The Moore Family

Makaylee's Baptism

2011-05-10T11:25:00.001-07:00

Makaylee was baptized the last weekend of April. It was such a special day and she was so happy.

Here's a picture of Makaylee and her teacher Sister Chapman. She loves her teacher so much and we're grateful because Sister Chapman is such a wonderful woman.

We love you Makaylee and we're so proud of you!!

Summer Nights on the Trampoline

2010-06-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago the kids wanted to sleep out on the trampoline. That's what summer's all about right? The moon was full and the stars were beautiful. We told a progressional story (when one person starts the story and then you go around in a circle everyone taking 1-2 minutes to tell more of the story). It was so fun to spend time as a family. Good thing our kids have a cool dad who stayed out with them the whole night. After 30 minutes my body was so sore I knew I wouldn't make it the whole night. After the kids were asleep I snuck back into my nice soft bed. Here are some pictures from the next morning:

Camping at Mojave Narrows

2010-05-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Since Jason is the Scout Master in our ward he goes on a lot of campouts with the young men. (Almost one per month). Recently he came home from a campout and said, "Here I am camping out with the YM when I want to be making memories with my own kids." So, we decided to plan a low stress campout with our kids. We went some place local, got pizza on the way and had a really easy breakfast in the morning. Jason kept saying "It's all about the memories." And boy did we make some good ones!

Telling stories in the tent.

The stream that ran behind our tent.

An evening walk around the lake. Watching the sun set.

Super easy breakfast: Mini-donuts, Go-gurts for the kids, Cut up fruit.

Another walk around the lake.

Playing at the park.

Makaylee's Birthday Wish

2010-05-03T11:27:00.001-07:00

Makaylee has wanted glasses for the longest time but she doesn't have problems with her eyes. I finally found some glasses without any prescription at Claire's Boutique. This was her one wish for her birthday and she was so excited!

The Saturday after her birthday we had a little party with some of Makaylee's friends. They all had a good time. Surprisingly, Quinn and Jeremiah did really well at the party games. We played musical chairs, freeze dance, and the limbo.

Of course opening all the presents was super fun!

Jeremiah

2010-04-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

Ode To Jeremiah's Pout

Oh Jeremiah,
Your pout is so cute
And those puppy dog eyes
Would make any parent hoot

I know I shouldn't be happy when you're sad
And I know what a sweet boy you are
But man there are times I just can't help it
Your lip sticks out SO FAR.

Makaylee's Birthday

2010-04-21T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Makaylee's 7th birthday. I can't believe she's been part of our family for seven years. The time has gone so fast. Makaylee is the perfect child. From the beginning she has been perfect. She was born exactly on her due date, Easter Sunday. She was exactly 8 pounds and exactly 20 inches long. There has always been something so special about Makaylee. She is such a joy in our family. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Leila's Spring Performance

2010-04-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

Before Spring Break Leila was in the school production of Annie. She played the part of one of Mr. Warbuck's maids. She did a great job. When she was not on stage Leila sang with the other children in the chorus. Great job Leila! We love you!!

2010-02-08T10:16:00.001-08:00

I know this is really late but here are some pictures from Christmas 2009:

These first pictures are from our tradition of decorating cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Everyone piling in Mom and Dad's bed Christmas Morning.

Lining up in the hallway before seeing all the loot!

The boys got camping gear. A head lamp, watch with a compass, canteens and sleeping bags. They loved it so much they ate dinner with their mess kit and then we set up a tent in the living room so all the kids could sleep in their sleeping bags.

Starting a baby

2010-02-02T08:59:00.001-08:00

On the way to school today Leila and I had the following conversation:

Leila: Is it still winter?
Michelle: Yes, February is always winter.
Leila: What about April?
Michelle: April is always going to be Spring.
Leila: Oh. So if I start a baby in the winter then it will come in the spring?
Michelle: Well, a baby needs to be in it's mommy for 9 months so it would probably come in the summer.
Leila: Okay. Then I'm going to start my babies in the winter so we can have water balloons at the birthday parties.

I'm still trying to figure out where that came from!!! It's a little wierd hearing your 9 year old talking about "starting her babies."

The Things Kids Say

2010-01-05T09:57:00.000-08:00

I love being a mom and hearing the random things my kids say. Here's one from Makaylee just this morning. And I quote...

"Captain Crunch is the hero cereal because you can eat it with milk and it tastes dee-lish. And you can eat it without milk and it tastes still dee-lish."

St. George with the Moore's

2009-12-23T16:23:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we were able to go to St. George to spend time with Jason's family. It was so nice to see them. Jason's sister Shannon took out her endowments in the St. George temple. I'm so grateful we were able to attend. Shannon is one of the most amazing people I know. She is such a shining example of goodness. I love her so much and I feel blessed to have such a wonderful sister.

Also this weekend our nephew Jaden was baptized. It was a weekend full of memories with the whole family. I am so grateful for the wonderful family I married into. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Young for opening your home to all the crazy great grandkids!

Here are some pictures of the park we went to after the baptism. It is one of the coolest parks I've ever seen.

Makaylee in the Nutcracker

2009-12-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

Last week all the first grade classes performed "The Nutcracker". Makaylee was chosen to be part of the opening "party scene". Only one boy and one girl were chosen from each class. Her class also performed the Dance of the Reed Flutes. She was so cute and did a great job. (Makaylee is the first one on the left.)

Traveling to Washington D.C.

2009-11-09T23:15:00.000-08:00

IT'S DONE, IT'S DONE, IT'S DONE!! Yippee, I'm so excited to have our trip to D.C. and N.Y.C. documented on our blog. I've arranged the posts so that you can start from the beginning and work all the way to the end. Enjoy!

Jason and I will be celebrating our 10th year anniversary this year so to celebrate we took a trip to Washington D.C. and New York City during fall break. It was amazing. We had so much fun and experienced so many cool things.

We left the kids with Jason's family in Smithfield, UT. (Up near Logan). We had to leave early to get to catch our flight. All the kids were sleeping when we left. I don't know if that made it harder or easier. Knowing they would be in good hands made being away from them more bearable.

Here's a picture of us at the SLC airport. Yes, those are all the bags we took with us!

