The rest of July

 I bought Steve a remote control plane for Father's Day. However, I didn't realize that many of the parts were being sent from China. We were still waiting on parts by the time we left for vacation with the Bentz family. We took the huge plane with us all the way to San Diego, Arizona, and back. We thought for sure the last item would show up at mom and dad's house. However, it showed up the day that we left.  So, once we got home and mom and dad shipped the last item to us, Steve was able to take it out for a try.  By the time he finished programming the remote is was almost dark, but he was itching to fly it, so we ran down to the park. It was so dark that he couldn't see the remote and accidentally changed the wrong setting so the throttle went from 0 to 100 in a second. The plane flew down the asphalt, up about 5 feet in the air and came down with a loud crash. It broke the propeller and the landing gear.  So, the next day I drove out to a neighboring city and bought a new propeller and we were able to glue the landing feet back together.  So, we tried it again.  We went back to the park.  We still didn't have the landing gear fixed all the way in the back.  We tried to fly it above the grass in hopes that the landing would be softer, but it came down nose first and broke the propeller and other things too. So, needless to say, Steve is done playing with that plane for a little while.

 The girls had fun chasing it around on the ground though.

 Our friends, the Russlers invited us to come swimming with them at their country club where they were members. The girls had so much fun. Above is Andrea and Greta and below is Eve and Rachel.  They had a lap pool, kid pool, diving pool, and kid toys.

 Nick and little Grant were the only boys in our crew.

 The girls finally got to play in the pool with Daddy. They loved showing Daddy how they could slide down the slide into the pool.

 Andrea and Rachel found their way into my closet and tried on all of my high heels. These were by far the cutest ones on them.

 The next day Tabetha joined in with them.  Yes, the house is a mess, because I was in the middle of moving our house.

 We made it to Happy Hollow as a family one last time before we moved. They had a really neat road show that traveled around the west coast and presented all summer. They had an alligator, skunk, orange monkey called (kinkajou), possum, an armadillos, bald eagle, and more. It was a really neat show. Rachel 

 Daddy on the carousel with the girls. 

 It was our last time at Happy Hollow before the move, so we let Andrea get her face painted.

 We did do a lot of packing, but we also wanted to enjoy our last two weeks there, so we made a trip up to San Francisco with May Thao and her three children Blong, Paj, and Xia. We also had a new friend in the ward Deborah Newren come with her children.  Rikki Bezzant also came, but we never actually met up before we had to head home.  We went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum.  It was freezing that day, which I should have expected, but we still had a lot of fun.  This exhibit was all about waves.

 Each person got to make their own boat and float it down the river. Andrea and Rachel both had a blast.

 Well., Rachel actually preferred taking the boats apart. :-)

 Blong and Xia had fun with this one too.

 One of the best parts about the museum was their awesome playground with a great view of the bridge in the background.Too bad it was so foggy.

 I know her face is a little sleepy, but the background is so cool.

 These two girls were little monkeys.

 Rachel was making a froggy sound by rubbing the stick back and forth along the bumps.

 This place was really neat. It was a maze made out of twigs with several little tunnels.

 They even had a miniature Golden Gate Bridge for the kids to play on.

 Andrea absolutely loved this. She got to paint on the window and then use a squeegee to get it off.

 Even the older kids found things to keep them busy.

 Rachel loved painting too.

 The kids climbed all the way up there. 

 I think this place is one of the most beautiful places in San Francisco. It reminds me of something you might see in Europe. It was originally built for the World Fair.

 I ended up washing and repainting several small sections of the walls though out our house. Here is a picture of where we recorded the girls height. Andrea would at least once a week if we could measure her.  The girls liked to help a lot while packing up the house. :-)

While on vacation in Arizona, Steve met with Chris Ormiston, an entrepreneur from his home ward, to discuss types of work, ideas, etc. It ended up turning into a job opportunity. Chris is starting a new project that he wants Steve to be part of. Once we got back to San Jose they talked more and after praying about it we decided that was the route that we wanted to take. It won't start for at least 1-3 months, but we knew we were going to quit and start this new job and his busy season was starting up again and neither of us wanted to stick around for that if we knew he was going to be leaving soon, so he gave his two weeks notice, finished up his projects, and we packed the house and moved within 2 weeks. We never could have done it without the help of our fantastic ward.  We had so many young men and young women, and their dads show up to help us load our trailer. We still had a ton or stuff, so it still took a very long time.  But we were so appreciative and grateful that they would help us despite not being very happy to lose our membership in their ward.  We love you San Jose 16th ward. 

