The Behunins

Christmas Newsletter 2011

2011-12-20T23:03:00.000-08:00

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Hola Amigos!

2011-05-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

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Birthday Time

2011-03-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

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Halloween

2010-11-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

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Disneyland 2010

2010-10-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

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Summer Fun

2010-08-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry people! We had a really busy and fun summer, so this slideshow has a lot of pictures in it to cover all that! Enjoy!

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4th of July in Newport

2010-07-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

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Memorial Day

2010-06-24T11:32:00.001-07:00

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The Boys

2010-05-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

I do take pictures...I just don't find the time to post them. Here is one of Aaron when he turned one month old. And a funny picture I snapped of the the big boys.

Our New Little Man

2010-03-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

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Aaron Anson Behunin

Born on Thursday, March 18th. He weighed 8 lbs. and measured 20.5 inches long and is just perfect!

Some Guy Time

2010-03-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Abe took the boys to a Monster Truck Rally. And aside from it being really loud...they LOVED it!

35 Weeks and Counting...

2010-02-25T22:43:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't posted anything since Christmas...nothing exciting has really happened lately. Just growin' a baby in my belly, that's all. I know, it looks like I swallowed a baskteball or something, but it's a baby, I assure you. And an active one too! Anyways, we're all getting really excited for baby to hurry up and get here already! Not too much longer...

Tis the Season

2009-12-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

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Disneyland

2009-10-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we got to go to Disneyland for the day with Abe's work. We had so much fun there with our friends, the Elliotts. It was a little tiring for me, but I survived and really had a great day.

Jacob would like everyone to know...

2009-09-23T20:55:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love how 5 year olds just can't seem to keep a secret?! Thanks to our sneaky little Jacob, the news it out...we're having another baby! Yes, baby #3 is due to arrive around April 3rd.

Your probably wondering WHY I would tell a 5 year old news like this if I wanted to keep it on the down low, but seriously, when I told him, he acted like it was no big deal. I actually thought that he probably didn't 'get the concept' of what having a baby meant. But then out of nowhere, the seemingly unimportant information makes it out of his way-to-smart-for-his-age brain and out into the world!

So there it is. Yes, I've been sick, no, not throwing up. I don't prefer a boy or a girl (though my mom is convinced I'm having a girl!). And I'm tired all the time. Other than that, we are VERY excited!!!

Jake's Birthday Party & Hiking Yosemite

2009-08-31T12:34:00.001-07:00

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Another Birthday Boy

2009-08-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

Today is Jacob's 5th Birthday! I can't believe it's already been 5 years...and then I can. A lot has happened, that's for sure. He's such a smart kid. I'm so proud of him! He is having his first birthday party with his friends on Friday, so I'll post more pictures after that.

Jacob also started school last Wednesday (the 12th). He loves it...I love it...it's a win/win situation here! This is a picture of him on his first day of school:
Go Jacob!

Logan's 3rd Birthday!

2009-07-30T14:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Logan turned 3! I can't believe how grown up he is! But he is such a fun little boy and we are greatful for him! Here are a few pictures of Logan's big day!

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Playing at the Beach

2009-07-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

Last week, we went down south to the Newport, CA area to spend some time with Grandpa & Grandma Behunin, Ben & Lynnette, Issac, Eve, and Nate. We had so much fun hanging out at the beach and relaxing. The weather was perfect--not scortching hot like Fresno is now!

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Poor Logan

2009-07-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

Last week, Logan had an accident with another little boys head on the waterslide and popped his tooth out. It was pretty bad, blood everywhere. I took him to a dentist and they did exrays and everything looks fine, he's just missing a tooth now! He's totally recovered, no emotional scarring or anything. He literally was back to normal by dinner time, and he even wanted to go back to the waterpark the next day to find his tooth (yeah, he might have swallowed it.) I love his little smile! And he talks with kind of a lisp, you know, like if you were missing a tooth! It cracks me up! He's a trooper though. Toughest kid out there!

4th of July Camping Trip

2009-07-07T19:05:00.001-07:00

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Knott's Berry Farm

2009-06-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we took a day trip down by LA to Knott's Berry Farm. The weather was perfect--overcast and a cool 70 degrees. We had so much fun! The boys loved all the rides they could go on, and Abe and I got to go on some pretty good 'big kid' roller costers too!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-06-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend, we went camping in Snow Canyon, near St. George. We also visited Zion National Park. We all trekked up the Angels Landing trail, Logan on Abe's shoulders for most of the way (go Abe!). We had a great time, despite all the wind that nearly tore our tent apart.

