B & G Ginn Family

Way To go Stacia!

2011-12-20T20:42:00.000-08:00

Bobby Made a deal with Stacia that if she would read all of the Illustrated Bible Books then she could get a new bike. Well needless to say, she did it! It only took her about two weeks and the day she finished, Bobby took a long lunch so he could help her pick one out!!

Sea World

2011-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

For fall break this year, the kids and I drove down to visit Grandma and Grandpa Ginn. One of the days we were there we spent at Sea World! It was a wonderful day, the weather was beautiful and since we went on a Thursday, it was not crowded at all!

The first thing we saw was a legless lizard. It looked just like a snake to me so I was surprised the kids would get so close to it. I learned that one of the biggest differences between a legless lizard and a snake is that the lizard has hips. Crazy.

Let's get dizzy!!

We saw Elmo and Grover which was really fun for the kids, except Lauren, she liked them from a distance but she wouldn't go near them :)

Lauren, Milena, Stacia, and Landon with Grandpa Ginn

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the kids got soaked at the Shamoo Show, and they were even wearing ponchos!!

The kids love the tide pools! There is so much to see in there !

The boys about to take flight!

WooHoo!

This vacation was right before Halloween so grandma made Rice Crispie treats that the kids could mold into fun Halloween shapes.

Yum!

Fun Grandma time :)

And of course Grandma made the kids their favorite breakfast, Dutch Babies!! Thanks Grandma!

Hillman's Visit/Happy Birthday Lauren!!!!

2011-11-09T14:23:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, the Hillman family came to visit. Julie and the girls drove out from AZ to spend a few days on the beach with us, we had a wonderful time together!! The kids love, love, love going to the beach, I think we could have just stayed there for the whole 4 days and they wouldn't have complained a bit.

Landon taking advantage of the time to relax in the sun and read a good book.

Stacia and Gracie

A little boogie boarding

Grace eating a little snack, yum

Running from the waves

Abby collecting shells and sand dollars

The fog rolled in, but that didn't stop the kids from playing for a few more hours. Crazy kiddos, it got quite cold!

While they were here, Lauren had her birthday!!!! I can't believe my baby is 4 years old! My amazing neighbor, Amy made her this Dora cake. It was so awesome we almost didn't want to cut it...almost :)

It was so nice to have the Hillman's here to help us celebrate! Lauren had been looking forward to her birthday for months an d she was so excited when it finally came!

Among other things, she got a new bike!! Abby and Stacia told her it was from the two of them and to this day when you ask her who gave her the bike she says "The Hillman's" She loves it and wants to ride it all the time. She is such a wonderful part of our family! She is a little spitfire and she knows what she wants, she can throw a mean tantrum when she wants too, but she is also so loving and gives the best hugs!! Happy Birthday Lauren, we love you soooooo much!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Our Halloween fun started when Lauren got to go on a field trip to a pumpkin patch. She had so much fun playing on all the pumpkins and even got to go on a little hay ride. Milli Got to go as well, but I was out of town for hers, so I don't have any pictures :(

Picking out a Pumpkin

Lauren and her friend Micha

The kids had a great Halloween. We had our friends, the Merkley's over and we all went trick-or-treating around our crazy neighborhood. Except Bobby and Dave, who stayed behind to hand out candy and scare the crap out of everyone who dared come to our house :) They built quite a scary little box around our porch and had a lot of fun with it. Even Milli and Lauren were scared to death and they knew who was in the costumes!!

Lauren, the beautiful butterfly

Harry Potter

Dorothy

Taylor Swift

Dave and Bobby

The Merkley and Ginn kids

A beautiful Greek Goddess holding a chicken :)

Building up their strength for all the walking.

Trick-or-Treat!

Everyone had an awesome night! It was so fun to watch Lauren get excited at every single house, like she just couldn't believe everyone wanted to give her candy! She kept running up and showing me all her treats and she would say "I said thank you!" She was so proud of herself :)

Lake Powell 2011

2011-10-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

We Love Lake Powell

Gina cliff jumping from close to 30 feet up.

Kory and Katie Lewis

Jonathon and Tasha Beisinger

Kenny and Jillyn Whitehead

Jason and Nicole Bender

Picture Perfect

Air Time for Bobby

The Boys Tubing

The start to a great Luau

Nice Melons

Nice drinks Mormon style!

Nice Faces...............Benders

Time to DANCE!!!!!!!!!!

Group Photo

Brian and Krista Pendelton

Travis and Heather Jordan

We all got Hawaiian names for the party.
Kia and Popi

Time for a movie cliff side.... back up your houseboat like you would your station wagon.

Gina on another glassy day.

You can always find Glass at Lake Powell if you look.

Two Great People
Thanks for the great trip Kory and Katie.

Gina
Air-born

FFL

Might be the last time He tries the flip. Bobby's Back still hurts a month later. He's OLD

Wont be the last time I catch air. I'm still young.

First day of School and Soccer, Soccer Soccer

2011-09-02T08:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe summer is already over, it seemed really short this year. The kids started school on Aug. 23rd and they all are doing great. They all like their teachers and it was fun for Stacia and Landon to see some of the friends they made at the end of last year.

They are growing up so fast! Stacia is in 4th grade, Landon is in 3rd and Milena started kindergarten!!

Mom and Lauren hanging out in our jammies with the house to ourselves :)

Lauren had her first day of preschool on Aug. 25th. She was so excited and she has no problem leaving mom, which makes me happy and a little sad. She said " just drop me off on the sidewalk and I'll run in. Then you drive away mom". She was not happy when I told her I have to walk her inside but she got over it and I think she likes it now.

Stacia, Landon and Milli are all playing soccer this year and they had their first games on Saturday. First up was Stacia, her team played well and had fun but they still lost 6-0. That's what practice games are for right?

The girls watching on the sideline.

Stacia played goalie for a quarter and she did great. She said "I didn't let them score one goal when it was my turn, except that one" Haha, she's a funny girl :)

Next was Milli's turn. At her age they all pretty much just swarm around the ball, which is very cute. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Throwing the ball in :)

Then we had Landon's game. Like with Stacia's game they played well but ended up losing 4-0. Landon is the youngest on his team and is learning a lot from his teammates.

You can't have a day of soccer without orange slices!

After all that soccer, we decided we needed more, so we drove down to LA for an Chivas USA vs. RSL game. It was really fun, the kids had a great time and RSL won!!!

Fun at the Pool and the Fair!

2011-08-12T13:16:00.001-07:00

While our families were here we made good use out of the hotel pool.

Here's Christy with all the little girls in the hot tub.

That's Landon flying through the air between Bobby and Jeff!

The boys had fun throwing the kids around until some lady told on them and they got in trouble.

Jared and Holly stayed by us for an extra day so we decided to go to the Ventura County Fair.

Look at these cute farmers :)

Landon and Lizzie were brave and decided to try Mutton Bustin'! There is video of it at the bottom of this post.

Kids love to play in sand

Stacia collecting eggs

Lauren gathering oranges

Milking the cow

You can't go to the fair and not eat cotton candy!!

Landon did awesome climbing the rock wall

Stacia told me she wanted to go bungee jumping an I freaked out! Then she showed me what she meant so I let her do it and she had a lot of fun. There is a trampoline under her :)

The little girls went for a helicopter ride

It was awesome to have family here! We had a great time and miss you all already!!

Landon's Baptism

2011-08-09T16:46:00.001-07:00

Landon was baptized on Aug. 6th and it was a wonderful day. He had so much love and support from his family and friends. We are so happy with him and the person he is growing up to be. We love you Landon and feel very blessed to have you in our family!

All ready to go!

Lauren waiting for the big event.

Stacia wore her baptism dress and was very excited for Landon.

Aunt Holly playing beautiful music for us.

Thank you to everyone who came to share this special day with Landon!

We had a little luncheon after.

After lunch we went to the beach and then swimming at the hotel pool. We all had a great time.

When we got home everyone just hung out and enjoyed being together. Grandma Lemke played a game of Monopoly with the kiddos :)

A good part of the night was spent playing on Christy's phone. Phones can do so many silly things these days :)

It was a special day and I am so thankful for my family and for the Gospel in my life.

Cute Summer Haircuts

2011-08-03T11:39:00.001-07:00

Milli and Lauren both got new haircuts for the Summer. They are cute and I don't have to fight with tangles!!

Utah Trip

2011-07-22T09:52:00.001-07:00

The kids and I went to Utah for almost three weeks. We packed in as much fun as could, which was a lot! We spent the first few days hanging out and relaxing at Grandma's house. The kids had fun blowing bubbles with Amanda's kids.

Lauren LOVES Corbin! She wanted to hold him constantly and when he wasn't with us she would beg me to go get him. She also started pretending that her baby doll was Corbin, it was so cute.

Amanda put together a cabin trip for us and of course we had a great time. there is so much to do there, we love it!

The little girls all cozy watching a movie :)

Rachel and Austin brought their dog Molly and Stacia fell in love with her.

Corbin is four weeks old, it's about time he went 4 wheelin'!!

This is the view I had of the boys the whole weekend :)

Lauren had a collision with Makayla on the first night and she got this impressive black eye!

Playing in the water.

Going for a ride with Uncle Jared.

