Ward Camp Out....

Friday afternoon we drove up to Happy Jack for the Lindsay Ward camp out. While Jens and I set up out tent, the kids did some exploring and took some pictures of wild flowers.

Briggs found some interesting animals in a wash that was nearby. They were like half pirana, half tadpole creatures and really tiny. They really freaked me out. He put a worm into the water bottle that he was keeping the creatures (or weird-weirds, he was calling them) in and they went crazy and devoured the thing. GROSS! But hey, that's what camping is all about. Lots of animals, bugs and creatures you've never seen before.

After we started up our fire, we visited with some new friends and roasted marshmallows and made smores until the camp bell rang at 9pm for the ward fireside. Then, it was off to bed.


It was a long night. Jens and I could barely sleep....the kids were restless, the coyotes were loud and a bit scary and mommy forgot pull-ups so, Eryn Jane wet the bed. But, when morning finally came, it was beautiful. The ward ate breakfast together, then we packed up our tent and set off, as a family, for our nature walk. Reagan couldn't stop stating how bored she was. ( because other kids were riding around the camp in Jeeps and on ATV's ) but we didn't let her get us down and she finally found her happy place and we had a nice little hike.


We had a great time. This is the second time we've been camping with our kids. Pathetic, I know. We need to step it up, because we all really enjoyed it. In a unanimous vote, the countless number of stars in the night sky was our favorite part of camping this weekend. Beautiful does not even beging to describe it. Briggs and I attempted to take a picture of it......key word here...."attempted".

Swimming Lessons....

"one, two, three.......happy birthday to you....cha, cha, cha......."
Happy Birthday to my big sister Kaci! She came over on her special day and spent some time with us in the pool. We laid out and had a contest with the kids.....who can do the coolest tricks. The favorites were hand stands and jumping onto the floating rafts, in various ways! I know we're quite the crazy dare devils! We had a great time! " We had drinks and talked about things and....and.... " (sorry, inside joke!) Hope you had a great day Kaki! We love you!
And.....Eryn Jane is doing so much better in the pool. At first, she was very scared. Now, she's becoming the daredevil. Here's a clip of some "at-home" swim lessons with her Daddy. We are so proud of her......
(please block out my voice and laugh! I can't stand it!)

Piano Practice

Baby Heidi joined Briggs the other day and they practiced the piano together.....

Quoting Eryn Jane.... "baby Heidi is sooooo cuuuute! She has such a cute smile!"

Yes, I'm A Slacker...

These pictures are from last weekend. We had a bday party for Tom & Jason. We bbq'd and swam and enjoyed a delicious ice cream cake. Here are some cute pictures of all the Dunford grandkids. They hated the fact that they had to stop swimming for two seconds and let us take pictures of them. It was hard to get them all to smile at the same time.


Then we raced over to Grandma Bonhams house to celebrate more birthdays. No pics, sorry! But there were 3 adorable puppies that my brother had brought down from Snowflake to sell. All the kids did that night was play with the puppies and plead, cry and beg their parents to buy them and bring them home.
Then, this Saturday we enjoyed going to our good friends, Dena & Paul, home to celebrate Jaida's first birthday with them. It was a Strawberry Shortcake party. Lots of people, excellent food, fun swimming and the cutest little one year old you have ever seen. She is a doll. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. We had such a good time and I wish I had some pictures of it. The Gazeley's are one in a million. We are so fortunate to have them as such good friends and so glad to be living close to them again.
Yesterday, Kelli, Gary, Kaitlin, Grandma, Stephanie & Haylee came over for Sunday dinner. We had Gulash, yum, and red cabbage and Kelli made us ice cream blizzards for dessert. We had a nice evening eating, playing games and talking. I figured out that I am not good at a game called Encore (thinking of songs) and Jens is very good. The only downer of the evening was when Briggs and Haylee ran into eachother. We ran to see what had happened and saw Haylee holding her nose, blood dripping everywhere. It took a while for her nose to stop bleeding, but it finally did and she was okay. The poor girl looked like she had been on a set for a horror movie and Briggs was crying harder than she was. He wasn't hurt, he just felt bad. I think he was scared because I had just asked them to stop running in the house....."someone's going to get hurt!" Sure enough......
So, now it's back to school. Briggs and Reagan rode their scooters to school, all by themselves, for the first time today. I was very hesitant and having that weird feeling like I've forgotten to do something. I'll feel better once I see them home again. Ahh, they grow up so fast.

