The big 11!

Michaela is 11! A little lady...Can't believe how fast it has gone by. She's a big Middle School student now....with contacts! We love this girl. Happy Day!

Back to School Day...

Well, you wouldn't know it by our 65th day of 100 degree + temperatures, but its back to school day. I am a little late on the post, everyone went back August 24th. They were all very excited. So its back to PB and J sandwiches and hours of homework, but I am glad glad glad...Addison got glasses and is completely stoked, which is good, because they made me look like ugly Betty. It is strange how genetics work out...Steve has perfect eyes and all our kids ended up with my vision. Poor dumb things. At least there is lasik. What an answered prayer that was.

Addison - 1st Grade

Michaela (w/her bff Ava) 5th Grade

Dylan 3rd Grade

Back to School Modeling

So, since I was a little girl, I have always loved clothes, earring, and shoes. I can remember looking for clothes in the racks when I wore a 6x. Maybe this is a very "normal" thing, but I like to think that my girls just got it from me. It was such a fun year shopping for back to school clothes. They couldn't wait to come home and try everything on so they could model them. Addison really surprised me with her style this year. She wanted a hat and scarf to match everything!

Summer Time Boo Boo's

Last day of school and we are off to a rough start. Michaela went to a swimming party to celebrate 4th grade graduation. About a 1/2 hour into the party, the mom called me and said that I probably should come pick her up. She said in her English accent, "she has quite the bump on her head, she has slipped on the slide." I replied, "poor dumb thing", which I think took her by surprise, but that is my personality; she didn't get it.

When I walked in the door, I can see why she didn't think my comment too funny. However, this is not my "American" definition of a bump on the head. Holy crap girl! It was terrible.

According to Michaela she got squished by 140 pounds girl, mushing her face into rock on a slide. Not sure how that went down, things are still a bit blurry. Needless to say, this ended in a black eye and broken brackets on her braces, but no major injuries. It has been 2 weeks and she is completely healed now. I still say "poor dumb thing". It was very sad.

A 'Lil Libby

So our sweet friends from Utah were here to visit this Summer (staying the San Antonio). We wanted to take Andelynn to Libby Lu's to have a birthday makeover with the girls. I guess they don't have one of these in Utah. I would love to be the one to open that store there because Dang! I feel very strongly about stores that make your girls feel like beautiful princesses. I needed something like that growing up. Especially in 3rd and 4th grade, boy talk about FRUMPola! Anyways, they had a blast.

The Birthday Girl:

Addison Before:
"Insta' Hair"

Michaela Before:

"Ooo La la..."
Here are the Diva's

Build a Bear (or child)

Yesterday we went to San Antonio to take Steve's dad to dinner for his birthday. Michaela has been there since Saturday and has fun shopping with Grandma, totally getting spoiled. She took her to build a bear and found this cute wig that reminded them of Addison's hair. They bought it for Addison's bear, but apparently it is multifunctional. Who would have thought. And the scary thing is that is looks pretty natural on my kids cuz of their coloring. Doesn't Dylan look cute a s a girl? We really need to get that boy in some sports, and quick!

Beauty School

What do we do while mom is gone? HAIR! First week of Summer and my kids are already learning so much! Stacy is here with her 2 beautiful girls from Montana and she has been watching the kids while I go to work (finishing up these last few jobs before taking some time off). They have done all kinds of fun things, including hair! I am starting to get a bit concerned for Dylan though. A little glad to see that he doesn't take part in all their girly schemes. They sure are cute though.

I was thinking that as a mother, I should really fix Addison's hair more often. I am not sure this is what I had in mind...

Oh, Michaela, where is the cat walk?

Don't leave the castle looking like that, seriously!

Who is in charge here?

Zoo Fun

Well, the week of Spring Break is coming to a close. Thank goodness! Steve and I took the kiddos to the San Antonio Zoo on Thursday. Watch the video, it was much fun. All Dylan could obsess about was seeing the Rhinno's. That kid was driving me nuts about it! He asked about them every 5 seconds. I am not sure why he was so interested in them, but that was the highlight for him.

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Roller Scraping

The kids have been looking forward to Natalie's 30th B-day party for the last 2 weeks. Since 1 late night was enough for my sickness this week, Steve decided to take them. They had a bit of trouble getting to their feet, but had a blast! For some reason the camera wasn't working too well, but you get the gist! Good Times...Happy 30th Nat - sorry I missed it.

So You Think You Can Dance

What a night! I was sicker than a dog with a fever and was throwing up today. So what better night to have my most coveted tickets to So You Think You Can Dance. Don't think that I was missin' that show. We have been waiting since Summer!

We drove to San Antonio and dropped Addison and Dylan off at the Grandparents. We decided to get a bite to eat before going to the show. We stopped off for some Chinese at Full House. Michaela was very excited about the show and was being very expressive. All the sudden, she was freaking out, holding her hand saying that something cut her. I couldn't see anything at all in her finger, so I ran her to the bathroom - we had everyone's attention in the restaurant. There didn't appear to be anything in her finger at all! We went back to sit down and I looked under my chair and there was a Bee! It had stung her when she put her had on the table. Little Jerk. She said over and over it was the worst night of her life!

We continued on, doing our best. We got to the show and 3 huge screen came on with Nigel, the host of the show. He was talking on the screen and showing some of his favorite "bloopers" from the show. Michaela had her popcorn and soda and sat back. I think she thought that this was it. We were here to watch a movie about the show. Then, they came. I thought she had lost her mind. She went crazy. She couldn't believe that they were really there! Check out the video - you can hear the screams. I did a terrible film job, mostly because there were no cameras aloud and I didn't want to get busted.

Daddy Daughter Camp Out

So last night our ward had the "Daddy - Daughter Camp out" at Pedernales State Park. Addison was sick but wanted to go so bad, we caved in and let her. They had a great time.

They arrived around 6:15 and set up their tent. Michaela did her best trying to help put the tent together, but because of the size of the tent, it was a bit difficult. Rich Chen helped Steve and they finally got it together. A regular Boy Scout, he is!

Addison ran off immediately to play with her friend Maya. Michaela remained the older, responsible daughter and helped her dad unload the Suburban and set up the sleeping arrangements.

Throughout the evening, Addison kept disappearing into the tent with her multiple of girlfriends. Later Steve found out that she was passing out gum and candy and watching movies. So when they finally retired for the night to turn in for a good "camping flick", the battery was dead after just a few minutes. But Addison had fun!

The night has not reached its full potential until you can visably see a chocolate mustache!~ Thats our girl, way to go Addison...

This morning after a hearty breakfast (made by the bishopric), Steve, Lance, and the girls headed down to the river. They had a ton of fun climbing on the rocks and looking for little fish. The girls clearly packed their own suitcases for this little excursion. Addison was wearing Valentines pants with pink and red ruffles on the back, and Michaela, a church skirt with leggins and one of her nicer sweaters. I guess if you want them to wear things that you might find appropriate for a camping journey, Mom better do it herself!

A camping trip is not complete without a good cut and a few tears. Addison was not too happy after she cut open her foot on one of the river rocks. Sad day...
Quite the group, this one. So blessed to have such great Dads!