idyllwhites

Summer Project

2010-10-11T21:10:00.001-07:00

So Dennis, Emily's dad, decided the kids, and not just our kids but all his grand kids, needed a big fort to play in when at their house in IDY. Em and I found a used one in Temecula on craigslist and my grampa, dad, and I went to pick it up and disassemble. Then Dennis and I were put to the task of reassembling it with no instructions...it only took 4 hours to disassemble, and 2 days to reassemble. First we have the spot, cleared of weeds, semi-level, and ready to go.

Next is the base and some posts for the second floor.
Then we had to call in the big guns to lug the fort up on to the posts. Money well spent.
OK, forget all the in between pix, here it is all put together with Seth as the model. Our kids love it and can't wait to show their cousins the next time they are down.

Abbey's 2nd Birthday!!

2010-08-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

We had a little party to celebrate Abbey turning 2. Here she is with the wonderful cake her mommy made.
She really got in to opening the presents this year. Her brothers were also great helpers.
This was one of her favorite gifts. She loves anything related to babies and pushing them is just tops. She sometimes straps herself in and we frequently have arguments over the stroller when other little girls come over to play.
Here's Abbey playing with her favorite Great-Grampa.
Abbey also got a sleeping bag and immediately knew what it was for. We had trouble getting her to open the rest of her presents, she must have been tired.

Back to the Kids...LEGOLAND!

2010-08-26T20:10:00.000-07:00

OK, so now back to reporting on our summer activities and what the kids were up to. Next is celebrating Seth & Abbey's birthdays at Legoland with Papa & Nani D. Here are the boys and Em with some large Lego guy.
While the boys were on a ride that Abbey couldn't go on, she decided to befriend this dude trying to push a donkey. At one point she was trying to help him, but I couldn't get that on camera.
The great thing about Legoland is that it is really geared towards kids aged 4-10. Joel was able to ride a whole bunch of stuff, several he just didn't want to go on because they looked too much like a roller-coaster, but he did go on one called "The Dragon" because it was all inside and he couldn't see what it looked like until too late. Seth was able to do a lot of rides but was too short for some. Abbey just enjoyed what she could, they did have one area that was just for kids her size.
The boys really liked all the miniature Lego buildings and stuff, the adults did too. Here they are in front of the White House. I liked the Lego rendition of Daytona Speedway...but they had a whole bunch of miniatures that were pretty amazing, like the mini Las Vegas.
The highlight of the day was this area where it was all water play stuff, like slides, fountains, all kinds of stuff. We had to go there twice. Here's an awesome shot of Abbey.
At the end of the day the kids were toast, but they loved it. Seth was a little confused though because he started asking when we were coming back for his birthday. We told him that this was for his birthday, he replied that this was for Abbey's birthday. We had to explain to him that it was for both of their birthdays. He finally got it, then promptly fell asleep.

Bat Update

2010-08-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

OK, quick update. Tracy, the Wildlife guy hasn't come by yet because of all the thunder and lightening we've been having since he doesn't do ladders in this kind of weather. I don't blame him. So I decided to hop up in the attic and check things out for myself. I never enjoy going up there because it's so darn hot and I always sneeze for days after. But at least I was able to discover that there are currently no bats living in the attic. There was definitely evidence that they had been there but they are not currently there and hopefully Tracy will be able to help me do some things to make sure they don't ever get in again!

Batman...Pt 2

2010-08-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

...we're laying in bed for a while, trying to relax, reading our Bibles, when Millie (our dog) starts running around the bedroom. I look up and sure enough there is another bat and this one is doing laps around our bedroom. Em dives under the covers and I start to get out of bed while the bat takes off down our stairwell. I run over and close the bedroom door so it will stay downstairs. It's about 10:30.

I know I've got to go downstairs and get this thing but I left my gloves and pillowcase down stairs with it. I head down the stairs in to total darkness and flip on the first light in our living room. I can hear the bat flying in to the windows down by the kitchen so I decide to run over to the dining room, flip on every light in the dining/kitchen area and grab my gloves and pillowcase. While I'm doing this the bat decides to start making huge circles through the kitchen, dining room, and living room. So while I'm running around just envision the movie "The Great Outdoors" and the scene with John Candy and Dan Akroyd trying to catch the bat in the cabin. Minus the outfit, this is essentially what I was attempting to do.

Finally the bat decides to hang himself up on the wall in the kitchen. Unfortunately he is too high for me to reach, even while standing on our kitchen counter.

I get the thing from our laundry room that we use to Swiffer the floor and I rig the pillowcase on it so that I can try to snag this guy. I jump up on the kitchen counter again and head towards the bat. His ears are like little radars twitching this way and that. I get right underneath him and then pin him against the wall with the Swiffer rig. I'm thinking at best he's stunned, at worst he's dead. I try sliding my rig down the wall so that I can wrap him up in the pillowcase. Just as I reach up to slide the pillowcase over the top of him he takes off. I jump off the counter, hit the floor, and head back to the stair well.

The bat continues doing laps around the whole living area and I decide to open the doors to see if he will just fly out. Twice the little idiot flies out the front door and then right back in, what a punk. He again decides to hang himself up on the wall, this time up above our desk in the corner. I have to get on top of the desk to reach him and when I lunge for him it's a total miss and he takes off AGAIN! I in turn fall off the desk sending a few things to the floor, the desk slams shut, and I fortunately don't break anything.

Now the bat is doing the circles again and I'm sitting there thinking, where's my baseball bat? This guy has got to go. He doesn't fly long this time and hangs himself on the wall above the desk again. I run back over to the desk, jump up on it and smash him against the wall with the pillowcase over my hand. I'VE GOT HIM!

Em was upstairs the whole time and so I had to take this picture myself. This one didn't move so much so I'm thinking he's dead. I head outside and dump out the pillowcase assuming I'm going to have to dig a hole. Fortunately he flies off, or maybe that wasn't so fortunate. It's now 11:10 and I am totally wired from all this action. I do another sweep of the entire house, to no avail, and head to bed. I'm tired but wired and suffice it to say that we did not sleep well that night. It also didn't help that it was the first night Seth decided to sleep without a pullup and he showed up at my bedside around 3am to tell me that he wet his bed.

Tracy did come the next morning and after examining the poop told us that the bats had probably been in our house for several days, maybe even as long as a week. We're thinking, how could we not notice 2 bats living in our house for days? But apparently he has a client who has 200-400 bats living in her house so I guess we're not too bad off. We also showed him, what we thought was mouse poop, that falls from the attic in to a corner of our bedroom. Sorry dad, but all that poop you thought was from mice in the attic...it's bats. Now Tracy is supposed to come over today and we're going to venture in to the attic to scope out the joint and see what the situation is exactly. Stay tuned...

Batman...Pt 1

2010-08-24T21:26:00.001-07:00

OK, so I know I'm jumping ahead in the summer here since I haven't even finished posting about all the other stuff we've been up to but this just has to get done. Besides I told Jared and some other people I would get it up tonight.

Yesterday I come home from work and Em tells me to check out the random mouse poop in the living room...over by the big front window, on our little magazine table, some by the fireplace. I'm like, ah crap, we have a mouse in the house, what's the deal with that. I decide to put a trap down stairs. Later that evening, Em tells me there is a whole bunch more upstairs in our bedroom, especially in the dormer. I'm totally bummed, decide to go put a trap upstairs. I also decide that I'm going to start looking around because usually mice get active in the evening and I want to find this sucker. I get a flashlight and start snooping around upstairs...I find a nice little grouping of poop behind our bedroom door and then when I look up...oh crap, a BAT!