By the time we got to D.C. it was late and time to get to our hotel. I scouted out the subway system before hand so we were able to take that to our hotel. If you don't know, Jason and I are both experienced in the "low budget" traveling. It was fun to save money whenever we could and then splurge on things that really mattered to us (i.e. lots of Broadway shows!)

On the way to our hotel we stopped at a Wendy's for dinner. Here begins two weeks straight of eating out. Blah! After dinner we saw a McDonald's parking lot just a block away full of police cars with their lights flashing. This was our eye opening experience of what to expect in D.C. I have to admit I did feel a little bit of culture shock.

When we got to the hotel it turns out all they had left was a smoking room which smelled horrible. There was no way we could stay there and not come away with terrible head aches. So, since we were on foot, our only option was to go over to the Motel 6 just a block away and fortunately they had a non smoking room.

It was nice to finally settle in and relax after a long day of traveling.

First Day in D.C.

2009-11-09T22:38:00.000-08:00

Our first real day in Washington D.C. started with a tour of the White House. Just so you know, if you ever want to visit D.C. and take a tour of the White House you have to put in a request several weeks in advance. If you are accepted, then they will do a background check. On the day of the tour you're not allowed to bring anything accept car keys and a wallet. I couldn't bring a purse and we weren't allowed to bring a camera. That was a real bummer because once we left our hotel we were gone for the day. We didn't want to go all the way back just for our camera. So, we went back to all the same places later in our trip to take pictures of everything we saw on the first day.

Here's us outside the White House:

When we approached the White House we saw that the people waiting for tours were lined up outside the gates on the side walk instead of inside by the visitor's entrance. We wondered what the hold up was and then we saw a black helicopter taking off. We found out later that it was carrying President Obama. I never knew they even have a fire engine present anytime the President flies off somewhere.

Finally we were admitted into the White House (after passing all the guards and metal detector). We started on the bottom level and saw some rooms that were roped off. (We just got to look into the room from the doorway without actually going in.) We went up some stairs and saw the biggest room in the White House, the "East Room". This is were they hold receptions, ceremonies, press conferences and other events.

Here's a picture of the East Room from off the web:

The next rooms were the Green Room, the Blue Room, and the Red Room. And yes, the rooms were those exact colors. Next we saw the dining room and then ended in the entrance hall and went out the front.

After leaving the White House we went to the White House visitor center and learned more about the history. I really enjoyed that after just having been there. One story that I enjoyed was about a 9 year old grandson of one of the Presidents (I wish I could remember which President it was). When his grandfather's term of office was up the grandson went around the White House and hid a bunch of tiny scraps of paper that said, "I'll be back."

Next on our list of things to do was to see the National Archives Museum. This is a place where you're not allowed to take pictures because it will damage the documents so we thought it was a good idea to go on the day we didn't have our camera! We saw the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Here's a picture from off the web:
(This picture is a little deceiving because the room isn't this light at all. They keep the lights really low to help preserve the documents.)

Our next tour that we had set up was for the Supreme Court. We didn't go at a time when court was in session so we just got to go into the courtroom and sat while a lady talked to us. It was really interesting.

Here's pictures of the outside of the Supreme Court:
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the courtroom, perfect day not to have our camera!

Here's a picture inside the courtroom from the web:

We ended our day off by eating dinner at Union Station and then saw the movie Surrogate at the Union Station movie theater. Let me tell you this theater was so ghetto. I can't even describe how dirty and grimy this place was. To top off the whole experience, the movie stopped half way through and took them about 15 minutes to get it started again. I think there were only 5 of us in the whole theater.

We didn't want to stay out too late because we weren't sure how safe it was walking back to our hotel after dark. So, we enjoyed going back to the hotel to relax and read The Alliance by Gerald Lund.

Second day in Washington D.C.

2009-11-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

The only thing we had on our agenda our second day in D.C. was a tour at the Library of Congress at 3:45. So we decided to spend this day seeing all the monuments and the U.S. Holocaust Museum. On the way to the museum we saw the National Parks and Recreation Museum. We didn't even know that such a museum existed! We were curious so we stopped in. Here's a picture of Jason with Smokey the Bear:

The Holocaust Museum was a very sombering experience. It was so nice to have the whole morning just exploring the exhibits and taking it all in. Because it's a memorial, they asked that we turn off our cell phones and not take pictures inside the building. So, here are some pictures from the off the web:

This wall of pictures was something like three or four floors high. If you can see, the walkway is kind of a catwalk and the walls continue downward. If you were to stand against the railing, facing towards the wall, you could look down and see the next two floors down. These were pictures taken during the war of Jewish families and friends living their lives as "normal" as they could before being sent off to concentration camps.

After the museum we did a loop (about a 3 mile walk) to see all the monuments and memorials. One thing I loved was the Washington Monument. I loved that it just stuck out and you could see it from all over the city.

Here's a picture of the monument that we took from the top of the Old Post Office Tower. (We went up the tower on our fourth day. To find out more, see the "Fourth day in D.C." post.)

Here's a picture of the World War II Memorial.

WWII Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background:

Another of my favorite monuments was the Lincoln Memorial.

Here's Jason at the Vietnam Memorial:

Of course I had to take a picture of Jason getting us a snack at the hot dog stand!

I didn't really know what to expect at the Library of Congress. I have to say it was so cool. The architecture was amazing and the artwork was beautiful.

The tour guide we had was great. She was so nice and knew so much about the Library of Congress history.

This is a picture of the ceiling. Isn't that gorgeous?!

I didn't get a picture of the actually library so here's one from the web:

After the tour we had dinner at Union Station and then went home to read more of The Alliance.

Third day in D.C.

2009-11-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

Friday started out with a scheduled tour of the Capitol Building at 9:00 a.m.

This is a picture of what the round dome looks like on the inside:

After the capitol building we took the subway over to Arlington Cemetery.

Here's the Tomb of the Unknown:

We waited about 10 minutes to be there for the changing of the guards at the top of the hour.

My most favorite part of the day was a visit to Ford's Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. This is still a working theatre with nightly performances. Downstairs is a very interesting and informative museum with several displays. You can even see the gun that John Wilkes Booth used to shoot the President. The booth where Lincoln was killed is closed off and remains in the same style as the night he was shot.

