And the Winner is. . .

Believe it or not, the winner of the cleanest bedroom award would have to go to Jake and Joey. I made the comment to Chad that I haven't been into their room to tidy things up in over a week. There was nothing on the floor, or piled in corners. They didn't even have a hamper full of dirty laundry. Chad's response, "Yahh, I should be more like them."

Surprise

About 3 weeks ago Rebecca told Chad and I that she wanted a Surprise Party when she turned 12. I don't think she believed that she would actually get a surprise party, but she decided to throw the idea out there anyway. When Rebecca assumed that no plans were being made, she began planning her own party. She decorated envelopes and printed out invitations. She told me what type of cake she wanted and what it was she wanted to do. Unbeknownst to her we had something else in mind.

(This cake was made out of two full cake recipes; the one my husband uses to make his 5 layer chocolate cake. It was HUGE)

This week our church had a Super Saturday Activity planned with speakers, crafts, lunch, etc. and I was in charge. I think I spent at least 10 hours a day preparing and so I told Rebecca that we couldn't plan anything else until after Saturday. She wasn't to happy with me because, like I said, the invitations were ready to go.

On Friday Chad got off work early and we decided to go out to dinner as a family while Sara was at dance. When we arrived home Rebecca was the first to enter the house and find it totally decorated with her friends jumping out and yelling surprise. She was in shock.

My sister had come over while we were gone and decorated. I had spent a few hours each day while the kids were at school making the cake, decorating it, and then hiding items to decorate the house with at Karen's. One day, after I had baked a layer of the cake, Rebecca came home wondering what that smell in the house was. She searched everywhere for what she thought was brownies, but we convinced her she was crazy because nothing was there.

After cake and ice cream with her friends, we opened presents and drove to the Gaslight theater. I had never been to the Gaslight theater but it turned out to be just as fun as everyone had said it would be. The cast performs musical spoofs. The show we saw was based on Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. The after show was called "Singing and Dancing with the Stars" and poked fun at Billy Joel, Gloria Estefon, Sher, and Donald Trump. The kids were laughing the entire time. I have to admit, I was proud of us for pulling off the big Surprise. Happy Birthday Becca. I can't believe you are 12.

Labor Day Weekend

My sister Karen asked me if I knew why it was we celebrated Labor Day. To be honest I didn't know, but apparently it has something to do with the Labor Unions. Whatever the reason may be I was just excited that my husband had the entire weekend off. (That never happens so I was happy.)

To celebrate, we went up to the canyon with my sister and some friends on Saturday evening. The kids had a great time running around and throwing rocks into the nearby stream. Rebecca and her friend Alyssa decided to put together a nature magazine and so they were taking pictures of each other and all the other kids "in nature." We actually saw some wild turkeys running around, but didn't get out the camera in time.

I've decided that being pregnant must make me more desirable to the bugs because every where I went I would end up with some type of beetle crawling up me. They landed on my back, crawled up my legs, and were on my arm when I would look down at my elbow. I tried to steer clear of trees, but nothing seemed to help.

As the evening progressed, we ate dinner and made smores over our friend's little Barbeque pit. Not quite like camping, but a close second. It is always nice to escape the heat of the desert and relax up in the canyon. The nice thing is that we don't have to drive very far and we have lots of friends willing to join us. Happy Labor Day.

Disneyland and Grandma

Almost one year ago my mom bought our family passes to Disneyland. She also bought one for herself. Since then, this has been a Disneyland year for Grandma and all of her grandchildren.

Just the other day she was letting me know what a great time it would be to come down and go to Disneyland before our passes expire. Not only does grandma go on all the rides with her grandkids, she goes on the crazy ones too like Tower of Terror. She claims that walking around and being outdoors all day is one of the things she likes most about going, but I think Grandma just LOVES Disneyland.

Last night I had a dream that my dad finally got a pass and decided to go to Disney for lunch and to meet up with Chad and I. My dad doesn't like to go on rides, but he was there. When we got back to my parent's home my mom was so upset that dad was at Disneyland without her. I woke up chuckling to myself. Mom, I love you and I love going to Disneyland too. Hopefully we will make it there one more time.