the caboose

I often get asked if we "are done" having kids, and every time I hear those words these are the images that come to my mind; my son, my Adam, child #5, the child who plays by destroying, dumping, breaking, ruining, and defying. I thought I'd share just a sample of these images. Please keep in mind that this is only a fraction of the destruction that we endure.

I guess the dry winter air was getting to him - this is Cetaphil Cream spread on his body, you know, the THICK stuff that won't wash out of anything. I failed to capture the massive amount that he spread on the carpet in my bedroom. I guess he figured the "dry" carpet needed a little extra moisturizing too.

What kid can resist dumping out the entire bottle of liquid soap into the sink, filling it with water, then having a party?!

This two photos are painful for me. These photos just does NOT do justice. Adam took a new bottle of Jet Dry, emptied ALL of it into the little reservoir where it goes in the dishwasher door (not all of it fit so it over-flowed into every nook and cranny possible), THEN he took the Cascade powder and all dumped a bunch of that into the Jet Dry reservoir. It was completely caked! I cleaned up as much of it as I could, which was not much as most of it was crammed into a thick, icky mess inside places I could not reach. Not really knowing what to do, I made a grave mistake and took my central vacuum and tried sucking the mess out! (Do NOT try this at home - it is not healthy for your vacuum!). That removed some, actually enough to liberally coat the inside of my hose. John finally had to take apart the dishwasher door and every little gadget in it to finally get it all out.

This is our most recent disaster, occuring only yesterday! Those of us who grew up in the 70's and 80's will remember those smelly magic markers. Yes, Mr. Sketch! The ones that smell like licorice, and lemon, and tangerine. I bought some for my kids and Adam apparently found them while I was in the other room working on Primary. He walked in to where I was and showed me his hands, then said, "I colored my Polar Express train blue and red! It's really pretty, come and see!"

Well, at least the train SMELLS good now. Sigh......

I love you Adam! "You're my sweetie!"

p.s. If you click on the pictures you get a closer look at the mayhem!

Our Beloved Prophet

I think anyone who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will always remember where they were when they heard the news of President Hinckley's passing. It was a day we all knew had to be coming, but for some reason I think that most of us believed that he would live forever. He would always be our prophet. We couldn't imagine the church without him. He just seemed to keep going and going and going.

I have worried in the past that I would be incredibly sad when he died, but instead we as a family have found that we are actually more joyous than sad. We are so happy for him! He is finally with his sweet wife Marjorie whom he has missed terribly. He is free from his old and tired body. He is with his Savior. How could we not feel joy?!

He will be greatly missed as he is a remarkable man. He has done so much everlasting good for the world. He is a true servant of our Heavenly Father.

We thank thee, oh God, for our Prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley.

winter wonderland

Look what we woke up to....

Anyone up for a picnic?

How about a little jump on the tramp.....

...a tandem glide would be nice...

...or a swing on Mr. Whale?

Let's just take a seat and have a chat!

A chat on the phone would be good too :)

I'm worried about my tomatoes - I hope they'll be okay....

Wouldn't some air conditioning feel so good about now?

The kids are back in school.....

I really must get me some warmer boots.

me and my sweetheart

Newport Beach, California LDS Temple

new heights

I was in the kitchen one afternoon and I could hear Adam calling me. I went into his room where I thought he was. When I got in there, he was not there. He called me again, "Mom!". The sound was coming from in the room, which is not very big, but I couldn't see him. I checked under the bed and behind the chair. No where. He called again. This time it sounded like it came from the closet. I opened the door and again, he was not there! I began to think I was in a very strange dream. Really. And then I looked up. Adam had climbed to the TOP of his shelves and was stuck up there!

adam

Trains. It's all this little boys thinks about. Trains. He could never have enough.

At Disney's California Adventure - standing in "R" (because he refused to stand by the "A").

Our little sweet Adam. (Ooh! For some reason that seems a bit like an oxymoron. Hmmm....)

