Fishes!

We made a visit to the Aquarium. It is one of our things to do in the winter when it is cold and snowy outside. We tried to go months ago, but it must have been a school holiday because there was a line out the door. When I explained why we weren't going in to the girls they heard " big lion" at the door instead of "big line". They were just fine not to go in. They have been talking forever about the BIG LION outside the Aquarium and were glad to hear it was gone for us to go this time. Phew!

And I'll say, I'm glad I waited. They have really stepped things up there. The new penguin exhibit was FANTASTIC! We saw all the jelly fish, seahorses, sting rays, sharks, sea turtles, salmon and eels you could see. We watched them feed the sting rays, but neither Brie or Ava were brave enough to reach in and pet one. Zachary was though. He would have flung his whole body in if we would have let him. We also watched the feeding of the penguins. I was mesmerized. They were so cute and so fast in the water. We even saw them "courting" as the keepers want them to start mating. Fascinating.

Jelly FishCoral Cave play area
Rowing through the Amazon jungle.
Little does he know, but Zachary has an alligator above his head.
Sea turtles and sharks.
Diving in to swim with the Sting Rays.
The feeding of the penguins. Check them out. They are all swimming in the water to get the fish she is throwing in. So cool.
And again, clueless to a penguin above his head.

The Hair Cut

So, yet another funny story of an Ava freak out. Slowly she will become comfortable with the world she lives in and the other people that live in it too.

Tawna and Sarah were telling me that Ava would look cute with a little bit shorter hair and some bangs. I agreed and wanted to take her to have it cut. We went to Cookie Cutters. She has been there before and did just fine, but Brie was there and went first. We got there and she was excited to play on the slide, etc. We waited for 30 minutes. When it was her turn she got to choose a movie and a pink cadillac car to sit in. She lost it. Completely. She started crying and screaming, "I not want Cookie Cutters!" There was nothing we could do to talk her down. We tried having me sit in a chair and hold her. Tried giving her a sucker. Promising glitter in her hair. As soon as they tried to put the apron on her though she was tearing it off, jumped out of my arms and ran for the door SCREAMING! If I even tried to take a step toward her, she would scream more and try to get out the door. Honestly, I was laughing so hard. Is that mean? It looked like she was in a straight jacket trying to escape a mental institution. So, we gave up and left.

She was fine with the thought of me cutting her hair because we had long talks about if she doesn't cut her hair she'll be like Rapunzel and step all over her hair. Problem is . . . . I don't know how to cut hair. I thought I would attempt it though. I sat her in the chair, she watched Dora and I started cutting. The bangs did go too short because she flinched when I brought the scissors close to cut them. Scott says she looks like Jim Carrey from "Dumb and Dumber". Ava thinks she looks adorable and loves her hair cut, especially when I said she looked like Dora.

TROUBLE

Look who became quite a bit more mobile. Zachary started walking around Christmas. He now does not stop moving. If he is awake he is running from thing to thing to check it out or tear it apart.This little man is terrorizing our house and all of us! Zachary is 15 months old. He is absolutely into everything!

As fast as I can clean up the kitchen counters and wipe them down I look to the floor and it is a mess - cups, dishes, paper products, pots, pans and food. Anytime we don't know where Zachary is we rush to the bathroom because he is for sure playing in the toilet and has even been known to put the toilet paper in his mouth from the toilet.Zachary's two favorite tricks are opening the laptop and pushing all the keys or turning off the TV when anyone is watching. He goes to the TV, looks back at us laughing and grinning and then turns it off even though the girls are yelling "Nooooooo!"You can always tell when I've had to take a shower with Zachy awake. (I usually wait until his morning nap.) I come out of the shower and most of what was in mine or Scott's bathroom drawers or cupboard is then scattered all over the floor.

We also try to wait to load/unload the dishwasher for when the crazy man is not around. He immediately jumps up into the dishwasher and goes for the anything he can get his hands on (usually knives) to throw out.
So, Zachary has always made a mess with his food, but now he insists on feeding himself with a spoon or fork. This morning his face, his seat, his pajamas and the floor were covered in oatmeal and squished up blueberries. When I took it away because he was just flinging the oatmeal and laughing. Geesh!
Zachary does his very best work when he is tormenting the girls. He shoves princess jewels, polly pocket shoes and everything else in his mouth. But the kid just loves playing with their toys, even though they hate it. Climbing INTO the doll house.
At last . . . contained. Heaven help us.

A New Year . . . A New Theme

Have I mentioned that I LOVE being in the Primary? I really do. I am happy to be in there each week with all those kids. They crack me up and they amaze me. I care so much about them. I always feel the spirit in Primary with the simple, beautiful songs we sing and the basic gospel lessons we teach. It is a really good place to be on Sunday.

