A Visit from Grandpa Payne, David, Lisa, and Jayden

We were so excited that Grandpa Payne, Uncle David (Lloyd's brother), Aunt Lisa, and their son, Jayden, came out to visit us June 19-23. They had to drive quite a long time in the car to make it all the way from Utah. We feel so grateful that they were willing to make the long drive because we didn't know if we'd survive a trip to Utah with 7 people in one minivan. We had so much fun with them while they were here. We swam in our pool, played games, swam in the pool at their hotel, visited, and enjoyed being together. They even brought us all presents which they claimed were because they always forget our birthdays. The presents were unnecessary, but the kids loved them! On the Saturday they were here, we went and took these portraits. It's a rare moment when we're all together so we wanted to take advantage of it. After our photo shoot, we went to McHenry Recreation Area, one of our favorite spots near the Stanislaus River. We had a barbecue, played in the river, and floated down the river in a couple rafts we have. It was such a hot day so the cool water from the river was so wonderful.

Grandpa Payne with all his grandkids.

Our kids with their cousin Jayden. He's almost 5.

Our family

Lisa, David, and Jayden

On Monday afternoon we traveled to Santa Cruz so we could spend the evening at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This is an annual summer tradition for our family. At least once a summer, we go to the boardwalk on a Monday or Tuesday evening. On these days, called 1907 nights all the rides are only one ticket and hot dogs, drinks, and cotton candy are only 75 cents. It's a real bargain for our family! There are a lot of kiddie rides for the little ones. We love the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster and the carousel where you can throw rings at the clown's mouth as you ride. We had a great time as an extended family this year.

Courtney, Jayden, and Katelyn on the Freefall

Me and Cameron on the Ghost Blasters.

You get to shoot ghosts as you go through the ride!

Jayden and Lisa on the kid's roller coaster.

Conner and Courtney on the Sea Dragons.

He was a little nervous, but ended up liking it okay.

Lloyd, Kylie, David, and Courtney and Katelyn (below) on the Cliff Hanger.

Jayden and Cameron on the planes.

Cameron and Grandpa Payne
Conner didn't know what to think of cotton candy at first--it doesn't feel like food, but he quickly figured out what it was.

It was a terrific visit for all of us. We are so grateful for our family and they way they touch our lives.

An American Girl Party

Kylie and I got to attend an American Girl Party at the McHenry Museum in Modesto. They put on these parties a couple times a year and they're free! This is the first one Kylie got to go to. She brought her American Girl doll, which is actually a hand-me-down from one of Katelyn's school friends (we can't afford to buy these dolls ourselves). This party focused on the American Girl doll named Kit Kittredge. She lived in the era of the Great Depression. Her movie is coming to theaters on July 2. We were privileged enough to meet a young girl named Brieanne who will appear in the movie. She told about her experiences of auditioning for the movie and filming it in Canada. Kylie got her autograph and took the picture below with her. Brieanne has lost a lot of weight since filming the movie so she looks much heavier in the film. At the party we played a memory game, made a fan and fanned tissue paper scraps (a game Kit played) , and made a jewelry box out of paper. They served refreshments and gave out goodie bags! Around 60 girls attended the party with their Moms. All the girls were so cute! Kylie and I had a really good time!

Brieanne is pictured on the movie poster on the right. We're looking forward to watching the movie in the theater.

Cameron's First Swimming Lessons

Cameron took his first swimming lessons June 9-20. He absolutely loved them and is beginning to swim independently. He had a "boy" teacher and two little friends from our ward in his class. He learned how to blow bubbles, use a kickboard, do "ice cream scoop" arms, float on his back, dive for a ring, and ride the alligator (the best part). We're having fun watching Cameron grow up; since he's our first boy this is all a new experience for us. He's our happy and energetic boy!

Courtney's trip to Arizona

On June 9 Courtney flew out to Arizona all by herself! She was a little nervous traveling on an airplane by herself, but she did fine. She actually flew out of small airports - Stockton and Mesa so it made it nice and not so crowded. She loved spending the week with my sister, Karen, and her two little ones Ethan (almost 2) and Addie (3 months). Karen has her hands full with a new baby so we hoped Courtney could be a help to her. They went lots of places like the Phoenix Zoo, the Mesa Children's Museum, and to my brother's (Brad's) house.

Karen had this to say about Courtney's visit:

"Thanks for letting me have Courtney for a week. She was such a huge help and such a sweet girl. Ethan loved playing with her. He kept asking "Nee Nee?" for a few days after she left. I kept telling him that she left on an airplane, but I don't think he gets that a person can go on an airplane yet. They look so small in the sky. I cried when Courtney left. I felt like I was losing my nanny and friend. She's a doll. Treasure your time with her and tel her that we miss her!" Karen really loved Courtney when she was a baby so I think they will always have a special bond. They have similar personalities too; I look up to both of them even though they're younger than me. We are so glad Courtney had a great trip!

On June 14, the day after Courtney got back from her trip she went on her date with Mom and Dad. I took her to see Prince Caspian and Lloyd took her out for ice cream. We're so pleased with Courtney. She is a helpful, sensitive, loving, and responsible young woman.

Away at Camp...

Courtney and Katelyn are spending this week at Girl Scout Camp. We loaded them on the bus Monday morning and they are expected home tomorrow afternoon. We have all missed them. Kylie has stepped up as the oldest and only girl in the family. She and Cameron have been great playmates this week. The girls' camp has a camp website where they post daily pictures of the girls participating in camp activities. We've enjoyed checking the website each day to see what our girls are up to. They look like they are having fun and making a lot of friends. The first three photos are of Courtney who is participating in a camp called Camp Quest. The next three are of Katelyn, her camp is called Trail Signs (yes, Katelyn's the one pulling the girl's pony tails in the last one). We can't wait to see them tomorrow and hear all about it. It's been great to get a few glimpses of our girls while they've been away.

