Elder Richard G Scott

This week we had a visit of one of the apostle of the Lord. Elder Scott came to our stake conference. I was very excited to sing in a small group at the Saturday session, but we were bucked off the program at the last minute. :( At least I had good seats on the stand.

We loved hearing him and Elder Ringwood speak, and the kids felt the spirit of the Lord and recognized it. We asked them after if they would like to meet him. They DID want to, even though that meant waiting in line. The line moved quickly and when we were next, Brandon walked right up to Elder Scott, shook his hand, looked him straight in the eye and said with the sweetest voice you ever did hear, "We're so glad you came today." Ryan and I immediately teared up. Love that boy!

Tickle Tickle

If you knew my other children at this age, you know they were talkers. They could both say just about anything.

Here comes Alexa! She doesn't talk. Well, I will ammend that by saying she doesn't speak English. She may possibly speak Vietnamese.

Here is the extent of her vocabulary:

Tickle tickle tickle

Dad

Anana (This is NOT banana. It is "another" and she says it when she wants more.)

That is it. Once she said "mom." Once she said "night night." Even better, once at church Ryan was up saying the prayer. She stood up and said really loud, "Hi Daddy!" Clear as day. Every one at church thinks she is a talker now. :) Tricked them!

We love hearing her babble and love her funny quirky ways. Hope you enjoy hearing and seeing her tickle the camera.

New Blog

There is a new blog opened up that some of you may be interested in reading. It's found at www.imarriedin.blogspot.com It's a male perspective marrying into a crazy family, in-laws. etc. It's totally anonymous, so if the writing sounds vaguely familiar, I plead the fifth. You will love it, I promise. And I personally know the author who promises to update a couple of times a week. I can't wait! Let me know what you think!

PE Student of the year!

We got an invitation to a end of the year awards ceremony for Ainsley. We were excited, but weren't sure what she won! The only thing we were certain of was that it wasn't for perfect attendance!
All the teachers get to pick a student of the year for their class. We assumed it was that....

Wrong! She won 2nd Grade PE student of the year! Way to go Ainsley!

Kindergarten Graudation

Brandon graduated from kindergarten! What a fun ceremony they had. He sang well and wasn't shy at all.

Brandon was lucky to have some great teachers! Thanks Mrs. Fierro and Mrs. Hanrahan for ending his year with a happy bang!

Who says we never win anything?

Guess what? I have won a couple of giveaways and I wanted to say thanks!



Laura at http://www.realmomkitchen.blogspot.com/ sent me this cute green bracelet!
I have been following this blog for a while, she has great recipes!



And http://www.babesinhairland.blogspot.com/ sent me hairbows! I love learning to do new styles for the girls!



So here's a GREAT giveaway at All things ribbon. Seriously, I hope you enter. You could win, too!
www.hairbowsforgirls.blogspot.com

Whitney, the ethnic mom

There are a few ethnic children in Brandon's class. Some Latino's, some African Americans, some Asians. But you would not know it, walking through the art gallery. They all look white.

All except for me! I am the only ethnic looking picture in the group. Isn't it funny how your children see you?

I am 33 years old. (Yippee! Younger every year!)

I weigh 14 lbs. (hmmmm.)

My shoe size is 77. (Watch out Karl Malone!)

I have black hair.

My favorite food is meatballs. (I think we have had those ONCE in our house.)

My favorite show is the Amazing Race.

And my my biggest wish is for his older sister to be nicer. (That may be the truest statement here!)
I love that boy. He is such a doll!

Happy Mother's Day

Brandon made me a delicious treat for Mothers Day. His ingredients were:
Butter
Ketchup
Popcorn kernels
Pickle Relish
Mustard
BBQ Sauce
Ranch Dressing
Paprika
I think I am missing a few items.
Yum. It had to sit for 40 minutes in the freezer. In case you are wondering, I did NOT eat it. I am not that nice of a mom.

Ryan, on the other hand, went all out for dinner this year. He made deviled eggs and shrimp cocktail for appetizers (and LOOK at that shrimp cocktail!)
Twice baked potatoes and Steak Oscar for dinner. They were so good my mouth is watering again. He is the best!
For dessert, I made the BEST banana cake ever, with strawberries and whipped cream. YUM! Brought to my sisters and ate with mom and grandma.
Aside from dinner, we had a great day. Everyone tried to be nice, and kind. That is what makes it a great day, right?

Vacation Fun, Friday at Disney!

Ryan and I tried REALLY hard to not be grouchy on the last day. We were so worn out, but we wanted to end on a good note.

Cassidy met up with us in the afternoon and spent our last night at the condo with us. Brandon was so sad when we dropped her off. He wanted to take her home with us.

Fun times were had, but we are SOOOO glad to be home!

Vacation Fun, Thursday at the beach!

In case you are wondering (none of you probably are), we forgot the camera on Wednesday. We did meet our friends, the Smiths, though and had fun. But I was grouchy and TIRED.

So, on to Thursday. We met up with Sally again for a beach day. We decided on Malibu, since we grew up so close, and loved it back in the day. Actually, it was El Pescadero. Fun times, but BAD traffic and VERY WINDY. It took us as long to get there and back as it would have taken us to get to Phoenix. Yuck! Brandon was huddled in a ball under his towel the whole time.

Me and Alexa still had fun.

Sally and Ainsley spent most of the time digging holes, and looking in the tide pools for crabs, mussels and other sea creatures.

As I said in the earlier post, the kids LOVE Aunt Sally and we are so glad we spent time with her!

Vacation Fun, Tuesday at Disney!

Tuesday was less crowded, and more fun! Sally was able to join us with her season pass, and there were hardly any lines! The kids fought over who got to ride with Sally (and anything else they could think about fighting over!)

Vacation Fun, Monday at Disney!

I know that Disneyland is supposed to be the "happiest place on earth," but I have to admit it. I am not the happiest mom on earth when we are there. First of all, this is what my kids look like when they have to wait in line. This happens to be Star Tours. I can only imagine that Ryan was having almost as much fun with Alexa, waiting outside for the switchback pass. YES, I brought treats for the lines. YES, I tried to be happy and smiley. I MAY have achieved that on the first day, but I don't think it lasted. ;)

The much needed, and long screamed about nap. Ryan says he's not going back until she is 42 inches.

Ryan and the kids on the ladybug ride. I have to say, I love CA Adventure more than Disneyland. The older kids can go on the scary rides like Tower of Terror and CA Screamin', while me and Alexa hang out in Bugs Life. Way cool.

Vacation Fun, Sunday part 3

Cassidy, Alexa, Griffin, Ainsley and Brandon

Sunday we also got to go see our cousins. We had a delicious dinner with Wendy, Will and the kids. Brandon and Griffin got along fabulously starting minute 1. Ainsley took a few minutes to warm up, but as you can see, she and Cassidy kept busy.

Thanks for having us, guys! It was SOOO fun!

Vacation Fun, Sunday part 2

After the temple, we drove to the beach. Just a relaxing walk was what we planned.
But Ainsley "fell" in the water and was soaking wet.

And Alexa ended up with no clothes and a very soggy diaper. She LOVED the water. She is just like her sister. Watching them that day was more fun than any other day, Disneyland included!

Vacation Fun, Sunday part 1

We took our kids out of school for a week for a much needed vacation. We headed to Anaheim for LOTS and LOTS of Disney. hmmm. Maybe a bit too much.

Anyway, we started Sunday by visiting the Newport Beach Temple. Ryan visited this temple previously, but it was a first for me. What a beautiful temple!

Love my kids!!!