|
| |
News Archives
      
2010 News Archives
July 3 - Melting Pot
Bret and I had an incredible date night going to the Melting Pot.
I had never had fondue before and it was really good. Especially
the desserts! It was a night I'll never forget.
Pictures |
June 26 - Fun in Yuma
Craig & Laurie invited us down to Yuma to play at the lake with jet
skis or maybe they are wave runners (I suppose I could just say personal
water craft.) We left after Bret got off work Friday night and got
down there about 8:30. We had so much fun hanging out with them
and all the girls just love Craig. Saturday morning, after a huge
breakfast (with some of the best French toast and eggs ever), we drove
out to the lake (actually the Senator Wash Reservoir). The girls
loved riding and going fast and they both did a pretty good job steering
too. Kristen & Craig tipped over just before we were ready to go,
but it didn't scare her at all, she thought it was fun. On our way
back, we stopped in Bard at Craig's parents farm. We got to check
out the horses, but the girls were afraid to even pet them.
Laura sat on one for a minute, but looked a little unsure the whole
time. But, they were super excited to jump on the trampoline!
We enjoyed visiting with his parents and left with tons of grapefruit
and dates. We got back to Craig & Laurie's and made ice cream and
then Michael and Alyssa stopped by for a bit. Craig & Laurie
taught us how to play Nertz on Friday night, so we played it again with
Michael & Alyssa (while the girls played with Connor & Jake.) It
is definitely Craig's game, he totally dominated. We packed up
late that night and headed home. Emma & Laura were asleep before
we even got on the freeway. Thanks for a fun time and a memorable
visit!
Wave Runner Video /
Pictures |
June 20 - Father's Day
We had a great day with just going to church and no extra meetings.
We made Daddy all of his favorite meals and got him a few things he
needed. When he comes home from work at night, usually the girls
will run out to the garage as soon as they hear the door (Emma
included.) And then when Daddy walks into the door, he calls out
"Daddy's home!" The girls love it. We love our daddy and are
so grateful for all that he does for our family.
Pictures |
June 17 - Swimming Lessons
We started swimming lessons with Ms. Kasie 4 weeks ago and loved every
minute of it, well maybe not every minute. Laura just did
the first session (didn't want to torture her too much) but Kristen got
to do two sessions, and really made progress during the last two weeks.
It was a great way to start our day. We'd wake up, the girls would
get their swimsuits on, I'd pour them each a cup of cheerios to eat on
the way and they'd all climb into the stroller. It's just a 15
minute walk and we would listen to music as we walked. (But it
certainly got hotter as the weeks went by.) We're thankful that
Daddy was able to come watch Kristen on her last day and see all that
she had learned.
Kristen's Swimming Video &
Laura's Swimming Video /
Pictures |
June 12 - Fresno Visit
Dee was planning a Dwelle Family Reunion and thankfully Bret was able to
get some time off so we were able to go. How long can you go
without seeing family before you forget them? Apparently it's
three years because there were several in Bret's family that didn't
recognize me. (Granted I am not blood related.) The girls
had a great time hanging around with Grandma Dee and luckily the weather
was nice. 91 was much better than the 110 we had felt earlier in the
week. (Anybody want to come visit us?) Our short time in
Fresno was spent making the rounds visiting everybody and hopefully it's
not another year before we make it back. The girls love their
cousins and all the grandparents! We had so much fun spending time
with family. (My favorite was the late night visits with my
siblings.)
Pictures
Here are
more Pictures I just got from Mom & Jen. |
June 5 - Wood Badge Reunion
It's been almost a month since Wood Badge ended but I was just dying to
see the Scoutmaster again! Craig & Laurie were actually coming to
town to go to the temple so we met them there. Their son Rees who
lives in Mesa was also there. I am so grateful for the wonderful
experiences in the temple and feel blessed to have such great friends!
We went out to Oregano's for lunch afterwards and ate way too much food.
Then Craig & Laurie came over to our place where we looked through Wood
Badge pictures (thanks for the DVD Darryl!) And then we gave Craig
a couple things we had been working on for him. I made him a
poster that had a picture of Troop 1, the staff, and each patrol.
And Bret wanted to give Craig an ax, (just like the one in the log) and
it looked perfect! It was an unforgettable day!
Pictures |
June 1 - Laura Turns Three
Our sweet little Lo-Lo is growing up so fast. Although she is
still not potty trained (one of these days she's gonna get with
it!) Laura got to go out to breakfast with Daddy yesterday
and then for dinner we had pizza and french fries (Laura's favorite.)
Today has been a pretty normal day, swimming lessons and such and we
tried to make it special for her. Thankfully Dad was able to make
it home for cake. I took the pictures with my new Droid phone, but
I haven't yet mastered how to focus the camera, so the pictures aren't
the greatest.
