Eight is Great!

My baby girl is 8! We celebrated with an "8 is great" party. She invited 8 friends. They were served an 8 course meal. They went on a real live scavenger hunt until they found 8 items. They participated in 8 stations that won them 8 tickets which awarded them 8 prizes. Then they had 8 desserts and went home a little past 8. It was crazy busy and I couldn't have done it without my girlfriends!

The scavenger hunt was the best. I delivered letters to all my neighbors (we have a great neighborhood) telling them if it was ok to have some rowdy but cute girls come to their house looking for things, to please put up a sign on their door. With it being Memorial weekend, I was a little nervous too many people would be gone, but that evening there was a green sign on practically every door! What wonderful neighbors! The girls broke up into teams and ran around to each house looking for odd things such as a sock with a hole in it, a grocery receipt, a candle, a Christmas card, etc. They brought home some pretty random stuff!

We are so lucky that Skyla came to our family eight years ago. She is such a happy and bubbly and full of life kid. She loves to play and has a great imagination. She is so thoughtful and is always concerned about other people. I'm so happy that this weekend is all about HER!

We love you Skyla!

Eight is Great Part II

Skyla took the plunge! She is the newest member of the Berkeley Ward. I loved that she was able to have this special day all to herself and was the only one baptized. Her Nana and Grandpa gave talks, her aunt and uncle sang a song, her other uncle and primary president gave the prayers, and her Dad and Papa were able to perform the ordinances. Not to mention there were 73 people that attended! Even though it was Memorial weekend, so many friends and Berkeley ward family members came. It was a very special day. The love and support we felt was overwhelming. And if you can't tell by the pictures, she was just glowing. All day long.

You gotta fight for your right...

Whether you agree or disagree with gay marriage, isn't it wonderful that opinions can be expressed in this country? We happened upon this huge protest in front of city hall in San Francisco the afternoon the California Supreme Court released it's decision upholding Prop 8. I love that we got to see this piece of history and people fighting for their rights. I think it was a little jarring for my mother-in-law who was visiting from Utah, but maybe that was good. It's important when voting on issues to know and maybe physically see who is being affected by what we're voting on.

Karsten's Bad Day

This was the desired outfit - Karsten's favorite shirt paired with his new favorite shorts. I told him no, it didn't match. He threw a tantrum so I left the room. A few minutes later a heard a loud bang.















This is Karsten's head after he climbed up in his closet to get his favorite shirt that was hanging in the closet. He fell and his head hit the bed frame. The picture doesn't do it justice because that lump is the size of a golf ball.

After the crying stopped (which took at least 10 minutes which is huge because he's one tough kid...) I told him I didn't want him to climb up in his closet anymore. He started crying again. "Well how will I get my shirts then?" That made me want to cry.

This is the lesson that I learned. Who cares if his clothes don't match. He's trying to be big. He's getting dressed by himself! He has his own style. Who am I to get in the way of Karsten's fashion??

And to prove that I learned my lesson, here's what I let my daughter walk out of the house and into the world wearing today...

Mercy.

Skyla's Bad Day

Skyla, who is in 2nd grade had a very bad day yesterday. Here's why...

1. Dojun has a crush on her. At least that's what 3 different people told her.
2. Her best friend was drawing a cat so then Skyla started to draw a horse, but then her best friend erased her cat and drew a horse.

And lucky for me it only took a yummy after school snack to change her bad day to good. And I think her friendship will survive because she was talking to her best friend through her watch which is secretly a cell phone this morning on the way to school.

I love 2nd grade.

Independence

At the tender age of 10, Sierra has decided to move out of the house ... and into the cottage! We've been working hard and her room is finally done. It turned out so cute and definitely looks like her! (She was tired of the pink decor that I had thrust upon them since they were little. Lucky for me that's still Skyla's favorite color!)

The first night the girls slept by themselves (Skyla is thrilled to have her own room now as well!) they both commented on how wonderfully they slept without their sister blah blah talking all night keeping them up. It was so funny.

So now the girls will have to CHOOSE when they want to be together and I think this is going to do wonders for their relationship.

Bay to Breakers

With tortillas flying through the air and the sun shining brightly, David and I celebrated 14 years of marriage by running along with 65,000+ of our closest friends - some wearing Elvis costumes, tutus, grass skirts, and some who apparently forgot to put anything on that morning! It was the funnest race I've ever run. I am SO HAPPY that I got to run along side David. It was awesome.
To make up for our deficiency in calories, we headed to the yummiest Indian food - Taste of Himalayas. We keep thinking we've found the best Indian food, and then we go somewhere else and realize we've found a place even better. But then a night out without kids and my favorite person in the world makes all food taste better.

Happy Anniversary David!
XOXOXOX

School House Rocks!

Can I just tell you how happy David and I are now that one of our kids can sing the School House Rock songs with us?! Remember songs like "A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing", "Conjunction Junction", and David's favorite, "Just a Bill". What a blast from the past as Skyla performed with the Contra Costa County Theater this weekend. It was her debut with a total of three shows this weekend and she did awesome! It was so much fun watching her. Yeah Skyla!!!

Calling

Karsten has found his calling in life. It is called soccer. Maybe it's been because his older sisters have been playing for a couple of years so he knows the routine. Maybe I wasn't lying when I was pregnant with him and he used to kick my tummy so hard that I told the girls "we have a little soccer player in here!" Maybe it's his hair that feathers perfectly when it's sweaty from his running around the field - just the way a soccer player's hair should feather and if we cut it, his soccer magic will be gone. Whatever it is, this kid LOVES soccer. He runs non-stop. He feeds off of his adoring crowd. He relishes that he gets to drink Gatorade after his game. He loves his cleats and shin guards and jersey. Soccer is over for now, but he'll be back. Don't worry adoring crowd, he'll be back...

A third

Can you imagine if your debt was reduced by a third? What if your pants shrunk by a third? Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a delicious chocolate cake and you were offered not just a piece of it, but a third?

Today my dad found out that after 6 weeks of treatment (which is part of a clinical trial), his tumors have shrunk by 30%. SHRUNK! This whole time I've been praying for the tumors to slow down or at least stop growing, and they've been shrinking!!! It's the best news. Prayer works. Miracles happen! I'm am so humbled and thankful. I know this isn't the end and things can change (the doctor said he was "catiously optimistic...) but for today I say Yahoo!!!

Superstar

Skyla is my superstar! Her and her cutest friend Isabel did a "Run for Fun" in Sacramento today. She ran a whole mile! She ran it in 10 minutes! I'm so very proud of her. And how amazing is Jenny, Isabel's mom?! Some kids have playdates where they watch a movie or go to a park. When you have a playdate with Jenny you get to run a race! Jenny also ran 13.1 miles that day. I love how she not only motivates and inspires me, but my kids too. Thanks Jenny and Andy!

FYI

No swine flu here! We're quite relieved they let us back in the country!

Happiness a la Mexico

We LOVE Mexico! Here are a few reasons why...

Sunset at Yelapa - accessible only by boat...

The beach at the bottom of the stairs from our casa
The sand is soft and the water is warm! The amazing pool and water slide at our resort in Nuevo Vallarta
Horseback riding in the jungle at another small village (Mismaloya)

Oh yeah!

Mine and David's hammock bed in Yelapa

Sierra's dream come true!

10 days of nothing but family togetherness -

we found out we really like each other!!

I don't know how Skyla got sunburned because

she was never out of the water...

The food was amazing, the people were friendly, the weather was perfect... A wonderful time was had in Mexico.