Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum with our friend Jenn and her kiddos - Jenn was Matt's assistant soccer coach for several seasons. The kids had a great time with the new exhibits and they were SOOO sweaty! They were using dinosaur eggs as footballs and running around like crazy. I just thought - hey, burning calories! Just don't run over any little kids...

The water fun at the end probably felt great after being so hot!

Ears Pierced!

As part of Summer Bingo, Claire chose getting her ears pierced as her grand prize. I had to wait until I was 12 to get my ears pierced, which felt like an eternity! I guess letting her get them pierced much younger is a reward to my younger self...

Claire was ready for it, and she is taking good care of her ears. She was a champ at getting them done too! We went to Claire's - which I thought was appropriate. Man, ear piercing is much more expensive than I remember. Summer Bingo prize plus early b-day present, is more like it.

I'm not sure why these videos keep having a glitch on the left - must be a problem with Vimeo. Anyway, you can get the picture. I figured if I filmed her, she'd be even more brave :)

Ears pierced! from Shannon Hiller on Vimeo.

Back to School! Third and First Grade

No tears, no problems, it's great to be at a school two years in a row! The kids did great and were excited to go back to school!  The only one who wasn't excited was Penelope - she said, "I want my kids to come back home!" She loves those two and got used to being with them all summer.

Miles Turns 6!

This boys looks forward to his birthday for 355 days a year - asking me constantly how many days til the big day. Isn't he handsome? He loves his little brother so much and always asks to hold him. He is still very generous and a great sharer, often giving his candy, treats or money to someone else who doesn't have any. If Claire or Penelope get in trouble, Miles is their advocate, always pleading on their behalf so they avoid timeout or worse... He doesn't like to see them sad.

This year was a Transformers birthday- he had them on his cake and he got several as gifts. Now to teach his parents how to transform them... ugh. They are so complicated!

I asked Miles a few questions about what he likes as a 6 year old:

Favorite food? Nachos

Favorite color? Red and blue - tie

Favorite sport? Baseball

Favorite TV show? Sponge Bob

Favorite movie? Big Hero 6

What are you going to be when you grow up? Go on a mission and then be a scientist.

Who do you like to play with? Ishmael and Claire and Penelope

What does your mom tell you all the time? Clean! and go brush your teeth! 

What are you afraid of? Nothing. Just kidding. My greatest fear is being stung by a bee and being left behind accidentally. 

What is your favorite treat? Jolly Ranchers

Whatis your favorite restaurant? Cafe Rio

Where would you go on a date night with mom or dad? The Dollar Store

Grandma Ray Memories

When I was home recently, I saw so many things that reminded me of Grandma Ray - I took a few photos of her old photos, and the infamous ten million dollar check that she wrote to Matty for his birthday one year.

The Day Becky Baird Got Married - Or the Best Day EVER!

The Power Squad reunited for one of my favorite events possibly EVER - Becky Baird got married to Tom Dolan on August 4th in the Oakland Temple. We were ever so excited to be there with her in the temple as they were sealed. We started the trip with a fun dinner in the park the night before the wedding where Matt and I met Tom for the first time. We were also given name tags with hashtags to describe who we were - they were awesome and completely Becky Baird, who has the most creative hashtags of all time. Mine was #bestroommate and Matt's was #stoleshannon.  Becky met Henry for the first time - I can't wait to be the Aunt Shannon to one of her little munchkins! 

The sealing was memorable to me for a few reasons - one, the sealer mentioned that people who have passed on were aware of this day, and were even present. We all immediately thought of Becky's mom.  The second thing that stood out to me was how Tom's eyes never left Becky's face - she had her back to us, so we could see Tom best.  I can't wait to get to know Tom better, but I can tell one thing from that look on his face in the temple - he is ALL in and loves our Becky Baird.

Since we are from Vegas, the photographer rightly assumed we were a sassy bunch, and told us to put our hands on our hips

The reception was epic - instead of a traditional reception, Becky asked for a "dinner and a show," inspired by Oh Judy the Musical, the show we performed for her birthday one year with songs and skits dedicated to Becky.  So I can only blame myself when she asked about ten of her friends to put on a number, anything we wanted, for the reception.

 Our friends Ken and Katie Craig were the emcees and they were absolutely hilarious - complete with outfit changes after each number.

We all found it significant that we were at table 10 - a perfect 10! And that we had our "friends" Coke can placed just right for this photo at the reception, held in the Vacaville Opera House.

Jen Wagner and I made up a parody about Becky, set to songs from Wicked, the musical we all saw together on a trip to New York. We took parts from five songs and spliced them together.  Then, we all sent photos to our friend Marcie who created a slideshow to go along with the words. I have never been more intimated in all my life to get up on stage - we were performing alongside people who were TRAINED in theatre and the performing arts... but with love in our hearts for Becky, we tried our very best. I think it turned out just great! I will try to add the lyrics and the slideshow sometime soon -and we hope to see the wedding reception video sometime soon too! All of the songs were so great - some funny and some serious but all dedicated to Becky. That girl has some seriously loyal friends, which shows just how much we all love her!

That time I totally cut off Tom so I could stand next to Becky...

Hopefully we will have even more pictures soon once we get them from Becky - Hint hint!

Wet N Wild

We just live too far way from Wet N Wild to get season passes, but we got to go with Charlie and Genevieve this summer - well, I should say Claire, Miles and Matt went. Water parks with a newborn aren't on the top of my to-do list right now... and Claire and Miles would have more fun running around to the big rides than staying close to me in the kiddie area.

Matt said they went on so many rides, over and over again, even though their cousin was happier in the lazy river or beach area (which explains why she isn't in any of the pictures).

These kids are daredevils!

In and Out - Literally!

We got back into town from our CA trip late Thursday night, and the next morning Becky and her family were leaving Las Vegas after a short visit for Dan's UNLV orientation. We had to see them before they went back to Cedar City so we had a quick lunch at In and Out on their way out of town. It's always good to see them - if only for an hour and a half! 

Cousin Time

I wish I could have recorded some of the conversations between Penelope and Beau... they were adorable. I think in this photo, Penelope is checking to see how soft Beau's eyebrows are, a much desired trait in her book. Both Matt and I don't pass her test.

We met for dinner at Chick Fil A on our way up to Placerville, and then got to hang out on Sunday for an early bday celebration for Erick. And a bonus visit at a fun splash park in El Dorado Hills.

Mom, Can We Move to California?

I heard that a lot this week as we visited May and Grandpa. The kids had a great time and spent time with their cousins. Plus, they got out in nature... sometimes we forget about nature, living in the desert in the summer. Just the fact that we got to be OUTSIDE in AUGUST without sweating was pretty amazing.

We were attending Becky Baird's wedding at the Oakland Temple, so we made a week of it and went to Placerville first.  My mom and dad watched the three older kids for two nights while Matt, Henry and I went to the wedding and reception. Swimming, fishing, movies, dogs, chickens, ... they didn't even miss us!