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BFF Makeover...

 One of Cali's BFF's came over this week and gave Cali a lovely makover.

What do you think?

Can't Wait...

Harry Potter PART 2 Trailer!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mObK5XD8udk&feature=player_embedded

Easter Weekend Re-Cap:

This year we had quite the busy, fun-filled weekend!

It started on Saturday, with an Easter Egg Hunt at Adam and Jen's!

Their house is all finished and their yard is gorgeous.   It felt like we were at a park.

Before the hunt...

Look at 'em go!

 Jen even made a delicious lunch of sandwiches, fruits, veggies and lemonade.

Mmmmm.....Mmmmm...Good!

 We called Saturday, the day of FREE FOOD!  After the hunt, we heard about a Tony Hawk event in Vista, so we headed over and checked it out.  We didn't get to see Tony, but we hit up all the FREE food vendors for some yummy treats.

We didn't get to see Tony Hawk, because we had to leave to get to a baptism for Gavin Cranney.  

That was followed by a yummy tamale feast at the Cranney Home-MORE FREE FOOD!

After that, we raced home and got ready for Gracie Livingston's reception.  MORE FREE FOOD and as Luke put it- "FREE SUCKERS!"  It was a great day!

Easter Sunday

The kids got us up early and here they are waiting for mommy to give the ok to come on down:

Brody's prizes

Lukey found his in the oven!

Cali's was in the dryer!

 Easter Miracle:

The doggie jumped on Jeremy.  He was so happy!  She has been scared of him for the last 2 weeks, but seems to be warming up to him.

Daddy and Daisy

My basket is always hidden in the garage.

Gavin loves his new comic books!

 The annual "bite the head off the peep" ritual

 After a wonderful service at church, we headed over to Gammy's for her annual HUNT!

Look at our cute Easter Outfits!  Thanks Nana!

Anxiously waiting to go out and find those baskets!

"Thanks Easter Bunny!  Bock-Bock!"

We had a great time hanging out with my family and had the yummiest dinner!

I am very grateful we get to celebrate such a wonderful day and get to spend it with people we love more than anything!
If you'd like to check out ALL the pictures from our weekend, CLICK HERE.

Easter...a lesson learned...

Yesterday was Easter Sunday.  It started like every Easter....kids got up early, we had a nice little lesson by daddy about that first Easter, and then we hunted for our baskets.  With us being so tight with money this year, the kids didn't get much....but they were very grateful.  I was so worried they might be bummed, but they weren't.  We had a nice breakfast together and I even got a late morning nap.

We all got in our pretty Easter clothes and headed to church.  

I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints my whole life.  It has brought such joy and peace and purpose to my life.  Yesterday though, I learned something new.  Brother Ong gave the most powerful talk on the Atonement and what it truly means for us.  He helped me to understand it better than I ever had before. 

All thoughts of inadequacy, hurt feelings, worry, and so much more.....He took those for us too.  I know that I can truly and literally put all the things that hold me back, and put them in HIS hands.  He has already taken them from me.  All I have to do is Love and Serve and Be Happy.

I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I KNOW that He loves me and wants me to pass this test I call Life.  It is a comfort to know, that I don't have to be perfect.  He loves me know matter what and has helped me and will continue to be there for me...Forever.

(Just had to share....)

So.Much.Fun!

Last night, I took Shauna to see this for her Birthday.  It was amazing!  The dancing. the "music, the humor and the crowd participation make this a MUST SEE!  I definitely recommend it!

Cookie time w/ the 3 little Woolfs...

It was our last night w/ the Woolf kids, and I thought I was making dinner for the missionaries.  But, the missionaries never showed up.  We still got to use the Easter Cookie Decorating Kit with these guys!  Here are the masterpieces:

Brody LOVES Soccer!

OMGosh!  This kid LOVES soccer AND he's pretty darn good too!

Brody said he wanted to play, since he's been watching Cali and Luke play 2 nights a week.  So we signed him up for a Preschool Indoor class.  He's one of the fastest and he always scores 3-4 goals each time.  

Here's some pics of him in action:

The fastest in warm-ups...kid loves to run!

Hi Mom!

My Buddy Nate

Be the Ball...

Ha!  Stuck in the net!

Headed for the goal...

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

The Blind Make-up Salon

Yep....Gavin came downstairs tonight, to tell me that Cali and HBear (my little name for her), were making a Blind Make-up Salon.

They were putting make-up on each other with their eyes closed.

 Not so bad!  I was imagining MUCH worse!

 Of course, Annie had to get in on the action too!

FABULOUS!!!!

Easter FHE w/ the 3 little Woolfs

 Last night, we did our annual Easter Egg Coloring FHE with a few extra helpers!

These 3 are staying with us for a few days while the rest of their family is in Minnesota looking for a place to live (sad.....).  

 I boiled up 3 dozen eggs and Jeremy got 2 packs of coloring ready, and we were ready to go!

 It was funny because the kids kept using their hands instead of the spoons to dip their eggs.  Their fingers were all yucky and purplish-brown when we were finished.

While we waited for the eggs to dry (so that we could put tattoos in them), I broke out the "Resurrection Egg" lesson and we went over the REAL Easter Story.  It was a "hoppy" night!

Easter Movie Review

Cute.  Fun.  Booty-shakin' good time!

A little on the cheesy side, but the music, voices and James Marsden make it all worth it.  

'Hoppy' Easter!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Princess Daisy Doggie...

