CAL-I-FOR-NIGH-AYE!!!

Exactly two days after Jacob's last day of work, we packed our bags and flew to California (prounounced Cal-i-for-nigh-aye) for a 17-day vacation with Jacob's mom (AKA Little Grandma and her husband Angel (AKA Little Grandpa)! We haven't been in this great state for about five years. It's so good to be back.
The Flight(s)...
We stopped twice, once in Boise and once in Reno, but fortunately, we didn't have to change planes. It was nice to do the trip in three legs, but the boys were unhappy that once they finally got into a movie, it was time to put away their DVD player! It was fun to watch them sitting together from across the aisle. They were so mature as they "ordered" their sprite and peanuts. Kenai just crawled all over our laps and Ziya enjoyed pretending that the little button that reclines her seat was really a "power" button for the entire airplane. My little three-year-old was controlling that huge airplane all by herself!!!

My mother-in-law is amazing. She has been preparing for this trip for a long time and the kids are soooo super-excited to discover all the "preparations" she made for them.
Ammon and Abraham got a spy bag, complete with all sorts of spy gear (old remote controls with their pictures on them), clue games, spy tools and journals for recording their discoveries. This alone kept them busy for our first day here.

Ziya had fun gluing puppet scenes with Little Grandma... so much fun that later, Grandma's lap was as far as she got for her nap!

Kenai had a great time exploring his new surroundings.

The hot tub was a huge hit. We haven't been "swimming" in a long time, so this was quite a treat. Yes, that's a princess floatie that Kenai is in. We want him to be comfortable with his masculinity.

Litttle Grandma created themes for our daily parties. The first night was a birthday party to celebrate everybody's birthdays that she and Angel missed this past year - gifts and all! Jacob's gift was the restored version of these funny little shell guys that he bought while he was a missionary in Jamaica. They've been broken for years and she fixed them for him!

The next night was movie night: popcorn, 3-D glasses and two movies. My kids are having their dream vacation!

For animal day, there were cute hats and glasses for the kids to wear. We went to the park and tried to collect bugs, but the jungle gym provided more immediate entertainment!! The kids also got to go to Grandpa Angel's friends' farm to see and pet lots of little animals. I stayed home with my napping baby, but there were lots of fun stories to hear about when they all got home. Apparently, the little white goat took a real liking to Ziya!

We went to the beach in Ventura for a couple of hours. There's a really fun area right on the sand that has a jungle gym and swing sets. The kids had fun going back and forth from the water to the toys to the sand.


Little Grandpa is so smart! He packed a huge umbrella and pulled some MacGyver tricks to get it propped perfectly for our shade.

Kenai really enjoyed the water.

At first the cold water scared him, but then he didn't want to be picked up anymore!

He also loved the swing. I think we could have spent hours there and he would have been a happy swinger!

Ammon and Abe had fun jumping waves... and running from them, too! The water was quite cold.

Ziya had fun running from waves, too.

She did NOT have fun when one knocked her over!

But that was nothing Little Grandma's hugs and kisses couldn't fix!

Drying off after the cold water.


Of course we had to play the burying game. Kenai was easy to do since he is so small, but he wouldn't keep his toes under the sand!


Abraham was a bit more cooperative!

Here's Genius Grandpa enjoying the big umbrella.

And then taking a nap under it, too!

While Little Grandpa held down the fort, the rest of us walked down to the end of the pier.

We watched as some fishermen caught a small shark (thank goodness we don't surf!) and brought it up!

Once again, the fun and excitement was too much for little Ziya!

I'm obviously getting spoiled on this vacation! I haven't had time to write a long post like this one for quite a while (the kids are being entertained by Little Grandma, even as I type). I'm grateful to both Pam and Angel who are making this all possible for us. I'm loving it and so are my kids!!!

Side note: Jacob actually flew back home for a second interview with a high school in Spokane. They agreed to do a phone interview when we first got here, but since they selected him to be one of the final two candidates, they wanted to do a second interview in person. He flew back Sunday morning and will return tonight. Then on to Legoland, Disneyland and three resorts (all with awesome swimming pools!) crammed in between. Fun times!

