The seven Turpin women.
Our beautiful Bella
Sister Brown brought over a gift for Bella and some cookie dough, 2 frostings, plates, napkins, stickers, and a Ladybug (!) book for the big sisters! It was so kind and the girls had a ton of fun. Thank you!
We are reuniting our family again with the addition of little Arabella Michele Hope Turpin.
Can’t wait to see you later tonight!
Today Michele, Octavia, and I meet down at Laguna Beach at 8:30. We played and investigated the beach. It was so much fun. I miss my girls. They would have loved to climb over all the rocks and explore the tide pools. Look, girls, that is a real board walk – not a fallen fence on the sand. :)
All water runs to the ocean – here I actually saw it – the pigeons were bathing in it. The beach is just so pretty!
People say that Sammi is active and loves to explore and climb on things. Well, I have to admit something. She got that from me! I couldn’t stand it anymore and went and climbed all over these rocks. It was so much fun! The water kept coming up at least half way on these two pictures.
Becca will appreciate this flower. Isn’t the symmetry wonderful?
And finally, Octavia’s mussel shell family. See the Daddy, the Mommy, and the baby?
I miss you girls. I can’t wait to hold you all. I love you Becca. I love you Sammi. I love you Jessi. I love you Lizzy. I love you Joy!
Love, Mama
It’s a girl! Check it out : http://arabellaturpin.blogspot.com/
Jason and I have been in California to adopt our sixth daughter, Arabella Michele Hope Turpin. We are so excited about another little girl to love!
Yesterday my Mom and Asia went down to Galveston. I am hoping that the girls will post about it.
Today Jason and I drove over to Laguna Beach. It is absolutely beautiful there.
I love this picture of Jason. A wave had just hit him. The water in the Pacific Ocean is cold! This is a fun shot – it’s our footprints in the sand.
The two of us against a backdrop of the coast of California.
These are just fun. There are tide pools – real tide pools. I’ve never been able to find one in Galveston. The kids would have loved it! I imagined Sammi and Lizzy all over these rocks!
And then there was this tunnel through a rock outcropping – so fun. I wish y’all had been there!
I have heard before about people talking about the roar of the waves – the Pacific Ocean makes some loud waves!
And finally a little clip of me walking on the beach. In my head, sand is soft. The sand here hurts. The soles of my feet have never been so soft!
Thinking as I always am about Young Women, I marveled at the opportunities this presented to teach about the importance of temples and temple covenants and marriage. There is a sidewalk connecting the two buildings. On the temple side, there is a short circular wall. I imagined YW lessons being taught right there. Just beautiful!
Jason and I at the temple. We had to use the timer to get these pictures, so Jason would hit the button and then run over. But here we are at the temple.
The front of the temple. Over the door is a sculpture/relief (not sure what the word is) of Christ and some of his disciples.
It was beautiful here. The grounds were lovely. What a blessing to have temples dot the earth!
For Becca: flower pictures from the temple:
Dearest Sammi,
Thanks for your letter – I loved it!
And I loved that you included the picture of Joy. Give everyone a kiss for me. I love you all!
Love,
Mama 
PS – Tell Becca I bought a new pair of earrings today! :)
dear Mom & Dad
we are all having fun!
P.S.
joy is having the most fun!XXXXXXX
LOVE SAMMI XXXX
Tonight Jason and I ate dinner at Houston Intercontinental Airport before flying out to sunny Southern California. I haven’t flown since we went to California in 2007 to pick up baby Joy. You could rightly say that I am not a big traveler. I am very content to stay in my little bubble and live my life there. As the girls and I study world geography and culture, there are many things I would like to see and experience, but truthfully, I’m OK seeing the sights from the safety of our home PC as I show the kids pictures and videos from around the world. You could also say I’m not exactly up with the times. It still looks (and sounds) funny to me to see grown men and women standing around talking to themselves on their bluetooths.
I looked around the dining area tonight in terminal A and watched a handful of people eating their dinners and talking busily to someone on their phones. I noticed a little bird, maybe a small sparrow, perched on the back of a chair. He sat right next to a man who was oblivious to his little presence. The man talked on and on about whatever and the bird fluffed himself up and then flew to the back of the man’s chair! He sat there for a while, then flew to another table. The man on the phone never saw him. He missed out on something. I wonder if I see in my life. Just ramblings from a woman stuck in an airplane! :)
Jason and I (mainly Jason) have been tiling our bathroom. It’s about a 3 day job for the do-it-yourselfer. We started on Thanksgiving day weekend and finished today. That’s 3 days – 3 free available days. Oh well.
It was time for the Saturday cleaning. I told a child, “you need to go clean your room.”
Child replies, “ I need help cleaning my room.”
Jason responds, “Did you have help making the mess?”
“No, but I need help cleaning my room.”
Jason turns to me and says, “She needs a bailout!”
Becca loves smoothies! For Christmas she asked for her very own blender. How exciting! She makes us smoothies made from fruit, yogurt, milk or juice all the time. Last night she made us a Strawberry Colada – yum! Everyone loved it except Dad – who hates coconut. :) The nice thing about this current obsession is we all get to enjoy it with her. Yummy!
“I was looking in the mirror and saw a really cool, smiling face.”
reply from another sister: “That’s because you see a child of God.”
We went to the zoo for Aurora’s 1st Birthday. It was so much fun! There was lunch, cupcakes, snacks, and lots of animals. Everyone had a blast and went home tired!
