Beach with the Mavys

Our friends, the Mavy's, came into town the weekend before Thanksgiving. They came down to our house for a day before going to spend Thanksgiving with Ruth's sister. They have never been to Southern California, so with only one day to show them around (and a very limited budget) we decided that the beach was a must. We took them down to Laguna Beach to show them the tide pools and have a picnic. We didn't know that the city is doing a major remodel of all the picnic areas on the cliffs and many of the walkways down to the beach, but we were able to finally find a way down. It was a little bit of a walk to the rocks, and with nine kids under the age of 7, it was a bit of a challenge, but we did make it. We decided to climb around on the rocks before eating lunch, so we had set our bags down and made our way around the rocks to the tide pools. The kids had so much fun looking for little creatures. It was a beautiful day and the beach was quiet. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! On our way back after seeing the tide pools we saw seagulls circling around the area where we had set our bags. Needless to say, those seagulls were attacking our food. It ended up being fun though, because we fed the seagulls for a while and the kids loved it. Brett kept on throwing the food into the air above our heads. The kids thought this was so fun, but all I could think was that those stupid seagulls were going to poop on our heads. Luckily we did make it through without being pooped on and the kids had fun, so I think we were successful in showing them a major part of the "southern California attraction". After the beach we came home and "rested". We talked about going to the park, but the kids were having so much fun playing together here that we just let them play.

Jason got enthralled with our "Geo trax" and couldn't leave it alone. He played with it from the time that we got home until we left for dinner. He was trying to make the train touch all of the tracks without having to manually switch any of the switches (did that make sense?). Unfortunately he was unsuccessful. Debbie was nice enough to watch seven of the nine kids for us (we took the babies) so that we could go out for a quiet dinner. We went to Ruth's favorite restaurant "Olive Garden". It was sooo delicious. And we ended the night watching Evan Almighty (or at least everyone else watched it. I think that I fell to sleep before the opening credits). It was so nice to have them visit us and we can't wait for them to come again!

Our Thanksgiving

It was so fun for us to be able to go out to my parents house in Tucson, Arizona for Thanksgiving this year. We had so much fun hanging out with Doug and Liz, Tami and her kids, Jimmy and Christi, Adam, Debbie and of course all of the Tucson family (Mom, Dad, Becky, Liz and Michael). We did a lot of movie watching this trip, which is unusual for our family. I think in part it is because we have discovered the "Red Box". The Red Box is a movie rental thing that is located in the grocery stores. It has "new releases" for only a dollar a night. What a deal! I know they are here in So Cal, as well as Utah and Arizona, so check out your local grocery store to see if you can save money on movie rentals too. We also went out to a drive-in movie our last night there. I didn't know those things still existed. It was fun to sit in the back of our cars bundled in blankets (it was 45 degrees out when we were leaving the movie). It was so fun to just sit around and talk as well. I personally could not stop talking about when my parents and siblings will come home from the mission. Just 7 months left. So crazy how time flies! We are so anxious for them to be home and for our kids to know their "other" grandparents. We hope that everyone else had a great Thanksgiving break. Now on to Christmas, my favorite time of the year. We are working on our decorations tonight. I will post picture soon.

The Lemonade Diet

Brett has been doing something called "The Lemonade Diet" for eight days now. He has been suffering from ulcers and has been wanting to cut some pounds, so he started this diet, which is supposed to help with both. Brett constantly reminds me that is it a "cleanse" not a weight loss diet, but all he talks about is the weight that he has lost. He is down 16 pounds already and still has a couple of days left. He is at an all time low for our marriage. He also is not having pain from the ulcers, which is huge because he took two different kinds of medications that didn't seem to help. He is getting a little sick of drinking lemonade. So I know what you are thinking, "I could drink lemonade for 10 days", but it isn't exactly lemonade. For each cup of water he puts two tablespoons fresh squeezed lemonade and lime juice, two tablespoons grade B maple syrup (not your sweet breakfast syrup), and a dash of cayenne pepper. It has been amazing for him and he loves how he feels on it. I was really skeptical about the whole thing, but even he if gains all the weight back, I am excited he did it just to get rid of the ulcers. Way to stick with it Brett, I am proud of you!

Brett's Version of a Tent

So Friday was a long day. So that night after Brett got home, I was ready to just veg in front of the TV. Of course the kids were still awake, so we let them pick a movie to watch. Spencer asked if we could have popcorn and make a tent. I said I thought that would be ok. The next thing I know Brett has brought in our camping tent (I was picturing a tent made out of blankets and chairs and what not) and is setting it up. The kids loved it and ended up sleeping in it that night. Luckily Brett and I were able to sleep in our own comfy bed, at least for most of the night. Natalie started crying sometime in the early morning, so Brett went downstairs and never came back.

Tanner's Baby Blessing

We had the opportunity to bless Tanner in church yesterday. I am not a photographer by any means, but wanted to share some pictures of Tanner in his blessing outfit. I looked for an all white outfit and was not able to find one, so this outfit had to do. It was nice to able to have Doug and Liz and Sarah and Justin and their kids join us. Doug and Justin joined in for the blessing, along with Treg Julander, Matt Call, Clint Helton, and Bishop Loy. It was such a neat experience to see such a little baby taken into the arms of those priesthood holders. Brett did an incredible job and really felt the spirit of the Lord as he spoke. Some of the key points that I remember were that Tanner was blessed with the desire to serve. He was blessed to seek learning from the scriptures and by doing so would learn of the Savior and His teachings. He was also blessed with the ability to see the faith of his family and would thereby strenghten his own faith, especially in his Savior. It was an awesome blessing. Now it is up to Brett and me to teach him and lead him in the Gospel. Not the easiest task in the world we live in now, but we are up for the challenge knowing the anything is possible through the help of our Heavenly Father!

Halloween 2007

This is a post of all our Halloween fun, from decorating pumpkin cookies to our ward truck or treat to the night of. Hope you all had a safe and happy halloween! We did and we have WAY to much candy to prove it. Hopefully I can control myself better than I have last night and today. All the options are just too tempting! The kids had so much fun dressing up in the their costumes. Spencer was a dinosaur, Natalie a dragon, Bailey a tiger, and Tanner a skunk. I have the habit of buying costumes on clearance and then save them for the following year. I need to get out and do that for next year. With the kids being so close in age their costumes just get handed down from one kid to the next. I don't think I will be able to keep it up much longer since Spencer is finally getting to the age where he might care what he gets to be.

The kids finished the night off strong handing out candy at our house. They may have enjoyed this part of the night more than any other!