The Cruise!!

A few months ago "the group" realized that we only a short time left together before all of the husbands graduated and we all went our separate ways...so we decided to celebrate our 4 years at UCLA with a Cruise. We went to San Diego, Catalina and Ensenada. We had a blast, but we missed the Houlbergs, Shamos, Thomas', Okas and Millers.

Our ship, "The Monarch of the Seas"

Bike riding to Coronado Island.

A game of ultimate frisbee on the beach at Coronado Island

The real "Black Pearl" from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean...they have been storing it in Ensenada, Mexico

Trying to get a good picture of "La Bufadora"

still trying...

Got it!

The Midnight Chocolate Buffet!

Playing UNO in Catalina

Us in front of our ship, "The Monarch of the Seas"

Our meal staff

So sad it's over! See you in 2011!

A heart warming movie is on CBS tonight called "Sweet Nothing in My Ear." It is about a couple with a son that becomes deaf. The mother is deaf and the father is hearing, so they struggle with the decision to do a cochlear implant for their son.

I haven't seen it, but am excited to watch it.

Birthday shout outs...

My Dad-april 7th

My little bro, Cory --april 9th

(the handsome one in the middle...on his mission in Poland)

Sorry we haven't updated...we've been crusin'! Be back soon...

Fantastic General Conference Activity Packet

My friend, Lindsey sent this to me & I think it's great for the kiddies. Copy & paste the link below.


http://beaucourt.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/general_conference_activity_packet.pdf

"Look Mom, Chase is like our little pigeon!"

Being a little brother is tough ...

Hurray for the end of the week!

Well, Jake had the big WREB (western regional examination boards) last week and he made it through (and so did we). He still has the second part of boards the first week of May, but this week determined if he becomes a dentist or not, so we are glad the stress is over. We are sure proud of Dr. Cragun and all is hard work. We love you, Dad!

Jake and the clan

The wives (and a girlfriend :) )

The kiddos

(we started with two and will be leaving with 10...3 are still in the womb!)

The alternative...

So since giving up the ol' Dr. Pepper, I found an alternative for the extra energy boost (since that was the MAIN reason I gave into the pressure of throwing it back every once in a while :) ). It seems to work, or it may just be all in my head, either way I love it!

Kaci Koala Can Hear!

When Logan's Implant was activated ("turned on") he was given this cute Kaci Koala Bear. It comes with it's own implant, but they were out of the toy implants, so we have been waiting for it to come in the mail. Logan was so excited when it came last week. The next day, he was practicing speech with him and kept pointing at his ear, telling Kaci that he wanted to hear him speak! It also came with an extra implant for Kaci. Logan told Tanner that that was his "ear". Tanner was such a good sport and tried to wear it around his ear. Logan thought that was great.

I posted this on Logan's blog ( www.logansnewworld.blogspot.com) as well, but I thought it was too cute not to share.

Deaf player (with Cochler Implants) is signed to the NBA

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post/Cavs-sign-league-s-first-legally-deaf-player-La?urn=nba,71918&cp=3

WOO-HOO!!!

Happy Easter!!

Easter was a lot of fun. The Easter Bunny left his prints by the doorway which really excited Tanner & Logan. They all got some goodies in their baskets along with their annual Easter tie. We had dinner with our friends, the Houlbergs and an egg hunt for the kiddies afterwards! We then had a Family Home Evening on Christ's Atonement and how we all will live again. It was really great to see how well Tanner understood the concept and absorbed what we've been talking about all week. I am grateful for our Savior and the peace that comes with having the knowledge of his eternal plan for us. Hope your day was special!

(Sorry for so many pictures!)

Better late than never...

Well we had a fun (LATE) St. Patty's Day. The kids woke up to green toilet water, which although I thought was a fun idea, really freaked the kids out. Then we had Lucky Charms, green eggs and green milk for breakfast. We went and got the boys some new green shirts and found that because it was after St. Patrick's Day they were only $.99 each! We then played with green Play-Doh and decorated shamrocks with stickers. For lunch we had green Tuna Fish sandwiches---does not look appetizing, not recommended--with green kool-aid. A fun day all in all and my kids had no idea I was 2 days late!

Today was Green Day???

What a bad Mom I am! I totally did not know that today was St. Patrick's Day, I guess I was focusing on Easter and it just snuck on me. I usually love St. Patty's Day. I've been into it ever since my college dance team went back to Ireland and performed in the St. Patrick's Day parade. All the kids get new green shirts, we have green meals all day and I let them go to the dollar store and pick out some fun green beads or such to wear. So...don't tell my boys, but we are going to celebrate it on Wednesday...that'll give me some time to prepare! :)

Deaf Star on Dancing With the Stars...

Don't miss deaf actress, Marlee Matlin, on Dancing With the Stars tonight!

Overheard at Kindergarten...

When Picking up Tanner a few days ago, I overheard one of Tanner's classmates, Elena, talking to her mom after Tanner had run over to her and handed her her backpack:

Elena: See that boy, Mom, the one with the spiky hair? The one that gave me my backpack?

Elena's Mom: Yes, what about him.

Elena: Well, he asked me to marry him today. His name is Tanner.

Elena's mom: Well, he seems like a nice boy and he's cute.

Elena: Yea, but he is always doing nice things for me.

...then they walked away.