Posting Blues...

Tanya asked me when I was going to post again. Well, I wanted to post this weekend about our family birthday parties we had on Saturday, but I left my camera at my mom's house with all the cute pictures. I know that it is possible to post without pictures, but I've been waiting for them. See, I'm not a very good writer....my posts need good pictures, they need filler. So, I'll try to get my camera from my mom asap and post. We had a great time, by the way.

Lovin' The Monsoon...

Well, it was very warm today. We had planned to have Melissa and Heidi over to swim this afternoon. I went to pick up the kids from school and saw, in the distance, lots of dark clouds heading for our house. So we ran home, got our swim suits on and hurried out to the pool to swim for as much time as the weather would allow. The weather started getting a little too rough for us to feel completely comfortable and just as we all got out of the pool it started to sprinkle. We had, at least, a good 1/2 hour in the pool and it was lots of fun. Thanks Melissa and Heidi for hanging out and keeping us company this afternoon. We love you!

First Day of School!

In actuality, the second day of school. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the kids on their first day of school. Well, they were still as excited, if not more, for the second day! They love their new school, new teachers and they're making new friends every day. And we're very close to finding Eryn a "pretty" school to go to. She reminds me every day.

Blog Addict?

65%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Free Online Dating from Mingle²

I'm not as bad as I thought I'd be. Honestly, I think it's because I've been so busy with the move, vacation, getting kids into school and reading the new Harry Potter book that I haven't had as much time as I'd like to blog. That definitely helped lower my score. By the by, first day of school pics are coming. Now, lets see how addicted you guys are....

Catch Phrase

Thank You Tanya, Josh & Baby Hannah for this wonderful game. We found the package on our porch when we returned from our vacation. We were all very excited and couldn't wait to play. Here's a little video of us in action. Still not as much fun as playing it with you guys. We miss you!



By the by....
My sister Kelli noted that we will still be calling Hannah "Baby Hannah" when she's 16. I think she's is right. She'll always be our baby Hannah. The kids talk about her all the time, how much they miss coming home from school and seeing her. Briggs told me he loved doing his homework while baby Hannah was smiling at him. And, of course, Eryn will stop in the middle of doing something or just out of the blue say, " Aww, Baby Hannah is so cute! "

Bonham Family Vacation

We spent Monday thru Thursday camping with my family at Campland in San Diego on Mission Bay. We camped, swam, played and watched a basketball tournament, hung out at Mission beach, saw Harry Potter 5, roasted marshmallows, talked, laughed, watched fireworks, searched for treasure, searched for missing peoples, got pooped on by birds and babies, played in the dirt, ate in the dirt, slept in the dirt, everything in the dirt and had a wonderful time. Thanks to Denis and Melinda for putting this little family shindig togetha. We either love you or hate you for it. NOOOO, I'm just kidding! We love ya! Here are some pics of the fun....



Funny things...

Well, both myself and my brother David were pooped on by our sweet little nephew Aidan. We both grabbed and held him before we were aware he was leaking. Not so fun, but quite funny.

We were sitting around the campfire one night making up and telling stories. We played our favorite game where everyone takes a turn to make up part of the story ...and... I won't tell you the whole story, but when Eryn Jane's turn came around she said something like this... and then the pig fell in the hole and there was a snake and he said, What the Heck!

some pictures of the house

Here are a few pictures of our new place. It's not finished yet, will it ever be? I have so many ideas and so many things to do, but, as you all are aware, never enough time or money. This will give you an idea and you can see what we've done so far. We love it and it does help to have the pool in 116 degrees. You are all welcome to come take a swim and/or come and visit us anytime. Our Home is Your Home....
Dinner time....eating area and tv room.

kitchen, dirty kitchen!

playroom YIPEE!

Briggsy's room!

oh so beloved pool and backyard.

So, we still need to finish the girls room, the master bedroom, jens's office and put up the trampoline. Oh yeah, also the garage and the living room and dining room. I still have pictures lined up all along the walls on the floor, waiting to be hung. See, I don't know how to move without Christine. We're pulling it together and my sisters have been a big help. It's been stressful, exciting, exhausting and fun all at the same time.

