Happenings

Things have been going good. School routines are going well and not much has happened. MJ is still loving school and doing well. It's been fun teaching at the same school as RB. We talk on the way to and from school and then don't have to update each other about our days when we get home. We can focus on MJ's and Lil's days.

Friday at school we had an assembly to kick off our reading program. The reading coach had faculty members come up and play "minute to win it." RB was called up with another fifth grade teacher but since the other teacher was busy setting up for the watermelon party after the assembly I was called up. The goal was to drop the handle of a broom on the edge of a paper plate that had a ping pong ball on it and the other partner tried to catch the ball in their cup standing behind you. Well RB is really good at being fast and catching things. We got in a system and won. It was pretty fun and of course the kids loved watching and cheering for their teachers.

After school that day a cute second grader came up to me and says, "I know who your father is." I was quite surprised and said, "Oh yea, who is he." The kid responded, "Mr. Pedersen." I laughed and go, "Well actually, that is my husband." He just shrugged, smiled, and walked off. Man my husband must look really old to be called my father.

After school Friday my mom, sisters, and I went fruit stand shopping and spent some girl time together. Then Sat. my sisters and I went down to the Gateway mall and shopped. It was fun to be with my sisters for the day and spend time laughing and talking with them. This morning everybody left and now I once again have an empty house. I can't wait for the holidays to come to be with family again! Have a great day all.

First day of School 2010 & End of Summer Fun

School has come again. This year has been full of new exciting changes. RB got a job working at my school. He jumped from 1st to 4th grade. He says the kids are more capable of being able to do things. He really seems to like it. We get to car pool now every day with each other. This is fun because we can talk about work before we get home and then we can focus on our girls and the cleaning. During the day however, I never see RB. His breaks and lunch are completely different than mine and his class is on the other end of the school since I am still teaching 5th grade. Here we are on the cold rainy first day.


The next big change was a new babysitter. We know, and have been friends with these people for many years now and as a result my girls love playing with their kids. MJ and Lil love going to their house every morning. Things fell into place with them watching my girls and we love the arrangements that have been made.

This leads me to the last big change in our lives. MJ started Kindergarten! I can't believe she is that old already. MJ has loved school. She says there is one bad thing though. She didn't get a snack. When I asked if she got one the other day she said, "No, I don't think we ever get snacks." If that is the only thing that she doesn't like then I'm happy. Our babysitter is so wonderful. She took so many pictures for us since we couldn't be there. MJ was so excited all morning.

However, you can see her now in the hallway looking very nervous about it all.

She said she had a good first day though and wanted to go back. So that is good. She showed me her pictures and said they had to draw a pictures of a monster. But her monster was a nice monster and it's feet could touch it's ears. She is so funny. I love hearing her stories about school.

After school she walks home with a friend in the ward and stays there for about 30 min. before we are able to get home and pick her up. Like I said things just fell into place and all is working out. I've very grateful for all the help others have given us. It's hard working all day and trying to make arrangements for your kids.

With the start of school comes the end of summer. RB has enjoyed working on his jeep. Thanks for all the help friends have put into helping him! He is almost done with all his projects on it. In the picture three of the four jeeps are ours. We bought the white one first but it ended up being scary and since it wouldn't sell we are selling the parts. That is working much better. The two gray jeeps in the back are the two that all the things are being switched around on. Going from one jeep to the other. Then when we are done we will sell the one he doesn't want. He has enjoyed working on them though and learning more mechanic stuff.


I hope school and life is going good for everyone else. Take care!

Where Jesus Lives

I still have first day of school pictures and hopefully later today or tomorrow I'll get those updated for all to see. However, MJ was so cute on the way home. I had to share what she said.

MJ looked at the sky and said, "Mom, I know where Jesus lives now." I asked how she knew. She goes, "I looked in the sky where the clouds are and saw Jesus' home."

The Beach

Day 6 was spent at the beach. We needed a break from walking around so much. We had so much fun. When we got there it was still overcast and a little chilly. After about an hour though it warmed up and we played and played. The girls loved playing in the sand. We buried our legs and turned MJ into Ariel.






