Taking a Nature Walk

The kids have been wanting to ride their bikes and go for a nature walk. So we took the afternoon to go out and enjoy the spring like weather. Ashlyn and Autumn rode their bikes and Aubrey rode in the stroller. As we walked I took some nature shots. The girls stopped to rest before we headed home. They liked the nature walk so much they want to do it again tomorrow.

Stinson Beach

Aubrey and I took a little day trip with Noah to Stinson beach today. He had a job to do over there and it took a good part of the morning to get there and do the job. While we waited for him Aubrey and I walked around the neighborhood and took in the sights and sounds. We saw goats, flowers, and some beautiful flowering trees. After Noah's job we went to a little market and bought some lunch for us to take to the beach. As we ate lunch we watched the surfers, a seagull try to attack our food, and Aubrey enjoying herself in the sand and on the beach. After a relaxing lunch is was time to head back home and pick up the girls from school and Noah had to go back to work. I'm glad we got to have a mini getaway and enjoy our short time together.

Aubrey's 1st Trip to the Dentist

Aubrey had her first trip to the dentist today. They took a few x-rays of her teeth, cleaned, counted and found 2 cavity monsters. She did such a great job. The dentist said she did really well for her age. She got to pick out a new toothbrush, floss, and a yellow balloon. She had a great time and said she wants to go again. That's good news, because she will be going back in 2 weeks to fix her cavities.

An Afternoon At Black Diamond Mines

This Saturday we didn't have anything planned. And this was the first day with no rain for about a week. The girls enjoyed playing outside this morning.Later on we decided to head to Black Diamond Mines and explore the area a little. I also used my new camera to take pictures and was able to get a some beautiful pictures.
We had a really nice time. Glad to have some sun finally.

Date Night

Noah and I finally got a chance to go on a date tonight. We decided to go to dinner and a movie. We decided to finally watch Avatar. We have been wanting to see it but haven't been able to get over to the theater to see it. Noah and I watched it in 3D and agree it was one of the best films that we have seen in a long time. The graphics were amazing and we really enjoyed the film. When we got home everyone was asleep including the babysitter. The best part was when we went upstairs to go to bed and found little Aubrey asleep on the floor right next to our locked bedroom door. Apparently she was trying to crawl in bed with us, only we weren't home and the door was locked.

The Performance

My girls a really creative especially Autumn. Her imagination is incredible. Her and her sisters came up with a play. There was dressing up, singing, dancing, acting, and so much more. Noah and I were handed FREE tickets to come up to the playroom and watch our 3 girls Perform. We were taken to our seats they placed a hat aka fairy wings on Dad until the performance started(he really needs a boy). It was a great play. Ashlyn narrated the whole thing while the 2 little ones did their thing.

The Melt Down

Aubrey is my good girl, the one that helps when no one else will and behaves so nicely. Well now that she has turned 3 she has been voicing her opinion more and more. Today she had a melt down. She was so mad she just threw herself on the floor screaming. I tried to calm her down, but that only made her angrier. So I put my camera to use and snapped some pictures of my little girl. Why must they grow up?

Ashlyn's Piacaso Day

For the past few days Ashlyn's class has been studying all about Picasso. In honor of Picasso Ashlyn's teacher asked each child to come up with their own style of clothing to wear today. Ashlyn had a hard time trying to decide on what to wear. She finally decided on an outfit that was inspired by the book Princess Party by Joy Allen(who is a really good family friend of ours). It has a character dressed just like what Ashlyn wanted to wear. We all think she did a great job dressing up like that character. Her teacher said she was the most creative one dressed. We told her teacher it was all thanks to the Princess Party book and its great illustrator. I added a picture of all the characters from the book Princess Party. Can you find the Character Ashlyn tried to imitate? (they have these printed on fabric, are making these into ornaments and she is going to be writing a Boy Book too)

New Years Day!

New Years Day for us was a day of sleeping in, being lazy, watching parades and football, putting puzzles together, and just hanging out at home. Aubrey loves puzzles and helped us with our 1,000 piece puzzle. She actually put together several pieces. We were really impressed with her ability to do this. She stayed for almost an hour helping us out.

