simply us

Grandpa Barrett.....

2011-09-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard to find the right words to express

everything i feel about my Grandpa and family.

My Grandpa was one of the most unique people i know.

If there was one thing Grandpa Barrett loved it was life.

He would drop anything at anytime to go sail on the ocean,

ski with his grandkids, snowmobile with his son and grandson,

boogie board with his granddaughter (me) and all her cheerleading

buddies, head to magic mountain and go on every single ride,

bbq by the beach, design and make jewlery, play instruments,

make stain glass windows, design cockpits for airplanes,

write the most creative letters and birthday cards to grandkids,

fish, sail on the ocean, sail on the ocean, oh and sail on the ocean.

Grandpa was the definition of a beach bum! He loved

everything about the beach and ocean and lived near or on the ocean

for years! The list goes on and on about the fun life Grandpa lived.

The older i get the more i realize that family is not perfect. Things happen and families change but one thing

doesn't and it is the memories and love that exist

and keep that family alive.

The one thing i took away from this memorial was

life is not perfect heartache is there but we can live each day

with happiness and create our own memories.

Long Beach....

2011-09-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

We headed down to Long Beach for my Grandpa Barretts memorial 2 weeks ago.

It was so neat! More pics and words on it coming!

For now here is cute Aly and MOM.

Firsts..........

2011-09-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

First day of School was August 15 yes August 15!

It seems like the middle of summer!

Taylor 4th grade (looks like 8th!)

Davis 1st grade

Makenna 6th grade (middle school and stomach ache for me! ahhh)

Kate preschool

My heart is just so full sometimes it

it feels like it might burst! Very grateful

for these kids.

Quincy....

2011-09-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

The town Will grew up in is beautiful. Green pine trees everywhere and just pure small town everything. We had to hit the fair while we were there. The fair is like the event of the year up there. EVERYONE goes and you know that you will see EVERYONE you know there no joke! No i didn't buy the hat. Seriously look at all those hats!

The next day before we headed out we had to stop at the Polka Dot. It was like the only fast food Will ate growing up because well there was no other fast food places to eat! It has yummy burgers, fries, and shakes!! Fun little getaway for a night! I don't know why my friends are so nice to me either! My friend Melanie took all four kids for the night.... too nice!

13 years and counting........

2011-09-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it has been 13 years that we have been married! When i look at our kids and all of lifes ups and downs that we have been through together i can't help but be so grateful for choosing this guy all those years ago. He was tailor made for me. He just gets me and i get him.

Will's 20th high school reunion was on our anniversary August 13. We found the cutest little ranch to stay at in Quincy. I loved it! It had these little cabins with no TV, computer, radio nothing and I LOVED IT! Just me and him hanging out! Yea we may have taken some glamour shots of each other before the reunion hey your supposed to remember it right?

SoCal fun.............

2011-06-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

All i can say is we had a blast and it was over waaaay to soon!
We were missing half the fam but i was glad to see the other
half!

We also stopped and visited our friends that Will met on his mission in Chile. Always fun to see them!

We hit the beach a few times and swam a lot! Good food was included too. We went out to Ruby's and ate lunch with dad. Had an awesome breakfast buffet in Laguna and last but not least i got to see my bff!

When i was young our cars were two volkswagen bugs a blue one and a yellow one. I think you could kinda tell that we were from southern california when we are driving around in snow storms in Utah in not so stable cars! So i thought it was kind of cool that my grandpa had blue and yellow volkswagen vans. The picture of the woman hanging in his shop also made me laugh....oh gramps! Miss ya:)

On our way out my dad took us on a tour of Downey where i was born and also where my mom and dad grew up. I took pics of all the houses that mean a lot too me and i remember all of them from visiting every summer when I was growing up. My Grandpa Barrett passed away last fall and so they are selling the house so i had to go take pics of all the cool stuff in and around it. My Grandpa was soooo creative i love it. He made jewelry, glass windows, was so creative in the way he would write, and played the ukele (yea I just had to look up the correct spelling on google, not that smart!) He was just such a unique person. I think that is where i get my love of creating things.

Aly and Zach came all the way from Ohio with cute baby Beckham!

Now for real life........

2011-03-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to lie not everything is perfect around here all of the time. This pretty much sums up the chaos that happens daily!!

Taylor is 9..........

2011-03-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

Taylor turned 9 on January 9, 2011 so yes this is waaaaay late but i forgive myself!! Taylors birthday was on a Sunday this year so ya know Sunday birthdays aren't the most entertaining but it still turned out super fun. Nana came the day before and the Pietz family ended up stopping by to give her a present so it actually turned into a party. She wanted an ice cream sandwich cake so that is what she got!! Taylor is growing up so fast. She looks like she is twelve and i feel kind of bad because sometimes we treat her that way too. She is just so responsible, helpful, smart, witty, beautiful, kind, and thoughtful that it is hard to remember sometimes that she is only "9!" We love Taylor so much she is the perfect fit in our family.

She swims for FRAC which is the city swim team and loves it. She loves learning new things and is always asking if she can help or if I will teach her how to cook things! I am loving that:)

Davis is 6.........

2011-03-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

Davis has been begging to have his cousin Bradford sleep over for his birthday for about six months now! I asked him if he wanted a party and the answer was "No just Bradford to sleep over." Well ok then that sounded great to me! Davis did go to school for an hour or so but I went and got him out of school early and we headed to McDonalds and he got to spend all day with Bradford. He got his powdered donuts for breakfast, McDonalds for lunch, hot dogs for dinner, and cake for dessert. Wow we got our nutrition in for the day!! We love our boy. He is such a caring, kind hearted little guy. Works hard and always wants to do a good job. Its funny because he is kind of paticular about things. He will not touch or eat any kind of food that anyone else has touched. It even has to look right for him to eat it. We are thanking Grandpa Tim for these great traits that Davis has inherited!

So sweet to his mom. He just knows when i am having a rough time and tries to comfort me. I LOVE that about him:) Love you buddy!

Creative crazy...............

2011-01-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes i just go into creative hibernation but a lot of times i will have what i call creative craziness. I don't even know how to explain it but once it starts it doesn't end until I get everything done that is looming in my head. A lot of times this means that the rest of the house is a little crazy and it may even mean missed showers and a couple days hanging out in my pajamas until it is done!! I kind of was in that mode from the time that I did the Creche until now. These are a few things that got done and there were quite a few more in between all of these too! Am i crazy or is this normal?!! I will settle for crazy if you say so. Yes that is Kate in the middle of all of it she is the cutest thing and i can't stand that i can't even carry her to bed anymore. More to come on Christmas, Cabo, and life!!

Rest unto Your Souls..........