You Have to Read This...

2009-05-21T16:39:00.001-07:00

Abe's oldest brother, Ben (the potter), has written and published his first book. It's titled Remembering Isaac. It's a really great book, both Abe and I really enjoyed reading it! You should definitely check it! You can purchase it from Amazon.com, the link is below. If you read it let me know what you think! We're both pretty impressed with Ben's writing and he's already working on the sequel! Hope you enjoy!

http://www.amazon.com/REMEMBERING-ISAAC-Joyful-Niederbipp-Remembering/dp/0615276067/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242949387&sr=8-1

Our Hawaiian Vacation

2009-05-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

The Beach
This is our favorite beach spot. It has some really nice waves for body surfing and boogie boarding. AND it's usually not very crowded.

Barbers Point Lighthouse
We went to a luau here at Barbers Point. Great food and great entertainment!

Relaxation...
Can you tell how relaxed we are? And it's only the 2nd day!

Sunset
I love taking pictures of sunsets, so I had to snap a shot of this one!

The Dole Plantation
Gotta love pineapple...and pineapple ice cream...and chocolate-covered pineapple!

Watchin' the Waves
We found this beach that is lined with volcanic rock. Very interesting.

Parasailing
We went parasailing one day...so much fun!

Snorkeling

We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. It's probably the best place to snorkel in Oahu. The coolest parts was swimming along side a giant sea turtle...surreal!

Pearl Harbor

This is the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. We took a boat out to it and were able to see the sunken battleship.

Skydiving

The best part of the trip (at least for me!) was skydiving. Abe even took our camera with him. This is a shot he took of himself floating back down to earth.

Down There

Abe got this shot of the airfield we took off from. They dropped us out over the ocean at 13,000 feet up, and then the winds pushed us back inland.

My New Addiction...

Here I am after surviving my first jump (behind me is the guy I jumped tandem with, he's made over 5200 jumps!). It was the scariest, most awesome thing I've ever done! I will definitely do it again!

Well, hope you enjoyed our pictures. I know I enjoyed taking them! :o)

Ice Cream Cones

2009-05-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Jake and Logan love eating ice cream cones and for some reason, they have to eat them in our front yard sitting there on the sidewalk. But it makes for a cute picture!

Easter

2009-04-12T20:04:00.001-07:00

Wishing all our family and friends a very wonderful Easter!

Sight Seeing

2009-04-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, my parents and my brother and sister came to visit us (I think they're just sick of the yucky Utah weather!). On Monday we drove up to San Francisco. That was my first time there. We saw the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, and Giradelli Square.

Then we stayed overnight in Vallejo, and then the next morning we moved onto Faifield which is home to the Jelly Belly Factory. Visiting the Jelly Belly Factory has been a dream of mine because I LOVE their beans! It was fun to see how they are made. I wish I worked there!
Then we drove to Old Sacramento to visit the California State Train Museum. My dad really wanted to do this and we all followed grudgingly, but Abe and I both thought it was a pretty cool museum. And of course, the boys thought it was AWESOME!

It was a fun little trip and I'm glad we got to spend time with my family.

Clover

2009-04-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

This is the newest addition to our family...a sweet little bunny we named Clover. She's loves to run around the backyard and Logan loves to chase her. Abe even built her a really nice house to live in too. I never thought I was much of an animal person, but a bunny isn't so bad!

Spring Has Sprung

2009-03-20T20:03:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been spring here for at least the last month, but for all you back in cold and dreary Utah, here is what you have to look forward to (and what we're enjoying right now!)

Home Improvements

2009-03-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we decided it would be fun to do some home improvement projects. Well, Abe went a little crazy with tools and I just about went insane! It was pretty much total chaos, but now it's done and over and we can just sit back an enjoy!

We started with the boys room, which we decided to switch with our guest bedroom. I love it! Here's how it turned out:

We also painted the walls of the guest bedroom a pale green. Then we moved onto the office. Abe wanted to do hardwood laminate floors in there, and since Costco had a really good sale on the stuff, we went for it! We painted the walls in there too. Abe also built some killer shelves in the closet in there so now we have tons of room to store stuff--check it out:

We (meaning mostly Abe) decided that hardwood laminate floors would look especially nice in our bedroom too. And thanks to the wonderful people who run Costco...anyways, we did the floors (which means you also have to do the baseboards) and again Abe built some amazing custom closet shelves in our walk-in closet. What a handy-man! Well, here you go:

To get the full effect of our awesome house you'll just have to come and visit! :o)

some love...

