Merry Christmas to all!!!

Baby Payton (9 months) with "Santa" played by my grandpa Mark

Our Family Pictures

These are the family pictures we got taken in AZ with all of Shawn's family.

My favorite picture of Payton (above)-we got an 8x10 in black & white to hang on the wall.

This wasn't the very best group picture out of all of them, but it's the one I uploaded. You can see the families are "color-coded". The only person missing was Rischel's husband, Ryan. He had to stay in Washington because he is in the middle of his clinical rotations for PA school.

Vacation: Last Two Days

On Saturday we left Az. and headed back to Las Vegas. We passed through Hoover Dam and got a photo--Shawn cried because we had to drive by the Visitor's Center and couldn't go inside. We also passed through a little town in AZ called "Wikieup"--the self-proclaimed "Rattlesnake Capital of the World". You can see the photo op below!

Once we got to Las Vegas we headed to the Excalibur for the "Tournament of the Kings" dinner show. They charged $20 for a family photo, but since I didn't hear the part about putting your camera away, I got some good shots! It was a great show--I would recommend it to anyone! We ate with our hands and watched "real" jousting, etc. Lots of special effects, too!

On Sunday we said goodbye to the Coopers (if the camera could record sound you would hear their baby crying like crazy!).

We had some time to kill before our flight so we climbed to the top of a hill by the Coopers' home. A pretty good workout with a baby strapped to you! It overlooks the valley and you can see the strip in the background.We got home safe and sound and ready to take on the week! It was a wonderful vacation full of memories for all of us! Hopefully we'll be able to visit the desert again! For now, though, I really love seeing all the leaves change as Winter approaches.

Disco Fever

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!These are our Halloween costumes. What do you think?

How to Turn Off Music

If you are watching a video and want to turn off the music on my blog site, scroll to the very bottom of my blog and hit the pause button.

YeeHaw

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!Thanks, Brooke, for the idea!

Vacation: Arizona

We left Las Vegas early on Wednesday morning and started the 6 hour drive to Mesa (actually, Shawn missed the exit while I was snoozing and added an extra hour, but that's all water under the bridge). We arrived just in time to go through the temple with Erin. The next day we got family pictures (I mean the whole Turner family) which I'll publish later. While in Mesa we stayed with Shawn's cousin, Kristin, her husband, Mike, and their 4 kids. They live in Gilbert which is right next to Mesa. The kids got along really well and we loved staying in their beautiful home:We also got to visit the first cousins and play at Shelly & Jason's house:

Erin & Clinton's reception was on Friday night and my boys looked so cute in the little bowties Grandma Kathy made for them.

It was so fun to have all the Turner siblings (and posterity) together--it doesn't happen very often!

As a side note, I was able to go to the Mesa Cemetary and see the graves of my great great grandparents on my mom's side. My mom was born and raised in Mesa and we also went to take a picture of the home she lived in as a child. She and my grandparents got a kick out of the pictures I brought home of their old neighborhood:

(West Sixth Drive)

Las Vegas Day 2: Springs Preserve

On our second day in Las Vegas we went to an incredible nature preserve/natural history museum/conservation place called Springs Preserve (http://www.springspreserve.org/). It's brand new in Vegas and I would recommend it to anyone with kids! It was a long day but we didn't have any major meltdowns because the kids were entertained.

Flash Flood Exhibit

Fossil Exhibit

The babies--Payton Turner and Coulston Cooper (3 weeks apart in age)

At the entrance on a stone spun around continuously by water

Shawn spinning for power at the Conservation Exhibit

The Kids' Playground

Vacation Day 1: The Strip

Well, we flew to Las Vegas for our family vacation last Sunday. Why Las Vegas? Didn't you know it's a very family-oriented place--not!! Actually there are family activities there if you look for them and we have some really good friends from college that live there and we wanted to visit them--also the plane tickets were cheaper to L.V. than to Phoenix which was our real reason for going on vacation in the first place--Shawn's sister Erin got married. (Love the long, run-on sentence??) Anyhow, we were in Las Vegas for two days, then drove to Mesa, were there for 2 1/2 days, then went back to Vegas and flew home. Here are the photo highlights of our first two days in Vegas.
The famous (or infamous) "strip"

Outside M&M World

Part of the incredible Bellagio Atrium (it changes with every season)--that is a real pumpkin!!!

My friend, Aimee, and I at the same garden atrium. Bellagio again--all real apples (we figured this would be a good pic for us Washingtonians)
The water show at the Bellagio--choreographed to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Time to Say Goodbye"--it was pretty incredible!

