ASU vs. Texas Longhorns in San Diego, CA

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A few days after Christmas Justin and I went on a little trip to San Diego, CA for some fun with friends! We went with the Drigg's (Cory & Summer) and the Winsor's (Jason & Kate). The entire purpose of the trip was first, to get some greatly needed Justin-Kari time and second, to see ASU play in the Holiday Bowl. Even though ASU was creamed by the Texas Longhorns, we had fun nonetheless. And, I'm still PROUD to be an ASU alumni! GO DEVILS!

The day after we went to the Bodies exhibit (sorry, they didn't permit pictures inside!) & the San Diego Temple. Funny story: Cory had bought all the girls fake tatoos of Sparky, ASU's mascot to wear on our faces at the ASU game the day before. You can see us gals with it on our faces in the slide show above. Well, the other girls rubbed theirs off that day and I ended up leaving mine on my face. (I have sensitive skin, what can I say?) Well, when we went to the temple, we took lots of pictures....and I still had the devil on my face when I went to the Temple! Ahh! Needless to say, I felt a little sheepish, but it makes for a good story!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

P.S. Please, no comments about how HUGE I am! Summer and I are due the same day and I am an elephant compared to her! :) Oh well, it's all for a good cause!

Down Syndrome Christmas Party

On December 1st, we attended the Down Syndrome Network Christmas party. It was so much fun. They had a petting zoo, Santa, lots of food and great entertainment for the kids. This is one of 2 support groups we belong to for Down syndrome. They always do such a great job and create really fun activities for the kiddos.

The boys loved the petting zoo. We got there a little late so they couldn't stay too long but Caleb just adores cows so he was really excited to see a live one! Gunner was just in heaven with all the animals. He kept trying to catch a little guinea pig. It was really funny. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of that!

There was also a performing teen group called "Light" that did lots of songs from Hairspray. We had front row seats (thanks to Ale Ray!) so the boys really enjoyed the music. In fact, Caleb enjoyed it a little too much. During one of the musical numbers, Caleb decided he needed to go on stage and dance right along with the performers. I would have taken a picture, but I was a little preoccupied with getting him off the stage and back in his seat!

They also had the opportunity to see Santa. Caleb always loves seeing Santa and is fascinated with his white hair and beard. This seems to happen every year. I can never get a picture of Caleb looking at me...his attention is always on Santa! The only reason Gunner got this close to Santa was that he saw that he was giving out candy canes. He got as close to him as he could and then reached out, grabbed the candy cane, said "tanks" and ran away! I couldn't say I blame him, this particular Santa was buried in hair! Quite the sight!

Overall, the boys had the best time! Even after the show the dancers grabbed the kids out of the audience and started dancing and singing with them. Of course, Caleb loved going on the stage and showing off his dance moves!

The most WONDERFUL time of year!

Okay, I know I'm posting all this after Christmas, but one of my friends asked a while back to see Christmas decor. So I took a few pictures of what I did this year. I don't consider myself great at decorating, but I enjoy it! So, I just wanted to post a few pictures of our Christmas decor. I always love this time of year!!

My Boys

Okay Okay...I know it's been an entire month since I've really blogged about anything going on. I know there's really no excuse. Christmas, the busy time of year, with all the extra stuff to do...it doesn't cut it, I know. So, I'm jumping back into it full force! I'm trying to catch up on all the things that've been going on over this crazy month!

I was just scrolling through my pictures in my camera and came across a few pictures we took this past month after a family home evening. These pictures of my boys are just so fun. I love it when Justin wrestles with them. They love being with their Daddy and it's just so fun for me to watch them interact with him. So many times I'm told that "they grow up so fast" so this was just one of those moments when I look at these pictures and want to 'freeze frame' my kids forever. I love them being little and I love the little things they do.

My latest craft!

I made these journals/notebooks for all the girls in my family and they were so fun to do! Some I called "journals" so they could actually write down their thoughts, or even keep notes from General Conference, etc. Others I just gave as notebooks for the cute things kids say or do.










What is my secret weapon to make these fun projects: ModPodge! I SOOOO love the stuff. I am addicted. I'm doing letters to go above Gunner's bed and what am I using???? ModPodge of course! If you've never used it before, it is this super strong glue for paper crafts and it creates a beautiful shine to go over the top of a project too. So much fun! I'll have to post Gunner's letters when I'm done with them.

Christmas 2007

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Gunner's Playschool Program

This is Gunner at his Playschool Christmas program. He sang lots of songs and played with his friends. He absolutely loves his teacher, Mrs. Kristen. She does such a fabulous job teaching them to share and play with each other. Gunner has such a great time and loves going to his "class."

Send Me Your Address!

Hi all! Please send me your address if you'd like a Christmas card! I recently had my computer crash so I lost all my addresses/phone numbers. Fun for me right? Well, please update your info for me! If you don't want to leave a comment, please email your address to: scrapbookingmama@cox.net Thanks!!!

Family Night

Need a fun FHE idea? This week we had a fun little family night. We did a lesson with the boys about the Savior's birth. We read them Luke 2 and I have a little Nativity set that we let them play with. We mostly tried to point out where the baby Jesus was and reminded the boys that He is our Savior. I don't know how much really sank in, but we'll be talking about this all month so here's hoping!

Anyhow, our fun little activity at the end was to decorate Daddy as a human Christmas tree! We wrapped Justin up and the boys just loved seeing things stick to him! All these decorations are really old so a lot didn't hold up too well, but you get the idea. I, personally, love the bow on top of Justin's head. He was a good sport to do this and let me take pictures of him!

The Dolphin Show Experience!

