Youth Conference

Last weekend Tim went to our Stake's Youth Conference. He left EARLY Friday morning and got back home Saturday evening. He was in charge of the service project, the music for the dance and a survival game. We missed him while he was gone. I found this picture on his laptop. I thought I would share.

Happy Fourth (plus, a year)

San Francisco Zoo

Teri, Teri's sister Cindy, and I took the kids to the San Francisco Zoo on Wednesday. The first Wednesday of every month is "Free Day." So since the admission was free the zoo was PACKED with YMCA summer groups and such. Oh well. I guess you can't complain too much since you didn't have to pay anything. I have never visited this zoo. We always go to the Oakland Zoo which is closer to home. Anyway, we got there shortly after the zoo opened. And slowly made our way around the zoo. Here are some pictures of our day:

Alexandra was happy to be at the zoo. (On a side note: She had an eye infection that hadn't cleared up after 2 weeks. I took her back to the Dr. Thursday morning and she now had a double ear infection on top of the eye infection. She is now on Amoxicillin and she is finally feeling better after 2 plus weeks. Poor baby!)

Does Miles measure up to a gorilla?? Not quite!
Miles, Kyle and Caden enjoying the baby bear.
The kids.
Alexandra fell asleep right after we saw the bears.
As we were looking at this Lion, it was just sitting there and started roaring. I have never actually heard a Lion roar in real life (movies and TV don't count.) It was very loud and almost erie. When he finished the roar he sat there and panted for a few minutes and then stopped and was quiet again. And he never moved from this position. I think the favorite animals of the day were the penguins. Even though it smelled like fish they were the most entertaining to watch. The kids loved them.

The kids also liked the big birds. There was an eagle, falcon, raven and a HUGE owl.
This is Miles -- just being Miles.
It took us a while to drive home that night because of traffic. But we had a good afternoon, once all the kids got fed and making several trips to the bathroom!!

June Happenings

So I haven't posted anything in over 3 weeks. Ummm.. Yeah.. We are alive and have actually been quite busy.
1. We had family come into town from Utah and Washington.
2. We had Caden's baseball team end of the season party.
3. School ended.
4. Caden & Miles went to Old Sacramento with their Grandpa Doll, Uncle Nick, and their cousins Carson and Spencer. They went to the train museum there. They also rode Amtrak to Sacramento and back. They also met up with their Great-Grandpa Doll who decided that his great-grandsons all needed ice cream cones. It was a "boys only" trip that day. While the boys were gone Tim, Alexandra and I drove up to Rancho Cordova to scope out the area for the YM river rafting trip, which Tim was in charge of, for the following Saturday. We then went to Chili's for lunch. We ordered way too much food ... but when you have a gift card you can do that, right?
That night we celebrated Kati's birthday and Father's Day with a BBQ. The boys swam in grandma's backyard. We also had German Chocolate cake from Sweet Affair, which Alexandra loved.

Cousins & swimming at Grandma's backyard

Enjoying the German Chocolate Cake
5. Miles went to scout camp.
6. I took Caden and Alexandra to the Contra Loma swimming area. I forgot to take my camera that day. Caden had a blast swimming with his friends. And I got burned on my back and my legs.
7. Tim took the boys with him on the Stake YM river rafting trip. They had a great time and were really good. I was worried because Tim was in charge of the whole day but it sounded like everything thing went well, and everyone who went had fun. Tim didn't put any sun screen on that day. He came home bright red.
8. Miles started summer school for the next 4 weeks.
9. Tim went to San Diego for a computer program conference. I don't know if he played more or learned more. He and another co-worker flew down Wednesday night and went to a Padres games. Thursday night the conference paid for them to go to Sea World. He flew home Friday evening. (I was glad that he was back.)
10. Alexandra's molars decided to come through. She has not been very happy lately.

You can see she has had a runny nose for the last few weeks.

11. Tim and the boys have gone to 3 A's games for the month. (I've only gotten to go to one this whole season.)
12. And we are still moving. We have had the inspection and the plan is to close once Tim's dad gets back from Peru (the middle of July). Then we are going to remodel the kitchen before we move in. So we are hoping to be in the house the middle of August. I have been slowly packing. I have also been throwing things away and making piles for the DI truck.
13. We are still undecided for a baby name. Peyton and Avery are both out. Tim really wants Bailey. We'll see if we change our minds again by the time she actually gets here.

2nd place is still pretty good

Our baseball season is over.

I don't know how I feel about it. Some days I am glad we get a break, until Fall Ball starts. And then other days I know that the boys look forward to playing so much. And I enjoy watching them play. This year Caden's team took 2nd place overall in the Pee-Wee division. The Championship Game was last Thursday night. We ended up losing 22-15 but it was still fun to cheer our little guys on. Plus, the boys each got a trophy so they didn't care if they did get 1st or 2nd place. (I think Miles was more upset that they lost the game.) Caden has improved so much this year. We are going to move him up to the next division in the Fall and see how he plays. Tim is still going to be his Coach. (Oh yeah, I think another baby is due right as Fall Ball is starting!)

Last game of the season:

Caden getting his 2nd place trophy from Tim:
Great season Pee-Wee Angels:

More pictures of our new house

Today I went to our new house for a quick peek. Our Realtor was there with the appraiser. I thought I would take my camera and take some shots. As you can see I took some little "helpers" with me.

Who needs hairspray, gel or mousse?

When you can use syrup!

