In Memory of Our Bunny Jasmine May '04- March '09

We've had our rabbit for five years now. We got her one day when we were at the park and someone there was giving away "free rabbits". I was at the park with all the kids all by myself. My kids had been begging me for a dog for years, mind you. And there was no way I would give in to that one. I'm just not a dog person and just don't have the patience for one more thing to take care of, let alone the whole "picking up poop" issue. I was also without the support of Stu who would've helped me to say "no" to them when they begged me for this cute, adorable pet bunny. I thought to myself, "It's free, so how hard or expensive could it be to really take care of this pet?" Fifty dollars later after getting all the supplies needed to care for this animal, we were set. We made her a home in our backyard under our gazebo where it would be nice and shady. We bought her a cage and even had a baby gate corralled around her cage so she could come out and run around her cage, which she did often. The kids loved her, held her a lot the first year, and let her run around the backyard lots of times chasing her. I made her little cloth "sleeping" bags for her to fit in so the kids could hold her without getting scratched by her claws. Brittany even had a leash for her and would walk her around the yard. It was turning out to be the perfect pet. Really, it wasn't that hard to take care of. Other than moving her cage into the garage on cold, rainy nights or into the house on 100 degree summer days, she only had to be fed every couple days. The kids learned some responsibility. They learned how to clean out her cage and felt horrible when she went days without food, but Jasmine survived. We used to lock her in her cage every night so that she would be protected from predators, but eventually grew lazy of doing that, thinking she would be fine. Well, it happened....one sunny, Friday afternoon, we went out in the backyard to play and she was nowhere to be found. We searched everywhere. The kids pulled out their magnifying glasses looking for clues or signs of a struggle. They even found dandelion white fuzz and thought it was her fur. We posted signs on the gate entrance to our neighborhood, but no one called. We called the Animal Shelter and no one had turned in a rabbit. Brittany was devastated. She took it hard, but after some convincing that Jasmine probably went to find her long lost brothers to live with and was very happy to be free, Brittany got over it. We still have no idea what happened or where she is, but in a way, I am relieved to have my gazebo back where we now have a relaxing hammock to lie in.

Reflections Program November 2008

Brittany's "Beautiful Hillside"

Brittany's "Wow" and "Beautiful Sunset" photographs

Brittany getting her trophy for one of her photography pieces

Brianna's picture of "Our Neighborhood"

Braden's "Outer Space" piece


This past year, the kids participated in the Reflections program at school and ended up with some pretty neat finished projects. The theme was "WOW". Brittany entered two different photographs (one of a beautiful sunset from our backyard and one of her friends laying on a hill spelling out the word "wow" with their bodies) and a visual art piece made with crayon of a beautiful countryside landscape. Braden entered a visual art piece made with construction paper and marker of an image in space. Brianna entered a visual art piece of a drawing of our neighborhood. They all received participant awards and Brittany received two trophies for her photographs. They were pretty excited to be able to celebrate their accomplishments at the ceremony at school and to get a reward for their hard work.

Bathtime with Bailey

Bailey is 5 1/2 months here. She just loves splashing in the water.
She has one tooth on the bottom that she got at four months.
Her smile and dimples just melt my heart.
I'm so happy to have such a wonderful and easy going baby!

Halloween 2008

Dancing in the dark with the disco ball
after trick-or-treating with the Sandberg clan!

Cutest pumpkin ever!

Bailey, Brianna, Bridgette, Brittany, and Braden

This year the kids got to attend the Citrus Hills primary Halloween Carnival, be in the Character parade at Orange Elementary, and go trick-or-treating with their friends in the neighborhood and with the Woodlands and Sandbergs. As always, they got way too much candy, but they love it and are so excited to sort their candy out at the end of the night and trade each other. Brittany was a witch, Brianna was a snow queen, Braden was a zombie with a mask (the scarier the better), Bridgette was Jasmine from Aladdin, and Bailey was a pumpkin.

San Francisco Trip

Oakland Temple
FYI: The place my parents got married.

Very Interesting and Yummy: Dim Sum

China Town

It was fun driving on these hilly streets.

Awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge surrounded by fog.

Lombard Street

At the Roaring Camp Railroad

Getting ready for our train ride.

