What Else Did We Do in May?

Said good-bye to Elder P. (far right) who was finishing up his mission and heading back to Utah.



Played with light.



Took off Buddha's training wheels.



Blew some steam.



Got some owies.



Pretended to be Jon Schmidt.



Practiced taking self-portraits. (ick)



Played in the sprinklers.



Photographed my first wedding.



Spent Memorial Day at Fort Rosecrans Cemetery. BEAUTIFUL!

At the Bagel Home - May '09

We did get to spend a little time hanging out at the house, playing in the backyard, creating with play dough, and just enjoying each other's company with the windows thrown open and the ocean breezes dancing through the sun-kissed interior of the Bagel Factory. And where sunshine couldn't bend and twist its way to dispel lingering shadow, laughter and love permeated and prevailed instead. There is nothing on the earth more powerful, more wholesome, more celestial than family. I love my family.

"The happiness of the domestic fireside is the first boon of Heaven; and it is well it is so, since it is that which is the lot of the mass of mankind." ~Thomas Jefferson

The boys gathered buckets and rags to do a car wash . . .



. . . which evolved into a Strawberry wash . . .



. . . and a lawn chair wash. And pretty much anything else they could get their rags on. Who knew? Gotta get them out there with rags and buckets more often! :P



Faces and Bugga are at the tail end of the "annoyed" stage where they are basically annoyed with every kid that gets in their way, whether the kid is just trying to play with them or not. Translation: they are starting to get along and that is FUN, FUN, FUN!



This (and the following three pictures) is how Faces got his pseudonym. These were ALL taken within a one minute time frame.









This one is the crowning beaut. Chubs was tired. I love his eyes.

Sea World - May '09

I didn't take too many pictures at Sea World and those I did take were captured with my little point-and-shoot, a camera I use more and more exclusively for video since I know what fabulous pictures I can get with my pro camera. It's handy, though, so I shan't complain. Sea World came the day after La Jolla Shores. We meant to get up early and spend the entire day at the park, but our bodies protested and whined for more time relaxing. Therefore, we got there just after lunch and spent our afternoon cruising rapidly from one show to another before we finally parked our exhausted selves at the Sesame Street Bay of Play to let the kids roam free.

My favorite Sea World show? The dolphins, of course!


Cousins are the best! Having grown up with multiple family reunions, I have great hope that my boys will get to spend lots and lots of quality time with their cousins. I love my cousins.



I love Faces' shifty eyes in this picture. Alas, he was on the verge of making a very poor decision to wring his baby brother's arm and, consequently, get busted by Auntie for it.

La Jolla Shores - May '09

Here are the rest of the pictures from our La Jolla Shores visit. For anyone interested, the actions The Chief got me for my birthday (and that I've been playing with ever since) are Eye Candy Actions from the amazing Sheye Rosemeyer. If you haven't seen Sheye's photography, hop on over to her blog. She is so talented! She has three darling children and a fourth dancing through heaven, sporting a princess crown and fairy wings, blessing the heavenly hosts with her infectious smile and laughter. Be sure to grab a box of tissues before you read through Sheye's musings; there is a lot of emotion to be felt there.

As for La Jolla Shores; it was my favorite part of this family vacation. It was fabulously relaxing to meander from one family pod to another, freezing life every which way I could, stealing private moments, laughing at the boys kicking up ocean spray as they fled from the waves while squealing like little girls. After waking up from a white-noise-induced nap, Chubs filled his belly with salty, fibrous sand. Buddha tumbled in the waves and was rescued by Granny. Beatbox tried to dig a hole to China. Sombrero took a walk to stretch his legs and ease his constant back pain. Auntie and Ratchet snogged like a pair of petulant teenagers. And Bugga chased the birdies with his older brother and cousin.* The only thing that cast a shadow over our day at La Jolla Shores was the absence of The Chief, who was, undoubtedly, sitting in his office wearing proper Pro Chief clothing, making proper Pro Chief phone calls, and filling our bank account with love and hard work. Thank you, Chief!

*If you are having trouble keeping everyone straight, please reference the right sidebar where you will find clarification for each pseudonym. Also, please be sure to use our pseudonyms when commenting (mine doesn't really matter since my photography business boasts my real name, but for the others . . . just can't be too safe these days!).












































Faces was pretty quiet throughout this entire beach experience. No doubt the crashing waves intimidated him a bit. He did enjoy puttering about in the sand, filling buckets and helping dig holes.





This was so funny. Faces grabbed his chair from between Granny and Ratchet and moved it back a few paces, declaring his independence.



And then, of course, he schmoozed the lady sitting behind him. Silly boy.



Heading home. Perfect day, perfectly imperfect family, ultra-perfect vacation.