Lillian Rain Montes

After an intense last week of pregnancy for Renee everything turned out GREAT! Welcome to the world Lillian Rain Montes! They came up for Thanksgiving from San Diego and it was so great to see them and to meet her.She is so adorable.Cutie pie!

Stamps

Jon and I needed to talk for a couple minutes and this is what we found when we left our kids alone for a couple minutes.STAMPS!Now pose.We laughed so hard that morning.

"Singing in the Rain"

Whether rain or shine my new years goal back in 2006 was to take the kids out of the house at least once per day. Since that day we have been outside every day.Silly faces.Rylee liked licking the rain off of Brody's jacket.

Starbucks maybe?

I don't know what Jon is doing here, but I think his partner took a picture of him randomly one day at work. He sure is a handsome guy. Thanks for all your hard work at home and at work! We love you so much and miss you every day you are gone!

Lake Natomas Bike Ride and Picnic

Since we love being outdoors and this fall/winter has felt like spring, we decided to take a bike ride next to Lake Natomas. Rylee is 3.5 years old and has been riding a 2 wheeler without training wheels for a couple of months now. She is so taleneted! Thanks to the Strider bike. Brody is pretty fast on the Strider now and is so talented himself! She did the best to keep up but those hills were tough. Brody's little legs eventually gave up and he ended up in the trailer behind my bike.A little picnic and rock throwing.Just hanging around.Brody too!Jon practicing his handstands for Crossfit.Of course Brody has to do everything that Jon does. Now Brody's turn!Loving boys do what they do best......wrestle.Rylee in a tree.Jump to Jon!Brody's turn.No fear!Rylee loves her Dora bike and is such a great rider. We are so proud of you!

Channel Islands

Jon had the privalege of traveling down south on his birthday. He and many other men from my home ward back in Centerville left for the Channel Islands late at night. They left from the Santa Barbara port to sleep off the rocky boat ride out. The boat they took to sea.Channel Islands.Dan Skubal and Jon getting ready for the first dive.Jon in all his gear, that must have been heavy.Goofing off? Or maybe this is what you are supposed to do when a shark comes near...Loved the first dive.Venturing into a cave. Tight squeeze.Johnny Little and Ryan Beck show casing their catch.Dinner time inside the cab. They had a chef on board who was willing to cook up what you caught or make anything for any meal.Night dive.Into the dark deep he goes.The sleeping arrangements.Getting ready to pack up for their last dive of the trip.We missed you and we're glad you had a great time!

Trunk or Treat

Here the kids are dressed up for a halloween activity at the library. We attend storytime every week and the kids love it. At the library they had lots of things to do - games, storytime, and a craft. Here is Belle and our Jr. Firefighter.Later that evening Oma, Grammy and Grandpa Nick came up to see the kids in their costumes. Every year our Ward gets together and has safe trick or treating for the kids. This year it was a tri-ward activity. We come together for dinner and the parents come with their trunks decorated and hand out candy to the little ones.CANDY!Mustache Man.How many pieces is that for you?Our pretty princess all dolled up.

Jack-o'-lanterns

For a Family Home Evening activity, we finally carved our pumpkins we picked out at the pumpkin patch! Rylee had fun pulling the guts out of the pumpkins while Brody helped cut the tops off.Rylee made sure that each pumpkin belonged to somebody - Jon (skull), Rylee (smiley face), Brody (bat), and me (witch). I think we did a fabulous job this year!!

Cooper's Birthday

Rylee had the privalege of going to Cooper's birthday party and get all dressed up! She loves dress up any chance she gets. Here is a picture of some of the girls in her sunbeam class - Riley, Rylee and Avery.

The Opossum

For about a week while I was home alone I could hear random rattling in our garage. A couple of times I had to call Jon at work, because I thought someone was trying to break in. There was even an episode while Jon was home where we heard noises. I made Jon get up and see what it was. He never found anthing that night, but the next day a rack for some of our tools was broken. About a day later, he found an opossum nestled in his dirt bike bag in the garage. We think this animal had been trapped in our garage for about a week because he was lethargic and Jon could touch him with a pole and the thing bearly moved. Jon was able to get the animal out and we haven't seen him since.