We spent a day at the Thanksgiving Point farm. The kids are seeing which animal they weigh as much as.

Playing in jail

They love feeding the animals

Of course we had to ride the ponies!

Grandma Lemke and a llama

Milli and her cow friend Millie :)

We went on a wagon ride and Lauren said "look mom no hands" haha she's cute :)

Jeff and Christy came down on the 4th of July and we took the kids to the children's garden at Thanksgiving Point. I have never been there before and didn't know what to expect, but it was really fun the kids had a great time.

Jeff throwing Lauren into the pond

The bear cave

Stacia kissing a snake

playing in the pond

Making beautiful music

Jeff held the kids over the water spouts so they would get nice and wet :)

Jeff happy that he has drenched the kids

Love for Uncle Jeff

After the garden, we had a bar-b-que with the Johnson's. we set up a pool and slip n' slide for the kids.

Stacia and Mckenna took a break from swimming to decorate the table's with stickers.

Holly and Bryce were twinners, so cute!!

Time for a dance party and some fireworks!!

The neighbors all gather to do fireworks together it's really fun

The Johnson's

The Top's

It's fun to watch Liz and Jeanie do the YMCA!!

Sparklers!!

Fun with glow sticks

Don't worry, Makayla has the matches!!

The next day was Landon's party at the Wingate's. The kids had a blast in the pool.

We stopped by the old house and the flowers are doing great

Last day with everyone. We love you guys!!

Rachel was turning 25 so we got her an awesome little cake. It has a stiletto on it, so cute :)

We had such a good time hanging out with family and friends, the only thing that could have made the trip better is if Bobby could have come with us.

Happy Birthday!!

2011-07-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Milli & Landon!

Milena turned 5 on June 18th. She is growing up too fast! I can't believe she'll be in kindergarten this fall! She has a personality all her own, she is a very determined little girl if she wants to be able to do something she watches and practices until she can do it. She has recently taught herself to snap her fingers and whistle!! She is so cute and we love having her in our family!!

Milli's first party was with her new friends here in Ventura. We have a neighbor who makes amazing cakes and she made this awesome princess castle for us. Thanks so much Amy, it really was awesome and Millie loved it!

Bobby came home for a few minutes to wish her a happy birthday :)

The kids colored and put together a giant puzzle.

Then we went in the back yard to do a pinata, Milli was the first to go and she got it to open up on the first pull!!

Get the candy!!

Then we came back inside for gifts and cake. What a fun day for my little Milli.

Party #2

Landon turned 8 years old on July 13th. He is going to be baptized on Aug.6th and we are so excited!! My kids are getting older and yet somehow I haven't aged a bit ;) Landon is very excited to start Scouts and he will be in soccer this fall, he loves to read and is on the fourth Harry potter book right now. We love him so much and feel blessed to have him in our family.

Milli and Landon had a combined party with my family at the Zoll cabin.

We had the kids play a game where they each got a balloon with a paper inside, they had to pop their balloon to find out if they were the winner! They had a hard time getting the balloons to pop but aunt Rachel was there to help them out. It was hilarious and I tried to post a video but couldn't get it to work. I will keep trying because it was really funny!

At the end of the game, Lila was the winner so she got a super cool glittery bouncy ball!!

Of course we had to have cake and open gifts! Thanks everyone it was a very fun time :0)

Party #3

While we were still in Utah Landon got to have a party with his old friends!! Sherrie Wingate was nice enough to offer her pool and the kids had a blast!!

It was so fun to back in the old neighborhood. We were so happy that so many of his friends could make it!!

Party #4

When we got back to California, Bobby wanted in on the fun so we had another party! I left the number 8 candle in UT but I had two number 4's so his cake had 4 + 4 on it. I know, we are awesome.

Landon got a new bike!!!

I think Landon and Millie were sufficiently spoiled this year!! Milli also had a party at Bobby's parent's house, but I don't have any pictures of it :( Happy birthday kiddos!! We love you!!!

Happy Father's Day

2011-07-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

When we moved to California we left our grill behind, and I could hardly wait for Father's Day to get a new one for Bobby. He is an awesome husband and dad! The kids and I were leaving for Utah right after father's day so we also bought all of Bobby's favorite treats and hid them around the house for him to find while we were gone. I hope you had a great day babe we love you!!

Go Fish

2011-06-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

Stacia and Landon were in a play for school called "Go Fish". It was really cute, it had a star fish who couldn't get a call back, an octopus with only 7 legs, a blow-fish with allergies, Stacia was a clown-fish who couldn't tell a joke and Landon was a Tuna who couldn't carry a tune. They did such a good job especially considering, they both took on extra lines at the last minute! It was so fun to watch, it's times like these that I just love being a mom!

Fun At The Park

2011-06-19T14:08:00.001-07:00

We have some really fun parks by our house and we are taking full advantage them.

This park has some really nice hiking trails and the kids love it. They want to go hiking everyday, it's their new favorite thing.

Award Winning Girl

2011-05-31T09:44:00.001-07:00

Stacia received two awards at school. The first one was a "Character Counts" Award for being a good example and the second was for meeting her reading goals. She was very excited and told me that the rest of the kids had been working on their reading goals since before we got here!

Good work Stacia!!!

Mother's Day

2011-05-25T17:10:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day was great this year, I love being a mom to my four beautiful kids! They made me all sorts of fun things this year, flower pots, beautiful pictures, poems, cards, and a birdhouse. What more could a mom ask for? My favorite part was that they all kept wanting to do more things for me and they could hardly hold in all their surprises. They kept wanting to tell me what they had made it was really cute. Bobby got me all of my favorite things, diet Dr. Pepper, a brownie warm delight, junior mints, and the best gift, a flight home for June 1st to be there when Amanda has her baby!! If she can wait that long :) I love my family so much!!

Bobby's parents came up for the weekend which was so much fun. The kids have a great time with their grandparents and Marie always has a lot of fun things planned for them! They do crafts and play games and enjoy their time together.

Since we don't have a garden, Marie brought us some Topsy Turvy planters. Soon we will have yummy tomatoes and strawberries!! Thanks Marie

Even though the weather wasn't ideal we took the kids to the beach and of course they had a great time. How do kids do it? they didn't seem to notice the cold at all.

This particular beach has a big pirate ship with a zip line. The kids love it and it's a good workout for me running the rope back and forth. Even Lauren took a turn but we didn't get a picture because we were too concerned with making sure she didn't fall off.

It was a fabulous weekend, and to all the awesome mothers in my life: I love you, you are amazing!! Happy Mother's Day!

I know, It's a Miracle!

2011-04-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

So the last few years have been interesting. We have had some good trials and learned a lot. With life being crazy and me working so much I just didn't have the energy to blog. Now that we are living in California and life is getting more stable, I decided it's time to get back on the ball! I don't think I can ever catch up so I am just going to start fresh.

Easter 2011

Coloring Eggs!

On Easter morning I got my girls all beautified for church and about 5 min. after I finished Lauren she found the face paints and went to town! Luckily it wiped right off.

The kids looked so nice for church.

After Church the kids realized the Easter bunny had come. They had a blast searching for eggs.

They also got to do an Easter egg hunt at Bobby's work and the Easter bunny was there so they had a lot of fun this year!!

It's all about Stacia!

2010-04-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

Stacia turned 8 on Feb. 8th

She couldn't decide on a theme for her party so we had Wizards of Waverly Place party favors, this is everyone putting a spell on the birthday girl :)

We had a High School Musical pinata

and an American Idol cake so I guess her theme was Musical Wizards :)

She had a lot of fun with her friends, singing, dancing, eating pizza, cake and ice cream and even giving herself a little make over.

When her friend party was over we were off to Grandma's for her family party. On the way she said it was okay if the family got her clothes because she already got a lot of fun toys from her friends, which made me laugh. She was right, she got a lot of cut clothes from the family, but she also got some toys...she's just a little spoiled:)

About a week after her birthday I took her to get her ears pierced, she was excited and very nervous. It just happened to be the Saturday before Valentine's day and the jewelry store was packed so we had to wait forever but her turn finally came. I took the before picture and her smile looks a little apprehensive which still makes me laugh.

I was surprised she smiled for this picture because this is the second ear, but when I asked her about it she said she smiled because she knew Aunt Cindy would see the pictures and she wanted her to see how brave she was. What a cute girl, and she was very brave.

She looks so grown up :(

Another very special day was soon to come. Stacia was Baptized on March 6th. She has been looking forward to her baptism for a long time and it was a really wonderful day. My mom and I had taken her shopping for her dress and all of her cute accessories, (thanks mom she loved spending the day with you!) Grandma and Grandpa Ginn flew in to be here with her, and got her a set of her very own scriptures. Bobby preformed the baptism and confirmation, it was a great day that I know she will remember forever. Thanks everyone for supporting her.

At one point Stacia said to me, "it seems like it's been all about me lately" and I told her that it's okay to have it be all about you sometimes, we are so proud of her and love her so much. I can't believe she is growing up so fast!! Time passes so quickly and I'm glad we can have these moments where we can stop and celebrate.

