Happy 5th Birthday Baby Girl

Family Birthday Party

First Friend Birthday Party

Theme -- Princesses

Robyn was so excited about her party she was dressed and ready for the party to start first thing in the morning. Annalise & some of her friends helped (which was wonderful). Otherwise it could have been a disaster. (Click on the pictures to get a closer look.)

What to do on a foggy day

We haven't just had a foggy day, we've had several damp and foggy days. I don't think we've seen the sun for at least week (not my favorite type of days). Where do you go when you're tired of the house and it's too yucky to go outside?

We went to the open gym time at the local gymnastics place

with a couple of friends.

There was lots of jumping

which eventually tired her out. Didn't you know -- that was my plan all along!

A Night and a Day in the City

My bestest Christmas gift was from Jeff. He bought us tickets to see:

Now, I had told him that's what I wanted for Christmas. In fact I was very insistent. But he couldn't just do what I tell him, he had to go way beyond. He arranged for his mother & sister to watch the girls while we spent the night in the city. Not what I expected at all.

So on Tuesday we headed down to the city. We did a little window shopping, saw the movie Blind Side (highly recommend), and we went out to eat (very delicious) Chinese food.

I did enjoy the King Tut exhibit even though it wasn't quite what I was expecting. Jeff got VIP tickets so we went to the head of the line. This was a good thing because even though there were time tickets, the line was long.

Afterwards we walked around the museum. There were other interesting things to see. My favorite exhibit (other than King Tut) showed a collection of Amish quilts. They were amazing. I wish I could quilt like that.

Also part of the museum is an observation tower where you can look over the city. It was a nice day on Wednesday.
I had to put this in. This is the California Academy of Sciences which is next door. This is the living roof that is one of the main museum exhibits. As a mother of a recent toddler -- my first thought was it looked like Teletubbie land. What do you think?

It is the bestest Christmas in my whole life

This was a quote from my youngest daughter. She is one who feels (and expresses herself) to the extreme. It was a small Christmas so it made me feel really good to hear her say that. It means she didn't even notice.

Robyn showing off her necklace. Annalise bought matching necklaces. The one for Robyn says "Little Sister" and Annalise's says "Big Sister."

Boy, was Jeff surprised. The girls made these picture frames (Robyn's not shown) when we were over at a friend's house for dinner. Thank you Staci for being so sneaky!

For dinner we headed up to Jeff's mom's house. Once up there the girls had a fun time opening more gifts. It was a nice Christmas for everyone.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas News 2009

Merry Christmas everyone! It's been a crazy year. So crazy that I didn't end up mailing out cards this year. Sorry! Anyway, I thought I should write something about the year so you know what we are up to.

Jeff -- This has been a busy year for him. The school district closed his middle school but fortunately for us they transferred him to another school. Now he's principal at a K-8 school. He's never worked with elementary school kids so this is definitely a learning experience, but he's enjoying it as well. At the same time as the job transfer Jeff started graduate school. He's going back to get an educational doctorate in Educational Leadership. So this fall has been crazy busy for him. The icing on the cake (?) happened a couple of weeks ago. Jeff just got called as the second counselor in our ward bishopric at church. They know his time limitations so hopefully everything will work out. Wish us luck.

Susan -- I'm just trying to keep up with everyone else. I still help out when needed at the gym's daycare. I'm still chauffeur to the girls. Never fear, I still read a ton of books, spend way too much time on the computer, and I've also gotten back into sewing. Check out the girls' Christmas outfits -- I made them. I was able to buy a serger which is exciting for me as I've wanted one for many years. I entered in the county fair again this year and received two red ribbons. I enjoyed receiving the ribbons so much that I'm already planning on what to enter next year -- hopefully this next year I can get a blue ribbon instead of a red.

Thing One -- She's now in fifth grade and doing very well in school. This year she participated in the summer swim team and played soccer again this fall. Besides sports she also takes dance (jazz) once a week and participates in girl scouts with her friends from school. She's gotten so grown up that now we just let her answer the phone. It's usually for her.

Thing Two -- She's in her last year of preschool. Next year she will start kindergarten. It's hard to believe time can pass by so quickly. She loves to spend time with her sister and play with her friends from school and church. She's been begging me for dance lessons but I figure that next year a good time to start. I think I need to get her in piano lessons in the future. She's already picking out tunes on the piano.

We hope you all are having a wonderful holiday and enjoying your time off of work & school. Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

Mr. Bean Nativity Scene

One of my favorite clips. Merry Christmas everyone!

Charles Schulz Museum

Also over Thanksgiving vacation, we (plus one) headed over to the Charles Schulz Museum one day.

It's a pretty neat place to visit, especially for Peanuts fans like Jeff & I.

This mural is made up of individual cartoon strip tiles all the way from floor to the ceiling. They even had cartoon strip tiles in the bathroom. How considerate, you could read while you wait. :)

The museum had a few activities especially for the kids. One activity was a crossword puzzle. The answers were found on the back of the Linus sculpture in the garden. When they turned in the activities' sheet the museum gave them character magnets -- which are now proudly on our refrigerator.

The girls just goofing around. I'm not sure if you can see him but that's Snoopy underneath the girls.

Afterwards we went ice skating. Across the street is Snoopy's Home Ice, and it's a really nice skating rink. Jeff & the girls went skating while I just watched. Robyn did really well. She was able to skate without touching the wall.

Hockey player Charlie Brown posing with the girls.