Softball Tournament

This last weekend Troy played in one of the last men's softball tournaments of the season. It was in Boise and we decided to not take the kids to this one. Luckily I have amazing family that was willing to help with the kids. Thanks Aunt Jo, Dad, and Mom for your help with the kids so I could go and enjoy this weekend with my hubby.
We left Twin Friday night to go to Boise and get settled in our hotel so we were there and ready for the games that started Saturday morning. Then we went out and ate and hung out with some of the other couples there from the team.

Here is my good friend Steph and I before we headed out for dinner Friday night. We shared a room with her and her hubby Matt, Troy's assistant coach.

Then Saturday morning the games started. Here is a picture of our fans. Troy's sister and her hubby and their daughter Courtney came and hung out with us for the weekend since they live in Boise.
Some of the girls....Courtney (my niece), Terra (sister-in-law), Jodi (soon to be sister-in-law), Me, Loni, and Steph.My nieces were our score keepers for the day.
In between games we all hung out in the shade. They guys did so amazing on the first day. This is before their last game of the day. They went undefeated the whole day! Warming up for the last game of the day.
This is the hottest player on the team! :)


Here are some pictures of our fans and players with their spouses.

Ivan & Kara
Thayne & Jodi

Troy & I

Terra & Steve

Loni & Mike

Mark & Lisa Amy & Ryan and their son

Todd & his daughter Kaitlynn

Riley & Courtney

Matt & Steph

My good friend Loni & IThayne & TroyMatt & Troy getting a little too cozy in between games in the shade. :)Troy & Matt waiting for their last game to start. This is one of my favorite pictures of the weekend.
A team cheer after winning their last game of the day.
The guys went undefeated for the weekend and I couldn't have been a prouder fan. Love watching them play!

First Day of School 2009

This year we had two kids getting ready for the First Day Of School. Kayden is going into the 2nd grade and Ori is going into Kindergarten. Ori was so excited to get to finally go to the "real school".


Here they are posing out in front of our house before we left for school.Even Jaycee thought she needed in a picture with brothers.Then we took a couple of individual pictures. The posed all on their own and I totally dying laughing inside. How cute are they.Kayden - 2nd gradeOri - Kindergarten Once we got to the school we decided we needed one more picture on the playground.
And one showing off their cool backpacks.
This is Kayden with his teacher Mrs. Carlson.And Ori with his teacher Mrs. LeBlancThen one last picture of Kayden sitting at his new desk.


And Ori starting a group activity at his table.

Crazy to only have Jaycee going to daycare, but let me tell you.....a lot cheaper! :)

Day #4 of California Trip

Day #4 of our trip was a relaxing day at the beach. We have some really good friends who live in Huntington Beach, CA. We went to school with Nick and in the last few years have gotten close to his girlfriend Shawna. We were excited to get the chance to hang out with them and take the kids to the beach.

Shawna was working on this day, but Nick was off so we drove to his house and then he took us down to the beach for the day. It wasn't super hot, but we still had so much fun. When we got to the beach and started walking on the sand Kayden looked up at me and said "Mom, is this real sand?" I had to just laugh. I had to remember this was the first time EVER my kids had been to a beach.

Here is Huntington Beach
Once we got there Troy and Nick walked over to the a little pizza joint close by and got pizza and drinks for us while the kids and I played in the sand. Then when they got back we put some blankets down and had pizza and soda. It was a lot of fun to have a little picnic on the beach.After eating we just enjoyed the beach. The water was cold, not warm enough to completely just jump in, but we still had a ton of fun. The kids and I built sand castles, we walked along the beach and found sea shells, we played in the water, and we did some wave jumping.

We had the most fun running out to the water and then turning around and running back trying to not let the waves catch us. The kids laughed and laughed.

Troy and Nick spent a lot of time visiting and catching up while the kids and I played. It was such an enjoyable afternoon for all of us and absolutely priceless to experience the beach for the first time with my kids.

After we got back to the hotel we went to dinner with Troy's Stepdad Dave and his Mom and all of Dave's Cornwell dealers. Then we took the kids swimming for a little bit in the hotel pool and went back to the room and put the kids to bed so they would be refreshed for the next morning. Then we went into Dave & Deb's room (which was hooked to ours) and played pinochle just the four of us. It was a ton of fun and such good bonding time.