Pictures
|
May 17 - My Attempt at Catching
Up
I know this will be a little more brief than usual, just so I can get it
done. But there have been some exciting things during the last
couple of months that I don't want to completely skip over. For example,
on May 3 Bret received his CPA license! So glad he is finally
official! Here goes the rest. (Six days later I am finally getting
this done.) Miscellaneous
Pictures |
May 10-13 - Disneyland Dreamin'
My unofficial Mother's Day gift was going to Disneyland (just like
every year.) Bret was busy with work and unable to go, but did
that stop me? Nope! Jen & Tad were there too with some of
Tad's family and my parents met me there to help me with the kids.
Grandma & Grandpa were heading home on Wednesday and Tad was nice enough
to hitch a ride home with them and let Jen stay an extra day to play
with me. And I'm so grateful that she because the girls hadn't
gotten their Hannah & Cole fix yet. Craig (Course Director from
Wood Badge and kind of like my Disney Dad) also came on Wednesday to
work on the
DLC and was a big help with the kids. I was amazed at how
quickly all the kids warmed up to him! The weather was beautiful
and the crowds weren't bad. Hope I can last the four months until
we go again.
Parade Party
Video / Pictures |
May 9 - Mother's Day
We were lucky enough to have Dee here with us for Mother's Day.
Bret got roses for both of us and took care of the cooking all day.
It was a wonderful day! Laura didn't cooperate real well
during the pictures, but I can't expect for everything to be perfect.
I spent most of the day doing laundry and packing for Disneyland.
Pictures |
April 22-24 & May 6-8 - Wood Badge Staffer
WE6-10-2-10
AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME! Don't know what else I can say about it!
It all started eight months ago when Craig (the Course
Director/Scoutmaster) asked me to serve on staff as a Troop Guide.
(Craig was the ASPL on my course and was a scribe when Bret was on
staff.) Of course I was excited for the opportunity and thrilled
to do it. Fast forward through our monthly staff development
meetings in Yuma and then we were finally at the Yuma Proving
Ground for our course to begin. I got to be a Troop Guide for the
Eagles, which was the BEST patrol there! (And I'm not even being biased.) I had five awesome individuals that I learned so
much from and that I absolutely love! We had a wonderful time
together and I will never forget them. In addition to my patrol,
there was the perfect Scoutmaster who put together an incredible staff that worked so hard in putting this course
together. I am truly grateful for all of these friendships and so
many happy memories. If you happen to ask me about Wood Badge,
watch out because I can talk about it forever. Serving on staff
was such an amazing experience and I can't wait to do it again!
Mickey
Rocket Video &
Wood Badge Game Show Video &
Eagle's Fire Video &
Craig's Poster Video /
Pictures |
April 16 - Prom
A few stakes in the west valley get together each year and put on a prom
for the youth 16-18. They go all out with the decorations and in
order to get a little more use of it all, they have a prom for adults
the night before. We had never been but heard it was worth going
just to see the decorations. Now I just needed something to wear.
Can you believe I still have my dress that I wore to Winter Formal with
Bret 14 years ago? And Bret wore his black and white Mickey tie,
which is the same pattern of his vest when we went to prom. We
went with the Larkin's and went out to Black Angus for dinner. It
was very nice to go on a real date with Bret that didn't require us to
wear our scout uniforms!
Pictures |
April 8 - Emma's First
Birthday
I can't believe our little babe is a year! She is such a little
joy and growing so fast. She took her first steps on April 27th
and has been toddling around since. She is a little on the
sensitive side. If I tell her no, she will burst into tears.
We celebrated with a cake and she got a present from Grandma Dee.
Kristen and Laura were playing with the new toy as much as Emma was.
So now that my baby is one, you know what that means.....time to get
pregnant again.
Emma's
Birthday Present Video /
Pictures |
April 6 - Easter Sunday
With General Conference this weekend, we didn't have to get all dressed
up to go to church. Alan & Lynette were in town with Donna and
came by in between sessions to watch the girls hunt for Easter eggs.
The girls had fun and I'm not sure why, but Bret ended up turning the
hose on and spraying the girls just a bit. They had their
umbrellas and thought it was hilarious. Alan & Lynette wanted to
go out to dinner the following day and so the girls had to suffer going
to Chuck E Cheeses again. Fun times!
Chuck E
Cheeses Video &
Easter
Egg Hunt Video &
Easter Rain
Video /
Pictures |
March 28 -
April 3 - Cousin's from California
These six days were super packed with lots of fun. With a house
full of 9 kids, we had lots of activities planned so the kids wouldn't
get bored. We went to Chuck E Cheeses, Wildlife World Zoo &
Aquarium, Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple, had more cousins over for a
movie night in the backyard, played at the park, painted Easter
decorations, had a birthday party for Emma and just enjoyed being
together. I had fun with my sisters and the kids got along really
well.