May - Katelyn's Month to Shine!

May was a special month for Katelyn for several reasons. She turned ten years old on May 31. She had a High School Musical 2 Swim Party the week before her official birthday. Unfortunately, the day we had the party was pretty rainy so after only about 30 minutes of swimming, the girls came indoors and played the High School Musical 2 DVD game. The weekend of Katelyn's official birthday she performed four dances in her Ballroom Showcase. She really did an excellent job! Her favorite dance was the Jackie Chan.

In "Buggin" Katelyn danced the Samba.

In "Mellow Yellow" she danced the foxtrot.

In "Jackie Chan" she danced the cha cha.
In the finale, "Neverending Dream" she danced a jump style that comes from Europe.

Katelyn also had her date with Mom and Dad this month. We took her to Funworks where she climbed on the rock wall and played arcade games with Mom and Dad. We also went out to eat at Fuddruckers.

We are so proud of the young lady Katelyn is becoming. She is thoughtful, obedient, and responsible. She is getting so tall and growing up so fast. She also ended fourth grade with straight A's. We're so blessed to have her in our family.

Random Updates

Summer vacation is here! The girls got out of school June 6 and we're enjoying our second week on summer break. This is my favorite time of the year. I usually have more time when my kids are out of school so I'm going to try to be a better blogger. I'm sorry I haven't been leaving comments on all your blogs; I 'm going to try to do better. I also added a few other families to my "Blogs I Read" list. I've been busy with many of my kids' activities that I will soon be posting about on the blog (swim lessons, camps, dates with Mom/Dad, dance recitals, birthday parties, etc.) This week I just finished reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I'm also trying to get back in the groove of loosing the last of my weight before we go to Hawaii in 6 weeks. I decided to do a marathon in October so I've started training for that. Last week I did 9 miles and it was pretty tough. I hope it will get easier with time. I have to admit, sometimes I wonder why I am even doing this. I guess I do love the runner's high! This may be my second and final marathon (I did eight years ago). It's a huge commitment and I think I'm more comfortable with a half marathon. I wanted to journal about our Family Home Evenings these last couple months. It's probably boring to read, but it keeps us accountable and we use it for Family History.

*April 21 - Kylie had us play a matching game about Jesus and His atonement.

*April 28 - Courtney told us the "Story of the Ants" The family of ants were named PersistAnt, ObservAnt, PleasAnt, DiligAnt, ObediAnt, and ServAnt.

*May 5 - Lloyd had us look at our food storage starter kit we ordered and talked to us about the importance of food storage.

*May 12 - Courtney gave us a lesson on faith. She spoke about the brother of Jared and talked about how Jesus watches over us.

*May 19 - Our ward did a 40 day fast for missionary work. We watched a video about fasting and talked about its importance.

*May 26 - Memorial Day, we went to the river and had a BBQ with Grandma, Grandpa Jay, Bryce, and Chareen.

*June 2 - We did an ABC worksheet of temples around the world (got it online)

*June 9 - We talked about pioneers to prepare Courtney and Dad for the stake pioneer trek in July.

*June 16 - The big girls are at camp all week so we took the little kids swimming at the gym.

Cameron's Big Day

On May 17, the day Cameron had been waiting for finally arrived. He had anticipated this day for months. He spoke about it to Grandma on the phone and even told strangers at the store that he was going to ride on Thomas the Train. As many of you know, Cameron is absolutely obsessed with trains and loves Thomas. When we learned about "A Day Out with Thomas" we couldn't pass up the chance to let him go. Lloyd took him the day after the Father/Son Campout. Cameron was definitely a lucky boy, camping with Daddy one day and riding Thomas the next. You can just see the excitement in his eyes!

Camping with Daddy was fun!

Cameron even got to meet Sir Topham Hatt after his train ride!

Sixteen Years Ago ...

Sixteen years ago today, on June 6, 1992, Lloyd and I met at a Single Adult Dance in Fremont, CA. We were both 18 years old. We sat down at the same table and I thought he was pretty cute. I thought he had great eyes! Later that night he asked me to dance. We started visiting and I learned he was in the Navy. He lived on an aircraft carrier stationed in Alameda. He got my phone number and we started dating that summer. This is a picture from that summer. I can't believe how young we were. After the summer, I went back to BYU and Lloyd continued in the Navy. After mostly a long-distance relationship, we got married 2 years and a month after we met.

Well, today on the anniversary of the day we met, we have an amazing treat. My brother, Bryce, and his wife are coming to stay with the kid for two nights while Lloyd and I are staying at a hotel in Pleasanton. It's not anything extravagant, but we are so excited to spend the weekend with each other. I am so grateful to my brother and his wife.

I just have to say, I am eternally grateful for my marriage to Lloyd. I don't want to brag, but I think I have the best husband. He is so supportive of me and is so sensitive to my needs. He works so hard for our family both around the house and at his job at SFO. I really don't know how he tolerates driving 180 miles a day just so we can live in a place where we can afford a home. I feel so lucky that after 14 years of marriage, Lloyd and I are still crazy in love. He is my favorite person to be with. Before we got married, he promised he would always treat me like a queen. Well, he truly does! I feel so lucky and blessed to be married to Lloyd. I am so glad that 16 years ago, he asked me to dance. I could not imagine my life without Lloyd.