I asked Tanner about this since it sounded nothing like my shy little boy and he said, "Well, when Chanelle left I had to find a new girlfriend. I always try to help her at lunch and help her clean up her desk, but she still ignores me. But I'll keep being nice 'cause she is the best girlfriend in the class."

Nice persistence, Tanner!

Jake's Party!

I wanted to do something "youthful" for Jake's big 30th party, so I decided on a scavenger hunt. I wasn't sure how it would go over or if everyone would get in to it, but everyone was great...and a little too competitive, there was even a few cases of sabotage! (I won't go into names, but you know who you are :-) ). Each team was made up or 4 or 5 people and was given a list of items to collect in 90 minutes. They were given a few dollars for the items that may cost money. The team back with the most points won:

Find the following:
-A receipt for 50 cents worth of gas. (1 point) $$
- A disposable fast food cup with a business logo signed by an employee. (2 points)
-A one cent stamp. (3 points)
-One (inflated) balloon. (1 point) $$
-A bank deposit envelope. (1 point)
-A pizza coupon. (1 point)
-The business card of a cosmetics salesperson. (3 points)
-A birthday card for Jake complete with signatures from all team members (2 pts) $$
-A birthday hat for each team member (1 point) $$

Answer the following questions:
-The phone number of the phone booth at _____________ (address). __________ (2 pts)

-How many swings are at Aiden’s Place Playground? __________ (2 pts)
-How big is the ice surface at ice skating rink in Culver City? (1 pts)

Take Photos of the Following:
-A team member pumping a stranger's gas. (1 pts)
-A house with a white car parked in front. (2 pts)
-A photo of an out-of-state license plate. (1 pts)
-Graffiti in a local business' restroom. (2 pts)
-Someone 85 years old or older (holding their id). (3 pts)
-Team sharing one soda (everyone needs their own straw). (2 pts) $$
-The tallest member of your team standing next to a local bus. (1 pt)
-Team receiving a dessert complete with a lighted birthday candle in honor of Jake. $$ (2)

Congratulations to Team "RusDerson" for collecting everything on the list!

(a name blend of the Andrus' and Andersons)

* a close second went to Team "JOkaMoto"

(Jake,the Okas & the Omotos)

Here is some of the pictures that were taken from the scavenger hunt:

(click on picture to watch)

B-day Scavenger Hunt

Too much D. P!?

So I have a problem...I know! First of all I blame my son, Logan and my doctor, Dr. Mason. Why? Well, when I was pregnant with Logan I started to get these intense headaches and Dr. Mason suggested I drink caffeinated soda to get rid of them. (See? Purely the fault of Logan and Dr. Mason). I wasn't even a big soda drinker, never had been, then I discovered D. P...I was in love and better yet, I was drinking it per my doctor! So ever since then I've been hooked. I find that I can not stay awake past 7:00 unless I've had about 12 ounces between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. I have it down to an art...More than 12 ounces or past 3:00 and I'm up all night, less than that or before 2:00--and I'm drinking worthless calories. So, why the post about a sinful drink you ask? Because I am ridding myself of it forever (or until after our cruise--whichever comes first). We are taking a cruise with all our friends from Dental school to celebrate the boys' graduation and I have been working hard to shed a few pounds before we leave. I have lost 4, and that seems all my body wants to give away, so I blame the D.P. Hopefully this will help!

"Cell phones are not aloud in school, Mrs. Cragun."

I have two cell phones, one through Sprint that I use as my primary phone and a T-mobile phone that I use to talk to my family in Vegas (since that is the company they're with). On Tuesday morning my mom called me on my Sprint phone and when I asked her why she didn't call me on the other one, she said because she had just received a call from that phone from Logan's school! Huh? Logan's teacher called her thinking it was me, because the number was listed under "Mom"...are you following?

Anyway, when I picked him up later that afternoon (he just started at a deaf program through the school district until he can get into the John Tracy Clinic), the teacher pulled me aside and started off by saying, "Cell phones are not aloud in school, Mrs. Cragun. We found Logan's phone in his backpack and would prefer it if you left it at home. If you need to get a hold of him you can call the school and they will notify us." I started to laugh and told them that Logan does not have his own cell phone. First of all, he can not speak, hear or read the names in the contacts and secondly...HE IS ONLY THREE! Did they really think that I gave my three year old his own cell phone? I guess we do live in LA, weirder things have happened.

They said that they scrolled down through the contacts and when they found "Mom", they assumed that was me. When I tried to explain that he must have put the phone in his backpack on his own, the teacher said, "Well either way, they are not aloud in school," like she didn't believe me...quite funny!

Dad's Birthday at home!

Breakfast in Bed for Dad!

Yes...what it looks like, is what it is!

Logan the baller

Logan just finished up his six week session of his sports class at the YMCA. Attending all of Tanner's ball games and practices have made him very eager to start something of his own. We found this class and thought it would be perfect. They learn a little bit of everything, but basketball was his favorite. I was worried how he'd do, but he did great and the coaches were very patient. The Coach told me that he had natural talent and should continue to pursue basketball... we thank his Uncle Cory and Tyler for the skills!

I Love a great deal!

See the "0.01"?--that was the price. Love Nordstrom Rack!

Oprah's Big Give

I'm not a huge fan of hers, but I think her show looks like a great Sunday night activity.

It's on at 9:00 pm on ABC.

Happy Birthday, Jake! The big 30!

Click on picture to view his video...remember to pause the music (down on the right, in the grey box) before starting the video.


Jake's 30th Birthday