CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE

A Musical Masterpiece.

2009-12-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

When I discovered they could both play, Oh Come All ye Faithful, I decided to see what would happen if they played it at the same time. They did pretty good considering they've never played together before. A little more practice and I think it'll be even more amazing. I so love this!

Ice skating-Ashlyn Practicing for her Christmas Show

2009-12-05T06:15:00.000-08:00

2009-12-05T05:48:00.000-08:00

2009-12-05T05:45:00.000-08:00

2009-12-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

The Perfect Tree

2009-12-05T05:32:00.001-08:00

Pumpkin Patch

2009-11-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

Summer Post!!

2009-08-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

I know (along with many of you) I've been terrible about getting posts up on my blog this summer and now the summer is drawing to an end!! I think I'm still in denial!! At least we still have about 4 weeks before school starts full swing! I'm trying to enjoy every last bit warm weather, no schedule, and playtime. We've had a very fun summer and have enjoyed actually spending alot of it here at home!! We were able to make our summer Idaho visit as usual back in June, have an Arvidson family reunion here in Camas/Washougal in July, go to the coast to enjoy the sand and ocean in August, and have many adventures here in our own backyard. We've spent alot of time with our family and many friends hanging around our firepit in the front yard laughing and roasting smores and hot dogs(who knows how many of these we have devoured over the summer, but who's counting right!). The kids have enjoyed having many a friends over to play and it did seem like there was always someone here being entertained by my children or vice a versa. We had some milestones happen this summer--Daekon turned 12 and recieved the priesthood and is now passing the sacrament; he will be starting 7th grade, Ashlyn turned 6 and will be starting 1st grade, and Tony and I celebrated our 18th anniversary. Overall, I give this summer a grade "A" and will be enjoying one more month of adventures and surprises!! Hopefully, I'll have a few more summer pics to post before fall begins!! Happy summer everyone and thanks for sharing it with us!!

Summer Fun continued....

2009-08-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Brayden and Ashlyn at the Camas Pool Safety Fair! Getting ready to be tipped over in a boat!

Ashlyn doing synchronized swimming!

Brayden jumping off the bounce house at East Vancouver Stake's Pioneer Day celebration.

Brayden Playing with the parachute at Pioneer Day!

Ashlyn enjoying a snack in the grass!

More Summer Fun!!

2009-08-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Daekon getting ready to ride the 'Super Shot' at the Clark County Fair! He's not wearing his glasses because they would probably fall off!! I did end up riding this with hime. EEEEKKKK! Takes you way up in sky and drops you! Free Fall! Freaky!! He laughed at me!

Brayden spinning upside down at the Clark County Fair!

Sitting around the fire in Lincoln City, Oregon!!

Brayden and Daekon poking the Sea Anemones

Ashlyn enjoying the "refreshing" Pacific Ocean on the Oregon Coast!! Brrrr!

Summer Fun!!

2009-08-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn at her cheer camp!

Daekon's 12 year old Birthday SURPISE party!!
Haley, Sydney, Emma, Ashlyn, Courtney, Benjamin, Matthew,Andrew, Conner, Keller, Brayden, Kade!

Ashlyn 6th Birthday--"A Real Life" picnic

Playing at Cottonwood Beach on the Columbia River

Cottonwood Beach! Daekon in his goggles!

pics

2009-06-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

the Sharps and Meza's enjoying ice cream on the grass.

the Mexican Ice cream truck!! Ole'!!

Talia and baby Lilly!

The kitty that survived the trek from Twin Falls to Caldwell. She rode inside the hood of the van and we didn't even know it till the kids discovered her when we got to the Sharps!! Crazy Cat!!

and once again................

2009-06-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

Miss Kiri Sharp--high school graduate!! yeah!

Everyone sitting around at the Sharps!

Brayden trying to get a drink!

Daekon up in a tree!

Me and my little lady!

more...................

2009-06-25T05:46:00.001-07:00

cousins at Rock Creek park!

Tony and I posing for the camera--aren't we cute!

Brayden and Tyson climbing

Me pretending I can still do the monkey bars!! hehe.

Grandma and Grandpa Hymas's house!

more.............

2009-06-25T05:41:00.001-07:00

warrior cousins

exhausted after "Hopping to it" for 2 hours.

