At the beach

This picture of Noah flying the kite was taken too soon. If I had known only to wait a minute longer when the kite flying would lift Noah up from the sand and knock him forward about two feet onto his bottom on the sand!!! Our friends, the Shawens, who were graciously sharing their kites, said that the kite could lift anybody who is not at least 125 pounds off of the ground. We were to be given proof of that statement when it did, indeed, lift Noah off the ground. He loved it! Later we watched as Brother Shawen also fought the winds with that very same kite, digging his heels into the sand. He actually looked like he was spraying sand behind him as digging in his heels hardly worked and he slid forward spraying the sand behind him. It was quite entertaining to see the boys, be they big or little, work at flying the kites. One time the kite ended up in the water, the string had snapped. When Brother Shawen went in to recover the kite and was about at mid-thigh and he felt he could no longer breathe due to the freezing water temperature, he sent in his oldest in after it. It was hilarious to watch.

At the Beach for Spring Break

Rest, relaxation and pure fun--those are the words that come to mind when I think of our spring break. We were lucky enough to go the Outer Banks in NC. We rented a house with another family in a great neighborhood community with a sports center. There were about 5 other church families who also rented houses in the same neighborhood, so there was never a lack of play mates for Tobin, Noah and Brenna, and for us as well. This is our second year going to the beach and we love it! It was cold the first two/three days and then became so beautiful for the rest of our week. We filled our days with puzzles, walleyball, reading, bike rides, shopping, flying kites, and swimming attempts in the still frigid waters of the Atlantic Ocean. We filled our nights with karaoke, movies, hot tubs, American Idol, and spending time with our friends. It was a great vacation--one that we will cherish with fond memories.

One experience that sticks out in my mind was the second day we were there. Brenna wanted to take Harley (our friend's dog) for a walk. So, we got on our winter coats and headed out. We somehow ended up at the beach which I really hadn't planned on because it was so cold. But end up there we did. As I walked on the beach, I saw that no one was on the beach with us so we had it all to ourselves. As I walked, I realized that the beach was slowly waking up from winter. It sounds crazy to say, but that is exactly how I would describe it. The sand was hard underneath my feet and only broke occasionally as I walked on it. There were shells all over the place, something I never see in the summer. The shells also seemed un-ordinary in color. They were black and white. I don't remember seeing that color combination before. The other thing that there to be a lot of were crab and horseshoe crab shells all over the place. The beach just seemed untouched, but all the while it kept hinting of things to come as the waves crashed on the sand. It was an absolutely beautiful walk on the beach. It does somehow seem to be a paradox to have a winter coat on when at the beach!! One of the adventures of coming during spring break is that you never know what you are going to get with the weather. Our last three days were absolutely beautiful and perfect for going to the beach. There were more people out and about, the kids played in the sand and only occasionally had to go dip their feet in to cool off from the sun.

The picture of Noah's back tells a story. Noah and the others had gone to the beach with Julie, one of the teenage girls with whom we were staying while at the beach. She asked him twice if he wanted help putting sunscreen on his back. He replied "no" both times and proceeded to do it himself. Yes, you can see his two hand prints on the lower part of his back if you look closely. Hmmm...don't think that was good enough as you have proceeded to burn most of your back. Noah called it art. I called it painful. In the end, Andy called it both! We had a wonderful time and know that our children are building friendships with great friends in the church. It was so much fun.

If you click on the photo collage, it will enlarge. :)

Easter at the Beach

Easter at the beach was a blast this year. We drove down to the Outer Banks with our friends the Carvers the day before Easter. We are sharing a house with them for the week. Brenna was quite concerned about the Easter Bunny finding us, but we assured her it would be ok. So, Easter morning brought some changes to our Easter traditions since we were doing it with another family, but it was fun to do it a little differently. The Pagleys and the Carvers found their Easter gifts sans baskets this year. Tobin, Noah, and Brenna got a puzzle, toy, and white chocolate bunny wrapped in ribbon. The Carvers had theirs in a bag. Candy was strewn over the counters near the gifts. And there were 90 plastic eggs hidden on the main level of the house. It didn’t take long for the eggs to be found. We quickly realized the Carvers were serious egg hunters looking in places the Easter Bunny hadn’t even thought to look. The older kids were really great with allowing the younger kids the opportunity to find the easier eggs first. The eggs contained chocolate, jelly beans, and money.
I couldn’t believe how much candy and junk my kids ate through out the day. Even Noah, my most disciplined of children ate, and ate, and ate! Luckily the Easter Bunny thought to fill the eggs with gushers and fruit roll ups as well. I was really shocked.

