A Very Robo-Christmas to you!

We spent Christmas Eve in the desert. The evening of the 23rd we took a family fieldtrip to see the Christmas light at Candy Cane Lane and then we set off on a bizarre adventure to "Robo-Christmas". It is a house in Palm Springs with over 7 million lights, there are some Christmas decorations along with all of the lights, but it is so extremely strange that it is hard to describe. This display would be much more suited for a haunted house at Halloween than a celebration of Christmas. The "artist" who owns the house and sets up the display builds huge robots out of old appliances, discarded car parts, trash cans, etc......oh yeah, and the ever popular Christmas favorite, skeleton heads and machine guns. Like I said, bizarre. We actually had a really good time laughing and cracking jokes with each other.
I am sure that after extended therepy the children will be fine.

Skeleton Tin Man


I wonder if he has his blow ups custom made. I can't imagine the alien santa is a big seller.

Hanging out on a robo-bench, I guess the kids didn't notice the big machine guns.

So This is What They Do When I'm Gone

I sat down at my computer this morning and this video was in my iphoto.  I thought it was pretty funny, maybe just because I am the mom, but thought it might make someone smile so I am sharing it!  Club Penguin is looking for members so if you are interested, let me know.

The Shooting Stars

Kate played soccer for The Shooting Stars. She was really excited about the name because it is the one that she voted for. It was also an exciting year because they were undefeated! It would have been a great season regardless of the name or record because they got pink and blue uniforms, and when you are 7 that is just really cool!

Warming up before the game.
Another pizza party!
Kate hanging out with Dad at Brooke's soccer game later that day.

The Pirate Sharks

The Three Little Hens is back! I have a new dedication to get this blog updated and stay updated! Remind me of that when I fall a month behind again:)

Another year of soccer has come and gone. Three months of Saturdays sacrificed, but the kids LOVE it and so we press forward, signing them up year after year. This was Buzzy's first year of "official" team soccer where they practice once a week and games on Saturdays. In the years he has played before, it has all been on Saturday only. He looked forward to practice every week and of course the games. Since Buzzy doesn't have any brothers, I think he espcially loves it because it is his guy time, where they wrestle and hang out..........a brotherhood of sorts. We got lucky because two of his friends from his primary class were on his team which made it all the better. At the beginning of the season there was disention in the ranks as to what to call the team. Half of the boys wanted "The Pirates" the other half wanted "The Sharks".........I know you are awed at the creativity of these names and I will tell you that at least half of the teams we played were named after some variety of shark species. So the coach made the executive decison to name them "The Pirate Sharks" which was perfect and actually made for a really cute banner.
Buzzy is in the middle.

Better than actually playing the game was the ice cold Gatorade waiting at the sidelines.
End of the season pizza and trophy party. Buzz told me the reason he played soccer was to get the trophy and he was pretty excited about it.
Another year come and gone..................and yes we will be back for more next year, after all, it's all about the trophy!

The Battle Rages On

Thursday night, about 15/20 people from our ward were "working our corner" (so to speak) waving our signs in support of Prop 8. We were having a good time. Most of the people were friendly, thumbs up, thumbs down, some of the angry citizens shot us the bird. Those of you who have waved signs have experienced this same atmosphere. I actually liked it, a lot. A crazy thing happened when three young men, stopped at a light and in a car directly in front of us, shot Welch's Strawberry Soda at us. My two friends pictured, Sam and Heidi, had white shirts on and you can clearly see the result of this silly act. We stood there in a stupor, shocked that someone would stoop to that behavior. We laughed it off, no retaliation. Strength in numbers. I guess you could say that we have officially been "baptized" warriors for prop 8.
This is how one ward member found his car after waving signs

Angel Nana

Children are the best. They have such simple, unquestionable faith. So many times this faith gives them greater knowledge to the spiritual than we jaded adults posses.
A few days after Jeff's mom passed away, I walked into the playroom. Kate had drawn the picture below on her wipe off board.
Yes, we can dispute the wings:), but why? Kate knows her Nana would have loved to wear wings. To this 7 year old child it makes complete sense that her Nana is standing on a cloud and watching over her. I am blessed and humbled to learn simple lessons from my children daily.

