Signing Out....at least for a while.

I love blogging....it's been a fun hobby for me.  It's my way to journal our family life.  However, after a lot of thought, I have decided to go completely private.   There are many reasons, but most of all, it's just something I want to try out, to see if I love it even more than when I put it out there for anyone to read.  So, to any out there that check my blog regularly, I'm sorry.  I love the blogging world, but this is just something I want to try.  :)

The Last Hur-rah of Summer

I thought we were done with traveling this summer, but I decided to take one last trip up to Utah before school starts next week.
We stopped in Parowan for a day to break up the trip and were we ever glad that we did!  There's just nothing like the country life that Jess and Larse enjoy there!  (for a few of these shots, I had a dirty camera!)  :)

The kids were loving the garden.

Especially the purple carrots!

It was a perfect day just sitting on the deck watching the kids play...

But, the HIGHLIGHT of the day, was when Jess took Tommy and Tysen out to the garden to pick some Jalapenos to see if they were "HOT."  Tommy was thinking they were green peppers, which he loves, so he took a big bite and started to chew.  I thought he was going to DIE!  He downed a capri sun, milk, ate bread, ran around the house a couple times to try to take his mind off the pain....he tried everything, but it took a good 20 mins until he could finally calm down and act normal.  We were cracking up so hard that we couldn't breathe!  I just touched the jalapeno to my tongue and felt pain for the next five mins so I can only imagine how he felt!
After Tommy calmed down,  Tysen thought he could be tougher than Tommy so he took a big bite and chewed it up too.  The tears (from Tysen) and the laughter (from us) started all over again.  We brought out more milk and bread to help him feel better.  It was a good hour of entertainment!

Coming in second, to being the best part of the day, was roasting smores.

Just as the boys were lighting the fire, it started to rain!

Everyone ran for shelter except for Tommy!

But Jess got out the big umbrella and the rain only lasted a little while.

Jess got voted as the S'more Master!  He can make a perfectly roasted marshmallow!

The next day we headed up to see my mom and dad.  I just couldn't let the summer pass by without taking the kids up there.  This may have not been the most "exciting" trip of the summer, but one of the most meaningful to me (and I told my kids it would be one of the most meaningful to them someday too!)  I am the youngest of 10 children.  I feel like I am getting old, and so are my parents.  You would never know they are in their 80s!  I'm sure they will live another 20 years, but I want to be around them as much as I can.  I want my kids to know them and learn from them like I did.  They are great people!
The first thing my dad did was show off his garden.  He is so proud of it!

The boys helped him shuck the corn...

I LOVE that farmland and those mountains!

My dad's pride and joy is his old yellow truck that we call "Old Yeller."  The kids were so excited when he announced that he was going to take them for a ride in Old Yeller!
It's so dirty in the back that he had to put down a mat.

All ready!

One of the nights, we went to a rodeo!  The kids first (that they remember).  It was awesome!....the beautiful weather....the simple entertainment....the mountains and view....the nachos, snow cones and BBQ beef sandwiches (even though we had just eaten at grandma and grandpa's house).....it was great!

While there, we were able to help grandpa in his yard.   Grandma is always inside cooking yummy food and Grandpa can't bend down very well anymore, so we weeded the garden.  It was really addicting.  I was having so much fun weeding that my dad had to pull me away.  There's just something so fulfilling about pulling weeds out of the ground.  The kids loved it too.

Tommy mowed and trimmed the lawn...

Sam played with the dog and collected little pet toads!

How about the horses?  What a great place to live!

Life was good in the country for a few days!  But now we are back in the scorching heat trying to get ready for school to start on Monday.  All good things must come to an end, I guess.  Goodbye summer of 2010!  It was a good one!

Megan started Irish Dance...

She actually started last week and LOVED it!  She couldn't wait to go again this week.  This time she had the real soft shoes to wear.  Rachel helped her get ready.

And she loved it again!

Independence...

.....sometimes not the BEST thing!  Recently, if I don't get Megan and Jessica's hair done early enough, they do it themselves.

They usually run up to me with such pride and excitement to show off their hair!  I could never burst their bubble and change it.    Actually, I LOVE it!  I love that they feel such confidence and know how beautiful they are!  Luckily, most of these days have been lazy summer days where we have not been going anywhere important.

Things might have to change a bit when school starts next week!  :(  (at least for Jessica)

The Moon

This is what I saw last night as I was driving to a meeting...

It was a little freaky seeing the moon so big and bright as it came over the mountain.  Good thing I had my little camera in my purse!  That is the only good thing about that camera!  The pictures aren't very clear or great, but it's sure convenient to have it with me at all times!

Rachel's Feis and a trip down memory lane....

This month, Rachel had a Feis (Irish dance competition) close to LA.  Usually just Rachel and I go to these competitions, but this time Mark decided that he wanted to come watch Rachel dance.  Tommy also wanted to come, but the youngest three were so excited to stay in Vegas and have a sleep over at their cousin's house.
It was so fun for Mark and I to spend one on one time with Rach and Tom.  We had good conversations and games in the car without distractions from the younger kids (even though we did miss them)  :)
We went out to dinner and watched a movie (well they watched while I slept).  These two had a great time teasing and laughing together!

I think it was fun for Mark and Tommy to experience the Feis.  The last Feis that Mark attended was her first Feis, over three years ago!  Here is Rachel getting ready...(yes, that is a wig!)

I didn't get any pictures of Rachel dancing, but she did great!
On our way home, since it was so close to LA, we decided to visit our old stomping grounds....UCLA and the apartments that we lived in for 6 years.  It was kind of fun to visit this place with just Rachel and Tommy because they are the two that experienced it the most.  When we used to live at UCLA family housing and I forgot my keys, I would have Rachel or Tommy crawl under the fence and then let us in.  Well, since we didn't have a key this time either, Tommy had to do it again.  He got a little dirty, but he still fit!

Once we were in the gates, (really the whole time we were driving there and a lot of the ride home), Mark and I reminisced and told Tommy and Rachel all of the memories that we made there.  It was such an awesome experience to be back there.  I LOVED that time in our lives....it was so simple.  I miss that!

Our first stop was at our old apartment...#308!

Then we went to the playground.  We spent so many hours of the day at that place!  Here are some pictures of the kids on the playground when we lived there...

And now....

They used to LOVE this teeter-totter.....and they still do!

But, seeing those big kids on that playground equipment made me a little sad!
They used to walk down the sidewalk like this...(cute smile Tommy!)  :)

Tommy and Mark...

And here they are walking down the sidewalk now...

One of these things is not like the other...can you tell which one?  haha

This is a picture we took right before we moved to Las Vegas.  It is taken in the exact same spot as the above picture that we just took of Rachel and Tommy...

Yes....we have all changed!  But one thing that hasn't changed is our favorite stop in Westwood, right by the UCLA campus.....Diddy Riese!

You can get an ice-cream sandwich with FRESHLY baked cookies for only $1.50

Oh yeah, just like I remembered!

Rachel and Tommy loved them too!  We found out the best combination is cinnamon and sugar cookies with butter pecan ice cream.  YUM!

Then we drove by the building that Mark spent most of his waking hours...

And on our way to the Freeway, we had to drive past the best place in LA...

Our trip was more that a success!  It was so much fun that we decided it should be a tradition every year!