2010-12-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

This is the name of the talk i read this morning by Elder Per G. Malm from Octobers conference. Its been on my mind all day and there are a couple of quotes that I want to remember as a wife and a mom. I think sometimes as moms we get lost and worn down. Its a sacrifice, a really BIG sacrifice at times to give all your time and energy to everyone around you. Somedays are easy to be home with kids i feel at peace and love everything about it, others are hard and wearing and you may even feel the urge to get in the car and drive far really far away from the chaos!!! The past couple of years I have dwelt on it a lot and tried to find the right balance of everything. It seems i have had guilty mom syndrome over everything in the past. Maybe feeling i didn't measure up or feeling guilty for taking an hour for me to just go to the gym when i could be doing mom stuff instead. Its hard to find the right mix and just be fine with yourself, your messy closet, your kids messy face at church, being late, piles of laundry on your treadmill, your messy office that you can never get to........ok i'll stop!!! I am coming to realize that is life and you can be happy or not with it! I am a major quote person. I have them posted on my wall, mirror in the bathroom, written in journals and i keep a collection of them in a notebook. I love this one by Liza R. Snow "Women should be women not babies that need petting and correction all the time. I know we like to be appreciated but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters?" I love that so basically NO whining ladies!! I feel like the lord knows what we have done and that is good enough we don't always have to be thanked by those around us....even though it is nice:)

I think the most important thing of all is kindness towards others which can be hardest with our own family. Elder Malm said in his talk "In our day-to-day actions, it is often the small and simple things that will have a long-lasting impact (Alma 37:6-7). What we say, how we act, and how we choose to react will influence not only ourselves but also those around us. We can build up, or we can tear down." Its hard sometimes but lets face it the mom has the influence to set the tone in the house. I am grateful and happy to be a mom and always trying harder to be better. I love these people! Even Will made it in the picture in the mirror!

Davis and his disappointment...............

2010-12-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

Last night Davis would not stop begging for a ho ho. Thats right a hostess ho ho. I have some strange attraction to hostess products ho ho's, zingers, twinkies, donuts, and chocolate cupcakes. I just like them. Most people don't but i do! I always buy treats for the kids lunches. I'm sorry but you have to have a treat after lunch and dinner, just my opinion and the school can just live with it. I don't let my kids hoard sugar but i think that a treat is great. So now that I am sidetracked from the story i will continue! So I wouldn't let him have one because those were the "treats" for their lunch. He cried whined and the night was not fun. Anyone that knows Davis knows his diet consists of about 5 things and ho ho's are one of them. I told him I would put one in his lunch in the morning. So I did. He got home from school came up to me and screamed you didn't put a ho ho in my lunch along with a horrible sad cry. I mean he was really devestated that I would make him wait and then it wasn't there. I told him I did and that he must have thrown it in the garbage with the rest of the stuff! The wrapper on ho ho's is white and it blends in with the inside of his lunch bag so I think he didn't see it and ended up just throwing it away. He was absolutely devastated as if he had just done something horrible. He literally cried for an hour because he was so sad he had made that mistake and now the ho ho was gone and we had no more at home. This sounds dumb but it made me think about how life has a lot of disappointments along with the good but we have to learn to deal with the sad things too. It starts when were little and then gets a whole lot more complicated when we are older! I guess I better go buy some more ho ho's!

For my family far away................

2010-12-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

This is the CRECHE! My family far away has heard about it for the past 2 years but not so sure what it is. This is a project that my good friend Erin and I have worked on together and believe me it took miracles to make it happen but it did happen! It is fun, stressful, exhausting, rewarding, and peaceful all mixed together. Will did the silhouettes and his sister Kathryn made all the scripture boards. The cool starry night back drops were put together by everybody. It is a four day event for the community and i am amazed how much people in the community love it and count on it yearly. We really wanted the focus to be on Christ and what Christmas truly is!

So there you go family. Miss you guys TONS!

Baby Beckham..........

2010-10-14T23:24:00.001-07:00

So my blogging motivation has been bugging me lately and my awesome friend Amy told me how to do these collages so I had to try!! We went to Utah in July to see our cute new cousin Baby Beckham! Cutest little boy who is already 3 months and my heart hurts when I think that he is getting bigger without us there! They are now in Ohio and my kids are still talking about when they will get to see him again! Of course we had to take pics while we were there.

When I look at these pictures of my sister Alyson I can't believe she has her own little family. To me she will always be the baby in our family. I remember when I was a senior in high school and I had a class where I got to go to her classroom and be the teachers assistant on Fridays. That was game day so I always had my cheerleading uniform on and I remember the kids thinking it was such a big deal! I just remember looking at Alyson and thinking I can't believe this girl is in 2nd grade. She was so studios and mature compared to everyone else. I looked up to her even then. Love you Zach, Aly, and baby Beckham!

Family.......

2010-05-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Nothing more fun than to be with family! Well not everyone was here but quite a few. I'm kind of mad at some of them because they are all leaving me to move back east rrrrr! Aly and Zach are heading to Med school in Ohio right after Aly has her baby in July. Can you believe she only has about 6 weeks left she is a tiny pregnant girl and so cute! Then they are taking the baby and leaving us for four years and then will be who knows where. Christian and Audra are in the process of moving to Virginia and leaving us forever. Hilary is already in Virginia, so 3 out of the four siblings will be back east and leaving me in the west. Luckily my mom will still be in Idaho and my dad is in Seattle which is still kind of far for a drive. It's just kind of a weird feeling to think none of my family will even be in Utah anymore. I guess we are just to adventurous and need to sow our wild oats!! Love your guts family:)

Cheap fun........

2010-02-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

99 cents will keep kids outside for about an hour! I remember when Makenna was little and my mom bought her this automatic bubble blower it was my best friend! It could entertain without me almost passing out blowing bubbles all day. These pictures just make me laugh because they just capture the stages my kids are going through. Makenna has her stylin scarf on that she bought at target for $1 and couldn't wait to put it on the next morning. Taylor is just chillin and could probably care less about what she is wearing as long as it is comfortable. Davis has his pajamas and his shades on which he will not even go outside unless they are on his face. Kate has her old pajamas on that she HAS to wear and HAS to dress herself! These kids are fun, but man motherhood is not for wimps!

ummmmm the Warren Family does still exist.....

2010-02-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

Sweet girl, sweet day. Most everyone I know is proud of their kids and I am too. So I am going to gush for a minute. Taylor is such a sweet dedicated spirit to everything she does. She is taller for her age and so people automatically think she is more like 10 or 11 instead of 8. You would probably think that too if you talked to her she is just mature and gets it! Its nice to raise a child like that. When the bishop interviewed her he said she has such a mature spirit and she really does. I want Taylor to know how much her parents adore her. As soon as she was done being baptized, we were in pulling her wet hair back and she said excitedly "I already feel different!" I hope she remembers that she is unique and it is for a reason. Love being her mom and am overwhelmed that Heavenly Father trusts me to raise these kids.

