Wednesday, January 6, 2010

June 2009...continued

June is always a great month for me...SCHOOL IS OUT which means I can be completely in charge of our family schedule and we can do whatever we want... whenever we want! J1 finished Kindergarten, K2 graduated preschool, C3 finished up year one of preschool & J4...just continued being ADORABLE!

We grocery shop a few times a week...once a week when I'm on top of my game...and the kids LOVE going. Thank you Albertson's for introducing the child carts...the train is precious to me and is a great tool for keeping the kids close to me (with the occasional on-purpose crash!)
June was a nice month this year...cool enough on most days to wear a light jacket, which meant EXCELLENT park day weather!

K2 has a thing for climbing (really, all the kids do...what kid doesn't?) before I got the walls painted she would scale the doorways until her head hit the top and then jump down "like a cheetah"...I'm surprised we never had to pay the hospital a visit with broken ankles...she was always barefoot and our floor is hard tile! (the paint stripes? color choices for the wall...we eventually went with the one in the middle)
The Dry Cleaners is a new favorite hang out...free lollipops and cool chairs = happy kids.


My best friend from the womb, Michelle, and her family came down to visit (as they do often because she is from here)....and YEAH, we were able to coordinate schedules to get a day together! We actually got 2...the other was an afternoon Disneyland visit... This visit is at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach (one of the prettiest beaches in Orange County). Bubbles & waves means good times!




June also gave us a GOOD scare...my mother-in-law, Cathy, had a heart attack! She's only 53. It scared us all pretty good...but after heart surgery, a hospital stay, and instructions from the dr on a new way to live her life...she is back in good health!
Happy Father's Day! This was the picture I gave to Jameson for Father's Day...the kids are portraying all parts of daddy's life...J4 in everyday clothes (t-shirt & flip flops), K2 in work clothes (uniform stuff), J1 in church clothes, & C3 in gym clothes! I don't think anyone has cuter kids than me!
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
That's all I can say about this girl. We went to the dance studio photographer for her individual shoot, but he didn't do well...at all. I took these outside McDonald's afterward on our way to lunch and liked them much better (there are real "pretty" ones too...but I liked the attitude here!) Someday I will learn photoshop so I can really "pretty-up" my pictures!
She had her dance recital...and did a beautiful job as a Dancing Music Box Ballerina!
She was so happy Gma Paul & Gma Cathy were able to come watch. Gma Cathy was a ballerina in her pre-married life...Jaycee hpoes to one day follow those footsteps (though I imagine she'll be more of a soccer/sports girl...we'll see)...

Dress Rehearsal...


There were so many other things in June! Father's Day dinner... preschool graduation... preschool olympics... field trips... beach days... kindergarten carnival... kindergarten spring sing... but really... the kids don't change much month-t0-month! They just do lots of things and since I carry my camera everywhere and take 500 pictures a week... I had to cut back somewhere! This wraps it up for June....
Posted by Christina at 1/06/2010 12:35:00 AM 0 comments

June 2009!

Jennifer Eliason...Love Her.

While I have several photographer friends...whose photos I LOVE...this girl came to Orange County to build her business and was offering a deal I couldn't refuse...and I absolutely love what she captured with my kids. The shoot was intended to be kids only...I asked her to take a few with me in them so I could give Jameson a picture to put up at work of his family...



My hope is to work my way through each friend so I have a collection of pictures that capture each of that photographers flare & style!

Posted by Christina at 1/06/2010 12:20:00 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 3, 2010

MAY!

May flew in...and flew out...I can't believe how fast the time goes.
K2, C3, & J4 had real live swim lessons this year (something we've never done with our kids...J1 figured it out on her own and we figured they all would eventually since we spend A LOT of time in the water during the spring & summer...but this year I wanted some real training from someone who actually knows how to swim....because I don't!)
Sister Fenn did a GREAT job with my kids, they LOVED lessons (after they got used to getting in the water!) K2 turned into a little fish by her 2nd lesson and now she and J1 can spend HOURS in the water without getting bored.
By the end of the summer both boys wanted to be in the water always, but never without life jackets so they could go to the deep end with no help!

The best part of swim lessons with Sister Fenn were the treats at the end for doing a good job!
Mother's Day weekend I got to go to L.A. to see Dirty Dancing on stage (a blast!) We went to The Grill at Hollywood & Highland (I'll never be tired of Filet Mignon & Au Gratin Potatoes!) then hit the show...

Mother's Day was great for me...it always is. Jameson never disappoints. This year I got "adult bedding" (a.k.a. matching everything for my bed...FINALLY! I now LOVE making my bed just to look at it!)

For Mother's Day dinner we headed up to Gma Cathy's...thank you Gpa Paul & Auntie Heather for such a yummy dinner. After dinner came the real fun...painting in the backyard which led to...

sledding in the backyard!

topped the afternoon off with a phone call from Uncle Michael (a.k.a. these days as Elder Roberts) while I crafted hairpins for my sister-in-law!

McDonald's night is a HOT ticket in this town! It was a fundraiser for J1's school so of course I planned to go...we try to support every school-related event...highlight?? Auntie Heather & her friend Jeff come with us!


After McDonalds we went to J1's first Children's Choir Concert..."Happiness Is..."
and it was..SO Happy! She did a great job and LOVED IT! We are sad the choir hasn't picked back up yet...if I had that mountain of available time, I would volunteer to run it myself...someday, I'm sure.

As wonderful as May was, it brought one of the greatest sad times of my life thus far...My Maid of Honor, Nicole Tyndall, died...completely unexpectedly, Memorial Day weekend. I can't believe how hard her death hit me. Memories of our friendship, her family & how she helped me through a lot of difficult times (and caused me some!) go through my mind every single day still.
The funeral was great, and just as she would've wanted it...complete with Benny stories, Tyndall family chaos & "discussion", t-shirt & sweats burial, Sarah Mclachlan "Angel"played in the chapel, Gloria Gaynor "I Will Survive" played at the gravesite starting an impromptu dance party...thanks to her sister Jamie. I LOVE the Tyndall Family! I think of you often, My Angel.
The "good" part of my getting to go to Salt Lake for her funeral was reconnecting with her family, who I adopted as my 2nd family...and they in turn pulled me into their family, and getting to spend time with my long-lost Ben...thanks Benny for being my shoulder to cry on...I am excited for the private tour of The Met you will take me on when we get back to New York...thanks to your disinterest in Females, Jameson will even semi-happily come along!!
The other good part of having to visit for the funeral was getting to see my own family...I went to lunch with Cara who brought my crazy little niece & nephew...they are too cute!
Tommy...showing his muscles...see 'em?
Not only did we do lunch, but we got to do dinner too...with Shelly (more about her in the April posts!)
Also great was getting to see my 2 youngest sisters' dress rehearsal for the Draper Temple opening Jamboree...


I love this girl. I moved out when she was only 3 or so and have been so sad about not getting to really be involved with her growing up...my parents tell me she is just like me and every time we're together I feel a special connection with her. I know we will grow to be great friends as adults...we are working on it now and i cherish every moment I get to spend with her. I think she is just starting to catch a glimpse of her "old" sister to see that I too was once her age and it wasn't THAT long ago!
For the last bit of May Fun, click HERE to see K2 & C3's Field Trip to Tanaka Farms
Posted by Christina at 1/03/2010 11:28:00 PM 1 comments
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)