THE BRUSCHKE FAMILY

Disneyland Fun-Dec. 2011

2012-01-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

As with the past two year, Brett's company held their End of the Year Party at Disneyland. We love this tradition and hope that it continues for a very long time. The last two years it has been raining on the day we went, which is awesome because it is less crowded, but it was nice to have better weather this year so that the shows weren't cancelled.

With me being pregnant this year, I was the runner to go get "fast pass tickets" (tickets for later in the day to ride the rides without waiting in the normal line). We were able to get on the first few rides rather quickly and then with fast passes we were able to ride everything we wanted, some more than a couple of times! Brett's brother Brian went with us with his two boys and my sister Debbie came along to be another sent of hands to help with the kids. It was an awesome day, full of fun memories!

Space Mountain: Debbie in the back left, Tanner and Brett in the middle row and Natalie and Bailey in the front row. I love all the different facial expressions!

Space Mountain: Spencer and Grayden

Buzz Lightyear: Grayden and Spencer on the left, Talmage and Brian on the right.

Buzz Lightyear: Tanner and Brett

Autopia: Debbie and Bailey

Autopia: Grayden, Talmage and Brian

Haunted Mansion: Bailey and Rachel

Haunted Mansion: Grayden and Spencer

Haunted Mansion: Natalie and Debbie

Haunted Mansion: Tanner and Brett

Talmage, Bailey, Natalie, Tanner, Spencer, Grayden

Jungle Cruise: Talmage, Bailey and Tanner

We got scammed into doing this canoe ride (not sure it's exact name) over by Splash Mountain. We thought it would be fun, but really it was just work. Just in case anyone is wondering next time they go if they should do it.

Canoe Ride: Natalie, Spencer, Talmage, Brett, Debbie, Brian, Talmage, and Tanner

Canoe Ride: Bailey and I were up front.

Carousel: Natalie

Carousel: Tanner

Carousel: Talmage

The kids also had the opportunity to do a little Jedi Training. Spencer, Grayden, Bailey and Tanner all got picked to be a part of it. There was a short "training" in the beginning, and then they each got a turn to fight one of two characters. Great experience and worth the time if you have any Star Wars fans.

Grayden

Tanner

Spencer

Bailey

Spencer

Tanner

Bailey

Grayden

All in all is was a fabulous day and we wore the kids out. We stayed for fireworks and Fantasmic and then headed out of the park. You know it is a great day when the kids are out when you arrive home!

Bailey Thanksgiving Program and Feast

2012-01-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

In Kindergarten each year the kids get to learn about the pilgrims and Indians and why we celebrate Thanksgiving each year. It is always fun to listen to the parts they have memories and see them eat their feast after.

Oh how we love our happy smiley Bailey Girl.

Sunday Nap Time

2012-01-27T12:43:00.000-08:00

Sunday naps normally start out something like this. . .

And then end up something more like this. . .

No one wants to miss out on the snuggle time!

Halloween 2011

2012-01-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

Carving Pumpkins 2011

2012-01-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

Byebye Binkie-October 2011

2012-01-19T19:28:00.000-08:00

Just as with the other kids we snipped the end of Hunter's binkie off. I love the confusion on his face after he tried to suck on it without success (is that bad for me to feel as a mom?). I was amazed how well he actually handled not having his binkie the first night. The next day for his nap he actually went and got it out of the trashcan to make sure it was really broken and then from there on out he would just say "binkie broken" every time that we put him down to sleep. So glad it wasn't any harder than that.

Miscellaneous Soccer Season Pictures

2012-01-19T08:51:00.000-08:00

Of course when the camera is out for the games, you always get some fun shots of those who are not playing:

Brett coaching during Spencer's game. He only helped coach two of the teams this year, Spencer's and Bailey.

Bailey girl keeping score.

Hunter

Spencer

Water boy Hunter

Natalie

Tanner (with a mouth full of food)

Our monkey girl Natalie

Another Brett coaching picture. This is actually a rare picture because he is on the correct side of the sideline. I was constantly reminding him that he wasn't supposed to be on the field. Yes, he was one of "those" coaches.

Spencer Soccer 2011-Silver Bombers

2012-01-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

Natalie Soccer 2011-Pink Firecrackers

2012-01-18T08:19:00.000-08:00

Bailey Soccer 2011-Blue Angels

2012-01-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Tanner's 4th Birthday

2012-01-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

It's a Miracle!

2012-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Ladies and gentleman, for the first time in 8 1/2 years I have NO children in diapers. Hunter gave us a little miracle when he decided he was done with diapers. It's true, this "no diaper" thing won't last that long (I've got three months until our little girl is due), but I will take any break that I can get!

Over Christmas break Hunter would inform me any time he had done anything in his diaper. Last Thursday (a week and a half ago) I decided to pick up some underwear for him while we were at the store and just give it a shot, not expecting anything miraculous. That afternoon I put the underwear on and although he had three accidents, he also had two successes! Day 2: two accidents and seven successes. By day three (Saturday) he didn't even want us to put a diaper on him anymore and he made it through the day without any accidents. This past week we made it through with just two accidents the whole week and he woke up dry every morning! So I think that I can officially say that he is "a big boy now". So exciting! I wish I could say that there was something magical I did to make this happen, but he was just ready. Thanks Hunter so this little miracle in our lives!

Family Pictures 2011

2012-01-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

Way back a long time ago we went to Laguna Beach to take family pictures. We had a guy from our church that took the pictures for us (another thing we bought at our church auction). We loved how they turned. These are our favorites out of the bunch.

Spencer's Baptism October 8, 2011

2012-01-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

Spencer has had a busy couple of months! He turned 8 in September which means he was able to get baptized. Grandma and Grandpa Bruschke were able to come down for the event, along with all the local Higham's (Grandma and Grandpa Higham, Doug and Liz and Fam, and Sarah and Justin and Fam). Somehow we didn't take many pictures of the event, but it was a very special day. We are very proud of Spencer and the wonderful young man that he is. We love you Spencer!

Scouts and Rain-gutter Regatta

2012-01-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

We have officially entered the world of scouting. Spencer is so excited to be part of it. His first pack meeting was a "Rain-gutter Regatta". He worked on his boat with Brett and Grandpa Bruce. He had a blast doing it and can't wait until they have a pinewood derby!