Ball pit at Hop to it in Twin Falls

Kiara and Ashlyn getting ready to race.

SISTERS!

more Idaho pics. Lagoon

2009-06-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

A really WET Sarah, Kiara, and Daekon

all the kids getting wet at the fountain

Ashlyn getting a sip of Water!

Sarah and Kiara

Daekon, Brayden, Kiara, and Tyson

Idaho Visit!!

2009-06-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn and Me in line at Lagoon

Kiara and Daekon roasting marshmallows !

Tyson and Brayden playing.

Kiara and Daekon sitting on top of the dog house playing Nintendo.

Dinner at the Badgers!!

We had a fabulous time a week ago visiting family. We stopped to visit the Badgers in Rupert and went to Lagoon with them. We went to Twin Falls and visited my parents and went to Rock Creek park and Hop to it!! The weather was a little rainy off and on so we were unable to do our usual Durkees Lake excursion but we still had lots of fun and enjoyed one anothers company! We also had a day or two to visit with the Sharps in Caldwell Idaho!!The kids sure had fun being with their cousins. They seem to just pick up were they left off last time they saw them. Isn't that how it always is with cousins though?? We would have loved to stop and visit all of our family around Utah and Idaho but we only had a short time to visit--hopefully next time though!! Have a great summer everyone and enjoy family time!

Watershed Congress

2009-05-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just want to throw out a Congrats to my son Daekon who was selected with 3 other students from his 5th/6th grade class at school to attend the Watershed Congress at Washington State University Vancouver. His class has been monitoring a stream, near a lake in the area, throughout the school year. They have been testing the stream and recording information and changes about it throughout the year. They have had the help of a Water Resources professional in the area. They get to present their information and results to a group of students from the area, who have tested streams in their area and will present their info as well. WSU will feed the students and parents and make the day very eventful for the students. Daekon is very excited. I am thrilled to attend it with him and watch him enjoy the experience with his classmates. Good job Daekon!!

Do-Re-Mi

2009-05-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

Poems by Brayden!

2009-05-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of poems that Brayden wrote this week for school! I though they were amazing and had to share.

Dear Imagination

Imagination
What do you do
When I don't use you?
Do you eat and sleep
When I don't listen
Or do you run all around
Jumping up and down?
Imagination
Do you live on the streets
Waiting for a silly dance
To break the silence
Or do you wait for the sun
To make everything come to life?
Imagination
Is your pet gray with a tad of yellow
and eyes made of marshmellow?
Imagination
Is your best friend yellow
Because he fell off a ladder
Into buckets of yellow paint?
Imagination
Is your least favorite friend
Blue because he's got the flu?
Hope not.
But I hope I see you
When the sky is blue.

Sincerely

Brayden

All About Me

By Brayden Meza

My hair is like grass in the background

Breezing through the air.

My eyes are like spotlights

Finding everything in sight.

My ears are like microphones

Listening to anything loud enough to hear.

My arms and legs are like the scenery

Always changing and moving.

My nose is like the scent

of the bakery in the morning.

My mouth is the words

That describe me and

That will be all.

Easter

2009-04-19T14:11:00.001-07:00

language barrier

2009-04-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

Mom--"Wouldn't it be fun to go visit Hawaii sometime?"
Ashlyn--"Ya?!, except how would we know what all those English people were saying?"

Quotes from a 5 year old!

2009-04-04T20:46:00.000-07:00

" Hey look guys, I found a New Hamster quarter!!" (Ashlyn was trying to collect state quarters like her brothers)

When told we might go visit Mt. St. Helens, Ashlyn said,"but Mt. St. Helens is an erupting volcano!! That would be so scary!"

2009-03-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Dance of the Sugar Plum Children?

2009-03-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

Playing with photoshop

2009-02-23T23:08:00.001-08:00

I just had some "spare time" today and was messing around with photoshop and thought I'd post the pics I played with today. I think I need more "spare time" because it was quite fun. Enjoy!!

Fun with Brother!!

2009-02-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

Various pics.

2009-02-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

My new outfit!!

Penguin cupcakes for a penguin party.

Hot Tub Heads and Bearded Beauties!!!

