Labor Day fun

As I have previously mentioned, we madea trip up to the Redwood Forest for Labor Day. It's almost exactly half way between our house and Wayne's parents. They met us at the campground. We stayed just north of Crescent City at a KOA inside the Redwood Forest. We were on the West side of the Smith River but just minutes from the Jedidiah Smith entrance. If you are at all familiar with this area we were about 4 minutes away from Stout Grove which is where Return of the Jedi was filmed. Jackie is always good to pack what has come to be called the "Gramma Box" it's always filled with goodies for the kids to choose from. The kids love his tradition, especially when they are the only grandkids around and everything in the box has been customized to their own likings.
Wayne and his mom Jackie in the middle of Stout Grove.
Eating and visiting at our amazingly beautiful campsite.
Gramma Jackie hikin with the kids. They are about to cross the big foot bridge that crosses over the Smith river from the Jedidiah Smith park to Stout Grove.
Britt and Jay proud that they had tricked all of us. We were'nt sure which way they had gone and they were actually on top of the overturned tree listening to our quandry.

Britt and Wayne walking toward the playground at our campsite.
Gramm and the kids walk over to swing and play tether ball. (Wayne won of course)
These chickens and goats belong to the campsite owners. The kids loved walking over to th animals.
Ally wading in the Smith River on the Stout Grove side. Jay in tree climbing heaven.

I have lots of pictures and adventures to blog about if I could just add a few more hours to each day!

More adventures....

Jay turned 11 this year. I can hardly believe it! He now gets to go to 11 year old scouts, which makes life a little easier, because it's the same day and time as YW--no more driving to and fro! LOVE IT!!! Jay has never been a "t-shirt & jean" boy--he is pretty particular about what he will wear and it has to fit him "just right" I was thrilled when he was happy about this outfit I picked out for his birthday. (not an easy feat)

Jay wanted 2 giant ZINGER cakes. I made these cakes in bread pans, and then I took REDI-WHIP and filled them with cream and then frosted them. Jay was thrilled. His idea was that 2 ZINGERS would like an 11. Everyone loved them!Britt and Ally did all the wrapping of Jay's presents. School started just a few days after Jay's birthday so we've yet to have a friend party. (I promised will have one...stay tuned for that) This is Britt's last year of middle school--yes I'm in denial about that too! She is part of the Leadeship team this year and LOVED helping out at registation.
Britt was put at the cashier table. She loved every minute of this opportunity. She came home humored by a mom who bought a $7 planner and paid with $100 bill.
After a long day of registration duties the girls came back to our house for a little R&R! It ended up being a big whip cream fight. Of course I loved every minute of it!First Day of School...Britt 8th grade...Ally 2nd grade (yes denial)...Jay 5th grade... could we just not talk about it. Man, why do they have to grow up so fast?Redwood Forest fun... I never really blog about my cute hubby. For Labor Day we drove up to the Redwoods and met Waynes parents at a campground and had sooo much fun. Wayne loves relaxing and being with the kids. (he's really just a big kid himself)Wayne's mom said that when Wayne was a kid he would have stood at the Lake all day and skipped rocks...sure enough, we went over to STOUT GROVE and had to cross the Smith River and Wayne was skipping rocks. (he's actually pretty awesome--he got 7 skips with one rock)If you aren't familiar with STOUT GROVE it's where Return of the Jedi was filmed. It was amazing. I actually want to watch the movie again so I can see if I recognize anything. Leave it to my husband to hang from the root of a giant redwood.I have lots more picures to post of this adventure and this last weekend we went to one of our families favorites spots --Crissy Field. I'm off to a YW presidency meeting so I'm out of time for now. I'll be posting a lot in the next few days so please check back. Ally finally finished her first post by herself on her blog so please check that out too and leave her comments. I figure we can get some reading practice in too. Happy September!!!

SUMMER ADVENTURES...part 2

Our trip to Utah was a lot of fun. Hold on again as you scroll through another long posting of pictures... remember we talked about the patience thing...

While we were in Utah, we were able to go to a Sorensen Family Reunion. This is a 4 generation picture. My Grandma is 1 of 2 from her generation that were in attendance--they might be the only 2 surviving. (I'll have to ask my Dad) It was fun to get to spend the day with my Grandma. While we were in a picture taking mood we also took a 3 generation picture with my Mom.
If you've never been you should make a trip to Cabella's. It's just the funnest outdoor store ever. I think the closest one to us here in Cali is in Reno. My kids had so much fun looking at the stuffed animals and all the big fish. We even had fun looking at all the camping stuff. Now that Jay is an 11 year old Scout and Britt will be doing overnighters at Girls Camp we need to invest in some of this stuff. We had a great time. (even the candy store was great)
The kids loved the shooting range. I thought that it was a couple of dollars a child so I got like $6 worth of quarters. It turned out to only be .50 cents a round. We all had a great time shooting. My Dad was awesome, he got a perfect score every time! (proud daughter moment) Jay consistently got 18 or 19 out of 20 until his final round he got a perfect 20 (proud mother moment) We figured it was the perfect ending to our adventure.
Wayne's brother and family live just up the street from the Cabella's in Utah. We decided to make a trip up to see them. John was gone golfing but we got in a little visit with his family. Ally had so much fun she didn't want to leave. Next time we are there we'll have to plan a sleepover with them. There's never enough time to get everything in!!!
We also got to visit with Wayne's younger brother Jeffrey. I'll probably get in trouble by someone for saying this but Jeffrey is my favorite Cannon brother. He's just so great! My kids adore him and I always have such a good time chatting with him. We went to dinner and then the mall and then we stood in the parking lot and just visited.
While we were visiting in the parking lot of Fashion Place Mall, it got a little chilly! Ally kept playing in and out of the car and was chatting with all of her imaginary friends. We all got a kick out of just standing and watching Ally. My kids also sang in my parents ward Sacrament meeting on Sunday. Jeffrey was a good Uncle and came to hear them. Thanks Jeff for the fun visit!

My parents work in the Salt Lake Temple and on Saturday morning my Dad had arranged that Britt and I could do baptisms together. It was such a neat experience. I knew I would cry at some point in this whole ordeal, but I didn't think I'd cry when I did. As we came up through the Conference Center parking lot to cross the street to the Temple is when it hit me. It was really strange I just got overwhelmed with emotion. It was so cool to be walking with my daughter who was worthy through her choices to enter the Temple. It was really neat to be able to share that with just her EARLY on a Saturday morning. Britt thought it was very cool to be able to go through what she calls the "secret" door to the baptistry. If you've never been, you enter through a door near the flagpole on Temple Square. You even get to ring a doorbell. Britt thought that was very cool! My Dad was able to do the baptisms and confirmations. This was definitely one for the memory book! It was a great morning!
We hiked up to Donut Falls in Little Cottonwood Canyon. My Grandparents used to have a cabin near here and I spent so much of my childhood up there. I have always talked about my cabin days to my children and so they wanted to go and see it. Well, Grandma's cabin has been torn down and now there are like 3 cabins there and we couldn't even get to the creek where I used to play. Donut Falls had totally changed. It was very strange, I actually felt old!If you don't remember or you've never been to Donut Falls it used to be different. You used to be able to go under the falls. It was cave like and if you wanted you could take a shower. You used to be able to see where the falls came through the rock (hence Donut Falls) Well, the whole West side of the mountain had collapsed into the creek bed.(snow damage I assume) I don't know how long it's been this way but it was not how it looked in my memory so my kids thought I was delusional.One thing that hadn't changed was how beautiful the view is. I love being in the mountains, and hearing the water and the trees and the occasional bird or wood creature. How could anyone believe that there isn't a God? I don't get it!

We hiked across the creek at the bottom of the falls so that we could get a glimpse of the water falling through the hole in the rock.
Brittany and Jay hiked a little higher than my heart could handle, but I knew I would've done the same thing at their age so I tried to relax.
My Dad was good to help Ally across. She was a little nervous crossing the water. Which totally surprised me, but I guess the concept could be a little scary to a 7 year old.
Here Jay got a little more wet than he planned. You can go to his blog and I'll have him tell you about this experience. He was a good sport and never cried even though I know it hurt him. (mom's can see it in their faces)

