Surfing. . . Arizona Style

To water our lawn here we irrigate, which basically means that we flood our lawn. The water is sent through pipes(only certain parts of the city have these irrigation pipes) and when it's your turn you open up your valve. The kids think it's great when I'm a nice mom and let them play in the water. Some of my friends might be grossed out by the fact that I let them play in it, but hey they're washable right!? Actually, this reminds me of Hawaii when it would rain for days and everything would flood. School would get canceled and the football field would turn into the pool and the guys would all head out to the field for some mud football. We loved it!

It's even more fun when Dave's brings out his Windsurf boards and the kids can surf in the back yard! Not to shabby for land locked Hawaiians!



The kids had a blast and can't wait til we irrigate again!

P.S Sorry the photos are fuzzy and dark-arrgggh! I'm not loving my camera too much right now!

Chicken what!?

Kawika has the chicken pox! That's right my vaccinated child has them! I won't post a picture to spare him but I will take some pictures to at least document it. Poor kid! He came to me Friday morning and said he had a couple of red dots on his chest. I looked at them thinking that there could be a slight chance, but I didn't they looked like them. His skin gets kind of sensitive and it's not unusual for him to get a rash. So I sent him on his merry way to school to apparently infect everyone. I even unknowingly sent him to expose all of the kids at our date night group! Saturday morning he woke up and had them all over his chest and back. So we took him to Urgent Care and the doctor said yup it's chicken poxes(is it s or es?-oh well)! He said this is the worst case he has seen in someone that has been vaccinated. He said it is a-typical-meaning it is not presenting its self as it normally would. I guess you usually get a fever-no fever for Kawika, they usually start on the head and neck and then move down-his started on his chest and has moved up to his neck and face, they are usually itchy(I remember feeling like I was going to go crazy)-nope not for Kawika-he's had maybe one or two itch but not much more than that. Go figure!
The good things:
-The doctor gave us some medication to help it run its course faster
-They aren't really bothering him-I don't have to buy a year supply of Calamine lotion.
-He's old enough that if I have to run somewhere I can leave him at home
-I get to spend time with my son
-He still feels up to doing things-although he can't go anywhere
-He doesn't have to go to school(this is according to him-he'll be hating it when he's trying to catch up)
The bad things:
-I worry whether my other kids will get it or not-the doctor said they could go about their normal activities and just to watch them-I've become sort of fanatic about it-checking their temperature all the time and looking for spots-thankfully nothing so far.
-I feel itchy just because thinking about them makes me itch.

I guess it's a good sign that the good out number the bad on the list!

I am blessed. . .

I was sitting on the couch watching my children smile as they traced their hands. The sound of giggles filled the room and I realized I am so BLESSED. What a wonderful Heavenly Father we have that blesses us with the things that matter the most. Children that recognize the simple joys of life, health, a loving husband, family, friends, good neighbors, laughter, a roof over my head, freedom, a testimony, the spirit, my list could on forever. I am feeling so grateful, I just had to stop and say that.

Sweet baby!

Dave's sister Melanie and her husband Matt welcomed their newest addition on the 15th, sweet little Elise Diane Crookston. We are so excited for them! This makes 3 for them, and thus begins the adventures that go along with the kids out numbering the adults! I took this picture from my sister in law Corri's blog-hope you don't mind :).

On another note, these past couple of days our family has had a blast hanging out with Uncle Darren. Darren came into to town for business and we were so glad he called. I grew up with Darren and his wife Kaloi and we haven't seen them since we lived in Utah. It was fun to catch up and reminisce about the good old days(that makes me sound old). We were so glad that the kids really took to Uncle Darren which is not always the case with our kids-they aren't the type to go up and say hello to everyone. Thanks for visiting Darren and we're excited to get to see the whole family in a month when they come to town again!

Ward Campout

This past weekend we were able to go to our ward camp out on the rim. The weather was absolutely perfect. Not too cold and refreshing. We don't get to camp very often but we love it when we do. I must mention that even though there are things I don't love about camping my husband always spoils me when we go camping. He does the cooking and takes the kids on hikes so I can take a nap in the hammock(this is making me sound so terrible-I'm so spoiled). He really is so sweet, and so despite not liking the stinky toilets and bugs he makes camping very enjoyable.
This is one of the few times I saw my boys. I had to make them stop so I could take a picture. They had a blast running around having air soft gun wars, playing football, hide and seek, and hunting for "snipes"

The girls had a great time running around with their friends, picking flowers, and performing on their stage(aka the log).
This was a picture I couldn't pass up on!

Dave was their entertainment for awhile. Here's Kaili doing the helicopter.

Then he became their horse and got a good workout bouncing the kids on his knees.

John was nice enough to take the girls on a hike.

The Rivera's brought up a pinata for their sons birthday. The kids thought it was fabulous!! She even had treat bags for each kid and cake!

The adults enjoyed playing bowling ball croquet. It was pretty funny to watch. I don't know if you can see the bowling ball Dave was hucking.

So most of our friends know we have some kind of car curse. We have sooo many stories of our cars breaking down it's become legendary(not in a good way, obviously). We always seem to have trouble when we go on a trip. We actually haven't had very many care troubles for a couple of years, which was good but I suppose it couldn't last forever. All of the guys at the camp out we kind enough to tinker with it so we could make it home. I was grateful that we figured out we had a problem when we were at the camp out-what better place could it happen where there are several men there with the know how,that was definitely a blessing. It was also a blessing that we made it home just fine and one of the men offered to help us fix it which will save us a bunch of money!

This is what the boys looked like on the way home. I think that a sign of a fun time. Kyle was the only kid that didn't pass out(we were so glad he came along with our family). All in all I think it was a fun time!

Labor Day

Our Labor Day was filled with fun. As a family we had recently finished the Book of Mormon so to celebrate we went to the Skating Rink. We had a blast!

We thought it would be fun to take a picture in the photo booth. It was quite comical trying to fit all 6 of us in there.

Kawika is becoming a pro.

Kalani has improved so much .

Kaili had a great time skating with Mom and Dad.

Kalei liked it and was such a trooper working on staying upright. I'm not that great on skates, so imagine me trying to keep Kalei and I from kissing the floor for a couple of hours. Let's just say my legs got a good work out.

Random Post

This is what happens when my kids are bored on Sunday. My kids are testing their gymnastic skills.

American Idol here we come!

Work it girl!

Kalei started taking ballet last month and loves it!

This is what happens when Kaili takes on the cement floor-can you tell who won?

Kaili sometimes has the most random thoughts-I'm sure their not random to her -but when she says things they sometimes have no relevance to what's going on. I think she's just a busy thinker. Like the other night in the shower she says"Mom don't we need a Christmas tree?" Umm, yes but not for at least 3 months-let's get past Halloween and Thanksgiving.
So the other day she says "Mom I can make my nose big and small." Really! So she proceeds to show me. . . It made me laugh and I had to get a picture!

See my nose is small. . .

And now it's big.

I love her random observations. Maybe this is what she does in the mirror, and why she takes so long in the bathroom.

Why did you not know that mom!

Okay, I have other things to post later but I just wanted to post the conversation I just had with Kaili
Kaili: Mom, on Saturday can we have a rectangular?
Me: A rectangular what?
Kaili: A rectangular.
Me: I'm not sure what you mean? Rectangular is a shape but what is it that is rectangular that you want?
Kaili: (giggle, giggle) Mom, you know!
Me: No I don't(help me out here!)
Kaili: Cereal, mom!
Now why didn't I think of that!