Thanks!

We had a busy, busy Thanksgiving week. We are thankful that we were able to spend time with friends and family we don't always get to see! About mid week Tanner said, "We've got to stay up late every night lately playing with friends we don't get to play with very often!" I didn't get pictures from very many of our fun nights, but here are a few from this week...

Brenda and Roland renewing their vows at their tenth anniversary party

My beautiful cousins, sister, Grandma, and little Brigette

My mom and I took the boys to Balboa Park in San Diego. I wanted to check out the ancient Egypt exhibit at the Museum of Man. It was a beautiful day, but isn't it always in San Diego?
The boys loved the childrens area where they got to dress up as Egyptians, sail the Nile, and trade goods at the store.

Tanner worked hard at building this pyramid!

The tree is up and that means Christmas is just around the corner!

And we spent last night learning how Candy Canes are made at Logan's Candies! The boys got to "bend" their own candy cane.

Thanks for all the FUN last week!

Now, it's back to our regular bedtime!

2010 Family Pictures

Our super creative and talented friend, Sarah, took our family pictures a couple weeks ago. Here is a sampling of a few of our favorites:

Here is my favorite...

Thanks for putting up with my goofy family Sarah! We love our pictures!

Our Exciting News!

We are expecting a new little Hoyal! H/she will be here in mid June and we can't be more happy! We have waited awhile for this little one but now we realize this timing couldn't be better! The baby is obviously excited too, as h/she has popped out already and I can't button any of my pants. Here are some answers too frequently asked questions:

Are you hoping for a girl this time?
We would love a girl or a boy-both would be fun!

How are you feeling?
Off and on yucky and always tired.

What do the boys think?
They are excited. Hunter tells people, "when we have a baby, then I will be big." And Tanner has lots of concerned questions about what the baby is doing inside of me, whether it can see or not, if it is bored, etc. His first concern was that his Legos will be a choking hazard. I guess he will have to do a better job at picking them up.

How far along are you?
10 weeks

Do you feel the same as you did with the other pregnancies?
So far, this one is pretty similar to Hunter.

Do you feel either way that it might be a boy or a girl?
Nope, some days I refer to it as a "he" other days a "she" and they both seem right. (It is only one though-no twins, we already checked!)

Mummies of the World

We have been studying Ancient Egypt for school. So when we realized that the California Science Center has the "Mummies of the World" exhibit right now, we had to go! How often do you get to see real mummies when learning about Ancient Egypt? We spent a lot of time preparing the kids to see the Mummies, as it is not everyday you see dead bodies of people who lived thousands of years ago! The exhibit was amazing. I couldn't believe how well preserved some of these ancient people had been kept. Eyelashes, fingernails, and even some skin all in place! The further you went back in history, the smaller the people were. I would have been a giant compared to Ancient Egyptians! The kids did a great job and were totally enthralled, asking good questions and making appropriate comments. (Except for one little four year old who insisted the exhibit was "too long" and threw a total fit right next to the Egyptian priest. Really- I thought they were supposed to be out of the fit throwing stage by age 4! Ugh!)
Anyways, the museum was also showing a 3-D IMAX movie called "Secrets of the Pharaohs". I chose to skip that one and keep some of the younger ones (including my favorite 4 year old) entertained. 3-D movies give me a headache! But the kids loved it and it was a great hands-on learning experience for them.


While even with our group discount, the exhibit was a little pricey, but the rest of the museum is totally free and AWESOME! Everything is hands-on science and it covers every topic. It is great for all ages. We were there a good part of the day and probably still missed a third of the museum. If you are ever out near the USC Coliseum, check out the California Science Center. It is well worth your time and FREE!

Hooray for Science!

Legoland, again

We just went to Legoland this summer, and I wasn't planning on going anytime soon. But when this homeschool deal came around, I decided to take advantage of it! The boys had to earn the trip with good behavior so it ended up being well worth it!
We got to go to an "Amazing Machines" class which was great. Both the boys got to invent a new ride for Legoland using gears and pulleys. They loved trying out all different sizes of gears to discover which would make the fastest ride.

Serious Lego builder at work...

Finished Product: "Dizzy Whizzy Ride"

Hunter was very original in naming his ride: Merry-go-round

Here they are at the reusable energy class where we met up with some of oour favorite friends...

After our classes, we got to enjoy the rest of day! No crowds and beautiful weather!

I was surprized when Hunter said he wanted to go on this ride. He usually wants nothing to do with any rides that look the slightest bit scary. He looks brave to begin...

But is gripping on with all his might and has the most frightened look on his face during the whole ride!
Hunter said that ride was not fun and he DID NOT want to go on it again!

Chocolate Fever-Book Club

We had our second Boys Jr. Book Club Meeting today! The book this month was Chocolate Fever. So much fun! We played a "Feeding Henry" relay game, learned how to follow a recipe to make Chocolate Cupcakes, discussed the book with a fun game, and learned a little about how our food gets digested. What seven year old boy wouldn't love eating chocolate and talking about your guts! I love how excited these boys are when it comes to their Book Club!
Here is the one picture I got of two of these goofy club members: