Spaghetti Dinner and Cake auction

Now that Adam is 12 and is able to attend Scout Camp this summer, he was able to participate in the annual fundraiser. It's a spaghetti dinner and cake auction. All the boys were required to help with all stages of the dinner, and bring a decorated cake that could be auctioned. They have both silent and live auction. This was Adam's first time really decorating a cake and he found it a lot harder than it looks. But his checkerboard cake turned out well enough.


Kyle made a spaghetti and meatballs cake (chocolate donut holes and strawberry jam). Both of the boy's cakes were chosen to be in the live auction which made it more fun for them. Our family enjoys going to this activity every year (well, for the past 3 years) because the spaghetti is great, but it's really fun to see all the creative cakes that the youth make. Some of the more memorable ones this year include an Angry Birds cake, a Slug Circus cake, a Book of Mormon cake and one called Kitty Litter (it did indeed look like a tray of kitty litter that hadn't been cleaned out yet). You never know what you'll see when the boys are in charge! :)

Easter Weekend

Saturday afternoon we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard. Some of the girls helped prepare the eggs, while Hannah did all the hiding of them. She had some easy to find eggs for the little ones and much better hidden eggs for the big kids.

Samantha on the lookout for eggs

Katelyn wasn't sure what was supposed to be happening. But it didn't take long to see everyone was looking for brightly colored objects

When she discovered there was candy inside and got a taste of it, she really liked the activity!

Laurel showing her basket of eggs

Jamie and Mackenzie enjoyed the fun

Though not pictured, Adam and our friend Kyle, who has been staying with us, joined in the hunt and were especially stumped in looking for a golden egg that Hannah had hidden especially well. It turned out that Jamie found it in the end.

Another Easter treat the children enjoyed was a gift from Grandma Taylor. All the girls, even Katelyn, received new spring aprons. The girls love them! The boys just got candy, but they didn't mind.

Laurel, Jamie, Katelyn, Hannah, Samantha, Mackenzie

The girls helping with corn husk shucking in preparation for Easter dinner the next day

Easter day was very special. We had our usual church services, with the choir singing two songs, and our ward children's choir singing two songs. Adam, Mackenzie and Jamie sing in the children's choir. Hearing the sweet songs of those children was especially sweet and helped bring the spirit to the meeting.

We had a peaceful afternoon and yummy dinner together in the evening. We are so grateful for the weekly Sabbath day, in which to rest from our regular activities and feast on the spirit. We love that it's spring time and the earth seems to be coming alive after the winter. The reminders of the Savior's resurrection during Easter add to that blessed feeling of new life and hope. We are so grateful to remember the many gifts that Jesus has given us!

Adam's ordination to the Priesthood

The day after Adam's birthday was when he was ordained to be a Deacon. The whole family was with him and Derek did the ordination and said a beautiful prayer for him. The grandfather's also helped. When we got home from church, Grandma and Grandpa Taylor had some special 12 year old gifts for him. Adam seemed very happy to make this new step in his life. We sure enjoy watching our children grow and achieving new milestones.

Adam showing one of the pictures he received

Grandpa Taylor, Adam, Derek, Grandpa O'Dwyer

Adam's 12th Birthday

Adam's birthday was on a Saturday, which turned out to be a very busy Saturday. The grandparents were in town and Cathy and the mom's went to a Stake Women's Conference for a few hours, while Derek and some kids and a grandpa went to help some friends with their move. Before all that though, we had a special birthday breakfast that Adam requested--egg sandwiches and orange juice. It was very good.

The afternoon was Jamie's baptism. Following that we went to eat at Aqui CalMex restaurant for dinner, and then came home to have a birthday celebration with Adam. We enjoyed some cake and ice cream and he enjoyed getting to open some presents.

