Tuesday, July 24, 2007

hangin' @ the lake

our first day with g'ma & g'pa we went golfing. isaac had a good time getting to play parts of each hole. lauryn would get out of the golf cart every now & then to hit with her little plastic golf set. when she'd hit the ball, she'd drop her clubs & run the "bases" ~ that is how you play golfbaseball.



on sunday we relaxed & had a tea party up in the loft.



on monday we braved the 100 degree heat & headed to the lake to play in the water & on the beach.




on a hot, hot day in july...

...the kids & i arrived in north dakota for our summer vacation. if i thought we were going to escape the heat of vegas, i was mistaken, 'cause it's been HOT here too! once the plane landed in bismarck we still had about a 4 hour drive to get to the lake. g'pa (my dad) was waiting & waiting for us, along with my aunt & uncle, to get to the lake. we made a few stops on the way first:
1. can't pass up a good deal at kohl's :) before we leave bismarck
2. gotta get body fuel at mickey d's
3. need real fuel for the long drive
4. countless stops along the way for isaac's small bladder
5. the house in williston to check on a few things
....dennis claims we were torturing g'pa by not getting to the lake sooner.
when we finally got there at 8:30 that evening my dad was brought to his knees by the sweetness that is lauryn ~

Thursday, July 19, 2007

we are leaving for our trip north to visit our families & don't know how often i'll be able to blog. i will try to post a few entries while we are gone, we'll see if i can get any photos posted. :)

here are the rest of the photos from our trip to cali this past wkend. enjoy!

disneyland july '07

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

tennis


today was isaac's last day of tennis lessons. the first lesson that isaac had we were pleasantly surprised to discover that his friend malaya (in the hat) was also in the class. it was a 5 week session, with lessons on wed. mornings. isaac loved it because he loves sports, has a bundle of energy to spend, has friends in the class, & (as he states) gets "bored" during the day. he thinks we should have something planned everyday, whether that means we leave the house for an activity or have friends over. sometimes we need a break from all of that is what i say.......
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"kibbles & bits"

don't you wish that sometimes you could put your kids in a kennel like this? just kidding.....or am i? :)
well, this wasn't my doing. we were visiting our friend jerolyn & her girls yesterday & hanging out at the pool. when i looked over to check on ellie & lauryn (aka "kibbles & bits") this is how i found them. they were getting a kick out of it! they sure are the cutest puppies i've ever seen!
p.s. if you want to see more pictures from our day at jerolyn's, click on her blog link & check out her post.

Monday, July 16, 2007

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!




saturday and sunday we spent at disneyland, supposedly the happiest place on earth! well, we all started out that way when we got there, but by the end of the second day we were so ready to come home. as we got on the tram to go to the parking garage, the girl next to us was crying her head off. it didn't bother me because i was just so thankful that it wasn't one of ours. :) actually, isaac & lauryn did rather well considering they didn't have regular sleeping or napping hours & conditions.

SATURDAY:

we went early knowing that we'd have to leave in the early afternoon hours for dennis to get back for boxing. first ride up was "pirates of the caribbean" which neither of the kids enjoyed. my first thought was "great, now we'll never get them to go on any other ride!" but lucky for us, they were just fine. dennis & isaac took a spin on "thunder mountain railroad" which isaac loved! then it was off to fantasy land for awhile. after a few more rides & attractions it was time to head back to the hotel for the day.

SUNDAY:

again we arrived early, thinking we'd be ready to leave for vegas by early afternoon.........but we were cursed. seriously! dennis & isaac headed to "space mountain" before the line was too long, but, as luck would have it, they had to leave their space in line when isaac needed a restroom break. lauryn & i decided to go through "it's a small world" before she & i got in line at the "matterhorn" to save a spot for isaac & me while d. & i. were on their ride. after l. & i got up to the turnstiles of the ride, we had to step away since d. & i. were nowhere to be seen. i finally got a hold of d. on his cell & THEY WERE STUCK IN SPACE MOUNTAIN! they had gone about 3/4 of the way on the ride when it stopped & they had to get off. after finding us at the "matterhorn" & trading kids, isaac & i went through the rest of the line & just as we were to get on the bobsled, they told us the ride would be SHUT DOWN FOR 15-20 MINUTES! so we waited in the unforgiving sun until we got on the ride. later that day at mickey's toontown, we were standing in line for 15 min. already & it was announced the ride would be SHUT DOWN FOR 15-20 MINUTES! by that time we'd had it & turned to leave the line. despite all of the bad luck we encountered, we loved it & thought it was great, even with the kids being as young as they are. we look forward to the time we can go again.

check out our lil' mouseketeers!
oh......toodles!

beach bums

friday morning we left the heat of las vegas to head to california for the weekend. dennis had an hbo fight to work at on saturday night, so thanks to hbo we had a room at the marriott in manhattan beach. we took off for the beach for some fun in the sun.

the boys were busy playing catch. isaac wasn't afraid of the water at all.....he took every opportunity to fall down in it.


lauryn & i stayed on the sand......she wanted nothing to do with the water.

after a few hours on the beach we went back to the hotel, cleaned up, & went out to eat. unfortunately, we should have just stayed in the hotel & ordered in food. the kids were tired & lauryn was full of attitude while at the restaurant. it ended up being a late night for them, knowing we were getting up early the next morning to head to the happiest place on earth....