The boys wanted french toast for dinner last night. I made homemade syrup because we were out of the store bought kind. Alexandra ate her piece of french toast and also enjoyed the syrup ... in another way. I actually think her hair looks pretty good.

We're moving ...

After putting offers on 4 different houses ... one has finally been accepted! Yay! We started looking in February and finally have a winner. It has 4 beds and 2 baths, new carpet, paint and new appliances. It is in a good, established neighborhood and we will still be in our same ward (one of the requirements). The boys will still get to go to school with their friends too. This will be the 6th different place Tim & I have lived just in Concord. If everything goes well, we will be in our new home in about a month.

Caden's Preschool Graduation

Caden graduated from Preschool today. His class had a little ceremony and then celebrated with a potluck lunch and going to Pixieland. He was so excited about going on the rides. The morning turned out good. I took Sophie and Alexandra with me. We all rode the train together.

As you can tell - he could care less about his teacher's little graduation talk.
Caden with Ms. Melissa and Ms. Gina. They are the best teachers. (Miles also had them).
Caden rode the roller coaster at least 10 times.
Having a good time!

Preschool is over and Caden is MORE THAN READY to start Kindergarten. I heard that in Arizona they started all-day Kindergarten. I would like to sign up for that. He loves to learn and can't wait to start school at "Monte Gardens Kindergarten" as he calls it.

Enjoying the pizza

Alexandra enjoying our online ordered Domino's Pizza.

Something you might want to try ...

Tonight Tim & the boys are at the annual Father & Son's camp out. I've been bumming around the house not doing much. Alexandra is sleeping and I'm getting hungry. So I decided to order pizza ONLINE for myself. The first website I checked didn't do online ordering yet. So I checked out dominos.com and I placed the entire order online. I didn't talk to a single person on the phone. (I know that this is what April J. has been waiting for!!!) And they have a pizza tacker that tracks your pizza from the time you place the order to the prep, bake, box and delivery of your pizza. So cool!!

Stuck

Tim got stuck in traffic last night after a church meeting. He sat on the freeway for almost 2 hours before getting home. Read the story to find out why.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_9277414?source=most_viewed

and this one too: http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_9276488?source=most_viewed

Recipe Holder

I am constantly looking for ideas for our upcoming Midnight Madness (which will be held in October). What you do you think of this project? It would cost about $5 to make.
Thank you to my friends at http://adheringthoughts.com/ for helping me with the vinyl and metal. I'm planning on making magnets to hold the recipe to the metal, but haven't gotten around to it.

Just blame it on the pregnancy

Everyone keeps asking me how I am feeling through this pregnancy. Physically, I am fine most of the time. I never had morning sickness. My lower back hurts most of the time, but nothing I can't deal with. However ... emotionally I am a wreck. I cry at least once a week. Sometimes more. And over little things too.
Example #1: Saturday I was at the baseball fields and I started to cry. Tim asked what was wrong. I said I was stressed out about some things going on in Relief Society. But why at the fields?
Example #2: Yesterday it was time to pick up Caden from preschool and I couldn't find my keys anywhere. I called Tim and he hadn't seen my keys. I couldn't find the phone number to call the teacher. I then called Tim's mom and luckily she was already in the car so she saved me and went and got Caden for me. By now I was 15 minutes late picking Caden up. I was so upset I just started crying in the front room. Everything was going to be fine the whole time, but I lost it for about 20 minutes.
There is also a sweet sister in our ward. She is 90 years old and she doesn't have much time left here on earth. (They are saying about 48 hours.) She has always had a special place in our hearts. I have to say that this woman is a firecracker. When I get old I want to be just like her! She has kept working at Tim's office until about 3 weeks ago. Tim's mom went to visit her yesterday. All this lady could talk about was how much she enjoyed Tim. And to top it off, this dear lady made us a baby blanket for baby #4 along with a card. Tim's mom gave me the blanket when she dropped off Caden yesterday. The tears starting to well up again.
So if you see me crying it may not be over anything at all. Just blame it on the pregnancy. (I'm sure Tim will be glad when it's over.)

Miles' Bobcat

Last night at pack meeting Miles received his Bobcat. He also earned his baseball belt loop. We did a special ceremony with the paint when they earned their Bobcat. Each of the colors represented different qualities. (But I don't remember what they were.) We are so proud of you Miles. Keep working hard!

How does this happen?

How can a sweet little baby grow from this: To this:

in such a short time?

Happy Brithday Girl Friends!

It's fun to have friends who are close to the same age when you are little. This morning we had a little get together and Janelle brought cupcakes to share with everyone because Zoe's 1st birthday was yesterday. I thought it would be fun to take a few shots of the little girls eating cupcakes together.

It was fitting that Alexandra was wearing a shirt that said

"Little Miss Cupcake" on it.

(L to R:) Alexandra, born March 12; Sophie, born April 12; Zoe, born April 30; Lauren, born May 17. Sophie and Zoe were totally into eating the cupcake. Alexandra and Lauren weren't too sure.

That's what big brothers are for...

Caden was watching SpongeBob and eating a popsicle in the front room. He decided to be a big helper and give his sister a sucker. I wasn't paying attention to what was going on (because I was on the computer). When I looked over this what I saw: Alexandra was sitting right next to Caden watching SpongeBob. Alexandra happily sucking on her sucker and Caden happily sucking on his popsicle. It was really cute. When I pulled out the camera, Alexandra saw it and walked over to me. Here is her sticky face. and clothes. and hands. She had a bath soon afterwards.