Brookie's 12

I have been thinking all day about what to say about Brooke. I mean really what do you say about a perfect girl? From the moment that Brooke was born she has been nothing but a joy to Mike and I. I must have done something pretty amazing to have been blessed to be her Mom. She amazes me on a daily basis. Whether its her academics, sports, or example to her family she is spot on in every way.

This year she started middle school and with that was introduced to all honors classes. I think she was a little apprehensive going into honors classes, but she is doing awesome with straight A's. On top of her academics she is still playing club soccer which is year round and loving it. She also made her middle school basketball team which practice every morning before school. Brooke is one of the smallest girls on the team, but she definitely holds her own. She is also on the city basketball team which is coached by Mike. This league is for girls from 6th grade to 8th grade so that means Brooke is one of the youngest as well. I love watching her play basketball it makes me smile every time. Mike just went to a coaches meeting last night and all the coaches from the league do a skills rating for each girl. He was so proud when he came home and told me that the coaches rated Brooke #3 in the whole league.

Enough with the sports and academics Brooke is a great girl, daughter, sister, and friend. She is so caring and thoughtful always trying to find fun things to do with her younger brothers when she is babysitting. They look up to her more than I think she realizes. Brooke is constantly looking for ways to help me. I cant imagine going through a day without her she is like my right hand. She helps me clean, cook, and watch the boys with almost no complaining.

Brooke is very excited as turning 12 in our church means that she gets to go to young womens and all of the activities that come with that. I love it because I teach in young womens so I get to be in there with her. Not only is she she a good example to her brothers she is to Mike and I. She is on her third time reading the Book of Mormon and good at writing in her journal. She has been in YW's for only a week and has already finished 3 value experiences for her personal progress.
I love this little girl more than anything and I am very proud to be her Mom.

Brothers

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I met up with his brothers and parents for dinner. It had been a long time since they were all together so it was fun for them to catch up.We ate at a family favorite the Crab Cooker...Good food and Great company!

Pine Wood Derby "Year 2"

It was time for the Scouts Pine Wood Derby again. This is most of the boys favorite activity of the year and Spencer was no exception he was very excited to go. The car that he built last year with Mike was a good car and he came in third with it. As I gave Mike the car kit for this year his mind began to think...not good :) Anyway he asked Spencer if he wanted to use his totally cool awesome car from last year and see if they could better their results to second or first. Spencer quickly agreed to use last years car and was excited for the challenge. Man did Mike work that situation or what?

It was a fun night, but unfortunately the car didn't do as well as last year. So game on for next year when Mike and Spencer "build" a new car.

Christmas Day

My Favorite Morning of the year!
I love Christmas morning and watching my kids excitement as they come out of their rooms and see what "Santa" has brought for them.
Some of Jakes favorite things...Toy Story Wii game, sun glasses, basketball and a hoop, and of course star wars guys.
This was a complete Lakers Christmas for Tyler. To say that he has become obsessed with the Lakers would be an under statement. He watches every game will give you the play by play and knows every player on the team...I LOVE that! Anyway Tyler also got a Wii game, basketball, watch, and a Laker shirt, blanket, and bear. Since Christmas if the Lakers are on you will find him in front of the TV fully decked out in his Laker gear.
Spencer got a Powerwing scooter which was awesome. As soon as the presents were done we all went out front to ride it. I even rode the scooter and it is a lot of fun. I think I should have gotten 2 because everyone wants to ride, but there is nothing cuter than watching Jake ride it and shake his bum...that is how you get the scooter to go you have to shake your hips and bum. He also got a Wii game, basketball, a watch, and sunglasses.
We mainly had an all sports Christmas which was awesome. Brooke got new basketball and running shoes, a basketball, cookbook, and some cute clothes.
Most of the time I am the one doing all of the shopping and wrapping so I was very excited when Mike added a fun surprise for the kids all on his own. He got each of the kids a gift certificate for a day out with him and a trip to their favorite candy and soda shop "Rocket Fizz" They LOVED it great idea Dad!
It was a very Cool Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We have a lot of traditions around Christmas time. Usually every Christmas Eve we go out to and have a nice dinner at the Chart House. This year we decided to have the same nice dinner only at home this time. Our good friends Todd and Jen always join us which has been a lot of fun over the years. Also my Mom, Dad, Ben, and Esther were all able to come over and enjoy a fun night. Part of the fun was the Wii...it's always fun to watch the adults try to keep up with the kids.
Another fun tradition is that we always let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve. They have now all caught on that every year it's pajamas. Hey they need to look cute for pictures in the morning :)

Snow Day

So a tradition has started and is now in its 8th year (I think) that my brother Scott brings snow to Southern California well at least at his house. It started in the beginning that he would drive up to the mountains fill a truck full of snow and then empty it on his front lawn. However it has changed quite a bit he now has found a company that brings it to him. The kids have sooooo much fun every year having snow ball fights and sledding. This year Jake was a crack up he carried his sled up and down the ramp nonstop for about 2 hours he didn't want to stop. Towards the end of the day some of the boys tried to be adventurous and surf down the hill it was fun watching them all try. Tera was awesome and had a constant supply of hot cocoa, bagels, and muffins to feed the hungry kids. I think this is one of the kids favorite Christmas traditions and we really appreciate being a part of it each year.