2009-02-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Well, since I haven't really had any exciting happenings or pics lately, I thought I'd post these. I put them on facebook as well. We've been sort of busy with the usual things. Me, teaching piano lessons and homeschooling the kids, Ashlyn with dance, and all 3 of the kids in ice skating. The weather has been cold, for here anyway. Hovering around freezing most of the time with clear skies. We are looking forward to it warming up a little but that means the rains start moving in and the cloud cover. So take your pick, I guess. Anyway, we love hearing from everyone and looking at all your family pics.

Ashlyn and Mommy sledding

2009-01-16T16:03:00.000-08:00

Hot tub challenge

2009-01-16T15:44:00.000-08:00

Ice Princess

2009-01-16T15:36:00.001-08:00

Ashlyn has discovered she can do the splits!!

Which season are you?

2009-01-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

I asked Ashlyn the other day what the seasons were and she told me
Winter, summer, and Halloween.

Weeeeeeee.Umph!

2008-12-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

Fat Puffy Marshmallow

2008-12-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn didn't really want to go out and play in the snow but I told her to go out anyway because it would be fun. So I got her all bundle up and then when she was all ready to go, I looked at her and laughed. She said,"Mom, don't laugh at me. I look like a fat, puffy marshmellow!" I told her she was so cute. Then she decided the snow was fun and stayed out for awhile and played. When she came back in from playing, she started to cry because her pants were frozen.

Let it Snow!!!!

2008-12-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

Nutcracker Ballet

2008-12-21T12:33:00.001-08:00

Watching the performance.

Kiara, Clara, Ashlyn

Kiara and Ashlyn

While we were back in Burley last weekend we had the opportunity to see Kiara perform in the Nutcracker. Ashlyn was so excited to see the show. We have read many books about the story of The Nutracker and she has watcher Barbie in the Nutracker several times. We were able to go backstage and get some pictures with the main character Clara and Kiara as a page. Ashlyn was just beside herself. She sat on Tony's knee as still as could be watching the performances.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....

2008-12-21T12:14:00.000-08:00

What in exciting time for us. We have been having winter weather for over a week now!! This is very rare in the Pacific NW. The most we ever get is rain and maybe some ice and a light dusting of snow if we are lucky.! It has been snowing off and on all week and most schools were cancelled for the week and church has been cancelled for 2 weeks in a row. Yesterday, we had a major storm come in with 4inches-6 feet of snow or more(depending on where you lived), winds of up to 40 miles and hour and freezing rain to top it all off. I took these pictures just a few minutes ago of the boys. It was freezing rain while I was trying to take the pics and is supposed to continue through tomorrow!! We are having a GREAT time!

Festival of Nativities

2008-12-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

Every year for the past several years, the Vancouver Stake has put on a Festival of Nativities. There are over 700 nativities and it's so beautiful. We really enjoying going. They have a childrens room where they can dress up as a member of the nativity and have their picture taken. We always bring Malia Lewis. Her family are good friends of ours. She is a non-member and they kids enjoying bringing her to church activities. Ashlyn really wanted to dress up as Mary this year and she really took the part seriously as you will see. Malia and Brayden are the camel and donkey and Daekon is a WISE man. What more do you need in a nativity? Jesus, Mary, wise man, donkey and camel.

Christmas Lyrics

2008-12-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

Well, this year Ashlyn has discovered Christmas Carols. She has been catching on to all the tunes and words(sort of) to many popular Christmas carols. She sings many of them loud and clear, especially when she doesn't think anyone is listening. However, as I was listening to her belt them out this evening; I did notice that, as many children will do, a few of the words in every song were not quite how I remember them to be. I will now share Ashlyn's version of a few popular Christmas carols. You may want to sing along.

We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good Tidings we bring to you and your KING we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year.

Deck the Halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la la la la la
ITS the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la la la
See the PLAYING YOU before us, fa la la la la la la la la
CHUCK THE HOP and join the chorus fa la la la la la la la la

Feliz Navi DOT , Feliz Navi DOT , Feliz Navi Dot Prospero anyo a Feliz E Dot.

and for one more for now;

Silent Night, Holy Night, All is CON, All is Bright
Round A virgin, mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly PLEASE, Sleep in heavenly PLEASE.

Finale

2008-11-29T09:39:00.001-08:00

Hallelujah!!