Why It's Been So Long Since I've Posted Anything

Okay, Lynz! I have to defend myself for the looooonnnng space between postings! :) Actually, I'm typing this from Mesa, AZ, but that's another story. Anyway, we've had a fun-filled last three weeks--I've been trying to get everybody used to our new routine with all the activities, etc. Here's how it goes:
Monday: I teach a 1 hour After-School Spanish Class that my kids attend as well, FHE in the p.m.
Tuesday: I go to yoga, I teach 1 voice lesson, Will & Blake have basketball & soccer practice, I go to my Mary Kay meeting at night
Wednesday: I teach After-School Spanish again, Will has scouts, I go to the mutual activity
Thursday: I go to yoga, Will has gymnastics, Auri has dance, Will & Blake have basketball & soccer practice (respectively), possible soccer game for Blake instead of practice
Friday: I teach a 1 1/2 hr. Parent/Tot Spanish class in the a.m.

Doesn't seem like a lot, but with class prep. time, cleaning house time, cooking time & general running errands time, it adds up. The yoga keeps me calm--I'm serious--it really does!!! :-) Shawn even notices. I try to exercise at least 4 times a week (I gave up on giving myself a guilt trip for not doing it 5 x) and it really helps me to feel better.

As I said, we're on vacation and I have lots of great pics to post as soon as we get home on Sunday...so be ready for a really great post!

First Day of Kindergarten

Yippee! School started! The kids were getting so bored! I ended up forgetting the camera when Auri & Will went on their first day so I just used my cell phone and haven't sent the pics to my computer yet. But I do have a picture of Blake on his first day of kindergarten! I can't believe he's in school! (Sniff) I honestly never shed a tear when Will & Auri went to Kindergarten, but I did with Blake. Nothing to do with loving them less, it's just that Blake was my "baby" for almost 5 years until Payton came along. We had a lot of fun times just the two of us... now he's in school in the afternoons. He loves it--especially music class--is he a singer! He even got the "Musician of the Day" award on the first day they went to music. Funny!

Titanium Man

Every year Shawn does the Titanium Man Triathlon in Kennewick. We all go down as a family and have fun playing at the park while intermittently cheering on Dad as he passes by on the bike and run.

The triathlon is Olympic length which means: 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run. If that seems like a lot to you, Shawn will be doing the Grand Columbian half-iron in 2 weeks which is: 1.2mi swim, 56 mi bike, 13 mi run! Craziness! Anyhow, this year it was really fun because we saw Shawn at the last part of the run and Blake and Will decided to run with him. Shawn doesn't take it too seriously so he was happy to indulge them. Blake ran for about a half mile and Will actually ran the last mile with him and went through the finish line.Afterwards we went to a little "water" park and the kids enjoyed one of the last hot days of summer there.

Proof that Payton and Blake are Brothers

What are the chances that two children in a row will be thumbsuckers and hairpullers? Well, here's proof that it can happen. I don't know if they worked this out before they came to our family, but then again it could be genetic. I don't mind the thumbsucking, actually. Despite the claims that braces will be imminent, my sister and two of her friends were thumbsuckers and never needed braces, not to mention the dentist told me it was fine as long as they weren't doing until 12 hours a day til they were 12. So, my philosophy for Payton is go ahead and pacify yourself--he gets up less at night anyway!

A Yard in Progress

We moved into a new house when Payton was a week old, so that means we've been here for almost 6 months. The yard was full of rocks and with Shawn's touch we've been transforming it into more than just a rock garden. I'll continue updating with the progress--I don't think I've ever been so excited about things like sod and vinyl fencing...

Shawn's beautiful retaining wall (above)

Before sod

After sod, glorious sod! Awning in progress...

Four Generations

I am so blessed to live in the same town, and even ward, as my mom and grandma! Last week we had a ward mother daughter picnic and wore "look a like" outfits. It was a lot of fun!

Another funny thing about living in the same town as family members--I was at the bank drive thru today and who pulls up next to me? My grandparents! I know most of my friends don't live in the same town as their parents think it's weird for something like that to happen. I love it, though! We see each other just often enough, but not overkill--don't ask Shawn about that! Here's another picture I took of Auri and I right before the picnic--we even did our hair the same. Hey--I only have one daughter--I have a right to be cheesy!

My Best Friend Since I was Born

Two weeks ago my best friend, Amy Griffitts Reynolds, came to visit. We always joke that we have been best friends since I was born because her mom went to my mom's baby shower. She now lives in Orlando, FL, but has spent the better part of the summer visiting family in Northern Idaho. She has one son, Tytan, who will be 2 in November. Amy is amazing! Her husband is currently deployed to Iraq for 18 months. She talks to him about once a week! Here she is on the phone to him--she never knows when he's going to call--

I don't know how she does it--she is so strong! It's funny--we laugh about how neither of our lives have turned out the way we thought they would, but we wouldn't trade them for anything. She is one of those friends who I won't see or talk to for a year, but when we see each other it's like only a few days have passed. I am so blessed to have her and all the wonderful friends I've had in my life. It's sad because there are so many I don't see much of--once a year or once every two years--but we will always have a bond. I'm so excited about the blogs, too, so I can keep up with them even better. Here's a picture of all the kids and us:

Silliness

Turner kids--well known for their cheesy smiles!