Lego Mania

My children are OBSESSED with Legos! I think the Lego store would go out of business without us. The last couple of months, the boys have been die hard Lego fans. I set up a new rule that there's no t.v., or computer before 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. (Am I turning into my mom???) The kids love to play video games, computer, and t.v. In fact, they were doing it hours and hours a day. I fear that eventually their eyes are going to bug out! So, we started this rule to help them remember there's other things in life besides electronics.
Austin is the ring leader of legos. They have wars and build entire cities with legos. You should see our house. The family room and guest room are taken over. Now we even pushed out the trains and used the table for legos. I have to admit, their creations are pretty cool. I would have loved this when I was little. Every time the boys get allowance, they want to head straight over to the lego store. There's not too much they can buy unless they pool their money together.
Thank goodness Santa brought lots more legos for us. Austing spent the entire Christmas day building his starwars ship.

Brandon's Baptism

Brandon got baptized on December 6, 2008. He is an official memeber of the church. Way to go Brandon. We are so proud of you. Brandon has a special way about him. He is so kind, loving, and always looking out for others. He is also a very spritual little boy. He has a lot of faith and never doubts. If he is ever sick or in need of something, he always remembers to say a little prayer. We love you, Brandon!

Suzie and Christian's Wedding

Tom's cousin Susie got married this month. The wedding was in Arizona so Tom didn't take us with him. Boo hoo. Tom, Dave, and his dad flew in that morning and left the next day. Talk about a fast trip. Anyway, I got a hold of some pictures from Aunt Barbara (thank you!). Susie, you looked beautiful! Of course Tom and Dave were pretty handsome too.

Away in a Manger

Our ward Christmas party had a photo shoot with baby Jesus. I saw some other families do it and they all said it turned out really good. So that was my goal at the party...get a family picture! the dreaded family picture! Of course mom was the only one excited about this. (Sorry Dad, I hope I wasn't so horrible in years past.) We ended up liking the picture so much that we sent it out in our christmas card. Yes, it was two weeks late getting to everyone. Be patient.

Gingerbread Fun

We made our traditional gingerbread house this year. But this time we made two. Initially I was trying to make three. I rolled the dough out as much as possible. I even shrunk the size 50% so there would be more. Oh well, Austin made one and Payton and Brandon made the other one. The next week I heard that the librarian at Rosa Parks made a beautiful one. So I went and took some pics for next year. It was so incredible. She said it took the whole family about three hours to make. But...it is not made out of gingerbread! How offensive. I love the smell of gingerbread when I'm walking by the little houses in the kitchen.
Next years goal is to make one for myself too. It was too cute.

Christmas Pictures

Ok, every year we try to take a family picture and it never turns out quite like we want it. Of course we need uncle mark to fly down and do it for us. Anyway, my dream picture would be at the beach with the blue sky and sand in the background. I love those kind of pictures. Someday...

Skater Dude

Brandon had lots of fun for his birthday. We did the usual Chuck E. Cheese dinner. Brandon and Austin are so obsessed with getting the most tickets possible. I think now they're up to 2,000 tickets? We keep saving them to get a really good prize. Finally, Brandon got his Lego Batman video game. He said he was so excited the night before, that he could barely sleep. They've played it hundreds of hours by now. I think their eyes are going to bug out. We surprised Brandon with a new skateboard. It's really nice and BIG! They all wanted to immediately go to the skate park to try it out. Are you crazy? They think there's nothing to it. Just get on and go. Here's a video clip of their attempt at riding a skateboard.

SLUMBER Party???

Now what part of the title "Slumber Party" means sleeping??? No, we did not get much sleep at Brandon's Slumber Party. This is a special birthday for Brandon and so we gave him a big party. Of course his original choice was Air Kids Party Zone. Too much money, sorry Brandon. He invited nine of his friends to come over. Including our boys, that totaled 12 squirrely boys! What were we thinking? They had so much fun. Luckily, the weather was warm. So we were able to swim instead of just go in the jacuzzi. Could a jacuzzi fit 12 people? We played some games, played pool, bowling, and of course dart wars. We managed to get them to bed at 10:30 p.m. However, right when the sun started coming up, they were all up. Six in the morning??? Where do they get all their energy?

Jeremy's Football Game

The kids and I went to Jeremy's football game. Uncle Dave and Daniel came along too. Jeremy plays on the freshman team. They are doing really good this year. The game we watched, they smashed the other team. Way to go Jeremy!
The kids enjoyed playing with Daniel in the football stands. During half time, they played tag around all the benches. Look how good Jeremy looks in his uniform (number 70).

Halloween Haunt

This years trick or treating was pretty sad. We went around our neighborhood and found few houses passing out candy. I would say about 1/5 of the houses were participating. Brandon and Patyon pooped out after about 10 minutes. Austin wanted to go on and on for hours. He wanted to get as much candy as possible. (he's just like his mother.) So, Tom stayed out longer with Austin and me and the other two went home. After Brandon had said he was extremely tired, he answered the door bell every time it rang. He definitely has short term energy.