San Diego June 2013

 We had a lot of fun in the sun this year. The weather was perfect!

 Adorable little Rachel.

 We went to the Mormon Batallion one day and Andrea got to wear a bonnet and Matt got to dress up in the military uniform. It is so wonderful. The church is very on top of their technology.

 At the end of the awesome presentation everyone gets to pan for gold. "fools gold that is"

 We rented a paddle board one day and everyone took their turn on it.  It is made to be stood on like this picture of Matt, but you can also sit or kneel.

 The girls and I on the board.

 Andrea playing in the water on the bay side.  She doesn't care too much for the ocean. She's a little terrified actually, but she really liked the bay side.

 Colette playing on the bay side beach.

 The boys took the kayak out on the last day there. They tried the ocean first, but to no avail. Then they took it to the bay side and we all took turns riding in it.

 Swimming in the bay with Grandma and Grandpa Bentz

 The girls also liked playing on the body boards.

 Steve and Matt wanted to see if they could master the Luigi's pizza eating contest. They had to eat a 30" pizza in 1 hour.  They tried very hard, but in the end they did not succeed. They only had one piece and a lot of crust left over.

 Oh the disappointment.

 The end of the day at the beach usually looked like this. Grandparents cuddling the girls.

 So precious.

 Matt and Melanie's family.

 Our little family in the sunset.

 Mooker (Michael) flew in for the first few days of the vacation and then flew back for school at BYU.

 We all gave it a try on the skin board. Mooker is the pro at the skin board. He makes it look so easy, but it's not easy at all.

 Cuddling with Uncle Mooker. 

 We went to the tide pools one day during low tide. We tried to look for crabs and clams and such. Matt and Melanie and Colette.

 All of the girls are searching for critters.

 Andrea and Uncle Mooker looking over the edge.

 Our little family standing by the edge.

 While Grandma was holding the bike Rachel decided to climb on so she could go for a ride. That little girl is fearless. She climbs everything. And often times she pays for it.

 Before we rented bike seats for all the little girls, each girl took turns riding in Colette's seat.

Then I took Rachel for a ride.

Waiting for her turn patiently on the little strip of grass.

Also waiting her turn. These girls are all so cute.

"Cheese!" Look at those teeth and beautiful eyes. 

Tickle Uncle Mooker!!!

Eating some yummy dessert that Aunt Melanie made and getting ready to play a new game called, "Pass the Popcorn." The Bentz boys and Mom and Melanie rocked at that game. Tausha only knew the movies that came out after we were married. I didn't pay too much attention to movies before I married Steve.

Grandma bought Andrea a beautiful dress to wear over her swimsuit. She felt just like Ariel walking out to the sea with a beautiful train blowing in the wind behind her.

Lots and lots of sand for the girls this year.

Rachel, well actually both of our girls, kept asking for food from Aunt Melanie. They were constantly snacking. I guess I need to have them snack more often. This is Rachel sipping from Colette's Cup. Actually, Colette and Rachel were always swapping their sippies and bibs. They always wanted what they other girl had, so we let them swap. :-)

Colette and Grandma getting ready to walk out to the water.

This is one of the best parts about being a mom. It's so sweet when they only want Mommy to cuddle them like this.

Look at this adorable girl. She is ready for some more sand!

Grandpa and Grandma slowly walking Rachel out to the ocean. Rachel loves the ocean. She will run right in. We had to watch her.

She loves the water. She and Andrea also love for Mommy and Daddy to hold them just above the water so they can lift their legs just in time for the wave.

The boys went golfing on Monday in the afternoon and they weren't back in time for Family Home Evening. We had a lesson which I prepared and then we playing Minute to Win it Games that Melanie prepared. The girls loved these games. Grandma did it! She stacked 6 dice on top of the Popsicle stick that she is holding with her teeth.

Andrea got up to 3 dice stacked.

I think I may have only got 4. And there they go!

This was the cutest game. Melanie put lotion on the tip of their noses. They had to use their nose to pick up a cotton ball, run it over, and drop it in the cup on the chair. It was hilarious watching all three of the girls.

Rachel watched every little thing that Andrea did and copied it. She did a pretty fantastic job at it actually. Look how cute she is!

