The A.Wahls

SEVEN

2011-05-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

Seven years ago today, I became a mother!

I never would have guessed that I could love someone so much as I love you!

Happy Birthday, Alexis!

May all your dreams come true!

Spring is a funny thing

2011-05-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to wonder if there is really such a thing as "Spring" in Utah or if it just skips from Winter to Summer. One day, the girls will be running wild in the yard in t-shirts and shorts and the next, it snows! What happened to a season of blissfully perfect weather...sunny skies, moderate temperatures, flowers blooming, song birds singing...(oh, how I miss the sunshine!)? We seem to only be able to get "teaser days" where the weather goes from bad to great and right back to bad again. We try and soak in all the sun whenever we can grasp some. As wonderful as having a yard has been (on the few fair weather days we've had), there is a drawback; my girls seem to think that if they come in for a potty break, it might start to snow again before they get back out to play, and so instead, they don't. Inevitably, accidents occur; about half a dozen times in the past few weeks (Alexis excluded)! We take a lot of baths, and do a lot of laundry, and ruin a lot of clothes. In spite of all that, we have really tried to make the best of what fair weather days come our way and here is what we've been up to this past week:

A walk in the woods...

Our "backyard", or rather, a view of our frontyard taken from our backyard.

There is a trailhead for some great hikes just a short walk away from our house. We decided to do some exploring one night after grilling some burgers for dinner. We found a lot of animal tracks, a river, a bridge and a waterfall.

Race day...

Our family participated in a 5K race sponsored by local law firms. Luckily, the weather was perfect that morning (and by afternoon it was raining again!). Adam and Alexis ran the race and finished in great time. Alexis was one of the first in her age group to cross the finish line. I helped bring in the latter half of the race with our other three little racers. Aubrey and Allie were wiped out about 1/3 of the way through and both hopped on the stroller with Bria, so I pushed the three of them as I jogged along (would have been easier without the hills!). I couldn't decide which part of me got the better workout, my legs or my arms!

They were all so proud of themselves and we had a really good time doing it. As a treat, we got to stop by the zoo on the way home and say hello to Zuri (Allie's favorite elephant). We had been missing her during the winter months and were happy to see her back outside. Alexis had quite a full schedule that day. After the early morning race, she had a choir concert at the University that included a two-hour rehearsal prior to the two-hour concert. She and I were exhausted that night!

The very definition of cute:

Really, could she be any cuter? She is sitting up on her own now and is quite proud. It is becoming very evident that she wants mobility though I am strongly opposed. She loves the grass, the outdoors, and splashing in the tub. I think tonight we really wore her out. I was reading stories with the girls before bed and she was sitting on the floor in front of me when we started to notice her head bobbing around. She had fallen asleep sitting up! I didn't know babies could do the head-bob thing. I thought that was reserved for parents at church and toddlers in car seats! Guess that's what happens to a fourth child who doesn't get the type of nap schedule a first child is blessed with; they have to be able to sleep anytime, anywhere.

Sweet dreams, my little ones; I'll be dreaming of sunny weather for you!

Take me out to the ballgame...

2011-05-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Alexis's choir sang the National Anthem at a baseball game this past weekend. They sounded awesome! The weather was perfect; we all enjoyed sitting outside in the sunshine and eating more than our share of kettle corn.

Ambria quite possibly loved being outside more than any of the rest of us. She was so happy throughout the whole game. She "watched" most of it sitting up in her carseat that we had propped up on a stadium seat.

A few updates...

Aubrey continues to love to hang on, swing from and dance around, anything and everything. She is getting excited to start school this fall. She is gearing up for her Spring dance recital next weekend.

Ambria is 5 1/2 months old!!! She is changing so fast. I feel grateful she stayed a "baby" until we got into our new home but now she is trying to grow up. She is sitting on her own now and grabbing onto toys (and anything else she can grasp onto...hair, paper, etc.) She babbles all the time (da and ba sounds) and started solid food yesterday. We gave her some mashed up bananas and she made the most disgusted face any of my girls have made with their "first food" experience. Surprising since I started all the others on vegetables first! She seemed more impressed with them today. Stinky diapers, here we come!

Allie turned three last month. We had a big celebration with all the relatives in our new home. She was very happy to receive a tricycle this year. She and Aubrey have enjoyed riding their bikes around together in the basement while we wait for more Spring weather to come.

Home Sweet Home

2011-05-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

We are in our home at last! We moved in at the beginning of April. My love for it increases every day as it begins to feel more and more our own. The move itself was filled with plenty of stress and ups and downs, as anyone should expect, no matter how many sleepless nights were spent planning and preparing for it. We are here now and "settled," yet somehow life keeps racing by so fast. I had hoped our pace would slow a bit once we got here and I'd find some of the time I've been missing since we left California to keep up on my blog and a myriad of other projects, and especially to sit back and enjoy my kids, but that hasn't happened to the degree I wished just yet. The two hours a day we spend commuting Alexis back and forth to school combined with the absence of naptime has a lot to do with that. Only twenty-four days of commuting left and maybe then I will reclaim some of that lost life. Because time is scarce, I will not attempt to give a full account of the past two months and will start instead with today...when I threw my "to -do" list in the trash and went out to watch the kids play. They spent hours running out in the yard, jumping on the trampoline and swinging on the swingset with the neighbor kids. It was so fun to watch them play with friends and enjoy being kids; having a yard with plenty of room to wiggle is wonderful! (They were all in shorts since it was a whopping 60 degrees today!) We have found ourselves amidst wonderful neighbors again. Just now, the doorbell rang and new friends were there with a plate of cookies. :) We have received, breads and cupcakes, dinner invites and babysitting offers, and best of all, warm greetings. We are happy to be, home sweet home.

Allie loves to pick "flowers." I told my dad that is an example of why kids are so happy. They see flowers where adults see weeds.

Snow Day

2011-02-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

The girls had a great day out in the snow this past Saturday. They built a snowman, shoveled the snow off the lawn (yes, you read that right), and got to try ice skating for the very first time. We met my family over at a local skate rink and spent an hour out in the falling snow gliding on the ice (or at least attempting to). We all enjoyed a nice warm cup of cocoa to warm our insides when we were through. They have been talking about their ice skating adventure non-stop ever since, and somehow when they get better and better at the "tricks" they tried on the ice the more they talk about it. ;)

5 week countdown...

2011-02-23T07:10:00.000-08:00

We are expecting to close on our new home in just five more weeks and we are all SO excited to move into our place and get settled there. We have been in a sort of "limbo" stage since arriving here and at last our move will be complete and we can plant deeper roots. While there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation on my part, there are a few drawbacks of leaving our current situation.
I only have five more weeks until:
*I have to communte to Alexis's school both ways
*I have to fold each load of laundry
*I have to cook every night
*I will be responsible for all the grocery shopping
*I will have to clean the entire house
*No more "after we put the kids to bed" babysitters
A great big THANK YOU to my mother-in-law for putting up with our family all this time, sharing her home with us and helping me "lift my load."

new "do"

2011-02-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

Alexis got a hair cut today. It wasn't until she was getting her hair washed that I realized it was her first salon experience and I should have taken my camera! She cut off several inches and is quite pleased with the result. She is so excited to show her friends at school tomorrow.

A weekend of culture

2011-02-22T19:47:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was very culturally uplifting. My enrichment began on Friday evening when I enjoyed a nice dinner and night out to the symphony with Adam at this fine concert hall downtown.

We attend the "Bravo Broadway" performance which featured songs from a variety of Broadway musicals and were sung by two divas that played the part of "Elphaba" in our favorite musical, "Wicked." Both women were amazing, as was the orchestra. The music was fantastic and we enjoyed the night entirely. The following day, I was treated to an afternoon at "the ballet" as Aubrey and Allie danced and twirled around the living room to the tune of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" and "Sleeping Beauty" suites. Saturday night, I was accompanied by our friend Aurelie, to a patriotic musical tribute for the Governor at the State Capital building where Alexis's choir performed. It was a LONG day for Alexis with the rehearsal and performance but she enjoyed getting to sing there and certainly looked cute. (Alexis is in the middle of the front row.)

