Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend we went to visit my parents in San Diego and we planned to make our one and only trip of the Summer to the beach.  Wouldn't you know it? The marine layer was really thick when we got there at 10am and did NOT wear off AT ALL.  So it was pretty cold, but at least it wasn't crowded!  Russell spent a lot of time with the girls walking into the water

and promptly running back out with the tide

Nathan also spent some time running away from the water.  But he was very cool and collected about it and seemed to be showing everyone that he wasn't really afraid of the water, he just would rather stay dry.

The girls had SOOOO much fun it made me wish we had taken them more this Summer.

Nathan spent most of the time with me . . . up on the blanket. . . out of the cold.  I was trying to protect him from the cold water and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I was feverishly reading The Hunger Games

Nathan thought he was a big help when the girls decided to start collecting rocks.  I thought it was pretty cute.

We had a good time.  Well, at least THEY did.  These faces say it all . . .

After lunch and naps the kids had some fun in the pool with their cousins Sara and Kaleb and their Uncle Matt

A Bit of Summer

I have so much catching up to do to finish posting about our Summer.

We didn't do much swimming this year, but we did hang out with cousins and their water toys.  On this particular day Jessica called and invited us over to play with the slip 'n slide and kiddie pool.  It was bright and sunny out with clouds far off in the distance when I accepted the invitation, but by the time we got ready it looked like this

And then the thunder and lightning started.  We sat out in our lawn chairs with our kids in their bathing suits playing in the water and watched the lightning in the distance (don't worry it was pretty far away).  It was actually pretty fun and we even got sprinkled on a bit, but it was so warm that the kids sure didn't mind. Nathan and Braden had a ball crawling around on the slip 'n slide

Morgan and Madylin played in the wagon a lot with Riley and they all took turns pulling each other around

This summer we've also been working on our back yard.  We got a whole lot a dirt dumped on our driveway which we then had to transfer to the back yard.  The girls were a BIG help, as you can see.

Kinser Family Reunion!

At the beginning of August we got to welcome home Russell's brother Travis from a 2 year mission to New Mexico.  Russell's whole family was together for the first time in a long time and we had some good times together. 

We were all able to be there to pick up Travis from the airport and we were all excited to see him . . . well almost all . . .

Every night since the twins started saying their own prayers they've been saying "bless Uncle Travis on his mission helping Jesus" so we thought they would get really excited when we told them he was coming home.  Well they did get excited and they said they were going to give him big hugs when they saw him, but SHOCKER, my shy little girls didn't.  They wouldn't go near him until a couple of days later.  Look at Madylin in both pictures giving him the weary eye.

At least Nathan thought he was trustworthy.

While everyone was still around we also went to "Mormon Night" at the 66ers.  It was pretty fun and very family friendly. They sold quesadillas and hot dogs for .50 cents each which the kids enjoyed.

Here is Nathan eating his hot dog next to Grandpa

And Morgan and Madylin taking in the atmosphere.

It was of course time to get a new family photo (There have been 4 grandchildren born since the last one).  Brandon wasn't able to be there because he was playing in the pony league world series, so his cousin sat in for him and then Brandon's face was photo-shopped in.  The whole situation was pretty comical, but I think it turned out pretty good in the end.

And here are the 10 little ones.  I LOVE this picture.

(l-r: Stefani, Nathan, Madylin, Austin, Staci, Ryan, Isaac, Morgan, Cameron, Jeremy)

Nathan's Birthday Celebration (finally)

Nathan's birthday evening was spent celebrating with our families.  Granna, Poppa, Uncle Matt, Aunt Jessica and Sara and Kaleb came from Escondido and Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Aaron, Aunt Jensine, Isaac, Austin, and Cameron came from San Bernardino.  We also had Russell's 2 cousins and their wives come who live here by us since they are practically aunts and uncles to our kiddos.  I like to do the 1st birthday with just close family and it turned out to be a very sweet and special evening for us celebrating this very sweet and special boy.

We had a mexican feast of 3 different mexican casseroles, chips and dip, and fruit and I think everyone enjoyed the food and company. The Boy sure did (We refer to him as "The Boy" in this home constantly)  I made him a "1" shirt with the material I used for the curtains, quilt, and teddy bear bow tie in his room (see above photo) and thought he looked so cute in it.

