Clara turns 4

I can't believe we celebrated this little girls 4th birthday this past weekend!

About Clara:
1. She loves TV. Her favorite show is Team Umizoomi
2. Her best friend is Dotty. Her blanket. :)
3. She loves to help mom cook.
4. She LOVES dogs. And really all things animal related.
5. She eats all day long. The most common phrase I hear from her is, "I'm hungry". It's comparable to other kids saying, "I'm bored". And I am pretty sure she says it out of boredom.
6. She loves miniature toys. Which doesn't help me much when one of her favorite toys gets lost. Its like where's waldo in a room full of toys trying to find the right one.
7. She has her own little fashion sense, and likes to pick out her own outfits and clothes from the store.
8. She still sucks her two middle fingers, and sniffs "dotty" at the same time.
9. She is a fish, and loves loves loves to swim.
10. She loves music and picks up on a lot of the lyrics of what I play. It helps make me aware of what I am listening too. :)

I love this sweet little girl. She is still my little attachment and I wouldn't have it any other way! I can't believe she is so grown up... I hate that time goes by so fast. Please stop growing!

Dive Time

Most of you know that Scott and I both grew up diving. We lived in different states, never met when we were young, but have found that we were both at many of the same competitions. While Scott was taking first in his age group, I was taking last. No joke. BUT - despite the difference in our capabilities and talents, it is a fun thing to have in common! We have both agreed that as long as our kids want to (and we can afford it).... they will be on a diving team. For now -- their dive team is "Randall Aquatics".

We ventured over to the college near our house and spent the afternoon playing around. Scott had to do some stretching before he attempted his old skillz...

And off he went...

 Where's my pictures you ask? PA-LEEEZZ... if you ever want to see me dive. Drive to my mom's house, find my old videos, and something that plays those old school tapes, and there you have it. For now - you will see me behind the camera. :)

Jackson was all over the boards. 3-meter? It was nothin'! He jumped off like he was competing at nationals for the 10th time. It was so awesome to watch.

 Clara watched from the sidelines....

 For about 2 minutes and then she herself... climbed up the 3-meter ladder and was off. No joke. My kids are braver than me. But that is because I am older, and I know better.

 We just finished up some swimming lessons for Clara. And she is quite the fish. Scott (or myself) was always there to help her in the water....

 But she was basically always swimming on her own. Way to go little Clara!

We are going back next week, the last day the pool is open and will be doing this all over again. It was just too much fun!

4th of July!!!

Did you know the 4th of July is one ofymy most favorite holidays??? IT IS! I love love love it. It stems back to when I was young, it's always been kindof a big deal in my family growing up. So - the tradition continues - and the fact that Scott serves in the Military for our wonderful country only makes this holiday that much more of a "BIG DEAL" in our family!

The night before I sent Scott to the store so that I could make my mom's famous CARAMEL POPCORN. It is tradition that we always had it... of course it should be eaten while at the Oakley Rodeo with the smell of horse manure in your surroundings.... but INSTEAD we ate it in beautiful Souther California, surrounded by palm tree's, while watching an amazing fireworks show. Just a little different from what I am used to, but I can roll with the changes. :)

I love to get my kids all dressed up in the RED WHITE and BLUE!

 They were so excited to wear their new outfits, they woke up at 6:30 am. Wow - awesome.

 We started off the morning with our church at a Stake Breakfast. A few "Proud To Be An American" talks were given, and some beautiful music was played. We filled up on pancakes, eggs, sausage, and OJ. The kids ran around on the grass and played football. It was fun, even though I left feeling 5 lbs heavier than when I got there - and the food filled day was only beginning.

After breakfast we headed out to a parade in La Verne. The parade wasn't anything special, but the cute neighborhood was TO DIE FOR! Everyones houses was all dressed up for the holiday. I loved the patriotism I felt there. I hope wherever our family puts roots down (in the far far far future)... will have some major love for the country.

After the parade we went swimming. You would think my kids were born in a swimming pool - they are total pool rats. I LOVE IT.

 After the pool... yes there is an after. This day was FULLY PACKED.

We headed our for a BBQ... food, never ending food. And an awesome fireworks show.

We had such a fun day! My kids were EXHAUSTED! As soon as the fireworks ended Clara was begging to go home. She was d.o.n.e. Jackson was tired, but would never admit it... that kid can go forever! He had so much fun that on our way home he asked, "can we do that again tomorrow?". I think we had a successful day. Happy 4th!

Kids Pre-4th of July Party

July 3rd my friend and I did a fun 4th of July party for the kids. It was TOTALLY last minute, but turned out great and the kids had a blast!

We did a slip'n'slide.

We decorated the kids bikes....

 And they rode up and down the street in "parade style"!

 We then threw candy on the grass and let them run wild and collect whatever they could grab!

 Mama's and most of the wild ones...

 They decorated graham crackers with frosting and m&m's.... yummy!

We also did a fun game... the kids played squirt gun tag. 2 kids had squirt guns and ran around trying to  "tag" the other kids with the water from the squirt guns. It was so fun - the kids LOVED it!

The Mormon Battalion

While in San Diego with  my sister we visited the Mormon Battalion site. It was very cool. I recommend checking it out. It is open on Sunday's... so it was the perfect Sunday activity for the vacation.

After the "tour"... the kids searched for gold! Jackson loved it. He kept 3 pieces to take home.

 Clara was exhausted. She fell asleep during the tour. Once she woke up we realized that she was sick... the poor thing had a fever for the next 2 days. Good thing this was the last day of our vacation. After the Mormon Battalion we headed home.

 I am kicking myself for not taking more pictures. This was the only picture I took of Jackson and AJ! Its a darn cute one, but seriously... the only one I have!

La Jolla, San Diego

La Jolla is one of our absolute FAVORITE parts of San Diego. It is out of this world beautiful!

My sister was in San Diego for a wedding with her in-laws and Scott happened to have a long weekend off of school. So we packed up and drove down with the kids. I didn't tell my kids that we were meeting their cousins. We pulled up to a random house and Jackson asked, "What are we doing here?" I said, "Oh, I think we know the people staying here." He was so confused when he realized who it was. He just looked at me with an awkward grin and said, "Why didn't you tell me AJ was here?" HA HA. It was funny - not really the reaction I was expecting. But totally funny.

Sunday while all the Neffs went to church. We decided to be rebellious and take a scenic walk along the coast line. We brought the kids scooters and it is super hilly so they were totally out of control.

As we were walking/chasing our kids on their scooters... we noticed a grassy area where people were feeding the squirrels. I had a purse full of pretzels so we pulled them out and Alvin and his friends went crazy for them! It was so fun feeding them. Clara is an animal lover and was absolutely obsessed. She could have stayed there for hours!

 I was hoping the pretzels would work as bribery for a song or two...

 After feeding the animals we hiked down to the water. If we had been a few hours earlier there would have been some great tide pools. Instead we just found a whole lot of CRABS. Clara loved them and kept trying to touch them.

 Jackson was TERRIFIED and stayed as far from them as possible!

 Jackson looks like he is having a blast here - but really he is about to pee his pants. He wanted away from the water and crabs... he is my paranoid child, 100% paranoid.

 I love this picture. It makes me feel like my kids trust me. I love being a mom.

It was such nice afternoon. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place an enjoy all the our FATHER IN HEAVEN has created for us.