Month: June 2010

    We are going to miss these guys!!!! ALOT :(

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    I know I have exceeded the maximum number of posts for one afternoon but here’s one more:

    For the last 4 hours Pacen and Camry have been here playing and the kids have been excellent and I can’t help but think how sad it is that they are moving this week! I keep grabbing my camera and capturing these last moments of fun. None of the kids can grasp how different it will be with them not living within 5 minutes of each other and Erica and I are just doing our best to ignore the situation or pretend it isn’t really happening.

    3:00 -They were being so good that I had to offer them a treat.

    4:00 Just taking turns on the tire swing

    5:00 - we had to finish the last of Benji's birthday cake

    6:00 back outside after dinner - playing 'something'

    These kids have spent the last 4 years together – since the oldest one is not yet 6 we can say they have spent their lives together. I hope they remember this part of their lives. I will miss it. I’m sure there will be many visits in the future but maybe never the perfect set up that we’ve had 🙁

    Categories: Benji, Packer

    birthday boy

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    Benji is 5!

    This birthday boy was in Heaven! We got up and opened presents which kept him entertained the rest of the day. I thought of going to Chuck E Cheese but we were not in need of entertainment. He got the Ben 10 creation Chamber! A Zhu Zhu pet, Slip n Slide,  Legos, Bakugan, Ben 10 Tatoos and Ben 10 book – yes he is obsessed. He didn’t even whine when I had him lay down for quiet time because he had his new book. He was super excited to have his cousins over for a party that night. We had a quick treasure Hunt and then a squirt gun/balloon race followed by presents and Bakugan cake. Emergency stitches for Lily urged us to end the  night at 10:30pm 🙂

    Tacos for dinner!

    Squirt gun race!

    more presents, Benji is in there somewhere.

    Wonder what he is wishing for...

    A Nettesheim tradition is that once you take your first bite of birthday cake then the birthday kid can’t talk until his cake is gone. We decided that Benji was old enough to get the game this year and introduced it to him. He was very proud to ignore everyone and not talk and not have to finish eating his cake under the table! He is a rule keeper – Good job buddy!

    When did this guy get so big?

    Categories: Benji

    The Last of Hawaii

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    after this post I will let it go…

    Ben went Deep Sea fishing on Thursday!

    The boat ride to Lanai - I lost my lunch on the way back.

    Ben, Matt and Rick in the bamboo

    Dinner at Canoes in Lahaina

    The waterfall hike!

    The boys on the beach

    We enjoyed some malasadas for breakfast

    Night out at the Magic Show

    One more pic of our favorite Bamboo forest.

    We had a great vacation. We loved spending time with family and with each other. We had lots of time to chat and relax and go on adventures. All of Ben’s siblings were there except one and his parents. We missed our kids but knew they were in good hands. Highlights were snorkeling with the turtles, riding the waves, fishing, shopping without kids, seeing dolphins, and LOTS of yummy food. The only disappointment was ‘Big Beach’, Ben and I loved that beach 4 years ago and did some fun boogie boarding but when we went on Friday the waves were breaking on the shore and the life guard kept warning people to stay out 🙁 booo, maybe next time, whenever that may be. Luckily both of our families are addicted to Hawaii so there is bound to be another trip in our future. Until then, good bye hawaii,  and good bye lazy days without any kids to tend to.

    Categories: General, Nettesheim

    Great Shots

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    I’m a people picture taker and usually won’t take a picture of just scenery BUT we got a few cool shots and these shots will always bring back great Hawaiian memories:

    Jungle walk to Honolua Bay

    Sands of Kahana - view from our Condo

    Our waterfall hike

    looks like a good snorkeling spot

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    OUR VACATION GET AWAY in HAWAII!!

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    The Heart Rock! How sweet 🙂

    We've swung from vines in the jungle!

    Snorkeled at Black Rock with many Sea Turtles!

    We went Boogie Boarding at Fleming Beach!

    The whole crew except Mom, somewhere near the blow hole!

    Categories: Ben, Jana

    Ben’s in New York, the kids and I are NOT

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    Ben is gone – it’s harder to go to bed when he’s gone. I’m watching a rerun of Hannity to see the set that he was on. He also had lunch with Dan Patrick. Tomorrow he comes back to reality. Reality has included the following:

    we joined the library summer reading program!

    The boys made pirate hats and Parrots!!

    We went to eat some Strawberries and cream in the park Tuesday night and they were delicious. Erica and I took our kids without any husbands to help. We both have big bellies and 3 kids in tow, we blended right in 🙂 and Erica took pictures so we’ll wait for her to post to get those.

    Yesterday we also had our first ‘Marker’ incident! 🙁 I came up the stairs to find Cali with a Blue Marker in hand and writing all over the cupboards!! She is a little crazy these days.

    She was very worried when she got caught - then she just thought she was big stuff.

    Categories: General

    Another Trip to Oroville

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    Another trip to Oroville but our first one in 2010!! I can’t believe I went 5 months without thinking up an excuse to get back home. It was good to be there. I love being at my parents house. I love that they have never moved since before I was born. Everything and everyone is familiar. I still get to sleep in my old bedroom and the bunk beds that we had during Jr High and High School are still in use.