Trunk or Treat!

We went to our first ward Trunk or Treat in our Eastvale ward. McKenna, Keilani, and Lucas came along with us. First we had some yummy chili and cornbread. Then they played a couple of games. Brandon and McKenna loved doing the donut on a string game. McKenna also tried the cake walk several times and had no luck. Poor McKenna! The grand finale was the trunk or treat. That's my kids favorite part. All Halloween parties are rated on the quantity of candy. So I would say this is a five star party! Unfortunately, Austin learned the tricks of the trade and ended up with pounds and pounds of candy! He was very sly in which cars he went to and how quickly he did it. Sounds like we'll be making a trip to the dentist soon. If I didn't say anything, they would eat candy all day long. Isn't there such a thing as stomach aches?
This year we (I) decided that we weren't going to spend an absurd amount of money on costumes. After all was said and done, we didn't spend any money on costumes! We borrowed and used some from previous years. Payton was Spiderman again, Austin was the grim reaper (Taylor's), and Brandon was a wolf ninja (Austin's). Oh, and I was a pirate again. We tried to get dad to dress up. We loved his rocker costume a couple years ago. He didn't feel like it.

Kissing Cousins

Lucas and Sawyer are the cutest peas in a pod. We just went to Sawyer's baby blessing last week. He's going to grow up to be a wonderful man. Lucas has his blessing next week. Yeah, another family get together. I love hangin' with the family. It's going to be great for them to have a cousin so close in age. And don't forget about Shae! We'll have to get Mark to do a photo shoot for the three of them. I remember pictures of Miles and Brandon when they were babies. Brandon always towered over Miles. (I guess the Cavanaghs have all the braun in the family!) I miss having a baby for myself. It's been over five years. Payton is too big to hold in my arms now. I guess that's good I can steel some time with my nephews. They are both adorable.

Bolsa Chica Babes

We camped two nights at Bolsa Chica State Beach. Dad didn't get to come with us because he had to work. It was still really hot even though it was October.
We played in the ocean and the kids thought it was freezing. That's because they're used to swimming in the 86 degree pool. They're so spoiled!
Because it was October, the beach was pretty empty. We went on a couple bike rides in search of a snack bar. None of them were open except the one at Huntington Pier. The kids rode all the way there and back on their bikes. I was so proud of Payton! The next day we went north on the bike path in search of another snack bar. None to be found. We had to cross PCH and go to a gas minimart and buy some goodies. (All of our excursions are motivated by food!)
While at the beach we tried several times to find sand crabs. Austin found ONE. That was it. Are we doing something wrong? When I was little, we used to find tons of them along the shore line.
For one of our campfires we had Austin prepare the fire, make a foil dinner and cook it. (He is such an excellent Webelo scout!) He loved the foil dinner! We saw Scott and April make one once at Barton Flats and decided to try it ourselves. Yummy. Brandon was gobbling up all the onions. I was so shocked. Our foil dinners consisted of hamburger, potato cubes and onions. No vegetables pleeeez.
While we were riding our bikes one night, Austin asked why everyone makes a big deal about sunsets. I told him it's because they're are so beautiful and romantic. Girls love sunsets! He didn't understand why a sunset would be romantic. Later that night, I told the boys we were going to take a walk on the beach along the shore. "Why?" they asked. Because it's romantic!!! Just wait Austin, I'm sure you'll use this idea for many dates. P.S. Maybe Tom and I can enjoy a sunset together?

L.A. County Fair

The last couple of years we've been going to the L.A. County Fair. It's such a fun atmosphere with all the carnival rides and booths. This year we got smart and purchased the unlimited wristband. They got to go on as many rides as they wanted. One of their favorites was the fun houses. They loved going in and out of all the mazes, mirrors, and dark alleys. They smelled like sweaty puppies by the end of the night. We had to do our usual visit to the Garden Railroad exhibit. It still amazes me how elaborate they are. They must have put in hours and hours of work. Train Grandpa would appreciate it! Poor Payton still wasn't tall enough to go on the rollercoaster. One more year baby! He even wore his heeley's so he could add another inch to his height. It didn't matter. He wants to do everything his big brothers do. Even on the big slide, Payton couldn't keep up with the boys. He was too light.

Orville Wright

Austin did a report on Orville Wright for school. Afterward, his whole class did a live presentation of their famous person. You had to walk up to his display and press the START button. Unfortunately, he forgot his start button at home. He was so adorable with his huge moustache and cute hat.