This dude is just chillin hanging on the door hinge so I tell Em and she starts freakin and quite frankly my heart starts racing. Bats are the number one carrier of rabies and they also carry a host of other diseases. This thing has got to GO! I run out to my truck and grab the biggest pair of gloves I've got, then snag a pillowcase and head back to get rid of this guy. Fortunately I am able to just one-shot grab him in the pillowcase, he starts squeakin and I talk Em in to taking my victory photo.

I toss the bat outside and he flies off. Em convinces me to call our local Wildlife Control guy, Traci. He's incredibly smart and deserves his own show on the Discovery Channel or something. The only bummer is that it's 9:30 at night but Em wants to know what we should do. I call Tracy and fill him in on what went down, he's like...
"Cool, leave the poop."
"What!? Leave the poop, it's all over?"
"Yeah, leave the poop, I'll come by in the morning and tell you what the bat is up to, if there are more, and how long he has been there."
"You can tell all that from poop?"
"Yeah, leave the poop."
So we leave the poop and decide to go to bed...

CAMP...but this time in a Cabin!

2010-07-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

Now it's late June and time for our annual trip to Family Camp at Redwood Christian Park up by Santa Cruz (Boulder Creek to be exact). This year was as good as ever as the kids just enjoy it so much, we enjoy it so much, and it's just so enjoyable.

One night each year they show a movie out on the lawn. This year to go with the theme of Route 66 the movie was Cars. I love Cars and so do the boys so we stayed up late and watched it with our friends the Barnts.
Every morning Dennis & Carol, or Nani & Papa, come by and grab the kids for breakfast. Em and I get a little more time to wake up before we head down and the kids love the time they get with Nani & Papa by themselves.
Josh was able to play in the annual volleyball tournament and actually ended up on the winning team this year. Dennis and Josh are also the reigning Double's Horseshoes champs 3 years running.
Almost every day we were able to spend some time at the swimming pool. This year Joel & Seth thought they were the stuff and decided they were ready for the diving board. Joel, who can keep himself from drowning, and Seth, who would drown without the life vest, both gave it a good go with dad, and sometimes papa, right there to make sure they survived.
Each year during camp there is Beach Day in the middle of the week...and this year was the best one ever. Typically beach day is cool and overcast but this year it was sunny and warm and awesome. Here are the kids before they got all wet and sandy.
Here is our family with our sand castle that we built for the competition. Unfortunately we didn't win the free ice cream but we gave it a good go sticking with the theme and building the Route 66 Cafe.
This is what happens after beach day...too bad mom and dad couldn't do the same.
Here we have supermodel Abbey!
Last but not least, a classic shot of grumpy Abbey. This is one of those photos where you can't wait to stick it in her slide show when she gets married.

Even more CAMPING!!!

2010-07-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

So 2 days after our first camping trip of the season (see post below), we decide to head out again to Hurkey Creek, but this time with our High School small group. We enjoyed good times around the fire, eating s'mores, playing games, and leading the kids through some team building activities. Overall it was a blast and below are some of the highlights.

This is John Leih jumping off a rock in to some really cool water after we hiked a couple miles to find it. It was a great hike, our kids loved it, the water was very chilly but oh so refreshing.
Here are the high schoolers, all blind-folded, with the exception of John, being lead through an obstacle course. They only had to start over once and the best was at the end when John lead them in to the sprinklers out on the lawn.
So apparently I thought we had taken more photos but they are on Mariah's camera, so we'll have to get those up later.

Starting the summer with CAMPING!

2010-07-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

So a few families from church decided to do a camping trip together and travel all of 20 minutes to Hurkey Creek. It was a blast...we spent 2 nights, the kids got extremely, we did all the classic camping stuff like S'mores, instant coffee, and just sitting around the camp fire entertaining each other and enjoying some awesome fellowship.
The families that went were the Bayers, Campbells, Tates, and Whites.

A week off

2010-02-22T15:50:00.001-08:00

The kids had a week off of school so we spent a day at the zoo with my parents. Seth got a little tuckered out.
But the Lorikeets liked my parents.

Sorry I don't know why this one is sideways.
So cute! and look Abbey's hair is long enough for pony tails. = ) My brother David came for a few days as well and Josh went sledding with everyone - but I think all those pictures must be on my brothers camera because I don't have any. Well back to real life again....kids in school and mom and dad went home.

First Snow

2009-12-06T19:07:00.001-08:00

So It snowed.....so fun! It was the friday and saturday after thanksgiving and it made all of our guests at the Inn very happy! (happy guests = happy innkeepers) The boys spent the morning playing in the snow in their snow suits and Josh had to go plow. I think it must be some sort of man thing but apparently plowing is super fun and people like to just stand and watch Josh plow.....fun times had by all. Anyway I guess we are expecting more snow tonight! I think Joel would be so excited to have a "snow day" from school.

U2

2009-12-06T19:04:00.001-08:00

As a very generous Birthday gift to Josh, Jared bought 4 tickets to the U2 concert at the Rose bowl. I didn't go but I heard it was awesome and Josh was beyond thrilled! 4 siblings at a U2 concert is that some sort of "ahhh how cute" moment.
Pretty awesome stage! Apparently U2 knows how to put on a good show.

Did I really just do that?

2009-10-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Uh.....I went to Africa. Holy Cow! I went with Joel and Chris (Josh's Parents) to visit Jared (Josh's brother).....It was amazing. This is me with Josh's parents, Jared and Jolly the Country Director of Invisble Children. Jared works for Invisible Children as their director of programs, wow. He lives in Gulu, in northern Uganda.
Here Jared and Chris eat some Ugandan "fast food" roasted corn and roasted banana that they sell on the side of the road. All you have to do is pull over and they run up to your car.....just like America....almost.

Yep, a Giraffe

A picture of me on a boat safari with Hippo's in the background. There are lots of Hippo's in Uganda.....like, more hippo's than I knew existed in the whole world....
Me by the Nile.....before going white water rafting.....for real....the Nile. (yeah, moses, pharoah - woah) I had a good time, but I missed Josh and the kids terribly. (Thanks mom and dad for coming to help Josh out). In some ways Africa was exactly like I thought it might be but I learned a few things for sure. In Northern Uganda people are gracious, trusting and hospitable - we felt so welcome. Thanks Josh....for making me go.

Out of touch

2009-10-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

So much has happened since I last posted. Since school started our "small group" started up again. We have 6 high schoolers that we hang out with every Wednesday night. Here we are after an exciting round of "The Flour Game."
We had a visit in Mid September from Doug, Ali, Chase and Cameron. Thanks for making the trek!
With all of the new pencils and backpacks Fall officially arrived and in Idyllwild that means ripe apples and lots of yellow trees. Autumn is definitely my favorite season here. The air is cool and crisp, the garden is bountiful and the leaves change! Here Josh is peeling apples to make dried apples but we also made apple butter.
Joel played soccer again. This year he was a bobcat and wow - the bobcats are good. Joel thrives at playing goalie and all of the kids on his team are so fun and they have a great time. Josh was also a coach this time and Seth.....well he thinks he's on the team.....
And last but not least, miss Abigail....her hair is growing - and is a little hard to manage. She talks but only if she wants to, not if you ask her to. And she is walking - but still crawls and scoots sometimes. She only takes one nap....and loves all things "girly".

Fresno

2009-08-30T15:53:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we were in Fresno with my parents and brothers. There was a Bob the Builder exhibit at a local museum. The kids thought it was awesome. But as you can see Seth was a little wary of the "real" Bob the builder.
But Seth who want's to be just like Dad (super handy) decided to fix the broken sink - and of course he needed his tool belt.

At my parents house with 6 boys (not including the adults) a lot of wrestling occurs.
So somehow we accomplished a family picture, not everyone is smiling - but at least no one is crying!

Yeah kids!!

