Paper Airplanes

A boy in our ward makes great paper airplanes, and the kids are obsessed with it. Last Sunday he made some for the kids. When we got home from church, Scott looked up some videos on YouTube to find more airplane designs and made a few more for them to play with. It's funny how something so simple can bring so much joy!

Party at Cheesecake

I am lucky to have a lovely group of ladies in my ward to hang out with. To celebrate two of their birthdays we all met at the Cheesecake Factory. Who doesn't like cheesecake, right?! I think our servers thought we were drunk 'cause we were laughing so much, but we were not intoxicated, of course. We ended up staying until 10 or 10:30!! Here's a nice little group photo.

San Diego- Second Day

On our second day in San Diego we spent the whole day at the beach! It was so relaxing, and the time just flew by! It was fun to just hang out as a family with no where to go. While we were there we spotted a family of three dolphins and chased them down the shore.We also collected seashells & sand dollars, chased sea gulls and played with the beach ball. I have decided that I would love to live somewhere near the beach, or at least have the beach a reasonable drive away.

We picked up a boogie board at Costco, and the kids had fun getting 'rides' on that. Scott & I also took turns going out with the board. The water was pretty chilly, so I'm glad we had wetsuits!

A lot of time was spent digging this huge hole with a bridge dividing the two sides of the hole. While Scott & the kids were working on it we had several different families come by to see it, and had a bunch of kids join in to help with the digging.

"Hotel Del Coronado. I'm going there someday..." I love that place! There's just something kind of magical about it. I can't really explain it. 

It was a beautiful day to be at the beach. But, because it was overcast, and because the time passed by so quickly, we all got totally fried! I am so glad we were able to have a quick little getaway. It was a great trip!

San Diego- First Night

After Scott took the boards on a Wednesday, he had until Monday before he had to be back in school, so we decided to take a quick trip to SAN DIEGO!! I love that place. Everything just feels so laid back, and the weather was gorgeous!

First,  we got checked into our hotel in San Ysidiro. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it was a place to sleep. After getting checked in, we headed to Coronado and had dinner at this cute 50s-type diner called Beach-n-Diner. We found it on Restaurant.com, and I'm SO glad we went there. It was just perfect. I loved sitting there at the table looking at our little family and just marveling at how big the kids are now and loving all the fun we were having together.

You know the food's good when they're licking their plates! After dinner we walked around Coronado and walked over to the beach to dip our toes into the water. On our way back to the car, a waiter let the kids blow out all the candles on the tables outside of his restaurant, which they thought was awesome. We also saw a glimpse of the Sea World fireworks. 

The girls wanted me to take a picture of them with their flowers in their hair. I don't know what's up with the crazed look on Katelynn's face, though. Ha ha ha! 

It was a wonderful evening, and a great way to start our trip! 

Happy Independence Day!

On the Fourth of July we had a full house! We had 11 friends and their kids come over for games and desserts before the fireworks. Everyone brought one (or 5) desserts, and there were some pretty festive looking treats! We played a rousing game of Catch Phrase (who is Batman's sidekick again?!),  as well as Guesstures.

It was so much fun. All the husbands had been busy studying for the board exams, so it was nice for everyone to get together, take a break from studying and celebrate! (Sorry the pictures aren't the best in the world)

(Scott, Austin, Emma & Ashley)

(Pam, Kristen & Kelcie)

Here's the group getting set up to watch the fireworks. At the end of our street is a nice walking/biking trail with a perfect view of the fireworks at the Peoria stadium, so a lot of people park in our neighborhood and sit on the trail to watch the fireworks.

Cheese, Katelynn!!

Katelynn wanted to take pictures during the fireworks. At first it was fine...

(Jillian, Scott,Jenn, Maejae, Nathan, Scott, Ashley)

...then the flash attack started getting to be too much (Notice the wince on Nathan's face).

"Whoa! Okay, Katelynn. That's enough! We're going blind here!"

Michael enjoying the fireworks.

It was a fun evening. We feel blessed to have been surrounded by such good friends to help us celebrate our Nation's Independence. Happy Independence Day!!

"May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!"

 ~Daniel Webster

Swimming on the 3rd

My friend Jenn & I hadn't gotten together for a long while, so we decided to go swimming at the local pool a couple weeks ago. The kids were having a lot of fun together. They were playing this game where they were pushing each other into the water, then laughing hysterically. I thought it was kinda funny, but the lifeguards didn't think so. Oops...

But, here is a little video I got of them playing the game before they were told to stop.

Happy Summer!

Ward "Fourth" of July Breakfast

Every year our ward has a big pancake breakfast on the Fourth of July. Since the Fourth fell on a Sunday this year, they had the breakfast on Saturday morning. The food was great, and they had a blow-up water slide set up for the kids. Even our Bishop went down the slide a few times! You know you live in Arizona when an outdoor summer activity starts at 7 am and it's already hot enough for water slides, and the activity ends by 9 because it's starting to get a little too warm!

