The Dunkley Fam

2 YEARS OLD....

2011-09-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

Today!!!!

I get to celebrate her birthday and the fact that my blog is finally all caught up, Yeah!!!!

My little artist. This was done with nail polish and on Daddy's watch...I am just saying.

She shares her birthday with my Mommy who is an amazing artist so I should not really be surprised.

We got together at the park to celebrate her big day.

Oh my sweet Shea, we love you so much and are so glad you surprised us.

It is so fun to see the older kids with her because they think she is the cutest thing ever. I promised them that they were all cute like her once and they just cannot wrap their heads around that fact.....you were kiddos :) time just flies bye too fast.

BRACE FACE...

2011-09-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

doesn't she fit the part perfect. :)

I think she is still so cute.

2 months down....18 to go.

1st DAY...

2011-09-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

Before we knew it our Super Summer came to an end.

We are looking forward to a great school year.

This picture is missing someone.. :(

It was cool for us that Grandma and Grandpa were in town to make the first day awesome. Thank You!!!

UTAH...

2011-09-28T13:57:00.000-07:00

We ended our summer with a trip to Utah with Joe's Folks and Michelle. We had not been in 7 years....way too long. We stayed in Snowbird which is so beautiful and we had such a great time. On vacations I tend to be a person that likes to go, go, go. Joe mentioned that he would like to relax a little on this trip as well...whatever. Well his wish came true when I got slammed with a nasty cold that put me down for 3 days :( at the very end of our trip. The result was everyone got what they wanted and had a fabulous time.

This little thing already loves to travel. She pulled this through the

entire hotel all by herself and I think every person

we passed had to make a comment on how cute she is.

BYU

Can you tell we just spent the last 5 hours in the car.

Ahhh Snowbird.

The first day we were there we bought the activity pass which let us do all the fun activities there are to do up there. Zip lining, alpine slide, rock climbing, mechanical bull, ropes course, trampoline bungie and a few more things. It was such a blast!!!!

Of course we spent a day in Salt Lake. It was wonderful!!!

The new Tabernacle is so incredibly huge and beautiful.

We went to Thanksgiving point.

We finished the trip hanging out in snowbird. The kids did lots of exploring and swimming and we were able to catch up with some close friends.

It was a great way to end our last week of summer!!!

LITTLE SURFER BOY....

2011-09-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

So after seeing how excited Josh was to be out in the ocean boogie boarding, Joe was ready to take his boy out to do some real surfing.

Josh already loves it as much as his Daddy. Joe is loving that he asked him all summer long if we would be surfing that day.

He also has a little surfer girl but she seems to have bad luck each time she goes out.

Playing on the beach with Joe's BFF from high school and their family.

These two have more personality and spunk than any other kid you will ever meet. Watch out world.

I even went out surfing for the first time ever. It is easy to see why he is hooked, it is so much fun and I am going to go again and maybe even get brave enough to post a picture of it.

SURFS UP!!!

OH SUMMER PLEASE NEVER END...

2011-09-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

Our summer days were filled with trips to the beach, beach club and pool. We took evening walks on the lake and golf course and went out to eat something icey and yummy often. We took slow mornings and went on plenty of adventures. Here are some pics of a few of the bigger things we experienced.

The OC Fair of course!

Turns out that Anika is not the only super Hula Hooper around here....welcome to your competition dear.

The wax hands. She had to have these. They are cute.

In our house they lasted 30 days. Save your money.

We took a a super fun trip to Lego Land because we were with our families super fun BFF'S.

I was so busy either having fun or losing children this day that I did not take as many pictures as I should have.

We are not competitive with each other at all :) See how I am winning :)

This Octopus was so cool.

A day to play in L.A. one of my favorite things to do.

So I have wanted to go see a movie at the El Capitan for a long time. It was so much fun, and again with our BFF's along I knew it would be great!.

Movie time.

They have this organist playing before hand. The theater is so beautiful.

You not only got to see the movie you got to go to the experience.

Bryce loves Finn.

This was so fun and the best work out ever.

We finished our day with Tito's Taco's, Diddy Reece and the L.A. Temple.

A perfect Summer Day!!!

SUMMER...

2011-09-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

went by faster than any other in recent memory. This was the first summer in 11 years where I was not dealing with an infant or being pregnant...it was soooo nice and made it easy to play. Both Anika and Taryn were able to go visit my parents in Minnesota each at a different times so they will be missing from certain pictures.

Well lets start with the 4th of July.

This little community parade we attend is always a great way to celebrate the holiday.

So I went to 4th of July at the beach only 1 time in my life and made a promise to myself that I would never ever do that again. Well that is true unless you are invited to Monarch. It was an amazing event...one of my most favorite 4ths ever. Easy to park....a huge deal, and as an added bonus we got to hang out with

fun friends and eat amazing food.

What a bonus it was to have so many of Anika's BFFs there.

