Way Back in May...

The pictures from this post happened way back in May -- so you know how far behind I am in the blog! I'm trying to catch up. Anyway, this is to show you more about Mom's trip to see us. It was alot of fun! When she arrived, we picked her up from the airport and took her to the beach and to see the beautiful hotel on the beach.

We had a picnic on the beach...

And then went to walk around the hotel! They have Dr. Seuss statues all around one area, and December LOVED it! This is the Green Eggs & Ham statue. December has this book, and so she loved this statue.

Holding Sam-I-Am's hand

The Cat in the Hat. December's actually never read this book -- am I a bad mother or what?! :o)

On the hotel grounds, looking at the flowers

December falling alseep in her carseat on the way home from one of our outings, with the pink bunny she got from Grammie, which is named Kelli (after her Auntie Kelli). December also named one of her goldfish Kelli -- so we have alot of Kelli's around here!

Happy Isaac in his bouncy seat, which he has now pretty much outgrown

Mom playing a game with Isaac, which he loved!

Nap time for Isaac -- you gotta be quick to catch a picture of Isaac during his morning nap, since he only sleeps for 20-30 min!!

The kids playing at the mall, on the ride of December's choice...got to love a pink motorcycle!

At the pet store in the mall. Mom and Isaac are examining the tortoises.

December trying to pet the kittens. December LOVES cats, and if I'd get her any pet (besides the 3 goldfish she has for the summer), I'd get her a kitten -- except that we don't really want a long-term pet right now, and you'd really want the right sort of cat to be a pet with small children and babies around. So maybe she'll get one when she gets older.

We babysat Samuel one day, and Mom read him stories (one of his most favorite things to do). They became fast friends!

Isaac playing in his carseat -- don't be fooled by his little smile! He's actually not the best traveller and gets sick of car rides quite quickly. But I've learned a trick now to keep him happy! I'm thankful he's eating finger food now, because as soon as he starts fussing, I just pop a Cheerio or something in his mouth, and he settles down. :o)

A family picture at our church

Isaac playing on the floor

Us making a shopping trip to Walmart, and Isaac got sleepy in the deoderant aisle.

Brad the Citizen

Brad is now a U.S. citizen! After being given different types of "alien status" for the past six years, he is now a citizen. He had his oath ceremony at the end of May. Here he is waiting in line before the ceremony.

The families of the new citizens are sent to the balcony to watch from there. December is waving at Brad down in line.

Here are all the people becoming citizens! I think they hold these ceremonies a couple of times a month or so.

Brad's the blurry little blob in the middle with the cream-colored shirt on. This is everyone raising their right hands during the oath part. It was interesting to watch when the different people were called to stand up when their countries were named, just to see where everyone was coming from and what countries were represented. Some countries had alot of people coming from them, but others only had one or two people.

My mom had flown in the day before Brad's oath ceremony, in order to help us pack and get ready to move away for the summer. So she got to see it, too!

It was all just too exciting for Isaac to handle... :o)

Brad the new citizen!

December, proud of her Daddy

Brad's "Certificate of Naturalization," I think it was called

Us waiting in line to apply for Brad's passport

Brad is now a dual citizen, and now we all share one citizenship. That should make it easier in crossing borders, which we do quite often!

Friends Far and Near

This is my favorite picture of December and Isaac. Auntie Kim took this picture a few weeks ago at her house, and I just love it!

This is a picture taken of December on the final Park Day -- we went to a really fun park that we had never been to before, with water spouts and a beautiful playground to play on. (December is full of character, as always...!)

December and Noah on the last Park Day, on one of those toys that I dont' know its name -- it's usual some sort of metal animal on a big metal spring and it rocks back and forth. I've got no idea what they call those things...anyway, December is hanging on to Noah for dear life so that she doesn't fall off

My good friend Naomi and I with "the Isaacs" -- they left this week to go back to England to live again, and we miss them terribly! Noah's one of December's best friends, so I know when we go back to California, December will be asking about him and wanting to see him again. :o(

Samuel and December at the mall, on one of those coin-operated cars that jiggle around. Samuel and his family are in Virginia for a summer internship, but thankfully they will be coming back for another year of school!

This picture was taken at Noah's house, at one of the last times we saw him.

Just about all of our California friends have now moved -- they are now in England, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and all over the place! That's the hard part about being in seminary. We are very thankful for the ones who will be coming back to school in the fall, and we're excited to meet the new ones who will be coming in this year!

California Adventure!

Early in the month of May, we went to California Adventure with our friends, the Seymour family. We had gone to Disneyland in April with Dad and Debbie, and we had passes that let you get into California Adventure for free, if used within a month of going to Disneyland. And we couldn't let that offer pass us by!







This is a talking trash can -- there is a man controlling it remotely and using a microphone to make the trash can "talk" and roll around. If you look closely in the upper left hand of the picture, you can see the bottom of half of the man controlling it. It was pretty fun to see a trash can moving and talking all by itself!

This was December and Noah's favorite place. It was full of kids' rides, and the lines were super short, so they got to go on alot of rides here! We had let December watch "A Bug's Life" the night before we went, so that she'd know the characters here.

The Monster's Inc. ride

Here we are in "A Bug's Land" riding on the bumper cars!

Matthew and little Noah, chasing December and I down to smash into us. :o)

And they did it!

December and Noah, waiting in line for a Playhouse Disney show, with Mickey and Minnnie Mouse.

/Here's the show they watched and loved!

Isaac having fun at the parade

Waiting for the parade to pass by

The Play Parade! What a fun time -- it is so well done, and there are so many dancers and fun music and bubbles, etc. We ALL had a blast!

Crush from "Finding Nemo" (one fo December's favorites)

And Nemo, of course! The people in the parade were great and really interacted with the kids.

Isn't it cool how all of the parts to the caterpillar aren't connected, but there is a person inside each part?!

December getting special attention from one of the dancers. December was doing a pretty funny dance of her own in beat to the music, so she got alot of attention!

These guys were one of my favorites. They're the green soldier men from Toy Story. Their costumes were pretty cool!

The Toy Story float, complete with two acrobats swinging around.

There's a person inside the back end of the dog, just waddling along behind the float!

A picture of December's pretty sweet dance moves.