Adam is our caboose. The scary thing is that even if he had been

#1 child instead of #5 he probably still would have been our caboose! Get what I'm sayin'? He's a handful! We sure love him!!

simi valley

Matthew high above the Simi Valley (California).

van gogh

Our little Matthew is pretty much obsessed with Vincent van Gogh. It all started when I gave him a children's book called, "Camille and the Sunflowers". It's the most darling story of van Gogh based on real happenings. Matthew LOVES this book, and this is what started his love for van Gogh and his paintings.

While in California last October we took him to The Getty Center where he was able to see and stand next to an original van Gogh. It was thrilling for him! Matthew is a very good artist and I know that part of that is his desire to paint like van Gogh! (Sorry, the photo with him next to the van Gogh is not the best quality - they won't let you use a flash, for obvious reasons!)

brothers

Matthew and Adam "swimming" in the tub.

beach bum

This is my sweet boy Matthew, and he is 7-years-old. This year we spent Halloween week in Southern California. Here he is at Balboa beach.

defying gravity

My sister-in-law Julie and I took our little girls, Haylie and Brinley, on a "surprise field trip" to Los Angeles and Hollywood. We told them we were going somewhere but wouldn't tell them where. Julie and I had secretly packed their bags the night before, then woke them up early in the morning. While driving to the airport, we asked them if they knew where we were going. Haylie said, "No, but I hope it's Lagoon!" (Lagoon is a local amusement park.) When we got to the airport we told them we were going to California to take them to the American Girl Store (where we spent over 6 hours!!), and to the musical Wicked. It was an absolute blast to say the least! We left on Friday morning and came back Saturday night.

At Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Just a few weeks before we were there, the actors from Harry Potter had done their hand and footprints (and wand prints too!).

Lunch at The American Girl Cafe.

Here Haylie and Brinley eagerly await outside the Pantages Theater in Hollywood ready to go in and be "changed". (You know, Elphaba and Glinda...."I have been changed". Only Wicked fans will understand...)

terrifying tower

In October we spent 3 days at Disneyland/California adventure. Haylie had never been on The Tower of Terror ride before. She didn't want to go on it this time either but I told her she didn't have a choice - she was going on it regardless of what SHE wanted! "You'll LOVE it!", mom promised. Needless to say, when I looked over at her during our second "drop," Haylie very obviously did NOT like it. "I hate this, I hate this. I want to get off!" *tears flowing*.

Interestingly enough, at the end of the day when I asked her what her favorite ride was, she replied, "The Tower of Terror." Hello?! (However, I could not get her on it again, "I'll just wait until we come next year," she said.)

*Update two years later . . . she did not make good on her promise - she STILL has not gone on it again! I think I may need to look into counseling for her. I had no idea the impact The Tower would have on my little girl. And it's all my fault.

the sound of an angel

In December, Raegan was asked to play the harp at The Church History Museum in downtown Salt Lake City as background music for patrons visiting there. The museum is a busy place during the holidays as so many people come to Temple Square to see the lights and Nativity. Here she is in the foyer of the museum doing her magic!

beautiful in Belgium

sur la Sienne

Paris, France. June 2007

a room with a view

Raegan and her dad at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

the obsession

Raegan, after taking a couple of years of french, has become a bit, well, obsessed with France! There was no way she was going to be left home from this European vacation! She had the thrill of a lifetime to be able to spend 5 days in Paris this past summer.

only one more year.....

It's hard to believe that my "baby girl" turned 19 yesterday! She said to me, "I am so anxious to not be a "teen" anymore, I don't even want that association!". Only one more year....

We took her to one of her favorite restaraunts, Market Street Grill (we tried for The Cheesecake Factory first, but at 4:45 p.m. they already had a 2 1/2 hour wait!).

the hiding place

While in Holland they visited Cori ten Boom's house. Any one who has read The Hiding Place will know what this is. Brooke is crawling through the secret door into the tiny room where Cori hid the Jews.

Kinderdijk, Holland

For Brooke's graduation, John took her and Raegan to Europe for 2 weeks. They went to France, Holland, and Belgium. Mom opted to stay home with the little ones - what a great wife/mom! (Note to John: you owe me BIG time!)

Class of 2007

Brooke was THRILLED to graduate high school this past year and move on to bigger and better things! She immediately started school at Brigham Young University and loves it.