Sunday night, Alexis's choir group performed at the Tabernacle in Temple Square at an Interfaith Concert. It was a really neat evening. Singing and dancing groups from a variety of religious groups throughout the community came together to perform for each other in an effort to build and strengthen diverse relationships. It was stated that "the problems in the world are not with what people believe but rather people not living what they believe." I concur. It would make a difference if there was more "walking the walk" and less "talking the talk." The idea was not to blend beliefs but to appreciate them as they are. The religious groups represented at the performance included: LDS, Islam, Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Baptist, Buddhism, Hindu, Earth, Jewish, Quaker, Muslim, Sikh and Native American. The opening and closing numbers were performed with congregational participation. I was touched and felt a unifying spirit as we all joined together in song. There were a lot of varying beliefs and cultures in the tabernacle that night and we all left respecting and wanting good things for each other. We are all children of a loving God no matter how we choose to represent that faith. "Let there be peace on Earth...and let it begin with me!"

Rapunzel, Rapunzel...

2011-02-21T18:50:00.000-08:00

Aubrey turned FIVE this past week! She is enamored with "Rapunzel" right now so we celebrated by going out to lunch and attending the movie "Tangled" at the theater with her grandmas. We enjoyed chicken enchilladas for dinner (at her request) and cake and ice cream in the evening with all the family. She, of course, wanted a "Rapunzel" cake so that it what I attempted to make. I used her gift (the Rapunzel tower) as a cake topper and decorated the cake with flowers. I think she was pleased and I sure had fun learning to make roses with icing with my grandma. Aubrey's favorite things in life at five are: dancing, gymnastics, polly pockets and barbies.

Aubrey as "Rapunzel" (she looks quite different as a blonde!)

(can't pass up cuddly baby pictures)

Four Generations: My grandma, my mom, me, and my girls

Blessing Day

2011-02-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

Adam gave Ambria a beautiful blessing this past Sunday at church. I am grateful for the good man that Adam is and that he honors and uses the Priesthood authority he holds.

*All four of our daughters have worn this Italian dress on their blessing day (we have Italian heritage on my dad's side). My mom brought it home from a trip to Italy hoping someday she'd have a grand-daughter to wear. We've been happy to put it to good use.

2 months old!

2011-01-27T19:46:00.000-08:00

Ambria is two months old! She had her check up this week and first set of shots. She weighed in at 12 pounds and was 23+ inches long. The dr. asked if all my kids had been this big...she is 89th percentile. (And the answer is yes, they have all been good size babies.) Bria is getting heavy to heft around throughout the day; especially the day she got her shots. She was so mad but was calmed down quickly to her big sisters' relief. They had all been very concerned about her shots and has asked the nurse to reassure them that she would be okay. Bria did really well until afternoon and then she screamed for about three hours! I had a headache and a really tired arm that night. I am grateful that my fourth baby is not colicky like the first two were. I don't think I could survive that. Ambria has been a very content baby. She loves to be held, as most babies do, and is a great sleeper. She is smiling a lot now and starting to giggle and "coo." Her sisters smother her with love. Allie is constantly burying her with blankets and stuffed animals and Aubrey still can't get enough time holding her. They even took a little snooze together the other day...and I was happy to sneek one in with them.

a whole lot of "girl"

2011-01-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

Our house is really full of "girl!" What do expect with four of them bouncing off the walls! There is pink everywhere, and frilly things strewn about, and squealing and giggling and tutus and cat fights and sweetness...and I love it! I smiled as I picked up the ballet slippers, tiaras, and princess wands off the floor tonight. Adam is doing his best to counter balance all the femininity but I'm sure he feels like he is treading water in a sinking ship. He is constantly chastized for saying "bad" words like "crap" or "stupid" and told he is "eating like a beast." He wrestles with the girls and makes loud noises and I recently found out he has been telling them some pretty exciting bedtime stories, including "Karate Kid," and "Superman," anything "boy-ish" and superhero related...and nothing to do with princesses! Recently my girls and I got in a battle over why they couldn't watch the movie "Spiderman." They said they knew all the stories...all about the "green goblin" and "Octavius," etc. so I didn't need to worry about them being scared. Hard to explain that I didn't mind them hearing the stories but didn't want them to actually "watch" them. I did allow them to watch "Karate Kid" (parts 1 and 2) and they have since been telling me all about Daniel-son and Mr. Miagi. Don't love the karate match imitations and much as the pretend dance recitals, but we've got to let the dad in somewhere.

settling in

2011-01-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

Today I had to remove the California license plates from our cars. It was a bit of a sad moment to me as I still have a soft spot for our life there. I suppose I always will. We made a lot of happy memories there; visited many fun places and met a lot of wonderful people. I miss the palm trees and warmer weather. I had the thought the other day that if we were still in Fresno, we would be seeing blossoms on the trees in about a month from now...instead we are still playing in the snow, and will be for a couple more months. The snow actually hasn't been as intense as I thought it would be but I am really tired of the cold! The girls don't seem to mind. They go out and play and warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.

We are really happy here and I LOVE being near our families. It's hard to imagine ever being away from them now. They are a great source of help and are fun to be around. The mountains here are beautiful and I love being so close to them. Adam loves his job and Alexis is doing very well with her French in school; so things are working out and coming together. Another very exciting update is that we have found a home! We are scheduled to close in a couple months so we are back on a countdown. We are really looking forward to setting up our own place and really settling in; rooting ourselves more firmly than ever before. Up until now, we've always been on the move and every place we've come to, we've known has been only temoporary. But this time (barring anything unforseen), we are in for the long haul. We will likely stay in this home until our kids have gotten through school. It's an unusual sense of permanance that we've never felt, but it's a comfortable one. I can't wait to get in and start putting our ideas in place.

Always something to smile about

2011-01-07T09:51:00.000-08:00

In spite of the wide variety of little trials we go through each day, there is, thankfully, always something to smile about. When I look up to see these sweet little girls in their dress-ups and fancy things (which there is a plethera of around here), I just can't help but grin a little and feel like it's all worth it in the end.

Insomniacs

2011-01-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Being the mother of four is certainly keeping me on my toes. Whether it's the tantrums of my two year old, the hormones and attitude of my six year old, the stubborness of my four year old, or the dependancy of my infant, there is never a day without something to challenge me (and that's saying nothing of the attention I should somehow be giving my husband! Good thing he has his new job to keep him busy and his mom to keep him company -for now). Every day brings something new. One challenge in particular we've been facing this past week is sleep. I personally have been struggling for a while but adding more sleep interuptions isn't helping. I used to take great pride in what great sleepers my kids were. They would retire early and all take naps, at the same time even, allowing me a "sanity break" in the day. Those days are gone and I miss them desparately. My two year old won't even nap anymore!
The baby is doing well to get back to sleep after her middle of the night feedings; I, however can't seem to "shut off" my mind once I put her back to bed. I lay awake dreaming up ideas for how to set up our new house when that day comes, or thinking of the tasks for the day ahead, or thinking of nothing at all, just not sleeping. Then, if I am so lucky as to begin to fall back to sleep, either it's time for the baby to eat again, or I get a visit from Allie. She has always been a good sleeper but this past week refues to sleep without all the lights on and doors open. Even then, she wanders to my room multiple times every night and tries to get in my bed; which I am adamantly against, so I take her back up stairs over and over and over. The other night, as I carried her back to her room, I saw that my father-in-law was also awake, reading in his study. On my third trip up to Allie's room, I found my mother-in-law awake folding laundry (mine), and after my fourth trip up, she stopped me at the top of the stairs and took Allie to her bed so I could try and sleep. No sooner did I get cozy in my covers than I got another visitor. Aubrey came down to our room having been awakened by a nightmare. I took her back upstairs and getting her back to bed, woke Alexis up. When I got back to my room, Adam was awake wondering what was going on. I laughed to myself at the irony that at 4:30am, my mother and father-in-law, my three oldest children, my husband and I, lay wide awake...while the baby slept! Perhaps I need to fill a family sized perscription for Ambien.

A very Merry Christmas

2010-12-31T11:07:00.000-08:00

I can't write much at this moment since I only have one free hand while I am holding the baby (who does not want to be out down today) but suffice it to say that we had a very merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season!

(a California girl in the snow -I can't seem to convince her to wear pants!)

First Month

2010-12-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that Bria will be one month old tomorrow! What a wonderful month it has been. We are half-way through our doctor recommended "house arrest" to shelter the baby from the cold and germs outside and although a little stir crazy at times, I have been loving the "cuddle time." I am so grateful to be close to our families, as they have been a big help getting Alexis to and from school and helping entertain the girls for me.

They have also been attending all the events I've been missing. Aubrey had her first dance recital. She was so excited to perform on stage and thrilled by the rose her grandpa gave her after the show.

