Cars

When I married David, I knew he liked cars.  It was exciting to buy our first car together, an Acura Integra.  It was a great car, and we enjoyed it.  The next purchase was a Subaru XT6.  It was a fun car to drive, but had a few problems at first, and some bigger problems at the end.  Our first venture into SUV land was the Honda CRV.  We couldn't fit two car seats very well in the back seat of the Acura, so the CRV was a great addition.  When the Acura finally wore out, we bought our first new car, the Nissan Sentra SE-R.  David said he could keep this car for at least 10 years.  As our family grew, and Logan tired of being squished between 2 car seats, we upsized to the Honda Pilot.  I loved this car.  I felt like our car family was at a great point.  We could drive these cars for a long time.  Then disaster -- the engine decided to eat the catalytic converter in the Nissan.  David hadn't even grown tired of it yet.  Eek!  So, the guy who loves to shop for cars, had to shop quickly for a car, which we found out he doesn't really like.  Anyway, the first colorful car joined our family, the Mazda 3.  It's a fun car also, but not fun to drive in the snow.  It is probably the cutest car we've ever had.  And then, just for fun, we replaced our Honda Pilot with a Honda Pilot.  Now we don't have to buy any cars for a long time, right?  Well . . . Logan got his license and we weren't thrilled about driving him to seminary or being without a car all day, so we bought a Ford Ranger.  David has always wanted a truck, but not as his primary car to drive to work every day.  Within a few weeks of buying the truck, we had all of its problems fixed (we hope) and Logan can almost drive it.  NOW we can wait several years before even thinking of buying any cars, right?

SURPRISE!!

So, I went to visit my sister, and my other sister and niece came, too!  Fun times.  We originally planned to surprise Elizabeth, but she is so busy we couldn't make it work. Suzanne ended up telling her she was coming out for a visit. Then, when Elizabeth went to pick her up at the airport, Emily hid behind a pole, then jumped out before Elizabeth pulled away.  Surprise!  When Elizabeth suggested going to get a bite to eat, Suzanne and Emily convinced her there was a really great place to eat in terminal 5, so they should go there.  Surprise!!  I was at terminal 5.  Then we really did go grab a bite to eat.  Since Elizabeth has no kids at home, we each got our own rooms, and got to try out the luxurious new bathroom.

On Saturday we went to Target.  What sisters get-together would be complete without a trip to Target? Then we went to Strathearn Park, in Simi Valley.  We got to see some Simi history, and hear how it was going to be called Simiopolis!

Emily trying to figure out the phone booth

We also crowded into a surrey with a fringe on the top:

  Later that evening we went to Moorpark and attended a play.  We saw "The Fiddler on the Roof" and then those songs were stuck in our heads instead of the surrey with the fringe on top.

Sunday we went to church.  Then Del had to leave for a business trip.  I'm sure he was sad to leave all the women at his house, but he had to do his duty.  Some of us took naps, and that evening we ate treats and hung out.

Monday we were contemplating Griffith Observatory, but they are closed on Monday.  So, we headed to L.A.  We started at Olvera Street, then walked to Chinatown.

Suzanne, Emily, Elizabeth, Rozanne

Elizabeth, Suzanne and Emily on a bench in front of a cool pond

 Then we walked over to Angels Flight, to ride the shortest railway in the world.

Unfortunately, it was not running.

We walked back to Olvera Street for Churros, then had to take Emily to the airport.

The sunset with the palm trees was really pretty, too bad I don't know how to use a camera   

After we dropped her off we enjoyed a 2+ hour drive back to Simiopolis.

Some more of my amazing photography skills

I guess it wouldn't be a real trip to L.A. without some excellent traffic.

Tuesday morning Elizabeth headed back to work, and her friend took Suzanne and me to the FlyAway, where we caught a bus back to LAX.

It was great fun visiting and playing, and eating really yummy food (thanks Elizabeth!).

I got home just in time to pick up Easton from school, and life goes on.

