School Bells!!

The first day of school was August 12th and I am just getting to post these pictures. We have been BUSY! Bailey is in 5th grade. It is hard to believe that I have a 5th grader. Taylor is my big second grader. Parker is doing preschool at home with me this year. Most of his little friends went to Kindergarten this year. He misses his best friend - Josh. He gets so anxious for him to get out of school so they can play. Addy is one and there are many days that I just am thankful that she is so darn cute!


Addy watching the kids load up for school. It is tradition that dad stays home from work the morning of the first day of school so we can all go to school together.

Taylor's all ready for second grade.

My cute little man - all dressed up with no place to go.

My 5th Grader!


Taylor in his new desk. Bailey was glad that her dad went with her to her class and that I went with Taylor so she didn't have to have any more pictures taken.

A Great Summer!!

Summer is coming to an end! We had such a great summer. We didn't go anywhere big as far as vacations, but we had many fun day trips, park days, and spent time at the library. I really enjoyed my kids. They were a great help. I have posted several of our activites. School is back in - We have homework again! Soccer is in full force, Bailey and Parker are enjoying playing. Back to schedules and life. I feel blessed to have had the time that I was able to spend with my children having fun!

Girl's Night Out

A few of my friends and I went out to dinner at a great Italian Restaurant in Downtown Vacaville. We were celebrating our friends' birthday - Charlotte. Her husband is deployed in the Middle East and she has two young kids at home. Some of the young Woman from our ward volunteered to babysit. We had such a great time...lots of laughs. It is great to have good friends!
P.S. I would much rather have Italian than Trout - That is what my family had for dinner from our fishing trip that day.

Smith's Trout Farm

Our kids love to go fishing, however they are kids. The last time Tom and Taylor went fishing -it ended with Taylor in tears. A guy fishing next to them caught 2 fish and they didn't catch any. Tom has been telling him about a trout farm that we could go to. We went to Smith's Trout Farm in Callistoga. We had so much fun. They provide the bait and the polls. Of course we had some of our own, but it was nice to use some of theirs. Our kids had so much fun. They caught 12 fish in an hour. They said that it was better than going to Six Flags. They said that there was a 28 pound Trout in the pond. We didn't catch one that was that big, but we caught plenty of them.
I do have to say that it ended up being pretty spendy. They charge by the length of the fish. A fish can range anywhere from $1 to $6. We ended up spending $62 on trout but it was well worth the money. We created such fun and wonderful memories. Our kids have been asking us when we get to go back. We just told them when we save up our money :)

River Cats Baseball

At our town library, each summer they have a summer reading program. Each kid needs to read 20 books or 2000 pages. If they do, they get to attend a party and get free tickets to a Sacramento River Cats game. We were able to attend the game. Our kids had a great time. It was a nice night for a baseball game. Good reading Kids!
Bailey with her friend from school Baylee

Taylor and Addy

Enjoying a Hot Dog at the ball field.

Go River Cats, Go! Addy likes her Hot Dog.

Taylor with his Dad.
Parker and Taylor enjoying Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Stinson Beach