Alexis has been performing all month long at various events throughout the community with the "One Voice Children's Choir." The choir has around 150 kids and does a fantastic job.

She has enjoyed learning the music and her sisters love to help sing along in the car while she practices. Her dad has been so great to adjust his schedule to take her to her performances; sometimes three a week! It has really been a busy month with a lot of activities...and Ambria and I have been snuggled up inside for most of it. She is doing great and growing like a weed. At her two week check up she had almost gained a pound from her birth weight and her "chubby-ing" cheeks would suggest she is continuing to grow. She has been good at night to go back to sleep after she eats and is very peaceful most of the day. She loves to be held and she has a lot of people willing to help out with that. Her sisters frequently request the chance to hold her, but no one more than Aubrey. She would hold her for hours if I'd let her. One morning while she was cradling the baby on the couch while watching morning cartoons, Aubrey told me her hand felt funny. I told her that her arm was probably falling asleep and her response was, "No; I don't think so. It feels like there are dots in my fingers." What a perfect description of what a hand feels like when it's been asleep!

Keeping up with all four girls is exhausting but feeling more managable everyday. There is rarely a dull moment, however. For example; this morning (after being awoken twice by Allie crying about leg cramps, and three night feedings for the baby), Allie came to my bathroom and wet all over the floor (she apparently arrived just a few seconds too late). After I cleaned up the mess, I bathed the baby who smelled like spit up from the night before, and her she had a diaper blow-out moments later while I was feeding her. I changed her clothes and cleaned up her mess and headed upstairs for some breakfast where I found Aubrey and Alexis doing "service." They were mopping the floor...with a half inch of soap suds covering the ENTIRE kitchen and dining floors! Aubrey was skating around and around the kitchen island in the suds in her bare feet as Alexis was adding more and more water to the floor. What a mess! There were about a dozen towels on the floor and a third a bottle of dish soap. By that point, I was ready to go back to bed! No chance of that however, it's Christmas break and we have fun things to do. We are all excited for Christmas and wish you all a very Merry one!

P.S. Today is Adam's birthday; this is how I found him at 8:30 this evening. Apparently this father of four is exhausted in his old age!

My sweet, sweet baby!

2010-11-24T09:09:00.001-08:00

Our sweet baby Ambria was welcomed into our family with joyful hearts on Sunday, November 21st at 3:35pm. She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz, was 20 inches long and has black hair! (That makes one of each for hair color...we hope it stays dark.)Everything went perfectfully. I had a very easy labor and delivery and the recovery is going well, although I am exhausted! We have greatly appreciated the help of family and are glad they are close by to enjoy our baby with us.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

2010-11-24T09:08:00.001-08:00

Ready to turn in my parking pass

2010-11-16T10:49:00.001-08:00

Dear pregnancy,

This letter is to thank you for the ride and inform you that I am ready for my journey to be through. Before I turn in my expectant mother parking pass, there are just a few things I feel I ought to say.
We got off to a bit of a rocky start in the first trimester. You should know that in my opinion, morning sickness (make that ALL DAY sickness) is a terrible way to get someone excited about having their fourth child. I clearly already had my hands full with three. A new baby sounds cute and exciting when you feel well, but when you are sick for three months, just the thought of all the work of a new baby could bring me to tears. The thought of about anything besides rainbow sherbet and mashed potatoes brought me to tears. I had a hard time getting excited for a baby when I was hardly excited about living. During that phase, the world around me was spinning all the time and I had zeal for nothing. I wanted only to stay curled up in a ball on my couch all day, every day. Thank heavens I had kids to take care of (including the two extra kindergarteners I was babysitting at the time)to get me out of bed and dressed each day. The break from cooking was a thoughtful gesture; too bad I couldn't feel well enough to enjoy it. I had started a few spring projects just before you came, the thought of which completing still makes me nautious to this day.

The sun started bursting through the clouds a couple weeks into the second trimester and aside from some very painful sciatica, it was a comfortable few months. I found the joy in life again and in decorating for holidays and cooking and eating and exsisting. I was grateful to feel like myself again; something I had once doubted would ever happen. We had surprisingly been able to keep you a secret until then and it was fun to finally start to get excited as I began feeling well and people began to discover the news. This was the trimester during which our family moved and it was a very busy time and days and weeks passed by quickly.
The third trimester has also moved along rather quickly. You have been kind to me these past couple months. I have been grateful to feel relatively comfortable overall and had very little swelling or other discomforts. While sleep during pregnancy is never easy, it has been better than in some previous pregnancies. Most of my greatest frustrations these past two trimesters have involved wardrobe issues and the challenge of picking the perfect name for the baby. That is until the past week or two. I am openly uncomfortable now. I feel (and I am)huge. I can barely get my socks on my own feet. Sleep is tough and I am tired all the time. My tummy hurts a lot not to mention whatever it is the baby is resting on! Braxton Hicks are quite painful the fourth time around and if this had been my first pregnancy and I had not known better, I'd have thought I was in labor a couple times already. Everything is in order at home; the baby's things are washed and set up, the name has been chosen (I think), and I am now feeling ready for the baby's arrival both physically and emotionally. I am rapidly becoming miserable and impatient, so please, accept this as my two weeks notice.
Please feel free to send the stork and release me from my pregnancy duties at an earlier time. I am ready to begin my new position as a mother of four.

Sincerely,

Yours truly

October

2010-11-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

In October we enjoyed the first snowfall of the season; my grandma's 90th birthday (I had the privilege of making the cake); and a Happy Halloween. Alexis and Allie both dressed up as witches, Aubrey went trick or treating as a cowgirl and I decided to go dressed as "the old woman who swallowed a fly."

Autumntime

2010-10-21T21:07:00.000-07:00

Dress -ups

Trip to the zoo with Alexis's french teacher

Bowling with Grandma

We have been having all sorts of fun this month. There is certainly never a dull moment! The girls have been enjoying costume parties, fall festivals, pumpkin carving, visits to the zoo, bowling and lots of play time. The atmosphere has changed and it "feels" like fall here now; something I have missed during our years away from Utah.

more dancing

2010-10-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Allie recently started a little toddler dance class. It's rather adorable to see a room full of two year olds in diapers and tutus (Allie is now in her "big girls" and a tutu). She feels pretty big time doing something that her big sisters do. Aside from the scheduled classes, you can find my girls wearing tutus around the house on a fairly regular basis. They love to be fancy and they LOVE to dance!!!

Happy October!

2010-10-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we had our annual "October Day" celebration where we break out the candy corns and fall decorations,make sugar cookies, decorate the house and play dress-ups with the costume box. We are so happy fall is upon us and I am excited to enjoy all the activities associated with my favorite season of the year.

Mission Accomplished!

2010-09-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd give you the happy update that Allie has given it a good effort and is now fully potty trained! Hooray!!! She has been a great little trainee (she is adorable at everything she does) and is proud to be a "big girl" now; she doesn't like anyone to call her a "baby" anymore. Although it will be short lived, this will be the first break from diapers we will have had in over 6 1/2 years!

Tummy tickles

2010-09-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

The other night, my girls were taking turns feeling the baby kick and every time they did, the laughed and laughed and laughed (especially little Allie)! They eventually all had their hands on my tummy at once (nothing like feeling sufficated when you already feel squished). I got a "kick" out of it, particularly when Aubrey asked, "Can we play with her again tomorrow?" I'm glad they are excited about their new baby sister. Just over ten weeks to go!

Eat Cake

2010-09-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, I love to decorate cakes. My grandma used to always make a special themed cake for each of our birthdays. After I had kids, I decided I had to carry on the tradition and I have had a lot of fun in the process. Since moving back home, I have gotten a lot more practice as we celebrated both of my parents' birthdays in Augusut and also made a wedding cake for a marriage themed Youth activity in my mom's ward this week. The greatest part about all this cake making, is getting to help eat it! :) Here are my latest creations:

Dance

2010-09-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Aubrey started a dance class and is loving it! She is particularly excited for the recital and costume at the end of the year.

Welcome Fall!

2010-09-10T15:54:00.000-07:00

I knew fall was just around the corner, but I didn't realize it was quite this close. I was driving Alexis to school this week and this is what I saw; leaves changing colors on the mountains already! I love the Fall! I love the clothes, I the food, I love the weather, I love the activities...I love it all!