Our 2009 Year in Review

This year has been great for our family. We have been blessed with still having a great job and home. After a busy year in 2008 traveling for Noah’s sabbatical, we stayed a little closer to home. We had a fun year of camping. We camped at Pinecrest Lake for Memorial Day where we hiked 4 miles around the lake, rented a boat, and went horseback riding. In August we went to our annual Bladder Extrophy Support Team campout at Lake Tahoe to support our niece/cousin Kylee. This year was our 8^th year attending. For Labor day we went to the LDS Clark’s Fork Girl’s Camp which is located up the mountain from Pinecrest Lake and Sonora, CA. We helped close the camp for winter. We went with all of Noah’s family and were able to stay in cabins. After the camp was closed we went horseback riding, hiked around Pinecrest Lake again, and rented a party barge where we had a BBQ and fished. For the girls fall break, we went up the north coast and stayed in a cabin at Manchester Beach in Manchester, CA. We had fun beach-combing, hiking, and seeing new places near Mendocino and Fort Bragg. We love spending time along the north coast. Noah and Anissa were able to get away in September and spend a wonderful couple days at a bed and breakfast inn one block from the ocean in Carmel, CA. We also became concert goers again seeing Green Day, Franz Ferdinand, Rascal Flatts, and Darius Rucker. Noah celebrated 9 years working for Neil Anderson and Associates. Despite the economy and some downsizing in the company, Noah’s office was the most profitable this year. Financially the company is still in a hole because of the economy but is looking better right now that it did at this time last year. He still loves his job and the projects he get to work on. Noah is going on 3.5 years now as the 1^st counselor in the Young Men’s Presidency at church and was able to go on a backpacking/rafting trip this summer with the young men and had a blast. Noah coached Autumn and Ashlyn’s soccer teams this year. What a great but tiring experience it was. Anissa has been extremely busy this year making preparations for all our trips and holidays. She has been trading babysitting once a week so that she can help out in both Autumn’s and Ashlyn’s classes at school. The girls love having her in class (and so do the rest of their classmates). She is also the Art Docent for their class teaching them art once a month. It has been allowing her to use her creativity and love of teaching. She also has been able to host a preschool once a month for Aubrey. Anissa taught the 6 to 7 year old girls in Primary for part of the year and is still the Activity Day leader for the 8-11 year old girls in the ward. Ashlyn is eight and is a 3rd grader. She had a special year this year because her father was able to baptize her a member of the church. It was a special experience for her. Ashlyn played U9 soccer this year which is the first year they play with all the full rules. She won the award for Best Goalie on her team. She is really growing up and helps cook, do laundry, and take care of her sisters. She was excited that she learned how to ride her bike this year and wants to ride every chance she gets.Autumn is five and started Kindergarten this year. She loves school and has been really excelling in all subjects and won an award for her improvements. She took swim lessons again and is excited that she can swim all by herself now. Autumn played her first year of soccer this year even scoring some goals. She has really matured and grown up and loves to dress up and be “fancy”. Aubrey turned three and is still mommy’s little sidekick spending special alone time with her during school hours. She goes to preschool once a week and loves learning. Aubrey loves playing play-doh in the nursery at church and can’t wait to be a sunbeam next year. She loves music and loves to sing and dance. She is really growing up and thinks that she can do everything her older sisters can do.

New Year's Eve!

With all the craziness of getting a new piano, having to clear out the living room, then clean up the big mess we made in the living room, and getting some food for our family New Years Eve party the night did not go as planned. We had planned to do some fun things with the girls and with everything going on it just didn't happen. We had some yummy snack foods, played one game, sang some karaoke and guitar hero before we rang in an early new year with the girls. They had a good time spraying silly string all over the house, themselves and at us. We popped some poppers and let them trow some confetti too. After the mess we made we had to clean it up. Aubrey helped me clean by taking handfuls of the mess and putting them in the her bowl. Then we sent them to bed at 10:30 pm. Noah and I had a nice quite couple of hours before we rang in the official new year. 2010 is going to be Amazing and we can't wait!