California Here We Come

Here we are in the car on our way to California. Spirits were high, and excitement was in the air. We headed out of Vegas at about 8:30 in the morning. (The temperature was 19 degrees Celsius).

The drive ended up being a little long. Most of the children fell asleep on the trip. We went to Laguna beach, and when we pulled into town it was lunch time. We were looking for a place to eat and we pulled into this little place on the side of the road.

It was a pretty good place, and there were many locals who were coming. We ordered our burgers, fries, and drinks; sat outside to eat; and had a great time. We did have a little more than ketchup.

We were in the sun and loving it. We did get a little warm though. After lunch we went down the road to the beach.

Claire made some sand castles, and Joyce brought some shells. There were no shells at the beach, and Joyce dropped them in the water, and the girls were excited to pick them up. They did see grandma drop the shell though.

Brett found a sea star and it was eating a mussel. It was pretty cool.

Here is Eli sitting in the water. It was a little cold, but the kid got used to it right away.

It was fun to have seaweed and sea animals and salt water and sunshine.

Brett dug a hole to bury Caleb. It didn't work, because Caleb wouldn't sit still and he was cold.

We went up to some rocks where there were tide pools. We saw sea urchins, sea annenomes, and sea stars. We also saw hermit crabs, crabs, fish, mussels, and barnicles.

This was the first time my children had been to the beach and seen the ocean. They were so intrigued with all that was there. It was a great time, and the children had a blast.

Right before we left the beach we decided to have a family picture taken. It was a lot of fun, and I think we all got a little pink.

To end the day, we went to the Newport Temple and I made our family get out of the car and get a picture. Some of the family (Brett) was a little concerned that we were not dressed appropriately for the temple... some of the children were still in their swimming suits. When we pulled up, there were security guards walking around, so they (Brett & Caleb) thought we would get busted. Then we went to the hotel. It was a great end for a wonderful day.

Especially for Natalie

Grandmas sitting out of the pool talking to you on the phone.

Looking for you in the pool.

Holding a spot for you at the table.

Waving, "HELLO!" Because we miss you.

Seth throwing himself off of the highest mountain. Trying to "dive" in. It was the best event of the day... and we caught it on film.

We sure miss you and wish you were here with us.

My "EAR-isistable" Child

For Emily's seventh birthday we told her that we would allow her to get her ears pierced.  Brett told her that she would have to wait until she was 12, but since I got mine pierced when I was seven, I thought I would use the same timeline for her.

It was quite the process to get her to the mall.  Getting her dressed and then trying to put her hair up was an ordeal, especially since she is very tired due to late nights at grandma's.  When we got to the mall, we went and bought pajamas first.  Then we started the "hunt" for the store to do her ears.

We saw a place in the middle of the mall called the piercing pagota.  We thought that might be the place, but we decided to move on.  We continued to the end of the mall so that grandma could get a new battery in her watch, and then we went back to a PINK, PINK, PINK store.  Did I mention that it was very pink.  We went back to it because when we walked by it, there were little girls in there getting their hair styled.  Claire wanted a hair style, so we went back to check it out.

While we were there we noticed that they did ear piercing.  We also saw Claire's favorite store across from this one - "CLAIRE'S" and they did ear piercing.  We checked prices and decided on the pink store "CLUB LIBBY LU."  We got her all set up, and she was a champ.  She chose her earrings, sat in the chair, and didn't even flinch.  Now she has a couple of extra holes in her head.

Just a note - Claire left very disappointed... she thought she should get her ears pierced, too.  We told her that should could get her ears pierced when she was seven.  She wants to come to grandma's house and get them pierced at the same store Emily did (that will be an expensive ear piercing).

School & Sunburns

We went to Grandma Asay's class today.  We met her for lunch and then we played with the students.  Shortly after we got to the classroom for lunch, Mrs. Asay had to go and pick up her class from lunch.  When they got back, Mrs. Asay introduced Caleb, Eli, Emily, & Claire to her class.  One of the little boys in her class read the class a story, and then the class had to go to art.  We sat with grandma for a little while and then we went to the book fair.  It was a stinky library.  Not a bad stick, but a major candle stink.  When we got back to the classroom, Caleb was talking to the students about being in 6th grade.  He was answering their questions and really engaging them.  It was cute to see.  Grandma let all of the children read to her class and then we went outside for a few minutes.  When we came back in we did centers.  Claire was in charge of the magnet center, Emily was in charge of a building/estimate the number of block in your building center, Caleb was in charge of an estimation center (how many ________ in the jar), and Eli was in charge of a math facts center.  I think everyone enjoyed it.

Before we went to the school, I let the children play outside.  They were in and out of the pool & hot (cold) tub.  They were playing on a raft and trying not to get wet.  It was fun to be outside.  I was lounging on the chair working on my suntan.  I got a little bit of color, and we were only outside for 30 minutes. 

Am I a bad parent if I allow my children to go skinny dipping?  They took off their suits last night after playing in the hot tub and then jumped in the pool... =D

Cha-Ching

We made it out of the cold to the land of the NOT COLD.  Las Vegas (cha-ching) is beautiful.  We went swimming in grandma's hot tub (the pool is a little too cold right now - grandma will heat it up next week so we can swim for Thanksgiving with all of the cousins).  

Caleb asked grandma to take some pictures of him so that he could send them to some friends.  Claire decided to get in on the action.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I wore my glasses to preschool and it took about thirty minutes before anyone said anything to me. When we got inside one of my students looked at me and said, "Mrs. Asay, you look like my dad!"

I thought, "huh?"

Then another boy said, "Yeah, you look like my mom!"

I actually knew what they were talking about, and my assistant helped clarify it for the rest of the class. She asked them if their parents wore glasses. The answer was YES.

