I've Been Tagged!

May 2004
So, here we are on a business trip with a former co-worker of Kyle's ( and his wife)... you know, when Kyle and I had another life. This would be pre-chiropractic school. We went to Monterey Bay in California. It was gorgeous! I probably would have liked to trip alot better if I hadn't been throwing up the whole time though. (This was when I was pregnant with Allison.) I actually have a really funny story about throwing up in the bathroom at the Pebble Beach Club House... you should ask me about it sometime. I'll just say that I felt really bad for the "bathroom attendant" who had to listen to it all and to top it off... they only provided real towels for their bathroom guests and I had some cleaning up to do. Not pretty.

Here are the instructions.
1. Go to your pictures
2. Upload the fourth picture in the fourth file.
3. Post
4. Tag 4 friends.
I tag whoever happens to read this... do it if you want!

Been there, done that...

Yup. Went at midnight with Michelle (my niece). Too bad I drank a Dr. Pepper to stay awake and now I can't sleep, so I'm blogging about it. All I can say is that I thought the movie was about as good as the book. And, dang it, I forgot to wear my "Team Edward" shirt to the movie! Oh well!

Pumpkin Face Cookies

2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 cups shortening

Cream together.

4 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ginger
4 teaspoons baking soda

Mix all together. Mold into balls the size of a small egg. Press with bottom of glass to flatten.
Bake at 375 for 12-14 minutes. Decorate with orange icing. Use candy corns for eyes and nose, raisins for the mouth, and a little bit of green frosting for the stem.

By the way, Liza, there's just no way to make these healthy... trust me, I've tried! :)

The Power of Prayer

Yes, I'm talking about family pictures. We decided a few years ago that school pictures are pretty expensive and not very nice... so I figured I would be so smart and take the kids to Target every year and get a yearly picture done for alot less money. That means that starting in August, I spend several weeks getting the kids' pictures taken before the holiday rush hits. (We all have fall/winter birthdays.) Well, Jack was born in May, but I had to do a blessing picture! Anyway, the crowning moment to this annual tradition is the dreaded family picture. Now, any person with half a brain knows how hard it is to get six people dressed and picture perfect all at the same time... but add in Allison who hates to be dressed, mom who rarely get dressed in anything other than sweats anymore, a baby who spits up on every outfit including mom's outfit... give us a time limit, a car ride, a mad dash through Target, and then put us all in a tiny room and tell us all to smile. Let me just say, that I was thrilled to get all of us in one frame! Last year was so awful that we decided we needed divine intervention to survive this year. So, before we went into Target, we prayed. No giant candy canes and teddy bears in our family picture this year! It's a miracle.

Halloween Night

Our spooky kids... Claire was Cleopatra, Derek was Harry Potter, and Allison was a Go Go Girl.

After trick-or-treating, Derek decided on a minor modification to his Halloween costume. Instead of Harry Potter, here he is as Professor Snape with Claire's Cleopatra wig.

Here we are in all our glory. Ready to go out candy hunting with our neighbors the Woodards.

Can you believe those skinny legs? I think we may need to feed that baby more! :)

Jack was, of course, a Jack-O-Lantern!

Alli as a Go Go Girl. Look everyone... she is dressed!

Derek as Harry Potter. Notice the lightning shaped scar on his forehead!

"Claire"opatra...

After trick-or-treating it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Sumsion's for some chili and pumpkin squares. Yum!

"Aw, I didn't know you were going to kill it!"

I really think Derek finds this process a little disturbing. He must be a "fruitarian"... for those of you who have seen the movie Notting Hill. Anyway, he usually hides until the massacre is over, then reappears for the candle lighting at the end. Let me just add that raw pumpkin should be cleaned up immediately. I still have a couple of spots where the pumpkin may be a permanent part of our tile floors now. Also, wet Life Cereal has the same properties. I'm going to rent a jack hammer to get it off the floors. I'm thinking it could have a use in the space program or something...

Pumpkin Face Cookies

Look at that pumpkin face! Aw!

It's a tradition here at our house! We make them every year. Enough sugar in these babies to mess up your insulin levels for weeks. That's why we only make them once a year! Yum!

October 24th

I know I'm a little bit late posting this, but happy birthday, dear! We love you, daddy!

Trip to California!

We finally did it! After three long years of intense schooling, extreme poverty, and no fun... well, maybe a little here and there... we actually loaded all the kidlets into the van and drove away from all our creature comforts here at home... (twenty locks on every door and a twenty year supply of Ramen noodles)... and set out for sunny, southern California. We had a great time and hopefully made a few memories.

California Trip Part 1 - Sea World

Notice Jack and the seal have coordinated their movements just for this shot!

Lesson learned... never let a three year old pick her own souvenir. We are still finding blue, sticky goo on things.

Here we are at the Shamu show. Alli couldn't get enough of the whales. We actually had to go back to the same show the next day!

Derek and Claire had a good time riding all the rides. Unfortunately, they both got completely soaked on the Atlantis ride. I volunteered to stay with the baby and Allison on that one. :)

Here's Paul and Deb! Debbie is my sister who lives up near L.A. They drove down with their daughter, Katie, who is Claire's special cousin, to spend the day with us at Sea World. We really appreciated having the extra sets of hands to help!

Everyone thought the eels were totally creepy.

Derek was very grumpy by the end of the first day. He did not want to leave!

Kyle and Claire near the flamingos who were fun to look at, but only if you could stand the smell. Must have been the day before cleaning day at the flamingo exhibit.

The kids also loved the dolphins. Watching this show brought back all my childhood memories of going to Sea World and wanting to be a dolphin trainer when I grew up. I guess kids are alot like dolphins. I have to teach them how to swim.

Once again, Allison loved the whales. These are the beluga whales. Very cool.

Katie and Claire in the kids polar cave.

The Shamu show... again...

Kyle took more pictures of ducks than any other animal at Sea World. He also kept pretending to shoot them, which I think mgiht be frowned upon at Sea World.

Here's Claire and Derek petting the sting rays. Alli would not go near them, but still thought they were neat.

California Trip Part 2 - San Diego

We spent the afternoon playing at the beach in Mission Bay, San Diego. Claire gathered sea shells without a single hint of a lisp. Derek made sand angels. Allison wrote her name in the sand. And Jack looked unimpressed with it all. The star fish were exposed due to the low tide. Funny how even star fish can skip across the water like a rock.

The San Diego Temple was just a few miles from our hotel. We took a drive up I-5 to get a closer look at the temple. I didn't see any Vote Yes on Prop 8 signs on the property, but we know where the Church stands.