Sami's World

Friday August 18 was another sick day but not too bad. We managed our morning trip to the park. It was quite successful. We had quite a few moms show up that don’t normally come. We came home, had lunch, naps and cleaned. Scott got home, we had dinner and then we all crashed. We had a busy week ahead of us.

Saturday morning started early. We had arranged with some friends to go boating with them. We dropped off Niah and Afton at different babysitters and were on the road by 9 am. We arrived at Kris and Erika’s by 10. After loading everything and everyone we were off by 11. We were on the water by noon and loving it!! We did swimming, skiing, tubing and LOTS of laughing. It was super fun. We were very aware of the blazing sun and came home with no sunburns, yay. We got off the water by 6:30. Grabbed some dinner at a local diner and were home by 10:30. It was an AMAZING day. We were so glad we went.

Sunday morning was hard on everyone since we were so tired from the night before. But somehow we managed. We came home and ALL took naps. It was much needed. Since we wanted to keep the Sabbath day holy, we tried really hard not to do too much camp packing. But we did do a little. We all went to bed early so we could get up early the next day.

Monday morning started at 5:30 am with a shopping trip to obtain the rest of what we needed. I was home by 7. We did a quick breakfast and clean up. Scott ran an errand while I finished packing. We were packed and in the car by 10 am. We got to camp about 2 (that was after turning around 3 times!!). The kids were pretty hungry so I went right to work making sandwhichs and cutting fruit. Scott went right to work putting up the tent and Joey and Gayle went right to work entertaining the children. After about an hour worth of set up we explored the camp site a bit. The kids built a “fort” and we just chilled. We had a wonderful dinner of bbq chicken (marinated in an awesome sauce), rice and brocolli. It was all cooked over the fire, it was a yummy meal. We all did smores and other yummy not good for you stuff. I bathed each kid in the local sink and tucked them into bed. The adults stayed up talking till nearly midnight and then we retired. Had we known how the night was going to go, we would not have stayed up so late. I had put the kids across the tent with Niah at everyone’s feet. However, we were on a slight decline so by 2 am everyone had slid and was on top of Niah. We spent the next four hours comforting crying, confused children. It was quite the night. Even Joey and Gayle felt bad for us, they heard it all.

No one got up till 8 am. We had a wonderful breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs and toast. It was yummy. We had decided to take the kids on a “hike”. The first one was to the ranger station to obtain a map of all the trails. It was 1.1 miles all uphill to the ranger station. It was so blasted hot too. By the time we got the map we just walked back to camp and were too tired to do any more hiking. So we made Hobo dinners for lunch. After clean up we headed to the river. We camped at Lake Oroville but the water level was so low at the camp we were at that we had to drive 9 miles to get to water. That was fine though, we found a nice spot near a river. It was VERY cold though. Scott couldn’t even get in because it made his once broken bones ache. Poor guy. We were next to a park so after some cold swimming we went to the park and the kids played in the water and sand that was there. We left in enough time to go home for dinner; hotdogs. So yummy. They taste so much better over an open fire. After that we again indulged ourselves in camping favorites. We even made popcorn over the fire. Then it was bath and bed. This time the adults went to bed early!! I had rearranged the sleeping arrangement hoping for a better night. It was better, but we still had a super rough night, kids still sliding, just not into each other this time.

Wednesday we once again got up and had a wonderful breakfast but this time we made pancakes too! It was awesome. We again agreed to head to the river. But we had recieved information about a part of the lake we could go to. So we decided to check that out. It was AWESOME!! It was green and shady and the water was MUCH warmer than the water in the river. The kids had a great time. We lathered them up with sunblock and let them go. We had decided to stay all day and cook lunch and dinner there. It was fun. About 4 pm we watched a group of boys ride their bikes to a bridge across the lake. They took off their pants to reveal swim trunks and started jumping into the lake. They looked like they were having tons of fun and we laughed and watched them and reminised about how nice it was to be a kid. The next thing we know they are by us. One of the kids says ‘go for it’ and another one rides his bike as fast as he could down the boat ramp and goes flying into the water. He comes up with his bike, his friends help him pull it out of the water and boom, they have their new fun activity. The next kid goes and when he comes up, he comes up without the bike. They spend the next 20 minutes trying to retrieve the bike from off the bottom of the lake (lucky them it was shallow, only about 8-10 feet). Well, Scott had pitty on them and took a full water bottle attatched it to a rope, helped the kid tie the rope to his bike and boom, they were off again. We must of spent a good hour watching these maniacs try to kill themselves and all the while enjoying every minute of it. Since they had the rope and water bottle they headed to the other boat ramp that was in deeper water and had tons of fun there too. We finally realized we needed to make dinner. We bbq’d up some Carne Asada (thanks gma and gpa Thompson) and had some mighty fine burritos. After filling up on burritos, we did smores and then cleaned up. As if that wasn’t enough, we decided to get some ice cream at the local Dairy Queen. That was fun. We finally got back to camp about 8:30, bathed the kids and got them to bed by 10. The adults had a little nightlife but then off to bed. This time I put all the kids across the tent and I slept at the bottom, that way if they fell into me I could just put them back. We also moved the tent slightly hoping that would help too. It all seemed to help a bit but two kids woke up wanting drinks. I need to be more prepared!!

