Family Fun Fiesta!

Cameron's Musical Revue

Cameron has been asking me everyday about doing this post. On Thursday, Dec. 18th Cameron had his first Musical Revue. He was in several musical numbers. He performed "Take me as I am" from Jekyll & Hyde, "Do you hear the people sing" & "Drink with me" both from Les Miserables. He was in other numbers as part of the ensemble. I thought that he did a great job! And he had a lot of fun with it. We did video tape his songs, but I was sitting to far away and my little point and shoot camera didn't do the best job recording, plus it was too dark. So, next time I will try to sit closer and get a better recording of him. Good Job Cameron, We are Proud of You!

Still Catching Up!

On Friday Dec, 5th we had our Ward Christmas Dinner. It turned out very nice. I am very happy to have it behind me now! I had so many people to help me put it all together. We had a very yummy menu planned; Holiday Salad, that was just awesome, Roast Beef, that shredded & fell apart perfectly, Mashed Potatoes, without any lumps, Cooked Carrots, that were nice and tender, and freshly baked Rolls. For dessert we served Spice Cake & Ice Cream.

We had a Wonderful program put on by our Primary Kids. The kids started the program by first singing, and then they acted out the Nativity with Narrators and more singing with the audience. They did such a great job! Shelby was supposed to be an inn keeper, but the day before the activity her friend called and said she wouldn't be able to play the part of Mary and thought that Shelby should do it in her place. So, Shelby stepped up and did a great job as Mary!

I was so happy with the whole evening. We have such a great Ward Family! So many people helped to make this a Great Christmas Dinner & Program! I can't thank them enough!
The same night of the activity, Cameron had his first indoor league Lacrosse game. James went to that and took videos of Cameron. For those of you who don't know much about lacrosse, it is a very fast paced game and very physical. I am glad that they wear helmets and pads. Even with all of his pads on Cameron still comes home with bruises! Anyway, here is a short video of Cameron taking a shot at the Goal, he is #7 in Black.

Even though his shot didn't go in, his team still won the game! Way to go Cameron! Ok, I think I am all caught up now! Phew! I am tired!

Catching Up!

Things have been very busy around here, so I am very behind on keeping up this blog.

It was great to have Samuel home for Thanksgiving, even if his visit was a short one. He flew home on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and flew back Sunday afternoon. The kids loved having Samuel home, and I didn't mind it too much either! This year we spent Thanksgiving with James' side of the family. The kids and I went down to Hollister to be with family close by, while James spent Thanksgiving in Idaho with Aunts, Uncles and cousins at a Wright Family reunion.

It was nice to relax, enjoy a great meal, and spend time with Family! James came home the following day and we set up the tree and decorated the house for Christmas. Cameron was determined to do all of the decorating while Samuel was home! It is nice having older kids, I was able to just sit back and supervise while they did most of the decorating themselves. The house looks great!!

On Saturday night James got a phone call from his Best Friend of many years who happened to be in town for the Holiday. So James and Tom were together again if only for a short visit. They had a lot of fun reminiscing! They have been friends since they were 4 or 5. They went to church, school and on many road trips together and Tom was James' Best Man at our wedding. It is fun to see these two together, they are like a couple of little boy's who love to goof off! Thanks for the visit Tom! It was great seeing you!

October has Come and Gone...

This month has flown by. Our first activity for the month was Cameron's school play. He played a Butler in the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" He did a great job! I went and saw him on opening night and then James went and saw him on closing night. According to Cameron he was better closing night because he wasn't as nervous by then. He enjoys the Musical Theater class at school and will have a musical revue coming up soon. My brother and his wife had a weekend away together so we got to have the girls stay with us! Kendall loved it. He loves his cousins! In fact one day when we were driving out to Livermore to see family Kendall was saying how much he Loves Madalen & Carmen. I asked him if he loves Mommy? He said "No, just Madalen and Carmen!" I think that has since changed, He loves me again and tells Cameron and Shelby that I am His mommy and that the baby is His baby sister! We will see how and if his love changes again when the baby comes.

