Our Own Personal Taxi

So this is our super cool neighbor and her two girls, who my two girls love to death.

(I hope she doesn't mind that I stole her picture from FB.)

She has also been the best chaperone I could have ever asked for. Every morning I open my front door and she is parked out front with her car doors wide open waiting for my kids to jump in so she can take them down the street to the bus stop. Is that so cool or what? Thank you so much Lisa for that and so many other things!!!!

You might not be able to tell, but at the bottom of her front steps are a couple of chairs and a nice little table. It has been the perfect spot to visit, I mean keep an eye on our kids while they hang out together. We feel blessed to have moved onto a street with such great neighbors.

Yeah! Another Visitor!

So we had a very special big surprise come through Bakersfield. I got an email the night before from Marci's mom asking me for my phone number because she was going to be driving through and wanted to stop by. It was wonderful to have some Katy blood in our home.

It was the best homesick medicine we could have given Lauren. She has been the child who has had the most difficult time adjusting to our new home. She breaks down in tears all the time because she misses her friends and her house and her room and etc.... So when she found out that her BEST friend was coming, she was in shock. She now however thinks Ella can just come over anytime. They were only able to stay for a short visit, but we were so glad to see them all. Thank you so much Mike and Marci for taking the time to stop by during your quick & busy trip to California.

Poor Ella, I know how hard Lauren's squeezes when giving good hugs.

Addie is getting her good hugs too.

Lauren is wearing her favorite outfit just for Ella. Again, I can't wait for this shirt to get too small and for the "only" jeans phase to wear out.
Silly Faces!
Awwww, my favorite picture.
BFF's
Lauren says this is the Fashion Pose. Marci is the blogging queen. I could probably blame her for my blogging craziness. She even has a recipe blog that I use alot. I only wish I had it ALL together as well as she does. She is also a great photographer and so these pictures are all from her. I didn't even try to take pictures. Thanks again!!

Oxnard Strawberry Festival

One of the sweetest treasures of the Golden State, the California Strawberry Festival began in 1984 in salute to the rich agricultural industry that etches Oxnard’s coastal landscape with the tasty fruit that’s hard to resist. Strawberries are the prized harvest in Ventura County where 11,538 acres produce more than 27 percent of the state’s supply with peak season production of 10 million pint baskets shipped worldwide daily. Oxnard Strawberry Festival

SOOOOO, this has been happening for 25 years and this is the first time any of these Spendloves have ever been. And now we can all say we have been there and done that. It definitely was a big deal. We had to be shuttled in on buses. And the food was GREAT! I can't believe I don't have any pictures of the the Strawberry Smoothies, Strawberry Lemonade, the Strawberry Pizza or THE Strawberry Shortcake we all devoured. There was an entry fee but all the rides were free once you entered. So of course the kids had fun while the adults enjoyed waiting in the extra loooong, I mean looooovely lines. And also it is always more fun when you can spend this time with family. We had a great weekend together ending with nothing but the best Tri Tip Dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Spendlove's Sunday evening.

The girls even had harp lessons while at the festival.
Matthew helping out with baby Benson.
Ethan's favorite pasttime at G&G's house, catching lizards. I'll have to get a picture of his lasso next time.

Rachel + Rhinos = One Very Nice Diorama

Rachel's assignment was to do a report on an animal and to display it in it's very own climate & environment by making a diorama. Well, she did a great job on the report. Because she used to go to the Rockin Rhino Elementary School, she chose the Rhinoceros. She spent a lot of time on the computer researching all about it. And even more time on her diorama. I think she must have spent at least 6 hours straight working on this project. You have to notice the detail work on each one of her leaves she cut out of clay. Her Rhino looks pretty good too. Nice Work, Rachel !

Tooth Fairy Visits 2X

Lauren lost her first two teeth in the same week. She was even very brave to let mom pull them both out without any fuss or crying. And yes, she was a little proud. But I think she was more excited about the tooth fairy visit and having some money to put in her Hello Kitty wallet. Lucky for her the tooth fairy was right on schedule this week.
Tooth #1

Tooth #2

Spot Light Child

Matthew was spotlighted at school. He filled out this form below and was asked to bring pictures of him as a baby, family and etc. that would be hung up in his classroom.

My name is Matthew Cannon Spendlove.
I was born in Katy, Texas.
My birthday is January 4, 2001
There are 4 and 1 on its way kids in my family.
In my family, there are 3 girls, 3 boys and a mystery baby.
I have 1 pet at my house. (?)
My best friend is Kyler & Anthony.
Some of my favorites are:
Book-Journey to no were
Food-Italian Delight
Activity-hiking, swimming and biking
School Subject-Math and Science
Hobby-explore
Colors-blue, red, brown, green
Vacation Place-Mountains
When I grow up I want to be an Explorer because I like exploring.

The Backyard

My family hard at work.

Matthew just counted and we ended up planting 71 plants, 5 trees and 3 fruit trees. It's starting feel a lot like our home.
Steve & Ethan worked hard on planting this 40 gallon tree along with some others not quite so big. We're hoping for some shade soon.

Everyone worked hard. Okay so maybe Lauren supervised mostly. But she did dig a few holes.

I'll have to post a picture of whole yard maybe when the heat of the summer is gone.

15th Wedding Anniversary!

THEN (our engagement picture)

NOW (night of our 15th anniversary)

We celebrated by going to a Cinco de Seis party at Steve's bosses house. It really was a lot of fun. I think the big celebration of our big 15th anniversary was overshadowed a little by all the excitement we've had from our big special surprise of baby #5.

But no matter, it has been 15 wonderful years with a wonderful man who is a great father and husband.

Happy 15th Anniversary!

The BEST Primary Class

So I have pretty much spent my life serving the young women in our church, which has been a wonderful blessing. But I just got my first calling to serve in the primary. And I have been blessed with the best primary class of 8 year olds ever to teach. It has been a joy and a pleasure teaching them and I just wanted to record these cute little faces.

American CleanUp

While Steve & Ethan went on a boy scout campout, the rest of us participated in the American Clean Up Project. Our primary was in charge of cleaning up a park right around the corner from us. Wearing our Helping Hands Yellow vests and big orange safety gloves off we went to work. It was a couple weeks after Easter and there were lots of confetti and Easter candy wrappers all over. We had to leave early to head on over to a swim clinic, so I missed out on another photo op of the whole group. But it was a great day to serve!