He got lots of nice gifts from his family, including lots of bouncing balls (which he LOVES right now)

This picture cracks me up.  His sisters' hands are all over his new toy and he's thinking "hey I thought that was for ME"

I had lots of fun making this cake and thought it turned out cute.

I guess he was having a hard time picking up the cake 'cause he just decided to skip the hands all together.

He made a grand mess like every 1-year-old should

And heeeeeeeeeerrrre is the end result!

My Sunshine

Lately, this little guy is my sunshine and my joy.  Guess what?  He is 1 today!  Makes me sad.  I wish he could stay at this age at this stage for another year because he is just so happy and content and easy!

I love him so much!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVED having twins and would do it again in a heartbeat, but it does feel a little different to focus all my love and motherly doting on 1 baby at a time this time around.  I feel so close to him and feel like I know him so well.  I'm not saying I love him more than I loved the girls at this age, it just feels a bit different and it's nice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!!!

You are such a joy to your family!

Our 4th of July

Since the 4th was on a Sunday this year I picked up these dresses at Kohls a few weeks before for the girls to wear to church and I LOVED them!  Nathan already had lots of patriotic clothes to wear.  I had the kids all done up for church and had french braided the girls hair and was about to take pictures when Morgan came running down the hall, tripped on her shoes and went head first right into the corner of the door jam.  She had a huge egg on her forehead and took a good 20 minutes to console, making us late for church and I wasn't able to take any pictures.  After church we went to Russell's Aunt Lynne's house to have homemade ice cream and watch the University of Redlands fireworks show from her front lawn.  I was able to take a few shots of the kids, but they were uninterested and messy by that point. Oh well, this is what we got . . .

We had just gotten home from our trip to Arizona the night before and I got food poisoning on the way home (thought I was gonna die in Blythe!!) so when we got home we pretty much just went to bed with no thought of the next day.  In the morning I remembered that Morgan had grown out of all her church shoes (again!) so all the girls could wear to church was their cheap white flip-flops.  So Russell washed them up for me and I tied on a bunch of patriotic ribbons and I think they turned out super cute!

Nathan wasn't keen on taking any more pictures at this point, so here is the boy in another patriotic outfit, just to be fair

The girls watched the fireworks with Grandpa and Grandma Kinser

And the tired boy hung out with Mom and Dad and kept trying to reach out and touch the fireworks.

Love the 4th of July, love my family, and love this country!

Phoenix Children's Museum

We were in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago because I was coaching my club team in the Volleyball Festival.  We were there for one very long HOT week and were looking for something that we could do with the kids indoors on my day off.  We discovered the Phoenix Children's Museum downtown and the kids loved it!  When you first walk in there is this huge jungle gym.  Russell took the girls up and they spent a good 20 minutes climbing around in that thing

You can't tell from the picture, but they were like 50 feet up when they finally reached the top

The hard part for Russell was coming down.  The workers didn't thing he'd make it.  There were a lot of tight spaces the way he chose to come down, but he did emerge (only a little battered and bruised!)

This table was really neat.  It was lit from below and had fine sand on top that the kids could draw in and just feel and squish to their heart's content.

The girls really liked this "noodle jungle."  They took off in it a couple of times and we had to chase them down in that crazy maze.  They had a ball.

Just outside the jungle was a table with different kinds of rocks that the kids could paint with water and brushes.  We kept running into this other set of twin girls that are 1 year younger than mine and I had a nice time talking to their mom.

There was a little grocery store with shopping carts and bags and checkout stands and Madylin went to town (Pay no attention to the tea that my daughter is stuffing into her bag- we're trying to kick the habit ; )

Hands down the favorite part of the whole museum was the kitchen area.  The girls spent at least a half an hour in here making pizzas and salads and whatever else they wanted to make!

Morgan is such a little homemaker.

Madylin spent most her time making pizza in the brick oven with Granna.

and then watching her enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Nathan loved the "Ballroom"  where he just threw balls and chased them or played catch with his daddy.

If you're ever in Phoenix with your kids, I'd recommend the place.  There were always areas for little babies to play and lots of comfy places for parents to sit and watch!