TOP TEN EXCUSES WHY WE HAVEN'T BEEN BLOGGING

Well we haven't fallen off the face of the earth but maybe close to it. Let's just say we have been busy with stuff. The problem is we are not sure what kind of stuff we have been busy with!

Just a little update on our lives:

Excuse #1 Brian was recently called to teach seminary so the blog has not been updated since August and Brian is the one who uploads all the photos. He is used to waking up at 8:00am for work and now has to wake up at 5:30 am every morning and teach 15 juniors and seniors the new testament, which is quite exhausting. Needless to say he is learning a lot and preparing lessons each night for the next day. So blogging has been put on the back burner.

Excuse #2 Brian is looking for another JOB!!

Excuse # 3 Aubrey has been getting MRI after MRI. First on her left knee then the right one and now on her left hip again. For those who don't know, Aubrey had hip surgery in 2005. She underwent a greater trochanteric osteotomy with anterior dislocation to repair an anterior and superior labral tear. So for those not interested in the all this medical jargon, she had her femur bone cut and her hip dislocated then had two cartilage tears repaired in her hip. It was then put back in place and two screws were used to attach the bone back on the femur.

This was supposedly going to fix the hip pain she was having but the pain seems to be returning. The left knee recently showed a 60% medial meniscus tear, so on Friday Sept 26th she had a left knee arthroscopy to remove the shredded meniscus.

Excuse #4 Aubrey has now become a Pampered Chef consultant and wants to buy everything in the catalog. That is for another post altogether. http://www.pamperedchedf.biz/aubreysplace

PARTY ANYONE??? (We really need the money) Please I am begging you (Brian)

Excuse #5 Emersyn is driving us crazy all she does is grunt and eat everything in sight.

Excuse #6 Ella started preschool is is making up stories at school.

Here is one example: Ella told her teacher that she went to the fair and won a sparkly teddy bear. The teacher asked her if she would like to bring it to show the class and Ella said," Oh no my mommy won't allow me to bring it." Well at meet the teacher night Aubrey was talking with the teacher and this story came up . First Ella did not go to the fair, second there is no teddy bear, and third our child might be a pathological liar.

Excuse #7 Aubrey is now an official taxi driver taking Ella to school, dance, and gymnastics while lugging Emersyn along for the ride.

Excuse #8 Aubrey is busy thinking about what meal she is going to cook next. While in bed at night instead of doing what couples should be doing in bed (hint, hint to all the women), she is thinking about recipes. (boring!!)

Excuse #9 Aubrey is still trying to make bows and has a convention at the Disneyland hotel in October. (I really wish she could have bows made in China so I don't have to see another spool of ribbon again. While I am wishing, I wish they would find a buyer for those bows so they could be in stores across America and then I could retire and just live the life of Riley)

Excuse #10 We are just lazy and haven't wanted to update the blog!!

So there you have it, an almost complete update of our lives. Stay tuned. Please check back we'll post photos soon.

They say, "It's The Greatest Show On Earth"

Nothing like a circus hat while you eat cotton candy and stale popcorn.  That's right (stale popcorn).  I think the popcorn was from the last show they performed a week ago.  Other than popcorn that tasted like cardboard we all had a wonderful time.  

The highlight of the day was when the elephants came out to perform.  A couple of them must of had IBS because the crews were constantly scooping poop!  Everybody thought it was pretty funny.

One digital camera for pictures- $250

Disneyland passes for 3 kids-$807

Three 4 yr old cousins only six weeks apart and best friends - Priceless

Tempan Dinner

The famous VOLCANO! Aunt Kristin and Aunt Krissy were the Sioux Chefs. When you are cooking for 16 people you need at least 2 Sioux chefs.

We begged Uncle Mike to cook "tempan style" for us as our last meal together before they went back to AZ. It was so delicious. He went all out. We had soup, salad, fried rice, veggies, shrimp, chicken and fillet Mignon( Oh, and Grandpa got scallops too). All of the little cousins (Pico, Switzer and Brinegar) had a front row seat and enjoyed the show. Uncle Mike can do all the tricks; spinning the egg, tossing shrimp into the kids mouths and the volcano. Check out the flames on that volcano! Thank you Uncle Mike for such a yummy dinner!