Thursday, July 12, 2007

camp pebbles

i neglected to write about isaac's week in june at day camp at our church. the camp was called "camp pebbles" & isaac attended full days for one week. it was for children from ages 2-5. isaac had a great week filled with many activities. there were bible stories & lessons, music, arts & crafts, free play, lunch, snack, & short resting period. he had friends he already knew to play with & met new ones also. he will miss vacation bible school because it is during the time we go to north dakota. maybe next year.....

sleeping beauty



isn't it funny how kids can sleep in pretty much any position or condition? this is how we found lauryn one night when we were making the nightly rounds of checking on the kids. many times we find lauryn with her blanket over her face. when we found her feet sticking out like above, one of us went in search of the camera. :)

Tuesday, July 10, 2007


on dennis' latest trip for hbo (via compubox) he went to cologne, germany. he had some time to explore the city which is situated on the rhein river. he enjoyed sampling the local beer at some brauhauses, along with eating sausage & potato salad. here are some pictures of the cathedral in cologne. he marveled at the architecture of the landmark that is the largest cathedral in germany.

aren't these chalk drawings amazing?



here is ukrainian wladimir klitschko, the ibf/ibo heavweight champ. he retained his title against american lamon brewster, the fight dennis worked at in cologne on saturday, whom he lost to a few years ago. his brother, vitali, is to the left of him. both brothers are heavyweight fighters & have their ph.d.'s.


Friday, July 6, 2007

isaac can swim!

yesterday swimming just seemed to finally click with isaac. yay!! a few weeks ago i purchased each of the kids one of those outfits with the floatation devices built right in to them. at first, isaac was still very cautious, needing either dennis or me close by at all times. he didn't want to try swimming without holding on to us. last weekend i bribed him with a few dollars & got him to swim the width of the pool. that took a lot of coaxing. then yesterday, all of a sudden he's a fish! he would take off by himself & even swim the entire length of the pool on his own ~ treading water when he felt like it & turning to go a different direction. yippee!! i now can take both kids in the pool by myself. :) we are so proud of you isaac!

Thursday, July 5, 2007

'mingo ~ mango???

isaac ~ mom, can i have a drink

jen ~ sure isaac

i ~ thanks mom, what is it

j ~ it's gatorade

i ~ mmmm.....what kind of gatorade is it

j ~ it's mango

i ~ dad!!!!! mom got me flamingo gatorade

daddy-o


this photo is from last october when lauryn was 11 mo. old & isaac was just 3 1/2. thought i'd share this with you today because dennis is gone for boxing right now & his kids miss him lots (me too!). the worst part of the day is from 5:00-5:30 because that is when we usually hear the garage door opening, signaling that daddy is home. the kids hear that & take off for the kitchen screaming "daddy, daddy" with hugs & kisses to follow. it brightens up our day. we are looking forward to 7 pm sunday evening when we get to go to the airport & pick him up & make our family complete once more!
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Monday, July 2, 2007

4th of july




THE FOURTH



oh



CRASH!



my



BASH!



it's



BANG!



the



ZANG!



Fourth



WHOOSH!



of



BAROOOM!



July



WHEW!



by shel silverstein
isaac enjoying the lil' fireworks we did at home.

laur isn't so impressed.....although she doesn't cry, she hangs on for dear life with a slight quiver moving through her body.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!

maxin' & relaxin'

most of you know our dog maxie. she used to rule the roost.....then those shrieking lil' varmints came along. she has always been a sweet, mild natured dog but has always been a bit nervous. now that the house has been taken over by miniature sized hooligans, maxie pretty much follows me around the house from room to room, consistently under foot. poor thing hardly gets to go on walks anymore, so it was nice to see her in the back yard with us one day, just hanging out & relaxing.
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one nation under god

yesterday at church i sang with the choir in our annual 4th of july celebration honoring our armed forces and the freedom we all have in our wonderful nation. we performed for 2 of the morning services after rehearsing for a month. like my mom, i tend to get choked up when a song touches me. one song in particular (mansions of our lord) is about our broken soldiers being sent to live in the mansions of our lord. this is the song i thought i would tear up on during the services. but no! i bawled during the "salute to the armed forces" when members of the congregation stood during the song that saluted their branch. talk about emotional! as i looked out over the crowd, you could feel the genuineness that everyone had for the military presence among us. i also thought of my aunt karen whose husband steve is in iraq right now as she is left at home with their 3 terrific kids & how hard that is on all of them. it is because of these great service men & women that we can worship when, how, & where we want. what a blessing to live in the greatest country in the world!

Sunday, July 1, 2007

big brother


dennis & i joined big brother big sister more than 6 years ago & were matched up with william, seen in the picture with dennis. he's been our little since the age of 8. this coming fall he'll be starting high school. last night we had the opportunity to take william to danny gans at the mirage. we had a great time, although many of the impersonations william didn't know. sad to say dennis & i knew every single impression. guess we're getting older. my personal favorites of the concert were the johnny carson bit, dean martin, & the 12 months (yes, months) of christmas. funny stuff! william was such a gentleman & we enjoyed his company.

zeke & lolo


here's my boy taking a nap.....you know, those things that kids REFUSE to take & adults WISH they could take on a daily basis? in fact, dennis & i were able to catch a few winks on the couch this afternoon while lauryn herself was napping. only problem was that the 30 minutes of sleep we got were in 5 minute increments since the OTHER child kept coming out of his room to talk.


i thought lolo was eating her yogurt......this is what i found a few minutes later when i went to check on her. i say what a waste of some yummy key lime pie yogurt. guess i'll just have to lick it all up! :) by the way, dennis' sister rissa (who used to live in hawaii & whose husband is hawaiian) told us that lolo in hawaiian means crazy/wild. how appropriate!