100 Days

So, according to Easton there have been 100 days of school.  This means the school year is about half over.  Once again, I am going to attempt to blog at least once a month this year.  Last summer was fun, with Disneyland the highlight.  We went to Lake Tahoe for my family reunion. Logan had the opportunity to trek across Wyoming.  Lauren and I traveled to Idaho to visit her newest cousins.  Then the kids started school. We went to our ward campout the weekend after school started.  Our family went back up to Idaho for the baby blessings, and we've traveled to St. George a few times, also.  Logan has taken the ACT, and is getting ready for a mission in about 18 months.  Lauren is finishing up elementary school and will start at middle school next year.  Easton is in a French immersion program and is LOVING it.  He came home the other day and told me he wishes he could stay in French class all day long.  All 3 of them are doing well in school, which makes me very happy.  Logan is still unlicensed, but most likely will be a licensed driver in a month or so.  Lauren is on the student council at school, and the safety patrol.  Easton enjoys singing in the French Chorale.  I applied for a job at our library, but didn't get it.  I can't decide whether I'm happy about that, or not.  For the first time ever, I am alone every day.  Also for the first time ever, David works Monday through Friday, 8-5.

Logan, home from trek

Easton in Snow Canyon, St. George

Lauren w/new cousins

Logan -11th grade

Lauren - 5th grade

Easton - 1st grade

California

Since we went to Disney World a few years ago without Easton, we promised him we would take him to Disneyland before he turned 7.  So, we did.  We drove to St. George the first day and visited David's parents in their new vacation home.  David's sister and brother-in-law were there and we enjoyed hanging out, eating, and watching weird Disney kid shows late at night.  Logan caught a lizard, but it got away during the night.  The kids liked chasing lizards all over the backyard, even though it was very HOT while we were there.

Logan with his lizard

Ed, David, Rozanne, Lauren, Dolores & Dick enjoying the back patio

Cindy, Lauren, Easton & Logan looking for lizards

The next day we drove to my sister's house in Simi Valley.  We always love going there and we had fun relaxing after our drive.  Lauren and Easton even snuck in a quick swim while Elizabeth and I visited in the shade.

Easton's towel @ Elizabeth's

Lauren's towel

Logan's towel

Rozanne's towel

David's towel

Sunday we went to church in Simi, then hung around, played a few games, then drove to Anaheim to check into our hotel.
I got the youngers into bed while Logan and David went on an exploratory walk.  Right as the kids were falling asleep, the fireworks began!  So, we let them get up and we all went out on the balcony to watch the fireworks.  Monday morning we got up and walked across the street to California Adventure.  We rode a lot of rides, starting with the new ride in Cars' Land, and had a great day.  Easton really liked Soarin' over California.  We got a lot of fast passes, and really only waited in one long line the whole day.  We walked back and forth across the park a lot, but that is better than waiting in line.

Lauren & Minnie

Easton, Lauren & David trying to run into us

The Super Family

My favorite Kiddos

 The next day we went to Disneyland.  We made Easton go on Matterhorn, even though he has a huge fear of abominable snowmen.  Again, we really didn't wait in any long lines, until that night for our 2nd time at Star Tours.  We went over to Tom Sawyer's Island (now it's pirate island or something) for my first time ever.  The kids had fun exploring the caves there.  We all loved Space Mountain, and it was a fun day.

Easton & Goofy

The kids on the island (Easton & Lauren are saying 'yo ho')

Easton & Lauren learning the Jedi art

Logan, David & Lauren on the rockets

Easton on the rockets (he waited all day to do this one)

Lauren & Rozanne in their teacup

The next day we slept in, or tried to.  The hotel was doing some construction which started at 7 a.m., but miraculously, the kids slept through it.  Then we spent a little time in the pool at the hotel.  We checked out and headed to Torrance.  There we showed the kids where we used to live there, and tested Logan to see if he knew which one was our apartment.  We visited some good friends, then took David to the airport to go home.  The kids and I went back up to Elizabeth's for a few days of fun and relaxation.  We swam in the pool, Easton had cooking lessons, Lauren had sewing lessons, and Logan watched a Batman movie every night.  Logan started wearing contacts while we were there (but I had to put them in his eyes for him).

Lauren with the pajama pants she made

Lauren modeling pants

Easton making grilled cheese sandwiches

Craig and Easton with the ice cream they made

Early Saturday morning we got up and drove away.  We stopped for lunch and a break in St. George, then came home.  Logan drove from Cedar City to Fillmore, and we didn't even die.  The drive was very uneventful both ways, which I am SO grateful for.

The Eagle

Logan is growing up.  No matter how little I think he should be, he is big.  He's 15 years old, he'll be driving soon, he's in high school, he's taller than his dad, etc.  On November 25th he received his Eagle Scout award.  It was a lovely evening, when Logan and his friend Drew were honored.  Logan really seemed pleased, which was really nice to see.  I got to talk about him, and David prepared a cool slide show for the boys.  Grandma & Grandma  came, Uncle Curt, Aunt Lisa & Uncle Myles, Aunt Sandie & Uncle Larry, and many good friends.  Logan really is a good boy, and I'm glad he enjoyed the evening.  Logan had his dad as his scoutmaster up through getting his Eagle, and now David has been released.  I told him I want him to do it again when Easton turns 12.  We'll see what happens.