The cousins posing before a great Tempan dinner prepared by Chef Switzer.

Ashley, Noah, Ella, Isabelle, Charlie, Aubrey, and Annie.

            

Hannah Montana Mania

Our vacation with the cousins would not be complete without a Hannah Montana concert.  We recorded Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert and made it an evening. The girls went crazy dancing to every song performed.  You would have thought they were actually at the concert. Here is a glimpse of what took place for an hour and a half.

Spending time at Newport Beach

Noah, Ella and Sophie having fun collecting sand crabs at Laguna Beach.
It was overcast so we thought we would take the kids to the tide pools and then head over to Fashion Island to do some shopping. Just as we got to the tide pools the clouds cleared and we ended up staying at the beach the rest of the afternoon. We had no sunscreen and no towels.To say the least, we were very ill prepared (Mom in her capri pants),but we had so much fun.
Uncle Mike and Ella playing in the sand.
                                                 Emersyn wadding in the tide pools.


Emersyn eating one of her favorite foods, Tillamook cheese!
Noah and Ella boogie boarding.

Little Emersyn

Emersyn at her best.  Always happy when she is eating.

Great Grandparents

We took a trip to Sun City, AZ to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Brinegar for their 92nd birthday and to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary.  We had a great time and loved spending time with family.

Emersyn Walking

Emersyn began walking on July 5th and loves the new experience. It's the moments like this that keep you from killing your kids when they are not so adorable!

Let's Hear it for the Red, White and Blue!

Ella watching fireworks with her cousins Tucker and Chandler. 
                       The whole Jackson five (Plus Baby Corbin on the way in August!)
                                                  Fireworks in our front yard.
Too bad this is our last year for fireworks in our neighborhood. Let me tell you, it was quite the show.
Emersyn LOVED watching the fireworks. She was laughing and "signing" for more.

Yammy's Birthday

We celebrated Grandma Linda's (aka Yammy Linda) birthday by making her favorite dessert, a triple chocolate mousse cake. Was it ever good! We all had an enjoyable evening. The kids love spending time with Yammy. Happy Birthday Yammy! We love you.

Our "Little Puppy" Turns 1

When Emersyn gets excited she makes a panting sound like a puppy. Therefore, in keeping with the tradition of having the girls first birthday parties be in the theme of their nickname we decided to do a poodle party. 


I decided on Friday afternoon to throw the birthday party on Sunday. We had family in town and so why not? I ran around like  a crazy lady putting together the party. I guess I only had to stress for a day and a half instead of a few weeks.
I always seem to get these wild hairs to try something new when I am throwing a party. It was so fun to try out a "color flow" with royal icing to make the candied poodle as the cake topper. I also got to experiment with fondant while making the paw prints. 
Big Sister Ella introducing sugar to Emersyn. As you can tell from the picture she doesn't quite have the hang of it yet. 

AHH, Now we're talkn'! Taking right after Mom and her sweet teeth.
Emersyn could not get enough. We tried to take the cake away after she had it for about 15 minutes, but she threw a major fit. Since it was her birthday we gave it back to her.
Happy Birthday Little One! We love you and are so glad you've joined our family.

Ella and Emersyn

While looking though our pictures we noticed that we took photos of both the girls in the sink at Grandma and Grandpa's house after their first birthday party. Both girls had their first birthday at Grandma and Grandpa's house and after eating their cake they both took a bath in the kitchen sink to get cleaned up. Ella is on top and Emersyn is on bottom. It is so much fun seeing pictures of the girls at the same age.  I must say they look like sisters.

Happiest Place On Earth

What Buds- Ella and Noah
Watching the fireworks with our cousins the Switzers and Aunt Madison.
Ella and Noah are partners in crime. These two 4 year olds get a long so well. They love to dig in the dirt, collect bugs and even tie up Grandpa's sprinkler with twine so they can repel up the hill. It is amazing how well they get along.
M-I- C ,  K-E-Y , M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse!

Emersyn's Feeding Frenzy

I left Emersyn for 30 seconds as I walked into the garage to grab something for Ella. This is what I found when I returned. The little Miss had leaned way over the table to help herself to the sweet potatoes. I didn't know that orange would make such a nice mascara color.