A little round of golf

Gam and Pa (Tucker's mom and dad) are here visiting for a couple days! The kids have loved having such fun company! We thought it would be fun to squeeze some adult time in, so we got Guillemina and Silvina to babysit the kids this morning and we did 9 holes of golf. It was fun. Tucker can't enjoy himself fully because he is SO focused on beating his Dad! He has never beat his Dad in golf and it is a life-long goal of his. I kept saying, "relax and just have fun! we never get to do this!". Today he was ahead until the last hole, but ended up missing the last putt and tying Neal. He was sooooo frustrated , oh well, there is always next game. Anyway, it was fun and we even had time to get some In-N-Out afterwards. Now the rest of the day is "grandkid" time! They are so excited that Gam and Pa are having a "sleepover", as they call it.

Tucker was nice and rented a cart for us - in case my arthritis couldn't handle all the holes

what a gentleman, carrying BOTH golf bags :-)

Can't you just feel the determination-to-win oozing from Tucker as he watches his Dad?

The foursome
Gam was tired from traveling, but still very nice to read books to the girls

Pa, also tired, falls asleep at the drop of a hat...so Tucker put the girls on a mission to load Pa up with princess toys!

Tucker was playing with the girls, as usual....and then he convinced his Mom to give it a try!

...and even convinced his Dad to try!

Flashback Friday and Happy 18th

TOMORROW is Kristy's 18th Birthday! Wow, officially an adult now. Crazy. Lindy and I took her to dinner last night. We went to PF Changs and a movie, then drove through and got a healthy snack at Krispy Kreme on the way home. It was fun girl times and fun to celebrate such a big birthday! We wish Carly could have had some sister time with us, but she is crazy busy preparing to move right now. Happy Birthday Kristy!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY PICS...

Lindy and Kristy

Me and Kristy
Cute Kristy

AND LAST NIGHT PICS...

Lindy, Kristy and me at Dinner

me and Kristy posing before the movie

(i love this one) We had a fun silly photo shoot before the movie, and this one is classic. Lindy has only 6 days left of this style of babywearing! :-)

We are Fish!

It's that time of year...and we are so happy to have a few pools around to jump into. My kids are DEFINITELY fish this year...and they NEVER want to get out of the water!

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Peyton absolutely loves the water - this is her with her favorite baby pal Luke. She must know they were friends even in-utero because she gets SO happy when she sees Luke!

This is a common scene at our house lately....lots of kids and they are all in swimsuits!

A bunch of my friends and I get together for swimming at Rosa's house on Fridays - the kids love it...and the moms can squeeze a little socializing in (in the day of this pic, there were a total of 7 moms and 20 kids!)

And, finally, we have begun swimming lessons this week at the High School here. Alyson is visiting for a couple weeks, so she is doing swim lessons with us and loving it! Jordyn, Alyson and Lindsay are all in the same class. Lexi surrendered her anxieties and finally joined her class today in the water. She loved it once she did it....Lexi has to do things on her OWN time.

Their teacher is Camille...who we go to church with, so that's extra fun for them!

'Famous' Family Blender Drink

Ever since I can remember, the *B* Family Blender Drink has existed (I hesistate to share last names on a blog, but you know who I mean). My mom always made the BEST blender drinks, and now that my sisters and I have our own kids, we are keeping the tradition alive! Our kids love these blender drinks and get them quite regularly. The ingredients are basic and can be modified (for example, you could add protein powder, vitamins, or when I was a kid my mom used to add raw egg for my dad - yuck!). Here's how I do it:

[For a 24 oz serving, (good for 1 adult or two kids)]...

-1 cup milk
-1 banana (best if its pretty ripe, a little sweeter)
-a couple swirls of honey
-heaping spoonful of peanut butter (or to taste)
-chocolate! (this is optional, I like it best with it, and I use Ovaltine, Instant Breakfast or Quick)
-one big handful of ice, (then add one cube at a time until it is swirling smoothly but not watery)
-blend (to me the key is to blend A LOT) till smooth, no chunks.

