Catching up...at least a little

Ok, so we knew it would be hard to keep this up to date and to post all the photos and stories we'd like to share since life is just so busy. We'll do better, and here's an attempt to quickly catch up on the past few months...

(You can click on each picture to see it bigger!)

Our new pet - Butterfly

Today the kids were out back playing and Sydney saw a butterfly land on the grass. After the kids were ooohing and ahhhing for a while, Sydney decided this was the pet they'd been waiting for (they've been asking for a dog or kitty for a long time now...especially Bella).

Long story short, Sydney got a glass and Bella got a piece of paper (teamwork you know) and they caught the butterfly by putting the glass over it and then slipping the paper underneath so they could pick it up. After awhile they let it out but it stayed around for some classic pictures - they were convinced the butterfly wanted to stay and be our pet since it kept flying back to us!

Here are the pics:
 

And Preston's "mohawk" for the day (woke up this way...)

Rugby weekend

BYU Rugby & International Sevens Tournament at Petco Park

We had a big rugby weekend around our house. The BYU Rugby team was in town and one of the biggest international rugby tournaments was in San Diego down at Petco Park. Todd helped the BYU team arrange housing with local families and got a chance to hang out with the team and coaches. Was a lot of fun.

The "Sevens" tournament was back in town this year. I took Bella last year and we had a great time watching all the international teams (and crowds!). This year they had a lot more stuff for kids, plus Sydney and Preston love the "park in the park" at Petco so we had a good time. Sydney wanted the Welsh flag (she liked the dragon on it) and Preston got a mini-rugby ball (super excited about it). I sported my official Fiji team jersey that I picked up while in Tavarua last year. Go Fiji!

Team Fiji warming up Sydney and Preston having fun

Preston's first rugby match with Dad

We also took a break from the rugby action to find our "family brick" up by the Tony Gwynn statue at the "park in the park" at Petco. It took a little while but we found it! It's pretty cool and will be there for years to come so the kids can always come back and check it out. I guess if we ever have more kids we'll just have to scratch another name on there when nobody's looking!

Tony Gwynn statue Family brick by statue

Christmas Candy

I found Bella coming out from behind a bookcase in my parents home the day after Christmas. When she saw me she got a very guilty look in her eye. I asked what's up Bella? She showed me the empty wrapper from a hug chocolate Santa. I stopped myself from lecturing her for eating so much chocolate and telling her how it is not good to eat so many sweets. Instead I sat down with her and talked to her. I told her she does not have to sneak candy and I expected her to ask me. I explained that she needed to ask me first because I need to make sure she does not eat to much and make herself sick. I also told her that if she asked I would probably say yes because we don't usually have candy around. So the rest of the day she asked me for chocolate, candy and other Christmas treats that were around the house. To make my point and so she would trust me I said yes about 85 % of the time. That night we both learned a lesson. Bella learned to much chocolate will give you a stomach ache and I learned that saying yes to your four year-old to many times will give you a sleepless night.

Nutcracker Performance