Day #3 - Sea World

I am now playing catch up on my blog. I am doing this more for my record, but please feel free to enjoy also.
Day #3 was spent at Sea World. We could not have picked a better day to go. It was a Tuesday so there were practically NO lines for anything. The park was not over crowded, and the weather was PERFECT, not too hot but not too cold. We also got great seats for all of the shows (the splash zone).
We started the day off with a family photo while we were waiting for the park to open up.
Sea World is owned by Anheuser-Busch. S0 one of the first things we did was go over and see the clydesdale horses. The kids wanted to get a picture in front of the statue to show Papa Clyde since this is his favorite kind of horse, and beer :).Then we walked in the stables and looked at all the real horses. They are so big and so fun to watch.Ori even got to pet the Dalmatian, but he had to be very careful and slow because this dog was very shy.
Next we went and saw some seals and whales. The boys and their dad got to go on a helicopter simulation ride, but Jaycee wasn't quite big enough so we waited for them by the seals.Next we headed over to see the polar bears, and this is what we saw....As all the adults are chuckling, the kids wanted to know why the two polar bears were playing like that. They didn't like the idea that the bigger bear was sitting on the smaller one. Explain that one to a 7, 5, and 3 year old. :)
Then we took some pictures in the polar bear caves.

And then got our picture taken with a real polar bear......well kind of :) Next we went to one of two Shamu shows. The first one was showing us how they train the whales. We got amazing seats front and center, in the splash zone. The kids were completely amazed by the animals.

After that we went the Sesame Street Bay of Play. This was a fun little area. The park employees said the added this to give a little more stuff to do for the younger kids that come. It had a great big huge jungle gym that you could crawl all through which we did as a family. Let me tell you, that was quite the work out.

There was water fountains for the kids to run through.A great big huge jump area. Then they got their picture taken with Elmo.And then Jaycee got her picture taken with Abby Cadabby.

After a quick bite to eat we headed over for the dolphin show. This was such a fun show and the kids loved watching how high the dolphins could jump out of the water and all the tricks they did.

Then we walked over to the penguins. On our way there we passed by a pool with different things inside of it that you could touch, pick up, and feel. The kids thought this was pretty cool. They each had a turn holding a star fish and touching some of the other creatures.
Next we saw the penguins, which Jaycee especially liked because she is a big fan of the cartoon happy feet.

Next, Troy and the boys went on the ride Journey to Atlantis. Jaycee wasn't tall enough to ride this so we watched. (And I was secretly okay with this so I didn't have to get wet again:)

Then we went to our second Shamu show. This one was called The Story of Shamu. This was probably the best show out of all of them. The did all sorts of tricks put to really neat music. The kids were absolutely amazed and I loved watching the looks on their faces. We were in the splash zone again, but it was worth it to be right up close.

After that show we headed over towards the shark exhibit. On our way there we passed by the flamingos. For some reason they were very interested to watch and we stood there for a few minutes.The shark exhibit was very cool. The boys really loved it. Jaycee thought it was a little dark and scary. We actually got to walk through a tunnel under ground and the sharks were swimming above and around us.
After the shark exhibit we walked over to get good seats for the last show of the day. This was Clyde and Seamore's Risky Rescue. This was by far the most entertaining show of the day with the jokes and the funny story. Ori also thought it was cool that the sea lion had the same name as him and Grandpa. While we were waiting for the show to start we took a picture of the kids by the tank.

Then we got some snacks to munch on while we waited. I don't know why but I thought these pictures of Jaycee were so priceless. She enjoyed this cotton candy so much and didn't even realize that anything else was going on around her, she was so focused on her treat.Then the show started. This is Clyde...And this is Seamore....dancing behind one of the actors.It was such an enjoyable day and we managed to visit and see everything the park had to offer. We then loaded up and headed for our second hotel in Anaheim. We had an hour long drive from Sea World to our new hotel in 5 lines of traffic going both ways at about 85 miles an hour. It was super crazy and frightening and I was so glad Troy was the one driving because it didn't even faze him.

Jaycee was asleep about 5 minutes into the ride.When we showed up at the hotel Grandpa and Grandma were there to greet us and show us around our hotel. The hotel was super nice and was a couple of blocks away from Disneyland. Here is Grandma and the kids in front of the water fall in front of our hotel. And this is the kids showing how tall our hotel was.Then we finished the evening off by going to dinner with Grandpa and Grandma. We walked over to a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. And Jaycee of course talked Grandpa into giving her a lift. :)

Day 1 & 2 of our California vacation

I know it took me forever to get some of this on here, but you have no idea how crazy busy our lives have been.

