Making Lemonade

What's a Uterus?

2012-02-11T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ashlynn: OW! My funny bone!

Briggs: Your funny bone is in your foot?

Ashlynn: Yes. And did you know that your funny bone is connected to your humorous?

Ty: What's a Uterus?

Harry Potter Tote

2012-02-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

Briggs wanted a scripture tote that had room for his scriptures and other necessities he might need at church (like gum?). So I made a Harry Potter scripture tote for him.

I used this stencil and this pattern for the tote, which I modified for size and a few other things.

Briggs helped me pick out this button, because it looked like the Gryffindor seal.

Groundhogs Day

2012-02-02T10:31:00.000-08:00

The kids and Brian made me a birthday cake. Chocolate cake with chocolate filling, with chocolate frosting and chocolate icing...and pink and pearly sprinkles.

Gehrig's Party

2012-01-30T07:59:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we got to go to my nephew, Gehrig's Harry Potter Birthday party. This is Ty as "casual" Harry Potter. He didn't want to wear robes.

Ashlynn and Natalee "knighting" Ty and Briggs with Godric Gryffindor's sword.

Happy Birthday, Gehrig!

Some of the Honeydukes spread Nessa prepared.

Ashlynn as Rita Skeeter.

Annessa explaining the treasure hunt for all of their Potter themed goodies.

Getting some snuggles after the party. Someone is pooped!

Pinewood Derby!

2012-01-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

Second Place! Briggs was really excited about his first pinewood derby. Brian made sure to let him make all the decisions and do most of the work, only helping out when a parent needed to. Briggs likes things simple. No fancy shape, just flat, rounded and blue (with his basketball number, 23, on the side.

A sampling of the cars.

They raced the top 3 cars on all three tracks to make sure one didn't give an advantage. The cars placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd consistently in all three races.

Wands and Words

2012-01-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

The kids have been on a roll with their funny little anecdotes.

Briggs came home and very solemnly told me that his teacher might be gone for a little while because her mother is in the hospital and probably going to "kick the bucket". I'm pretty sure I choked on what I was eating at the moment, then I collected myself and asked him if that is the way his teacher explained it. No, that was just him paraphrasing. I then had to explain to him what a euphemism was. Luckily his teacher adores Briggs, so even if he had asked her if her mother had kicked the bucket, she probably would have laughed.

After school, Ty yelled to me from the toilet, "Mommy! Today was a rip off! We didn't get to go to the computer lab!" It was obviously very important to him and needed to be shared RIGHT NOW!

Later after dinner while he was picking out jelly beans he says, "I like the color hot pink. There. I said it. I like pink!" Of course, this was said as if he was saying, "You got a problem with it!?" all the while bobbing his head and rolling his eyes.

Last Saturday we took the kids to the governor's mansion in Sacramento. At the beginning of the tour, the guide was telling us about the original owner who built the mansion. He was explaining that the man, through hard work, had amassed a large amount of wealth. Therefore he wanted to build a house that would show off his new social status. To which Ty replied under his breath, but so everyone on the tour could hear, "That would be bragging." Out of the mouths of babes.

As for Ashlynn, move over Ollivander! There's a new wand maker in town! We are going to Gehrig's Harry Potter themed birthday party on Saturday, and the Rober household is all in a dither with preparations. Briggs created a new spell for the occasion and Ashlynn decided to create wands for the whole family.

The Day After Christmas

2011-12-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas Brian wanted to organize closets. Luckily Grandpa was there with the better idea of going into San Francisco! Good, Better, Best, Brian...

The lobby of the Hyatt at Embarcadero.center.

It was a cold and foggy day in the city. Within minutes of reaching the end of pier 39, the fog cleared and we snapped this picture.

Just for fun, we decided to take BART into the city.

Daddy and Grandpa were entertaining the kids with physics puzzles - flies on trains and Newtons Laws and other nerdy things.

They were obviously enjoying themselves.

Well. Except for Ty.

Can you tell I liked the lights.

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

My favorite picture of the day!

Waiting upstairs Christmas morning until we give the ok to come down and see the tree.

Running downstairs. I'm pretty sure Ashlynn is always first.

Reading the note from Santa after eating their cookies and carrots

A random sampling of gifts.

Opening up the Build-a-Bears Grandma Caroline had made for each of the kids before she passed away.(I'll include videos of these later)

We came across some sparklers and started a new tradition. Fireworks on Christmas!

Nana and Papa came and went to church with us. Here they are playing a game with the kids. It needs to be pointed out that even though Papa is keeping his distance, he was in fact playing the game with them. Papa doesn't play games, but apparently Apples to Apples was his speed!

Grandpa and everybody checking out their new gifts.

Boys getting their LEGO on. I bet this is a picture that a lot of families with little boys captured on Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T11:39:00.000-08:00

Nothing like making cookies for Santa using massive amounts of colored frosting!

And we are ready for Christmas morning!

Old Sacramento Christmas

2011-12-23T11:29:00.000-08:00

On the night before Christmas eve, we took Grandpa and went up to Old Sacramento for the Christmas light show and story telling. The narrator is Samuel Clemens who tells what Sacramento was like in those day, then they do a live action version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with lights. It was a fun little event (and wasn't crowded, just like I like it!). We really like Old Sacramento.

Discovery Kingdom

2011-12-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

In December, we took advantage of Ashlynn's tickets she earned and went to Discovery Kingdom. The park was all decorated for the holidays, and all of the shows were holiday themed.

And it was cold.

I did mention it was cold, right?

The kids had a really good time. It wasn't crowded, just the way I like it!

And it was cold.

Jobs around the house

2011-12-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

The kids have been doing a good job helping around the house. We are trying to give them chores that they can learn to do properly and be successful at. Ashlynn has been learning to cook. As of now she can make a pancake dinner by herself and here she is learning how to make spaghetti. She's getting pretty good at it.

Ty's job is to clean up the toys in the backyard. As you can tell from his graffiti, he doesn't like this job. In fact, he hates it and thinks it's stupid! That kid cracks me up. He gets so fired up and mad and he doesn't even care that we were obviously going to see his sentiments written in the very sidewalk chalk he was supposed to be cleaning up. This message was more than likely intended for Brian and I to see. His way of giving us the giant middle finger, if you will (even though he doesn't know what that is).

One of Briggs's chores is to vacuum, which he takes very seriously. Which is more than can be said about eating, because, as is very obvious from this picture, he doesn't take that very seriously. (He gets so mad when I call him skinny! I just tell him I wish people called me skinny!)

Scut or Farkus

2011-12-02T07:46:00.001-08:00

This is how Ty dressed himself for school today. I had to get a picture of it because he reminded me of the little bully from "A Christmas Story" Was his name Scut or Farkus? Or neither? I don't know, but I thought he was pretty cute!

Amanda Got Married!

2011-11-22T15:39:00.001-08:00

We were so excited to go to Logan, Utah last month to be with Amanda and Kevin as they got married! It was beautiful there and the two of them seemed so happy!

Mr. Briggs picked up a little bug at Disneyland and threw up every 10 minutes during the drive to Utah, starting in St. George. He slept well that night so we thought he might be over it, but the morning of the wedding came and he was still getting sick. He was such a good little patient, though. He never complained once. He just took care of business. Brian was going to have to skip the ceremony in the temple in order to stay with him, but at the last minute Briggs perked up, kept some food down him and was fine. Brian was able to slip in right before the ceremony!

Natalee, Aunt Leith and Cousin Autumn

All smiles as they come out of the temple.

Rober boys taking a break during pictures.

These are all of the nieces and nephews. Well, mostly nephews. Thank heaven for Natalee and Ashlynn. Kevin only has nephews!

Ashlynn made friends with Autumn and Elizabeth, cousins she had never met before. They had such a good time and didn't want to leave. Autumn is my cousin Steve's daughter and Elizabeth is my cousin Gail's daughter. These two ladies watched the kids while we were in the temple.

Disneyland October

2011-11-15T16:52:00.001-08:00

In between the ALS walk and Amanda's wedding we took a little trip to Disneyland. These pictures only show some of the classic tame rides, but the kids were actually very adventurous and hit alot of the faster rides. They all tried out rides they had never been on before. We were having too much fun to take pictures of those rides!

...even though they don't really look like they are enjoying themselves here...

Pretty sure the Small World boats are new.

Ashlynn's cute Mad Hatter/Tinker Bell hat. She had to stow this thing every time we got on a ride! Aaghh!

Can you see the blond lady in the left of this shot holding the little boy. That's the mom from the Disney Channel Show "Good Luck, Charlie"! The kids were pretty excited to see someone famous! Me. I was pretty embarrassed taking her picture.

Jewel Tree

2011-11-15T07:34:00.001-08:00

This is one of the jewel trees that Grandma Caroline made using some her grandma's and mom's jewelry. There is some of her jewelry on it, as well. Eventually, this tree will be passed onto Brian.

My mom has recently come into possession of a lot of her mom's old jewelry. She was going to get rid of it until I suggested we make a jewel tree out of it. Hopefully it turns out as nice as this one!

ALS Walk

2011-11-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

These balloons were better than shirts to identify Team Sweet Caroline.

Ash walking up with all of the balloons to hand out to the team.

We always have a cute crowd of grandkids in this family!