Happy 4th

We had our first family gathering at our new home for the 4th of July. It was great. Oma made Gulash, Jens bbq'd hot dogs and I cut the watermelon. We had a lot of fun being with the family and some saw the new house for the first time. We did not brave driving out somewhere to see fireworks, we were poopers and watched them on tv. But, I do have to say how thankful I am to live and belong to this great country....even in 116 degree weather. Thanks to everyone for coming and for helping out with the food. We love ya! We missed all those who couldn't make it and will have to do it again soon.

back tracking...

Our last few days in San Jose were very memorable and I wanted to post some pictures and tell ya what we did. We spent our last Family Night having a bonfire in Santa Cruz with the McKibbens. We roasted marshmallows, ate, hung out and listened to music. It was so much fun. Eryn kept setting her mallows on fire and ate a few that had been rolled in the sand. She still loved them.

On our very last day I took all the girls to Raging Waters to hang out with Briggs and his friends at scout camp. The water was cold and it was a hot day (little did we know what awaited us...) We said goodbye and shed some tears and then drove off to our old, new home. In case your wondering what that first picture is...it is my favorite tree in San Jose. It looks like a road runner.

Keeping You Posted...

Yes, we're finally here in Chandler, AZ. We've been here since Saturday, but feels like we just got here yesterday. So much to do and so little time. Especially when the kids are barking at you all day to take them swimming. Don't get me wrong, I love having a pool (i fell i'd die w/out it in this heat), but it's hard to get things done. Then, we're always exhausted after being outside and swimming. Oh well, we'll get the hang of it. Pictures are on the way. Want to give a shout out to all the Family that helped us out Saturday and this week as well. We love you and don't know how we've managed without you for the last 6 yrs. We glad to be back home!

Happy Father's Day!

Daddy,
Hope you have a Wonderful Father's Day! We love you so much and are so grateful for you!

Daddy was away most of the week! He was in Boston for an Ebay Convention. He had lots of fun and went to Fenway "Pawk". But, we missed him. He came home Saturday with toys and trinkets for the kids...just in time for Father's Day. The kids had some gifts for him as well. Reagan made him a bookmark at school and Briggs made him a clay tie tack at Cub Scouts. He loved them. They also each made him a M&M bow tie at church. Mommy made Gulash and Daddy taught her how to make Spetzla noodles to go with it, yum.


The poem reads...
Happy Father's Day
To my special DAD
You play with me
and you make me glad
Here is a bow tie
and this is a clue...
You can wear it, or eat it
and I LOVE YOU!

It was our last Sunday in the Foothill Ward. Briggs and Reagan recieved their BIG Cookies for memorizing the 13 Articles of Faith. They also made me and the kids stand up while they sang us a Goodbye song. I had managed to stay composed for all of my meetings, until this little farwell. It is a great ward and we will miss it dearly. I'm surprised how attatched we became with our ward family in only one years time and I'm grateful as well.

Quiz Time-Out...

We've been busy packing and Jens left to take "stuff" to D.I. soooo, I thought I'd check up on my blogger friends.
I thought I'd hurry and take this quiz that Rachel posted before he gets home.

