Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Paige and Alex

2 & 3 yrs old

Wow, Ten years later, 12 & 13

I have a lot of random pictures I need to put up, but for now here is one of Paige and Alex. As some of you know we met Alex and her family the second day we moved to Philadelphia, they had only been there a week longer. Our families became great friends, and the best part is that we both moved to the greater Los Angeles area. Not extremely close to each other, but close enough to see each other at least once a year. This year Alex invited Paige to her birthday movie party, we didn't think we could make it, but plans changed and it worked out. I let her mom know and we surprised her! It was fun to see Paige interact with a lot of girls she didn't even know, and how no matter how long they haven't seen each other, Paige and Alex always fall right back into place. The best part was that I got to sit and talk to my friend Kym the whole time. Can you believe how grown up they both look? and that Paige is a full year younger than Alex :) It's always been that way :)

Sophie's 1!!!

Nov. 20th, today, is Sophie's first birthday!! We love having her and Paige even said she can't imagine not having her. We bought her new toys and a cupcake cookie treat. Who could resist her cute face.

Is that why...

As most of you know, or if you didn't now you do, I drink way too much Diet Dr. Pepper. I have been wanting to cut back, and reading this article 2 days after Halloween helped. It is exactly what has happened to me. I crave more sweets and carbs when I drink the soda, and then I need to wash it down with more soda. I also look like I'm in my 2nd trimester :) but have not gained weight, just a lot of belly fat :( Too much info, but it is just too true. Read the article and it all makes sense :(

The health effects of diet soda

You may come to the conclusion that diet or sugar-free soda is a better choice. However, one study discovered that drinking one or more soft drinks a day — and it didn’t matter whether it was diet or regular — led to a 30% greater chance of weight gain around the belly. Diet soda is filled with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin. These artificial sweeteners pose a threat to your health. Saccharin, for instance, has been found to be carcinogenic, and studies have found that it produced bladder cancer in rats. Aspartame, commonly known as nutrasweet, is a chemical that stimulates the brain to think the food is sweet. It breaks down into acpartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol at a temperature of 86 degrees. (Remember, your stomach is somewhere around 98 degrees.) An article put out by the University of Texas found that aspartame has been linked to obesity. The process of stimulating the brain causes more cravings for sweets and leads to carbohydrate loading.

No picture needed on this post :)

Metal Mouth

A little hard to see, but I have bottom braces on. And if you think they look blue, then you're right. I wanted to do some color bands, but not too crazy, so I went with blue. I will get the retainer for the top after Thanksgiving. I will only have to wear it at night, so I went with a white one with red hearts. They make it so much more fun for the kids now. They feel weird, but I am sure I will get used to them.

Halloween night

Wicked Witch, Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow, and Sophie as the lion
The yearly photo by the front door

the last few minutes trick or treating, sugar high

Halloween: round 1

We're off to see the wizard!
Nicole as Alice and Paige as the wicked witch

Seth and Kelly carving for the contest.

Seth and Kelly winning the pumpkin carving contest!!!

We had our Ward Halloween party last week and invited some friends to join us. The kids had a fun time carving pumpkins, having a costume contest, and playing games and getting candy! As you can see my family went along with my idea of the Wizard of OZ. I think it turned out really cute. Seth and Kelly even won the carving contest! Great job guys!! This was the beginning of the 2 week sugar high we are still on.

Pumpkin Festival

Every year our city has a pumpkin festival just down the street from us. They have inflatables, food vendors and games. The kids had fun running around and loved the snow cones. I even saw Rainn Wilson from The Office wandering around with his family. :)

Miscellaneous

Spirit Day at Paige's middle school! can you guess her school colors?

Sophie's new favorite spot.

Oops! you caught me! chocolate ice cream!

12!!!

The birthday girl with Sophie!

I know I say this every year, but how is Paige getting so old? 12!! really? she was just scootering home from Kindergarten. Now she is in 7th grade and in her second year of Middle School!!! She is such a great girl to have in our family.


We took advantage of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, and had Paige's party last Monday. We had such a fun time at Universal Studios! We hadn't been since Paige was 5, so a lot had changed, plus her nerves have changed too, and she loves almost all rides :)
After getting sprayed on the Jurassic Park ride :)

Enjoying the Studio Tour.