To start the walk, each individual team was called out, indicating it was their turn to start the walk. I think they did this to avoid a huge crowd surging towards the starting line. We waited and waited patiently for them to call out Team Sweet Caroline. Finally when it was clear that they were done calling out the teams and we still hadn't been recognized, someone from the team went up to the announcers and pointed out the oversight. It was just an oversight, but to make up for it, they made a big deal about announcing Team Sweet Caroline! We all hooted and hollered, then they played "Sweet Caroline" for all of the walkers to enjoy!

Following the walk, we were able to attend a celebration for the Orange Family History Center where they dedicated a new learning center in honor of Mom. They had a ribbon cutting ceremony and everything! The pictures I got stink because my camera stinks! I could start an entirely separate blog dedicated to all of the stinky pictures I take with my little Canon Powershot.

Dad cutting the ribbon

Then we took a family trip out to the cemetery.

From one generation to the next...

2011-11-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

If anybody is familiar with our family, Ashlynn inherited many traits of Grandma Caroline. Never mind that she is the only granddaughter, she loves to go big - just like her grandma. She took those traits, confidence and compassion and decided to put on a bake sale last year benefiting ALS. Many of you contributed to that effort for which we were grateful.

The ALS association in Irvine was so touched with her donation and the work she put on, that she was invited down to Irvine this evening to honor her Grandma at their awards banquet. True to form, following in her Grandma's heritage, she made the family proud this evening.

Ashlynn ALS Banquet from Kate Rober on Vimeo.

Sorry for tablecloth in 1/2 the shot. My hands were shaking so bad, I had to balance the camera on the table for stability. It was an honor to associate with many ALS members and all the staff from the Irvine ALS chapter. May the world find a cure for this disease and long live the memory of Grandma Caroline.

Cupid

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-08:00

yes. It's November. But Ty decided he needed to dress up like "The naked baby who wears a diaper and shoots people with an arrow so they fall in love."

That's cupid.

Sometimes I don't ask questions, I just take pictures.

Briggs's Baptism

2011-11-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful gathering for Briggs's baptism. Most of the family was able to come. Amanda even came with her fiance (now husband) Kevin. We had a lot of friends from San Luis come all the way up here to spend the day. It was a really special day. Above is the picture that Grandma Keep drew for Briggs.

From November 2, 2011

Ty was not wanting to take pictures that day.

The week after, Briggs started Cub Scouts! So fun! He has been really excited about this.He has already completed his Bobcat section and is actively working on his Wolf. I'm pretty much clueless about Cub Scouts, but I'm slowly getting it down!

More Birthday Decorations

2011-11-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

When they built this house, someone thought it would be cool to make it look like Hogwarts. So our family room has a turret, arch ways, tons of stairway railings, and a loft over looking the room. There's even a secret room behind our entertainment center.

Sooo...

We must fill the space!

We tried to add more strings of balloons for Briggs's birthday, but it actually threw off the balance, so we left it at 3 strands. But you can bet I'll be having fun with this concept for other holidays!

And yes. We have shot arrows through our Arrow Slits.

How do you think we popped all of the balloons when they came down?

Dodger game in San Fransisco

2011-11-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

It was foggy that night.

So excited to be so close!

Corey and Briggs. Corey is the son of Brian's colleague who took them to the game.

Briggs's 8th Birthday

2011-11-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

This house is really cool for decorating, as long as you are willing to go big. Big means 3 huge strings of balloons stretching across the ceiling and 4" felt banners on the wall (I should really get a close up of these...) This is what Briggs woke up to on his birthday morning.

We did have a cake for him, but he stuffed himself at Joe's Crab Shack in Old Town and was too full for cake! What kid is too full for cake!? There's a first for everything. So instead we just puts some candles on a cookie a friend delivered for Briggs.

For his birthday, Brian took him to a Giants v. Dodgers game in San Fransisco. They got awesome seats right behind the dodgers dugout. Briggs is getting spoiled with all of these special seats at baseball games! We made him wear his Giant's hat so he wouldn't get beat up, but he was really rooting for the Dodgers! The Dodger players were handing out balls right and left, but Briggs kept getting passed over. Brian was about to get mad until he realized Briggs still had his Giant's hat on. Once he took that off, he got a ball from one of the players! (I'll make Brian post some of the pictures from that night. I'm sure he got some on his phone.) Briggs was in heaven!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Wait. Isn't it November? Oh, well.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

From November 1, 2011

I kind of took the month of October off from blogging. My stake set a goal to index 1 million names in the month of October. Indexing is something you do on the Family Search website. Basically you are taking scanned documents and creating a database of those records to better facilitate genealogy work. It was a pretty exciting to be a part of the project. Together, Brian and I indexed just over 10,000 names!

Sooo, basically any time I sat down at the computer I felt like I should be indexing, not blogging. So here's some catch up.

As usual...

Ty requested an Angry Birds costume, so this is what I came up with. It was pretty basic fleece and felt sewing. And instead of a winter coat this year, I'm just going to make him wear his bomb bird, cause this thing was toasty warm!

From November 1, 2011

Briggs decided he wanted to be an iPad.

No, not a person with a gaping hole in their torso, just a regular old boring ipad.The folks at Kinkos who printed and laminated our "apps" for us where not happy with me. They told me I had signed a waver saying none of the printed material was licensed art work (which it obviously is..) I told them my 8 year old wanted to be an ipad and what were they going to do about it?

Nothing. They thought that was pretty clever of my 8 year old to want to be an ipad.(But not as clever as looking like you have a gaping hole in your torso...)

From November 1, 2011

And then there's our lady bug. The package with this costume was waiting for us when we got home from Amanda's wedding. Ashlynn rushed to open the package while the rest of us were unloading the car from a 1,700 mile trip. She immediately put the costume on and started buzzing around the house. I swear I caught a glimpse of my 4 year old girl who used to come home from preschool and slip into something more comfortable.

Happy Birthday Briggs!

2011-09-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Briggs!
It's great to be 8!

Guest Bedroom

2011-09-02T10:23:00.001-07:00

Here's a little scrapbuster project for over our guest bed. Now, if only I could get the bedding to match these bright colors...(that's why I didn't show it in the picture).

Dear Dady ...

2011-08-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ty's behavior has been a little off lately. I think he is having a hard time adjusting to Kindergarten and school five days a week.

This evening he lowered a bucket down from the loft into the kitchen with this note attached. It says:

Ty: I'm not going to eat my dinner.

Dad: Yes you are!!!

Ty: It is yummy, but I'm not going to eat my dinner. Daddy (heart, happy face, happy face.)

Now. I think it's cute that my five year old writes with emoticons, but the attitude is just not right!

Today he told me he didn't want to go to school because it is boring. I told him he had to, it was the law. When he asked why, I told him because he needed to learn to follow the rules.

"But I already know all the rule!" he informed me.

I wanted to tell him, "Just because you can read the rules, doesn't mean you are willing to follow them!"

So then I told him he needed to learn to write his lower case letters.

"I already know how! I know everything already!"

Even if this is true, the kid still needs to go to school! And to be honest with you, I would think something was wrong with him if he didn't fight it as much as he is. We are talking about a kid who has always tried to get out of things - nursery, preschool, his crib...

Perhaps he's like his sister and takes 2 months to warm up to the new school year.

Lovely.

(I really hate this time of year...)

Kings Canyon Camping

2011-08-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

We were able to go camping this summer to Kings Canyon and had a great time!

We saw and climbed Giant Sequoias.

Went fishing and Brian caught a 10"rainbow trout. We were actually pretty surprised we caught anything. The conditions weren't exactly ideal.

Can you see it as he is pulling it out of the water?

Our handsome Briggs enjoying the quiet time of fishing.

Ashlynn's got to be fully integrated into whatever she is doing.

Daddy and Ty

Ashlynn sucking on her Camel Back during a tour of the Sequoias.

Ty on the tour

Walking through a giant sequoia.

We played one or 12 hands of UNO!

Ashlynn made a fairy house, hoping the local fairies would leave her a treat or a message.

Brian's hammock from Brazil was a big hit.

More of Little Miss Thing

2011-08-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun looking through these pictures that I had to share them all. This is how Ashlynn's life use to be. Most of our friends didn't have kids yet, or their kids were very young, so we would have get togethers and they would all dote on Ashlynn. This group of friends have all scattered across the map now, starting new lives elsewhere, including ourselves. I miss those day and friendships!

Happy Birthday Ashlynn!

2011-08-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ashlynn and Briggs with friends, Esther and Roger, at her 3rd Birthday

Once a stinker, always a stinker!

Funderland

2011-08-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

So there's this little place called "Funderland" in the same park as the zoo and Fairy Tale Towne. It's a miniature amusement park nestled amongst oak trees in William Land Park. It's free to enter, but each ride costs one ticket (which is equal to about one dollar).
The rides are little kiddie rides, but the kids had a blast, nonetheless. I think they liked the idea of walking into a park like this for free, as if it's just a neighborhood park. It only takes about 15 minutes to get there from our house, which is an added bonus.
Nana treated the kids to the tickets, so we spent a good hour and a half enjoying the rides, then stopped for a picnic lunch.
Thanks for a fun time, Nana!

P.S. up until this point in our move, I hadn't found our real camera, yet. So all of these pictures are from my phone. I have since found the real camera, however, I can't promise any better pictures. The photography gene seems to have skipped a generation...