Now this will be a summer never to forget for Josh. He was one with the ocean and it started this day. He got on that boogie board and never got off. It was magical for Joe to see his boy fall in love with the ocean. I always dreamed he would find that magic on a football field but what can I say. I married a surfer :)

It must be in the Genes.

Way to go Josh!!!!!

I need to post a picture of the large friend we found that day. Yes that is a sand crab.

I have never seen any close to as big as this guy.

I love the 4th!!!

MAMMOTH...

2011-09-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

was a great trip to kick off summer break!!!

We went up with my family and had such a wonderful time. Lots of fishing, exploring, hanging out and enjoying the beautiful surroundings and each others company. This was an annual trip we took growing up and we always loved it. We would go during winter break and ski. It was always during my birthday which was so fun. It was great to show the next generation around.

There was still skiing the last week of June.

Yeah we did not pack for that.

It was clean.

This is an earthquake fault

The kids are always begging Papa to take them fishing. We were not all that lucky with catching lots of Trout but Anika got one.

They are super tasty but lots of bones to deal with.

Josh never caught one but is still excited to go back and try again.

My hunky anchor man :)

This boy was not all that into fishing but loved driving the boat.

We went to Bodie an old Ghost Town and it is so cool.

A must see if you are ever in that neck of the woods.

She knows where they keep the money :)

The Fish Farm

A geyser.

Thanks for a great trip Mom and Dad.

I love the memories we make when we are all together!!!

ALOHA...

2011-09-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

In every area we have ever lived I have always found friends. These friendships are usually started through my kids. I have my sweet Taryn to Thank for finding my dear friend Kelley. I love her and her family so to say I was devastated to find out she would be moving all the way to Hawaii is just a slight understatement. I miss her everyday. Her daughter is Taryn's best BFF ever so she has had it rough.

We threw a fun going away party for her and her friends. These 4 are so tight.

Forever Friends.

END OF AN ERA....

2011-09-27T16:42:00.000-07:00

in School for Anika.

In our district 5th grade is your last year for elementary...too early.

She had a lot of fun her last few months and worked really hard. Here are some highlights of her last months as a little kid.

Colonial Days

She also had a story she wrote with her good friends performed at an assembly for the whole school...so cool.

Piano recital... she has been my only kid who has begged to take lessons although that did not start until this year so I have hope for the others.

Open house is always so fun. We were blessed with incredible teachers this year.

I think our best ones yet and I am so grateful for all they do!!!!

1st grade with Mrs. Schwartz

3rd grade with Miss Purcell

5th grade with Mrs. LeFever

My elementary school graduate. Good Job Annie!!!

My future students. I am expecting a A in art out of the little one....

never a dull moment.

SPRING....

2011-09-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter!

This girl loves her stuff animals.

and Easter Egg hunts.

Great Grandma came for a visit which we always enjoy so much.

Taryn's Birthday the big #9

She grabbed her BFF and we did a girls night out. I love that her Mom is also one of BFFs:) Cheesecake Factory, Shopping and Nails....so fun!

Discovery Science Center was awesome in Spring with BUBBLES!!!

We spent a day in L.A. to watch the USC spring scrimmage.

It was such a great event to take the whole family to.

Bryce had a super cool 4th Monster Truck Birthday at Chuck E Cheeses.

He was one Happy Boy.

I have seen a big change in Bryce since he turned 4.

He wants to be a good boy and has really been a lot easier....thank goodness.

He asks me to buy these things every single time I am in Target with him. I always say NO!!! I think they are so gross. A dream finally came true when some friends brought them over as a snack. A boy in Heaven :)

I also want to mention that Josh did Spring Basketball. I have no pics but he loved it a lot better than soccer. He is still so cute to watch play team sports...he gets a little lost in the crowd but as long as he is having fun I am good.

SO LONG OVERDUE...

2011-09-26T12:30:00.000-07:00

Life has been wonderfully busy, so busy that I have completely neglected my blog for too long. It is time to ignore the laundry, the cleaning and the children :) This is our family journal and I am totally blowing it. So no more excuses and distractions...this is the week for me to catch up, so here goes...

I need to rewind all the way back to FEBRUAURY.

Joe was able to experience I-Fly. He said it was amazing and it sure looked that way.

I like this way better than ever having him jump out of a plane.

Both girls were in the school play this year together which made it so much fun.

My two cute Dudettes

Now for the tale of Anika's 11th birthday. This was cake #1 which we never did eat.

This year she wanted to do a mall scavenger hunt because she had already been to a few and they were so much fun. I will also say that it was a fun and easy party to plan. The day of the event I grabbed her from school and headed to the mall. She seemed excited but was on the quiet side. Well, in route I get a call from Joe telling me that one of the girls would not be able to attend because she did not want to get sick. WHAT? I had no idea what he was talking about. He proceeded to tell me that the Mom was concerned because Anika had thrown up at school. At this point we were in the mall parking lot and I flipped around. Uh Anika when were you going to tell me this? I guess it was about 5 minutes before the bell rang when the poor thing tossed her cookies right on the floor in the classroom. Now she still wanted to do the party and was very passionate in her cause. I decided it would be a better idea to reschedule. I am certainly glad we did because she ended up with a fever that night and had strep.

