Jordan and Elias

Jordan and Elias, age 4: "We like to dig and bury our cars in the mud."

My Sister, Aurora, works for the school district teacing Special Day Class in Elementary school. Her husband also works, so Elias and I get to watch their little guy, Jordan, once a week. Jordan is the same age as Elias. In the past, they have had a lot of rivalry; they spent their days boasting and besting each other. This left me with quite a headache and them with plenty of time-outs! As they have grown over the last year, they have matured to the point where they really love to be together and instead of wanting to prove their dominance over each other, they just like to play. Hooray! Now Elias is constantly asking, "Is it a school day?" When I say yes, he wants to know, "Is Jordan coming to play with me today?" The boys love to play "Power Rangers". They also like to sword fight, dig in th mud, drive matchbox cars, and take walks togeher. It is nice for me now too. Instead of a headache, I get lots done while the boys entertain each other! Even though they have become great friends, they still have the occasional fight . . . boys, boys!

Here is a real fight I happened to catch on the camera.

They actually say these things to each other!

"I did not."

"You did to."

"My dad is stronger than your dad"

"No, he is not! My dad is bigger"



POW! BAM! BOP! GRRRR!



Okay, we still love each other.





"One . . . two . . . "



"THREE!"

We're buddies.

Thanksgiving Fun

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Both my brothers' families were here from Utah which made it extra special. Here is Raelin: She just loves Thanksgiving Feasts and is so excited for her food!

Brice, Morgan, Raelin and Ryker stayed with us for two days. We loved having them. The kids can't get enough of their cousins. We took everyone over to the tree fort on Friday and Brice, the super builder, added a platform. The kids were all over the trees like 6 monkies looking for bananas (or was it coconuts?). Morgan and I just kept snapping pictures:

How does he hammer with his eyes closed? See that concentration? He is using the Force (remind me not to; it looks painful).

Awwwwe . . . he's my cute lil' brother!

Leah: "Raelin, are you sure this is the right place for that nail?"

The Guys: Watching the kids scramble after the work is done.

I really love my brothers!

This next series is titled:

Why We LOVE Uncle William sooo Much!

Uncle William, "WEEEEE!"

Uncle William, "WEEEE!"


Uncle William, "WEEEEE!"

Uncle William, " WEEEE???"

Raelin is having fun bouncing up and down.

Morgan the camera mom. Cute little Liam.

Ryanne is excited to be up onthe high platform Uncle Brice built.

Some things are just so mouth-watering, you can't help your expression.

This apple is so euphoric his eyes are rolling back in his head.

Mckay ran over and said, "Mom, wouldn't this make a great frame?"

Well, it did.

Cousins sitting on the lower platform. We missed Jordan.

Liam loved rolling a ball back and forth through this old pipe.

6 Secrets:

1. My favorite candy: Jelly Bellies. But not the generic kind, only the real thing!

2. I have a fishing liscence in my purse, but no makeup. (Okay,I don't really ever use it, but I dream about using it on some quiet lake. Once I went sea fishing and had the time of my life).

3. I secretly use my time on the internet to read about fruit trees and dream of sleeping in a cherry tree in summer.

4. I hate driving. I hate freeways.

5. A dream I will never get to fulfill: living on a ranch with a large garden, milk cows, horses, chickens, etc. Having my orchard. Sitting on my back porch swing with my big rubber farm boots watching the world come alive as the sun rises. (Maybe I was born a century too late).

6. My favorite plastic card is my library card.

Liam's 2nd Birthday Party!

My brother William, his wife Kathleen, and their little Liam just moved from Utah back to Ca. William got a new job here in San Bernardino. We all (minus Brice and Morgan who are still in Utah) are delighted to have them back! Yeah! The day they arrived Angel (Kathleen) threw a very cold birthday party for Liam at Lake Gregory. BRRRR! Even though we were chilly, the kids had a great time. It was fun to watch all the cousins and friends playing together. Besides family, we had Melanie Segalla+ kids and Andria Dennert + kids (who are pretty much both like family anyway)!

Here are some of the fun and Funny pictures of the kids and a few videos especially for Ryker and Raelin to watch. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Liam!

Awww . . . aren't they sooo cute!

William and his sweetheart Kathleen.

Huh???

Who is this adorable, funny kid? It's Liam! He can already identify and say his ABC's by sight! Wow! I love they way he uses his sign language to say, "ThankYou", "More" and other little words. He's so huggable! Ryanne loves to play with him and talks about him for days after she sees him.


Okay, so he does look a little silly here! But he is really cute!





Ryanne says she is doing the "stay warm" dance! But don't be fooled, the dance was really Uncle William's idea!

Peek-a-boo-Liam

"CHEEEEEESE."

Blowing up a balloon takes all my breath!

Liam wants to play ball.

Angel plays with us! She is so fun!

Elias couldn't figure out how to get the party hat off. He decided to become a unicorn head instead. Thus: the look above!

Ryanne was being silly and playing ball and dancing around.

Melanie's Kyle and his cute little face.

Andria's Jordan liked to pose for me. She had all her own moves and loved the spotlight!

Jordan trying to pop the balloon.

Or was he so cold he thought hugging it would make him warmer?

Mckay had fun climbing trees and getting slivers in his hands.

Just a view of the party.

Melanie is so fun to hang around with. Does she ever not smile? I love this girl!

What the boys spent most of their time doing.

And then we left before we had cake! Everyone got so cold that we decided to go to Ken's house. But then we all went to the church Thanksgiving dinner first and by the time we were done there, it was way too late for cake. Elias cried all the way home in the car about not getting to eat that cake. Thank goodness Uncle William brought some by the house the next day!

Here is Angel's mom, June. The decoration lady and all the fun!

Yikes! Was I that scary to look at?

Mimi in her favorite place: with Grandkids all over her!


Ken (Angel's dad), Liam and William wearing their pary hats.

Everyone likes to play with Angel. Aurora says she's younger and has more energy than us other moms. I think she just has more love than anyone knows!