We Keep Getting Older! Four Birthdays in Three Months

ABE TURNS 6

Abe was the one to start off the string of birthday celebrations way back on March 24. He turned 6 years old (already???). It seems we celebrated his birthday for about two weeks. We had a combined birthday dinner with his cousin Dax, who was turning 17, on March 21... and he got some gifts. Then on the 24th, his actual birthday, he had another cake with just our family... and he got some more gifts. Then on April 1st, when the weather finally allowed, we invited some little friends to the park. This time we had ice cream... and more gifts. Needless to say, it was a good birthday for Abe this year!

Abe turns 6, Dax turns 17! That's 23 candles on this cake!

Munyers and Vernons know how to be goofy!

It's tradition... face in the cake!

Star Wars toy and a check... who could ask for more?


Ymmm... more cake!


Fun with friends at the park.




It was a chilly day, but we still had fun!

ZIYA TURNS THREE

In years past, we've thrown organized birthday parties (invitations, friends, decorations, party favors, etc.) for Ammon and Abe, but somehow, this hasn't been the case for little Ziya. This year was her year! She had a full blown princess celebration, complete with crowns, princess dresses, and a very pink princess craft... and she absolutely loved it.

Fun celebrating first with the family

And then celebrating with friends!
Ziya's princess friends: Payton, Natalie & Caroline

Later during the party, Ziya changed her dress so they could all match!

One special treasure for this birthday was that Ziya was able to spend part of it with her great-grandmother Elena and her great-aunt Yuya, who were visiting.


Later that week, the Vernons came to celebrate more with us.
Here's Ziya with cousins Acasia and Aitana.

KENAI TURNS ONE

First birthdays are always fun. My parents and the Vernons came over to help us celebrate Kenai's first year. As young as he is, Kenai totally realized that the gathering was all about him. He loved being the center of attention, and he loved opening the gifts, too!

A couple of first birthday notes about Kenai: he has four teeth (more than any of his siblings at this age!), he has the cutest curly hair, he is a climber and an adventurer and even gates are ineffective unless locked (he figured out how to open them!), he's not quite walking (but it won't be long), and he's very, very attached to mami! He will only go (without crying) to a very selective few: Tita, Tito and Aunt Coyo is finally growing on him!

Nobody can tell him to stop banging now!!

This was the best we could do at trying to get a picture of all four kiddos.

He loves bananas!!! So I made him a banana split banana cake!!! He loved it!

Just checkin' it out!

When Ziya turned one, we wanted her to dig in and get messy with her cake, but she wouldn't.
Kenai, on the other hand, cooperated beautifully. What fun! Ymmmmm!!!

Bere turns 30-something!

I wrapped up the string of birthdays last Thursday. I'm usually not much into celebrating my birthday, but this year turned out to be a special one. Jacob took the day off of work (shhhhh... he called in sick!) and my sister, Colomba, cooked up a feast in my honor!

Twice a week, I play volleyball at church with a bunch of friends. I took the kids with me (along with two extras that I was babysitting), but as soon as Kenai got fussy, I called up Jacob (who was home working on applications) and he came to my rescue. Sounds silly, but this was THE BEST GIFT EVER! I got to play several games in a row WITHOUT having to hop in and out for a fussy baby. I LOVED IT!!! Thank you, Jacob!!!

This is what I look like when I hit the ball
(check out my legs!!!!)

Even better than uninterrupted volleyball, was this feast that Coyo made for me. I was gracious enough to share with the rest of the family. I love having a chef for a sister (thanks Coyo!!!).

Yeah... go ahead and click on the picture to enlarge and try to savor!!! It was soooooo good!

Yup, my mom indulged me with this famous Costco cake... it's the huge one with the chocolate shavings on top! And to go with it, Ben and Jerry's yummy flavors!

Ziya is Three Today!!!