Rockets Video /
Pictures |
May 3 - So Far Behind
I don't think I have ever been this far behind in posting and don't have
time to catch up right now. But I did want to do a quick post that
we're still here and all is well. I'll post everything from the
past two months when things slow down (if that ever happens!) |
March 1 - Disneyland
Challenge
I've been working with Craig Colvin the last few weeks creating a
website for him and his
Disneyland
Challenge. He has announced the date for the 2010 Disneyland
Challenge on September 24. If you are interested in participating,
go to the site for more information and registration details. The
challenge is a lot of fun and we would love to see you all there! |
February
23-25 - Family Time at Disneyland
Bret has been working in L.A. for the past four months, coming home
just on the weekends. And most of those weekends were filled with
scouts or other commitments that still prevented us from having much
family time. The client Bret was working on, was filing a week
early, so he told me on Friday that he would be able to book some
vacation days the following week. Of course I respond by saying
"Can we go to Disneyland?" Amazingly even Grandma & Grandpa and
Aunt Jen were able to make it last minute. The girls were so
excited to see Hannah and Cole. It was nice being at the park when
it wasn't too busy. It even rained a little bit on Wednesday which
seemed to keep some people away. Grandma, Grandpa & Jen headed
back home Thursday afternoon (Jen talked Dad into going to the park for
a few hours so they could catch a Billy Hill & the Hillbillies show.
After they left we still had the Monorail on our to do list and we
decided to ride in the front. This was the first time I have done
that and it was well worth the extra 5 minute wait. I like riding
the Monorail, it's a nice break and you can see some of the behind the
scenes buildings and such. But riding in the front and getting a
full view of where you're going (as opposed to just one side) was
amazing. We then headed over to California Adventure where we did
everything in A Bug's Land and most of which was new to the girls.
Emma napped through most of it and the girls enjoyed the rides. I
was more than willing to let Dad ride with them on all those little
rides because I remember how sick they made me feel years ago when I
went on them. We finished the day with me and Kristen going on
Soarin' Over California, one of my favorites. As much as I love
being at Disneyland, I am so glad that Bret was able to come with us, it makes the trip much more enjoyable for me!
Autopia Video &
Parade (Twist) Video &
Billy Hill Video &
Monorail Video /
Pictures |
February 22 - Happy Love
Day
We didn't do anything out of the ordinary for Valentine's Day, but we
just enjoyed being together. We went to church and without any
extra meetings, we were able to take naps that afternoon. We
opened a few little presents (the girls had already opened their new
movie "Minnie's Bow-tique" a day early.) Daddy was wonderful
enough to make dinner for us. We are so thankful for each other
and love our little family!
Bret's first Bear from Wood Badge received his beads on Saturday.
I was driving home from a Wood Badge staff training in Yuma and Bret had
to borrow a car from a friend to drive to Queen Creek for the beading
ceremony. I really wished I could have gone with him. Jim
(a.k.a. Grandpa Hawley) was there and brought a new emu egg for Kristen.
This time she was very careful with it and hardly handled it until we
were able to hollow it out. Thanks to Dad's drill press, we now
have a beautiful, hollow, emu egg.
Pictures |
February 8 - Emma at
Ten Months
I am a little slow and Emma missed her nine month well visit, but we
went just before she turned 10 months. She is a happy and healthy
little girl, and such a joy in our family. She weighs 17 lbs. 15
oz. and is 28 1/2 inches tall. Bret is already counting down until
she turns a year and can face forward in the car, hopefully she'll be 20
lbs. by then. She still has a clogged tear duct in her right eye;
we're hoping it will clear on it's own soon. (Both the other girls
had it in both eyes and it went away right when they turned a year.) She is such a mommas girl and is happy around other
people, as long as momma is holding her. She loves babbling,
making noise and saying mama and dada. She loves playing with her
big sisters and really wants to do everything they do. Emma is a
great sleeper and growing so fast. We love our little "Mem-ma."
Emma Climbing Stairs Video /
Pictures |
February 2 - What A Zoo
I still think it's crazy that it happened, but Bret and I were asked to
be on staff for Pow Wow this year. (It's about an 8 hour day with
86 different classes being taught, and participants choose which 8 they
want to do.) I had never been before, so I felt a little out of
place being on staff. But we had a super easy job that I really
enjoyed. We were the Recognition Directors which meant we were in
charge of "recognizing" and thanking the instructors. It was great
because I was able to do it all ahead of time and could actually enjoy
the day. Jim & Marilyn Hawley were the Co-Chairmen for Pow Wow
(Jim was Bret's Troop Guide when he went thru Wood Badge, and they were
also both on WB staff with Bret in October.) I made up
certificates for all the instructors as well as had some key chains made
and needed to drop them off to the Hawley's before Pow Wow. The
girls and I decided to make a day out of it, and we went out to visit
them and their animals. (A funny story from when Bret was on staff
at Wood Badge. The Hawley's son Evan was also on staff and the
course director always confused them and called Bret, Evan. So Jim
& Marilyn decided to adopt Bret into the family. Plus Evan's wife
is named Julie, and he has a son named Brett.) So we went out to
Grandpa & Grandma Hawley's to see their llama, zebra, herd of sheep and
deer, and 300+ birds. The girls had such a wonderful time!
