San Fran

Monday we spent the day with Mitch.  He showed us all the fun and neat things in San Francisco.  We went to Fisherman's Wharf, the old Arcade Games Museum, The Sea Lions (which Sabree was sure were bears), Pier 39, The Bay, San Francisco Bridge, Lombard the crookedest road, Ghiradeli Square, and other neat things to see.  We were glad to have a tour guide that new the great places to be.

That night we drove to Santa Cruz so we could see the Redwoods on our way to Anaheim.  After a bit of a detour trying to find a big tree, we got to our hotel, went to dinner, then went swimming in the dark.  We decided to go check out the "Mystery Spot" of gravitational anomalies in Santa Cruz, but we didn't have pre purchased tickets and didn't want to wait for the next tour.  So we went for a little hike and saw big trees, but Tanner was disappointed that they weren't the kind you drive through.  Someday we will do that forest in Northern Cali.  Then we were off to Anaheim.

Oddly enough California hasn't figured out how to put rest stops every so many miles, so when we found this visitor's center it was a much needed potty break.  The view was lovely and we enjoyed stretching our legs for a while.

Traffic was great until we got to LA.  Then we hit it just at 4:30pm and our last hour took a good 2 hours + we had a wild goose chase trying to find a potty for Sabree. But Thanksgiving dinner was waiting for us when we got to the house as well as all the family we had been so anxious to see!  The kids went swimming with cousins in the dark and then off to bed so we could see Mickey the next morn.

California here we come!

We had the most wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mom and Dad paid for our family to go to California and see Mickey Mouse.  Sabree has been counting down since Grandma was here in October because she was so sad to have her leave and couldn't wait to see her again.  She asked every morning, "see Grandma and Mickey Mouse today?"  Even though she had no idea what to expect, she knew it was going to be awesome!

We left Saturday morning and drove to Portland and spent the afternoon at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science Industry).  We had a fun time playing and learning and exploring.

Then we decided to go to VooDoo donuts, which I had heard was awesome.  We got to the area of town it was in and found the place, and realized that it must be great because there was a line down the sidewalk and Dave said he didn't know of any donut that was good enough to stand in that kind of line for.  So we decided to go find the Portland Temple for our Temple Pictures book.  I put "LDS TEMPLE" in my iphone and off we went.  We drove 15-20 minutes, and arrived at our destination in front of DI.  Stupid iphone!  But luckily there was a Krispy Kremes next door so we still got a yummy donut and headed to the hotel.

We went swimming as soon as we got to the Hotel, which Sabree was so excited for!  She couldn't wait to go "wimmin".

 Sunday morning we got up and headed to the airport.  We could load our flight at 12:20, and Tanneer was counting down the seconds.  When we still hadn't boarded at 12:23 he was dying.  He was so excited to fly and really wanted to just go!

 As the plane took off there was quite a bit of turbulence.  The plane would shift and drop and bump around.  The pilot came on and said the flight would be 1 hour and 18 minutes and Tanner looked at me and said "I can't wait for 1 hour and 18 minutes to be over!"  But the ride smoothed out after a few minutes and we were all fine.

 At the San Francisco Airport we had to ride the Air Train to get to our Rental Car.  Sabree really liked that.

 For dinner we drove to see our favorite uncle Mitch.  He made lasagna for us to eat and the kids were crazy and rambunctious but it was fun to be together.

The best kids EVER!!

We just got school pictures taken.  Sometimes I decide that it isn't worth my money and it would be better to take individual pics elsewhere.  But this year I decided I was just gonna pay it and do it.  And I took Sabree to the school to get hers taken too.  I am SO happy with how they turned out!!

I also just went to parent teacher conferences.  Here is a moment of braggery...

Braden is in kindergarten and has Mrs. Wilson.  Although she is a little different and hard to have a conversation with as an adult, the kindergarteners love her!  Braden is learning so fast and is such a good student.  He knows all his ABCs and numbers to 100 and he is a pro rhymer.  He is a very good student and stays on task and doesn't get into trouble and he has lots of friends.  He is very patient with his friend Quinn that comes over every morning before school and catches the bus with him and he plays very well with his little sister.  He is growing up so fast and has a definite opinion about what he puts on for clothes and what he eats and is getting pickier every meal it seems.  He has lost a few teeth and feels so grown up to be in that club now.  He is the biggest sweetheart and loves to snuggle.

 Colton is a 3rd Grader and has Mrs. Crnkovich.  They call her Mrs. C.  Mrs. C LOVES Colton.  She couldn't talk highly enough about him.  She is a very laid back teacher and is just happy that Colton is in her class.  He has TERRIBLE handwriting, but she doesn't seem as concerned about it as his mother.  He is a great reader and reads at a 4th and 5th grade level and has wonderful test scores in all areas.  Colton is very social and has lots of friends.  He is the sweetest big brother to his little sister.  He would bend over backwards to help her in any way and loves the attention she will give him.  He is taking piano and is learning fast and does a great job at recitals.

 Tanner is a little genius.  He is a 4th grader and his teacher is the wonderful Mr. Linn.  When I went into PTC he told me that I need to encourage Tanner to speak up and take his education by the reins.  He said that most teachers won't make the effort to know their students by the way they write or their handwriting like he does.  And Tanner will get lost in the background if he doesn't raise his hand and make himself known.  I laughed and thought to myself about the note that I got from his preschool teacher that said that he hadn't said one word to her the whole year.  Tanner has 7th grade reading test scores, reads in the 5th and 6th grade levels, is in the 90 percentile for math and has the most beautiful cursive his teacher has ever seen. Tanner decided to do Math Club this year and has really accelerated in his math skills. He is still taking piano lessons and although he complains ALOT he is a great musician when he wants to be.

 Sabree is the princess and she knows it.  She LOVES purple and has decided that everyone needs to love a color and she decides which one everyone loves that day, but hers is always purple.  She is addicted to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and watches it over and over and related everything to it.  She wants to have friends play all the time with her and talks about her friends often.  Sabree talks our ears off and is very smart.  She also watches Dora and can count to 5 in spanish.  She counts in English to about 13 but consistently misses 7.  She loves to be read to and gets very excited to go to the library to pick new books.  She usually picks a book that she deems as her fave and we read it over and over until she can retell the story herself.  She loves having her hair done and curled and being a ballerina and dancing through the house.

Happy Birthday to Davey

Dave is an OLD man now....a whopping 36!  We celebrated with brownies on the night before his birthday because he wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse on his birthday and we would all be too full to eat a birthday treat.  We are sure lucky to have the best Daddy in the world!

Oh Toothfairy....

Braden and Colton have been losing teeth.  Braden has lost teeth sooner than his other brothers.  He is so excited to have a tooth pulled and lets Dave pull on a wiggly tooth before it is really loose enough.  It is fun that Colt and Braden lost teeth at the same time.

Dog Lake Marathon

I had the opportunity to help organize a marathon with my friend Ashley Stratton for Brian Anderson.  Brian started this marathon 3 years ago because he wanted to, but it is too much for one person to manage and he asked Ashley and I to help this year.  We were able to do some great advertising, get social media involved, contact businesses about sponsorship, organize volunteers, put out fliers, save money on shirts, order signage and hire a photographer.  In the years past there were 50-60 runners, and this year we maxed out at 100 a month before the deadline.  It was fantastic.

Mom came to stay with the kids while I went to the marathon.  Dave was still in harvest.  It had been a rainy and cold week, but the morning of the race was beautiful and everything went almost perfectly as planned.  We took good notes and are excited to make it even better next year.