California 2010

swimming: Samuel, Miles, Calvin

On a Redwood tree in Big Basin

Calvin relaxing with Daddy

Eating S'mores by the pool

Grandpa's Tree House (in the making)

Now when most people say tree house, you think of a small structure in a tree.  But when Grandpa Call says tree house, he literally means a tree in a house: 4 stories, balcony, loft.  The kids were thrilled to be able to sleep in it the last night we were there.  Grandma wasn't so thrilled to be kept awake until 1am with shrills of laughter.  The tree house is right outside their bedroom window.

My surfer brother, Don, with his boys, Dalton and Hudson (or as Uncle Chris nicknamed them: D-Town and HudBud)

Collecting sand crabs at the beach

Grandpa at the beach

Wesley having fun at the beach

We always go to the tide pools at Natural Bridges when we go to Santa Cruz.  We went to Manreesa later, so my brother could surf.

The cousins lined up at a ride at the Boardwalk.

being silly on the kiddie coaster

Marnie and Mikaela lookin' good

Calvin enjoying the Boardwalk.  You can see the $1 soda.  That's why we always go: the $1 rides, hot dogs, and sodas.  Grandpa Call canNOT resist a good deal.

Wesley being brave with Mommy on the big swings.  I'm suppressing my fear as well as possible, so as not to scare the little one.  All I can think about on those swings is:  "PING!"...

Julia with her Aunt Marnie

Conner and Miles on the swings

Calvin with the cute blankie that Aunt Larissa and the cousins gave him.

Lindsay and Julia

We started a new tradition for saying "good-bye".  All the cousins line up for a farewell hug line.  Then, as they drive off we all run across the front lawn yelling "good-bye".  It's actually rather sweet.

My harmless husband.  Does he realize that he just took out one of the cousins?  Look how much fun he's having.

Julia with Aunt Natalie

Moab.  She's as beautiful as her Mama, Marnie.

Dirt bike rides with Uncle Dan.  Go, Samuel!

The girl cousins who made it: Lindsay, Mikaela, Emma, and Julia

Julia's smile was literally from ear to ear.  She's our little thrill seeker.

Does anyone else sense a Christmas card picture here?

Sadly, I have no group picture from the Sunday of his blessing.  But here he is in his cute little blessing outfit.

Catherine and Natalie

Lindsay's 12th Birthday Bash 

Canoeing up at Stevens Creek Reservoir.  It was all fun and games until they realized they were swimming in a bay that had a dead deer in it.  Don't ask.

Flag Raising Ceremony on Grandpa's front porch

Street Slides in San Francisco

swimming in the spa

Some of the beautiful California sights

Calvin's Birthday

I know it's three months later, but as we always say in the Owens' Home:  "Better late than never!"

the happy family before the arrival of #6

getting the news that the induction was a "go"

our "team" ready for action: Cherise, Miles, Lindsay

The team just about to get more action than they ever dreamed was possible.

I love how he loves our babies, even though he pretends not to be that in to them.

Everyone adoring.

Who can resist a newborn face?

"Getting to know you..."

Kisses...

Awww!!

So, that's the story, in pictures, of the day he was born.  We feel so blessed that Our Father in Heaven sent another precious little spirit down to us.  It is such a privilege to have someone "so fresh from God" be in our home.

Some thoughts...

So, we still have no main home computer (#74 on the list of 257 things to do: get a new computer).  So, I still have no really organized way of saving and keeping track of pictures.  Okay, so I didn't really even have on before, too, but at least, they were all saved on the same computer.  Now, we have pictures on 3 different cameras (the one Grandma Helen gave us as a graduation from dental school gift in 2004, the one we bought in 2008 when we thought we had lost the one from G-ma at the zoo, and then Tim's really nice one for work.  Lindsay ended up finding the one from G-ma Helen under the seat in Dad's car...sigh.)  We have some pictures saved on this lap top, some pictures saved on the nice camera's cartridge, some pictures saved on the computers at work. I get panicky even thinking about it.  Sheesh, just last week at my Mom's house, I found some adorable pictures of a trip we took to San Diego to visit my brother the summer of 2004 that I didn't even know existed.  I mean priceless pictures of my Samuel when he was about 18 months old.  Such a delicious age!  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Don't panic.  Then, to top it off I just saw this blog whose 6th baby is about the same age as Calvin, and they had the most insanely beautiful pictures of their baby girl (who just happened to be named Caroline!).  I just about started to cry.  I don't think I even have a single picture of Calvin from about 2 weeks old to 4 weeks old.  sniff, sniff.

But this all leads me to my latest idea/effort.  I have been really trying, lately, to just be "in the moment".  I know. It's not an earth-shatteringly new idea, but it's something I'm trying to focus on.  Like tonight.  I had to go out and run an errand before our next trip this weekend.  On the way home, I picked us up some chips and queso sauce at Chili's.  It's sort of our little thing.  Back in the basement apartment, newly wed days, Chili's take out was our big indulgence every few months.  So, we sat outside on our front porch and just enjoyed our little treat and the summer evening and the quiet house together.  Then, we heard Calvin start to squawk.  I went up and got him, and he fell immediately back to sleep in my arms, just nuzzled perfectly under my chin.  I was in heaven: a hot, little body snuggling on me.  It doesn't get much better.  I had Tim take a picture even though I'm sure my double chin is visible, and my hair is a mess.  I just wanted to remember that almost intoxicating moment.