Logan's first pinewood derby - can you tell his car didn't do very well?

Logan during his Eagle Project - surveying street signs

We needed a current picture of Logan, so we headed over to the park and took a bunch.  Toward the end he was getting pretty funny, and I think this was the last picture we took, and one of our favorites.

The proud parents with their Eagle Scout

Finishing up

I keep thinking I shouldn't post about things that are happening because I haven't caught up with things from before.  I will never blog again if I continue this way.  I'm sure there are many things I wanted to blog about from the summer, but I will move on to the fall (now that it is winter).

This school year marked a big one for the boys.  Logan is now in 10th grade, getting to start high school this year.  Easton is now in kindergarten!  I made it to the point where all my kids are in school.  This is a good thing.  Easton is only gone for a few hours, so we're easing into the idea of having no kids home all day.

Next year we'll have 3 kids in 3 different schools, and will from then on.  Easton is going to a different elementary school starting in 1st grade, so he can be in the French immersion class.  This means that half of his daily school instruction will be in French.  He will have 2 teachers:  a French-speaking one and an English-speaking one.  Neither teacher will ever speak the other language.  This is exciting and a little scary for me, but Easton and David are all for it.  Lauren has one more year in elementary school after this one.  We're hoping to get the same teacher Logan had for 5th grade because she is the best teacher ever.
Here are the first days:

Logan ready for seminary the first day of 10th grade

Lauren all ready for 4th grade

 Easton SO, SO, SO, SO, SO, SO ready for kindergarten, a week after his siblings started

running to the bus stop, without even looking back to see if we were coming

meeting up with his friend Matthew at the bus stop

finally looking back after I called his name 3 times to say goodbye

Way to go, Idaho, Part II

Our family took an extended trip surrounding the family reunion in McCall.  We drove to Richard's house on Saturday, and got to hang out there a little before we headed to McCall.  Suzanne & family came for a little bit and dropped off Emily to spend the night with us while they stayed in a hotel.  Then on Sunday we went to church in Meridian, then drove up to McCall.
On Wednesday, we drove to Idaho Falls, and spent the night in a hotel there.  We drove around and looked at the river and some really cool benches.

Kids on a fish bench

Logan on a potato bench

Lauren on a horse bench

Easton on a bird bench

The kids by the Snake river, with the Idaho Falls Temple in the background

 The next morning we drove to Rexburg and went to Bear World, just in case we didn't see any bears in Yellowstone.  It's a good thing.

Some of the bears we saw

Another bear we saw

A real bear

The kids and really cute bear cubs . . . I could have watched them for hours

Easton being very brave and petting the chicken at the petting zoo at Bear World

Rozanne almost being very brave and almost feeding the pig

 Then we headed into Yellowstone and saw Old Faithful, and many more geysers.

Old Faithful and Lauren

The boys at a geyser

 We spent the night up in Gardiner, Montana.  The next morning we went back into Yellowstone and saw lots of animals, but no bears or wolves.  When we were watching a movie about Yellowstone it showed some mud pots and I could hear Easton giggling.  He thought it was pretty funny.  So we took him out to see some and he giggled again.  Apparently mud pots hit a funny bone in Easton.  They were quite stinky if you ask me.  We had a great time walking around and driving around.

Logan and a petrified tree

Dragon's Mouth Mud Pot (tee hee)

Easton and Lauren with a buffalo

Lauren acting as the wing tip of a pelican

Lauren and Easton at Yellowstone Lake

Thursday afternoon we drove down to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  It started raining just as we left Yellowstone.  Good timing.

Leaving Yellowstone

We got to drive by the Tetons on the way down, and they were quite nice to look at.

 We got to Jackson in time to catch the end of the shootout in the middle of town.  Then we went to dinner and stayed in a hotel that night.  The next day we walked around a little, did some tourist shopping, had some ice cream, then headed back home.
 

Kids' favorite part of Jackson Hole

Logan's great photography

YUM!

 We love our own family vacations, and we love the family reunion, but we think we need to separate them next year because we were really pooped by the time we got home.  We did have fun and made excellent memories, like how to fit a cot between the two beds in a Motel 6.