Wake Boarding with the Keil's

After a late night at Mickey's house, the kids & I slept in today while John had to get up early and head to a regional seminary training meeting. {poor guy!}

Later this afternoon we headed to Castaic Lake with the Keil's to spend the late afternoon boating. It's been a long time since either John or I have been on a boat. We worried that Jake would freak out since he gets scared by speed and hates the wind, but he loved it!! As we made our way to the boat dock at the end of the evening Phil let him drive. That made his day! Georgie, my little daredevil was not afraid of any of it. In fact she tried to be out in the wind the majority of the time. She loved it.

We had such a great time. John & I both attempted wake boarding. Thanks Keil's & Phil for the fun evening... we loved it!

Now, hopefully tomorrow we're both able to move...

by the way. today Georgie girl is 17 months old.
man, time flies.

Let Lunch Bunch Begin!!

Today was Jake's first time for Lunch Bunch {a lunchtime get together with the kids from church who will start school with you when the time comes. it's not an organized church activity, just something the mom's put together.}

He was very excited to go and see his friends. He missed them while we were in Vancouver on vacation.

Jake's Lunch Bunch group has 7 kids... all boys!

{Coby, Kyle, Jake, Scott, Ian, CJ, & Henry}

Today they played in the water and celebrated Henry's 3rd birthday with pirate cupcakes. They were all pretty excited!

I'm excited for Jacob to spend time with his friends every Friday from 10:30- 12:30. They are such a great group of boys. They all get along really well.
I'm also excited for the 2 hours I get to spend alone with Georgie girl while Jake is at Lunch Bunch. I need some uninterrupted one-on-one time with my sweet baby girl.

**and if the pictures look a little orange it's because that was the color of the sky here on Friday. the "station fire" is burning not far from here and the smoke was just sitting in the valley over the weekend.***

After Lunch Bunch, Gramma came over & we headed to Disneyland for the evening. John met us there, as did Aunt Linda, Alan, Rox, Damien & Angel. We had a great time!!!

Early Morning

This morning John started teaching Early Morning Seminary. His class starts at 6:30am. He has the sophomore's in our stake who attend Hart High. He's looking forward to a great year with them. This year the course of study is Book of Mormon, but it could have been Old or New Testament or Church History & Doctrine and Covenants. I think teaching Book of Mormon for your first year as a seminary teacher is the perfect way to start.

As a family we're looking forward to studying the Book of Mormon more intently. We're looking forward to hearing about John's experiences with his students. We pray that they will all have a good experience and strengthen their testimonies of the Savior Jesus Christ, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon.

It's gonna be a good year...
I can tell already...

Cool Breeze...

Today I rode with Heather in the Ventura Cool Breeze bike ride. We did the "short ride", the mini-metric, the 38.7 mile ride. It was absolutely beautiful out there along Hwy 101 & 1, right on PCH. We started a little after 7am and rode from Ventura to Rincon State Beach and back. We returned to our husbands & babies {& Gramma} just after 10am. They met us along the way, cheered for us, and had a snack at the turn-around point. It was an amazing day!!

our official stats:
total time: 2 hours, 38 minutes
average speed: 14.7 mph
highest speed: 24.9 {that's way fast for us! we were bookin'}

*****


{Jeff & Joni Howe, Jackie Johnson, Eden, Penny, Clint & Flynn, Aaron & Noelle, Lin & Tommy, Elizabeth & Madeleine, me & Jake, John & Georgie, Kiersten & Henry, Heather, Andrew, Kyle & Ben, Meme & Norah}
Later that evening we met up with lots of friends for a farewell dinner & concert for the Reagan family. They will be heading to Boston for a few months so Clint can work on some fancy, shmancy movie with lots of famous people. We hope they have a great time in New England in the Fall... doesn't it sound lovely? We'll miss you, enjoy!

Final Swim Lesson

Today was our final swim lesson. A big THANKS goes to Eden for teaching the kids over the past two months. They have both become so comfortable in the water. They are both trying out all their newly learned skills {such as bobbing, bubble blowing, and jumping} in the bathtub as my sopping wet bathroom can attest to after they get out each time.

Jake's progress is amazing. He's becoming less afraid of the water and actually enjoying being in the big pool. Watching him put his head under, blow bubbles, and jump off the step while kicking his legs makes me so happy. I am excited to see him learn new things. And although he is a little unsure as he's in the process, I know he loves it and feels so big when he tries.

