Driver's permit!

It begins....

Giving Thanks

We have a lot to be thankful for this year, including wonderful friends! We have known Roger & Lisa since we were all newlyweds in Pasadena. It's been so fun over the years to see our kids develop friendships, too (we both have two girls and a boy!) It was a blast to have them for Thanksgiving this year. We wish they just didn't live so far!

Ethan & Ian were bear stalkers...

Cassie's cute place cards/treat bags:

a visit to the temple...

Better get these in...

before Thanksgiving arrives! We were pretty bummed to miss Trunk or Treat this year and not do our family costumes. I think it was mostly Wayne who was disappointed. Trunk or treat fell on Cassie's birthday and she had made other plans, so we'll catch 'em next year.

Thanks to my kids for the easiest and cheapest costumes this year! And you should know that Brynn decided on her costume (her alter ego, Tink) one hour before the Halloween dance. Gave me a small heart attack, but she had a Tinkerbell skirt from a previous year and it all worked out. Ethan's was just an Einstein wig and moustache and we put the rest together just before he went trick or treating. It's one of my most favorite costumes he's ever worn. (Runs a close second to the gorilla costume ;)
Thanks to Drapers for the fun "Thing" shirt and Sandi for the photo. I think there were a total of eight "Things". Cassie embraced the blue wig and wore it proud.

The trick-or-treaters loved Taylor and many stopped to take pictures with him. It's a pretty good security system with this guy in the window.

Happy 13th Birthday!

Cassie spent her big day at Disneyland. It's been years since we went, so it was time to go again and especially fun to enjoy all the Halloween decor and special effects. Cass said it was the "best birthday ever!"

She received a lifesize cutout of Taylor Lautner (thank you Rachel) which continues to scare me & Brynn when Wayne or Ethan moves it around the house without our knowledge. Actually, I was alone in the house last week doing laundry and I totally jumped and caught my breath as I walked by Cassie's room....."who is that man in there??!" Seriously, it's very real looking! It was sure fun on Halloween. More pictures to come on that...

We managed to stretch the celebrating through all of Halloween weekend, finishing with Cassie's favorite Oreo ice-cream pie....yum!

(TWO teenagers living here now...whoa!)

U2

Fun weekend in Vegas with U2...

Great weather, great company(Ken & Teri), great music!

This stage is amazing. It's 82 ft. high and 170 ft. to the top of the spire. It takes 4 days to assemble and 2 to take down. They have 3 of them at $25 million each!

The Black Eyed Peas opened for U2 and were also incredible!

Me & Teri

YW in Excellence

Last week, the girls had a chance to show what they've been working on in Personal Progress this year.

Earlier in the year, we posted about Brynn organizing "New Beginnings" (another YW program). It was titled "A Royal Heritage" and she put a ton of thought and work into every detail. It turned out beautifully!

Here' s what the dining room looked like as we were preparing....

For her project, Cassie showed how she participated in "OC Idol" over the summer. (It's a take-off on "American Idol", but for Orange County.) She had to practice a few different songs and participate in an all day audition at South Coast Plaza. Then, after making the first cut, she went on to a stage performance a few weeks later.

We're proud of our girls!

And the winner is...

Green Draggin' !!

Ethan's car took first place at the pinewood derby--what a fun surprise!

The excitement continued the next day when Ethan got his braces on. He 's been a real trooper with hardly any pain or complaints.

Back in session

I spent this week proofreading essays, reviewing math, helping with an oral report (yes, with a poster and all!), carpooling and attending one of three Back to School nights. It all happened so fast, we didn't know what hit us!
So here we go....

4th grader:

8th grader:

Sophomore:

Last beach bike ride before school:

Highlights...

Well, summer is officially over and school has begun. 2009 was the BEST summer and to prove it, here are some of our highlights....

UTAH trip
(& lots of fishin' at Fish Lake)

Clarke family

Cousin fun

Beautiful hike to Cecret lake

Brynn & Taylor at EFY!

Together again

So fun for us to see our Chavez friends a few times this summer! It makes up just a little for how much we miss them all year. First, Luke came for a little visit...

The coolest fort, complete with a "home theater"...

Then, my lucky kids flew to Texas all by themselves and were shown a great time by Shana, Allie, Darcy & Luke.

Trip to Schlitterbahn...

Cassie & Darcy at the lake...


Allie & Brynn
(Can't believe these two will be driving next year!)

While...

the kids were in Texas, Wayne and I celebrated my 40th birthday in Coronado. Best weekend ever and most relaxing....just what I needed!