So I am going to try to catch up a little on this blog. I am behind wish me luck:)

The Peaches........

2010-01-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

So I got to go on a girls weekend down in Newport Beach with my college roomies. I lived with most of them for my 3 years of college in Provo and also go way back to Jr. High and High school with some! Some of them are going to be verrrry mad that I posted some of these pics but they are waaaay to cute of girls (i still don't call them women i feel like we are still 16) to not post. 4 of them are pregnant in these pictures and well you know how you feel when your pregnant! We have all been through a lot together boyfriends, late nights, heart breaks, homework, trips, weight gains, weight losses, laughing until we hurt, borrowing clothes, and whatever else involves girls we have been through it! Its so fun to see everyone and the families that they have now. We stayed up late, ate sushi, shopped, watched movies, and I think one night we laughed so hard at pictures that i hurt the next day! Love you guys:)

Oh and PS these pictures look the same but I am in one and Becki is in the other we had to trade off with the camera!

I miss him.....

2009-09-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

I miss President Hinkley. He was such a funny guy and told things just as they are. I found this quote and love it. I think the older I get the more I am learning to live for the day. It seems if we worry to much about the future or fret on the past we are losing every precious moment we have right now. There are so many people going through hard things with the economy and all the craziness in the world but i always say it is what it is we all keep on moving:)

"I don't worry too much about the future, and I don't worry very much about the past. The past is gone, and you can't change, you can't correct it. The future, you can anticipate, but you can't necessarily do very much about it. It is the present you have to deal with. Reach out for every good opportunity to do what you ought to do."

~Gordon B. Hinkley

Very Serious........

2009-09-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

I know we look way to serious! Just had to show everyone my hair is growing. Its time for a change in my life:)
I love Davis but boy he challenges me. Seriously any food ideas for a kid that will only eat hot dogs, sausage, and pizza?!!

Monterey Scenery........

2009-09-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

We had a fun weekend in Monterey just the two of us. The rules were no cell phones!! We have never been here and it was sooooo beautiful. Such a cool little town. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of us on the tandem bike so fun. We went golfing, biking, worked out, layed on the beach and fell asleep. I want to go back!

I know.............

2009-09-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

I am fully aware that I am a down right no good blogger!! I have so much to catch up on but o well I will start where i am! Here is the first day of school and preschool. No Kate is not in school but this is what she looked like on the first day of school!!! Makenna and Taylor were ecstatic about wearing their new converse and pulling out the skinny jeans!

Utah the grand finale of the summer.......

2009-08-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

This year I did the trek to Utah by myself. It was tough at times but hey we made it and had fun. Besides my purse getting stolen we had a blast. Saw old friends, my brothers fam, Aly and Zach, mom, and Grandma Lindsay. We kept busy and its always hard for the kids to leave, it seems like tears already start about half way through the trip thinking about leaving:)

Random summer fun.........

2009-07-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

Makenna and Taylor also did a volleyball and basketball camp that a few of their aunts were involved with. They loved it! Anyone with Warren blood must be trained at a young age in order to keep up with the family friendly competition!!! Funny thing is i took like 15 years of dance and gymnastics. Now I am trying to catch up with my athletic training!!

I did it. I gave in and let the kids get a cat (well its gone now, ran away, many tears later). Her name is (was) mittens. She was a pretty cat, but man those animals can scratch. Check out Davis arm he was scratched bad and i didn't like that!

So lets address camping...........

2009-07-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

Non-existent in the Warren family! Sooooo as guilty parents we decided to do it in our own backyard. We ate pizza and strawberries and told scary stories while it was still light outside. Does that qualify for camping. Shhhh don't tell i really slept in my bed. I love these kids.... hopefully they still love me in a few years when the teenage years are here. Ohh that gives me a stomache ache just thinking about it.

Makennas turn....

2009-07-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

And she is off to Disney World! Let me tell ya i was a little stressed because i was not going so I had to try to not dwell on the fact that she would be going somewhere that there would be a hundred million bazillion people and i would not be there to make sure she didn't get lost! Give up the control Lindsay! She had a blast and this is what we did in the meanwhile. We got to have Sierra come and stay with us while her mom Terri went with the group to Disney World.

Garden that didn't grow..........

2009-07-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

OK so it looks like its growing! And well it did a little. I got tomatoes, cilantro, basil, and a watermelon the size of a bouncy ball. I am soooo not a green thumb but i try!

As you can see cousins are a big part of the Warren household. We do a date night swap with cousins. There are 3 families, 2 sets of parents go out and have fun and the other gets to hang out with 12 kids wooohooo! The cousins look forward to it every week. I am not going to lie it can be pretty hectic at times. Its kind of like running your own primary in your home:)

the luau........

2009-07-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

I have to go back a month and catch up. I know I just can't keep up!! Makenna had a daddy daughter date about a month ago and they had a luau. I thought it was such a cute idea. They had the girls dance with their dads and had a hoola-hoop contest. Makenna was not to thrilled when her dad pulled out the running man!! I guess the hoola (if that is how you spell it) hoop contest went well for Makenna she won and was pretty excited about it. I guess my dollar investment in hoola hoops for the girls about a year ago payed off! Makenna is such a sweet girl and loves her dad to pieces. Will has been working a lot out of town lately and Makenna is the one that has a really hard time with it. Everytime he has to leave she gets big tears in her eyes and asks him when he'll be back and she wants specific times! She is getting big and we love her strong-willed stick to her guns personality.

Oh to be a kid................

2009-06-24T12:24:00.000-07:00

Somedays I wish I was a kid again. This is just us being us.

He's our dad.......

2009-06-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day a day early!! My kids know he's the fun one and they can pretty much talk him into anything. One of the things I am amazed daily with is the love he has for all of us (even when I'm grumpy and mean he still likes me)! We love you! Hope all of you dads have a great day:)

It was time..........

2009-06-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

They just had to go. They were Makennas friend for 9 months and I just couldn't take looking at them anymore!!!

OK one more......

2009-06-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

busy life..........

2009-06-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

OK I need to get back on track with my blogging I have so many pictures and things that have been happening! Here is a picture I love until I get caught up (which will never happen).

No need for words.....

2009-06-08T21:02:00.000-07:00

I think these pictures say it all! We had FUN. These are only a small handful of the pictures and things we did. We had all the kids have twinner shirts so we could keep track of them and boy am i glad we did. It can get a little crazy with that many little ones.

