It's over and oh so sad!

Spencer's team went to the championship game. They lost by ONE run. There were some tears shed on that field. Let me start by explaining how close this team is.... they have been together for 3 years now. Same coaches, same kids, same parents. FUN! FUN! FUN! All these boys are such great kids and all the parents are very close. They love playing ball together!! They are a good team, but mostly we have just wanted them to have fun and have a good experience. The team they played against is SERIOUS about baseball. Like, really serious. You should have seen them warming up. It was kind-of funny actually. They really thought they would show up to this game and just wipe the field with us. Our boys were AMAZING!! And not to toot our own horn, but, Spencer hit two singles and a double (RBI's -- 2) and got two key outs. So, TOOT TOOT! They were actually ahead until the 4th inning when they just got too excited and pumped and started making really silly mistakes. We were tied, they had last ups and got one in. All the parents were telling them how great they played and what a great game it was. They all said they weren't crying over the fact that they'd lost the game. They were cryiing that it was their last game TOGETHER as a TEAM!!! Then, the mom's started cring with that.

Mom's handy work

Fabulous mommy created a beach masterpiece for Spencer's room. She painted these palm trees, sand and sun on his wall. He loves them and makes everyone who comes over come up to his room. Thanks again mom!!!

ps. If you look closely at the "after" room, you will see our new, improved and DARKER carpet, so that if the kids decide to spill a gallon of apple juice on our carpet, you don't have to see it!

Before and After

This picture was taken in December '08. Ron has
tired eyes. So he decided to correct that and have
his lids operated on. Not vain....he just couldn't see
out of the corner of his eyes.

First day after the operation.

The third day....a little bruising

Stitches out and looking young. He loves it.

It was so much fun. I only wish ALL our mommies and daughters could have been here. Happy Easter everyone. (This may all appear backwards as this technically challenged grandma can't quite figure out how to blog. Hope you get the idea anyway.)

Then they took their bunny money to the bunny store and was able to buy a few little treats.

They found bunny money in their Easter Eggs

Then the girls went outside to hunt for Easter eggs.

We sat down to lunch which was egg salad sandwiches cut into egg shapes, carrots, celery stix and olives, potato chips, mac 'n cheese in the shape of Peter Cottontails bow tie and limeade/7up.

Then we decorated cupcakes with William Sonoma dark Chocolate icing and homemade buttercream frosting. I found cute little Easter picks to put on each cupcake and a fun store in Studio City, CA (Razzle Dazzle).

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Today we had a mother and daughter Easter party. Kristen and Abby, Brooke and Peyton came ready to have some fun. First of all we started with some crafts. Moms made these cute Easter baskets and the girls decorated brown paper bags to use for our Easter egg hunt.

Beach Wedding

Jenny and Tom Martin were married on Friday, March 6, in a gazebo on top of the water at Pismo Beach. It was windy and cold but absolutely beautiful. The bride was stunning and the groom, handsome. They were surrounded by their 5 children. Blending a family is always tricky but they all seem to be pretty happy. They had 7 small glass vials of colored sand on a table in the gazebo. Jenny and Tom poured half of their sand, one at a time) into a large narrow vial.Then as each of the 5 children picked up a vial of colored sand, she would pour the sand into the larger vial....each one on top of the last one....while Tom expressed his feelings for each of the children and mentioned their strengths. After all the kids finished pouring their sand (each child with a different color), Jenny and Tom poured the remainder of their vials together into the top of the larger vial. It created a visual statement of each individual but blended together. It was a lovely wedding and we couldn't be happier for the newlyweds who are now on a cruise in the Caribbean.

these are a few of my favorite things....

Here are the pictures my girlfriend Lisa took of the kids a few weeks ago. A little help from Photoshop and..... there you have it....

#8!!

So, I realize that no one can be here for Spencer's baptism (why do I live here???) ~ but I just wanted to give you all the information.... JUST IN CASE you all come across $700 extra for a plane ticket and some free time during the holidays.

He will be baptized December 13th at 11:00 am. He is so excited. He just had his bishop's interview on Sunday. We were so glad that he was able to be interviewed by our bishop. We just found out Sunday that he is being released and we are being split. We absolutely LOVE our bishop and are sad to see him go. But we are glad Spencer had that experience with him. He told us that Spencer is honestly the most prepared 8 year old he's ever interviewed. He's just a special kid!!!

My girlfriend took pictures of all the kids and we are using this one for his baptism. He is precious (minus the gangely teeth).

SPOOKY!!!!

And here they are........... Indiana Jones, Iron Man and our "blinged out" Dorthy.

The GREATEST time!

So, it's official, we just got back from the greatest family vacation ever! I guess Disney just knows how to do it right! 3 days at Disney World then onto the 4 day cruise. Guess what... I dragged everyone to the Contemporary Hotel and we watched the lighted dragon go across the lake (new music, very sad). It's like my childhood all over again!!! Disney World was fun but it has nothing on Disneyland. The cruise however... Fabulous!

Our first full day was just at sea and we took the kids to the "oceaneer lab" where they made flubber and had treasure hunts and Allie helped Wendy find tinkerbell (she followed Wendy ALL over the ship). We went to their big show that night, played basketball and soccer in their outdoor sports court, went swimming and played on their waterslide, went to bingo and then to the High School Musical dance off. Don't forget... we ATE!!!

The 2nd day we stopped in the Bahamas and got to swim with dolphins. LOVED THAT!!! We looked around the Bahamas a little but then went back to the ship, went and saw Wall-E in their theatre, played ping pong, went to the pirate party on deck and watched the fireworks show then watched some of Pirates of the Carribean on their huge screen on deck and ATE!!!

Day 3 we were at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. We swam, snorkled and ATE!!! The boys were especially impressed with the fact that the real 'Flying Dutchmen', from the Pirates of the Carribean movie, is docked right there. Later we swam on the ship, played more ping pong, played in the Oceaneer club again, went to another show and ATE!!!

When we got off the ship on Thursday morning we had about 8 hours before our flight left. We decided to take the kids over to the Kennedy Space Center. However, they wanted our first born child for an enrance fee (it would have cost us about $200 to take them in for 2 hours) so we just drove around and leanded out the window taking pictures. OH WELL!

It was a wonderful time. The kids keep asking when we can get back on the ship. We tell them... GET A JOB!

PS. I took over 200 pictures on the trip, so I really did pair it down!