A new Primary theme came along with this new year. It's always exciting to find out the new theme, hear the new song and introduce it all to the kids. What makes this kind of crazy is the work put into getting ready for the new year (new teachers, classes, theme ideas) comes right at Christmas time. I guess it doesn't have to if you plan ahead, but it sure does for me. So along with Christmas, this is what I was up to in Primary.

I was especially excited about this theme. I wanted the kids to be also. The new theme is "I Know The Scriptures Are True". I did a whole sharing time to "kick off" this theme for the year. I sent the kids on a treasure hunt through the church. They found clues that lead them back to the Primary room where they discovered a treasure box and then eventually the treasure inside.At the end of Sharing Time each child got a scripture bag that we made for them. Inside the scripture bag was a magnet with the theme and scripture for the year, a book mark with the theme engraved on it and a CD of the music for the year.We also worked on making birthday gifts for the kids. This is what we came up with. I found pillowcases for about a dollar a piece. Our secretary machine embroidered them. I'm tying them up with ribbon and a happy birthday tag right now so we can go deliver January birthdays tonight. Can't wait.I'm looking forward to another wonderful year in Primary.

Off To College!

My youngest sister, Krista, packed her bags and loaded into our van to come home with us when we left California. She was headed to start her first semester of school at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. The oldest (me) got to take the youngest away from home and on to adulthood. We got to Utah, went to church and then continued driving on to Idaho. As I was driving Krista and our cousin Brady up to Rexburg I was more and more scared for them. It looked like I was driving them to the end of the earth. To a frozen, desolate arctic tundra. They both seemed quite excited about Rexburg though . . . even though it was -12 degrees our first night there.

In the morning we got Brady all checked into the Alpine Chalet (memories). And then checked Krista into the dorms (more memories). Everyone was over the top excited to welcome her. I mean very excited.
Her bunk bed with desk underneath.
We got her all moved in and then went to the new and totally amazing Manwaring Center to buy books. The college is so different from when I went there. They've made big changes and additions. It was pretty cool to see it all. Oh, and Krista got all her books and a new backpack for her first day of school.
Then, of course, on to a shopping spree at Walmart . . . . with every single other new student and their parents. The place was a zoo. Krista got to put whatever she wanted in the cart. Thank you Dad.
The old place I HAD to visit was Craigo's Pizza. I'm sorry to break the news to any that lived in Rexburg, but it's not the same. The building is gone and they are now the Pizza Pie Cafe. Most devastating is that they don't serve bread sticks anymore!! Can you even believe it? Those were what I dreamed of. They did however have a dessert pizza that will now occupy my dreams. It was HEAVENLY!We went to the Hart Building for a parent/student meeting with the university president and then it was good bye time. Krista was whisked away to a talent show and a dance and all kinds of hoopla and I hit the road back home singing to Beyonce and eating Jelly Bellies. It was a good time.
And then . . . . exactly one week after arriving to Rexburg we received an excited phone call from Krista that she is coming to visit!!! This weekend.

Christmas in Cali

I'll tell you what . . . Christmas time is the right time to go to Bakersfield. We drove into groves and groves of orange trees, green grass, green trees and beautiful weather. I loved being there in December and on our way home to snow and very cold temps I had a serious talk with Scott about where we could move that is warmer. The kids got to run wild OUTSIDE in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. It was great. And we got to "swim". Always a favorite with Brie and Ava.I mostly loved being with so much of my family. The night before Jessica left we had the traditional (what we did on Christmas Eve growing up) cheese fondue. Delish.Scott taught the Skinner kids about the new and exciting world of cheese whiz though and to Laura's dismay . . . they ditched the fondue were all over cheese in a can.
We had an extended family party in Orange County so we visited the California Science Center first. It was so cool. We really loved it and will definitely go back.

Our kids went all the way to L.A. to snowmobile.
Zachy was climbing the walls ready to dive in. Thank you Jessica for saving the kid.
The weather was GORGEOUS! I think it was 75 degrees. We were loving a picnic outside on December 27.
We stopped by the Los Angeles temple on the way home to see the lights. This is the tree Scott and I took a picture in on our wedding day. Now 7 1/2 years and 3 kids later.
Eventually Bryce showed up and who did he bring with him, but a new fiance!!!! Yipeeee! We are all so excited for him. Serena is wonderful and seems to be the perfect match for Bryce. We are looking forward to their wedding day.

Dad welcomed Serena to Bakersfield right by taking us all to dinner and then ice cream at Dewars!We go all the way down the counter.
We celebrated New Year's with everyone by handing the kids measuring cups to clap together and poppers at 9 pm. They watched the ball drop in NYC, ran outside yelling "Happy New Year" banging their measuring cups. They were then all tucked right in bed. Then the real party started . . . a drive through the Jack In The Box drive thru for fries and shakes. Whoo Whoo!
And the next day we were off. . . . driving the long drive back home. We unloaded once we got home and we had this to tackle. Yikes. A lot of laundry and a lot of new things to put away.We had a great visit to California. I'm so glad we got to be there for Christmas and then some. Can't wait to go back.