Resting from walking and walking...

Cool, big tree; not quite a Redwood.
The kids collected sticks along the hike.

Braden surfin', catchin' a wave.

Bridgette

Brianna, Brittany, and Braden climbing to the top

Brittany coming down the Concrete Slides

Breakfast on the Subway

Downtown San Fransisco

Alcatraz in the background

On the train

Four against one and they still can't dunk him!

The jacuzzi where Bridgette says to Brianna, "Hey, Bwianna, you have a booga in your nose!" And as the camera zooms into Bridgette, she has an even bigger one hanging out her nose!
We got a laugh out of that one.

In October of 2008, we were daring and decided to take a road trip up to San Francisco with the kids. Bailey was six months old. We stayed the night in Monterey on our way up, then in a hotel in downtown San Fran for three days. We did a lot of walking, exploring, subway riding, and got a lot of stares. It was a strange feeling passing by weird-looking street performers that didn't even get a second glance from most people, but when they saw us (a family of seven), there was no stopping the staring. We definitely felt out of place, but really enjoyed the sight-seeing. Besides we get stares wherever we are these days. Big families aren't that common here in California. We took a boat tour under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz, walked along Pier 39, saw the sea lions, explored Golden Gate park, and downtown San Francisco. We had a really fun time. On our way home, we went on a train ride at the Roaring Camp Railroad through the forest while listening and watching the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. It was fun and the kids loved it! We even got to see my brother, Ryan, while he was in San Fran for a business trip. It was fun to visit and hang out for one night.

Free on Friday Giveaway!

Check out shelf-reliance's new blog where they are giving away the Harvest 72" on June 26th for the first Free on Friday giveaway!

http://www.shelfreliance.com/blog/index.php/2009/06/15/free-friday-bringing-harvest/

Bailey and Bridgette

Bridgette 3 1/2, Bailey 8 months

I know I shouldn't feel guilty, but this is the first professional picture of Bailey and she's already 8 months old! Oh well....at least I've taken a million digital photos of my own. Now if I could just scrapbook them....

Second Mommy

It's so precious how Bailey's arm is around Brittany's shoulder.

Bailey-3 months, Brittany-9 years

I just love having a child old enough to really know how to hold the baby and take care of her. Brittany does such a good job. She really is like Bailey's second mom. From the start, she has been so good at putting Bailey to sleep by holding her just like she is here and bouncing her up and down while she walks. It sure helps to have a second set of hands like that around here....and it doesn't hurt that Brittany loves to do it, too!

Just Goofin' Around With Wigs

Bridgette wearing a black wig. You can't tell very well because of the dark background.

Bailey not too happy about this scratchy Snow White wig.

Bailey with Brianna behind her putting her hair over the top.

The kids got out their disney princess wigs and we had a little bit of fun taking pictures. Is it mean to put wigs on the baby and take pictures? It was just too cute not to.

First Day of School 2008

Since the kids are in year-round school and on A-Track, they begin school in July right after the 4th of July holiday. It's always hard sending them to school when it's so hot outside...it just seems wrong. This year Brittany started 4th Grade and is in Ms. Shaup's class. Braden and Brianna started 1st Grade and are in Mrs. Bolin's class. It's the first year I've had all three older kids in school for a full day. And let me tell you, it has been NICE! Sounds kind of funny saying, "It's so much easier JUST having two kids at home," when most people around here just have two kids. So far they love their teachers and are excelling in all the subjects. Braden was a little nervous going to school for the first time with his brace on, but he adjusted really well. I sent a flyer to school for his teacher to pass out to all the first grade classes explaining Braden's disease, why he wears the brace, etc. I went in and talked to his class the very first day of school and explained everything and answered all their questions as well hoping it would make his transition a little easier. His classmates were all very understanding and nice to him. We even decorated his brace with cool stickers. He did have to answer a lot of questions from the upper-graders at recess and before and after school, he got a lot of stares, and comments like, "You walk like a cowboy," or hearing comments from one person to another that say,"You know HIM?" But he has managed to deal with the attention and now that there is less attention and people are used to seeing him, it's a lot easier. It was rough the first week, he shed some tears, but he has been so brave, confident, and courageous. I'm so proud of my little guy.