Happy 8th Birthday Spencer

2012-01-13T08:07:00.000-08:00

Back to School September 2011

2012-01-11T19:09:00.000-08:00

All the kids

School kids

Stay at home kids

Individuals

Spencer

Natalie

Bailey

Tanner

Hunter

Lake Tahoe August 2011

2012-01-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

After leaving Clearlake we headed to North Lake Tahoe. We have a family in our ward that has a cabin up there and we "bought" a week there during a ward auction (a fundraiser for the youth programs at our church). It couldn't have been more awesome! I grew up going camping in South Lake Tahoe almost every year, and although it was sad to not be around a camp fire every night, it was very nice to go home every day to a nice warm cabin with beds. The cabin was also within walking distance of the lake and shopping, so everything was right there when we wanted/needed it.

Accommodations

Funny story about this next picture: Hunter would not walk on that air vent in the ground. He would be running full speed and stop dead in his tracks to slowly walk around either side of it. Ok, so it doesn't sound that funny, but it totally was, and it is a memory we don't want to forget.

Exploring North Tahoe
Because I grew up going to South Lake Tahoe, we weren't sure what there was around the cabin we were staying at, so the first day was just spent exploring the area. We found a fun park and then just went hiking from there. The kids loved finding "walking sticks" during each of our hikes and would carry them the entire way once they found the perfect one.

Sand Harbor Beach
This beautiful beach was on the east side of the lake. I would definitely go there again if given the chance because it was so pretty. Tahoe is not known for its warm water, but you can't beat the beauty surrounding it.

Indoor Smores
And what family trip is complete without smores?

Eagle Lake Falls and Eagle Lake
This hike is one that I grew up going on when I was a girl. The falls are a short 3/4 mile hike, if that, but if you continue on the path you can hike another mile or so and come to the lake in the pictures. Not many people continue on to the lake, so it was nice to have the peace and quiet once we go up there, enjoying the picnic lunch that we had brought.

Emerald Bay

Bike Ride Along Truckee River Bike Trail
Most beautiful bike trail ever! It was a nice easy ride (even for me and that is saying alot!) and right along the river the entire time. We rented bikes for a couple of hours and just went riding and stopped along the way to feed some ducks. Definitely on the "to do" list next time we visit Tahoe.

Angora Lake
This is a fun little lake that you get to after about a 3/4 mile hike. It is so pretty and peaceful. There are little rocks to jump off of close to shore and then some bigger cliffs to jump off of for those who are more daring. I wasn't feeling it this year, but the kids were able to convince Brett that he should jump off the 15 footer. The kids favorite part of this day was feeding the squires. Those things would come right up to you, even if you didn't have food. If you left your bag open, they could literally climb inside to check things out. But it definitely made for a fun time for the kids to watch them and feed them.

Glen Alpine Falls (Fallen Leaf Lake)

Magic Carpet Golf, Carnelian Bay
And to finish off the trip we hit the miniature miniature golf course. The kids had been asking to go to that "cool looking" place all week, so we thought why not. I think they had a blast and would do it again if we asked them.

Yosemite National Park

On the way home from Tahoe, we decided to take the "scenic route" and drive through Yosemite. Our real desire was to go to see the Giant Sequoias, but the three hour drive through the park was a beautiful added bonus! We are glad we went off the quickest path to see the beauty that this earth has to offer us.

As you can see, it was a very fun trip. We did a lot without doing too much at all. I know that was a lot of pictures, but I don't want to miss any memories from our trip. It is times like these that I treasure in life. Added bonus: Brett accidentally threw his phone into the lake on the second day of our trip, so we were really able to get him away from work! Oh, the tender mercies. . .

Clearlake Visit-August 2011

2012-01-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

This past August we were able to go visit Clearlake, Ca, where we lived before moving back to Southern California. We stayed in a hotel for two nights, and the kids thought that was the coolest thing ever, if only because the TV actually worked (we don't have cable here at home). Our trip was short. We arrived midday on Saturday, went to dinner with our good friends the Mavy's and a couple of young men from the ward, went swimming where the Mavy's work, and then attended church on Sunday morning before heading out. Even though the trip was short, it was a blast and we are grateful that we went. We don't see Ruth and Jason and the kids nearly enough, but whenever we get together it is like being with family: you start up right where you left off!

Catch-up!

2012-01-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

I am hoping to play some major catch-up on our blog in the next couple of weeks. Yes, 5 months of catch-up! I am in trouble. So much has happened and I don't want to miss any of those memories. Main reason that I am so far behind: baby number 6 is on her way. Yes, another little girl. My due date is April 21st. We are very excited, but this pregnancy hasn't been one of my prettiest. Each of my pregnancies has been progressively easier, so when I got pregnant this time I thought it would be a breeze. Ok, maybe not a breeze, but totally doable. Boy, was I wrong. I was SICK, and struggled with even the easiest tasks. I was ok until about 10am and then from that point on could do little more than lay on the couch and get to the bathroom in time. Add to that school, homework, scouts, soccer, meal prep, laundry, etc. Most nights I went to bed even before the kids, struggling to make it to about 7:00pm. Luckily that only lasted into my 18th week of pregnancy and now I am feeling great (I'm 25 weeks). So here goes the catching-up. Wish me luck! I am definitely going to need it. . .

Pioneer Trek

2011-08-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Brett and I had the awesome opportunity to go with the youth from our church (age 14-18) on a pioneer reenactment. Before Trek there was a lot to do to prepare. I was able to make a couple of skirts, an apron and a bonnet for myself and we found some clothes that Brett could wear at Goodwill. For his shirts, we cut off the collars. These are the websites that I used for patterns on the things I made:

http://howtodresslikeapioneer.blogspot.com/2010/01/bonnet-tutorial.html

http://romantichistoryclothing.blogspot.com/2009/12/little-house-on-prairie-sunbonnet.html

http://howtodresslikeapioneer.blogspot.com/2010/06/not-so-pioneer-skirt-tutorial.html
http://cambridgetrek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/How-To-Make-a-Pioneer-Apron.pdf

Beyond preparing our clothes, there was preparing spiritually for the Trek. Neither Brett nor I have done much research on the pioneers, so we borrowed the book The Price We Paid by Andrew D. Olsen. It is an incredible book that uses journal entries and historical facts to tell about the Willie and Martin Handcart pioneers. The faith and courage they had to go through what they went through is amazing! Brett loves using the word "conviction" when he talks about the pioneers.

