My Birthday kids!

My two oldest babies have birthdays a week apart. Josh on the 5 and Jen on the 13 of July. Aren't they cute? I just love those cheeks!
I guess they're not really babies anymore, at least not in size! Josh is now 18! An adult! It blows my mind. I can't believe he's really that old. I am so happy he decided to come to our family. He's a great example to his younger siblings and us, he does the right thing consistently and tries so hard at all he does! I am not ready for him to grow up and leave home, however, I know that he will do just fine, I know he is well prepared to be a wonderful man and I hope he will forever know that he can ALWAYS come home!!!!! Happy 18th buddy, we love you!!!!
We had planned to do a big firework display with the newly legal "cool ariel" fireworks. But, it decided to thunder, lightning and rain so all his best buddies came over instead and we had strawberry shortcake (his favorite) and they played their zombie game and hung out all night! Good times. Love these guys, (and Hayley!) and love having them here so often, they're like brothers and they have a great time together. It's hard for me to believe they will all be going separate ways soon, I really hope they stay great friends forever.
We surprised Jen with a sweet sixteen party! It was SO fun! She was truly surprised and the look on her face was priceless! She is such a fun girl and also has great friends who helped me plan the party and made it a huge success! We watched a slideshow of her and gave her 16 presents of 16 things each that would help her in her life! I hope she'll always remember it!
We are so thankful for this "grown up" girl! She's happy, she has a very positive outlook on life and even when things get tough, which they have for her often this past year, she always looks on the bright side and is a better person for it. She is a sweet sister and is a beautiful girl inside and out. I believe the saying, that little baby girls can grown up to be their mother's best friend, because we have lots of great memories together and I love her with all my heart! Happy birthday to my very very sweet sixteen!

Senior Cruisin'

We told the kids that we'd take them two at a time when the oldest one graduates on a fun trip! So this was the first of 3 fun trips with two of our kids at a time! We went on a Southern Caribbean cruise with them and some our really good friends, the Obrays, and their two cute big kids! We had a GREAT time!!!!
The party never stops on a cruise ship, and our kids got WAY into it doing the Electric slide, Wobble, the Macarana and numerous other dances. They had fun meeting new people, eating LOTS of yummy food (warm chocolate melting cake anyone?) and staying up late hanging with the funny cruise directors! (YEAH baby!)
One of my favorite things on the cruise are these cute little towel creatures left in our room each night with little mints......I think they're downright adorable!
One of two formal nights.....all dressed up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!
On St Marteen we went on a "jeep" ride.....we were all excited thinking we'd be four wheelin' in the mountains. Well.....we pretty much stayed on a paved road and listened to a guy on a walkee talkee talk about casinos, the international airport and hotels. It was less than exciting...well until the 737 jet flew over us and about scared us all to death! It was a really beautiful island though, and we enjoyed seeing it!
The beach and water in all the islands was so beautiful and clear blue.
Hard to tell but all our initials in our family are etched in sand right under us here. We were thinking of all our kids and missed the four at home!

In St Kitts we took a Catamaran out to some fun snorkeling and a beautiful beach. Jenica also got attacked by tiny diaper wearing monkeys, whose owner wanted $10 for this picture....they want money for everything in these places, too bad we didn't have our wallets!!!!!!
In St Lucia we went zip lining in a rain forest! We had the most awesome guide named Kennedy. He talked non-stop for 4 hours about tv shows, singing songs, his family and eating habits, and told us lots about the rainforest and all its cool secrets. It was really really fun and the kids and us had so much fun zipping through the trees! (Don't know why I can't get this pic turned around, sorry you have to look at it side ways!)
On Barbados the kids had fun on "Great Big Mable" they were afraid the driver might kill them when they got going really fast, but it ended up way fun!
The boys lounging by the pool on the "Fun at sea day"
A really fun part of the cruise is the EATING, of course! And each night after dinner the wait staff does a dance around the dining room, the girls got up and danced and sang "My Girl" one of the nights, it was so cute! Our waiters Paul, and two we couldn't pronounce their names, were so cute and fun!
Our home away from home for a week!
In St Thomas we went Kayaking, hiking and snorkeling! We saw cool fish, sea urchins and pelicans. We also learned about poisonous flesh eating, blinding, killing plants that look really pretty and taste good. Not sure who documented that, since they should be blind and dead, but whatever! We also had a little hermit crab race on this island, it is full of them! It was lots of fun!
In San Juan we got poured on while we visited the forts (and saw where Pirates was filmed!) and went shopping but we had a great time!

What a great opportunity to see the beautiful Islands of the Caribbean! It was so fun, but the best part of all was to spend time with our cute oldest kids, who were so fun, so happy and really great company! We had a super great time with them and the Obrays, we love them and their kids! We will always have such fabulous memories of this trip! As our boys said many many times during this trip, (quoting Saturday night live....) "It's a beautiful thing though....yes, it's a beautiful thing!!!!!"

My graduates!!!!

It's time to party!!!!!! WE'RE DONE!!!!