While grandma watched the girls RB, his sister, her husband, and I jumped waves. It took a little practice to get the technique mastered but worth it. Plus, you soon forget the gross salt water taste once you are out.




One of the best parts of our vacation was the weather. It was perfect. Not too hot and very comfortable in the 70's. Perfect weather to go along with a perfect vacation!

5 Days @ DISNEYLAND

Days 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 were spent at Disneyland. I have no idea when these pictures were taken during those 5 days and there is no order to them. We headed to the park every morning at opening and stayed to play until about 10-11pm before heading back to the hotel. Throughout the five days we hit many of the ride multiple times and 99% of the rides at least once. We didn't ride the canoes. We watched the fireworks, Fantasmic, and the World of Color on different nights. The World of Color was amazing. Before the show they had huge characters that were different colors (like Lumiere down below). Then the water show was so cool to watch.




The tea cups were MJ's favorite. We rode on them over and over again one night when the line was super short. We made MJ ride on some rides once to see if she would like them. The first day was rough with her. She cried on Splash Mountain but told grandma when she gets older she'll like that ride. She doesn't like the dips in Pirates but we still made her ride that one and she just hid during the drops. On the last day we bribed her to ride Indian Jones. She didn't like the fast turns and the dip at the end. She says, "Mommy's favorite ride is scary for me." MJ whined all through the tea cups ride too. Once she rode it, it became her favorite. So even through she didn't like the Matterhorn, there were many rides that she was unsure of at first and then liked after going on them, including Talking Turtle with Crush.


Lil on the other hand did really well on the rides she was tall enough to ride. She would grab a leg on the dips on Pirates but she still liked it. She didn't enjoy Autopia though because when the car drives itself the wheel crashes back and forth. That scared her. So as long as she wasn't driving she was okay with the ride. Lil really liked meeting the characters. She would get a big smile on her face and walk right up to them. MJ was the shy one and didn't want to get close to them. Lil is so cute hugging Handy Manny.




While waiting to see Minnie Mouse MJ found a puff ball like the speck on Horton Hears a Who. She had to take a picture of it.


Splash Mountain with RB's sister and her husband.


Dumbo was another favorite for the girls.


We had the rare opportunity to ride on the Lilly Belle. My father-in-law got a ticket and we rode it all the way around the park. The worker that was in with us said her mom has worked at Disneyland for 40 years. Crazy. The Lilly Belle has had many presidents of the US ride in it. It was pretty cool to be in there and say "I've done that."






A family favorite was Toy Story in CA Adventure. It was a blast! The girls were pretty good at it too like Buzz. However, I feel Toy Story is far superior to Buzz.


Lil really likes the movie Cars like her Uncle.


We ate the Blue Bayou one afternoon. It's pretty cool. It was our most expensive meal but we knew we were going there so we planned accordingly. MJ loved it. She must have felt like a princess because every time they brought out something she got a big smile and would say, "Wow mom look, it's celery (or grapes, or whatever it was)." She was funny.


RB loves jeeping and had to take Lil off roading. Lil loved it.


This is the Tower of Terror ride. I like roller coasters and rides. However, I like hanging on too. RB's goal is to get me to like the rides with my hands up. He wouldn't let me hang on to anything on this ride, so I grabbed his arm instead. I was still proud of myself though. That is a step up to what I usually do with the dead grip of hanging on for dear life.


I'm not sure why people dislike Disneyland lines. I have plenty of entertainment to pass the time!


We had a lot of sleeping in the strollers through the five days. Lil would pass out in her stroller mid-day while we walked to another ride. We'd get there and Lil would be passed out. Every night walking to the hotel both girls would be asleep.




I'm glad we were able to spend the five days with RB's parents, his sister and her husband. It's always funner with family. The only bad part of Disneyland was my feet hurt so bad. We wore tennis shoes too but it didn't matter. We had so much fun and are already planning on going back in two years. Can't wait!