A Very Jeri Version of Spring Break

Spring break has come and gone and since I have been putting this post off for way too long, and since there are a million other things I would rather be doing (or should be doing is more like it) I am giving you the 'Jeri version" of spring break:  lots of pictures, not so many words.

We headed out for a nice visit to Nana and Papa's in Southern California:  

We collected and cleaned golf balls to try and sell.  Just so you know, Chinese men do not understand "3 for $1"...  We were not very good salesman :-(

We screamed at Disneyland and California Adventure.  Not only did we scream on the roller coasters, we screamed (well at least on the inside) at the insane crowds.

We smiled and laughed. 

 

We walked. And walked.  Well, some of us walked, others got creative to avoid walking.

We watched monkeys doing silly and disgusting (I am talking totally disgusting) things at the Santa Ana Zoo.  I will not give you details, but Brinn said, "EEWW!  He had better go wash his hands really good.  And he better use soap!"

We goofed around and hugged.

We made it home just in time for Easter and new dresses.

We had a wonderful time!  Thanks Nana and Papa for all the fun and memories!

(no idea what to title this!)

We have been quite busy lately - here is a quick glimpse of some of what we have been up to:

The kids are really starting to enjoy skiing and are getting quite good too.  They are constantly asking when they can go again, and have chosen that for their reward for filling the 'super sister' jar.  We try to take them for a couple of hours every few weekends.  Cameron and I finally bought new skis so we aren't skiing 'old school' anymore (as was kindly pointed out to us by some cool teenage boys).  We all have a great time!

Lauryn was awarded the "Principle's Pride Award" for the month of March at her school.  Her class voted her the best example of empathy in the class.  She was SO proud - and we are SO proud of her too.  She made sure that everyone, including Grandma, was there to watch her receive this 'major award'.  She really is a sweet, obedient, kind child (she is a teacher's dream we have been told numerous times) and unfortunately sometimes those kids get overlooked a bit, so it was great to see her recognized for how great she is!

I had a great time with all my sisters and mom visiting my youngest sister who lives in Arizona.  I loved the sun, warmth, and the company.  We had a great time shopping, eating, hiking, more shopping, relaxing, and even more shopping.  It was a blast!

The trip wasn't all relaxation and play.  We did teach my oldest two sisters how to text!  Luckily they are smart women and it didn't take them too long to figure it out.  We were out having fun again in no time at all.

 It was the perfect timing for a warm vacation.  Thanks Jordan and Julie for hosting us! 

Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap

Remember the "Favorite Things Swap" I participated in? (there is supposed to be a cute button right here to click on and see everyone's loot, but I can't get it to work! :(  But feel free to click here to go to the page).  

My swap partner was Jennifer from Amongst Other Things, she put together a great box of her favorite things to share with me.  This is how it looked before I tore into it...

And surprise!  Her favorite things included some great scrap booking albums/kits with some seriously cute paper, an assortment of bath and body works lotions and gels (they all smell wonderful), chocolate (yum), and two super cute bows for my girls hair!  I think I scored big!  Thank you Jennifer - I loved all your favorites too!  

  

Good Mail

For the past 2 weeks I have been meaning to write about 'good mail' (can you tell I am about 2 weeks behind on life right now?)  The concept of "good mail" comes from a friend from my California days -  the idea is to send something to a friend using good old fashioned snail mail.  It can be anything - a small package, a hand written note, a post card, etc. - basically anything that is more exciting to open than a bill or junk mail.  I love the concept and have been trying to get on board with this for a while now.  I think I finally have the motivation to do it thanks to a lot of good mail that came my way recently...