1. When was the last time you ran? a week ago. but, I did work out yesterday!
2. Do your jeans have rips, tears and holes in them? Always!
3. Do you get the full 8 hours of sleep a night? I have to!
4. If you had someone "stop by" without you knowing what would your house look like? right now? FULL of boxes and a complete mess!
5. Do you eat raw cookie dough? yes!
6. Have you ever kicked a vending machine? No I don't think so.
7.How do you eat an Oreo? twist em open and lick off the cream!
8. Have you ever stayed online for a very long time waiting for someone? I don 't get it, either.
9. Could you live without a computer? it would be rough. I've gotten so used to it.
10. Do you wear shoes in the house? No
11. At what age did you find out Santa wasn't real? don't know?
12. How many phones, house and cell phones are in your house? 4
13. Who would you call first if you won the lottery? ?don't play!
14. Last time you saw your best friend? Today! he came home this morning from a business trip. I hadn't seen him since Wednesday!
15. What jewelry are you wearing right now? none.
16. What is the first thing you do when you get on-line? check e-mail and blogs.
17. Do you watch 'Grey's Anatomy'? yes, love it!
18. How do most people spell your name? " en " instead of " in "
19. When was the last time you left your house? Last night!
20. Do you return your shopping cart? Sometimes
21. What noise do you hear right now? The garage door opening, ooops, he's home, I better hurry!
22. Who is the youngest in your family? ME
23. Who does the dishes at your house? mostly, I do.
24. If all of your friends were going on a road trip, who would be most likely to over pack and who would drive? I would over pack and I would like to drive, I get car-sick easily.
25.Do your siblings ever pay for stuff for you? Yes, they're very nice!
26. Do you know anyone with the same name as you? Very few!
27. When was the last time you cleaned your toilets? Last week, I think....that's really bad for me!
28. Do you watch movies with your parents? not really.
29. Do you get your hair cut every month? No, my hairstylist lives in AZ. Since I've been away it's been about every 6 months. But, that will soon change, hooray!
30. What was the last thing you purchased? packing paper and boxes.

Ok everyone, copy and paste...you know you want to!
Thanks Rachel! You put some fun in my day!

The Last Few Days In A Nutshell...

Wednesday A Day To Remember: Tanya took me on a tour of Santa Cruz. She was born and raised there, so knows the ins and outs and cool spots. We had so much fun. We went for a walk along West Cliff. She showed me her special place = some rocks where she would sit and watch the waves come in, her soul searching place. I immediately understood why she had chosen it, it's very beautiful! Then, we ate at her fav taco joint. Very Delish! We also visited Capitola and walked around. It was so cute. We saw where her and Josh spent their honeymoon, a very romantic little inn by the sea, we spent way too much $ on taffy and then I bought a kite for Eryn and we went to the beach to fly it because it was quite windy, a perfect kite flying day. It was so clear and just the perfect temp. Thanks Tanya for a great day, one of the greatest I've spent. We were exhausted when we finally got home, but it was well worth it!

Thursday Choir Performance: We attended Briggsy's choir concert and took brownies for their choir party afterwards. Briggs did very well! Besides the occasional yawn and fidget with his belt, He sang well and remembered all the words. It was a good show. Eryn was a little distracting. She found a 4yr old friend who is just as wild as she is and they got quite loud from time to time. All in all, it was a very good performance. Way to go, Briggs!


Friday Field Trip: If you haven't noticed, Briggs has been recieving a lot of attention lately. I think Reagan's been having some jealousy issues. So, I figured, the best way to resolve this was to be a helper in Reagan's class and go on their field trip. Tanya graciously agreed to watch Eryn Jane..thank you..and I was good to go. The first graders have been learning about careers lately and goods vs. services and all that fun stuff. We walked to the Wells Fargo Bank, Pasta Pamodoro (restaurant), Jamba Juice (they got a free sample, yum!), and Mail Boxes Etc. I'm sure you can bet what they were most excited about...J.J. There was a employee there that was dressed up in a big banana costume and then they let the whole class walk inside their big freezer. Who could ask for a better day? Getting shoved inside a freezer with your friends and free Jamba? I'm in! Yes, it was a success. I think Reagan, once again, felt loved by her Momma!

Saturday A Day At The Beach: Saturday we woke up early and got outside to help Jens take down the trampoline and pack it up. We only have so many more days, we thought we'd get started. It was actually quite fun. The kids were very helpful and had a good time. It was probably due to the fact that we promised to take them to the beach. Yay! Which we did, we took a beautiful drive up to Half Moon Bay. It was gorgeous! We were driving along the coast and Eryn said, "Look there's the lake!" The kids disagreed with her, but she finally got her way. We finally stopped at the "perfect" beach. The wind was cold, but the sun and sand were sooo warm! The kids and I hung out, played and flew our kite at the beach while Jens went on a bike ride. He came back, we ate and then he took the kids exploring while I got to lay out and get a little shut eye! What a life. There's nothing like taking a nap while your listening the waves. And, on the way home we saw a ton of Kite Surfers out on the ocean. It looked like so much fun. Briggs said he would like to try that sometime. We had such a great day, one of our last times to visit the beach for a while, so sad, but we're grateful we had this day!