Across the street from Ford's theatre is the Petersen House where Lincoln was carried and died the next day. Both the theatre and house are owned by the Park and Recreations Department. In the house you can see the room and bed where Lincoln died.

Here's a fun side note: Notice the shirt Jason is wearing. It's from when he coached High school football at Chino High. Apparently, Washington D.C. has a football team and their biggest rival are the Cowboys. So, we got at least five comments throughout the day like, "Oh no, not the Cowboys" or at Arlington Cemetery the crossing guard said, "Ma'am, you can cross but not the Cowboy shirt." Of course everyone was joking and said it in a teasing manor but, needless to say, he didn't wear that shirt again.

After the Ford's theatre and Petersen house we walked around a little more taking in everything. We headed over to the International Spy Museum but found out that it cost $20 a person. With so many free things to do in D.C. we weren't about to pay $40 to go through a museum. Especially since it wasn't even one of our priorities. We were going to go just to kill time!

Across the street was the American Art Museum National Portrait Gallery. We went inside and walked around a little. We were not impressed. It's crazy the things people consider art. Some of the artwork I would look at and think, "Leila could do better than that!"

After the Portrait Gallery we got dinner at Chipotle and took it to our hotel to eat.

Fourth Day in D.C.

2009-11-09T05:18:00.000-08:00

By this day we were so tired. Fortunately the weather was perfect and we weren't in any rush to cram in seeing all the sights. We decided to take our time and enjoy our last day in D.C.

On the way back to the hotel the night before we noticed something about a Funky Flea Market the next morning. So we checked it out on the way to the subway. Wow! It was great. There was a booth selling jewelry for $1-$2 each. It was really nice stuff too. I was really excited and bought a couple of necklaces and some bangles for the girls. Here's a picture of me pretending to be interested in some videos so Jason could take a picture:

This is the day we dedicated to see all the Smithsonian museums. We started with the Natural History Museum. I took this picture for the kids because it reminded me of the statue from Night at The Museum that wanted gum all the time.

Cool pictures of the HUGE elephant:

I think this was the space exhibit.

Next we went to the American History Museum:

After the American History Museum we went to the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center food court for lunch. (We ended up eating there every day for lunch). After lunch we went to the top of the old Post Office Tower. The view from the top was beautiful.

Here's the picture Jason took of the Capitol Building from the top of the tower:

By this time of day we were both so tired. Here's the picture Jason took of me resting on a street bench. I think that's the National Gallery of Art building behind me. We tried going into the FBI to see about a tour but it was closed. Also, we checked out this new museum that just opened call Newseum (a museum about media) but it actually cost money. I really don't see how these museums can charge money when there are so many free ones around!

Here's a picture we took when we cut through the National Gallery of Art on the way to the next museum. So many museums!!!

Here are some pictures from the Air and Space Museum. This was the last museum of the day.

On the way home Jason and I started to notice a lot of people on the subways wearing red "Capitols" shirts. We found out that this was Washington D.C.'s Ice Hockey team and there happened to be a home game that very night. Furthermore, all of these devoted fans happened to be going to the same stop we were headed. So, when we got off the subway the place was totally covered in red. The crazy thing was when we all got on the escalator there were so many people the escalator stopped and we actually started to go backwards! Then someone yelled, "Start walking." So as people started getting off we stopped going backwards and we all just walked up the stairs. I tried to take a picture of all the fans in their red shirts but it was too dark.

Here's one of Jason with the subway behind him:

Traveling to N.Y.C.

2009-11-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

I didn't get any pictures this day because we basically just left D.C. and traveled to NYC. We had to check out of the hotel by 11:00 so we just had a nice relaxing morning. We were pretty proud of ourselves for figuring out how to take the subway all the way to the airport. We were able to save quite a bit of money that way.

At the airport they asked if anyone could give up their seats for the next flight. Since we had no where pressing to be we told them we could so we got a $150 airline voucher a piece. Now we need to figure out how to use it. We thought it would come in handy to fly up for Russell and Ruth's wedding but that particular airline didn't have any flights that would work for that.

After getting to New York, we took a city bus to our hotel. It was suppose to drop us off on Broadway, (just a couple blocks from our hotel) but it didn't go all the way to Broadway. We found out later it was because there was a street fair going on. It was actually really cool. So, we went to our hotel, checked in, and then went back out to the fair. We didn't buy anything because it was Sunday and we wanted to do what we could to keep it a special day. We did have to buy food though so we found a falafel stand and got some dinner there. As the street fair was coming to an end all the vendors had to break down their booths and clean up. We passed one that was trying to get rid of all their smoothies so they were selling them for $1 each (originally $5) Jason and I each got one and they were SO GOOD. We wished we had gotten more. We craved another smoothie for the rest of the day and into the next day.

First Day in N.Y.C.

2009-11-09T04:55:00.000-08:00

We decided to start off our time in N.Y.C. by visiting the Statue of Liberty. We figured that was the most important "touristy" thing to do. After that the only thing we really cared about were the Broadway shows.

This is a picture from the island looking back at the city:

The boat we took to the Statue of Liberty also took us to Ellis Island. It was cool to go inside the building where so many immigrants passed. They have a nice museum with lots of pictures. It was really interesting to see some of the sacrifices people made to come to this country.

After coming back to the main land we passed by some street performers. One guy was playing the drums and the other three were dressed in American flag leotards and doing flips and head spins. They drew quite a crowd. Here's the pictures I got:

We stopped at TGIFriday's for lunch. Inside the restaurant they had this miniature Statue of Liberty. Of course we had to ask the waitress to take our picture!

After lunch we passed by the Trinity Cathedral. We didn't even know what it was because we came in from the back side. I'm glad we stopped in. It was really amazing architecture.

After going through to the front of the Cathedral, we realized we were on Wall Street and Broadway. We thought that was kind of cool.

Here's Jason in front of the New York Stock Exchange building.

Next we walked over to "Ground Zero". I don't know what I was expecting to see. They had a couple of memorials for the firefighters who died. Most of the construction sight was covered up and blocked from view.