Georgie, my little fish, is learning how to hold onto the side of the pool and pull herself out. She's also learned to jump {off everything!} and keep her head out of the water. She loves to jump off the step and swim to me. She's unafraid and loves, loves, loves being in the pool.

Thank you Eden for helping them gain such confidence in the pool. We're looking forward to many more hot afternoons working on our newly acquired skills.

After lessons, my dear friend Emily Smith Golden stopped by the pool to say hello on her way to LAX. It was so nice to sit poolside with her & Meme and catch up. Oh how I have missed her...

{Thanks to Eden, AnnaBeth, & Heather for paying more attention to my kids while I visited with Emily than I did! It was greatly appreciated!}

Swim Regression

Kyle, Jake & Flynn

Some days this is the only part of swim lessons where they're all actually smiling.
Today was one of those days.

Although Jake has really been making progress the past week or so, today he whined and wanted to sit on the top step the entire lesson.

{some days having a 3 year old is exhausting. the whining is more than i can bare. but other moments are great! it's such a fun age. he's learning new things everyday and it is a joy to watch. today we got word that he is officially enrolled to start pre-school in september. my baby boy is growing up, it makes me a little sad, but the whining... well, that's another story.}

Are You Ready??

Is it funny to anyone else that this is the check list I got for my bike ride on Saturday?

	Sunglasses
	Hat
	Sunscreen
	Post Event Snack
	Plenty of Can-Do Attitude

There's no:

• train for riding 38 miles
• be prepared for sore hands and numb bum
• be well rested
  
• bring plenty of water
• wear a coat {it starts at 6:30am in Ventura}

Because these are thing things I think I need to be ready for...

How Big Is He??

When we got home from the pool this afternoon our house was a little chaotic. Georgie desperately needed a nap and Jake was on one. As I was getting Georgie down he was dancing around and whining that he needed to go to the bathroom. As I do every day, I told him that he was capable of going by himself and if he needed help I would be there after Georgie was in bed, and then we both went about our business.

After I got Georgie down I came into the living room and started cleaning up our pool mess. I was enjoying the silence, maybe a little too much. Suddenly I realized that I hadn't heard from Jake in awhile. I also realized that I could hear the sink running... and that I'd been hearing it for awhile.

He can't still be washing his hands, can he??

As I open the bathroom door I find this:

Not only was he washing his hands, but his feet, legs, and pretty much his entire body. He said his feet were dirty so he wanted to clean them. The sink was just about to overflow. The counter was already soaking wet. And he was just as pleased with himself as I've ever seen him.

Apparently he thinks he's still small enough for sink baths.
Apparently, he is.
Barely.

What a Pain!!

A few weeks ago Georgie slammed her hand in the bathroom door. As the weeks have passed we've watched as her middle fingernail has turned a milky color, flattened, and lifted. We figured she would probably lose it at some point. This past week it started to tear, little by little, day by day. This evening it was hanging by one tiny piece. It looked painful, but she hasn't complained or played with it at all. As I was getting her to bed I tried to see exactly what the situation was. As I held onto the nail, she pulled her hand away... and off it came. She didn't even budge. It started bleeding a little so I put some Neosporin & a band aid on it. She loved the band aid, especailly when I told her how pretty it looked.

The past few weeks have also been rough for her due to teething. She has had the 8 front teeth, 4 top and 4 bottom, for quite some time, but this week an additional 8 teeth have decided to make their entrance. My poor baby girl. It looks so painful! The other day I looked in there and saw that on the bottom right side the teeth were almost completely up to full size but they still hadn't broken through the gums. Her little gums were stretched so tight over those monster teeth. I tried to rub them to help, Georgie wanted nothing to do with it.

My sweet baby girl has been in pain all week. Poor thang.

Cookie Thief

This evening I noticed something was wrong with the cookies we made

It didn't take long to find the culprit

Kinda gives it away, doesn't it?!
I love that kid.

The Wipeout Zone

Jacob is obsessed with the show Wipeout. Obsessed is an understatement. He asks to watch that show all day, every day-- on tv, on demand, on dvr, on the internet. The other night when he tossed & turned all night I asked him what he was dreaming about and his answer was Wipeout.