Thursday was much of the same. An amazing breakfast followed by getting things ready for the lake and then packing up and leaving. We did make a little jaunt to the Oroville museum of history. It was AMAZING. They had made a “village” of what went on when the Indians occupied the area. The people looked so real it was scary!! We were there about an hour and a half. Then we decided to take the kids on the dam road to see what it looked like. They had watched a movie at the museum about how the dam and dam road were constructed and wanted to see it for themselves. They all fell asleep and missed the dam road, but that was ok, it made for a better time at the lake to have rested kids. While at the lake we decided to rent a paddle boat for an hour. What an amazing time that was. The kids thought it was the coolest thing and wanted us to go faster. That was not going to happen. They had fun jumping off of it in the middle of the lake and then trying to get back on, oooppps!! But after 40 minutes of constant peddling, I jumped off! I was so sweaty hot you’d think I was in an excersise room, not the middle of a lake. We gave each kid a chance to peddle and then we took it back to dock. The kids LOVED it and it was well worth the $12 spent. We left the lake early to do dinner at camp. It just seemed easier that way. We had hamburgers. Again, they tasted so good over the open fire. Again we did smores and then the normal bed time routine. This time I filled 4 water bottles and put them by me. The kids all slept AWESOME and when they woke up I would give them a bottle, they would drink and go right back to sleep. Scott on the other hand had a horrible night sleep. He finally caught the bug that Niah and I had. He was pretty miserable. But seemed chiper and happy in the morning.

Friday August 24, our final day at camp was much like the rest, but more fun. Each day just got more and more fun. We did the breakfast usual, got ready for the lake and headed out. We went and saw historical landmark #1043 the 150 year old orange tree. THE orange tree that started the orange business in California. That was educational. Then we went into the main office of tourists and they suggested we go check out historical marker #70 The Chinese Temple. Ok, so we do, or at least we try. They wanted $2 a pop. We were just too cheap!! But we did get to drive by some very nice houses and one of them had thier front hedge trimmed in such a way that the bushes spelled out their house number. It was pretty cool. I wish we would have gotten a picture! The lake was once again a blast. The kids did more fishing on Friday than on any other day. They seemed to be interested in that a little more. We relaxed and played and ate and relaxed some more. We did have three interesting things happen to us. First, a caravan of Fire trucks (the kind that haul fire fighters, not the kind that hold all the equipment) pulled up. We thought we were going to see some training or something and were pretty excited. Much to my disappointment it was a group of convicts stopping for lunch. I don’t know why it bothered me but it did. They seemed nice enough and stayed on their side of the grass, but it bothered me. The second thing was during this time. One of the correctional officers started walking toward us about 20 minutes after they got there. I was sure he was about to tell us to leave. He asked Scott if they were his kids in the water. Scott said yes. The C.O. said ‘Just thought you should know there is a snake in the water right there and you might want to get your kids out of the way’. Of course I freak out and start yelling their names. Scott just rolls his eyes at me and the C.O. walks away. The snake hung out for a little while and then swam away to another part of the lake. He didn’t seem too interested in us and left us alone the rest of the day. Last but not least, toward the end of our day an OLD couple shows up. She’s in her bathing suit and him in his. They had their fun noodles and blanket. They both got in the water, complained of how cold it was and pretty much left after that. They kept trying to talk to Joey who was asleep in his chair. It was pretty funny. A great day though. We packed up in enough time to head back to camp so the kiddo’s could do Jr. Rangers. It is a program they do every year since we camp at State parks. They had a great time doing that and even learned which berries they could eat. We got back to camp in enough time to smell the steak cooking on the fire. Joey is a great steak cooker! We also got some neighbors too. We had been the lone campers for most of the week, now the campground was filling up for the weekend. It was nice to have some company. We had steak and potatoes and enjoyed every bite of it. We had TONS of smores to get rid of what was left. We had popcorn too. It was a great night. We put the kiddos to bed and the adults stayed up a few more hours to burn down the last of the wood. Everyone seemed to be sleeping really well now and so I opted to sleep in the hamic Joey had brought. I wasn’t planning on sleeping in it but on the way to bed I told Scott I hadn’t even sat in it all week and now was my only chance. It was so comfy I didn’t want to get out. So I just slept there. It was the best night sleep I got all week.

Once again, this is long and I am tired. I will post more either tomorrow or the next day. Much love to all.

Well, I did it. I taught my first Gospel Doctrine class. You know, it wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be, I managed to get a little class participation, and I think one or two people felt the spirit. In our ward, if you are good at this calling, they leave you in for a long time. So if I get released next month, you’ll know why.

For both the opening and closing prayers, I asked for volunteers. After class, the bishop approached me and said, “This isn’t a church of volunteers. When you need a prayer said, just call on someone.” I have found that following my bishop’s counsel has always let me aright, so I will be exercising that prerogatived from now on.

I don’t have much more to add, Sami is sitting next to me, busily tap-tap-tapping on her keyboard, so I expect there will shortly be a detailed account of our lives from the past two weeks posted to this website.

I do want to give ya’ll an update on my health. At my last visit to my doctor, I was released from all restrictions, with the caution to still be careful. My back and right are are still very sore, but I am learning what me limitation are, and am careful to test the envelop first, before going to far with any physical activity. I still can’t lay on my right side, and I don’t liked to be hugged too tight. This is not meant to be a laundry list of complaints, just a demonstration of how the Lord has healed and blessed me since the accident. Things could have been much worse, and the recovery could be much longer, but every day I witness little miracles and I am grateful that the Lord has saved my life and humbled me.

It was good to see the Laytons and the Vegas Thompson’s last weekend. It’s good to know they continue be good people and improve their lives each day. We are blessed to be associated with both families.

Jake took me for a ride around Vegas and showed me the developments he had a hand in developing. He also showed my the street he named after Mom. If any of you ever get a chance to drive down Janesville Lane, it’s quite a treat.

Steve took me on a tour of his companies facilities. It was nice to see where he works, and learn more about what he does. He’s involved with some pretty cool projects at work.

I guess that’s all from me for now. Look to Sami’s post for greater detail.

Well, it has been quite a while since an update and therefore, this will once again be VERY long. After tonight it will be a while before you hear from me again. We will be going on our camping trip tomorrow morning.

