Isabelle's 6th Birthday

Isabelle enjoyed a family birthday this year - turning 6 on July 6th.  She was so excited for the day and was reminding me of all the things that I needed to do for her birthday - balloons in her room and decorations in the kitchen!  She wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese and out to dinner with brownies for dessert.  She got a new radio for her room so she could listen to music at bedtime, art supplies, clothes and Ty drew her some "sports" posters for her room which she still has hanging up. :)   She loved her special day and we love this super special girl!

-Isabelle is one amazing girl!  She is kind, loving and a SUPER HELPER to everyone!  At school she is like the little mom who just helps all her friends and teacher.  She stays in from recess to help clean the classroom and is constantly telling us ways she is serving others at school.  She loves going to school and never complains.  She is always smiling and excited each morning before school!  She is proud of all she does making sure to wait and show us all her school papers at dinner so the whole family can see them.  She is my little shadow and she would follow me wherever whenever if she could.  She wants to be a Mom when she grows up and we couldn't be happier with that choice - we know she will be an amazing mom!  She enjoys helping clean around the house and is always cleaning her room without being asked.  She is always the first to clean up her plate/bowl and a lot of times cleans up for the other 2 kids.  She is such a good eater and she loves her vegetables - her favs are snap peas.  She also loves chocolate and donuts! ;)  She likes everything secure in our house and is reminding us all the time to lock doors and close the garage.  She loves doing what is right and is always trying to get others (especially Ty) to choose the right.  She finds joy in being righteous!

Isabelle loves to read, do art projects, dance and sing, play house and school, play with friends, go to school, watch movies/TV (favs are "Good Luck Charlie", "Jessie", "Arthur" and "Phineas and Ferb"), playing with Barbies, playing on the iPad and computer and playing with her American dolls Rosie and Emily Sparkles.  

We are so lucky and blessed to have her in our family!  We look forward to enjoying many more years with this super special, sweet, beautiful girl!

Summer 2013

Just a few snippets of summer 2013:

Isabelle and Vivienne attended a Princess Day which was a success and the girls continue to ask when they will have another one.  It was well worth the money!  They enjoyed getting their hair done, having "tea" and cookies, dancing with a princess, playing princess games and listening to stories.

We bought a new playset for our backyard and it has been worth the money and hours of putting it together.  It took us probably close to 10+ hours over several days for Chad and I to figure it out.  Once finished the kids loved playing on it all summer.

We also bought my sisters old trampoline since they were moving to Taiwan.  This has been an added bonus to our yard that occupies a lot of the kids' time.

Ty and Isabelle had swimming lessons again.  Isabelle LOVED it and couldn't wait for the next day to come so she could go.  She is our little fish!  Her poor eyes suffered redness and burning from swimming under the water constantly with them open.

Ty on the other hand dreaded it because he was very nervous to be in deep water.  He survived and continues to improve on his swimming... just don't ask him to go off the diving board!



Ty spent many hours this summer outside playing basketball with a neighbor friend.  They recorded themselves and Chad put together a Youtube video of some of their trick shots.

End of Kindergarten & 3rd Grade

The school year zoomed by (and soon to start up again since I am late on updating!).  I never wanted this school year to end because both kids had the most AMAZING teachers!  They were the perfect fit for each of them and I became great friends with both of them.

Isabelle had Mrs. Anderson who was so sensitive, loving, full of hugs and praise!  She always said that Isabelle was the perfect student and she would love to have a classroom full of Isabelle's!  Her and I could chat for hours, if we had the time, and since I was her classroom coordinator we worked very well together!  She always said it was the best year for her - if a teacher is as good as she is we express our gratitude fully!  We were also blessed with good kids and parents in the class and I became good friends with the parents and I have missed communicating with them over the summer.  I am so grateful that Isabelle's first year in school was such a great fit for her and she gained a lot of confidence in herself and in feeling secure away from home.  She improved dramatically in her reading, spelling and writing and we owe it all to Mrs. Anderson!  We will miss her greatly!

Ty had Mrs. Hahn who is truly the definition of "teacher".  She was always the first and last teacher at the school.  She went above and beyond what was expected of her to cater to each child's individual needs.  She loved Ty and loved when she had challenged him and loved hearing him say "That was hard!" This was the first year that Ty was challenged, the first year he never said he was bored and the first year he never said he didn't want to go to school.  She had a way of making his opinion valuable and expressed genuine concern of his needs.  I didn't even know some things he had concerns about until the end of the year when she told me he had asked her how to handle certain situations going on in the classroom.  She had fun rewards for the kids including getting to play chess and eating lunch with her (super popular among the class), getting to sit in her chair for the day, not having to wear shoes in class and lots of other super creative fun things.  We will miss having the perfect teacher for Ty!

May Dance Recital

Isabelle had her final Dance Recital in May before she had the summer off.  She did great this year again!  Her confidence in front of people continues to grow and we are always proud of each little accomplishment made.   She continues to love dance!

Oh she is just so cute!

Brothers - need I say more! 

Oh Vivienne!

Vivienne has been our busy little monkey!  We frequently tell her that we need to drop her off at the zoo to live with the monkeys and she always worryingly says "No!"  There are frequent "messes" to clean up after this little one!

April Conference Time

We always enjoy General Conference in our home!  Hopefully it will be a tradition our kids will always remember.  They may not remember the speakers and what they said but I feel they will remember our family gathered together, the spirit present and eating yummy cinnamon twists and goodies.  One of the great things I love about Conference time is it never disappoints me or leaves me regretting the time I prepared for it!  The spiritual reward always outweighs the work I put into the prep and organizing, baking and keeping kids occupied while watching.

The life of a mother... Chad gets to sit uninterrupted and relaxed while watching meanwhile I am busy helping kids with activities, taking them to the bathroom, getting drinks, etc.  all while "listening" to the speakers.  So grateful the conference Ensign when it comes out!

California Sports Spring Break

We surprised Ty for his birthday with a trip with Dad to California over Spring Break - he was shocked and excited!   I know Chad was even more excited to go watch baseball and basketball games, no work and getting to eat out frequently!  The best part was no real time schedule, they were able to do what they wanted when they wanted!

All ready in the backseat with a movie, blankets and lots of treats... and of course a big happy smile!

Had to stop at "Welcome to Nevada and then California" signs for a picture!

Loved visiting the Oakland Temple

Enjoyed a BIG McDonald's breakfast... while Chad enjoyed finishing the leftovers!

Ty said this was one of his favorite moments to walk on the Golden Gate bridge.

They were both in heaven enjoying 2 Oakland A's baseball games!  They were even able to stay with Dave and Nikki in Elk Grove and go to a Sacramento Kings game.  BEST TRIP EVER!!