On Wednesday night we met at the church to meet our "families". We were assigned 8 "kids" to be in our family and we couldn't have asked for more awesome kids. That night we just met as a family, got to know each other and had a little devotional. Thursday morning we met up at the church again to drive an hour and a half north east to Riley Farms where we would be pulling our handcarts.

The "Bruschke" Family
Back Row: Colin O'Brien, Brett, Rachel, Andy Mortensen, Scott Beatie, Sam Applebee
Front Row: Trevor Edmund, Kenzie Forsgren, Jacob Clarke, Kaitlyn Frandsen, Maddie Roush

Riley Farms takes care of everything while you are there. They provided the handcarts, food and even had many little skits throughout the weekend of historical event that took place in the life of our pioneer ancestors.

During the Trek they took the men away to the "Mormon Battalion" and the girls got to do what they called the "Women's Pull". It was up a pretty gnarly hill, so two+ families of girls worked together to get the carts up.

Maddie in the back left, Kaitlyn, two in front of her, and Kenzie in front of her. My mom is in the middle and Sam is right in front of her. I am in the front right.

My mom (in the background) and Me

They also had us do a river crossing reenactment. I can't imagine doing this in ice cold water in the middle of winter.

But most memorable of all was "Testimony Hill". I thought the hill of the women's pull was gnarly, but Testimony hill put it to shame.

This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to how steep and crazy long it was. There were two sections to it, broken up so that you did 1/3 and then the last 2/3s. I thought that I was in pretty good shape, but man were my legs tired by the end of that climb.

Sam, Kaitlyn and Kenzie

Colin on the left a little behind the bush, Scott followed by Jacob on the right.

Brett and my brother Michael

This picture shows the pure exhaustion that was felt during "testimony hill"

Yes, I felt it too!

I have a greater appreciation now than I ever have before for all that our ancestors went through. They did it all for the gospel and to be with fellow saints. I wish that everyone could experience, even for just a couple of days like we did, what they pioneers went through and the faith they had to endure such things.

All the youth and leaders that were there, about 250 people (26 handcarts)

Master Bedroom/Bed Redo

2011-07-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here is a before picture of the headboard:

And a before picture of the bedroom:

And an after picture of the bed:

And the bedroom:

I am so loving our "new" room. I feel so grown up having a bed frame and a dresser in my room. Not sure why that makes me a "grown-up" since my kids all have these things, but Brett and I have never had them and we always said one day we would. Thank goodness for craigslist.com we were able to do it without digging into our not-so-deep pockets. Maybe one of these days we will hang things on the walls, but for now, we are enjoying things just the way they are.

Tanner's Bedtime Routine

2011-06-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

I guess Tanner's teddy bears like to sleep hanging upside down. Or at least he makes it part of his bedtime routine to do so. . .

Flowers in our garden

2011-06-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

Along the left side of our house there are a number of different flower plants. At first I wondered why they were hidden at the side of the house instead of in the back yard, but now that they are in bloom we get to enjoy them from our kitchen windows. Looking at these flowering plants makes dishes a lot more enjoyable!

Fun in the backyard

2011-06-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

I don't think that I mentioned that when we moved in there was a spa in the backyard. We left it empty for the first six months to get a "baseline" on our utilities so we could know exactly how much the spa was going to cost it. We have had it filled for a little over a month now and have loved it so much. Tonight the kids went swimming (or wading really) for a couple of hours before dinner and then got to eat food at the built-in bar attached to the spa. Oh, the simple joy of eating dinner outside!

Painted Dresser

2011-06-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, I am on a kick with painting furniture black. I finished this dresser a little over a month ago. The before pictures:

And the after:

I really am having way too much fun with it. My next project is our master bed. Of course, I am painting it black as well. Before and after pictures soon to come.

Baseball End of the Year Party

2011-06-21T20:09:00.000-07:00

Baseball has ended which has left us a lot more time in our lives. Although it is a little exciting to have it over, we miss it already as well. Brett did any amazing job coaching these boys. Many of the parents are asking him to coach again next year. I doubt it will happen, but of course I didn't think it was going to happen this year either, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Coach Brett handing out trophies to the boys.

(Spencer is the one with a hat on on the left side of the picture)

Spencer and Coach "Dad"

Bailey's Prize

2011-06-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

I was upstairs and heard Bailey start to cry hysterically downstairs. I ran down the stairs to figure out what was going on. She told me that she had put a bead up her nose and that she couldn't get it out. I pulled out our otoscope (that thing the doctors uses to look inside your ears and what not) and honestly couldn't find anything. After doing a little research on the internet we tried a couple of things and after about 30 minutes of blowing and what not, Bailey finally got her "bead" back:

Yes, that is a little metal washer type thing. Don't ask me why, or how she got that thing up her nose, but she has definitely learned her lesson to not do it again. Or course she is my child who stuck a raisin up her nose a couple of years ago. Some of us have to make mistakes over and over again to finally learn. . .

Happy Birthday Brett

2011-06-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Brett hit the big 3-0 this year. He really didn't want to celebrate, but I insisted that it wasn't for him. It is for the kids. They enjoy a "party" (I use the term loosely) just as much as the next kid. Brett is actually on a golf trip today, so we celebrate on Wednesday instead.

We are not a huge cake loving family, so for Brett's "cake" this year we did Rice Krispie Brownies (Brownies, covered with marshmallow, with a layer of chocolate and peanut butter covered Rice Krispies. They are to die for!)

The kids each worked hard on a home made card for Brett. I love the time and effort they put into making those cards. You can tell they love their Daddy.

And somehow we missed a picture of Hunter with Brett, but we can't leave out his handsome smiling face!

Las Flores Open House

2011-06-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

It was so much fun to be able to visit the kid's classroom at Open House. Spencer and Natalie have worked really hard this year and learned so much. And we owe 99.9% of it to these ladies:

Spencer and Mrs. Boelman

Natalie and Mrs. Spensiero

They both have been incredible teachers to our kids and we are so sad that we won't be going to Las Flores next year and that the younger kids won't be able to experience them as teachers.

