...a few of my favorite things

Scott's

2011-10-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

This is what we found Saturday morning after Scott's birthday. We have a new family in our ward that we seem to get along with very well. Our girls teepeed their house for their son's birthday in Aug. When they found out it was Scott's birthday, they returned the favor. We've now called a truce and decided to join forces. Watch out!

They also turned Scott's bug into a "ladybug" by sticking Oreos all over it. :)

Scott prefers brownies, not cake. So we put his candle in a brownie and tried to keep the fan from blowing out the flame before he did. :) I still can't believe we got a picture with everyone smiling.

I took Scott out to dinner and a movie, which we almost never get to do because Maricopa doesn't have a movie theater. It's also nice to have built in babysitters. :)

Rylee spent her whole sick day spelling out happy birthday in Swedish made out of Legos. She even figured out an ingenious way to put the two dots over the "o". Lycklig Fodelsedag!

Rylee for president!

2011-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

Rylee decided she was not going to run for student council this year because the teachers don't listen to the students' ideas anyway. What better way to get your voice heard than by being on student council? So she changed her mind, as girls often do, and ran for president. :) They were allowed one poster to advertise their campaign. Since she wanted her poster to be catchy and rhyme, we decided Dr Suess was a good character to put on her poster...

...and an even better character to make her speech! :)

"Oh the things we could do, if only we try. If we try, student council could make the year fly! With carnivals and popcorn, fundraisers and more, Legacy Lions will never be bored. But we need a good leader. Now, who could that be? A president of presidents...Say! Why not Rylee? She knows what to do, she's served you before. She's honest, friendly and so much more! She has great ideas and works, works, works, works! She's funny and confident, with just a few quirks. :)If you want this year to be spectacular and smiley, there's only one thing to do: Make your president RYLEE!

Here is Rylee giving her speech to the 4th, 5th and 6th graders. She was nervous because some of the other candidates had been giving out flyers and she didn't think she would get as much name recognition by following the rules.

It turns out she didn't need the name recognition. She won by a landslide off her character and creativity alone. She received twice as many votes as the closest candidate. And I'm so proud of her for doing her best and following the rules.

I'm going to have to go backwards, because it's been a long time!

2011-08-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

Kiersten is officially a teenager!!!! She turned 13 on Saturday, Aug 6th. We had a small party with three of her best friends, Makenzie, Kayla and Whitney. The pool was refreshing for the first 5 seconds, then it just felt like bathwater. :(
They played pool games like "Sharks and Minnows", and another game they've made up called "Link".

Everyone loves getting stuff in the mail, and this year, Kiersten got packages from the Birthday Fairy and Gma and Gpa Moore. Fun fun!!

It was a great time and Kiersten loved her little party. We played "Truth or Truth" and "Murder". We even had rootbeer floats to celebrate National Rootbeer Float Day. There was enough giggling, girl talk, fingernail polish and earrings to last a good long time. :)

Foolin' around

2011-05-31T10:23:00.001-07:00

We always do "crazy" shots after I get them to sit still for the serious picture. These turned out rather funny. ;)

Pose like an Egyptian. Canon just has to be involved. He jumped into the serious picture at the last minute, so we let him be in the crazy shots as well.

Wow....that"s all I have to say.

End of school awards ceremonies

2011-05-31T09:31:00.000-07:00

We love being recognized for our accomplishments!! This year, all the girls received medals for their straight A's. It's fun to go to the assemblies and cheer them on for the good work they've done! :)

Aubree received a certificate for community service and was voted most musically talented by her peers. She was also recognized for her work on the student council as vice president.

Kiersten also received a certificate for community service, was voted most courteous by her peers, was recognized for her work on student council as historian and received the fairness award from her teachers.

Rylee received her medal in the elementary awards assembly. All the teachers come on stage and the students being recognized get to go down the line and give them all a high five. She was also recognized for her work on student council as vice president and the character trait of responsibility.

Raegan received her medal for good grades and the character trait of respect. She really enjoyed being in Ms Wechter's class and has made marked improvement in her math and reading skills.

End of year concerts

2011-05-23T09:33:00.001-07:00

Because the orchestra is small, Kiersten and Aubree have developed some really close relationships with the other musicians and their music teachers. And they've had to excel with their instrument, because if you mess up, everyone knows who hasn't been practicing. You can't hide behind the numbers because there aren't very many kids in the class.

They played some beautiful arrangements of some classic music. I was surprised at the volume despite the small group. Even one flute, one clarinet and one trombone make a huge difference. I'm so proud of these girls for their progress and enjoyment of something I love as well!

Kiersten and Aubree were both part of the Jr High Advanced Orchestra. Here they are tuning their violins before the concert began.

Rylee is the only student left in Intermediate Orchestra. All the other members moved, left for sports, or just weren't interested in playing anymore. She played with the Beginning Orchestra for her concert and had fun even though she already knew those songs from last year.

Rylee is sitting in the front row all the way to the left. It's a small music program, but it's better than not having the opportunity to develop your talents at all.

Jimmy Neutron?

2011-05-23T09:04:00.001-07:00

Canon came down with a nasty bug that layed him flat for a week and a half! There were many hours sitting on the couch just snuggling because he was so miserable. For a kid that never sits still, this was quite concerning for me. He was also allergic to the antibiotics we started him on and got a full body rash that was really itchy. Poor kid. These pictures were taken after the Benedryl which cleared up the allergic reaction, so he was a little happier. He's needed a hair cut for sometime, but I just couldn't bring myself to torture him when he was already so miserable. I also love those locks and it's hard to cut them off. I'm happy to report that he got a haircut Saturday and looks like a little missionary again instead of Jimmy Neutron. :)

Seminary Honors

2011-05-23T08:54:00.001-07:00

Aubree decided to work for seminary honors her first year of seminary. They've been studying the D&C and Church History. You have to memorize all 25 scripture mastery scriptures and their references, know the First Presidency and all members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, memorize the prophets in this last dispensation, have 85% attendance in seminary and read your scriptures daily. She had a lot of fun her first year of seminary partly because being asked to serve as class secretary made her come out of her shell and get to know people. She was in charge of marking attendance, announcements and calendar items. At the honors dinner, she also got to perform on her violin. She played, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and did an amazing job with only 3 days to prepare. Wish I had gotten a picture of it!

Wheel barrow softball anyone??

2011-05-16T09:26:00.001-07:00

Our ward recently had an activity where we met to eat and play wheel barrow softball. Here is Canon making it safely to first base with his runner, Bro McGee. Scott was all-time pitcher and I played in the outfield. In an effort to keep the game evenly matched, any rule could be altered withouth notice. It certainly made the game a little more interesting. :)
When you hit the ball, you have to jump in the wheel barrow, and then your "runner" has to wheel you to first base and sit down before the ball is thrown to the base. Aubree got a good hit and allowed Uncle Marshall enough time to wheel her safely to first.

Nice hit Aubree!

We sat around and ate and talked with friends while we waited for the game to start. They had a slip and slide for the younger kids, and that's where Rylee and Raegan spent most of the afternoon. We forgot to bring them towels, though, so it was a cold ride home in the back of the truck because they were too wet to get inside. :)

Some of the Young Women got wet without the slip and slide! Watch out Kiersten...they're coming for you next!

Lights! Camera! Action!

2011-05-10T10:11:00.001-07:00

"Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew, cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? The Candy Man can!" Aubree wanted to be Willy Wonka from the start. She got the lead role and did a great job. She had 6 solos and a ton of lines, which she delivered on time and with great enthusiasm, even if the audience didn't get the joke of "chuck bucket". :)
Here is Willy leading the golden ticket winners through the factory on the pink, candy boat. I told you, it wasn't Broadway, but it sure was fun!

Rylee got to perform with Aubree even though she was an understudy. The Charlie lead was unable to do the Saturday afternoon performance, so she did Saturday morning and Rylee did Saturday afternoon. The energy between Aubree and Rylee was amazing. I really feel that was the best performance of the five because when Charlie is apologizing for drinking the Fizzy Lifting Drink and Willy gives Charlie the factory, the words cease to be lines in a script. There was emotion and support, I can't really describe it. The only regret was that Kiersten couldn't be in that performance with them. But she was backstage with me, cheering them on.

It was a lot of fun watching the performers get eachother ready. Everyone was doing makeup and hair. It really made it feel like the kids owned the performance. They really deserve most of the credit. They rehearsed 2 hrs a day, 3 times a week until a week before opening night and then it was everyday for 2 1/2 hrs, plus the countless hours at home. There was set construction, mic checks, costumes, makeup and....Cut! Let's try that again.

2011-05-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

Kiersten decided she would try out for the school musical this year. Aubree and Rylee had so much fun last year, she wanted to see if she could make it. She was chosen to understudy for the spoiled brat, Veruca Salt. She did a great job picking a snooty outfit, with an obnoxious pink flower in her hair. She had all her lines and solo memorized within the first week of practice. And although she can be a snot sometimes when she's at home, it was quite a challenge for her to be loud, obnoxious and throw tempertantrums on stage. She is the most timid of my three that were involved in the play. But she did a great job! She sang.....infront of people.....by herself! I'm totally amazed at the confidence these girls are acquiring.Everyone got flowers at the end of the Saturday performances. Thanks Uncle Marsh...you're the best!

