"We're So Glad When Daddy Is Home!"

We all love it when it's Saturday and Daddy is home to play! Steve bought himself a new tent (he often goes camping with the Boy Scouts) and pitched it in the front room to give it a test run. I spent the day cleaning bathrooms and catching up on church work while Christopher and Stephanie had a fun time with their daddy. Later that day, Christopher went to the church to help Stephen fill up the font for a baptism. Christopher loves hanging out at the church with his dad. It's so nice that he is old enough now that he can accompany Stephen on some of his various bishopric responsibilities. Christopher has helped Stephen prepare for several Baptisms this year. It has been a real blessing. At the beginning of the year, Christopher equated Baptism with dying. I think he heard someone talk about how baptism can be compared symbolically to death and resurrection. You couldn't even mention the word "baptism" without him getting pretty upset. But know that he has helped his father set-up for several baptisms and "witnessed" them for himself, he is no longer afraid. He even told me proudly "When I'm 8, I'm going to be baptized!" Christopher's primary teacher even joked that by the time Christopher is 8, he'll be able to set everything up himself for his own baptism! I'm so thankful that Stephen is such a great father! I don't know how I'd do it without him!

First Day of Preschool

Christopher has started his second year of preschool. He really enjoys it this year. He has several buddies that he likes to hang out with. Christopher is a smart little guy and does well in school. Most of the the topics they cover in preschool he already knows. The greatest benefit Christopher receives from preschool are people skills. When Christopher first started going to school last year, he was very shy and prone to numerous meltdowns when it came to sharing and taking turns. Now Christopher knows what it means to be a good friend and he tries to make sure that his friends get their fair share. He is such a good little friend now! For his birthday, Christopher received a brand new bike. At his party, Christopher's friends wanted to try it out. I was worried for a moment that Christopher might refuse to share his new bike, and have a meltdown. But no! He was excited to let all his friends take a turn riding his new bike, and he genuinely enjoyed letting them ride it. It is so rewarding to see Christopher learning to care about others' feelings and their happiness. He is really growing up!

Stephanie Turns Two...

Stephanie's birthday was August 26 and she has now officially entered the tumultuous year of two! We had a simple birthday party for her and she was spoiled with a really fun kitchen set that her mother spent hours researching on line, and her father lovingly spent even more hours putting together. Needless to say, she loves it!

At two years old, Stephanie knows what she wants, and will tell you in complete sentences. Many of her sentences start with "I need..." such as "I need dat juice!" She also melts my heart when she says "Mommy, I yub (love) you!" out of the clear blue with no prompting. She is also learning how to show interest in what others have to say by exclaiming "Weally! (Really!)" when you describe something to her. She can just about sing the ABC's all by herself as well as "I am a Child of God," and "Twinkle, Twinkle". She also likes to make up her own little lullabies to sing to her baby dolls. Stephanie loves to color and play with playdough. She has also developed and interest in torturing her older brother to see how loudly she can make him scream before mom puts her in time-out. After time-out she is very contrite and tells me over and over again "Sowy, Mommy! Sowy!" and gives Christopher a big hug. "That's okay, Baby," Christopher replies. "It was an accident." As you can see, she has us all wrapped around her little finger! Who can blame us?

Legoland

While visiting San Diego for a friend's wedding, we took the kids to Legoland. We have a surprisingly wonderful library here in Yucca Valley that had a great summer reading program. We participated and got all kinds of free stuff, including a kids pass to Legoland.

Christopher had a blast. He was able to go on several of the rides, but poor Stephie was only able to go on 2 or 3 rides due to height restrictions. She had the most fun just sitting down and playing at the different Lego stations. She is in a Lego phase right now and plays with them almost every day. She loves to line them up and stack them up all nice and orderly. She found all the purple legos from a huge bin and lined them all up in a row. I find her toys and dolls often lined up neatly in similar fashion. (It's so interesting to see the contrast between the chaos that is the very essence of a two-year-old and her attempt to bring order to her little whirl-wind world. )

The most exciting part of the day came when Christopher burned his finger on a light near Legoland USA where they have little Lego cities based on cities across the country. Chris had a long day and was in no mood to be stoic. Fortunately, there was a First-aid station right around the corner. The medic was very nice and helpful, although you would have thought he was performing major surgery without anesthetic the way Christopher reacted. In the end, Christopher got a commemorative lego as a memento and letter in the mail wishing him well. It was an exciting day!

July- Mimi and Ben's Wedding in San Diego

In mid-July we attended a wedding for my good friend Mimi in San Diego. We made a family vacation of the event, going to Legoland and the beach. The sealing was so wonderful in the beautiful San Diego temple. The reception was so fun and family friendly. The reception was held on the naval base, directly on the beach. The kids danced the night away in the moonlight reflecting off the ocean. And oh, yeah...Christopher pulled the fire alarm at the hotel. And the hotel was on the Miramar Marine base. I was panicked that I we would be hauled off and interrogated as suspected terrorists. Christopher kept screaming "I don't want to go to jail" as I dragged him to the Front Desk to let them know what had happened. Fortunately, the hotel management, the base MPs and the firefighters were thankful that I immediately alerted the front desk that it was my sweet little angel who had pulled the alarm, and there was no fire. Everyone was very nice and understanding. Christopher and I sincerely apologized and we got off without a fine. Christopher even got a firefighter badge sticker and a quick lesson from the firefighters on the rules of when to pull the alarm. Honestly, Christopher did not know what the alarm was and just thought it looked like something fun to play with. And I know you are all wondering...Where in the world was I? I had ducked inside the room for 15 seconds to retrieve the room key. I swear it was only 15 seconds! The moral of the story...duct tape yourself to your children when you are staying in a hotel.

4th of July

We went to Stephen's Aunt and Uncle's home in Cypress to celebrate the 4th with Stephen's sister and her family. We had such a fun-packed day. We went to the beach, saw the movie "Wall-E" and saw the firework display in Long Beach, complete with fee all-can-eat candy for the kids. Christopher and Stephanie were so exhausted that they both fell asleep during the firework show, even though speakers playing patriotic music were blasting directly at us.

June

My niece Alicia visits us from Utah. Here they are having fun at the Children's Discovery Museum in Palm Desert.

Summer to Remember...

Wow! When I stop to think about it, we managed to have a fun-packed summer. Here are some fun pictures of the highlights.

May-My Sister-in-law's wedding

Here we go...

I have given into the tremendous peer pressure to blog :-). I hope this will give me a way to help journal the life of our little family, and give friends and family the chance to peek into our lives.