So here are the photos from our 2nd attempt....it was tons of fun.

Anika has lots of great friends and they had tons of fun.

I think that is it for February.

I had a birthday that month as well but no need to go into details about that one :)

JANUARY...

2011-02-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

went by fast and there were a few really great things that we were able to experience.

The first being that Joe turned 40!!!!

We spent the first part of his birthday weekend with a night at the St. Regis which was amazing!!! The food we had was all incredible as was the scenery. We are now ready to go spend a week away somewhere we just need to find someone brave enough to watch all 5 kids :)

On Sunday I had planned a surprise party for him with his whole family. He suspected I might be up to something because it did not seem like I was making a big deal about his birthday dinner so I guess I played it too cool. He was however truly surprised because everyone made it out to celebrate his big day and it was so much fun.

Another great event was Anika participating in her schools GEO (geography) BEE. I had received an e-mail from her teacher that the kids would be talking this test and that the top 2 from each class would compete. Now I love geography and I got very excited mentioning this to Anika. Her response was "Mom, I stink at geography." Well she took the test and was one of the top two scores. AWESOME!!!! So we got to go to the BEE with the whole entire 5th grade watching as well. She was the only girl up there and she did amazing. The questions were really difficult and she did great. There was however one kid that got all 7 correct. It sure was fun watching her and hopefully this makes her realize not only is geography interesting but she is good at it as well.

My dear Anika has been waiting to go get her nails done forever. As she always tells me "I am the only girl in the 5th grade who has never gone" I am wiping away my tears as I write this because her life really is tough. Super Grandma saved the day and for Christmas got her a gift certificate. Now we just need to take her skiing because she is the only girl in the 5th grade who has never done that either.

We had Grandma for a few blissful weeks in January and the kids were excited to have her experience Farrells because after all this sunny 80 degree weather we needed something to cool us off.

He could not finish this but boy he was not wanting to share and freaked when I took the smallest bite. Do not get between a boy and his sundae.

We had a special visit by my cousin from Wisconsin and his 2 boys. I wish they lived closer because we had so much fun with them.

This was not really a highlight but I had taken the picture so I thought I would post it. My tire popped on the way up to Disney. I was in the carpool lane and we were so scared. Thank goodness for prayer and My sister in law Michelle. Luckily we only had the young kids with us because my older ones would have been freaking out.

We made it up safely the next week.

Anika went to a rollerskating party that was up in Orange and I have been wanting to try this cupcake place ever since I saw her compete in Cupcake Wars. They were amazing!!!! I think even better than Sprinkles. If you are in Orange it is soooo worth the stop.

My skating diva.

CHRISTMAS....

2011-02-07T19:05:00.000-08:00

was wonderful as it always is.

Here are some highlights that we had over the month of December...

We had a girls night and went to see the Rockettes which was so fun.

We took a few trips to Disney.

Our bubble snow is all the only snow we have seen this winter.

We went ice skating.

We got to bring home Baloo Bear home for one of the most busy weekends we have had in a long time. Why does it always seem to work like that.

We baked and delivered our cookie plates.

We went to a few Christmas parties.

Had a most delightful Christmas Eve.

Trying to find things to do before it was time to open presents.

Awesome personalized Blankets.

I love this picture because Shea is so into super soft blankets.

She is a texture girl with an affinity for anything silky or fuzzy.

New P.J.'s and new blankets made for a good nights sleep.

Christmas day!

Bryce finally opening up his Jet he had been asking for since September.

Every time he would be naughty he would declare " I am never going to get my jet, I give up." He is so funny.

So cute in their matching snuggies.

We do a white elephant in Joe's family which is always so funny.

and once again finished the season with "This was the best Christmas Ever"

SUPER MARIO PARTY...

2010-11-21T18:53:00.000-08:00

was the party Josh had been looking forward to for months.

He absolutely loves everything Super Mario right now. He is a better video game player than everyone except for me :) but I am sure that is not far off. He is still such a fun kid to have around and makes me laugh out loud multiple times a day. Josh is also a real go getter and waits for nothing or no one to get what he needs. He also still really enjoys drawing and building. He loves school and just makes our lives so fun.

For this party he requested NO GIRLS. I finally talked him into at least his sisters.

We played lots of fun games like Team Mario and Team Luigi scooter races.

Pin the Mustache on Mario.

I had bought a poster to do this game on and Josh was crying because he thought we would ruin it. So I very grumpily decided to draw a Mario. I think it came out really good and I drew this thing and did not erase one line on it. I owe any artistic talent I might have to my mother who is an amazing artist. Not bad right Mom?

Wrong way Josh.

Smash Comp Chomp.

My happy boy at the Best Birthday Ever!

Make a wish.