Farewell Summer

2010-09-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that September is here and summer is over. In just a few weeks, the leaves will start changing here and I am so excited for fall! My excitement for Autumn helps dull the sadness of another summer ending. This was the ultimate summer of change for our family. Not long after summer began, came Adam's unexpected job offer and one of the hardest decisions I can ever remember making in my life. I was so torn about moving back "home" versus leaving what had become "home" to me. The weekend we were deliberating, we took the girls on one more trip to the coast to play at "Great America" and had a perfect day together. We sat by the edge of the wading pool at the splash park there discussing the choice in front of us and left there that day prepared to say goodbye, but with tears in our eyes. Then the whirlwind began...we had only five days for the girls to say their "goodbyes" before heading off to Utah for a pre-planned summer vacation that suddenly became permanent. We played with friends as much as we could between packing boxes and suitcases and then our new journey began. We spent a week in St. George with Adam's parents and then the girls and I spent a week up at Snowbird with my family while Adam headed back to Fresno to put in his last two weeks there. I flew back to Cali a week later and Adam and I spent one more wonderful weekend together in San Fransisco and then went back to work; Adam at his office and me at home packing the rest of the house up for our move. We worked hard that week but enjoyed our time together, just the two of us. Our lunch and dinner breaks each day were a real treat for us. Not often you get a week without the kids. It was a long time to be away from the girls and we missed them a lot. My mom took very good care of them and I am so grateful she was willing to take them that whole week so I could get things done at our old place. At last, all the packing and cleaning was done and we locked up our home in California for the last time. Adam drove the monstrous truck (that I am SO grateful all of our belongings fit into) and I drove Adam's car back. I had great intentions of listening to a couple books on tape during the long drive to Utah but Adam kept singing to me on the walkie talkie so I only got through one of them! Our first week in Utah involved a lot of tough transitions for all of us and a lot of tears for me (I am blaming a lot of the emotions of being pregnant; I'm not typically that emotional). I cried myself through the first week here but haven't cried since although my heart is still tender when I think back on our life in Fresno. Perhaps that is why I haven't written much or posted many pictures. That or possibly the fact that "down time" is apparently a thing of the past! Between our two families and all that is going on, I have very little time to do most of what I used to besides just keeping up with the girls; which is my number one focus at this time of life. I have oodles of pictures of all the fun we've been having, just haven't had any extra time to share them. Hopefully they will be coming soon. In short, saying farewell is bittersweet, whether it is to a place or to a season; hard to see something end, but looking forward to all the wonderful things that are ahead.

Hoping for success

2010-09-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Allie has been potty training off and on this past month. She has had her first several successes and we are hoping for many more in the weeks and months to come; idealy before the baby comes. She is much more timid than my first two girls were. Aubrey and Alexis decided they were ready and within a couple days, they were trained. Allie literally turned in her "unders" and said she didn't want them anymore after the first day or two. We took a couple weeks off and now she is making another go at it. Let's hope it sticks this time.

First Day Jitters

2010-08-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

My Alexis started first grade today! If anyone had jitters, it wasn't her. She was so excited and for that I am grateful as it gave me less to worry about. I would love so much to be a fly on the wall in her classroom today. I know she doesn't need me there, I would just love to watch her interactions and she how she gets through the lunch line, etc. This school year will be an exciting challenge as she is in a French immersion program and will be taught math, science, social studies, and French all in the French language. She will have an English speaking teacher for reading and writing. She is as excited as we are about the program. It has long been a dream of ours to have her in such a school and we were ecstatic to find it here when we moved. She attended an immersion preschool in Arizona but there was nothing like that where we were in California. I am glad she has some background with the French language so everything won't feel completely "foreign" to her but since there is no English spoken by her French teacher, there will be a big learning curve I am sure. It was a bit sureal to send her through the school doors in the swarm of fellow first graders and turn around to leave her there for the whole day. It was one more string of parental attachement cut today and my heart is left a little tender as a result. It's so fun to watch them grow up but a little sad too for some reason. I was watching her brush her teeth last night before bed and had one of those wierd moments where it stuck me funny to be teaching my little duaghter to be a little person and take care of herself. I am so proud of her and the hard worker she is and know she will be a great first grader!

Big Changes

2010-07-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

After seven years away, we are moving back to Utah! Adam has accepted a job there and will start next week. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind! We are sad to leave our friends and California adventures but look forward to being near our families again. We have missed them! They have been a great help and support throughout this moving process and we are anxious to be there and be done with all the boxes!!! We will have a few months to settle in before the arrival of our next big adventure; we are anticipating the birth of our fourth daughter around Thanksgiving time. A lot going on right now and a lot to look forward too!

Tennis Camp

2010-06-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

(Allie wanted to be included too, so she brings out her racket and tennis ball to toss around while the girls take their lessons. The coach even gives her a treat every day too.)

This week, Aubrey and Alexis have been participating in Tennis lessons at a local high school. They have such a fun Coach and have been doing some really great drills. They love to play and we hope they will enjoy it for some time to come.

Daddy Day

2010-06-24T15:39:00.000-07:00

We had a really great Father's Day this year. The girls painted picture frames to give to Adam and had SO much fun doing it. Allie even insisted on doing her all by herself. She was so proud of it, all along exclaiming, "it's for my daddy!" We made a nice dinner and had red velvet cake for dessert. Adam is such a wonderful dad to his girls. He loves to give them rides on his back, play tennis with them and read them stories in funny voices. They never let him leave the house without a kiss and miss him all day long. We love you Adam! Thanks for being such a great dad!

Swimming at last!

2010-06-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

Summer has finally begun and we have been having so much fun! When Alexis walked out the Kindergarten door on Friday, she said, "Wait for the bell, Mom, then I'm a First Grader!" It was a great year...and I only missed picking her up just that once when I fell asleep. That was my biggest fear when school started and two weeks into the school year, I dozed off and woke up to discover school had been out for 15 minutes already! Luckily, her teacher stayed with her and she was safe and sound and it never happened again. I was SO embarassed!

We kicked the summer off by swimming, of course. Our friends invited us to their house to swim and we spent the afternoon in the sun and water with friends. It was the perfect way to celebrate the end of the school year. This past week, we have also been enjoying tennis, popsicles and checking in on our rapidly growing garden.

Aubrey checks on the "kiwis" (it is obviously a zuchini but we can't get her to say it) with her dad every night. She was ecstatic to haul this one inside.

Even big girls get tired. Alexis fell asleep after her field trip last week. First nap since Kindergarten started; I guess the year finally caught up with her.

Alexis took this cute paper covered clipboard to her teacher for a gift on the last day of school. Thanks to my friend for the great idea and "how to!" Her teacher loved it.

Just home from the the last day of kindergarten.

Popsicles on the porch.

Ready for summer!

2010-06-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

Summer checklist:

swimsuit...check (at LONG last!)
popsicles...check
hot weather...check
snacks...check (string cheese, pretzels, go-gurts, craisins, etc.)
sunscreen...check

Can't wait to spend all day with my girls doing whatever we feel like, whenever we feel like it. We know it will involve a lot of swimming...Allie has been wearing swimsuits around the house day and night for weeks in anticipation! I am sure we will also think of all sorts of crazy things to play, to make, and to bake!

Three days until schools out...hooray!

Dancing Queen

2010-06-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Alexis had a dance recital this past weekend. She had so much fun! They had a dress rehersal on Friday night and then the performance on Saturday. She was a little bit worried about her costume in the beginning; she thought it was way too short and felt a bit ridiculous (it didn't help that Aubrey was laughing at her). In the end(after doing hair and make-up and seeing her friends in theirs), I think she really liked it and even wore it to class today by choice. She loved dancing on stage and being with friends. They performed both a tap and ballet number and did a great job. We were proud of her! She was pretty excited about the bouquet of flowers her dad gave her after the recital. She could hardly wait to put them in a vase on the table once we got home. I remember how special I used to feel when my dad would bring me flowers to things like that (or for any occasion); he has always been good about giving flowers at just the right times. It feels a bit sureal to be doing that for our own kids now.

Hey, Aunt Missy...

2010-05-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

Did I ever thank you for the make-up kit you gave Aubrey?! (Thank heavens it washes off well!)

The month of May

2010-05-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that May is almost over and I hardly remember it starting! We have been busy with visitors and that has made for an enjoyable month. The month started with the visit from my cousin Danina and her husband Brandon. Next we were off to Palm Desert to catch up with Adam's brother Danny and his wife Heather and little boy, Brayden, while they were out this way vacationing. We had a great time with them. The girls loved feeding the ducks and geese at the condo and were ecstatic to spend time in the swimming pool. We also spent a day out at the beach and even found a Cafe Rio in L.A. -oh, happy day! That is one of our favorites and was a very welcome taste of home. On our way back from L.A., Alexis wanted to stop in Hollywood with hopes of catching a glimpse of a Rock Star, specifically Hannah Montana. All we found was a picture but had a fun time wandering along the shops just outside of Universal Studios.

