May 2008: My little pirate turned 6

Wow, I have a 6 year old, that's quite awakening. My little Owen turned six, celebrating it, where else?, but at Disneyland. We had a wonderful day and had visits from lots of loving family members during the day and at dinner. Really I am so lucky to have such amazing family that really knows and loves my children. Uncle Bub was a big hit. Owen got to go on some "big kid" rides with him.

We also have officially become Disneyland geeks, that is said in such a loving way. I have been wanting to be one for awhile but of course it had to come from someone besides me for Mike to be convinced. I am talking about pin trading. It really is addictive, especially for a "collector" personality like me. Of course they are "for the kids". Mike works with such sweet people and 2 of them are REALLY into pin trading and bought O and E their own lanyard and told Mike all about it. It has continued from there. Mike just bought Tate a Darth Tater pin for his lanyard. I never knew how involved pin trading is at Disneyland. It really is fun to trade, of course I'm wearing Tate's since he can't do it himself:-)

And yes you did read that correctly, we did buy a catapult for Owen. We are parents living on the edge! Next post... Mike loses an eye.

May 2008: Sea World Field Trip

I went on my first field trip as an official chaperone with Owen to Sea World. It was so fun to be with him and his little buds. The 2 hour one way bus trip, not so much. The bus driver got lost, so tack on another 30 minutes. For those of you that find keeping the speed limit not a challenge you might have found serenity in the 55 mph bus trip, me I was calling out "serenity now!". I love the Kindergarten age, they really are sweet kids. Mom and the littler 2 boys joined us there. I enjoyed the Flamingo Parade and the graceful beluga whale. Owen's favorite was - surprise, surprise- the sting rays and sharks. We'll have to come again and spend more time at the park than on the bus.

May 2008: 2nd Annual Family Memorial Day Games

Our family had a blast at our 2nd Annual Family Memorial Day Games. Definitely the adults had just as much fun or even more than the kids. I took photos of our partnerships at the beginning with their game faces on -some a little scarier than others for various reasons. (To see the real fun in all of the photos in this post, you've got to click on them to enlarge the facial expressions and subtle signs of cheating.)

Our game line up this year was as follows:

3 legged-race (adult-child partnership both faced forward, adult-adult partnership one faced forward, the other backward:-) ),

blanket relay (new this year),

trike slalom (my favorite to watch), and

the kids' favorite, the water balloon toss.

We are a fairly:-) competitive group and we love any chance for friendly competition. Awards of course were presented at the conclusion - best speed, accuracy, outfit:-), championship! etc.

There were so many highlights to this year's games-hilarious!

I've been laughing so hard looking at these photos, discovering more hilarious moments. Like Dad starting out the Trike Slalom with 2 shoes, then somehow one goes missing but still wins the race, Eyan's face is awesome. Mom starting the blanket relay with full speed as Owen's feet come shooting up in the air. Vanessa's not so subtle cheating with Jackson in the 3 legged race. I look forward to years to come of these games, hopefully our whole family will be able to join in next year.

May 2008: Choo Choo at Victoria Gardens

Our family loves Victoria Gardens, a nice outdoor shopping "mall" with great stores that also has great things for kids: a shooting water fountain, a playset, a stream, plenty of places to run, and a fun little train. My boys love to go on it. Mike loves it for the Williams-Sonoma and the Apple store, me for Forever 21 and Naartjie for the boys.

May 2008: Cousins

My kids are very blessed, they have lots of cousins their age and have lived by one side of the family or the other their whole lives. Cousins are great! This time our trip to Disneyland was to celebrate Jackson's birthday. Here are all my Mom's grandbabies minus the actual baby, Savannah. My Mom doesn't have enough arms. I took a million photos in attempt to get a great one. Here is the best photo...and the worst (not including the ones where they were running around and climbing over the bench) , I thought that would be fun to show:-)

For all of those wondering what "delphinium"s are, here they are... so beautiful, unique, and I can't get over the gorgeous indigo color. Thank you California Adventure, they were all over.

