Next stop - Alaska!!

Home of the grizzly bear, Sarah Palin, the midnight sun, and now the Hymas'! Yes, we are moving! David got an incredible job opportunity that's going to allow him more time with us and more time to do the things he loves. We are thrilled with that. We are not thrilled to be saying good-bye to our friends here who have become our family away from family. We are not thrilled to be moving so far away from our actual family. It has been one of the hardest decisions we've had to make.

So for those of you wondering, here is our plan: We will move all our stuff next week. Me and the kids will then go to Disneyland to soften the blow. We will spend three weeks with family in Utah. Then we will drive for 10 days to get to our new home. It takes 53 hours from Utah to get there. We will try not to kill each other. :)

Touched

See the relaxed look in my eyes in this picture? You wouldn't know that Marianna and I are rushing through the streets of San Francisco because we are late picking up our boys from preschool by looking at this picture because we look so happy and relaxed. It is because we just had an incredible massage. (Of course I didn't remember to take a picture while I was there...) How could I afford such a luxury you are asking? It was a special gift from a group of very special friends who, when I found out my Dad had cancer, not knowing what to do, got me a gift certificate. I went into my room one night, and there on my pillow (where a lot of the tears ended up) was a card with my name on it. It was so thoughtful and touching. I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Busy boy no more...

With the end of the school year also comes the end of Karsten's activities - mainly preschool and gymnastics. Both activities he immensely loved this year (even though he would always say he didn't want to go... four year olds can be so frustrating!) Every single time afterward he would say "Thanks mommy! I love gymnastics (or preschool) so much! I had so much fun!" He would never remember that the next time he had to go, but at least he always came out loving it. :)

Karsten had the cutest preschool teachers who we just loved. They were silly and funny and loving - exactly what you want in preschool teachers. He especially loved the days that he went with Owen. "Is it an Owen day?" The day he went that Owen doesn't go, we called that the "Jasmine" day because he had his very first crush on this cute (older) girl named Jasmine. I am SO glad that Karsten got to experience that this year. Yeah for Albany Cooperative Preschool!

First day of summer

I've been waiting for a special occasion to try these super cute pancakes that my cousin told me about. There's no better day than the first day of summer! The girls had their friends stay the night and we had these for breakfast - personalized pancakes. Thanks Christi for the fun idea!! Thanks Naomi and Isabel for being such wonderful friends and being here for our first day of summer!!The girls all have American Girl dolls decided to make a magazine. Here are some of the shots they were working on. I think there's some real career possibilities here!

What little brothers are good for

Sierra locked herself out of her room this morning. Thank goodness for Karsten!

Last day of Cornell

School's out for the summer! To celebrate, we headed straight to Krispy Kreme's and to the 3D version of UP. The kids were so cute in those nerdy 3D glasses. It was such a great movie - full of laughter and tears. And so amazing in 3D. Karsten was laughing the hardest so after the movie when I asked him if he liked it I was so surprised when he said, "No, not really." What?! His reply when I questioned him was, "I peed my pants." Sure enough, he was soaked from his chest down. It was some accident yet he sat there the whole entire movie and didn't say a word. Oh Karsten.


*Pictures courtesy of Marianna since I have no camera... Sigh.

8:25pm

My three kids are running around with walkie talkies, whistles, a lantern, and a map to get them past the enemy line. Skyla is wearing her sunglasses (she's the captain with attitude) which is making me laugh because all the lights are out and it's actually pretty dark in the house so I don't know how she can see, Karsten has a bubble blower which is doubling as a gun, and I just heard Sierra argue with Skyla about which direction they should go because "That is past their defenses and would be so dangerous!"

My three kids are playing together! It is past their bedtime. They should be in bed.

Summer is marvelous.

(Alas my camera has disappeared from my car (stolen?) and so no pictures... Sigh.)

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.