December '09

2010-02-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

My Auntie Nenka came for a visit at the beginning of the month. She got really sick while she was here, but other than that she had a great visit. When she arrived she said all she wanted was to see a good snowstorm (she lives in Florida) and she definitely got her wish because it snowed and snowed the whole time she was here. We all spent a few days at the cabin and almost got snowed in, which I would actually be fine with :)

She stayed with us for the first few days of her trip and was rewarded by Lauren finding her Lancôme face cream and making good use of it. At least she has good taste, none of the cheap stuff for my girl.

My birthday is on the 16th and every year I force Bobby to take me to dinner and a movie, I say force because going to the movies is probably his least favorite activity. So we saw "The Blind Side" which we both loved and had a fun night out. This year he also got me all of my favorite treats and some beautiful earrings with my birthstone which was a total surprise. So, even though I'm in my thirties now, it was still a really great day:)

Christmas Fun!!

The kids made an awesome gingerbread House.

I love Milli's hair!

For as long as my kids can remember, we have spent Christmas with Uncle Jeff. It is always great to have him here, this year he helped the kids decorate cookies for Santa and they all had a lot of fun. Lauren cracks me up, instead of decorating the cookies she would just dip them in the frosting and eat them. I guess she thinks she needs them more than Santa does. I think they turned out great. Milli insisted on leaving chocolate milk because that is Santa's favorite and of course we can't forget Rudolph so the kids left him a carrot.

Christmas morning is always so much fun. The kids got lots of great toys and games and clothes and had a great time making a huge mess with all of it. Thank you Santa for a wonderful Christmas!! After all the craziness of opening presents we had a nice big breakfast and then headed off to Grandma Lemke's to see all the cousins and spend the day with our family.

The kids were obsessed with getting a pottery wheel. I kept telling them that Santa might not bring one because he knows how messy they are, but Stacia assured me that I was wrong and that she knew Santa wouldn't let her down. Well she was right and they were all very happy. The best part is when they were playing with it they all kept saying "this is a lot messier than it looked on TV" I just had to laugh.

Snow Fun

The kids really wanted to try out their new sleds so we piled up the snow in the back yard and they had so much fun going down that little hill.

Bobby helped the kids build a big snow woman which is something they love to do and beg to do as soon as it snows.

They made her some clothes and hair out of food coloring, isn't she pretty? She kind of looks like a big snow cone :)

Bobby's Trip To Seattle

2009-12-28T11:55:00.001-08:00

Bobby took a trip to Seattle one week after my trip to Seattle... I know, we should learn to plan better :) Anyway, Jeff got them tickets to the MLS Championship game so he couldn't pass up the opportunity, especially because Real Salt Lake was in it. Lisa Pett told me that going for a soccer game was way less embarrassing than going for Twilight, but that's just crazy talk :)

Bobby served his mission in Seattle and he was able to go see a few things. This is one of the apartments he lived in.

He said that it was red when he lived there so it has been re-painted, which tells you how long ago his mission was, haha

Of course they went to Pike's Market. It was weird seeing his pictures because it was stuff I had just seen myself.

Jeff's friend Brandon, Jeff and ?

Bobby and Jeff on the Ferry to Bremmerton.

I told Bobby that he had to get some good pictures of my boyfriend (Mr. Beckham) while he was there and I think this is a pretty good angle.

They made some awesome signs to cheer on the boys.

RSL WINS!!!!!!!

They also got to attend the after party which was by invitation only. I guess it pays to have connections. This is Bobby with Kyle Beckerman from RSL.

The Championship Cup

They had a great time and are looking forward to next season, Go REAL!!!

New Moon Party!!

2009-12-18T09:55:00.001-08:00

We did it again! We rented a theater for the next installment in the Twilight movie series, "New Moon". It all started way back in April. I told my sister Rachel that I knew someone who already rented a theater for this movie and was already selling tickets. She couldn't believe it because it was 6 or 7 months before the movie! After talking about it with a few people she decided to call the events coordinator who helped us on the last movie. She told her that not only have people already been renting movie theaters for New Moon, but they were already almost sold out for opening day! Of course she went ahead and reserved our theater and that started our crazy 6 month journey of selling tickets and preparing for our private New Moon screening. We had a blast! There is something about watching a movie with a theater full of people you know, or at least know love the series. We ended up selling EVERY SINGLE seat in the house! Which made it even more fun.

The sugar cookies were such a hit last time that we decided to do it again, I know , I look super hot in this picture :)

Don't I make an awesome Bella?

The movie was awesome!!!! I loved it!!!!

We had an after party at my mom's house. It was great to sit and chat about the movie.

My old neighbor Deann Thaxton made these cool cupcakes.

We had a great night and are now looking forward to "Eclipse'', which comes out in June!!! We hope to see you there :)

It's Official: I'm one of Those Girls

2009-11-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

I think it's safe to say that if you know me, you know I'm a pretty big "Twilight" fan. Well, I have always thought of myself as a fan but not one of those super crazy chicks who go way overboard. I can no longer think of myself in that category because last weekend I went on a girls trip to Forks Washington. So I have officially joined the crazies. The thing is, it ended up being one of the most fun times I've ever had. Maybe that's because when you go crazy surrounded by other equally crazy people it just seems normal. Plus when your on a girls trip how can it not be fun?

Anyway, we started our trip normally enough, we spent our first day in Seattle. I've never been there so it was really great, we spent the morning walking around Pike's fish market which is an experience in itself, let's just say you can't work one of those booths if your shy. So then we had lunch at the Space Needle which was awesome, a little pricey but totally worth it. Just look at that view.

Me, Rachel, Keri, Julie and Priscilla. Priscilla lives just outside Seattle so she was our tour guide, she also put us up the night we arrived, she was a lot of fun.

My sandwich was about as big as my head, but I didn't let that get in my way.

After lunch we dropped Priscilla off and made our way down to Port Angeles. It was about a three hour drive so we passed the time quoting our favorite "bad" lines from the movie version of "Twilight". If you've seen the movie you know we were not lacking for inspiration. Mostly we made fun of Kristen Stewart's awesome acting. It was really fun.

We saw this sign on the door of a little shop and it made me laugh. See this is what I meant about it not seeming so crazy when you're surrounded by it :)

While we were in Port Angeles we went to dinner at Bella Italia where Bella and Edward have their first date. We all ordered the mushroom ravioli except Keri who doesn't like mushrooms.

After PA we made our way through Forks and down to La Push where our hotel was. It was about midnight when we arrived and it was pitch black outside, so we had no idea how incredible our view was until we woke up the next morning. We knew we were supposed to have an Ocean view, but that could mean you can see the Ocean in the distance. So I was completely blown away when I looked out our sliding doors and the beach was right there. It was incredible, so beautiful, I decided it reminded me of Hawaii except in grey tones. For those of you who are fans we were basically staying right on First Beach.

There was sooo much driftwood, Julie was looking around and randomly stated "You could make a lot of paper with all this wood." I'm still laughing at that one.

Julie and Keri sitting on so much potential paper.

After spending some time on the beach, it was time for the truly crazy/fun stuff. First we stopped by Jacob Black's house where you can see his motorcycle parked right out front.

The treaty line between La push and Forks.

We're here!!

Pretty much every business in Forks had some kind of "Twilight" reference. This one was pretty funny.

Bella's Truck is parked outside the Chamber of Commerce.

We stopped by the church, just for fun and there happened to be a funeral going on, and they asked us if we would like to come in and eat with them. Those Mormon's are so nice :) We didn't stay to eat but it always feels like a little piece of home when your inside a church building.

The Swan residence. It must be so weird for the people who actually live there.

Forks High School. Originally Rachel was doing a cheer pose too, but she changed at the last second so now I just look silly, oh well. I'm sure that was the only time I looked silly on this trip hahaha

The Hospital has a parking spot for Carlisle, I wanted to go in and donate blood because I think that would be funny, but we didn't have time.

Rachel and I Handcuffed in front of the Police station.

That night we made a fire on First Beach but we didn't stay long because there was a big storm rolling in. The storm was crazy, very windy and rainy we didn't get much sleep because it was so loud. I think Julie willed it because she was so worried about a Tsunami. The whole time we were there, she kept making evacuation plans until we finally decided that if there was a tsunami, we were pretty much goners.

It really was a great time, we all had so much fun together, we laughed almost constantly. Thank you so much girls I love you all!!!! Let's plan another girls trip very soon.

A Field Trip and a Birthday

2009-11-17T09:24:00.000-08:00

This year I have Milli in a neighborhood Joy School and last week was her very first field trip. They have been learning about community helpers so we took them to the Lehi Fire Station. They loved it and they even got some cute fireman hats to take home.

Lauren got to come with us so she was a happy camper. She gets pretty mad whenever I drop Milli off without her.

Milli and Lo inside a fire truck.

Bobby's Birthday was yesterday, I think he turned 29 (which makes me 21). We had a little family get together for him and the kids got him a new Wii game. I hope you had a happy birthday babe!! We Love you!!!!!!!

Halloween Fun

2009-11-08T21:06:00.000-08:00

Halloween is always a fun time for all, especially the kids. At school the kids can only dress up if they choose a person from history and write a little report on that person. Stacia is always on board for dressing up so she picked Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and she had a lot of fun with it. Grandma Lemke provided the cardigan and I had the sunglasses, scarf and pearls. I think she makes a very cute Jackie. I kept bugging Landon to pick someone to be until he finally said "do I have to do it?" and I said "no, but I think it will be fun" and he said "ya but do I have to?" So that was pretty much the end of that. I did ask him one more time the day before the reports were due and he said "no thank you" and walked away. He is a funny kid.