2009-02-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

We want to wish everyone a very

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bowling

2009-01-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

Since Monday was a holiday and Abe didn't have to work, we decided to take the boys bowling. A few of our friends came too, and it was TONS of fun!

I think Jake and Logan bowled a better game than me! I really stunk at it. Normally I'm not THAT bad, but I guess it's been awhile since I've been bowling. And it's way easier on the Wii...I'm a profession bowler in the Wii world!

Christmas in Utah

2008-12-28T14:28:00.000-08:00

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Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

I'm so lucky to have a 4-year-old who LOVES to do crafty things! He has been begging me to make gingerbread houses ever since we put the Christmas tree and decorations up. We made them last year and I guess he didn't forget! We had a lot of fun, just me and the boys!

Jacob's masterpiece!

I think Logan did more eating candy and licking his fingers than actual decorating! But he's just so cute!

Reason for the Season

2008-12-01T14:03:00.000-08:00

Enjoy the true Christmas Spirit,

and forget the all the rest.

Visit this link below:

http://www.reflectionsmg.com/reflections-of-christ-videos.php

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T17:48:00.001-08:00

We were so blessed to have Abe's parents, Steve and Paulette spend time with us for Thanksgiving. On Friday, we drove out to Monterey Bay and walked along Fisherman's Wharf. It was a lot of fun! Here are some of our pictures from those couple of days.

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

We are so thankful for all of our wonderful friends and family. And we hope that everyone has a wonderful (and yummy!) Thanksgiving Day!!!

Here's a little "handi"work from our budding artist, Jacob.

The BIG Trees

2008-11-20T13:29:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, we took a drive to Sequoia National Park to see the "big trees," as Logan would say. It was beautiful weather, and the trees were awesome! It was fun to just get out and breath some fresh, clean air.

Abe and the boys inside a tree.

Here's Logan cheesing it up!

Abe and Jake on a fallen tree bridge.

Nicole's Birthday

2008-11-08T18:43:00.000-08:00

Yes, I did have a birthday. It was on Wednesday, the 5th of November. It was just a regular day, with phone calls and text messages from friends and family. My wonderful hubby cooked me my favorite meal: his amazing chicken kabobs. And we had yummy German chocolate cake for dessert! It was really nice and low key, which is how I like it. Abe also got me a Wii Fit for my birthday. It is totally AWESOME!!! And I can't wait to get a turn...between Abe and Jake...maybe someday.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! :o)

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but I do love to dress the kids up (and show them off!)

Logan is Curious George this year (again). Isn't he the cutest monkey ever?!

And if you couldn't tell, Jake is Spiderman.

This is the best part of the costume...his buns! Yup, no padding there!

It's been a busy week, so last night we finally carved a pumpkin. Jake did the ears...

Hope you all have a very Happy Halloween!

New York, New York!

2008-10-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

I've kinda been slow at getting caught up on our blog. This past week has been rough as I un-spoil my boys after a week with grandmas! But now things are pretty much back to normal. The reason we went to New York is because Abe had to do some more training for his job with Pfizer. They train in White Plains, which just happens to be only 10 minutes from where my sister Amy, and her husband LaMar live. So I decided to tag along this time. We drove to Utah to drop the boys off at grandma's, then flew to New York on the worst airline EVER--Northwest! Never, ever, ever will we fly on Northwest again! But that's a story for another day...

It was a really relaxing trip. And the weather was amazingly perfect the whole week--a cool 70 degrees every day. Amy and I (and usually LaMar too!) just hung out, doing our cross-stitching, or doing some shopping in White Plains, or whatever. It was great! Abe and I also went into the city on one day and hung out. And I also got to meet up with a bunch of friends from when I was a nanny out there. It's actually quite amazing that we all were able to meet up for dinner that night! But it was a lot of fun! We also bought some more baby turtles down in Chinatown (Toby passed away unfortunately while we were gone...a moment of silence, please.) All in all, I'm so glad I got to go. I haven't been there since I lived there almost 6 years ago.

This is LaMar and Amy.

The statue by Rockafeller Center.

Us, standing in front of the skating rink at Rockafeller Plaza.

My nanny friend, Amanda and her boyfriend, Azam. Sorry, there were a bunch of other pictures I took of everyone else who was there, but this is the only one that didn't turn out fuzzy and out of focus (probably 'cause they were sitting right across from me.)