Sorry Abbey

2009-08-09T15:20:00.001-07:00

Summer is busy for us.....Family visiting, the inn has very high occupancy - yet all our staff takes vacations, we of course also want to take vacation, two of the kids have birthdays and I prefer spending my time outside on the hammock or in the garden rather than at the computer.....so poor Abbey did not get a blog post about her very important first birthday! She truly is our princess with two nights in shining armor that love on her - maybe a little too much. She is happy and healthy, with only two teeth, loves to sleep and eating melon gives her a rash (we think.) She talks a ton and is on her way to having as much hair as her mom. She loves her blankie and her pacifier and her new favorite toy is the glowworm she got for her birthday (thanks suzanne). She would rather "scoot" on her bottom than crawl and she will probably be walking soon. It all happened too fast Abbey - Happy Birthday (ps this picture is actually Abbey's passport photo - she has already applied for her first passport, a world traveler at a young age.)
Abbey riding her little horsey bike on our deck.
All three kids on the trampoline....only Joel was listening when I said look at the camera and smile.
This is what Abbey looks like after scooting on the trampoline for a minute or two.

Seth is 3....no way!

2009-08-09T15:14:00.001-07:00

Well, these pictures ended up on here in reverse order.....I guess I'm out of blogging practice. We had a little carnival for Seth's 3rd birthday - it was so much fun - kids playing carnival style games, and we even borrowed a cotton candy machine - awesome!
Seth blowing out the candles - I'm not sure how it's possible but they say he is 3 years old.
Here is Seth racing Sami to squirt the candles out!
Of course we bobbed for apples and Sarah (what a good sport) had to demonstrate for the kids because they didn't really believe you were supposed to get the apple with your teeth.
Here's my three clowns!

Nani and Papa

2009-08-09T15:08:00.001-07:00

After 6 great weeks we had a tearful send off for Nani and Papa! Thanks for many great memories including the zoo, Hume Lake, dancing at the concerts in the park and jumping on the trampoline. We love you and I guess.....we'll see you in April!
(All of us at Hume Lake......breakfast at inspiration point)
Another Hume lake photo.....Here's Josh and Dawn by the lake with "Jared" - since he couldn't be there in person he was there in "mini"

Oh Sarah

2009-07-06T15:04:00.001-07:00

These are our totally awesome friends Josh and Sarah Tate - Sarah is currently 7 days past her due date with Baby #4 (collective sigh).......Let's all say a prayer for them!! Can't wait to meet the little man!

Family Camp

2009-07-06T14:51:00.001-07:00

I've been going to Family Camp at Redwood Christian park since I was 7 (minus a few years while in college) and we go as a family - my parents go as well. Its a week long camp, with a million activies, fun friends, family bonding and excellent teaching. You can do as much or as little as you like - it's awesome. Here is Seth enjoying a most delicious ice cream cone.
There was a Pinewood derby and because the theme was Jamacan it was really a "bobsled derby." You can see our bobsled below. Here is Joel waiting for it to begin.

The pool was the afternoon activity that the kids begged for! Joel really came out of his shell and wanted to "swim" Though in this picture he has a death grip on the raft he really did splash and play and have a good time. And Abbey liked the water too. Our Vacation was restful, full of fun family times with Nani and Papa and everything we could have asked for.

Preschool "show"

2009-06-12T10:45:00.001-07:00

Joel and Seth's preschool had their end of the year show and wow.....now I have a kindergartener.......I'm not old enough to have kids in school! But it was wonderful they sang songs and did sign language and Joel said he wants to be a pilot and fly planes when he grows up. Joel had his kindergarten physical this week and he told the doctor the same thing. Cool.
They were all "princes and princesses" - it was amazingly cute!

I'm adorable

2009-06-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Is there really anything left to say?

Funcle Jared

2009-06-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Last week Jared returned to Uganda for at least 6 months so we went to San Diego for a day to be with him. We went to his office and met his co-workers and friends, went to the zoo and then had an amazing dinner! Bye Jared - see ya soon.
Joel and Seth in Jared's office Chair!

Go Pirates

2009-05-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Well the Pirates are doing great and Tball is awesome is you just need a break from the serious life. If they hit the ball, they usually forget to run to first base and then all the infield players are running to get the ball and they all end up in huge heap......then if they actually start running to first base......sometimes they don't stop at the base they just keep running - where ever they want.
Joel loves it. He hits the ball well and tries hard. In our league the teams always tie......which if you are 5 is just as good as winning. Happy Day!
All the kids are super funny. Garrett (also looking at the camera) is crazy, so much energy, I think his mom puts monster in with his lunch.

Yeah I did it.

2009-05-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

Over the years I have accumulated several potted iris's. (usually gifts from my dad who has 10 green thumbs) I cut them back in the fall and water them in the spring and they always grow several feet high but rarely do I get a bloom.....bad soil? who knows. But not yesterday, a beautiful purple Iris opened - happy mothers day to me!

Great Gifts

2009-05-11T20:14:00.001-07:00

As part of a baby shower gift I got this little tiny vase. And the gift giver said it's for the little flowers that your precious children are bound to bring home and you don't really know what to do with. Well spring in Idyllwild has made it very handy and the boys are so excited to see their flowers in a vase on the table. Thanks Lynne Leih

Beautiful April day

2009-04-29T16:13:00.001-07:00

The boys wanted a picnic today so we went to the Idyllwild Nature Center and did their 1/2 mile loop nature trail and ate a picnic. It was perfect "boy sized" hike (Joel loves to hike, seth does not) and Abbey rode in the backpack. It was sunny and about 65 degrees - so nice!
Abbey who we call "gremlin" because of her bad attitude lately - which is probably related to teething.......really loved riding in the backpack - she was all smiles at least for about and hour.

What IS that??

2009-04-29T16:09:00.001-07:00

We have a friend named Ben and he has a pet grooming and boarding business (which I guess makes him and animal lover) one day he found a newborn squirrel that had fallen out of a tree. He's been feeding it from a dropper for 5 weeks.....and he brought it over for the boys to see. It is just starting to walk and it's eyes are open.
Her name is Bridget. She was cute but I prefer domesticated animals like dogs!

Uh....is it april?

2009-04-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last night it snowed....really, no joke! It was pretty giant snowflakes, but I'm ready for spring.
We have a community easter egg hunt in our town and here we are....in the snow ready for the hunt. Abbey stayed home with uncle Jared. They have separate area's for each age group and they start 10 minutes apart. Seth "hunted" in the 0-3 age group and Joel was with the 4-6 year olds. Seth found the "golden egg" in his section and so he got a big basket full of candy and toys.
As you can see, Seth wasn't too excited about the cold weather and Josh is imitating him.
Has anyone else ever picked up easter eggs in the snow? Its definitely different.

Joel is a pro, and he had a great time. Though both were ready to go home by the time it was over because it was so cold.

T ball

2009-04-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

T ball started this week and Joel's team is the "pirates"......arrgh. We've just had two practices but the kids (4-6 year olds) already seem to know the basics. It's interesting, with soccer they all get the concept of kicking the ball in the goal. Baseball is so much more involved....trying to make plays to get runners out - hitting a moving ball.....wow. Joel says he really likes it and his friend lucas is on his team and our friend Lance is the coach - awesome.

I'm miserable

2009-04-02T09:45:00.001-07:00

So....I've been yelling for two days and for two nights in a row I have been up in the middle of the night crying. My parents are tired and I'm miserable. Apparently I grew a tooth last night.......maybe that's why.

My big 3-0

2009-03-31T19:17:00.001-07:00

We went to Disneyland for my birthday! (Because you get in free for your birthday....and we had another free ticket that was a gift). Of course the kids were super excited. Here is Josh and the boys in front of "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters" which was the ride of the day......I think we rode it 3 times.