Sunday A Talk, A Scripture & Prayer, & 13 Articles of Faith: First things first...Daily Funnies...We were sitting in sacrament meeting and they had just passed the bread. Eryn Jane was sitting on Jens's lap and they were whispering. I started listening when...
Eryn - you like bread Dad? you're a boy Dad?
Jens - Yeah, what do boys eat?
Eryn - bread!
Jens - what do girls eat?
Eryn - Poskiscles!
In Primary, Briggs gave the talk. He did very well and we're very proud of him, considering that all morning he insisted that he Was Not going to do it. Well, he made it through. Then it was Eryn Jane's turn to say the scripture and prayer. I started reading her the scripture in her ear, and she copied me, until about half way through and then realized that she likes to do everything HERSELF! and started screaming into the microphone, "I DO IT!" I finally had to just let her say the prayer. She said a very nice, very long prayer. I tried to get her to end it, of course, she didn't like that one bit and started screaming into the mic again. Then she said, very sweetly and reverently.."and..thank you for a pokemon battle..in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." Needless to say, she has become all the primary kids favorite little Sunbeam.
Now...For the really, really excited news...DA DA DA DUM...
Briggs and Reagan finished passing off all of the 13th Articles of Faith today! They worked so hard and did such a good job! We are so very proud of them. And, now, next Sunday , on their last Sunday in our San Jose ward, they'll each get a huge, giagantic cookie! They were beaming as we walked out to the car! Reagan said, "oh..I just want the cookie now!!! I can almost taste it!" Then, Briggs said, "So,what are you guys going to give us?" Typical!

Oh, Say Can You See....

Finally!!! I have been trying all freakin'weekend to upload this video. I had to cut it short, but I've uploaded the best part... Briggsy's enthusiasm.
For those who were'nt aware....
Briggs's school choir sang, along with all the other choirs in the Evergreen School District, the National Anthem at a San Jose Giants baseball game last friday night. He was so excited and had so much fun being out on the field. He behaved himself very well and did an excellent job, as did all the children. We're very proud of him. His choir teacher told me recently that, "When Briggs is paying attention and participating (uh-oh ), he has a really good voice and sings very well." WOW! He's finally letting one of his talents shine through again. When he was a toddler he sang ALL THE TIME. But, I think he got shy for a while. Well, he's back! And we're so glad. Now for the piano lessons...right!

Daily Funnies...

Eryn asked me AGAIN this morning, " Soon I go to school Mom? "
" Yep, after summer is over, you'll get to go to Pre-school."
" Silly Mommy, it's PRETTY-school! "

Opening Night!

Lights! Camera! Action!
We had so much fun tonight! First we went as a family to Taco Bell (Briggsy's choice) for dinner and then headed off to Laurelwood for the play. Briggs was so excited! He told us just what to do, "Go and find seats in the gym. Wait there! I have to get ready in my classroom." Reagan and Eryn were just as excited. We found seats just a few rows back, but they saw their friends, Lauren, Justice and Jewel sitting on the front row and had to join them. Front Row seats are the best, right! They behaved themselves and had a great time watching the play. We saw a lot of Briggsy's friends and neighbors in the play as well. Clark was the "Hairy Godfather", Jenesis was the main girl, Gabriel was a Pirate, Brenna was part of the backstage crew, and Anuj was the King. They all did very well in their parts. Briggs did an awesome job! He's quite the comedian and said that his favorite part was when the audience would laugh at the jokes and silly parts. He also said he was sad that it was over. He loves being on the stage. Uh-oh! Has he caught the bug? We'll see. We had so much fun sharing the evening with him and as a family! So, we can truly say..... and they lived Happily Ever After (at least for tonight!) The End!

Preview of the All-Star Play: Good Books

Here's a sneak peak of the upcoming play Good Books performed by the 3rd grade class of Laurelwood Elementary. Opening night will be Thursday,May 31st. The show starts at precisely 6:30pm.
Briggs Dunford,a rising star actor, plays the comical and loveable Sir Garwin. When we asked Briggs, in a recent interview, what he thought of his upcoming role he replied, "I think it's perfect for me. They don't call me the class clown for nothin'!"