Well, he's squawking again, and this time, I think he'll want to be fed.  Let me see if I can find that camera where Tim took the picture.  Ignore the double chin, and try to enjoy the moment with me.

Oh yeah, I need that special doo-hicky thing to insert my card into this lap top.  Well, no need to ignore the double chin.  I'll try to download it tomorrow.

I'm off to enjoy my two month old.  Yes, he is two months old today.

How much do I love Miles?

Okay, so let's be honest.  Who am I kidding?  When am I not honest?  We've been barely surviving summer.  It cracks me up to read all these glowing reports of other mothers' blissful summers.  My coping mechanism for this summer:  lock myself in my room with my precious, infant son.  It's actually been working quite nicely...

So, after a morning of trying to beat back the clutter, I rewarded the kids with a trip to Goodberry's Frozen Yogurt.  (Yum!)  It had been a long cranky morning for this mommy, so when "Respect" came on the radio, I took the opportunity to sort of sing out my crankiness (read: I was really belting it out.).  Miles looks at me after the song is over and in all honesty asks, "Mom, why aren't you a famous singer?"  I replied, "Because I decided to have six kids instead."  Warm heart, lots of love for that boy.  It was a cute moment.  And, of course, even through all the madness that is summer in our house, there isn't anything in the world I'd rather be doing than being cranky and bored with these six monkeys all summer long.

We go to my parents' house on Saturday, so let the fun begin.  Grandpa's house + cousins = heaven for my kids.  They absolutely can't wait to get out there.  Six cousins are already out there, and it's killing my kids to know that the party has somewhat started without them.

Lindsay's been at Girls' Camp this week.  I hope she's having fun.  She has some very conscientious leaders, so I'm confident she's having the time of her little life.  I have such huge expectations for Girls' Camp after the Girls' Camp that I was privileged to go to growing up:  LADASA at Camp Lehi in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  It was amazing.

Well, here are some pictures:

My annual attempt at a Father's Day gift which I miraculously got out to the grandfathers on time this year, but that's a story for another post:

My angel baby:  Calvin Call Owens (and yes, he's lying on a pink blanket.  I went so overboard buying little extras for Julia that I just can't justify buying more for Calvin.  The blanket in just as soft whether it's pink or blue, right?)

Up-date

Has it really been two months since my last post? Tim's out of town 'til tomorrow afternoon. He's a another class. This time in Chicago. It's a good one: all on occlusion (how the teeth bite and fit together). Also, there was some about photography in there which I know he loves, so that's exciting. Only, how excited can you get about taking pictures of teeth? I can't wait for him to get home. We all miss our "voice of reason" desperately!

So, do you see the time I am posting this? Yes, it's 2:15AM. Sigh. I woke up with a yucky tummy. I guess one really shouldn't eat two huge pieces of pizza with tons of cheese on it, two glasses of milk, and a huge cookies 'n cream brownie when one is almost 36 weeks pregnant. Which brings me to the next thing I wanted to post: did I ever say on here that we are expecting child #6? I guess we sort of alluded to it in our Christmas card, but you had to have read it through to the very end for the little hint: "Julia loves...babies. Lucky for her, Baby Owens Version 6.0 will be arriving this May." We are so thrilled. It will be another little boy, and so far, everything seems to be on track.

So, do you want the real reason I'm up at 2:15AM? (I really do have a queasy tummy, but...) I have been reading "Anne of Green Gables". What a great book. Lindsay saw that I was reading it and wants to read it next, so I felt a sort of sense of responsibility to get it read as quickly as I could. Hee, hee. She gets too involved in the mystery/fantasy genre, so I'm wanting her to branch out a little more. Also, she is such a strong little lady herself that I love for her to read about other strong, admirable little ladies, too.

Anyway, in reading "Anne", I came across just the most adorable, applicable quote. I thought immediately that I had to post it.

Anne tells Diana (her bosom friend), "There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that's why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne, it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting."

I just love that. There are so many timeless, beautiful sentiments in that book. I've really enjoyed reading it. I also just saw that there is a whole series of them. I guess I'll have to read them. Only so that I know what Lindsay will be getting into, of course.

Only 14 more hours until my Tim gets home.

And, I can't seem to put something on here without a picture. Our main home computer sort of died last month, so we're down to using our laptops. I haven't down-loaded any recent pictures on this computer, but I did find the most adorable (if I do say so myself...) picture from our trip to western New York last summer. It's the soon to be big sister with her big brother out by the lake. Doesn't Tim have a natural knack for photography?

We're Still Here...

