Christmas Wish Fulfilled!

The children have been talking about going to Disney for years now!  We have been telling them that we wouldn't go until Amelia turned 5 years old...(she will be 5 in January)  So, when we surprised them with a trip to Disney World a couple weeks ago, they were very surprised and extremely excited!  We didn't tell them until the day before we left, which made it really fun for us and them.  Here are a few cute pictures of the children:

This was a hot day at Epcot (about 85 degrees + humidity!)

In front of the Magic Kingdom on the 2nd day of Disney touring...The weather was perfect...low 70's with occasional rain misting, which kept people away!

We all had a blast and enjoyed visiting our friends who live in Florida :)

Our Christmas Miracle

Early Friday morning (4 AM to be exact!) we awoke to the piercing sound of our Fire Alarm!  As I began to gather the children, Brian tried to find the source of the smoke or fire.  No luck!  We couldn't smell any smoke and we didn't find a fire...??  Brian thought perhaps our detectors were going haywire and began to disable the alarms.  We still were nervous that there was some problem and thought perhaps the source was in the computer room, which holds most our electrical stuff.  While investigating Brian noticed a drop of water coming out of the smoke detector in the office...all of the sudden it hit us!!  The upstairs bathroom is directly above the office and water must have leaked through the detector from the bathroom causing the wires to get wet and setting off the alarm!!!  AHHH!  Sure enough...upstairs toilet was plugged and the water was running!  Almost a half inch of water was all throughout the bathroom and the carpet in the hallway and partly in Megan's room.

Miracle you say?  YES!  We think one of the children had gone to the bathroom just a short time before the alarm went off, and plugged the toilet without realizing.  And the water only came through the floor (ceiling downstairs) about 1 foot in diameter, and it happened to be right where the fire alarm was, which caused the wires to get wet, which caused the alarm to go off, and alert us to the problem!  No one was due to wake for another 2 HOURS, so the toilet would have continued to run and caused a MUCH bigger, nastier problem than we currently have!  We feel very blessed!

Here's the damage:

It shouldn't cost too much to fix...we are drying out the carpet and plan on having it re-installed in a couple days (or maybe after Christmas...we aren't in any hurry), and we might have to replace the flooring in the bathroom...not sure yet.  We did have someone come to our home to access the damage to make sure we were doing it all correctly and not missing any water damage, and that did cost a bit.  Having the carpet re-installed will be an expense, but other than that we shouldn't have to do too much! :)

Cookbook Giveaway :)

Check out a fun giveaway on my Hobby Blog :)

Merry Christmas!!

Wonderful Family Pics!

My dear friend, Angie, is a wonderful photographer (check out her work)!!!  She took our pictures last week and I just wanted to share some highlights (BTW, it was raining...(ok, misting, not real rain) and getting dark, and they still turned out great!)

Family Group...Tulla included, who looks like she has just noticed a Squirrel! ;)

Here is our little angel Amelia...

Cute, darling Anna...

Calm and Cool Zachary (rare occasions only!)

Beautiful Megan!!

Their true personalities coming through...

Our beautiful girls...

...and the handsome boys...

The lucky couple...

The Beauty of the Earth

A couple weeks ago we had an amazing sunset, and I just had to share! Aren't we blessed to live in such a beautiful land created by such a loving Heavenly Father? :)

A Dream Come True!

This Halloween was a Dream Come True for me!! I have been wanting to dress the children as the "Four Seasons" for ages! Some good friends in FL dressed as the Four Seasons years ago, and I've been gradually grooming the children to accept the idea, and finally this year it worked! I also thought it would be so fun if I dressed as Mother Nature and Brian (the hum-bug) was Father Time! However, only part of that dream was realized...Brian said he would wear a watch and that was it!!! Oh well, we still had a great time coming up with the costumes!!

Our sunny, energetic Summer!! She was so excited to go Trick-or-Treating this year, and she outlasted all the other children :)

Our lovely Spring! This outfit was an old ballet costume that we revised! The rain boots were a last minute choice (I didn't think about shoes), but they are "Springy"...right? April showers? ;)

Winter (a.k.a. Jack Frost) turned out great!! The snowflakes on his shoulders are battery-operated lights that we poked through the fabric of the jacket. BTW, we found the suit at a second hand store for under $5 total, so I didn't feel bad about painting it and poking holes in it :)

The beautiful season of Fall...

Group photos with a close-up of my Mother Nature Crown, which is a little over the top, but it's how I envisioned it looking (when Brian first saw it, he called me a "Dork!")

Farm Field Trip

Anna had a field trip to the Thomasson Farm to learn about soil and the working farm, and also play! Brian, Amelia and I joined Anna and her class, and everyone really had fun! The weather was very cold and windy, but they still enjoyed going through a Jr. Corn Maze, playing with some children friendly farm equipment, jumping in a huge corn box (corn instead of sand!), petting the farm animals, having a tricycle race and the best part picking out a pumpkin to take home...

Anna sporting her tie-dye field trip t-shirt on top of 2 jackets and a long sleeve shirt! Like I said, it was VERY cold and windy! ...we were all grateful it wasn't raining!!

Amelia showing such excitement...almost borderline crazy! ;)

Water is such a fascinating draw for children...

Fall Flag Football

Zachary is playing football for the second year in a row, and he is really enjoying the game. He has really improved and has shown better focus. Each Saturday we get to watch him play, which we all enjoy too :)

The Chargers (Zach's team name) cheering for the other team after a fun game...

Brian practicing football with Zachary and the neighbors in the park behind our house...

