Summer-time!

Fast & Furious...that's how I would describe summer around here . . .

My apologies to my Aussie family members for my lack of posting. Here's a *BONUS* post...as I try to share Porter's surf video with grandpa! (below)

Happy 9th Birthday to Porter! Celebrated at g'pa & g'ma's first...where he opened the coveted Wii

And then at Wild Rivers with buddies from school. (Sorry for the dorky picture, Riley...you guys were moving too fast & this was the best I could do!)

Porter got some private surf lessons from Clare (the most awesome-est surf instructor EVER!) at Doheney. The waves were much larger than usual...but Porter caught wave after wave & had a BLAST!

Taking a break, before heading back out

And here's the aforementioned video for grandpa...sorry so tiny.

Of the three black dots you see at the beginning, Porter's the one to the left, who stands right up & rides it in! (And I have NO idea why it's black & white...)

A Welcome Hijacking

Pete & Heather apologized for "hijacking" our Memorial Day

weekend by letting their kids hang out at our house

while they got away together to celebrate their anniversary.

Turns out . . . there was no need to apologize. :-)

Be sure to take note of the giant hippo tat Jed's sporting. Hee Hee!

Ohhh . . . grandma's Post-Beach-Sink-Baths!!

A welcome tradition for generations!

Don't worry, the ABC towel is still part of the equation;

just didn't get a photo of it!

Porter & Jack cooked us up some tube steaks for dinner.

And still had time for a little sword fight between 'turnings'!!

Cake decorators, Harriet & Abbie,

made a cake for g'pa & g'ma!

Hijacking, part 2

A few more from Memorial Day...just think if I hadn't shared

this little cutie?

Jed's all about safety!

My ballerina at the Lake . . .

Jed's obstacle course.

Even Kenzie joined us!

It's nice to have her around every once in a while!

Campout with Mr. Gaebel

Porter looks forward to this all year.

Well, not as much as he looks forward to the church Fathers & Sons campout. But almost. (Unfortunately, you won't see a post about that weekend last month, because I have no pictures -- cuz i wasn't there.  Porter & Dave were too busy having fun to take pix of themselves having fun.  And I understand.)

So, anyway, Mr. Gaebel is the principal of our elementary school. He's a really great guy and the kids love him. Every spring for the past few years, de Portola turns into something of a tent city on a Friday night. There's a live band playing 80's music, powerful telescopes for star gazing, a movie projected onto the handball court, and a pancake breakfast the next morning.

Here's Porter & Dave headed down the street to the school with all the essentials for the overnight.

And setting up the smallest tent in the bunch -- Dave's 1 1/2 man backpacking tent!

And here's how the tent city looked at 6am when I returned (i couldn't just leave the girls at home alone, could I?!?) to help serve the pancake breakfast to the tent sleepers!

Thought you'd enjoy this shot of my neighbor, Laura, commandeerig the power tools to mix up the first (of several) batch(es) of pancake batter.  :-)  And, that's Mr. Gaebel in the background.

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

When Dave asked me what I wanted for Mother's day lunch, I responded with the first thing that popped into my head -- Hamburgers.  He was not impressed & tried to get me to choose something else -- Porkchops on the Grill?  Salmon?  Perhaps, Surf & Turf?  Nope.  I'd like h-a-m-b-u-r-g-e-r-s. (feeling stubborn, I guess)

My Favorite Cooks in the Kitchen.

(they did all the dishes too!)

Anyhow, 

here's how Dave doctored up my lame, boring request.

Hamburgers...with ALL the toppings.

Bleu cheese. Mushrooms. Grilled Onions. 

Bacon. Swiss Cheese.

And the list goes on.

All the way to dessert -- homemade Apple Pie. Yum!

Here's the mountain Dave created for himself.

And what would Mother's Day be without flowers?  Porter designed & 'built' this bouquet for me as a part of a Cub Scout fundraiser. Thanks Porter!  They are beautiful!

Just in Case You Were Wondering --

Here's what Porter (& his photographer, Abbie) 

have been up to recently! 

It's been at least a year since Porter has had a bath.

Seriously.

OK. He does shower occasionally.

(but only under acute duress)

Who woulda thunk it? 

Bathing is actually a lot of FUN!

Perhaps he'll do it more willingly in the future.

(Wouldn't hurt MY feelings.)

Uhhh. . . I wonder whose idea this was?

practically famous! :)

Hey everybody its Kenzie --

This past General Conference the Priests and Laurels went up to Utah for our annual trip to conference. It was an awesome experience.

We had the opportunity to tour the church's Humanitarian Center,

ride the Buffalo Bill roller coaster 3 times!,

watch the Joseph Smith movie,

have dinner at the roof,

attend a BYU vs UCI volleyball game,

andd we were lucky enough to get tickets for all 4 sessions of General Conference by carrying signs as we walked up the street that said we were looking for tickets  (this was espescially cool because none of the other groups that have gone up with the ward in past years have been able to get enough tickets for all 4 sessions)

I was so grateful to have gone and fit so much in to one weekend:)

The whole group

I thought all the fun was over until a few months later when I got a huge surprise

check out page 2 of the May 2009 Ensign

Can you spot me?

It was definitely a trip to remember