He is now busy planning his plants and zombies birthday for next year :)

If you will notice Josh is missing a few front teeth in this picture. They did not exactly fall out the old fashioned way. We were over to dinner at some good friends and he and their son decided to have a pillow fight. During the fight Josh's mouth found the top of his friends head and he knocked them out. He will have this cute smile for awhile now.

Happy Birthday Big Guy!!!!

OCTOBER...

2010-11-20T12:49:00.000-08:00

is my favorite month of the year.

We were busy with lots of activities and the kids had "The Best Halloween Ever"....they say that every year :)

Here are my favorite pics from the month...

Disney in Fall is always fun especially when Grandpa & Grandma are along.

The Great Park Festival

We love Pumpkin City.

For one quarter this ride really does giddy up and go.

We always get a good laugh at the kids reactions.

Trunk or Treat

Pumpkin Carving...

Our Yummy Dessert

Shea was the cutest Poodle ever.

The Gang

BOO!!!

THE BIG #1

2010-09-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Wow did her first year fly by fast!

In between rain, 3 soccer games and a football game we were able to throw her a perfect birthday party and have everyone we love there...yes!!!

We are so grateful to have Shea in our family.

A few fun things about Shea are:

Her most unique laugh

Her happy disposition

She loves to babble on and on

She loves to dance and sing

She loves food

She loves her crib and sleeps 10 hours a night in it

(which I think officially makes her my favorite child :)

We are all still so smitten by her.

I was too busy socializing and did not get a great pic of her way cute birthday outfit.

The theme...Cupcakes of course.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHEA!!!

Thank you to all who came and made it such a perfect day!!

SOCCER SUPERSTARS...

2010-09-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

2010

Anika - Frozen Fire

Taryn - Pink Pistols

Josh - Blue Ninjas

Let the crazy busy schedule begin!!!

Fight On...

2010-09-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

Another reason that Fall is my most favorite time of year!!!!

I love my USC Football!!!

SCHOOL 2010....

2010-09-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

We are ready for a great year.

I am excited that this year I will have all 3 of my kids who are in school all at the same school and out at the same time.

Here is to hoping they have their best year of learning yet!!!

END OF SUMMER...

2010-09-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

FUN!!!

We went on a Cold Stone Tour.

Then it was time to head back to Disneyland after the long summer block out.

Bryce is in love with Minnie.

and is tall enough to go on a lot of the really fun rides like Thunder Mountain.

Next it was time for a trip to Sea World.

It was a perfect day with small crowds and gorgeous weather. We only do Sea World every few years and I like that you can see and do everything the park has to offer in one day.

this fish was so large and scary looking.

Both the boys loved the sharks.

The kids all even got to pick out a Souvenir and want this car when they turn 16.

Next up...

Riley's Farms to get us in the mood for Fall. I love it up there and we have tried to make it a tradition although the last few years we did not make it do to the craziness of soccer season.

getting the apples picked out for Cider

It takes lots of hard work to get the good stuff.

Mmmmm.

We also picked Raspberries.

and apples of course.

All our hard work made it easy to relax and take a nap.

This is my favorite thing to bring home from their bakery. Words cannot express the yumminess of this thing so I am hoping that the picture does it some justice. This alone was worth the 2 hour drive to get up there.

I am so ready for Fall, it is my most favorite time of the year!!!!

SUMMER 2010...

2010-08-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

Is here and almost gone as we approach our last week of care free days.

We have had a busy wonderful summer!!!

I have loved learning and playing with my kiddos. With our summer being so long I decided I was not going to let them just forget everything they learned this last year, so we woke up each morning and did summer school. It worked really well because they knew when we finished we would go have fun. We have spent lots of time in the pool, at the beach, playing with friends and taking our walks each night. We have loved the most perfect summer weather ever and eating lots of anything yummy and cold. We are ending our summer with a bang as Joe has the long weekend off and we are ready to play some more before our scheduled days begin again.

I am going to start back in June because we just found our little camera that I looked for forever, and found in my Diaper Bag over the weekend..yeah :)

We always start the summer season with swim lessons and the kids did great!!! Anika took a diving class and loved it, although I have no pics of her. She did a forward dive off the high dive. She was so scared and did not want to do it. I honestly did not think she would...lets face it I would never do anything that crazy myself. Well she went for it and then did it another 4 more times. Both the girls are ready to do diving next year.

In June we had a Mother Daughter picnic although these two totally ditched me to play with their friends the whole time. You can see in this pic our June gloom was in full effect.

We always have to get Disney in before we are blocked out for the summer. That last trip we realized it was probably a good thing because the crowds were huge. It is always fun to have Michelle and her Mom with us plus we had Hailey and Troy. This was the first time Bryce went on the Cars. He loved it. I am so excited for Cars land to open next year.

The OC fair is always on the must do of Summer Activities. It was seriously so nice this year. They updated the buildings and put in new bathrooms with plenty of stalls which is important because we potty trained Bryce that month. I have only one more left...there is a light at the end of the dirty diaper tunnel.