ZZZZZZ....

Lately she's been climbing into bed with Jens and I in the middle of the night. Doesn't she look so harmless and peaceful and sweet. No, she's all over the place. Kicking and moving.....Jens finally had enough and removed himself to the couch. Poor Jens! But, it is fun when she'll snuggle.

Memorial Day Weekend in Monterey

We spent Saturday down in Monterey with the Oditt Family. We met Dan, Nancy, Daniel & Emily at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They got us in for free with some extra guest passes, Thanks Guys! and we had a great time. It was pretty crowded, but it was expected and we still had a blast.

Eryn didn't want to take her picture......she was too busy. It was hard enough to get these 4 to sit still.

Nancy and Emily working on a craft.
Then, it was off to Pebble Beach. We found a picnic table to eat some lunch and then hung out on the sand in the freezing cold. The kids didn't seem to mind, in fact they loved it. It didn't take us long, though, to convince them it was time to go. So we drove the 17mile drive and ooo'ed and awww'ed at the mansions and the beautiful scenery. Thanks Oditt's for the fun day. We're so glad we got a chance to hang out again before heading back to Arizona. When you're in AZ again give us a call, we'd love to see you.

Uh-Oh Emily!

Reagan dragging seaweed.

Daniel, trying to start a sand fight with mom. He didn't quite get the response he was hoping for.

The adults sitting back watching our fearless kids, trying to keep as warm as possible. Poor Dan, forgot his jacket at home.

Briggs! Lord of the Beach!

Congrats to Jordin!

I am glad that Jordin won. I think she did an awesome job. I'm not sad that Blake didn't win. I think he and everyone else, knows that he is going to have an awesome career. We didn't get to see most of the finale and missed the first 30 mins of the Lost finale because our power was out. We were quite frustrated. A lot of people were telling me that Blake did an awesome number. Oh well, I believe them. And, we got to see most of Lost and we were happy with it. No matter how much I think I've figured out I always am frustrated and confused at the end. I love it. I can't wait until next fall.

So, without further ado, it's time we all say goodbye to the Blake Lewis bobblehead. I know how much we all loved it.

Daily Funnies...

Eryn Jane - look Mom, there's the school bus.
Mom - soon you'll be going to school.
Eryn Jane - yes! I'll go to pre-school with my pack-pack and I'll get a boy.

I'm It! I'm It!

I've been tagged by my best friend Christine! As she explained it in her blog, this is when you are given a challenge to come up with 7 wonderful things about your life, other than friends, family, etc. I had a feeling that this challenge would soon come to me as I was reading my friend, Jeni's blog. She had tagged Christine, and somehow I knew.....it was coming. I'm sure the feeling had a lot to do with the fact that Christine is always there to listen to me vent. Now she wants to hear some good things...she's tired of hearing the bad. So, Christine, this is for you. I hope not to disapoint.
This is harder than I thought....(most of them will probably be food.)

1. The new Pomegranate Paradise Jamba, with Protien and Burner Boost ( I need all the help I can get! ). Eryn would disagree....her favorite is the Strawberry Whirl. It's so fun to stop at Jamba Juice and pick one up on the way home from the gym. It's nice to treat yourself after you've done something good, Right!

2. The Work and The Glory series....I've become something I never thought was possible. I'm a reader. I love these books. I'm on book 7 now. They're fun to read and I feel like I'm learning church history at the same time. Jens has been reading another series by Gerald N. Lund called The Kingdom and The Crown. I'll start those as soon as I finish with the Glories.

3. Television! I'm sorry, but yes! There's nothing quite like the thrill of waiting all week to watch your favorite shows. Lost, The Office and Grey's Anatomy. Oh, and don't let me forget AI. How could I forget Blake? Oh, what a long summer it will be without my shows!

4. Blogging! I love to scrapbook and journal, but I never find the time. It's so hard to get out all the paper, tools, stickers, print out stuff on my computer and put it together. Blogging is Fantastic, I can be creative, scrapbook and journal all at the same time without making a mess. I love it and, as I have previously stated, I'm obsessed with it.