Fourth of July

2011-08-17T08:02:00.001-07:00

This is our first year setting off fireworks in our backyard. We set off a few in the backyard, then later that night, we drove to a field where we could watch the Elk Grove Fireworks.

It was a perfectly warm night filled with the sound of crickets and exploding fireworks. The kids had fun putting together glow stick accessories, as well.

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-16T15:09:00.001-07:00

Briggs, first day of Third Grade!

For starters, we got the call last Tuesday that Briggs finally had a permanent spot at the same school at the other two kids! Yay! When we got that call, there was one relieved 7 year old, and an even more relieved 33 year old!

Ty's first day of Kindergarten

But it's amazing how quick the vacuum of our lives works. The second that worry was taken off of my plate, I started worrying about how my kids were going to do at a new school. What if they didn't have anybody to sit with at lunch, or anybody to play with at recess? This is scary stuff for a parent...and I suppose a child... However, life goes on and deep down I knew the kids would be fine.

Ashlynn's first day of Fifth grade

They all came home happy, but a little tired. I got to join Ty for the whole day for Kindergarten orientation. As nice as that sounds, it was actually a little boring for the kids. He had a much better day today. He was quite annoyed that they had to spend time before recess reviewing "20 to 30 rules!!!" "Too much talking!"

School

2011-07-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

The kids at the little school house museum in Old Sacramento.

As we are meeting new people here, a very common question we get asked is, "Where are the kids going to school?"

To which I have to reply, "I have no idea.They can't tell us"

While I am trying to have a good attitude about this, I must admit, it makes me rather nervous.

Here's the basics:

We would like them to attend their neighborhood school. Actually, we don't care which school they attend, or whether it is traditional or year-round, we would just like them all at the same school...on the same calendar schedule.

But, the neighborhood school doesn't have room for them. I'm not sure if any of the schools have room for all three of them. They have all been on a waiting list...waiting to see what the class sizes will be, waiting to see how many teachers the schools can hire back. If we find out that there isn't room for any of them, they will offload them (that means send them to another school).

To some school.

But I don't know which one.

The most recent conversation with the school secretary covered topics like whether or not we would like to gamble and wait until August 15th when tradtional school starts and hope that there is space for all of them. But if we lose the bet and there isn't room for them, then one of them might get moved to another school,in which case they might have to send one of them to a year-round school, in which case that one child will have missed an entire month of school. So do we want to start that one kid - who may or may not have a spot a the neighborhood school - this week in the year-round school so that he doesn't miss a month of school?

Are you following me ('cause I'm getting up to get some Xanex to calm my nerves right now!)

I told the secretary I was uncomfortable starting one kid this week at a year-round school on the off chance that (1) there isn't going to be space for him come Aug. 15th at the neighborhood school and (2) they won't be able to off-load him to another traditional calendar school.

I'm finding all of this very difficult because we are so new to this system and I don't know how to play the game. And that's what all of this feels like - a game. When I tell people my kids are on a waiting list, it sounds like we are trying to get them into an elite private school, or at least the best public school that everybody wants their kids to go to.

Nope. Just the neighborhood school. All of the schools here are top rated, so I don't really care where they go. Just find me a spot in one location for my 5th, 3rd, and Kindergatener to attend - and tell me when- and I'll be there!

Zoo and Fairytale Towne

2011-07-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to go is the Sacramento Zoo. I use to come here as a kid and I loved it. I like how the reptile house looks like the reptile house in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. The kids really seem to like it, too.

Right across from the zoo is my other favorite place to go, Fairy tale Towne. I guess I didn't take that many pictures on this particular day, but I've taken plenty on other occasions.

Check out these shots taken circa 2003:

Ashlynn still loves that slide and one of our favorite attractions in the park is the crooked mile (the shot with Baby Briggs in it is one where we are standing on the crooked mile). I can't tell you how many times I had to "time" the kids while they ran the crooked "mile".

Sun and Rain

2011-07-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

One of the first things we decided to do was check out the community pool. A lot of people have pools in their yards here, but we were pretty impressed by the public pool.

Oddly enough, the next day we had a rain storm sweet through the Delta. The kids decided they needed to try out the trampoline in the rain.

Splash Parks

2011-07-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

The second day here, we unloaded the truck. Thankfully my sister and brother-in-law and kids, and my parents came to help us unload. It went pretty quick, but unfortunately it was very hot, and, again, the AC was out.

So we pooped out quickly.

(As a side note, we motivated the kids to help with the unloading by taping a sheet of notebook paper to the side of the U-Haul with all of the kids names written on it and a sharpee marker attached to it. Every time the kids brought something in from the truck, they gave themselves a tally mark. They quickly picked up on this game and starting dubbing certain items to be "2 pointers" or even "4 pointers". I had made it clear that there were not going to be any prizes given out in the end, or even a winner declared, but rather, it was a way to see how much they had accomplished. I did have to make it clear to my dad once that nobody was giving out points for style when he made a very precarious exit down the truck ramp.)

Luckily, Elk Grove has a lot of Splash pads at their local parks. So my sister and I took the kids to one of one of them right by the house.

Natalee and Ashlynn

Annessa and Briggs

Finally. A little blogging.

2011-07-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

Our new home

We've been here a little over 3 weeks and I finally find myself with a desire to update the blog.

We have been very busy, enjoying everything our new city has to offer. The first couple of weeks just felt like being on vacation, where everything and everyone is new and exciting. Then all of the sudden, you remember that you need to do some laundry, and perhaps scrub the toilets. The children grow disenchanted with discovering all the nooks and crannies of the new house, and return to their comfortable routine of whining and asking to play video games.

The old house, empty and clean. Very unusual.

Most of the boxes are unpacked - except for one room upstairs that has become the catch-all room - with boxes piled practically to the ceiling and crowding the door so it is impossible to even enter the room. I'm not exactly sure how to even start on that room. My mom said, "Why don't you just close that door?" I just shrugged and said I guess I could.

One of the hardest things to adjust to in Sacramento has been the weather. The weekend we moved in was hot. The week before we moved up, Brian had noticed that the AC was not working. He quickly called our landlords, who sent someone over the fix it, in hopes that it would be working when we moved in.

It wasn't.

Even though they said they fixed it.

It didn't get fixed until 5 days later.

The kids got sick of me saying, "You'll get used to the heat. You'll get used to the heat." I was really saying it to reassure myself. I'm not much of a fan of weather over 90 degrees. It just takes too much out of me.

We packed every square inch of this truck!

However, since we moved in, we had a rainy day, which was VERY out of season, and we've just had an unseasonably cool week, which reminded me of SLO weather, so we took full advantage of going to the park and seeing the sights I knew I couldn't handle in the heat.

We surprised the kids with a trampoline already set up in the backyard. They have had fun with it so far and love to put the sprinklers underneath it to cool off a bit.

I love how, in the video, Briggs was the only one to turn around and say, "Thank you, Daddy!"
Classic.

Packing up

2011-06-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Peace, out, SLO...

After 15 years, it's time to say good-bye to SLO. Although I'm learning I'm not good at saying good-bye. I feel like all the right things have to be said, and all the right gestures made. And I worry that I'm not going to do it right, so sometimes I just don't do it at all!

But after a year of waiting for the other shoe to drop, and 4 month of packing and living apart from Brian, it's finally time to get this show on the road!

All the shoes have dropped.

Our home here is rented.

Our new rental home is waiting for us up north.

We still don't know where the kids are going to school.

But we are ready to finally go.

These past few weeks, there have been a lot of good-byes from all of our wonderful friends here. When Brian returned from up north to get the house all packed up, it signaled the end of 4 long months of living on opposite ends of the state. To make it even more meaningful, we celebrated our 12th anniversary the same weekend.

It's all bittersweet. We are sad to leave, but ready to start the next chapter of our lives.

A typical scene in our home

Most of our boxes have been customized by the Rober boys and their trusty Sharpies!

Cupcakes for Caroline!

2011-05-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to sincerely thank all of you for your support with Ashlynn’s bake sale. Many of you volunteered your time, baked goods, supplies and money and we are so grateful to you for that. This bake sale meant a lot to our family, mostly because of the outpouring of love you showed us. (We are going to miss our San Luis Obispo family!) Overall, Ashlynn earned $1,200 to donate to the ALS Association! A big thank you to Brooke Brundage for her generous donation of cupcakes from her shop. The cupcakes were the fun part of the bake sale and brought a lot of customers to our little stand.

I thought I would share a letter Brian sent out to his family following Ashlynn’s bake sale. In it, he describes some of the special things that came out of the bake sale. Often the greater reward than funds raised for projects like these are an increased feeling of service, community and inspiration.

Thank you, all for being a part of this event with us!

To all,

I know we provided a few updates yesterday, but just wanted to throw out a few more notes about the bake sale. I am so proud of Ashlynn and her thought to put on a sale. Also for Kate and all the hard work she put in. Some of these details you may have heard, some not. I’m in Memphis right now at a conference and just wanted to put together some overall thoughts as the sale is still on my mind.

