2015-2016

My favorite thing of the summer was that I got to spend my days with these 6 amazing people!

(I just wish Leonard could have been home with us too!)

 

Like it or  not, the first day of school came anyway.

I asked all the kids what they want to be when they grow up.

 

Kaleb

8th grade

Music Composer or an artist or both

 

Noé

8th grade

Kindergarten teacher, dancer, and stay-at-home mom

 

Gavin

3rd grade

Toy tester for Thomas and friends train sets

 

 Teague

1st grade

Chef

  

Hiram

1 more year until he starts school

Train driver

 

Ali

3 more years until she starts school

Dancer and a mommy

(she rocks out whenever she hears music and she's always carrying around doll babies and hugging and kissing them)

 

I'm so glad I have these little ones home during the day with me.  I have lots of fun plans when Len and I are "empty nesters" but I don't want those days to come for a million years!  I see us becoming empty nesters in 4 stages:

1) after all the kids are in school

2) after Kaleb and Noé are off to college

3) after all of our kids have left home

4) after all of our kids have married

I've been a stay-at-home mom for the past 13 years, and I can't believe I'll enter stage 1 in just 3 short years (unless we have more babies ;).

We "heart" Disney!

 I can not think of a more magical place than the lands of Disney!  I have been to several different amusement parks all across the US (and Taiwan) and even though they are all great fun, nothing compares to Disney.

 

We had such a blast visiting the Magic Kingdom in Florida last winter.  I do not have many "tips" to share, but we got our cute Mickey & Minnie shirts at a Walmart in Orlando and our souvenirs from the local Target.  The Disney shops are darling, but they are quite expensive and we don't invest too much love into t-shirts and souvenirs.

 

Ali in her first Minnie shirt and also her first time at a Disney park.

 

Hiram's first time.

 

and Teague's first time too.

 

Gavin's first Disney trip was to Disneyland Hong Kong when he had just turned 1 and our family got to be the Grand Marshal in the parade!  Later that year he also visited Disneyland in California.

 

Noé...

 

...and Kaleb's first trip was to Disneyland in California when they were 2 years old.

 

My family took Leonard on his first trip the summer before he left for his mission.  Although he's always been more of a Donald Duck fan, he loved Mickey's home!

 

If I can remember correctly I think I've been to a Disney park 20 different times.  I believe I was 4 years old the first time I went to Disneyland (the original in California) with my parents.  Over the years I've been back to that park with my mom, step-dad & family; my dad & cousins Karl & Tanya; Aunt Connie, Uncle Steve, Aunt Debbi, & cousin Lynn; my Jr. High School; my High School; my BYU roommates; Len's brother Steve and his wife Suzi and their family; on a girls trip with my mom & sisters; Len & I also visited the California Adventure park when I worked at a scrapbook store and we attended the HIA convention in Anaheim; Len & I were able to visit Disneyland in Paris when we lived in England.  I hope we can continue to visit Disney parks all throughout our lives and of course, I hope we can visit the park in Tokyo someday too! 

 

Thank you Minnie for letting us wear big hair bows!

 

I don't know why, but my family loves to take silly pictures, ha!

I would love to hire a professional photographer to go on a trip to Disneyland with us someday and take amazing family pictures there.  And as Walt Disney said himself, "If you can dream it, you can do it!"

Extracurriculars

When Kaleb finished 5th grade he had earned his red belt in Taekwondo.  I thought for 6th grade he would work towards earning his black belt and Gavin (who would be in 1st grade) could join him in the family class.  However, Kaleb was ready to retire from the Martial Arts.  We discussed what we thought would be best for our family schedule and budget.  We decided Len would teach the boys basketball skills each week up in our church gym.  I think they went about 3 times.  It's sad to say, but when you're not paying for a class it's so easy to just stay home!  Our schedules are busy enough and once the snow comes we all just want to hibernate.  Someday we may revisit this plan though.

 

Last fall I signed up to take a dance class and I encouraged Leonard to look for a class he might like to take.  He found a German longsword class that sounded right up his alley.  Kaleb thought he'd like to participate too, so we signed them both up.  They went for a couple of months and really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, the studio changed their schedule and it no longer fit with ours.  Someday I'd like Len and I to take a dance class together and fencing too!

This past summer Teague's friend's Dad called and asked if we'd be interested in participating in a soccer class with other friends from church.  Sure we were!  Before it started it evolved to add a younger class (Hiram) and the older siblings were invited to join too (Gavin).  Len also helped coach the little guys, so they all had fun together!

Now that school has started extracurriculars are back too.  During the day I take Hiram and Ali to a gymnastics studio where they get to play on all the different apparatus (the trampolines and foam pit are their favorites!).  After school Kaleb has piano lessons and Young Men; Noé has dance class and Young Women; Gavin has Cub Scouts; and I have a dance class, book club, and Gospel study class.  Poor Len and Teague don't have any extracurricular activities this year.  I've learned that not everyone has to participate all the time though.  Things seem to work out for all in their proper times and seasons.  At least, I sure hope they do!

BYU Fans

We are not the most "sporty" family, but Leonard and I had fun going to BYU football and basketball games back in the day!  We really enjoyed our opportunity at BYU.  Not only did we receive a great education, but we also strengthened our testimonies of Jesus Christ and His gospel.  We also had a lot of fun!  We could always find awesome (and low budget) dates- going to the symphony, vocal performances, the ballet (first time Leonard saw the Nutcracker), the theater, museums, dances, $1 movies (we really enjoyed the International films- Nosferatu, creepy!), tunnel singing, and lots more. 

Class of 1997

Class of 1999

Future class of 2026?

Future class of 2026?

Future class of 2031?

Future class of 2033?

Future class of 2036?

Future class of 2038?

We would love it if these silly kids of ours were able to go there.  They've got to work hard on their homework and we've got to work hard budgeting!

Men in Black

When Gavin turned 8 he got baptized and got to wear his first suit.

When Kaleb turned 12 he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and got to wear his second suit.

When Leonard turned 19 he was ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood prior to becoming a Missionary for our church and he got many new suits.

I think they look so sharp and spiffy in their suits!