We're at this pizza restaurant called Lombardi's down on Spring St. in Little Italy area. We saw this place on a show on the Discovery Channel and had to check it out. It is the first pizza restaurant ever to open in America (1905). This is the original oven. Very good pizza!

New Baby!

2008-10-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

This is my new baby nephew, Colby. He is the product of my sister, Christina, and her hubby, Shane. And what a cutie he is! He was born on September 29th. I'm glad we got to stop by and say hi for a sec while on our way to New York. Good luck sis!

Here is Abe holding baby Colby and his big sister, Makayla.

Firetrucks!

2008-10-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Fresno Fire Department had an open house for their brand new headquarters building in downtown Fresno. The boys had a lot of fun and even got to sit in a fire truck!

Happy Birthday Abe!

2008-09-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

Today is Abe's 27th birthday! His birthday is bittersweet for him and I. Ten years ago today, he dumped me. Why? Because I didn't tell him "Happy Birthday" the moment I saw him at school. Why? Because I wanted to "tell" him later at the little party he was having. Oh, silly high school! It's amazing to me that we've now known each other for over ten years. We've been through a lot together. And we've pretty much grown up together. It's been fun (most of the time!) and I'm looking forward to the many, many years we've yet to experience together!

No, We're Still Here...

2008-09-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

If you were asking yourself, "what happened to Abe, Nicole, and the boys," well you're not the only one. I've been asking myself the same thing! I can't belive it's the middle of September already! But I'm glad. The weather here in Fresno is FINALLY starting to cool down. And by cool down, I mean mid-90s. But it's a huge difference! And it gets cool in the eveings--like 75. Anyhow, the seasons are changing and I'm loving it.

We've had some issues recently with the internet, and then my laptop just up and died. So that kind of explains why it's been awhile since we last posted. But everything is working again (knock on wood!), and I've finally found some time to sit and do this.

We took a trip to Utah in August, and got to see most of our family and friends. It was a busy trip--too many things we wanted to do and not enough time. Oh, well. What can you do? The second weekend we were there, we got to go camping with my (Nicole's) family. It was great to be up there and spend time with everyone. And the kids LOVED it!

Happy 4th Birthday Jacob!

2008-08-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, August 19th, we celebrated Jake's 4th birthday. Well, actually, we've been celebrating it for about a week now, but oh well. He's a big kid now. We took him to his favorite fancy restaurant: Chuck E Cheese. He got a new bike for his birthday with training wheels and a helmet. Unfortunately he's only ridden it once or twice because he got it the day before we left for Utah. But we'll be home soon. We love him so much and love having him in our family!

This is a picture of Jake at 2 weeks old. What a sweetie!

And here's Jake now.

Family Visit...and Pismo Beach (again)

2008-08-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

My parents and brother, Stephen, and sister, Emily (who had been staying with us for the past month) came to visit the first weekend in August. We, of course, took them to the beach! Yup, Pismo Beach again. It was a great time though (regardless of the sunburns!). We're always glad to have family and friends (HINT Tara) come and stay with us. You're always welcome in sunny California!This is a cute picture of Logan burying Stephen in the sand.

This is the sandcastle that my Dad and Jake built.

Happy 2nd Birthday Logan!

2008-07-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

On July 29th, Logan turned 2 years old! He's growing up so quickly! But it sure has been fun along the way! Logan is such a happy, easy-going kid. He loves Curious George, trains, and eating cheese. We love him so much!!! Happy Birthday Logan!

Logan's 1 month old picture.

We had a little party with a few friends at the waterpark, complete with a monkey cake!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

2008-07-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, we took the boys to a Fresno Grizzlies baseball game. It was a fun family outing! I hate watching baseball, so I couldn't tell you anything that happen with the game. Except I do know that they played against the Salt Lake Bees. The boys had fun just running around and eating hot dogs and sodas.

Orange County, CA

2008-07-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

July 17th and 18th were spent in Orange County. We met up with Ben & Lynnette and their kids and Abe's parents who were vacationing down there.

On Friday morning, Abe and Ben and Steve went deep sea fishing, but didn't really catch anything. Then we went to Newport Beach for the rest of the day and had a great time. My little sister, Emily, was with us too.

Logan took a really long nap on the beach, then played in the sand, Jake had fun with Isaac and Eve playing in the water, and the rest of us did a lot of boogie boarding. It's was a very fun quick trip!

