Spring Break, Part 2 - California

After just two short days in Phoenix, we continued on our journey to California.

We got there Monday afternoon and went straight to the beach.

Hannah and Makaylee enjoying the sun

There is an aquarium right by Cabrillo Beach that the kids love. The touch tanks were open so we could feel the starfish and anemones and such.

On Tuesday we went to Adventure City! If you've never heard of it, this is the place to go if you have young kids. It is a small amusement park with only kid rides. It only costs $14 each and there are never any lines! In this picture are our kids, the Moore family, Grandpa and Vivian.

The little guy next to me is Eli. This ride is called the "Drop Zone" Hannah and Makaylee rode this one 17 consecutive times without getting off. (like I said, no lines!)

They even have a little petting zoo with some very patient animals.

Wednesday night we stayed with David and Jamee in their cute new house in San Pedro. Hannah loved Wii bowling.

On Thursday we headed to Apple Valley to the Moore's (Debbie's sister Michelle and family) They took us on a fun hike in the rocks and the cousins played in a park.

Jonas' new best friend, Leila

I meant for this video to be on top but couldn't figure out how to move it up...oh well.

Spring Break, Part 1- Arizona

It's always fun to reunite with our friends the Risenmays. The kids are such great friends that they seem to be able to just pick up from where we left off on the last visit.

We enjoyed playing Beatles Rockband... every night :)

So happy!

Everyone joined in on the fun!

It was tricky getting a picture of all the kids, so here are two of the best shots.

Eli's Deep Thoughts

Christmas-time thoughts from the past few weeks:

Eli singing loudly: "You'll go down in hissstory!"
E: Whose story, mom?
M: What do you mean?
E: It says his story.
M: Oh, no it says history.
E: What's history? .........

E: "Why is snow cold?"

This next one was out of the blue and took me by surprise:
E: What's a soul mean?
M: A soul?
E: Yeah, a soul.
M: Where did you hear it?
E: The song
M: OH, don't you tell a single soul.... (relief)

E: "Why did they laugh and call him names?"

E: "What's holly jolly?"

It Was So Tragic How They Hopped On Pop....

We love daddy! Look at him smiling as all of the children
pile on top of him.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Hannah Dear!

Our little Hannah girl turned 7!
We celebrated with the family this year :)

Hannah wanted to go to Leo's for dinner and playing...

Then Hannah chose to go to Bowl-ero. Eli and Hannah
demonstrated some outstanding techniques
(see the videos at the bottom of the post).

We had family over for cake and ice cream... and dress-up.

All in all it was a fun weekend. We love our Hannah, she will always be our little girl.

Christmas Post... Finally ;)

I have been procrastinating this post because so many wonderful things happen during the holiday season, that there's a lot to share.

We love Santa. Jonas loves him from a distance :)

This year was our first attempt to act out the nativity story. Hannah was an angel, Eli a shepherd and Jonas a wise man.


Eli's preschool class acted out the nativity. Eli was Joseph and did an awesome job!

Gotta love the party with the Skidmores. Our kids look forward to it every year. Good food, good people, and lots to do. Notice the look of concentration on Brady's face...hahaha!

Go Eli!

Hannah's old enough for the blindfold, but still got a few good hits in.

Fun with cousins at grandma Lori's party. Jonas and Gavin playing together.

This toy is great... it kept Jonas occupied so mom and dad could have some fun.

Eli was soooooo excited about getting Elefun. Lots of fun!

Can't go wrong with princesses... Hannah's favorite.

All the grandkids in their new jammies.

Christmas Eve. We decided Santa would probably come through the stove.

Christmas morning. We had Brady's brother Luke and family visiting. That explains the two extra, adorable girls. I didn't get many pictures of the kids on Christmas morning, but there is a cute little video at the bottom of the post.

Brady, Luke, and Bruce (some brothers) playing Monopoly.

Here's our service Christmas tree. Each night we each got to decorate an ornament and put it on the tree as we shared an act of service that we provided that day. It was a fun activity that we all enjoyed and will probably continue in the future.

Getting ready for Christmas

Here's what we've been up to the last few weeks...



Debbie found this beautiful piano on Craigslist. We have always wanted to get a piano, especially since Hannah has been taking lessons. We are very fortunate to know someone in the piano business who was willing to transport it for us!



For the first time in our marriage (eight Thanksgivings now) we had Thanksgiving at our home. It was only our little family plus Mom, Matt, and Vicki, so it wasn't all that stressful and it turned out really well. We're so thankful to have a beautiful new home with plenty of room in the kitchen and dining room!









It was Eli's turn to put the star on the tree this year.




I've been looking forward to decorating the house all year. I even bought our own ladder this year instead of borrowing Mom's.