Sisters Together Forever!

Yesterday was the General Relief Society Broadcast for all the women in the world! And given to us were messages of strong sisterhood and unity among women. I love listening to our general leaders who keep us directed towards our Lord and Savior. :)

Here is another tribute to Women everywhere (PAUSE music to listen)...

Grandparents Day!

This is Anna's last year in school to celebrate Grandparent's Day, and my parents were able to come, which isn't always a luxury in their lives. Here is a picture of Anna, Grandpa George, Grandma Judie and Amelia :) Thanks mom and dad!

A Project 4 Years in the Making!

I have been wanting to paint our master bathroom ever since we moved into our house 4 years ago! Every time we painted a room in our house I would take a sample and paint it on our bathroom wall to see if I liked it in there too. At least 10 swatches later and living with the accidental, modern painting on my bathroom walls, I decided on a paint color! Monday, Brian and I painted our tricky bathroom....lots of cutting and trim work, so it was time consuming.

A picture of a painted room never quite shows the correct color shade, but this should look bluish with a hint of green :)

Any ideas for the blank wall above the tub??

Back to School & Routine!

First Day of School!!! I'm not sure who was more excited the children or me! :) We really have had a great summer; however, there is something to be said for routine and a schedule that helps get things done :) The children had a good time seeing friends, and meeting their teachers. It should be a great year!

Driving Megan to middle school!

On our way to the bus for Anna and Zachary :)

Anna in her new classroom this morning....Zachary was too embarrassed to have his picture taken in class ;)

Amelia and I stayed home and got a couple things done that I've been wanting to do all summer, but couldn't. However, I had unrealistic views of how the day was going to be, and I soon realized that having Amelia home by herself will still require my time and energy to keep her busy! She wanted to pick from the family fun jar, and the slip she drew was "Making Fruit Loop Necklaces", which kept her very entertained ;)

Cookie Dough Sculptures!

Today the children had some friends over and wanted to draw an activity from the Family Fun Jar :) They each got to pick one, and then they voted on their favorite. The winner was Pie Crust Sculptures, which was quickly changed to Cookie Dough Sculptures! Here are the artists hard at work...

Unfortunately, I can not take credit for dressing this one.... ;)

Here are the finished sculptures ready to go into the oven...starting from the top: 2 slugs; Fuzzy (the pet Caterpillar that passed away...the bucket home that the children created for him didn't prove too smart during the pouring rain); a square die; a snowman; a smiley face; a cloud; a small smiley face; a sideways happy face :)

I didn't get any pictures of the cookie creations after they came out of the oven, but pretty much any of them that were tall before they went into the oven were not, when they came out ;)

Our New "Fuzzy" Friend

The children found a fuzzy Caterpillar today, and they have decided that "Fuzzy" is their pet. They have made a home for him in a bucket, and can't wait until it turns into a butterfly :) I think they will be disappointed when either 1) it dies because it doesn't have enough food, or 2) it actually continues it's life cycle and becomes a moth, not a butterfly! :)

NEW Hobby Blog!! :)

Okay, I've been wanting to start a new hobby blog for awhile that allows me to post some of my favorite recipes! I started it this week, and it's titled "scrumdiddlyumptious"!! My focus will be "Culinary creations which strive for the status of scrumdiddlyumptious!" I plan on posting often...daily if I can, and each day will be a different focus. I plan on posting a recipe, maybe a picture and the family critiques :) I would love to hear about your successes or failures with the recipes, and your opinions on the taste as well! Hope you enjoy! :)

Welcome to the World!

We have four new babies in our family this year! Mostly boys so far :)

My sister Cori had Quinten a couple months ago, my sister Honor just had baby Quinn a couple days ago, my sister-in-law Veronique is scheduled to have their baby this coming Monday, and we will find out if they are having a boy or a girl (it's still a surprise!), and my sister Siri is due in January with her 2nd boy! Such fun!

Here is a little tribute to our new additions:

It's the same old story
Yes it's nothing new,
Just a gift from heaven
Just a dream come true.
In a flash of glory,
In a ray of light,
Welcome to the world
That will hold you tight.

Welcome to the world,
That is shiny and new.
Welcome to a lifetime,
Of dreams come true.
Welcome to the joy,
Of living each day.
Love is all around you,
And here to stay.

Little Clips of the Past 2 Months!

Last week the children and I were able to go to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast for a Family Reunion of sorts with part of the family. Lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, Grandma Judie and Grandpa George! I only took pictures on the first day, and the only shots I got were the cousins finding a message in a bottle! They were all so excited, and we didn't want to spoil their fun by telling them that we didn't think the bottle had traveled very far. We all had fun...

Some close friends recently went on a hike to Greenwater Lakes, and I was reminded what a fun hike it is for children, so we did the same hike a couple weeks ago. We loved the bridges along the hike and the fishing...not so much the mud...

The MUD...AHHH! It was everywhere...

Zachary's first time water-skiing and he loved it...

We went to the Buckley Log Show for the first time, and we loved watching the competitions! We decided that all the Logger type guys looked a lot like Uncle Tom, Brian's Sister's Husband. Many times we would have to do a double take because we thought we saw Uncle Tom...

Anna's Dance Recital as a dancing flower...(the first picture is a clip from a video I took, because I can't manage to post videos, so I clipped a scene)...

Amelia blowing bubbles in the sun....

Tulla's 5th Birthday Celebration with a homemade dog food "cake"....

Feeding the sheep at Grandpa & Grandma Kayner's on Father's Day...

Baseball games for Zachary occupied much of June...