Colette even figured out a way to cheat. She grabbed the cotton ball from her nose and put it in her mouth for easier carrying. Then she ran it over to the cup, pulled it out of her mouth, and dumped it in. :-)

They had to use the air in this balloon to knock the cup off of the ottoman. 

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Andrea serenaded all of us with Matt's Recorder while the girls danced around. I forgot to bring toys. I usually bring toys because we especially need them in the car, but we left so late at night that we didn't need them because the girls were sleeping. I felt bad that I didn't bring toys, so I bought each of the girls a little briefcase with mermaids and toys.

More pictures of the Mormon Battalion.

Rachel and Mommy panning for gold. 

Grandpa showing Rachel how to pump up the water.

Grandma bought the girls ice cream from the ice cream man. It was yummy, but definitely made a mess. :-)

All three girls nice and clean from the baths and enjoying their ice cream and getting sticky.

Many times we turned around and found these two making mischief. They had pulled out several clothes and tried to put them on. Rachel has a pair of pants on her head. Colette is trying to figure out where to begin with a pair of tights. 

Those two girls are so adorable. They felt so empowered by all the flights of stairs. Neither of them have stairs at their homes, so once they mastered going up and down, that's all they wanted to do.

Grandma riding the paddle board.

The girls loved the bay side. It was a lot easier to play in without the powerful waves.

Melanie and Colette riding the paddle board.

Rachel was supposed to fall asleep with Grandpa, but she just loves playing with her Grandpa, so she did that instead. Playing and cuddling. The best.

"Here you go Andrea." All three girls played so well together. I was nervous that Andrea might be annoyed by them because they are younger, but she was great with them. She just loved having more friends to play with.

Trying hand paddling.

More playing with Grandpa. He's gonna get those fingers.

Andrea and I playing in the water together.

Rachel was trying to shake the sand out of her shoes.

I love this little Diva face on Colette.

Just enjoying the paddle board before we took it back.

Laying down in the sand.

Steve finally finished working after working for the first three days of vacation. He was able to join us at the bay just before we went in for the day. We got to ride on the paddle board together. He even tried to throw me off a bunch of times and make we swim all the way back.

Pilling on the sunscreen.

This is the most adorable picture ever! Surfin' USA.

Rachel has the sweetest personality. She always so happy and excited and easy going. I think that is what makes her even cuter.

We took Andrea for a ride all the way over to the other side of the bay. We may have been sinking a little bit, so Daddy decided to swim and pull us back.

We went to Belmont one night, but the tickets are $1 a piece and each ride was at least 2+ tickets plus a paid chaperon, so we were a little cheap and just took the girls on the carousel. Andrea had Daddy put her hair in a side pony tail.

Rachie riding her horse.

All of our little family in on the carousel.

We also let Andrea and Rachel play one game. They each got to catch a fish and see how much it weighed. They won a blown up dolphin.

Rachel is going to catch one.

We went out to the beach one night and found this cool castle. The girls took no time at all to completely destroy it.

She loves the water, but it was a little bit chilly, especially at first.

Here is Colette hard at work trying to destroy the castle.

And just moments later its completely gone.  Then Matt saw a note written in the sand saying, "we'll be back." So we hurried and grabbed the girls and ran back to the house. 

Such a beautiful pic with Daddy!

The boys tried to take the kayak out on the ocean, but after not much success they took it to the bay side and we all enjoyed it.

"Bye Daddy."

They made a little river down to the bay. Many buckets were filled and dumped in the river. 

Yes, even Grandpa and Grandma tried the kayak. Right into the water!

Grandpa says, "That's it. I'm done!!" Grandma did ride it earlier with Melanie.

The girls enjoyed floating on the body boards.

Such a cute little girl.

Our last day at the beach the girls were pretty exhausted. Rachel fell asleep on Daddy's chest.

That's one happy Grandpa just enjoying the last few minutes on the beach before we head in and pack up to go home.

Packing up.

Our house/condo was just behind and to the right of where this picture was taken. Just a few housed down from the board walk. It was a really nice place. 3 bedrooms each with their own bathroom.

Walking in the sand just as the sun is setting.

 Well, we attempted to take family pictures in our matching shirts that we bought on the last night there in the perfect sunset. These are the best two that we got.

The next 7 pictures are so adorable that I had to put them all in. The girls we cold and ready to go in, but the sunset was so beautiful that I started playing a chasing game with Rachel and she thought it was hilarious. We got some really cute pictures of the two girls.

 Grandpa Bentz enjoying the beautiful sunset on our last night there. Absolutely beautiful!