Kiersten had a few of her good friends come and watch her perform. Here she is with a couple of the young women in our ward.

At the end of the show, the stage crew and characters celebrated by ripping off their mics and screaming at the top of their lungs backstage. It was a huge relief to come to the end of each performance and feel good about the entertainment they were providing. It makes me tear up every time I look at this picture and realize what a rare privilege this was to have these three involved in something like this and know I was lucky to witness it. SOOOOO glad I brought my camera!

This is most of the group of kids that helped me on stage crew. We had to keep track of all the scene changes and which props went on stage for which numbers. When Aubree, Kiersten and Rylee weren't performing, they would come and help too. I loved being a part of this production! The only drawback was being behind the curtain the whole time my chicklets were performing. It was good because I could give them last minute encouragement before they went on, or tell them what a great job they did when they came off. But I never got to see them in all their glory. All the pictures I have of the performances came from other moms who were in the audience to watch their own children.

Keirsten would not let me take a picture of her on stage crew!! Little stinker.

Show Time!

2011-05-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

Rylee tried out for the school musical this year and was chosen as the understudy for Charlie Bucket in the production of Willy Wonka Jr. She got to perform for a Saturday matinee and infront of her peers at school. This was so much fun for all of us to be involved with memorizing lines, songs and choreography. I still wake up singing something from this musical. :) This is Rylee's best friend, Katie, and the boy she beat out for student body vice-president, AJ. Katie was one of the principle Oompa Loompas and AJ was Mike Teevee. Most of the students had to come up with their own costumes. I think they did a pretty good job.

I love this picture because Rylee is beautiful (yes, I'm biased), and it's right before her character, Charlie, opens the Wonka Bar to find the last golden ticket. Think positive!

There she is with the last golden ticket. I'm so proud of these kids to be able to get up infront of a large group of people and act, sing and dance. It's not Broadway, but it's a big deal especially when you think that Rylee is only 11 and she was in almost every scene with a speaking part. She also had to learn 5 solos. I can't even imagine performing by myself. Way to go Rylee!

This is such a "Sound of Music" moment. Just singing for all their worth. :) Mike, who played Mr Bucket, never did quite get the dance down. He would watch Rylee for all his cues and when they turned eachother around in the dress rehearsal, he knocked Rylee's hat off which knocked off her mic. We were all backstage hoping that wouldn't happen on a live performance. But everything turned out just fine. :)

" I've got a golden ticket. I've got a golden chance to make my way. And with a golden ticket it's a golden day!"

Negative, ghost writer, the pattern is full

2011-03-30T08:38:00.001-07:00

There's my little Top Gun. Canon wanted to look just like Dad. It took us a minute to figure out what he was pointing at, and even when we gave him the glasses, he had a hard time getting them on right.

Luke Days happen once a year when Luke Air Force Base opens it's gates to the general public. They park planes out on the runway for spectators to walk through. The line to get in snaked back and forth like we were at Disneyland. The stunt shows were the best and I love the loud thunder of a jet engine racing faster than the speed of sound. Canon was totally worn out.

These planes are huge. The wheel is as tall as Kiersten. We got to go inside quite a few of them, although the lines for the cockpit were rather long, so we didn't wait for that.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day. Everyone is enjoying the show except for Raegan who refuses to give her attention to anything that hurts her ears that much. You can see Kiersten and Aubree don't enjoy the deafening engine noise either. Although Canon and Dad don't seem to mind. :) At the end of the day, we watched the synchronized jet-flying team from the bed of the truck in the parking lot as we feasted on tacos and beat the crowd getting out.

Since the airforce base, Canon insists on dragging someone outside to look everytime he sees a plane or can hear the engine.

Tombstone and OK Corral

2011-03-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

We decided to stay in AZ for Spring Break this year and find some interesting things to do.

We visited Tombstone to see the sight of the famous gun fight between the Clanton/ Mc Lowry gang and the Earp brothers. I guess the reason it was famous was because Wyatt Earp was already well known for upholding the law in Kansas City, and during this gun fight where two men died and 3 more were injured at such close range, he didn't receive a scratch. There is also a conspiracy theory that one of the men who was killed wasn't armed, and that the Earp brothers were "hired" by the local politicians to clean up the "undesirable" cowboys who had a hard time obeying the law. Guns were prohibited from being within the city limits unless you were employed by the law, which the Earp brothers were. There was a lot to see of the history. Most of the original buildings are privately owned now and the owners have to make a living. Just walking inside some buildings requires a fee.

Here we are standing outside one of the original buildings that has been restored after nearly the entire block had been destroyed by fire twice. This bar used to be 3 times bigger and had a fountain in the middle of it. It was the "the" place to stay in it's hey day when the booming mining town of Tombstone was the county seat.

Colorful characters roaming down the boardwalk of the main street in Tombstone. This macaw belonged to a biker that was visiting with his Harley group.

May the Force be with you

2011-03-29T11:49:00.001-07:00

It was too cute to not take pictures. Canon learned how to sword fight from his Grandma Morris while we were at the temple one day. Now anything, and I mean anything, that resembles a sword is used to play fight...straws, pencils, dowels, vacuum attachments...you get the idea.

Scott made this capote in his young men's group for the Mountain Man Adventure. But we've used it for a lot of other costumes as well, obviously. :) Imressive...most impressive. But you are not a Jedi yet....

Canon's strategy is to bash your knuckles so you give up and he wins. It works every time. :)

2011-03-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

Let it snow!

2011-03-29T11:10:00.001-07:00

We had to go up to Payson to find snow deep enough to play in. Drive 2 hrs, play 15 minutes until the kids are frozen because we don't own snow gear, then drive 2 hrs home. But we got pictures which makes it all worth it, right? Thanks Aunt Krissy and Uncle Marsh for loaning us the beenies and scarves. Canon had a lot of fun just kicking the snow at everyone else. Aubree took him sledding down the hill once, but when they hit the bottom, he went rolling. She was freaking out because she thought he was hurt, but we bundled him up so well, he just bounced. Even dad got into the action. He was a big snowball by the time he hit the bottom, just like in the cartoons...honest! I didn't want anyone laying in the snow until we were ready to go because then we could change them in the car and they wouldn't be wet. There's nothing worse than being cold and wet. Brrrrr!!!

A man came up to us while we were playing and asked if we wanted his broken sled. He was just gong to toss it, but if we could get some use out of it, that would be ideal. So we definitely sucked what little life that sled had out of it, and then passed it on to another family that was having fun.

Raegan had the best time because she was so light that when she hit the bottom of the hill, she kept sliding right through the parking lot...almost knocked some guy over. :)

Rylee's 11!!!!

2011-03-29T11:05:00.001-07:00

Rylee had a quiet birthday since we had just gone back to school. She invited her best friend, Katie, over for banana splits and opened her package from the birthday fairy.

Here she is showing off her jack-o-lantern cupcake. She'll be in Young Women's in a year...neither she nor I can wait!

Chrstmas 2010

2011-03-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

This is the traditional first present we open on Christmas Eve: Pajamas. The tradition started in my family when I was young and Grandma and Grandpa Littlefair came to visit every year. They always brought us pajamas, McDonald's gift certificates and a LifeSaver storybook. Grandpa passed away in 2008, and Grandma just last Oct. I'm happy to be able to carry on this tradition with my children and tell them where it came from. We also wear them to dinner and Christmas lights, which is a tradition in Scott's family. That way when they fall asleep, we can just pour them into bed. Crazy Raegan...The anticipation is just killing them, isn't it? Not really...they all know they are getting pj's that they have to wear to dinner. Aubree is really the only one that's embarrassed. Such a teenager... Here we are sporting our new Christmas pajama pants. Bring on the visions of sugar plums!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T19:52:00.001-08:00

This year for Christmas, we decided to use our gift card from Grandma Moore and take the family to see " A Christmas Carol" at the Hale Center Theater in Gilbert. We had a great time, the girls were well behaved and it's such a treat to do something a little different to mark an occasion like Christmas.

Sorry for the angle on this one...if anyone knows how to fix it, this stuff happens to me all the time and I don't know how to fix it! Raegan wanted her picture taken with this actress because she said their dresses matched. :)

The girls got such a kick out of being so close to the action. The Hale Center theater is a theater in the round which means the stage is in the middle and the seats surround it. We had actors and actresses right next to us singing and dancing. You could see the sweat on their faces or the smiles exchanged as someone flubbed a line. This experience will be one that the girls will talk about for Christmases to come. Thanks for the opportunity Grandma Moore!

Cookies and holiday concerts

2010-12-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

We look forward to the girls' holiday concert every year. This year, Mom was on the ball and everyone had a cute outfit with their hair done. :) Last year, I was escorting Raegan up on stage in the middle of a song. It's hit and miss.
This year, my maternal grandmother passed away and we got to keep some of her costume jewelry. She had a lot of Christmasy pieces, so everyone got to wear something of hers on their outfit for their concerts.
Raegan and Rylee both sang with their classes a medley of Christmas and holiday music. That was fun to watch.

