September

John's mom passed away at the beginning of September. It was rough on all of us, the kids were absolutely crushed and sobbed for days. A week after the funeral, we decided we needed to get away, and took a planned-at-the-very-last-minute trip to Monterey Bay. It turned out to be exactly what we needed.

The drive was L-O-N-G. The drive through northern Nevada is the most boring drive I've ever taken. Thank goodness for movies and video games.

We spent our first day hanging out in San Francisco.

Fisherman's Wharf

Can you see Matthew's face? Matthew finds everything exciting - he was laughing and smiling and waving for the entire carousel ride. I will post the video we took as we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge later. You can hear Matthew saying "this is the best day ever!" in it. He says it at least once a week. I think he might be the happiest kid in the world.

Alcatraz in the background

From San Francisco, we drove down the coast to Monterey Bay. I think it was about 2-3 hours. It was the most beautiful drive ever. I wish I had more pics, but I was busy driving and exclaiming "oh how beautiful" over and over again.

Here is our hotel in Monterey Bay. The kids thought it was missing some gargoyles or lions at the entrance. Every time we walked in or out, they would jump up there and pretend to be lions. Anyway, we stayed on Cannery Row, and it was awesome. We didn't need to drive anywhere. We could walk to tons of restaurants, shops, the aquarium, the beach - it was perfect.

Here, we are walking to the aquarium. My kids remind me of a little old couple sometimes. They love to walk holding hands or with their arms around each other, whispering and laughing. I sometimes wonder how I got so lucky to have such sweet kids.

The Monterey Bay aquarium is amazing! They have such cool displays.

There are balconies along the back of the aquarium that overlook the ocean. Matthew was watching a cute little otter through the telescope.

They have lots of educational displays too.

We loved all the hands-on displays.

Almost all of their big tanks had these cute little bubbles for the kids to sit in. They were really deep, and made it feel like they were actually in the tank with the fishies.

There were even little playgrounds with slides and things to climb on.

Kylie and Matthew definitely had a favorite though - the otters.

We spent a lot of time hanging out with this little guy - so cute.

We also loved the beach. We stayed right across the street from the beach, so we were able to walk down to the beach whenever we felt like it.

There is a walking path that winds its way around the little peninsula next to Monterey Bay. It is several miles long and beautiful. I think just walking along this trail was my favorite part of the whole trip.

We found a spot along the trail where the waves crash really high along the sea wall.

Matthew wanted to stand on the wall and get soaked, but I was too nervous that he would jump in. He probably would have too.

We spent a couple hours just lounging on the beach and playing in the waves at Carmel-by-the-Sea.

On our last night there we ate at a restaurant that was right over the ocean. We could see seals and otters and birds right from our table.

I think we set a record for the length of time we've spent at a restaurant. It got dark, and Kylie actually fell asleep at the table.

Overall, our week in Monterey was one of our best trips yet. It left us all wishing we lived in a quaint little town on the beach. Maybe someday.

Enough Already

Remember this sadness back in March? Matthew's first broken bone, and it was a bit traumatic.
Kylie decided it looked pretty fun, and broke her first bone in September. She did a cartwheel and hit her foot on the vacuum cleaner. Thankfully, it was not a bad break, and there was not any drama like there was with Matthew's.

After Kylie broke her foot, I thought ok, we're good, they've both had their first break, we should be done for awhile because they'll be extra careful now. ha. Matthew's foot is now broken. Again, no cool story. I have totally wild kids, but they break their bones running through the house. We spent last week in Monterey Bay. We got home late, and we were tired. Less than 5 minutes after we walked through the door, Matthew tripped over his shoes (he had just kicked off in the middle of the floor) and broke his foot. Awesome, huh? I'm pretty sure their orthopedic doctor is starting to wonder what the heck is going on at our house. I need to ask him if they have like a frequent customer card or something because while I was taking Matthew's picture above, I asked him if he was done breaking bones for awhile. He said he doesn't think so.

We Will Miss You Mom & Grandma

One of my favorite pictures.

Kylie & Matthew always loved visiting Grandma.

Thankful we got to say goodbye.

Carol ReNe passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 in her Provo, Utah home surrounded by members of her family. Her 77 years on this earth were lived as a true follower of Jesus Christ. She leaves a legacy of tender kindness and compassion that exemplified a woman of faith.

Carol was born on November 21, 1933 in Spring City, Utah to Ernest Bardell and Beatrice Leona Nordstrom Terry, the youngest of 7 children. Surrounded by love in the Terry home, she learned to work hard, have fun, develop a healthy sense of competition and make lifelong friends. Life in the Terry home was infused with music. She learned to master the piano under her father's tutelage, a talent she used to bless others all her life. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints she faithfully served in many callings, her most cherished being that of a visiting teacher.

