Camping Tradition lives on

Going into summer we had quite a bit going on with the new house and getting ready for a big move.  I wasn't sure I wanted to get packed up and head out camping, but I knew in my heart that I had to continue the camping tradition for the kids.  So, we packed up and headed to one of our favorite spots, Leo Carrillo.
We had a great time and enjoyed getting away from the home repairs for a little while.  Camping will always hold a special place in my heart even though the dirt is nasty, showers are either cold or hot, and the sleeping arrangement is less than appealing. 

Baseball Fans

I have to admit I was not a fan of the idea of having Bruin start baseball, I thought it would be boring and long-but I have to admit that I was dead wrong!!! I am completely a changed mama.  I loved every minute of cheering him on.  He really did well this year as he learned the second base position and even did some pitching! His little team got 2nd place and even defeated the undefeated 1st place team toward the end of the season. I was the team mom, and I loved meeting new moms. I also loved spending time with my family watching the games.  I am looking forward to possibly winter ball.

I love seeing Kirk and Bruin finding things they love to do together. Here they are all ready for a Dodgers game.  I love hearing them talk the sports lingo together. I am shocked by all the things Bruin is aware of with the teams and players. He is definitely his father's son!  He was so excited about going that he made a poster to hold up at the game.  So cute!  Love these boys, and I am now a baseball lover. You should hear me yell at those games!  INTENSE!!!!

Del Mar Obstacle Course 5K

Months ago my dad called me to see if I would want to run this crazy obstacle course thing with him.  He was putting together a team- and said he was paying for the entire team. I figured I had no excuse so I jumped on board.  It all sounded good and well until I heard their were monkey bars and rope swings- then I got a little freaked out.  But, it was too late to back out, so that morning us girls headed out.  The back seat of the car, Heather (my brother's girlfriend), my sis Janell, and I.  All ready for our adventure.

 My Dad and I giving the thumbs up with our team shirts on.  My dad made 17 of these shirts- crazy!

 Janell and I ran the whole race together.  From shaving cream faces, across the monkey bars (my most feared obstacle and I made it all the way across!!!!), tube sliding, the slip and slide, crawling through the tubes, hanging of for dear life across the rock wall, over hurdles, through the rainbow of colors, high kneeing it through the tire run, up and down the dirt walls, down the huge water slide, and dodging the huge wrecking ball: we were together through it all cheering each other on.  I remember quoting our gym trainer at one point when we were both exhausted, "YOU CAN REST WHEN THE GOOD LORD CALLS."

 This is our goofy selves after the race. Love this girl!!!

 Of course the occasion called for a human pyramid.

 And some more piggy back rides, ready, set.....

 Pose and give muscles :)  

Fun memories made with my sisters and dad.  I hope it puts another team together next year.  I'm in!

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day has turned into Mother's weekend once again!  I have to celebrate with so many of my favorite mothers that it just turns into a big fiasco, which is fabulous!  So it started with a day full of shopping, pedis, dinner at BJs, and movies with some of my friends. I am blessed to have so many friends around me who are trying to raise and teach their children.  I feel like I have a crew to back me up at all times in my mothering role. We some how never ended up with a group shot, but it was tons of fun!

The next afternoon I had lunch at Applebees with my sister and mom- where my brother Joseph served us.  Its always good spending time with those who matter most, my family.  Afterward my mom and I hit up TJmax in search of some clothes for her upcoming cruise.  She is going to look adorable :)
That same evening Kirk took me out for dinner.  I am a lucky woman to have him as the father of my children.
Sunday I loved watching my children sing to me from the stage with all the primary children.  Even London went up there and stood while the kids sang.  I was smiles from ear to ear seeing all 4 of my kids up there singing to me.
Sunday evening was spent with the wild Salmon crew.  These kids can entertain us all night long.

They loved giving Grandma her cards.  I don't know if they realize how blessed they are to have her as a Grandma, but they love her to pieces!!!  I love this picture of her reading her card, surrounded by the kids.

It was a wonderful weekend spent with people I love.  These 5 I have to say are at the top of my list.  So blessed to have such sweet children and loving husband right by my side.  I thank Heavenly Father everyday for giving me more than I deserve.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Women's Conference 2012

What a unique opportunity to jump in the van with all the Salmon sisters and wonderful mom and head to Utah to attend Women's Conference at BYU! We stayed at Aunt Kathy's this year, which was so nice.

We enjoyed delicious food, lots of laughing, wonderful talks, and being with our Utah family and with each other.  Two of my best friends from home were also there, so I spent one of the days taking classes and having lunch with them too. Can't believe I didn't end up with one picture!  

Erika and I waiting for a class to get started.  I'm so lucky to have her as a sister!