Playing with friends made summer days fly bye.

Lots of BBQ diners in the backyard.

Pretend City.

This was a great place to take kids 6 and under. I could not get Bryce and Josh to leave. Joe was across the street taking the girls to wild rivers. Next year we are going to trade spots...

Shea was a little hungry watching the show.

We finally went to Farrells!!! So Yummy!!!

Our waiter told us this would be more than enough but I think we finished that thing in under 5 minutes. Next time we are getting 2.

The Dunkley side of the Fam is complete again with Jacob returning home from serving his 2 year mission in Guatemala. He gave a wonderful talk and it was so good to see him and spend the day with our family.

We got out to Vegas for a week. That place in summer is brutal. I think I am going to keep my visits out there to Christmas Break and Spring break.

Shea's cute outfit

We were either in the pool or somewhere inside with blasting air conditioning. Bowling with cousins and Grandma was great. Anika won the game when her cousin Davis a strong and fierce competitor forgot it was not his turn and then got up to bowl as Anika is saying Davis wait it is not your turn. He ends up getting a strike. He was so mad at himself but was a good sport. It was classic.

We finished the trip with getting to meet sweet baby Kyle.

Let me also give a shout out to my man!!!

. We just celebrated our 12 year Anniversary last week. He is an amazing husband and father and I feel truly blessed to have married my best friend.

Jeg Elske dig!!!!!!!

It has been a great summer!!!

IT HAD BEEN 8 YEARS...

2010-07-16T16:41:00.001-07:00

Since I had been on airplane.

That is crazy!!!

I used to fly all the time and I used to love it so much that for awhile I wanted to be a stewardess. Now, do not feel too bad for us, we have taken lots of fun vacations but they have all been within driving distance or on a cruise ship.

So finally after an 8 year break, off on a plane I went to go see my Mom and Dad in the beautiful city of Minneapolis with Anika and Shea in tow!

They live right in the city which is so much fun. I am a city girl and nothing is more beautiful than a city skyline at sunset.

These pictures were all taken on the roof of their building

The Metrodome where the Vikings play and also the view outside the guest bedroom.

We spent a few nights on the roof swimming in the pool as well.

Shea loves the water.

Livin in the city it was cool to jump on the light rail to get where we needed to go.

Our first day we went to Mall of America where I was too busy shopping to get a lot of pictures. This mall has an amusement park in the middle of it and every store you could ever think of. I was teasing Anika that she had to go get her picture with the Hamburger Helper and she did not want to go.

It is sort of fun to embarrass a 10 year old.

They live right accross the way from the University of Minnesota.

The campus is beautiful.

On campus they have a Natural History Museum.

I love History so we had to check it out!!

There was lots for Shea to discover...

Like Bears who could eat you. She was never scared :)

Big Sister acting like a bear....

still not scared. She is tough.

Random cute photo of Anika I liked from the museum

We ate lots of delicious food at some really great resturants. I will just highlight one.

Our tasty lunch at YUM!!

Thai Steak Salad. Mmmmm.

I am not a big French Fry person unless they have lots of cool sauces to dip them in.

These were Awesome!!

and they had Cupcakes.

My tummy was happy the whole time.

On Saturday they have a The Farmers Market right across the street.

They had so many great artisans and again great food.

We toured The Foshay Building downtown.

I loved the art deco inside!!!

A great view!!!

The Walker Museum's Sculpture Garden

The incredible Host and Hostess

Dinner and walking down by the Mississippi.

I had Shea in the Baby Bjorn the entire time. Let's just say I have a really strong back now. That child would not sit in the umbrella stroller but the stroller did carry my diaper bag quite nicely.

Our last day we toured the Guthrie Theater which was so interesting and fun.

What a cool modern building. It is the one on the left.

Stone Arch Bridge from the Guthrie in a few hews....

Anika is still there having a fabulous time being a spoiled only child :)

She could not wait for me to leave so they could relax. I do not take vacations to relax, I want to see it all and we tried our hardest to get it all in.

However, I left a few things to do on my next visit.

Thank You Dad and Mom for an Amazing time!!!

THE 4TH...

2010-07-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

was really low key for us this year with it being on Sunday.

BBQ in the Backyard

Cute red, white, and blue outfits.

Fireworks at the Lake.

Perfect!!!

That night Joe took all the kids glow necklaces and put them on the fan

which made a really cool blog worthy picture.

OUR L.A. ADVENTURE...

2010-07-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

It had been awhile since we had been up to L.A. and I was missing it bad. I had to convince Joe that the Beach really was not the best way to spend a Saturday in July. That was of course during our little So Cal cold spell because this Saturday it sounds great.

We started the afternoon at Griffith Park one of my favorite places.

We drove by our old place in Hollywood. Such great memories.

We wanted to check out this place.

I love the food network and one of my new favorite shows is Cupcake Wars. The guy who owns this place competed on it and I thought his cupcakes looked like they would taste amazing. I was a little disappointed. The bakery portion was just a little corner of the restaurant, he mainly does ice cream.

and to finish off the night we went to the Grove.