Careful!!

This is fun!!

Ummm, Where to put it??

This is my favorite one.

Saga continues....

2008-11-29T09:34:00.001-08:00

Tony and Daekon getting the tree in the stand.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Tractor hayride anyone??/

We want the Llama to kiss us.

Peek-a-boo.

The Christmas Tree Adventure Continues.....

2008-11-29T09:28:00.001-08:00

Ashlyn having Hot cocoa in the barn.

Brayden cooling off his hot cocoa.

Bailing our tree.

It's a tree parade. Forward march.

Daekon and Tony hauling the tree.!!

In search of The Meza Family Christmas Tree

2008-11-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

Tony cutting down the tree and loving every minute of it!! This is his favorite part.

We have found it! Finally!!

Cute Brayden!!

Daekon hoping not to get wet.

Ashlyn having fun!!

Famous Quotes #2

2008-11-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

"So, you mean to tell me that the President of the United States and the President of the Church aren't the same person!!??" Brayden Lopez Meza, age 9

Famous Quotes #1

2008-11-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

"Mom, I don't want my big kitchen in my room anymore...... but I want to keep all my dishes and food just in case I get a dolly that needs to eat." Ashlyn Maria Meza, age 5

Beware!! These are scary pictures!!

2008-11-03T16:49:00.001-08:00

Alice in Wonderland

Dr. Toxic (he's a mad scientist)

He's a geek/computer nerd. (For those of you who are computer nerds, I'm sorry) We are not trying to make fun of you.

Boo!!

more pics.....

2008-10-26T21:33:00.001-07:00

What a bunch of punkins..!!!

2008-10-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we may have gone to Roloff Farms, but we still had to go to our traditional pumpkin patch that we go to every year, BiZi farms. With hay bale maze and pyramid, corn maze, hay ride, pumpkin patch, blue grass music, farm animals, face painting, pumpkin launching, pony rides, fresh apple cider, rope making, etc....how could we not go. It was a gorgeous day and we just enjoyed our time together. We hope you are all enjoying fall as much as we are.

Roloff Farms

2008-10-26T21:03:00.003-07:00

Jeremy Roloff

Meza's with Zach Roloff

The Meza's with Amy Roloff

The Roloff Farm.

2008-10-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Our family had a most exciting time yesterday as we were able to visit The Roloff Farm. For those of you who watch the show 'Little People, Big World' on TLC you'll know what I'm talking about. We were able to meet and have pictures with Amy and Zach Roloff. Jeremy drove one of the tractor/trailers for one of our tours (there were 2). We saw Matt and Jacob on one of their mules(small tractor vehicles). The only family member we didn't see was Molly. The TLC camera crew was all over the place filming. The family lives on their 34 acre farm in Hillsboro, Oregon; which is only about a 30 minutes drive from were we live. We've been talking about going for a couple of years but finally decided to just do it. We were able to tour their Old West town and see various parts of their farm. I am posting a slide show of our visit and if it seems like there are alot of pics of their family it's because there is. This might be the closest we'll ever come to meeting TV stars!!!! The weather was beautiful and the farm was a bit crowded but very organized. We had a fabulous time!!

Beacon Rock

2008-10-24T06:35:00.001-07:00

We all hiked Beacon Rock the other day. The kids have never hiked it before and we thought we'd take advantage of the beautiful weather!!

Read or not, here I come!!!

2008-10-24T06:24:00.000-07:00

Brayden and Daekon got In-Line skates for Brayden's birthday. Well we thought it would be nice for Brayden to have someone to skate with, instead of by himself. They've been going out almost everyday for up to 3 hrs sometimes; even if it's a little rainy. They come in all sweaty and stuff but I'm glad they are getting good exercise. For any of you considering in-line skates, you need to get all the pads and stuff because if it weren't for the protection of those items my boys would be extremely battered and bruised. They fall down quite a bit (because they like to be fancy and go fast).

Skating Rink

2008-10-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

Remember when I forgot

2008-10-15T07:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry but I had to share another Ashlyn story. It's just funny.
The other night around 8 p.m. I informed her it was time for her to go to bed. She looked me and said," Well, remember earlier today when my mind left me and I forgot to watch Sleeping Beauty. Well, I remember that I need to do that now. Okay."
Just so you aren't wondering whether she got to watch it I'll tell you. Daddy happened to hear the conversation. Daddy's a push over.