We also had to walk pretty far to and from Disneyland to the hotel and the kids did pretty darn good considering i even wanted to whine about it at times, mainly at night when you just wanted to be home in your bed! Can't complain though this trip is something these kids will never forget.

Sunday.......

2009-06-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday was more of a quiet day. We went to church and then went and saw some different friends that lived in the Southern California area. I like all these pics it kind of gives you an idea of who was there. The cousins just looooove being together. I think it is really cool that these kids get to grow up around each other:)

Disneyland Day 1......

2009-06-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

The kids were in heaven. We started out the day playing bingo, went on rides all day, and ended the day in the pool. A kids dream come true!

I'm going back waaaay back and posting some things that I missed last year. I really want to make a book for 2009 so I need to fill in some gaps! This was our first day at Disneyland with a lot of little ones! Grandma Warren decided to take all of the younger cousins ages 3-8 to Disneyland and the older cousins got to go to Disney World. Seriously what a great adventurous Grandma she never ceases to amaze me with her constant energy and persistence in getting things done.

Growing hamburgers.......

2009-05-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

This farm is about 25 minutes from our house. They have a huge pumpkin patch there every October and in the spring they call it the hamburger farm. They show the kids how to grind wheat for the buns, milk cows, grow lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. It was a fun day. As you can see it can be crazy doing anything with little ones buy hey you just gotta do it!

Just your typical picture with your kids had to make sure I remembered I was actually there chasing them!

I had to take a picture of Kate's head (the one at the end)! I always put her hair in a little bun thingy on top of her head because if I don't it sticks straight up. Davis hates it!!! He calls it her wiwwy and trys to pull it out everytime I turn around. I finally figured out one day why. He loves rubbing her head and the bun just makes that too difficult. He is such a pretty boy! In more ways than one.

Happy 9th Makenna Benna!!

2009-05-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been an interesting day. Our van door decided to break on us and stay permanently open.....soooo Will drove it to the dealership while I followed him. I was laughing so hard at all the people warning him that his door was open and staring with complete disbelief. Anyways that means no car for a few days and so we made do with what we had for Makennas Birthday! I made a cake and Taylor and Makenna drew a design for it and frosted it. Well I should say Makenna drew the design, that is soooo a Makenna thing. When Will got home just the girls went shopping for an outfit with Nana's money she had sent and we found a new bike too. The kicker for me today was that our iMac that is 5 months old crashed....yep everything is gone I have been a basketcase over the pictures lost. We even took it to the Mac store and I guess they couldn't salvage anything. Luckily I did have my recent wedding loaded onto my PC too since the Mac was having issues but everything else is gone from Christmas to today! So I am sucking it up and moving on. Oh I hope I can love my mac again but right now hmmmm i won't say!!!!

Back to Makenna she is the reason for this post! I love Makenna. She is turning into such a great example to her brother and sisters. She is always so aware of how I am feeling. If I am on edge she will just take over and help me out. She really tries so hard in everything she does and is such a positive example to me. We love YOU!

She's two.........

2009-05-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Baby Kate!! Thats right she is still baby Kate. I just can't give up the baby part yet! These pictures just make me happy. I'm kind of mad at technology right now I couldn't get any of her cute birthday pics to load onto the computer so I found some random snaps!!

A few things I love right now:

She blows kisses from her bed to me at night and says love you.
She gives davis high fives and knuckles.
She loves to have and get peoples attention.
She goes to nursery (my first ever)
She loves hanging with her family!

Spring break in So-Cal...............

2009-04-10T21:51:00.001-07:00

We had a fun and adventurous spring break that is not quite over yet!! This trip really made me think about what is important. Seeing so many important people from my life and Will's really got me thinking. Will located one of his Mamitas from his mission in Chile that he absolutely loved. He found out that her three daughters also lived in Southern California too so we decided to make a trip out of it and go meet them! This isn't just any family he loved his Mamita like his own family on his mission. She washed his clothes and made him his meals and took care of him like it was her own son. Will has been so happy to be reconnected to her again. We were able to meet her 3 beautiful and sweet as ever daughters and one of her son-in-laws. We spent lots of time with them and the kids were attached to all of them within a couple of days. When we left the kids were all in tears. It was pretty neat to be there. Thanks guys!!

We had races and played football at the park one day and we were all pretty sore for a couple days!!

That is cute Marcella (one of Mamitas daughters) with Kate.

I also got to see my BFF!!! No really I go through Becki withdrawls to this day. She is just one of those people that just knows me and gets who I am. We were tied to each others hip for years and I loved hanging out with her and her cute cute family!

We had a fun day at the aquarium! We debated disneyland but didn't want to spend two days away that we could be with family and friends instead it actually worked out great. Check out these jellyfish.....if you haven't seen 7 pounds you should!!! This totally reminded me of it. And no that is Kate not a fish.... funny girl.

We spent a day at Newport Beach with my Grandpa Barrett. I must admit I was pretty emotional that day. It was kind of sad for me to see my Grandpa not really remember me. He is 89 and has dimensia (not sure i spelled that right). When we were younger we would always spend a week every summer down in Southern California with grandparents and family. I have so many fun memories with my Grandpa at the beach. He would drive his RV down to the beach and bring us boogies boards and we would barbeque polish sausage sandwiches. He looooved the ocean and beach and would take us out on his sailboat too. We asked him if he wanted to go out to eat or go to the beach with us and of course with no hesitation he said the beach! So we grabbed a wheelchair and off we went.

Mamita and 2 of her daughters also met us there and were so helpful with my kids and grandpa. Thanks guys what would we do without you. As you can see Mamita loooved Kate and Kate loved her too.

Last but not least this was the first McDonalds in good old Downey, Ca where I was born.

Kate's new thing and a bees bum.......

2009-03-05T13:50:00.001-08:00

There is not much nature in my backyard to take pictures of but what there is has been photographed now!

Happy Birthday Buddy........

2009-03-01T14:08:00.000-08:00

Davis is 4! Sometimes people actually think his name is buddy because we call him that so much! We love our boy.
Some of my favorite things about Davis are:

------His sense of humor
------He protects Kate wherever we are
------He thinks I am the best mom ever and tells me that
------He is sensitive to what is going on around him

His birthday was Monday and he requested we have hot dogs and pickles for dinner and his wish came true!

What two days in a row.....i don't know whats happening to me.

2009-02-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

The sun is out and so are these flowers (weeds)! They are everywhere covering the orchards, so the kids picked some and we sneezed the whole way home.

Just for fun some weeds, a flower, and a boy bored with his life......

2009-02-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

Fun times.......