I think that the kids felt even more special because, not only was all of our family able to go, but Grandpa Bruschke and Lacey and Landon Gilbert were able to go too. (Landon Gilbert served in our mission and had returned for a visit with his sister. We were lucky enough to have them stay with us. They are awesome.)

And Open House isn't Open House without being able to play on the school playground. All of these pictures are taken on the kindergarten playground.

Las Flores Elementary we will miss you and are hoping that Wagon Wheel Elementary will be as awesome as you have been.

Chino Hills Air Show

2011-05-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Justin got tickets to go to the Chino Hills Air Show, but weren't able to go, so we bought their tickets off of them. Neither Brett or I had been to an air show and we didn't know what to expect, but we had a good time. We went with the Hughes Family, so it was nice to sit and chat with friends when things weren't going on in the sky.

We did a lot of walking.

Tanner, Bailey, Natalie and Spencer in Dave Hughes' plane.

Spencer and Tanner checking out the cockpit.

Dashel, Tanner and Bailey

Old war planes. Yeah, I should know more, but that is all I got.

This jet was by far the best part of the day. It was the final plane to fly and it was amazing the things that it could do.

All in all, it was a fun day with beautiful weather. Thanks Sarah and Justin for giving us the chance to go!

Our Garden

2011-05-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we got our garden in. It took a little bit of work. There were four bigger bushes and a tree stump that we had to take out, a couple of rose bushes, plus the normal weeds and what not. The kids were troopers helping out. For the most part they were just back and forth emptying little trash cans into the big one, but they did their fair share of pulling weeds and helping to dig out stumps. Here are pictures from the day we planted.

Ultra Dwarf Kieffer Pear tree and a zucchini plant.

Two green pepper plants, four beef steak tomato plants, two better boy tomato plants and two early girl tomato plants.

And some kind of onion.

And lastly our cucumber plants.

It is amazing how quickly plants can grow in two weeks. I should have gotten the same angles on the plants, but I am too lazy to go out and take more pictures.

Can you see how much are pear tree has grown? Me either, but look at that zucchini grow!

I'd say we will have zucchinis to pick in less than two weeks.

The peppers are in the background, with the beef steak tomatoes in the foreground.

One beef steak, followed by the better boys and the early girls.

And our cucumber plant with a bean plant behind it. I don't know if the bean plant it going to make it. Spencer planted it at school and it was doing great inside, but since we transplants it it hasn't been doing so hot.

So, there you have it. This post is more for us to remember what we have planted and how it grows and what not, so hopefully you haven't been too bored.

Oops. . .

2011-05-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

Enough said.

Family Room Tent

2011-05-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

Natalie and Bailey decided to make a tent in the family room the other day. It was pretty awesome. They played "house" in it for hours.

Of course I wasn't allowed in, as per the instruction on the sign that they posted outside the "front door":

First Furniture Redo

2011-05-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

When Brett and I were first married we got this cabinet from Jill, Brett's sister, who got it from their Grandma Willardson. We used it for a couple of years in our basement apartment in Provo and when we moved down to Southern California passed it on to Jeff and Ali Hallstrom. To our surprise they returned it a couple of years later to our home on Tradition. Although it has served its purpose as a toy cabinet, TV holder, and blanket cabinet, I have never loved the look of it, so I decided to paint it black. I went through hundreds of pictures trying to find a before picture, but couldn't find one, so you just get to see the after picture. I am really happy with how it turned out and love how it looks in our family room.

Look out big balls. . .

2011-05-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of the show "Wipe Out"? Well, if you have, you will know how crazy it is that my mom and Adam went to the casting call for the show. Basically, it is a game show about an obstacle course that is over water that contestants are trying to get through and, of course, "wipe out" on.

Mom and Adam waiting in line.

Adam "Flash" Higham

In the casting call directions it said to bring family and friends and make it fun. So we brought all of the southern California grandkids to the event. They were all really good. We ate lunch there:

And playing lots of games:

And held up signs to support Grandma Higham and Adam:

It was a long day, but lots of fun too. Did they get on the show? We are still not sure, but it was a fun experience none the less. We will definitely keep you informed if there is something to inform you of.

Beach Days

2011-05-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

We have been to the beach 5 times in the last month. It has been beautiful here and we have definitely taken advantage. Most days it has been on Friday afternoons. The kids and I meet Brett at work around 3:30 and drive down for an afternoon at the beach. I just pack a picnic dinner and we go home when it gets cold (somehow I am the first to get cold even though I stay clear of the freezing cold water the kids are playing in).

Baseball 2011

2011-05-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Spencer is playing baseball again this year and is having a blast. He is on the White Sox (although they wear black socks. Don't quite get that!) and Brett is the coach. Somehow the season is already half way over (ten games down, ten to go). Here are some of the shots we have taking this year.

Spencer getting ready to bat.

Spencer is #11. Here they are doing the Little League pledge.

Coach Brett playing pitcher.

Coming into third.

Another pledge picture (this one doesn't want to go up by the other one. Sometimes I get frustrated with blogger.)

And of course you can't have a game with fans.

Great work this season Spencer. Every game you improve and it is so much fun to watch and cheer you on.

Spencer got in a fight. . .

2011-04-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

And guess what? He won! He left the other guy dead. Literally. Unfortunately it was a fight with a bee. While we were at the beach on Saturday Spencer got stung on the forehead. He ran up to us and was yelling "Stupid bee! Stupid bee!" I was able to get the stinger out right away and then he went on to playing like nothing happened. He went to bed just fine, but came into our room around 1:30 saying his eye hurt and that it was hard to open. It wasn't too swollen, so I gave him some tylenol and sent him back to bed (I didn't have any benedryl). When he woke up the following morning it was a little more swollen and pretty hard to open his eye, but by midday, he couldn't open his eye at all. We went and picked up some benedryl and kept that in him, but it kept getting more swollen. The first two pictures are taken that night. You can see how the swelling took over the entire left side of his face.

We took him to the doctor Monday morning and got some prescription strength benedryl and a steroid to help with the swelling. By Monday night things were looking a little better.