This was in the American Girl Store.

I love to play in L.A.!!!

FAMILY PIC....

2010-07-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

TAKE 32.

Why Oh Why is trying to get a cute Family picture so Challenging.

Eyes closed, baby crying, goofy faces, heads turned, kids running in and out of view.

This was the best we got that day.

Get used to this group photo thing kids.

You are all too cute and Mom loves to take pictures.

I am not giving up!!!!

SUMMER AT LAST...

2010-07-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

To kick it all off we had a pool party with the Activity Day Girls.

This is the best calling ever!!!

To rewind just a moment I wanted to post a few pics of the last couple days at school. Josh had a really fun carnival and came home looking like this. I love it.

Anika also had her violin concert.

I have listened to her practice all year which has been delightful. However, hearing the kids perform all together was amazing. They sounded great. Anika is not going to continue with violin but is going to do show choir instead which I am sure she is going to like.

Now onto other fun summer activities...like going to a new outdoor mall in the area and getting balloon animals

The All Star Game is coming to So Cal next week and they have had these Mickey Statues in various places we have been visiting. They are so cute and we have fun when we find one.

Then of course there is just going to the park.

Tire swings are the best!!!

I'll just finsih this post with a cute pic of Shea having fun watching all the kids play at the park. She cannot wait to run with them.

GRAND BABY # 18...

2010-06-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

Is here and he is so precious.

We are blessed with a another cousin to love and adore.

Introducing...

Kole Grant Dunkley

Congrats to Kevin and Michelle!!!!

He is so Cute and Handsome

(not beautiful :) )

We love you guys!!!!

RED POPPIES...

2010-06-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

are recognized as the memorial day flower. I never knew this until yesterday. These little red flowers were worn back in 1915 to honor fallen soliders. They are worn proudly for those who died giving us our freedom.

We spent a relaxing Memorial day having a BBQ with friends.

We got a little swimming in as well and I am in full countdown mode until summer.

Bring on the ruffles.

I am having so much fun with another little girl to dress. Shea has about 15 swim suits for the season... and No I did not buy that many. They were all hand me downs and they are all adorable.

I love the color of Shea's hair and I hope she keeps some of that red and those cute curls.

She loved the water.

and corn is definitely a new favorite.

Happy Baby Girl

Makes life Wonderful!!!

ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, NEW FISH....

2010-05-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

The news just came in

From the County of Glowing

that on Michelle Dunkley

a very small bump is a growing.

It is getting so big that a party we are throwing.

Look at her cute little bump.

She is sitting with our wonderful Mother in law who we both adore.

This is Michelle's gorgeous Mom and Sister.
Val was in charge of decorations and I was in charge of food. Together we made a great team and are ready to tackle the next big event anyone throws our way...

we just need Val to move back so we can do this all the time :)

Anika was the photographer for the event ...

and after sorting through 443 pics...these are my favorites.

Starting of course with the cakes. :)

Yes... Michelle made her own cake but no one could ever do better.

It came out so great and tasted amazing!!!

Her sister made this one....too cute!

We love our sweets.

Val had the great idea of doing our buffet in the gazebo which worked out perfect becuase it got just a little warm on Saturday.

A Dr. Seuss baby shower would not be complete without Green Eggs.

The centerpieces were so fun. We now have 8 new little pets to love

All the guests came in and signed a copy of Oh the places you'll go.

Michelle got lots of cute green outfits for the new baby.

It is big brother's favorite color and mine as well.

This was her most favorite gift. Look at the pure Joy!!!

Thank you to Everyone who made this day so perfect!!!!

We are so excited to meet this new little guy in June!!!

THUMB SUCKER...

2010-05-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Every family needs one.

Shea at 8 months.

She is still toothless, a great sleeper, crawls everywhere fast, pulls up on everything and loves to eat. Best of all, we are just having so much fun having her around.

THE KID'S FAVORITE....

2010-05-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT.

The kids are all learning so much and are so proud of the work they do. I love to come to back to school night to see how excited they are to show me all that they have done.

Josh

has had a great year and he has grown so much. I was so nervous to start him because he is one of the younger ones but he has done great and I am glad I did it.

I had to share my favorite project of his in the room.

(front)

So cute...this cracks me up.

(back)

Taryn

She did a report on Scotland so her Dad would help her.

Anika

This alsocracked me up.

I am so glad for another great year, with having Shea at the start of school it has just been one big blur!!!!

Bring on this Summer, I am so ready for the break!!!!!

A BIRTHDAY FOR BRYCE....

2010-05-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

at Chuck E Cheese was all he cared about. Having 5 kids and his best bud and cousin Kaleb there we can call that a party.....yes, I love getting off easy.

Bryce is my most spirited child. Turning 3 has not slowed him down one bit so I am hoping by 4 maybe....please.

Happy Birthday Big Boy!!!!