We had a lesson on Easter that night after a wonderful ham/salad/mashed potato dinner. It was great to share in celebrating with the Carvers. We didn’t decorate eggs until the following day, but it seemed to prolong the Easter spirit. Everyone had fun decorating eggs. It is amazing though with 7 children how 24 eggs, which seems like so much really only boils down to 3 eggs a piece. The children didn't seem to mind however.

A snapshot of our day

I thought it might be fun to post some pictures of our every day. It seems like I will remember this forever, but I know that with my memory it will fade only too quickly. So, today Andy played guitar hero on the Wii. He loves it and plays with the boys. Tobin had wacky day at school today. He is full of school spirit and loves things like this. He actually had his nails painted, but you can't see that in the picture. (He had me take if off the minute he gothome for school). Noah and Tobin were playing "inside" ball waiting for their turn on guitar hero.

Brenna was the only one not in the basement. She was upstairs in her room playing with her American Girl dolls. She was taking them for a walk. Actually she had about five dolls in the double stroller. But that is how Brenna is, she surrounds herself with baby dolls and her webkinz. How she remembers their names are beyond me!!

Andy and I are also getting ready to take our family to the beach for spring break. We are going with our friends the Carvers!! We love the outer banks and look forward to it. Next post will most likely from the other side of the beach. Happy Easter everyone! And enjoy spring break.

The college stories continued....

This story is so good it has to have a picture with it. Take a good look at it! Yes, that is Andy. So, here's the story:

The first month out at BYU we were dating happily when Friday the 13th happened. I don't remember at what point I decided to play a trick on him, but plan it I did. So, on Thursday the 12th I was out with Andy on a date, while my roommates helped me out by stealing all of his clothes for me. (I would later find out that not only did they steal his clothes they took the drawers they were in as well.) In place of his clothes, my roommates were to leave behind a hideous, rust colored outfit that I had picked up at DI (a thrift store) earlier in the day. There was also a ransmon note that if he ever wanted to see his clothes again, he needed to wear the rust colored outfit to campus the next day. I didn't really leave him a choice as I had his dirty clothes taken as well. Oh, it should have been perfect.
During our date I kept spontaneously laughing; I thought for sure Andy was going to know something was up. But we had a wonderful time. When he dropped me off, I walked upstairs to my apartment laughing all the way.
I sat in my apartment with my roommates waiting for him to call me and tell me something, anything!! That call never came and I was dying to know what his reaction had been. So, the next day, on Friday the 13th, I was sitting in a basic science class when Andy strolled into the room having embellished the ensemble with a sign that said, "I love Paige." He came in with a boombox on his shoulders shouting out "Wild Thing." I wanted to die and sink into the chair. He called my name and Imust have moved or something, because he found me sitting about 4 rows up. He put the boombox down, came, picked me up and carried me to the professor's desk. Wasn't that nice of him?
Looking as geeky as he did he proceeded to say something to the effect of "Wow Paige!! Last night was wonderful. And when you kissed me....I thought I saw rockets!" Then he planted a big kiss on my cheek and ran out of the room.
Now, honestly, why couldn't he have just followed along? I had it planned so well. Andy has always said that "all is fair in love and war." Oops. Well, as you can guess, I have never had the gumption to try out another Friday the 13th at that level for fear of what would be revisited upon me. Anyway, I hoped for the anonymity a large lecture hall should have afforded me, but sitting up close gave that away. Never did I sit up close again. Our kids love to hear this story. Mostly, they love to hear how Daddy outdid Mommy at her own joke! We enjoy the laugh of it again, every once in a while. We had some great times at BYU. I hope you enjoyed the story. :)

Baby Jake

We love you baby Jake.

Brenna's oohhh sooooo late Birthday party

I do get the worst mom award ever, but, at least, most people would agree: "Better late than never." Let me tell you that it is a story longer than it is worth repeating to tell you why Brenna's b-day party was so late. But I can promise you, it won't be that late again. I just need to be able to explain in November that time has really flown, and how fast a year can be when her friends come to celebrate again!! Here are some pics. She loved it and I think her friends loved it!!!

I have to say that it wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly, if my niece Ali and her friend Emily hadn't come to help. They were excellent at entertaining the girls. And the little girls thought the big girls were completely cool!! Thanks Ali and Emily.