Here are a few pictures from our last few months' happenings:

On Christmas Eve, our neighbors invited us over to an open-house. It was so nice. They live a very short way away, and it just felt silly to pile everyone into the car to drive there. But it was seriously like 3 degrees outside. We bundled up Wesley and Julia and took them there Russian style. Seriously, you always see moms pulling around their kids in sleds, etc. all bundled up in winter. It was a really fun evening. We are blessed to associate with wonderful people in all areas of our life: neighborhood, school, church, work.



We were all very tired and sugar-ed out after the Open House, but I just couldn't live through a Christmas Eve without our traditional live nativity. Here we are at the end. Julia couldn't get enough of the Baby Jesus. In fact, most babies are still referred to as Baby Jesus even now in February. One of my favorite moments from Christmas was when it was the shepherd's (Wesley's) turn to hear the angel (Lindsay). We all look over at Wesley, and he's just totally kicking back with a drink of water in one hand and his legs crossed. It was just the funniest thing. He's such a funny little guy.

Christmas jammies.

This was my other favorite moment of Christmas. Julia was the last one up, so we all thought it'd be fun to sneak quietly into her room and show her the stocking that was waiting in her crib, thinking that she was still soundly asleep in there. We all sneaked in, only to discover that she was in there amidst all of her "loot" trading off between sucking her thumb and some candy. She was just all set to stay there all morning. She had her candy. It was just such a funny moment for all of us. She's such a sweetie.

The view of the Christmas tree from upstairs. I always think about how my Dad says that he remembers the "smell" of Christmas. He and his siblings would go and sit out on the landing of their Appleton house and just wait and soak in the smell. Such a cute image.

We had a fun "active" birthday party for Samuel's 7th birthday on the 26th. I think he had a lot of fun. Here are all the attendees.



Then, for New Year's we went out to Utah. My sis, Cath, just moved to Provo, so we made her house our headquarters, even though she had just moved in a couple of weeks ago and was still unpacking her house. Thank you, Cath, for letting us invade.

How much do you think these cousins slept? They all gave it their best shot.

Julia discovering the wonders of dress-up with Emma's stuff. We have a dress up box, too, but it has as much Ninja, Star Wars, crazy wigs, etc. as it has pretty pink stuff. She was in heaven as is evident by her facial expression.

Miles really acts the part of the beloved, worshipped, older cousin well. In fact, I don't think he minds it at all that he's got 7 younger boy cousins who follow his every move. Here's a picture with Tate.

We made it up to Salt Lake Temple Square to see the lights. They are even more spectacular than I remember. I think the last time I went was on the day after Thanksgiving my freshman year at BYU when Becky Pulley's family so graciously hosted us. We had fun then in the crowd, but now we have a crowd of our own.

Don and his boys were able to meet up with us. It was snowing and cold, but it just added to the magic of the beautiful lights.

Enjoying the snow in the Grames' backyard.

We also got to go up to Kaysville and enjoy celebrating Jacob and Jared's 11th birthday. Brandon was there, too. He's getting sooo old. I think he's 13 now. Crazy.

It was a great holiday season. Now we're gearing up for a visit from the Grames and Grandma and Grandpa Call for Presidents' Day Weekend. More fun

Here's Hoping for a Snow Day

So, my kids have this funny superstition thing that if they sleep with their pajamas on backwards and inside out, then it will be a snow day the next morning. No school!! I don't even know how it all began, but they're convinced it works.

Also, notice the duct tape securing Julia's diaper. Yeah, I was welcomed by one too many crib-fuls of you-know-what. Tim suggested the duct tape. It's worked so far. Bless her little heart.

Lindsay's sleeping with the phone, so she can be the one to answer it when the automated school district phone call comes telling us that school's been cancelled. I just watched the news, and I don't think that there'll be one tomorrow. Just in case, I got another canister of hot chocolate at Sam's Club this afternoon, so I'm prepared if the weather guy's wrong.

Halloween 2009

Girls choosing pumpkins...

Boys choosing pumpkins...

The whole fam posing at the pumpkin patch...

Girls carving pumpkins...

Boys carving pumpkins...

Miss Julia, a butterfly...

Wesley, a skeleton...

Samuel, a vampire...(he had the perfect "fangs" this year)

Miles, a mad scientist (which wasn't really dressing up for him at all...)

Lindsay, a funky clown...

The whole gang by the carved and lit pumpkins...

The pumpkins all aglow...

The skeleton, the butterfly, and the mad scientist "trick or treating"...

I say it in quotes because this was actually the night after Halloween (yes, a Sunday) when we were requested to go over to our sweet neighbor's house. She had special little treat bags for each of the kids and was so disappointed that we didn't make it by on Halloween night. We had had a fairly hectic night with Lindsay trying to navigate two different 11 y.o. girls' parties and fifteen 11 y.o. girls' feelings, so we hadn't gotten to everything that night. Also, I never got pictures Halloweeen night, so I was happy to get everyone dressed up again, get their pictures taken, and head over to Jessi's house. We even sang her a pretty "stirring" rendition of "Stirring My Brew", if I do say so myself. :):) Also, I love that the butterfly in the last picture has a "blankie". So cute.