Next came the Kindergarten Hat Parade. Alexis class all had the opportunity to decorate a "hat" to wear while they performed a few songs for their parents. It was a fun evening. Alexis chose to decorate her hat with flowers and a butterfly...where you find one person decorating a hat at our house, you will likely find another. Aubrey designed her own version of a flower hat as well.

The very next day, we took off for Santa Clara where we met up with my parents and younger brothers. We spent the day at the Great America theme park, Alexis' activity of choice for her birthday. It was a great day and a lot of fun. I got pee-d on (not a first) and got to try my first Funnel Cake. We got home late that night and had just a few hours to sleep before getting up for church early the next morning where we felt a bit like the VonTrap family singers. We were asked to perform both a prelude song as well as a special musical number for Sacrament Meeting. Our family sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" for the prelude (Alexis was the star of that number) and was so excited to play a duet with my dad. He played the clarinet and I, the piano. It was just like old times. We used to play together late into the night and had so much fun (he holds the record for the person who can say "let's play it just one more time" the most times). It was really nice to get to do it again. Thanks dad! You're awesome!

With little recovery time, it was time to start baking cakes...and cupcakes for the birthday girl (and let's not forget the cookies for Bacca -aka cookie monster)! Alexis turned six! We took cupcakes to her class to celebrate her special day in conjunction with a friend of hers that happens to have been born the same day. They have been planning for this day since the school year began! Later that night we had a "beach party" and served Alexis' favorite meal, lemon chicken prepared by Grandma Carolee. We used sand pails for the serving dishes enjoyed a brightly colored array of decoartions. My mom knows how to throw a party! After cake and ice cream, it was time for a sad farewell to my family. It's always fun to have them come, but sad to see them go.

Now, we rest and recover...whew! A great month of May indeed!

Breathtaking views

2010-05-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

We were delighted to have a visit from my cousin Danina and her husband Brandon this past week. We had a great time with them! We took a trip into Yosemite National Park and it was as stunning as ever. We've been a few times before, but hadn't ever seen the waterfalls so full so that was a treat. We also got to see a bear, which was totally awesome! (We saw a wolf and many deer as well.) We enjoyed walking through the park, racing sticks down the river, seeing the sights, and a nice picnic lunch as well. (Allie and Aubrey fed most of their lunches to the ducks.)

My cousin and I have a monthly baking challenge with each other and while she was here we attempted this month's challenge, which was to make eclairs. They were awesome! We will definately make them again...and again. Brandon taught my girls how to make fantastic forts using all the kitchen chairs and every blanket in my house; and Danina bathed my kids for me...twice (my least favorite chore of motherhood). They got my kids hooked on gummy worms and anxious to visit them again this summer. Thanks for being such great company to have! We hope you'll come again.

Allie turns two!

2010-04-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe that our little Allie is two! Her birthday was this past weekend and we had such a fun day celebrating. She started the day with "breakfast in bed," and then we headed to a city carnival and rode the carousel. In the afternoon while Allie was sleeping, we decorated for her party. Aubrey and I finished her cake and set out her presents. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and packages -she felt very loved! Adam and Alexis went out to get what Allie has wanted most for her birthday...balloons! She was so excited when she woke up and loved her party. Right in the middle of opening presents, she reached out and stuck her fingers in her cake; why not! It looked tasty and it was her cake! After presents, we went out for pizza (one of her favorite foods) and then came back for cake and ice cream and an episode of Mickey Mouse. It was a fun day and Allie was full of enthusiasm for all of it. She is happy to be two (altough if you ask her, she'll tell you she is three). We love having Allie in our family! She has always been such a joy to us.

Simplicity

2010-04-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Something I have loved about Spring, is the return of simple pleasures. Winter seemed awfully busy this year; days were full and rushed and there wasn't as much "sit and enjoy each other" time as I'd have liked to have. Spring has brought it back. We love spending time outside, going for walks and bike rides, picnics at the park, ice cream cones, bubbles, and playing in the rain. We love Spring!

Stake Womens' Conference

2010-03-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

Our Stake did a Women's Conference this year. It was awesome! They really went all out. There were four mini-classes (we got to choose which to attend) as well as a main speaker and a luncheon. The tables for the lunch were all decorated around the theme of a book. There were over 50 tables and they all looked amazing! It was fun to see how many different interests there are. I got to decorate two of them. I chose French for one theme and "All Moms Go to Heaven" as the other. I wish I had a picture of the bathrooms to show you. One was decorated with the theme of "Where the Wild Things Are?" They carted in half a dozen silk trees and bunches of plants and printed up enlargements of scenes from the book to hang on the walls. The Men's room was converted for the event using a "Fancy Nancy" theme. It was over-the-top. Aubrey got to use it when she came to help me set up my tables and she went on and on about wanting to re-decorate her room like the bathroom! It was truly "Fancified." (There were even cute little rugs in front of each toilet ...don't worry, you wouldn't even know there were urinals somewhere in there; they were hidden somewhere behind the shower curtain and all the accessories.)

While I was there all day Saturday...

Adam took the kids to the zoo with another dad who'd been left to fend for himself all day. They had a good time. Adam's only question before I left, "How do I curl bangs?" :) He did a good job. He's a great dad to all these little girls. I got the royal treatment too...when I came home, the house was vaccumed, dishes were done, and the laundry was folded. I could get used to this sort of arrangement.

Shy Ballerina

2010-03-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine held a dance class for a handful of girls Aubrey's age over the past couple months. She did such a great job with them and they really enjoyed it. Last week was their Ballerina Party, where they performed for their moms and siblings. Aubrey had been really looking forward to it but when we got there, she wouldn't even stand with the group for a picture, let alone dance! About half-way through, she asked if I would dance with her and that got her feeling comfortable enough to finish the performance. They looked darling and the party was so cute. The room was all decorated and they had themed treats afterwards. Great job Mindy! Thanks for all your hard work with the girls!

March visit from Missy and Rhen

2010-03-11T09:24:00.000-08:00

I am playing catch-up on my blog this morning. After a long night with a sick baby (who is almost two and I fear will call her my baby for years to come!), I was exhausted. Aubrey came in dancing around my room early this morning. About a half an hour after I turned a show on for her, she was back in my room to exclaim..."I don't even see my 'breakstast' cooking on the stove, Mom!" In other words, please get up and make my oatmeal now. (We are both in love with Quaker Oatmeal!) I finally got up, but decided to have a lazy morning...something I don't do often and it is great. (I just wish I were cleaned up, but if I were, I would probably be getting something else done so it's a give and take here.) Anyway, we have had an eventful couple of weeks. First, Adam and I went to Disneyland and left the kids with my mom for a weekend; next, Alexis had her surgery; then, Adam's sister and her hubby came to San Francisco, so we headed up there last weekend to spend a day with them. They have come out every March since we've been here and we look forward to our visits with them everytime. We had bread bowls at Boudin (oh, how I love Boudin!), ice cream at Ghiradelli (WAY overpriced, but it is a San Fran experience), and spent time goofing around at the Children's Museum. It was great to be together! The girls love Rhen and Missy and were in tears at parting...we hope for another visit with you soon!

The view is always breathtaking to me as you come over the Oakland Bridge into San Fransisco.

The poppies were out along the route to San Fran and they are stunning. This is such a beautiful time to drive through California. It is green and the trees are covered in blossoms.

Making clay creations for the animation studio. These are what Adam and I made:

Weekend Getaway - Just the Two of us!

2010-03-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

My mom came to town a couple weekends back to watch the girls for Adam and me while we went to Disneyland...just the two of us. Well, actually we met our good friends, Jenn and Ryan, there but it was without the little ones. We all participated in Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day" program to get vouchers for park admission. We had such a good time! (I want to go back!) We played hard at Disneyland and I think we lucked out on the day we picked. The weather was great and the crowds were very managable. We got to ride about everything we wanted to...including a record of four times on Space Mountain! I had so much fun screaming on that ride that I lost my voice the next day! It was great! We had a fantastic pizza in downtown Disney, and the next day went to our favorite spot in Venice Beach, C&O's (Jenn introduced it to us last year)for some garlic knots and Italian cuisine. We went to the Getty Museum in LA, which was fantastic. Adam and I haven't been to an art gallery in a long time and it is something we really love. (It inspired my goal for this month, which is to draw a picture after studying some books from the library...wish me luck!) We also took a walk by the La Brea tar pits to see where literally "tons" of fossils have been recovered in the middle of the city of LA. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the weekend! Can't wait to do it again sometime. Thanks Jenn and Ryan for being our Disney buddies two years in a row! Someday perhaps we will all go together as families, but for now, it sure is great to be big kids!