We grew our own pumpkins this year -well, Bobby did I am not very helpful with keeping plants alive- so we had an extra good time carving them.

Stacia loves roasted pumpkin seeds so she made sure to pick them all out of the goo, with Lando's help.

Landon made a bat

Millie poked a bunch of dots

and Stacia made a cat, they all did a great job.

Bobby carved this one and when our neighbor said she liked it I told her I was expecting to see a pumpkin on their porch with their name on it. Their last name is Gotfredson... haha

I helped with Stacia's class party this year, and they did this cute little play about different fairy tale characters. Stacia was Puss in Boots, from Shrek. what a cute little kitty.

Since I was there, I sneaked into Landon's class and got a picture of my cute boy.

Ready for Trick-or-treating

Ninja Landon

Sorceress Stacia

Strawberry Shortcake

and Tinkerbell.

The kids had a great night, Bobby drove them around on his golf cart and they thought that was the best thing ever. What a fun dad :)

Summer

2009-10-31T12:15:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun this summer, one day a bunch of us took the kids up to Bridal Veil Falls. We had a picnic and then let the kids play at the bottom of the falls. They had so much fun, at one point Landon came up to me and said "this is awesome, it's just like a splash park." It really was fun, sometimes I forget to utilize all of the natural resources we have here.

We got to spend the 4th of July weekend at the Zoll cabin which is always a good time. Stacia was like a little monkey. She kept climbing higher and higher on the rope swing.

Everyone had fun playing with this big tube, even the "big" boys :)

On the 4th the kiddos all looked super festive, Kamree and Makayla didn't care to be photographed.

We went to a parade in Mt. Pleasant.

Then we went fishing.

There was also a fair in town (not a very good one) so we took the kids and they found this dog who they fell in love with.

One of the men who was in the rodeo let the kids sit on his horse which was really fun for them.

And of course you have to have fireworks. The mt pleasant Firework show was really awesome, I highly recommend it if you happen to be there on the 4th.

We ended the summer the same way we started it. With a fabulous camping trip. We went to Flaming Gorge where we floated the green river. The boys did a lot of fishing, the kids did a lot of exploring and I did a lot of eating, but I don't feel guilty because that's what camping is for right?

We had a great summer and now it's already time to start thinking about the holiday's. Time goes by so quickly, I need to remember to stop and notice all the wonderful things and people who surround me.

Happy Birthday!!

2009-10-27T10:52:00.001-07:00

So, I am ridiculously far behind on my blogging duties. I have excuses, but what it really comes down to is, the farther I get behind the less I want to attempt to catch up. I've decided that it's now or never because there are going to be a lot of blog-worthy events happening in the next little while so here goes...

Milena, Landon and Lauren have all had birthdays!!! Milena turned 3 on June 18th and her birthday was extra special this year because she got to share it with her Grandma Ginn who's birthday is the same day.

Grandma took us to McDonald's to celebrate and of course the kids had a wonderful time.

There was this crazy dude there dressed as an alien, so we told Milli he was there for her birthday which she thought was awesome, she wouldn't go anywhere near him, but she told everyone all about it afterwards.

Milli also got to have a party with the Lemke family.

She had been asking for a Mickey Mouse cake for months so, since I am such an awesome mom, I made one for her :)

Landon turned 6 on July 13th. He was so excited to have all his friends over. I was a little worried about Sage because she was going to be the only girl. So I made sure to get some "girl" prizes for BINGO, but when she won, she asked me if she had to have a girl prize and when I said no, she picked out one of the race cars which is awesome, I guess I didn't need to worry at all.

Landon loves Transformers so I drew Optimus Prime on his cake which he thought was the greatest thing ever. Hopefully it will be this easy to make him happy when he's 16.

Lauren turned 2 on Oct. 16th and I am having a hard time with her growing up so fast. She is supposed to stay a baby forever! We had a little family party and she had a blast. What could be better than eating lots of cake and getting lots of presents?

So, this is the first installment of my catch-up attempt. Hopefully there will be more coming soon, but I know myself too well so we'll just have to wait and see :)

Flipn' out

2009-09-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

Our family loves to be out on the boat together!!!!!

Just hold on!

Halfway there

Hopefully this past

sat was not our last time on the lake this year.

The Ginns now own a car/boat dealership!

2009-07-17T10:28:00.001-07:00

All Motor Company is now open for business!

After a history of buying and selling cars on our own, we finally started our own dealership in May 2009. Over the past eight years we have personally bought cars and boats at low prices and sold for low prices.
We specialize in ski/wakeboard boats, low priced luxury vehicles and anything you want from the auction!
If you are looking for a car, give us a call.

We are using KSL and a blog to advertise. Check it out at

http://allmotorcompany.blogspot.com/

378 Industrial Drive
Pleasant Grove, UT 84062
801 580 8616

(buy a car from us so we can afford a location on a busy street soon)
We can buy cars, boats, atvs, RVs, scooters at any auction nationwide.

Lake Powell '09

2009-06-26T19:51:00.001-07:00

The Hillman family was nice enough to let the crazy Ginn's spend a week with them on their houseboat in Lake Powell!! We had such a great time, here is a picture of the whole gang, aren't we a good lookin' bunch?

A lot of people think their kids walk on water, but mine really do!! What a talented boy I have :)

I think Stacia and Abby were joined at the hip. They were always together having a great time. Bobby got Stacia up on the wake board with him which was awesome until they took a tumble, after that she was pretty timid to try anything. She did tell me she would try again next year.

Captain Chris

Chris is super picky, he won't ski unless the water is up to his standards.

Campfire fun

Brett doing some boarding.

So I think I am finally getting better at this wake boarding stuff. I even landed some of those jumps. Yea me :)

Bobby and Abby

Carson on the knee board

Emma and Kelsie

Stacia and Abby

Christian taking Adam and Landon on a hike.

At the end of each day the kids were pooped, aren't they cute when they're sleeping

Jeffery showing off his mad skills.

I am the queen of the cliffs!! I jumped off this same cliff last year. We decided that the water level was 10-15 feet higher this year so the jump isn't as impressive, but still fun.

Eveyone had a lot of fun. Silly boys

Grace

Landon

Abby

Bobby puts us all to shame. He makes everything look so easy, it's very annoying :)

Fishing, fishing, fishing...

There is so much fun stuff to do on the lake!! Thanks again Hillman's, we had a blast!!!

YW's Camp

2009-06-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

This year the theme for YW's camp was "Be Thou an Example" and each ward had to pick something that they wanted to be an example of. Our ward chose Courage and our slogan was "Courage- We Dare you". We had a lot of fun with our theme and ran around like the super heroes we are :) I didn't get to stay very long but I loved the time I was there (even with all the rain). Our girls are awesome!!!

Last Days of School!!

2009-06-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

The last few days of school were very eventful. First there was a carnival where Stacia scaled the climbing wall like a pro...

...Landon didn't like it as much.

But he did have fun fighting with Luke, or trying to fight with Luke, those things were heavier than them.

Next, they had their annual Dance Festival. Each grade preforms a dance number, it is really cute and the kids really get into it.

Landon Graduated Kindergarten and is all ready for first grade!! I wasn't really expecting to get emotional, but of course I did.

Landon with his Teachers, Mrs. Garrett and Mrs. Miller.

After graduation, we packed up and went on our first camping trip of the summer!! Nik and Jason decided not to spend the night, but they did come to hang out and have dinner, which was good because they were the ones who made dinner :)

Bobby taking Luke and Milli out for a ride.

Stacia running around with all the kids, having a great time.

Lauren played in the dirt the entire time, because that is what she lives for.

Landon having fun with the boys.

Milli and Isaac were always together.

After dinner we had to make s'mores, yum!

So much fun and we still have the whole summer ahead of us!

Easter week in California

2009-05-30T14:45:00.000-07:00

We got to spend this Easter with Grandma & Grandpa Ginn in California. Bobby was going to help his Dad with some demolition work so we decided to make it a family affair. The kids and I played all week and Bobby got to work, but I think we all had a great time. One of the days Bobby got to work with his Dad, and even though Ed got some war wounds, they both came home saying what a great day they had together.

Of course we had to color Easter eggs, the kids were very worried that the Easter Bunny wouldn't know where to find them, but I assured them that I left a note for him.

Easter morning before church. The kids were not being very cooperative about pictures, maybe that's because the Easter Bunny hadn't come yet. They still look beautiful in their new outfits, thanks to Grandma Marie :)

After church we came home to find the house covered with yarn and the kids each had to follow their color of yarn to find their baskets. It was a little messy but a lot of fun.

After they emptied their baskets it was time to hunt for eggs. The Easter bunny did such a good job hiding them that I think there are still some there. What a wonderful day, it was awesome to spend it with our "far away" Grandparents.

There are so many fun thing to do when we visit the Ginn's. One of the kids favorite things is going to feed the horses. Grandpa brings a giant bag of carrots and the kids really just love it.

At some point Lauren decided that she had given enough carrots away, so she sat down and ate one herself.