Shelby finished playing Fall Volleyball with the USYVL. She had a great time and is looking forward to trying out for the team at school in the Spring. Our annual ward Chili/Pie Cook-off this year was a lot of fun! This year it included all 3 wards in our building and had games for the kids, a costume parade, and Trunk or Treat. We had a huge turn out and a lot of Yummy Chili and Delicious Pie. I even brought home a prize for the "Best use of Beans". I thought that was pretty funny because, I didn't even enter my Chili. The reason being: I didn't make it! It was left over Chili from Armadillo Willy's Restaurant that I had frozen from the Stake Scout Camp out. All I did was add a can of Stagg's Chili to it. Oh well, no since arguing with the Judges!The day before Halloween Kendall's preschool had a party! The kids weren't allowed to wear their costumes to school, so they all got their faces painted as one of their activities and then went trick or treating to some of the classrooms. As soon as Kendall got home, he couldn't wait to get the paint off of his face! He is not a Fan of Face Paint! He didn't like how it got hard on his face and started to hurt.Every year on Halloween, downtown Willow Glen has trick or treating on the Avenue for kids. I like how they break it up into age groups. Preschoolers go from 10 to 12 and then school age kids are from 3 to 5. Usually it is very crowded. This year because of the threat of rain a lot of people skipped it. The weather actually turned out to be very nice. My mom brought Madalen and Carmen out this year to go with me and Kendall. They had a lot of fun and got way too much candy. The best thing handed out was at Jamba Juice. They gave out little kid sized cups of Mango-a-go-go and Caribbean Passion. Yummy!! Shelby dressed up like a cat this year. I thought she looked very cute! They had a costume contest at school. Halloween night she went trick or treating with a friend from school. She came home with way too much candy also!
Cameron dressed up twice, once for school and again for a Halloween Party! I didn't get a picture of him in his school costume. He struggled with what he should be this year. He really wanted to win the school contest. Last year, he and his friend were missionaries and weren't allowed first place. This year, at the last minute he put on a trenchcoat and sandals and went as a Flasher! I made him wear shorts and a t-shirt underneath. He took second place this year. For the party, he wore this: I don't know who or what he is!This is not my costume! I just thought that I would throw in the newest pregnancy photo of me. I am now 6 months pregnant. This pregnancy is going by so fast it seems. I think it is because of how busy our lives are. November and December will probably be just as busy. Hopefully it will slow down a little while Samuel is home at Thanksgiving. We don't get to have him home for long before he has to head back to Provo.

Pumpkin Patch

Today Kendall's preschool went on a field trip to the Spina Farms Pumpkin Patch in South San Jose. At first we were scheduled to go to Half Moon Bay to a Pumpkin Patch, luckily his teacher decided to change it to a pumpkin patch closer to home. We liked this idea alot better. We carpooled with our good friends Anne & Olivia. The kids were so excited when they saw all of the Pumpkins!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Jared!!

On Sunday we went out to Livermore to help celebrate my nephew's 1st birthday!! We always love to get together with the cousins. It was especially fun to share our news with my family. I hadn't told anyone in my family except for my Dad, I told him a month ago. I finally told my Mom the day before getting together with everyone. Everyone was quite surprised! This baby will be the 25th Grandchild on my side of the family and the 24th grandchild on James' side. Kendall loves playing with his cousins, but most of all, he loves Madalen. In fact once when we were driving out to Livermore to see family, Kendall said "I Love Madalen and Carmen" So I asked "Do you love Mommy and Daddy?" K: "No, I just love Madalen and Carmen!"

Jared loved his cake! Cameron asked if for his birthday next year, he could sit on the table and dig in with his fingers and toes like Jared got too!!

One highlight of the night was when the kids asked grandpa if they could sit in his car and pretend to drive. Now, my Dad Loves Loves Loves his BMW! I don't even think he has let anyone else drive it besides him, but he did let the the kids (who wanted to) sit and pretend!!! Shelby loved it! Thanks Grandpa for the fun!!