This picture is one of my favorites. Once you experience walking across a street in NY you can understand the humor. There are so many people walking everywhere and so many cars. In fact, we noticed there was no button to push to cross the street. There are so many pedestrians there is no need for a button; there were always people crossing.

Time square was so cool. It was fun to be there and see all the sights we've seen in movies and T.V. shows. There was such an energy about the place.

Jason took this picture of the "Naked Cowboy" in time square. I think that he might be a famous New York symbol. At one point I saw a sign that said, "Vote for the Naked Cowboy for Mayor"

Radio City Music Hall. We didn't go inside, just stopped to take a picture.

NBC Studios.

Here's another picture of Time Square. I thought it was cool to see the police officer on horse back.

We ended the night with our first Broadway show of the week, Mamma Mia! It was so much fun and we absolutely loved it. We had orchestra seats which were amazing. I loved critiquing each show with Jason. I'm glad we started off with this show because it was really fun and light. After this one they just got better and better!

Second day in N.Y.C.

2009-11-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

Tuesday started off with a trip to the Manhattan Temple. It was so wonderful to go to a place where we knew we were among friends. Instantly we felt at home in the temple. After the session one of the ladies approached me in the dressing room and said, "Sister, we're not from around here, could you recommend somewhere for us to go for lunch?" I told her we were from out of town also and we both laughed. We started playing the "Do you know..." game and it turns out one of the ladies from their group works in the L.A. temple with my mom. What a small world!!

After the temple session, we headed over to the Ed Sullivan Theater to see a live taping of The Late Show with David Letterman. It was kind of funny because we saw a few news cameras outside the studio. We think it must be because he was just recently in the news. You can see a camera man right behind us in this picture.

It's kind of a funny story how we got the tickets. The night before, as we were walking through Time Square, a lady caught our attention saying, "Free tickets to David Letterman". Now if you've ever been to Time Square you know that tons of people are constantly trying to give away free tickets to various events. Usually we would just walk right by (they were usually comedy shows which we knew we would have been offended). So, when this girl said the David Letterman show we decided to stop and see what the catch was. Well, turns out there really was no catch. Free tickets just basically fell into our laps. All we had to do was answer a question about the show. After admitting to never watching the show she told us that she would make it an easy question for us. She asked, "What instrument does Paul Shaffer, the leader of the band, play?" Jason said, "Saxophone" and Michelle said, "Trumpet". From the look on her face we knew we had guessed wrong. Then, I remembered seeing a clip once of the band and remembered that it was actually the keyboard.

So, we got the tickets. The next day as we were standing in line to get in we started talking to the people behind us and the lady told us she's been trying for six months to get David Letterman tickets and it's been really hard. I have no idea why they just give them to random people on the street when people are trying so hard to get them online.

The actual show was just okay, but seeing behind-the-scenes was really cool. The first guest was Paul Shaffer promoting his new book "We'll be Here For the Rest Of Our Lives". Every member of the audience received a free copy. So now we own two copies of this book we will probably never read. I wonder how much I could get off eBay.

The next guest was Eliza Dushku from Dollhouse. Never heard of her, no desire to watch her T.V. show.

And the grand finale was a special musical number by the band Kiss. Yes, that's right, Jason and I can now say we've heard Kiss play live. That is an experience I never want to repeat. The whole time I wanted to plug my ears but I knew that would bring on ultimate social shame. So we had to just sit and endure the pain. The special effects of the fire and sparks going off in the background were cool.

After the taping we went back to Time Square and hung out until our Broadway show. We met this really nice couple from Australia. We ended up talking to them for about 1/2 hour. They were on a 3 month trip around the world. I was amazed at all the places they had planned for their trip. Maybe when our kids are grown and moved out Jason and I can take a trip around the world!!

Our night ended with The Phantom of the Opera. I'd seen this one about 4 times before but it was Jason's first time. Let me just say, it didn't matter how many times I'd already seen it, this production was amazing. The girl who played Christine had an unbelievable voice, and the Phantom was incredible. Jason and I walked away saying to each other, "That is what a Broadway show is suppose to be!"

Third day in N.Y.C.

2009-11-09T03:42:00.000-08:00

By this time our trip is winding down and we are REALLY missing our kids. Fortunately we were able to talk to them at night after we got back to the hotel. It was usually 11:00 p.m. for us but only 8:00 p.m. for them.

We spent most of Wed. just taking a nice leisurely stroll through Central Park. If you don't know, Central Park is HUGE. We wanted to have a nice relaxing day.

We stopped in to see the Museum of Natural History but just got as far as the lobby. All we really wanted was a picture with the dinosaur from Night at the Museum. To be honest, we were all "museumed out" to actually go through the whole thing.

This was the only day the whole trip where we went back to the hotel to rest. It was actually really windy which made me kind of tired. (The only complaint about the weather the whole two weeks. Not bad.)

Here's a picture of Jason in the hotel lobby. We had to go down to the lobby to have access to the WiFi. So, he decided to search out movie theaters while I took a nap.

Again hanging out in Time Square on the way to our Broadway show for the night.

Wicked

I have to admit this is the show I was most excited about. Jason and I took the girls to see it in San Diego in August and I was really excited to see it again. You always get so much more out of it the second time. I was not disappointed. This time we had center orchestra seating. It was awesome, awesome, awesome!!

Fourth day in N.Y.C.

2009-11-09T02:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't mentioned anything about the NYC subway system. Let me do so now...

Here is the picture we took of the subway station next to our hotel. If you notice my right foot you'll see that it kind of slopes down. The sidewalk was so uneven! This is right next to where the train pulls up!! As if it's not already dangerous!!! Jason and I were amazed at how dirty and trashy it was. We heard Washington D.C. had a nice subway system but we didn't realize how nice until we saw NYC. Nevertheless, we took the subway everywhere, you just can't beat how convenient it was.

Another subway story happened on the way home this very night. (I'm glad it happened on our last night, otherwise I don't know if I would have ridden the subway at night again.) After we sit down and the train starts, this guy (I think from Puerto Rico) starts preaching to us about the Bible. The thing is, he's using swear words and purposefully preaches about very controversial things. He starts with homosexuality and there just happens to be an African American homosexual on the subway. So they go at it for about five minutes, One yelling that homosexuality is a sin and the other yelling that the Bible teaches us to love everyone. In the meantime, I look around and notice the big black guy sitting next to me. So, I start making small talk as I think to myself, "If a brawl breaks out, I want this guy on my side."