Monday August 6 was suppose to be a day of getting the car ready for our Vegas trip at the end of the week. I was suppose to get the tires balanced, some errands run and home by noon for lunch and naps. Best laid plans!! To make a VERY long story short…..After going to the same tire place three times and getting a second opinion two times, I found out a very interesting thing about tires. When shopping around for tires or for a car and you look to see if the tires still have tread, you also have to find out how old the tires are. Apparently tires have a shelf life. The rubber that tires are made out of, over time, gets hard and therefore will cause a pretty good shimmy in the car. Because of the hardness of the rubber, the tires have no give and ride really rough. And, just because your car was manufactured in a certain year, doesn’t mean your tires were too! Tires are suppose to only be good for 5-7 years and then you get this hardening of the rubber. Anyway, we have a fairly permanent shimmy until we can afford four brand new tires for our big old van!! So, after getting home at 4 I was not in any condition to feed the sister missionaries that were suppose to grace our home with their presence. So we gave them some money and told them to enjoy dinner on us. We ate a simple dinner and sent all the children to bed (none of them had had a nap all day!!!).

Tuesday was a better day. I got my errands done that I was suppose to have done the day before. It was looking like a “normal” day when I got a call from a young woman in the ward. She was having a hard time and asked that I come “rescue” her. I found her and was able to give her some comfort. I contacted her parents and they were glad she was with me. We agreed to have her stay one night with us and then they would come pick her up the next day in the afternoon. Once she got settled here I left with the kids to meet up with a friend for a play date. I came home and made dinner and picked up Scott and got all the kiddo’s to bed and we all retired too.

Wednesday was a busy day. We went swimming in the early afternoon with some friends. We all had a great time doing that. In the late afternoon we met up with another set of friends and swam again. It was a VERY fun day of swimming. The kids were all pretty much wiped out, but that is good!!

Thursday, August 9, we cleaned all morning. At 11:30 some friends came over with lunch and we all ate and talked and had a great time. At 3 they all left and we cleaned the house again, packed and left by 4:30 to pick up Scott from work. After we picked up Scott we headed down the 101 freeway to go to Grandma Ackermans house for the night. We got there in about 3 hours and were glad to get out and stretch our legs. We had a late dinner with grandma and then a birthday party for Alix. She was very excited to play games, get presents and a cake. She felt very special. She beamed from ear to ear. All the while, Scott installed grandma ackerman’s comfort acessories. He was able to do it fast enough that he did not miss the festivities. After a shower and bedtime activities, all kids were asleep by midnight, closely followed by the adults.

Friday morning was early for all of us. I was up by 5 am and had Scott up a few minutes later. We had the car packed and all the kids in place by 5:30 and were on the road. All of a sudden I realized that perhaps I did not have my wallet. Upon investigation, I was right. Seems easy enough, turn around go back and get it. But my mom lives in a gated community now. So I had to call the house enough times to wake someone up. But, they don’t have a way of letting anyone in (they lost the code), so we had to wait outside the gate while my sister searched for the wallet. She was able to find it and get it to us within a reasonable amount of time, but by then all the kids were pretty much awake and decided they needed a second round of going to the bathroom. We officially left Fresno at 6:30 am. Anyway, we got to Vegas by 12:30. We just missed lunch so I made the kids left overs and everyone talked and had a great time. Since it was Kenneth’s baptism, lots of family was in town and even more expected to arrive. The group of us that was there, decided it would be fun to visit M&M world. So we all loaded up and headed to “the strip”. I personally avoid the strip because of my experiences there as a youth. I thought perhaps things would be better. We parked at a hotel and walked through their lobby area to the street. It was just as I had remembered it; smokey, smelly and inappropriate things everywhere you go. You just look at the ground in front of you and breath through your mouth!! Once we got to the street it was a bit better. M&M world was pretty fun. We had a good time taking pictures and seeing all the fun stuff they have their. It’s four stories high and we were loving it. The kids had a good time too. They had a 3D movie you could watch for free. Alix ran screaming out of the theater about 1 minute into it. I followed with Afton. The three of us just looked at more stuff till the movie was over. Poor Alix still talks about how scary she thought it was. After going back through the casino to get to our cars Jaime turns to us and says ‘I don’t like this place, it makes me feel icky inside’. Scott and I both told her that was good and that smoking and drinking and gambling were bad and it should make her feel icky inside. We told her it was the Holy Ghost telling her this was not a good place to be. Back in the cars we headed back to Steve and Joys place. They had planned an amazing dinner of beef brisket (best I’ve tasted), potatoes, rolls and brownies. It was a wonderful meal. Including kids there were 35 people there. Before things calmed down Scott and I thought it best to put our kids to bed. We were not so hopeful that it would work since there was so much going on around them, but we tried anyway. Not a word of complaint came from any of them. They all fell asleep in minutes and didn’t peep till the next morning.

Saturday was the day of Kenneth’s baptism. We all got up early and did breakfast and bathing and dressing. His baptism was at 10 am. It was so wonderful. We had a great time feeling the spirit and watching Kenneth become a member of God’s church. Steve did a great job both baptising and confirming Kenneth. As soon as the service was over, we jetted and put three of our children to nap before anyone else reached the house. Kenneth was having a birthday party after the baptism and so as soon as everyone else arrived they prepared for that. It was at a park with water and so we got bathing suits on, sunblock on and headed over. Scott stayed home with the three sleeping children while I took Jaime and Alix to the festivities. We had a great lunch of pizza and breadsticks and the kids ran and played and got wet. They even complained of being cold (not sure how!!). We were all back home by 2. The little kids were awake then and so we thought we should take them out to do something fun. The other guests of Steve and Joy either went back to their homes or went to the strip again. We weren’t interested in either of those activities so we took the kids to the children’s discovery museum. We all had a great time and even got to watch science in action. Jaime and Alix both got a turn to go up and help the scientist. They thought that was pretty cool. We made it back to Steve and Joy’s by 6. We had a wonderful dinner and the kids played and we just talked and relaxed. We enjoyed dessert with the group that went to the strip and had some fun conversations with them. They all left and we four adults had to decide what to do. So we rented a movie. We rented Happy Feet. No offense to anyone, but I thought it was an AWFUL movie! The company was awesome, the movie not so good. It was fun though to spend some time with Steve and Joy. They are great people.