Josh and Abbey riding on "It's a small world"

What used to be "tom sawyers island" has been redone and is now a totally awesome pirate themed play area with bridges and caves and "shipwrecks." As you can see Abbey liked it too.

Joel and Seth found the pirates booty.......Yes, we are rich!

The NO

2009-03-31T19:10:00.001-07:00

Well.....guess what. I turned 30......bummer......I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. We usually go to Fresno for my birthday because my brother's bday is the day after mine and now I have a nephew whose bday is 2 days before mine.....so we celebrate together. It's a fun time - though very loud. In the last couple years since having kids my cousins have been coming over and bringing their kids too - lots of people. So Last Saturday we had 14 adults and 10 kids at my parents house for a group bday party. Here is Doug Wresting with the boys.

Saturday morning we went to a place called "playland" and they had little "kiddie" rides, paddle boats, carousel and in the middle a water play area. Joel loved it, Seth....didn't really like wearing wet clothes.
On Thursday before all the cousins came we took the boys to "pump it up"......which is a warehouse full of bounce houses, blow up slides, blow up obstacle courses and the like. They absolutely loved it.
Here is Nani and Abbey on the sidelines watching at Pump it up.

The 87's come to visit

2009-03-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

Some people call our friend Brian "87" and we have no idea why but recently Stacie referred to their family as the "87's" and I thought it was so cute......why call them the Lamphear's when you can call them the "87's". They are definitely our most faithful Idyllwild visitors from our O.C. days. Thanks for coming guys!
Aren't they cute? Here they are at the Hurkey Creek Playground!

And there were these other cute little boys who posed for a picture.

Volleyball Champions

2009-03-31T18:58:00.000-07:00

Idyllwild Town Hall adult Co-Ed volleyball......Champions......Ooh Aah......(for the second year in a row.) top row: Jeremy Teegarden (for you regular blog viewers....that is "coach jeremy" from Joel's soccer season), Jason Sonnier, Paula Shirley bottom row: Josh White, Dawn Sonnier, Larissa Shirley, Misty Hitchcock and Dan Hitchcock.

For Papa & Nani W

2009-03-03T16:09:00.001-08:00

Enjoy...we sure did!

Funcle Jared Wins Coolest Biola Alumni Ever Award!

2009-02-28T18:17:00.001-08:00

Finally we were able to go to one of the Alumni Weekends at Biola University, and it was quite the weekend that we picked. Pretty much the main reason we went is because Funcle Jared was receiving the Young Alumni of the Year Award (sorry I exaggerated above) at Friday mornings chapel. It was so great to be there and for the boys to see their uncle up on stage and talking to a mess of people. First up is Jared receiving his award from his new best friend, Biola Alumni Director, Rick Bee.Here we have the boys taking a picture with some famous guy that was there, I think his name is Matt Kersch, apparently he's some kind of rock star.
And this pic is like the best one ever because it's of this beautiful little girl that I got to sit next to in the Cafe...isn't she cute. Oh, and if you haven't had the privilege of eating in Biola's new cafeteria we highly recommend it, and the Horchata is to die for!

Cowell Train Ride

2009-02-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

Here we are with the Cowell's, well some of them, Ashlee was awesome and volunteered to hold Abbey while we all rode around on this way cool free train ride in Costa Mesa put on by the Orange County Engineers Guild or something like that and if you've never done it before do it, the kids absolutely loved it and it was a lot of fun and how's that for a run on sentence.

3 Degrees of Abbey

2009-02-27T15:34:00.001-08:00

I was having a little fun with Abbey and thought I'd share the pix. Here she is at Normal...at this point I hadn't told her any jokes yet.Then I told her the joke about the chicken crossing the road and she kind of liked that one.

Then I told her a funny story about Joel and how he used to fall asleep in the hallway...Abbey absolutely loves Joel and really got a kick out of that one.

Seth and Lasagna

2009-02-27T15:30:00.001-08:00

Here is Seth helping Em in the kitchen with Lasagna. He did a really good job until he decided to stick his hand in the mixture and then lick his fingers and stick them back in. I guess it will end up being cooked at 375 for 40 minutes so we should be good.

Professional Sledders!

2009-02-14T14:16:00.001-08:00

Bet you always wanted to know what professional sledders look like, well here they are, enjoy!

Triple Decker White Rocket!!!

2009-02-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

Shout Out to Papa & Nani D

2009-02-12T16:12:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to send a little shout out to Papa and Nani D from Abbey!

Crazy Snow

2009-02-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

We got some crazy snow this week....it was fun to wake up sunday to a few inches of snow, oh, how beautiful....but then it started snowing Sunday night and didn't stop until Monday night and....well we got at least two feet in one day. I'm not sure if you can tell but the snow berms are about as tall as a large SUV.

Our house looks much the same....but look my car doesn't have tires.
Auntie Dawn came for a visit and went sledding with the boys....she even made hot chocolate snow cones with them....I'm not sure if the recipe will make the food network but they said it was fun. The word on the street is that we are expecting more snow this weekend. Wow, should be interesting since there isn't much more space to put all this snow.

Hume, On Ice

2009-01-26T21:07:00.000-08:00

So off to Hume we went again for the weekend. I worked as one of the Nurses for the weekend and played the rest of the time. Even my parents came up for a night and stayed in the Lodge.
The weather wasn't ideal but we couldn't keep the kids off of the sledding run. Because it was raining mostly while we were there they were soaked the whole time but they loved it.

Abbey didn't "love it" but she tolerated it and though we came home with colds we had an amazing time forgetting about our jobs and responsibility at home.
We stay in the apartment above the infirmary there (so I am at the infirmary if I am needed at night) and it is small but has two rooms and the boys think it's awesome. During "rest time" they like to peek their heads behind the curtains and watch the campers go down the tube run.
Seth and Abbey.....do you think they look alike. some say yes....some say no?

Here's to you.....Denisa

2009-01-26T20:56:00.001-08:00

Denisa.....my sister in law.....is a faithful reader of our blog! Yeah Denisa! Thanks for reading. Well, after our crazy holidays we had a nice vacation in January. A trip to Visit Nani and Papa D and a few days at Hume Lake. While visiting in Fresno we took a day trip to visit my brother and his family in Merced. Here's the boys.... Jack, Joel, Graham and Seth. All, of course, acting like perfect angels and smiling obediently......sorta....
Ok, not really obeying their frustrated mothers at all and pretty much doing whatever they want. But at least they are actually on the couch.
So....while in visiting our Merced fam we learned the amazing art of Wii. Of course we know it's "all the rage".......but we live in rural small town america.......and had never played. It was awesome. I beat Josh at Boxing, twice. And my brother Dave...killed Josh at Tennis. And watching the little ones play was hilarious (especially boxing). What an awesome time. Sorry we don't come visit more......we love you guys.

White Boys Christmas!

2008-12-28T21:04:00.000-08:00

Just thought this was a fun pic everyone would want to see.

WHITE CHRISTMAS...HA HA!!

2008-12-28T20:45:00.001-08:00

Yes, we had a White Christmas, in fact we do every year. So here are a few pics to give you a small glimpse in to a White Christmas.
Craziness ensued, it was a blast having Christmas with Funcle Jared and Auntie Steen!

Auntie Steen and beautiful little Abbey, her first Christmas!

Seth enjoyed a baking set that Joel actually got. But ultimately his favorite was his "choo choo bieke" which unfortunately didn't make it on to our camera so that will come later.

Joel posing in front of Grampa and Sweet Gramma's Christmas tree in Hemet. It was great to spend time with the extended White family and with so much AMAZING food! (Gramma, if you ever read this, just know that you are the best cook in the world!) Also, thanks everyone for the gifts, love ya!

