Stolen My Heart

They had their first basketball game of the season this morning. Their team was on fire, winning by over 20 points!! DJ ended up passing the ball to the other team just to help them make a basket and add some more excitement to the game. They made baskets, passed the ball, and stole the ball. Then smiled at me and stole their mom's heart. 

Mine are Nine

Nine years ago today these two sweet baby boys were put in my arms.  First, DJ then AJ.  They were the cutest boys I had ever seen.  It was love at first sight.  Now they're nine! Half my time of having them is gone.  I'm not ready for them to grow up yet.

But the birthday was fun!  Grandma and Grandpa treated them to Amazing Jakes where they could play arcade games and ride rides to their nine year old hearts' content.  I even got them all out of school early to go.  Know what I put down as their reason for leaving?  "It's their birthday."  Just wait until the school finds out I did their homework for them today too.

This is my attempt at making a baseball and a football out of one mix and cupcakes.  Don't judge! I'm sure they tasted better than they looked.  

This birthday would not have been as great if it weren't for Grandma and Grandpa hooking them up.  If I were doing a month of thankfulness, like everyone else, today I would say I am thankful for grandparents...and twins.  They are both awesome!

Happy birthday boys!!  I love you!

Softball Sweetheart

Guess whose softball team is in the finals?

Not bad for her first season of ball.

A few things about Stella

She'll be 10 months in a few days. 

She's finally getting a little but if hair. Or as AJ said, "Awe, she's getting her curls."

I am remembering what moms of small children do all day.  Every. Single. Day. 

It's wonderful! I'm happy to clean up her baby messes because I'm just happy she's here with us. 

Halloween

We had: Penelope Von Sweets, a headless man with his head in a jar, a nerd, a cow girl, and a clown. I can't believe we made it through. Now on to some slowing down and being grateful time before the big holiday hits. 

Beach Gymnastics

Just a little yoga gymnastics on the beach.

The weather was perfect so I felt like a kid and had to get my energy out somehow.

Then Alexandria joined me because it was fun.

Sleep Tight Little Ones

Don't let him fool you. It's not a brotherly love thing that has him sleeping by his twin. It's more of a "I'll sleep in his bed so I don't have to make mine in the morning" kind of thing. Still cute though. 

The End of California

Goodbye Capistrano Beach!  We will miss you! Eventhough your deceivingly cool sun left its nice red touch on my legs, we still want to come back. 

Next stop...Hollywood! 

Can you tell what our movie stars are? And who told this girl she could grow up?

A Primary Song

Later that night we had fun playing on the elephant and finding crabs and fish in the shallow rocky shores. 

Then we stumbled upon a treasure, literally stumbled as we walked over rocky terrain pushing a stroller. 

Breathtaking!!

One of the advantages of being in primary is I constantly have primary songs on repeat in my mind. 

This scene reminded me of one of those songs. 

Now I am here in a beautiful place

learning the teachings of Jesus 

Parents and teachers will help guide the way

Lighting my path every day.

Wrapped in the arms of my Saviors love

I feel his gentle touch

Living each day I will follow His way

Home to my Father above

I know He lives

I will follow faithfully

My heart I give to him

I know that my Savior loves me.

Now carry on!

Does the Beach Make You Sleepy?

This was my view from my napping spot today. Relaaaxxxxxing! While my beautiful children played....

and played....

and played....

and played....

Really they played all their energy out. Then they napped. 

The beach makes me sleepy too.

From One Big Tub

This is how we got this fabulous vacation last minute. Grandma (with her amazing travel planning skills) saw that someone knew it was going to be rainy and cancelled their reservation. So thankfully, she snatched it up for us.  We love cold cloudy days even on the beach!

This is my kind of beach day.  No need to worry about shade or sunscreen.  It's all provided.

After hours of play they did finally get so cold that they chose to defrost in the giant tub in our room. 

From natures cool big wavy tub to another big bubbly tub.

The End of the World

We drove, and drove, and drove but it was all worth it when we got to the end of the world and it was waiting for us with a welcoming glow. 

Hello Capistrano Beach! I may have just fallen in love with this beach. 

If the end of the world looks anything like this I say bring it on!

Lunch Love Notes

Friday is make your own lunch day. I thought it was cute that DJ and Isabel wrote love notes to themselves and put them in their own lunches. Makes me want to write them even more lunch love notes. 

Resemblance? Mmmm...maybe

Which one of these things is not like the other?  Here we all are around 8 months ish to a year. Who looks like who? Please tell me I can at least claim one of them!