian and I were cracking up at this. When did Keaton's bathing suit become a parachute? We're not sure, but it sure was funny so we took a picture.

The FHE That Never Was/Friday Night Lights

Sorry, to save time and convenience, this is a combo post folks. So this is "The FHE that never was." I am so sorry to say that there was absolutely no spiritual instruction during this activity. I could've easily tied in themes of prayer, and needing our Father in Heaven to guide us through the challenging episodes in our lives, but alas, I was tired. Like most kids do, they insisted we did "something" as a family!!! So the blindfolded game of finding a bunch of pennies on the floor was born. Hey, they loved it and it took up some time! Shhhhhh! We're sometimes the laziest parents on the planet, but don't let the whole ward know! :)
Last Friday night we rented a bunch of movies and then watched the free Friday Night Lights show outside our window. For some reason, this was a lot of fun! I just love it when Monsoon season lingers!

Is There a Dentist in the House?

Finally, after much debate Keaton's 4th tooth finally met it's maker. Keaton is such a baby sometimes, she'll let a tooth hang by one lonely root until gravity finally takes hold, OR, there's a dentist in the house! Thank heavens grandpa was in town, 'cause nobody was allowed to touch Keaton's tooth. He just gently reached in and set it free. TOTALLY PAINLESSLY!!! She was handsomely compensated the next morning don't you worry....
Ahhh, the remnants of babyhood! :(

Fun Times in Nonna and Papa's Pool

Whooops. Man, it's been quite a while since I've posted. I'm majorly backed up, so here it goes. One of the great things of summer for the kids is swimming in Nonna and Papa's pool! It's been redone recently, so it is a great treat when we can make it down!
Here is Kendal "remembering" how she swam by herself just last summer! Yes, we're gonna need to work on that one!

As always there are many props and toys to have fun with.

CANNONBALL!!!

KOWABUNGA!?!

Kendal and Karsen's first days of preschool!

Yay! Karsen's first day of preschool! She was so excited to actually get to stay at preschool instead of just coming with me to drop Kendal off. Here she is with her cute little backpack. Keaton handed hers down to Kendal, and Kendal handed hers down to Karsen. They are in good shape still and everyone was happy with the switches so I thought, why not? It looks so big on her though! Ha!ha!

Of course the first thing she hit was the dinosaur pile! If you look at the cute little red-head to the right, that's Hunter our old neighbor! So fun that they're in preschool together!

And here's our posing beauty Kendal. She now goes 3 days/week for 2 1/2 hours. Isn't she such a beaut? Ha!ha! I'm a little frightened for the teen age years, heck, I'm scared for the "tween" years with her!

And here are Kendal's FAVORITE shoes of the moment. Her torquoise platforms. (Ey yei yei!) She was drawn immediately to these shoes, so of course, Grandma had to get them for her! They both had fabulous first days! I just don't know how I'm gonna get them there everyday day in and day out! I guess I'll deal....haha.