Toy Story in 3D

We decided to make a trip to Hollywood at the El Capitan Theatre to see the new Toy Story movie. We have always wanted to go there and though it would be fun to see Toy Story there because they had a special Fun Zone free with the price of your ticket. We invited our home teaching families and friends to go with us and got a group discount. We had to make a stop up the Hollywood Hills to get a picture by the sign.

We sat up in the balcony and everyone loved the movie!

After we went to the fun zone where they had lots of carnival games to play.

There was Buzz's Bounce house, Andy's Trike Races, a ferris wheel and Bullseye,s Bungee Jump.

The also had some crafts, a Sunnyside Preschool Playgroud, a huge area with lots of different toys from the movie to play and a show called Dancing with the Toys. They did a great job with everything and the price was great!

There were also plenty of photos to take and Abby wanted a picture with everything.

What a fun day! That night we took 24 of us to California Pizza Kitchen near the Kodak Theatre. The kids had a huge long table all to themselves. They did really good considering it was 9pm before we got to eat. Make them really hungry and give them some crayons and they are good.

Pechanga Indian Field Trip

For the summer we have been trying to get the Scouts out to do some different things that are harder to do during school. So I arranged for the boys to go over to the reservation and learn about the Pechanga Indians. Our friend RJ is from the tribe and he and his son Joey gave the boys a tour of the village they have over there. This is one of the Kiicha Huts that RJ helped to build. Before we started the tour Joey took his machete to look for any rattlesnakes. Yikes. I wasn't sure what I signed us up for. Thank goodness there wasn't any. RJ did have some skin to show the boys which got them very excited.

This is one of the tents that housed around 8 or 10 people at a time.

This is how they stored their food.

Here is inside the smoke house where the Indians would get ready to hunt and disguise their scents.

We also got to see some rocks with writings on them. He also showed us on some rocks how the would have to sit there for hours before becoming a man and pound a hole into the rock with a smaller rock while in the buff. The boys got a kick out of that one. There are also rocks that they used as bells that when they hit them they could be heard miles away.

The boys thought everything was cool and I found it very interesting about our local indians.

Cubstruction Camp

Blake went to his first Cub Scout Day Camp this year. He went everyday from 2pm to 8pm for a week. He got to shoot BB guns which he loved and bow and arrows. He had a great time, even though he complained about going right before he left, he always came home with a huge grin and lots of fun stories. We had around 8 or 10 boys from our ward go each day. The had a great time together. He also thought it was pretty cool to make stuff out of duct tape.

My Dad by Hailey

At school they had a Game Day with Dad. Todd took the afternoon off of work and went to Hailey's class with her to play games. Hailey was so exited and had a great time with her Daddy. Here is a picture she drew of him and her writing. I love the five o'clock shadow he has. She did a cute job on both. Her teacher said he has quite the reputation in the class as being the most amazing jumper in the world. My Dad

by Hailey

I love my Dad because when he is not working he spends his time playing with me. My Dad is the best at doing flips on the trampoline because every time he tries a new flip he lands it. My favorite thing to do with him is jump on the trampoline with him because he makes me jump so high I can almost fly. He is so handsome because he has brown eyes and black hair. The best thing about my Dad is he never gives up on anything new he tries.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad ever! We love you and all that you do for our family! We are the luckiest people in the world to have you as a Daddy!We had Todd's Dad and family over for a Father's Day BBQ this year. The kids had a great time with Grandpa Ryan and all the cousins. All the girls got Grandpa Ryan to play Just Dance on the Wii. It was pretty entertaining to say the least. Before Grandpa left Blake challenged him to a game of bowling. Grandpa had never played Wii before.

They always have so much fun with Grandpa because he likes to wrestle and play just like the kids. It was a fun to have everyone there and have Todd be able to spend Father's Day with his Dad.

Summer's Here! Time for the river!

As soon as school was out we headed to the river with our friends. We love going there for a little summer vacation. We get up and the kids play a little while we get ready for a day on the river. The kids usually do a craft or just play in the kiddie pool or just run from camper to camper. This year the girls made Tie Dye shirts. Abby wouldn't wear hers because all she wanted to do was wear her swimsuit. She came walking out of the camper one morning with her purse, glasses and cell phone strutting around and saying she is ready to go. Everyone had a good laugh at her.

