Fruits of our labors

Late last year we (mainly Scott) built above ground planters.  Because we all know that here in Fontana we live on rocks!  So the kids got to paint them and make cute pictures of ladybugs and butterflies on them.  Each of the kids got to chose out a vegtable to plant.  These are pictures of the carrots we planted a couple months ago.  I was so surprised how nice they were and tasted yummy too.  We are far from living on our own personal garden, but I just love seeing the kids get so excited when they see veggies growing in our yard. 

Ethan gets Baptized
June is always a busy month for our family.  But this June Ethan had the opportunity to get baptized and confirmed by his Dad.  Ethan is a man of few words, but he was so excited to get baptized.  Before his baptism, he got to go out to dinner with just mom and dad.  (A rare occation when there's 5 kids)  He chose to go to Lucilles.  His favorite is the ribs.  We had fun time together and gave Ethan his scriptures.  Ethan is such a sweet boy and eagar to make good choices.  We are so proud of him and his decision to be baptized. 

I love this picture because it shows the strong priesthood line that Ethan can look up too...Dad, Grandpa, and Great Grandpa.

Baby Mallory is here!

Ethan's getting Baptized

We are so proud of Ethan and his decision to be baptized.  He is very and excited and has been looking forward to this day for a long time. 

Mallory Mieko Silver

Here is Madison with her new baby sister. She is sooo excited to finally have a sister. She has just loved being my little helper. She is so comfortable taking care of her.

Madison and I have so much fun dressing Mallory up each day... don't forget the bow!

Mallory is just a few days old here. She is just a perfect little girl!

Happy Easter

I love this picture. At the last minute Landon threw his arms around his brothers. He has become a little rascal lately and will do anything to get your attention.
So I figured I don't have too many more holidays to have the kids in matching outfits. I don't know why, but I think it's so cute. Maybe cuz my mom used to have Cara and I match. And so it was so fun to have Mallory join the group. Madison was just thrilled to have a sister to match. Surprisingly, this picture turned out pretty good.

Snowball Fight!!!

The kids just love making these videos. Landon is especially impressed by the video. I put it on DVD and he watches it over and over.

Landon is a funny kid. I think he is the only 3 yr. old that thinks the dentist is AWESOME! He has watched his older brothers and sister go to the dentist for years. And everytime he asks "When is it my turn?"

Well he finally got his turn. When they called his name he just said "Bye mom" and left. I didn't even go with him. (when you have 4 kids at the office at the same time you kinda take over)

So I stayed and waited for everyone to finish. This is a funny photo! This is happiness for Landon, doing what the older kids get to do!

What am I doing wrong???

Today I thought I would test Landon on his shapes. I got out a toy doodle pad and drew a circle and asked him what shape it was. I was very proud as he yelled "circle". Then I drew at square and showed Landon. He very proudly yelled out "T.V."
I guess better start giving that boy some of my attention!

Summertime Fun!
Our last few days of summer went quickly. We went to Lake Havasu with the Williams. It was great to hang out on the lake and go fishing. Unfortunately, Ethan ended up with strep throat and Madi got pneumonia. But illnesses aside, we had fun!

Scott got aggressive on the wake. He says he's a much better wake boarder but I just take bad pictures. I think this one shows his skills!

We went out for a night ride. It was very cool being on the lake in the dark. We tried a little fishing too. One of the kids took this picture- future photographer.

Caleb is always smiling!

This is Landon's version of wake boarding. Someday this little guy will tear it up!

I got a some video of Madison wake boarding. She is really getting good. I love her confidence. She'll bend down and touch the water with this look of "Yeah, I'm bad!" (Just like her mom)

Happy Birthday DAD!!!

What a treat to go out to celebrate Dad's birthday. With 12 grand kids and a couple on the way... it's HARD to plan an evening out to dinner with the adults. So for Dad's birthday we went out to Panda Inn. We had our own little room (baptismal font included haha) with a huge round table. We had so much fun laughing and enjoying great Chinese food. It was a real special evening. I snapped a few pics of the couples... Gary substituted for Kandice since she and the girls didn't make it. It was a real treat to be together. We just enjoy every moment we have together.

Chad and Chad jr.'s big day!! What a special day for the Wakumoto family. Chad had the opportunity to bless his baby boy. It was so sweet. We are all so happy for Chad and his sweet family.

Every Mom can relate to this one!!!

Warning: You might want to turn the volume down.

I was driving home when Landon decided to throw a tantrum because I wouldn't HOLD him. Obviously, I couldn't because we were driving! So for 17 minutes straight, this is what I heard. I just kept thinking, "Wow, aren't you tired yet?" or "That 5 point harness REALLY works!" I thought for sure he would get out and soon be on my lap. He tried everything to get out. But notice, he never lets go of the lollipop in his hand. He's got his priorities straight!

But I know every MOM has gone through this with EVERY child. So I thought I would share mine.

In defense of Landon, he just loves his Mommy. He would climb mountains and valleys to get to me.

Families are Forever!

I am so thankful for my family. It has been great to spend the last several weekends together. It is very strengthening to be together during this difficult time. After learning about Mom's cancer, I had this urgent feeling that I NEEDED to be with my brothers and sister. I even kept looking at the front door wondering when they were coming over. As soon as we were all together, I felt peace. That experience makes me believe that being together forever is so much more than we understand. We are deeply connected to each other in our family. We have to be together as a family in the next life because they are a part of who I am. I am not "me" without my family.