Well, the Puerto Rican preacher realizes the debate with the African American Homosexual is getting old so he starts preaching about how the White Man enslaved the Black Man and how, as retribution, the White Man will be enslaved. I look at Jason and the white couple sitting across from us and we just kind of smile. It was so funny to me that this guy keeps saying over and over the same thing but in a different way about the White Man being enslaved. It was obvious he was trying to start another argument but none of us were taking the bait. Fortunately we came to our stop and got off.

This day basically ended up being a day to explore and take pictures at all the different photo ops.

Here's one of Jason in front of the Rockefeller Ice Skating Rink.

Here's the St. Patrick's Cathedral
We actually went in and saw part of a mass. We didn't participate in any of the recitations but we did sing the songs.

If you've ever been in a Catholic Cathedral you know they have candles all along the side for people to light. During the mass I look over and see some black smoke and a flame bigger than from just a tiny candle. It's getting bigger and bigger as I go over to tell the security guard. He goes over with another guard and they put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. This is all going on as the mass continues, I don't think very many people even realized what was happening. So now Jason brags that I'm responsible for St. Patrick's Cathedral still standing and not being burnt to the ground. Here's a picture of the hero standing by the burnt remains. (Jason insisted we take this picture as a reminder of my heroic act.)

This is across the street from St Patrick's Cathedral. We think it's the globe from the opening of 30 Rock.

Saks Fifth Avenue. Yes, we did go inside. No, we did not purchase a thing.

For lunch we stopped and got a falafel. This was the best one we had our whole trip. Jason's a real falafel connoisseur.

We were able to check out the UN Headquarters. Unfortunately we didn't get to take a tour because it cost money and it didn't mean that much to us. We got some cool pictures in the lobby and outside though!

Grand Central Terminal

After walking around exploring the city all we wanted was to sit and rest. So we decided to go see a movie until our Broadway show for the night. We ended up seeing The Invention of Lying. Whatever you do, DON'T go see this show. It was horrible. Very offensive too. It was a real disappointment because the previews looked really funny and we really like Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner.

Our last Broadway show of the trip was Mary Poppins. It was really fun. I kept thinking of the kids and how much they would have LOVED this show. Our seats were about 8 rows from the front right in the middle. Amazing. The sets and costumes were incredible. I think my most favorite part is during the chimney sweep scene when Burt tap dances up the side wall, across the top of the stage (upside down) and then back down the other side! It was AWESOME.

Since you can't take pictures in the theater, these are from the Internet. The last picture of Mary Poppins and Burt are the actual actors that we saw. They were so good.

Coming Home!!

2009-11-09T01:43:00.000-08:00

Friday was pretty much dedicated to checking out of the hotel, getting to the airport and flying home to our kids. While we were waiting at the airport for our flight I saw a guy in a Utah shirt that caught my attention. As I looked closer I realized it was my cousin! He was flying home from Florida with his wife and son and we were on the same flight. SO CRAZY!!

The thing I remember most about our trip home was how excited I was to see the kids. The last few days in New York were so hard being away from our children. My heart ached for them. The only thing that made it bearable was knowing that they were with people who loved them and would care for them.

Here's a picture I took of Makaylee making breakfast with Grandpa the day before we left. He's such a great Grandpa, I knew they would all have a fun time.

Thank you so much to Grandma & Grandpa Moore, Shannon, Makell, Brigham & Chelsea, Russell, TJ & Charity, Debbie & Brady and Grandma & Grandpa Shipp for helping to make this trip possible.

Halloween

2009-11-06T10:18:00.000-08:00

Here are Makaylee and Leila before school the Friday before Halloween. Makaylee went as Elphaba and Leila was Cleopatra. (The next day for the ward Trunk or Treat I was putting her hair up for the wig and we realized she would make a great Princess Leia.)

Here we are after our ward Trunk or Treat. Poor Jeremiah wasn't feeling well so he wasn't able to go. After we got home I told the other three kids that it would be nice if they all shared some of their candy with Jeremiah. Then they all started saying, "I want to share my candy, I want to share some candy with Jeremiah." What great kids!! They were all so excited to share candy with their brother. The next day I heard Jeremiah say to Quinn, "Quinn, I'm going to share some of my candy with you." I thought it was so cute he was excited he had candy to share too.

Jeremiah was Luke Skywalker. He had a light saber he hooked onto his belt too.

Quinn was Spiderman. This was after the Trunk or Treat. He was soooo tired!! If you can't tell, he fell asleep with a sucker in his hand!

Thanks Jace for sharing your costumes, the boys loved them!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-11-06T09:53:00.001-08:00

We thought it would be a fun tradition to carve Pumpkins for FHE the Monday before Halloween. When the kids were younger I bought smaller pumpkins and they got to paint on faces. This year they each had their very own pumpkin. They each scooped out the insides and then drew a picture of how they wanted the face. Jason did an awesome job creating the faces the kids wanted.

Here's the final product!!

The Bear 100

2009-09-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Bear 100 and WOW, I don't even know where to start writing. The whole experience was amazing. I guess I really didn't know what to expect. I knew it would effect me physically but I had no idea just how emotional and spiritual of an experience it would be too.

Jason ended up hiking 70 miles. He wasn't able to finish the whole race because he injured his knee. I know he was really disappointed not being able to finish but I think he would have done serious damage to his knee if he tried to keep going. There really was no way he could continue walking on it. The good thing is he was right on track with his goal time before he got hurt so if he could have kept going I think he had a good chance in finishing on time. Even without finishing the race, training for this goal has been a huge success. He feels so much better about himself then he did a year ago and I think everyone would agree he looks great.

As for me, I had the role of being "the crew". The race is set up in a way where they have aid stations about every 5-10 miles. At the aid stations they have food, water, energy drinks and other supplies for the runners. In addition to what the aid station provides, each runner can have a crew go with any other supplies they may need. So, I went around to all the aid stations to help Jason and his Dad. Throughout this post I will attempt to convey the range of emotions I went through during this 26 hour period.