Sunday morning (August 12) was a bit chaotic. We had three families to get ready for church. It turned out quite well. We all ate and dressed and left for church on time. When we left we said our goodbyes and went to meet up with Jacob and Maranda. As soon as we got to their church we realized we left the diaper bag back at Steve’s. So I volunteered to go back as I was not going to go through three hours of church with no ammunition. When I got back no one was there and so I thought there was a slight chance the back door might be open. You should have seen the spectcle of me trying to climb the fence in my dress. I was able to get on the dog house and Tasha wasn’t too sure what to think of the whole thing. Lucky for me the door was open and I was able to get the bag. Sorry Steve and Joy, I REALLY needed the bag. Anyway, church was great. We got back to Jacob and Maranda’s with 8 very hungry kids. We fed them a quick lunch and put some of them down for naps. The others relaxed with a movie and the adults napped and talked and enjoyed the afternoon. Since this was Alix’s acutally birthday we had planned a birthday party at Jacob and Maranda’s. Maranda had gone out and purchased all of Alix’s birthday food requests. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, cooked peas, raw carrots and beans. It was the perfect dinner. She requested chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Jacob and Maranda made it from scratch, it was AMAZING. Alix once again felt very special and loved all the attention. After putting a couple of kids to bed, Scott and Jacob left so that Jacob could show Scott what he does for work. Scott said he really enjoyed seeing the fruit of Jacobs labors and driving down Janesville Lane. After they got home Maranda and I went out for a long walk. It was nice to be out in the “cool” of the evening and talking with Maranda. She is fun to talk to and share ideas with. After out jaunt we put the remainder of the kids to bed and played a card game. It made for some great laughs and I won.

Monday was suppose to be an early day but Scott was interested in visiting Steve at his work. So he got up and got dressed and headed out to visit with Steve. The visit ended up going so well that Scott was gone 2.5 hours. Maranda and I talked more. I cleaned up and packed as much as I could. The kids played outside in the hose and with the swing set and in a little pool. They seemed to have a good time. By the time Scott got back Jacob had come home for lunch so we joined in too. The cute young woman who had accompanied me to Las Vegas the month before was there to meet up with a boy. Well, when he heard we were in town he asked if he could hitch a ride back with us. We didn’t care so he met us at Jacob and Maranda’s and became another passenger. We finally got out of Vegas around 1. It was a long, uneventful drive. We made one really long stop for dinner and stretching legs. Other than that we just pushed through. We pulled in about 10. We unloaded everyone and everything and crashed by 11. It was a welcoming relief.

Tuesday, I had planned a visit to Happy Hallow with one of my friends. We left here about noon and stayed till after 4. It was a fun day and the kids really enjoyed themselves. I am really glad I have such good kids that obey and stay with me. We did loose Niah a couple of times but she would just stand there quietly calling ‘mom, mom’. It was kinda cute. Once we got home it was time to make dinner and then pick up Scott from the shuttle. I was suppose to go to a baby shower but decided I was too tired. So I just stayed home and went to bed early!

Wednesday I decided to go to the beach. We have a group of moms here that get together at the beach every week and so I decided to join them. It was so much fun. We left the house at 10 and stayed at the beach till 3:30. It’s about an hour drive but it was worth it. The weather was great, the company was fun and the beach was not crowded. The parking was close and bathrooms and showers too. Couldn’t ask for much more! We saw a group of dolphins, about 6 of them. They were jumping very high out of the water. It was cool. We saw a couple of seals too. Plus there were tons of sea gulls, pelicans and other birds. It was fun to watch all the wildlife. We got home in enough time for me to realize we were suppose to have the Elders over for dinner. I hurried and cleaned everyone up and cleaned up a bit and picked up some pizzas and Scott and we got home in just enough time to set the table and sit down to eat. We enjoyed thier company very much. They didn’t stay long because they had an appointment, that was fine, we were able to get our kiddos in bed on time.

Thursday, August 16, was a sick day. I was feeling sick the night before and was really not doing well by the morning. Niah had an awful night and Scott did most of the care since I was so out of it. I made Niah stayed in bed all day watching movies and drinking fluids. She was pretty good about it. By 1 I needed a nap and so I informed everyone that they were not to wake me up and they could watch a movie. I slept for two hours. I felt better but not for long. By the time Scott got home I was not well. I finally realized that I was not pregnant or nursing and there was no reason why I shouldn’t drug myself. So that is what I did! Good thing too cause I had promised Alix a birthday date and I was meeting a friend at Costco so that I could buy the food for our camping trip. After dropping Scott off at home, Alix and I headed out for our date. She got money for her birthday and was ready to spend it. We started at 7-11. She wanted a slurpy. She wanted to get the biggest one so she could share it with her friend that was going to be at Costco with us. We had a great time running around Costco and getting the things we needed. We then invited our friends to enjoy a birthday ice cream with us. The girls were too interested in playing and didn’t end up eating much ice cream. Alix and Rachel played hide and seek, tag and doggie. It was fun to watch them interact. We said our goodbyes and Alix and I headed to Wal Mart. Once we got there she realized she was hungry and so she wanted a happy meal. After eating that we went to the toy department. She budgeted wisely and was able to purchase three things. I was quite impressed. Jaime usually heads directly to the toy department and picks out the most expensive thing she can with what she has. Alix spread her money out over several things (including food). She also just didn’t want to go home. She was enjoying our time together so much that she kept proloning things. Finally at 10:30 I told her we had to go. She was reluctant, but agreed.