5. Working out with your friends. 2 birds with 1 stone! I just have to say thanks to all the friends who poked and proded me to get to the gym and/or get outside. Walking with Christine, Going to the gym with Dena, Interval Training in my backyard with Tanya, Running up the Papago and on the beach in San Diego with Kaci and Danielle, Cycling class with Jens. How can you workout and love it if you're not chatting and bonding with your friends and family at the same time.

6. San Jose weather! The weather here lately has been beautiful! Warm sun, nice cool breezes. I love being able to leave my windows open. I love to hear the wind blow outside! I love that at times it's almost cold! I love the green trees and hills! I love all the flowers that have instantly bloomed in our backyard! I love that at the beach, the air is cold, but the sun and sand is nice and warm! Maybe I'm noticing it more due to the fact that in one month we will be living in smoldering, blistering hot weather. I'm trying to enjoy this weather as much as I can. I know I can't take it with me, it makes me sad. Thank Goodness we'll have a pool!

7. I've saved the best for last! My ipod! I love music! I love singing and dancing with my kids while we're listening to the ipod play in our kitchen. I love listening to it in my car. I love listening to it while I work out. I love it! It's small and easy and organized and very clean. No clutter of CD's to mess around with and have laying all over around the house. The Hills Are Alive!

Well, I thought this was going to be hard, but as I got going I realized that I had to leave out a few things to only pick 7. Like, eating your kids cheerios and pretzels snack at church (they taste so good.), strawberries & raspberries in season to make jam, sunday naps, Oma's Gulasch, free cool haircuts (thanks Kase!), my daily banana. I could go on and on, now. I'm still pretty proud of my list and hope you enjoyed it. Thanks Christine and Jeni! It is nice to reflect on all the wonderful blessings in life that you don't normally think of... The things that make you smile and help you get up in the morning. The things that make your day good or hopefully great! I do have to say, in closing, how much I do love my family and my friends. They are at the top of my list!
Oh, I almost forgot. It's my turn to tag someone, right! I tag Brooke! I'm so excited to have this chance to get back in touch with some of my high school buddies! It's fun to see what their lives are like now and remembering what they were like way back when. All of them look the same, if not better, to me! (not fair!) So, Brooke, I remember some of your favs from high school. What are they now?

Daily Funnies!

Eryn - Daddy, it's time to wake up
Daddy - OK! (rubbing his eyes, getting up from a Sunday nap)
Eryn - You're hurt Daddy? What you have?
Daddy - My eyes itch, see? (Jens opening his eyes wide) They're all red.
Eryn - Oh! Daddy! They're cracked!


Reagan - Mom, is it going to take long to drive to AZ.
Mom - yeah, it's going to take us all day.
Reagan - Oh, so if we leave at like four will we get there at five?
Mom - it'll take a bit longer than that.
Reagan - Mom, when we move to AZ and live there will my cousins not be my cousins anymore?
Mom - Of course they'll still be your cousins.
Reagan - But, we'll live right by them?

Spoiled Much?

Today, I took the girls with me to get Subway for Jens. Jamba Juice is right across the parking lot, so I asked the girls if they wanted Subway or Jamba. Eryn stated the obvious - Jamba Juice for me, mom. Well, we waited in line for Subway and the girls got thirsty and wanted a drink. I asked Eryn again to choose between the two. She changed her mind, so I got us all Subway and drinks there. As we were drivig away, we passed J.J. Sprite in hand she says (more like yells) - Hey! Mom!?! What about my Jamba?

Your Mom Is Really Nice!

Briggs was playing in our backyard with Gabriel (our neighbor) yesterday afternoon. They had a great time. It was a beautiful day with a cool breeze blowing so, we had the windows open. Jens overheard them talking:
Gabriel - your mom is really nice!
Briggs - Yeah, she has her moments!

Need I say more?

Obsessed & Totally Insane

So, right now I'm feeling a little crazy. I've become obsessed with blogging and itunes. I can't stop. Jens is going to be very upset with me for two reasons...1) I've had a pile of clean laundry on my couch waiting to be layed out and/or folded since 8am this morning..it's still there and now his shirts are completely wrinkled. No big deal, some would say, but those who know me best know that ironing is not my thing....and he has to do it himself. And b) I've bought way to many new songs lately. It's so easy when you're account is all set up and you just have to do a couple of clicks and the song is yours. Then you realize when you look at your bank statements how easy it really is. Stomach sickening easy! So, he'll be checking the statement this weekend. Pray for me, will you!