It took until Thursday for the swelling to completely go away. Although it looks so painful, the only time he said it hurt was that first night. Otherwise he just said that it was annoying that he couldn't open his eye. We are now an Epi-pen carrying family from this experience, but hopefully will never have to use it. Better to be safe than sorry.

Natalie's First Lost Tooth

2011-04-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Natalie lost her first tooth on Easter Sunday. We were at Grandma and Grandpa Higham's and because she knew how much Grandpa Higham loves to pull out teeth, she asked him to do it and he was successful.

Pure excitement on that face!

And because this picture was too darn cute. These two are the best of buddies.

Happy Easter 2011

2011-04-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

The kids waiting to go down stairs to their Easter baskets and to find their eggs.

Tanner with his frog sticker.

Spencer left his basket to find eggs more quickly.

Hunter could care less about the eggs. All he wanted was the candy.

Bailey with her basket.

And Natalie with hers.

Brett and I were there.

Hunter finding an egg.

Spencer checking out his loot.

And finally, a picture of Hunter throwing a fit because he couldn't have more candy after the 10 pieces he had already had. Poor baby.

I'm in heaven. . .

2011-03-27T20:35:00.001-07:00

He's a Walking Boy

2011-03-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Although the news is a couple of weeks old, we have another walker in the family. He was been taking steps forever, but finally decided that walking is worth the effort. Although he still crawls occasionally, he loves walking and will stop mid-crawl just to stand up and show off.

One Project Down. . .

2011-03-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

. . .who knows how many to go. Actually, we are really happy with our house, but you know there are always those projects that are always lingering in the back of your mind that you would like to get done. This was one of those projects: the sliding shower door in the kids bathroom.

I mean, it doesn't look horrible, but have you ever tried to clean one of those things? Impossible. Or bathe a child while leaning over the edge of the track? So not fun. So when we were looking into buying the house, I told Brett that I wanted this to be one of our first projects. Four months later. . .it was time to clean it once again and I had had enough. So I decided to go at it myself. Really, it was easily to get the doors and track off. I just unscrewed a couple of screws and then slid a paint scraper under the edge. . .

. . .and voila, the track was off. But not so much fun to get all of this off. . .

It was gross under that track. And there was lots of caulking and "glue stuff" underneath that took some major scraping away at. Like a couple of hours. But I am sooo glad it is finally gone. Do I ever use this shower? No, but it is one project off the list. And look how much nicer it looks. . .

And it is a billion times easier to clean.

And because a blog post without a picture of the kids is not allowed. . .

Happy Birthday Bailey

2011-03-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that our Bailey Girl turned 5 today. She is growing up way too quickly. We were able to have the Yee's and Higham's over for dinner tonight, so we prepared a ton of Bailey's dinner of choice, PASTA!

And what is pasta without some breadsticks. . .

(Can I tell you, they don't look pretty, but oh, they taste soooo good!)

And for desert it was all about the sprinkles: Rainbow chip cupcakes, with rainbow chip frosting, with sprinkles of course.

Uncle Michael got to play with fire while lighting the birthday candles.

And then it was on to the presents.

A new lunch box.

Dragon Tales

And a birthday card with a special message that Grandpa actually got to read to Bailey.

It was a fun night with family. Thanks Bailey for having a birthday so we could all celebrate. We love you girl!

Little Sneak

2011-02-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hunter was helping me make some breadsticks and I turned my back for one second to find that he found the cookies that were on the counter as well. Little sneak!!! Good thing for him, he is so darn cute!!!

Toothless Wonders

2011-02-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

Spencer with his cousin Daniel, showing off their lack of teeth. . .

These are two goofy boys. . .

And because you can't take a picture of one child without the others wanting one too. . .

I can always sleep. . .

2011-02-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

ALWAYS! I can count on one hand the number of times I have not been able to fall to sleep right away and even then it wasn't more than an hour or two and I was able to fall to sleep. I normally have the opposite problem. My head hits the pillow and I am out, which is awesome, except when Brett wants to talk. But tonight I can't fall to sleep. It is currently 2:41 and I am still wide awake. My problem: Excedrin Migraine. You see around 8:30 I felt a migraine coming on (a very normal occurance for me) and although in the past nothing has worked for my migraines as of late Excedrin Migraine has been doing the job, but I have been taking it in the morning/midday. Yeah, not so fun to take at 8:30 at night. Although my head doesn't hurt right now, I am probably going to have a nasty migraine tomorrow because of my lack of sleep tonight. Lame! What's a girl to do? I think next time I will suffer through a restless nights sleep with a migraine because at least it is some sleep where now I am wide awake and will have a migraine tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to get a nap in somewhere. . .

My Lumberjack Husband

2011-02-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

We have been collecting trees around here. We realized after living in our new home for a couple of months that our fireplace is wood burning (call us crazy for not knowing). Also, for Christmas we got one of those portable fire pits for the backyard. So, instead of paying upwards of $7 a bundle, we decided it would be better to find some wood elsewhere. With the crazy rain storms that we have been having many trees have fallen down and we have been the benefactors of the wood. The city would go in and cut the trunks down into manageable sizes and leave them on the sidewalk for anyone who wanted them. That is where we came in. Brett wanted to go rent a splitter (some big piece of machinery), but I talked him into splitting the wood by hand. I thought that a wedge and a sledge hammer were the way to go, but Brett found that an ax does a much better job. It is crazy the satisfaction he gets out of splitting the wood.

Look at the concentration on his face in this picture.

And the smile when he has split something.

It makes him feel pretty tough (and I might find it pretty hot)!

If anyone has the need to take some aggression out, come on over. We still have lot of wood to split, and Brett wouldn't mind the help (he was pretty sore the next day).

Happy Birthday Natalie and Hunter

2011-02-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

The birthday cakes. Natalie drew a picture of what she wanted. I did the best I could. . .

Natalie's big present this year was a trip to the mall with Dad to get her ears pierced. We need to get a close up picture of the cute "Hello Kitty" earrings that she picked out.

The Haddock's came over to have cake and ice cream with us.

And Hunter couldn't care less about presents. The cake was the hit of the night, even if it did take a little bit of time for him to realize the treat he had in front of him.