Ziya is three years old today. She immediately put a princess dress on and got to open one little present. She got some little teddy bear puzzles, but she hasn't played with them because the gift wrapping was embellished with a little princess lip gloss. She hasn't let go of that all day! She's having a little princess party tomorrow, so I'll post more pictures later.

She met her great grandma Elena and great aunt Yuya earlier in the week. They came over for pink pancakes for breakfast. Then she got her hair done and posed for a few pictures.

Ziya with her first present, a puzzle set. See the little lip gloss attached to it? Big hit!

Ziya with her great grandma Elena, my mom's mom who is visiting from San Jose.

Ziya with her great aunt Yuya, my mom's sister.

Ziya with great grandma Elena, great aunt Yuya, grandma and little brother Kenai.

My Fourth Child, Kenai

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

10 months

Poor, poor Kenai. His mami hasn't been blogging and showing off his amazingly cute growth and development during the ever-changing first year of his life! Now he's almost 11 months old and is cuter than ever. Two events over the past two days have got me thinking about my beautiful little boy.

ONE: Yesterday, I was working at my sister's cafe and I observed two young moms who entered with their little baby girls - one was about a year old and the other one was about 18 months or so. They all came in with wet hair and with my vivid imagination, I guessed that they'd just come from a mommy-and-me type of swimming class and were now ready to enjoy a girls' lunch out! I especially observed the little one year old, who knew several signs (please, thank you, drink, more) and even heard her say "please" when I went to their table for something.

TWO: The day before, Kenai was too rowdy for Sunday classes, so we were wandering the halls when we ran into another 10 month old, who was very interested in touching Kenai's face and "playing" with him. Each time the little boy tried to approach him, Kenai just turned the other way. He had no interest whatsoever in playing with this other little person. Why should he? I don't think he's ever truly played with another baby his age!

These two experiences have had me thinking a whole lot about my little Kenai. He is my fourth child. We do not do mommy-and-me swim classes like I did with the first two... instead, he sits in the car for with me for two hours at a time while his brothers are at soccer practice. We do not do play dates with other babies like I did with the first ones... instead he gets plopped in his car seat as we drive boys to and from school three times each day. He does get read to, but they are not board books like Goodnight Moon or Guess How Much I Love You ... instead he gets to hear Star Wars, Magic Tree House and Princess books with his older siblings! I have not taught Kenai any sign language... instead he gets put in his high chair (for very long periods of time sometimes as I work on the kitchen!) and has to kind of fend for himself when it comes to eating. Every time somebody passes by, he grunts until somebody gives him some food! He still has not learned (or been taught?) to sleep through the night... instead, he shares a bedroom with Ziya and has to be quickly rescued as soon as he lets out a little cry. He did not go with me to The Children's Place for a new Easter outfit like the older kids did years ago... instead, he wore an outfit that I found last year at a garage sale (although it is very cute and did still have tags on it!).

I started to feel bad about all of this (and so much more where Kenai seems to get jipped); but then I thought that Kenai is not my first or even my second child. He is my fourth and with this, there must be some wonderful attributes that will be his: he will know how to share, he will know how to appreciate what he has, he will know how to be resilient, he will know how to fight for what is important to him, he will know the special love that older siblings have for their younger counterparts, he will have examples (hopefully good ones) to look up to, and even though he is the fourth, he will still feel of his mami's eternal and very special and individual love for him.

I love my little Kenai. I love who he is now and I love who he will become. I'm so thankful for my fourth child!

p.s. Since it's spring break and Jacob is out with the three "olders" right now, as soon as Kenai wakes up from his nap, I will go and cuddle with him and read Runaway Bunny to him!

Crazy Days OR Crazy Boys???

For part of Dr. Seuss week at the boys' school, they had some dress up days and themes. For crazy hat day, we put velcro on some baseball caps and stuck some little army guys to them. Abe was concerned about wearing this to school because they are not supposed to take weapons to school, and some of the army guys are holding rifles... he didn't get in trouble! For crazy hair day my sister came to the rescue with some gold hair spray. That was easy. They didn't want to take showers at night cause they wanted their hair to stay gold and crazy. My CRAZY BOYS had fun on these two crazy days!.