I use it as a snack, a breakfast drink or if there is absolutely nothing else I can get down the kids, at least this has SOME nutrition. Growing up I loved to drink it with toast on the side. All their friends that come over want their parents to make it for them. Try it!

Flashback Friday

I can't focus on what I SHOULD be doing today because I'm having so much fun looking for "flashback friday" pics. In light of my recent "friend" roadtrip, I dug up lots of pics with them. And I am totally laughing my butt off. Some of you may not be thrilled at the sight of [some of] these pics on my BLOG of all places, but you have to admit they are hilarious! I love to look back on the "good ol' days" and realize how intertwined so many of my friends are! Enjoy...

Karli (my sis Carly) and Me - maybe 1989?

Me and Tara - isn't this sick? We thought it would be 'fun' to dress up like vogue girls. Mmmm...don't think we achieved that! Maybe 1994?

Shana (we just went to her wedding), Katie and I - Tennis Babes! 1993 I think? Look at that hair!

Me, Shana and Katie - Senior year 1995 (hair is a little better)

Me and Britt - 1995. Love the hair!!

Me and Britt a few years later - college - maybe 1998?

Me, Lindy and Kristy 1998

Life in Hawaii - we were getting ready to catch the bus (vicki, me, tiff, karli and rebekah) 1999

Me, Karli, Britt, Tiff and Heidi in front of our 'beautiful' Linoleum House! 1998

This is crazy

I hope I describe this adequately...

The Background: So like 4-5 months ago, Tucker lost his wedding ring. He took it off when he worked out at my dad's house and somewhere between there and home, poof! It was gone. We were sad...both for sentimental reasons and $$$ reasons (like $400 to get a comparable one). Soooo, for months he didn't wear one, which bugged me.....a lot. We finally got a temporary cheapie replacement a few weeks ago.

On to the wierd part: So last night Tucker gets home from going out with the missionaries and having a great experience. As he was telling me about it, he somehow dropped his (cheapie) ring down in the big recliner chair. So he turns it upside down and NOTHING. He shakes the chair and still no ring. I (very sarcastically) said "Well, now you've lost two rings. I bet they're in there together".

All of the sudden, I hear Tucker [behind the chair] laughing this wierd laugh. I look up, and guess what he is holding in his hands? BOTH rings! The cheapie AND the real one!!!!

(although I really like the silver "cheapie" ring, the gold is the sentimental expensive one!)

We were so shocked! I mean, what are the chances that he would drop another ring in the EXACT same spot? It was hidden in some velcro part of the chair that we would have NEVER, EVER, EVER thought to look in had this cheapie ring not fallen. It was so cool! I wish I knew if things like that were just a strange coincidence....or maybe some sort of small blessing from above? Either way, hooray!

Why

~Why is it so dang hot?
~Why do babies have to get sick, and sometimes you CAN'T help them? (like last night, screaming and throwing up till the wee hours in the morning)
~Why do I have to feel so tired? or....why can't I learn to go to bed earlier?
~Why do I feel like eating every single Hawaiian Host Chocolate that Alex sent to us?
~Why, even though I'm not happy with my weight right now, do I STILL want to eat every single chocolate?
~Why don't I like my children to play out in the front yard? Am I paranoid, or is that just life these days?
~Why is my electric bill $350, it's only June and I keep it around 78?
~Why does the inside of Home Depot have to be as hot as outside...making me not want to drag the three kids there to do the things I want to do?
~Why does Jordyn ask me every single day if today is the day she starts kindergarten?
~Why did Ricardo's, my favorite restaurant in the entire world, have to close down???????

Just a few of the thoughts I often wonder...