Christmas Morning

2011-02-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

This year was the first year that we have done Christmas Morning all on our own and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. It was nice to be able to just focus on the kids and be on our own time frame. We let the kids wake up on their own and these four couldn't wait to get down stairs. . .

But this one wasn't so sure he really wanted to get up yet. . .

I was even up and ready to go. . .

We finally coerced Tanner out of bed and although he wasn't so happy about it. . .

. . .it didn't take long for him to warm up to the idea that Santa had come.

A picture before the kids got a hold of everything. . .

We normally let the youngest go down the stairs first, but they wouldn't go down on their own, so I helped them a little.

And the others were right behind. . .

Hunter's favorite gift was his very own toothbrush. You will have to trust me that it was a very big deal.

Dad with the glasses that Bailey got him.

And the following pictures are the kids with their "favorite" gifts, all coming from Grandma and Grandpa Bruschke. . .Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Christmas Eve

2011-02-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve in Southern California this year with the Higham's. Even though there were 8 of us siblings together, it felt like a small group. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of people and lots of noise, but we definitely missed all that family that wasn't there. We had the traditional Higham Family dinner of tacos and root beer floats. And then Santa brought some presents early (pajamas of course). We then read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". And ended the night thinking about the true meaning of Christmas with songs and acting out the Nativity. It was a fun filled night. We are so glad that we live close so that we can enjoy the holidays with family.

Grandpa handing out presents that Santa brought early.

Dad and Hunter waiting patiently for their gifts.

Getting ready to open.

All the family still "at home". Grandpa, Grandma, Debbie, Becky, Liz and Michael.

Doug, Liz and Aly.

Justin, Sarah, Morgan, Taylor, Dallin and Daniel.

Dad and Mom, Hunter, Natalie, Spencer, Bailey and Tanner.

Jim and Christi, Tori and Riley.

Becky, Debbie and Liz

Bailey and Mom

Dad and Mom (and Hunter)

Dad and Hunter

Natalie and Bailey

Daniel and Spencer (10 days apart)

Taylor and Bailey (born on the same day)

Tanner and Dallin (born 6 weeks apart)

Grandpa Higham reading "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

And you can't finish off the night without a good wrestling match. . .Spencer and Daniel.

And Dallin and Tanner.

Disneyland 2010

2011-02-08T10:50:00.000-08:00

For Brett's End of The Year work party we got to go to Disneyland. Advent treated all of their employees and their families to a day at the park, along with an awesome lunch. This is the second year they have done it now, and I wouldn't mind if it becomes a yearly tradition. As with last year, it was raining again, which actually makes for an awesome day at Disneyland. Our longest wait for any ride was 20 minutes for Peter Pan. Other than that, we waited no longer than 10 minutes for a ride. Debbie and Becky surprised us the night before by coming into town for Christmas break a couple of days early, so we invited them to come along. We had a one to one ratio of adults to kids and it made it so much easier to keep track of everyone.

First picture of the day: We headed over to Indiana Jones for the first ride of the day. Brett stayed back with the kids that weren't tall enough and went on another ride. And then it was off to Tomorrow Land for Buzz Lightyear. . .I love the concentration on everyones faces (and was glad to be behind the camera!).

This was Becky's first time EVER riding Splash Mountain, so of course we had to take a picture. Do you like the plastic trash bags over Debbie's and Becky's arms? After the big drop, both Debbie and I said, "Oh, that wasn't that bad" (referring to how wet we were) only to look up at Becky who was drenched. Yes, we put her in front on purpose.

It was a fun day, even if we were wet and frozen for a good part of it. The only bummer part of the rain: no Fantastmic! Maybe next year. . .Thanks again Advent!

Happy 8th Anniversary Rachel!!!

2010-12-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

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Thank you Rachel for 8 of the most wonderful years!

Random Soccer Season Pictures

2010-12-22T14:00:00.001-08:00

With three playing soccer this year, much of our Saturday was spend at the soccer fields. Brett decided since he was going to be at the fields anyway, he would go ahead and coach both of the girl's soccer teams and be the referee for Spencer's team. It was fun to have him so involved with all the teams (although not as fun for me to take care of the rest of the kids on my own). Being at the field all day did produce some fun random pictures though. . .

Spencer's Soccer Season

2010-12-22T13:47:00.001-08:00

Natalie's Soccer Season

2010-12-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

Bailey's Soccer Season

2010-12-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2010-12-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

You may wonder what this picture has to do with decorating a Christmas tree. Well, as I put the lights on the tree lots of the needles were falling off, so the kids decided the needles would make an awesome bed for their squishies (little rubber animals). Pretty creative. As you can tell, they were very enthralled with what they were doing.

Although there were some tears throughout the process, I "think" we had lots of fun and the tree did get decorated. The kids were great at making sure the ornaments were spread out. I love this tradition of decorating the tree as a family, even if it is chaos during the process.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-11-29T12:49:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we had a first for our family. It was the first year that it was just our family. We tried to invite a few different people but got turned down left and right, so it ended up just us. About a week before Thanksgiving Spencer asked if we were going to have Thanksgiving at our house and I told him we were. He asked if we were going to have Turkey and I told him I thought so and asked if he thought that was a good idea. He then asked if we could have ribs instead. I told him I thought we could but we would have to check with Dad. As you can see from the picture, ribs indeed won out and I think this could be a tradition in the making. Who says you have to have turkey on Thanksgiving?

Natalie's School Thanksgiving Feast

2010-11-27T12:59:00.000-08:00

Abby Hada, Natalie and Gracie Neilson

Beautiful Sunset

2010-11-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

One thing that I was really sad to miss from our old home was the sunsets. I didn't know if we were going to be able to see them like we did from our old house. But I was pleasantly surprised when we had this beautiful sunset the other night. It was awesome.

We've Moved!

2010-11-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, we moved a couple of weeks ago. It is crazy because we weren't even really looking to buy anymore. We have been watching the market for over a year now, making a couple of offers here and there, but had gotten to the point where we had pretty much given up. Some friends from church mentioned that one of their neighbors was moving and that they would be putting the home on the market soon. I was still getting listing updates from the surrounding areas, so when it came up I sent the link to Brett, only mentioning it was the house the Haddocks had told us about (not really mentioning the fact that I loved it). He called me within minutes and told me we needed to check it out and that there was an open house that weekend we could go to. Still not even beginning to get my hopes up I said sure and then dismissed the thought until Saturday when he mentioned again that he wanted to head to the open house. And that was pretty much the end of the story. We walked in the door and the house was perfect, so we left the house, got on the phone with our lender and our Realtor and the rest is history.