Lamborghini Lovers

While we were off track in October, we took a trip to Lake Mead, Las Vegas. Most of the trip the kids were coughing and complaining of earaches. So one day we just laid low and toured the hot spots. Our favorite place was at the Palazzo Hotel which had a Lamborghini dealership!!! Our kids are obsessed with sports cars! I wonder where they get it from??? We also went to the Wynn Hotel and visited the Ferrari dealership. Our kids were in awe! They loved every second of it! Their favorites are the Murcielago, spyder, gallardo, arrow, enzo, etc. I'm sure I'm not pronouncing all these correctly. Even little Payton knows what all these cars are. They asked me what my favorite car was...a mini cooper. They thought I was joking. How could that possible be my favorite car? Well, it is. Second in line is the Porche Cayenne suv. It's pretty sweet as Payton would say.
We had a talk about how a person would go about obtaining these exotic cars...ie. getting good grades, going to a good college, and getting a great job. Brandon said he wanted to be a brain surgeon (all for the reasons of making enough money to buy his favorite car.) Austin said if he got one of these cars, he wouldn't share it with ANYONE! Hmmm that doesn't sound like Austin.
Tom and Austin's favorite car is a Saleen S7, Brandon's is a Lamborghini Gallardo, and Payton's is a Ferrari Enzo.

Lake Tahoe Retreat

Tom and I had a little getaway to Lake Tahoe, Squaw Valley. He had a business meeting and I got to tag along. It was beautiful. The last time we came here was in April with all the snow capped mountains. While Tom was in meetings all day, I got to relax with the beautiful mountains surrounding me. Thanks to HMC all our expenses were paid for. That made it all the more enjoyable. The little chillins stayed home with Grammi. Thank you Grammi! You are a life saver!!! Mommy and Daddy need time away from the kids to relax a little.
On the last night, Tom's company rented a huge catamaran and we went sailing. It was right during sunset. The view was breathtaking. By the end of the evening, everyone was bundled up freezing to death. The nights are so cold!

OUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

It seems a little weird to be going to school in July. We're still not used to this year round schedule. The kids were definitely not ready to start either. Payton is in kindergarten now! He is such a big boy. The first day I went with him for a couple of minutes. Then the teacher told all of us it was time to leave. I got teary eyed knowing that Payton is growing up. I'm going to miss those special days hanging out with Payton James! No more Costco trips and pizza. No more grocery store excursions with fruit snacks. Payton is loving kindergarten. He's already made lots of friends. They've been learning a lot of cute rhymes. He comes home singing them to me.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...

Our last week before school started, we took a trip to Las Vegas. Most of our time was spent at Lake Mead. We hadn't used the seadoos at all this year. The kids had fun playing in the knee-deep mud on the shores. They would walk out of the water, across the mud swamp, and back in the water. They played that game forever. Brandon's white bathing suit ended up turning a nice gray. The little seadoo became more popular because it jumps the wakes better. We caught some air! Payton was a little daredevil saying mom went too slow! I'm just trying to protect my baby!

The Beach Boys

This was our first beach trip since the weather has gotten warm. Of course we went to our favorite beach - Seal Beach. We went with our friends Jordan, Tyler, and Matthew. It was a little chilly believe it or not. Back in Corona it was 100 degrees! Hard to imagine. We boogie boarded, rolled around in the sand, and walked on the pier. Mom was too cheap and wouldn't take us to Ruby's (at the end of the pier).

Happy Fathers Day!

We love Daddy! He is so awesome! There are so many things we like about him. A lot of times he has a bad day at work. But he still takes time to spend with us. We are very demanding little monkeys, but he loves to be with us. His latest escapade is to hide behind a corner and scare us. It freaks them out. Now they are afraid to go anywhere unless it's fully lit. Of course it's so funny when you're not the victim. We love you Dad!

Our top ten list is:
1. He plays video games with us.
2. He swims with us.
3. He lets us watch scary movies.
4. He lets us stay up late.
5. He likes to play board games.
6. He takes us on fast rollercoasters!
7. He lays with us at night.
8. He makes up funny songs about us.
9. He earns lots of money for us to spend.
10.He teaches us baseball.

Summer Splash

Now that summer is almost here, we've been swimming practically everyday. We love our pool. It's a great way to cool off and have some fun. Swimming is always much more fun when Dad's in the pool. He plays fun games with us. One favorite of ours is Dad is the Hulk- he picks us up and slams us into the water. We also like playing catch with the football. Mom usually wins that one, ha ha.
The pictures are from Payton's birthday party. He had a bunch of friends come over and swim. That day was really cloudy and cold. It was the first and last time we heated our pool. (All for you Payton Pie) The water ended up being soooo warm! Payton is now five years old! He's getting ready to go to kindergarten. I can't believe it!

Big Horn Mine Hike

Our ward had a family hike last month to Big Horn Mine, near Wrightwood. Austin loves going on hikes. It's been a year since we've done anything like this. It should have been a relatively easy hike. But, a lot of the trail was washed out from rock slides. Our goal was to reach the mine and explore inside. Brandon and Payton pooped out before the last bend. (The mine was about 4 miles one way.) So I stayed behind to let them rest. There was a little snow on the sides of the trail. Payton and Brandon had fun playing in it. Austin and Tom trekked ahead and found the mine opening. Unfortunately, they had left their flashlights with us. Too bad. It was pitch black inside. Austin wouldn't go inside if we gave him a million dollars.