November & December Pictures

Will with his big 4th grade project--a volcano!

Auri & Mom

Blake and Auri

Almost all the grandkids at Carter's baptism (Payton wasn't very happy!) All three of us sisters at Carter's baptism

Payton with Santa at his Parent-Tot Spanish Class (I teach it :-)

Auri decorating her gingerbread (graham cracker) house at her birthday party (this has become an annual tradition)

All bundled up to go ice skating (there are no pictures of the actual skating because I didn't want to drop the camera and break it)

Feliz Navidad

Turner Family Highlights 2008

· Shawn and Jasmine take part in community musical: “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, Jasmine as narrator and Shawn as Zebulun (one of Joseph’s brothers)
· Shawn travels to Washington D.C. and NYC with group of students
· Will (9 yrs.) participates in baseball and is a great hitter!
· Shawn and Jasmine travel to NYC, England and Scotland (while some very nice family members watch their children)
· Will gets his own email address (memitot@gmail.com)
· Auri finishes dance and starts gymnastics 5 hours a week
· Jasmine starts her second year as director of AIM Bilingual School & (http://school.aimgymnastics.com) with over 70 students enrolled
· Blake (6 yrs.) attends bilingual Kindergarten and is a great reader!
· Will is a great defensive basketball player
· Payton (22 mos.) grows and keeps us in stitches with his antics and Spanish/English sayings/sentences
· Auri, Jasmine & Payton travel with Jasmine’s mom and Shawn’s mom to Arizona to visit family and friends
· Auri turns 8 and gets ready to be baptized in January
· We finally break down and put up our first fake tree L (more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly)!
· We look forward to the Winter Break spent with family and not having to travel anywhere in the snow

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD Y PRÓSPERO AÑO NUEVO!

Trip to Arizona

Our trip was so fun! I took Auri and Payton and my mom and mother-in-law both came along to visit family and friends in AZ and to get away from the cold, gloomy weather. This was a special trip for Auri because she's almost 8--we got her ears pierced (surprise, Dad!). We stayed with Shawn's cousin, Kristin Huss, and her family--we stayed with them last year, too. They are great hosts and Auri and Payton had lots of fun with their cousins! I got to visit my friend Lyndsey (from H.S.) and her little girl, Lily (unfortunately her husband and son were out of town). We also saw Aunt Erin and Uncle Gus's new home--it's beautiful! And we got to visit Aunt Shelly and cousins Crew, Kaia and Nakoria. All in all it was a great trip and November is the perfect time of year to visit AZ--I could go every year!
Payton learning to play the Wii with the Huss kids Mike and Kristin's front door--it's beautiful! Jumping on the trampoline with Crew, Kaia, and Karina

Payton's favorite little shopping cart

My mom and our cool rental car--we love the palm trees!

Auri and Karina--best cousins and "twins"

Auri and my friend Lyndsey's little girl, Lily

Lyndsey and I

Payton and Uncle Gus--he's such a talker he can say both of Uncle's names--Clinton and Gus

Payton loved the bacon cheeseburger at Red Robin so much that he kept stealing bites

All the family at Red Robin

Halloween 2008

Well, here are some photos of that holiday where parents torture their little children by dressing them in uncomfortable costumes & masks and where older kids can get away with being scary or violent characters not tolerated any other day but Oct. 31. I actually broke a record this year and had three different costumes--that's right--three! I had to go to so many Halloween parties I got bored. Two are in the pictures: an 80s rock star and a jester (which I might add is a costume I saved from when I was 12).

Blake couldn't talk because he was a mime, so he carried this sign:

Before trick or treating with Meemaw--the hippie

Turner Happenings Sept. Oct.

Needless to say, it's been a busy month and a half since my last post! Shawn & I started teaching again and with kids back in school, we're always doing something. (Although I've noticed that since the kids are in school the house stays much cleaner and I spend less money on food, hmmm). Another reason I haven't posted anything is because my computer kept shutting off--we found out that one of the fans was defective and as soon as it got too hot, the power went off. Anyhow, everything's working fine now and so here's an update on our goings-on:

I found Auri playing with a new doll--Barbies are overrated anyhow!

Our cousins Truman and Coleman came to visit (all the way from Virginia!!) This is cousin Coleman (Aunt Brooke took all the good pictures--send me some please :-)

We had fun at the newly named and renovated "Surf and Slide Water Park" (formerly the Aquatic Center)
Payton, Auri, Cousin Bella, & Blake (yes, we do feed him)

Every time Blake got cold I told him to lay on the nice, warm sidewalk
First day of school!
One started the day off grumpy and the other cheerful, can you tell which is which?
(4th grade is a stressful time, come on!)

Can anybody think of a cutest baby contest to enter this into?

Momma and Payton goofing around!

Check Out Our School Website!!

I am so excited! Our school website is up and running! Just go to www.aimgymnastics.com and click on AIM School Information to be sent to the website.
I am currently busy painting classrooms and getting everything ready for our first day of school--September 2!

Our Big Trip

Well, we're back from our trip--our family survived watching our kids and they're not too traumatized that we were gone for 9 days. :-) We have over 300 pictures and I can't yet figure out how to do slideshows so here are some of my favorites. First we went to NYC and basically hit Battery Park, Wall Street and then took the Subway to Times Square which was packed full of tourists! It was pretty hot and humid, too. I got the experience (Shawn has been 3 times before), but I'd like to go again when we have more time. Then we flew to London and drove up to Scotland. We went to Edinburgh and took a train from there back to London.

Outdoor Adventures

I got a stake calling to go to Girl's Camp this year and help with one of the programs. It was a lot of fun. We went on a five mile hike to Heather Lake w/ Mt. Pilchuk in the background. Our camp was Cascade Park near Granite Falls, WA. It was beautiful! I love being in nature! Shawn hung in there and watched the kids for 4 days! What a trooper!

In other news, Shawn took Auri fishing with Uncle Ryan and she caught a...catfish! She thought it was pretty scary looking and didn't really want to hold it. But she posed for a few pictures.

House Painting

I like to do a lot of posts at once, it seems. When I find a few free minutes I have to take advantage...Here are some pics of the color we chose for our downstairs. It's cheery and I balanced it out with a lot of dark brown furniture. I would give more pics of the final project, but everything is kind of on hold because we decided to go on a trip to Great Britain this month rather than finish decorating. I think it's worth it!! (Details to follow about our trip)

Before Picture

After Picture

In Between Picture--Vaulted ceilings are a pain to paint! We still haven't finished the very top edge between wall and ceiling.

Auri's Last Dance

Auri and her friend Aubrey right before a dance performance.

I was so glad when Auri finally had her recital--she isn't really into dancing and I had to bribe her to go and finish up the year! I'm not really into the whole putting make up on thing--kids already get enough pressure from TV to grow up fast. Anyway, next year we're trying the sports avenue, but overall I think kids are too overscheduled these days and we try to limit how many activities they're in. They just love to PLAY--something a lot of kids don't have time to do!