This post is long enough, I’ll post more in a week when we get back from camping. Much love to all.

I realized that Afton is learning so many new things and I have not shared with everyone. She now pulls herself up constantly. She has discovered that new trick and thinks it’s the greatest thing. She can now open cupboards and drawers in the kitchen. She thinks that is fun too. She can give a high five, wave bye bye, she can clap and she can stand independently for a few seconds. She loves to play games with us. We taught her a “grab” game. She gives you something and you take it but then you give it back and she takes it and so on. She thinks it’s the greatest game. She also has a new tooth. It is her bottom right. She now has 8 teeth. She is still a great sleeper and can eat carne asada like a champ. Her hair is long enough now for a bow, well sort of!! Anyway, I am having so much fun watching her learn and grow and interact with her siblings. They are so cute together and will one day be great friends. Much love to all.

Well, Wedneday August 1 I embarked on a new adventure in my life, babysitting. I did quite a bit of babysitting when Jaime was little. Once Alix was born I figured I would need to focus more on my own family. Well, I was approached quite a while ago about doing it again. I’ve resisted till now. The children are Hannah (10) & Aaron (11). They are really good kids. I’m not quite sure why they require a babysitter, but I guess times have changed……
They are very helpful with chores and they seem to play with the kids pretty good. They are older though and we are already having issues with that. They are from a divorced family and so I only watch them every other week, when they are at their dads house. Anyway, it should work out fine, especially once school starts. I’ll only have them here 1 1/2 hours in the morning and afternoon. Till then we have them all day. So Wednesday, they went with us on our feild trip to Crab Cove. It’s a place in Alameda (about a 30 minute drive). It had a VERY small visitors center and then the kids played in the bay. I sat on the “beach” with Afton. They all seemed to have a great time and it took the largest chunck of the day. By the time we got home we did chores and then rested for about 45 minutes then their dad came and picked them up. The kids and I loaded up and went to pick up Scott from work. The kids all got a little snack from the “kitchen” and then we headed to Happy Hallow. Usually they close at 5 pm but, for members only, they stayed open till 8. So we took the kids because we knew that it would be less crazy. It was a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed being out late.

Thursday was an early morning. We had agreed to meet Laura at “the path” to pick blackberries. We met at 8:30 am. It was fun. Everyone helped to pick. It was especially nice to have two older kids there to help. Although, in the end we ended up with less blackberries than usual because they can eat a lot more too!! We did end up home with enough to make one batch of jam and one pie. The pie was amazing and was the best one I’ve made so far. After chores and naps we went to Costco with a friend. We had some things we needed to get for Jaime’s baptism. That was a fun trip but lasted a little too long so I just dropped Hannah and Aaron at home. We came home, put the groceries away and then went and got Scott. We had dinner and off to bed with everyone (even me!).

Friday morning was a bit crazy. Scott missed the morning shuttle so I took him to the late shuttle. But since he was home I put him to work. We had a few things to clean before company showed up and so we got that done. I took Scott to the shuttle, I took Hannah and Aaron to a dentist appointment and I took my kids to the grocery store. I took the groceries back home, picked up Hannah and Aaron and went to a friends house to go swimming. We got to swimming about 11 and we left at 2:45. (back track) When we were driving home from Utah we realized that our van had a bit of a shimmie. When we got home I called the car place and they said I probably needed a balance. So Scott took the car in. When they were done it was worse. So I had to take the car back to them. So after swimming we all went to the car place. Lucky for us it is right across the street from the Hub (an outdoor mall). So all the kids and I walked across the street and wreaked havoc on Taget for a while. The car place called and I picked up the van. Well, it was better than it was, but there is still a shimmie. AHHHHH. Anyway, after that I went to the City of Fremont office and signed the girls up for classes (Jaime is taking dance and Alix is taking carpentry). Once again I was a bit late but so was their dad. We ended up back at my house about the same time. After Hannah and Aaron got picked up I called Gayle to see if she could take me back to Costco because I forgot to get a few things. She was awesome and said yes. I got there a little earlier and the kids and I had pizza. Gayle joined us later and had some too. After the shopping was done I had just enough time to go pick up Scott. I was a little late getting him, but he didn’t seem to mind. We got the kids in bed a little late, but they were happy that they got pizza for dinner and that they would get to see grandma and grandpa Thompson in the morning. Scott and I did a couple more things then went to bed too.

Saturday started early for me. I wanted to get a few things done so I wouldn’t be running around crazy all day (unfortunatly, I still managed to run around crazy all day!!). Gma and gpa Thompson arrived about 7:30 am. We all enjoyed cereal and OJ together. We then talked and played and did a few more preparation things till Steve showed up about 11. We all said our hello’s then we called in our order for chinese food (there is this great chinese food place here that my grandparents LOVED. Steve loves the place too and so whenever he is in town, we can be sure we will get to enjoy some good food!) We left and visited grandpa Sutherland’s grave. Once again, Uncle Steve sat around the grave with all the cousins and mesmerized them with his “grandpa stories”. He tells them just like Grandpa used too. After tearing the kiddo’s away we went and picked up the food and came home and ate. We spent the next two hours eating, showering and dressing. We all got ready and in the cars and out the door by 2:40. We made it to the church with plenty of time for all the kids to wreak some havoc before the start of the baptism. The service was incredible. Steve gave a great talk on Baptism. Scott did a great job making sure all of Jaime made it under the water. Gayle helped us all understand the Holy Ghost more and Scott did a fine job on bestowing the Holy Ghost upon Jaime and giving her a marvelous blessing. The end of the baptism was filled with much happy converstion and smiling faces. It was a great baptism. Lots of wonderful pictures were taken and great memories made. We got home by 5 and the real festivities started! We invited a few friends and family over for an after baptism bbq (I totaly bached all LDS tradition and served NO refreshments after the baptism). We had about 10 adults and a bazillion kids. It was fun. We had carne asada burritos and it was GOOD. Scott is a great BBQ’er. We realized after scheduling the baptism that it was Grandma Thompson’s birthday. So we surprised her with a carrot cake and candles to blow out. I think she enjoyed that, all the kids did for sure. They got to sing happy birthday twice to her and help her blow out the candles. The night finally wound down about 9:30pm. We all made it to bed around 11.