Aubree and Kiersten both play violin in the Jr/Sr high orchestra. They also had a medley of Christmas and holiday music, but were able to participate in a quartet and duet as well. I hope they have as much fun playing as I have watching them!

We love to do sugar cookies for any holiday and have collected an army of Christmas shapes. Scott bakes them, I decorate them, and the girls help with both. YUM!

Canon decided he wanted to take part in this family tradition. He would put the coookie cutter down several times before he moved on to a different shapen making each shape impossible to move. He also ate a lot of the dough, so everything he touched had Canon cooties on it. :) In the end, we pretty much let him do whatever because he was having fun.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2010-11-30T09:07:00.000-08:00

Decorating for Christmas is usually a slow process at the Moore house. Too many interruptions to think we might get it done in one day. But the tree is up and the rest will come slowly but surely.

Ummm...Rylee there's no presents under the tree yet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving to our family and friends. :) We had lots of food, some football and Kiersten managed to stay healthy this year. She's usually the one who's sick on Turkey Day.
I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but we have a tradition that takes place right after we've gorged ourselves on a Thanksgiving feast. Everyone gets a little present with their name and a poem about them. Next year it will be our family's turn to make up the poems...better start rhyming now. :P
Anyway, Raegan got a bracelet for her little gift, and then we headed over to the park for football. I told her to put her bracelet in the diaper bag for safe keeping. She decided she knew best and wore it while she played at the park. At some point, she thought it would be fun to have buried treasure. So she picked an inconspicuous place, and buried her new bracelet in the sand. Several minutes later, after not being able to find it, she came to ask for help. Kiersten and I spent the next hour checking all the conspicuous places, and then raking the inconspicous places with golf clubs because Grandpa's shed was locked and we couldn't get his rake. We must have looked pretty comical. But we did find it, thanks to Aunt Kimmy's keen eye.

They're famous!!

2010-11-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

inmaricopa.com did a youtube video about our Veteran's Day assembly. If you go to their website, there will be a story about Veteran's Day and a video to watch. Or you can just go to youtube and search Veteran's Day 2010 in Maricopa AZ. The girls haven't seen it yet, but they will be so excited they made it to youtube!
I also posted a link on my Facebook page. Thank you again,Veteran's!

Thank you Veteran's!!

2010-11-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Veteran's Day with a pancake breakfast and ceremony at the girls' school.

We got to fill out stars for all of our family members who had served in the Armed Forces. We have quite a few in the Moore/Morris line. :)Aubree and Kiersten got to play some patriotic songs in the full orchestra, as a quintet, and then Aubree got to play a Yankee Doodle medley in a duet with another violin. I was so impressed and proud. I didn't even know they would be so involved in the program.

Raegan's class got to participate in this sign. She says hers is the red hand. :) The ceremony ended with a fly over of 2 F-16 jets. I don't care what country you live in...THAT IS COOL!!!!

Happy, happy birthday, Canon dear!

2010-10-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

Our family tradition is to go out and eat wherever the birthday boy/girl wants. That was a little difficult with Canon because he just repeated whatever anyone else said. So we narrowed it down to pizza or tacos and got him both. He started out on the taco and ended on pizza, so either way, we know he's happy. :) Canon had a lot more fun opening presents this year because he knows there's something inside to play with. He got some trucks and books that all make noises from the birthday fairy (thanks Aunt Tena) and a light up spinning toy from his sisters.

When Canon was done looking at this truck, Dad had a fun time figuring out that it made 3 different noises, and rolled forward on it's own if you pull it back. It's Canon's toy, Dad!

Guess who's 2 today????

The birthday fairy also gave him some oreos, which he began shoving in his mouth. :)

Dear Heavenly Father....

2010-10-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Heavenly Father...Please bless that my mom won't still be mad about the mud incident. JK This kid refuses to sleep in the afternoon when I want him to, but can't quite make it to bedtime without a nap. He usually ends up falling asleep in the car when I'm picking up the kids from school, or in the middle of dinner without finishing his food.

Too cute to not take a picture. Maybe he's just faking it so he won't have to eat his broccoli!!

No training wheels!

2010-10-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

We noticed last spring that Raegan had learned to balance enough that, even though her training wheels were still on, she wasn't using them to ride, just start and stop. So this morning, Scott decided we would take them off since the temperature is bearable in the morning and the kids are out of school for October break.

She started riding on her own the first time he pushed her off, and within 5 minutes, she was starting herself. There were a few spills when she tried to turn around to come back down the street and she still doesn't quite know how to use the brakes. But she will be distracted for a few hours. Maybe we can get something done. :)

Such a Boy!

2010-10-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

So what do you do when you walk outside and find this? You grab the camera, duh! It was all fun and games until we told him we would have to hose him down. Not so fun to play in the mud anymore huh?

We're in transition from summer to winter garden, so there's nothing in these plots but the water still runs. Canon thinks it's a great mud bog and we caught him playing in it.

Don't look at me...I'm hideous!

What do YOU do during Conference?

2010-10-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

We like to pull out the legos and make trucks!! Well, at least Scott and Canon do. :) Scott took a trip to the lego store for his birthday last month, and showed amazing restraint as he waited to play with his new toys until it was time for General Conference. This has become a tradition for our family to play with legos while we listen to the words of the prophet. I think it started when we were trying to figure out a way to keep Scott awake. :)

C'mon Dad! I want to play too!!
We enjoyed listening to General Conference on the internet, as the cable station that used to carry Conference wanted too much money to broadcast it this year, and the Church said no. I'm so grateful for modern technology that allows us to listen to the prophet in the comfort of our own home. The internet CAN be used for positive things.

When they were younger, Scott used to make little trucks for all the girls to play with. Now they are old enough to copy his design and make their own. Canon likes to take the trucks Dad makes and crash them. I don't think Scott likes that game very much. :P See how he protects his semi so Canon can touch but not destroy?

Saguaro Lake

2010-09-20T09:44:00.000-07:00

We got to go as a family to Saguaro Lake on Fri with another family from our ward that had access to a boat. Previously, taking small children out on a big, deep lake has filled me with anxiety. But there were a lot of precautions taken to ensure everyone's safety. And the kids are a little older, so it seems my apprehension is directly related to their age. :) The older they get, the less apprehensive I am. Here is Rylee trying her luck at wake surfing. It's where you surf the curl of the wake. Done correctly, you don't even have to be hanging on to any ropes from the boat. You just use the ropes to get into the curl, and then the force of the wake propels you behind the boat, just like surfing a big wave. It is slower than water skiing or wake boarding, but looks really cool. :)

Aubree actually got up on water skis! It was pretty rough...it's her first time. But it helped that Dad was in the water with her giving direction and encouragement. She was only up for about 20 seconds, but it was a great experience. Now that she knows she can do it, next time won't be so difficult.

Scott got really close to being successful at wake surfing. He almost got up on two feet, but it takes so much out of your arms, you tire easily. I just thought this was a really cool action shot. Look, Mom, only one hand!

Canon was absolutely giddy in the water. It was infectious. He learned how to say boat and water on this trip. He was able to communicate water before, but it sounded like "waller". Now he can annunciate both words. His favorite thing to do was stand on the back deck of the boat, which was about 2 1/2 ft wide and kick water at the girls who were swimming. What a stinker!

Kiersten was the only one that had a little fear of getting in the water. Some areas were cold and she didn't like the idea of not being able to see the bottom. But we got her in eventually and she had a blast! We talked this family into taking us again this Thurs for Scott's birthday. :)

First Lion's Pride day of 2010-2011 school year!!

2010-09-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

Lion's Pride days occur at the end of every quarter grading period. At the beginning of the grading period, each student is given 10 Pride points, and in order to participate in Lion's Pride days, they have to hang on to atleast one point. It's a system of rewarding good behavior. I am in charge of planning and carrying out Lion's Pride days and I decided that since we're still setting heat records in the Valley of the Sun, we would have a water day!
So the fire dept came and hosed down our students as well as our camping tarps that acted as a big slip and slide for our first activity. It took a few minutes for the kids to get crazy, but after just a little while, even the teachers were taking over the hoses and sliding down the tarps.
We had the water on for about 30 minutes, and the field was wet and muddy. But the kids are obviously having fun.

We also played water kickball, where the bases are kiddie pools and you literally have to slide into home plate because it's a slip and slide. Some of the other stations were drip, drip, splash played like duck, duck goose, only with BIG wet sponges, water volleyball with water balloons, and water dodgeball. We filled up about 2,000 water balloons Thurs afternoon, thinking that would be plenty. By the time we were on our second of 5 rotations, they were asking for more. It was a frenzy trying to keep up with the demand for water balloons.

It was a successful activity with only minor sun burns and a few bruised egos. I would really like to keep the energy going with a killer Lion's Pride day in Oct. Any ideas for a theme??