The race started at Gibbons Park in Logan, UT at 6:00 Friday morning. Here's a picture of Jason and his dad. They were both excited and ready to start.

Here are the runners lining up waiting for the count down to start.

They're off!! You can see Jason right behind the guy in the red shirt on the right.

On the way to the first aid station I passed through a cattle drive. Being from California of course I had to stop and take some pictures!!

Here the guys are coming into the first aid station. I LOVED the leaves changing on the trees in the canyons. The whole course was beautiful.

Here they are at the first aid station, this was about 19.6 miles into the race. At this point they were doing great, even a little ahead of schedule.

Here's Jason and his dad coming into the third aid station, Richard's Hollow. The next picture is Jason at Right Hand Fork aid station. This is 36.9 miles into the race.

By the time Jason got to the Temple Fork aid station (45.2 miles) his feet were hurting pretty bad. We had some warm water he could wash them with and then someone suggested putting duct tape over the blisters. It actually worked!

From this aid station to the next, Jason's sister Shannon went with them as their "pacer". Apparently that's common for a racer to have a pacer hike with them to encourage them and keep them up to the right pace. If anyone knows Shannon, you know she is so optimistic and encouraging. She is the perfect person for the job of pacer. I'm so glad she was there to help Jason out. We love you Shannon!

What amazed me was how supportive everyone was to complete strangers. At each aid station the runners would hear encouragement like "Good job", "Keep it up, your doing great", "You can do it." It got me thinking, here we all are in this life, like one big race. How would it be if we all supported each other in that same way as we went through life. Wouldn't that be beautiful if we would say, "Keep it up, you're doing great" or "You can do it" to each other, maybe even to complete strangers.

Here's Jason at the Tony Grove aid station. This was just over half way. His feet were feeling better, the duct tape was helping. This aid station was particularly special because this is where Jason proposed to me. After 50 miles he's still smiling!!

Jason said that after leaving Tony Grove he felt re-energized and optimistic. Unfortunately, this next stretch of the course was a really bad trail. There were fallen trees right in the trail, rocks and uneven ground. All of this they had to hike at 1:00 in the morning in the dark. It was during this part of the race Jason hurt his knee.

By the time Jason got into the next aid station (Franklin Basin) he was at 61.5 miles. Jason's brother TJ was there to be a pacer for the next 25 miles. TJ is one of the most positive people I know. TJ is so kind to everyone and always so encouraging. TJ and Shannon were both perfect for pacing Jason. I was so grateful for both of them.

As I waited for Jason at the next aid station (Logan River) I knew he was not doing well. I expected him to come in by 7:00 but it wasn't until 8:00 that he finally came. Of course I couldn't help myself from worrying about him. My emotions were VERY close to the surface. It was about 25 hours since the race began and in that time I got about 2 hours of sleep. I kept wondering how he was, worrying about how he was doing emotionally and physically. And yet, every time I would allow myself to worry, the Spirit would whisper to my heart, "It's okay Michelle, TJ is with him, he's not alone." And then I would have this overwhelming feeling of peace come over me. I knew that Jason would make it, and even if he needed a blessing, my wonderful, righteous brother-in-law would be able to give him a priesthood blessing right there in the middle of the trail. I can't even express my deep gratitude for TJ being there to help and support Jason.

This was another really personal experience for me. I got to thinking about our Father in Heaven and all of His children who are in need or have gone astray. I thought about how He must sorrow for His lost children. I thought about how I am a visiting teacher admonished to care for His sheep who are in need. I want to be the kind of person that when Heavenly Father worries for His lost sheep He can say, "It's okay, Michelle is with them, they're not alone."

Before Jason got to the last aid station (Logan River) another runner came in before him. We asked how Jason was doing and found out that his knee wasn't doing well at all and he was barely able to walk on it. It was then that I knew he would probably be dropping out early.

When he came down the hill I saw him limping along. Of course tears came to my eyes and when he came close enough we embraced each other. I can't even describe the feelings in my heart. I knew he was feeling disappointed. We had already been through so much in the past 26 hours and it all just came to a head right in that moment. We held each other for a long time and I told him how proud I was of him. I couldn't help but think of what it would be like when we finish this long race of life and at the end our Savior will be standing there with arms wide open to welcome us home and tell us, "Good job, I love you."

I'm so grateful for such an incredible experience this has been. I'm grateful for the chance I had to serve my husband. It was hard and discouraging at times. I grew so much and had so many faith promoting moments. I know our Heavenly Father loves each one of us. His plan of Salvation is so real. We all have the opportunity to return home and live with Him again.

Thank you to everyone who showed their love and support. We are truly blessed with such wonderful friends and family.

Shipp Family Reunion

2009-09-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

After camping with the Moore's for a week, we headed down to Delta, UT to spend a week with the Shipp family. Mom and Dad reserved two condos for our family for the week. It was so much fun to spend time together and we made lots of memories.

The reunion started off with everyone meeting up in American Fork for my nephew Hayden's baptism. Afterwards we all went out to eat at Thanksgiving Point.

At the time share we celebrated the boys' 4th birthday. Here's Jeremiah wearing the shark goggles from the Webb Family.

We all had a blast going to Lagoon. The boys STILL talk about "Magoon" and even include "Please help us go to magoon" in their prayers.

Here we are at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It was great, I highly recommend it. Also in Ogden is a Children's Museum that's great!

All in all we had a great time and made lots of fun memories.

Moore Family Reunion

2009-09-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

After spending a week in Idaho, we headed down to Logan, UT to spend some time with Jason's family. We were able to spend a week at Jason's family's house in Smithfield helping to get ready for the annual week long campout. I'm so glad we were able to be there that week so we could have a little special time with Grandma and Grandpa before we went camping with the whole clan.

We ended up camping at Cinnamon Creek (the south end of Cache Valley). We had so much fun. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures but my wonderful sister-in-law Chelsea did. So, here are some pictures I took and some from Chelsea's blog. (Thanks Chelsea!)

Lots of fun with cousins we only see once a year!

A cool new game we learned called "Ninja Destruction".

The boys had so much fun playing with their cool Uncle Brigham and Aunt Chelsea!

We all loved the campfires at night!

One of the days we took a hike up to a place called Rosie's Mine.