Enough credit can’t be given to Kate and Ashlynn. Ashlynn and her friends did a fantastic job getting ready and executing the sale, Kate did a fantastic job preparing, baking, printing and everything else. I drove in from Sacramento late Thursday, took the boys to the father son campout on Friday night, drove home at 10:00 am on Saturday morning right when the sale was starting, repacked the car Saturday night, driving back up to Sacramento to be on a plane this morning at 8:30 going to Memphis for 2 days. So Kate pretty much hauled out all the goodies, equipment advertising, ideas and logistics. Ashlynn and her friends did all the selling.

There were a lot of people who had heard about the sale via the 300 door hangers they passed out last Wednesday. There were a few people who came by and particularly asked for Ashlynn with the flyer or door hanger in their hand. In my mind testing her sincerity. She held her own better than I could have imagined. She did a great job explaining where the money was going and thanking the people for their donations. She showed pictures of mom that she had put together in frames and only slightly struggled when a customer became emotional with a personal ALS story. The girls were not shy by any means and 4 hours was about right in length. We sold most of the items and the girls were starting to get antsy by 2:00.

One lady I texted you about lost her husband April 29^th. She was from Chico and was in San Luis to visit a friend at a soccer tournament. She happened to be at her friend’s house and saw the door hanger on her counter. She broke down and brought her daughter down to make a donation. It was very inspiring for her. Her husband had ALS for 5 years.

A doctor came by asking Ashlynn if she knew what ALS stood for. Ashlynn said no, but it was the same as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He rattled off the medical term and was complimentary of the cause.

1 lady came by and dropped off a $100 check, no goodies to be taken. She had a family member pass away from ALS. There were other inspiring stories of people who were touched by the idea of the sale and had family members who had died of ALS. They all gave very generously. One lady came by and said she had heard at the gas station around the corner that there was a fundraising effort around the block and that they “had it going on!” She came by off that tip. Ashlynn’s teacher at school collected money from her lunch group, the next door neighbor ordered cupcakes to take to work. There were many ward members that came by including the girls Sunday school teacher, who not only bought cupcakes for herself, but to take to church today for the girls to eat.

Kate and Brooked developed a new flavor cupcake called the “Sweet Caroline” just for the sale. It is a Bordeaux flavored cupcake and frosting. Pretty dang good. A lady came by in the afternoon and asked for 2 of the “Sweet Caroline” cupcakes. Then her eyes lit up because she found out and loves the Bordeaux flavor and also loves Neil Diamond! She doubled the order to 4.

More people donated at church today, all in all effort brought in more than $1,200. We had friends who helped bake, donate their plates, time, lemonade dispensers, easy ups and efforts. It was a joint effort and I know that mom spirit was there. It was so exhausting by the end of the day, but very worth it.

Looking forward to the walk in October. Mom is with us always. It was nice to be able to do something like this and not only think about mom, but associate with other ALS victims. Last week Briggs came down from bed at Lynn and Jan’s in tears. Kate had put a CD on for the boys to go to sleep to, it happened to be a church CD and Briggs associated the music with mom funeral.

Three cheers for the “Sweet Caroline”!

Week 13: The Really Busy week

2011-05-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,

I'm sorry I don't blog much any more. It's not that I'm trying to leave you in the dark, or leave you without cute pictures of your grandkids. It's just that it's hard for me to find the time. No time these days!

It's not that I don't have anything to write about. I think of things throughout the day that would make a good journal/blog post. Like how this morning, while reading the Cheerio box, Ty finally met his match with a word he couldn't read or pronounce. The word "Cholesterol" just stumped him. Even when we coached him, he couldn't say it. Then after preschool he told me that Miss Brittany taught them a really big word that started with an "M" that they were supposed to remember for tomorrow, but he couldn't remember it! All I had to do was ask him what it meant. He blurted out "To change" without even skipping a beat. Then together we solved the riddle of the Really Big Word and decided it was metamorphosis.

I could blog about how Briggs got in big time trouble at school for -

wait for it-

turning his project in early!!

I could blog about that, but i already ranted and raved about it on the phone with you when you called to say you got your new ipad (Yay!)

I could write about how this is week 13 of Brian and I living separate lives and how hard it has been for us to manage. Then I remember that you have done it before, and I try not to whine too much. And even though Brian always does such a good job of making me feel special and loved and important, sometimes when i am mopping up the floor because of the juice the kids spilled all over it because the house has to stay clean ALL THE FREAKING TIME because of potential buyers, or renters, or whatever, and listening to the kids blatantly ignoring my pleadings to get ready for bed and are instead wreaking havoc, and worrying about how I'm going the impose on someone to pick Ty up tomorrow because after 18 months of not doing anything to my hair, I've decided to bite the bullet and try to fit it into my schedule, even if it isn't convenient, sometimes, I get angry with him. Angry for having to take a job that is going to take us away from our friends and our home. Angry at him for having to move on ahead and leave me to do battle with the kids and this house all by myself.

Then I get over it.

I could write about those things, but sometimes it's hard to take the time to sit down and write out your thoughts.

Love, Kate

ALS Fundraiser

2011-05-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is Ashlynn's project she has been working on for months now. She really wanted to do something to honor Grandma Caroline in her own way. We hope you can join us! There will be cupcakes, cookies, free lemonade and lots of other goodies! Tell your friends and let me know if you'd like to help by donating any baked goods!

Simpatico

2011-04-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ty has been watching Tangled.

He told two girls that he doesn't get along with, "You and I are not simpatico"

Ty's Birthday list

2011-03-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

While in the toy section of Target, I handed Ty my phone and asked him to take pictures of things he would like for his birthday. He got some pretty interesting shots, if you can ignore the auto-focus problems!

"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" Game. He loves these books.

Epic Mickey video game

Some kinds of Donkey Kong game, I can't quite make it out...
Remote control Luigi car.
Speed boat Zhu Zhu pet.
Guess Who Star Wars (our kids have been playing a lot of board games lately.)
Pix-o's
Play-doh set.

I thought some of his choices were interesting, but they definitely show that he likes crafty toys and games. He's not in much of an action figure or cars kind of phase right now.

Why I Could Use a Little Chocolate...

2011-03-09T17:05:00.000-08:00

So it's been 4 weeks since we started this new adventure where Brian lives somewhere else during the week and only comes home on weekends. I'm not sure I can even think of anything clever to say, I'm so exhausted, so I'll just lay it out for you:

Week 1: I was running on adrenaline and faith and the week went surprisingly well.

Week 2: This week was post-bank failure so I was reeling with the emotional backlash of 12 years hard work with nothing to show for it. Any savings and retirement are gone. Add to that a huge lack of respect and ignorance from the community and you get one angry week.

Week 3: I'd like to call this the jaded week. This was the week I said, "Brian? Brian who? Are you talking about my husband? I'm doing just fine on my own. Who needs a companion?"

Week 4 (the present): Never mind what I said last week. I'm lonely. I'm impatient. I'm over my kids.

So now that I've laid out my raw emotions for all of the blogosphere to read and judge, I will tell you that despite my complaints, I know that what we are doing is the right thing, and because of that some blessings have come.

I have been empowered and able to do things that I normally wouldn't do if Brian were here. Today one such task involved a crescent wrench, a socket wrench, and a Makita drill. I fixed a fence and I fixed it good.

I've dealt with sub-contractors and gotten some drywall work done in the garage.

I've dealt with real estate agents, and quite frankly, gotten this house ready and on the market by myself. If this house sells (and I stress the if ) it will be because of my efforts. That may sound arrogant and self-centered, but that is only because of my weak mastery of the written language, because it's supposed to sound confidant.

That is another blessing. I don't normally do confidant.

Up until recently, I've done ok with the kids. I've been able to pace myself and they have really stepped up to the plate. But recently, I find myself feeling pecked to death by the incessant questions because I'm the only one around to answer them. When I texted Brian how tired I was of the questions (because that's how we communicate) he cutely responded, "I'm realizing that smart kids come at a price." Cute. But no consolation when you are expected to answer simultaneously, and in rapid fire, questions like:

"Mom, what color do you get when you mix blue and purple?"
"Mom, how close together were your contractions right before you had me?"
"Mom, what happens if you shoot a monster?"
"Mom, what time of day was I born?"
"Mom, what were the last five books you have read?"
"Mom, do you have an unlimited amount of money on you debit card, or do you eventually run out of money?"
"Mom, where's my (insert 5 million nouns)?"

And what's the first thing I hear in the morning when I wake up in my lonely cold bed?

"Mom?"

You do realize that's a question, right?

(For those just tuning in, the bank Brian worked for here in San Luis Obispo for the past 12 years was recently taken over by the FDIC. Because of that he was forced to take a new job in the Sacramento area. The job started one month ago, but we decided that the kids and I would stay behind in order to finish school and get the house sold. So Brian lives with my parents during the week and comes home on weekends so we can try and act like a normal family for a couple of days. Once school is over, we will be moving the family to the Sacramento area, or more specifically, Elk Grove. We think.)

Moom

2011-02-27T18:05:00.000-08:00

Brian and I kind of played a mean trick on Ashlynn.

And we've been doing it for years.

The fact is, we weren't trying to be mean. We were actually being a little selfish.

You see, for years now, Ashlynn has thought the word "Baptize" is pronounced "Bathtize". Years and years. It makes sense, right? The act is performed in a giant bathtub, so it is easy to see where the confusion originated. Brian and I always thought it was cute, so we never corrected her.

Mean?