Traditional first day of school breakfast at McDonald's

2010-09-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

We've been lucky enough the past several years to be able to eat breakfast together on everyone's first day of school. This year it just happened that Scott's boss was out of town and he had to work later that day, so he didn't leave at 4 am like he usually does.
This year, Aubree started high school, Kiersten started Jr high school, Rylee is in 5th grade and Raegan is in 1st. Parent/teacher conferences are this week, so we will see how well everyone is doing in class.

We love being involved with school and helping when there is something to be done. Aubree and Rylee both ran for Vice Pres in student council for the jr/sr high and the elementary and won. There will be a lot of opportunities for them to serve the students in their school.
I decided to volunteer with the parent organization this year and am in charge of anything to do with the jr/sr highchool. I also help with fundraising, book fairs, teacher appreciation, etc. It is a lot of work. I set it as a project goal in my personal progress program and had the 10 hour minimum in 2 weeks. I love being around this age group, especially when the kids are well behaved. I love seeing the look on their faces when they realize that I know their names.

Our trip to the Grand Canyon

2010-09-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

We decided on our way home from Page, we would take a little detour and visit the Grand Canyon. Aubree was the only one of the kids who had ever been there and she was 2, so didn't remember anything. We picked a bad day to go because the cloud cover was so thick, you couldn't see anything. It was drizzly and a little chilly. We weren't prepared for that kind of weather, so we were a little cold. And being on the edge of a huge, deep chasm with little children (one of which is extremely headstrong and doesn't like being told what to do) was a little nerve-racking for me.

But we tried to make the best of it by laughing at eachother and having fun. This lady in the background asked if she could touch Canon's cheeks and take a picture with him. It was a very random request and she giggled the whole time. This was another area where we heard a lot of different languages.

Scott is making the best of it... silly man! Atleast he made us laugh. :)

This was the view no matter where on the canyon you went. There was just nothing to see because the clouds and f0g were soooo thick. It was disappointing for us, but I can't imagine traveling half way around the world to see a wonder and not being able to see it and not be able to plan a trip back next year.

Here we are getting rained on. I think we'll come back in a few years when everyone is older and the clouds aren't so thick!

Visiting Page and Great Grandma and Grandpa Moore

2010-08-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

C'mon Grandpa! I said this was the "crazy pose" picture!

Thanks for your hospitality, Grandma and Russel.

We told the girls they could tell their friends we went to Utah over the weekend because this little dinosaur museum is actually in Big Water, UT, near the AZ/UT border. Quite a few universities and conservation groups have done digs in the Staircase Escalante Nat'l Park. They've found lots of different dinosaur fossils, and some of them are on display at this little museum.

I had never been in Lake Powell prior to this trip. I've driven by it many times, but we never stopped to play. The water was a little chilly, but bearable and there were TONS of tourists around. We went an hour without hearing anyone else speak English. And even then, it was with a British accent!

We visited a few days with Grandma and Grandpa Moore. We did a "movie at the park", the dinosaur museum, lots of card games, and a BBQ with Uncle Darrell and Aunt Lena.

Good times, good memories!

Sunset Crater and Wupatki Nat'l Monument

2010-08-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

By the time we figured out where we wanted to be at the crater, it started pouring down rain. Not usually a problem for us Arizonans who are rain-starved. But this rain was accompanied by some pretty severe, too-close-for-comfort lightening. This was the only picture I got outside the car because some of us (you know who you are :) were scared! We did get a chance to go through the visitor's center and learn a little about the volcanoes in the area. Very interesting.

Seriously...check out the size of those drops! It got to the point where we couldn't see 25 ft in front of us and the windshield wipers were full speed.

We got out ahead of the storm and were able to stop at the Wupatki Indian Ruins. We didn't learn too much about these ruins because we knew the rain ( and lightening ;) wasn't too far away. We ran through the ruins snapping as many pictures as we could and figured we could learn about it on the internet, right?

Hard to believe these ruins are just out in the middle of nowhere.

Here comes the rain! Hmmmm...is that Dad already in the car? Poor Raegan was left to fend for herself. :) We had a little more time at the other ruins to read and explore. It was a great side trip on our way up to Page to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Moore.

Montezuma's Castle

2010-08-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

We took a few trips this month before the girls had to go back to school. We always pass so many national parks in a hurry to get where we're going. So this time we decided to stop along the way and visit these places we always see the turn off signs for, but never visit.
Our first stop was Montezuma's Castle, which was on our way to Flagstaff. It was named for an Aztec chief, but the Sinagua Indians were actually the ones who built it and lived there. And it's not really a castle, but a multi-level dwelling for several families. These aren't the only ruins, just the best preserved.

We called this the camouflage tree because the bark reminds us of army fatigues. :) Everyone wanted their picture in front of it, I'm not sure why.

Beaver Creek- Neither Canon nor Dad was ready for this photo op.
We have to be the loudest tourists. It was such a peaceful, quiet place until we got there.

Through this whole trip, it was amazing to see how many foreigners there were visiting these sights. I never realized that people who live in England would want to visit Montezuma's Castle like I want to see Stone Henge.

We like to learn about past cultures and people because it helps us realize that the world is a lot bigger place than our immediate surroundings and keeps things in perspective. What will they say years from now about us?

Camping

2010-07-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we escaped the heat and went camping on the Mogollon Rim. Our campsite, which was near perfect, was by Kehl Springs and Milk Ranch Point.

When we camp, we do the true camping: tents, tarps, sleeping bags, and homemade swings. We also have a lot of fun. We like to bring card games and sit around and make fun of eachother (in an endearing way :) We went with my family, which is fun because most of the kids have someone near their age to play with. Good memories!

We got some rain while we were up there and it cooled everything off nicely. This was a beautiful view from the top of the rim looking down on Camp Geronimo.

Isn't this one of the cutest pictures? I think Canon was getting tickled on the homemade swing.

Now that all the work is done, it's time to sit, relax and have a snack!
We did have one night where it rained most of the night. The ground wasn't too wet when we woke up, but after a rousing game of soccer, there was enough dirt on the kids' shoes to make me think we would never get it out!

Awwwwww! He's so cute. Canon carried that hammer around and hit things like he'd seen Dad do when he pounded the tent pegs into the ground. In this picture, he's trying to figure out what kind of force field is protecting Aubree.

Being sick is NO FUN!!

2010-07-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

Guess who we had visit our house this past week? A Strep Throat bug! I'm not sure where we got it, but Canon came down with it first and it's been moving it's way up through the family by weight. Canon suffered with it for 3 days before we figured out what it was. He started on Sat last week, then Raegan got it Tues morning, Kiesten Tues night, and Rylee got it Thurs night of last week. Everyone who's had it is feeling better, although we still have to take medication until Fri. Aubree, Scott and I haven't had it yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. :(

Everyone threw up with this bug, so Canon felt like he needed to carry around a pot. Poor guy!

Memorial Day

2010-06-28T10:51:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty mild spring this year. Temperatures were in the low eighties until the end of May with just a few really hot days. Memorial Day was one of those hot days. We were creeping up on the 100's. So we cooled off by running in the sprinklers. :) I love the smile on Canon's face in this picture!

C'mon Canon...you're going to love it! I promise!

Canon was a fraidy cat at first. It took a little while for him to warm up to the idea that being sprayed in the face with cold water was going to be fun. But we won him over in the end.

Medals and certificates for everyone!!!

2010-06-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

At the end of the school year, Legacy has an awards ceremony for the jr. high and the elementary school. We knew Kiersten would be receiving an award because she'd been working on getting straight A's all year. But we were pleasantly surprised when we started hearing our other girls called up for various awards or certificates. :) Aubree was awarded a certificate for her service on student council as the secretary and a medal for honor roll.
She also maintained all her Lion's Pride points throughout the school year. This is the point system that qualifies you to participate in Lion's Pride days at the end of each semester. Points are taken away for chewing gum or talking in class, etc. And it's the second year she's kept all her points the whole year.
WAY TO GO AUBREE!!

Kiersten was also awarded a certificate for her participation in student council as class representative and going "above and beyond" her duties by volunteering for projects and being at every meeting.
This is her medal for Principal's Pride which meant that she maintained straight A's through every grading period. She also tested into Algebra as a 7th grader, which she is very proud of.

Rylee surprised us by receiving a certificate for her work on the student council as Historian and going "above and beyond" with her volunteerism. Only one boy and one girl were chosen from each grade for this honor, and we got the girl from 4th and 6th! AWESOME!! The picture is a little blurry, but you can see Rylee 3rd from left and Kiersten in the middle receiving their award.
Rylee was also awarded the medal for Principal's Pride. They all worked really hard for their grades and Dad and I are super proud of them!

Here was another surprise: Raegan got Honor Roll??? Huh? I was shocked when she, too, was called up to receive a medal for her grades. We were just trying to make it through the first year with her, and she pulls off something like this! Honor Roll means you maintained A's and B's the whole year. She had some B's in math at the beginning of the year, but by the last quarter, had pulled up every grade to an A!! You know what that means? ICECREAM!!

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-21T08:07:00.001-07:00

Where's Raegan?? Oh! There she is! This is one of Scott's favorite pictures because Raegan is being playful and this kid in the forefront is too thrilled to be there. :)

Our graduate!