Summer Camp 2009

Boys! Boys! Boys!

Yesterday we started Summer Camp. I got to entertain 9 boys for 4 hours. And we had a blast! We did everything boys love to do...dirt, fire, and explosions. We started off with a hike up the mountain behind my house. It was a scavenger hike with a long list of things to find. Amazingly, they found most of the things on the list...minus the coyotes and crows. (Ben, I finally saw a crow this morning while jogging! They must be morning birds)
After our hike we came back to the house and made a fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Everyone was safe and no one was hurt. :)
Then we made volcanoes and watched them explode. The volcanoes turned out great- they did it on their own.
It was so much fun to play with those boys all day. But by the end I was ready for a nap!



Checking out the tadpoles and then going TOO deep and getting their shoes stuck in the mud.


On your Mark, Get Set, Go!!!

My volcano shot higher than yours!!!

After the dirt, fire, and explosion's.... I was cleaning up with the hose and underneath we found a frog. I screamed and then the boys came to the rescue. They caught the frog and took it home.

Just Dance!

This year Madison has been taking a jazz/tap dance class. She had so much fun. Madison finished the year off with a dance recital. It was so much fun. She gets so excited because Mom will do her hair and make-up! (maybe too much make-up) All year long we can't see her dances. She won't practice in front of us. We have to wait until the recital to see it. This year Madison had 5 dances. This video is of Beat it. I just loved the costumes- what a flash back!

Strike a pose!

This year was fun to have cousin Megan in the same class. Because they are both so tiny they got to be partners on a couple dances.

Happy 7th Birthday Ethan!!!

We were so excited to through a party for Ethan this year. It seems like we are always moving around Ethan's Birthday. It all began 7 years ago when we moved to Fontana. We moved in 2 weeks before he was born. And we have moved several times after that- always near his birthday.

So this year Ethan started to play baseball and LOVES it. So he had a baseball party and got to take some friends to the Quakes game. It was so much fun. First, the camera man put Ethan on the score board TV. He thought maybe he was on the TV at home too. Then they asked Ethan to come dance with Tremor but he quickly said No Thanks! So Madison went instead. Later on during the game, Tremor came over and wrestled with the boys. I don't know that any of the boys actually WATCHED the game but it was a happy day for Ethan full of fun memories. Happy Birthday Ethan!

Happy Easter!!!
A few days before Easter we love to color eggs. We aren't the most artistic painters but we love to do it. We love to get paint all over and make a big mess. We painted so many eggs that we couldn't eat them all. I was eating eggs for weeks. But it sure was fun!


In art class Madison painted this bunny picture with acrylic paints. She did a great job. She decided to give it to Grandma for Easter.

Here's everyone before church on Easter. It's not the nicest layout but we were on our way out the door when I remembered to take a picture. This year Madison picked out her Easter dress. We went shopping together and she turned her nose at all the frilly dresses I picked out. She's starting to develop her own style. It's fun to watch her grow up into a young lady.

Easter Sunday was such a beautiful day. The skies we so blue. We had a great morning at church with Chad and his family. Afterwards, we went to Chino Hills to be with Scott's family for a yummy Easter brunch. Then we headed up the hill to Apple Valley to have an Easter dinner with my family. Wade and his family we in town too. It was so wonderful to spend the day with our family. We are so blessed to have both families so close by. We are so blessed for those friendships.

ALOHA!!

Aloha from the Silvers.....

We were real fortunate to take a family vacation to Hawaii. This was the first time we had to actually pay for ALL of the airplane tickets. That's what happens when the kids get older- but it was worth every penny! This picture is of our family at the top of a hike up Hauula Loop. It was a three mile hike and it took us 3 hours to hike it. Scott had to carry Landon the entire three hours! But it was so beautiful at the top.

This is Scott and Caleb chillin on the beach. They even have a Hawaiian umbrella for some shade. It was great weather and very relaxing.

Madison is jumping off the reef at our favorite secret beach. We are usually the only one on the beach and it has this perfect reef that makes a swimming pool. The kids love to jump off the rocks and fish for little fish.

Landon is so cute in this picture. I took sooo many pictures this vacation that posing became second nature for the kids.

Ethan was real excited to find a coconut in Hawaii. The first one I found him tasted like soap when we cracked it open. It was nasty! So Grandpa found a coconut at the neighbors. The boys were so excited to eat it. But the true taste of a coconut was a lot different than they expected. But they loved the coconut milk. That's part of the fun of Hawaii- tasting new things like coconut, guava, octopus, and poi.

On the North Shore there is a beach where Green Turtles like to hang out. We stopped and took a few pictures with them. It was so amazing to see these animals up close.

Bulls eye!!

One of the kids most favorite thing to do is to set up a shooting range in the garage. It is so fun. They paint a bulls eye and hang it to the wall. Then everyone has to put on goggles. Each of the kids take a turn blowing up the target with the air soft gun. The goggles are a MUST because the BB's are bouncing all over the garage. Sometimes they hit the kids too. Oh yeah, because the gun is semi automatic!!!