It was really cute how the older kids would take the younger kids under their wings. They would go down the slide with the kids, and make sure they all got a turn, even if they got out of line.

(Katelynn & Charley)

(Emma & Chad)

(Katelynn, Emma & Michael)

(Scott & Aaron)

(Michael, wielding a sword)

C-A-T

The other night Katelynn excitedly ran up to me and said, "I spelled my word cat!!"

Sometimes these kids totally blow me away.

Autobiography- 8th Grade Edition

I was going though a box o' stuff a while back and found this little gem. Thought I'd share it with the class. I will occasionally interject my present day thoughts in italics. Enjoy!

Oh, and if you really don't care at all about my 8th grade self, feel free to skip this post. Over and out.

Autobiography

I was born in Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii at 11:58pm on March 30th, 1981. I weighed 6 lbs. and 12 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. My parents named me Jillian because they liked the name and Mireille, my middle name (obviously), after a singer in France named Mireille Mathieu (or Mathieau) (Guess I was too lazy to do the research to find out how the singer's name was actually spelled.) On my birthday John Hinkley tried to assassinate President Reagan. (Just a litlle tidbit for all you history buffs out there.)


My family is kind-of big. There are 7 kids in my family. Also my Grandma Coleman lives with us. My dad has black/dark brown hair & blue eyes. He's a pharmacist. My mom has brown hair and brown eyes. She doesn't work. (I apparently had no idea how much work goes into raising said children.) I'm the oldest in my family. My sister, Chaia, is 9, soon to be 10, years old. (That must have been important..'soon to be 10'.) She's in 4th grade and plays the flute. My brother Joshua is in 3rd grade and 8 years old. He going (Yes, it says "He going". Niiice...) to start taking trombone lessons. My next sister, Sarah, is 6 years old and in 1st grade. She plays the violin and will start ballet. My sister, Elizabeth, is 4 years old. She takes dance and ballet lessons. (Dance AND ballet, huh. Isn't ballet a form of dancing?) Her nickname is Busy. My sister, Moriah is 2 years old. My youngest sister, Savannah, is 3 months old. (Youngest is Savannah? What?! Oh, wait. This was written before Sariah was born. Okay. Moving on.) All my brothers of sisters (brothers of sisters? Must have been writing this late at night or something.) have brown hair and brown eyes except Chaia. She has brown eyes and honey blond hair.

We have to cats and a kitten. (Have to cats? That should probably be 2 cats) Their names are Magic, Pepper and Speedy. We live in a split-level, red brick house. We moved there last March. We've lived in alot of different places. The states we've lived in are Hawaii, Maryland, Mississippi and Utah. (Sorry eighth-grade Jillian, but the moving doesn't stop there.)

When I talked to my parents, they told me alot (There's that 'alot' again. Guess I hadn't learned that it should be 'a lot' yet. Man, I'm hard on myself!) about my early life. One of them was that I went to Play Morning and in Play Morning my nickname was Smiley. (Huh..that was my nickname in college, too. That's funny) As soon as I got there I started playing on the piano. My mom and dad said that right then they should have realized and started giving me piano lessons. My favorite books were "Titch" and "One, White Crocodile Smile". My favorite toy was this Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We still have it! One year for Halloween my mom put puff-balls of tissue on a t-shirt and painted my face white. I was a sheep and nobody could guess what I was. I got the most original costume award. (Heck yes I did!) My parents and I went to see the Smurfs on Ice. (Smurfs on Ice! Ha ha ha!!) I got my picture taken with Papa Smurf, My mom said when we lived in Hawaii there was a memosa tree that always had water under it by our house. I always used to play in the mud under that tree. When we lived in Mississippi I won a Mickey Mouse doll in a coloring contest. I started to walk when I was 17 months, but before that I kind-of did a crab walk. I had my hands on the floor and my bottom in the air. (Never seen a crab walk like that!) It was SO funny. Once when I went to the zoo I rode and elephant and I kept patting it and saying "afunt, afunt". (Okay, now this is just getting embarrassing. Why did I start this post? WHY?!?!) My favorite food was mashed up venison (deer) stew. When I was a baby, my hair was so blond it looked like I was bald. Then when I was 2 yrs. old it was long in the back and I hardly had any hair in the front. (Are you saying I had a MULLET when I was two?! Business in the front, party in the back?! Oh, man.)

