Thanks Nancy!

Ruby's was so delicious. The crazy part was the fact that we were dealing with a bit of storm surge so we were constantly feeling the pier sway. Every now and then I'd just get that sea sick feeling for a second, then I'd dig into my breakfast food and shake.

The walk to Ruby's

Gage deciding what he wants to eat.

Ryan's girls.

The House

The house we stayed in was totally awesome. A private room with bathroom for each family, 2 hot tubs, 2 roof top decks, 2 full kitchens, 2 family rooms, beach front view and access, mile (walking distance) from Ruby's, and family everywhere! It was loads of fun.

View from the lower rooftop

Patio Hot tub

Some of the awesomest women you could ever meet!

Extravaganza Day 2

Day 2 began with a dip in the pool. Too chilly for me, but the kids were pumped.

The bathing beauties over 12 and Lyla. (Lindz can decide if Ty qualifies)

I think these girls.....

Actually spent more time in the hot tub!

Brigham may just be a great swimmer like his dad! Check out that form!

What is it with Lyla and her tongue? It can only be intense concentration.

Disney part 3

Mickey was a highlight! (I love Henrick's face here)

This is Wonder Grandma, with 4 kids in tow!

(She may tell you, she was in tow)

Nica and Brigham are in Heaven at Opi's side.

Farewell and Thanks for the free day!

And a special Thanks to Trina and Jeff!

Make that, Give a Day, Get a JEDI day!

Britti, Nica, and Caelen are all now Jedi's. (Dani was previously trained a couple years ago). They attended Jedi training. There isn't anything quite as fun as seeing your little girl cream Darth Vader. Or in Cae's case Vader and Maul!

Caelen and Nica, at the ready!

Britti in the process of ducking.

Nica battles the dark side.

Britti was well trained as you can see!

Give a Day, Get a Disney Day!

Extravaganza Day 1:

Nearly 30 members of our VB fam earned the free tickets.  It was so fun to have them all at Disneyland together. We did the first few rides together (yay! no riding with strangers) and met at the castle for pictures (still need to get one from Bob). It was funny because everywhere we went there was family. Someone always ended up nearby, no matter what part of the park we were in! Dani, Britti, and their cousins, sprinted at the opening to be first under the castle (aka, first in Disneyland).

We met Tinkerbell and Terrance

Small World was fun

Jungle Cruise was dangerous....

...But not as dangerous as splash mountain!

We're outta here!

At least we were.  Anyway this is the beginning of a week long extravaganza of fun.

Ry's hair has gotten a bit shaggy since November!

Britti is Nine!

Our pretty Britti is now nine years old.  She is a feisty little girl, that makes us all light up to see her.  She is adventurous and happy and we are so glad to say she belongs to us!

Grab your tissue

I should not have read this at work, but I had to finish it. Sharon may recognize much of this post, but I don't care (neither will she), I want all those close to me to see it.
This is clipped from Sharon's blog.

"So my freind posted this link on her blog. As she called it "a mother's livng nightmare." Have you ever left your toddler/baby in the tub just to grab something? If you want to know what I'm talking about you need to read this amazing story... http://www.stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/ Or you can watch the shorter version, this is a video the dad made...http://www.stakerzxposed.blogspot.com/2010/02/bronson-miracle.html .(you will want to scroll all the way down and hit mute on the her music before watching the video.) Have some tissues ready. I could barely read the story. Or if you want you can watch the news clip no KSL http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=9654005 But even though I may not know them, this is a really good reminder and a very touching story, and another example that Miracles do happen.

My Life (Stacy not Ryan)

Really, right now, my life seems to revolve around BW and saturday soccer games. This week was a crazy one. BW happens to be Ryan's life too, but this post is not about the craziness he deals with. Here is my BW life:

I'm beginning to know the regulars more and more now. I know what they look for and am actually disappointed if we don't get it in. Here are a few of them and what they want.

Nicholle the hair and nail lady. Anything to do with hair and nails is on her radar. This week, no such luck, but she bought some stuff to decorate with.