Use your Brain

2008-10-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

The other day Ashlyn learned to count by 10's to 100. She felt very proud of herself and had to share it with everyone she saw. I told her she was so smart. I asked her,"Ashlyn, how did you get to be so smart? Did you learn that from watching your brothers?" She looked and me and replied,"Uh, no. I used my brain! Duh."
I guess if I learned by using my brain instead of watching other people, maybe I'd be smarter.

First day of school for Sissy

2008-10-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn finally had her first day of class last week. She was so excited but a little anxious. Her class she takes at homelink is called "Primary Adventures". They are going to be studying honeybees for the next 6 weeks. She will only go on Wednesdays for 1 1/2 hrs. She was very excited to wear some new clothes and have curly hair.

Birthday Boy

2008-10-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

We had a fun birthday weekend for my sweet 9 year old Brayden. It's hard to believe he's nine already. He got hermit crabs and in line skates. He was very excited. We had a few family members over to celebrate and eat cake. Happy Birthday Lopez!!

Skating pros

2008-09-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

These are my crazy boys getting ready to ice skate.

Ice Skating

2008-09-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

My kids have the opportunity to take ice skating through their school for an extremely reasonable price. Today was their first day of ice skating. My boys have taken the ice skating class for 2 years and are very comfortable on the ice. They do all sorts of crazy stuff, like falling down on purpose and jumping in the air. This is my daughters first year of ice skating and although she was very excited she got very nervous when it came time to put those skates on and try to skate. She did incredibly well and we were very proud of her for getting back up every time she fell down. The kids skate every Friday for 1 1/2 hrs. They get a 1/2 hr. lesson in between. It's really fun to watch them.

Back to School

2008-09-06T05:08:00.001-07:00

My boys first day back to school was Thursday. Daekon was very excited to see his friends that he hadn't seen all summer long. Brayden was excited too but also a little nervous. He had a new teacher this year , a different classroom and wasn't sure who would be in his class but as soon as he stepped into his room and saw a couple of familiar faces he relaxed quite a bit. Brayden has had the same teacher and room for the last 2 years. For those of you who don't know, at River Homelink they group 1st and 2nd grade together, 3rd and 4th, 5th and 6th and 7th and 8th. Then they have their highschool program. Class sizes range anywhere from 5-20 kids. They only have their homeroom class twice a week (Mon. and Thur. from 9a.m.-2p.m.) and then they may have some enrichment or extracurricular classes on top of those. Like my boys have math and ice skating. Ashlyn will be starting her classes in October and she can't wait. She's just been doing her homeschool at home with me and is enjoying it but is excited to experience what the boys are. She will also take ice skating, and a class called Primary Adventures which involves different unit studies every 4-6 six weeks(bees, penguins, oceans, etc...) . She also meets with a teacher(consultant) once a week for an hour and they play games and do fun assessments to determine how she's doing and what, if anything, I should be working on with her and what grade level she's performing at so I know what type of things I should be doing at home with her. Anyway, I'd better wrap it up because I could just keep babbling. Have a great week everyone!!

2008-08-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

these are some images from the Sharps(Tony's sister and family). One of Ashlyn teaching Alex(Talia's husband) how to play pick up sticks.:-) One of us at the drive in theater in Caldwell, one pic from pioneer day and one of Daekon being silly on his birthday!!!

2008-08-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

These are images of Camping, Ashlyns birthday party, and Ashlyn kissing cousin Phoenix.

2008-08-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

Some of these pictures are from when we visiting Cape Disappointment/beach/Fort Stevens. Cape Disappointment is where Lewis and Clark landed after traveling down the Columbia River, Fort Stevens is an old World War 2 fort. By the way, the beach was really, really, really cold!!!!