Involuntary Haircut

Ziya's hair ends have been looking pretty ratty for a while now, and I keep intending to give her a trim. Her brothers took care of that for me! Their new favorite game is "Barber Shop." Sounds dangerous, I know, but up until today, it never actually entailed any cutting. Today wouldn't have either except that they decided to put a bunch of stuff in her hair: barrettes, rubber bands, ribbons and bows AND A COMB! They wrapped it around her hair so tightly that the only way to get it out was to cut! Fortunately, I didn't actually have to cut too much off. I guess now I really do have to give her a trim just to even things out a bit! Thanks boys (I think??)!

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

This is my new motto: ENOUGH ALREADY! I say it to my kids all the time, and now I'm learning to say it to myself. The closet that needs to be cleaned, the exercise routine that needs to be started, the letter that needs to be written, and the very neglected BLOG that desperately needs to be updated (among dozens of other things I'm not getting to!). ENOUGH ALREADY, BERE! JUST DO IT!

You see, I have this horrible vice in my personality that I'm about to confess. If it's not perfect (or close to it), then I don't do it or I give up trying to do it (it's part of my OCD tendencies that I'm constantly battling with). Example: A few weeks ago, I realized that I was not drinking enough water, so I decided to fill up my very own water bottle and set it on the counter every day. With this water bottle, I could measure out how much water I wanted to drink in one day and thus meet my goal. Enter Ziya. She decided that she also needed to drink out of my water bottle. I didn't know how much water she drank so I didn't know how much I was really getting either. So... I stopped trying altogether and went back to drinking my minimal amounts of water! Dumb, I know. Don't worry, I realized how dumb this was and quickly got over it and am pleased to announce that I am now drinking plenty of water. But not before the experience made me think about how I do this with a lot of things in my life:

• oh no, I broke down and ate 10 graham crackers and a granola bar for breakfast so I might as well eat junk for the rest of the day! This has gotten even worse: I'm so, so far from my eating and weight loss goals that it's hardly worth the effort to try at all.
  
• I don't have time or energy to read my scriptures for 30 minutes, cross referencing and studying from a manual and writing about what I learn in my journal... so my scripture reading efforts have very sadly been minimal.
  
• I don't have time to jog and lift weights and do pilates all in one day like I used to, so I just won't do any of it!
• I don't have a perfect family picture. I don't know how to put a cute background on my blog and digitally scrapbook a bunch of cute stuff to put on it, not to mention the fact that I'm about seven months behind and have missed posting some huge, huge happenings and changes in our lives! So I'll just keep putting it off since I'll never be able to get caught up anyway.

I know, I know. Stupid Satan. He is written all over these lame excuses. You're not good enough. Why even try? I'm sick of it and I'm sick of him. ENOUGH ALREADY!

My ever-wise husband is very patient with this vice of mine. He lovingly and gently reminds me that there is a time and a season for all things. Just the other day, he reminded me of an institute teacher who told us that his wife used to read her scriptures on the toilet when her kids were young because that was all she could manage at the time. I kind of scoffed at the example, but now that I've given it some more thought, I'm going to get up right now and put some scriptures in my bathroom.

I demand a lot of myself. I think that I will always demand a lot of myself -- it's just part of who I am. The part I want to change is that I want to be more patient and forgiving of myself. Even if it can't be perfect, I want to die trying (a bit melodramatic, I know).

So ENOUGH ALREADY. Perfect or not, I'm back!!!
I remember Ms. Novinger, my junior high English teacher, taught me that you can never know what you think until you write it down. Now I know what I think and I know what I need to work on - line upon line and precept upon precept. I'm almost embarrassed to click on the "publish post" button because I've divulged some pretty silly stuff about myself. Oh well. I'm not perfect. I guess none of us are perfect. But ENOUGH of that ALREADY!