George, Nicholle's dad. He meets his daughter every Thursday, just as she's finishing up. He likes anything tooly and unusual liquids. He also snags occassional jewelry for his wife to work with. Nicholle saves stuff for him.

Dawn, the silverware and wedding lady. Already mentioned her in a previous post. Haven't seen her this week, I'm guessing Aaron got her today.

Karen, the Jack of all trades. Likes random tools, decor, furniture, and scrapbooking stuff.

And the Burnette lady (I can never remember her first name, even though I just read it, it makes me crazy!) She buys party supplies for her sister in Canada. Apparrently the wiggles are hot in Canada (glad I don't live there!), but we are out, so now she's moved on to curious george and the purple hat theme.

Anyway, working the store is always interesting. I get sick of surfing the web in like 2 minutes. There are some cute grandparents in here with their grandkids. I've never seen people so happy that we have carts. Our theme for the week: Need a Rug? We've got loads.

Nica Nica Nica!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICA!!

We forgot the Camera for Nica's Party but she sure was proud of her loot when she got home. I cant belive she is 5. (Just so you know she is 6, but my baby girl will allways be 5)

This is a Simple Pencil Sketch Ryan did for Nica's Birthday. I think he over tried on this one. ( I know Ryan's Eyes are Creepy)

Hmmmm

People are so strange.  I am sitting here at that awesome store.  You know, Bargain Warehouse.  I am people watching.  I realize now how awesome my kids are.  Generally, most parents just don't care what their kids are doing.  Thanks girls, for being so wonderful.

One lady comes every week.  I call her the silverware lady, she's bought loads.  She's so totally nice.  She's planning a wedding.  The last of 5 daughters.  Aleece and I think of Trina when she comes.  I'm so excited for Trina and Jeff, although I don't think stilts are included in the wedding plans.  Bummer.

Men hang back and try to look uninterested (even though they can't help but touch the tools and toys), women bring friends and parents.  Grandmothers try on shoes and forget they are wearing them and think there is only one shoe available.  I've had some pretty funny things happen.  We had a tire in.  Small.  Weird.  Goes to who knows what.  It actually sold!  I am always surprised at the weird things that come and go here.

What I love most:  A little kindness goes a long way.  Even though there are some weirdos out there, mostly people have a smile and a kind word.  I like finding the good in the world.

Have you ever......

had FUN with crackers??

Dani's creation (she had to step away for a moment)

Britti's creation (I soooo love her name....still)

Nica's creation (not bad cheese writing for a 5 year old)

Eggcellent

Love them pearly whites!

The Rec Center

Well Thanks to Grandma we all had a total blast during a late night at the Rec center.  It was so fun.  The kids couldn't get enough of the slide at the pool and were pumped to head out on the ice.  Nica in particular loved it.  Until of course she fell one major time.  Her feet went up and her head went down.  Hard.  Here are the results.

It was a pretty good shiner.  Quite swollen, but it mostly looked like eye shadow on one eye when it was open.  The funny thing was that she would not sit there and relax for even a minute.  She wanted to ice skate and when we went back out, she was mad that she had to hold my hand!!  Now it has several lovely shades of green and yellow with a touch of purple.  I LOVE her positive attitude!

How did we kick off the New Year?

With a BANG of course! If only I had captured those on camera.

Oh well.  These girls have plenty of pop and made a lot of noise!

Until they couldn't take it anymore.

P.S.  Ashley and Trevor are gross

and slightly cute too.

sorry for the blurry vision!

Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve Cuties!  Dani won the Elf hat in a class auction!

Christmas day was so fun.  Thanks for all the thoughtful gifts.  Our family is so blessed!

As stated in a previous post, for some reason fun in the VB family, fun always seems to involve pain.  I love Lance's face.

Dani and Gage were best buds this day.

Dani and her bows.

This girls sincerely loves everything good about everybody and everything.

Britti always enjoys the Stewart roll in the wrapping!