2008-08-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

Summing up the Summer

2008-08-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer came and went so quickly. I can't believe it's time to start back into the school routine. I think I could use 1 more month of summer. I do hope the weather stays warm here for a little while longer because we had a lot of cool and rainy days early on in June and July. As you can all see I hardly added anything to our blog over the summer. It seemed like we were either out of town or had company ourselves. We started out in June being gone for almost 2 weeks visiting family in Idaho and then we had company ourselves for the first week in July. We also went to the beach and camped for 5 days. Both the boys had boy/cub scout camp at various times during the summer and Ashlyn had her cheerleading camp. We also ended up back in Caldwell towards the end of July to visit Tony's sister and to visit Roaring Springs water park. VERY FUN!!! We also visited Clark County Fair and Oregon State Fair. I was also the Girls Camp director for our ward and I was gone for a week in August doing that and for those of you who have done that it actually takes a bit time to get ready for that. It was really fun and we had a good group of girls but it's nice to have it done. My parents were supposed to come and visit for a few days but were unable to because of car problems. We've all been there, done that!! We missed them alot and sure enjoyed seeing them in June. We look forward to hopefully seeing them at Christmas. My kids don't actually start school till September 4th so it's been a nice couple of weeks of just hanging out preparing for the school year. We will actually start in with our normal homeschooling schedule next week and then will start by adding in our 2 day a week school program at River Homelink on the 4th. It's hard to believe that during the summer Ashlyn turned 5 and Daekon turned 11. Time goes by so quickly!! Well I'll add a few pics from the summer for everyone to enjoy!!!

One more dance recital video!!! (too cute)

2008-08-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Ashlyns dance recital

2008-08-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

We started off this summer with a bang by watching Ashlyns dance recital. I know her recital was back in June but I'm slow getting things posted!! Better late than never.

Ashlyns Birthday parade

2008-08-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

This is just a short snippet from Ashlyns parade. This was Ashlyns 5th birthday and she was able to have her first party with friends. She wanted to have a dress up party with a parade. So I had several parents stay and invited a few neighbors to watch the parade. Ashlyn was having the time of her life!!! If you don't know which one she is, she's the one with the huge laughing grin!!

2008-07-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn, Tony, Uncle Dezi, and cousin Phoenix playing Pretty, Pretty Princess!!
Happy Birthday America!!!
Brayden and his cousin Dustin playing at Jump Creek.

I am finally getting all caught up on getting our vacation/summer pictures posted on the blog to share with you. It's taking me awhile.

Memory Lane

2008-07-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed commenting on other blogs and so thought I'd finally post it on mine. Thanks for the comments.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Cracky Feet

2008-07-22T01:31:00.000-07:00

2008-07-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

Hiking at Balanced Rock Park. Boy, was it HOT!!
"Aahh!! it's cold!" but refreshing.

2008-07-22T01:10:00.000-07:00

Tony and the kids at Shoshone Falls.
My Baby Girl
The kids relaxing on the temple grounds?? Maybe it's synchronized sidewalk dancing???
Anyone remember playing with these items and on this porch?
"Jungle Hunts" at my parents house. The kids love to take walks on my parents property. They call it "Jungle Hunts".

Daekon and Kiara's Olympic Diving Tryouts!!

2008-07-21T11:04:00.000-07:00

2008-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Sisters
Brayden and Ashlyn at Dierkes Lake
Weeeeeee!!
Everyone showing off their best side at Shoshone Falls!!

The Burley Pool

2008-07-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Aunt Sarah's house

2008-07-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Tyson and Brayden hanging upside down.
The Next Food Network Stars!
Who's she talking to?

Fishing at Lake Lowell in Caldwell

2008-07-19T19:21:00.001-07:00

Daekon fishing in Lake Lowell
Jolee caught the big one!!