Sunday, today, was a bit crazy. It’s hard when everyone makes it to bed late and then wants to sleep in. I especially don’t like having to wake up the little kids. I’d prefere to let their bodies wake them up. We finally got everyone up and moving by 8. Grandma and Grandpa showed up about then and things really got moving. The grandparents took a round of kids and left while Scott and I finished up the last round. We all managed to get to church on time! Church was nice. Grandma Thompson and I both bore our testimonies. Unfortunatly our visit had to come to an end after Sacrament. Grandpma and Grandpa had a long drive ahead of them and needed to get home. Steve and Kenneth left after lunch. Everyone napped/rested and now they are all awake begging for attention and I’m trying to finish. We had a great weekend and it was an amazing experience to see one of my own children get baptised and make covenants with Heavenly Father. Jaime is amazing.

Well the Thompson weakly update is about to begin. Hope you have plenty of time to read to the end…..

Wednesday July 25 proved to be another busy day. I finally finished all the plums and was ready to do jam. I wanted to get done sooner than I had the day before so I set Jaime to work. She would stir the mixture on the stove while I cleaned jars and set things in motion. I was usually done by the time the mixture was boiling. Once the mixture was done I would fill jars while Jaime measured the sugar for the next batch. We did four batches in about 3 hours. That was awesome because the other day I did two batches in 7 hours. Afton slept through all of it. Milo and Niah played nicely together and Alix was at a playdate. Scott dropped her off on his way to his doctors appointment. She got to play, then go swimming and then go to the library to see an astronomer. It was an amazing day for her. By the time she got home we got right into chores. We were done and dinner on the table and eaten by the time Scott got home. He pounded a dinner and helped with the final clean up. By that time it was 7 pm and time for Enrichment meeting. We were having it at our house and I was teaching homemade yogurt. Two sisters showed up which was perfect. We had so much fun talking and eating recipes made with yogurt. It was great.

Thursday I was suppose to go out to Brentwood again but my friend had to cancell on me. That was ok, I needed a day of rest anyway!! I didn’t actually take the whole day as rest. I spent some time going to the grocery store to get a few things for dinner. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner. Scott would miss all the festivities because of how late he gets home when he rides the shuttle. But the sisters and kids and I had a great time. We grabbed Scott from the shuttle and then came home and put kids right to bed. It had been too many late nights for the kids and we wanted to get them to sleep at a decent hour.

Friday was to be our busiest day by far. Jaime was suppose to have her first Activities Day activity, but it got cancelled, yay for me! We all went to the park for a few hours. Came home and showered everyone, dressed them in jeans and rootbeer t-shirts and headed to Scott’s work. It was the day of the company family picnic. They rented out the apitheater in Mountain View to hold the event. It was AMAZING!! We’ve been to other company picnics before, but this was awesome!! They hired a fair/circus. Think of any and all fair/circus’ you have been to, but make it all free. They had ice cream carts, popcorn carts, frozen lemonade carts, cotton candy (pink and blue), plus a buffett. In the family section they had hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwhich’s, salads, fresh fruit, capri suns, waters, brownies, cookies….. So much food. Then they had clowns, face painting, goofy hats (everyone got to choose one for free), contortionists (spelling?), science shows, arts and crafts, balloon shapers, a tumbling area, bounce house…. It was fun!! Then if you went to the non-family side (which families were welcome) there was so much more. They had games (you could win prizes), different bands playing throughout the park, a ferris wheel, more food (chilie cheese fries, yummy!!), more ice cream places, reptiles (you could hold/pet snakes bigger than…..). Anyway, I could go on and on but I’ll spare you!! We had a blast. The kids LOVED it. No restrictions. They could have as much of what ever they wanted. They thought it was the coolest thing. We were there from 2 pm till 8 pm. The kids were pretty wiped out but it was worth it. We came straight home and put all those tired kiddos to bed. It was funny, I had us all wear our root beer t-shirts from the family reunion so that it would be easy to pick which kids were Thompson’s. I also put a white bow in each girls hair. That way if anyone got lost I could tell a security gaurd what they looked like. Aparently it was a hit. We got stopped a number of times by google people taking pictures for the picture board. We also had random people stop us to take pictures. We had numberless people ask us for the recipe. And there was a group of performers that, everytime they passed us, would cheer for “the rootbeer family”. It was pretty fun. The kids enjoyed the attention (well the adults did too…..).