"My Nana Socks"

It seems that in the blogging part of my life, I highlight all of the happy times of family life. Let's face it you don't all want to hear about how my kids didn't listen & got yelled at, how I cleaned up dog pee from the carpet, or how much laundry I have to do. It's just not a good read.

I've been thinking about this post and what I would write, knowing that I needed to chronicle a sad event in our family life that will forever change us.
My mother in law passed away on Sunday afternoon. I want to share a few of my feelings for her.
I'll start by telling you a story that happened on Monday morning after many tears had been shed by us and our children. While getting Buzz dressed for school, he saw the socks in the basket that his Nana had finished knitting for him while she was at the City of Hope preparing for a bone marrow transplant. Two years before, I had started the socks, Sharon tried to teach me how and was so patient with me, I couldn't get it ................so she finished the job for me. She sent those socks to Buzz in the mail and he was so happy to put them on, right away! He wore the socks to school on Monday. I said to him that his Nana would love that he was wearing the socks she made him, he looked at me with a smile on his face and said "I bet she is looking at me right now in them". I am sure that he was right.

She was the BEST Nana in the world. There is no competition.
She knew that life was worth living and she lived it, and I am lucky because I got to live it with her and she made it wonderful.
Her favorite color was Yellow.
She gave the best presents that you didn't know you wanted.
She helped sew Halloween costumes.
She threw an easter egg hunt for the grandkids every year, but not the typical hunt. I'm talking hundreds of eggs!
She ordered Santa to come to her house every Christmas Eve.
She came to all the kids soccer games and yelled at the refs :)
She played board games with the kids.
She loved to movies.
She cried in September when her kids went back to school.
She had us all sing to Happy birthday to Jesus on Chrismas morning.
She taught me how to ragtie my girls hair.
She forgave me my faults and loved me through them.
She looked at people with her bright blue eyes like they were the only thing that mattered in the world.
She made the best orange rolls.
She had "Nana Camp" in the summer where all the grandkids would come for a week to her house...NO PARENTS!
She loved the desert and the ocean.
If she found a shirt she loved, she would buy it in every color.
Brooke knitted her a scarf that was literally about 10 feet long. Two weeks ago, Brooke received a thank you note for her scarf.......exactly as long as the scarf, rolled up in tulle and tied with ribbon. Who thinks of something so special? No one but Nana.
She loved to teach seminary even though she hated getting up early.
She raised a wonderful son just for me.
She will be missed everyday, she will be remembered with smiles and laughter because that is how she would want it.

I could go on and on, really I could.

She did teach me how to make socks, I finally learned. I remember sitting with her at the City of Hope and learning how to turn a heel and then close a toe.


She taught me so many things. She made the yarn of life so colorful, so vivid, so special and unique. Now it is my turn to make socks from the same yarn that she taught me to spin. I am blessed that she was my teacher.

Kate's Best Day

Well her dream finally came true, she got to bring her big dog, Jack, to school to share. This is the 3rd school she has attended (crazy, since she is only in the 2nd grade and we have only moved once!) and finally she found a school that allows dogs to come for share day! She came home so happy that she could take Jack to school on Monday morning. Luckily the groomer was able to see him on Friday morning to clean up our shaggy dog. Kate did a great job with her share and Jack was a good boy (probably because there were no other dogs around). She scored 100% on her presentation. One little boy asked if Jack had Rabies and we were happy to inform him that Jack is Rabies free:)


Kate loves ALL dogs! She especially loves her dog, I keep asking if we can trade him in for a smaller model, but she refuses!

First Day of School

Tuesday, September 2nd, was the first day of school. The end of Summer and the beginning of the new year is one filled with excitement and remorse for me. We had a fantastic Summer....going to the beach, surfing, camping, family reunion, basically it is great to have no schedule and little responsibility. The only care in our summer world was which sunscreen to use to avoid sunburn ;)
I knew that it was time to start school when the kids began to argue, it is like their bodies are on an internal clock and know when it is time to start! So start we did.
The kids are at a new school this year and were excited to go. They were able to meet their teachers last week which helped to ease their anxiety. I love the end of the day reports from them and so far it has all been positive :)
Kate started the 2nd grade today. Her teacher is named Mr. Walz and "she is funny".
Brooke started the 5th grade today, last year of elementary school. Scary! She has Mrs.Crandall.I have a thing with backpacks. I like to get pictures of them so the kids and I can look back and see what they liked at different times. The funniest backpack ever was Kate's kindergarten pack. It was My Little Pony (I know, shocking for all of you who know her) and it had a real (plastic) hair mane that was about a foot long. That pack was soon nasty and the pony ended the year in dreads! I don't think either of these packs have half of the personality of that pack.
We can walk to school now which they love! This is the girls with their friend, McCall, who lives 3 doors down from us.
Buzzy was asleep long after the girls left for school, that is why he is not in any of the other pictures. He doesn't start school until 9:15 (the girls start at 7:45). This is him outside of his classroom. He is really excited about the new camoflague vans he is wearing, although you probably can't see them ;)
I went to school with Buzz today. It was only for an hour, introducing the kids to the classroom and giving parents information on the year. He has Mrs. Anderson and she seems nice.

