California Science Center

Tuesday, I took the kids to the science center in LA with Mimi (our old neighbor). We saw the Sea Monster 3D show, which scared Ethan to pieces. He said the sharks were coming to eat him. Then we decided to see the body works exhibit. If you haven't seen it, it is worth the drive. Definitely better for the older kids since I had to explain to Ethan why the men were naked. Oh well, a little lesson for him. Jacob loved it, it was right up his alley. Now he thinks he is the expert on how the body works. We had a blast, and could have spent all day there. We had to get Jacob back since he was going to the Griffith Observatory that evening with scouts.

Sunday Afternoon RIde

We decided to go out for a motorcycle ride Sunday after church. Rob rode the quad with Taylor, Ethan rode the little quad, Jacob rode the 50, Jordan rode the 80, and Heather and Megan drove in the truck and followed them. At one point, Jacob went down a hill and couldn't make it back up. Rob had to find a strap in his trunk to hook up the quads together. He was able to pull Jacob up the hill safely. After that we went down the canyon and found a good spot to go shooting. Rob made the kids wear the motorcycle helmets since we forgot ear protection. All the kids got to shoot the gun. I even tried to get practice shooting the coyotes. Anyways, on the way home Rob signaled everyone to stop, where we were shocked to see a rattlesnake in the middle of the road. It was about 4 feet long, and had lots of rattles. Ethan wanted to dad to pick it up, but we had a good lesson on why we don't pick them up. I think he watches too many of those discovery channel shows.

More Lake Pics

Well, it would seem that all we do is go out on the lake every weekend. You would be right. We took the Joost family out on Saturday (minus Collette) for a day on the lake. They bought it at our ward silent auction, second year in a row. They are so much fun! We had a very nice, relaxing day with our usual Gandolfo's for lunch. It was real rough out so we did lots of tubing! Here are some highlights of the day! Check out the Joost's blog for more fun pictures, since Tracy brought her nice camera! BRAVE! At the end of the day, we were all beat, especially Ethan (notice the drool from the mouth).

Ethan's Do

In honor of all those blogs with new summer cuts, I thought it appropriate to show you all what I came home to last night. Ethan says Aralee taught him how to do this! I think he used the whole bottle of gel though. Oh well. He was pretty proud of himself!

The McCoy's Meghan

This is the Meghan we named our little Megan after. The McCoys are good friends of ours, and Peter (Meghan's big brother) is Jacob's best friend. They moved to Huntington Beach about 3 weeks ago. Please keep her in your prayers, as she is having surgery today. She was diagnosed with kidney cancer last week and will start chemo soon. We love you Meghan!

Fun at Lake Mead!

Here are some shots from our recent trip to Lake Mead! We were there over the Fourth of July. We go to Lake Mead every 4th of July with the Searle's. We spent time with Bert and Maggie, went to dinner, and they came out on the lake with us. Bert brought a fishing pole and he and Ethan went fishing. Bert caught 5 catfish that day. Ethan helped him catch 2 of those. It made his day. Ethan wanted to go out on the boat with us after fishing for a while, so he told Bert-"Don't catch any fish until without me!" Jordan got to try out our new toy, the wakekite. It says if you have trouble setting it up, then it is too windy. Well, we should have listened. Nobody got hurt, but we got the cord in the prop a couple times so we called it quits. Jordan attempted his second 360 jump. Failed attempt. It scares me to watch him, but I love to watch him try new things. He isn't afraid of anything and that's what I love about him. Megan spent most of her time in the lake, Naked. She loved the water, and would cry when she wasn't in it. Ethan had a blast at the pool, but we couldn't get him in the lake much. Only at the shore would he go in. Jacob, finally after the third day on the lake, decided to wakeboard. He got right up and was in and out of the wake. What a stud. Taylor was not feeling herself on the trip so she and I hung out in the water most of the time. Rob's family made an unexpected last minute decision to meet us in Vegas. His brother Kenny came down from Cedar City with Brenda and they brought Amanda and Little Kenny. We took them out on the lake and had such a great time. Little Kenny got to tube, waterski, and drive the boat. Later that day, Kathleen, Rob's sister, came down with his Mom and 2 kids. We hung out by the pool the rest of the day and just visited with everyone. It was great to be able to see family that we haven't seen in a while. All in All, it was a great trip. Some minor complications with the boat, but much fun and memories were made!

I Had to Do It!

We had FHE in the park Monday with our ward. April brought some strawberries, which if you didn't know are my favorite! Especially the good ones we buy at the corner of Hasley and Val Verde split, in that little dirt area! Yum! Anyways, I had to see what my little sugar would do with a taste of something good. Well, the picture doesn't say much, but if you look at her little fingers, you can see that she wanted more. Plus, I couldn't resist the picture opportunity with the little strawberry shirt on! I'm cheesy I know.

Megan's new toy!

Here is Megan enjoying her Exersaucer. She loves it and it gives me some relief since all she wants is to be held-ALL THE TIME! Note the tongue in the pics! She is funny with that thing!

River Rafting

Rob and Jordan just got home from river rafting in the Toulomne River. They went rafting, hiking, swimming, sliding down chutes, and rapid swimming (Only Jordan and Colin Gingrich did that). They had a great time, made lots of good memories, and they all came back in one piece! With exception of Jordan's jammed finger he got from cliff diving, and the bloody nose Colin got from Jordan when they were rapid swimming. Rapid Swimming is something where they jump off the raft, the raft then goes ahead, they are in the water away from the raft with their feet first, and then the raft turns, the boys then proceed to come to the side of the raft, and they pull them in. Doesn't sound fun to me, but they loved it. Jordan got too close to Colin and head butted him, so when he got back into the raft he had a bloody nose. Way to go Jordan!