We figured when she got a little older she would figure out her mistake.

Not the case.

When she started reading, we told ourselves, "Now she'll figure it out." She didn't. And I don't really blame her. Anyone who is at all familiar with the English language and lovely words like "receipt" or "colonel" can understand.

Then when she turned eight and was going to get baptized, we considered correcting her, but by that point it was just too cute (and perhaps a little too late...)

Today at church she came to me nearly in tears. "Mom! I'm going to kill Dad. He just told me the other day that the correct word is 'bathtize' and my teachers were laughing at me because I kept saying 'bathtize'!" (for the record, she doesn't have mean teachers, she has mean parents. Her teachers have known her all her life and love her like she is part of their family. Thank you Steele family!)

So maybe that is where we messed up. We tried to milk the cute factor too much.

As we were discussing it after church, there were all sorts of dramatic "How Could You!" accusation flying around. We explained that we thought it was sweet and cute. She came back with, "Mom! I'm almost ten years old! I should know the correct pronunciation of the word 'baptize! Next time you should correct me!!!"

We said fair enough.

Then I added, "Since we are on the subject, it is pronounced 'Moom' not 'Mom'".

Even though her back was turned to us, I could see she was smiling!

Ty's Tour of the House

2011-02-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

Big B and Little T during a tour of Hearst Castle this weekend

We are putting our house on the market this week.

So Ty has heard a lot of real estate talk. When he had a little friend over for the first time this past week, I suggested he give his friend a tour of the house. After what I heard, maybe we should use Ty as our listing agent.

It was obvious which parts of the house were most important to him:

"Here's our pantry... here's where we keep our paints. . . Here's our bathroom. . . Oh! Just a second. I have to go potty. . ."

"This is our guest room. When my Nana and Papa or Auntie or Grandma and Grandpa come, they sleep in here and put their suitcases here. My Grandma died, though. This sickness came for her, so she couldn't breathe so she had breathing machines."

"Your tour is going upstairs. No touching the exhibits. . . Just kidding. I don't have any exhibits." (all said in a very serious tone.)

"Here's our other bathroom. I need to go poo poo. I have Superman underwear."

How do you think potential buyers would respond to a tour like that?!

Fire In My Bones!

2011-02-22T12:19:00.000-08:00

Ty just informed me that the reason her beat me to the mail box was because he had "fire in his bones that gave him power".

I would like some of that fire in my bones right now.

Today marks week two of having Brian working out of town and me playing single mother. Last week went alright. The kids really stepped up and I didn't go bananas. But I think that was partially because it was still a novelty. I was really excited when Brian finally came home, though.

The excitement didn't last long, however. On Friday night the FDIC came in and took over the bank. San Luis Trust Bank no longer exist. It has fallen victim to the "awesomeness" that is our economy and those fabulously fair and consistent federal examiners.

(Insert sarcasm sign here...)

Yes, Brian has a new job, but he has been with Trust bank since before they opened their doors 12 years ago, so the hostile and surreal takeover that happened this weekend was quite an emotional blow. The FDIC asked him to come in and work over the weekend to help them balance the books for the new bank that is taking over. At first I think Brian needed to be apart of what was going on. By Sunday afternoon, he grew tired of the intense and interrogative environment and told them he was done.

D.o.n.e.

You will have to ask him about the whole situation because nothing I write would do it justice. Suffice it to say, it was dramatic.

We just hope most of the remaining employees will be able to find employment, whether at the new bank or elsewhere. This kind of closure can be devastating to a community.

Onward and upward! There is nothing like the loss of a loved one, a job loss and telling your kids they are moving happening all in one month to build some character!

Brian's Side of the Bed

2011-02-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

In Brian's absence, it looks like a new (little) man has moved in...

"The Winds of Change" Finally Revealed

2011-02-15T00:00:00.000-08:00

A random shot my SIL shot at Thanksgiving of the cousins. I love it!

So many changes have been happening in our lives that I have found it difficult to keep up with my blogging. The things we have been dealing with have left me overwhelmed, and to be honest, made blogging seem very low on the priority list. Brian's mom's illness and passing were so emotionally charged and all encompassing that it was hard to put all of that feeling into a trivial blog post.
But the loss of Grandma Caroline hasn't been the only major life changing event we have been having to deal with. Brian has worked at San Luis Trust Bank since the day they opened their doors 11 years ago. He spent so much time there I would have to correct my children, when we would drive by and they would say, "That's where Daddy lives!"

Friday was his last day at San Luis Trust Bank as the controller.

Today, Brian started a new job at the Bank of Rio Vista.

What does this mean? It means Brian will be gone four days of the week while I am here alone with the kids. It means that me and the kids will remain here in SLO to finish school and hopefully sell our house (any takers?). It means we will be closer to my family when we move to Sacramento! It means we have to change our entire lifestyle by leaving a place we have lived longer than any other in our lives - where all of our children were born- and that has been recently celebrated as the "Happiest Town in America" to start a new life.

Cool and scary.

It means that maybe my blog posts will be more frequent and filled with mundane happenings of the day in order to fill my husband in on what he is missing!

Bitter Sweet Loss

2011-02-14T13:28:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to post a nice tribute to Brian's mom concerning her passing for a long time now. But it has taken me a while to get the nerve up. Talking about this is very hard and personal for us, and yet I want to pay tribute to her. I'm also a perfectionist who tends towards procrastination when I'm afraid things aren't going to be "perfect".

You can't really pay decent tribute to your mom in a blog post. Just know that the loss of our mom and grandma is a bitter one, but the knowledge the gospel brings of where she is and who she is surrounded by is sweet.

Here is the tribute that Lisa and Mark, Brian's brother and sister, put on her ALS blog.

"Our sweet Caroline peacefully departed from this world last night, February 1st at 10:56 pm. She was surrounded by her loving caregiver and husband, Larry; all three of her children- Brian, Lisa, and Mark; Mark's wife Lisa; her sister Pam and her niece Kelly. We will have more information regarding funeral arrangements later today. In the following week I will share more of the experience of her peaceful passing.

A few weeks ago we found an audio recording of her tender voice so we set it to music and some of our favorite memories of her below:"

Gone home.... from The Robers on Vimeo.

We should get Direct TV

2011-02-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

There are about 50 more important things that I should be blogging about. But before I forget what just happened tonight, I needed to share a play the kids put on for us.

Scene:
(Ashlynn and Ty are pretending to watch TV)

Ashlynn: What do you want to watch? Hmmm. How about the Olympics?
Ty: o.k.

(Briggs enters dressed like Shaun White. Briggs pretends to snowboard...)

*yada, yada, we get what's going on here. Ash and Ty choose a channel, Briggs acts it out as silly as he can...*

Ashlynn: I don't want to watch the Olympics any more. Lets watch the National Geographic channel.

*here's the part where Brian and I die of laughter*

(Briggs proceeds to pull his boxer shorts down...)

*What!!! Is this kid imitating a naked native?!?*

Ty: Oh, look. It's a show about penguins!

*Whew! He's just imitating a penguin!*

Ashlynn: Let's watch the Oprah show.

Briggs: Hello, and welcome to the Oprah show. Today we are going to make fun of Ellen!

Ashlynn: No, never mind, lets watch the Ellen show.

Briggs: Hello, and welcome to the Ellen show. Today we are going to make fun of Oprah.

aaaaaand, Scene!

January Catch-up

2011-01-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

Grandma's bathing chair that Brian Rigged up. This allowed her to be lowered into the jacuzzi to relax and bathe.

Grandma in her fancy new chair lift in the van.

Some of the thoughts running through Ashlynn's head right now.

Ty with one of his twin friends at the childrens museum (Cooper? James? I have to see them up close to tell!)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T07:08:00.001-08:00

If I had sent out Christmas cards this year, this is the picture I would have put on it. However, this year has been a bit of a roller coaster and we felt it best to cut back in some areas - and the Christmas card didn't make the cut!

The biggest challenge our family has been facing this year was the diagnoses of Brian's mom with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Unfortunately, this is a terminal illness. There is no cure for it and her decline has been rapid. The last few months have been consumed with understanding the disease, trying the emotionally process what it means, and taking every opportunity to make memories with Grandma. In October, the whole family surprised her with a day at Disneyland, one of her favorite places. We also were able to spend Thanksgiving, an early weekend in December, and now we will spend Christmas with them at their home.

Needless to say, we've been a bit preoccupied. In addition to not sending out cards, we were not able to find the time to make goodies to send around the neighborhood or take to our friends. I have since learned, that regardless of our financial or emotional state next year, this is not a tradition that we will leave out. It's easy to think that your friends won't miss one more plate of goodies - we get so many this time of year! But this tradition has nothing to do with sweets. Our family has missed out on the spirit of giving that this gift invites. I think when we return after Christmas, we will have to have a baking day and make "New Year's" goody plates!

*This next part of the post is where I whine some more*

I really have been trying to get in the Christmas Spirit lately. However, this last week brought non-stop rain, a bout of stomach flu, a letter from the IRS, and a broken water heater that only partially flooded our garage and left us without hot water for 24 hours.

I know! Whine, Whine, Whine!

But we did have a wonderful visit from my parents and Amanda. She got to take the kids to farmers, which I'm pretty sure they were more excited about than Christmas this year.

