BEACH, TEMPLE, & HOME

November 9, 2008

Our last day was bittersweet...we were all excited to get back to Jakey, but we were also sad to leave the good times we were having in California.

We decided to start off our last day by going to the beach for one last stroll in the sand. (Our hotel was right on this beach...it was amazing!) We had so much fun burying each other, and building sandcastles.

Bryan buried Hailey and I clear up to our waists. Hailey was able to get out with no problems, but it took me a second to wiggle free. We had so much fun burying one another, and seeing how difficult it was to get out of the sand after we were buried.

This picture is of all three of us girls building sandcastles. Amber was not interested in getting buried, but she sure had fun building!

Ever since we planned our trip to California, we planned on visiting both the San Diego Temple, and the Las Angelas Temple. When we arrived at the San Diego Temple, there were protesters everywhere, and police officers trying to keep the peace. Proposition 8 had passed the week prior, which stated that marriage was only legal between a man and a women. Some people were angry with the LDS religion because of our view point on the subject, and they were still protesting even after the voting was over. Bryan and I had no idea that there would be protesters surrounding the temple. Instead of this being a spiritual experience for our family, it was a sad experience. The thing that made it particularly hard was the fact that Hailey could read (some of the signs depicted strong feelings). No matter how many times we tried to explain to her the subject matter, she still couldn't understand why there was so much hate and frustration.
The thing that was most frustrating to me about this situation was the feelings of contention in a place that should hold peace. I believe that two people can hold different view points on the same topic without it meaning that they should hate one another. This is something that really shouldn't be such a huge revelation; however, some of the signs outside the San Diego Temple said otherwise. Some of the signs depicted LDS people as haters, and non-Christians. It was hard for me to see lies depicted on those posters. I wish that differences of opinion did not lead to such hate and desecration. I believe it is my duty as a citizen to vote for what I believe to be right and true. Does that mean that I hate those people who choose the opposite, and who believe differently? No...it just means we have a difference of opinion.
Because of the feelings we felt while visiting the San Diego Temple, we did not go to the L.A. Temple afterall.

HALLOWEEN

October 31, 2008

We had so much fun on Halloween! First we went to the church trunk or treat! It was an all out ward party. There was dinner, and of course-trick or treating. We then went back to our neighborhood for some good old-fashion door to door knocking. Although the ward activity was tons of fun, this portion of the evening was my favorite part. The weather was perfect! We walked through the neighborhood with light jackets! I was shocked at the nice weather--I have never been able to go trick or treating with just a light jacket. So, with nice weather on our side, our family enjoyed tons of laughter, and giggles. I was having so much fun just being in the company of the people I love that I just didn't want the evening to end!

Posing for a picture at the church Halloween party. Amber was Minnie Mouse, Hailey was a beautiful witch, and Jakey was an army man!

Another pose at the church.

This is my girls knocking on the door of our good friend, and neighbor, Heather Fisher. They wanted to show her their costumes (they love her to death), but she was never home. I think we went over there three or four times. It was a bit funny!

After we had all the fun our night could handle, we settled in for a good night snack of CANDY, and we took a few more pictures from home!

Hailey

Amber

Jakey, Amber, & Hailey

I know I have so many pictures of the same thing, but I just love how they turned out...I had to show them all!

Preschool Halloween Party

October 30, 2008

Amber had a mommy-preschooler Halloween party. We had so much fun playing Halloween games, eating snacks, and singing songs! (Amber actually did the singing--I just enjoyed listening!)

Amber singing a spooky Halloween song!

I love seeing how enthusiastic Amber is about the songs she sings at school. She comes home almost every time singing the "new" song of the week. It was so fun to actually hear all of the words to the songs I had been hearing.

Amber's preschool class

(Garrett, Parker, Tyler, Amber, Rylan, Lauren, Bridges, Olivia, Abby, Clara, and Dallin)

I had to get a close up shot of Amber and Tyler holding hands. I thought it was cute (not that I want to encourage it...I just thought it was funny.)

Linder Farms Pumpkin Patch

October 28, 2008

We went to the pumpkin patch as soon as Hailey was out of school. We wanted to get there before the crowds, before dark, and before it got too cold. It definitely was a good time to go! We had so much fun playing on the bouncy houses, riding the cow train, running through the hay maze, taking a hayride, riding horses, and feeding the animals! It was definitely an action packed afternoon.

The girls were trying to hold on to Jacob, so we could take a picture, but he was ready to slide!

Hailey and Jacob sliding

Amber, Me, Jacob, and Hailey riding the cow train!

Jacob in the Hay Maze.

Our family riding on the hayride to get to the animals!

The horses were hooked to a turning wheel, and the kids got to sit on the saddle while the horses walked around the wheel. Amber loved riding the horse. She wished she could ride it over and over again; however, our pocket book couldn't handle much more fun! The pumpkin patch was definitely a fun activity, but it was also costly.

Hailey riding the horse

Jacob riding the horse
Jakey loved pulling on the horses' hair. POOR HORSE! I think he was so surprised that there was something moving underneath him.

Jakey and Mom feeding the horse.

Hailey feeding the sheep

We had so much fun feeding all of the animals. We spent forever feeding the sheep, the horse, and the camel. At the end of our feeding frenzy, I wanted to feed the camel one more time, so that we could get a couple of pictures (sometimes I get overzealous about pictures). Anyways, Amber had been feeding the animals right from the beginning without any worries, so when she ran up to the camel to feed it, she had no fears. When Amber held out the food for the camel, it didn't just grab the food with its lips like all the other animals had been doing...no, it grabbed Amber's whole hand. At first none of us realized it was going to bite, so we were all still quite calm about the situation...(This picture was taken before any of us realized what the camel really was doing.) All of a sudden, Amber started crying and screaming, "The camel is biting me!!" I jumped and started pulling at her arm trying to get Amber's hand out of the camel's mouth (probably not the best idea). When I finally relieved Amber's hand from the camel's mouth, Amber had a huge bite mark on her cute little hand. We were so sad! I was afraid that this experience would deter her from future animal experiences, but luckily it hasn't been that bad!! She has just decided that she does not like camels!

SOCCER

Fall 2008

Hailey played soccer this year, and she did a great job! She really seemed to begin to understand the mechanics of the game. Defense was her strong suit (probably because Bryan played defense "back in the day", and she heard a lot about "how" to defend your goal at home).

Whenever Bryan could make it to practice, he tried to helped out on the field. Hailey really listened to her daddy, and it was fun to see them bond through soccer.

Coach Kent, Jadan, Becca, Mikella, Olivia, Ali, Breanna, Hailey, Elaina

Dave Kent is an awesome coach. He knows how to teach the girls, and keep them motivated all at the same time! He had our girls running real formations. We had a great season! We are actually moving to a new league next season, because these girls need a bit more competition than they are getting in the Rush league.

Crazy Pose!