When I was in 2nd grade, I went to a private school. It was for the gifted and they didn't have any room left in the class. They made a space for me. I had problems at most of my elementary schools, except Southaven Elementary. I went there for part of 3rd grade, 4th grade and part of 5th grade. I really liked it. One thing I remember is 5th grade was (what kind of English is that?) that my teacher would read to us after lunch. I would put my head on his desk (the guys behind me's) and he would play with my hair. (sounds like an excerpt from a romance novel. Do you think maybe I had a little crush on this guy?) The other half of 5th & 6th grade was really bad. McKinley Elementary was the worst. In 5th grade at Bluffview Elementary a lot of people teased me. Then these people starting (Huh?) hitting and kicking me all the time. That was it! My dad pulled me out of school and I went and got my homework after school. Then at McKinnley in 6th grade over half the class practically torchered (like with torches? Ha ha ha!) me. I swear half the school hated me. (First half the class, then half the school?! Wow!) One day I just couldn't stand it and walked out of the classroom and sat outside the door. The principal called me into his office. He told me to ignore them. I was thinking, How do you ignore people clapping in your face and treating you lower than dirt? (I hated that principal. He was ridiculous. ) I was so glad to leave that school and went to a different junior high then they did, just to be sure I'd be away from them. I LOVED junior high and still do. I got alot of friends and was kind-of popular. Then we moved, but I made new friends and here I am today. (And here I am today? I must have felt like I was SO old and mature. Ha!)

I have brown hair and brown eyes. I'm about medium height. (Medium compared to what? Other eighth-graders? NBA players? Medium height. Hmmm. Very descriptive.) I'm kind-of shy, but I'm also out going. When I'm in an unfamiliar place with people I don't know, I'm shy. When I'm with my friends, I'm really outgoing. (I'd say that's still true.) I play the piano and sort-of play the violin. I belong to a few choirs and really like to sing. I'm trying to stop yelling at my brothers and sisters, because they make me so mad I just scream. I think I've changed alot in the last year. (That's funny. I was just thinking about how some things don't change much over the years.) I've made alot of friends, learned to play the violin and my voice has changed. I've also grown some, because I outgrew alot of my clothes. (I must have grown some this year, too. Dangit!!)
I don't really have many favorites. I mostly like everything or have several favorites. (That's still somewhat true. I had a little melt-down about it in college, actually. Have you seen "Runaway Bride"? Think Maggie trying all the different kinds of eggs. Okay. Moving on.) To have fun I like to hang out with my friends, play the piano and sing. I think alot of kid games are boring (I'm SO mature I can't stand it) and it makes me really mad when my brothers and sisters embarrass me.

When I get older, I would like to be a teacher, an interior decorator or a psychologist. I want to graduate from high school and either go to BYU or Ricks'. (I didn't go to either. And yes, it was called Ricks back then. No school like the old school.) I'd like to live in Utah, around American Fork, and have a family after I get married in the temple. I'd like to get married in the Salt Lake Temple. (Married? Check. Family? Check. SLC Temple? Check check.) And that's my life!! (I must have thought that statement needed 2 exclamation marks!!)

Thank you for joining me on this 'journey to the past'. It's been kind-of fun. It is always interesting to look back at yourself when you were younger and think about how you felt at the time, and how much things have changed since then. Have a nice day!

Update

Sorry, guys. I know it's been forever since I blogged last. One problem I had was not being able to upload photos, and I hate doing a post without a picture! Also, I'll end up with all these things to post about and will get overwhelmed and just not post anything, not that that helps the situation any. (I have this problem in many areas of my life, not just blogging.)

SO, what's been going on, you ask? Well, last week Scott took part one of his board exams. Scary! But, it's a huge sigh of relief that they are over, and now we just have to patiently wait for the results another 4-6 weeks. Now, he is back in school. He has classes over the summer, then in October he will start doing rotations! I'm excited for that, because then he will be doing more 'doctory' stuff, and will most likely have a better schedule. Well, except for the times he is gone for a whole month. That will be veddy, veddy intellesting. We are also trying to decide what places he would like to go for his clerkships during the next couple of years. The plan is to do clerkships in places where he would like to go for his residency (which is after he graduates in Spring 2012, and lasts for 3 years). It's just really hard deciding between all of these different programs!

Hmmm...what else? The kids will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall, so I have been trying to do 'school' stuff with them everyday to be sure they are prepared for kindergarten. The school they will be attending has a somewhat rigourous curriculum, so I don't want them to feel overwhelmed or fall too far behind their classmates. They will be going half-day in the morning, and are currently registered to be in three different classes. I still don't know what I think about that. I can see good things about being separated and good things about being together. We'll see how it goes.

Not too much else has been going on. Oh! The beginning of last month Emma had tubes put in her ears and an adnoidectomy done. The ENT said she had fluid in her ears, so she was hearing everything muffled, like the way you hear things when you have a head cold. She had her surgery follow-up apppointment a couple weeks ago, and they said her tubes look perfect. No fluid in there, and everythng is healing excellently. I'm not sure if she is hearing better or not (could be a placebo effect), but I'm glad that everything looks great. She has been going to speech therapy for the last few weeks. Her SLP says she is doing great and that her speech should improve quickly.

The only other thing we have been doing is trying to not melt in this Arizona heat! The average temp for the last little while has been in the 100s and 110s!! Whew!

Ashley's Birthday Bowling Extravaganza

A while back I was able to get together with some girlfriends for a fun night out to celebrate Ashley's birthday. First we went bowling, then we hit up Cracker Barrel. I love that place! And, bowling was so much fun. The people on the other lanes probably thought we were crazy, but that's okay!

 (Sorry the pictures are a bit dark)