Summer Trips

We have had such a great time traveling this summer. We spent a couple weeks in Utah, and were able to go to my brother's wedding, celebrate my Mom's 50th birthday, and just play and relax. The kids had such a great time. Then, we came home for a couple of days and left for Southern California where we celebrated the 4th of July and Tyler's birthday. We loved it! We are back home in the heat now, trying to find things to keep the days fun. But, I wanted to post a few pictures from each of the events. Sorry if it is a little long!

Rich and Kristen on their wedding day. They are darling!!

Although we aren't looking at my camera, you can see how happy Haley was during the whole reception! We had a great time though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We were able to throw her a surprise party for her 50th! (Even though she doesn't look it!) She is beautiful and wonderful and we love her dearly!

Here is my family at my Mom's party! It was so fun being all together!

I don't think Tyler and Haley ever came inside while we were in Utah. Between swimming, jumping, swinging, and riding bikes they were in heaven.

Then for the 4th we headed to the beach. The kids had such a fun time!
We also got to celebrate ......

Tyler's birthday!!! Yes, he turned 5 on the 4th of July. He only wanted an army party, and so Scott and I decked him out in this awesome outfit! All he wanted for his party, was for a real "ARMY MAN" to come and visit. We were lucky enough to call the army right after dinner and they told us to be expecting someone soon. Guess who showed up...


That's right! Officer Johnson showed up for Ty! He loved it, but was a little confused. We dressed Scott's brother Peter up, which Tyler was catching onto. But, in the end we talked him into believing it was really Officer Johnson!


I tried my best to turn his favorite cake (The German Chocolate Cake) into an army tank. Tyler loved it!

My two darling girls on the 4th of July! Haley loves holding Kate!

We went to watch fireworks that night at Brandon and Brittany's home in Ladera. They put on such a great firework show!

Here is Scott's whole family watching the fireworks. Jake was so cute, because he just loved Kate, as you can see in the picture. He always wanted to be right next to her!

Kate's 4 Weeks Old

Since Kate is already 4 weeks old, I decided it was time to post some new pictures. We had a friend take some newborn pictures of Kate and the kids. She did such a great job! . Kate has really been such a sweet baby to have. Tyler and Haley just adore her, and always want her to be awake so they can talk to her. We are getting excited to leave next week to Utah, for my little brother's wedding. It will be fun to be around a lot of family and let them all finally meet sweet Kate! We hope Kate likes her carseat! My other two kids haven't!!

She's Here!

My Three Sweet Kids! LOVE THEM!!

Me with my girls! ( I'm a little tired, as you can tell!)

Baby Kate was born Friday May 9th, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs 3 oz. and was 18 3/4 inches long. She is such a good, healthy baby, and we love having her in the family. A lot of the pictures were taken on my Mom's camera, which won't download onto our computer. I was so sad. And, since she is still here helping out (thank goodness!), we will have to post the rest of them later when she goes home and can download them.

Tyler and Haley Love their new baby sister! They are so helpful with her.

Dad must be exhausted!!!!

Kate Coming Home!

Ludicrosity

Sometimes justice is served, like when Sarah Jessica Parker was named the unsexiest woman on earth (see my last month's post for more details), and other times, like in the case of Oscar Pistorius, justice is robbed.

Oscar was born with a rare bone defect in both legs that required amputation when he was only 11 months old. When he turned 18, he began racing competitively in various Paralympic events. He has since gone on to become the fastest double-amputee in the world. At 21, he is currently the world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 meters. Known as the blade runner, he runs with the aid of two carbon fibre artificial legs, called cheetahs. Here is a portion of a profile done on him:



Amazing, I know!! Anyway, the follow up to this story is that the IAAF has ruled that Oscar is not allowed to race against able-bodied athletes in the Olympics or in any other IAAF sanctioned event because, get this, he has an unfair advantage!!!! Really? Since when did not having calves or feet become an "advantage" for a sprinter? Look, I'm sure the day may come when science can actually improve on our natural physiology, but until I see other sprinters considering chopping their own legs off so that they can run faster, I think Oscar should be allowed to compete against people who have the "disadvantage" of having two legs.

So just to clarify the IAAF's position on things, a man who gets a sex change can compete against women in the Olympics, but a man who loses his legs to amputation cannot compete against other able-bodied men? The kind of stupidity it takes to reach these conclusions is truly breathtaking.