Summer trip to Sparks

Emily and Daisy look like they could be sisters!
Love my "spirit jar", Jane! What's a trip to Sparks without spending time with our great friends who we love so much?!
We took the kids to Tahoe after our vacation there. The triplets loved being buried in the sand, and actually cried when we tried to get them out! They wanted to stay in their sand holes!
Devon "caught" a squirrel!

The twins on squirrel watch.



Popsicles on the swing with Ma!

Birthday time!







Kian loved his grabber toy!








"Pillow fight!"

VACATION!

In front of the Sacramento temple.

We realized it had been almost 5 years since we took a vacation together. Way overdue! So, we went to NV to visit family this summer, and took a mini vacation up to Tahoe together. Once we arrived in Tahoe, it took us awhile to figure out what vacation meant and what exactly we were supposed to do! We had a great time though after we figured out how to be on vacation!
We had so much fun picking delicious blackberries at Apple Hill! I never knew there were so many different varieties of blackberries!
As we sat on a rock watching the waves crash at Tahoe, I said something to the effect of, "waves are so random. They follow no rules. Waves are nature unaltered." After I said the last part, I felt like one of those marketing people who are trying to think up a slogan and it just hits them. I realized "Nature Unaltered" is exactly what doTERRA essential oils are. Nothing added- simply the pure life blood of the plant. Someday I'll make T-shirts with my slogan on it!

What else is there to do on vacation besides think of our kids and talk about how great they are?! So, we drew some pictures in the sand for them. This one is Tameeka's favorite song by Bob Marly "Don't worry, 'bout a thing...cuz every little thing, is gonna be alright!" So, this picture is for you, Tameeka!
This is an alligator for you Tiffany, since you draw such great alligators!
Ty, since you love food so much, and especially treats, we drew you an ice cream cone!

This horse is for you, Emily...since you love animals so much!

Calvin, here's your football! Great flag season this year!
Dev, here's your tag, "Draz!"

Us.
Vacation makes me happy!

Thanks for a wonderful time, hon! Let's do this again...but sooner than 5 years!

VACAT

Seminary

Calvin started Seminary this year! He really enjoyed Brother Brown's class at the Timberline Seminary, and he is enjoying Brother Renstrom at American Heritage.

Planting!

Gardening has been important to me and close to my heart ever since we lived in Pleasant Grove. We were going thru some tough financial times. Our backyard was weeds instead of grass, and we hadn't cleared a space to plant a garden. We had so many friends and neighbors bring us produce from their gardens that summer. I remember arranging all the produce we got in baskets and taking a picture of it because I always wanted to remember our friends who helped us out when we needed it, and the blessing it was to have garden. I decided that in the future, I would always plant a garden. Last summer, we planted quite a large garden that produced very well. We couldn't give it away or eat it fast enough! We had loads of spinach, lettuce, and other veggies. The boys grew their own plots of vegetables of their choice, and they did great! Colin did almost all of the planting, which was a big job. We had fun singing while we weeded with Ally and Nicky. This summer however, I was sick, or it was raining on the days when I felt I could plant, so it didn't happen. I wanted so badly to follow the prophet's counsel of planting a garden! Finally, I started feeling better in August, so the kids and I planted the cooler weather crops such as spinach, lettuce, and peas. As we were planting, the primary song, "The Lord said we must plant a garden, so that's what we'll do!" kept running thru my head. I was feeling great about planting and couldn't wait for it to grow! While Tiffany was planting seeds, she would say, "where I pud?" (put) every single time! I would point to a spot in the dirt, and she would put her seed there.

So, we got some good lettuce and spinach after a while, but not much. The pea plants grew, but no peas grew on them. I ate several salads, fresh from the garden, which I loved. Then one morning I woke up at 7:30am and thought to myself in a panic, "I turned the water on at 3:00 yesterday, and I haven't turned it off!" I had completely forgotten. Evidently, 16 1/2 hours of straight water on a garden isn't so great for it. After that, we didn't get much more. Well, at least there's always next year!

Baby Bunnies!

One night we decided to go get pizza and eat it at the park. Tiffany and I were in the garage and as I was looking for the cooler, Tiffany kept saying, "Look Mom! Ohhhh, it's so cute!" "One second!" I kept responding. Finally I went over to where she was standing- at the bunny cage. There in the dropping catcher, there was this small black rat sort of creature. Then another one dropped thru the cracks of the cage. "Angel had babies!" I screamed. I ran inside and yelled for everyone. It was an exciting time! Emily ran over to our neighbor Lori Nemelka's house because she has a bunny, and we had no idea what to do with babies. She gave us lots of tips, and after some googling, we knew more about caring for baby bunnies than ever before! Needless to say, we didn't go out to pizza and to the park. Colin brought the pizza home, and the rest of the evening was spent marveling these new little creatures. If Tiffany hadn't noticed the baby bunnies, they all would have died because they kept dropping thru the cage, and I doubt we would have checked on Angel until the next morning. We didn't even know for sure that she was pregnant! The kids had fun with those cute little bunnies. One of them died shortly after birth, but other 8 grew almost as big as Coco, the Daddy bunny. Our friend Shannon, took 2 of them after they were weaned, and the other 5 bunnies, well let's just say, "to be continued..."

Angel, the proud mother.

Art and play time

Saying prayers before some yummy plastic food lunch.
Devon's watermelon carving! It says "Draz."
Good job, Ty!
Colin was flattered.
Awesome drawings, Tiff!

Incredible Sky!

We took pictures of the sky. We had eaten dinner outside, then noticed how cool the sky looked, so we stayed out for a long time taking pictures. Amazing to see the change in the clouds and colors in about an hours time.

Playing outside

I sprained my foot going down our garage steps and miscalculating which one I was on! Good news was I was supposed to wear a boot for 4 weeks, but I only had to wear it for 2 weeks!

Colin and Devon having an exciting pillow fight!