catching up...part deux

Springtime in So Cal of course means we a headed back to the beach! Actually, we don't need it to be spring or any other time, we just like the beach, ALOT.





Totally unnecessary photo of my cute monkey thrown in just because I love him so much. Look how comfy he is sleeping on daddy's chest *sigh*




This week (which means I am caught up, yay!) we declared a ditch day & headed to Magic Mountain. We had a great, wonderful, superfun time - I love Magic Mountain! It is so nice that it is only about a half an hour or so from the house - no long drive there filled with "how much longer" cries from the back of the car, and at the end of the day we are home before we know it! It was a beautiful day & because all of the responsible parents of the world make their children go to school, we never waited in any lines! Can't wait to go back - hopefully we will have some cousins out here visiting that will come along with us????? We went over spring break when Kathy & family were here and Curtis and his family came too - it was so nice! I hope we get lots of visitors from near and far this summer so we can hang out! I think we are heading to Utah at some point this summer too, we just have to figure out the specifics! Yay!


I would like to tell you that I won this beast in some game of skill, but alas, I lack said skills. In reality, when we were in the parking lot loading up the car, some really nice guys stopped & asked if we wanted him - he wouldn't fit in their car! Of course I said yes without hesitation! When can ANYONE say no to a gigantic stuffed gorilla? They come in handy for some many things... none that I can think of, but seriously, he's huge, and huge gorillas just announce that something fun is about to happen. I have no idea what to do with him. I was thinking that it would be fun to share the gorilla love by taking him to an unsuspecting friends house, set him at the door, then ring the bell & run & hide. Then they could decide his best use. Other ideas that involved keeping him were bungee cording him to the top of the suburban and driving around with him pretending that we are in our own little parade, or at the very least stuffing him into the back of the car for trunk or treating? I'm open to creative ideas. Shawn thought we should hang him on the family room wall...I'm not really feeling that.

All caught up! hooray!

Catching up... volume 1

Ok, I am way behind on my blog updates, which wouldn't be a terrible thing except, unlike all of my talented and more organized friends, this blog also is my attempt at scrapbooking, baby booking, and maintaining a journal. I know... I'm bad.

Confession time is over - Happy Easter! We had a great time at home with baskets, then went to G'ma Mathew's for her once again fun filled, fabulous egg hunt! We had a blast!


Since it was spring time, that meant for a moment the desert was bright with orange poppies! We had a ton of wildflowers this year...so beautiful to look at, but we all are still sniffling from all of the pollen. I think this may have been the most colorful year I can remember out here - so pretty!



Springtime 13 years ago brought Savannah into the world, and so we celebrated her b-day with friends & family. She is such a wonderful girl, it is so much fun watching her turn into a wonderful young woman! She is so talented, so much fun, and a great big sister to everyone. Savannah is always there to lend a hand with the baby, and makes everything we do so much fun! Happy Birthday Savannah! We love you bunches!!


Family home evenings are our favorite night of the week! This time (sometime last month) we went to Mountasia in Valencia where we had a blast! Because it was a weeknight the place was empty! We had the golf course to ourselves, then the arcade, and finally we had dinner at Farrel's (and ice cream of course) where we were still alone so it didn't matter that Small Paul was screaching his happy scream throughout our meal!

I will post more soon - I am still pulling together my activity for our Primary Activity day that starts is 3 hours...yikes! Thank goodness for the last minute - I'd never get anything done without it!

Small Paul's first photo shoot...

OK, I'm posting this everywhere....so here it is again! Of you go to this site you can see my little snuggle buggle boy, aka Small Paul, and his good friend Dorothy the tortoise. If you leave a comment on her page (there is a link after his photos) and I get 15 comments total, I get a free 8 x 10 thrown in - yay!

http://chrissirichards.squarespace.com/

check it out - I think he's very cute!

What a spring break!!

We had such a wonderful time this past week hanging out in Tahoe (thanks again Debbie & Craig!!!) and OH MY GOODNESS did we have fun!!! We went sledding, built a snow-woman named Lily, visited Circus Circus where the kids won a ton of stuffed animals, learned to ski (well, the four bigger kids did), and had some great family time. It is always so beautiful up there and we are all always sad to leave.

As with any event with our family, there were a few casualties...

#1 - upon our arrival, Paul bonked his melon on a cabinet corner and we found a great urgent care just down the street that stapled his forehead back together again - it looks like it is healing well now...hooray!

#2 - on our second night, Small Paul came down with the flu that I had suffered with the week prior. He went from being totally normal, to throwing up 8 times in an hour & a half. At that point I said a little prayer for him & when I handed him over to Paul so I could take a break, he said one too, and that was the end of the flu! He went to sleep and woke up several hours later hungry and acting as if nothing had ever happened! Yay!