Ty announced that he had discovered that his name is in the word "naughty". (no duh, kid. I could have told you that, even if I was illiterate!)

And when Ashlynn kept hounding Brian for an answer to something, Briggs answered in his best wise sage voice, "She seeks the truth, Father."

Despite these nasty things that have been going on, The Lord is still blessing our family with so many things. And even though I obviously have a bad attitude, He still sees fit to remind me of those blessings. It's just up to me to recognize them.

2010-11-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

This is for my mom. She asked the kids to tell me to put Halloween pictures up on the blog.
So here they are!
Briggs was easy this year. All I had to buy was a $2.00 pair of handcuffs to complete his policeman's esemble.
Ashlynn's costume, of course, was a little more involved. She's really into reading the Percy Jackson books, so Greek Mythology was on her mind. So I give you, the Greek Goddess (she wanted me to get her a pomegranate to carry around so that she could say she was Persephone - I told her that was too much). Her costume had to be hand made from scratch - which we managed to do for under $15 dollars. She made the headband all by herself, while I had to rely on a tutorial from V & co. to ombre- dye the bottom of the dress. "Why couldn't the dress just be all white?" you might ask. To which I would reply, "This is Ashlynn we are talking about. Everything must me authentic."
And Ty.

His motivation behind this "Sheriff- gone- bad" costume was the gun. He wanted a costume he could carry a gun with so that he could say, "Happy Hands-up!"

This picture proves he has the squinty-eyed bravado every wild west bandit needs ( and the eyebrows...).

Family Pictures 2010

2010-10-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post more of our family pictures, but to be honest, I kept putting it off because I couldn't decide which ones I wanted to share. Our friend Melissa took them and captured so many wonderful images, there was no way I was posting all of my favorites on the blog. So here's a few!

I loved the location site, Avila Beach.

As an added bonus, our friend Tani lent a hand with the styling. I love how bright everything turned out!

In a Life Boat With a Tiger

2010-10-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever read " Life of Pi"? It's a story about a boy who gets stuck on a life boat with a tiger named Richard Parker. However, he doesn't know at first the tiger is there. He thinks there is only a hyena on board.

I just read the following passage and immediately related to it. It made me laugh, and laughing is a good thing right now.

Here's what the narrator, Pi, has to say"

"You might think I’d lost all hope at that point. I did. And as a result, I perked up and felt much better.

We see that in sports all the time, don’t we? The tennis challenger starts strong but soon looses confidence in his playing. The champion racks up the games. But in the final set, when the challenger has nothing to lose, he becomes relaxed again, insouciant, daring. Suddenly, he’s playing like the devil, and the champion must work hard to get those last points.

So it was with me. To cope with a hyena seemed remotely possible, but I was so obviously outmatched by Richard Parker, that it wasn’t even worth worrying about. With a tiger aboard, my life was over. That being settled, why not do something about my parched throat."

There are times in our lives when we are stuck on a life boat with a 500 pound Tiger. This is one of those times for me. Do I know how to deal with a Tiger? No. I know nothing about Tigers.

So instead, I'm going to just enjoy the boat ride and let the Tiger do what he wants.

A wise woman recently told me that once you figure out God is in control, and not us, life gets easier.

So here's me, handing over the reigns...

Present

2010-10-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, my sister made these cute critters for my kids. Ashlynn got a pink cat, Briggs got a blue dog (Dodger Dog) and Ty got a camouflage monkey.

Needless to say, my sister knows her neice and nephews well.

Ty latched onto his immediately and dubbed him, "Present".

Due to lots of lovin', Present had to spend some time in my sewing room because of a few busted seems. Today I finally took the time to mend those seems.

When I handed him back to Ty after completion, He gave him a good hug and exclaimed, "Oh! Present! You're all resurrected!"

Thanks Auntie Nessa!

Time For a New Picture

2010-10-07T10:24:00.001-07:00

Shopping with Ty Downtown. Ty found something he liked.

Watching fireworks at Angel Stadium on Mormon Night.

At the beach for a friend's baptism

At my new favorite restaurant, Oasis, which serves Moroccan and other Mediterranean dishes.

Vocabulary Revisited

2010-09-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Ashlynn adjusting the cotton in Ty's ears for their jam session.

Let us revisit the quirkiness that is my childrens' vocabulary.

Ty utilized the following phrase in perfect context, in a very calm yet characteristically husky voice:

"Mom. Whoever smelt it - dealt it."

Briggs informed us that, after the record breaking temperatures we have been experiencing lately, the water from the fountain at school felt like "kettle water".

What person, born this side of Y2K, says, "Kettle water" ?

Briggs. That's who.

Ashlynn's teacher was impressed when she used the word "foreclosure". The teacher asked her if she knew what that meant. So Ashlynn proceeded to give a mini lecture about what happens to your home when you don't make payments. When the teacher asked her how she knew that, she proudly replied, "My dad's a banker!"

I was just glad she didn't continue with, "... and he has to foreclose on peoples homes all the time!"

Good times.

p.s. Did you hear the recession is over? I guess it ended in July. Nobody told me.

The Only Cool Thing About the Heat Yesterday.

2010-09-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

All three of the kids made the local paper yesterday. In an above-the-fold picture, Briggs's tongue and Ashlynn's tushy were featured ( oh and a muscle shot of Ty).

The Central Coast experienced record breaking temperatures yesterday. 108, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! So we borrowed this slide from the neighborhood to cool off a little. As we were setting it up, a photographer from the Tribune came by and asked if he could take pictures of the kids playing for the hot weather feature they were running. Of course, I said yes (admittedly before I even checked his credentials!)

The afternoon was not without drama - the kids were pretty excited about the photographer. Ashlynn, always the diva, came running up to me at one point shouting, "Mom! The photographer saved my life!!!".

Of course he did.

Apparently the slide got a little top heavy (which tends to happen when there are 9 kids at the top) and started to fall over. Ash was heading for the sidewalk until the photographer made a running lunge and caught her.

To add to the drama, the heat and the water brought all of the wasps within a 3 mile radius to our front lawn. Combine this with bare-footed children and you have a recipe for disaster. Luckily we only had 2 stings (which are pretty good odds considering the amount of kids that were present.)

I think the excitement of the afternoon made up for the fact that the bedrooms were still 90 degrees when we went to bed. I furnished the kids with little ice packs in their beds to make up for the fact that one or two weeks of extreme heat doesn't justify the need for air conditioning in our home. With fans blaring and icy pillows, I think everyone was able to sleep well enough.

screen shot of my phone and our lovely weather!

The Winds of Change

2010-09-22T16:30:00.001-07:00

The Winds of Change are blowing strong in our lives right now. For the past 11 years of our marriage, we have grown and learned a lot. This year, it feels like the Lord decided to step it up a notch. I'm not sure why.

Perhaps it's because last year we conquered a big challenge in our lives - my long struggle with postpartum depression. It's refreshing to say I no longer have that monkey on my back. I feel lighter and refreshed because of it. I also feel stronger and more wise. I suppose by having the arrogance to admit that out loud, the Lord has seen fit to bless us with more change!

So onward we go, just placing one foot in front of the other and taking things as they come. I'm sure eventually I will blog about all of these changes, but right now some of them are still sinking in and others are lurking on the horizon.

I take comfort in the thought that all of the changes going on are simply the result of living a mortal existence, and not the result of personal choices we have made. Why is this comforting to me? Because it means I didn't make a bad choice!!! (Have I mentioned I'm indecisive? Maybe I shouldn't tell you that. . . maybe I should. . .)

So how am I dealing?

Chocolate.

Pictures of my cute kids.

And Chocolate.

Park City last spring break on a very cold day.

"Look, Mom! We found a baby mermaid!"

Bowling in Pismo

2010-09-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

This year for her birthday, Ashlynn wanted to go bowling.

So we did.

There were purple balls, cute girls and running on the Pismo Pier.

Easy and fun!

On the Last Day of Summer...

2010-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

...this is what we did.

Searching for bubble gum in whipped cream! I wanted to see how the kids would react when I handed them an entire package of Bubblelicious and a can of whipped cream.

They were skeptical at first, then excited, then five minutes later complained of stomach aches.

"Honestly, Mom! Why would you let us do something like that?"

I really don't know. Even as i sit typing this post, my mind is drawing a blank...

First Day of School, 2010

2010-09-10T18:32:00.000-07:00

We must get a picture in front of the Blue Door.

Ty actually started a week later, so here is his picture on the actual day he started. I love this one. It reminds me of John Cusack in "Say Anything". I kept telling him to put his pack down, but he insisted on displaying it this way. All for your viewing pleasure!

After 2 Hours of Quiet. . .

2010-09-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

. . .this is what comes downstairs!

Bad, Bad-er, and Bad-est!

Then we were treated to a full concert, complete with refreshments and bed jumping. Brian and I sat through all 10 minutes of metal-bowl-drumming, all because it kept them entertained and cooperating for so long. I didn't even care that Ringo broke half of my kitchen utensils during his drum solo.

Happy kids = Happy mom!

P.S. Please note the cotton balls in Ty's ears.

August

2010-08-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

I had a friend in college who had a car that didn't drive in reverse at all. She had to find parking spots that she could pull through or else get help in pushing the car out of the spot. We both decided to make this a motto for life. Forward! No turning back. If you want to get somewhere, you have to move forward!

