Back to School

The kids went back to school this week and so far they are having a good time. We went to their open house on Monday to meet their teachers for the year and so that they would be able to find their classes on Tuesday morning. They are at a different campus this year because the school district is planning on revamping their school. Last year they did one of the other elementary schools here in the valley and they just barely finished with it right before school was supposed to start. So the kids are still able to walk down the street to Las Flores School and then they get on a bus and are taken over to the new campus for the year. I am so glad that they can use the bus because it would be a pain in the but to have to take them every morning to school. I did it before when we were living on Helena street because I didn't trust the kids to cross the busy street that they needed to get to school. At lease when they walk from this house they have a crossing guard. Before they only had a traffic light and I really didn't trust them to follow the rules of the land. We will see how they do after their third week in school once they get settled into their classes and get use to their teachers. I will write more then.

Chris and I went up to his parents house in northern California and while we were on the way there our engine died and so his parents had to come and get us. It is a good thing that we were really close when the engine died and his parents were able to come and get us. We looked into how much it was going to cost to get the engine fixed and we just didn't have the money right now to get it fixed. So we left it at grandma and grandpa's house and my lovely brother Mike drove up to bring us back home so that the kids would be able to start school the next week. At least the van is safe and when we get the money his mom will have it brought to her mechanic of who know how many years to fix it. Boy do I ever hate money and everything that needs money to work. Cars and Homes are necessary evils.

Camp Ocean Pines

Well the girls (Shalynn and Tawny) and I left for camp right after school on Friday to head out to the coast of California for an Under the Sea Core Camp for Girl Scouts. We had a 5 hour trip ahead of us with 7 girls and two adults in a Chevy Tahoe. If we only had 6 girls we wouldn't have been as cramped but we made it to the camp in pretty good time and we stopped enough times so that everyone could stretch their legs. This is the first camp that we have taken the girls to that has actually been more than 3 hours away from home. The girls actually did a great job and we didn't have to remind them to often to have a buddy. We had to stop along the way for dinner because we weren't going to make it to camp in time to have dinner there. Once we did arrive at camp we checked in and headed right to our little cabin. There were bunks for 10 in the cabin and it also has a bathroom and a shower all inside. It was actually a really cute place. Our cabin was the VanGogh cabin and it was painted yellow in the inside and then some of his famous paintings were painted on all the walls. It was really nice to have an indoor bathroom and hot water to shower in when we needed it. Here is a picture of some of the girls having a little get together in one of the bunks. So our first full day of camp was fabulous. Breakfast was at 8 in the morning and we had scrambled eggs, bacon, cereal if you wanted it, and the fresh fruit was really wonderful. We were so lucky and we had fruit at every meal. After breakfast we went to the craft building and the girls started putting a picture frame together with sea glass and other fun beads. They glued all their pieces down and as we waited for them to dry the girls went and visited the outdoor center. After they were dry we were given some grout and the girls were able to put grout between all the items that they put on their picture frames. As it started to dry they were told to pull off the excess and we had to make sure that we got all the film off the sea glass and the colorful beads so that they would show up between the grout. All the girls had a great time getting dirty and moving the grout between all their treasures that they put on their frame. When they were through with their frame they put it out in the sun to dry and they they all took off in pairs to go hiking around the camp before lunch. After lunch we were headed down to the beach at low tide to look at the tide pools and to make some sand candles. The walk across the beach was rather rocky where we were and the sand was more little rocks than soft sand. But the girls had a great time climbing all over the rocks. They were told to be careful because there were all kind's of sea anemone on the rocks and they were trying to be careful not to step on them. They were also able to see some starfish, and some sea urchins. I was totally surprised that Shalynn and Tawny did not get totally soaked during this outing. But they came back to camp dry. After being on the beach for most of the afternoon we were ready for dinner when we got back to camp. We had tacos and boy were they really good. Why is is when you are camping everything seems to taste better? After dinner the girls were able to do some more things on their own and then it was campfire time. We had a great time singing songs and watching all the skits. Also the stars were so bright that we just had a ball looking up at them and trying to figure out which constellations we were seeing. We didn't have any problems with telling the girls to be quite once the lights were out in the cabin. I think everyone was asleep in 10 minutes or less they had a really full day and just wore themselves out. Sunday morning we were up and out for breakfast at 8 again and then back up to the cabin to pack up and leave camp. After leaving camp we drove up the coast on highway 1 to the elephant seal viewpoint. We had a guide meeting us there to tell us about the seals. It was very informative and the girls had a great time watching all the seals on the beach sleeping and some of the late arrivals still out in the water playing. After seeing the elephant seals we drove back down the coast to another beach so the girls could get their feet wet in the ocean for a little while. Well they all pretty much got soaked while there so we had to unpack the car so everyone could change into dry clothes for the return trip. Then it was back into the car for the 4 1/2 hour car drive back to Ridgecrest. We had a great day at the beach and we got home aroundd 7:30 in the evening I was ready for bed. The girls had to get in the shower so that they were ready for school on Monday. So all in all we had a great time at the camp and we even got some requirement out of the way for some badges for the girls.