2009-02-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Valentine's weekend with Grandpa Tim! Thursday we went and got the girls out of school early and took them to in-n-out burger which is a total treat to them. We ran to target later on with the whole crew and grandpa and then grabbed pizza on the way home. Friday we hung out most the day, went to Wills basketball game and went out to an awesome Thai restaurant. I have to give Will props for his new healthy lifestyle. I think he has lost close to 45 pounds and is noticing the difference on the courts. He has got some serious "Will" power it doesn't help living with a wife that is a sugarholic. Overall it was a fun weekend. Saturday was Valentines and we had all kinds of festivities that involved roses and treats. Grandpa Tim left at about noon on Saturday and we miss you already! Hope everyone had a lovely loving Valentines Day. Love you all.

my photography obsession continues......

2009-01-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my friend Amy and I ventured out to take pictures by an old firetruck literally on the side of the highway! It was a quick trip of course you can see Kate was not into it, i think she was feeling sick. Then we decided to go to a vacated building where i'm guessing we shouldn't be, considering a cop pulled up right as we were packing up to leave. At least Davis stood there nicely with bribes for cookies!

We are pretty much back to life after Cabo. I am definately missing it. The weather is beautiful here but we are for sure going to need more rain. Life is good.

Will is a blogger?!!.........

2009-01-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

i guess Will has officially entered the world of blogging!! He did the post of Cabo and now i am editing it so that you actually know what is going on! We went to Cabo last week and took Makenna and Taylor. They had the time of their lives ( in all their 7 and 8 years) loving every minute with their cousins. Taylor had her 7th birthday while we were there and had fun with cake, pinatas, and presents. This was a fun time bringing the girls and seeing how excited they were about everthing. The highlight for them was playing in the ocean all day everyday!!

7 things i love about tator tot:

1. Goes with the flow
2. very efficient, wakes up clothes on, brushes hair and teeth ( she will keep me on my toes forever)
3. Sensitive
4. Funny
5. Great heart
6. Helps me clean with no complaint
7. Sharp as a tack!!

Holiday Favs......

2008-12-31T16:24:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of my favorites from the holidays. Of course we did the nativity on Christmas Eve with cousins and grandparents, fun times or should I say funny times. This is my distressed angel and well i'm just not really sure what to say Davis is, you guess!! Seriously who wouldn't want a beautifully handmade costume from your mother like that! Luckily he's handsome enough to pull it off. As you can see incredible hulk terrified Kate, but we've gotten over it.

I added a couple more pictures in of the girls. As most of you know Makenna has not had hair this short since she was about 2. This was a huge step for her to chop it off! Will took the older girls and Davis for haircuts. i love all of their new do's and luckily so does Makenna!

Merry Christmas..........

2008-12-23T21:49:00.000-08:00

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! The kids and I drove around tonight looked at lights and watched "The Grinch." They are in hyper Christmas mode, but it is fun it makes me feel little again! I sent my last minute cards out a few days ago and have lost my list in my merry mess of Christmas of who I have sent them too and who is left. So instead all who never got there card and picture here is the picture!!! We love you all. Have a fun, crazy, and hopefully relaxing next couple of days.

My little sis....

2008-12-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say Congrats to the college grad! Seriously I could write a book on Alysons accomplishments in life so far. Not only is she graduating from college today (finished in 3 years what?....)but she is a concert pianist and scored a great job. Sorry I am going to brag about you ALY! She loves her nieces and nephews like they are her own kids and she is just great all around. On top of it all she is humble about everything which makes it even more fun to brag about her!! I thought these pictures were the perfect description of Alyson and her favorite place to be. Asleep in chaos!

I just can't stand it.....

2008-12-05T22:14:00.001-08:00

Somedays I just can't stand the fact that they are growing. I looked at my old blog banner today and it made me think they don't even look like that anymore. So I had to make a new one. Where did the last 6 months go? Sometimes I go to get Kate out of her crib and it makes me teary eyed because she is growing, talking, running. Now that I am on the fourth one I realize how fast the time goes. I swear I was just pregnant with Makenna living on a foreign ranch, scooping frogs out of the sink in the bathroom, and having my husband slaughter rattle snakes outside my front door! I love it...it makes me crack up just typing it. It really wasn't as crazy as it sounds but it goes for good story telling. Then again maybe it was kind of crazy!!
Back to the subject. I love Elder Wirthlins talk "Come What May and Love it." We all have our hardships in life there is just no getting around it. I just love the fact that we can try to just love it for what it is. There is some kind of comfort in those words. What a dedicated soul an apostle has to be and Elder Wirthlin was.
I hope I can embrace his words and try a little harder to "love it" just a little more each day.

This picture of Davis is just too funny to not post. We were out taking pictures and Davis kept blinking so I told him to try to keep his eyes open and this is what I got.

A good laugh......I need it!

2008-11-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

OK I was thumbing back through my pictures from Virginia and came across these. Do you see anything in common with them? I soooo needed to see this cute and crazy boys face today. I have had a few tears because I am a computer genius and somehow have deleted my whole year of 2005 pictures and some others also. Pictures are like gold to me and yep I screwed up and deleted them. I got an external hard drive and it said everything was backed up. I have been ordering prints of all my past pictures to put them in my binders and finish up all the kids scrapbooks from when they were babies so I do have some of the pictures on random websites like snapfish,winkflash the list goes on. Anyways I was deleting my larger folders to make room on my computer since it was busting at the seams with pictures and started with the older ones from 2005 which is the year Davis was born ahhhhh I can't even think about it! They may be hidden in some special computer cove who knows but for now I have had it with my computer not-genius brain. I don't get these external hard drives don't believe what they tell you!!!

2008-11-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

Sista stuff..........

2008-10-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

I was so lucky to be able to go back east and see my sista (thats just what we call each other i really didn't spell it wrong). It has been so hard for me to go and see her over the years, i guess i will just blame it on my kids. It seems like either i am pregnant or she is pregnant and we end up always meeting in Utah. We had fun times. I definately know we come from the same gene pool due to our obsession with cute short hair and chocolate after every meal. We did a downtown tour of D.C., well pretty much from the car. You got to give me some credit on this White House picture taking it from a moving car. Thanks for letting me campout in the basement sis, actually i am missing my late nights up watching all of your recorded shows due to my body not wanting to make the 3 hour time change. Her boys are the cutest ever, and i am not just saying that. She's got three of them.....how in the world!!! She is one awesome mom. Lots of pictures:)

You'll be lucky to find my post.........

2008-10-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

Well apparently I don't know how to blog.... I put my post in the wrong spot and can't get the link to work sooooo go here to see it!! www.lindsaywphotography.blogspot.com

4th picture...........

2008-10-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

I guess I will join the tagged I'm it! This is the 4th picture in my 4th folder. Any family or friend that knows us has seen this picture and might have it in their house. Will drew this picture for our parents after we got married 10 years ago. It is definately the marking of the beginning of the Lindsay and Will Warren family! So if you want to join too your tagged if you are reading find the 4th picture out of your 4th folder.