We actually went into the mine about 200 yards. The boys loved it!

One of the highlights of this campsite is being so close to the reservoir. We had fun swimming, canoeing, and cliff jumping. Leila decided she wanted to try catching a fish in her chip bag. To our amazement she actually caught one. All the other cousins thought that was pretty cool so they tried catching a fish too. They all lost interest after a few minutes. I guess that just goes to show how patient and determined our Leila girl is!

We had so much fun camping with family and friends. We're already excited for next year!

Trip to Idaho

2009-09-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Our summer started off with a week relaxing at home and helping Jason get ready for Scout Camp. He pretty much ran the whole thing with TONS of help from lots of ward members. The scout camp was a HUGE success thanks to Jason's amazing talents and oganizational skills.

Since Jason was gone for a whole week I decided to pack up the kids and head up to Idaho to spend time with my sister Debbie. I still can't believe I made the whole drive in one day; all by myself with 4 kids! Leila was such a wonderful helper, because of her we made it the whole way without any problems.

Here's a picture of Jeremiah falling asleep in the car on the way to Idaho with a Ho Ho in his hands...what a mess!!

Once we got to Idaho we had SO MUCH FUN! The kids all played great together. It was fun hanging out with Debbie all day too. The only problem was missing Jason.

We went to Arctic Circle for dinner one night. This will always remind me of Michael Jackson because this is where I found out that he had passed away.

Here we are at the Idaho Falls, across from the Temple. We let the kids have fun feeding the ducks and then they played in the trees.

We thought it would be fun to take a picture for Jason with the Idaho Falls Temple in the background.

The kids had fun playing outside on bikes riding up and down the sidewalks. (Something we don't have in Apple Valley) Another thing we don't have is grass. As you can see, it's nice and green where Debbie lives. Apparently my children aren't accustomed to so much grass. At one point during our stay Makaylee asked Debbie, "Where's all your dirt?"

Leila thought it would be a fun idea to write messages for Jason on the sidewalk with chalk. This was the day before he came home to us. She was so cute and spent a lot of time working on her creation for him. At one point she went around and asked everyone what they like best about Jason. Then she wrote it with chalk into her picture.

Jeremiah spent quite a bit of time on his "Dinosaur" for Daddy.

All in all it was a great way to start off our month long trip away from home. Thanks again to the Webb family for opening their home to a "single mom" and her four kids!

We love you guys!!

Finally Back to Blogging

2009-09-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

Our summer was SO FULL of excitement and adventure I've been putting off posting on my blog because it's a little bit overwhelming. I've decided that if I just get started and do a little at a time I'll catch up eventually.

Here's a list of what to expect:
Trip to Idaho
Camping with the Moore's
Reunion with the Shipp's
Wicked

So, here goes...

Two Sets of Twins!

2009-05-31T15:05:00.001-07:00

This past week the boys got to spend the day at the Valentine's house (a family in our ward). They had a lot of fun especially when they got to feed the goats!

Girl Time!!

2009-05-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to my tica girlfriends! For those of you who don't know I served a mission in Costa Rica. This past Wed. through Thursday night, I got together with three friends I served with in Costa Rica. Amber Stahr, April Samson, and Lucinda Hyatt. We had so much fun. We had fun Talking, we also took a trip to the Getty Center, we took a stroll down the Santa Monica Pier and hung out at the Beach, afterwhich we explored 3rd St. Promenade.

We also had lots of fun Eating Out and NOT having any dishes to do!!

I love you guys!

Fathers and Sons campout

2009-05-23T08:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jason and the boys when on their anual Fathers and Sons campout with our church. The boys were SO EXCITED they had been asking about it for a whole week before. Jason took them shopping beforehand to get special snacks for the trip. They had so much fun.

Meanwhile, the girls and I went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. We had a good time on our "girls' night out". After dinner we came home and watched Persuasion (since I just finished the book) and then went to bed. The girls were excited to get to sleep on the air mattress in the living room!

Leila's Beautiful Hair

2009-05-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

So, this is kind of random but I thought it was cute so here goes. Everytime Leila wants something "special" done with her hair she always wants to see what it looks like. I've found the easiest way for her to see is for me to take a picture with the digital camera and then just show her the picture. It occured to me this morning that I could share some of these fun hairstyles on our blog. So here it is:

A Three Year Old's Midnight Pee

2009-05-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

I hope this doesn't gross anyone out but I thought it was so funny I just had to share. Saturday night Jeremiah woke me up saying he had to go pee. At first this was his way of getting me out of bed. I would walk him to the bathroom, walk him back to bed, tuck him in, and then rub his back for a couple minutes. Now, instead of reinforcing him waking me up, I just tell him, "Okay, go to the bathroom and go pee." Then, he just goes to bed by himself. He didn't like it at first but he knows now that Mommy is not getting out of bed anymore.

So, Saturday night, we go through the whole routine and then Sunday morning I find this........

2009-04-21T18:43:00.001-07:00

For the second part of our spring break we went to visit Jason's high school friends in Arizona. We saw Karl and Vanessa Bickmore and Ben Greene. We had a great time! All the kids got along great which was really nice. We had fun going to the zoo, going on a family hike, and I played Rock Band for the first time! (Apparently I'm a natural born drummer!)

Tidepools at Cabrillo Beach

2009-04-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

During spring break we were able to go to Grandma and Grandpa Shipp's house in San Pedro. For part of the visit we went to Cabrillo Beach to see the tide pools. We had SO MUCH FUN. The kids got to see and touch so many sea creatures. We saw sea anemones, hermit crabs, muscles, a sea slug, and lots of cool rocks and shells. It was fun to see the kids explore. The boys loved jumping around on the rocks.

Jeremiah

Makaylee

Here are some pictures of some of the sea creatures we saw.

This one is the sea slug. The kids actually got to pick this one up and hold it!

Here are some of the sea anemone. There were a ton!!

Here's some video of the kids:

Leila's School Play

2009-04-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

Before we had Spring Break Leila's school put on a production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Leila was an Oompa Loompa. She stayed after school to rehearse and put a lot of time and effort into learning her part. The show turned out really cute and Leila had a great experience. She says her favorite part was,"perfoming for an audience and the make-up."