"Jaws"

Seth needed a picture with Crash, the character from one of his many favorite video games.

Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea?

The girl to the right of Spongebob is Gwen! I know, cool name ;)

Dodger Game

Once again time for our annual Dodger game. They played the Giants and unfortunately lost, but Manny hit a 2 run homerun! Lots of junk food and fun!

New Bikes

The kids have needed new bikes for at least a year now. After having such a great time and biking everywhere in Sunriver, we made time to go get the new bikes. Seth loves his and rides it as fast as he can which scares me to death. Paige is just happy to have a bike her size and her favorite color. Matt also got a bike. I didn't say new, because we haven't had bikes since we got married. My friend Sher let me borrow her bike last year and doesn't have anywhere to store it, so I will call it my bike for now :) Matt and Seth have really enjoyed taking bike rides together. Paige joins them when she feels like it. Matt has even done 2 big rides by himself. One 10 miles round trip to The Commons to meet us for dinner (we live in the hills, so both ways were very up and down just to clarify and give him credit), and the other from our house to Zuma beach in Malibu! It is at least 20 miles through Malibu Canyon and along the PCH. I am very impressed! Almost motivates me to bike for exercise :) Happy bike riding.

Back in the swing of things

First day of 2nd grade

A desk!!!!

Paige all grown up, 7th grade!!!!!

School officially started yesterday. The kids were excited about their classes and teachers, and so was I! They both had great days despite the 100 degree weather. Why has it been 90ish even in the 80's all summer and the first week of school is 100+! crazy. Now we need a beach day :) Now I need to sit down and write out my list of things to do. I have neglected the house and cooking for so long now that it is time to get organized and clean out everything. We'll see how it goes. I have a hard time being inside for too long, I need some rainy days!! Rain, what's that? Happy back to school day!

River Rafting

Now I am totally out of order. I still haven't put up the second half of Utah, or the second half of Sunriver. But I just got these photos in the mail from our rafting trip in Bend, OR. We had so much fun and wished there were more rapids like these along the hour trip. It was the perfect trip to take as a first time experience for the kids, and they LOVED it! We had fun with my sister Carrie's kids and her husband James. We, the adults, are in all the pictures since we were doing all the work. The smaller kids were hanging on for dear life in the raft, I think the guy scared us more than he should have, but better safe than sorry!!! Seth did peek his head up once he realized it was fun!! Looking forward to another rafting trip, any takers for next time?

Jack turns 1!!!

I have posted before about my nephew Jackson, and a few days ago he turned 1!! He is a superstar, and after all he has been through he is doing awesome!! We unfortunately missed the big party, but I stole some pics off their blog. Happy Birthday Jack!!

Ahhh, Sunriver

our bike ride the first night, beautiful!
The bears in the village.

Paigey Crockett

Relaxing at the stables during another bike ride.

They look forward to the HUGE otterpops!

Seth and Taylor actually finished theirs.

The kids with Great Grammy, Frank, and Grandma and Grandpa Brodine.

On our way into the Lava Caves, cold but FUN!

This is as far as I go! I can do anything in flip flops. I did start out in Tennis shoes, but my cousin's daughter had on flip flops so I traded her.

I wonder why Grandma didn't want to go to the caves. She wouldn't have felt claustrophobic :)

They are cute for cave dwellers.

We are having way too much fun. Bike rides 3-4 times a day, swimming, hiking the lava caves, playing in the village, and lots of fun with family. And that's just the first 2 days. We are off to take the chairlift up Mt. Bachelor this morning and then I think we will take it easy today. Seth has a bad cold and cough that I don't want to stop him from doing the fun things here he enjoys. We will see.

Temple open house
Jack's first time swimming

Ally and Sophie loved each other

The boys and the girls swimming at Grandma Strong's

The enormous slug I found on Grandpa Tom's patio, yuck!!

...but he will jump off the high dive?graceful Paige!

Cute cousins

Asleep at last

We had so much fun in Utah. We packed something into every day! Cherry Hill waterpark, Movies, Museums, golfing, swimming, and lots of visiting with family. And this was just the first week with Matt's family. Then we were off to pack in another full week with the Brodines. Stay tuned :)