Adam, the birthday boy

Adam also was getting a friend's birthday party this year, but he opted for a smaller group of friends and going to a fun place to spend a few hours. We weren't able to go on his exact birthday, but a few days later we went to The Jungle Island in San Jose and Adam enjoyed playing with three of his favorite friends. They all enjoyed an extensive jungle gym, video games, laser tag, bumper cars and pizza.

the fun place

the friends--Benjamin Boston, Jacob Stratford, Adam, Kainoa Miller

Happy Birthday Adam! We're so glad to have you in our family!

Jamie's baptism

We had a wonderful weekend with both sets of grandparents visiting to be a part of Jamie's baptism. Grandma Taylor gave a talk about baptism, and Grandpa O'Dwyer gave a talk about the Holy Ghost. Both shared their testimonies and the spirit was felt so strongly. Jamie seemed to be touched quite a bit by their words. Derek baptized and confirmed Jamie. Adam said an opening prayer, Grandma O'Dwyer gave the closing prayer and Hannah played the piano for all the songs we sang. Both grandpa's were witnesses to the baptism and participated in the confirmation. We felt blessed to have the support of many ward members and friends who came for the service.

Jamie and Derek

Our family--Derek, Adam, Mackenzie, Katelyn, Cathy, Hannah
Jamie, Samantha, Laurel

Derek and Jamie with the grandparents--the Taylor's on the left, O'Dwyers on the right

Jamie in a pretty white dress that Grandma Taylor had given to Hannah when she was baptized. Then Mackenzie wore it two years ago, and now Jamie. Hopefully it will last through all the girls

Jamie's 8th Birthday

Jamie got to have a friend's birthday party this year. She was so excited to help plan and prepare everything for it. She had to decide whether to make it just a girl's party or include her guy friend's as well. She wanted to include them all, so even though she chose decorations that were pink and lime green and had butterflies, we included things the boys would appreciate.

Jamie, 8 years old

Our dining room all ready for the party to begin. When the friends came, they got to work on some crafts. Butterfly charm bracelets for the girls, bug jars for the boys. Hannah and Mackenzie were big helpers during the party.

Then almost an hour of game after game. Above they are playing Musical Dress Up. Bags of dress up clothes are passed around while music is playing, then when it stops, the people holding the bags have to grab something out and put it on. Then the music continues. They had a lot of fun with this one.

After a while everyone went outside and played Statues.

After game time we had lunch--hot dogs and fruit and veggies. Before we got to cake and ice cream, Jamie wanted to open presents (below)

Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday. The cake above was only part of it. All the children got to enjoy cake baked into ice cream cones and then ice cream added to the top. (that was something I remembered from my own childhood and Jamie was willing to try it)

The very last thing was a treasure hunt, with the prize being gift bags for all the guests. The party was a success. Jamie had a good time playing with her friends and it was a beautiful day too. Happy Birthday Jamie! We sure love you and are glad to have you in our family.

General Conference Weekend

We enjoyed another great weekend of General Conference. The children had fun working on their activity packets and we heard many great messages from our church leaders. The music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was excellent as usual.

In between sessions we kept quite busy with chores and extra projects around the house. It's so nice to get things taken care of, and we probably needed much more time than we had available.

For the priesthood session, Adam went with Derek for the first time. He will be 12 in a couple of weeks and was ready to begin this new tradition with his dad. Afterwards, they went to eat at Red Robin with some friends who also attended the meeting.


While the boys were gone, Hannah and Mackenzie went to see another play, My Fair Lady. Some other friends of ours were in this one. The little girls stayed home and played with some friends who came over and I just washed dishes, and read a book while laying down since I had hurt my back earlier in the day after working on some yard projects.

Sunday the kids were a bit more hyper through the meetings (could it be from the fun, sugary cold cereals we had at breakfast?), but we made it through and enjoyed listening to the prophet. For dinner we spent time with our friends, the VanDams, who'll be moving out of the area in a few months. It's been a good weekend.