Saturday morning was busy. I was up and 5:30 am and off to the store. I got home about 7 am. Scott went straight out and tried to figure out his car problem. The kids and I started cleaning. By 9 we were all done and started cooking. At 10 am a new family in our ward showed up and we had breakfast with them. She works days, he works nights so we asked them over for Saturday breakfast. We had all kinds of food; pancakes, eggs, busicuts, sausage gravy, bacon, hashbrowns, milk, oj and fruit. Everyone got very full. We had a great time getting to know them better and all the kids played awesome together. They have three kids who are the same ages as my three youngest. It was fun. At 12:15 I said my goodbye’s and dashed out. I was doing one last catering job with Gayle. Again, it was fun and we really enjoyed the time spent. It’s fun to work with Joey and Gayle and the other people who volunteered to help. We were cleaned up and in our cars by 5:30 pm. We had planned to meet at 6:30 and have dinner together. We went to Chevy’s. We had an amazing meal. We waited for a while and the bill never came. Finally the manager came over and said they were having problems with their computer system and said it would be a few more minutes. We jokingly told him that if there was no bill, that ment it was free. Well after another 15 minutes, we bailed on Joey and Gayle cause the kids were just getting too restless. We later found out that the manager came over to the table and told them they could leave. They could not get the register to work, did not know how long it would take and the dinner was on Chevy’s. We got home and put the kids to bed. Then Scott and I spent a few minutes putting my mom’s couches in the van. Mom was moving and needed some additional help and so I was scheduled to go to Fresno Sunday Morning.

I got up and left around 3 am Sunday morning. I got to mom’s around 6:30 am. Steve had been there since Saturday morning and was pretty wipped out after a full day of moving. I was to be his releif. I got right to work clearing out a space to put the couches while the rest of the house slept. Sara got up and helped, then Steve made his presence known as soon as I finished (perfect timing….). We emptied the van of the couches and headed to the old place. We took my van and mom’s van. We got everything out (well, almost) in one trip. It took a good 2 hours to load those two vans but it was worth it. We unloaded in about 30 minutes. We went back for the last little bit, vaccumed and cleaned a little, then closed the door forever. It was a good feeling. We went back to the new place. Had some lunch. Did a couple of things for mom and then we both headed home. We got out about 2 pm. Not bad. Steve was pretty wiped. He did a great job and I was just there for moral support, Steve did most of the work (well, maybe Kenneth did most of the work). Upon arrival home we had dinner and then the kids were ready for bed. It was a warmer day than it had been so the kids had a hard time falling asleep because of the heat. Finally the house was quiet and Scott and I made it to bed by 9:30. Early for us, but much needed.

Monday was a fun day. We had a playdate scheduled with a friend. We ran a couple of errands first and then went to our playdate. First we played, then we ate lunch, then we washed our van (it really needed it), then we went swimming, then we had a snack, then we went home. It was a very fun day. Upon arrival home, we did our chores and ate dinner. By the time Scott got home we were all pretty tired. We tried to do a formal FHE but it was too hot and we were all tired. So we just played and sang some hymns and then put the kiddos to bed. I bailed at 9:30 am again but Scott was up later. He tried to fix his car, but with no sucess. I felt bad for him. He is just not able to do the things he used to yet. It will take time for him to get back to where he was before.

So here we are today. I spent the morning tring to fix one of our cabnits. It did not work. I made some peach jam and returned some phone calls. It has been a “lazy” day. We love it. We made some homemade lemonade and so the girls took a blanket outside and put it in the shade. Then they drank lemonade and read. It was very cute. The typical summer look. We are now inside doing some light school work, reading and being quiet so that we don’t wake up the little ones who are sleeping.

I’m going to miss summer. It has been fun. We only have four weeks left and then we have to start school again. It will be good though. I think my kids are about to have their brains fall out of their ears after all this playing!! Much love to all.

We are looking forward to Jaime’s baptism in a few days. It will be a very fun event.

Here I go again. A week has gone by and I haven’t taken the time to update ya’ll on what we have been doing. So here goes.

Thursday I had planned to go to Brentwood and visit my friend. She has a pool and the kids were really excited that they would get to swim. We took dad to the shuttle stop and then came home and did chores for two hours. After that we got dressed and were out the door by 11 am. I was at Erika’s house the night Scott got into his accident. I didn’t think anything of it, but when I pulled up to the gate at her housing tract I started to freak out. My mind starting racing and I got a little sweaty. Most bizzarre thing for me. I said a silent prayer in my heart and reasoned with my mind that all was fine. By the time I pulled up to her house, I was calm enough to have a good time. It was interesting though. Anyway, we had lunch and then let the kids play for a little while. We then headed out to the pool. All the kids had a great time and Afton slept through the whole thing. They have a slide so Erika and I had fun going off the slide and jumping in. We left there about 5 pm. Just enough time to pick up Scott from the shuttle. We came home and had dinner and put the kiddo’s to bed with only enough time left for us to go to bed!

Friday was a “normal” day. After taking Scott to the shuttle, we came home and got ready for our weekly play group trip to the park. We had a good turn out and all the kids, and moms, had a great time. I’m glad we get together, it’s refreshing for all ages. The afternoon was low key, just naps and resting. After we picked up Scott we had a quick dinner and then Jaime and I left. We had a “date” to celebrate her birthday. Our family was scheduled to clean the church building on Saturday morning, however (as you will soon read) I WAY overbooked our Saturday, so Jaime and I started our date out with cleaning half the church. We did the whole of the upstairs. We actually had a really good time, the two of us. We then headed over to Cold Stone (for all you Cold Stone fans out there, if you go to their web site and sign up for their birthday club, they send you a coupon for a free regular sized ice cream. It’s worth it!!). While Jaime ate her ice cream we talked about her baptism and I tried to answer any questions she might be having. She is a very smart, spirtual girl who knows who she is. I hope she never forgets. After that we headed over to Wal Mart. She really wanted to spend her birthday money. She had $24 to spend. She was sure she was rich. We wandered the toy section for an hour before I finally made her make a decision. She decided on a kit that comes with a DVD, pom poms, a batton and a mat. The whole thing is suppose to teach a kid how to be a cheerleader. She had enough left over for one Barbie Doll. I’m not sure how I feel about the DVD thing, we are all now walking around singing cheer songs. You should see Scott with pom poms…… We got home about 11 pm. Jaime thought that was pretty cool. She was in bed sleeping by 11:10 and I was close behind.