Camp Pendleton Triathlon

Jeff did a triathlon in Camp Pendleton, he loves to participate in their series of races because they are all on Saturdays!! Which is pretty unusual in the racing world, unfortunately the majority of events are held on Sundays. His fans (all 4 of us) came out to cheer him on! It was a beautiful day and he beat his last year's time by 4 minutes!
The race consisted of a 500 yard ocean swim, 18 mile bike, and 5k run.
Two of the cheerleaders watching for Daddy to come by.
High fives for Daddy on the way to the finish.
Jeff and Cort (his brother-in-law) who also did the race, it was fun to have two athletes to root on! If you look closely you can see the plastic medals that the kids gave them.

Sea Glass Hunt

This morning we woke up and went straight to the beach for a "Sea Glass Hunt". Last Friday, Kate was at a birthday party at T-Street and she started looking through the rocks for glass. Sure enough, there is plenty there for the taking if you are willing to look a little. I started out doing it to "be a good mom" but I have to tell you that it is very therapeutic to dig through the rocks and it brings out the pirate in me and the kids when we find one of the precious hidden treasures.
As coincidence would have it, on Sunday I commented to a friend how much I liked the bracelet she was wearing............guess what? It was made from sea glass and she knows a local artist who will turn our sea glass into jewelry! Anyway, it was exciting to me and don't be surprised if for your next birthday you get a sea glass trinket from us! Happy Hunting!

Carpinteria, Camping Fun!

We just returned from our 2nd Annual Hendrickson Family camping trip to Carpinteria State Beach! We had so much fun last year that we had to go back. Unfortunately we were only able to reserve 4 nights :(For those of you who don't know, it is pretty difficult to get a beachfront site in the summer, so I guess we were lucky to have it). This year we brought our bikes and were able to bike around town to shopping, dinner, Foster's Freeze, etc..... Carpinteria is a pretty small town, so the kids had no problem keeping up. We had a lot of fun, here are some of the highlights....................................
Jeff and Brooke setting up camp.
Baseball on the beach.
Innertubing is fun here, the waves are really gentle and rolling.
The kids were loving it, they got to have their own tent this year!
Jeff and Buzz coming back from town. A bike with a basket just makes me smile :)
Roasting hot dogs on the fire......gourmet camping grub. Everything tastes better cooked outside.Kate became obsessed with boogie boarding on this trip, the water was cold, but felt "refreshing" once you got "used to it" aka "so numb you loose feeling".
Boogie Boarding trio.
As much as Kate became obsessed with boogie boarding, Buzz became 10 times more obsessed with skim boarding. He would literally stand by the water and practice for hours.
more practice.
This is the 2nd year in a row that the girls picked out their backpacks from a cute surf store on the main street. I feel a tradition in the making.
This hamburger stand is called "The Spot", delicious hamburgers and fried foods!
Foster's Freeze :)
On our last day, Kate was so tired she fell asleep for an hour. We called it "The Starfish" pose.
Brooke practices Smashball a lot this trip. Notice "The Starfish" in the foreground.
S'mores....yummy!
We biked to a Seal Sanctuary lookout.
The seals are well camouflaged , but when we first got to the lookout there were roughly 50 or so on the beach and rocks, some were babies with their moms. Too cute!

P.S. I am interested to hear your opinions on camping. Most people that have asked me about the trip say "somebody has to like it" or words to that effect. So I'm just wondering what you guys think. Are my family & I really in the minority for liking camping? Let me know what you think.