happily random

Spring has sprung

I think one of my favorite things about living in North Idaho is the distinct seasons. When it's winter, it's cold and it snows. In the fall all the leaves turn and it's nippy out. In the summer it's hot and sunny. And in the spring, the flowers bloom.

Yesterday the kids were outside playing (it's only 50 degrees outside, but they insist "It's SPRING, Mom!!") and Rebekah came running inside yelling, "Mom! Mom! It's the most amazing thing! You have to come outside and see!!"

"The first flower of Spring!!" she shouted! :)

So of course, I got the camera and took some pictures. They looked so delicate popping out of the dead leaves. I guess Spring is really on its way. Yeah! I'm so ready for some warmer weather.

I think I've finally recovered

Recovered from 3500 miles of travel with 4 children. We've been home nearly a week now and I think we might have gotten back into our groove.

I did have a little fun yesterday updating the look of my blog. Like the new banner? Oh, and my profile photo? My grandmother emailed it to me a couple of days ago. I'm about 8 in that photo, I think. Ain't I cute? Now you can see where my kids get it from. Hee-hee.

Our visit to California was great. The main reason for our trip was to go to my brother-in-law's wedding. He married his girlfriend of five years, Lynn. It was a very fun wedding. My father-in-law actually married them! I guess in California anyone can get a one-time license to marry a specific couple. Learn something new every day, eh? The wedding was set on the cliffs of La Jolla. Lovely. Oh, and their dogs were in attendance as well. :)

We stayed with my parents while we were down there. It was so nice to get to visit with my mom. I think that's one of the things I miss most about living up here: being close to my mom. I enjoyed watching her interact with my kids. She's a wonderful grandmother to them. Even though they don't get to see her very often, I know the kids love her very much.

One of our stops in California was Sea World. We decided to wait until Samantha and Tyler are older to go to Disneyland with them. I think Shamu's Happy Harbor was the biggest hit though. Tyler discovered the sand pit that was full of huge Tonka trucks. He spent an hour lining them up and pushing them around. Beware the child that tried to take one of his trucks!! He definitely was not in a sharing mood! 

After five days in San Diego, we headed over to Phoenix to visit Shannon and her family. But on the way there we had to stop in Indio to see the dinosaurs. Lucas was thrilled since he is soooo into dinosaurs right now. See him sitting on the T-Rex's toe?? :)

Got more to share tomorrow, but my kids are needing attention. No rest for Mommy.

Live from Phoenix!

We arrived in Phoenix late Tuesday night. Boy, you would not believe the craziness of 8 kids ages 5 and under in one house! LOL. But they have been getting along amazingly well. Wednesday we went to this family fun center and chased around the six older kids while holding the babies.

Wednesday night Shannon and I went out on our own. We visited two scrapbook stores, one of them Scrapbooks Etc. I had to show some major restraint to not buy out the entire store. Afterward we headed to "our" restaurant, Chili's. Fajitas!!! Yummers!

Yesterday we ventured to the zoo with our husbands. The kids had a blast. The Phoenix Zoo is definitely geared towards entertaining kids. They were so wiped out when we left. Every kid was asleep in the car within minutes.

We're heading towards home tomorrow. We're going to hit the Grand Canyon on our way north.

Live from California

We're here for my BIL's wedding, which was Saturday. A beautiful affair on the cliffs of La Jolla. A sit down dinner at sunset. But boy was it chilly! At least it didn't rain. We've been staying at my mom's house in Fallbrook since Thursday night. Did I mention that we drove straight through from Coeur d'Alene, a LOOONG 24 hour drive with 4 kids? Yes, we did it. We're insane. :) Today we took the kiddos to Sea World. Lots of fun, but I am wiped. So are the kids. They fell asleep in the car on the way home before we even reached the freeway.

Anyway, I'm headed to Phoenix tomorrow to visit my best friend Shannon and her family. I'll have a better update on our trip when we get home next week. Pray for a safe and sane drive home!!!