#3 - the car was a two for one event - on the way to Tahoe the CD player died, which made things a bit more boring around the Mammoth area when we had no radio reception and Shelby made up wonderful rap songs with creative lyrics such as:

Pancakes, they're flat, they're round, they're awesome (repeat 3 times)
Pancakes, got smooshed by a car (repeat 3 times)
Fried on a griddle


We endured about 15 repetitions of the above song when I requested that we play the quiet game, which, by the way, doesn't work once your kids catch on to the real point of the game...

We also had a headlight burn out which wasn't a big deal, in fact the super nice Napa employee even changed the bulb for us! Paul has informed me that neither of these events count as a mechanical failure and therefore cannot be used in any future discussions debating the need for a new vehicle.

#4 - The most tragic of all... on the last day in Tahoe, as I was packing up the car & running last minute errands...my ipod touch dissapeared *SOB* I L.O.V.E.D. that ipod. It was my most favor-ist toy. I downloaded so many apps which I used ALL THE TIME but alas, there is not an app for a careless ipod owner. Maybe someone will find it, see that my last map gave directions to our house from Tahoe & they will deliver it to me?

Overall, not a bad trip for us - only one visit to urgent care (two if you count the staple removal), and now we know where to take the kids if we have a future event with the kids. The kids were all afraid of the ski lifts, but were willing to walk their skis up the beginner hill at Homewood over & over for hours, so we're encouraged. We will be watching craigslist & garage sales etc for skis so next year we won't have to rent them. Not sure where we will put them though, this was our first trip that involved a huge cargo pack on the top of the suburban - we probably looked a bit like the Griswolds, but at least there was not a dog being pulled behind us...

Family Home Evening at our house...

So we are doing really well this year at making sure we have FHE every week, and so far, we haven't missed once!! I'm really excited because the kids are really into it (who knew) and look forward to it, which is great! Shawn always asks what day it is when I pick the kids up from school in hopes that it is Tuesday (our FHE night)!

All of the older kids love it, and Paul & I have fun - I love finding fun lessons & trying to create a fun treat to match the lesson - i.e. the fruits of the spirit = fruit loop cake etc. Much to our surprise however, is that the person who seems to enjoy this the most is Small Paul. He loves sitting at the table and screaming as loud as he can. The rest of us can't help but laugh, which makes him do it again & again, smiling and shaking with excitement. Unfortunately this behavior has moved beyond the FHE table and out into the world. Any time he is sitting on anyone's lap at a table - in a restaurant, while I'm conducting sharing time, during a Primary Presidency meeting, the school office etc, he sees an audience & goes into his screaming routine. I am sure that this will only be cute for a short time & then I will try to figure out how to break him of this habit, but for now this is how we start FHE every week, and greet the world.

We always end with a treat, and this week Small Paul has decided that he too should be part of the treat eating...

Terror in the high desert...

As I have mentioned earlier, I hate birds. Yes, I know, hate is a strong word I don't allow the kids to use, but there just isn't any other word that can describe my level of dislike for the germy creatures. Imagine my surprise, when I looked out my kitchen window on a bright and sunny morning and saw THIS on the neighbor's roof!




This monster was so large that I had to call Paul over to make sure that it was real. He thought it was the greatest thing ever, and went outside to get a better look because he is crazy like that. Upon closer examination Paul decided that the creature was over two feet tall, which for some reason made the whole even more exciting for him. He even grabbed the California bird book & tried to figure out what it was - possible a great blue herring? Whatever - I would have thrown a rock or something, but the bird was watching me, I'm sure of it.

Eventually he flew away, much to Paul's dismay - he was hoping to keep it as a pet. My ever supporting children were thrilled to hear the story, and are all hopeful that this creature will return. Shawn insists that the bird is nearby still and is in fact "stalking" me. Thanks Shawn!

A more relaxing day...

The final word on Michael is in - he is OK! His heart is back to normal, he was discharged from the hospital & was able to spend the afternoon & night with us yesterday. Today he had to go to Walter Reed Medical Ctr in Washington, and they decided that he is ok too. He still has to see a neurologist, but that will be a bit further down the line.

We were also SO relieved & excited that Kathy's surgery went so well. We love Aunt Kathy so much and were praying hard for her all day - and once again, Heavenly Father heard us!

Paul, Small Paul & I headed down to Washington DC to check out some of the sights. It was a beautiful day, and although we ran out of time really quickly, we were able to see some fun things! The Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln Monuments were so impressive. The US Capital Bldg is just beautiful, and the White House is fantastic.

We only had time to run through one of the 19 Smithsonian museums, so we chose Air & Space, and it was very cool. We are already planning a return trip soon with the rest of the kids. We would love to take them to Gettysburg, Hershey PA, the Baltimore Harbor etc. There is just so much to see in this part of the country! It seems so odd when we are driving around - from where we are it's only about 60 miles to Philadelphia, less than that to Delaware, DC was about 70, and Virginia is right past the National Mall, in fact we made a wrong turn today & were in Virginia for a minute!

Michael will be with us tomorrow, so I'm off to start planning our day of sight seeing! What a fantastic turn to such a horrible event!