Karter and I look forward to General Conference weekend for many reasons. One of these reasons is the opportunity it provides us to be home together ALL Sunday...this has become a rare occurrence. This year, we joined Bob and Gayle at the cabin in Lake Tahoe; we don't get there nearly as much as we'd like. It is so quiet and peaceful...until we get there! The kids were so excited to play in the river, go for walks, and make s'mores...as were Karter and I. However, nothing is ever what is seems with us: sitting in a hammock becomes an extreme sport, fly swatters become sports equipment, and the General Conference television broadcast becomes a radio broadcast. Lastly, Sunday morning, we woke up to find the mountain covered in snow. It was so beautiful! It was a great, quick weekend. Thanks, Papa and Gigi!

Lemonade Stand '09

Katie and Holly's Lemonade/Greeting Card stand has become an annual event. They spend a lot of time and effort in making all sorts of cards: birthday, new baby, get well soon, and congratulations. This year, my favorite was Holly's "Con-grape-ulations" card, complete with a hand-drawn picture of a bunch of purple grapes. Katie made a beautiful princess birthday card, which a neighbor purchased for her daughter. When the lemonade ran dry and only a few cards remained, the money was counted. Once again, they made WAY more money than my lemonade stands ever did. Then again, I didn't decorate my lemonade stands or think to give Hallmark some competition. Maybe next year, I'll charge them for the lemonade...

How Do You Eat an Oreo?

Does this even count as eating an Oreo?!? Michael thinks so.

These are Two of our Favorite Things...

I neglected to document our last summer hurrah. It combined two of our favorite things: camping and the beach! Rob and Christy invited us to join their family at Manresa State Beach. We had a great time and, thankfully, Karter managed to avoid any evidence of the skunk encounter...

Christy, Mary, Rob, and Karter

Just playing

Ridin' the waves

(the water wasn't even touching the boogie board in the rest of the pictures)

Beach bum

Pure happiness...

First Day of School

"Hooray! Hooray! It's the first day of school!" Katie shouted...wait, that wasn't Katie. It was me! Katie is officially a 4th grader; I can't believe it. She is excited to have a new teacher and is lucky to have several friends in her class. Also...

Michael is officially a preschooler! This has been a strange transition for me. Michael has been a joy and a...challenge. I think part of me thought I would never get past the "challenge" part, that he would never grow up, never leave my side, and forever be my crazy little toddler. We are by no means past the crazy toddler stage, but he is growing up. I tried to prepare his teacher for his "energy and enthusiasm"; she assured me he would be fine and you know what? He was. He was more than fine. After his first day, his teacher told me he "participated well". He loves preschool. He loves to tell me what he did that day and even loves doing his homework. He is working on being a good listener so every day can be a "5 gummy bear day". When I picked him up the other day, he was putting on his seatbelt and said, "Mom, preschool is so fun." Now, only 3 weeks in, he is asking me to drop him off. "I can walk in by myself, Mom." I know you can, buddy. The problem is, Mommy can't.

We are Claiming our Treasures...

This is Addy. She is every bit as funny, spunky, and intense as this picture implies. We were so happy to get her, her baby sister, mommy, and Grandma Sheri out here a few weeks ago. It is so fun when we get visitors here in Fresno because we get them all to ourselves! And we set world records for how much stuff we can pack into a Honda Odyssey...who knew we could fit two strollers, 4 car seats, and 8 people AND would use all 16 cup holders?!? We tried to pack a lot of fun stuff into our always-too-short visit. Chuck E. Cheese was a highlight of our time together (that makes it sound like it was a horrible weekend, but the kids actually made this stop quite entertaining). Michael and Addy demonstrated their future potential as pick-pocketers as they continuously dove into our pockets for tokens; the tokens were put to good use as Michael and Addy kept the rest of us laughing while they rode their "roller-coaster" ride:

The best was Keri and I trying to hold Michael and Addy's heads still, and inside the designated red circle, so the Chuck E. Cheese camera could take a picture and provide a "sketch" of this priceless keepsake...because don't we all go to Chuck E. Cheese for priceless keepsakes?!? (Notice the death-grips keeping them in place...)We gave it two attempts and laughed hysterically at the results. Katie and Michael were both in school Friday morning, so we took that opportunity to reward Addy for ditching diapers and donning Princess underwear. We arrived at the Build-a-Bear Workshop and kept her attention for a record-setting 7 minutes :)

We left with Bella the Bear, complete with big-bear underwear.

It is so fun to see my kids loving and playing with their cousins, aunts, and grandma. Thanks, Keri and Mom, for making such an effort to come be with us (I've traveled with three kids solo...I know what an effort it is!). It means so much to us. We love you!

How cute is she? Little London Jane

Lizzy playing with Grandma

So, when are you coming back???

Sounds Only a Baby Sister Could Love