My oldest graduate.....my biggest boy! Graduated from Salem Hills with High Honors! Way to go Josh, we are so VERY VERY proud of you! We love you and know you will go far with the educational choices you are making. Before you know it, you'll be done with BYU and then Dental school! You have always had high hopes, goals and dreams. This is a huge step in accomplishing so many of them. Don't ever forget the amazing memories you have made these years. You will always and forever look back on them as some of the best years of your life. You lived them well, you made good choices, did good, hard and fun things and succeeded in so many ways!! We will miss going to see you play basketball and tennis at the school, we will miss your wonderful friends hanging out here, we will miss having to wake you up EVERY morning to get you out the door.....but please PLEASE don't leave too soon, we love you and are so proud and happy for you! Congratulations Josh!
Our cute cute middle boy Brennan, graduated from sixth grade and Elementary school this week! He too has wonderful grades, is a smarty pants and has wonderful memories of this great school! He has great friends and has so much fun with them, he will miss some of them as he goes on to middle school, but many of them will go with him! Good job Brennan, we are so proud of you too! You have so many exciting, wonderful, happy things to look forward too! Keep making good decisions, keep trying hard and keep smiling......we know you will go far!!!!
My preschool and high school graduates...both on the same day.......a little much for mama!!!!!
Good job baby Gracie! She had so much fun in preschool this year and learned to read, write and knows all her numbers! What a smart girl! She had fun with her best friend Chloe, and will miss her lots when they go to different schools next year for Kindergarten! I can't believe you're already going to Kindergarten! You will love it baby girl and will have so much fun meeting new friends, having a great teacher, and learning and growing all the time! We are proud of you too and know you will always try hard!!!! Good job Grace!!!!
My three cute graduates. This was a big week for them, for our family. We are so thrilled for all of them.....and of course the other three as well....we are very proud of them too, they just don't get the distinction of "graduating" yet!!! Happy Days! Dream Big, Soar High, Reach for the Stars......and always always remember WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of dancing!

Jen and Gracie had their dance recital a week ago. It was a Disney theme, and it was SO cute! Jen danced to Lion King and Gracie was Tinkerbell. They did a GREAT job and we loved watching them!!!
Easter Sunday was a bit chilly and rainy, but we still had fun with our new baby chicks, having

a yummy dinner at Grandma's and finding our Easter baskets!
Josh had his Senior Prom........looking pretty dang sharp!
These guys are the best of friends (Trenton, Michael, Josh, Justin and Nick) they have really grown up together and are great kids. I am so thankful for their influence and example for Josh. They went to a fun restaurant and had a great night. Their dates looked absolutely gorgeous and they are all great girls too.
Josh and Haley have been going together all year. She looked so beautiful in her dress and him in his tux. I am proud of both of them, they have high standards and are good, good kids. I hope they continue to make good decisions and keep being the great kids they are now. They have a lot ahead of them. I am proud of my biggest boy for setting his sights on greatness and for pushing through even when things are hard. He's a good example for his siblings, they look up to and admire him, and I am grateful for him paving the path for them! He'll always remember this fun night, what a great time of his life!

Spring Break... Disney Style!!

We went to Disneyland and SoCal for Spring Break! We love this place!!! Our tradition is to always go on Pirates first.....YoHo YoHo a Pirates life for me!!!!
We got Josh a "just graduated" button.....that freaked me out a bit, but I made him wear it ha!ha!
Even though I've been a million times, I still get really, really excited to see the Big Mouse himself!!!!!!!!!!!!
We went to the new World of Color twice, we absolutely love it! It's the coolest water, light show, makes me want to sit and watch all the Disney movies from when I was little, and all the newer ones too. It really is so fun!
We went to Laguna Beach for one of the days and had a blast playing in the waves, sand and just relaxing.

We love this trip, we do it often, and every time there are memories made. This time some of the favorites were:

The kids quoting Megamind and saying "Unfathomable...without Fathom" over and over and over.

Gracie telling me the Princesses were absolutely ADORABLE and that it was "worth the loooong wait to see them"

Jaemon saying that Indiana Jones (or just Inny, as he calls it) "just makes his day"

The new Electronic "Tron" show and watching the kids dance to the cool DJ's in California Adventures

Jaemon watching his ice cube melt at dinner and saying when it finally melted "the whole world will come apart" (it was hilarious)

Waiting in lines and laughing

People watching and laughing

Playing fun games in the car and laughing

We love family vacations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April Fools Day!!!

For breakfast we had Spaghetti and meatballs, peas and carrots, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes. Oh, and delicious fruit punch.
Everyone read their chores for the day. They weren't hard, just cleaning the cows and chickens with windex, and bleaching the cow corral, eating 2 lbs of brussels sprouts and raw fish, organizing their closets according to moms favorite candy bar, cleaning each blade of grass (only the back yard) with a Q tip, ironing their socks, taking apart all the electronic devices and cleaning out their innards with lysol, cleaning out the sandbox with a spoon and writing "April Fools Day" 15,ooo times in their best handwriting.
Hmmmm, enjoying their "fruit punch" (it was actually jello)!
Loving those "corn on the cobs" for breakfast!!!!!!
The funniest face was Tyler, who read the chores and then said ,"Really? I have to do all that before school? But the bus comes in just a few minutes, can I do them later?" and Gracie who went to the drawer and got out her Cinderella spoon to head out to start cleaning out the sand box.

Happy April Fools Day............... FUNNY!!!!!

A pretty girl and a HOT date

Jen gets to go to her first dance on Friday.......no not with a hot date, she has 4 months and a few hours till her birthday (ask her, she'll tell you the exact moment she turns 16!) but she is helping decorate with her dance company, so she needed a dress. It was so fun to go shopping for her first formal dress and shoes, and necklace and earrings. I love my teenagers, this is such a fun time in their lives and I hope they know how much I love these great, exciting events in their lives!!!!!!

THIS IS MY HOT DATE!!!!!! With my two favorite Jon's. My own personal Jon and Mr Bon Jovi. Jonny gave me tickets to my FAVORITE band ever, for Christmas. I had such an amazing time......I know I may be a bit of a groupie, but I was like a little 14 year old girl when I saw Mr Bon Jovi himself come out on that stage, I almost cried. Really.

Sad. Well, not sad, it was SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

I love both these Jon's.

OK, not really, I love one of their music, and I love the other one heart and soul.

Thanks for the hot date babe, it was great!