The first was a sweet note from someone that I work with in the YW Program. Then a package came for Lauryn and Brinn from Nana and Papa in California.  They were so excited to open it, and even more excited when they pulled out pink sequined hats with big red hearts on them.  They were so cute!  Then I opened the mail box to find an envelope with a big fat tube of Lip Smackers (an inside joke) from a friend who lives on the other side of the country.  It was a total surprise and it made my day!  Then on Valentines Day, another surprise from the instigator of 'good mail' herself: a fun padded envelope filled with the necessities for pedicures -pink nail polish, foot soak, candy, and not to mention little fun things for my girls too.   It was so cute - and the fact that it came on Valentines Day was fun!  Then, yes there is more, a sweet Valentine card from a great sister in law that we don't get to see as often as we would like.  I was totally spoiled by good mail!  And I liked it.  A LOT!

Here is a big 'THANK YOU' to everyone who sent good mail!  I love you all!  Thank you for making me smile!

Good mail ROCKS!  And, I testify that it is much more fun to open than a bill.  Good mail makes one happy!

So, I am sending out a little good mail of my own very soon (it is only two weeks late.. imagine that!) :D

Brinn Turns 4!

It is hard for me to believe, but Brinn is 4! (Her birthday was January 21st - I am way behind on this!)  She had been both excited about her birthday and dreading this day for months.  She was excited because, well, it is her birthday.  She was dreading it because her sister told her that once she turned four, she had to give up her blanket.  The first words out of her mouth that morning were "I don't want you to take my blankie.  I love it!"  As you can see from this picture, she would not let that blanket out of her sight all morning.  Quick story about her blanket.... when we got rid of Lauryn's blanket, we let her 'trade' it for something she wanted.  Lauryn got a Dora doll, and in return she gave us her blanket.  Worked like a charm.  We tried to sell this idea to Brinn,  but she was not buying it. There was nothing she wanted badly enough.  After some thinking she finally said, "Fine.  I want to trade my blanket for another pink blanket."  Smart girl!  Haha!

Once she was assured that we were not going to take her blanket from her, she went right in to opening presents...
She got an ePet, Littlest Pet Shop stuff, and Polly Pockets.  The ePet was her favorite.  She named her "Huskie Dog" only to find out later that it is a bunny, not a dog!  Brinn now calls her "Huskie Dog Bunny".  She got to go to lunch with Grandma (to McDonalds) and then she tried to convince Grandma to take her to the mall.  When Grandma said she didn't have enough time to do that she sighed, hung her head down, and said, "Fine then.  I guess just take me home." She is so full of drama!

All day long she kept asking me, "In real life am I four?  I really am?"  It was almost like she expected to feel different - too cute!  She finally decided that she wasn't officially four until she blew the out the candles on her cake.
Later in the evening, she had all the cousins over for dinner and a double party. (Brinn shares the same birthday as her cousin Maddi).  They had homemade macaroni and cheese (Brinn's choice) and tortellini (Maddi's choice).  And, of course, there was a cake with candles.  She was so excited to 'officially' turn 4 once those candles were blown out!  It was great fun!  And when all was said and done - she kept her blanket (I just couldn't take it away on her birthday!)
We love having you in our family, Brinn - you keep us laughing all the time.  You are so full of life and energy - we just love your big personality.  We love how when you are really happy about something you give everyone big tight hugs and lots of hard kisses.  We love how you love to help with whatever we ask you to do, we love how you are always singing and how when you really like a song you start to dance where ever you are. We love how you are always concerned about other people and what they need. We love YOU Brinn and hope you had a wonderful birthday!

(Oh, and after looking at these pictures, I promise, I do comb her hair! :D)

Skiing!

Two weeks ago (yes, you read that right - 2 weeks! I have been horrible at this lately) we took the girls skiing for the first time.  It was a beautiful day - we were having a major inversion in the valley and so the sun was actually shining and it was 15 degrees warmer up in the mountains. It was the perfect day for skiing, especially skiing for the first time!  They were spoiled by the weather.  In fact, once we got up to Alta, we realized that Brinn had left her coat at home.  But she didn't even need it!  It was that warm.  It would have been wonderful by my standards if there only hadn't of been all that darn snow! :D 

Here they are on the car ride up the mountain.  They were so excited, but a little uncertain of what they had just agreed to do.  Every few minutes they would look out the windows at the mountains and ask "Are we going to have to ski down a hill that steep?!"