Ashlyn's dance recital

2008-07-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

Before the recital
Ashlyn and her dance teacher, Miss Ariella

Summer

2008-07-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

Wow!! I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted anything on my blog. We've been having a very fun but busy summer. It seems like every time we turn around we are either going somewhere or else we have visitors(mainly family). Summer started with a bang by having swimming lessons and Ashlyn having her first dance recital and BOY did she do a really great job. We were very proud of her and I think she was pretty pleased with herself as well. She asked me earlier in the day if people were going to clap for her and I said yes they probably would. Well, you would've thought by watching her on stage that she was the only one up there. After the recital we left the next day for Idaho and spent some time visiting Tony's sister in Caldwell(she has boys the same age as my boys) and then we went to Rupert and Twin Falls to visit Sarah's family and Mom and Dad. Sorry we didn't make to Utah for most of the rest of you. We had a blast but it seemed like we were gone forever. 12 days!! We got home in time for Tony to go to work and for Brayden start cub scout camp. He enjoyed himself and I got to hang out with our troop for 1 of the days. During this time we also enjoyed the company of Tony's brother Dezi, and his son Phoenix(he was visiting from Minnesota), and Tony's parents; who we see several times a week anyway. We enjoy their company. After that we went to the beach and stayed in our friends' cabins on her beach property(it's about 1.5miles from the beach) in Long Beach, WA. We camped there for 3 nights and it was pretty cold with lots of wind. Aunt Carla, Allison and her 2 kids stayed with us. We had alot of fun but wished it would've been warmer. The day after we got home from the beach, Ashlyn had her very first friend birthday party. She turned 5. She said it was the "best day of her life" and "her luckiest day ever"!She had herself a dress up party and we had a parade, pinata, 3 tierd cake(chocolate of course), etc...It was fun!! Then we had Phoenix's party the next day(he's 5 too) and then on Sunday we had Daekons(he's 11). Oh yeah, on Saturday we had the pioneer picnic. Very fun!! Needless to say haven't had a dull moment around here!! We will be heading to Caldwell this Thursday for a short trip to visit Tony's sister and family again. Tony and Jolee will be singing a wonderful version of "How great thou art" in her ward on Sunday. We will also be going to Roaring Springs and going to the Caldwell Drive-in theater. I'll leave it at that for awhile and update you on all the happenings a little later on.

Feeding Spaz, the neighborhood squirrel.

2008-06-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Last day of school for 2007-2008 school year

2008-06-10T09:52:00.001-07:00

Pic of Daekon with 2 of his friends from Classlink 5/6(Matthew and Jenny). Brayden is also there.
Daekon enjoying a swim.
Ashlyn floating on her back.
Brayden working on his side breathing.

This is a pic of the boys at the Balholms (Tony's aunt and uncle) and they played down in the creek and got all muddy.
Brayden is getting a math award from his math teacher. The Jr. Math Scholar award.
Brayden 1/2 classlink class and teacher Mrs. Rothacher.

Well the last day of school finished yesterday and it was party hardy all day long for the boys. For those of you who don't know, I do homeschool my kids part time but 2 days a week they attend River Homelink http://www.bgsd.k12.wa.us/riv/Index-RiverHL.html. This is a parent-partnered school for homeschooling families. They are an accredited school with certified teachers and they have upwards of 600 students grades K-12. Anyway, (if you have any questions, feel free to ask)yesterday was the last of class at homelink. They had lots of fun and are ready for a break from homeschool and homelink. They will however still be doing some school at home just to keep them from losing their brains. I can't believe Daekon will be in 6th grade next year, Brayden 3rd and Ashlyn will be starting Kindergarten. It is all very exciting but sad to see my little ones getting bigger. I am very proud of them and the hard work they put in when it comes to learning.

When they got home yesterday, I told the boys to do their jobs and Brayden said,"What? but it's summer break!"

They kids also started swimming lessons yesterday evening at the Camas pool. It was so cold outside. 55 degrees. Not exactly swimming weather but the pool was warm and they enjoyed themselves and got some great exercise. Today looks like it will be about the same type of weather. Can't wait for some sun and a little warmer would be nice.

We are looking forward to coming to visit various family members this summer and all the fun things that come with summer break.

Just so you know.........

2008-06-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

"Just so you know Mom, I'm scared of scary things." Ashlyn (age4)

upside down

2008-06-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

We went to the Portland Rose Festival last weekend and the boys had fun riding on all the upside down rides!!

Grizzly River Run---Ya'll are really wet!!!

2008-05-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

Disney Pics!!

2008-05-15T19:47:00.001-07:00

5..4..3..2..1.....California Screamin'

2008-05-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

Splash Mountain. AaaHhhhh!!!!