Saturday morning was a very tightly scheduled morning. So I woke up at 6 and walked over to the church to finish the cleaning. I was done by 8:30 am and was home by 8:50. Scott walked out the door as soon as I walked in and went to a friends house to fix their computer. While he was gone I had the kids do their Saturday chores. After that we did yard work and then I helped them write and memorize their assignments for Sunday. As soon as Scott walked in from computer fixing, I walked out to help Gayle with catering again. Again, it was a very enjoyable experience. We did more of a lunch this time; sandwhiches, salads, fresh fruit, chips and soda. It was fun but deffinitly tiring. While I was gone Scott packed the kids up and walked them to the church for a pioneer day celebration. They said they had a good time. When I asked Alix how things went she said ‘we had fun, but dad got a little mad’. It was funny. As soon as I walked in the door, Scott walked out. The “guys” were getting together to eat BBQ and watch a fight. As soon as I got all the kiddos to bed, I crashed. Scott came home some time later, prepared his Sunday school lesson and was in bed sleeping by 11:30, the busy day had finally come to an end, whew.

Sunday was no less busy. We got everyone up and dressed and ready for church. We were at church by 8:40. We went up to the primary room so each child could practice their part for closing excersises. After church we came home, put the little kids to nap and started to clean. We cleaned for about an hour and then Jaime had to leave for her bishop’s interview for her baptism. She was very nervous. When she came home I asked her how it went. She said ‘Awe, it was easy’. So I guess the bishop has given his ok for her to get baptised. About 3:30 I started warming up dinner. We got a voucher for the honeybaked ham store. So I had decieded to get that for Sunday night dinner since I had invited two families to come over. I picked it up Friday and then just had to reheat on Sunday. It all seemed so easy, smelled so good, and even looked really good. Boy was I disappointed. I have decided that if you are a ham store, don’t try and make anything else. With the voucher I was able to get ham, turkey, cheesy potatoes and fruit salad. I then added broccoli, mashed potatos and bread. One family brought a green salad. It was a good meal over all, but the cheesy potatos were AWFUL. Well at least I thought they were. Anyway, the company was great. We all had a good time. They all left by about 9 pm. Good times. We got the kids to bed late, but they didn’t seem to mind.

Monday was a busy day for me. We got some plums from a lady at church and we had blackberries so I went into jam making mode. I made 14 jars of plum/blackberry jam. And, since I was in jam making mode and we have an apple tree in our backyard, I made apple butter. I worked from 7 am and finished at 4 pm. It was fun. I had the kids help by picking apples, washing dishes and playing together. I also had them go out to the orange tree and pick as many oranges as they could reach. Unfortuantly they were all last years crop and had to be tossed. The new crop is on and if we can get the old crop off, we might actually get some pretty good oranges this year. As soon as I was done, we all ate and changed and left the house by 5:15. We walked a mile to the community park. We met Louise and Gayle there and I did visiting teaching while the kids played. Scott met us there at 6:30. We played till 7 then headed out. As soon as we were loaded in the car, we went to the ladies house from church and picked more plums. We got home about 8 pm. Fed the kids a light dinner and had them all in bed sleeping by 9 pm. I was asleep by 9:30. Scott stayed up till 11 cause he had some work to finish up.

Today, Tuesday, was another busy day. I got up and had some emails I had to send out. After that, I started getting seeds out of plums. I was going to make my plum jam today but then remembered that I needed to make some yogurt. By this time though, it was time to take Scott to the shuttle. So we loaded the car and headed out. After we came home I went right into yogurt making mode. The kids were complaining of hunger so I asked Jaime to make some pancakes. She looked a little shocked. But went right to it. She did a wonderful job with the pancakes, even though Milo and Niah kept adding things. She was almost done putting the last of the batter on the griddle when the bowl fell off the counter. Of course she was using a glass bowl and that thing hit just right. There was glass everywhere. It was quite the mess. I didn’t want anyone to get cut so I sent all the kids into the dinning room to eat pancakes while I cleaned up the mess. They were done eating by the time I finished. I wanted to make sure I got all of it, I’d hate to have Afton crawl in glass or one of the kids get some in their foot. After cleaning up breakfast, I worked on plums a little more and then abandoned the idea of ever getting the jam done. We all got dressed and out of the house in enough time to meet a friend and go to the park. We got there about 1 pm. We played for a couple of hours. This was a new group of ladies that I had never met before (besides my friend of course) and it was fun to talk and get to know more people. Jaime was loving it because most of my friends have kids that start at Alix’s age and go younger. This group started at Milo’s age and went older. Jaime was there with 4 other girls her age. She had so much fun. Milo met two other boys his age and they played motorcycle and super heros. We got home about 4 and just vegged for a couple of hours till we had to pick up Scott from the shuttle.

It’s been busy these last few days but very fun. We have all felt happy at the end of the day and in the morning felt rested and ready for the day. I know why it is important to stay busy, it’s healthy for the mind and soul. Much love to you all.

While we were gone on vacation, Afton did so many wonderful things. I realize now I did not report on them.

She was sort of crawling before we left but on June 24 I put her down in one place and she was totally gone. She was crawling across the room. It was over after that. She’s been the crawling queen ever since. She does a one knee one foot crawl. It’s super cute.

She got another tooth. On June 28 it offically popped out. It is the bottom left tooth. She is even toothier than before!!

She stood up. On July 9 while we were at the visitors center on temple square she pulled herself up using the stroller. She didn’t do it again until July 12. Today she has done it quite a few times. She thinks it’s a pretty fun idea.

She also says a few words. Obviously we are the only ones that know it though!! She says hi and bye. She says mom and dad. It’s not super clear talking but enough that we can call it talking!

I’m not sure on any weight or height info since she has missed every doctor appointment since she was 6 weeks old, but that’s ok, she’s healthy!