GANG REUNION 2008

2008



Hopefully this is the first of many get togethers with the gang from Modesto. To fill you in on the Gang, I am referring to the Family Home Evening Group that started in Modesto in 2001. There were a lot of young married couples in our ward and we thought it would be neat to get together every Monday night to have FHE. When we started we only had one child between about 5 couples. We would get together at least once a week for over two years. In that time our numbers grew and we started outgrowing our houses. It also became apparent that we needed to start gearing the FHE lessons toward our kids and not the adults. So we decited to not meet for FHE anymore but we would still get together for playdates and ect. Now, 7 years later we have 18 kids between 9 couples with another on the way. We had two couples move to other states but lucky for us one came back to California...Love you Maashoff's :) We miss the Guisinger's who live in Idaho and wish we could have seen them at the reunion. They have a little girl Kate that we have never met!

2004

WEDDING INVITATIONS!!!

I have finally finished the wedding invitations and the Bridal shower invites for my sister's wedding! Whoo Hoo!! Tamara and I designed these (with some ideas from my fellow card makers...thanks Jennifer!) and we are very happy with the way they turned out.

Now that they are done I am on to the food for the shower!

Cookies!

Natalie was down for a week and a half and one afternoon the kids wanted to make cookies. Natalie said she would help them. What a sweetie! They had fun pouring in the ingredients and watching the mixer go fast! But thier favorite part of course was eating some cookie dough before the cookies were put into the oven. Yum Yum!!

Cute Bug

Ok so I am a little behind on blogging. I haven't had the time to sit and post so check back and there will be some catch up ones that I post hopefully in the next few days.

But in the meantime I had to write this or I would forget.

We were all walking into church this morning and Emma saw a rollie pollie in the parking lot. She turns to Garth and says, " Daddy look, a bug! Awe cute bug!" And with that she stomps on it!!! And says, "Bye Bye bug!" Only Emma!!!

Fun in the sun

Since this week it is supposed to stay in the upper 90's to low 100's we decided to get a small pool for the backyard that the kids can splash around in. In saying the kids I mean all three!

Gerrit is starting swimming lessons in July and he wanted some goggles so of course when he saw the spiderman goggles he was all over them.So was Natalie and Garth!

Girl's day out

My neice Natalie is down spending soem time with us and I thought it would be fun to have a girls day out. We got a babysitter for the kids and we went out on the town. We went to David's Bridal and got fitted for my MOH dress for my sister's wedding. Then went and got our nails done at Aqua Nail Salon. This was Natalie's first Pedicure and she loved it. They had massage chairs there and we were having fun with all the different settings on the chairs. We both got French Manucires and loved the leg massages. Then we went out to lunch at Panera Bread company. YUMMY! We both had soup and salad. It was three hours of FUN and I am glad Natalie was with me to share in the fun!

OUR CUTE FEET!

Emma's cute sayings

Emma thinks Rice Crispy Treats are called Rice Christmas Treats!
How Cute!!!

Swimming at the Richardson's

We went across the street today for a little fun in the sun but it didn't quite turn out that way. The kids did have fun and they didn't want to get out of the pool but it was so windy that we were all getting hit by little pieces of dirt that was being blown all over!

On another note I am so proud of Gerrit. He was all over the pool with his floatie muscles on. He still doesn't want to get his head under water but he is doing really good with kicking and moving both his arms to paddle.

This is wonderful therapy...which by the way has been cut way back. We were seeing both the OT and the PT once a month but the OT went on maternity leave until August and we got a call from the PT two weeks ago that she is leaving the MTU and because of staff shortage Gerrit will be on a waiting list for PT. So we are without therapy for the summer. We will hopefully keep the OT going in the fall, mainly with the school OT and the services there. So swimming is excellent for him this summer. We put him in a swim class in July so we will keep you posted on that! :)

STOP FOUR--Keith and Kaleen's

After a nice brunch we took off and headed for Keith and Kaleen's for a birthday/graduation/father's day get together with all the Dixon's. Drew and Ryan both graduated form High School. Man I can't believe how the time flies! We also celebrated the birthday's in June; Keith and Billy's. We had Haystacks for dinner then we watched old home movies that Keith and Kaleen had put on DVD's for Jerry and Marcia for Mother/Father's Day. It was fun seeing Garth as a baby! :)

We spent the night at Jerry and Marcia's because on Monday we took Garth's truck into the dealership to get a stain protector and blue tooth installed. We got a rental and headed home.

We had an extra passenger because Natalie came and spent a week and a half with us.

What a weekend!!!

STOP THREE--Aunt Wendy's house

So then it is off to Brentwood to visit with Wendy, Bryan, Cheryl McIntosh and her boyfriend for a brunch. We had a yummy salad, sausage and egg casserole and bagels for brunch. The food was yummy and the company was great. We sat around and talked for about three hours and it was so nice to catch up. Wendy hasn't seen Emma yet so it was defiantly time to stop by. Gerrit showed his Kung Fu moves, Emma said she was in jail and the boys took a nap out back.

...Still not the end of our weekend!