The Beach!! We spent one day at the beach and it was awesome! The weather was perfect, the kids had so much fun playing in the sand and chasing the waves. We even got to see some dolphins playing in the surf, which Ed told us he has never seen before at that beach.

Lauren would have been happy to spend the whole week playing in the sand.

Sea World! We also got to spend a day at Sea World which was fabulous of course. The kids loved The tide pools and the aquarium. The Shamu show and the dolphin show were so much fun, but we learned that if you sit in the "soak zone" you will be soaked. We didn't get just a little wet like I thought, we quite literally got soaked, but it was all part of the fun.

There is a park across the street from the Ginn's house so we spent a lot of time there, swinging and sliding and chasing rabbits and squirrels. What a fun vacation, thanks Ed and Marie we all had a wonderful time!!

Oh, and of course if you go to the Ginn home you have to play cards!!

Random Fun

2009-05-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Every time we go out for Thai food Bobby tells us how easy it is to make, so we decided to give it a try. A bunch of couples got together and we each made a different dish. There was a ton of food and it was all super yummy!! It was fairly simple, but time consuming and since we had to drive to Provo to get the ingredients I'll probably just stick to The Thai House from now on :)

After we ate, we hung out, watched silly stuff on you tube and played games. It was a really fun night. You have to laugh at that many adults gathered around a two inch monitor. Here is the link to what they were watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Since my kids wear uniforms to school, they get super excited anytime they get to do something different. This is them on crazy hair day. I think Stacia looks like a character from a Dr. Seuss Book.

Uncle Jeff giving Stacia soccer lessons in the front room.

The kids make everyone who comes to visit play the Wii with them. This is Bobby's Uncle Bryan, who we have been able to spend some time with lately, we can't wait for the rest of the family to get here!

Lauren thinks she is sooo big! Her new trick is to climb up on the desk and sit on top of the computer. She is a silly girl.

Grandpa Lemke March 15, 1919 - March 13, 2009

2009-04-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa Lemke passed away in March, 2 days before his 90th birthday :( We knew it was coming, he had been sick for a couple of months and in and out of the hospital... but it was still so hard to take. My parents had already planned a trip out to Wisconsin for his birthday so they already had a flight out and said they would help whoever wanted to come. So of course I jumped on it, cause I really felt like our family should be represented there. So after looking at tons of flights, Me, Amanda, Rachel and Jared all got a flight out to Wisconsin. Paul had just arrived home from California and couldn't make it. (We missed having him there with us!) I really loved my grandpa and will miss him dearly. My only regret is not being able to see him more. Living so far away made it difficult to truly be close with him. The times we did visit, or that he came to visit us was always such a good time though. I will remember it well. Grandpa was such a fun loving guy, and it makes me realize just where my dad got all of his sense of humor and fun personality from... they are alike in so many ways. I will always remember that about my grandpa, he was always smiling and goofing off. He had a love for bowling and golf and was known as "Geno". My dad's mom had passed away at a young age and he has been without her for I believe it was 37 years? I know they are together again and that makes me so happy!! We love you and will miss you so much grandpa!

When we got to Wisconsin we had to have my parents favorite pizza, NEDS! Mmm, it was so yummy and so much fun to spend time with my family.

Of course we had to hit our FAVORITE frozen custard spot.. KOPPS! Literally the best you will ever have :)

This was the night before the funeral, we went to my aunt Paulette's and helped put picture boards together.

In this picture we are in my Grandpa's house, it is all of us with Grandpa.. (literally, I swear the spot in the middle by his picture is Grandpa there with us.. Jared.. it's not a thumb print! haha)

This is right after the funeral, putting the casket in the car.

These were the soldiers outside... SO COOL, they shot off gunshots for grandpa and it was the neatest experience.

My dad :) I love this picture of him.

Right before they gave this flag to my dad...which was one of the best moments for me, when they handed it to my dad and did this little ceremonial thing... I am pretty sure it's the first time I have ever seen my dad cry... which in turn made me BAWL!

My dad after receiving the flag

They have everyone splash holy water onto the casket at the end and you then get to take a flower from the top.

This is my mom and Amanda with my grandpa's sister Doris

Jared, Mom, Dad and Rachel

My dad and his Aunt Doris

February at the Bobby Ginn House

2009-03-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

February was an eventful month in the Ginn house. Stacia had her birthday, Bobby lost his job, we all got sick, Lauren got her first real haircut, and of course we had some Valentine's Day fun. So here are some pictures to show all of our fun times.

This is Lando showing some of his awesome skills at Tae Kwon Do.

Stacia and Milli cruising the neighborhood.

Stacia and Lauren. Lauren Loves riding around in this car, which is funny because anytime we go anywhere in the real car she just screams and screams.

Lando enjoying some sun, and getting better at riding his bike.

Lauren's first haircut. Isn't she cute!

Milli needed a haircut too. If she had her way she would get a haircut every day. She is always asking me to trim her bangs.

My two munchkins chillin' after their haircuts.

Stacia has to wear a uniform to school so on Valentine's day we gave her a super fun heart hair-do. She loved it and made me do it everyday for awhile.

Bobby made the mistake of leaving his chocolate where Milli could reach it.

On Friday the 13th we went to the Wingate's house for an "ugly sweater/fondue" party and had so much fun. Jonathan Biesinger and I won the prizes for ugliest sweaters. I think my awesome 80's hair put me over the top. When we were getting ready, Bobby laughed at my hair and said it wasn't an 80's party, but that sweater was just calling out for some big hair and obviously I was right.

Then on Valentine's Night we had Rachel & Austin and Amanda & Wade over for a steak dinner and some more fondue for dessert. We even let the kids in on the fondue. It was a really fun night and I think we will make it a tradition.

Friends are the best help!

2009-02-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

Some of you know and some of you don't.... Bobby now needs a job (if you want the details on why you can call me)

The best way to find a new job is networking.
Please help him find a new job fast.
Friends are the best way to find new jobs.

If you know of anything in the Business Management fields, sales, marketing or Executive type of jobs- please let us know.

Thanks

Happy Birthday Stacia!!

2009-02-14T12:36:00.001-08:00

Princess Stacia turned 7 years old on Feb. 8th And we had the family over for a little party. She got lots of great gifts and had a wonderful day. It was a Sunday and she insisted on having her hair "bumpy" for church. When I told her I didn't have time she sneakily got her dad to plug in the curling iron and then he came and told me it was ready to go. I asked why she always had to get her way and she replied "it's my birthday". I couldn't argue with that so as you can see she got her bumpy hair-do and she looked beautiful.

The family having a good time at the party.

I caught Rachel and Amanda playing with Stacia's new Barbie's and they were being so serious about it that I couldn't resist sneaking a picture- I guess I shouldn't wonder where Stacia gets her sneakiness from.

This is after they noticed the camera.

Stacia got Sing it for the Wii from mom and dad so she could rock out!

Bobby singing along with Hannah Montana.

Stacia also had a friend party which was so much fun! I gave in and let her invite 12 girls thinking that probably only half would show up, but lucky for her everyone except one could make it. It was a lot but they had a blast!

A bunch of groovy chicks, and one groovy dude.

Rocking out!!

Landon dancing with his "girlfriend" Sage

Red Dragon

2009-02-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

Landon tested for his Red Belt on Saturday and as always he did a great job!! The next step will be his little Dragon Black Belt, he has done so well and enjoys Tae Kwon Do very much. He is going to try soccer this spring so hopefully he will be able to get his Black Belt before then.

Breaking a board.

Showing his awesome kicking skills.

Trading his blue belt for his new red belt.

Great job Lando!!!

Lauren is Walking!

2009-01-29T13:52:00.001-08:00

So little Lauren is walking which is so cute and so fun. She is very proud of herself, she now expects a round of applause every time she walks anywhere. It does make me a little sad, every time she hits a new milestone I am reminded that she is the last one. Stacia has picked up on this and the other day she said to me " you want Lauren to keep crawling because it makes her seem more like a baby huh?" I told her yes and that it was because we weren't going to have any more babies, and her face fell, it was the first time I was really sad about being done. Then she told me that we still need to have two more boys, I guess she wants thing to be even :)

On a different note, Bobby thinks I am going to give Lauren an identity crisis because she was running around all day in her Cinderella dress and then when it was time for bed I put her in Buzz Lightyear PJ's. I say she is a princess by day and super-hero by night, what's wrong with that?

Also, she has never taken a Binky in her life and all of the sudden she loves them. She steals them right out of Milli's mouth it's really funny.

Time To Quit The Church

2009-01-28T09:47:00.000-08:00

Quit the Church

In a local newspaper in Provo, Utah, there had been an ongoing series of articles written by individuals who wanted to persuade LDS Church members to leave the Church. In response to the highly critical and spirited remarks, a local member wrote this rebuttal:

Editor:
I have been thinking of quitting the Mormon Church. Yes, if I can, I am going to get even with that church. As soon as I can find another church that teaches about the Gathering of the House of Israel; the return of the Ten Tribes and their mission; the return of the Jews to Palestine and why, and how they are going to build the temple; the building of temples and what to do with them; the mission of Elias, the prophet, as predicted by Malachi; the method for the salvation of the people that died at the time of Noah in the flood; the origin of the American Indian; the complete explanation of why Jesus of Nazareth had to have a mortal mother but not a mortal father; the explanation of the three degrees of glory (three heavens) as mentioned by Paul; the complete explanation of why Elias and Moses did not die but had to be translated (since they both lived before the resurrection was introduced by Christ); the restoration of the gospel by modern revelation as promised by Peter and Paul and Jesus himself; the belief in eternal marriage and the family, and the knowledge and the place to seal for eternity; that teaches abstinence from all harmful drugs and foods ; and that sells the best fire insurance policy on earth, for the last days, for only a 10th of my income.

