Whoa, who's that good looking girl?

All summer, Jill had been dying to get her hair cut and highlighted and she finally had her appointment yesterday. (Mind you, I paid for the cut and she paid for the color.) To me, she has always looked older than her age, but now she really looks older. I have mixed emotions about that. I think Zaron is going to need a bigger shotgun.

You are beautiful, Jill!!

You know you're getting old when......

Okay, so not really old, but you know you're getting older when..........

I went to the DMV last week to get a Utah driver's license. I know, I've only lived in Utah for two years, but I thought it was time. Zaron and I actually went together. It all started off great. We got the paper work, we filled it out with no problems, and after waiting for probably five minutes they called my name. I took my paperwork to the nice older gentleman and we started the process. He asked the usual questions and then he told me to look into the eye machine. He told me to read the first line. After a few seconds of staring at the first line, I asked him "Are those actual letters?" He gave me the look and I proceeded to tell him what I thought was on the first line. He asked me "Do you wear glasses?" I said, "Yes, I have glasses for reading and dri...." As I was about to say driving, he gave me the look again and said, "I'm going to try and help you out here." He shut off the right side and I read the letters on the left. He shut off the left side and I read the letters on the right. He said I answered enough of them correctly that he wasn't going to restrict me this time. Then he told me, "I know it gets hard as we get older, but if we need glasses, we just need to suck it up and wear them." As WE get older; did I seriously look as old as did. He was probably 65 years old; not that that's old, because it's not, I just don't think I look 65 yet.

To make the story even better, I took the written test and it was open book. One would think, "Aw, this is a no brainer, a piece of cake". Well, they twist and turn the questions around so much that by the time you're through, you're no longer sure what your name is. I was done with the test and I was double checking my answers. One question was still stumping me; it was True/False. It seemed obvious, but I wasn't sure. Like I said, they twist and turn. I put true, but after reading in the book, I thought it was false. So, I changed it to false and hit finish. My score came flashing on the screen. I passed, but I missed ONE. And guess which one it was. Yep, the one I changed. How annoying. But to make it even better, I asked Zaron what he got. He said, with a smile of sweet victory on his face, "100%". Of course! (Not to mention, my picture turned out fabulous. Not!!)

The moral of the story, driving is so overrated!!!

And so it begins!!

I can't believe that summer is over and a new school year is beginning. It's a milestone year for me, now that all my kids are in school all day. Oh, what shall I do with all that time? I love my kids and miss them while they are away, but it is nice to have some time to myself to work on some projects that I've been putting off until my kids were in school all day. I'm also going to substitute teach and possibly go back to school myself. Right now, I'm just trying to enjoy the silence.

Aren't they so cute!!!

Jill - a cool 8th grader
Kevin - a big bad 6th grader
Megan - a sophisticated 3rd grader
Holly - an ecstatic 1st grader

Gettin' ready for school 2008

In honor of school starting in less than a week, Megan and Holly decided that they wanted new hairstyles.

Megan has been growing her bangs out for a few months now and she does some really cute styles with her hair. She's very creative. She just wanted a "trim", "not too short mom". Megan is sporting the swoop bangs and a new school outfit.

Holly has been growing her bangs out for a year now, and she has been begging me for a few weeks to cut her hair to the length of her bangs. I kept putting her off because I thought it would be too short and she wouldn't like it. Who would've thought it could turn out so cute? And all done by a non-professional for free. Maybe Great Clips will hire me. Notice the side part and the new school clothes.
Let School Begin!!!!

Last few tidbits of summer

Wow, what a busy, fun summer this has been. I think we are done vacationing for the time being. I can't believe that school is going to start in a little over a week. I thought I would post the last few miscellaneous pictures from our summer. They are all in random order.

While we were in California, Zaron and I went to the L.A. temple with my mom and dad and sister, Amy. We had a very nice time. Zaron and I love going to this temple; we were married here a little over 14 years ago and it's one of our favorites.

Also while in California, we made a spontaeous trip to Magic Mountain. We took Jill and Kevin along with Amy, my sister, and my cousins Becky and Will, and Brad and Lisa. It was just like old times. When I was growing up, every year my Grandpa Davies would take the whole family to Magic Mountain for his birthday. Our favorite thing to do was ride a ride, get off, run around, and get right back on. Good times!!!

Jill and Amy with Flash Gordon and Batman. They thought Flash was cute. We went for a day to a family reunion that Zaron's aunt and uncle had up in Midway. They rented a huge house for all their kids and grandkids. They invited us up for the day. We had a great time. This is a few of the kids on the trampoline.
Tommy's is one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world. They serve greasy yummy chili hamburgers and fries. It's sooo good. While growing up, as a youth, after doing baptisms for the dead in the L.A. temple, we would always stop at Tommy's on the way home. So, this summer, after we went to the L.A. temple, we had to make a stop for old time's sake. It was just as good as I remember.

Going to the movies is the best, especially with lots of popcorn and candy.

Grandpa H., Grandma H., Jill, Kevin, Ty, Amy, Sydney, Megan, Holly, and Ambri.

