Words of Wisdom from Cameron

We were sitting in Stake Conference and Cam said--"Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Prophet are good for our lives"--I couldn't have said it better.

Cameron

A friend at church said to Shane, "Cameron seems to be more "outgoing" than your other two boys"--if by outgoing you mean--crazy, free-willed, argumentative, feisty, full of love, 90% vicious, then yes, my friend he is definitely more "outgoing" than my other two!!! (And he keeps us on our toes :)

Funny Boys

Shane was praying this morning before the boys went to school and he prayed that Braxton and Dakota would be nice to their friends at school. The prayer ended and Cameron said "Dad, Braxton and Dakota aren't the only ones who need to be nice to their friends at school today." (Cam had school today too and felt left out of the prayer so we had to say another one for him.)

California #5

(Sorry for the excessive California posts, but I really like all the photos to be in my blog book that I print every year.)

These are some cool photos we discovered while waiting for the water show to start at California Adventure. They projected images onto a wall of splashing water and it was really cool, but before it started we had the Ferris Wheel in the background and took these neat shots.

California #4

We went to two different beaches while in California. Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. Seal Beach was a little chilly and we wore our jackets a lot of the time, but had fun waves to body board on. Shane and Braxton did this for hours and I even got out there and tried at Seal Beach. The second day at the beach was Huntington, it was sunnier and warmer, but the waves kept swallowing Braxton. He was very frustrated and decided digging in the sand was better and easier. Dakota discovered a million bugs in the sand which Cameron named "criggers", we called them that all day. He loves to make up words! They were actually sand crabs according to Google. They collected hundreds of them in a bucket.







For me the highlight of our trip was the Beach. I cant even begin to describe the pure childlike joy that the boys felt for hours on end. They laughed and giggled and screamed when the waves came up. They built sand castles and buried each other--Shane up to his neck. I just sat and watched as they enjoyed every second, soaked up every sun ray and played like there was no tomorrow. I knew that Shane feels like this every time he gets to go to the beach, but to see the boys feel the same way was an awesome experience for a mother.

California #3

Thunder Mountain. Shane and Brax went on this then me and Brax right after.

On the island with the pirates treasure.

Three little monkeys hanging from the tree. This picture is a good view into our lives, boys climbing and hanging on things all day.

California Adventure, look closely at Dakota, he wanted to have a fit right while she was taking our pic. What a grump, I told him now we would remember that forever--he did not like that much.

I loved it when we would be taking a picture and a kind person would offer to take one of our whole family. It is so rare to see us all in one photo.

California #2

So the lines began we thought as we encountered this first thing in the morning, the boys were asking if we could just go to the beach now. It was really nice though because we walked on rides after this long line to get in. Some rides that are a typical 1.5 or 2 hour wait were 15 or less minutes, it was great.

Finding Nemo submarines, this was way cool and felt like we were underwater.

Driving car ride. Braxton was excited to be tall enough to drive his own car, but the pedal was in the middle of the car and his foot couldn't reach, so he had to settle with driving while I sat at his side.

Braxton was chosen to participate in the Jedi Training Camp where he learned to fight with a light saber. It was really fun to watch and made all of their souvenir choices revolve around Star Wars.

The boys asked for snacks all day long. They were not hungry, just knew we had packed some in with us and wanted to keep nibbling all day. We only ate at the park one time because we packed in lunch and ate a late dinner. The one time we did eat there it was a huge ordeal and cost way more than we wanted so we stuck to the sandwich plan which worked out great!

I don't know what it is about family vacations that makes little boys behave, but it was awesome. They stayed by us (a huge deal at home when we go to the grocery store), and obeyed and loved each other and thought of the others feelings and cared about what the other boys cared about. They were kind enough to go on every ride and act excited about it no matter whom had chosen the ride. There was little to no wining and we had some very long days.

California #1

Last spring Shane decided he wanted to take the kids on a fun trip to California to go to the beach. I suggested Disneyland while we were there and he agreed after a little coaxing because he hates lines and whiny kids. But much to our surprise we had a wonderful week with happy, fun children and not very long lines. In fact, we walked onto most rides. We left at 3 in the morning to give the kids some sleep while driving and between a little shut eye and tons of movies they were angels on the ride. This is the first palm tree they had ever seen so they needed a picture by it.

Dakota

Braxton

Cameron

We pulled in around 5 in California after stopping for two meals and jumped in the hotel pool, which is always a highlight for all kids!