24 Hours in San Diego

Sunny San Diego Aug 2009

We may not have a lot of vacation time on our hands, but we know how to pack a lot into just one day. Shawn and Brooke spent 24 hours in New York and then last weekend Aug 8th and 9th the whole family jumped on a fabulous JetBlue Jet and flew to San Diego for 24 hours

We went straight from the airport to beautiful Coronodo Beach. The weather was absolutely perfect. High 70's with a slight breeze.

We bought some Boogie Boards and Sand Toys and played for hours in the fabulous surf and sand.

Here is proof that baby "Sven" was with us on our beach day!

After spending the whole afternoon at the beach, we drove to a great park on Coronodo Island and where TJ skated. Note the Helmut and the Knee Pads... a park requirement that Mom loved. He skated until his board snapped in half! Stevie loved the "workout section" of the park. He is a true gymnast! We went to dinner at our favorite Mexican cafe in Old Town. We seem to eat there everytime we find ourself in San Diego and then of course we found our way to the candy store in Old Town. We drove to La Jolla to the Marriott. Stevie was the first to notice that we had a beautiful view of the San Diego Temple outside our balcony. Then he came running into us ands said "there is two spiritual things in our hotel." we followed him to the bathroom where the mirror above the sink and on the closet doors reflected back to each other "just like the temple" he said. He remembered the mirrors in the sealing room of the Oquirrh Mountian Temple that we just went through.

On Sunday morning we woke up and drove to near by Torry Pines State Park and walked along the beach. It was a wonderful mini vacation that was packed with fun memories!

24th of July... Hot as a Firecracker!

We made the anual July trek up to Idaho over the 24th weekend. We had a great gathering at Grandpa's farm. We counted 52 people that came and stayed over the weekend at somepoint. Many members of the Terry family, Greg's family, Ferguson's and Tricia represented the Webb's. Funks joined us, as well as TJ's friends Justin Smith and Jon Thompson. The boys met up with us after a great weekend at BYUI for AFY. They had a wonderful time full of adventure and (they assured us) spiritual uplift. They came back with excitement and enthusiam and couldn't wait to meet up with many of thier new found friends. A new "cuteness" scale was developed over the week. Instead of rating how cute that girl was from 1 to 10 it is now from 1 to Amy. Amy (thier 19 ... almost 20 Canadian counselor) sure made an impression on all those boys.


(I tried to insert a pic of Lovely Amy and TJ with his "sharpie drawn" mutton chops! It's a classic... but none of the file formats worked)



Brooke, Madi, Stevie, Shawn and I spent Friday at Lava Hot Springs. The weather was funny, rainy one minute, windy the next and then blazing hot sun the next. That didn't stop us from having a great time.Shawn went to Lava early to get in 18 holes of golf. So that made the whole weekend worth it. The kids swam and slid and jumped and had lots of fun. Shawn was super Dad (as usual) playing with the kids while I slept and read in our cosy little set- up.

Once we were back at the Farm, four wheelers and the golf cart and ranger were the top form of entertainment. The boys had a great time shooting guns ( and texting thier new friends.) Stevie and Madi had lots of fun building fortresses and castles with the blocks. We play lots of games, at lots of yummy "farm food" and enjoy our time with family and friends.

Aspen Hollow was greener than I have ever seen in July, thanks to 30 days of rain in June. It was beautiful! Thanks Grandpa Jay for sharing your little piece of heaven here on earth with us.

Counting Down The Days!

I haven't updated for so long, but not for lack of enthusiasm and excitement over the arrival of baby # 5. We are just over three months away until our new one finally is here. We can't wait. One of the greatest perks of this pregnancy is to watch the kid’s excitement. They are so thrilled. They were completely shocked at the news and the excitement hasn't worn off one bit. Thankfully, I am over my miserable first trimester. My "morning sickness" came every night. I couldn't do anything after about 5pm besides lay on the couch. The kids and Shawn really stepped it up. Madi was always willing to get me a peanut butter sandwich and glass of milk to help settle my stomach. Shawn took over completely the task of laundry (without even being asked.) Brooke took over the dishes and the kitchen (all on her own) and Stevie was always quick and ready to give me and the baby a hug. Taylor was also very aware of how I was feeling and tried not to cause stress. He is always good for a laugh. We especially love his version of "Spanglish."

Madi, in an attempt to capture her excitement, made a paper count down chain-- with one link for every day until the baby's due date. The chain started last April. She was thrilled with it, but it completely depressed me to visually see how long it really was. But it really has been fun to watch the chain get smaller and smaller. Now it's kind of exciting to see how close we really are getting.

Just as my first trimester was ending, I started training for a new job. It was a 6 week long process that was completely overwhelming and exhausting. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done in such a short period of time. But once again, the family rallied around me and supported, encouraged and helped me in every way. The hard work was worth it and now I have a very flexible work schedule, can work from home and have great travel benefits.

But, sadly the summer is almost over, and the kids start school in just a few weeks and I feel like I haven't had enough time to enjoy them being at home. But with school starting, that just brings us closer to bringing this new baby home. The kids have helped me clean up and clean out, making room for all of our new baby's things. We didn't have one thing for this baby, because we were done... our family was complete... or so we thought. Our baby turns nine in just a few days and now we are starting over! Family and friends have been so generous. We haven't even needed to buy one thing! We have been given a crib, a car seat, toys, swing, highchair and clothes galore. We have been so blessed!

Madi and Brooke have both been helping me make some receiving blankets and an amazingly soft baby quilt and even some burp cloths. It has been fun to have them help and see their excitement. But the one thing that everyone has helped with is choosing a baby name. In the past, only Shawn and I have had to put in our input...but now we have 4 kids and extended family and friends all with opinions! We think we have finally come up with a name... of course it may change... but so far it is the only one that Shawn and I have come up with that we can both agree on. We won't announce it now... in case it does change, but the initials are BJF.

So little, BJF, if you are watching down on us, I hope you know how much we already love you and how excited we are for you to join our family. Enjoy your last few months of heavenly peace and quiet because once you get here, there will be none of that. Our family goes at full speed all of the time. But you won't lack for love and attention ever! Keep growing and put the pounds on your little body, so they won't go on mom's (not so little) body.

We love you Sven! (FYI.. that is the "in-utero" name the kids have given him!)