Wright Family Reunion

This slide show took 3 tries to put together I am a little tired of slide.com I tried another web site and didn't have any success with it either. I finally got this one to post. Anyway, these pictures go along with my earlier post.

The Crazy Month of August...

And it isn't even over yet!! We have been so busy this month. It started with James & me taking Cameron and a friend to EFY in Fresno and then the two of us traveling on down to So. Cal for our belated anniversary trip. We left Samuel home and in charge of Shelby & Kendall. (It is so nice to have an 18 yr. old who is responsible enough to leave the younger ones home with for a whole week!!) We made no plans, we just made them up as we went. It was Great!! Wicked was still playing so we saw that on Tuesday night. It was Awesome!! I loved it!! James had just seen it in London with Samuel, but he enjoyed it enough to see it again with me! We spent our days at the Beach, me relaxing, while James was skim boarding. We saw that our favorite play ever was in concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday night so we knew we couldn't miss that. So I would have to say that the highlight of our week was seeing Les Miserables in Concert. We got home late Saturday afternoon, just in time to clean house, do laundry and welcome James' side of the family for the Wright Family Reunion!! We drove out to Vacaville on Sunday after church to visit with James' brother's and sisters' families, on Monday we had them at our house for swimming and BBQ. Tuesday, I think I got to relax a little. Wednesday we drove out to the outlet's where I met up with family and brought back some to stay at our house. Thursday we woke up to a T-P'd house, we cleaned it up before heading off to San Francisco. We started at the Exploritorium and went on to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square. Friday we went up to the Temple to do baptisms and sealings. The kids 12 and up did about 80 family names and then the adults did the sealings. We were able to get a room at the inter-stake center for the little ones to hang out and play while we were in the Temple. After the Temple we had lunch at a nearby park and then drove to Boomers for some miniature golf, go-carts, laser tag, bumper boats & arcade games. Saturday we went to Santa Cruz. We have a very generous friend who was able to give us some passes to the Boardwalk, so while some headed off to the Boardwalk others stayed and enjoyed the Beach. The day ended with a BBQ and Talent show at our house. Kendall missed out on the BBQ, he fell asleep on the drive home from Santa Cruz and slept until 6:15 Sunday morning. He was so worn out from all of the activities of the week. We had such a great time with all of our family and we were so happy to have them in our home. It was also nice to be able to have most of them join us at church on Sunday, before having to catch an airplane or jump in the car for a long drive back to Utah, for Samuel's Ordination to become an Elder. It was a great week. Now maybe I can help Samuel get ready for BYU and try not to get emotional. I doubt it but I will try!!

Happy Birthday Shelby!!!

I can't believe that Shelby is turning 11 today. It has been so much fun having a little girl in our family. She isn't so little any more, she is growing into such a beautiful young lady. When I found out that I was pregnant with a girl I was so excited! Don't get me wrong, I love my boy's, but I wanted a little girl so badly. She was so much fun to dress up! She was also my easiest pregnancy. I was never sick with her and my labor and delivery were shorter and easier by far compared to the boy's. We love our Shelby and are so happy to have her in our family. We will be having her birthday party this afternoon, so I will post pictures of that later. Happy Birthday Shelby, we love you!!!

Plumbing Woes!!!

So, a week ago I called the Plumber. We had been hearing water running that sounded like it was coming from the refrigerator. When he went under the house we found a nice flood going on. He was able to do a temporary fix for the night and then came back Saturday morning to start the clean-up process. He found one big leak that was caused by the refrigerator water line that was apparently hooked up wrong, and it caused several other smaller leaks. The old galvanized pipes were a mess, and only getting worse. We decided to go ahead and have the house re-piped with copper. We knew we would have to eventually, we just hadn't planned on doing it this soon. After the crawl space was all dried out the Plumbers came back on Monday to start our re-pipe. A couple of years ago we had remodeled the bathroom's upstairs and the plumber we hired said he would change out our pipes to copper then. Well. when our plumbers on Monday started getting into their work they found that the previous guy didn't do everything we apparently paid him for. So, long story short we had plumbers here thru Friday evening. We had water at night in the downstairs bathroom & one working shower, but during the day nothing. Thank goodness we live across the street from the park with Restrooms. Kendall thought it was fun to go Pee at the Park. Lesson to all, if you hear water running check it out before it is too late and you have a flood. I guess these are the joys of home ownership, especially in an older home.