A couple of new things in my life.......

2008-10-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Wills sister Kathryn (my sister too just not by blood!!!) has known me since about the very day that I met Will. In fact in some ways I think that I actually just kind of took her spot in Will's life. She used to have to make him food and clean up after him for years since she was his little sister!! Needless to say you would never know that these girls belong to her and mine belong to me. Her girls have blondish and reddish hair and my girls have dark brown and look more like her. So the first new thing in my life is that we have decided to trade kids for a few hours a week and I think we are both loving the fact that we can have a little freedom! These are her cute girls and don't worry she has 3 boys also to go along with that.

So I have been trying to figure out a good way to put all of my photos together in a book without scrapbooking. I actually have seen the coolest scrapbooking stuff just cannot find the time in my life right now to do it. So I ended up buying some white notebooks with the clear plastic on front and putting cool scrapbook paper inside the front and back cover and waalaa it is still creative but easy. For some reason I just cannot buy something completely done I always have to add my touch to it or figure out a cheaper way to do it. It is the pioneer in me i guess! I will probably end up putting the year on there somewhere. So go out and get your white notebooks!

Dalexa..............

2008-09-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Davis has always called Alexa....Dalexa so she will always be our Dalexa. Wow what a day this girl has turned into a woman and married a wonderful guy. We couldn't be more happy for the great day at our own Sacramento temple. My kids have grown close to Alexa over the past year. We have been blessed to have her live with us for a few months this past year. She is full of life and passes it on to all around her. Will and I got to follow her around with cameras all day it was fun times. WE love Dalexa and Brent. Congrats you guys.

For Hilary.........

2008-09-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Baths.....

2008-09-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

My day from well lets not say.....

2008-08-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a not so fabulous day just had to write it down so I can toss it away and not remember it.

I woke up at 5:30 to go meet a friend and run. This was the first time we did this and had talked about it over a week ago, we hadn't talked about it since so I remembered (which is a miracle) and she didn't. I drove over to her house and when I was backing out hit the deck of their boat (this is where it all begins) no damage to the strong wood deck and I THOUGHT no damage to my new minivan, yes we have given into the mini-van craze anyway another story for another day. Came home went running here which was good. Got home woke kids up for school made eggs, bacon, toast this is rare on school mornings but it happened!! Kids got ready sent Makenna to school in a frenzy and crying because Will was leaving today so that throws her into a spin. Taylor was fine. Makenna calls from school and has left her planner that I have to sign and send back everyday but assures me I don't need to bring it just need to place it in a place where we will remember it. Glad my kids can help me!!! Will comes home upset because of family drama, (were in a family business if that explains things) I probably shouldn't even say this because I will create more drama but today I don't care. So there are a few tears in between problems. I was supposed to meet my friend at Costa Vida for lunch with kids and was late talking to Will and helping him get ready to go. Were outside and suddenly he looks up and says what happened to the car that is when I notice the huge dent in the back that I have created my heart sunk! I went to go pick up kids from school and told Makenna she could not go to her soccer practice because she had a church activity instead. This did not go over well!!! Crying and craziness. Don't worry this all sounds like rambling but it gets better. I go to get Davis out of the car and he has the seat belt wrapped around his belly some weird way it is locked and squeezing his internal organs he was making a choking sound at one point I am freaking out! After 10 minutes got him out. Come inside start homework, piano, etc. Davis is grabbing his throat and saying it hurts the lifesaver will come out. So he is saying a lifesaver is lodged in his throat. I'm thinking is this day really happening....Yep it is. I gave him water and after a little while he seems ok.

To sum it up it was a crazy day but I just had to write it down so I remember some of the not so fun times along with all of the great ones. On the positive at least my little boy still has his organs and is not choking.
I have a feeling today is going to be a great day.....I hope??!!!

Firsts....

2008-08-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

This week has been a full busy week. First day of school was last Monday. Everything went well!! Yeaaaa no phone calls from the school no crying just happy days!! Makenna loves her teacher and comes home everyday wanting to share every detail. I am really liking her teacher too she seems like a great fit for Makenna. Taylor was a little more timid about going to her class but ended up being fine. Her teacher is waaaaaay on the ball type which is actually what Taylor likes. She likes things scheduled and she just likes to get things done. Boy her teacher is in for a surprise with a not as on the ball mom!! It has been nice having both in school all day. Taylor was way bored last year coming home with nothing to do for half the day until Makenna got here. We are staying way busy with 2 soccer teams, gymnastics, and piano.
I like hanging out with Davis and Kate so of course we went and took some pictures....why not?

Fort Bragg

2008-08-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

Fort Bragg was very quiet and relaxing away from kids and life! I love my kids but oh the freedom you feel just getting away for a couple days!! We spent all of our spare time taking pictures to try to get our modeling portfolio together!!!! Seriously we are getting old.

Fort Bragg continued...

2008-08-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time just hanging out! How could you not....look at this place.

Ten years.....

2008-08-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

2008-08-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary Sweetie! 10 years holy moly.....i guess when you look at our family it really has been 10 years. Our anniversary is on Wednesday but were leaving tomorrow for a little get away to Fort Bragg. I caught Will on the computer booking the reservations so I ruined his surprise. I couldn't ask for a funnier, more handsome guy who seriously does everything to make me happy. Every year makes me realize what a perfect fit we are for each other. Sometimes you just have to be mushy....Love You Forever:)

Summer days....

2008-08-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Our summer days are quickly coming to a close.......I always knew Kate would be a red head.

On my mind.........

2008-07-27T18:14:00.001-07:00

I just had to take a minute and express a few things that I cannot get off of my mind. My sister called me yesterday and told me of a story about a little one year old girl that had drowned about a month ago. It made my stomache churn. Kate is just over a year and the thought of that immediately makes me want to grieve for whoever has to endure such a thing. She gave me the link to their blog to read their story and so I immediately went to read. As I was reading about 15 minutes into it I realized that I knew the Father of this sweet little girl. We knew each other in college about 10 years ago. I immediately started balling and my heart sank for their loss. It is amazing what happens in 10 years and also what changes. I am amazed at the strength of this family. The mom is a writer and writes often on her blog. She seems to be a strength to others even though she is the one suffering. I thought and thought about posting the link to their blog and decided that it would be a good thing for people to read. She talks about safety around pools and saunas and I figured this may help someone in the end. Their blog is public so I thought it would be OK to post their link. http://adailyscoop.blogspot.com/
I'm sure any extra prayers going their way would be appreciated.
This has made me once again realize how precious our kids are. We never know how long they will be with us. We can only do our best and love every second we have with them. I know this has made me want to be a little more patient, loving, and not sweat the small stuff. A lot of what we worry about really doesn't matter in the end.

