Autoliv and Camping...

 

Uncle Caleb invited us to his open house at Autoliv. We had so much fun getting to tour the labs and learn about the physics behind car safety. There were several hands on learning experiments for the kids, and simulators of air bags going off etc. It was really cool to have Caleb explain everything to us, and Jackson recently wrote that he wants to develop air bags when he grows up :)We even got some "tropical snow", but of course, it didn't compare to the shave ice we had in Maui!

The grandparents backyard is always full of adventures! Jackson made himself a hat out of leaves and looked a little like Peter Pan!

Our woodland fairy...Alanna!

Paul has been wanting to roast hot dogs and marshmallows all summer! We had a "camp out" in the tent, and this is definitely my kind of camping :) Easy bathroom access and ice water for the hot temperature! James was up at Scout Camp, so this was our mom version of a camp out.

They live by a really fun park that we refer to as the "wood park". It's awesome because it has many creative toys that most parks don't have, and there are section that Paul and Jackson still love to play on.

July 15, 2013

 Happy 9th Birthday Jackson! Can't believe I used to call this guy my "Baby Cakes"! He's so big now, and it's scary to think of how quickly these 9 years have gone by. Hopefully, in another 9 years he'll be heading off to serve a mission! My awesome Visiting Teachers brought Jackson some festive sugar cookies to celebrate.

 We went to Costco and Jackson got to pick out any of the processed frozen dinners he wanted (gross!). He chose the Philly Cheese steak subs and loved his choice.

 Another pick was a jar of Nutella, so we made some banana and nutella crepes, yum! Not as good as the ones I had in Paris, but I'll eat them any day!

The boys have been dying to ride the Ferris wheel at Sheels, so this was the perfect occasion. They looked like they were having as much fun as they have at Disneyland, and I was thrilled to see them having so much fun TOGETHER and no fighting!

 

Jackson was our dream baby, although we didn't know it at the time. He slept 8-9 hours through the night from 6 weeks on. Everywhere we went he drew attention with all of golden blond Mohawk hair he was born with and really chubby cheeks. We could take him to movies and restaurants and he would just laugh and be happy and seemed to want to please us and be good. His doctor always commented on how alert and aware of his surroundings he was, and he would say Jackson is such a smart baby! And now, he has grown in to such a smart boy. I was so happy a few weeks ago when our bishop was in Primary doing sharing time and he called on Jackson to tell about the Brother of Jared from the Book of Mormon. He very thoroughly explained all of the events, so much so that our Bishop didn't even have to read his condensed version from the back of the picture. We are so blessed that not only is Jackson smart academically, he really has a strong desire to learn about the gospel and things of a spiritual nature. And these are all inherent qualities he just came to us with that bless our family continually!

Cow Appreciation Day 2013 !

We had to carry on the tradition of shamelessly dressing up as cows for free Chick-fil-a! It's one of our favorite summer traditions!

Airbourne Sports !

Jackson wanted a friend party at Airbourne Sports, a local trampoline gym. We were all for the easy planning and entertaining too! Jackson's birthday always falls during the kid's three week summer break, so we missed some of his classmates who were on vacation. It worked out perfectly though because we didn't end up having to pay extra for our own family! One and a half hours for jumping, and then we were off to the party room for pizza, cartoons, presents, and cake. His request for this year was a mint choco-chip ice cream cake. It was amusing to see that boys are always boys...he got several sets of Legos which he has been collecting since the age of 4! 

July 10, 2013!

 We had cooking club at our house for Alanna's birthday and made pizza rolls and Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream Cupcakes, and napkin rings. I guess it got a little crazy with 12+kids cooking, and I forgot to get pictures of the food. These are Alanna's adorable friends, Ansley and Shirley. They are so sweet and brought Alanna a huge bag full of coloring books, paints, paint brushes, glitter markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc. It was Alanna's dream come true, and she has been a little artist everyday since!

 My amazing Visiting Teachers, Julie and Michelle, stopped by to wish Alanna a Happy Birthday and brought her these sugar cookies from Kneaders. They were so yummy, and Alanna was thrilled. Julie was also her nursery teacher, so she still feels a special bond with her :)

Poppy and Ce-Ce already gave Alanna roller skates, but Poppy dropped by on her special day to deliver a big pack of lip gloss. She keeps it hidden under her bed away from her brothers and "glosses up" several times a day now!

 Alanna asked if she could get her ears pierced for her 5th birthday! I was very skeptical that she'd want to do it once we got to Claire's, but she was really set on having those Hello Kitty studs in her ears! She held on to this cute cuddly teddy bear, and she was all smiles as I video taped her ear piercing...she didn't even make a pained face! She has been so responsible about twisting her studs and applying solution too. I'm so proud of my big girl!

Alanna likes to eat at Red Robin because it has a replica of the Statue of Liberty, and her middle name is Liberty! We had to get pictures of this of course! The kids just love the fries at Red Robin! After dinner, Alanna asked her dad to go out and get her a surprise for her birthday, and of course, he couldn't resist. An hour later he came back with some princess easy reader books, and a kit to make paint and bling up her own plastic rings. He knows how to make his little princess happy! She is still looking forward to her "friend" party, but she's changing the theme every few days. It will be interesting to see what she settles on. We love our Lanna Baby, and I can't believe she'll be starting school next week. Ever since we found out we were expecting a baby girl, she has changed our lives forever. In Hawaiian, Alanna means "awakening", and she really has awakened her daddy to the world of precious little girls!