This is Raegan's class lined up in the hallway ready to walk to the gym. "Pomp and Circumstance" should be playing right now. We had to readjust all their hats because they couldn't sit still and kept knocking them off or the tassle would slip to the wrong side.

They were just giggling and talking, no idea what's going on or why everyone is wearing a "dress". :) Raegan did really well her first year of school even with all-day kindergarten. She made some friends and some enemies (oops!) but all together it was a great year! Congratulations Graduate!

PB & J!!!!

2010-06-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

'Cause you're peanut butter and I am jelly and we're so happy on our little piece of bread!
There's an a capella group that sings this cute song and Rylee and her best friend, Katelyn, decided to try out for the school talent show with it. They did a great job for the audition and were selected to perform their talent for the school and parents.

They made up their own choreography which included jazz hands at the end. They also received many compliments from their peers and several teachers. It's hard to sing a capella and stay on key especially when you're nervous. But they were wonderful and had so much fun doing it! Way to go girls!! We're so proud of you! :)

Annie Jr!

2010-06-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of last semester, the girls' school held auditions for their first play, "Annie Jr.". Aubree, Kiersten and Rylee really wanted to be involved. Kiersten voluteered as stage crew, Rylee auditioned for the orphan, Tessie, and got it, and Aubree auditioned for the part of Miss Hannigan, and got understudy. Everyone was very excited. :)
Here is Rylee in full makeup and costume as Tessie, the orphan who says, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!" all the time.

At the end of the play, Mr. Warbucks brings all the orphans to his house where they get presents. So Rylee got to be "dolled up" in that scene.

"You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile." Because I was helping backstage for the performances, I never got pictures of the actual shows. But Grandpa Morris recorded the whole thing for me and I'm anxious to see the whole thing together. I watched all 3 shows through the cracks of the scenery. My girls are awesome!!

After learning her lines for Miss Hannigan's understudy, Aubree was given the opportunity to play Mr. Warbucks in a matinee show. So she learned the part for two characters and chose Mr. Warbucks. She hated this hat, but we had to make her look more masculine!
She did a great job with her lines, sang her heart out in the songs and made Mr. Warbucks come alive with choreography!

Backstage was a blast!! I got to be Prop Mistress and this is my crew. Two are missing (Taylor and Kylie)but Quinci, Sabrina and Kiersten
helped change the props while Jared and Erin rotated the scenes. They were great, a little too social with eachother, but great!
This was such a fun experience for me. I always had friends in chorus and drama, but was never outgoing enough to try out for any productions. We worked soooo hard, but it was so much fun!!

How do you know you have a milkaholic living in your house??

2010-05-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

Scott wouldn't let me throw this milk jug away until I took a picture and blogged about it. :) We must buy 10 gallons of milk at a time, and it doesn't last us 10 days. Do the math people...this means we drink more than a gallon a day. When one of the girls sees that we are down to one gallon, and they know mom and dad aren't going to the store to buy more milk that night, this is the message we find on the carton of milk in the morning. Atleast they will all have strong bones and teeth, right?

Father/Son Outing

2010-05-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

And they're off! Try not to miss us, Mom, and enjoy a peaceful night of no crying and no snoring! They camped overnight at a place called Oak Flats. There were quite a few other wards doing their Father/Son outing there, as well

Scott was able to take a couple of boys from the ward and grabbed his brother, Marshall, on the way out of town.

"Mom, this is what guys do when we camp... we eat dirt!" Mmmm looks good.

OUCH!!!

2010-05-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Well, he is a boy, so we should be expecting things like this. Yesterday, Canon tripped, fell, and bit all the way through his lip. There's just a little cut on the outside. The inside looks worse and it's a little swollen and bruised. He cried, the girls freaked out. Nothing like blood to bring the family game night to a screeching halt! Good thing for Dad, though, because he and Aubree were getting schooled in Cranium. (He does an awesome cameo of Kramer...ask him to do it for you...he'd love it!!)

Guess who's missing teeth?

2010-05-10T14:11:00.001-07:00

Raegan is the only child in our family to have lost 2 teeth at the same time. They've been loose for weeks and were steadily drooping lower and lower so that, even though they were still in her mouth, they haven't been helping her pronounce "s" for some time. The adult teeth are already coming in, so she won't have her "window" for long.
The tooth fairy managed to figure out where she slept on the first night!! With Rylee's last tooth, it took the tooth fairy 4 days to figure it out. :)
Now Raegan wants to buy a new bike with her $2. "Is it enough, Dad?" Go ahead...say no to that cute smile with the big front window!

Gila Valley Temple trip

2010-05-03T10:23:00.001-07:00

We kind of last-minute planned this trip. But I wanted my kids to know that the temple is an important place. We always hear about temples in far away places and know we can't go there because of the distance. I don't want them to look back and say,"It was only 3 hours away...why didn't we go?"

The angel, Moroni, sits atop this temple, as most others, sounding his trump to signify that the work is going forth.

It was chilly and very windy, and we were ill prepared. It was actually snowing at the top of Mt. Graham. But I'm so glad we made this trip. It's a small but beautiful temple and will bring great blessings to the residents of this valley.

My boys!

Thanks Marsh and Krissy for the use of a larger vehicle and Marilee and Clint for entertaining us for dinner! We also visited cemetaries in Thatcher and Safford where some of my family members are buried.

Happy Birthday Raegan!!

2010-04-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Raegan has been talking and asking about her sixth birthday since her fifth birthday. How do you tell them that their birthday is so far away, they can't even count that high? So when the birthday got close enough Raegan could actually count the days left, she was very excited!

Her class sang happy birthday while her teacher gave her a birthday sticker and a grab bag of things like a sticky hand, pencil, and little notebook.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Morris, Raegan is set for the swim season with new goggles (which she insisted on wearing until she went to bed) ear plugs, towel and suit. She loves it when they tickle her arm, a tradition that was started when we lived with them and had to keep her quiet during church!
The birthday girl (or boy) gets to pick where we eat dinner. Raegan loves the rice at On The Border. And she thinks it's cool that they sing to her and give her a big dessert for her birthday. She was embarrassed this year, though, and hid behind Dad. :)

The Birthday Fairy strikes again!! Each time our girls have a birthday, there is a package sitting outside the door when they get home from school. This package is filled with cool birthday stuff and everyone crowds around to see what goodies the Birthday Fairy has found this time.
The girls know it's not me or Scott, or either set of grandparents, but aside from that, I'm not telling!! It's more fun that way. :)
Thank you Birthday Fairy!!!

Easter with the Moore family

2010-04-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

We had Scott's family over for Easter dinner. The house smelled like turkey all day and we added other dishes like mashed potatoes and gravy, deviled eggs, fruit salad, rolls, chips and lots of dessert. When all the food was eaten and the candy hidden and hunted, we sat down to relax and enjoy eachother's company.
Here, Canon and Dad contemplate the important things in life. I was honestly surprised I got the picture since Canon is rarely still!

Dad...where's my bag? I found another egg!

Aubree worked so hard to find her eggs and then Scott tipped her and her bag upside down so all the little cousins could steal her candy! Atleast she was a good sport.

Family Easter Celebration

2010-04-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

That's what it's all about...Get the chocolate for mommy! We celebrated Easter for the Morris side on Sat. with a potluck dinner and egg hunt. Then the boys got dressed and headed over for the priesthood session of Conference. We girls got to hang out and talk and even fit in a few games of cards.

You can smile now, ladies, but we all know what's going to happen to that candy when we get home.

I'm not sure how Dad and Daniel got in this picture...we asked for all the kids to line up...wait...that explains a lot.

I know it looks like a lot of grandkids, but we're actually missing 5. Matt and Megan just had a baby girl and Marilee and Clint are in Safford, AZ and weren't able to make it.

Ready...set...GO! This group went from posing for pictures to all out pandemonium. Get out of the way and let the exodus begin!

Coloring Easter Eggs

2010-03-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hey Dad...what happens when you put cold eggs into boiling hot water? His response:Nothing, just go ahead and put them in. Aubree's reaction when the eggs cracked: Ewww! They're like, exploding in the water and now there's egg stuff all over everything!

Hey Dad...what happens when you take a hot egg that's just been boiled and put it under cold water? His response: Nothing, I'm just going to cool them off so we can touch them without burning ourselves.

The egg's response: CRACK!

Canon totally did not get what all the excitement was about. We also discovered that he doesn't like to eat hard boiled eggs. Yuck!

I'm so happy we got this done before Easter. Usually we get so busy with life, I don't think about coloring eggs until it's the day of or after Easter.

FHE

2010-03-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Family Home Evening

2010-03-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

We had a lesson about service the week before, and now it was time for us to put our learning to good use. We've had a lot of rain the last couple of weeks, which is very uncommon in the desert. I love rain in Arizona... it has a different smell.
Anyway, although we love the water, we hate the weeds that inevitably grow afterwards. So we weeded our front yard for FHE. Then we took our tools over to the girls' school and weeded a section of their weeds too. That was actually a lot more fun because we told them they couldn't tell anyone at school about it. They giggled and laughed the whole time. Well, there was some weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth until we made the game out of it. We topped the night off with some Icees from QT.