Thank you for making our lives Spicy!!!

TARYN'S BAPTISM....

2010-05-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

was perfect!!!!

She was so excited and the day went beautifully. Joe and Anika did a wonderful job with their song and we were so grateful for all the family and friends who joined us.

After a long eventful day this is how I found her. So Sweet.

LAST MINUTE TRIP....

2010-05-23T18:58:00.000-07:00

to where else but Las Vegas of course.

Joe had a conference there during Spring Break that I was not going to go on but when we got to stay here I changed my mind

It is my new most favorite hotel.

The rooms were so nice and so big...this is only one half of it. It had remote control blinds. 3 flat screens one of which was in the bathroom. The kids loved it.

The kids had fun getting in their first swim of the season.

We went and saw that new City Center and these were cool but overall I was not that impressed.

We always go to the Bellagio....I cannot tell you how many pictures I have of the kids in the garden. It is always so beautiful.

As long as our favorite people live there we will keep coming back!!!!

We miss you guys!!!

Hurry and move back to California!!!

EASTER QUAKE...

2010-05-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

what a day....

Easter - Conference - Taryn's Actual Birthday - Earthquake

It won't be one we soon forget.

This was the day before at our Community's Easter Extravaganza. Best part...everything was FREE.

Crazy fun...can you spot any of my kids....

They had the tractor races and Bryce was happily yet slowly going along that was when Josh decided he needed to help him.

Easter Morning....

After a relaxing uplifting day we finished the evening off with a big earthquake...we felt it pretty strong.

Then we had a great dinner and sang to our Taryn.

Happy 8th Birthday to my truly sweet, kind, beautiful and inquisitive Tear Tear!!!

We love you!!!!

SURPRISE...

2010-05-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

Taryn has wanted us to have a Surprise Birthday for a few years and this year we got her. She had been busy planing out her Luau birthday... I ended coming up with a Surprise Luau Bowling Birthday for her and her cousin and very best BFF Hailey.

Pre-Surprise.

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!

Her B.F.F.s

Another Amazing Cake by Aunt Michelle!!!

Her Birthday gift was getting her ears pierced. So we headed down to Fashion Island to make it a memorable experience. She was very brave and looks so cute with her new bling.

We had the whole crew with us to watch.

We call Bryce our dog whisperer which I think this picture illustrates perfectly.

WILD TIME...

2010-04-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

at the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

Joe has always wanted to go to the wild animal park....finally at the age of 39 he has made it. It was a gorgeous day and we had a wonderful time. That place is a lot more fun to visit when you are not pregnant. I got these passes for us a year ago thinking we would make about 4 trips down in a year. San Diego is just far enough that we were lucky to get in these 2 over the last year.

Here are some highlights:

(yes this is a picture of a picture)

Joe can now check this off his list of things he has always wanted to do.

REWIND....

2010-03-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

a bit because I blinked and two months have passed by.

January-February 2010

Right after Christmas My Parents took Anika to see Mary Poppins.

It was a perfect day!!!!

We so enjoy cuddling up for a good movie especially with Grandma.

My Mom stayed well into January and the kids loved it.

Baby Shea in Early January at 3 months.

This was my most favorite outfit to put her in and she has already outgrown it.

In January our ward put on a Hollywood night activity where we watched a slide show of pictures from the past year. Each table had a different theme and menu. I signed up to host a table and did Twilight. It was so fun and there were so many amazing tables. It even won an award :)

Every year we go to the snow and drive about 2 hours to get there. Once we arrive the kids last about an hour and are freezing, crying and ready to go home. This year was not looking good for us to go... However, when they bring the snow to you, can life get any better.

It was a lot of fun.

Our finished product!

I have to give a shout out to the GREAT PARK!!!! We are so enjoying this place and in February they had FREE, yes I said FREE, ice skating all month long . We really took advantage of that and since we were there so often we took a few balloon rides as well with some good friends.

Great View from our Great Park.

I did not get a lot of pics of everyone ice skating because I was too busy doing it as well. Thank goodness for a great aunt and sister in law that made that possible.

Taryn was getting really brave out there and was on her feet more than what this picture shows.

We even go this guy on the ice for the first time.

This is Shea as baby Yoda. Taryn was cracking herself up with this and insisted on taking a lot of pics...

which mainly turned out like this, but at least she is laughing.

Valentines was on Sunday so after Church Joe met up with his best friend who was in town and his family for an afternoon on the beach. I was home with a sick little Shea.

It was a gorgeous day!!!

Bryce was in the mood for some romance :)

We finished the day with a lovely valentines dinner and this amazing, yummy, beautiful as well as heartyshaped dessert!!!

I think that has just about covered everything I have missed. We have been so busy that some of us are even falling asleep in chairs in the middle of the day.

It feels good to be caught up!!!

SOCK HOP...

2010-03-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

for Daddy and Daughters!!!!