While attending BYU on a music scholarship, she met Gordon H. on a blind date. By the end of the evening, she knew he was the man she was going to marry! They married 6 months later in the LDS Manti Temple and enjoyed nearly 60 years of marriage. Together they raised 7 children and made their home in Canada, Nevada, California and Utah.

Carol was preceeded in death by her husband Gordon (2008), son Dennis (1990) and her parents, her brother Morris and sisters Faun and LoRee. She is survived by her children Terry (Blaine), Julia (Kyle), Brenda (Michael), Bonnie (Ray), Richard (Dallas), and John (Angela), 43 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and her brothers Darwin, Eugene and Golden.

June, July, August

Summer just flew right, and I already miss it! Here are a few quick highlights of times I actually had my camera around (I can safely say my resolution of taking more pictures was a fail).

At the beginning of summer, the kids and I sat down and made our '30-days of Summer' list. They had 6 weeks off school and I did not want to hear, "Mom, I'm bored" a single time. It was a success.
One thing that was not on the list - BB guns. I spent a day at cub scout camp with Matthew, and BB shooting was one of their activities. Strangely, Matthew was not a fan. The little BBs were ricocheting back at the boys, and I think it scared him. He certainly has no qualms about chasing us all around the house shooting nerf bullets at us.

We spent some time down south with my family and played with our cousins.

The groves at my parents' house are so pretty in the summer, I wanted to get some good pics. Sadly, having his picture taken is Matthew's idea of torture and it didn't go so well. Hey, maybe this is why I don't take my camera out much anymore??

Kylie has started baking on her own. She baked up a storm this summer. In fact, she and her friend are busy destroying my kitchen (and baking sugar cookies) as I type this.

More cousin time and miniature golf.

Lots and lots of laser tag. We are definitely fans of the laser tag. And do you like Matthew's faux-hawk? I took him to get his haircut and told the lady just to ask him what he wanted because I didn't care. I think I'll take more of an interest next time.

We had lots of bonfires and s'mores with friends.

Matthew is becoming a stereotypical little brother - searching for opportunities to pester Kylie and her friends every chance he gets. Here, he is turning the hose on a trampoline picnic and laughing his head off.

Matthew is still taking Hap Ki Do. He tested for his green belt this summer.

Here, he is being awarded his new belt. Don't mess with Matthew now :)

With great sadness, summer ended, and I sent them back to school.

The kids are doing great in school, but sometimes Matthew brings home things that crack me up. Like the answer to this question above. Really? I asked him about it because I know he knows the answer - he told me he's been doing place value since 1st grade, why does he need to keep learning something he already knows? He thought his answer was acceptable because he didn't write 'I can't,' he wrote 'I won't.' I don't know where the stubborness comes from, haha.

May

The first week of May is birthday week at our house. It's a week long celebration of Kylie and Matthew, and it's always a little crazy.

Kylie chose to take a bunch of her friends to Build-a-Bear for her birthday party. Here she is watching as all of her friends kiss a little heart, tell her how awesome she is, and then put the little heart into her bear. I think she was embarrassed and just wanted to make her bear, but it was cute.

Showing off her first pedicure. I checked her out of school a little early on her birthday and surprised her with a mani-pedi. I love having a girl :)

I also love that she still plays with dolls. She asked for an American Girl doll for her birthday.

3 days after Kylie turned 9, Matthew turned 8.

Matthew took a bunch of friends to Planet Play for his birthday party. Like how I make it all fuzzy so no one gets mad when they find their kid's picture on the net? ;) Anyway, boys are wild - I was sure I was going to lose somebody before it was over, most likely my own child.

Matthew is currently crazy about Star Wars. I bet you couldn't tell from the picture. Shopping for his birthday was easy - just hit the Star Wars section and I couldn't go wrong.

He added some more to his Star Wars dress-up collection too. I believe this is a boba fet helmet?

The day after his birthday, Matthew was baptized. Isn't he so handsome in his little suit? I had no idea seeing my baby boy in a suit for the first time would absolutely melt my heart. My handsome little man. And the girl on his arm, she's pretty adorable too :)

Matthew's arm was still in a cast for his baptism, so I wrapped it in white tape and crossed my fingers that it would cover up the florescent orange underneath. Phew.

I just love this picture of Matthew with my dad. Matthew looks a lot like my dad when he was a kid.

Matthew started cub scouts in May too. He is rolling his eyes because this is about the thousandth picture I took of him in less than a week.

Matthew had 'Wax Museum' at school in May. He chose to dress up as Albert Einstein. Some of his friends' moms asked me how I talked him into dressing up as Einstein because their kids were only interested in being famous athletes. I had to confess, Matthew loves science - he'd rather read about science and do science experiments than play sports. He plays sports, but he is a nerd at heart, just like his mommy. No bribery necessary :)

And here is a glimpse of the tween attitude that has overtaken our house. I'm sure it only gets better right?