Mission Beach

We went to the beach our first evening in San Diego and didn't bother to get swim suits on. Caroline and Nate got pretty cold playing in the waves.

Anna is eyeing the sand castle I made for her.

The triumphant Anna after her Godzilla-like rampage on the sand castle.

4 Cousins!!

I was really smart the first week in May and decided to have two of Anna and Caroline's cousins come and play at the same time. I think Harriet and Cecily had a good time, and the girls loved playing with them. We walked to the famous Gunnison Dragon and the girls held hands of their own volition.

Then they all decided to wak on the orange line. Caroline insisted on being the "leader".

The girls with our dragon. It has since been defaced by grafitti. Darn kids.

Preschool Pictures

Caroline had special pictures taken at her preschool. This is our favorite of the shots of her.

Anna got to go get her picture taken, too. She was very ornery and wouldn't smile, but I think this picture pretty much captures her usual expression.

Nate's Birthday, Among Other Things

Anna modelling the sweater that Grandma knitted for her. She wouldn't let me take it off for dinner and we had quite a fight.

Caroline trying to take a picture of Anna and me.

She finally got it right.

Anna's new favorite food is toast and jam.

Caroline and Anna love playing with play-doh at their princess table. We had to get this shot of a clean play room because two seconds later it was a disaster again.

We celebrated Nate's birthday a few days early this year, because this week is so crazy. It was such a beautiful day that we had steak and salad outside on our deck. It was the perfect birthday dinner.

I didn't want to bake, so I bought this monster of a coconut cream pie at Costco. Then I couldn't find any candles, so we put three lit matches in the middle of the pie. You can't really see them. Happy Thirtieth Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!!

I promised Maggie that I would update the blog as a birthday present to her. It's more than a month late, but at least it's here.

We went for a bike ride today. Nate rode his bike with Anna and Cecily in the stroller behind him, and Caroline and I rode our own bikes. We went to see the famous Gunnison Dragon. He lives under the highway where the San Pitch River passes under it. If you listen closely, when big trucks drive past on the highway, it sounds like a dragon's roar.

Caroline was fascinated by the dragon's heart.

These pictures are all out of order...

The kids were too scared of the dragon to stand by it all by themselves, so Nate had to be there for support.

Soon enough, Caroline and Cecily got brave and went to find the end of the dragon's LONG tail.

Anna was still nervous, so she hung back with Dad.

Caroline and Cecily took a break from running back and forth to the dragon and climbed on the rocks next to the riverbank.

New House, Yard, Truck

Our new house that we bought in December. So far we love it. We're having garage doors installed next week, and it will be even better. I would post pictures of the interior, but it has to be clean before I can take any picture. It might be a week...or a month...or a year...or two.....

We have a huge yard. Nate needs to get a riding lawn mower before spring hits, or he's going to be spending his whole weekend mowing the lawn.

Yes, that is a volleyball net, and yes, that is a playground made up of old tires and older tree stumps.

We're hoping that we can fix this greenhouse up and make it useable this summer. The people we bought the house from told us that they had fresh tomatoes at Thanksgiving when it was in good shape.

Nate just bought this truck from Ryan Syme. He's pretty excited to have an old truck to do yardwork and other stuff with. Besides, you can't be a true Sanpeter unless you have a truck.

Seems Like Old Times

Nate's high-school friend Eric Balls stopped by to visit us on his way to Cache Valley. He and Nate started reminiscing about how they used to cut school to go skiing, so Nate decided to take one of his personal days off of school and relive the memories. They went up to Sundance and had a great time.

Eric is a pilot in the air force. This sign says "Top Gun", which seemed appropriate for him. Incidentally, Anna couldn't find Eric in the morning when she woke up, and she came in to me and said, "Mom, where's Prince Eric?"

A Beautiful Day in Gunnison

The people we bought our house from left this play house. The girls have loved it. They refer to it as their "tea house" because that's where they go to make tea and cakes for tea parties.

They also left this swing set which is sort of falling apart on the slide part, but the swings seem to work well.


This is one of the best days in our new place so far. Cecily and Anna and Caroline were all in good moods, the sun was shining brightly and all the snow and mud is gone, and last and most importantly, Nate came home from school.

More kids

One problem with having several months' worth of pictures on my camera is that I can't remember why I took the pictures in the first place.

Maybe she was modelling her new cupcake jammies?

Anna is wearing a crown sticker that says "Princess" on it.

I thought it was pretty clever.

Hanging out in the apron Grandma Parnell gave her.

Kids Gone Wild

Every once in a while I find pictures on my camera that I have no recollection of taking. Most of the time the photographer--whoever he or she is--focuses mainly on the computer screen or the floor or his or her fingers on the lens, but this time there is an actual subject in the photo, proving that the photographer in this case wasn't Caroline but someone else. I wonder who it could be.

A good shot of Anna's baby doll.

A good shot of Anna.

This is actually a pretty common subject of photos, as well.

And Annie again.

Preschool

Maggie has been bugging me about putting new posts up. My batteries are dead on my digital camera and I'm too lazy to recharge them to get pictures posted, but in the meantime, I can tell a funny story.

Every Tuesday and Thursday Caroline goes to preschool. Every Tuesday and Thursday she cries in the morning and doesn't want to go. Every Tuesday and Thursday she cries when I pick her up because she wants to stay and play longer. The same pattern of events occurred this morning. I got Caroline out of the bathtub and was doing her hair, telling her that we needed to get ready for preschool. She started crying and said, "I don't want to go to preschool. I don't want to learn how to presc." I guess it comes from watching Grandma's Elmo DVD where someone goes to clown school to learn how to be a clown and to karate school to learn karate. You must go to preschool to learn how to presc.

Christmas Family Picture

Posing in our Sunday best in our new house.

Just before this picture was taken, Caroline was excited to note that the camera light was blinking and had to point it out to us.

The Cutest Picture EVER!

This is what Anna does when she doesn't want to take a nap. She finally fell asleep just like this.

Gma Carol's House

Anna hoarding all of Grandma Carol's prescription drugs. I certainly hope this interest doesn't affect her career choice...unless she follows in James's footsteps and becomes a pharmacist.

Nate and his mom Carol.