--STOP TWO--Grandma's house

On the way to my Grandma's house Garth got a call from his cousin who is a CHP in San Jose. He said he was working and he would stop by my Grandma's house so the kids can see the car.
We got to my Grandma's house at about 6pm, had dinner, got all the neighbor's on the block excited about the CHP car on the street, visited with Jimmy for a while, had the Sunnyvale PD check on the activity on the street, and then settled in for the night.

Gerrit and Emma went with my dad to sleep at his house. It is fun for them and relaxing for us! Thanks DAD!! We had planned on going to the children's museum and out to a John's Incredible Pizza LIKE place, but plans went out the window when Gerrit woke up in the night throwing up! We chilled in the a.m. of Saturday hoping Gerrit would stop throwing up. He really didn't all morning so we just hung out. It was good though because David and Grace Payne came from Monterey for the day and we got to see their new baby boy. It was one of those nice laid back Saturday's...Man I forgot how those felt. Minus the sick boy of course.

One of the things Gerrit was looking forward to...more than the museum and food was to go swimming at Grandpa Bob's. He was so sad when he was sick because he thought that he couldn't go. Garth and I talked and we thought what the heck and took him over at about two. As we were walking over to the pool Gerrit started coughing and burping and I thought -oh great what good parents we are, let the kid throw up and then take him swimming! Well he didn't throw up, just a lot of burps and such so off we went. Swimming really lifted his spirits and he had a lot of fun. We went back to Grandma's for taco's and MAN they were good! Then Tamara and I worked on her Bridal Shower invitations. We got them all finished, stuffed in envelopes, addressed and stamped! YAH! By the time bedtime came around we were all exhausted!

Is this the end of our crazy weekend...NO! The next morning we all get up and Kent, Tamara, Garth, myself and the kids all packed up and were headed to Brentwood to have brunch with my Aunt Wendy.

Our weekend--STOP ONE-- The Dunn's

Our first stop was at our friends the Dunn's house. They are moving to Lathrop and we wanted to help them move some things. So we let the kids play and get the wiggles out while we loaded up the truck and were off again to Lathrop with them. Garth drove their Jeep so that Zion could take the Mustang over and Melinda didn't want to tow the trailer so she rode with me and the kids in the truck. We made it there safely and started doing busy work around their house. I unclogged the vacuum, Melinda cleaned the playroom and started putting the new furniture together and the boys unloaded the cars and started placing blinds to be hung. We left there about 4:45pm and headed to my Grandma's house.

June 6-9th ONE CRAZY WEEKEND!!!

This weekend was sure a crazy one. Full of family, friends, and oh ya, a whole lot of driving.

It started on Friday, Gerrit's last day of Kindergarten, we picked him up from school with the car packed and headed up to Modesto.

Washing the truck

Garth wanted to wash the truck and get it all ready for our trip this weekend. Gerrit and Emma were excited because we told them that after washing the truck we could go across the street and swim in the Richardson's pool.

Gerrit loved it when Garth sprayed him with the hose

Both kids loved to be in the bed of the truck and were a big help cleaning the back window!

I made sure to get in on the fun too!

When the day was over and the suits were all hung out to dry we were left with two tired kids, a worn out dog, a very happy dad, and one sunburnt mom! I made sure to get the kids and Garth lathered up with sunblock...What about me!

Emma get in the bath!

So I got home from the gym tonight and I told the kids that if they got in the bath and shower quickly then we could all snuggle on my bed and watch Chip and Dale for a while before bed. I started the bath water for Emma and then went to the kitchen to put something in the sink and when I got back I found Emma sitting in the bathtub with her sandals, pants and diaper on. I think she really wanted to watch Chip and Dale!

Our pour Katy

Ok- so my dog looks like a chihuahua! I don't like her hair cut. I know better now...take her to a professional! My cute Katy bug needs to let her hair grow out some. To funny. Oh well I tried right!?!

Row Your Boat

Emma came into my office today, turned over the step stool and sat in it. She then took one of Gerrit's shoes and used it as an oar as she sang Row Row Row your boat. What a nut!

Katy's Hair Cut

-BEFORE-

This is a picture of Katy after Garth and I cut her hair!!! I don't know what I was thinking when Garth said let's try to cut her hair ourselves. Over and hour and a half later and hair EVERYWHERE, the kids screaming at each other, one in the bath and one in the shower, we decided that it was totally worth the money to have her groomed and clipped at the vet's. We will be picking up hair in the backyard for weeks and I don't know if we will ever be able to wear those clothes again. :) But I think we did a decent job on her cut. Man she is cute!

-AFTER-
IS THIS THE SAME DOG?

I WENT PEE-PEE ON THE TOILET!!!

Emma was so excited. She was going down for a nap and she told me that she wanted to go potty on the toilet. At first I was going to say no because I thought it was an excuse to stay up longer, but then I thought what the heck. She went in and immediately there was the sound of success! Follow by her sounds of joy and excitement. She told me to call daddy and tell him. Next step big girl underwear! Man what a big girl. ...I guess I am potty training two this year! Katy is doing pretty well BTW :)