I have had a 5 month break from having a Church Calling and with having a new baby I will be honest and say it was nice. So I guess when the new calling came there is nothing like hitting the ground running...because we were in charge of putting together this Daddy Daughter sock hop and it was happening in 5 days. I was called to activity days leader...YEAH!!!!!!!! I am so excited. There are such great girls in our ward and I am looking forward to working with them and having lots of fun.

This picture looks sad but it really is not. Having a daddy daughter time with 2 girls was a little tricky but they were good taking turns dancing with dad and I loved the way Taryn's cute hair looks here.

They played lots of fun games...bubble blowing, balloon poping, baby picture guessing and of course Hula Hooping. Anika has always been confident with her hula skills but she had some tough competition. She ended up being one of 3 winners because it seemed like those girls were ready for that challenge to go all night.

The girls had so much fun and so did Dad. These moments are the best and it was fun to be able to stay in the background and watch them have such a great night.

Yes girls we will do something similar to this next year now that I have some say :)!!!

GOD BLESS...

2010-03-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

AMERICA!!!

Nothing is as cute as watching a group of Kinders belting out songs about our country.

I had to post a few cute pictures of this because Josh almost got kicked out of this little production. He was having some behavior problems during practice. It is such a great feeling when you go to get him from school and a visibly annoyed and angered kindergarden teacher informs the group of Moms waiting that she needs another moment to talk to them all. I just turned to the lady next to me and said I know mine is guilty. Luckily he shaped up for the next practice and we got to enjoy him singing and hamming it up.

>Does that really look like the face of kid who causes trouble?

It was cute because during the performance he locked eyes with me the whole time and I just keep smiling although later he asked me why I did not like the Abraham Lincoln song. I told him I did like that song and he said well you lost your happy face during it. Oops... he is so funny.

NEW DO...

2010-03-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

and oh so CUTE!!!!!!!

It frames her cute fine featured little face perfectly!!!

This amazing hairdo also allows Taryn to "Jump Higher" and "Run Faster"

Whenever I asked Taryn if she wanted to cut her hair short she would always tell me yes although she would never pester me to get it done, now I am wishing I would have done it a long time ago.

I think we found your look Taryn!!!!!!

#100....

2010-02-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

MY 100th POST!!!

I was supposed to do this all in January with a long paragraph on all the goals I had set for 2010 and with loads of reflection over the last decade. My reality is I am lucky to be getting any post done at all these days. We have been busy...I know we all are. I plan on doing a mega post in the next few days of all that we have been up to since the start of the year.

I have been doing some deep reflecting however because it was 10 years ago today that I had the title of MOTHER bestowed upon me.

My Anika is 10 years old (deep sigh)......and it has all gone by so fast.

My birthday present the year she was born was a day of being in labor.

She would not make her arrival however until the 23rd at 4:36a.m.

She woke up this morning to a surprise of her bedroom door being all wrapped up.

She did not have a big party this year, we are fans of the every other year party thing. We went to Cafe Rio...her favorite place to eat right now...YES!!! and ordered their coconut shrimp tacos with mango salsa so yummy, and my new favorite and then it was of to Frostings (very close to as good as sprinkles) for some yummy cupcakes.

Her big gift was our newest member of the family Sunshine Sprinkles.

So far she has been a sweet little hamster.

Next year I hope to scan in a lot of old cute baby pictures of Anika for her birthday post because I will for sure find more time then right?

I did find some pictures from her birthday when she was 4 and we had just got our digital camera. It was a Unicorn party... and Yes that is a unicorn bounce house in the background.

I think I called like 50 places to get that thing.

Anika is such an amazing daughter and we are so grateful to have her in our family.

SHE IS:

SMART

FUN

OUTGOING

CREATIVE

KIND

FOCUSED

DILIGENT

RESPONSIBLE

HONEST

THE WOLDS BEST SOCCER PLAYER

THE WORLDS BEST ACTRESS

THE WOLDS BEST BIG SISTER

The list could go on and on.....

I can not wait to see all the great things she will do in her life and I am having fun watching her transform into such a beautiful, smart and strong young lady.

ANIKA WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHRISTMAS 2009...

2009-12-25T22:35:00.000-08:00

MAGICAL...

LET IT SNOW....

2009-12-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

let it snow, let it snow. That is the song my mom has playing on her phone when I call and I always laugh because I know it is snowing nonstop in Minneapolis, sorry Mom. Snow is no fun to live in, I do not like too shovel it, drive in it, walk or bike in it but

really, I do like snow. I like to look at it when I am inside by a warm fire. I also like to play in it because I do love to ski. But most of all I like to EAT IT on a warm beautiful Southern California December Day.

This place is the best!!!!!

YUMMY!!!!
They even have Christmas flavors like egg nog (pictured below), gingerbread and white chocolate peppermint.

My cute girl.

She was happy to watch us all eat and in a few months she will be able to taste all this good stuff she has been missing.

Snow would be no fun without enjoying it with family.

Thanks Kevin, Michelle and Kaleb for such a fun night out!!!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!