We head down to the river during the late morning and swim and boat all day.

Brother and Sister Rockafellor joined us this year and we got to cruise around on the pantone boat so we could all go at once. The kids loved having them there and Abby kept calling them Grandma and Grandpa.The kids also got to do a little fishing. Blake was pretty excited to give it a try. They ended up catching a catfish and then we let it go.

It was super relaxing just floating around in the water. The weather was perfect. Abby even took a nap on the kayak ride with Daddy.

Late in the afternoon we would go up for a lunch and the kids would play with water balloons they had filled all morning.

At night we would BBQ and play games together. We taught the Tanners how to play Grandma Newbold's candy bar game.

The kids went out a lot on the Monster Tube. It took Madison awhile but she finally decided to go and Leanne is the only one who she would go with. Hailey and Karis loved it the most and got very daring and did a few little tricks while being pulled.

The kids also loved jumping in the middle of the river. Abby even gave it a try. She did want to do it again after the first time though.

After boating for two days straight and being up late. Hailey got a little sea sick. It didn't take her very long to get better and then she was ready to get back on the tube.

The girls loved washing their hair in the outdoor shower and being able to take care of Abby. Abby loved all the attention and didn't mind them shampooing her hair one bit.

We had a great time at the river with some great friends.

Everyone is always so sad to say goodbye!

Thanks to the Tanners and Rockafellors for such a good time.

We really love our relaxing river trip! It is a great way to start the summer!

School Is Out!

The school year is ending so we went to open house at school to see all the great things the kids have done throughout the year. Hailey has been learning about animals and their habitats so she had lots of things displayed in the different regions for us to look at. She really loved her class and teacher this year. Her favorite thing to do was writing. Her teacher is amazed at he writing and they way that she talks to her reader and said she is a great example to those around her! Way to go Hailey! Blake's class has been researching a lot about the local history and they put on a presentation about some of the pioneers of the area. Blake had to dress as a stagecoach manager and talk about the things he did for our area. Blake favorite thing about 3rd grade was that he teacher let them do lots of research. He really liked his teacher this year and had a couple of really good friends in his class. His teacher said Blake is a great student and very self disciplined. We are so proud of him!

Shining Stars Performance

Madison had her graduation from Shining Stars Preschool today. Miss. Michelle did a great job with the kids. They had Disney shirts and sang the songs they had learned all year and some Disney songs. Madison called it her "big girl preschool" that she went to on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays to help get her ready for Kindergarten. She loved it there and made some new friends. She also knew four of the kids from church which made it easier for her starting a little later than the rest.

She loved preschool and did really well. However, she didn't talk once to Miss Michelle or her assistants. They tried everything they could to get her to talk. She loved the attention of being the one who never talked. Her church friends kept asking her why she wouldn't talk at preschool and they would just talk for her. As soon as she got near the car she wouldn't stop talking about every detail about what went on at preschool.

Miss Michelle gave Madison the "Quiet Cutie Award". She said how much Madison loved to participate with a huge grin but wouldn't say a word. Luckily she did give lots of hugs. Thanks Miss Michelle for being such a great teacher.

Here is some video of Madison grooving in one of the songs they did.

Madison's School Pictures

Miss Alisha took these pictures for picture day at Madison's Shining Stars Preschool. I loved them. She did a great job. Madison's turned out to be adorable.

Madison's Preschool End of the Year Party

Today was Madison's last big get together with our joy school group we had going for the last two years. They are all going into kindergarten and so excited and ready. It has been lots of fun the last two years together and fun to see them all grow. Madison, Cosette and Riley were the only three girls in the group this year. Such a fun group of kids. Although I am ready for a year break of doing joy school I will miss all the kids and their Moms each week. Madison used to call it her little preschool. She was so happy that when she started at the Shining Stars Preschool in January that she still got to do joy school and be with her friends. She loved everyday of it and will miss being with them every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Luckily she will get to see most of them atthe Ward's summer fun activities this year.

Ready for summer and then kindergarten!