La Brea Tar Pits

view from the Getty Museum

Thanks Grandma!

2010-03-11T08:42:00.000-08:00

The girls had such a fantastic time with their Grandma while Adam and I went on our weekend getaway to Disneyland. They played and played and played. She brought fun craft projects for them to work on, went to the park, storytime, out for ice cream, baked treats, did some shopping and movie watching and they all had cute hair-dos every day. We felt truly spoiled to have her come and take such good care of the girls. I didn't worry about a thing with her here and that allowed me to truly relax and enjoy my time away; and then to focus on Alexis during her surgery, which was an ALL day afair. I felt spoiled too to have her surprise me by doing some laundry and fixing my broken towel rod...she has always been one to serve and I know of no one else who serves with love the way she does. It is the core of who she is to me. A person who loves to have fun and enjoys life; she works hard when it is time to work, plays hard when it is time to play, and, I think, loves more than anything to do good works for others. My life has been blessed by so many sweet somethings throughout the years...notes or a special treat in my lunchbox, a cute jar of M&Ms at work, a surprise special day together, a cute new outfit on my bed, little somethings in the mail to let me know she's been thinking of me... these are only to name a few. I know I am not the only recipient of her quiet works of love; either small or big. I love that when she comes, I still feel "taken care of" by her and nothing beats the feeling of having your mom take care of you! No one loves you like your mom does! And mom, no one loves you like I do! Thank you for all that you do!

First Surgery

2010-03-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

Waiting for the surgery

The bump

Waking up

The ride to the car

Alexis had a minor surgery on Monday to remove a small mass that has been growing on her cheek for the past couple of years. The surgery was performed by a plastic surgeon at the local Children's Hospital. It was a long day but Alexis did very well. She actually seemed a little excited and left the nerves for her Dad and me. She was very sleepy all evening and had a weak stomach from the anethesia but woke up today feeling well again. She is happy to have the bump off her cheek and we are all anxious for the bandage to be removed to see what type of scar was left behind.

My kind of pet!

2010-02-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

Aubrey received some birthday money in a card from her Grammie last week and promptly requested "to take a trip to Target to see exactly what she wanted." She had planned to make a "polly pocket" purchase but since Alexis came along with money burning a hole in her pocket that she had been earning from reading, she was pursuaded to make a different acquisition. The girls used their money to buy ZhuZhu pets, which are robotic hampsters. (They are actually quite cute.) They were so excited to care for their little pets and I am so excited they don't require any care on my part...that is, except for helping them with housing. I got the girls all excited about making houses out of shoe boxes for their pets. We got out ALL the craft stuff and spent a couple hours together on Saturday afternoon creating the coziest, prettiest rooms I've ever seen a fake pet hampster have. It was SO much fun for me to help them and it took me back to the days I used to do that sort of thing. (I distinctly remember making a similar dwelling for some type of caterpillar once. weird.) "Scoodles" and "Jilly" are happy to be a part of our family now and they appear to like their homes. They are the perfect pet for me. My hands are full enough with my three monkeys and the two extra kindergarteners I am taking care of every morning before school. Getting a real pet is far down the list of things I'd like to do!

Grinding Wheat

2010-02-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

We had "Sample Sunday" at church this past week and I was asked to bring in homemade wheat bread. I was talking to my girlfriend about our upcoming getaway this weekend while I was getting ready to grind my wheat and she requested that I document the process...so this is for you, Jenn. :)

Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the bread, but this truly homemade honey wheat bread was delicious! More people should make bread. :) Send me a recipe if you have a favorite. This week I will attempt a braided cinnamon bread...I can hardly wait for the heavenly aroma!

Diapers!

2010-02-23T12:37:00.000-08:00

I came across an awesome deal on diapers this past week at Diapers.com. I typically buy them from whichever store I can find the best deal using sales and coupons (which is usually one of the drug stores such as Walgreens or Rite Aid). The online deal this past week was better than any I had seen in the stores for awhile...and they delivered it the very next day to my doorstep -for free! That is what I call great service! I was very happy with my Diapers.com experience and will definately use them again and pass on my recommendation. They offer online discounts, free shipping with a minumum order, and they accept regular coupons from the newspaper, etc. All you have to do is mail them in and they will be posted to your account for your next order. Very cool. They have a lot more than just diapers, too. If you are a new customer, use my referral code: ALYS2395 to get $10 off your first order. Also, for a limited time, you can fill out the rebate form found here http://www.diapers.com/helpcenter/parenting.htm
to get an additional $14 off. Place an order of $50 or more to get the free shipping.(Combining these offers got me several packs of Pampers for just over $4 per pack.)
Happy Shopping!

Spring is here

2010-02-19T15:22:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took with my phone a week or so ago on our afternoon walk/bike ride around the neighborhood. Blossoms are out everywhere now! The neighborhood looks beautiful with the many flowers in bloom and leaves on the trees. Yesterday, it hit 70 degrees here! We wore t-shirts and played at the park. It was great. I've accepted the fact that it is time to get out in the yard again. We mowed the lawn and trimmed the shrubs (my least favorite yard chore) and I am anxious to plant some flowers. We are excited to say that spring is finally here!

Birthday Girl

2010-02-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

Aubrey celebrated her fourth birthday this week!
We partied in "Princess and the Frog" style with a frog cake and lots of fun frog/princess games with a few friends. We also went for our traditional birthday photo shoot...and FYI, Kiddie Kandids is gone! They filed bankruptcy! Who will give us an adorable birthday 8x10 for free every year! Who will even take our pictures now? There are no Target photo studios near us, nor are there any "Picture People" that I am aware of. We gave Sears photo studio a try and they did a good job. Down side is that we have to wait two weeks to get our pictures since they don't print them on the spot like Kiddie Kandids. So much for instant gratification. Aubrey is thrilled to be four and is absolutely in love with polly pockets and barbie dolls. She is my "sugar and spice." She can be sweet as pie when she wants to be and can make me laugh so hard at times...but if you cross her the wrong way, watch out! She is a free spirit if I ever saw one. We love her to bits!

A little bit sentimental

2010-02-10T20:35:00.000-08:00

Today, Adam and I sold the first tv we bought together! This was the TV we purchased with an accumulation of Target gift cards from our wedding eight years ago this month. It kind of looks like a Monster compared to all the newer "thin" tvs. When Adam hauled it into the house we were delivering it to, the lady there even commented "wow. That is a really big tv." (note that the screen was only 27 inches so it was the width she was referring too and not the massive viewing space. These people had a 72 inch or so flat screen hanging on their wall, so I have no idea what they wanted with our old tube set.) Anyway, while I am glad to have the tv off our bedroom floor, where it has resided for the past several months since our tv upgrade, I miss it...or rather the memories made with it. I remember how we broke the rear-view mirror off our little civic when we tried to stuff it in the passenger seat because it wouldn't fit in our trunk (we were so dumb!). I remember how we used to haul our mattress from our room into the family room to watch movies on the weekends. We'd get Chinese take-out or Cafe Rio and eat it "in bed" while we stayed up late watching movies in the family room and then sleep in on Saturday mornings. Those were the days! (At least the ones when we didn't have to be to work at Discover Card by 6am!) That tv has played hundreds of episodes of Elmo, got me through my labor with Allie, experienced the transition of analog to digital tv, aired numeous historical events such as the swearing in of the first African American President, and so much more. Who'd have thought I'd become sentimental over an old tv? Not me. Not that I'd prefer the old tv to the new one, but I'm just sayin'...
It turns out that it's true what they say about how sometimes the little things aren't so little after all.

