Kyle's Fishing Again

Okay all you fisherpeople.....

Kyle's gonna eat all the fish!  This one's a bass!  And it's not the biggest one either!

My Finished Living Room

Grandpa visits Kaylee's class

Grandpa Lee was the guest speaker today in Kaylee's school class.  They were learning about the movie industry and how it has impacted California's economy both in the 30's and 40's and today. 

He told them all about what it was like being an art director and how much work goes into making a movie.  The kids were very excited and wanted his autograph at the end - it was cute!  

He showed them a gun that he designed for the series "V" which came out when I was a teenager (which is why you probably haven't heard of it).  But the kids thought it was cool.  But they loved that he had worked on shows they HAD heard of like "Home Alone II" and "Jurassic Park III" and "Malcolm in the Middle" and of course "Monster House".  

 

Kyle went skydiving with our friends from Thousand Oaks today. He's now hooked and wants to get certified. He said he had a blast, and I think he's crazy. But, I am interested in the simulator experience... anyone interested?

Pond is Safe!

Just a quick note to let all my pond dwelling summer friends know that the pond is now safe from man-eating bluegill.  Kyle drained the shallow end and left the fish flopping in about 2 inches of water and got every single one out.  The largest one, which we think was the one giving the kids hickeys (?spelling) was like 6" long!  The rest were smaller, but they're all in the deep end now where they can stay in the deep area while we swim.  

Design Flaw!

It seems we have a design flaw in our new home.  The dogs can get on the roof from the upstairs balcony.  Paris and even little Bella have trekked out onto the roof, but Gidget makes it her own domain and travels the entire house.  We've blocked it from the little dogs, but Gidget, we think, is jumping the 3 foot railing.  I hope she doesn't ever fall off!

Ski Trip to Tahoe!

We had a great time skiing in unusually springlike weather in Lake Tahoe last week.  Caden hadn't skied in over 4 years choosing not to chance hurting himself in a gymnastics season, but since he has stopped gymnastics, he was excited to re-enter the sport of skiing.  Kyle, obviously, hadn't skied in over 2 years and was excited as well.  Miss Kaylee - this was her first ski experience and she did great.  Dianna skied on the first day, but bad knees and sore legs stopped her from being in the 2nd day picture that you are seeing here.

Kaylee went to ski school for 2 days and by the end of it could ski just about any blue run.  She would just bonsai it down the hill.  This is a picture of her in her class with her instructor behind her.  She had fun.  
Dean, Caden, and I decided to take a drive all the way around Lake Tahoe.  It was such a gorgeous day and we had fun stopping at different points around the lake.  This picture is above Emerald Bay, but we also enjoyed skipping rocks at the beach and loved the little beach area called Sandy Beach.  We look forward to going there in the summer of 2010.  That's the plan anyway. 

Zip Line Flying!

Caden and Kyle flying high over the Heavenly Ski Resort! 3300 feet long and an elevation drop of 550 feet, flying 50-60 mph and lasted 63 seconds for Kyle and lightweight Caden, 75 seconds!

What a rush!

My Blonde Dog!

Paris decided she wanted something under the can rack and then got stuck!  She just whined for about 3 minutes until I finally went in to find her stuck under the rack.  Blonde!  Caden had to take apart the right side of the rack and save her.  

Caden & Dean Receive Scout Awards

Caden  and Dean were honored on Saturday night with scouting awards for the Tahquitz scouting district.   

Dean was awarded the Driving Force Award along with 4 or 5 other adults who help with the scouting program.  

Caden was honored with the Varsity Scout of the Year Award.  Of the over 200 Varsity scouts in the district, Caden was nominated by his scout leader, Scott Kennedy (on the right of Caden in this picture) and awarded this honor by the district.  Our good friend, Tony Morris,  is the other leader in the picture who serves as the Stake Young Men's President in the church with Dean as his secretary.  This award was a surprise to Caden.

Caden is pictured here with the other recipients from cub scout of the year all the way to leaders of the year.  (Yes, unbeknownst to me, there are girls in the scouting program.  Once they get to Venture scouts, it is coed.  This young lady took home the Venture Scout of the Year Award.  

I'm so proud of my scouting men.  

Kyle's Nose Surgery

Kyle is recovering well from his nose surgery.  Although he looks like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man now!  His surgery was on Friday to correct a poorly healed broken nose that happened on his mission when his companion whacked him with a racquetball racquet.  He was having trouble breathing and headaches for the last 3 months of his mission and hopefully this will have fixed it.  Plus his Owen Wilson looking nose is now straightened.... we hope.  So - he is healing and enjoying all the extra mommy attention.  

My Nieces

Since I've been corresponding and blogging with my nieces, I thought they'd get a kick out of these photos.  I came across them while unpacking boxes from storage.  Aren't they cute??!!!!  I miss playing make-up and having those girl days! 

For those who don't know my nieces, they are all graduated now and all grown up.  From the top, Tarah (TJ) is married with 3 babies, Sara just graduated 2 years ago and is living in the Palm Desert area, Emry is married with 1 baby, Vanessa has been living in Northern California with her love for too long now (I miss you) and Kensy is married with 1 baby and 1 on the way.  They've all grown into beautiful women with distinct personalities, none of which was influenced by me.  I was and am just lucky to be a part of their lives.  Love you girls.

