Happy Birthday Senior Citizen

My dad is an amazing man!! I have always felt close to him and am very lucky to have such a wonderful dad! He's the best grandpa ever and Ory loves his Papa (he said his name a few days ago... too cute!!) Thanks for always being there for me dad... I love you! (Can wait to take you out for the 55+ discounts dinners!!) Not sure they'll believe you though, you still look pretty good!

Halloween

Since Ory is obsessed with Bob (our tortoise) I thought it would be cute to dress him as a tortoise for Halloween (thanks Ashley for finding the costume). It was a fun day, and my sister in law Ashley came and helped me in my classroom, which made Halloween so fun for my students. We had them feel some "body parts" and read them a story to go with it! I love seeing them freak out thinking they are touching wrinkled ears and brains... it's great!! We made bubbling apple cider (dry ice) and screaming balloons this is a great website: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/ Then we went to the ward Halloween party... we had a great time!!

Ward Luau

Mason aka Chief... really he has a chief title

Ory on stage

He's too cute!

Johanna and me after our "performance"

Sila... the natural!

Nia was too cute!

One of my favorite things about living in California is our annual ward luau!!! It is so fun, especially since it brings me back to my PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center) days were I was lucky enough to wear a mumu!! And it's really fun to watch all my family members showing off their incredible skills!! (I even danced, which I'm sure is not the highlight of the show... it's more a break for Nia and Carrie!! :) Ory even got to show off some of his moves... and of course we were not disappointed by Mason's fireknife show!! Way to go BNG champion!!! :)

grandparents

Ory is so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents on both sides (they came to visit at different times in September!!)

still catching up...

Stagecoach days parade... Ory looks so big sitting on the curb!! :) He loved watching the parade this year!!

My cousin Whitney

Whitney got married in September and it was incredible. They really look like a fairytale couple, and the wedding was a fairytale wedding. They were married in the Salt Lake temple and the reception was at the Grand America hotel in SLC. It was gorgeous. They had tons of food, a mash potatoe martini bar, candy bar, chocolate area, photo booth, live band, and on!! My sister Jenna has always been really close to Whit and couldn't be there because she is on her mission, so it was so fun to be there and take some pictures (I'm a few months behind on this and I think my cousins have already posted some!!) :) It really was such a special day and I'm glad I could be apart of it! I love you Whitney!! :)

slackin

I am finally blogging... seriously, since I've started back to work the days turn into months!! Time is flying... Orin is now 14 months and a wild man. He loves to climb, stop his feet, scream (happy and sad screams!!... especially when i don't let him play in the toilet... I'm so mean!!), he still loves to be read too, watching yo gabba gabba, and trying to carry around our tortoise Bob!! He started walking a few weeks after he turned one, so now he's practically running around trying to keep up with his older cousins.
Last month, seriously September flew by, I went to my cousin Whitney's wedding... it was amazing. She was gorgeous and it was a dream wedding, they are such a cute couple!! Then my mom came and babysat ory for a week!!! Shawn parents and sister Jenny were here to visit and my dad came last weekend... so it's be really fun having family around! Ory is really spoiled to have such amazing grandparents on both sides!!! I'll have tons of pictures to share... soon, hopefully before next month!! :) Here is one i took this weekend at Hershel's barn. We've been getting peaches from there and they are incredibly good!! Ory doesn't usually like peaches (he likes almost everything else though!!), and Shawn made some wonderful peach pie tonight!! Also coming soon... Stagecoach Days 2008- we had a fun weekend with Randy and Ashley and the Summers- Happy Birthday Johanna!!! :)

happy birthday to my ory-o!

Mason and Melina made these amazing cakes!!! Seriously, so impressed.

Orin's ONE!! Well exactly a month ago that is! I can't believe it has been a year... but in someways I feel like I don't remember life without him in it! He makes our lives so much fun and I just love being his mom! We had so much fun @ his birthday party... thanks to his amazing/talented aunt and uncle and fun friends!!
(pictures tomorrow... i'm spent! :)

home sweet home

Okay... so I'm a little behind... at least my blog is only a month behind, my journal unfortunately is about a year behind!! :) In July Ory and I went to Cincinnati to visit my family while Shawn prepared for the Bar... here are some highlights.
*playing on my dad's new golf green, this was orin's favorite!

*swimming in the pool

*eating corn on the cob

*dinners on the new deck
*ory's 1st hair cut

*seeing fireflies and enjoying the gorgeous green trees
*playing with uncles

*going to Chicago and Ory playing with papa (especially downtown in the splash pool)

*getting $1.50 cheesecake on Orin's 1st bday & going to dewey's pizza (the best pizza ever!!)

*scrapbooking
*watching matt bowl

*seeing my cousin Emily and fam & friends for Cincy

*waking up and Orin was already having breakfast :)!!!
We had such a great time!! :) I love going home to Cincy... it's such a beautiful place and I love going back to visit!

4th of July BNG style

We had a blast this 4th of July. Shawn's parents and sister Christine & fam were in town which is always really fun. We had a wonderful breakfast at Gus Jr.'s... they have the best french toast. We then headed to the Moreno Valley Mall and the kids loved playing in the play place. Then we had a fun BBQ at Pat and Hershel's house... the steaks were amazing! Pat gave the kids bubbles and they wore these cute sparkly red/white&blue hats. That night we went to the fireworks at Nicolet stadium with Dave and Chelsey, Kenny and Johanna and our other Banning friends, and the Westbrook family too. I feel so grateful to live in such a wonderful country. God bless America!