Finally back to blogging!!

2009-04-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy I haven't had any time to write anything. Then one day I finally made myself sit down to write and wouldn't you know it, I wasn't able to download any pictures onto my blog. And we all know a post without pictures just isn't as fun (kind of like this one! J/K). So, now that it's up and running, I will be playing catch up explaining all that we've been up to the past few weeks. Enjoy!!

Makaylee's Prayer

2009-03-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

Lately Makaylee has been saying really thought provoking, cute prayers. Some of the things she says are so random and unexpected. She has a little "prayer voice" too. The best part is, she's so sincere when she prays. It is so special for me to hear such sweet innocent prayers. So, here's an example of a prayer she said the other day at dinner time. (Just so you know, in primary we're learning the 2nd article of faith and the kids learned what it meant to be punished for your sins and not someone else's sins.)

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for all you give us.

Bless the people to repent for their own sins and no one else's.
Bless the people and bless You.
I wish I could pay my tithing a dollar.
Bless that there’s no poison in the food.
Some people think you’re handsome.

And Heavenly Father, your welcome for this prayer.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I'm so grateful to be Makaylee's mother, I love her so much.

Sand Angels

2009-03-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to all our friends and family who live somewhere that snows. Today I was outside in the backyard with the warm sun shining down with Makaylee, Quinn and Jeremiah. Quinn says to me, "Mommy, I'm going to make a snow angel." Then I told him he couldn't because there was no snow. Makaylee overheard our conversation and said, "No, Quinn, it's called a sand angel." Then they proceeded to lie in the dirt and make "sand angels."

2009-02-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it through the weekend. Both the boys are sick and I'm losing my voice too. It was fun to have a day off together yesterday. It's always nice when Jason's home!

Sunday after church Makaylee asked if we would all listen while she gave a "talk". It was so cute because she turned her laundry basket over and used it for her podium. Of course, after she was done everyone else wanted a turn (except Quinn, he was laying on the floor not feeling himself). Here's the talk that Jeremiah gave...

Photo Tag!

2009-02-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

It's photo tag, here are the rules.
1.Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures in your computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the photo.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same.

Okay, so I cheated a teensy weensy bit. We have some folders with non-family pictures that were kind of boring. So, I counted the fourth folder of family pictures and the fourth picture in that folder and this is what I came up with. Ahhhhhhhh! This is a picture of the boys on their birthday, July 14, 2005 in Riverside CA, Kaiser Permanente hospital.

I tag Debbie W., Amy B., Chelsea M. and Mom & Dad!

Kid Tag

2009-01-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

Thanks for tagging our family Jennie. This was fun!

Q1: What is something your mom always says?

A:Leila: I love you.
A:Makaylee: Clean your room!
A:Quinn: The zoo.
A:Jeremiah: I don't know what I want to say.

Q:2. How old is your Dad?

A:Leila: 33
A:Makaylee: 50
A:Quinn: 4 (He held up four fingers to tell me)
A:Jeremiah: Climb on daddy.

Q:3. How old is your Mom?

A:Leila: 33
A:Makaylee: 30
A:Quinn: 5 (Again holding up five fingers)
A:Jeremiah: My mom turned into small.

Q:4. How big is the ocean?

A:Leila: Everything besides land.
A:Makaylee: Almost around the world.
A.Quinn: 5 (Holding up five fingers)
A:Jeremiah: Big

Q:5. How are you and your Mom the same?

A:Leila: How we look.
A:Makaylee: We're girls.
A:Quinn: There was a long pause, I don't think he understood the question. Then he held up five fingers.
A:Jeremiah: No

Q:6 How are you and your Dad the same?

A:Leila: Eyes.
A:Makaylee: We have bodies.
A:Quinn: Shrugs his shoulders.
A:Jeremiah: No

Q:7. Where does money come from?

A:Leila: Made from a factory.
A:Makaylee: You find it on the ground.
A:Quinn: The money lives in the valley.
A:Jeremiah: Chuck E Cheeses

Q:8. What are hot dogs made of?

A:Leila: Meat.
A:Makaylee: Yummy things.
A:Quinn: Hot fire.
A:Jeremiah: Hot dogs

Q:9. Where do you live?

A:Leila: On the world.
A:Makaylee: Apple Valley.
A.Quinn: Go camping.
A:Jeremiah: I went into Chuck E. Cheeses

Q:10. What do you think your Mom and Dad do when you are not around?

A:Leila: Have time together.
A:Makaylee: Look for me.
A:Quinn: They play around.
A:Jeremiah: Spanking bums.

We tag the Webb's.

Family Home Evening in our FORT!

2009-01-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

The kids made a fort tonight and we decided to all cram in for family home evening. It was so much fun. We brought in a couple of flashlights and all got cozy snuggling up together. Makaylee gave us a lesson on the importance of sharing. Quinn got to choose the songs so we sang Oompa loompa, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and to close we sang the ABC song. Here's a picture of the fun memory!

Family Hike

2009-01-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a family picture from our hike last week. Quinn hurt his finger right before we took the picture. He has a look on his face like, "I can't believe you're making me take a picture when I'm in so much pain."

It's been fun to have so much time together on break. We start back to our regular routine next week. Jason goes back to work and the girls go back to school. I think we'll go through withdrawl the first few days!

Makaylee doing the hoola hoop

2009-01-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

We got a Wii Fit for Christmas and we're having A LOT of fun with it. Here's Makaylee doing the hoola hoop game. She's actually pretty good!

Leila's Baptism

2009-01-03T15:16:00.000-08:00

Something very exciting for our family recently was Leila's baptism. She was baptized by her father, Jason Moore, on December 6, 2008. Afterwards we had some friends and family over to the house for refreshments.

Snow in Apple Valley!

2009-01-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

It snowed in Apple Valley a couple of weeks ago. The last day of school before break was canceled. We went sledding!! It was so fun. The snow only lasted a few days.

2009-01-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally did it. Here's the Moore family blog. I'm hoping this will help inspire me to be better at writing down all the cute things my children do and all the fun memories our family makes. This will be a good way to preserve our family history. Now all I have to do is figure out how to post pictures and all that other fun stuff! Moore to come later...