Ice cream, modeling, Alexa..........

2008-07-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

For some reason this summer seems like it has been busier than during the actual school year! We just finished up swim lessons this week which Makenna and Taylor loved. Now we will move onto our next adventures planning Grandma and Grandpa Warrens 50th anniversary party. I guess it is always better to be busy! Here is Kate with her first ice cream cone. Don't ask me what I was thinking handing it to her and walking away. By the way I did actually get the clothes clean that she is wearing!!

This week we decided to venture downtown Yuba City to Plumas street and find a cool place to take pictures. Davis won a contest to be I guess you could say a "model" (that makes me laugh) for my friends boutique!! I was terrified that he was going to be awful considering the fact that I would be taking the pictures. Here is the site to the final pictures www.lindsaywphotography.blogspot.com (Sorry couldn't get it to post as a direct link)
The rest of these are just you know random shots of the kids!!!

We are soooo happy to have Alexa back for a few weeks!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Tim!!

2008-07-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

WE LOVE our Grandpa Tim! There are so many things that I remember about my dad but the thing that I love the most is that I know my Dad loves his kids and grandkids more than anything. I know that my dad would love us and not judge us for mistakes we make. Love You Dad.

More Utah

2008-07-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun at Nana and Steve's house in Idaho. It was constant swimming, treats, water fights, and riding go cart like devices!!! Dune buggies is the correct terminology. Sorry this is another short post. I am falling asleep while writing...........

We're home...

2008-07-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

We have been in Utah/Idaho for the past 8 days. The kids loooove being with family and we had endless adventures.... here is one of them.

Jibber Jabber.....

2008-07-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

This little one can't stop her jibber jabber.....seriously all day!! We've got a talker. I have more to tell you about too gymnastics meets, pierced ears, the list goes on. Just had to post this picture for now.

My progressing children.......

2008-06-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

As you can see Taylor is thrilled that I have decided to take a picture of her. You can see how glad she is that I am her mom! Check out her tooth just hanging there. My children are growing adult teeth now so I told them they need to act like adults now!

This is my crack up this week. Every corner I turn around there is a little one year old girl standing on her head. I think she could really go somewhere with this.

Our Dad

2008-06-15T10:12:00.001-07:00

Why we loooove our dad. (I am letting the kids type their reasons)

I love my dad becuse he is funny and nice and he is fun to play
with he makes me happy when im sad im glad he is my dad
from:makenna brynn

i love my dad becuse he is
fun and nice i love my dad
i am glad he is my dad
and i know he loves me to
from taylor

Me: Davis why do you love your daddy?

Davis: because he likes me.

Kate loves her daddy just because. Why wouldn't she he completely adores her!

I love Will for a million reasons, but I love the fact that he would do anything to make us happy.

Happy Fathers Day. You are the world to us.

Blessings...........

2008-06-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a great week! Two new babies born this week. Wills sister just had her 5th child a girl Abigail, and my sister just had her 3rd boy Mateo! They are so sweet and innocent you look at them and wonder all that is in store for them. Congratulations everyone we love you! (This is a picture of Abigail)

OK now for my explanation of pictures of Corn dogs next to this precious little one. Let me back up. Will comes from a big family 8 children in all! All of them except one live within an hour from us. Which means cousins everywhere. I think we are up to 40?!
Can I just tell you they adore being together. So needless to say it is not unusual for me or any of Wills sisters to be watching up to 15 kids at their house. My sisters are always asking who is at your house when I am talking to them on the phone. Lets just say there are always extras around. It is crazy and fun. This is what it takes to have lots of kids over a lot. A huge box of Corn Dogs and otter pops. The corn dogs are fast and the otter pops keep them outside!!!!

All I can say about this picture is that Makenna will hate me in a few years for posting it! Oh well at least its from the clean pile of laundry.

Summer, kids, and free stuff!

2008-06-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Don't ya just wish you were a kid again sometimes?!! It has been a full last week of school. Taylor had Kindergarten graduation and both Makenna and Taylor received citizenship awards at school. I'm sure that is due to my wonderful mothering skills. Can't you just tell how well behaved they are by this picture?! Makenna has been dreading the last day of school for weeks even months now and it has finally come. Let's just say life has been interesting the last couple days with her. I mean what kid doesn't want summer to be here....Makenna begs to differ on that one. Still love her to pieces. So were on to our summer schedule. I guess if that is actually something that exists in the summer!

OK onto the free stuff. My friend Jean informed all of us bloggers about Google reader. I'm assuming that if you are reading my blog you actually look at blogs and this will benefit you. I am loving this Google reader thing! It will save you hours on end and it is free! Just go to your homepage or the google homepage and click on google reader. You can enter (or add) all the blogs you love and everytime they post it will come up on your screen. Talk about a timesaver. As a current blog addict it has done wonders for my life! You neeeeed to try it you will never have to search for the next current event on your computer again.

2008-05-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks family I love you and I am old!!

Mom stuff........

2008-05-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

Do you ever start your day saying I am going to be such a fantabulous mom today. Well thats the way this day started. Taylor had a field trip to the zoo so I decided to take Davis and go for it. As you can see my children in both of these pictures are the ones having the issues! By the way what in the heck is the red streak in my hair! Moving on...Taylor was a little weepy for unknown reasons and Davis well let's just say I know why I only have one boy!!! It was 100 degrees and I was exhausted by the end. As we were unloading from the car Davis decided to smash my thumb in the door. Other than that things were just fantabulous!

Your probably wondering why the jam and salsa. Well I just had to give myself props for canning this year. The strawberries here are sooooo good. Mom and Aly were going to try to pack some back to Utah and Idaho just to make jam with them. This will go down in my family history because I don't know if it will happen again!

2008-05-11T17:35:00.001-07:00

Does anyone else stare at this all day? Is there such thing as an applejuiceaholic? We might have to start holding recovery group sessions at our house?

I guess if it makes his life this much better its worth it!

One more birthday.......

2008-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

I usually don't post something every other day but I just had to tell Makenna Happy 8th Birthday!!! This is a special one she will be baptized next Saturday.
10 things I love about Makenna:

1. She knows what she wants and sticks to her guns about it.

2. Always looks out for her brother and sisters.

3. A fabulous artist just like her dad.

4. Excels at anything creative.

5. Kind hearted

6. Loves her family and doesn't mind hanging out with us all the time.

7. Loves to listen to my old stories from when I was a kid!

8. Fun to be around

9. Friendly, cares about how other people feel.

10. Loves her MOM!!! (well sometimes)

My baby........