    My camera was hidden in the diaper bag most of the time so I don’t have a good picture report of our week. I’ll write a little of what we did for posterity.  I will start by saying that when I left I was starting to need to pull out my maternity clothes but putting it off – NOW – I NEED my Maternity. I got very pregnant while I was there 🙁 My stomach is huge now, hurts to bend over, back aches, legs fall asleep, blahh… I guess I’m hitting the end of the 2nd Trimester so it is bound to happen.

    When we left I still had a sibling in high school but now I do not! Kelsey graduated – the last of the crew. All 12 of us went to the same Jr High and High School. There might even be a teacher or two that got to have each of us in class. We have had someone at Las Plumas High since 1987!  So the end of an Era – if my mom was a crier it was a crying moment – instead we just ate lots of ice cream and made lots of jokes. Way to Kelsey! See ya out here in Utah in a few months! ( I love living by the BYU)

    gotta love brothers

    Kelsey graduated!?

    I am allergic to cats. I don’t like them. A mommy cat decided to sneak into my parents garage and have some babies and my little sisters decided that they need to mother these kittens. So we had 2 kittens running around the whole time we were there. My kids loved it! Packer happened to bring his little pretend kitty and let it sleep out by the real kittens at night. They chased them and held them and watched them lots. I still don’t love cats but I liked watching the kids have so much fun with them. I also like watching my siblings try to rig a kitten wheel chair for the one that can’t use his legs. And my favorite part about the “kitty situation” is that Michael now calls Shannon – Momma Cat – makes me laugh every time.

    my happy travelers!

    The 10 1/2 to 11 hour drive is the worst part but I need to say that my kids are great travelers. They play really well in their car seats and they don’t expect much in the way of entertainment. A bucket of small toys and books does the job and then save the DVD player for the end when they are really bored. This trip home was one to remember. We stopped every hour for the first 5 hours. Hour 1 – Packer got car sick and threw up :(. Hour 2 – Packer got more car sick and we stopped to clean up again. Stop 3 – Gas and bathroom in Fernley. Hour 4 – Cali had bathroom problems and was super uncomfortable so we stopped to change that diaper. Hour 5 – Benji had downed a big Gatorade and couldn’t hold it so he peed on the side of the road. Stop 6 – Gas and bathrooms in Wells. After that Cali had another poop incident but Joel was driving so I just took care of it in the car and refused to stop again. We left at 7am and got home at 6:45pm.

    quiet time so adults can play games

    we love cousins

    Trip highlights: Seeing all of the Family!! My kids learned to run through the sprinklers and not be wimps, Yogurts to Go, Playing at Joshie’s, the park, moms cooking, Swimming at the Carter’s, Hula’s, Monopoly Deal, Graduation, Visiting Grandma at the dentist, I read a good book, eating lots of ice cream, playing with cousins ALL DAY, and snuggling with Grandpa.

    always time for a picnic

    playing at the park

    Ben stayed home to work and go to Scout Camp! We missed him. Benji just couldn’t believe that Dad wasn’t coming and Cali started calling out for him on the way home. Now we get to spend one day with him before he leaves on a 3 day business trip in the morning. It’s good to be home.

    Categories: General, Robertson

    Cali Talks

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    Cali is starting to talk! I can’t believe how much she tries to communicate. She is growing up so fast! Here is her list:

    Dada – one of her favorites, she uses it often and loves to call for him and tell him bye bye.

    Momma – only said when she needs something.

    Baba (bottle) – rivals with Dada for favorite word. I like that she can tell me when she wants her milk.

    Wawa (water), Dog, Eyes, Hair, Head, Bye bye

    We tried to get her to say No but she thought we were saying Nose and kept grabbing her face. She doesn’t say yes either but she has the head shake down.

    And one of my favorites is when she sings the Tiny Turtle song and says ‘Bubble, Bubble, Bubble’ and screams ‘Pop’ and then she has her own version of the word ‘again’ so we can keep on singing it. She is also a fan of the ‘mouth open wide’ part of Raindrops and Gumdrops or whatever that song is.

    Categories: Cali

    NURSERY!!!

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    I don’t know if I’ve ever been this excited for nursery. Cali is such a handful during church. It was wonderful to drop her off at nursery and go enjoy the rest of the meetings. She ran in. Realized that I didn’t come in with her. Dad went in to distract her. He snuck out and when she realized he was gone she screamed pretty loud and threw a good fit. I listened from the door as the great teachers calmed her down. I was worried that they would come bringing her to find us but they never did. She enjoyed her first day and had a big smile on her face when we picked her up.

    18 MONTHS

    I wanted to get a cute first day of nursery picture but we were running late before church and after church she was too tired to smile so this a post nap time, still grumpy picture. She and Packer are our 2 little nursery kids now. Aren’t they cute?

    We go to Nursery together!

    PS – we are in California for the week and having an awesome time. I better unpack my camera so that we can document the trip. Ben didn’t get to come so we are missing him.

    Categories: Cali, Packer