Reward Night

2010-02-10T20:12:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, I didn't set any crazy, big, new goals for this year...but that doesn't mean I wasn't setting any. There is always room for improving something or accomplishing something. I just like this little system to keep our family in check. We are setting goals a month at a time. During FHE the first week in January, we set our goals. Throughout the month, we worked on them and encouraged each other. The first Monday in February, we had "Reward Night" and went out for ice cream to celebrate our accomplishments and then set new goals to work on in February. Each of the girls worked hard and completed their goals. I don't think anyone was more excited than Aubrey! (She learned to spell and write her name.) Alexis learned to count from 10-20 in French (she's known how to count to 10 in French since before she was two!) and Allie's goal was to count to five...and she learned to count to six. :) They loved getting their ice cream and they are all working hard on a new set of goals. Alexis has a spelling list of ten challenging words to learn; Aubrey is learning to recognize and write all the letters in the Alphabet and Allie is learning to recognize four shapes. (Easy goal in February...she has "hearts" mastered!) This has been a lot of fun to work on together. The girls are great to encourage each other. It's also a great "filler activity." Whenever we have a minute or two to stall before dinner or at the doctors office, etc., we spend a few minutes working on our goals. Learning new things and improving is envigorating!

(By the way, I take absolutely no credit for Aubrey's outfit. I don't think I even purchased any mismatched part of it! She is wearing crooked pj bottoms, a t-shirt, a Hannah Montana jacket with sequins, brightly colored socks that are almost upside down, and her shoes (which also don't match the socks) are on the wrong feet! (I wouldn't doubt that her underwear was also on backwards.) Perfect to go with her "cotton candy" ice cream (-yuck)! Her tongue was pink for days -she loved it! I told her she might turn in to "Pinkalicious." Allie is sporting a "kak-kak" (aka back-pack), which she absolutely HAD to stuff her blanket into and wear to the ice cream shop. Lexi, (I mean, Alexis,as she prefers to be called) altough dressed normally, is missing her two front teeth, which is a special look of it's own. Kids! They are great!)

The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe Ever!

2010-02-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

My friend Heather gave me this recipe at Christmastime and it is fabulous! It is the best sugar cookie recipe I've ever tried. The flavor is fantastic and the texture is perfect! Since it is the month of Valentine's, I suspect many of you will be making sugar cookies. Be sure to give this recipe a try. You'll be glad you did!

Sugar Cookies

3 C Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1 C sugar
1 C shortening
1 tsp vanilla

Cream eggs and sugar together then add shortening. Add vanilla then dry ingredients. Chill dough in refridgerator. Roll out thick, then cut out desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees no more than 8 min. Leave on pan 5 minutes after removing from oven. Enjoy!

Gone Sledding

2010-02-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

We finally headed up to the mountains to go sledding! Aside from a few hiccups along the way (like not having chains and being unable to get to where we were trying to go), we had a fantastic time! We found the perfect place to sled and play. Some friends from a ward in our stake were up their with their ward. We shared the "steps" and hill Adam made and they shared their hot cocoa. The girls didn't stop laughing and giggling the entire time we were out there; with the exception of Allie who was still not convinced that snow was worth being in but finally stuck her fingers in it the last half hour we were there and seemed to think maybe it wasn't so bad after all. It was such a beautiful day that we were too warm in our coats! It was a great day to enjoy the mountains and the sunshine. Growing up, we could walk to a great sled hill just around the corner from our house. Some years we could even sled in our own front yard! Here, it was an all day afair as it was over an hour and a half just to get there. It was well worth it to have such fun with the girls. They really had a great time as you will see in the pictures below.

LOST

2010-02-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

It's finally here...season six airs tomorrow!!! I can hardly handle the suspense...what will become of Jack and Sawyer, Kate and Juliet, and all of our friends on the island? Will we ever find out what happened to Claire? What lies in the shadow of the statue??? Tomorrow is the begining of the end!

(It just so happens that tomorrow is Adam and my eighth anniversary. We are both equally addicted to LOST and so have chosen to watch the premiere as our celebration! "I'd be 'Lost' without you babe!")

A-U-B-R-E-Y

2010-01-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Aubrey has reached her January goal of learning how to both spell and write her name! We are very proud of her hard work. She has earned an ice cream cone! She found some Valentines in her "High Five" Preschoolers magazine and wrote her name on the back of all sixteen of them to practice today!

Career Day at school

2010-01-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

Alexis' class at school has been talking about different jobs that people have. Today they had the chance to dress for a career they think they'd like to do when they grow-up. Alexis most often talks about wanting to be a kindergarten teacher, but today choose to dress like a nurse. Coinsidentally, so did her friend. :)

This morning, I turned around while doing my hair to see one of my cute little "muffins" coloring. Sometimes they are too cute for words; just look at those tiny toes!

2010 - A year of laughter

2010-01-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

I am usually a little more "goal crazy" at the beginning of a year and love to plan out things I want to do and how I'm going to get them done. I have been pretty happy with the way things have been going lately so figured, why re-invent the wheel if it's turning. I did however think of a theme to inspire me as I work toward making each day a little better than the last. I liked the lyrics from a song I heard stating, "All that I'm after is a lifetime of laughter." Whatever comes my way, I want to laugh each day.

"Laughter is the biological reaction of humans to moments or occasions of humor: an outward expression of amusement. Laughter is subcategorized into various groupings depending upon the extent and pitch of the laughter: giggles, clicks (which can be almost silent), chortles, chuckles, hoots, cackles, sniggers and guffaws are all types of laughter. Smiling is a mild silent form of laughing. Smiling is a virtue, a soul-expanding delight that shortens time. Every laugh you manage cuts short the miles and hours and days of drudgery." (internet source)

Whether it's a good day or bad, productive or not; whether the house is clean or dirty; whether I got out or stayed in; whether things went smoothly or not quite as planned...I want to find at least one moment each day to laugh.

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter - E.E. Cummings

A great day for another puddle hunt!

2010-01-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

My girls LOVE to splash in puddles! Most the time, I find myself saying, "Don't splash!," "Don't get wet!," "Don't step in that puddle!," but every now and again, we find the perfect day for a puddle hunt! Winter here consists of one month (January) of rain and/or fog and then it's almost spring again! Yesterday was laundry day, the girls needed a bath and it has been raining for days, so the setting was perfect. The girls stepped into their boots, hoisted their umbrellas and we were off to scout out the perfect puddles. They had SO much fun! They laughed and giggled and danced in the rain. (One of those moments you wish you could bottle up in a jar to keep forever.) They were soaking wet by the time we were through and covered in mud; nothing a little (or a lot) of soap couldn't fix. I'm glad I let them get their feet wet. :)
And hey, while we were out, we discovered budding leaves on our neighbors tree...our first sign of Spring!
(If we had waited until today, they could have almost gone swimming in the puddles; it has been raining cats and dogs around here!)

My friend Lois

2010-01-14T14:39:00.000-08:00

This morning I saw an ad for "Fully cooked Bacon" and it reminded me of my friend Lois.