After the kids were done playing in the snow my family had a Christmas party and dinner. It is always a lot of fun! For the past couple of years us siblings have given each other white elephant gifts just to mix it up a little. The gifts are always crazy, funny, and make for a good laugh.

My parents gifts are always very thoughtful and this year was no exception. They had my Grandfathers map of the war along with his picture, awards, and discharge papers all framed and matted for each of us. General Patten ordered that an accurate map be kept of their progress through Europe. So my grandfather having an art background was ordered to draw the map which ended up taking him 2 years because of all the detail.(excuse all of the Christmas stuff in front of it...we haven't hung it yet)

Ward Christmas Party

Our church does a great Christmas party every year that the kids always look forward to. This year there was a skit that Mike participated in which was very fun for the kids to see him up on the stage.One big happy family :)
The kids all got up on the stage and sung Christmas songs which of course Jake loved. He might not be the best singer but he for sure wins on enthusiasm. After the skit and sing along Santa came to see all the kids.
Mikes parents were in town visiting which we always love. So they were able to join us for the party. The refreshments were delicious hot cocoa and tons of homemade cookies...

Jakers Turns 4

It seems like for each of kids birthdays I find myself asking the same question where has the time gone. I can't believe that my baby is 4...crazy!Jake was a great and easy baby. He slept well, ate good, and was usually always happy.
Jake was welcomed into our growing family with open arms. All of the kids wanted to hold him and play with him whether he was sleeping or not.My little guy has always been a trooper as he is rushed off from one practice to another and basically living in the car with me.
Out of all of my kids Jake has the most personality. We always say with Jake you never know what your going to get. He is so much fun to be around and is constantly making us all laugh.
Jake loves playing with his family, cousins, and friends. It is always a sad day when everyone leaves for school and he goes through the house looking for someone to play with.

Jake is a little too smart for his own good. He literally thinks hes the same age as his older brothers and so therefore should be able to do everything that they can do. He has always been very easy to reason with because he can think through the situation. Jake is amazing when it comes to video games and the computer. He has been by far the youngest to figure out how to play and operate most electronic games.

I love his huge smile he loves the camera...I think he's the only one in the family that does everyone else just tolerates it. I usually always have my camera out ready to take pictures. but for those moments when I don't it's Jake asking me to get it and take his picture.
I try very hard to make sure Jake has a good birthday separate from Christmas. I guess that is every parents idea when there are December birthdays. Jake wanted a white cake with white frosting and gummy bears on top...I'm happy that he is still easy to please. This year Jake asked for a webkinz and the new Mario Wii game he loves playing games with his brothers.

Happy Happy Birthday Jakers Your The Best!

Thanksgiving in Big Bear

We were very fortunate again this year to be able to spend an amazing week in Big Bear for Thanksgiving all because of Scott, Tera, and their family wanting to share it with all of us...Thanks for another great year!

So I am obviously posting this very late seeing how it was Christmas this last week, but I had so many awesome pictures. The task of narrowing them down was overwhelming. I decided the only logical way to get the most amount of pictures would be "collages" and even doing a lot of them I still left out tons and tons of cute pictures. The first day we got in the kids were already to go sledding. It is really nice because they have a magic carpet which is a lot like an escalator, so you don't have to climb back up the hill. Of course that meant the kids wanted to go over and over again which they loved.
The Alpine Slide is always our kids favorite thing while we are up there. This year was no exception...we even got Papa to join in the fun he is such a big kid. Tyler was finally old enough to go on his own so his last trip down he went solo and the guy at the top had to keep telling Tyler to sit on his butt. I saw him coming down the mountain on his sled on his knees. That was the only way he had enough strength to push the lever down. He was very cute doing that, but I'm sure that was not very safe. Every year my Mom wants a group picture of all of her grand kids which all of us parents dread, but this year the kids were great and we got some awesome pictures of everyone.
As we were taking group pictures of the cousins I needed to snap a couple shots of my kids. They were so happy to be in Big Bear, but I think they would have been happier if I had forgotten my camera :)
Dinner was very yummy! Everyone pitched in and dinner tasted excellent. The house that we were staying in was perfect and had enough room to sit all of us for dinner. Bree and her friend Nia also joined us for dinner it was a lot of fun having them. It still amazes me that all day of preparation can be done with and consumed within a matter of minutes, but they are some pretty tasty minutes.
I am so blessed to have such a great family. All of the kids had so much fun hanging out and playing together. They built forts outside, had laser gun wars with the Dads, played boardgames and of course video games, practiced their parts for the talent show, watched movies, and just couldn't get enough of each other.I had this crazy idea at dinner that we should try to get all of the kids to do a human pyramid. We attempted it with a lot of laughter and got some very funny shots. Of course us adults couldn't sit back and let the kids have all of the fun. We all decided to try to do one ourselves it was hysterical! If only you could hear a picture you would all be laughing out loud right now.
How amazing is this picture...We actually got an entire family picture with everyone in it!

Thanks again Scott and Tera!

Strike Force

Another season of soccer ended with a fun party. Spencer's team Strike Force had a very good season. Out of 48 teams they ended up placing second. All of the boys played well together and they had an awesome coach that taught them a ton. Spencer played sweeper the whole season and was awarded with the best defensive player on his team. Just when I thought the season was over I got a call yesterday from his coach that their team was chosen to move onto area playoffs...so that means another 2 games this week :)