Josh after prime rib, cheesy mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, honey baked carrots, a bowl of olives, some fiery jalapeno cheese, a beef stick, some smoked gouda, ceasar salad, some more prime rib, definitely more cheesy potatoes, wine, a spoonful of horseradish, a few chocolate peanutbutter balls, gingersnap cookies, creme de menthe flourless chocolate cake, harvey wallbanger cake, and two glasses of Gramma's version of a protein shake...CUSTARD! He was just doing what Grampa White always says, "Why be uncomfortable when you can be miserable!" Thanks Grampa, you rock!

Snow Friends!

2008-12-23T22:26:00.000-08:00

Some of our friends, Brian, Stacie, and Logan (Lolo) came to visit us in the snow. Here are some pics with us sledding and building a snowman. It was so much fun to have them come up...except for the part where we had to push them out of our driveway, what's up with 2-wheel drive in the snow!? We welcome visitors, especially those who enjoy sledding, snowball fights, and building snowmen.

Sledding (Part Deux)

2008-12-21T20:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a video of Joel just going for it while we were sledding. He was totally not himself on the sled hill. Typically he's very cautious but he wanted to sled down the steepest hill and go as fast as possible. He even sledded right in to a pole once, unfortunately we didn't get it on video...and he was OK!

Pioneer Man & Woman Make "Crack Rolls"

2008-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

So first we have to thank our friend Stacie for pointing us to this awesome blog called "Pioneer Woman Cooks". This lady lives out in the middle of nowhere and spends some of her time coming up with some of the greatest dishes on the planet. This is the second time we've made her cinnamon rolls, which another friend of ours, Gino, has lovingly dubbed "crack rolls" (because they're just somewhat addictive).

Here we have the first batch of dough, which we made from scratch, rolled out and then smothered with a pound of melted butter, a cup of sugar, and a whole lot of cinnamon.

Next we roll it up, probably the hardest part because all of the stuff starts oozing out of it. Pioneer woman helped with this part but was taking the picture just now.

Here is Pioneer Man using a very sharp knife to cut the roll in to the individual rolls. Pioneer woman would then put them in to little foil things to bake.

Here is one of the yummy goodness just before it goes in to the oven.

Here they are baking.

Here we have hot Pioneer Woman making the glaze that goes on top of the rolls after they've baked. The glaze is "AMAZAZING". It has coffee in it, maple, and ALOT of powdered sugar.

Here is Pioneer Woman glazing the rolls with yummy goodness, as if there wasn't enough of that already!

And alas we have finished product. Pioneer Man then ran out and gave most of the crack rolls to a few friends. So far the comments we've received from these are:
"They were so good we just ate them for dinner."
"They were gone in 3 minutes."
"If you don't give us more our marriage may be over."

If you're feeling adventurous and want to eat something that is absolutely amazing then lookup Pioneer Woman cooks and go for it...or I'm sure my beautiful Pioneer Woman would give you the recipe if you asked nice. Merry Christmas!!

Sledding

2008-12-20T15:09:00.001-08:00

We got about 18 inches of snow in the last several days so since today was sunny we decided to go sledding with the Tates. We went out near their house....
Well I'm sure our kids will be surprising us for years to come but to day Joel SHOCKED us! He just went crazy. He was climbing to the highest, steepest hills he could find and just going for it. He loved it. It was a blessing to see him let go of any sense of fear and have a wonderful time!
Seth isn't really a snow bunny but he had a good time as long as Josh was willing to carry him up the hill since 18 in. deep snow is hard for a little guy.

Here's Josh T. with his daughter Lucy, who wasn't too sure about sledding, but she was willing to try. We had a great time, we thank God for the "white stuff" and for a great start to our Winter.

The first snow

2008-12-15T20:21:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs traditions. So, we started one. Yesterday was the first real snowfall of the year so we decided to celebrate by having a campout in our living room. So we watched the fire in the fireplace, ate cookies with milk and all slept in the living room. (the boys on the floor and josh and I on the sofa bed). Hopefully we can do it every year the first day it snows. (and of course, since I went to college and had to always "site my sources appropriately" I must say we stole this idea of camping out in the living room from the Tate's.....we just decided to do it on the first day of snow)

A Tea Party

2008-12-15T20:14:00.001-08:00

These are my buds from college.....We will all turn 30 in the next year wow! Jen's sisters and mom (Jen is in the black and White dress) threw her a Tea for her 30th birthday. It was awesome to see friends, celebrate Jen and everything from the decorations to the food to the cake was beautiful. I'm so glad I could go!

Me, Domestic??

2008-12-12T21:38:00.001-08:00

So, do you know what these are??? No, not tomatoes. They are persimmons. I know you're thinking, "what?" My dad gave me a bag of persimmons while at home over Thanksgiving and so I decided I'd make Persimmon Jam. I called my mom, the only person I know with a bachelors degree in Home Economics, to ask her a few canning questions and do you know what she said...."wow, Emily you're really becoming domestic." So domestic or not I tried to make Jam.

I followed a recipe I found online....it was pretty easy and here's my results. It made 7 1/2 jars.
Of course the real question is, does it taste good. Josh gave it a thumbs up, and I also really liked it. It kind of tastes like a mild apricot jam (since most people don't automatically know what a persimmon tastes like). I saved a jar for my dad who gave me the persimmons and one for my friend Josh Tate who made rose hip jelly a few months ago and gave me some. The rest will go to some friends for Christmas. I'd say.... it was a success!

Disneyland

2008-12-12T21:27:00.001-08:00

So...a mentor of Josh's from business school gave us free passes to Disneyland. So we went this week, on a Wednesday (we thought crowds would be small) and enjoyed 70 degree Orange County weather. The last time we went to Disneyland Joel did not like the characters but this time he couldn't get enough of them. Seth wasn't sure what to think.

Here's Seth about 2:00pm or so.....he did really well without his normal nap but by the time we left he fell asleep in the car in about 5 seconds (before we were even out of the parking garage.)
Toon Town.....you don't really appreciate it until you see it from a 3 or 4 year old's point of view. In the middle is Charlie the son of our friends the Towlers, oddly enough we had both planned to go to Dland the same day so we met up!
Here we all are....yes Abbey was there too though she spent most of the day in her stroller.
So Big Thanks go out to Greg and CeCe Glover who gave us the tickets! We had an exhausting yet wonderful day. Joel said his favorite ride was Buzz lightyear and Seth said his favorite ride was "pow pow" which I think means the Buzz lightyear ride (because on the ride you shoot the enemy Zurg with little laser guns). We aren't big "souvenir" people but we let the kids each pick out a Christmas ornament to help remember the day!

The Jungle Book

2008-12-08T19:19:00.001-08:00

Have you ever read "Jungle Book".....when the monkeys kidnap Mowgli they say "teach us the secret of man's red fire...." Why is it that people can just stare at a fire and watch the flames dance and be entertained. Well, Abbey sure likes it!! Really we lay her near the fire and she stares and really enjoys it!

somebody in Fresno....

2008-12-04T20:05:00.001-08:00

Can you read Abbey's shirt?? Someone in Fresno loves her! I wonder who?

December already?

2008-12-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we arrived home from Thanksgiving in Fresno and it was December!! (Sorry no pics from Thanksgiving....I didn't take any, I need to get some from my mom and dad) Time for the Christmas tree!! We have had our Christmas tree from last year sitting in our front yard (it's a potted/live tree) so all we had to do was clean it off and bring it inside! Here are our very strong boys posing as if they carried the tree in. (But really Josh did). And because we actually use our fireplace (daily!!) we can't hang our stockings there....so they frame our big window.
The boys were so excited to put the ornaments on, and Abbey, though not very excited about it, watched us all! Our little girl is 4 months already, Wow!
And here are the kids after we finished. The lower third of the tree has many ornaments because that's about as high as the kids could reach. They love walking around the tree and talking about the ornaments. Melmo (Elmo) is Seth's favorite and Joel loves all the Disney ones. We already have a few presents wrapped (most from Nani and Papa D) to finish out the tree. We are excited for this season but already see how difficult it is to teach young minds that Christmas is about God coming in flesh to our world, the incarnation, the nativity....and that more than His birth its about His whole plan of salvation and redemption! Lord, help us to be good parents.