When we went to see the Dolphin show at Sea World, we were 30 minutes early so we could get a good seat and also make sure we didn't have to sit in the splash zone. With it being 60 degrees in San Diego and having 2 little kids, we knew we didn't want to get wet. Well, since we were early I wanted to show Caleb & Gunner the pool where the dolphins will come out. As I was showing them the water, all of a sudden a dolphin came swimming out! I was so excited so I picked up Gunner to show him the dolphin and the next thing I knew...SPLASH! We got soaked with water! That dolphin was just doing its job because when I pointed over the glass, I guess that was some kind of command for splashing people! We all got soaked... Gunner was screaming, Caleb was holding his shirt away from his body and I was trying to get the salt water out of my eyes! Finally Justin came around the corner, saw us and started laughing! That's why we are all wet in these pictures! What an experience!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We went over to my parents house and stuffed our faces silly! After the feast Justin went to the ASU game and I took the boys to a movie with my family. We saw Enchanted and it was so cute! I'd recommend it to anyone! Caleb especially liked it because of all the cute animals and of course, the singing!

Anyway, we truly are thankful for our beautiful family this time of year. Our boys are so special to us and words cannot describe the love we feel for them. We are so excited to be able to welcome our baby girl in the next few months. We hope everyone had a great Thankgiving holiday! We love you all!!

San Diego Trip

Almost 2 weeks ago we took the boys up to San Diego to go see Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. We had such a great time. The boys did so good traveling and they were both so happy to see all the animals and sea creatures. Hopefully this slide show will work and you'll be able to see the pictures!

We stayed for 3 days and had the time of our lives. The first day we went to the zoo and saw loads of animals. The boys had their favorites like the monkeys, tigers, gorillas and elephants. We then took off to Sea World to catch all the shows before it closed. We got to see Shamu, the Dolphins and Clyde & Seamore. The boys loved it. I have a funny story about the Dolphin show and I'll have to post that separate.

The next day we went to Mission Beach before Sea World opened up again. This was such a fun experience with our kids. They both LOVED the beach. Even though it was freezing cold, they would still run full speed to the water. We were planning on going to Sea World directly after the beach so we had to keep them from getting too wet, plus we didnt have any swimsuits! But they both loved how the waves would crash into the sand and loved the feeling of the cold water sweep up on their feet. What bliss! Ah, the joys of childhood!

Well, after the beach we went to Sea World and saw all the exhibits like Sharks Cove, Penguins, Polar Bears, etc. We also saw a new show called Pets Rule and it was great. There were tons of dogs, cats, birds and even a pig. The boys loved this one, especially because we had front row seats!

Overall, this trip was so fun and was especially fun to share with our kids. We can't wait to take them back to the beach and this time let them dive into the water!

Halloween!

Our Halloween was pretty great this year. The boys dressed up as America's Finest and America's bravest and hit the streets looking for candy. They fought some crime along the way. My parents came out to our house to trick or treat with us. The boys had such a great time. Gunner was so thrilled there was a day dedicated just to candy!

(It was also my sister Kristin's birthday...Happy Birthday Sis! Love you!!)

The "Lost" Tooth

It finally happened. Caleb lost his first tooth! For documentation purposes, it happened on Nov. 1st and was the bottom tooth.

The funny story behind it is that he woke up like normal, ate breakfast and then had music therapy. As they were singing songs and playing on the drums, I noticed Caleb had a hole in his face that wasn't there before..."oh my gosh" (i said to myself)..."he lost his first tooth!" I thought that it might have just fell out right there so I started looking around. Of course, it was no where to be found. Not in his sheets or on the floor (anywhere that I could see). So, we concluded that he must have swallowed it!

I called the doctor later that day and they told me everything would probably be fine. He'd just have to pass it sooner or later. I doubt the tooth fairy will want it after that happens!

I couldnt get his picture that day so this picture was taken at the Ray's Halloween party last week. Isn't he super cute? (Thanks to Ale for taking this picture and sending it my way!)

Caleb's Crew 2007!

Last Saturday was Caleb's big party. We all had a wonderful time. Thanks to all our family and friends that were able to come and join the fun. Thank you also for any donation you made. It truly does help and support new families of children with Down syndrome.

I made a slide show of Caleb's fun day. We started off with a short walk around the SRP Pera Park and then had loads of fun playing in the bouncers, getting snow cones, playing games and visiting with family and friends. As you can see Caleb's favorite part was dancing with the cheerleaders and following Barney around. It was a great day! Caleb walked the whole way and was just beaming to see all his special friends. Thank you Caleb's Crew! (Okay, the slide show isn't working again...just click on "view all images" and it'll take you to the website where you will be able to see the pictures. Sorry!)

"All Done Red Leg!"

The day finally arrived when Gunner was able to get his red cast off! Yea! Of course, as soon as we walked back to see the doctor he started crying because this place has scarred him of scary noisy machines and doctors that tug and pull on his leg. I reassured him that we were going to take his big boot off and that he'll be able to walk on his leg without the cast.

It was a little scary for him to hear the loud noise of the saw as it cut his cast off. Those things scare me a little. The sharp blade so close to his leg creeps me out, but I have to be tough for my little Gunn man. It did help that there was a miniature skeleton with a red cast on his leg too. He got to hold him through this whole ordeal.

This experience has taught us many things. We've been creative with things we can do with Gunner and watched him be so tough. His cast changed from blue to purple to red. He's been such a good boy about everything.

Of course I forgot my camera on the day he got his cast off, but thought I'd post my favorite pictures of him throughout this journey.

The good wagon. How he loved going for rides and even taking naps in it!

He is now walking really well. He's still adjusting to having the cast off. He walks around like its still on. We're so glad that he's all healed up and that he doesn't have any permanent damage. He's such a big boy and we're so proud of you Gunner!