Happy Birthday Aubree!

2010-03-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

Aubree is 14!!! She celebrated with some friends from her mutual group. They made pizzas, had a bonfire and kind of watched a movie while they painted nails. They also did "blind" makeovers. That's where the person aplying the make up isn't allowed to look at what she's doing. Needless to say, Aubree has lipstick on her forehead and blush in her ear. :)

Nice job, ladies!

The tradition in our family is that the birthday girl or boy gets to pick where the family goes to dinner. Aubree wanted to go to Carl's Jr. Yeah, I know... you could go anywhere you want and she picks Carl's Jr.
Atleast I didn't have to cook. :)

Work or play???

2010-02-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

This is what Scott is keeping himself busy with lately. He loves to work with his hands to build things. He has a buddy who comes across all this cedar fencing and brings it to him so he can create cute hutches and cabinets.

This is one of his favorites because of the different screening he found to make the door. I call it the radiator cabinet because that what it looks like to me.

Use your imagination to turn this one right side up. Scott will spend hours in the garage with his tools putting credit on his "man card" so that he still has something left when I make him watch ice dancing with me during the Olympics. :)

2010-02-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

I gave Canon a haircut, but it's a little longer on top. Had to try the mohawk. :) Scott hates it when we play with his hair. We're girls...it's what we do! He doesn't seem to mind, either.

Raegan is 100 days smarter!! I love that school makes a big deal out of kindergarteners being in school 100 days. It's such a big number for them...they feel like they've accomplished something great!

Disney Trip

2010-02-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun this trip. We brought two cameras so we could take pictures even if one parent took the older kids and the other had the baby. I just didn't want to miss any photo opportunities. What's so sad is we were so busy having fun, we didn't stop to take many pictures! I'm so sad I couldn't just video these guys on all the rides...screaming, laughing, running from the end of the ride to the front of the line to ride it again!!

Canon was the only one that couldn't ride most of the exciting rides. But he did Tarzan's Treehouse, Pirates of the Caribbean (twice), the Haunted House, Dumbo ride, Carousel, etc. Here he is chilling with Pooh while Dad and the girls get soaked on Splash Mountain. :) And I mean SOAKED!! I rode with the girls first, and they wanted Dad to go next. I told them to make sure he sat in the front so he'd get the bigger splash. I had no idea with all the weight in the front it would make a tidal wave....hahahahaha!! He was dripping as they came off the ride. :) Luckily we stayed right across the street from the park and he walked back with Canon and changed while we rode Thunder Mountain three times in a row and topped it off with Pinocchio's Adventures and Snow White's Ride.

One of the few pictures we got earlier in the day. This was right after we rode the Matterhorn three times in a row. :) We took advantage of the "Give a day, get a day" offer and used our tickets as soon as we got them. Our goal was to do everthing the girls wanted to do. If they wanted to stay in the park all day, we'd do it. If they wanted to ride one ride over and over and over again, we'd do it. We got to the park early and stayed as long as they'd let us. It was such an amazing trip. So many things could have gone wrong with a family this size, but they didn't. We won't likely be able to duplicate that again. I'm so glad we got to go!!!

Ahhh...the teacups! Dad is losing it over the side and Aubree's about to lose breakfast as well. I love the teacups, as long as Kiersten and Rylee are't allowed to control the spin!

The beach during our Disneyland trip

2010-02-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

The beach is my favorite cheap family vacation. And even though it is cold in January, it's still the beach...hello! Here the girls are chasing lazy seagulls who were napping in the last rays of the setting sun.

We managed to keep the kids out of the surf. Everyone went home happy and dry with lots of shells. :)

We had just been in the car for 6 hours, so I'm pleased that everyone is atleast smiling and still friends.

2010-01-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is the Sunday after Christmas, and Canon was still feeling lousy. He had whined and fussed all day and there wasn't much we could do for him. He wouldn't take a nap but was soooo tired. Dad came home from his Sunday meetings and gave me a break by just taking him in the other room. They ended up falling asleep together on the couch and took an hour nap while the girls and I played Rummikub.
You never notice how happy Canon is until he isn't...and how nice it is when he's back to himself again. That was no fun.

2010-01-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

That's the problem with taking a photo directly off your camera...no edit button. Oh well, just turn the computer sideways, right? No problem.

So here's the story: Canon was getting over a bad cold and the stomach flu when Christmas Eve decided to come around. He hadn't had a good night's sleep for several days. Consequently, neither had I. We chanced going out on our annual Christmas Eve dinner in our pj's hoping we wouldn't regret taking him out and risking his health getting worse. We made it through dinner and even got to look at some Christmas lights with our Wendy's frosties. Yum. But by the time we got home, he was exhausted and so were we. :)

I think we went to bed around 9 pm that night. So no midnight wrapping for us this year.

Here is everyone opening the one present we get to open on Christmas Eve: pj's. :) You know what's funny? I think all the girls are in their pj's anyway...it was just on odd holiday this year with everyone being sick to some degree. These are the only pics I got because everyone was so NOT in the Christmas spirit. We didn't even get to spend time with extended family because we didn't want to share the germs. :) But we did have a great time watching old movies and musicals, and playing board games. I found out that Kiersten is a really good deductive reasoner. She kicks our trash in Clue!

2010-01-11T12:18:00.000-08:00

I've been using my blog as a way to keep in touch with family that doesn't live 'round here. With all the friends that print their blog into a scrapbook, I think I'm going to change the format of how I blog from now on. It will resemble more of a journal for my family than once a week posts. That's the plan anyway. Like all resolutions, it will probably work for a few months and then life will happen. :)

Vrooom, vrooom, errrrrt!!

2009-11-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

Aubree bought this little remote control car for Scott's birthday back in Sept. It makes me laugh to think of all the entertainment it has provided for our family. Canon doesn't like the noise it makes and the fact that he can't predict where it's going next. Scott likes to chase him with it. Canon finally got wise and climbed up on Dad's back where the car can't get him. :)

This is how I found them after coming home from running errands.

2009-11-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

One last picture that didn't make it to the blog yesterday. Scott wasn't able to be at the Veterans' Day ceremony, so he asked me to take pictures with my phone and send them to him. Isn't technology wonderful? Anyway, Murphy's Law dictates that when you need lots of juice in your electronic devices, you won't have it. Between the dead batteries in my camera and the one in my phone, I snapped and shared as many pics as I could. This turned out to be a great morning!

Thank you Veterans!!

2009-11-11T12:22:00.000-08:00

As we take a few moments to honor our veterans today, we want to "shout out" to Grandpa Darvin and tell him how much we love and appreciate all he does for us and the sacrifices he made for the freedoms we enjoy!! We love you!

The girls' school had a Veterans' Day ceremony this morning, and although I was a little bummed about not being able to go to the Mesa Veterans' Day Parade, I was so proud of the contribution my family made to help honor the veterans that were present. Here is Kiersten reciting "In Flanders Field" in front of the veterans and parents.

Raegan and the rest of the student body that came sang,"This Land Is Your Land" . Kiersten is in the back row hidden by someone's head. Raegan sat for 45 minutes during the ceremony and didn't fidget or distract from the other speakers. She did a great job!! Rylee watched Canon for me so I could take pictures. Thanks for being who you are, girls!

Aubree played interlude music for the pancake breakfast. This piece was a Yankee Doodle Dandy Medley.

Canon turns 1!!!!

2009-11-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

Canon turned one year old at the end of October. The girls were really excited and even woke him up at 5:37am to sing happy birthday to him.:)

We bought him a big ball and lots of balloons for his big day.

Canon is 28 lbs. but won't stand still long enough for me to measure his height. He has 14 teeth and still hasn't had an ear infection. I'm holding out as long as I can on the hair cut. I'm just afraid the curls won't grow back. :(

He wasn't as interested in his cake as we thought he'd be. He liked to squish it between his fingers, but not put it in his mouth. He had maybe 3 bites...yes that mess is from 3 bites!

Here Canon is sporting his new BYU jersey (Thanks Grandma!) while Dad writes his name on his tennis balls so the girls won't conveniently adopt them as their own!! Back off Raegan!

What are the odds?

2009-11-02T08:53:00.000-08:00

Impossible that we would find street names for our guys, even more impossible that they would intersect so neatly for my picture. :)

We passed this street sign and couldn't get an angle that I liked without being hit by traffic. So as we were driving to find the angle we came across the Scott St. and Canon St. intersection. I'm sure the convenience store owner on the corner thought we were loony. Oh well, this is a one in a million picture!

Happy Halloween Creep!

2009-11-02T08:23:00.001-08:00

Everyone got to be what they wanted this year, and everyone decided to be "not scary". Aubree was the princess who kissed the frog, Kiersten was a cute mouse that kept being mistaken for a rabbit, Rylee was a Cinderella, Raegan was "Santa Lucia" (Swedish folklore) and Canon was a cannonball ( my personal favorite) :)

Scott and I were a double-stuffed Oreo. I know...homemade and kinda cheesy, but we had fun. :)

KABOOM!! His hair is the wick...some insensitive lady said she would have never known it wasn't a girl. I wanted to punch her. I love that we were able to make the stroller into the cannon.