May 2008: Savvy's Baby Blessing

Our family gathered for Savannah Grace Ferguson's baby blessing. As I explained before when Tate had his blessing, "in our religion, children are not baptized until they are 8, but a special prayer is offered in which the one giving the blessing- usually the father-gives the baby his chosen name and pronounces special blessings upon the baby as directed by the Spirit of God." It is beautiful to hear the words of God spoken through the mouths of loving fathers. It is a wonderful experience to be in church together; Jesse was missed though. Our family continues to grow!

May 2008: A New Woman!

Every 6 months our church receives counsel from our leaders in what we call "General Conference", an opportunity to be fed spiritually in which we receive wise counsel on how to live Christ's gospel more fully in our lives. Elder M. Russell Ballard, a man I believe to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, gave an amazing talk in which he addressed the demanding role of being a young mother. Speaking to husbands he said, "give your wife a 'day away' now and then. Just take over the household and give your wife a break from her daily responsibilities. Taking over for a while will greatly enhance your appreciation of what your wife does." An opportunity came for me to have my 'day away' - well technically it was 5 days away. My mom bought me a ticket to "Women's Conference", two days of classes at BYU. I have always wanted to go. Thanks to an amazingly loving little sis Liz and my fully supportive husband I was able to leave the oldest 2 boys and take Tate along for the trip to Utah.

There is soooo much I could write about my retreat, but for the sake of everyone who may not be as interested in the details, and so this will actually get finished and posted, I will give some of the highlights -- oh to narrow it down is too tough! (sorry still lengthy and a little sentimental!)

I got my hair cut!!! I have been growing it out for my husband who was nostalgic for the "hair when we met", which was really okay for me until recently. Janae at Lunatic Fringe, don't you love the name!, is a perfectionist with the scissors and I love watching her work. It felt sooo good to cut my hair. I love it. She is the only one who has cut my hair for 3 years, too bad I don't own a private jet.

I had lunch with some of my wonderful, energizing, ever-so-fun friends! Just driving into the neighborhood made me cry. I miss those amazing girls so much. I was so blessed to meet so many wonderful girls all living in the same neighborhood. My friends Melissa and Petra hosted the open house and the rooms were buzzing with chatter. Hearing it all made me sooo happy. I was able to visit a few more in their homes later on. I could have spent days!!

Tate and I visited with some of Mike's family. Our trip was so brief that I wasn't able to see everyone. I am very lucky to have sister-in-laws who love kids and were so happy to have Tate come stay with them for a day so I could enjoy the entire Women's Conference.

I spent quality time with my Mom, my Aunt Sherrie, my brother Jesse, and our friend Cheryl. I am so lucky to be surrounded by family and friends who love me and are fun to be with. I am so grateful for the relationship my Mom and I share.

I couldn't get enough of Women's Conference and I loved being back on BYU campus. I could go on and on about the things that I learned. What an amazing opportunity is provided for those who can attend, to learn at the feet of leaders of our church, professors and professionals, as well as everyday women who struggle with things just like me. Some of the greatest things I learned were taught by the simple lives of other young moms. And to hear our new Prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ speak, Pres. Thomas S. Monson, was a testimony builder. As soon as he walked into the Marriott Center, a most amazing thing happened, a beautiful feeling in my soul that I knew that he was a living Prophet of God. I will never forget that. I learned so many things, things I could take home to help me be a better me, a better woman, a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter. Instead of coming home and feeling overwhelmed by all the changes I wanted to make in my life, an incredible feeling a peace came as I thought about all the beautiful things I had learned. It was the first time in a long time that I did not worry, I had faith and the peace that comes with it. I need that feeling everyday. I came home a new woman, hopefully new and improved!

I came home to my wonderful boys who were well taken care of and had a great time with their Auntie and of course with the more popular parent, Dad. Only Tate loves me the most:-) Here are a few shots of our family's parallel lives for the week.