It has become a tradition during our trips to California, to go out to breakfast at the bowling alley. It may not sound appetizing to eat at the bowling alley, but it is delicious.
Here are the kids with Uncle Leslie, Zaron's youngest brother. Everyone loves Uncle Leslie, he's like a kid himself.
I just had to put this picture because it looks Megan is walking on water.
These are my grandparents (the same ones that used to take us to Magic Mountain every year). And actually, when my grandpa heard that we were going to Magic Mountain he was trying to figure out a way so he could go with us. I love my grandparents.

Camping at Beautiful Bear Lake

We just got back from camping for three days at Bear Lake with my brother Brent, his wife Krissi, and their kids Samantha, Andrew, Alex, and Henry. We had such a fun time with lots of laughs and we made some great memories. We now know how to fit all of our camping gear in the back of our Sequoia, make hobo dinners for twelve, make peach cobbler in a dutch oven without burning it, and make a delicious dutch oven breakfast fit for twelve hungry campers. The kids played Speed, Skipbo, and Uno for hours and enjoyed the rec. room, playground, and mini golf. It was all so great. We decided while we were there, to make it a tradition every year; camping or cabining at Bear Lake. Thanks guys for the yummy food and the great times!!!

Isn't this view of the lake gorgeous. I don't think a picture can even capture the beauty; it was breathtaking.

Sunbathing on the lake, now this is the life. Especially if you're all covered in sand. Holly loved to get in the water and then roll around in the sand. I'm not quite sure why. The beach access was within minutes of our campsite; it was great.
Andrew, Jill, Samantha, Megan, and Kevin
Henry and Alex
You gotta love Skipbo. Some of the older kids (Jill, Sam, Andrew, and Kevin) tried to pull off an all-nighter on our last night by playing card games. It was all good until Jill and Sam left to go to the bathroom and when they got back, Kevin and Andrew were already asleep. Oh well, maybe next year.

One of the highlights of our trip, besides getting raspberry shakes and yummy shaved ice was renting 6 person bikes and riding along the bike trail. It was hilarious and at times dangerous, especially when all six of the older kids were riding one of the bikes without any adults. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. I wished we had a video camera to capture the whole experience and all the screaming. Good times!!!

These bikes aren't as easy as they look. It really gives you a workout.
Playing in the mud, it's great for your skin.

(Henry, Andrew, Kevin, Sam, and Jill)
Alex and Holly were working on the perfect sand castle.
We had two great campsites. We were kind of away from everyone else which made it really nice.

Paradise in California

We love the beach! It's one of our favorite pasttimes while vacationing in California. Some of our past beach experiences have been colder than others. This time, it was perfect. The weather was great and the kids were actually able to play in the water in their swim suits. Holly and Megan were especially excited because their cousin Ambri came with us (my sister's daughter).

You can't leave the beach until you've been completely covered in sand and your swim suit has been filled with sand.
I was surprised that Holly wanted to be buried. She's pretty particular about getting dirty.
This is the life!!
I would be totally fine to live on the beach.

A visit to Sacramento

While we were in California this summer, we made a trip to Sacramento for three days. We lived in Sacramento for 6 years before we moved to Utah and we made some great friends and memories. We haven't been back to visit since we moved. It was great too see the sights, family and friends.

Here we are with Zaron's grandparents who live in Galt which is 15 miles south of Sacramento

The Sacramento Temple was completed just after we moved. I'm sure the members are loving having a temple so close now. Before this, their temple district was Oakland (a 2 hour drive one way). It was so great to see this beautiful temple completed. Pictured below are our kids and a second cousin: Kevin, Megan, Holly, Olivia, and Jill.
What a cute couple!!
Don't they look like twins? (Holly and Olivia)
Of course, no vacation to California would be complete without a trip to Inn N Out. This was our first of many stops to Inn N Out during our two weeks in California.
When we lived in Sacramento, one of our favorite places to visit was Old Sacramento. This was in front of the candy store where they hand out free samples.

Here are the kids with one of my very favorite aunts, Aunt Di. She is my mom's sister and lives in Sacramento. We spent a day with her swimming, visiting, and eating yummy pizza at Giovanni's Pizzaria. Thanks Aunt Di for the great times and for the delicious peanut butter cookies. We weren't able to share them with anyone in Bakersfield, they didn't make it that far.
This is Zaron's cousin David, his wife Heather and their youngest child Derek. Olivia, pictured above is their daughter. They also have two more boys, Nathan and Mattingly. Thanks guys for letting us crash at your mcmansion for three days. Thanks for the yummy food and the great swimming pool.
Here we are again in Old Sacramento at the school house. My Aunt Di volunteers here and every year we would come during the gingerbread house contest to see Aunt Di and the gingerbread houses. A couple of times, after we were done, Aunt Di would take us out to lunch and on a horse drawn carriage ride to the Capitol. Great memories!!! We tried to do the carriage ride this time, but we were told it was too hot for the horses. Oh wow, I wonder how people used to get around in the olden days when it was too hot to use their transportation. Horses are so spoiled these days.
A true California girl!
They look so smart sitting at the school desks. I hope it didn't ruin Kevin for life, entering a school during summer break.