Here is another one of my favorite people, don't know how I would live without her.  Best friends and sisters, what could be better?  NOTHING!

One evening we got to hang out with lots of the family and eat at Kneaders- a yummy sandwich place.  Cousin Jamie has these two cute girls- love them!!! I was declared Emmie's bestie after I proposed I do her hair and makeup. I ate up every moment with them.

Here we are trying to look cool while riding a "wave" in Utah, did we succeed?  

LOL! Maybe Candace did :)

We also got to meet sweet red headed Kate.  We played a little game of tag in the house and got them in trouble.  Whoops!!

The last night at nearly midnight a couple of the sisters requested a last minute run to the Creamery. I was stuffed to the brim, but didn't want to miss a moment of the fun, so we headed over for some ice cream.

A trip I will always remember.  What a wonderful family I am blessed to have married into. 

 Love you all!!!

After Easter and London's Bday

Our Easter fun continued when Grandpa Mark came to visit. The Salmon kids all ran off in all directions to find what he brought for them.

After the loot was all collected we somehow got them to all sit for a picture with Grandpa

It was also a perfect time to celebrate this little stinker face turning two.  Gotta love that smile, haha!

After Grandpa came and went we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Heaps' house for another birthday celebration.  London, Joy, and Trey were the birthdays this month, so we celebrated them all!

On London's official birthday, April 23rd, we were lucky enough to catch both sets of Grandma and Grandpas to come over for a birthday dinner.  I think London enjoyed being the center of attention.  What a lucky little girl to have 2 wonderful Grandmas.

After dinner we sang to London and snapped a family photo.  You may be able to tell that I spend all evening preparing myself for this photo op haha!  With my Kiss me I'm Irish bright green shirt :)  A goofy picture, but its all of us as we are, so I think its great.

We ended the evening with some horsey rides on Grandpa Salmon, he's always such a trooper.  Who would have known this guy just turned 60?

Happy Birthday London.  We all love you!!!

First beach day of the year....
London played in the sand
London ate lots of snacks
She enjoyed mommy blowing bubbles for her,
and digging a hole.
Had fun smashing castles.
Ate more snacks.
Played with her friends Riley and Harley,
then probably stole their snacks too.
Didn't like the cold water,
so she stayed clear from it.
Love my sweet London!

Mr. Independent, Hudson
Dug Holes
Played by the water with Shane and Isaiah
And, I'm not sure what else because he was happy
and I was busy watching his sister :)

We are looking for many more beach days all the way through the summer.
We love the beach!!!

FHE FUN

This week we had Family Home Evening with some fun friends.

Kickball and Potluck, lots of fun and food.

The kids had a blast taking their turns at kicking the ball and running the bases. I think its a toss up between a few of the dads for the kick of the night. We love having so many friends for our kids to play with, and fun parents too. This is a time in my life where I just wish I could freeze the clock and keep my kids this age forever and keep all the wonderful people we have around us as well.

Sunday Hike

A couple weeks ago I went with 2 of my friends on a Saturday morning hike at some close by hills. I thought it would be fun to go as a family. So, on Sunday in between our church's General Conference sessions we decided to take the kids on a short hike. I love bringing the kids outdoors away from electronics and just enjoy the beautiful things that God has created for us to enjoy.

How sweet is it that my oldest two still like to hold hands? (Please excuse the bedhead on Capri, since we didn't have to go out of the house that morning we did not care for the mane :) haha!

Daddy loves when London reaches up and yells for him to hold her. She's always happy in Daddy's arms, and it makes me smile to see them together.

We sat here on this bench and watched some birds, lizards, and a little gopher who kept popping his head out of a hole to check us out. It was a fun little outing which we will do again in the near future.

Hunger Games

So many of my friends were looking forward to Hunger Games coming out. We've been passing the books around for the last year or so and taking turns reading them. We were so excited that we decided we had to make a fun date night of it! A couple of us got together at the last minute and went shopping and made some fun shirts (seriously we were blow drying them just as we were about to head out the door!!!). The boys thought we were silly/nerdy for matching, but it made it all more fun and memorable.
We hit the movie, dinner, then played some Just Dance had dessert afterward at Pam's house. So much fun! I am so blessed to be surrounded by such fun, loving friends. I can't wait for the next excuse to get another group together and party Mormon style :)

Bruin Brags

This has been a big month for Bruin at school. He never ceases to amaze me with his positive attitude and success at everything he tries. The third grade put on what they call a "Living Museum." Each child spent a few weeks reading and learning everything there was to know about their character from history. Bruin chose Marco Polo. It was neat seeing him so excited to learn about the travels Marco Polo made, creating his poster, inventing a costume, and memorizing a minute speech.
This is how it worked, at the Museum each child had a button that said push me. At this time they would present their minute speech and learn about several people pulled from the history books. I feel so blessed to have my children at such a wonderful school where they get wonderful opportunities to get excited about education and learn at the same time.
Thank you to Grandma, Tyler, and his Aunt Candace (not pictured here) for making a special trip to his Museum, it made his day.

