Thankful

I am thankful it is finally possible to purchase Beatles songs from iTunes! Yay!
I have always loved the Beatles and have acquired quite a collection of their songs over the years. However, there were a few gems missing, but not anymore!

I just bought:

1. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
2. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
3. Here Comes the Sun
4. Golden Slummbers
5. With a little help from my friends
6. In my life

Halloween 2010

Well another successful Halloween has come to an end. Halloween is not my favorite holiday but I love seeing how much my kids enjoy it. They had a great time this year.


Gordon and Ella after their parade at school.


Owl cupcakes the kids and I made.


My four cuties.


The stash


Ella really loved trick-or-treating this year. This is the first year the kids went to the doors without me. I waited in the car with Kalia and Jace who was too tired to trick-or-treat (he fell asleep).


On Sunday, just to have one more Halloweenish activity, we carved our pumpkin. Here Gordon is showing his design for the pumpkin and you can see the final product which his dad executed.

Lake Powell

One of my family's favorite vacations is to go to Lake Powell. It is still a place where you can really get away from it all, no cell phones, computers, etc. Its all about water, sun, sand and beautiful red rocks. We haven't been for a few years and it was so nice to go back.



The kids pretty much wore their life-jackets 24/7.




The fishing was really great this year. This is one Keni caught.



Lake Powell is a uniquely beautiful place to me.



The kids really got into all things fishing this year. They loved catching fish, eating fish, feeding fish, etc.



Uncle Jared jumping off the big slide.


Kalia loved playing in the sand on the beach.


Jared, Gordon and Jace pulled the girls behind them on the tube.



Hold on!!



Kids watching a movie while we made dinner.


Redneck Sam



The girls loved holding hands and jumping off the back of the boat.



We spent tons of time swimming. The water was so refreshing.





Here are some of the waterfalls we saw coming off of the rocks after a micro-burst of rain.



The kids loved jumping off of this little ledge into the water.



I just love this pic of Lia and her Dad.



Reading is another favorite past time at the Lake.

A perfect summer vacation. It is always hard to leave.

July! We are going to miss you.

Here are some highlights of July. We have had a fabulous summer so far, and can't believe how fast the time has gone.



Me and the kiddos at the Canyon 4th of July Breakfast. Every year our neighborhood has a breakfast to celebrate the 4th of July. I love going, it is one of my favorite 4th of July traditions. A lot of old neighbors who have moved away come back for this breakfast so it is a reunion of sorts too.



Taylor and Ella taking a break from swimming at the family reunion to eat some pizza.



Gordon and his cousins. He loves these guys more than anyone else in the world.



Running through the sprinklers is a summer must.


This girl thinks she is hot stuff.


All of the cousins playing and being crazy at our monthly family dinner.



Hanging out in the hammock.



Cleaning up the yard



Sina and Ella warming up on the sidewalk after going down the water slide.


A week of swim lessons for these three.


Ella and Grandma making a yummy dessert. They love to cook together.



Jace and Grandpa snuggling and watching baseball.


Night swimming in AZ. The only way to go in July.


Eating popsicles at least once a day sometimes more.


Playing Rock Band.


Oh yes, July has been grand and we hate to see it go!

Songs of the Summer

Every summer I like to pick a song that sort of represents this particular summer for me.
This year my song is Somewhere over the Rainbow by Jewel, an old classic, but I really like her version. I search my iTunes library and I actually have 9 different versions of this song.



I also like to have my family and friends share their summer songs. I create a playlist and then whenever I hear a person's song I think of them. So, if you are reading this please leave a comment sharing your summer song 2010.

This is Keni's summer song. (teine means girl in Samoan)


Happy Songs of Summer!

E's Birthday

E has been anticipating her Birthday for months. To her is seemed like the day would never arrive but finally it did. She had a princess/knight party in our yard. Cousins and friends were invited to dress up in their fairy or knight attire. Several games were played. Little fairies were hidden in the trees and bushes for the kids to find. Then they played Fairy Freeze. They danced like fairies until the music stopped and then they had to freeze. If someone moved after the music stopped they were out. They all loved the dancing.

E helped me decorate the cupcakes. The lollipops on top were a big hit.


It was fun to have the party outside where the kids could run around and play.


The menu consisted of Morning Dew (Sprite), flower petal sandwiches (PB & J and just plain strawberry J sandwiches cut with a flower shaped cookie cutter), grapes, strawberries and watermelon. Then later we sang Happy Birthday and had cupcakes and ice cream.

I had a good time making decorations and I think they turned out really cute.

Tender Mercies of the Lord

My kids sang this song on Sunday with the Primary for Father's Day. It really touched me. I love the song and wanted to share it here.

Tender Mercies of the Lord