What to Wear?

The title of this one says, "Laundry."

1. socks
2. shirts
3. pants
4. underwear
5. capris
6. tights - be careful with this one
7. skirts
8. dresses

Have fun. To see the answers, just click and drag over the list.

What's for Lunch

Another test of phonetics. Emily made another menu.

1. pizza

2. meat

3. chicken nuggets

4. lasagna

5. chicken

6. red meat

7. cheese its

8. macaroni and cheese

9. spaghetti

10. candy

11. hot chocolate

Good luck. To see the answers, just highlight the list.

For My Eyes Only

This is the style of my frames, the color on mine is slightly lighter.After 36 years, I broke down and went to the eye doctor. I actually think I went one time when I was in junior high, but that is beside the point. I have 20/30 and 20/40 vision. I also have an astigmatism in both eyes.

Hopefully this will help my headaches.

I got glasses on Saturday. I am still not sure that I like them, but I haven't had a headache.

Road Rash

One Sunday I was ready to leave church. We were missing Claire. Caleb went back into the church to find her. I was sitting in the car with Eli and Emily. They decided to take off down the edge of the parking lot and go collect nuts from a tree. They left as Caleb was coming out of church with Claire. Caleb came directly to the car while Claire went to the tree with the other monkeys. I was tired of waiting (it took me a while to get them out of the church to the car) so I decided to start driving away. Emily saw us first and started running. Eli and Claire saw us and they started running, too. I drove a little ways away, and finally let Emily in. I looked back and Eli and Claire were walking pretty slowly. When they got to the car, Claire was nursing a bloody nose as best she could without any tissues (basically letting it drip in front of her and on her as she walked to the car). Claire was crying and Eli was trying to comfort her. I let them in the car and started nursing Claire while I found out the rest of the story.

Claire was having a hard time keeping up so Eli decided to give her a piggy-back ride. BAD IDEA! He started running and fell. Claire took a tumble and landed head/face first on the ground. It gave her a bloody nose which was slightly crooked and road rash on her head. OOPS!

Everyone felt bad about what happened and we had a good discussion about choices and consequences.

Gangstas

One evening I was fixing dinner and the children were playing. I turned around and saw Claire come in wearing the shorts Eli had on for the day, a muscle shirt of Eli's, and a hat. I thought, "how cute." Then Emily came walking through the kitchen wearing a pair of Eli's shorts, a muscle shirt, and a hat. Finally, Eli came through with shorts, shirt, and hat. They were very pleased with themselves. They said they were a gang. I just thought they were funny. Silly kiddos!

Happy, Happy Halloween

This was one of the best Halloween nights ever. I picked the children up from school and then we went to Brett's work. The children went from cubical to cubical and got way too much candy. After that we went to the mall and they all danced. Following the dancing at the mall, Brett and I sat in the center court while the children went around trick-or-treating. When we were done there, we took one of Caleb's friends with us and went and picked up another friend. We went to Arby's and got some sandwiches, came home, ate "dinner," and then gave the children a safety lecture, ie. stay together, don't go in anyone's house or car, don't eat any candy until you get home, don't run across the street, say thank you, etc.

Finally, we sent them out the door - all six of them, with a cell phone and a, "Have Fun!" wish. Brett and I were home alone!

They took Claire to about 10 houses and then brought her back so they could go to more houses and not worry about her. She sat on a stool in front of the door and watched for visitors.

When the children got home, they dumped their candy in the middle of the floor, and then we sorted it. Brett was the most excited. He was giddy. Halloween is his favorite holiday of the year.
After the sorting the children went upstairs and started throwing their glow bracelets off of the banister. Brett made a game of it and started giving away candy and then he even put a $5.00 bill out and told them if their bracelet landed on the money - it was theirs.

In the middle of the game, one of Caleb's friend's mom came to get her. The mom and little brother joined in the game and tried to win the money.

I think they were worn out. Everyone except Claire fell asleep in the living room. It was a great evening.

Caleb asleep with a bag on his head - I don't know why.

Eli asleep on the couch.

Emily fast asleep.

7th, 8th, 9th, & 10th

7th of 7...

Emily, taken April 2005.

8th of 8...

Claire - taken April 2006

9th of 9...

My granpa, aunt, cousin, and uncle.

10th of 10...

Picture of Claire while Brett and I were in Mexico. February 2007.

5th of 5 and 6th of 6

I can't do the 5th of 5 because it only has two items in there. So, her is the 6th of 6.

This picture was taken in April of 2004. This is Eli on his brand new bike. I have a hard time believing he was that little.

3rd of 3

This is Emily posing in her winter boots and her dance outfit - April 2006. Her boots were her shoes of choice because she could get them on and off very easily.

2nd of 2

This is one of Caleb's pictures. He went on a canoe trip this past summer and had a couple of pictures to burn ( I sent him with a disposable waterproof camera), so he took a picture of a building at the Nature Center.

1st of 1

Here I go. We'll see what we come up with, and how far I can go before I get called off.

This is Claire on her 4th birthday. I think I miss the long hair. I do, however, love the short hair.

4th of 4

My sister did this and I thought it was cute. Here's what you do...take the 4th picture from your 4th folder in your My Pictures and post it. I might even do the 1st of 1st and the 2nd of 2nd, etc. I wasn't sure what I would find. Anyone who wants to do this can do it!

These are our hermit crabs. Several summers ago the children really wanted a pet. I had them do a "research" project to find out the cost and maintenance of a bunch of different pets. We finally decided on hermit crabs for cost and convience. I don't remember all of their names. I just asked Caleb and he reminded me. They are Sand, Harry, and Marco. They were good pets.