Later that same evening Bruin was presented with a special award for excelling in both areas of the State Testing last year. What a wonderful presentation the school and parents put on for the children. I love that the community pulls together and makes these kids know how extra special they are.

Way to go Bruin, mom is proud of you as always!

St. George

Its been a year in the making, but finally we made it on a trip with our good friends the McMullins out to St. George. We made the best of our two days and made lots of fun memories.

The kids had fun climbing the big rocks and my heart jumped out of my chest a few times when London and Hudson were getting a little too close to the edges. We just love the McMullins~we started our friendship almost 7 years ago and we have just been so blessed to have them as friends. The kids get along great together and we love raising our families so close to one another. Its crazy to think we now each have 4 kids, how time flies!

Since we were there during St. Patrick's Day, Pam and I picked up some green dye and made green pancakes and eggs for the kids.

The last day we were there we went to an indoor water park that the kids loved. Hudson knows how to swim well, but he had fun wearing a life jacket and just floating around without having to work. London took a while to warm up to the water again this year, but after the first 30 minutes she wanted nothing to do with me holding onto her.

Some other fun memories from the trip are Pam and my dinner out to Outback Steakhouse. For some reason we were both in a weird eating mode and ordered some crazy combinations of food. I think our waitress thought we were a little strange, but who cares right? Also, one night we played a late night game of Hearts, where of course I won. I think Phil was a little afraid to mess with my card playing intimidation skills. Fun memories with great friends. Can't wait for the next memory to make with them.

Sporty Salmons

We have been having so much fun and making so many memories the last couple months that I've hardly had the time to record them! One thing our family loves is sports. We had the privilege of going and seeing the BYU Mens Volleyball team play in Irvine. Volleyball holds a special place in my heart since Kirk used to come and watch me play back in high school. Kirk and I had a great time high fiving and cheering together.

The Salmon boys had fun cheering and shagging balls during the warm-ups

After the game the boys met some of the players and got their tickets signed by some of the star players. Their Uncle Josh took them up to meet this player who he taught in seminary. The boys felt like they were meeting a celebrity :)

Earlier this month, Kirk and I also were able to attend a Lakers game. It's been a while since we went to a game, so we had a good time cheering for the Lakers.

Sports drew us together as he came and supported me in all my high school athletics. I'm so glad we share this common passion.

We have also been enjoying watching Bruin do well in sports. He just finished his basketball season and was the top scorer on the team! Currently he is playing Little League and just pitched his first inning, which resulted in zero runs..... and I was worried haha :)

Lots more fun going on here, but there is a little peek at what we have been up to.

Sticky Smiles, the small moments

Last Saturday morning Kirk was gone coaching our Ward's Young Men in Basketball. I was a little bummed about missing a fun hike that some of my friends invited me on. Seems that anytime we are invited to do something fun lately we already have prior responsibilities and have to miss out on the fun stuff. Instead of staying home and being bummed, I decided to live by one of my favorite new quotes.


"A person is only as happy as they decide to be."


So, instead of staying home and pouting, I decided to made it a great morning. Cooked the kids breakfast then went out on a jog, pushing London in the the stroller and chasing Hudson and Capri on their scooter and bike. We made it all the way to the donut shop, which was an extra special treat for them.

It turned out to be a beautiful morning, and I could have missed these sweet sticky smiles if I had stayed home and decided to be in a poor mood. Being a mother isn't always easy, but these small moments of joy in each day are what make all the hard work so rewarding. I love my job as a mommy!

New Years celebrations

For New Years Eve we spent the evening with Darin and Janell playing dominoes and Just Dance, and of course downing a bunch of sparkling cider. Hope my sis doesn't kill me for posting this, we are always so weird when we are together~ especially when we are tired! Love you Janell!

Hudson and Lauren enjoyed staying up late. Hudson's huge bump from our Christmas celebrations was still in full force here! Ouch!

CHEERS!!!Grandma and Grandpa Salmon arrived to celebrate with us and join in the fun. Guess Darin is having the best time of all, haha!

On new years day we headed over to my mom and Russell's house for more dominoes and lots of popcorn for the kids. We had a great time and soon after had another evening of dominoes and popcorn. London knows her papa makes her popcorn on demand. Lucky girl with her own huge bowl of popcorn.

A month late, but Happy New Years everyone! Hope 2012 is treating you great.