And so it goes...

Another school year has begun. Jordan is in 5th grade (her last year of elementary school!!), Kya is in 3rd and Tyson is in 1st. I honestly can't believe this is my life. How did those little chubby babies grow up so quickly?! Well, here they are...the first day of school:

Happy Birthday Grandma (Kurki)

Photo Shoot

I took my kids to the park Sunday with the hopes of getting some good pictures. It's funny how much their unique personalities shine through the lens:

Jordan
I could not stop laughing at this one!!
Always modelling!
And, of course the beautiful girl pose:)Kya
My little gymnast...any chance to show off her splits:)
This is the crazy Kya we know and love.
Sweet girl!Tyson
Making a face...as usual
This is what he does when you say make a "nice" face.
This is probably the best one I got.The 3 of them together
Cute, but Tyson still looks a little goofy;)My Favorite!!

I {heart} my family

I am having a hard time putting together a post about my Canada trip. I'm not sure if it's because I can't pick which pictures to use, or because I'm not ready for it to be over yet. We had such a great trip (minus Tyson's GIANT mosquito bites and my sliced up foot...oh and the "rash"). I seriously couldn't ask for a better family. My sisters, brothers in law, parents, nieces and nephews...they are just the BEST. I miss them all so much and really wished we lived closer. Luckily soon after I got home, I got to go to a baby shower with a lot of my California friends, which reminded me that I really do love living here too:) So here's why my family is so awesome and why we always have such a great time in Canada:

1. They live in the raspberry capital of Canada (hence the giant raspberry statue on Clearbrook Road).

2. My mom is always willing to bake for us (blueberry pies, banana bread, muffins, trifle and of course, raspberry jam).

3. There's always someone willing to play chess (especially grandpa).

4. Grandma and Grandpa have tons of blueberry bushes (hence the blueberry pie--yum).

5. My sisters are always willing to see the sites (Othello tunnels, Stanley Park, Hayward Lake, White Rock....).

6. My parents have a sauna...in their house!!! (usually it's too hot outside in the summer, but this time their were some rainy days and we heated it up--I forgot how much I LOVE it).


7. Everyone came to celebrate Kya's birthday (even though she turned 8 two weeks before we got there)!

8. A trip to the dairy is enough to make everyone happy (especially when ice cream is involved).

9. We are all crazy enough to take 11 kids to the movies (Zookeeper (lame) and Smurfs).

10. We can have fun in spite of mosquitoes, rainy weather, heat waves, no money, cranky kids, bad sunburns, head aches, and a sliced up foot!!


Remind me again why we don't live closer...sniff, sniff.

Canada here we come!!

We are leaving for our long awaited trip to Canada in a couple hours!! Kya said to me yesterday "when I see grandpa, I am literally going to jump on him and give him a hug." Then Tyson said "I am going to hug grandma and grandpa and tell them that I missed them so much!" It is hard only seeing my family once a year...I think we may have to take a second trip this winter. So, goodbye Cali...I hope your sunshine follows me to Canada again this year!

Inspired by Pinterest

We have been spending too much time on Pinterest lately, but one good thing has come out of it...my kids have created their very own reading "nooks". We saw some really cute reading tents and I said "I wish we had room in your bedrooms to set up one of those"...well before I knew it, my kids had found room and made their own little reading spots. They aren't as cute as the ones on Pinterest (click here to see one of my favorites), but they have motivated my kids to spend more time reading...which is always a good thing. Tyson has even been working on his reading skills:)

Jordan's Nook

Kya's Nook
(I had a better picture, then realized she was only wearing underwear,
so I had to crop it...that's my Kya)

Tyson made it all the way through this book, counting all the words he didn't know on each page. He was disappointed that there wasn't one page that he could get through without any mistakes:( He's getting there though!! I'm proud of my little boy.

Baptism Day!!

I was stressed about all the details of Kya's baptism. Yesterday when I called my parents all upset about it, my dad reminded me what was important--Kya was getting baptized. It wasn't important how many people couldn't make it. What mattered is that Kya cared enough about the gospel and her Heavenly Father that she wanted to get baptized. We are so proud of our little girl. Congratulations Kya. We love you so much!!

Before...

I just love this picture so much. My 3 little angels!!

After!!
(Grandma Kurki made the beautiful dress and sweater)

The whole family
(I tried to pick a picture where my sunburn didn't look nasty--it's REALLY bad!!)

Happy Birthday Kya

Friday was Kya's 8th Birthday!! She spent the day at the beach, movies (we saw Judy Moody--very cute), opening presents, dinner at TGIFridays and cake with the family. It was the perfect day for the sweetest 8-year-old on the planet!!

(My Little Miss Sunshine Cake was a disaster, so she got this one instead)