Soccer is over = (

2008-11-22T08:47:00.001-08:00

So soccer is over and after the last game yesterday there was an awards ceremony and all of the teams in the 4-6 year olds division got 1st place trophies. Here Seth just wanted to make a funny face for the camera.
Here's Joel with his trophy and his "player of the game" medal around his neck.

What would soccer be without a pizza party!! After the last game the whole team went to Idyllwild Pizza Co. for a party! Complete with pizza, cupcakes, silly Irish hats and awards from coach Jeremy! Thanks coach..... (In this picture is Coach Jeremy, Joseph Tiso and Breanna)

Lucas Schipper and Joel being silly at the party! Fun times had by all!! Joel got the "Great Goalie" award, he frequently asked to play goalie and did well defending. I guess there's no rest for the weary.....Josh just told me that volleyball (adult league in which Josh plays) starts the week after Thanksgiving.

Abatement...a four letter word?

2008-11-14T14:22:00.001-08:00

When you live in the mountains, there is the nasty requirement of abating your property to decrease the risk of fire. All dead pine needles and leaves need to be cleared. If you don't do it the fire department cites you so here...."abatement" is kind of like a four letter word (though I realize there are nine letters). So today we started raking in our yard. The boys helped out a great deal and Josh went to the dump two times! We could pay someone to do our abatement but decided to do it ourselves, save the money and get a little sunshine and exercise at the same time.

Joel is actually quite good at helping get the pine needles out from under the trampoline.

Joel really was a big help, here he is in one of our piles of pine needles.Abbey was there, but in all honesty, she wasn't much help =)
We got a lot of work done.....but we'll have to do some more next week.

The flour game

2008-11-14T14:18:00.001-08:00

Josh and I are blessed to lead one of the small groups for our church's high school youth program. This week we had a "fun night" since last week we ended a great study on Acts.
So.....we played the "flour game", hence all the "white" faces.
We're all a little crazy but have a good time when we are together. Thanks for the fun guys!!

Last weeks game

2008-11-10T15:40:00.001-08:00

Well I realized I haven't posted about last weeks game by the Fightin' Irish. Well we gave the killer bees a thorough "stinging" if you will. Maggie and Alia scored 3 times each and share the title of "player of the game." Joel is still enjoying soccer and wishes every day was soccer day! When we decided to sign him up we had no idea if he would like it or hate it but we wanted to try it out. We don't have "world cup" dreams for Joel yet but we are so glad he is loving soccer.....only two more weeks, which is good because it's getting mighty chilly up here at 5300 feet! It actually snowed this weekend. It didn't "stick" in town but it sure gave the top of the mountain a beautiful dusting.

Thanks Uncle Jess

2008-11-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

Josh's uncle Jess (the youngest of the four brothers) makes wooden toys as a hobby when he's not driving an ambulance in south Florida. For all of you that have never seen the family train....I'll explain. At Josh's grandparents house they have a train that Jess began making many years ago with a small train car for each family member. It sits on top of their built in entertainment center/bookcase and it is a special family heirloom of sorts. Well this week in the mail we got Abbey's train car! I love it.....it's a "cageless" butterfly cage!
He also has made "banks" for all the kids. So he made Abbey a butterfly truck that's also a bank. Maybe, just maybe if we keep putting our spare change in it we'll be able to send her to Biola for about a week when she turns 18 =) Anyway.....so this was our "shout-out" to uncle Jess....THANKS

The Irish all with Sugar hangovers

2008-11-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

somebody found the bag of pretzels.....!!

The Fighting Irish played the Jaguars today but having games the day after Halloween is just crazy! Most of the kids were tired and the Jaguars didn't have enough kids to play so they borrowed a player from our team.
While Joel was helping the Jaguars out as their goalie he made a great save and stopped his buddy Lucas from scoring a goal. Since the Jaguars didn't really have enough people to play and we had to help them out and let them borrow players....I'm not really sure if there was a "winner"

Here is my mom (Nani D) with Abbey.....I just thought this was a cute pic of her laughing! It's so fun to have someone to dress in pink!

The Parade

2008-11-01T14:30:00.001-07:00

In Idyllwild Halloween is a big event. Since we are fairly rural and we don't have sidewalks or street lights their is a long held tradition of trick-or-treating at the businesses in town. It starts on the main street and everyone starts at the top the streets are closed and everyone walks down trick or treating all the way and then in the center of town there is a carnival that supports the pta. Well Halloween was Friday and I think we about doubled the towns population at the festivities.
Here Seth is "fishing" at a cute little carnival game....he didn't want to do it until he saw Joel do it and Joel got a little basketball.....so, then he thought he would try.
The Fire Dept. sponsors the booth where you put the candles out with a squirt gun.
Here's Joel and Seth trick or treating with Nani....and look a storm trooper in the background.
Did you know that pumpkins age quickly. In only two weeks they go from cute Jack-O-Lanterns to very toothless old-man pumpkins.

Halloween Party at preschool

2008-11-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

Joel and Seth go to a home Preschool and on Halloween we went to a little party their even though it wasn't their normal day to go to school.....Aren't they cute
My mom and dad were visiting so we all went to join the festivities and hear the kids sing songs.

This is Seth, he's excited because he just "pinned the stem on the pumpkin"

And of course we brought our little pumpkin!
Here's our little Ghouls....looking so happy

Not a good day for the Irish

2008-10-25T19:26:00.001-07:00

so the "Irish" got walloped today. The score was definitely "alot to zero" we were down two players and we played to bobcats again. Payton Priefer...wow, she's good. Anyway Joel had a good game in the goal and had a great save and he got "player of the game". Here he is with his medal and tomorrow we will got to the "candy cupboard" and spend the $1.50 g.c. that he got. Way to go Joel!

Male Bonding

2008-10-20T19:50:00.001-07:00

An evening at home with nothing pressing to do.....three boys....and batman tatoo's = male bonding.

Laguna

2008-10-20T19:43:00.001-07:00

Josh and I are eternally grateful to Auntie Dawn, Auntie Justine and Auntie Beth for watching the boys for the weekend.....we took Abbey and escaped to the beach for two days. The weather was great, We took several long walks, and Abbey slept 'til 8:30 two days in a row! It was much needed "alone" time. (I did not think I would ever consider time with just a new baby as "alone" time.....but life changes things =)
We watched the sunset....of course and it was gorgeous. I know we are blessed to lived in the beauty of the mountains every day but it was so nice to smell the ocean, and feel the cool breeze and walk in the sand. The boys had a great time with their aunties and I'll try to get some of their pics from the pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins to show you all....

Surprise

2008-10-20T19:37:00.001-07:00

Well, my camera kind of went crazy because the battery was dying but I got a few pics from our surprise party!! When Josh came home last Sunday the 12th (his 30th birthday) several of our friends from Idyllwild and Orange County were here to celebrate.
Here's Gino and Hidemi Cunningham....they're so cute! Gino almost spilled the beans but unless Josh is lying he was definitely surprised.
I could not have done it without Sarah Tate!! Thanks for hiding all the food and going shopping with me and decorating my house! I didn't have a good picture of Sarah so here's her husband Josh....doing what he does best, making people laugh. thanks for a great time everyone!

Josh is 30!!

