Zach's baptism

Sat. was Zach's BIG day. He turned 8 in Aug., but we had to wait until Oct. for him to get baptized. Besides Zach, there was 8 other children to get baptized the same day. This month was their biggest one of the year. Go figure, huh? It was a wonderful, but busy day. The baptism was not until 4pm, so dad took the kids to their school carnival so mom could tie up loose ends at home. Thank you dad! Once everyone got home we got ready to go over to the church. It was truely amazing how many people were there! All of our family and friends were there and we were so grateful for their support. After the baptism everyone came to our house for chili and dessert. Then at 7:30 we all put on our halloween costumes and went back to the church for the trunk or treat. There was 13 kids that we brought to it and they had a blast. I took pictures of all of them, but they came out dark...sorry.
Zach, we are so proud that you decided to get baptized. We hope that every day you remember that you are a child of God, that your Heavenly Father loves you and so does your parents. You are such a great example to others, especially your brothers and your sister. Always shine bright! We love you so much, mom and dad

Pack meeting

Wed. night was our pack meeting. Just in case you were wondering, the answer is no. I am not going to report on every pack meeting, but this one was very exciting for Zach. He worked so hard to earn hos bob cat and he did! The hardest part about being his den leader is that he is always looking at my papers and telling me that I haven't marked off the things he has done. See, I mark it in his book, but apparently it is not "official" until I mark it on MY papers. UGHH!!! He is always reminding me to mark his stuff off. Thank you Zach for making sure I am on top of things!
Good job, buddy. We couldn't be more proud of you.

Tanaka Farms

My good friend decided to organize a trip to Tanaka Farms. This is a fun place, in Irvine, to go with your kids. When you get there you hop on a hay ride to the petting zoo. Of course the kids loved that. Just about all the animals were going to the bathroom during the time we were there and the kids just couldn't stop watching EVERY animal doing their deed...GROSS!!! they would say, "Oh, mom look over here this one is going too!" It was the little guys that were funny to watch. They would put their hands on their knees and bend down to see where it was coming out of. I know, that was probably too much info, but it's true! After the petting zoo we took the hay ride up and around the farm and then stopped at the corn maze and vegetable patch. There was four vegetables growing and the kids got to pick 4 of each one. They enjoyed that. Then they get to pick their own pumpkin under 20lbs, but the catch is the kids have to carry their own pumpkin out. That is when I lost ALL control. The kids were all tired, hungry, and thirsty. As luck would have it the 3 little boys could not carry their own pumpkins and then Zach cam e to me and said his was to heavy for him. So, I had to trade him, his big one for one of their smaller ones. Oh, I also had Spencer having a melt down with his arms wrapped around my legs so I couldn't walk very fast. Needless to say it was a long walk to the car. We finally made it there, got the snacks and water to everyone and settled in for the car ride home. All in all it was a fun trip and the kids are still talking about it. Thanks for organizing such a fun trip Lynnley!


Here is the whole clan of kids that went with us.

Mission Complete!

For all those who did not know I just ran my first race on Sat. It was not just any race though. The name of it was Volkslauf. Many of my friends run in a race called the Mud Run in San Diego. They heard of a similar one in Bakersfield and decided to give it a go. All right, I'm game. We signed up and watched the 6 videos about it on you tube. I thought okay, I guess I can do this. I have been running for awhile with a friend on average 3 days a week and on the alternate days I go to the gym with a group of friends. I honestly thought I was in decent shape for this. NOTHING could have prepared me for what I was a bout to do! The Volkslauf is a 10k course with 60, yes I said 60, obstacles. These obstacles are typical military obstacles. Walls to climb over, muddy trenches to dredge through and swim through, ropes to cross over muddy trenches upside down, ropes to climb up and then down, more walls, and things to climb over, hills, lots of muddy hills to go up and down. It was totally crazy. On top of that there was military men and women yelling at you at each course. I did it though. My time was 1hr. 31 min. 46 sec. Not bad for my military training course, heh? Out of 179 women I placed 72. Oh, did I mention I was totally sick? I had been fighting a horrible cold since Wed. Okay, so the after math. I am sore in places I had no idea that I even had muscles. I have bruises and scratches and rope burns too. I think I wore myself out because when we got home at 4pm on Sat. I went to bed at 8pm and didn't get up until 8am Sun. Today I am doing much better. The cold is on the mend and well it really only hurts when I take my shirt off and on.
I wanted to post one of the six videos so you can get an idea of what it was like. Yes, I am also going to show you my war wounds. Of course I have to document this for posterity. I was showing Craig the videos and he asked me if it was at all similar to what I did. I said it was exactly the same course! He couldn't believe that I would get that dirty. So here you go.

Soooo, they do hear me

Every morning as my kids are going to school I tell them to make good choices, or be a good example, or to do their best. I never really wondered if they heard me because of the complete and utter chaos that is occuring at that very moment. Well, last night I was finishing up a test on the computer and Zach sat over my shoulder reading what I was doing. He asked why I have been doing this for so long (it had been a 3 day ordeal). I told him it was a very important test that I had to finish by tomorrow. He gave me a hug and a kiss and started to go off to bed. He then stopped himself, turned around and said, "Do your best mom." I can not even begin to feel the wave of emotion that hit me when he said that to me. I just hope that it means that much to him when I say every morning. I love you, Zach. Thank you for doing your best and being a GREAT kid!

Walk to school day

Today was walk to school day and as usual I was accompanied by an army of kids. People ALWAYS look at me and smile or snicker. I just wisj I knew ALL that was going on in their head. Well, maybe I shouldn't know what they are thinking. Anyway I had my five plus 2 and then another joined us half way...so, that makes 8. We had fun and it is always an adventure with us!


Yes I know I am minus one in the picture, but he was to excited to go get the treats for all the walkers.

Oak Glen

We had a fun weekend with our friends the Fishers. It started out with us going out to their house on Sat. am, watching conf., eating dinner, the men going to priesthood and the ladies getting the kids all settled for some serious game playing. It is funny how you have no idea what your day is going to be like when you wake up. We didn't leave our house until 2pm. By the time we made all of our stops it was 3:30 when we arrived at their house. Oh, that morning Chris thought it would be fun if we had a family sleepover so we could all have breakfast before conf. just like the good ol' times! We agreed to that. So, after lollygagging for awhile we left for Oak Glen. Yes, the men missed priesthood...we did have good intentions. When we got there at 4:30 I couldn't figure out why it was like a ghost town on a Sat. Well, that is because everything closes at 5pm! We walked around for a bit and then went on a mad chas for an apple pie. You can't go there and NOT leave without one. I'll spare you all the boring details....we had SUCCESS!!!! So here are a few pictures of our short, but very fall day in Oak Glen.

Look at those babies, aren't they so cute!


The girls were trying to decide what they were going to wish for.