Yes sir, as soon as I can find another church that teaches all that, or even half as much, I will say good-bye to this Mormon Church. The church that I am looking for must also be able to motivate 50,000+ youth, and adults, for the first, second or third time, to leave their homes for two years at their own expense and go to far-away places to teach and preach without salary. It must be able to call, on a frosty day, some 5 or 6 thousand professors, students, lawyers, doctors, judges, policemen, businessmen, housewives and children to go and pick apples at 6 a.m. It must be able to call meetings and get the attention for two hours of more than 150,000 men. Yes, it must also teach and show why salvation is assured for children who die before eight years of age.

Mr. Editor, could you help me find a church that teaches all that and more than hundreds of other doctrines and principles, which I have no room to mention here, and which brings solace and comfort to the soul; peace, hope, and salvation to mankind, and above all, that answers the
key questions that all the great philosophers have asked; questions and answers that explain the meaning of life, the purpose of death, suffering and pain; the absolute need for a Redeemer and the marvelous plan conceived and executed by Jesus Christ the Savior? Yes, as soon as I find another church that teaches that, and also that has the organization and the powers to make that teaching effective, I am going to quit the Mormon Church. For I should not tolerate that "they" should change a few words in the Book of Mormon-even if those changes simply improve the grammar and the syntax of the verses-for, after all, don't you think the Divine Church should employ angels as bookmakers, and clerks, to do all the chores on earth? Don't you think, Mr. Editor, that the Divine Church should also have prophets that don't get sick and don't get old and die, and certainly, that don't make a goof here and there. No, sir! A Divine Church should be so divine that only perfect people should belong to it, and only perfect people should run it. As a matter of fact, the Church should be so perfect that it should not even be here on earth!

So, I repeat, if any one of the kind readers of this imperfect letter knows about another church that teaches and does as much for mankind as the Mormon Church, please let me know. And please do it soon, because my turn to go to the cannery is coming up. Also, "they" want my last son (the fifth one) to go away for two years and again, I have to pay for all that. And I also know that they expect me to go to the farm to prune trees, and I have heard that our ward is going to be divided again, and it is our side that must build the new chapel. And also, someone the other day had the gall of suggesting that my wife and I get ready to go on a second mission, and when you come back, they said, you can volunteer as a temple worker.

Boy, these Mormons don't leave you alone for a minute. And what do I get for all that, I asked? "Well," they said, "for one, you can look forward to a funeral service at no charge!"... Do you think you can help me to find another church?
Thomas D. Clark

Something's Missing

2009-01-21T10:52:00.000-08:00

Stacia's front teeth have been wiggling for awhile now and one of them had gotten pretty loose, but of course she wouldn't let us pull it out. Then, a few days ago, she and Landon were running around and she hit her tooth on something and it didn't come out but it was bleeding pretty bad. So, I convinced her to just let me pull it out which ended up being a little tougher than I expected, I wish I had a picture of her face, she was in shock I think. Needless to say, I don't believe she will ever stand still for me to do that again, but the tooth is out and she looks super cute. Of course the tooth fairy came and she was very excited about that. I feel like she is getting too grown up.

Back to Reality and Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-28T16:29:00.001-08:00

So our last day on Maui was great we did everything one more time, snorkeling, surfing swimming... then it was time to come home. The flights were a little crazy and I am going to try and make the story as short as possible. First, about two hours or so into our flight to Seattle a man had a heart attack and that made things crazy for awhile but he was okay so I went to sleep(Bobby slept through it). Then as we were making our final decent into Seattle we saw a bright flash of light outside the window and as was confirmed by the flight attendant, we got struck by lightning!!!WHAT!?! Apparently it is a common occurrence because the crew acted like it was nothing. So our next flight was delayed an hour, which turned into two, which turned into three. There was some kind of mechanical problem with the plane which is always a confidence builder. Anyway we finally board the plane and the attendant tells us we are still waiting for the Pilots(nobody can drive in the snow in Seattle). They arrive and tell us they have found another problem with the plane and they are going to try to fix it by phone instruction, at this point they start a movie...not a good sign. So they fix the problem but now the plane needs to be de-iced and it's going to take awhile because they don't know what they're doing, then they tell us that they used to much fluid and it seeped in the windshield and shorted out all of their equipment so now we have to wait for someone to fix all of that! There was a point when I told Bobby that we should get off the plane while we were still living, but eventually we made it home. It was great to see the kids, not so great to see the snow. This is a picture of our backyard, there is a three foot wall back there and you can't even see it. We are going to have ourselves a swimming pool when it all melts :)

The kids are enjoying the snow very much and Bobby is right there with them which is great. He made a sled out of an old wheel barrow and they are having a blast with it.

Merry Christmas!!!

On Christmas Eve the kids all worked on a thank you note for Santa, and of course put out some milk and cookies, which Milena ate as soon as no one was looking, she even ate the carrots we put out for the reindeer, she cracks me up.

I french braided Stacia's hair so she could wear it "bumpy" on Christmas day and Milena said she wanted me to do hers too, I didn't think she would actually let me do it but she held as still as a two year old can and we did it. It's her first time with braids so I had to document it. Aren't they cute?

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. Milli really got excited and it was fun to watch. Lauren liked to open the presents, she is at the age where we should just get her paper because that's her favorite part.

Every year the kids go on a treasure hunt for their last gift, Stacia and Landon got a Wii which they are making very good use of. Thank you Santa!

Milli got a race car which all of the kids are enjoying, it's making me very nervous for the future, hopefully they will be better drivers when they turn 16 or watch out world!

We went to my mom's for brunch after we opened our gifts and we had a wonderful day. We are so thankful for our families and all of our awesome neighbors, and we are so thankful to have the Gospel in our lives. We are truly blessed!!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

2008-12-16T22:55:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday and it was the best day ever!!! It started out with Bobby serving me breakfast in bed and then we went to the beach. We enjoyed the sunshine for awhile and then we did some snorkeling. It was awesome we saw so many cool fish, including a couple of puffer fish.

We saw all these little sand crabs running around and it is amazing to me how much they blend into the sand. You would never even notice them if they didn't move.

Bobby has been wanting to go surfing but there aren't that many good surf spots, so today he surfed on the man made wave which was really fun. He said it was pretty hard and that it's not like anything he's done before and he has done it all, so that's crazy.

This evening we went to a luau which was so much fun!! They had some silly activities that we tried, this was like a javelin throw.

They slow roasted a pig and we got to watch them dig it up, although we're pretty sure that's not the actual pig we ate, it was still pretty cool.

This guy was awesome , it's hard to capture something like that in a picture, but it sure was fun to watch.

I went up on stage twice to hula dance. The first time was voluntary, they wanted people to come up and learn a dance, the second time they picked me out of the crowd. It was a little embarrassing but it was fun and I'm glad I did it. Bobby really should have been up their with me but he hid behind the camera when he saw the girl coming to get him.

On our way home we saw all these trees lit up and thought it looked cool so we stopped and got a picture.

Wow what an awesome day!! This has been the best week and best birthday!!! Thank you so much Bobby for all of this and everything you do for me. I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful man!! Thank you to everyone who helped with our kids, this was such an amazing trip and I love and appreciate my family so much!!!!
And of course thank you to Frankie, the condo was amazing and so was the use of the Audi!

The road to Hana

2008-12-14T20:47:00.001-08:00

We went on the road to Hana yesterday, which is something we also did on our honeymoon and which I do not have fond memories of. The first time around we did it really fast and didn't stop much and then on our way back down Bobby was driving so fast and the road is so curvy that I ended up throwing up on the side of the road. This time was much better, we actually saw all the cool beaches and had a lot of fun.

This was a bamboo forest, it was pretty cool. There was a little hike to get to it which was pretty easy, but on our way back down we went off the trail which was a bit harder, it was muddy and slippery and we were wearing flip flops so it was kind of comical and of course I fell on my but at least once.

At one of the stops Bobby found a coconut and decided to use the skills he's learned from "Survivor" to open it. It was so yummy!!

This was a black sand beach, it was really pretty, just like everything else in Maui.

Don't we look hot in our super cool water shoes?

Me cliff jumping into one of the seven sacred pools.

Bobby cliff jumping.

What a fun day, it was an all day adventure and of course Bobby drove like a crazy man on the way back but I didn't lose my lunch so it was all good.

Our first days on Maui

2008-12-12T23:36:00.000-08:00

We arrived on Maui Wed. night around 8:00pm, and it was a beautiful evening. We went to dinner and then came to our condo and crashed for the night. In the morning we woke up to the loudest thunder I've heard in quite awhile. It was pouring rain outside and it lasted all day. On the evening news they were interviewing locals and they said it was the worst rainstorm they've seen in 30 years!! Leave it to the Ginn's to bring the great weather with us. We decided to drive around the island because that was pretty much our only option and we ended up having a decent day, very relaxing.