2008-10-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

In honor of my husbands 30th birthday, here are 30 great memories!
1. Decorating your dorm room door with Cheryl for your 19th birthday
2. BAB 2007 when we made you wear those silly red jumpsuits
3. You driving to Hume to visit me, even though your car caught on fire
4. Doing SOS together in 1998
5. "couples hangout" with, Chip, Tara, Scott & Becca
6. Intramural softball...."Go John Deere Green"
7. weekend trips to Fresno And Idyllwild
8. You proposing on Catalina!
9. Our wedding day when you high fived all the groomsman
10. Running out of gas on the way to Chip and Tara's wedding
11. When we looked together online and found out I passed the RN board exam
12. When Joel was born!
13. Moving to Idyllwild
14. You graduating with your masters
15. When Seth was born
16. Watching movies at the Hume Lake infirmary
17. RCP family Camp!!
18. Cruising Idyllwild when friends come up to visit
19. Writing that last check to pay off school loans
20. Hiking Half-dome and we all made it!
21. Weekends in Fresno with 8 adults and 7 kids!
22. Thanksgiving 06 when Mom and Dad Dunbar were home from San Francisco
23. November 07, our San Diego Vacation
24. Our first Thanksgiving at home - thanks for joining us Barnts family
25. Going to China
26. Camping with the Tates and Millie got sprayed by the skunk
27. When Abbey was born
28. Going to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park with friends and Family
29. Auntie Dawn, Auntie Steen, Auntie Beth and Uncle Jared coming for visits
30. Surprising you on your 30th birthday !!!!!

I love you,
Emily

The Irish's 4th game

2008-10-11T15:16:00.000-07:00

Here's the Irish warming up for their 4th game. We played the bobcats again, and the bobcats are in first place so coaches Tim and Jeremy were trying to get everyone pumped up!
Now there's one thing I can say about yesterdays game....the Irish had a good time. Wether it was headstands while playing goalie or just laying down on the field while the game is going on or running off the field during play to get some water.....the Irish had a good time.
(Didn't we all pick flowers or do summersaults when we were 4&5 playing soccer...)
The Irish are definitely improving. Joel had a nice save while playing defense and though he played goalie for awhile there were no shots on goal when he was goalie. Lucas Scipper scored a goal again and Joseph Tiso is a very competitive player....and loving it. The Fightin Irish could not control the amazing Shelby Reed who scored all 4 goals for the Bobcats and the final score was 4-2. Oh well.....they had a great time and there was popcorn for snack!. And now that its cold in Idyllwild everyone on the field and sidelines is bundled up for the games. When I was little I lived in New Jersey and was bundled up on the sidelines watching my brothers now Abbey is doing the same! Next week Joel will miss his game because he's going to be at auntie Dawn's house while Mom and Dad (and abbey) spend the weekend in Laguna!

Abbey Speaks

2008-10-08T21:09:00.001-07:00

Since we're so good at this video blogging thing we thought we'd treat everyone to a double feature so here is Abbey talking. Turn up your volume she's kind of quiet.

Seth is "2"

2008-10-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

So we decided to try some video blogging, we're advancing quickly in our blogging skills. First up is Seth being 2 and talking alot. He's busting out new words every day and so here is a sampling...

Sleep fairies

2008-10-04T10:07:00.001-07:00

So how is it that they end up sleeping like this......Sleep fairies come and move them in the night?

The Irish

2008-10-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

So This week the Fightin' Irish played the Bobcats....which is definitely the best team in the league. The Irish played great. Joseph is back from vacation and we were given another player Katelyn because Zack (who has a broken arm) had to have his arm re-casted and he can't play. Here the Irish are lining up. Our teams were well matched and early in the game the Bobcats scored a goal....
Here is Lucas getting a pep-talk from his dad Van at halftime. Lucas is a very good player but here he is upset because the Irish haven't scored yet.

Seth thinks the cones are really for playing with!

So....the results....the Bobcats win with a score of 1-0, it was a close game. But after every game the parents from both teams line up and build a human tunnel so both teams can run through after the traditional "2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate." All the kids love the tunnel, it's really fun! Friday was Maggie's birthday so she was "player of the game." Next week we play the bobcats again....no rest for the weary.

Amy and Dan tie the knot

2008-09-28T17:25:00.001-07:00

Amy Westcott and Dan Dry tied the knot last night. The wedding was beautiful, at a ranch in Garner Valley (near Idyllwild). I love weddings! Probably because I still love my groom so much ....and I love to dance. Now that I'm a parent I think about the weddings of my own kids and I hope that they will be much like this one, with two Christian people, deeply in love, looking to honor Christ with their lives.

Congratulations Beth!!! She shared her news that she and Justin are expecting their first baby May 11th!!

Amy's Dad is our pastor.....he said it's definitely a job "perk" of being a pastor to be able to officiate your own child's wedding.

auntie Dawn and Auntie Justine were in town for the wedding! So we had lots of fun with them, and thanks to "Auntie Beth" for babysitting during the wedding!!

The Fightin' Irish vs The Killer Bees

2008-09-28T17:13:00.001-07:00

So this Friday Joel had his second soccer game. Here he is.....getting ready.

Abbey is The Fightin' Irish's biggest fan!!

Joel played goalie again for awhile but the Irish did a great job of keeping the ball at the other end of the field so our goalie's didn't do too much this game. The Irish played well, again Maggie and Lucas were our aggressive players taking the ball down the field! Breanna did a great job running up and down the field and was "player of the game." Joel should run cross country because he runs up and down the field following the ball wherever it goes.

Here is Joel throwing the ball in (the ref. is our friend Josh from church). The Killer bee's just couldn't keep up with the Irish this week and we were victorious with a final score of 3 to 1 (once again Maggie scored once and Lucas twice). Next week's battle should be good I hear the Bobcats are the team to beat.

A Day at the Wild Animal Park

2008-09-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

We have an annual membership to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park and so today we used our two guest passes and took Grampa and Sweet Gramma with us. (Josh's Gramma doesn't want to be called great Gramma so they boys call her "Sweet Gramma"). So we picked them up in Hemet at 8:00 and off we went.
Now I know they are not endangered but it's still weird to watch a lion eat a WHOLE rabbit!
Joel and Seth in the Petting Zoo.....they were especially fond of the one eyed antelope.
Aren't baby elephants cute! Well.....we had an awesome day, it was a little hot for us mountain folk but oh well. Thanks for coming Grampa and Sweet Gramma!

The Fightin' Irish

2008-09-20T14:28:00.001-07:00

Joel's soccer team is The Fightin' Irish and though they have no concept of the origin of their great name they still think its funny. And all of their uniforms are way too big so it is as if they are little leprecan's in human uniforms. We were interested to see how Joel would do in his first organized sporting game ever! Being a parent is full of interesting anxieties.

So here is most of our team. Coach Tim, who is touching Lucas Schippers shoulders in the pic., Maggie with the dark hair, Breanna with the light hair, Joel in the foreground and Alia is playing goalie so she's not in this picture. We have two other players but Joseph is on vacation and Zack has a broken arm he'll start in a few weeks I think.
Now, the Jaguars had a good run on us in the first half but the fightin' irish weren't going to go down easy. I like this pic because it looks like Joel is getting pummelled by #8's ponytail. Alia and Maggie are the only two kids on our team that have played before but Lucas has the advantage of an older brother and he was great and scored 2 goals!
Now "soccer" is what we call it but you could call it "bunch ball" if you want. Really they all just chase the ball around the field. There was a classic moment in the first half, The ball was kicked out of bounds and the Irish were to throw it in. So coach Tim said "Breanna go ahead and throw it in" so she proceeded to pick up the ball run all the way to the goal and "threw it in" the goal (Ignoring all the adults yelling "stop breanna"). It was awesome!
In this league of angelic 4-6 year olds there is no official score but lets not kid ourselves all the parents are really keeping score.....so.....after a tough first half the Fightin' Irish came back and tied the score 3-3 (Maggie scored once and Lucas scored twice)! And we were a man down all game, and two down at one point because someone had to go "potty." Joel played goalie for awhile and had 3 saves! Nice work Joel. Coach Jeremy picked Lucas as "player of the game" and everyone got capri sun's and fruit snacks afterward........what a great day! Look (because I know you are all intersted) for the recap of next week's game against the Killer Bees.

