Watch out world! We have another teenage driver!!

Rick and I are officially old! Today Erin got her permit and took her first lesson behind the wheel. I am a bit terrified and a bit excited, all at the same time. The instructor told us that we should be very proud of Erin and that she "only" had to use her brake once (Erin almost hit a parked car). What am I supposed to do when I take her driving??? I don't have one of those cool brakes on the passenger side. I'm sure she will be fine, but my nerves might not survive.

CONGRATULATIONS ERIN!!!

Grandma and Grandpa's trip comes to a close

Whenever my parents come to visit, they stay for at least a few weeks. But no matter how long they stay, someone is always begging them to stay longer. For this trip they had a strict departure date, so we weren't able to squeeze any more time from them, so after 3 1/2 weeks, we had to say goodbye. Before sending the kids to bed, I took one last picture. I tried to get one without Coco, but she thinks she's human and just had to be included.

Rick got off work early on the last day of their visit so that we could go to lunch with Mom and Dad at Sweet Lumpy's one last time.

The Phantom of the Opera

I love living in southern California, but I am NOT a fan of Los Angeles. In fact, I stay as far from it as possible. The only way to get me to brave the freeways up there, is to go to a show or museum. Well, Phantom of the Opera came to the Pantages Theater, and Erin just HAD to go. She even got her BFF, Kathryn, to spend her 16th birthday with us instead of her family so that she could come, too. Rick, Dee, and I got to spend a fun filled day with two giggley girls.

We gave ourselves 2 1/2 hours to get there. We thought that would be plenty of time on a Saturday afternoon, but we were wrong! We actually got there 5 minutes late. Rick and I dropped Dee and the girls off and they were able to get to their seats just in time for the show to start. We were then able to find a parking space just around the corner and, after practically being robbed by the parking lot attendant, we made it into the theater just 5 minutes after the girls. We had to wait for 5 minutes until it was a good time to be escorted to our seats. Thank goodness I had looked online at where we would be sitting, because it was pitch black in there.

After the show, we decided to drive further down Hollywood Blvd. The girls wanted to see the Kodak Theatre since that is where the American Idol Finale is held. We weren't able to get all the way to the theatre, the road was blocked of with the red carpet for the Oscars the next day. We thought it was cool to see the big Oscar out front. It was fun to feel like tourists for a few minutes before getting back on the horribly crowded freeway.

Once we got out of the really bad traffic, we decided to find someplace to eat dinner. We had borrowed my parents GPS system, and it led us to a Chevy's - YUM! After stuffing ourselves, we headed back to Temecula to get our favorite dessert at The Yogurt Factory. What a great way to end a day!

Dee, Erin, and Kathryn are all smiles in the backseat of Rick's car

Erin and Kathryn outside the Pantages Theater

Look........it's Oscar!

Two cute senoritas!

Our "Promising Author"

Parker is full of personality! His personality is usually evident in any writing that he does - his stories are down right comical! Parker's school has monthly awards assemblies and each monthe they choose one "Promising Author" from each grade level. Parker has wanted this award for at least the past year, and this month he finally got it! We were so excited for him - especially since boys aren't exactly known for their interest in language arts.

Way to go, Parker! I believe that you actually may be a real author some day!

A not-so-reverent Sunday afternoon

Each Sunday my boys bug me about our dinner plans. One of them almost always asks if we can have the Rock family over. I finally gave in a couple of weeks ago, and the boys had a not-so-reverent, but oh-so-fun afternoon.

A whole evening of fun just wasn't enough for the boys, so Emmett and Parker literally begged for a sleepover since Monday was a holiday.

Rick, Ron, my Dad, and Nathan did a cool log cabin push-up. Everyone put their feet on the upper back of the next person and then they lifted up at the same time. Poor Nathan wasn't quite as strong as the men, but he held his own, anyway.

Parker........

Parker was by far my messiest child. He ALWAYS had food on his face and it used to drive me crazy! I'm a pleased to say that he has been a much cleaner looking child the past few years, but when I saw his face covered in blue frosting, it brought back so many memories that I just had to take a picture.

The dreaded California mission project

I have been lucky so far to NOT have had to help a child build one of the California missions. This year, my luck ran out. Parker thought it would "be so fun" to build his mission. Now, I am the kind of parent that believes in the child doing the work, so I was a bit worried about how this would turn out. Parker's mission (he didn't get to choose) was the Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana, a not so popular mission. We finally found a good picture of it and then did our best to start putting the mission together. I think Parker's favorite part of the project was making the cemetery. Parker was so proud of the finished mission, and I was grateful to have the whole thing over with!

Queen for the day!

My mom and dad came to visit us for a few weeks and they arrived just in time for us to be able to celebrate Mom's 60th birthday with her. Mom didn't have many requests for her birthday - just a trip to Sweet Lumpy's in Old Town and spending time with our family. We had lots of great food and dessert throughtout the day and I think we all had a great time together. Thanks for letting us share your birthday with you, Mom!

Joshua Tree rock climbing trip

Rick and Erin got to go rock climbing with the youth in our ward for the second time. Bryant was hoping to go, but his broken arm kept him at home. Rick went up with the scouts on Friday afternoon and Erin headed there at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning. Here are some pictures from their trip:

A bit of a copy cat

The day Bryant got his cast put on, I think Parker decided he needed some of the same extra attention. So he spent some time in his room and came out looking like this....... He calls the thing on his arm a snag machine. I guess I'm supposed to know what that is........it has something to do with a video game that he plays.

Ouch!

***Caution - the contents of this post may be very disturbing

I debated over whether or not to post these pictures, but my reason for this blog is to capture what's going on in our family and that includes the traumatic things, too.

Bryant finally had his appointment at the orthopedic's office today. We were able to see his war wounds when they took off his hard splint. Bryant took a quick peek and then wouldn't look at his arm until it was covered up again. He had 3 incisions that required stitches that were taken out today. I must say that I felt extremely queasy during that part of the appointment.

After the doctor checked Bryant's x-rays, he determined that Bryant could have a cast up to his elbow. We were so excited that it didn't have to go all the way to his shoulder (thanks to all the hardware that has been put in his bones!). Bryant decided that he wanted a black cast which won't look as dirty as the other colors. His cast will only be on for 5 more weeks - another benefit of having all the hardware. Then he will have limitations on the activities that he can participate in.

After the appointment, we stopped by Wal-mart to get some silver sharpies and headed back to school.

Bryant is sporting a buzz cut so that he won't have to worry about doing his hair while he's in a cast.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

It's been a long and boring week for Bryant. He has resided on the love seat in the family room filling his time with homework, videos, and books. Lucky for him, I had ordered a new book from Amazon that arrived Thursday afternoon.

My boys have gotten a kick out of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and a new one just came out. I have to admit that I have even read them, too. They're full of silly boy humor and written in comic book and journal form. Bryant flew through the book and finished it in about an hour and Parker was anxious to get his hands on it.
In the evening, Bishop Chase came by to visit Bryant and check on his arm. He and his wife and daughter stayed for about an hour. Bishop Chase shared a bunch of cool stories with us (he is a GREAT storyteller!). When the Chases were getting ready to leave, I started looking for Parker and this is where I found him...

He had escaped to the quiet of the living room because he couldn't wait any longer to read the book! In my opinion, any book that can draw my kids in enough to miss cool stories from a Bishop that they love, is well worth the money!