This was our first day. This is a picture of the kids just as we are pulling out of Twin Falls for our long trip. I figured I needed to get a picture of them smiling in the vehicle before they were hating it after the long hours. I made a travel bag for each kid that had books, color books, puzzles, and some miscellaneous toys. Then I also took a sheet cake pan (using my imagination) for each of them to use as a tray. It worked out great because when we ate in the vehicle they had a little lip on their tray that didn't let the stuff slide off.We drove all day through Idaho, and Nevada. We pulled into Las Vegas right around 11:00 at night. All three kids stayed awake long enough to pull into Vegas and see all the lights and buildings. The kids were AMAZED!! They couldn't believe it. Kayden asked us who made this city and we said it has been growing over years and years by lots of people. He said to us "I would like to meet whoever did this and thank them for the masterpiece." What a kid! And to think that came from a seven year old.

This is a picture of Jaycee as we pulled out of Las Vegas. She stayed awake just long enough to get to see all the lights and hustle and bustle, then she fell asleep.
The first night we stayed at Buffalo Bill's Hotel in Primm, NV. This is just a few miles outside of Vegas. Perfect for just traveling through and having three very young kids with us.This is the kids the first night in a hotel. They think staying in a hotel is the coolest thing ever. We decided it was like having a slumber party every night. Then the second day we traveled the rest of the way to Sand Diego. We found a hotel that was close to Sea World (where we were going the next day). It had a kid's suite that had bunk beds and a little kitchen. The kids thought the setup was pretty cool. Once we got all settled we went swimming in the hotel pool before we were off the The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. The swimming was a little cold, but felt like summer time compared to the snow we left on the ground back at home.

Great couple of days to start off our week vacation! More to come.....

Our Busy Weekend

We had a fun and busy weekend. It started on Thursday night with Kayden's annual Blue and Gold Banquet for scouts. We gathered and had an awesome pot luck dinner.Then the awards were given out. Kayden had earned an additional 11 awards (patches, belt loops, and pins) for his accomplishments. Here is a picture of Kayden's Den leader awarding him his awards. He looks so proud :). Then Daddy promised ice cream on the way home to celebrate Kayden's accomplishments. We stopped by Baskin Robbins. The kids always have to walk up and down the ice cream case and look at all the flavors and even try a couple of samples before finally deciding on what they want.

Then on Friday both boys got to invite one friend to come and stay the night. This was Ori's first time ever having a sleepover and he was so excited. We started off by having pizza at the house.

Then we took the four boys and Jaycee over to Hop 2 It to play. Here is Kayden and Daddy sliding down the end of the obstacle course.

Here is Jaycee playing in the ball pit.

Jaycee insisted on giving daddy a kiss through the net of the jump house. I thought that was so cute! :)

Jaycee and Daddy getting ready to slide down the end of the obstacle course.

And the two of them at the beginning of the course.

This is Kayden and his friend Avery.

This is Ori and his friend Caleb.

Piled up at the bottom of the slide.

A picture with mom.

Troy was right in the middle of everything and the kids loved all the time with him.

Loved this picture of Jaycee sliding down on the jump houses.

Then we ended the night with pillows and blankets on the living room floor, watching space dogs and eating popcorn. The boys had a great time!

Then on Saturday Troy and I headed to Sun Valley with three other couples to celebrate a friends birthday. We went on a sleigh ride from the Sun Valley Inn across the Sun Valley golf course to a restaurant where we had dinner. Then the sleigh took us back.

The view was amazing and company was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures of our evening.

Dinner was excellent. It was served family style. You choose your meat and it comes with soup, veggie medley, garlic mashed potatoes, baked mac and cheese, and dessert.

Our friends Mel and Bill. We were celebrating Bill's birthday.

Bill's parents

And Kasey and Derek Stanger.

Then on Sunday we spent the day relaxing, running a few errands to prepare for our trip, and got the luggage all set out and started packing a little. The official countdown is here and we leave for Disneyland in less than a week. The kids can't wait!

Jaycee's new comforter set

Since Jaycee moved into her twin bed, I have been looking for a comforter for it. I painted her room to coordinate with the colors of her bedding that went on her crib and I really liked the colors and was hoping to find something that would go along with it so I didn't have to repaint. But after looking.......looking......looking, no luck. I was about to give up and then I finally found something.

This is the colors on her wall. It is a neutral tan colored wall and I painted one big stripe around the top portion of the room. Then I accented with bright red. I loved the combination.And now introducing Jaycee's new comforter set...... It came with the sham

The comforter and bed skirt

And the curtain.

I totally love it and Jaycee is in love with the lady buys. It is amazing how well it matches the walls and decorations.