Easter Pictures

Well first of all Tawny was upset because I asked her to put a dress on and she didn't want to.

So in most of the pictues she is frowning because she has to throw a fit and let us know that she is upset. Oh and Dakota also didn't want to smile either because I asked him to do something that he didn't want to do. Why is it that you can never really have a good picture with the more kids you have. There is always someone that doesn't want to do what they are asked. I think it is a miracle when all of the kids acutally cooperate and we get a really good picture. Then when you add a few more kids to the equation it gets really fun. So when we added the 4 M&M kids to the picture we got a few good pictures and this is one of them before Maverick pitched a fit. It was a really good visit while they were here. The kids really played well together and I am so glad that there were not that many fights. There was the occasional tattle tail issue but that is normal when you get that many kids together. We actually had a great visit and I am so glad that the kids had a great time again. It has been a long time since we have been this close to family to acutaly have a family get together where one of us didn't have to travel a long distance to be together as a family. Chris moved us out here to the southern desert in California 4 years ago and I have missed being close to family. We will probably be her for a few more years because it is a really good job and as of right now there is nothing out there in his field that he can find. He is looking though. Thank you Mike and Megan for getting stationed out here in the California Desert with me.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Shalynn, Tawny, Dakota, Caris, Madeline, Rhett, and Arora all colored eggs in the backyard the other day and they had a ball. Caris and Aurora had a great time with the dye and they acutally came up with some really colorful eggs. The dye when it dried was really bright and some of them were really great. We also had the dye in the cups and Shalynn had a really brilliant red come out after she let her egg sit in there for a pretty long time. We started out with just Caris and Aurora coloring eggs and then all the other kids came out to color as well. And guess who the last two kids to be coloring eggs were. Yes you guessed it Caris and Aurora. I think the kids colored 3 dozen eggs. The great part was that they didn't break any of them as they were coloring them. With my kids breaking them would be a natural happening. With all the kids in the house we are really having a Loud and Great time. When I see all these colored eggs I start to wonder who ever came up with the idea to start coloring them, and then hiding them. As we go to church this week I hope the kids will remember the real meaning behind Easter. The atonement of our Savior and everything that he did for us. I am so thankful for the family that I have and the wonderful man that I have by my side.

Family in the same State

I am so excited to have some family close by. Mike and Megan moved to California and they are stationed Fort Irwin. It is two hours away but that is so much better than being 16 to 20 hours away and in different states. Chris brought me out to the southern desert of California and we will probably be here for awhile. The community is great and I love the people here it is the weather in the summer that really gets to me and I miss the green from other places that we have lived. So it will be the Bear Cave and the M&M's in Southern California for a while. Woo Hoo.

Well in the last week or so Dylan has found his toung, had one tooth come in on the bottom and figured out how to sit up. Once he is in the sitting position and falls over he doesn't quite know how to get back to the sitting position. He rolls all over the floor but is not crawling yet or even getting up on his hands and knees. I guess we will just have to wait for that little achievement. But that is fine. I am still trying to get the kids to remember to pick up after themselves so that Dylan does not become the human vacuum cleaner. They tend to just drop whatever they are done with wherever they are and it drives me crazy. It is just amazing to watch Dylan grow and all the new things that he is learning to do. He is such a happy baby and I am so thankful for that. All I have to do is smile at him and he will smile back. He is also starting to laugh. When he is sitting in his high chair Caris will come and start playing with him and he will just laugh and laugh at her. I guess she is just really funny to him. She is such a big help with him. She will try and play with him when I am trying to get other things done around the house. Sometimes she tries to be the mommy and to watch her try and carry Dylan around is just a hoot. I will try and get some pictures of that and post them. I know you will just laugh when you see them. Ok well I think this is enough for right now. I will post more later.

Christmas

Christmas here in the desert was not what we are use to. I would really like to see snow on the ground. I guess this year it all came down on Grandma and Grandpa up in Mead Washington this year. It was sure cold enough here to get snow and we did get some up in the mountains that surround our little valley but none down on the valley floor to speak of. Dang it. Christmas was great and we started something new and different this year. Before we opened presents this year we read the Christmas story to the kids and reminded them that the reason we celebrate Christmas is to celebrate our saviors birth and not just to get presents. All the kids still have to be right on each other when they open presents though. They can't wait till they get their next turn they have to be right on each other and try and help them all rip the paper off the packages. The only well behaved kid this year was Dylan and I think that was only because he couldn't walk around and rip open packages lol. The last day of school for the kids Chris and I took them out early and took them up to where Chris works and they got to walk around in the building that their dad works in. When I say walk around that is all they were allowed to do. There are to many things that they were not allowed to touch so we had to tell them that they needed to put their hands in their pockets. I was surprised that they actually listened and did what they were told. Good for the kids. All in all the kids and I survived the two week break from school and we all had a great Holiday Season. We wish we had been able to go and be with family this year but it was just not going to happen. maybe next year.