Ventura Beach

Jacob fell asleep on the drive to the beach, wearing his sunglasses in a very unusual way! How funny is that!?!



One of the best things about this beach trip were the dolpins! There must have been a dozen or so, just beyond the waves! It was so cool to watch them jump out of the water!



We discovered that our snow sleds DON'T make good boogie boards! It would probably be a good idea to invest in one or two real boogie boards!



My beautiful girls!



The waves at this beach were perfect, not to close, not too strong!



Emma loves being a big sister, (most of the time) and Allie sure loves her!

Where are Allie's legs??????



Gracie is such a cute girl!



We had a lot of fun at this beach, there were a ton of gorgeous rocks that came in with the waves. We collected a large bucket full of them. The only thing that could have made it better was if the Petersen's were with us again! Maybe next year!?!

31 Is Still Young!

Thank you to my family for a great birthday! My good friend Stephanie watched the kids so that Michael and I could go out alone, it was very nice! Then we had cake and ice cream! It was late so we did presents a different day, which was also nice because they made me brownies and I got to celebrate twice!



Allie trying on my new Ipod armband

Jello Success

I have attempted many times to make this layered jello dessert without any success. I kept getting something wrong, either the pan size, or the box of jello size. Anyway, it never fit in the pan! Well, I have finally done it! 10 layers of jello! Top it with cool whip and enjoy! It looked very pretty and tasted soooooo yummy!

Santa Monica Beach

We went to the beach on July 24th with our friends the Petersens. It was Allie's first beach trip, it may have also been Jacob's first time too, but we're still trying to figure that out! We had so much fun! We miss the Petersen's VERY much, but we're glad we live close enough to still see them!



What is in your mouth!?! GROSS!!!


Gracie and Allie, cute smiles!



Anna and Emma, sweet girls!

Kiley and Kristi, the beach moms!


I love this picture of Robert, he is looking at me over the top of his glasses!(I think he was a bit irritated)


The blue shirt boys!
Jacob, Robert, William




Attacking Michael with the noodles!


Allie loves the sand!






Alahna is beautiful!(all of the girls are, but I especially love this picture)


All the girls buried!



Allie really liked being buried!



Emma and Anna the karate girls!



What a cutie!



Jacob on the boogie board!


What!?! Another picture!

Water Fun

We bought a slip-n-slide for the kids for summer. They had a blast with it, it was well worth the $9 we paid for it! Here are a few pictures of Jacob and Allie who used it the most. Allie couldn't run and then slide so I would pull her down to the end. Jacob decided he wanted to pull her and it only took him about a minute to get her to the end. Jacob decided he wanted to be pulled down, so Allie pulled him! It took her about five minutes to get him to the end because they were laughing so hard and she kept falling over!

Master Shifu

We were eating spaghetti for dinner one night when Jacob put a noodle in his mouth and said, "Look, I'm Master Shifu!" It was so funny! It's amazing the things they come up with.


For those of you who don't know, Master Shifu is on the movie Kung Fu Panda

School Time Again!

We survived our first week back at school! Emma and Gracie both seem to like their teachers (maybe not as much as last years teachers, but I'm sure it could be worse). We are hoping for another great school year, with lots of learning and fun!

Diapers No More!

We no longer have diapers at our house! Oh yeah, I am happy about that! Little Miss Allie has been successfully potty trained, day and night! She loves big girl panties and using the potty like her big brother and sisters. We are happy to no longer be buying diapers!

Computer Issues

I have had problems with the computers at our house, so my posting has been scarce for the last month. Michael now has a computer up and running for me. I will try to catch up on my posts ASAP!

Happy 4th of July!

I know that I am actually posting this on the 6th, but I am always a little behind. We went swimming at the pool in the afternoon, the water was okay, but the wind made it cold! We had fun anyway. Michael's brother Chris came up from L.A. to have dinner with us and do fireworks. We had BBQ chicken, steamed carrots, baked potatoes, stir fried zucchini and squash, and corn on the cob! For dessert I made a layered jello treat with cool-whip, sounds good huh!?! Well, it was! When it got dark we did fireworks in the street in front of our house. The kids took turns lighting them (with Michael's help of course) and thought that was really cool. Uncle Chris even lit a couple. Allie liked the light and sparkles, but when they made a loud noise she got a little scared. Jacob liked to pick old fireworks up and put them in the water bucket. We had our grand finale firework that was supposed to be awesome, but we decided it wasn't worth the money we paid for it. Next year we will know NOT to get that one! We are so glad that Chris could come and be with us, the kids love it when he visits, and so do Michael and I. We are grateful for our freedoms and everything this holiday represents! I hope your 4th of July was as fun as ours!

Jacob's FIRST Haircut!

When I took the girls to get their hair cut, Jacob decided he wanted his cut too. I haven't wanted to cut his hair yet because I don't want him to look older yet. I want him to still look like my LITTLE boy. So this was hard for me!


This is Jacob's crazy, curly, ADORABLE hair before the chop

Jacob looks a little nervous, don't you think?

They had a really cool car booster seat for him to sit in

His curls in the back are all gone! So sad!

But look how handsome he looks! He still has some curl on the top, so we can gel it and make it spikey, he says it's cool! But he definitely looks older, more mature, doesn't he!?! I love it, I think it is adorable, so it's all good!

Gracie's Trim

Gracie before her trim. She wants to grow her hair really long,
so she only wanted the ends cut off

Her hair looks super cute, and healthy too!

Emma's Haircut

Emma decided she wanted to get her hair cut. She grew it out so that it was long enough to donate to Locks of Love. That is an organization that makes wigs for sick children who wouldn't be able to afford a wig. You have to have a 10 inch ponytail in order for them to use it. She was so excited!

Emma's hair before the big chop


In the chair!

After the big chop! They actually cut off 1 foot!
(of hair for all you comedians out there)


The finished cut! She looks adorable, don't you think!?!