Life as we know it

All the girls on homecoming court got to ask a teacher to be their escort. Rangi was honored to be asked by one of his previous algebra students. Me and the girls cheered him on at the rally!
This is what a typical dinner looks like at our house (I actually took this picture because I thought the kids looked so cute in their Halloween shirts). Dinner actually looks sick, my mom would die because growing up we ALWAYS had the table set nice (sorry mom). The important thing is we do eat together every night.
I love it when all the homework is done and we can go out front and PLAY!
Fifties day for the first graders celebrating their 50th day of school!
Rigdon is playing water polo for the first time and he is doing great. I LOVE water polo so it is hard to tell who is more excited about him playing. It is a HARD sport and he gets pretty cold practicing outside for an hour and a half as skinny as he is- but he has gotten so much stronger!
Jilli is NOT happy on the ground and usually demands to be as close to me as possible. Here she is in her favorite spot!
Crazy hair day!

Line upon Liney

Caroline is full of so many funny things that it is time I start blogging them so we can remember them in years to come.

At the doctor's office, "mom if I am cute and reverent, will I get a sucker?" she doesn't know what to do when, she just knows those are important ones.

"Daddy is my best friend, but it's okay mom you can be my best friend too."

Lunch time almost daily, " Can we go get the kids now?"

We were talking about what sports Rigdon and Livi wanted to do in high school and Caroline says, " I want to be a stop signer when I get old enough just like at Rigdon and Livi's school." Apparently she wants to be a crossing guard, so we can take her out of gymnastics and save some money!

Loving Life

This is going to be the name of all my posts that simply share my feelings or insights about my life at the time. If you only come for pictures these will not appeal to you, if you think my last name has a connection to my intellectual prowess these may prove different. I am someone that sees the sunny side of life most of the time. My kids have really tested this side of me, although they truly are the sunshine in my life. I don't like laundry or mopping the floor, homework is a thorn in my side, but other than that I am extremely blessed. I love life. Right now I am loving our beautiful weather, LOVING that I made my first apple pie from scratch (crust and all). Loving Friday night football games with Rangi, the kids and lots of friends.

Yum!

Just thought I would post a picture of sweet baby J. enjoying her macaroni and cheese. She devoured it like it was candy, and it probably has the same health factor.

Adjective fest!

Last week my friend Jennifer and I went to go see the BYU ballroom dancers. It was truly breathtaking. The dancers were SO talented, their costumes were stunning AND modest. They each changed costumes for every dance, the music ranged from salsa to swing, and there was never a slow moment. I recommend it to anyone that wants exquisite and wholesome entertainment. Next time I am taking my whole family. Thanks for a charming night Jennifer!

general conference

What does this little back pack baby have to do with general conference? I LOVE them both! General Conference is a weekend where we get to stay home and listen to our living prophet and apostles (just like Moses and Abraham of the bible) teach us about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love to make it a special weekend with our family that focuses on how lucky we are that God still puts living prophets on the earth. We love to get comfy and the weather this year was perfect; cold and a little rainy. We also went on a fun little hike/picnic in the new nature reserve by our house!
Here is everyone hiking away... meanwhile I am trying to hone my photography skills in the few minutes I get a month!
Hooray... we made it to the picnic table and had a very relaxing and uplifting weekend!

Life in general

Here the kids are practicing their skills at the skate park
Rangi is still looking pretty skilled
Three guys that I love headed up to the top of San Gorgonio
Rangi doesn't do anything BUT intense in every sport he plays and that includes broom hockey at church. (13 stitches later, 1:00am and my visiting teacher all helped out with his intensity).
We finally renewed our passes to the happiest place on earth because Caroline is at the prime age and we couldn't deny her any longer. All three kids with no cavities also added to the celebration!
I have been working in the yard, planting fall mums, and making ghosts that light up, to make it look like fall here. Unfortunately this picture only documents Rangi's handiwork in trimming this cute tree we thought was an out of control bush. We did not plant the yard so we have to figure out what everything is... in this case a pygmy date palm and we love it now!
Enjoying our first Dodger game! ( Hey I was raised in an Angels family) We were lucky enough to be given great tickets, and take only the two oldest to a game!

L.A.County Fair

This year at the fair we had a variety of life and death encounters ... the shark
The heat... it started out hot!
The T-Rex... you can see that Rangi and I are leaning away from his deadly jaw.
Maybe the most deadly was an actual taste of chocolate covered bacon, not as bad as it sounds, turned out to be not so deadly.
THE MOST DEADLY... worlds biggest chili cheese fries, and giant turkey leg... heart attack on location could occur!
Rigdon still alive and kicking after punishing the whole turkey leg, as for the chili fries...the plate was just as bare-we are watching our cholesterol levels until the next fair.
Caroline was the only thing to be feared in the petting zoo. She would hug the animals with a death grip until they fled for dear life.
Itch attack is what I would be afraid of here, but the kids climbed happily over and through the hay "maze" for quite awhile.

And if you are afraid of crazy kids... run now!

We also encountered deadly sales people which is why I am now the proud owner of THREE poodle gloves (designed to make house cleaning a walk in the park) lightning should have struck the sales booth making it more dangerous than the food.

Despite all of the danger we would risk it again to be with good friends, free parking, fatty foods and farm animals!

Dear Garage Sales...

I LOVE YOU!!! Yes I got this table that seats six comfortably at a garage sale. I stained the tabletop and seats darker to match my cabinets. I love garage sales. My husbands family introduced them to me when we were first married, and I have been in love ever since! With garage sales that is. I now have a friend that may love them as much as me. One mans junk is another mans treasure... that is our mantra. I can't wait for the next one, have I mentioned I love garage sales and finding deals with someone who is as excited as you are just adds to the fun!

Apple of our eye...

Jillian truly is the apple of our eye! We love her so much! She turned 8 months old on the day I took these pictures ( took me a while to blog). She is now 8 1/2 months old. She claps her hands, signs "more" when she is eating, pulls herself up to her knees (time to lower the crib) and always wants to be where the whole family is. She will happily sit outside on the grass and watch all the kids play.

October...

October is the best of all

In the fall

Colored leaves come tumbling down,

on the ground

footballs flying in the air,

everywhere...

Everything a month should be

Haunting skies and Haunting sounds

Haunting colors all around.

Cool by night and warm by day

there could be no better way...

-Jane W. Krows