Meet Rita - Soon to be known as -

PRINCESS DAISY DOGGIE WILSON

Today, we became foster parents to this adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniel / Beagle mix.  She is the cutest and sweetest thing.  We get to keep her for 2 weeks.  If all goes well, she will be ours forever!  She was found abandoned with 2 of her puppies.  She is a little shy around people at first, but immediately fell in love with our kids.  She is still a little weary of Jeremy, but he is going to bond with her on their walks.  We met her at an adoption event at Petco with the organization SPOT.  They are a great rescue organization, if you are interested in ever getting a dog/puppy.  

We REALLY hope everything goes well and we get to keep this little princess forever!

ROAD TRIP 2011

This year's trip was all planned and we were ready to head on up to Washington and visit the Christensens.  The night before we were planning to leave, it was decided that the road trip might need to be cancelled, due to finances.  The car was all packed and we couldn't cancel our first hotel in Sacramento, SO, mommy and the kids headed off for a 4 day adventure to....????  Well, we started in Sacramento....Saturday April 2nd, we left Nana & Papa's and drove up the I-5 to our first hotel (Best Western Sandman).  We got there around dinner time and decided to head into Old Sacramento for food, since it was just around the corner.

Annabelle's

 We found this great All-You-Can-Eat Italian Place and the kids were in Heaven!  All the pizza, pasta, mac n' cheese, and salad you could want!  Then it was off to the candy shop to get some dessert and my parking validated.

We had a fun time but we were beat from the drive, so we headed back to the hotel for a movie.  While the kids were watching "Transformers", I began to plan the rest of the trip.  Thank Goodness for modern technology!  I pulled up a map of the area and saw that Yosemite wasn't too far away.  I had never been there....so why not?  Let's Go!

DAY 1:

(Sacramento - Sonora)

Sunday, April 3rd  - Our day started with a yummy FREE breakfast at the hotel.  After our tummies were full, we headed back to Old Sacramento for a day full of fun!  We hit up the Railroad Museum first and then we had a quick lunch before taking a little trip along the Sacramento River on a train.  We spent the next couple of hours walking through the town.  We got an old fashioned picture done and visited the Wells Fargo Museum.  The boys did some shooting in a shooting gallery and then we finished our visit with an ice cream treat and a carriage ride through the town. 

Railroad Museum

I turned it black and white-Can you find Luke, Cali & Gav?

Our Carriage

The perfect way to end the day!

After our Carriage Ride, it was off to the car.  I have a new found love and respect for our GPS (aka 'Kerrin my computer wife').  I just typed in the address of the Best Western in Sonora and off we went!  We drove through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen.  Our favorite spots were Copperopolis and Lake Tulloch.  The beauty blew me away!  Sonora is a beautiful little mountain town, just northwest of Yosemite.  We enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant and then watched "Tron" in the hotel room.  It was a great first day!

Day 2:

(Sonora - Yosemite - Tulare)

We were up early and headed over to the restaurant for a FREE "Grand Slam-Style" Breakfast!  It was so yummy delicious!  Then the adventure began!  I plugged in the address for Yosemite National Park and off we went again.  "Kerrin" took us through some beautiful landscapes once again and we made it to the NW entrance around 10:00 AM.  We hopped out and were so excited to find SNOW!  The best part was that it wasn't even cold outside...but there was lots of snow to play around in.  Most of our day though, was spent in the car.  Well, kind of anyway.  I pulled over at every little pull-out to take pictures.  I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the place.  I also found out that I LOVE waterfalls.  I had to stop and take a picture of every single one!  The kids loved that (hee hee)!  

Can you see half dome?

Beautiful river valley and bridal veil fall

I wanted to get a closer look at the falls, so we did park and hike up to the bottom of Bridal Veil Fall.  

so pretty!

It was cold up there!  And we got all wet!

We got out a couple of more times to run around and play.  We did hike up to the visitors center and had a nice lunch.  And then, the kids were pretty much done.  I stopped a couple of more times for pictures and then we left the park.  I want to go back and stay longer some day!

Goodbye Yosemite!  We will miss you!

I wasn't sure where to go next... just wanted to get as far south as possible.  So we drove until I got tired.  That was in Tulare (not a very pretty place).  We found a Best Western that was nice and after dinner at Sonic, we all passed out hard!

Day 3:

(Tulare - Cambria - Simi)

I didn't want our trip to end just yet.  I also did not want to drive through the Central Valley again either-SO, with "Kerrin"'s help, we drove over some pretty farm country and through the pretty hills of Paso Robles to Cambria.  This is where I want to live someday.  We have driven through it before, but never really got out and seen the sights.  Today we did!

Moonstone Beach

the cliffs

Someday, this will be my front yard.

We ended up playing in Cambria for a couple of hours and then proceeded to drive the PCH back to Nana & Papa's house in Simi.  I love the scenery so much more this way, but do not like the traffic.  Our trip was over!  We had done so many wonderful things and seen so many amazing places...but we missed our hard working daddy.  It was time to go home........or so we thought...

Day 4:

(DISNEYLAND - HOME!)

Yep...We went to Disneyland!  Why not?  We have passes and it's on our way home!  It was very crowded, but the weather was great and my kids are such pros.  They love being there no matter what!  And, we also ran into our cousins later in the day, so that made it so much more special!  The one thing that we had to do though, was get Brody to the Jedi Training Academy.  Gavin did it when he was 5, Luke did it when he was 5, and now that Brody is 5-it was time!  Thanks to his siblings pointing at him to get picked- HE GOT PICKED!!!

HE FOUGHT DARTH VADER!!!!!

This was a great end to a great trip.  I'm so glad that we still could go and do an adventure. We are so grateful to our daddy for letting us go.  But we missed him badly!!!  We were very happy to come home and be with him again.  

THANK YOU!

If you want to see all 200+ pictures from the trip...Click Here.