We came home with WAY too much candy. Time to exercise and start saving for the dentist bill.

Canon's first trip to the beach!!

2009-10-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

Boy is he a boy! While the girls ran for the water, Canon was mesmerized by the feel of the sand on his feet, in his hands, and in his mouth. We couldn't get him to be excited about the waves, he just wanted to sit down in the sand and play with it.
By the third day, I just let him go. When we were ready to leave, we stripped him down, poured a gallon of warm water all over him, put on a new diaper, and wrapped him up for the ride to the motel. He was asleep by the time we hit the interstate. :)

Our October break trip to San Diego.

I found my camera cord!!!

2009-10-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!! I found my camera cord...so I'll be getting more posts up as long as my computer cooperates!!

2009-10-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone at our house wanted to run for student body offices this year.

They were allowed 3 posters each but Mom only had the creativity and time for 2 posters each.

The speeches went well, there were a lot of kids running, but I'm so proud of the girls for having the gumption to even try.

Aubree was elected as Jr. High Secretary. Rylee was elected as the elementary school Historian. And although Kiersten didn't get the vote for elementary Secretary, she was nominated by her teacher and the vice principal to be her class representative. :)

2009-10-19T20:20:00.001-07:00

I'm not being lazy...I have taken tons of pictures within the last few weeks but I can't upload them because I lost the cable that goes from my camera to the computer!!! I've looked for it everyday, but haven't found it yet. There is much to blog, but no pictures. So everyone send your prayers and positive energy so I can find that cable and stop tearing my house apart!

More Halloween costume suggestions for Canon

2009-09-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Or maybe he can be the Mad Hatter (role reprised by Johnny Depp). You don't get that with one shake of the head!!

What do you think? :)

2009-09-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

Do you think Canon should be Superman for Halloween? lol

2009-09-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

In an effort to blog more regularly, kind of like keeping a journal, Monday is going to be my day to blog. Hopefully Canon will stay on some kind of a schedule so I can get this done without him trying to eat my camera!

So this was an outing we did during the summer. Actually, we did this on Aug. 22nd, the last Fri. the girls were out of school and Scott had the day off. We thought we'd have one last adventure before school started. We kayaked Tempe Town Lake. This picture is underneath the rail road and light rail tracks. It was pretty cool.

The girls were a little tired when we were done, but the experience is invaluable. And we get to spend time together. :)

"Can we go now!!??"

We love kayaking as a family. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us borrow the kayaks anytime we want!!

2009-09-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

We chilled in front of the TV for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game on Sat. Canon enjoyed laying on Dad's arm after all the work was done.

I would have much rather been watching BYU, but we don't get cable. However, I will root against Notre Dame any day of the week. :) My favorite part of the game was watching the Notre Dame coach chase the officials into the locker room trying to convince them there was one more second left on the clock. Sorry Charlie (that really is the coach's name!) you lost! How do ya like them apples? hehehehehe!

First..wait...second day of school. :)

2009-09-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

OK, so things were a little hectic the first day of school and I ran out the door without my camera. This is the "crazy" pose on the second day of school. Aubree is in 8th grade, Kiersten 6th, Rylee 4th, and Raegan is in kindergarten.
Raegan is very excited to be one of the "big" girls and have a lunch to pack and back pack to carry. She is loving kindergarten, although I'm not sure how much she is absorbing since I helped her study for her first test, and she didn't do so well. I can see I'm really going to have to be on top of things.

All the girls seem to like their teachers and I'm so happy that Aubree has rediscovered her love for the violin. Her last orchestra teacher all but killed it. And she is getting involved in the Jr high cheer squad.
Kiersten will start orchestra before school this week, and Rylee has decided she wants to play one orchestra instrument (cello) and one band instrument (drums). No, she doesn't know how to slow down. :)

I'm so proud of the girls for helping eachother out when it comes to getting ready for school. I haven't had to make a lunch for any of them yet. Aubree, Kiersten and Rylee usually help Raegan get dressed and get her breakfast.
We have a deal that as long as their rooms are clean before they leave for school, they get to stay up an extra half hour at bedtime.
So far, I'm loving all-day kindergarten!!

2009-09-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

I've been REALLY bad about blogging this summer. So now that school is in full swing again and we're back on a schedule, I'm going to be better. My goal is to make one post a week, or more, hopefully on Monday morning. If I have a set day, I'm hoping to make myself more accountable.:) Thanks to all the bloggers I follow that are more diligent than me. You're a great example!!

2009-09-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

We always pile stuff in front of the stairs so Canon can't go up and risk falling down. It's usually one of the bigger chairs from the dining room table. But last Thurs, the chair was out of the way and he managed to go upstairs without me knowing. I couldn't figure out who had moved the chair. But them I caught the culprit on tape.
Can I just say, I never want to cut Canon's hair? I know the day will come when it is necessary to cut his curly locks so he won't be mistaken for a girl. But I just can't bring myself to do it now. The girls love to play with it and put things in it. I just love that it's curly and still brown. He did get something from me.

He's standing!!

2009-08-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

The images are a bit blurry because they were taken from my phone, but Canon is standing on his own. He doesn't go from sitting to standing, we have to help get him vertical, but his balance is improving. He has taken his first step, although the exact date is under debate. Aubree insists it was last Sunday while Dad and I were at meetings. But the rule in the house is, if Mom doesn't see it, it doesn't count. SO...he took his first step Monday, Aug. 10 :)

This is a cute picture of me trying to get Canon to finish his mush before nodding off. You can see how well it worked. He just laid his head against mine and closed his eyes. " I just can't do it, Mom."

2009-07-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

We always celebrate the 4th of July with the Morris family. It's an annual swim/BBQ/rockets/ fireworks extravaganza!! This year I wanted to do it at my house, so thanks everyone for being willing to break with tradition. :) These are photos of the rocket launching. Scott usually preps the rockets, although I did learn how to do it myself. It only took a few botched launches to figure out what I was doing wrong. But I think I will forever be teased by my dad for trying to use an old engine. It really was an honest mistake!!! We tried to keep everyone hydrated. None of the kids wanted to be in the shade, they wanted to be chasing the rockets. Grandma snapped this photo of my "snack packs" before they took off to run around. It had rained for several hours the night before, and the park where we wanted to shoot rockets was under water. So the vacant lots behind our house became the new launch pad, and thankfully, there wasn't any really wet mud!

2009-07-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

This is the baby eagle we got to see on our hike down to Woods Canyon Lake. The forest ranger took my camera and focused it through the lens of her telescope to get this image. It was really cool!

We saw the mom eagle while we were kayaking on the lake the day before. I've never seen one in real life, so this was very exciting. She has a 7 foot wingspan and is 1/3 larger than the father. Way to go...girl power!!

Dad and Raegan were in a kayak together, Kiersten and Rylee got their own and Aubree rowed Canon and I around...until I got nervous and made Raegan switch with me. That was a hilarious sight. I'm sure the fishermen who were out never bargained on such early morning entertainment! Canon's life jacket was way to big for him and swallowed him up most of the time. He was not happy.

2009-07-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

We went camping on the Mogollon Rim last weekend. It was nice to escape the heat and get together with extended family. This is the first real trip we've taken as a family since Canon was born. He did pretty good and we had plenty of warm clothes for him...

Aubree didn't get any sleep, however, because she's developed into a light sleeper and Dad was snoring all night! She rolled over to me at one point, in tears, and confessed she hadn't slept since we got in the tent! Poor Aubree... she volunteered to sleep in the 2-man pup tent the next night and said afterwards it was the best night of sleep she'd ever had. :)

Rylee was in the zone all weekend with so many bugs, rocks, plants and animals to identify...there was never a shortage of things for her to do. Here she is with her cousin, Avery, holding a horny toad.

This is the beautiful scenic outlook near Woods Canyon Lake. We had a lot of fun, but boy did that shower feel good when we got home!

2009-06-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

I know this post is way late...school was over almost a month ago. But the girls get such a kick out of seeing themselves in the internet. :)

Kiersten earned honorable mention at school for getting straight A's in every quarter this year. She's been working all year and was really excited about accomplishing this goal. Way to go!!
Aubree earned her honorable mention for being one of only 9 girls to still have lion's pride points at the end of each quarter for good behavior. The principal challenged the boys to work a little harder next year. She got a medal and certificate titled "Best of the Pride". That was pretty cool for us as parents. :)

Rylee was honored as the Citizen of the Year for her classroom. Each teacher was supposed to nominate one student from their class that exemplified each of the nine character traits they worked on this year.
We were at school to see Kiersten get her award and were pleasantly surprised to hear Rylee's name be called for this award. Glad we were there! She's standing in the white polo with the blue jeans.

Scott is just giddy with pride, especially since by this time in his elementary school career, he'd already been suspended for selling firecrackers on the bus!