These are some mud waterfalls we saw on our drive, it was crazy, there were rocks and mud all over the roads.

It cleared up enough in the evening for us to do a little grillin' for dinner and we even went for a little swim in the pool, which we had all to ourselves because it was still raining a bit.

This morning Maui was again it's beautiful self. This the view we have from the lanai... not to shabby.

We went down to the beach and did some boogie boarding, well Bobby did some boogie boarding, I tried but the waves beat me up so I just sat on the beach and read my book which was just fine for me.

Then we went down the road to a different beach and went snorkeling. I got a bit claustrophobic but Bobby held my hand until I could relax enough to do it on my own. What a good man I have.

Our attempt at having a picture together.

We saw some dead crabs and wondered where all the live ones were.

Then we noticed that the live ones were black so they were harder to spot but once we knew what we were looking for we saw them everywhere.

We had such a great day today and we feel like even if today is the only sunny day this trip was a success.

Family Night Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

The Bender family invited us over to build some gingerbread houses tonight and it was so fun. Nicole made all the pieces and frosting from scratch which is amazing to me because I would have no idea how to do that. Some of the parts were a little askew but we made sure the Benders got all of those ones :) So of course the kids had a blast with all the decorating , I definitely ate more candy than I put on the house, and I think the Dad's should get new jobs as architects, if you look closely you can see Jason sticking out his tongue in deep concentration. What a fun night! Thank you so much for including us !!

Thanksgiving x 2

2008-11-29T08:36:00.000-08:00

Mama Lemke had to work on Thanksgiving Day so we decided to have our big family party on Friday. My family still wanted to have our own Thanksgiving , and I already had a turkey so we had thanksgiving two days in a row. Both dinners were very good and I have to say it didn't help in my quest to be swimsuit worthy for Hawaii, but it was worth it.

At Grandma's house the girls made pretty pictures with all grandma's scrapbooking stamps.

The boy's were very serious about their Yoga on the Wii Fit, it was pretty funny to watch.

Everyone had a great time and a relaxing evening.

Twilight Baby!!

2008-11-23T12:41:00.001-08:00

So if you didn't know already, my sisters, my mom and I are Twilight fans (fanatics whatever), and a few months ago we thought it would be fun to see the movie on opening day. We knew it would be crazy to try and get tickets so we did the only logical thing, we rented a theater and invited 162 of our closest family and friends to come be crazy Twilighters with us!! I have to say it was soooo much fun and I would do it again in a heart beat! Rachel did most of the planning and oganizing, Amanda and I made some party favors and my mom was in charge of the after party, it turned out to be such a fun night that I'm sure we will do it all over again when New Moon comes out. As you can see we were all sporting our awesome twilight tee's and having a great time.

People came from all over and it was really fun to be there with so many friends, old and new.

The after party was alot of fun, my mom put out a basket of apples which if you haven't read the book (are you living under a rock?) represents the forbidden fruit, which is Bella in the story.

She also had this awesome red velvet cake made and it was super yummy!

Thank you all so much for coming and making it so much fun. I have already been back to see the movie again and I have to say it was so much better the second time!! I highly recommend seeing it again!!!

See you all at New Moon!!!

Happy Birthday Bobby!

2008-11-21T09:49:00.001-08:00

Bobby's birthday was on the 16th. The kids love be involved so I let them do almost everything. They saw a question mark candle awhile ago and they decided that it would be perfect for dad's cake so nobody would know how old he's getting! Haha :)

The kids also each picked out their own gift to give him. Lauren got him his favorite cookies.(okay, I might have helped with that one)

Stacia picked out a soccer calender.

Landon got him some Mini Charleston Chews

and Milli got him a glittery bouncy ball!

All of the kids decorated a mug for him.

Bobby and I, went to the Thai House for dinner with the Bender's and we also went to the Real Playoff game with Jeff, which would have been a better birthday present if they would have won but it was still a really fun game. I hope you had a good Birthday babe! I can't wait to celebrate mine in Hawaii!!!!

KaNgaRoo ZoO

2008-11-20T13:29:00.001-08:00

Bobby came home from work early last Monday so we could do somthing fun. We took the kids to The Kangaroo Zoo and as you can see they had a great time. It was the first time we've been there and it really was a lot of fun. Bobby had Stacia and Landon racing down the slides and I was getting tired just watching them. Where do kids find all that energy?

Bobby in Cali with Mom and Dad

2008-11-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

Well I flew in for business on Wednesday and had meetings until Thursday afternoon

and at that point mom and dad picked me up and we rolled out!

Thursday we ate at dads version of Harry's- (the old Bobs Big Boy by the mission viejo mall).
Friday mom went to work and dad and I hung out- Dad prepared his talk for Sunday and I watched tv and vegged.

Friday night we picked up Cassy

and headed to the symphony- with a stop at Jerry's Deli on the way

The symphony played some movie tunes from old John Wayne movies and a few others- fun to watch all the different musicians do their things! Then The Righteous Bro Bill Medley rocked out with the symphony- mom and dad did not like how loud it was. Cassy had a ball and I was entertained. He sang his popular hits from Dirty Dancing and Ghost- ( I had the time of My life and Unchained Melody)

Fun Night

Sat- Mom went to work because she is a workaholic---dad worked on his talk for awhile and then he worked the weed eater while I worked the Lawn Mower-it's such a huge lawn it took us an entire 25 minutes!Then we washed his car, then mom drove up and so we washed hers too!

Sat evening- Mom, Dad and I took off for Carson Calif-with a stop in Santa Ana for some good Vietnamese food-(Pho is good)Then we got to doing what we set out to do--Watch Real Salt Lake Soccer- Great game with Mom cheering her heart out the team ended with a 2-2 tie that sends RSL on to the Western Conf Championships!!! Go RSL GO!!!

Sunday dad gave a great talk and Bobby left to return to Utah.

This week has felt like two.

2008-11-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

* WARNING* Long Boring Story Ahead
This last week felt sooo long. It was my turn to drive the kids to school and since I am NOT a morning person, it was a bad way to start. Monday and Tuesday went pretty smoothly everyone was ready on time and we even got to school early. Wednesday was another story... It started out fine, but then I noticed it was snowing, so I told Stacia she had to wear her tennis shoes and she told me they are not allowed to wear shoes that light up. Then we couldn't find her other snow worthy shoes and she wouldn't wear the shoes she wears everyday because her feet would get too cold. I finally ended up calling Nicole and borrowing a pair from Brynlee, but by this time we are running late so I get all the kids in the car and Stacia says "I wish I could go potty really quick before we go" ARE YOU KIDDING ME! So Stacia goes potty and we're off. At this point, I'm thinking we will be a few minutes late and then I hit main street where apparently the snow has made everyone forget how to drive. I was literally going 5-10 mph and let me just say, I am all for being cautious but seriously the road was not that bad. Anyway a drive that usually takes 15 min. took almost 45 and the kids were very late to school, and the worst part was that it was early-out day so by the time i got back home I only had an hour before i had to go back and get Landon. After school I had four haircuts which led right into my primary presidency mtg. After the meeting I was going to go get Pizza because I was not going to make dinner. Since I was also babysitting Kamree at the time Lori Stucki offered to go pick up the pizza for me which was so great! Thanks Lori.

Thursday went a little smoother, I got the kids to school on time and then Amanda came over so we could do each other's hair. It took us about 3 hours and we would check on the kids periodically but they were doing fine (Lauren was sleeping so it was just Kamree and Milli). My hair was finished and we were waiting to wash out Amanda's so we went inside and found Milli with poop all over her hands and she was saying "I stinky" Gross!!! Luckily she only got in on herself and her blanket and needless to say she got straight into the tub. Of course Kamree wanted to join her so they had a fun bath together. After that we just hung out the rest of the night and watched a movie. Lauren was not her usual happy self and around 8 o'clock she started crying and didn't stop until almost midnight it was one of those times when you feel like you could just tear your hair out. I know she is teething and I think she had a tummy ache as well, not a good combination. It was a long night, she woke up every hour or so and by morning I was the one who wanted to cry. The best part of the day was around 9:30pm when Lori Nielsen brought over the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had. Thanks Lori, you'll have to teach me how to make them someday :)

I don't remember much about Friday. It was another early-out day for the kids so when they got home, they helped me pass flyer's around the neighborhood for the primary program practice which was Saturday Morning. And let me just say that the practice went pretty smoothly but we have so many kids it's insane. We had to use the stand plus bring in benches and we used the first five rows of pews, crazy. After the practice I came home and cleaned the house because it looked like an earthquake had hit. I told the kids that after the house was spotless we could make pumpkin cookies so they were great helpers. Then Nicole called and said she was taking Bryn to see HSM 3 and so I decided to take Landon and Stacia and go to the movie. I had to scramble to find a babysitter but luckily I have great neighbors and the Haslam's took Milli and the Pierson's took Lauren. The movie was pretty much what I expected, but the best part was when the boys ( Troy & the other guy) were in a junkyard and of course they broke out into a song and dance and Landon jumped up and started dancing in the theater! It was so funny, he was watching them and trying to copy their moves, where is a video camera when I need one?