Kyle's Fish

Kyle went fishing at our pond and pulled out some 10" bass and some pretty decent sized blue gill.  This is a picture of one of the blue gill (in case you don't know the difference).

Normally, we catch and release till they get bigger, but he caught a good sized bass, so WE ATE IT!  Thought we'd see what it tasted like and it wasn't too bad.  Okay - Dean and Kyle thought it was great, but I'm not a real fish person except for salmon and a little halibut, and it was perty dang good.

Sooo - the fish are biting!  If you live close and want to come by and fish for the afternoon, feel free!

Elder Chris and Elder Kyle Serve Together!

What a great experience for my older boys to serve as missionaries together.  

After Kyle came home and was released from serving in the Colorado, Colorado Springs mission, he had permission to go and serve with Chris in Houston if it was within his first week home.  They have been planning this for months and they had a great time.  

Kyle flew in on December 29th, Elder Chris and his companion picked him up at the airport, and they had 2 full days and 2 half days to be together.

Kyle said it was a great experience and that the Houston mission is totally different than the Colorado Springs mission, but all in all, it's missionary work.  

At one point, Chris' bike broke and so Chris couldn't pedal the bike.  So Kyle took off his belt, Chris and Kyle each held one end of the belt and Kyle pulled him home.  (see the top picture)

They spent New Years Eve together and listened to millions of firecrackers and fireworks go off and even set off a few themselves (as Houston has no ban on fireworks).  

All in all, I loved seeing pictures and video of my boys together and now it's back to work for Elder Chris.

Kyle returned home safely last night and headed out this morning with Caden on a scout campout in Barstow to burn Christmas trees.  Kaylee is wondering when Kyle will stay home!

In case I haven't said so yet - Happy New Year to all who are kind enough to read my blog.  Keep your posts coming, I read each and every one whether I comment on them or not and love to see all the pictures of the kids in Utah.  Thanks for getting my hooked on blogging girls!  

Kaylee's Haircut

Kaylee wanted everyone to see her new haircut.  She's been wanting to cut it off for a while, but I told her she had to wait until after the holidays.  She reminded me this morning that the holidays are over!  She's been growing her bangs out forever and now with this cut they are 'almost' the same length.  One more trim in 6 months and we'll have made it.  Then she wants to grow it all long again.  The life of a pre-teen!

Elder Kyle is HOME!

Elder Kyle Morgan arrived at the Ontario Airport after a few delays in his flight, but he made it home safe and sound.  Kaylee waited at the bottom of the escalator for about 15 minutes waiting and staring at the top of the escalator.  We let her have the first hug.

Kyle is happy to be home, but I think he would much rather be back in the mission field.  It wasn't easy for him to be released and he was emotional when the words were spoken.  It was a beautiful experience to watch and know the love he had for his Heavenly Father, his Savior, and his mission experience.  We are so proud of his honorable service for the past 23 months.

Now, we wait until August for Elder Chris to return from Houston, but for now, this is our 'almost complete' family picture.

New Mural

Our new mural was installed today.  This is Eddie from Artistic Edge.  He is the artist and we are extremely pleased with the finished product.  He decided to paint it on canvas instead of directly onto the wall so that if we ever moved (oh gee, I hope not) we'd be able to remove it and take it with us.  We love it!

Caden's 15th Bday Party

Caden's birthday was a huge success thanks to his wonderful friends who came out to support him.  

We are so grateful to Miss Skyler Day, our awesome friend, who shared her talent with us with a performance in our new (work in progress) theatre/entertainment room.  Enjoy her song "Fireflies" on the video clip.  Skyler writes all her own songs and will be huge talent in the near future. 

 I think everyone had a great time even though his friends can't sing.  Ha ha.

Albertsons.com

Okay - I finally did it!  I ordered my groceries on Albertsons.com and had them delivered.  Now that we've moved and I'm not living next door to the grocery store, I thought I'd give it a try.  It was AWESOME!  I have to go into Ralphs now and see if the prices were as good, but for a flat $12.95 delivery charge (the driver won't accept tips), I figure with gas, my time, and the stuff I DON'T buy on impulse, I'm probably ahead.  It was sooo cool.  And you get to pick the delivery time.  How's that for service?!  The produce was well chosen as well as the roast I selected.  I'm so excited!  The trick is to get enough at one delivery that your delivery charge is worth it.  I'll still have to drive to the market if it's something I need that day or if it's just a few items.  But, of course, I'm the one that goes into the market for a few items and comes out with $150 in groceries, so maybe I should just add to my food storage when I need a few items... he he.

"Hobo Mansion"

Caden and his cousin, Chandler, (and minimal help from Kaylee) decided to take all the boxes from the outdoor furniture that Caden set up Friday and Saturday (took a total of about 8 hours and an extremely sore back and fingers) and turn it into what they call a "Hobo Mansion".  It has a kitchen and a bathroom and bedrooms and even skylights, chimneys, and windows.  Pretty cute, huh?

Yes, the pictures are taken at the new house.  They built Hobo Mansion in the middle of the center courtyard.  The wall tiles sticking out of the wall in the top picture are part of the fountain I designed and is still a work in progress.