2009-06-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Have you ever googled yourself to see what other people would find of they were looking for you? I just did this today and I was surprised at how many other Cheri Moore's and Morris's there are in the world and what kinds of interesting things they do. It was kind of fun, but no one who is looking for me would ever be able to find me on the internet. That can be bad or good. :)

Summer Time!!

2009-06-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not quite summer time for us yet. The girls still have one more week of school. They started later, so they have to end later. But that won't get in the way of us swimming as much as possible. Our first trip to the pool was in March. It was too cold for me, but the girls enjoyed themselves. This swimming outing was in May, and the water was perfect! This is the best time of year for swimming. In July and August, it's so warm, it feels like bathwater...not refreshing at all.

We had to reteach Raegan on how to lift her head to take a breath. We don't live across the street from a pool anymore, so it will be more difficult for her to become as profficient as her sisters. Canon seems to like the water. He splashes and kicks when I hold him away from me.

Speed limit 1 MPH

2009-06-02T08:59:00.000-07:00

Canon has been building his leg muscles in preparation for crawling. He went the longest time on all fours, just sticking his rump in the air like a stink bug. Then he managed to get his knees underneath him. He kind of skipped the whole rocking back and forth stage. His first real attempt at crawling was more of a move the first knee and drag the other leg. It wasn't fast and it wasn't pretty. :) But he's gotten the hang of it now and has ventured into every room in the house. In fact, on Sunday, when we were all busy getting ready for church, we heard a cry. No one could figure out where Canon had gone. We were upstairs and worried because there isn't a baby gate on the stairs. We found him in Rylee's room uspet because he'd sat up and bonked his head on her bed. Looks like we can't put off the baby gate any longer. Time to baby proof the kitchen cabinets as well. :)

Now he's pulling himself up on furniture, which is great for his progression, but frustrating for me when I put him to bed and he stands up and plays around in his crib. He thinks it's hilarious when he can see me over the edge of the crib.

Just can't stay awake!

2009-05-18T13:41:00.001-07:00

I just couldn't keep him awake to finish his food. Have you seen the funny videos on TV where the kids are falling asleep in their food? I wish I had had the camera rolling on this one. :)

I'm laughing my head off watching him nod deeper and deeper into sleep, when I hear this strange noise coming from the other room. I walked in to find this....

...snoring away. Hmmmmm...I wonder where Canon gets it from? :)

Father/son campout

2009-05-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

Scott's first opportunity to take his son on a father/son campout worked out really well. They borrowed Uncle Marshall's Tahoe so they could sleep in the back. They stayed close and Scott promised not to roll over on Canon. :) The girls stayed home and watched a chick flick (Sense and Sensibility) and ate whatever we wanted! This was the first night in 6 months and 24 days that I slept through the entire night. I woke up in the same position I went to bed in.

Legacy girls' soccer

2009-05-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

Aubree just finished the girls' soccer season at Legacy. She played defense this time and loved it! She has quite a leg. Any time the other team got the ball near her goal, she'd boot it outta there. :) She did get a chance to score a goal when one of the games was tied at the end of regulation play. They went to penalty kicks and she scored one of the points that helped her team win. She also made a lot of friends. It's a small school, so they open up sports to 6th-8th grades and they all play together. I'd love to get her involved in other sports as well next year.

Who's having more fun?

2009-05-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

The scouts in our ward have been working on their cycling merit badge. This is a badge Scott totally gets into. This particular trip was a 25 miler, camp overnight in the "wilderness" and ride 25 miles back. They also worked on their Tote and Chip. It was a very productive activity, accomplishing 4 important goals... 2 required distances, an overnight campout and the tote and chip training. But you'll never convince me that the leaders aren't having just as much fun. They use scouting as an excuse to go play. :)

Scott's bike has been dubbed the "sissy bike". It's light, and the wheels are thin...it's a road bike. His only response to the scouts was, "You try to keep up and we'll see who has the sissy bike." I don't think any of the scouts have had Physics yet, and therefore wouldn't understand the concept of surface area and it's affect on friction and speed. Needless to say, with the bike and what Scott has learned about wind drafting, he was having a good time watching these young men work 3 times as hard for the same result he got. So the question remains... who's having more fun?

There were more leaders than boys...which is what makes me think scouting is an excuse for grown men to play around. Don't get me wrong...it serves an important purpose and teaches skills and leadership...but c'mon now...more men than boys? See my point?

Raegan turns 5!

2009-05-18T12:44:00.001-07:00

Raegan has turned 5 years old. :) This is such a milestone in a little kids life. No more car seats... starting school next year. She would always ask us when she got to go to school, and we always said, " When you turn 5." The first school day after her birthday she woke up and asked if she needed to get dressed because she was 5 now and it was time to go to school. :) Sorry for the let down, sweetheart. Truth be told, I don't think kindergarten is ready for you!

2009-05-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

We had a mother/daughter Enrichment last month. There were people doing hair, nails, dancing, music, jewelry...everything that girls like to do. So my girls got their hair and nails done and we just had to take a picture of it. Nice diva pose, Aubree! When we tried to duplicate Rylee's updo the next morning, it was hopeless. Sorry ladies...a cosmotologist I am not!

Robot project

2009-05-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

Kiersten is involved in an after school critical thinking club and for an assignment, they had to design a robot they served a specific function. So she got Dad involved (watch out!) and decided her robot needed to dispense Oreos and chilled beverages.:) I think it says a lot about where we spend our money when the the body of the robot is made from milk and diaper boxes and the legs and neck are formula cans.

She named him Walle and they all had a lot of fun. Dad is most proud that Kiersten's was the biggest robot. :)

We're ready to entertain!

2009-04-21T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is the view from the patio. My garden is on the left and the firepit on the right. We haven't mowed the grass yet because you have to wait 2 weeks and the mower needs a little work. It's so nice to sit on the chairs when the sun is going down and the backyard is completely shaded. We played kickball for FHE lastnight and I think the girls have forgiven us for giving away the trampoline. :)

We planted a lemon, orange and mandarin tree. There are also african daisies, lantana and marine heliatrope that smells like vanilla. Mmmmm!

In our garden we are growing zuccini, squash, tomatoes, cantaloup, watermelon, strawberries, and red bell peppers.

It's too hot now (supposed to be 100 degrees today!) to light a fire or do any dutch oven cooking. But next season, we'll be roasting marshmallows every night! S'mores with the Moores. :)

Our spring break project

2009-04-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

The garden and firepit are done, plants in, rock spread...time for sod! We had to move the trampoline onto the firepit so we could work on the grass. We got the tramp from a brother, abused it for a year and then passed it on to the neighbor. We almost had a mutiny on our hands until the neighbor said the girls could come over and use it anytime. :)

There were over a hundred cuts Scott had to make for the pathways from the garage to the side gate, out to the firepit and to extend the existing patio on our house. It was time consuming, but Scott likes to work with his hands. Where did he learn all this? His dad.

This is how Raegan helps. Scott found her hollowing out a nice little bed for herself in the rock he was trying to spread. She even brought out a little pillow. :)

Finally!!

2009-04-21T10:08:00.001-07:00

Oops! Forgot to turn this one the right way. Scott is standing by my almost finished patio/firepit.

We loved the idea of a raised step to the patio. We'd seen it in brochures and been to Scott's cousin's house where they had done it. The block had to be sturdy enough to hold in all the soil and sand, so Scott laid the block in concrete and then mortared the pavers on top.

My garden is raised so I can sit on the edge and weed or harvest when needed. It also adds a nice feature to the rest of the yard. You have no idea how many wheel barrow full's of soil we had to bring in for the garden and the patio. Scott said he lost about 8 lbs working on this project!

Are you guys helping or playing around?

It used to be flat dirt with a trampoline in the middle of it. We dug our sprinkler trenches and added pipes for a garden and fruit trees with a few plants scattered here and there. That was the dream...we'd been designing it for a year, waiting for the funds to be available.

I missed it

2009-03-23T09:28:00.001-07:00

We knew Canon was going to roll over very soon. I just figured that since I'm home a lot more, I would be the one telling everybody. But Canon decided to roll over on the one night Mom isn't around, which is Enrichment night. I'm sitting in the middle of our spiritual thought when I get a text from Scott saying that Canon rolled over. So I texted back,"Are you recording it?", which, of course, he wasn't. He spent the next 20 minutes trying to get Canon to repeat this event, which,of course, he didn't. But I did get to see it the next day. Since I'm the historian of the family, nothing happens until Mom sees it. Therefore, Canon didn't actually turn over until March 6th. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Here is Canon during Spring Break "helping" in the backyard.

What a crank pot!

2009-03-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Guess who got his first two teeth? That's right...My "not so little" Canon is sporting some new bling. It looks like he's sticking out his tongue, but he's really feeling those teeth with the underside of it. He had a rough night last Thursday and I thought he was coming down with something. But Fri night I felt his first little tooth coming through, and by Monday morning, the other one showed up as well. I'm glad there's a reason for all the crankiness!

Since Canon is such a big boy now, we thought we'd start him on some mush. He made a big mess, but thoroughly enjoyed solid food. I keep telling Scott Canon is becoming more and more like him each day. :)