2008-05-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is one! How does the year pass this fast. I love baby Kate! She has such a sweet personality and I REALLY don't want her to grow even though it is inevitable! We love having her as part of our family she makes us happy with her silly talk and courtesy laughs! Happy Birthday sweet child.

crazy days...........

2008-04-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

Crazy socks, crazy glasses, crazy shoes, crazy hats.........the kids at school are star testing and so they get to wear something crazy everyday to keep them excited about school!!! Guess who participated daily even though she has nothing to do with star testing? Taylor. Makenna loved the fact that they allowed them to chew gum while testing. I guess it helps bring out the smart genes or something! Were so excited for Mom and Aly to get here for the multiple birthday festivities.

haircuts..........

2008-04-21T05:09:00.000-07:00

Well by the title of the post you can tell what we did in the last few days. I decided to cut hair. So Makenna went into a 24 hour trauma about getting an inch cut off and Taylor couldn't be happier about cutting 5 inches off!!! These girls are so different.....I really should have cut Makenna's with the part down the middle you can even see stragglers in this picture!! It actually is even on both sides this picture doesn't give it justice. Unique in their own ways.................love both of them!

Sarah......

2008-04-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

2008-04-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sarah, you are beautiful...I can't believe you are graduating. Here are a few to look at. I am still figuring out how to post pictures on the web and keep the pixel quality high. So some might look a little faded. Oh well I am learning!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

It's been a day....

2008-04-09T23:58:00.000-07:00

I feel like I hardly get any shots of Makenna anymore....she is always at school. I guess that is a good thing right?!?

Both of Kate's ears are infected she did not want to go to sleep so what do we do instead? Go outside and take pictures...oh man she is going to get so sick of me!

Obsessions

2008-04-06T21:45:00.000-07:00

This girl is obsessed......Davis secretly lets her crawl up the stairs. Constantly looking out for his little friend. Friends forever.

Just Stuff.....

2008-03-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

Is this the same boy??? (before and after his haircut)

Oh how we love our cousin (and niece) Alexa.....she has been with us for a few months and we will miss her when she leaves in a week or so.

2008-03-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

Oh Kate!

Yep....another wreath. This one is happy colors.

Why does she have to grow up.....it scares me. 1 month and she is 8!

My flowers actually grew.

Normandy Beaches

2008-03-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

This was probably one of our favorite days of the trip. Will really wanted to go see where the Battle of Normandy took place. It was quite a drive to get there but soooo worth it. This was a memorial to all the soldiers that died. I had no idea how many Americans were killed here. Wow it was really humbling to see all of the crosses literally going on forever. We had to walk down flights of stairs to get to the beaches so of course I took pictures all along the way! It was hard to pick my favorites.

OK so I had to use my self-timer on this one not the best shot, but I guess not too bad for a timer?

2008-03-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Notre Dame....amazing. The stain glass windows were beautiful, so detailed. There were a million people inside but everyone was reverent it was kind of cool.

It was very dim lighting inside candles were lit everywhere.
My poor husband had to constantly pose and model for me. He's a pretty good model don't you think?!

My kids

2008-03-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Had to have a change of pace from Europe. Kids are so much cuter than old buildings anyway! As you can see I changed my blog header....I am always wanting a picture perfect family shot and well usually I am just lucky to have us all together and have someone to push the shutter button on my camera! I just figured this is how we look 99 % of the time anyway why not in the family picture too! So here is incredicble hulk eating popcorn...

Baby Kate in her walker eating sugar cereal...thats right not cheerios sugar!! By the 4th one there are no rules.

These are of Taylor and Makenna at our exciting Easter Egg Hunt!

The Louvre

2008-03-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

This is our journey through The Louvre museum. This has got to be one of the biggest museums ever. It has so much stuff you could spend days there.
Cute parents. We were so happy to be able to spend the week with Will's parents (of course I consider them my parents too). They were up for touring anywhere we wanted.
This was looking out a window to the gardens and street.
I look so dorky ohhh and by the way you are going to hate looking at my green coat by the time this Europe blog is done!!

2008-03-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Here she is the gorgeous Mona Lisa! -K- this picture makes me laugh. There is a piece of glass covering this painting and if you look close you can see the reflection of all of the herds of people pushing through the crowd to see this and get their picture.
This is a picture looking into the center courtyard of the Louvre.
Will's parents are such troopers. Through the cold and rain they came with us everywhere. We had to buy scarves and hats for everyone to keep warm. It was chilly!
This pyramid is the entrance to the museum. You go down an escalator to enter. It's kind of interesting having such a modern structure in such an old building.

2008-03-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

So my obsession with doors begins. This was my obsession on the trip along with eating twix candy bars.
Here is a statue head of I have no idea who!!
Let's just say there were many paintings and a lot of nudity....were the artists obsessed with naked people back then. No really they were beautiful and there were a ton of them.
Wow how did they get all of this on the ceiling. I will never know.

Sneak peak

2008-03-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Ok I need to post something on our trip!! I have a million pictures so I will probably post a few here and there. Of course these pictures are out of order they posted wrong and I am too tired and lazy to fix them!! This was our first day in London. We hopped right on the underground train and started our wild adventure. One of the stops was Warren Street so I had to take this shot!

This was the first thing we saw coming up out of the train. It was getting dark but I had to take a picture of something before night came. It was like walking up into a whole new world.
I was so happy to be able to see my adorably, gorgeous, pregnant sister during our layover in D.C. I didn't think I was going to be able to see her, but I called right as the plane landed and she headed right over with the boys. They are so cute and I miss them.

2008-03-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of the place we stayed just outside of Paris. We were actually right by Disneyland, but never went there!! I figured I can do that in Anaheim, CA.
OK this is a scary picture, but had to post it because this was a huge part of our trip....jet lag! This is at about 3 am I'm up studying my photography books and figuring out the correct white balance on my camera!
Just hanging out in the trains..I guess you could literally say hanging out if you don't hold on you'll be on the floor. Will loved the trains. I just let him figure out all of our routes! I just kicked back and made sure our bags were safe!

2008-03-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

This was on our front door in France.

You would see these flowers all over france. Tis the season.

This is the front door of our little french cottage like house. We stayed here for five days. So nice there one of my favorite things in all of the countries are their doors. None of them are alike.

It's true..........

2008-03-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

It is true if you have heard the rumors........ we are off to England, France, Netherlands, and Germany tomorrow!!!! What did I really say that. Talk about fly by the seat of my pants. We just decided to go 2 weeks ago. Today is crazy pulling together everything!!!! Just thought I would say bye bye for about 2 weeks. AhHhHhH!! I am excited and scare. I'm sure I will come back with a million pictures. I will misssss these guys.