So...

Just got back from a month... I mean a week... at girls camp. I've got a couple birthday parties this week to navigate, back to school prep, a couple of Primary events to work on... more girls camp paperwork to do. When I put it that way it doesn't sound too bad.(I'm being serious. No Bazinga here.)

I'm guess I'm just not ready to let go of summer. I like being free. Once the kids are in school, I'll have some free hours in the morning off to myself, but once they come home in the afternoons, everything kicks into overdrive. Emergency cards in duplicate to fill out, homework to navigate, carpools to configure, and high flying emotions that always accompany the great amount of change that a new school year brings. I'm not sure If I'm ready to tackle it.

I guess I don't really have a choice.

Forward!

A Little Alone Time

2010-07-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, for a kid, it's all about the quiet moments...

Fourth of July

2010-07-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

A visit to Nana and Papa's on the fourth means:

...a trip to the hardware store (Papa about had a heart attack when I staged this shot. He was afraid he would go home with 3 ride-on lawn mowers. How fun would that be, Papa?!)

... a visit to Larry's produce to get all the fresh fixins for the family BBQ.

(was it easier to carry Ty in the wheelbarrow along with 50 watermelons and 90 ears of corn? Maybe yes. Maybe no.)

... UNO with Aunt Lynn.

... and always some kind of craft with the cousins (not to mention one killer water fight started by the dads that didn't quite make it on my camera roll).

Thanks, Mom and Dad for all of the hard work you put into this tradition.

Ty and His Friend

2010-07-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's her blond curls that bring out the best in Ty, but these two sure get along well.

Maybe we've hit on the key to taming Ty:

A pretty face!

Camping

2010-07-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

This was the year I decided I was going to brave a camping trip with the kids. The idea of camping with a baby or a toddler was one I was not willing to wrap by head around.

So my baby is 4 and I decided it was time to take the plunge.

Well. More like dip my toe in.

So we chose a campground that was 20 minutes away and stayed for only two nights. but the car was still packed to the brim! I've realized that whether you are going for one day or a week, you still need to pack a whole kitchens worth of supplies!

(Duh, Kate...)

So we had a fun time and learned alot.

We learned that, at this particular campground, we were sorely lacking in the Boobs, Beer and Boombox department.

You get what I mean?

Not exactly a lets-get-back-to-nature kind of experience. More like where's-the-next-kegger?

But we decided, all night parties or not, we were going to enjoy ourselves (despite the 2 inches of brown water backing up from the drains in the bathroom that people were still wading through!)

We played UNO, read books, drank hot chocolate, went for a little hike, and even enjoyed an afternoon and the lake.

At night we were gently lulled to sleep by monotonous Mariachi music and awoke to the great smell of bacon cooking in the outdoors.

We had a good time and are looking forward to choosing a more rural campground in the future!

Cupcake Stand

2010-07-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Do your kids beg you about every five minutes to hold a lemonade stand?

Mine do.

One day I finally relented, but decided if we were going to do it, we were going all the way.

That means cupcakes and cute signs.

It took a good portion of the morning, but Ashlynn and I had fun making little things to cutenize the stand. The cupcakes were nothing fancy. Just box mix with pre-made frosting. But it really spruces up the cupcake when you use a pastry tip and top it with a Jelly Belly.

We communicated with walky talkies back and forth from the house to the street...

"Cupcake to Momma Bear. Do you read me, Momma Bear. We are out of chocolate cupcakes. Repeat - we are out of chocolate. Please bring more. Over and out"

It kept them safe and entertained.

By the end of the day, those kids were left with $30 in their pockets and a mild sunburn.

Not a bad day for Making Lemonade...

Library Time with Ty

2010-07-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

My kids and I love going to the library. When we go, they always beg me to park at the very top of the parking structure.

Because there is an awesome view of San Luis from the very top.

(this is not the actual view from the top, but very close.)

And it makes the ride in the elevator longer...

Ty's Preschool Graduation

2010-07-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Is it obvious that I am playing catch up?

Oh well...

I think it is pretty cute that Ty wanted to wear his suit to his preschool graduation...even if he was wearing his Mario shirt under it...

Father/Son Campout

2010-07-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Father son campout is a much anticipated event in our household. The boys really look forward to spending time with their dad and friends from church. And Ashlynn and I enjoy spending time with each other for one night.

I should post about the campout, but I didn't go.

So I don't have any pictures.

I heard that they had a blast.

But I will tell you about what Ashlynn and I did!

Every year we try and do things as girly and possible. We get our nails done. Eat dinner at the Madonna Inn, where everything is PINK including the sugar. We don't pass on the dessert. Then we watch a movie and top it all off with a Mother daughter slumber party.

This year we didn't get our nails done, but did a craft instead.

Have I mentioned my daughter is crafty?

She chose to make this doll. Then we watched "Wild Hearts Can't be Broken".

The next morning before the boys came home, I took her to get doughnuts for breakfast (just in case we didn't get enough sweets the night before...) Then to make up for the doughnuts I allowed Ashlynn to come with me on my run. (This is normally sacred time for me.) She wore her roller blades and listened to her ipod. (I'm not going to lie about the fact that it made me feel pretty good when she complained, out of breath, that the run was too long. 6 months ago i couldn't run much longer than 3 minutes...)

Maybe next year I'll post about the boys campout.

Or maybe I'll just post about the cake Ashlynn and I ate at the Madonna Inn.

Briggs's Baseball Season

2010-07-20T16:21:00.001-07:00

I never shared these pictures of Briggs's baseball season. he had a blast this year on the Angels (he would much prefer to be on the Dodgers!) At this game he lost a tooth mid-inning. He said, "Coach? Can I go talk to my dad real quick?" When you are dealing with 5 and 6 year old boys, you never say no to this request, even if you are in the middle of a game!

He walked over and requested that his dad pull his tooth out then and there!

That is quite an exciting thing to share with your teammates!

It was fun to see how much Briggs loves playing baseball.

If I Had $100 Burning a Hole In My Pocket...

2010-07-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

I. would. purchase. this. print.

I studied typography in college and have always been drawn in by samples of type. This just blew me away when I saw it.

The combination of letterpress and typography is absolutely stunning. It was created by designer Cameron Moll. More images here.

Chocolate

2010-07-01T17:07:00.001-07:00

Ty told me the other day that he wasn't going to like chocolate any more because it gives him a tummy ache.
"But," he added, "my head keeps telling me to eat it!"

My head tells me the same thing!

Life According To Ty

2010-06-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Ty discovered the camera last week and conducted his own little photo shoot. It is a perfect representation of the Things That Are Important To Ty.

Self portrait

Close up of the nose that looks like it's always pressed up against a window

TV with Bugs Bunny playing

LEGO Indiana Jones Wii game... there were about five pictures like this one... must be really important!

Worn out Crocs

Mom's pillow

Favorite Game - Disney Scene It

The Gum Ball Machine!

Again...

Again...

aaaand, Close Up!

LEGO table

What kids doesn't love some good bubble wrap!

Brother Briggs!

the activity book he picked out at the BYU bookstore

The session ended with quite a few shots of big brother along with about 20 one second videos of briggs smiling because Ty didn't realize it was in video mode.

Meet Frosty

2010-06-23T09:07:00.001-07:00

The kids have always wanted a dog.

Brian and I have not.

Because we have 3 kids.

So what do I do? I answer a Craiglist ad and become...

A Doggy Daycare provider!

Now we have Frosty three or four days a week. He runs errands with me in the car. He joins me for my morning run, and he keeps the kids entertained and active (they all want to take him for a walk).

Now, this situation could have turned out to be a disaster. But we lucked out and got a dog who has Briggs's personality. He rarely barks. He doesn't chew on things or leave his mark in a stinky-oh-great-I-have-to-clean-that-up way. And he never runs off or chases people or other dogs.

The best part is, he pays for most of the kids extra curricular activities.

Part time pet + money = win/win situation.

Take that! Financial Gremlins!

Two Things People Can Say To You That Make You Never Wear An Outfit Again:

2010-06-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

1. "Are you pregnant?"

2. "Mom. Why are you wearing your pajamas to church?"

George Banks Never Had It So Good!

2010-06-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

Car: broken down in LA

Printer (aka: family work-horse): broken; won't print black ink

Vacuum: STINKS!

2 Boys' feet: growing and needing new shoes

SCORE:

Finance Gremlins: 4
Rober Family: 0

I want a re-match!

Look What Ty Found on a Walk in the Neighborhood!

2010-06-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

This is what you get when you try to cook dinner while listening to your ipod.

Your four year old goes for a walk a finds a snake the size of your arm!
It turns out a neighbor found it on his way home from work and brought it home to show his daughter.

Then it escaped from his car.

Then Ty found it.

My Baby Can Read!

2010-05-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Ty Reading from Kate Rober on Vimeo.

I had to share this clip of Ty reading. We just got this book from the library, so the book is not memorized. Apparently the kid is hooked on phonics. He just decided he wanted to learn how to read, and he did. It's pretty amazing to hear him go. I forget that my 4 year old can read until he starts reading through the cards at the grocery store labeled "Humorous" (and they should be labeled "adult") and I start trying to distract him with the "soundy" cards (as he calls the cards that make noise).