My Dad hiked the fossil mountain with Jay. They went up as far as they could. (again I got nervous but what was I to do?) The rock was pretty slippery and when they were coming back down Jay decided it was faster to just slide down on his bottom. He's such a boy!!
When you go hiking with my Dad you tend to stop a lot and take pictures of flowers and things in nature. I was pretty proud of myself for capturing not only flowers but a butterfly and a bee. I think I'm going to blow this picture up and frame it for my wall!
I am rarely in pictures...mainly because I'm the photographer but really it's because I like Donut Falls don't look like I used to and I don't like looking at myself. My Dad was good to make me stand on the bridge and get a shot with my kids.
This is a shot of Ally at a birthday party she went to this summer. It was at a Bouncy House place and they had different themed rooms. Ally loved the Karaoke room with costumes. Here she is jamming out to High School Musical.

I still have a few more adventures to post. We have had a great summer and it's still not over.

Stay tuned for more....

A few new blogs...

Okay, so my kids started school this week and we sat down with each of them and set some goals. Both Jay and Allyson said that they wanted to become better writers. So being the genius mother that I am, I decided to start each of them their own blog. So, click on their pictures and read their adventures. They each will be choosing which pictures to post and they will do all of the narrating themselves. Give them a few days. Jay has a few in "draft" stage but hasn't posted anything as of yet.
With each of the kids having their own blog link I will probably post anything relating to that child on their own site so this will be about me and family stuff. ENJOY!!

SUMMER ADVENTURES...part 1

Okay so you just have to be patient as you scroll through these pictures...patient is a virtue! This post is the first of many to come. Our family has had a great summer and I can hardly believe school starts is 2 days. Wow! Time really does fly when you're having fun. ENJOY...Happy #7 to Ally. Ally was quite mad at me this year on her birthday because she wanted to turn 8 on 8/8/08...oh well she got to turn 7. Next year will be Ally's "golden" birthday. Britt's too.(I can't believe she'll be 14) Andy's wife and kids drove with Jon's wife and kids to spend the night at our house to celebrate Ally's big day. Anne flew in from Utah too. The following pictures are reverse of how they happened. It's not that I'm not patient, just a little lazy in wanting to re-do the order.
Our neighbor has a birthday the day after Ally's and we had a joint party with him on Saturday. He has a big blow up water slide in his backyard and all the kids had a great time. Ally had invited a few friends in addition to all of her cousins who came.
All of the kids had a great time splashing and sliding. So the slide wouldn't deflate we set up rules that no more than 5 kids could be inside at one time. None of the kids complained. The older kids were really good about helping and not crowding out the younger kids. I think everyone had a great time.Nick is notorious for hiding during pictures and I was waiting for the perfect shot as he came out. He got a glimpse of me and he's closing his eyes hoping he'll just dissappear...didn't work I got it!!!Jon's kids (especially Jacob) wanted to go to the big cement slide that is at a park near our house. It's a favorite of all the cousins whenever they come to visit.
The cousins even got Aunt Anne to slide down a few times. I think Samie and Ally had the most fun. Madie was having a good time too!

Anne looks horrified in this picture. The kids sit on the cardboard to slide down a lot faster. I love that Nick is pushing Anne down! I wonder where he learned to tease his Aunt...hmmm Ally had a makeover party the night of her birthday. After they were all made up they gave everyone a fashion show.Ally was in heaven... the only thing she asked for was this fancy play microphone from Libby Lu's in our mall. Ally loves to play dress-up so she was thrilled that this was the theme for her party. Aunt Anne is the one behind this FABULOUS look sported by Ally. Truly a ROCKSTAR I love this picture of Madie staring at Ally. Madie was a riot during this party. She danced and sang and put on a great show.Princess Samie. Could she look more like cinderella? Beth and Britt started Samie's look and Aunt Anne put on all the finishing touches.I was lucky enough to be the designer behind Madie's FANTABULOUS look. She truly transformed into a ROCKSTAR!Bella was less than thrilled with the idea of a makeover party. We came up with the idea that she could be a basketball princess.(no makeup or frills just a basketball as her accessory)

Aunt Emily goes blonde for a night. Big girls can party too! See what happens when husbands don't come...everyone lets loose.Let the fashion show begin...