In My Opinion

2008-09-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so if there is anything as a mom that I am neurotic about it's taking family pictures. People sometimes joke that we are constantly going to take new family pictures, well it is mostly true. Of course in the world of digital cameras we all take pictures all the time and can save them forever and print them out at the touch of a button but......I still like taking the time, going to JC Penney (my favorite, due to the amazing prices) and having them take our picture.
Granted I used to actually think it was "fun", as they caught the perfect smile on camera. Now with three kids its more like an endurance race, but worth it. We went down to Palm Desert yesterday to have Abbey's first portraits done, they were so cute. And of course we took some family pictures as well, though Abbey didn't really want to smile for the photographer (since we were in the picture too we couldn't really try to get her to smile ourselves) I think they turned out great. So to all of you who say you wish you took family pictures more.....I think you should too. And Chelsea at the Palm Desert Mall is great (though not as good as Juanita at the mall in Orange).

Still trying to figure out the "Big Boy" bed

2008-09-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

As you can see Seth has not mastered sleeping in a regular bed. This picture was taken last night at about 10:15pm when we went in to check on the boys before going to sleep ourselves. I'm not exactly sure how he got in this position but he was sound asleep and barely woke up when I put him back under the covers.

The Cowells

2008-09-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

The kids, L to R. Eszter, Sophia, Josiah (the twins are already 21 months!), Joel and Seth

So, Josh and I have these friends.....Brian and Ashlee. We've been friends for 10 years I think (Josh and Brian....a little longer). We both started dating at about the same time, all Biolans (of course) and have done lots of stuff together. (Remember when we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere on the way to Chip and Tara's wedding???) Anyway, they came to Idyllwild for a little visit and it was soooo good to see them. Thanks for coming guys! And to all those people who always say to me "where'd you get your diaper bag"......I usually say my friend made it for me.....well Ashlee is my very talented friend =) You should see the tu-tu she made for Abbey, it's adorable.
Now I know this post is going to show how I am still blogging stupid. I wrote my little paragraph about the Cowells and then tried to add the pictures but that pushed my words to the bottom, I really meant for them to be first. I'm still working on it!

Playing

2008-09-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

Playing trains in the living room always starts out sweet and nice with lots of choo-choo sounds and frequently ends with Seth "king kong" destroying the track and Joel "the controller" having a breakdown because king kong just destroyed his track. But usually no matter what happens in about 10 minutes they want to play together again.
Abbey on the other hand definately plays well with others......even if the "others" are strange looking lions and giraffes that hang from the little baby gym.

I am soooo cute.....don't you think so too!!

Game Night

2008-09-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

How do 6 adults with a total of 8 kids get together and play games??

Put the kids in front of the TV so they can watch talking vegetables.

We had a fun game night with our friends the Tates and the Towlers. Woo Hoo!
There's actually two more kids, but both baby girls can't sit up yet so.....they missed out on the picture.

Soccer 101

2008-09-09T22:12:00.001-07:00

Today was Joel's first day of soccer practice. Watching 4, 5, and 6 year olds practice soccer is a pretty fun pastime! He did great and coach Jeremy is patient and amazing with little kids. His daughter Alia is on the team too.
Joel said he really enjoyed it and Seth was really sad that he couldn't play.
Abbey went to Soccer practice too! She's 7 weeks old now.

Ahoy Matey

2008-09-05T13:06:00.001-07:00

Sooooo.....Joel said he wanted to play pirates with Seth. He gets out the swords and asks me to tie the bandanas on their heads.....what a fun time with brothers playing together, right? Actually two year olds and four year olds don't sword fight well, Seth ends up hitting Joel instead of Joel's sword, Joel Yells, Joel gets in trouble for yelling, pretty soon dad is a referee and everyone is crying and voila......early naptime!

I'm A Big Boy Now

2008-09-05T12:49:00.002-07:00

Well Joel had been asking to sleep on his "Top" bed for awhile, but since the beds are really two "stackable" twin beds there was no railing on the top bunk. Well we have a few extra days off this week so Josh made a beautiful rail for the top bunk on Wednesday and Joel got to sleep on the top bunk! Also for the last several days when we mention "pajamas, or bedtime" Seth has been running into their room and jumping into the bottom bunk and pretending to go to sleep so we decided he was old enough to be free from the Pack-n-play that he's been sleeping in since we kicked him out of the crib because Abbey was coming. So Seth is officially in a big boy bed. After two nights we're doing great. No one has fallen out of bed. Everyone is still excited to go to bed in their "new bed" and as far as we know Seth is not wandering around when he wakes up, he's been staying in bed until Josh comes to their room in the morning. Joel has also stopped saying that he is scared at night since he's been sharing a room with Seth. It's great. And Josh's "Honey-Do" list is a little bit shorter!

Aunties Come Visit

2008-09-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Auntie Dawn, Auntie Steen (Justine), and Auntie Beth (who isn't technically an aunt at all but we love her anyway) came to visit this weekend just for fun (and because we are so cool) Thanks for coming y'all brightened our weekend! (unfortunately you never actually see Beth...she just takes all the pictures)
Isn't Auntie Dawn's new haircut sooo cute!
Yum, shaved ice! Thanks Justine and Beth, take them for a treat at nap time them bring them back to mom and dad.......awesome! (On the left is cousin Lily, Justine's neice)

Ok....two posts, with pictures in one day, I'm a blog master!!!

Bath Time

2008-09-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

So....In the kids bathroom we have this really cute picture frame that holds three photos. And until yesterday there were three really cute pictures of Joel in the bath when he's about 2. Well we decided we should probably update the pictures now that we have 3 kids and Joel is now almost 5. So let the bath time pictures commence.....

Look at Abbey....isn't she so cute! She's already 6 weeks old! Time flies when you don't get much sleep.

I would like all of you to know that if somehow this post actually publishes....the pictures are in fact on it.....and it all looks fairly normal.....it's a miracle and my friend Sarah Tate (and my husband of course) will be very proud of me. Uploading, downloading, all that is pretty much foreign to me, but I guess I shouldn't let the world pass me by!

What have we gotten ourselves in to!!

2008-08-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

OK, so yesterday my wife sold her soul to Google and now our family has been sucked in to the world of blogging. In a way I'm kind of glad that she was the one to do it, because if I had done it, in the doghouse I'd be. I'm looking forward to being able to post pictures of the kids and what's going on with them. That's always the thing I get in trouble for, not having pictures. Being a parent of three of the most beautiful and coolest kids on the planet no body wants to hear about or see me anyways so now everyone can check in here and get their fix. So here's to posting regularly and keeping everyone out there informed about what's going on up here with the White's in Idyllwild

Selling Out

2008-08-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I'm one of those people that doesn't blog. So how did I end up creating a blog while at my friend Sarah's house? She's been telling me I should have a blog.....actually everyone tells me I should have a blog. "It's a great way to keep in touch with people...." that's what they all say. So what's the real reason I did it?
Yesterday I got an email from friend from college named Jen, and she asked me if I had a blog....and then told me her blog address.......and because all of my kids were sleeping (at the same time, woo hoo) I did. I loved seeing the pictures of her baby, and then I linked to another blog, another friend from college, cool!
Anyway we'll see how good I am at this......I still don't know how to download pictures.