Thunder Thighs!

Take a look at these! She is 4 months old now, and weighs 16 pounds! What a chunker!

Saturdays on the Boat

More fun on the boat! Rob invited the Muirs, who invited a ciuple friends, for a morning of wakeboarding and tubing. It is so much fun to be able to invite more friends and actually have room on the boat. Afterwards, we went to the Muirs pool to cool down after we cleaned the boat. It was a marathon day, we slept good that night.

Jacobs 10th Birthday!

Wow! Can you believe he is 10? All Jacob wanted was to take his friends tubing on the lake. So, we packed everything up, waited for Rob to get off work, and off we went. It was a windy day, but we had called the lake to see if the launch ramp was still open. They said yes, so it was a go. We got there, paid, and drove onto the ramp, where we were immediately greeted by a running lifeguard. He informed us that the lake had shut down launching because of high winds. He must have seen the look of disappointment on my face (the boys as well) as we stared at him with mouths open. He said, he would let us if we were really careful and we came back a little early because people were having trouble getting their boats back on the trailers. We agreed so off we went! We had a blast! It was not enough time, but all the boys were able to ride a few times. We came back early as asked, and as the lifeguard had said, it WAS NOT EASY! There were white caps on the waves, the boat came in sideways, and we all jumped in the water to SAVE THE BOAT! Eventually all was well, but some scary times were had. After we got the boat on the trailer, we had to help some other people do the same thing! The lifeguard that had warned us was one of the people who helped us. He asked us (as we were up to our chests in the water) if it had been worth the couple hours on the lake, and of course we said ABSOLUTELY! Just to see the boys faces, and the fun time Jacob had- it was all worth it!

Cousins

Here is Ethan with Tanner and Rylee. We went to Murrietta to visit
holly. Heidi and my mom came up as well. The 3 Kiddos here were crazy at lunch! They were all so excited to see eachother!

Favorite Family Vacations

We love to look back at our fun times together. Here are a few of our favorite vacations!

The Girls Photo Shoot!

I am still new to this blogging, so I don't know how to link the address in this section. So if you want, look to the right and you can do it their, otherwise, copy and paste the address below to view their photo session. My personal blogging coordinator is probably sleeping right now so I'll have to fix it later.
http://www.autumnhullworkshops.com/gallery/mower/mower.htm

garage sale bbq

Sweet results of a Saturday morning garage sale!
People will take it away any way they can!

Student of the Month Awards

Just for you Mr. you know who(He'll know who he is!) A new posting! Jacob received Student of the Month for Citizenship today. Taylor received it last month for the same thing! Taylor also received an award today for knowing all her math facts! Go Mower Kids!

Peace Treaty

Jacob had to write a peace treaty for his class. We decided to do one on the family. Here it is for you all to enjoy!

The Peace Treaty of the Mower Family
This treaty will state the end of the Mower children war.

Article I
There should be firm and universal peace in the Mower home and between the Mower children and their respective family members, friends, and acquaintances.
Article II
Immediately upon ratification of this treaty, orders shall be transmitted to the commanders of the family. All occupants of the Mower home shall not yell, holler, disrespect, or treat each other badly.
Article III
Immediately upon signature, a covenant shall be entered into between the Mower parents and children. It will end all hostilities between children in the family.
Article IV
Immediately after the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty, all bedrooms, forts, places, possessions, which have been taken or occupied by the children in the Mower home, shall be established as everybody’s possessions.
Article V
There is a boundary line between the boys and the girls, and common area shall be in the playroom, family room, kitchen, and dining areas. If a child needs a small break from the rest of the family, they shall go to their respective rooms for a short period of time.
Article VI
The citizens of the Mower home shall have a free and uninterrupted speaking time in the evenings during dinner. At that time they can speak what is on their mind.
Article VII
The dirt road, and part of the tree house below the front of the house shall be divided equally while playing on bikes or climbing trees.
Article VIII
Mowers now established in territories previously belonging to others, shall be free to continue residing where they currently reside.
Article IX
In consideration of the Mower Parents, if any part of article VII is violated, the Mower children will pay their parents the sum of 200 dollars for every violation.
Article X
The Mower children agree to pay to the parents the amount due to them for violations to this treaty.
Article XI
The Mower Parents also request that there shall be no tattle taling, complaining, whining, nagging to play video games, begging to watch WWE on Friday nights, or playing airsoft guns when no adult supervision is present.
Article XII

This treaty shall be ratified by all members of the Mower Home and with advice and consent of Jacob’s 4th grade teacher Miss Harris, on this the 1st day of June, 2008.

Taylor's Dance Recital

Taylor had her dance recital on Sunday. What a sweetie she was. Her and Aliza are the most adorable little girls. They have been taking dance together since they were 3. It has been fun to watch them grow up together. Look at how much Taylor has changed! The first picture is from 2005. Wow! I miss those days!

Maiden Voyage

Here it is! We had a busy day on Saturday. We bought our boat-finally! We drove from the dealership in Bakersfield right to Castaic Lake to try it out. It is a lot bigger and a lot more powerful than the last boat. We had a great time. We took the Kings (Our old neighbors) out with us. It didn't go as smooth as we would have liked. There was a dead battery when we were launching, so we had to borrow jumper cables from the lifeguards. Jordan was the first to try to wakeboard behind it. What fun times for our kids!