Ally all decked out a a ROCKSTAR! She had a great birthday! She told me it was the best party ever! So as a mother I take that as the party was successful! YAY! Here the girls are dancing and "runwaying" to Hannah Montana music. Notice the basketball princess sporting her ball! I'm glad everyone ended up happy!
Brynnlee didn't miss out on the fun either. Britt just thought she was a doll and she could do whatever she wanted. Brynnlee has an opinion even at a young age.
Here Britt is trying to put on earrings and Brynn didn't like it very much.

Each girl got a backpack with a purse, feather boa, headband, jewelry and makeup. We had a poster on the wall for them to choose what type of hairstyle they wanted. Britt loved every minute. I think the mom's looking on had a great time too. The boys were all playing PS2 so they weren't even an annoyance. They too were in heaven! I love win-win situations.
Ally loves her Barbie Jeep. I love that she is sporting "Sharpay" glasses as she cruises around with her cousin Samie.THE SORENSEN COUSINS (Tyler & Matt's kids are MIA) notice grumpy ol' Nick won't even look at the camera. Oh, well at least he is noticably there!When everyone got here Friday afternoon we headed to one of Ally's favorite places in the world...the swimming pool. Everyone but ANNE got in and enjoyed a swim. Anne enjoyed reading a book...if you know my sister at all you know that she was just fine reading a book. Here Britt is showing of her moves on the high dive.
Ally and her friend Meg. Megs family is in our ward and were moving to a new house so we had the 3 kids for awhile and we all went swimming.

CAMPING with our neighbors. We had the best time camping and even better food. Our neighbors Grandma used to work in a restaurant and loves to cook. We had the best food I've ever had while camping. From previous posts you know that I usually have PB & J and hot dogs.

Here the kids are singing and laughing around the campfire. I love to see the kids come alive with each other. There is just something about being out in nature that makes kids sparkle! I LOVE IT!!! While we were hanging out at the lake and the kids were swimming, we heard clapping and singing so we looked over and there was a baptism going on. 5 different people were baptized. It was very similar to an LDS baptism, it was all spoken in Spanish but the prayer that was said was almost verbatim to ours. They were confirmed also, but right there in the water after they had be immersed in water. It was actually pretty fascinating to watch!

Here Ally is drying off from her dip in the pool. I think she's just so adorable! (that's my right as a mother)
I love Jay's rooster hair in this picture. We had a great time hanging out at the lake while camping. The kids would swim and then come and lay on their towels and repeat it over and over through out the day. We were at the lake front for like 5 hours or more. It was awesome!
Wayne and Brittany hangin' out around the campfire.
HERITAGE DAY PICNIC... every year our Stake has a picnic for Pioneer Day. It's held at the fairgrounds here in Pleasanton and the food is always amazing and the kids love all the "Pioneer" activities. All of the kids took a ride on the "bull". Ally didn't get bucked around to much but Wayne had a good time trying to buck off Jay & Britt

Britt held her own. PIGGY BACK RIDES with Dad... On the way to our car after the party each kid took their turn on Wayne's back.
I love that Ally always copies Britt's "pose" my 7 year old going 15. She keeps us on our toes for sure. This is one of my favorite traditions in our Stake. This year it was right after we got back from girls camp. I always seem to visit with people that I've not gotten a chance to know and it's so fun to visit with new people.

The youth always have a water volleyball game. Britt wasn't about to miss out on the fun! YAY for a great Stake who always puts on great parties!

Jay is counting down the days until he can play water volleyball. It's only for the 12-18 year olds. Some of you might think "well that's lame" but I am a firm believer in rank has it's privileges. I think it's important that kids have something to look forward to and this is one of the things that the younger kids look forward to doing when they finally become a "youth" Britt helped at the face painting station. She did some really cute things, like butterflies, palm trees and even a fabulous pineapple. (some kids request odd things)This is the first installment of our summer adventures. My kids will be in school in just a few days and after my mourning period I'll be pumped up and ready to post some more. It's been a really great summer. It's not even over. Wayne's new schedule is allowing us to go away for Labor Day. In 14 years of marriage he's always had to work and this is the first year he doesn't have to. Yes, I am excited. We will be driving up to the Redwood Forest where we will meet his parents and camp for 3 nights.

TO BE CONTINUED....