We moved in two weeks ago and from day one it has felt like home. Thanks to awesome family and friends, the move was a breeze and we were able to get settled quickly. Moving with kids in school and sports was a lot harder than I thought it would be, trying to pack/unpack between drop-offs and pickups. I think we are down to just a couple of random boxes that may just stay packed forever because I have no idea where to put the stuff.

Here are some pictures of the house. We still haven't hung very many pictures. Those that are hung we just put on nails that were already in the wall, so they might be moved.

This picture is taken standing in the front entry way (the front door is directly behind me). The stairs are directly to my left and head back towards the front of the house (don't know if I explained that one right) and there is a hallway that goes into the kitchen to the left as well.

This is the family room. I couldn't figure out how to get better lighting (which is crazy because the natural light in this house is awesome with lots of windows), so it is what it is. The kitchen is directly behind me, and the front rooms are to my right. The couch was left by the previous owners, which we were so grateful for. They were trying to sell it, but weren't able to find any buyers and asked if it we would mind them leaving it if they didn't sell it. Of course!! We were very excited.

Another angle of the family room.

The kitchen, obviously. I love it, except for the fact that the kitchen cupboards only have one shelf each so it was hard to find places for everything. But I love having an island and it just feels big and spacious.

This is the boys room. Yes all three boys share. It is the biggest of the bedrooms (minus the master), so they got it. One thing I love about the house is that each room has sliding glass mirror doors on the closets. It makes the rooms feel huge.

And the girls room. Natalie says she has the best view in the house, which is true. She gets to lay in bed and look out the little windows to see some rolling hills, etc (as long as she ignores the neighbors houses directly across the street).

This is "Grandpa's Room" or known to most as the guest room. Grandpa stays with us the most, so it is considered his room.

And then we have our bedroom. We love the floor plan because there isn't a ton of wasted space. Our room isn't huge, but we like it that way.

This little room was staged as a nursery when we bought. I am standing in a doorway that connects this room to the master bedroom. The plan is to wall it off and make it another bedroom down the road. And then to our most favorite part of the house. . .

THE LOFT!!!

It is so nice to have somewhere to put all of our toys and have somewhere to send the kids to get a little bit of quiet when needed, and not have all the toys in our front room. We didn't think that we would ever have that here (without basements it is hard to come by), so this room alone was a huge selling point to us.

So now that we are all settled I can get back into blogging, right?!? Well, I hope to, and I wish I could say that the move was the reason for the lack of posting, but although it didn't help the posting, it has been more a case of pure laziness for me. I have things to post about from way back in August. A little overwhelming, which is maybe why I haven't gotten back into it, but hopefully I can just get over it and move on.

Can't Help But Smile

2010-11-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

Watermelon Carving???

2010-10-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Carving 2010

2010-10-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

Back To School

2010-09-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

Happy boy

2010-09-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

This is the face that I get to enjoy every time that I go in to get Hunter after naps. If only we all woke up this happy!

And the winner is. . .

2010-09-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

TANNER!

Equestrian Show

2010-09-01T22:05:00.000-07:00

Did you know that just ten minutes from our house is a location that does Equestrian Shows? I have grown up my whole life here and had not a clue. Since we moved here 3 1/2 years ago I have seen signs advertising the shows, but never seemed to make it out. We finally put it on our calendars and remembered to go this time.

Although we didn't really know what was going on, it was cool to watch how high these horses could jump. I think the hardest part for the kids was that you had to be quiet while there was a rider on the course.

After we got tired of watching (which in reality was only maybe 10 minutes), we walked down behind the arena (if that is what you call it) and asked a lady if she wouldn't mind telling us about her horse. We spent about a half an hour with her and the kids couldn't keep their hand off of the horse. It was a neat experience for us city folk.

Adam's Wedding

2010-08-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Adam and Shannon got married on June 4th. Can you see the pure joy in their eyes? And it wasn't just for the pictures either. They are constantly smiling when they are together. It is so fun. Anyways, their wedding led of course to family pictures. They turned out pretty cute.

This is a picture of the whole Higham Family (or it was a complete picture until Tami and Shelley went ahead and had babies in the last couple of weeks. Christi and Melanie will be adding a couple more by the end of the year). Kind of crazy that this pure chaos is just going to grow.
And here is Grandpa and Grandma Higham with all the grandkids. They did have pictures with most of the kids smiling, but this is by far my favorite.
And then we have a picture with all the siblings, including those married in. Someday there will be four more individuals in this picture. We barely fit in the frame as is.
And here is a picture of my family. It is weird to think we are all growing up and that Michael is 15 already. Aren't I 15 still? I guess not with the 5 kids I have. Time flies.
And then finally a picture of me and my bro Adam. It was a very fun weekend with all the family in town. Thanks Adam and Shannon for bringing everyone together. It seems a rare opportunity these days!

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

2010-08-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Why oh why do I struggle so much to post during the summer? Especially when there is so much to blog about? Maybe because we are having so much fun that by the end of the day all I want to do is crawl into bed and fall to sleep. Until I do get up the energy to post (which will hopefully be in the next day or so), enjoy this little video. It hit home today for some reason. How many times do I listen to my children without really hearing what they are saying? How grateful I am that they are so quick to forgive me for not listening and willing to share again what they have to say! I love my kids and can't imagine a greater joy in life than that of being a mother.

Parenting: Touching the Hearts of Our Youth

Happy 29th Birthday Dad!

2010-06-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many 29 year old men spend their birthday with their wife and FIVE kids, but they is how we roll in this house hold.

Happy Birthday Brett!

Baseball is over

2010-06-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

Baseball season is over and although it took up a ton of time (2 games and a practice a week totaling nearly 7 hours a week), we are sad to have it end. Spencer's coach, Dale Delmege, was awesome. He was incredibly patient with the boys and taught them so much. Spencer loved playing and is already talking about next year. Great job this season Spencer!