March happenings

A summary of our month

-Adam, Mackenzie and Jamie continued another month of swimming lessons. All of them improved in their skills
-Hannah attended a multi-stake Youth Conference held in Oakland. She actually only attended the Friday night fireside, but she really enjoyed it. Her favorite part was getting to go meet Sister Elaine S. Dalton afterwards and give her a hug.
-Derek and Cathy enjoyed a night out, with dinner first, followed by seeing a local high school drama production of Pride and Prejudice. It was a nice evening!
-Derek enjoyed an overnight campout with the Varsity scouts, then some exploring and hiking through caves the next day.
-Hannah, Adam, Mackenzie and Jamie went to see a Jr. High school drama production called Once Upon a Fairytale. One of Hannah's friend's was performing in it. They really enjoyed it.
-Cathy went with Hannah to the General Young Women's broadcast and enjoyed the messages there. We then visited with friends while enjoying pizza, salad and root beer floats.

Laurel and Samantha helping Adam take out the trash (he recruits them every week!)

Katelyn, almost 18 months

Snow trip

We were invited by our friends to go to their cabin again. This time to enjoy the snow season. We drove up early Friday to meet them there, only to find out that they hadn't left as early as planned. We arrived a few hours before then, and since there was snow still on the ground, the kids got dressed for the snow and began to sled. There is a nice steep driveway up to the cabin which made a perfect hill for sledding.

Jamie after a run

Mackenzie

Hannah going down with Katelyn

Adam

Mackenzie taking Laurel for a ride

Derek and Samantha. Samantha loved playing in the snow!

Katelyn and Laurel
Katelyn loved it outside, but didn't seem to enjoy being bundled up in such bulky clothes.

the little snowman that the big girls made

Eventually our friend's came and after lunch they took everyone but myself and the nappers, to a larger hill to sled on. They were gone for a quite a few hours and came home tired and cold, but had a great time. During the afternoon, the snow began to fall and it just kept going through the night. It was so fun to see that much snow again, and to sit cozily in a cabin with a book in hand, watching the snow fall outside the window.

When we woke up the next morning, this is the sight we saw:

view from cabin door

our white van is under there somewhere

The kids were super excited to get out and get sledding again. They had to run a few times before the snow started packing better for sledding, but they had so much fun. Derek was concerned about getting out, since much of the nieghborhood roads would be going up on the way out. Our tires are not snow tires and we hadn't been able to find any chains that supposedly would work with our tires. Our friends assured us that the snowplow would come through, but the problem was the continual snowing that would cover the roads again.

Before lunch, the snowplow came through. Since it was still snowing, Derek said it was time to pack up and head out before we got stuck there another day or two. We had planned to go home Saturday night, so this was half a day early. The children were quite disappointed, but we got everything packed and cleaned in about an hour.

We tried to make the trip home fun by stopping to eat out and then visiting a Cheese factory on the way. The kids got to feed the goats and Derek got to enjoy some goats milk curds. They were a great snack on the drive home.

Though the trip was short, it was fun. We got plenty of snow packed into our visit!

Drum roll, please....

Many have asked with this new pregnancy if we are trying for a boy. We usually respond with, 'no, we are trying for a baby'. However, we would find it a pleasant surprise to have another boy. We realize, though, that the likely hood of having another girl is rather overwhelming.

So this was our mindset as Cathy went to get a routine ultrasound. She was pleased to see that the baby is developing well. However, she was surprised (yet not surprised), that the baby is a Girl! Adam remains the lone boy. Though he misses having wrestling partners, he has learned to enjoy his own room and sometimes special attention because he's the only prince among many princesses.

Baby feet are so cute, in or out of the womb!

February happenings and a few pictures

-Jamie, Mackenzie and Adam have been taking swimming lessons at the YMCA. They really enjoy it. Laurel can't wait to have a turn too.

-we had a good two weeks of illness that went back and forth between all the kids.

-Adam advance in scout rank at our stake's Court of Honor. He enjoyed wearing his merit badge sash for the first time.

-Mackenzie and Jamie have really been interested in Sign Language. They watch plenty of Signing Time dvds, as well as learn from books and an online site. Mackenzie is often seen finger spelling words that she or someone else has said. (without realizing she's doing it)

-Cathy went to a Book Club meeting with sisters in our ward. It's been a couple of years since the last time she went and she really enjoyed it. The discussions are coming out of a book called Women of the Old Testament. Unfortunately, most nights she has a conflict with a Cub Committee meeting, but hopes to go to Book Club as often as she can.