They each got a beautiful peacock feather and Kristen came home with an
emu egg. She loved that egg and kept it with her all the time.
She tried multiple times to put it in her bed at night, but I insisted
she put it in a basket on her dresser (I didn't want a baby emu coming
out of the egg 42 days from now.) The plan was to have Dad hollow
it out during the weekend, but after only two short days, it broke.
Kristen had dropped it a couple times before, but on the carpet.
This time is was on the hardwood kitchen floor and it did not survive.
If I had clean floors, I could have scooped it up into the skillet for a
massive omelet (I said "if".) Kristen was in tears and sad for
days. The girls were all exhausted after being out on the farm
(Laura and Emma both missed their nap) so when we got in the car, they
were ready to crash. Watch the video below of Laura; I taped it
while I was driving, so I wasn't able to aim very well (the music in the
background is the Space Mountain soundtrack.) On the day
of Pow Wow, we picked up Afton to babysit at 5:30 in the morning (we took
Emma with us) and we didn't return until 6:00 pm. We had a great
time and Emma was really good. I either had her strapped in the
front pack or in the stroller and she even stayed awake for most of the
day. Bret played with Jim in the skit (the video below is just the
beginning of it), we made it to a couple
classes and we tried to be helpful in between. That's the latest
around here.
Hungry Sleeping Laura
Video & Pow Wow Skit
Video / Pictures |
January 17 - Disney On Ice
Before Christmas, Kristen would ask me what I wanted from Santa. And I
really couldn't think of anything I wanted, except I wanted to spend time
together as a family doing something fun. When I saw Disney On Ice coming
to town, I knew that was what I wanted. So I ordered tickets, wrapped them
up, put them under the tree, opened them on Christmas, and then waited for
January 15th to arrive. Bret came home early and we drove downtown on
Friday night. There was a little pre show that we waited in line for and
walked through a display of a few princess gowns. They called it a "meet
and greet" but it was more like "Wave to Cinderella". It had been
advertised for Princess Tiana (which is what I told the girls), but when we went
through, we saw Cinderella. I have never seen Kristen so disappointed to
see Cinderella, she wanted to see Princess Tiana. The line had died
down, so we got back in and went through again to see Princess Tiana. We
made it into our seats just before the show started. The girls loved it!
Although Laura did get tired and wanted to take a nap. When Mickey,
Minnie, Donald and Goofy were on the ice, Emma was hooked. But as it went
through scenes from Cars, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Tinkerbell, she
grew tired and a little fussy. Kristen has been saving up her coins and
had just cashed them in so she could get something special that night. She
picked out a tiara that lights up. And we also got a Minnie purse for
Laura. Saturday was a crazy long day and we ended the night at our BSA
district dinner. Bret was surprised to receive the District Award of
Merit. Although the dinner is expensive (for what you get) and drags on
forever, I am very proud of him for all his service.
Pictures |
January 10 - 2010 Has Begun
The beginning of 2010 has been quite busy, but not necessarily with real
exciting things. We had our primary "Meet Your Teacher" activity
yesterday. Kristen is a CTR 4 now and was super excited when she got a CTR
ring in class today. Laura moved from the younger nursery to the older
nursery (we have 2 nurseries since we have 27 kids, and that's at the beginning
of the year.) Sundays are busy and I never remember to take a picture when
they're dressed. We finally have 9:00 am church, which makes us get up a
lot earlier to get ready, but we can once again take naps on Sunday afternoon.
Emma seems to be more fun each day. She eats with us at the table and has
proved that she can eat anything we can eat. She has also mastered
drinking out of a sippy cup as well as "my water." She is a super
happy baby and gets lots of love from her older sisters. She loves
them too and is always happy to see them. I can't help but smile every time I go
in to get her out of the crib and she is standing there with a big smile.
She is pulling up on everything and I can't get her to sit still. She
doesn't have a good 8 or 9 month picture, I'm hoping I have better luck next
month. We enjoy our time with Dad on the weekends, but it goes by way too
fast. Who knows what 2010 has in store for us, but as long as we go
through it together, we'll have a wonderful time!
Pictures |
|