Back Row: Jack, Zack, Jaden, Andrew, Troy, Andre, Josh, Daniel

Front Row: Nathan (Shane is behind Nathan), Reed, Spencer

After Bath Pictures

2010-06-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

I just love pictures of my babies right after they get out of the bath. Too bad you can't capture the yummy smell in a picture as well (maybe someday with technology going the way it is).

I'm Cool, You Know It

2010-06-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Stake Service Project

2010-06-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

(As you can probably tell, I am in catch up mode on the blog. I seem to do this every month, in hopes to catch up and stay caught up, but it never seems to work. Maybe this time. . .?)

These pictures are from a stake service project that we did at the end of April. We were planting plants along a walking trail back behind the Norman Murray Center. Brett was helping out with Ragnar Relays (another story for another time), so I packed the kids up and headed out to meet up with my Mom and my sister Liz. When we got there the Bakers called us over to help out where they were planting. The kids were troopers planting plants and collecting empty containers. We will have to head out to the trail one of these days to see how the plants are growing.

Luke and Emily Baker and Bailey

Spencer and Emily

Natalie collecting containers

Spencer planting

Natalie planting

Bailey planting

Tanner doing what he does best, looking cute that is!

And a pictures of all of us, still smiling after all of our hard work.

Spencer, Bailey, Mom, Natalie and Tanner

Indoor Camping

2010-06-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

Way back in April, Brett had an itch to go camping, but it hadn't warmed up enough for my taste, so we put the tent up in the family room. Although not nearly as fun as real camping, the kids had fun eating popcorn and watching a movie. Oh the simple pleasures in life. . .

Brett Sporting the Moby Wrap

2010-06-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

Another Beach Day

2010-05-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

As you can plainly see, we love the beach. We would live their if we could! Maybe someday (ok, I know I am dreaming, but a girl CAN dream, right?) And the only thing that makes the beach better than normal is when the whole family is there. . .

Becky and Tanner walking up the waves. . .

. . .and then running away. I don't know who is having more fun here, Becky or Tanner.

Brett and Bailey catching some Zzzz's together.

Hunter taking the best nap of his life. Hunter is four months here and this was the first nap (since being a newborn) that was over 45 minutes. And it was for 2 1/2 hours. I kept checking on him, sure that he was awake, but no, still sleeping each time. We realized that he loves the sound of the ocean, so we borrowed a sound machine from Liz (Thanks Liz!) and since he is a much better napper, sometimes even three hours. Who knew that was all it took? I could have been much more sane that first four months if I had figured it out earlier.

Our bodiless Bailey

And Spencer as well

As we were hanging out on shore we noticed a sea lion coming towards us. Adam and some buddies decided they wanted to swim out to it. I think this is the closest the got. All in all, a fun day with family and friends.

Laguna Beach with the Valgardson's

2010-05-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

Tami and Eric came in town a couple of days early for Adam's wedding, so we decided to go have lunch at the beach. It was suppose to be a colder day, so we bundled up and headed out, only to find a gorgeous day down at Laguna. It was a little cold for swimming, but perfect for climbing around on the rocks.

Wesley, Hailey, Bailey, Natalie and Kelsie

Zachary

Kelsie, Hailey and Natalie

Hunter

Tanner

Kelsie, Hailey and Natalie

Down To One

2010-05-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

We have an underwear wearing boy! And he is so excited about it, he gives it two thumbs up. And I am even more excited because it means that I am down to just one in diapers (at least during the day. We are still working on night time.) Way to go Tanner. We are proud of you!

Come home dad. . .

2010-05-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

. . .we want to go have some fun. We are sitting at the door waiting ever so patiently. Please!!!

Come Visit Us Tooth Fairy

2010-05-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

After nearly two weeks of a very loose tooth, Spencer's tooth is finally out. He lost the 2 middle, bottom teeth last summer, but somehow we didn't document that. He was excited to be able to go back to school and show his friends the "huge hole in [his] mouth". So come visit us Tooth Fairy, we have a tooth for you.

Friday Night Fun

2010-05-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

Brett gets out of work early on Fridays and so this last Friday we headed out to the field by our house for a little batting practice. The kids all rode their bikes down to the park and then it was up to bat for each of them. I asked Tanner to show me that he was ready to play catcher and this is the stance that he gave me (and yes that is a sticker on his head). . .

Natalie was great at collecting all of the balls and bringing them back to Brett.

After each kids turn at bat was up, it was time for a run around the bases. Most of the time it turned into a race around the bases.I try to pitch and end up hitting the kids, so Brett is the official pitcher.

Hunter was a good sport most of the time, hanging out in his car seat. All in all, fun times all the way around.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2010-05-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

Some of our friends from the ward got given tickets to an Angel's game a couple of weeks ago and called Brett up and asked if he and Spencer wanted to go with them. It was a no brainer. It was the second game of the season and everyone was given "Angel Snugglies" so that they could set a world record for the most snugglies wore by so many individuals at a given time. The record is now 43,510 and Spencer and Brett are a part of that number. Kind of silly, but exciting all at the same time, especially to Spencer.Spencer has been to a couple of professional baseball games before, but hasn't seemed to get into them that much. But Brett said this year he was way into it, asking questions and making comments showing that he was really understanding what was going on. Thanks Mark and Colin for the invite. Brett and Spencer had a blast.Spencer, Colin and Mark

Walk around the Lake

2010-05-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

The weather has been beautiful, and the kids have been a little stir crazy, so we decided to head out to the lake with our bikes and scooters and get some energy out.

We brought some bread with us to feed the ducks. . .but we couldn't find any so we fed the pigeons and some other bird thing instead.

Hunter came along for the ride and slept the entire time. My friend told me about the "Moby Wrap" that she used for her son and I couldn't help but want one for Hunter. It was a little out of my budget, so I went out and got some material and made one for myself. It has been a life saver. I wish I would have had one for all of the kids. I love having Hunter close to me while still having two hands to help out the others kids. And best of all, my back doesn't hurt, even after wearing it for a couple of hours! Highly, highly recommend it. And finally a picture of all the kids. I love how much they love each other and don't mind being close, even after taking TONS of pictures (it took forever to catch a picture with everyone smiling AND looking at the camera). I love these kids, even if they do drive me crazy sometimes!