Happy Belated 4TH of July!!

Since I was just called to be the activities chairperson in our ward my first activity was to do the food for the annual 4th of July Pancake Breakfast. I don't know what I was stressing out for. I had so many people help me and the whole thing I think was a huge success. We planned food for 350 people and I think we ended up with close to that amount. After the breakfast, we went down to San Juan Bautista for a family BBQ & swim. We always have a good time when we are with our extended family for Holidays. We did miss Samuel & James and can't wait until Tuesday when they get home!!! After a lot of yummy food, swimming, and being with cousins, we went to Hollister and stayed overnight with my Sis-in-law's family. Kendall had a lot of fun with the poppers and sparklers and even stayed awake to enjoy the firework show at the Middle School in town. We had a great 4th of July!! We love our family and are so happy that we got to spend the Holiday with so many of them!!The Scout Troop performed the flag ceremony before the Breakfast, Cameron played his Trumpet as part of the ceremony. I wish I got pictures or video of it but I was busy in the kitchen and Shelby had my camera so this is what she got!Kendall and Jacob are a year apart, so they get along great with each other and they had so much fun exploring together.Cameron supervising Kendall with the Sparklers.

Staying awake for the very last of the fireworks was tough but Kendall made it.

Happy Birthday Kendall!!

Three years ago Kendall joined our family kicking and screaming!! I remember that day so vividly. He just didn't want to come out. He was my most difficult and longest labor. I thought Samuel's was bad after 24hrs of labor and then an emergency C-section. That was nothing!! Kendall was just stubborn. After about 36 hrs and what seemed like forever of pushing he was finally here. We love our little Kendall and are so happy to have him in our Family!!
Saturday evening I took Kendall to get his Birthday pictures taken. He was looking forward to it, until we got there. He didn't want to do anything the photographer wanted him to do. He wanted to do his own thing. Well the session went better than I had thought, the photographer got some really cute shots of him. We celebrated Kendall's birthday with my brother Ron's family and my mom. As you can see in this picture James was able to Skpe in and join the party. Kendall loves his cousins and was so happy that Madalen and Carmen were able to come. Thanks guys for celebrating with us!!
Happy Birthday Kendall, We Love You I love this picture of Kendall with Carmen and Madalen. Just ignore Cameron, He is always being goofy, and he wonders why we don't have any good pictures of him.

20 Years Ago Today!!!

It is hard for me to believe that James & I have been married for 20 yrs. This is a big one! So to celebrate we are thousands of miles apart. James left yesterday on a 3+ week business trip. I am sad that we aren't together but I am happy that he is getting paid to travel. Hopefully he will rack up the frequent flyer miles and we can go on a Cruise to the Caribbean again.

I looked thru our wedding pictures to scan the best photos of us to post. It is so funny to see how much we have changed. I had huge hair, but it was the 80's!

At our reception James & I had planned on being very nice with the cake, so after James gave me cake first(very nicely) it was my turn to give him a bite(nicely). Well, I have 6 brothers who were all egging me on so I took the cake and smeared it on his face. In this picture, James is reaching to get some more cake to smash on me. When we were done it was in my hair and on my dress.

It has been a great 20 yrs. with James. We have had some great times together and I look forward to a whole lot more. He is a great Father to our children, it is fun to see him and the boy's quote lines from their favorite movies or tv shows. Our kids got his crazy sense of humor, and out going personality and I am so glad that they did!! It is never a dull moment at our house with each of them trying to out do the other and to make James laugh. James is a great Husband. He puts up with my moods, my nagging and my endless bugging him to help me with computer stuff. I am so thankful that I have him and that we can be together forever, so what's 3 weeks, I can handle being a part that long when I know that he is mine for Eternity! I still miss you James, Come Home Soon!