Road Trippin'

So, we just got back from a [very spontaneous] road trip! I wanted to see some of my longest friends who all live far away from me, so I packed up all the kids...along with Lindy (my brave 36 week pregnant sister) & Lyric and off we went! We were gone for a week, saw lots of friends, made lots of memories and lost lots of sleep. As crazy as it was...and as much energy as the week took (I am still in the recovery process)...it was SO worth it. I always wish I could see my long-distance friends more often...maybe this will be a summer tradition. And I am SO glad Lindy came with - it would not have been even half as smooth or fun without her!! I am so thankful for each of these people and the roles they have played in my life. My mom was always an example to me of having lots of friends - and she always taught me that each friend can be equally important in different ways. That is so true in my life. Thanks to all of you for being so important in my life!

I don't know if it's possible to re-cap the week appropriately, but I'll try...

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First we spent time with Tara and her kids. Tara and I have been friends since we were babies, so she is definitely family to me. Tara is probably the most creative, artistic and inventive people I know. She made a great BBQ chicken dinner and then we roasted smores with the kids. She just had her third (little baby Eddie) three months ago. We get to see eachother way less than I'd like!

Tara (as I said is inventive) made these baby wraps!

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Our next stop was to set up camp at Tiffany's house. Tiff and I have been friends for 9 years - ever since we were roomates at BYU Hawaii. She is my soul mate friend who totally gets me. She has a big room that was perfect for us to unload and use as home base during out visit.

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The next day we drove up to Brittany's new house. She just had a baby (her third...little Ashkiilani). We hung out and had fun catching up. Britt and I have known eachother for 20 years, and have lots of fun memories- especially from the good ol' college years when we were roomates!

Jordyn, Ame, Kaipo, Peyton, Lexi and Lyric

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Next was a really fun waterpark. A bunch of us met there and let the kids go wild. It was perfect for our 5 and under aged children - even Peyton loved it!

(Look at Lindy...what a trooper!!)

Tiff and I with our babies! Eliza (15 months) and Peyton (7 months)
All the gang!
Britt, me and Katie
After the waterpark we went to Katie's for pizza. It's so fun to see our kids play since Katie and I have MANY memories of playing from age 10 on. Katie has been a staple in my life for almost as long as I can remember. It's strange to see life come full circle like this.

look at those cute girls - Savannah and Jordyn


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Next stop was Karli. Tiff, Lindy, myself and all the girls met Karli for lunch and then hung out at her cute house. Karli and I also go way back...since age 10 when we were assistants in a magic show together. From that moment on, we were bonded! Kar overlaps lots of phases in my life...from jr high crushes to college heartbreaks to working at McDonalds in Hawaii and now to being wives and mommies.


Karli was SOOOO nice to teach Jordyn how to take pictures with her NICE and NEW camera. What a nice gal!

I can't explain how much Peyton liked Chase - she wasn't scared of his almost horse-like-size!!! ha ha. Chase was REALLY hoping she'd share her bottle with him!

Happy Father's Day

To Tucker, first of all...we love you more than anything! And then course to our own dads (now the Grandpas!) Hugs and kisses :-)

Snopes.com

Oh my gosh I hate email "forwards". I'm sorry, but I do. I guess I should specify that I can't stand FALSE email forwards, which SO many are! For example, I just got an email forwarded to me about how "a new Pepsi can omits the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegience". So I searched for it on snopes.com and it confirmed that it was false - and has been circulating since 2002. Anyway, if you've never gone to the website, check it out! It's quite interesting.

By the way - Recital Success

Just wanted to re-cap how well the Dance Recital went! Jordyn and Lexi (and little Lyric) all did SOOOO well. I was very nervous because Lexi got freaked out at the rehearsal a few days prior and screamed like her arm was being sawed off. So over the next few days, we talked it through (at least a million times) and she was SUCH a brave girl. I was very proud of all these little cuties. I don't think ANY feeling compares to being a proud parent of your child's accomplishments. It makes me get teary eyed.

By the way...the "reward" they both picked out: Lexi picked out an Elina Barbie Doll from Fairytopia that has wings that flap. Jordyn picked out Barbie with her dog Tanner....who eats and poops - very exciting!

Lexi - starting to freak out

Look at those cute girls from behind

Our little family

Jordyn on stage

Lexi and Jordyn with their friends, Lindsay and Ashlyn