Their little skis were so cute!  The binding took up most of the skis.  They thought they were so cool until they had to put them on their feet.  Then the realization of what they were about to do hit them...
But they both did great!  And, more importantly, they both liked it!  Lauryn caught on pretty quickly - turning is still an issue, but she can snow plow like a pro!  Brinn couldn't pick up the snow plow, but she loved pointing her skis straight down the hill and just falling when she wanted to stop!  That girl is all speed (no surprise there).  Cameron and I never made it down a real run, but that was just fine with us.  We had a great time with the girls and are looking forward to the time when we can all ski together as a family!

Sounds Like FUN!

My friend Mamarazzi is hosting another "Favorite Things Swap"! The whole idea is to send out a small package($20 -$30) of your favorite things, and in return get a package of someone else's favs. And since I LOVE surprises.... I will be playing! If you are interested in joining the swap goodness, click the button for more info!

Lauryn's Cupcakes

A week or so ago, Brinn was off having her 'Birthday Sleepover' with Grandma and Grandpa, Cameron was out of town, which left Lauryn and I alone for a 'special fun night'.  I asked Lauryn what she wanted to do - I came up with some pretty special and fun options (I thought) but what she really wanted to do was bake.  Mini cupcakes. From scratch.  Knowing me, you know this is NOT my idea of special or fun, but I try to be a nice mom on occasion..... 

She was so excited all day, in fact she kept asking if Grandma could pick Brinn up before she got home from school.  She did not want to waste one minute.  Once Brinn left, she was all smiles and giggles!  We had a great time mixing and stirring.  Decorating was great!  She did everything by herself and was SO proud of the finished little cupcakes.  I was proud of her too and thought to myself, 'This wasn't that bad.  Why do I dislike cooking so much?'  Then I ate one.  Oh, yes.  Now I remember.  They were disgusting.  Even the frosting tasted weird.  My poor kids are never going to learn to be good cooks with me as their teacher!

 

She was so excited to do everything by herself and not have to take turns with her sister.

I love the concentration... decorating cupcakes IS serious business.

Voila!  The finished products. She was so proud! Only about 4 of them got eaten.  The rest were thrown the garbage ( 3 days later, of course, while she was at school - even though they tasted yucky she would have been devastated to have seen them in the trash!)

Despite the outcome of the cupcakes, we did have a great time together.  I loved having some one on one time with her and getting to talk to just her.  In the end the 'special and fun' part of the night is not the activity, but just being together.  But maybe next time I can convince her to use a cake mix!

Christmas!

We had a great Christmas!  

Our Christmas Eve started out great with a few runs on the sleds and tubes.  We are fortunate to have a great hill right behind our house (you are welcome any time).  We were even more fortunate to have Grandma, Grandpa, and most of the aunts, uncles, and cousins join us!  They built a jump and everyone took a turn flying off it, and a few even landed back in their sled!

This year we made Brinn walk up the hill all by herself.  She was a great sport and only complained when she lost hold of the tube she was pulling up and it slid all the way back down the hill.  I would have complained too...

Back to the house for hot chocolate and cookies of course!  From there we went out to dinner (a Christmas Eve tradition) and then back to my parents house for dessert, games, and more family traditions.  It was great fun, but you will have to take my word for it because I forgot the camera (I think that is quickly becoming a tradition too).

After checking the computer for Santa's whereabouts and setting out cookies and milk, the girls were ready for bed.  They insisted on wearing the same pajamas they wore last year on Christmas Eve.  I have no idea why.  They even had new Christmas jammies to wear... crazy kids!   They were so excited and tired!

We woke up Christmas morning to this view - pretty, no?  Only you can't see the 50 mph wind gusts and the fact that the snow was falling sideways.  Even though it was a blizzard, it was beautiful and it is always great to get snow on Christmas Day.  

