House Guests - The Daily Diary

We've had house guests! We were lucky to have Trent's parents & brother & family visit us for a few days. The cousins didn't stop ramming from the moment they arrived until it was time to say goodbye. We kept parts of the visit low key and relaxed and parts of the visit busy, busy. Here are some of the things we did.

Day 1- Friday
Today after I picked up Luke from school, Trent's parents (Merlin & Joy) & brother Travis' family (Travis, Angela, Kendrick & Cohen) had arrived at our house for a visit. Luke & Emry could hardly contain their excitement. We enjoyed the afternoon together, made supper and talked until bedtime.

Day 2-Saturday
The boys got up early and went fishing, so we decided to rent a jump house for the kids. They were so excited, it was like Christmas morning. They jumped and jumped and jumped until they couldn't jump anymore...I'm talking total exhaustion here! (who ever invented this contraption must have had parents in mind). It was a blast!

Luke's karate moves...hiya!

After a quick lunch of quesadillas, orange slices and homemade lemonade (thanks to Gma), we piled into the car to meet up with the guys and watch Luke's baseball game. Luke played a good game and we tried not to distract him too much. I think he secretly liked having his own cheering section.

The boys met us at the game and here's what Travis caught!! This halibut was 41-inches long and weighed over 30 lbs. (the scale only went to 30). They almost didn't get it into the boat, but we're glad they did because it is one tasty fish.

check out those chompers

notice the eye position...an evolutionary wonder! or just pure comedy? you decide

Late in the evening we got to see our owl and her baby! We didn't even know she'd already had it. What a treat to see. Trent and Travis helped me climb onto the roof so that I could get some shots....they're ok, but I was really wishing I had a telephoto lens in my camera case.




Day 3-Sunday
Today we celebrated Luke's birthday. We were 2 days early, but he didn't mind opening his gifts early one bit. So my little boy is 7! It's hard to believe, he's getting so grown up.


Day 4, Monday
We got up early to head up to Disneyland for the day! The kids were all very excited, not only was Luke missing school, but he was going to Disneyland with friends. It just doesn't get any better than that to a 7 year old. The day was a good one. We saw a lot of characters, which made the kids happy. The kids got to dance in the parade. We ate at the pizza port & the golden horseshoe. At one point, Emry hugged Trent and told him, "You're a sweet daddy. Sweet as apples. Sweet. Sweet. Sweet." We went on a lot of rides. And finally, Luke pulled out his loose tooth. He later told Trent, "this is the best day ever!"


Day 5-Tuesday
Today it was time to hit the beach!


And then it was time for everyone to go home. Thanks for visiting Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Travis, Aunt Angela, Kendrick & Cohen!!!!

Medical X-ray Pop Quiz

18 month old female presents to clinic for well baby check. Physical examination reveals hip click. An x-ray is performed. Which of the following is the apparent abnormality?


a) hip dysplasia
b) femoral head fracture
c) foreign body
d) constipation

f) pelvic girdle fracture

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If you answered c) foreign body, you are correct. Carley had her well baby visit this morning and had to have an x-ray to check out a "click" (no pun intended) in her hip. Her hips are fine, but they did have to redo the x-ray because she had swallowed a hair clip!!! Carley strikes again!
We'll keep you updated on the passing of the hair clip. It should come out sometime this weekend...or else we'll be heading to the hospital. We're keeping the hair clip too. So that every time you see our girls you'll be wondering, in the back of your mind, if that's the one.......

SELF PORTRAIT

On the way home from our trip to find Holy Jim Falls, I was bored and decided to do an impromptu photo shoot of myself. I played around with a few different techniques in photoshop, so let me know what you think. Each pic has it's own issues, so don't be too harsh, I'm still learning here. These are my favorites...

Holy Jim Falls

Trent got done with work early the other day, so we threw the girls in the car for a quick trip into the mountains. We were looking for a place called Holy Jim Falls, but we didn't end up making it that far up the mountain. However, the trip didn't disappoint. We saw tons of wild flowers and the girls were able to have fun exploring the woods. Here are some of the things that we were side tracked by.

We stopped by the river and found these trees.
I absolutely loved them. I totally want to go back and shoot more photos of them
because they're awesome all carved up like that.

Emry had a great time playing in the trees.
I even managed to get her to sit for me for a few photos.

Trent had to hold Carley back
because she wanted to get into the water soooo bad.
She's such a fish!

On our way down the mountain we passed this dad and his twin sons playing their mariachi music. It was so cute to see these guys practicing their little trumpets.

Scratch-N-Sniff

The orange blossoms on our trees have opened
and filled the air with the most intoxicating smell!
As it wafts into my nostrils, I can't help but smile at the joy of the sweet fragrance.
I've heard tales of such a smell, but am now experiencing it for myself.
If I could somehow make the screen of your computer into a scratch-n-sniff sticker I would!
In one word, I would call the scent...
lovely

My kiddos

Here are a few photos of my precious little ones.
This post is mainly for their grandmas, but we hope everyone enjoys!!

Here's Luke, he's on his skateboard when ever we're outside these days,
so this is as good as you get for the time being.

Emry is quite the little poser.
It's hard to get a real picture of her lately because she likes to ham it up...big time!

Carley is still very much into dress up and following luke & emry around like a puppy!

My New Lens!!!

Hip Hip Hooray! I got a new lens for my camera and I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!

We really shouldn't have gotten it, but I've been thinking about getting more serious about my photography and possibly starting up a little business, so it was time. Trent was the major aggressor behind the purchase. He decided to use some of our tax return, that was supposed to be put toward other things, it makes me a little giddy that he did this for me! He has really been supporting me in my photography efforts lately. It's nice to have him behind me... pushing me to do things, I might not do otherwise.

So here are my favorite shots from my first weekend with my new best friend,
EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM!!
I dare you to click on the photo to enlarge the image!