Sweet 16-Rockin the 80's!

Rockin the 80's girls-Jinelle, Izzy, Stacey and Zanna

Sweet sixteen...I can hardly believe it! Zanna is 16! Where did the time go? We celebrated all week long! Starting on Monday at Disneyland which was her actual birthday.

This was at Red Robin's on Tuesday, we went to celebrate as a family and had cupcakes after and presents of course!

On Friday Zanna and her friend Jayson had a double 16th birthday party. They invited about 100 kids and about 80 showed up! Crazy but sooo fun. It was an 80's neon party. The glow in the dark stuff was a huge hit! We had a DJ and dancing, karoake, a Spiderman Bounce House and trampoline (that we thought for sure would break from all the kids on it) and tons of food!

As you can see they got really creative with the glow in the dark accessories, especially the boys! The funniest part of the party came the day before when she was getting her "costume" ready and I told her something she wanted to wear was not 80's. To which she replied, yes it is. I distinctly remember saying the same thing to my Mom about the 60's once upon a time. Sorry Mom, I really do know now that Mother knows best.

Do the Hoedown

Lacey and Scott went to the annual Daddy Daughter Dance and Lacey was estatic to find that it was a western theme this year! Sweet. She got to do the hoedown with her Daddy!

I left the house to go help at the dance and Lacey was so excited to come to the dance with Scott. She loves having him all to herself for a date.
This was the jail that the girls got to throw their dads into and then have a photo op.

Lacey's dream is to own a horse someday so she is practicing!

She got all decked out in her western wear and boots to dance the night away! They had a great time and Lacey said it was one of her favorite dances ever!

Heigh Ho...A trekking we will go!

We had an amazing spring break week. Scott and I had the chance to be youth conference parents for the first time and we got really lucky because it was a pioneer trek! You might think I'm crazy but it was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Zanna and her friend Cosette were not in our "family" but they were on the trek too.
Zanna and Cosette
Wearing rags on their feet like the pioneers! (For five rocky miles!!)
This is my "family". We had the most amazing kids! I loved it.
We had six kids from the Jurupa Stake. One was a non-member, all were awesome. They worked so hard every day it was inspiring. These pictures were mostly taken on the first day when it was sunny and 70 degrees. Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse on the second day and started pouring rain. We had to walk through the rain and face a gorge that seemed impossible but with teamwork we made it. That night the rain continued to fall, and fall and fall and temperatures dropped dramatically. More than half of the girls side of camp was flooded and some of the girls were evacuated in the middle of the night. It was an experience that I won't forget. It made me grateful for my home and the life I have. The kids were the best part of the whole thing because they never stopped smiling and helping eachother. The spirit of love and charity was overwhelming. I can't imagine a better way to spend my spring break.

scorpions, friends and fun....oh my!

Pretty girls!
Just got home from a fast trip to Arizona to stay with the Fifes. I miss having Amy close by! We became so close when our kids were little, we literally spent almost every day together. First running together every morning and then hanging out making dinner or doing something fun with the kids later on. I have to say thank you to her sister in law for encouraging me to call Amy even though I didn't know her very well at the time. I think we were probably friends before we even came to this earth because she is like a sister. She brings out the best in me. The kids had a fabulous time at their house (which was beautiful!). They swam, hunted for scorpions(!) played badminton and hung out in the pool house. The girls were estatic because we took them to get the Twilight DVD at midnight and they stayed up watching it! Between the two of us we have 9 kids so most of our time was spent at home but Amy and I did sneak away for dinner and some fun at the MAC counter with the same sister in law that set us up 13 years ago. I will always cherish the relationship I have with her. She is defintely a friend forever. (It doesn't hurt that our kids also get along extremely well) It's worth that drive just to see them! Though next time I think I'll extend the trip longer cause it just wasn't enough time.
T playing football in the pool.
Girls goofing off on Cosette's bed

Lounging around by the pool

gone baby gone

My baby is driving! It's not even possible that that adorable headstrong toddler morphed into a beautiful headstrong teenager and is turning 16 next month! My baby is gone! (Though she probably thinks she was never a baby) It's hard to believe that much time has passed. I know just yesterday she was playing in the sandbox at Grandma's and wearing floaties at the pool. Why didn't anyone tell me they grow up so fast? Does that make me old? Cause I don't feel old yet...hmmm....I'll have to ask Grandma about that one. Zanna can't wait to celebrate her 16th birthday. I hope it's everything she wants it to be. Love you Zanna and I am soooo proud of you!

Catalina Trip

Scott and I took a trip to Catalina last week for a romantic getaway. His office gave us the trip for a Christmas present. Yeah Me! I got to enjoy it too. We had a great time. It was chilly and rained a bit, but we didn't let that stop us from exploring the island. This is Avalon Bay where the ships come in and is the most popular harbor on the island.
You can see the casino behind us that was built by William Wrigley Jr. the bubble gum magnet. He started up the tourist part of the island and there is alot of celebrity memorabilia in the restaurants and shops. People like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Cary Grant all vacationed there back in the day.
This is me by a buffalo. I found out that buffalos were brought to the island for a movie in the 20's and became so numerous that they actually had to ship some back to Nebraska to keep the population down. See, I learned something while I was there! We hiked to the Wrigley Monument (in the rain) and enjoyed the view. But mostly we just enjoyed eachother and the time to chill. I wish I could get away every month!

Frazzle Rock

It's been such a busy time of year with projects and such that I haven't had time to blog very much this year. Having four kids in three different schools is taking it's toll on me. It doesn't help that someone (Who shall remain nameless) forgets something and wants me to bring it to her at least three times a week. I drive to seminary two days a week, three different schools and after school activities every day. It's been kinda crazy. Not to mention homework! Science fair projects, book reports, mission projects, seriously, how do working moms do it? I can barely keep up on anything and I am home! Oh yeah, maybe I could stop using the computer because that's a time sucker right there. So in honor of feeling frazzled, I thought I'd post what I feel like I must look like at the end of the day...these lovely pics are me on my 16th birthday, courtesy of my friends.

This is what my hair looks like from behind, and usually still when I wake up.
And this is from the front when I am in a hurry to do my makeup. See I haven't really changed that much in the last 20 years.