I was too worried about the video camera, so the digital camera didn't get pulled out until after the present opening madness. But Santa treated us all well. We must have been really good!  :D

See that green present Brinn is holding?  She refused to open it.  She said, "It looks too pretty.  The bow is so beautiful!"  She carried it around all morning (you can see she ate breakfast with it).  Finally mid-afternoon her curiosity got the best of her and she gave in.  It was quite funny that she picked that present as the "pretty one".  It was wrapped in green paper with one of those cheap sticky red bows - not quite my idea of a pretty present, but I guess it struck something in her.  Luckily, I have green wrapping paper and lots of those bows left over for her birthday! 

It was an early morning for someone!  I guess there was no other place to rest...

In this mess, I think the coffee table was a good choice!  

After we got everything cleaned up, (including ourselves) we headed over to my parents house once again for dinner, games, and that's right - more traditions.  And, you guessed it - I forgot the camera.  Again.

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with great memories, and hope yours was the same!

Happy New Year!

And our winter break continues:

For some of us it wasn't all play - unlucky Cameron had to work a few days in St. George, but lucky us got to join him in the sun.  We were all amazed at how warm 50 degrees felt!  We checked into the hotel and the girls would not come off the sunny balcony (myself included).  It was so nice to just be able to feel the warm sun again!  I kept thinking "Why do I not live here?"  The Target in town even had cuter stuff than the one by me!  I mean, come on, warm sun and a great Target - what else does a girl need?  I am packing my bags....

While we were there we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We walked in and suddenly Brinn got this horrified look on her face and immediately wanted to be picked up.  When I asked her what the problem was she told me that this place was too dirty.  It took me a minute to figure out that she was talking about the floors.  If you have been there before you know that there are always peanut shells all over the floor.  It took some convincing to get her to stay and she refused to have her feet touch the ground the entire time!  She is obviously my clean kid!

Cameron was finally able to drag me home just in time for his birthday and New Years Eve celebrations.  We had a fun time helping him open gifts, and to be quite honest, I can't remember what else we did during the day.  Oops.  Sorry!  But it was great fun I'm sure because every day is fun when you are with Cameron!  We love you Cameron and think you are the best husband and dad ever!  We hope you (at least you..) had a memorable day!

Later that evening, we had the family over for Cam's Birthday New Years Eve Party.  This year, Cameron and my brother in law Joel planned the whole thing and they did a great job.  First up: dinner.  Not just any dinner, a true man- style dinner: steak, potatoes, rolls, veggies, and salad.  And Cameron presented a fruit and cheese platter that was the hit of the party.  He even garnished it and made it look so pretty.  His mother would be proud - and so am I!

Next on the party plan was blowing out the candles and eating the cake.  From there we moved on to the traditional Bingo game.  Joel was the caller - doesn't he look so official wearing the Bella Dancerella head set?  I think he was too worried about how he looked and so he wasn't calling out anything good...  I only got Bingo once.  :-(

But Lauryn came out a big winner.  I think she was the one that ended up with the coveted (among the kids) giant Hershey Kiss, and the pistachios behind her back along with a few other things.  She later said her strategy was to hide all her prizes so no one would take them.  Next year I will try that.  And maybe a little flattery to the caller wouldn't hurt either!

Cameron discovered the secret to real movie popcorn - the oil!  He was thrilled to finally have the real thing.  Yummy!

The party continued with movies, games, and video games of course.  Remember guys planned this party..
We all made it up to ring in the new year (thanks to a few naps for some - but I wont mention names.... you know who you are!).  Here we are watching the ball drop in Times Square on TV - it was quite anti- climatic the first time so, thanks to TiVo we went back in time and re-celebrated again - the second time was much better than the first!  Welcome 2009!

And then within minutes, maybe even seconds, everyone left for home and went to bed.  

Do we have to wait another whole year to do it again?  Anytime you want to plan a party, Cam, I will come!