The Waterpark...Our Second Home

2008-07-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

Season passes at The Island Waterpark here in Fresno has been a MUST for us! We go there 2-3 times a week to escape the heat here. And we have so much fun too! There's a huge kiddie area with slides and fountains and such. Jake and Logan love it! This last week, Jake discovered that he's just barely tall enough to go on the 'big kid' waterslides, and now that's all he wants to do! He's even brave enough to go on the 'black waterslide' where it's pitch black the whole way down. Strap a life jacket on that kid and he's off! There's also a wave pool and a lazy river that we all enjoy.

Camping Over the 4th of July

2008-07-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July, we ventured up to the Sierra National Forest to do some camping. We went with our friends, the Jolleys: Ryan, Marilyn, Brayden, and Kaitlyn, and our other friend Amy. It was a lot of fun!

Abe did a lot of fishing and caught several little catfish, but he did catch one good sized catfish, which he and Ryan cooked up and ate! The boys also had fun hunting for frogs and tadpoles and even caught a few (thanks to Marilyn's skills...).

We also did some swimming at a pond nearby. It was great weather, great company, and overall a great time!

Pismo Beach

2008-07-02T11:15:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday, we took a day trip out to Pismo Beach. It's only a 2 1/2 hour drive, but definitely worth it! While it was around 100 degrees in Fresno, Pismo was only around 85--nice and cool! We had fun playing on the beach, and Abe spent most of the time out in the water boogie boarding.

Ask him if he'll ever go without at rash guard again...

Logan taking a nap in the sand. Mmmm...yummy sand...

Jake and Mommy.

We buried Daddy in the sand.

The New Family Pet

2008-06-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we added to our family...in the form of a turtle. Abe just came home one day with it. Some lady was selling them at a doctor's office for $10...and you know Abe. Well, here he is. His name is Toby. He's actually not that bad of a pet, you just have to clean his little home about every 3 days or he stinks!

Tiny little guy, huh? The boys are completely fascinated with him!

Indor Camp-Out

2008-05-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Well, sadly the weather this past weekend was rainy and cool, so the backyard campout Abe promised the boys had to be moved indoors. I don't think the boys minded at all! They couldn't believe we were setting up the tent inside the house! And it took them awhile to settle down enough to go to sleep, but it was a lot of fun! Next Friday night, Jake gets to go with Abe to the ward Fathers and Sons Campout and he can't wait!

Crazy With the Clippers!

2008-05-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

I asked Abe to give the boys haircuts, and this is what happened...

I love my bald little boys!

Italy

2008-05-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last week, Abe and I were lucky to get to visit Italy again. We went with Abe's parents, Steve & Paulette, and had a great time.

First we stopped by the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Definitely something to see.

Then we went to the the quaint little town of San Gimignano, located right in the middle of Tuscany and surrounded by vineyards. It was such a beautiful place with narrow winding streets and old buildings and towers. I love that place!

Then it was on to Florence, but we didn't stay long enough to do any museums. It's quite a big city!

As we were driving though the mountainside, we came across the picturesque town of Pruno, and we decided to walk around and explore. It was very quiet and not many people live there, but it was really pretty.

Our next destination was the 5 beautiful cities of the Cinque Terre. Perched atop the cliffside of the Mediterranean Sea, we enjoyed exploring and experiencing a very relaxed way of Italian life. It was hard to leave such a beautiful place.

Then we visited the much bigger city of Genoa, also on the coast. We saw the house of Christopher Columbus, and ate some amazingly good pizza! Finally, we stopped by Cuneo, and visited with one of Abe's friends, Michela, and her parents. Then we were off to Milan, where it was very rainy.

I ate so much good food, and good GELATO! I love it! I had chocolate, strawberry, pistachio, chocolate with jalepeno pepper (actually quite good), coconut, and mango. Yum! Sorry Tara, I wanted to bring some home for ya! All in all we had a really great time. I hope we get to go back soon!

Disneyland!

2008-05-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

On May 3rd, we attended Pfizer's annual Disneyland Day. Not only was it the boys first time in the magic kingdom, but it was mine also. We really had a great time. Jake's favorite ride was the train roller coaster, I think it's called Thunder Mountain. After he went on it he said, "Mom, this train chugs fast!" This is a picture of Jake and Abe on it.

And then of course we had to go on the train ride around the entire park (pay no attention to the weird guy in the middle of our picture!). Logan was napping during that one...

Logan's favorite ride was the Nemo Submarine ride, and a close second was the Buzz Lightyear ride where he got to shoot a laser gun. So we got the boys Buzz Lightyear guns to take home (yes, they are VERY annoying!).

We had a really great time together, and I can't wait to go back next year!