Hannah Jayne & Eryn Jane

Yes, I'm A Geek!

I don't care what everyone is saying.....this is the first year I've been "in to" American Idol and I've liked Blake from the beginning. I think everything about him is cool, he's got a certain appeal. Yes, Melinda Doolittle has the best voice, but , in my opinion is not as fun to watch, she's a little boring, but I guess that's just taste in music. Also, I think Blake will end up selling a lot more records than Melinda. Is that really what this competition is about? I don't know. But I'm glad Blake made it to the finals.

More Questions....

Today we were driving to Eryn's friend, Isabella's, house for a playdate. She was so excited I think she couldn't just sit still and be quiet. She had to say something...
"Mom, do spiders hurt dinosaurs?"
"Do kittens lick hands?"
"Say Yes, Mom, kittens lick my hands and it tickles."
"Kittens are so cute!"

Happy Mother's Day!

Jens got me flowers and watched the kids over the weekend and the kids made me bath salts at a Primary activity. It was great to go to church and hang out and rest with my family. It was a very nice day! I'm grateful and blessed to have such a wonderful family. I love them all very much!

What are you, Cherokee? Ya Chipowa? What are you, Sioux? You got Sioux in You?

This is what Kaci and I were laughig about all week....my favorite SNL skit!

It's San Francisco Baby!!!

Kaci and I had a BLAST in San Fran! We Love It, Love It, Love It. If we could go back in time, we'd move there together, rent a place and live together, go running by the bay and over the Golden Gate, shop and stare at the cutest (we're talking runway model cute, just delish) "BOYS!"
We shopped til we dropped, hung out at Union Square, ate at the Cheesecake Factory on the top floor of Macy's, People Watched (especially those cute boys...eye candy never hurt anyone, right?) Then we rented some bikes and rode them over the Golden Gate to Sausalito. We joked that we ate Salsa and took some Salsa Dancing Lessons in Sausalito, but we didn't. We just hung out, it was Gorgeoous. BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS, WISH YOU WERE HERE! Then we took a ferry back the city and walked around. We went to Ghiradelli Square and had the most DECADENT (it's soo good you can actually call it DECADENT!) ice cream with fudge sauce. We also went down to Pier 39 and picked up some SWTaffy and the best and the biggest strawberries we have ever tasted. Yum!
We laughed so much and so hard, my cheeks still hurt. Kaci, Thanks SO MUCH for all the fun! I'm so glad that we did this together. I'd love to turn into Mom & Aunt Kathy with you.....let's see the world! I'm In! Love you and Miss you already!

What are you 6'2"? Ya 6'2"? What are you, Cherokee? Ya Chipowa? What are you Sioux? You got Sioux in you? You're adorable, I'm flirtin!

Time To Cut Some Hair...

You better sit still, you better not cry, you better wet your hair and comb it out nice....Kaci Moore (hairdresser extraordinaire) is coming to town.
Kaci came to San Jose and what's the first thing you think she did? Cut hair, you say? You're exactly right! She sat us down, one by one, and hooked us up with some Awesome Do's. We are very grateful that she spent her vacation time helping us look more beautiful. Thanks Kase!

Go, Suns, Go!

Eryn Jane kicking back, watching the suns.
"Come on, come on, come on..." (suns score) "Yes! Alright! Go Suns!"
Daddy and Uncle Dan have trained her well. Reagan, on the other hand, is routing for the Spurs. Who can blame her, she was grown in Spurs country, and in Spurs country you LOVE the Spurs, or else!

This one is for Christine.....
Briggs took your advice and drew a portrait of Kaci, just for you!

Let The Questioning Begin....

Eryn Jane is in her "question asking" phase.
"You like that mom?"
"Is that a castle?" (no, it's a temple) "Its a temple?"
"Is that light green?" "say yes mom, and go."
The latest question she asks about 10 times a day....
"what do turtles eat?"
"what do bugs eat?"
"what do fishies eat?"
"we don't eat bugs, right?" "we don't eat poop, right?"

Sketch Artists

Briggs had a lot of fun drawing portraits of people this week!