2008-05-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

DISNEYLAND

2008-05-15T19:14:00.001-07:00

Oh my gosh we had the best time last week in Disneyland and California Adventure Park. It was so nice to have 6 days to just play with our family and not worry about the same old daily routine. We left on Tuesday May 6 and came home and May 12. We were so excited when our friends Karen and her daughter Malia joined us at the last minute. Malia is Daekon's age and we all just had a ball. Well, the first day Ashlyn did come down with a fever and ear infections so we had to take care of that. We had a Dr. come to our hotel and provide care and Rx for her. It cost a bit of money but I think our insurance should reimburse. I would love to hop on a plane and go back right now. It was a great time to go. Not too crowded and not too warm. About 70 degrees the whole time. I think we were able to do everything there was to do at least once and some things we were able to several times. Ashlyn was so excited to be 40 inches and to be able to go on several faster rides. She kept telling everyone she was 40. Her favorite was Splash Mountain. She probably rode it about 5 or 6 times. She also enjoyed Matterhorn, Star Tours, Soarin' Over California, and Thundermountain Railroad for the first time this year. The boys still love the big roller coast in CA adventure park, California Screamin'(the enjoy going upside down). Probably our family's all time favorite though is still Pirates of the Caribbean. The new Finding Nemo sub ride is really cool as well. Disneyland still has the best fireworks show I've ever seen in my life. It's a must!!! We'll sorry I blabbed forever but I just had too much fun.

2008-05-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

I love floating!!
Whipping cream anyone?

2008-05-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

I love going down the slide by myself!

???????

2008-05-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Brayden: "Mom when I grow up I'm going to marry you."
Mom: "You can't I'm already married to Daddy."
Brayden: "Well then I'll marry Kiara."
Mom: "You can't. She's your cousin."
Brayden: "What! You mean I have to marry someone I don't know!"

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2008-05-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

"When I get big I'm going to be a ballerina and a grocery shopper."
Ashlyn Meza, 4 yrs. old

Cats make good pets

2008-05-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

"Cats make the best pets because they don't need a daddy to have babies."
Daekon Meza, 10 yrs old.

2008-04-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely weekend with temperatures 75-80 degrees. So we took the kids to the river and they played in the sand and water with their new buckets and shovels they got from the Easter bunny. It was alot of fun. It's so nice that this area is only about 5-6minutes from our house. It's like going to the beach without driving 1 1/2 hrs. to the real beach. (I do still love the coast though, this is just faster).

Every year one of the fire stations in Camas has a open house and they do several fire and police demonstrations. The life flight helicopter arrives and they have hot dogs, cookies, ice cream, face painting, clowns, etc.....Lots of fun. It was about a week ago and as you can tell by the raincoat Daekon is wearing, there was some sprinkles. We had a good time though.

With the nice weather coming around we've been able to pull out our fire pit and enjoy hot dogs, smores, and just being cozy around it Or in Daekon's case playing in it. They like to watch different things burn. I don't care as long as they don't burn themselves. We love it when friends or family join us. I guess it's time to stock up on hot dogs, buns, marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.

2008-03-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

"Here comes Peter Cottontail Hoppin' down the bunny trail."

Some of these pics are somewhat blurry, the kids were moving so fast that I could hardly keep up. Plus the lighting in our family room isn't that great. The Easter bunny sent them on a treasure hunt for their baskets. Everyone had alot of fun. I loved watching Ashlyn decorate the eggs. Dipping them again and again and yet again in the dye. Her fingers were a lovely forest green by the time she was done. I told her she was turning into the Incredible Hulk. She look me and just said,"What did you say?" I just wish Easter Sunday would have been a nicer day outside. Very rainy all day and pretty chilly. So much for Spring. It was very typical of a Northwest spring day I suppose.

Ashlyns first talk in primary.

2008-03-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Spring Soccer (or should I say Rain Soccer)

2008-03-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Brayden is playing spring soccer. He doesn't care if it's muddy or wet or cold. He played in the fall for the first time and really enjoyed himself. We were very fortunate to get him on a team of almost all LDS boys and the coach is LDS as well. Excellent group of little men. It was quite cold and rainy on Saturday for the game but we still had a good time.

Daekon Bacon

2008-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Just a quick flashback to the'80s. Daekon is holding one of those snake toys that you can twist and shape into various shapes.(i.e. ball, dog, cobra, etc.) It is made by rubiks cube. Found it in a little toy shop while we were at the beach a couple of weeks ago. Daekon is finding it quite entertaining.