I love how in this clip he gets distracted by the pictures and says "It" about twenty times before he resumes reading.

LOST

2010-05-24T19:20:00.001-07:00

I'm a fan.

Loved the finale (even though it was two and a half hours long).

Man vs. Man

2010-05-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I learned just what kids are capable if you give them an opportunity to learn.
One of them made the comment at lunch that there is always a bad in movies. Another little smarty-pants refuted this with, "Not in 'Fisher-Price Little People'".

I couldn't help myself. I introduced them to the literary conflicts of Man vs. Man, Man vs. Himself and Man vs. Nature. I gave simple examples of each one, and they really seemed to get it.
At one point I tried to give the example of an inner conflict. "Imagine if you have to decide to go to the park or go to a party. This is Man against Himself."

"That's not much of a conflict, Mom!" Ashlynn was quick to reply.

Then once they all got it, they started going through movies and books that they liked and siting examples of each type of conflict.

I was very impressed. I think we don't give children enough credit. I think if you tech them what ubiquitous means and use occasionally, they will understand.

YSA

2010-05-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

How do you know when you are raising your children in the LDS culture?

When they come home from school and say, "Mom. We had a substitute today. She was a Young Single Adult."

Ty Has An Announcement!

2010-05-19T00:00:00.001-07:00

Ty asked me to type this on the typewriter. Then he asked me to send it to someone. You better hope you are not the lucky recipient...

In other news, I found a great way to keep the kids crayons and pencils from rolling off the pew at church and through the crack in the back. I got this little bucket from IKEA. Everything was so neat and tidy, and the kids actually colored and kept busy!

Ninja

2010-05-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ty, like most kids his age, thinks the whole house is his canvas when it comes to coloring. The other day I found a little plastic hippo in which he had colored black with a permanent marker. When I asked him about it he said, "Oh. I was making him a ninja."

Of course.

His preschool teacher was also pleased because he shared some things she had taught him through practical applications at home:

1. While watching vintage episodes of The Mario Bros. show, a character shouted to a turtle, "Hey! You reptile!" To which Ty responded, very miffed, "Turtles aren't reptiles! They are amphibians!" (Manny on Modern Family last night referred to his turtle, Shell Turtlestein, as a reptile. I think this is a common misconception. But Manny and Gloria remain two of my favorite characters!)

2. As I was making some pasta, I poured it into the strainer as Ty watched all of the steam escape into the air. He pointed out very matter of factly, "That's eeeeevaporation. Yea. Evaporation."

Watch what you say around this kid.

Camera Roll:part 5

2010-05-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Briggs and Ashlynn playing chess before school. Briggs knows how to play, Ashlynn doesn't really, which leads to interesting conversations.

This was the breakfast Ty woke me up with on Mother's Day morning. That would be an old package of cheese crackers, Knott's shortbread cookies, an opened bag of rice cakes and a raw egg. When I told him I couldn't eat the egg right away he said, "Yes you can. You just peel it!" and he used his little chipmunk hands to mimic how you peel an egg.

That's gum on the wall... way out of reach of anybody in this house, but conveniently right across the stairwell from where Ty was "fishing" earlier...

Mom! Take my picture! (in the craft store)

At the dentist getting a flouride treatment and picking out a prize.

"Kate. Can you go to the hardware store and get a piece for the sprinklers?"
"Sure. What does it look like?"
"It's a female/female connector."
"Sure. What does it LOOK like?"
"It's black in the center with blue rings on the end."
"Is this the right piece?"
"Yep."

I love these iphones!

Camera Roll: part 4

2010-05-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ty "fishing off of the balcony

Ty's prize at the optometrist

The kids getting ready to board the Ferry from Vallejo to San Fransisco

The kids at the Tabernacle the day before Conference. They snuck up to the organ rostrum and got to talk to the organist for Conference (sorry I don't know his name...)

There goes Briggs! "Wait for me!"

Camera Roll: part 3

2010-05-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Once again, Ty's eye.

Lemons from our tree for our hosts in Utah

Making faces on the "M" of Madonna Mountain

All I needed was salt for the water softener and "D" batteries. Of course a man had to come up to me in line and say, "You know they won't let you buy that. You could get charged with "Salt and Battery"... Remind me to avoid Food 4 Less on Saturday afternoon.

A beautiful scene of our neighborhood park taken on a run. You can't see it in the picture clearly, but there was a pack of boys all playing with their light sabers. I thought it was cute.

Camera Roll: part 2

2010-05-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ty showing the big boys how it's done on the DS

Packed for ONE day at the snow!

These look good! Found them in a magazine in some waiting room

LEGO Ty sleeping, thanks to a LEGO app on my phone

Normal Ty sleeping thanks to a hard day's play.

Camera Roll

2010-05-11T16:31:00.001-07:00

I love my iphone I got for Christmas. I should probably devote a whole post to it. Instead, I'm going to clean out my camera roll, because it's probably the best way to show you how we've spent the last 5 months.

Ash and a friend dancing in the famous Madonna Inn bathroom.

My sister and her family on my niece's baptism day.

Ash asleep.

Ash and her classmates on "Dress up Like What You Want To Be When You Grow Up" Day. Ash would be dressed as the President of the United States.

The coldest rainiest week in January for us.

Recent Soundbites

2010-05-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

taken on out recent trip to Park City

A friend of ours recently overheard Briggs walk into the bathroom at school while him and a friend commented on the unpleasant smell that was present. "Yeah," said Briggs, "It smells like an old person in here!"

It reminds me of the time he said the city bus smelled like "public old person."

As you may remember, Ty loves Winnie the Pooh. He has a big Winnie the Pooh toy that talks to you. The other day Brian and I overheard him say, "Whoa! I just tripped over my big Pooh!"

Out of context, this made us cackle.

Hachiko: Nice Dog, Sad Story

2010-05-07T08:16:00.001-07:00

I don't care for animal movies.

I know that sounds harsh, but I have to set the scene for the story I'm about to tell you.

I've always felt that the way they portray villains in animal movies was over the top silliness. Seriously, a couple of grown men getting fooled by a dalmatian puppy? or how about when they make animals do human things? A dog and a cat make their way across the United States using only a parachute and a debit card? No thank you.

Last night I remembered another reason why i don't like animal movies.

THEY ARE SAD!!!

Ashlynn had read the story of Hachi, the train dog, at school so we thought it would be fun to let her watch the movie. We put in the movie then left Ash and Briggs alone to watch it while we went upstairs to talk about how grateful we are that life is so challenging right now and how we are so glad that we have so many trials in order to make us better people (this would be a good time to hold up my sarcasm sign...)(PS. Ty was at Farmers Market, so this was acceptable.)

An hour later, we came back downstairs only to find BOTH Ashlynn and Briggs in tears!
How could I have forgotten that the movie was about a man who dies, then his dog waits for him for ten years, then he dies! Not exactly a message the kids can feel all warm and fuzzy from.

I was instantly reminded of letting Ashlynn watch Heidi when she was four or five, only to have her burst into tears because Heidi was forced to leave Grandpa and the mountain.

Moral of the story: I don't like animal movies and neither do my kids. I shall now remove all of them from my Netflix queue

Skid Marks

2010-05-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today I taught Ty how to make skid marks with his bike tires. He thought that was pretty cool. Really i was just trying to keep him from going down the hill at breakneck speed while he laughed maniacally. He'd roll down the hill, then slam on the breaks and turn around and admire his handy work.
At least now the kid knows how to use the breaks. If only he could apply that to the rest of his life. . .

Visiting Friends in Mapleton

2010-04-30T08:34:00.001-07:00

After St. George, we spent some time in Mapleton with friends, Jeremy and Anna. Jeremy and Brian were friends before their missions (which they both served in Brazil) and were roomates before we got married. Even though they live in Utah, Jeremy still works at the bank with Brian, via -telecommuting.
They took us to a bounce house gym, which was something my kids had never been to.

I think I must have been tired by this point and not pulled my camera out as much, but our kids had a great time with their kids. They spent the time making up plays and performing them for us. The next morning the kids were so excited to wake up toa a "Winter Wonderland!" as they called it. We were only there for a short time, but we had a great time in their beautiful home.

What Else We Did While in Utah or My Attempt at Blogging Again

2010-04-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

We did a little 4-wheeling with the Hickens's and Brian's sister. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. Above, you can see Ty in his Darth Vader helmet with the bandage on his eye.

Mark rode all the little kids up on this really steep path on his dirt bike. In the picture it is hard to tell exactly how steep it is, but the tiny red dot near the top is Royal, Mark's son.

Here's 4-year old Benson, all suited up in his Space Ball gear. This little guy could drive his own little 4-wheeler. His parents kept having to tell him to slow down, but slowing down to Benson is boring. When we introduced him and Ty to each other he said, "Oh! I think I'm gonna play with you!"

Briggs still manages to look like an intellectual, despite the camo helmet.

I've never really appreciated the appeal of the desert, but where we went riding was really beautiful. This picture reminds me of a scene straight out of Disney's Cars movie - Carburetor Canyon.

Ashlynn with the girls.

Brian with the boys.

"Would you look at the size o' that boy's head! It's like a melon on a toothpick!"
{once again, said with a Scottish brogue, a-la "So I Married An Ax Murderer"}

April...

2010-04-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

I believe this is what we call a Hiatus...