Sunday, I had to be to church early because of the program and I actually made it!! I was supposed to be helping but I have to admit that I was no help at all, it was all I could do to keep Lauren and Milena under control ( did I mention that Bobby left town on Wed. morning?) it made me wonder how I used to sit alone with two little kids when we lived in Iowa, because Bobby was in the branch Pesidency. Anyway the primary kids did such a great job!! I love the primary program and I had a perfect view of Stacia and Landon, they were so cute.
So, that was my wonderful week, plus Tae Kwon do, piano lessons, and hair appointments that were mixed in there somewhere. Bobby will be home in a few hours and I can't wait. I never want to be a single mom, I don't know how they do it.

Oh, I almost forgot, after church today Brother Elison stopped me and asked if Bobby and I would speak next week! An awesome way to end the week, it was like the cherry on top.

Mosaic Maker

2008-11-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

A few people have asked me how to do the picture Mosaics, so I have posted a link for it on the side bar of this blog. It is called Mosaic Maker.

Halloween fun!!

2008-11-01T11:59:00.001-07:00

At Odyssey they can only dress up for Halloween if they pick a famous person from history, and write a report about that person. Stacia picked Louis Pasteur. At first I thought she was crazy, but it ended up being easier than I thought to put a costume together and she had fun with it.

Landon had a Halloween party at Tae Kwon Do. Master Augustine Dressed up like a big woman with a puppy stuck to her behind and he carried around a sign that said ' Lost Puppy' it was pretty funny. they played games and had lots of treats and Pizza. I was the only one there not dressed up...oops...oh well.

For real Halloween Stacia was dressed as a snow princess, Landon was Optimus Prime, Millie was Strawberry Shortcake and Laure was Pebbles. Grandma Ginn and Bobby took them trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and then we headed to Grandma Lemke's for a second round of trick-or-treating with the cousins. We have so much candy, the kids are going to be bouncing off the walls for weeks.

The cousins- Parker & Jason, Kamree with Wade, and Lizzie. They all looked great, I think Wade was dressed up like Mike Newton, HaHaHa

The past few weeks

2008-10-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

Since Halloween is just a few days away, we decided it was time to carve our pumpkins. Stacia and Milena drew faces on theirs and then Bobby helped them cut out the pieces. Landon wanted to pick a pattern out of the kit so he picked one that he says is Iron Man and I helped him cut it out ( Okay I pretty much did it all and I have to say that by the time I was finished my arm was killing me, how sad is that?). Bobby also did one of the patterns and found out it's not as easy as it seems, but they all turned out great and we had a lot of fun doing it.

Great Auntie Nenka always sends the kids a Halloween card with a McDonald's gift card. They love it, not only do they get mail, but they also get to go to their favorite restaurant. Thank you Auntie Nenka We love You!!!

We didn't do anything too fabulous over UEA weekend, but we did manage to get to the park for a picnic. We went to Wines park and as soon as we got there I noticed that there was a Police Car parked on one side of the park, which wouldn't be that weird accept then I noticed there were two more circling the park. They were there for almost the whole time we were, but I never did find out what was going on. I was going to take a picture of the one who was parked so I could post it, but I am a big chicken and thought he might get mad.

For some reason a baby on a swing is so darn cute :)

Lauren has learned how to climb the stairs which to me is not a happy occasion at all, but as you can see she is pretty proud of herself.

So that's what we have been up to the last few weeks. We also all got the flu, but I don't have any pictures of that, thank goodness.

Happy Birthday Lauren!

2008-10-16T19:56:00.001-07:00

Lauren was a trouble maker and a miracle right from the start. We thought we were complete after we had Milena, but Lauren had other ideas. I didn't know she was on her way until I was 4 months pregnant and by the time I got int0 the Doctor I was over 5mths along. She was born seven weeks early so there was only ten weeks separating my first Dr. appt. and the delivery...I know shortest Pregnancy ever! She had to stay in the NICU for three long weeks, and even though I thought I was a pro at the NICU stuff it was still really hard and and I had my meltdowns. It was so wonderful to bring her home, she is such a happy girl, we are so happy and thankful to have her in our family. I'm feeling a multitude of emotions today, she is growing so fast and now knowing she is my last baby is making me a little sad, but also very happy.

It was such a blessing when we could finally hold her.

Already enjoying tanning.

First Halloween, 6 days before coming home.

Mom is exhausted but happy to be going home.

Blessing day.

3 months old

5 months old

10 months old

First time swimming, 9 months old

Our little munchkin has come a long way, you would never know she was only 4lbs when she was born... she has surely made up for that.

Stacia, Landon and Milena got her some goldfish and a cute little book.

We are having a little family party for her on Sunday, but I really wanted to celebrate on her birthday. As you can see she very much enjoyed the cake, I'm sure she won't mind doing it again for the fam.

Blue belt test

2008-10-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

Landon tested for his Blue belt on Sat. and as always he did a great job. It really amazes me how much information he can hold in his head. Along with all the physical things they have to learn there is also ALOT of memorization. The most fun part is when they do their self defense against the instructor, and of course when they get to break a board. It is so cute to watch and Landon really enjoys it.

On Monday after class, Master Augustine takes off their old belt and puts on their new one. Then he shakes their hand and congratulates them. Good work Landon, keep it up!

Opening night at Rio Tinto Stadium

2008-10-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Thurs. Oct. 9th was the first time RSL played in their new stadium. It was really fun, they had fireworks during the National Anthem and then they shot a ton of confetti and streamers at us. The game had it's ups and downs, there was even some red card excitement! The big screen was on the opposite side from Rice Eccles so we kept looking the wrong way for instant replays and stuff. Jeff brought a date(Megan I think) who was very nice, but he says she is too mature for him... I say one of them has to be mature right? Bobby's Cousin Tristan came with his wife Amy and they had a great time until the game was over and they discovered their car had been towed! So much for an inexpensive night out. Bobby and I drove them home and they picked up their car the next day. It was a great evening with great company. The final score was 1-1, so at least they didn't lose.

England and an Elephant Parade

2008-10-04T16:33:00.001-07:00

Bobby recently had the opportunity to go to England. While he was there he got to see a Manchester United game and take a tour of the stadium. It was a short trip, but something that you don't get to do everyday, and will be a great memory for him.
Steak and Kidney pie----not so good

Manchester United Locker room
The walk to the stadium on game day---what a great atmosphere!!!
Coaches and players that are not in the starting line up sit here during the game.

The front of Old Trafford!
15 min before game time...at kick off this place was packed(76,000fans) The fans can not drink beer in the seats so they all sing chant and drink in the concession area right up till kick off. Unbelievable to hear these fans cheer and sing their songs.

Meanwhile.... back at home, I took the kids up to Salt Lake to see an Elephant parade. It was a long wait for a short parade but the kids loved it and that's what counts right? Plus they got cotton candy, popcorn, and balloon animals, all in all it was a fun afternoon.

Also while Bobby was in England, Rachel came to stay with me. Austin happened to be out of town at the same time,so it worked out great. We watched chick flicks, went to a BBQ at the Hillman's and just hung out and had fun together. Thanks Rach, the weekend would have felt much longer without you!

Family Pictures

2008-09-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures done a few weeks ago and here are the results...I think they turned out great! It was a little bit windy, but Katie did such a great job!!

I started getting the kids ready almost two hours in advance so that if anything went wrong I could have time to fix it. Well of course something went wrong!! I had everyone ready to go and I was doing one last evaluation of them and realized Milena was missing...well when I found her she had an open bottle of dark brown nail polish and it was all over her. I was frantically scrubbing her with nail polish remover, it was crazy!! Luckily I had not put her in her dress yet in anticipation of something like this, if she was dressed already I don't know what we would have done. But it all turned out okay, so I'm over it.

Bobby and I have not had a professional picture of just the two of us since our wedding! I know we are big slackers.

Crazy Carrots!

2008-09-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Okay so we might have let the carrots get a little out of control. Stacia thought this giant carrot was so cool that she took it to school in her lunch for like three days in a row. On the first day she showed it to her teacher and she held it up for the whole class to see. Stacia thought that was pretty neat.

Yuba Lake

2008-09-07T14:54:00.001-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend we went to Yuba lake with the Lewis family. We had such a good day. The kids loved playing in the water and they thought it was so great that we were on a beach. We went out on the boat and though the water was too cold for me, the kids had fun on the tube and Bobby had a great run on the wake board, I should have had my video camera...oh well.

We were supposed to camp there, but as we were putting up our tent it got crazy windy. You can't really tell from the picture but it was a major dust storm. Bobby and Kory spent an hour trying to make sure the boat was going to be secure for the night and then they spent another hour helping the people next to us bail water out of their boat. They said the water in the boat was knee deep and it was pretty difficult to bail it out with waves pouring more and more in. On top of that the guy had dropped his key somewhere inside the boat and by this time it was pitch black outside so they couldn't find it. Well after all that they decided it was too dangerous to leave the Lewis' boat in the water so the boys went to dock it which made Katie and I very nervous, but everything turned out fine. It made for an exciting evening and it was nice to get home to our own beds.