We went to Stinson beach the last Monday before school started. My Friend Annette and I loaded up and headed off for a day of fun with our kids. She had a rather eventful morning- her car wouldn't start, she had to wait for a tow truck to give her a jump, and then was stuck in traffic for ever just to get to my house. There was a time that I thought that we were going to make it to the beach, but once you tell a kid that you are going somewhere - you better go. Anyways, we did make it to the Stinson. It was absolutely perfect weather - Somewhat unusual for the bay area.
By the time we arrived at the beach, we figured that we would hit traffic coming home. We decided that the kidos wouldn't be able to wait until we arrived home to eat dinner. We made plans to stop at Red Robin on the way home. By the time we made it there, it was about 7:15. We waited for a table. We finally were seated at this huge both. It was hilarious. We had 8 kids with us; I have 4, she has 3, and Bailey brought a friends. We were sitting on the end wrestling our toddlers. By the end - she had spaghetti in her hair and I had it all over my arm. We were laughing because we were thinking that people must be thinking that we are insane. Well, 2 men stopped by peering through the glass divider at us. One was a older man and the other was probably 19. The older man asked the daunting question, "are these all your kids?" I explained to him that 4 were mine, 3 were hers, and one was a friend. He was amazed. Obviously he doesn't know any Mormons. Anyways, he walked around to our table, slapped down $100 big ones and said, "I am sure that this isn't enough to fee all of you, but here you go." Annette and I just looked at each other, we were both shocked. I told him Thanks and he left the restaurant. It was plenty to pay for our meal so our waitress received a large tip. It was amazing. I don't carry cash around much because I will spend it, let alone have hundreds of dollars in my wallet. The kids prayed that night and asked Heavenly Father to bless the nice man that payed for our dinner. There still are many generous people out there. I hope that I will be in a position to be able to help someone out like that!


Making a sand castle and digging a hole to China.
Addy and I running from the waves. She loved the ocean.
One Beach Babe!

Two Beach Babes! Addy and Nate enjoying the warm sand.

Bailey and Mailyn running from the in coming wave.
Parker enjoyed flinging sand into the ocean.
Two Cute Little Girls.

Lake Tahoe

We went to Nevada to visit our friends, Brandon and Alicia Hill. They live close to Tahoe, so we spent one of the days there. It is a beautiful place. We loved it. We were at a small beach that was great for kids. It had a great wading area. Close by there was also a great place to Crawdad Fish. Tom and the kids fished for a few hours and caught sever buckets of Crawdads. (Dads are still kids at heart.)
The water was cold but after awhile it felt nice because it was a hot day. We really had an enjoyable time.

Baliey and Carson checking out the water. It is a bit Chilly!!
Me with My Kidos and the Hills kids - Carson and Julie Ann
Addy after she fell in the lake - Water does not phase her
Parker is hanging out with the Alligator.
Taylor is determined to blow up this shark
My handsome husband. Can we say Strike a Pose!!

I love this beautiful little girl.
Taylor is waiting for the big catch
The crawdad catch



Fishing for minnows and crawdads
Parker is on the look out for crawdads

It was Brandon's birthday so we were able to celebrate with him. This is a picture of Parker blowing out his candles. - Little sneaky guy, no one saw him coming!

A visit from the Harris'

The Harris' took a stop in Dixon this summer and we were fortunate enough to get a little visit in with them. Dave Harris was our Bishop when we first moved to Dixon. He is an outstanding man. His wife, Carol, was one of the sisters that I visit taught when we first moved here. Can I just say I learned so much from her... Isn't that funny how that works. The Lord really knows the type of people that you need in your life. When we moved here, It was her husbands second time being a bishop in Dixon. The first time she had 5 small children. I have been able to talk to her and receive great words of wisdom. I just love her. We are kindred spirits. Anyways, they moved to Arizona and we miss them so much. I am glad that they have had the opportunity to be closer to their children and grandchildren. What a lucky family to have such two wonderful people in their lives. Our lives will be forever blessed by these two!

Stake BBQ

We had a stake BBQ in July. Our family had such a great time. They had a soccer clinic in the morning for the kids. This helped gear our kids up for soccer season. They had an adult soccer game, which I think that Tom realized that he is really out of shape. No time for him to exercise. There was a softball game in the morning. Tom and I switched off playing. We had great food and lots of fun.
Parker is ready to take on the world!

Bailey is showing these boys that see has skills.

Taylor is waiting for the ball.

Addy and her first snow cone - she had about three that day.

Tom is giving a pep talk to the man folk.

Roundin' third base.
The water balloon popping machine. Someone would throw a ball at a target and if they his it, then it would pop the balloon. The kids were dying to get the Bishop.
We are trying to convince Adelyn that she really does not want to be there.
This is what happened when the target was hit.