Take your child to work day

Travis took Madison, Conner, and Preston to work with him for "take your child to work day". (Paige had a test at school that day, so she couldn't miss). This was up on a mountaintop. I still don't really know what he does exactly, but maybe the kids have a better idea now.

Baby Belly Cake

I made this cake for a friend's baby shower. I've never decorated a cake with fondant before. I made a homemade marshallow fondant, because I heard that it tastes much better than storebought. The cake is white chocolate lemon, and the filling is raspberry and the frosting is a lemon buttercream. It took 3 1/2 cake mixes for the recipe. It's HUGE!

My food rating system

I found this old picture on our computer. Must have been 7 or 8 years ago since Conner looks to be about 3 or 4. I remember them rating my food, but I can't remember what it was on this particular occasion.

Exotic Feline Breeding Compound - Rosamond, CA

Ty had a preschool field trip to the exotic feline compound today. The cats were amazing. I really wish I'd remembered my camera! As it is, I had to use my cell phone...

Ty was obviously not pleased with his encounter with a bird...

There were also a lot of peacocks all over the compound. You can see one in the bushes behind Ty. He wanted to "pet" one so badly, but he restrained himself wonderfully!

Ty's embarrassing antics...

Well, my mother's always telling me that I need to write down the funny things that my kids do so that I don't forget them, and I am sadly terrible at keeping a journal. So, even though this will be out there for all the world to see, I'm going to go ahead and blog ab0ut it, so at least there's a record somewhere.
First, the other day I was at the scout shop and the man working behind the counter was a nice, but rather stern older fellow. He asked to see my photo i.d. and I told him it was on the back of the card. He said that since I hadn't signed it, he needed to see my driver's license. I explained that I did that on purpose so cashiers would ask, but no one ever did. He explained that he was a retired (general/ seargant/something I don't remember) and that he follows the book. I told him I appreciated that, and then Ty, who had been studying him quite intently loudly said to him "You're weird!" Both the gentleman and myself tried to ignore it, and then he gave Ty the little rubber bracelet I'd bought, and I said "Say thank you, Ty". He just kept staring at the man, and the man looked at him and said very sternly "Your mother said to say thank you!" Well, I thought, no way is Ty going to say a word now. But, very sheepishly Ty said "Thank you." I was relieved for that, but boy was I embarrassed about the "weird" comment!
Then yesterday I was buying spices from the bulk bin at Winco and inhaled some of the stirred up pickling spices in the air, and suddenly felt the need to sneeze really bad. Not wanting to sneeze around the spice bins I started waving my hand in front of my face and said "Whew! I inhaled something! I need to sneeze!" Ty looked at this lady standing next to me, pointed at her, and said (oh I hate to even type this...) "Maybe she farted!" Holy.....cow..... Luckily, the lady had a very good sense of humor and said "Oh no I didn't! Maybe you did!" I apologized and said that he's 3 and still has no clue about what to say when, and she laughed and said boys who are a lot older than him would still say something like that. That'll teach me for not reprimanding my children more at home for saying the "f-word".

Conner's 11th Birthday

This was on Conner's birthday which was on Friday. The next day was supposed to be his party with his friends and he got sick less than 2 hours before the party and we had to cancel. That has got to be the worst birthday ever. We'll be having the party this weekend instead... hopefully.

Knott's Berry Farm

Our friends, the Owens, gave us Knott's Berry Farm tickets on New Year's Eve. We had a great time! Took me a while to blog it!

Conner, Preston and Ty panned for gold. But since I was helping Ty, I forgot to get pictures of him!

My Doppelgangers.

The Feerris wheel terrified Ty, but we got him to smile long enough for a picture while it was stopped. He still talks about the scary Ferris Wheel!

We had a really nice day because it wasn't crowded at all! This is on the train at the end of the day.

Also on the train. Travis was in a goofy mood.

Further proof of his goofiness... his Zoolander face.

Preston tries the Zoolander face.

Create

I loved this talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. And I really loved when I found this video clip with the music and graphics added. What a wonderful message to the women of the world to use the talents that the Lord has given us to bless others.

More from Preston's baptism

These were the pictures we took after most people had left, and we finally realized we hadn't taken any pictures! Top is with Julie, next is with me, next with his great grandma Beverly (Mams) and Gram, and then with Grandma and Grandpa Harvey, and last with all his brothers and sisters.

Preston's Baptism

Preston was baptized today! It was such a great day. We had downpours of rain and hail, so we didn't get family photos outside the Church and when we got home everyone was so busy eating and visiting and having fun that we forgot to take pictures altogether! I couldn't believe it! I was so mad! We did manage to get a few pictures of the few who stayed late. Thank goodness! Anyway, I'll probably post those tomorrow. But it was so nice that Grandpa and Grandma Harvey were there, and Gram and Grandpa Kahmann, and his great grandma Beverly, and Great Aunt and Uncle Traci and Robert, and his great cousins (is that a term? They ARE great!) Amanda and Robby and Amanda's fiance Sean, and his Uncle Chris and his girlfriend Natalie and his great Aunt Tracy, and his "feels like an aunt" Julie. So he had a lot of support, and we appreciate and love our family so much and feel so blessed to have a family that loves each other so much.

Ty's field trip to Red Lobster

Yes, preschoolers enjoy field trips to such exotic and educational locations as Red Lobster. They got to "pet" a lobster, then put on hair nets and gloves (which they wore for about 1/2 an hour before they entered the kitchen, and about 1 hour before they helped make biscuits, so I'm sure their hands were cleaner because they were protected by the now dirty gloves, but whatever...) and got a tour of the kitchen and got to color, and help make biscuits, then got to eat some biscuits with lemonade. Luckily, I don't think anyone ever actually ate the ones they made. The ones served were nice perfect mounds of biscuit; definitely not the misshapen masses the preschoolers were so proud of.

Preston's 8th Birthday

We always try to celebrate our kids' birthdays ON their birthday, and they always get to pick what they want for dinner, and it's usually just our immediate family with grandparents, great grandma Beverly and usually Uncle Chris (and of course Natalie now too). Just the family who live in town. Then they have a "friends" party the weekend before or after. And this year Preston gets an extra special party with about 30 close friends and family members invited to a dinner and "party" after his baptism on the 7th of February. 8 is definitely a special birthday!

Madison's Science Award

Madison got an award at school today for highest average percentage in her Science Class. She's so smart! She's in advanced English, geometry (which is advanced math for 8th grade) and Spanish as well as the regular 8th grade history and PE, and she's got a 4.o. She's had 4.0 for her first 3 semesters of Junior High, so just 1 more semester to go until she can get Valedictorian at graduation. And she's cute too!

Preston

This is the photo we sent out with Preston's Baptism email invitation! He'll be baptized on February 7th! We're so excited for him!