Newport Beach

2008-05-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

On Friday, May 2nd, we drove to Orange County for Pfizer's Disneyland Day on the 3rd. So on Friday afternoon, we went and played at the beach. It was barely warm enough, but Abe was all about swimming in the ocean. The boys mostly played in the sand.Then when Abe had had his fill of sea water, he came and played too. He buried the boys up to their necks in the sand.
Then the boys took their turn burying him!

Our New Pool

2008-05-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we bought another kiddie pool and the kids have been enjoying it quite a bit. Saturday, April 26th, we had a BBQ with our friends Emily and Jamen and their two little girls Bailey and Jordin. It was a great time!

Orange Blossoms

2008-04-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

On April 13th, we drove out to where the orange groves are to see the blossoming trees. It's just south of us in a little town called Reedley. There were acres and acres of orange trees. I wish you could take a picture of smell--it smelled so good! Like nothing I've ever smelled before. It was great. I wish my house smelled like that all the time! Anyhow, we stopped to get a better look (as usual) at the orange trees.Some were packed with oranges, we think they are the juicing kind which have a differnt season than the navel oranges. But there were also trees full of oranges that were still covered in blossoms.

Zoo Day

2008-04-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

On April 10th, the boys and I decided to go to the zoo. The Fresno Chaffee Zoo is actually quite nice (nicer than Hogle, I think). Logan was fascinated by the monkey and orangutan cage. They were all swinging around on these fake vines, and Logan would get this look on his face like he was worried they were going to fall or something. It was cute.

They also had a Petting Zoo, with sheep and goats. The boys got to brush the animals too. It was crazy--non of the animals moved while the kids were there. When Jake saw a goat that was lying on the ground asleep, he said, "oh, it's dead."

Then we got to visit Stingray Bay, where you get to touch some stingrays and sharks. Jake thought it was very cool, and Logan just likes to play with water!

Yosemite National Park

2008-04-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, March 30th, we took yet another family drive, this time venturing north to explore Yosemite National Park.

It was an amazingly beautiful place full of trees and huge rock walls and waterfalls.

This one is called Bridal Veil Fall. I think there is one in Utah named that too.

We can't wait to go back this summer and do some camping and hiking.

Easter 2008

2008-04-15T11:29:00.001-07:00

Easter was a little different this year not being in Utah. But we were lucky to have my parents and my brother and sister visit us that weekend. The boys had a great time hunting for eggs in the backyard.

Two days before Easter, Abe came home from work with 4 baby chicks! The boys thought they were so cool. Abe took one of the chicks and stuffed it in a large plastic egg, then gave it to Jake to open. Jake was quite surprised! It was really funny. Logan loves chasing the chicks around the yard. Luckily they're usually pretty fast (I say 'usually' because by the end of the next week we were sadly down to only 3 chicks).

Spring Blossoms

2008-04-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday, March 9th, we drove out to some of the neigboring orchards to see the blossoming trees. The nectarine trees and the almond trees were all in full bloom. It was quite a site to see acres and acres of snow white almond trees. And the ground beneath them was dusted with falling blossoms so it looked like it had just snowed. The air smelled very sweet too.

Monterey Bay

2008-04-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

On February 18th, we took a drive to Monterey Bay. It's only about a 2 1/2 hour drive, so not too bad. While it was a warm day in Fresno, it was cool and windy on the coast. But we still had fun. We walked along Fisherman's Wharf, then checked out the shops on Cannery Row--where they had a couple of real trains the kids could climb on, and then drove a little ways down to a nice big beach. The boys had fun chasing the waves and attempting to build a sand castle. It's nice we get to take all these mini trips to fun places!

Sequioa National Park

2008-04-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

On February 9th, we took a little drive to the mountains. They aren't very far, but a lot of times you can't see them from where we live due to fog (and smog, I'm sure). Once we got to higher elevation, we ran into snow. Jake was more excited than anyone--"There IS snow in California!" Up until then, we'd told him that it doesn't snow in California (which is true for where we live), so we had to explain that it only snows in the mountains. The kids (and Abe) had a great time playing with the snow throwing snow balls and such. Then we went and saw some really big trees. There was even one you could walk through! We had a great time getting outdoors for a bit. We can't wait to go back again!

In the beginning...

2008-04-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, you asked for it--and here it is! The (un)official blog of our family! I have to admit it's a lot funner, er, more fun than I thought it would be. And now the whole world can see what the heck we're up too all the way out here in California. And life goes on...but this is the beginning of something...we'll see where it goes.