The Seal Steals the Show!

We arrived at the beach today to a fun sight!! There was a seal basking in the sun! At first we thought it was dead! But then we realized it was just relaxing on the beach! The lifeguards had put up 'caution' tape so that no one would get too close! It attracted a lot of attention--from Emerie especially but also from everyone walking by!

While the other kids were boogie boarding and body surfing Emerie sat with me and buried herself in the sand! She is such a beach bum! :)

Emerie turns 6!!

I can't believe she is 6 years old! She starts first grade next week!! She has been so fun these last few years with her very unique personality!!

We pulled out all the stops for Emerie this year! Grandma got a princess pinata, tablecloth, bubbles, bracelets, princess hat, princess boa, crepe paper, etc. to celebrate Emerie's birthday!! Knowing we were going to be in California for her birthday we wanted to make sure she felt special for her special day!!



Emerie was antsy when she woke up on her birthday!! The only thing we hadn't gotten was the cake! I let her pick out whichever one she wanted!! She chose the one with the giant balloons! Then she insisted on getting the big candle with the number '6' on it!!






The pinata was so cute!! It was a giant pink tiara! They almost didn't want to break it!!



The kids loved doing the bubbles outside!! It kept them busy for a long time!




Payton loved the Hannah Montana microphone/headset! I know the video is sideways--I don't know how to turn it--but it was so dang cute!! She will be our future karaoke star!! ;)

Later that day we did the beach trip--again!! The kids sure love the beach!! Emerie actually turned to me at the beach and said, "This was the best birthday ever!!" I love that Emerie!! :)



Here are my little 'beach bums'!! Payton loves to watch and do everything Emerie does!! They both love chasing the seagulls! :)

CA Trip Day 3: Reptile Zoo (NOT for the faint of heart!)

We went to the Reptile Zoo today! What an experience!! There were cages galore full of snakes, geckos, lizards, frogs, turtles and more!! The kids loved it! They were a little scared of a few of these exhibits, ie the 20-25 foot long boa constrictor and the tarantulas!!

One of the fun things they got to do was to feed the turtles and the fish LIVE worms!!

Taylor is loving feeding the turtles and fish!!

Chloe and Emerie taking their turn! (Emerie actually jumped!!)

Payton was scared at first but then got into it and had fun!

Chloe was also scared at first but finally joined in on feeding the turtles and fish!!

CA Trip Day: 2 The Beach! (Yes, Again!!)

More time at the beach!! The waves were a little stronger today but that made the boogie boarders have a great time!!!

Emerie and Chloe have become little buddies on this trip! They play really well together and just love 'running' from the waves!!

Olympic Gold Dream Over!

If you haven't already heard Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal lost their match to the Brazil team on Monday night! They had a hard draw in the Quarter Finals having to play the Gold Medal winners from the Olympic Games four years ago! They played hard but just couldn't pull it out! We are so proud they made it this far!!
GO USA!!

Here is a fun picture of all the Gibb's! (My sister Alli is the 4th one from the left and her husband is 2nd from the left.)

I guess we will have to start cheering for the 'other' US team of Dalhausser and Rogers!!

CA Trip Day:1 The Beach!!

Road trip here we come!! It only took us a little more than 4 hours to drive from Las Vegas to Huntington Beach, California!! Good 'ol Tom Tom was well worth the money last Christmas (product plug)!! It told me exactly which exit, how many miles left, and how many hours left to go all along the way!! Priceless!!

Of course, we pull into the driveway and the first thing the girls say is "when are we going to the beach?" So we decided to go for a short visit to the beach to relax and release some pent up energy (from being stuck in the car for over 4 hours)! It was so fun!

The kids bodysurfed, looked for sea shells, and boogie boarded!





Then they found these big gigantic holes in the sand and played in them!






Chan actually jumped--and cleared--the hole!

Chandler and Taylor making the hole a little bigger!

Maddie and Mekall decided to bury themselves just before we left the beach! They had a hard time getting themselves out!

Gibb/Rosenthal Make it to the QuarterFinals!!!

Is this the funnest picture or what!!?? This was from the game they played--and WON--against Japan!!

Here are some of the Gibb/Rosenthal fans!! It is Jake's brothers and sisters and Jake's wife, Jane! Alli is behind one of the flags with a white wig on!! John (Alli's husband is the one in the blue wig!)

Gibb/Rosenthal beat Spain on Saturday! The FIVB site no longer lets me download the pictures but I will keep trying!! It was an intense game!! I decided to watch it first hand--without looking online to see if they won first!! It was tempting because by the time it is broadcast in the US it has been several hours since they actually played!! But Kerby and I held out not looking online first and watched it not knowing if they would be able to continue on or not! It is now single elimination!! GO USA!! Go Gibb/Rosenthal!!

Comment on their win

Thought you might like this...

Exclusive Summer Olympics news & widgets at NBC Olympics.com!

Gibb/Rosenthal Win 2nd Game!!

Jake and Sean won their 2nd game! They played the Germans and won in 2 sets!! They are doing great! We watched the match this morning at 10am! It showed his wife Jane several times and we hoped they would pan out and get more of the family in the camera view! (Seeing as their is 11 people in their group we hoped they would get some of them!!) Maybe as they get farther they will get more of the family in the audience! Good Luck Gibb/Rosenthal!!


They play Japan next on Thursday!!

GO USA!!

Reese Family Visits Las Vegas!!

Fred had some work stuff to do in Vegas so Elisa and the kids joined him! They got here Friday night so we got together Saturday and the kids swam!! They had a lot of fun and were excited to see each other!!

Then they came to church with us on Sunday and stayed after for hamburgers! Kerby barbecued and the kids hung out!




On Tuesday they invited us to hang out at the pool at Mandalay Bay!! It is such a nice, fun pool that the kids didn't want to go home when it was time!! It has a wave pool, a lazy river, and sand where the lawn chairs are! It was so fun!!



I tried to get the kids body surfing in the wave pool:



Here is Madison, Taylor and Sophie body surfing!!


Payton would run away when the wave came!! :)




The kiddie area just got a little of the residual wave--just enough for little kids!
Here is Emerie, Sydney and Sean.