-Derek had a big snow outing scheduled with his Varsity scouts. They were going snow camping (aka building and sleeping in snow caves) with our local district scout council, but bad weather in the planned area got the activity cancelled. Derek was a bit disappointed, especially since he had spent much time and money getting ready for the experience. Hopefully they can try again next year!

A few pictures:

Laurel has fun making faces for the camera

Jamie, still waiting for some teeth to come in

Katelyn loves to dump books from a bookshelf and then sit down and look through them

2 day San Diego trip

Derek and I were able to take a short getaway for our anniversary (a few months early, 15 years!) Derek planned it for my birthday weekend and asked his mom to come out to stay with the children. They were quite excited for a visit with Grandma and we were excited to take a break from our usual routine and enjoy a beautiful location together. It doesn't take long looking through a brochure of San Diego to realize how much there is to do there. So we had to decide what was really important to us and just focus on relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

One thing I had tried for the first time last year and wanted to do again was kayaking. There are tons of kayak rentals and tours in San Diego. We chose a company in La Jolla and went for a tour. It was supposed to take us through some natural caves in the coastal cliffs there, but once we were finally out there, the guides didn't feel like the tide level was right for taking us in. So they told us all about it from outside. We did enjoy the sunny day and fresh sea ocean. We saw many birds who live on the cliff walls, sea lions, and leopard sharks. We also kayaked over one of the largest kelp forests in the world. It was a great couple of hours!

wearing wetsuits, waiting for the walk to the beach and for our kayaking to start

Cathy

The Pacific Ocean at La Jolla, so beautiful!

Some of the caves we didn't get to see inside

Derek

We stayed in Mission Bay near Sea World. This was the view from our hotel room balcony. It was so nice and peaceful. Every morning we could watch rowing teams out on the bay practicing.

We visited the Mormon Battalion Historic Site, which is near Old Town San Diego. (http://lds.org/placestovisit/eng/historical-sites/san-diego-mormon-battalion-historic-site) The museum is wonderful. Everything looks great, even the missionaries are wearing pioneer clothing. They take you on a tour presentation and you learn quite a bit. They even take a picture of you if you like. It's a must see if you are in San Diego.

After the Mormon Battalion tour and walking through Old town San Diego, we headed to the piers to go on a whale watching tour. Derek has wanted to do this for quite a while. This section of San Diego was extremely crowded. We knew it would be busy for a Saturday, but we were quite surprised at the numbers of people. Come to find out there was an airshow happening at Coronado Island in celebration of the Air Force anniversary. Many people were showing up to watch it for free on the San Diego side. Tighter security made the coming and going of all boats very slow, so our tour got a very late start. I got tired of standing in the heat, so I sat down in our line and waited and waited and waited.

Here is the boat we went on, it finally made it in. But once we got going, it still took about an hour to get out of San Diego bay. We enjoyed the sites though. Lots of boats and birds and San Diego sky line to enjoy.

Looking back at San Diego

We saw plenty of signs of whales on our tour, as indicated by seeing them come to the surface for a breath. They didn't want to show themselves much though, for we only saw their tails a few times as they went down for a dive

One of the few whale appearances we saw

We were later rewarded with a visit from dozens of dolphins who apparently love to play with boats. They swim toward them and follow in the waves made by the boat. They stayed near our boat for quite a while and it was fun to watch them. They are not shy at all like the whales were.

This was the last activity of our trip. Because our tour was late leaving and coming back, we nearly missed our flight home. So much for having dinner first! We made a mad dash to the car rental company, then to the airport, then through the airport, and just barely got let on, they thought they had everyone. It was a hectic ending to a very relaxed trip. We were glad we had the chance to spend time together, just the two of us, and we have great memories of this trip. Thank you grandma for your help!