He's even started turning my living room into the Wipeout Zone.

Thank goodness there's no water involved.
{Please don't give him any ideas!!}

Have you seen this yet?
Seriously the cutest maternity clothes around.

Milan Maternity

And, NO... I am not expecting... just always looking to add to my closet.
I love these, you should too.

Go, check it out.
Go now.

Last Official Beach Day

It was our last official wardfriend Beach Day today and we had quite the turnout. The kids loved playing in the sand & surf and the mom's loved watching them and visiting with friends. We had such a great time.

Henry, Jake & Kyle

Georgie Girl

Diggin' a hole

Ben, Ian, Kyle, Jake, Scott

Scott, Jake, Georgie, Henry & Kyle

Heather K., Heather DH., & me

kids, kids everywhere!!

and the moms
{& not even all the moms or kids were in the picture!!}

Not only did we have a great time all together, but we met some new friends and had TMZ cameramen shooting over our umbrella's. Good times I tell ya.

When we first got there I noticed that a man seated right next to us looked really familiar. It took just a minute for me to realize it was Kevin Weisman who played Marshall on Alias. He was with his wife & two toddlers. They ended up interacting with all our kids most of the day. They were a really sweet family.
About half-way through the day, we're sitting having lunch, and all of a sudden there are a few guys around us with really nice, huge cameras with telephoto lenses aimed out into the water. They were standing right behind my umbrella taking pictures of someone in the water. I assumed it was probably Kevin.
Then a man & his son walked by me and I thought to myself {again} that he looked familiar. Sure enough... it was Stephen Moyer from HBO's True Blood. {I only know who he is because he was a guest on the Conan show that John & I went to a few weeks ago.}
So we had two star sightings today at the beach. Only in LA...

It was such a great day. I'm sad to see the big kids go back to school, but hope those of us with little's can keep hanging out. I'm so glad we got to ride with Heather DH & her crew and that Elizabeth, Noelle, & Madeleine joined us for a few hours.

We have been blessed with really, really great friends.

Sun Bathing Beauties {Not Sleeping}

Last night was a long, long night.
There wasn't a lot of sleeping going on around here, well except for Georgie.
She slept.
Mostly.
But Jacob, he was the most restless little boy on the planet. And it drove me absolutely insane! Around midnight he came into our room, without looking at the clock I had in hop in next to me {in my defense I thought it was close to getting up time}. After having him twist & turn and turn & twist for awhile I finally looked at the clock... 12:45am.
I could not believe it!
But I was so tired I wasn't thinking straight... so I let him stay and twist. At 3am I finally could not take it anymore. I picked up with twisty-turny little body and carried him to his own bed. Of course he woke up and started crying.
So I got in bed with him... for a little while.
"Just to get him back to sleep"
... only he didn't go to sleep. He continued distorting his body, all the while kicking me. FINALLY, at 4:30am he said he needed to go potty and hopped out of bed. When he finished he headed into my room instead of his.
I saw this as my chance.
He got in bed with John and I climbed back into his bed and finally got some sleep. Poor John though. He says that at 6:40 he couldn't take it anymore and got up for the day. Jake did too.
I knew it was going to be a long, long day as well.

Amazingly he held up fairly well and around noon he fell asleep on the couch... for 3 1/2 hours!! When he first fell asleep Georgie was napping too. It was heavenly to have 45 minutes to myself. {Once she woke up she was so tender and aware that Jacob was sleeping. She wanted to put a blanket over him, so we did, then she stood there and patted the blanket for a few minutes. It was adorable. A little while later she walked by him and started rubbing his hair. She just wanted her big brother to know that she loves him. It was so cute.}My boy hardly ever takes naps anymore, but today was a much needed one. He's also been a bit sniffely and sneezy today.
Not sure which came first... the no sleep causing the sickies, or the sickies attributing to the no sleep.
Either way.
When he woke up at 3:30pm he was well rested and ready to play.

We called Kyle and met him at the pool. Jake decided he just wanted to watch as Georgie & Kyle jumped and played in the big pool.

{Georgie is loving the pool. She loves to jump in & kick her little legs. She's not afraid, which makes me a little afraid, but I love that she is having so much fun!!}

Once we moved over to the kid pool he was all about it.

I sure love that little boy.
And that sweet baby girl.

Here's hoping the nap & swim help tonight!