A few years ago, I was called as a visiting teacher in my church to visit a lady by the name of Lois Slaugh. She lived at the Salvation Army apartments in Phoenix, AZ. I was, at first, unable to call and set up a time to visit her because she would never answer the phone for someone she didn't know. Coincedentally, I was assigned to visit another woman in her same building that was far less paranoid. I set up a time to visit with her and took my little girls over to say hello. (I did not have a VT partner in my ward there so I took my kids instead. I should also note that I never saw the first woman I visited in Lois' complex again, but I am surely grateful she let me in the building!) While I was already in the building, I thought I would at least knock on Lois' door and she if she was home. She skeptically let me in and from that moment on, we were friends. My little girls were entertaining to her and I loved listening to her go on about all that was wrong in the world while I tried to suggest a more optimistic view of things. The first day I met with Lois, she had a little porcelin figurine on her table that had broken. She mentioned how sad she was about it and that she couldn't see well enough to fix it. I offered to take it home with me and super-glue it for her, which I did and soon after that I was hemming pants for her, helping her to doctors appointments and taking trips to the pharmacy or the grocery store together (she loved buying the fully cooked bacon when it was on sale; she also loved ice cream with cherries in it). My husband gave her blessings and other relatives came to visit her with me on occasion. She was such a sweet lady with a very tough life and a bit of a bitter heart. She felt forsaken in so many ways, including by the church; I tried relentlessly to help her see that the church brought us together. It was surely a divine inspiration that led me to Lois, but I'm not sure if she ever saw it that way. I was simply her friend. Lois hadn't been to church in years when I met her and her health and attitude prevented her from returning. She was terribly sick. She had cancer in her eye and other places as well. She couldn't eat much of anything that didn't make her sick. She had to take the bus or walk anywhere she went, which in 110 degree plus heat in the summers there, is not pleasant. She got the biggest run around by doctors and insurances that you can possibly imagine. I had the impression that what was left of her family was not good to her and she'd felt much heartache by the family that had passed away before her. I smile as I think of her sweet voice and how she'd wait to pick up the phone until after she could hear me say my name on the answering machine. She also looked so cute in her brightly colored outfits that she'd ordered from her catalogs. She gave me everything the Salvation Army gave to her since she couldn't eat it. We always had to sneak it out the back because she just knew her "nosy neighbors" would gossip about it if they saw us carrying things out of the building. :) One time she gave me a whole turkey to cook that she'd been saving to prepare with her grand-daughter that kept saying she'd come visit and never did. She gave me her old white platter that I use as my "turkey platter" and I think of her every time I use it. She stiched a little flower shaped coaster, which she gave me and I hung on my Christmas tree this year. I will always be grateful for the friendship we shared for the past few years. It was incredibly difficult to tell Lois we were moving a couple summers back and so hard to leave her. She had few others in her life and even fewer (if anyone)close enough to help her. I got to visit her on a trip back to Phoenix once and we always spoke on her birthday and during the Holidays, sometimes a time or two in between. This past Thanksgiving, I was thrilled by Adam's idea to invite her to our feast while in Phoenix...but when I called, her number had been disconnected. The Salvation Army wouldn't tell me anything about her whereabouts due to privacy laws and it is very unlikely that she would have moved anywhere. She always said her health wasn't good enough to move nor did she have many places she could have gone. I drove to her apartment while we were there and all her "nosy neighbors" just sat and stared at me through the glass doors as I tugged on them wishing someone would come and talk to me. I sent her a Christmas card and it came back to me undeliverable. I think Lois Slaugh, born July 8th 1924 is finally at peace and able to rest from her ailments. I hope now she feels of the love her Savior has for her. I would have liked to have known when she left, but I am so thankful to have no regrets. I enjoyed every moment I spent with her, did all I could for her, and appreciated all she did for me. I think it would mean something to her to know that I will remember her.

To my dear friend Lois Slaugh, wherever you are, please know that I love you and am glad my life's path crossed with yours.

The night the tooth fairy didn't come

2010-01-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to admit this, but I thought it was "journal worthy" and since my blog has been serving as my journal for the past many months, I will confess it publicly or it might never get written down.

As you will see in the following post, Alexis lost two teeth last weekend. Saturday, the tooth fairy came as expected and all was well. Sunday night, after Alexis lost a second tooth, the tooth fairy fell asleep while waiting for Alexis to doze off. The tooth fairy awoke in a panic realizing she had neither collected the tooth nor deposited a prize. The tooth fairy rushed quietly up the stairs hoping to sneak in before the girls awoke but just as her hand reached for the doorknob, her heart sank to her feet as she heard the saddened voice of Alexis declaring to her sister that "the tooth fairy didn't come!" I felt like the worst mother, I mean tooth fairy, in the entire world! I really can't describe how upset I felt to hear the sadness in Lexi's voice. As a parent, you want them to have so much joy, even in little things like losing teeth, because for them, they are the big things in their lives at the time and knowing it was my fault for ruining the moment was horrible. The tooth fairy scribbled out a note as quickly as she could and left it on the bathroom counter to apologize for the delay and to say she'd be there soon. Alexis wrote back that she would leave the tooth out for her. Alexis told me she had dreamed that she got "princess" toothpaste from the tooth fairy. I made sure to relay the message to the tooth fairy and when Alexis returned from school on Monday, the tooth fairy had made the trade and all was well in the world again. Alexis is now brushing her toothless grin with "princess" toothpaste. :)

A Toothless grin!

2010-01-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

The tooth fairy came to our house twice this past weekend! Alexis lost her two front teeth; one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The tooth fairy delivered a new tooth brush one night and new tooth paste the next. That was Alexis' idea and not a bad one in my opinion. She also earned a dollar for letting me help pull the dangling tooth from her mouth. (I'm not sure who was more nervous about how easily it would come out. I talked like it was no big deal but I was terrified of hurting her!) She was SO excited to go to school and show her teacher and get her name on the board at school. Her class sang "All I Want for Christmas" to her; she loved all the attention!

Other fun things at our house since the new year started are a dance class for Aubrey at her friend's house and our little parrott we call "Allie" who now mimics everything we do and say. She is still singing "Jingle Bells" on a daily basis and is starting to grow fond of the "Old MacDonald" song. This month, she is practicing counting to five, Aubrey is working very hard on writing and spelling her name, and Alexis plans to learn to count from 10-20 in French.

I bit off more than I wanted to chew on this one.

2010-01-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here are the girls Holiday dresses for 2009. My mother-in-law had actually sent some beautiful dresses for the girls, but sadly they didn't all fit and so they'd have to be altered and I wasn't sure I could figure out how to do it nicely. I tried to find different sizes but they didn't have them. We also searched for different dresses but nothing was just right. Somewhere along the way, I got the crazy idea to make them dresses. I've done it twice before, so why not? I learned that Holiday dresses fall into a completely different category than an ordinary dress and I can honestly say that I've never wanted to give up on a project so badly before...but I didn't, and I'm glad. Each dress has both a lining and an overlay. All in all, it was like sewing nine dresses (three layers each), in the middle of the holiday season. Insane! I won't do that again. (Don't let me forget I said that!) Aubrey was thrilled about her dress and has thanked me many times and wants to wear it everyday so thank you Aubrey, for making this project more worthwhile for me.

(Side note: The first time the girls wore their dresses, we got to church and Allie threw-up all over hers! Thankfully, it washed up just fine.)

Happy Holidays

2010-01-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas back home with our families followed by a Happy New Year at our own home. We hope you all had a delightful, safe and healthy holiday season as well. One of the highlights of our trip was seeing the snow. Aubrey had been looking forward to that most of all. She ate her fair share of it too! Alexis had a lot of fun in the snow with Aubrey but Allie had a different opinion. Snow is cold; better to look at in from indoors. I think I agree. :)

I will cry the day I take my tree down

2009-12-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

I finally have a Christmas tree! With the exception of the very first year we were married, we have not had a Christmas tree at our house...until this year. I am absolutely ecstatic! It makes such a difference in making it feel like Christmas in our home. We have had the lights on since we set it up last week and Christmas music playing nearly non-stop as well. I love the Christmas season! I love the treats, the decorations, the music, the coziness, the gatherings, the gifts, and the very special spirit that feels the air as we reflect upon the Savior's birth and in doing good to others.

The decorations on my tree were hand-painted by my Grandma, which makes them extra special. I added some snow flakes and berries and think it is simply the perfect tree for me.

The girls decorated their gingerbread house last night...and have already started to eat it!

November

2009-12-04T09:33:00.001-08:00

It felt like the month of November was over before I realized it had begun! Here's a quick re-cap of some of the month's events:

I enjoyed a wonderful birthday with many birthday wishes from family and friends -Thank you! My family spoiled me...the girls wrapped up a variety of things from their play room, including a couple pair of their pink and purple sunglasses since I'd lost mine in the ocean last month. Alexis also gave me a "Snuggie," the blanket with sleeves and let me tell you, although I know you've likely laughed at the commercials, it is awesome! I love my "Snuggie." Aubrey gave me a beautiful necklace, Allie gave me an iTunes card and Adam took me out shopping and to dinner. Adam's parents sent a food dehydrater, which I can't wait to try out, and my parents sent me a pink tool box filled with pink tools! That has got to be one of the coolest things I've seen! I was SO excited for it as I have been learning to love learning to fix and repair things around the house. I've always got some project up my sleeve and now I'll have more equipment to take on new challenges. :)

I made my first pumpkin pie...and we did it all from scratch. We cooked a "pie pumpkin" to make the filling and prepared a tasty crust. We whipped up the cream and when it was finally time to eat it (it took ALL day to make), I was a little nervous to try it out. Alexis, with her mouth full of pie, told me not to be because it was delicious! And I'd have to agree. It was a very positive experience.

We traveled to Phoenix, Arizona for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful meal at my brother's home. My parents and younger brothers came from Utah and my Uncle drove down from Sedona. It was a great weekend that went buy WAY too fast! Thanks again Nate and Lauren for being great hosts!

While in AZ, I got to do some early morning Black Friday shopping with my mom, get an hour long massage from my sis-in-law, meet up with a good friend I met while working at a golf resort together in Tucson, and Adam got to golf with the boys as well as watch both the AZ State/U of AZ and BYU/Utah games at a Sports Bar. It really was a fantastic weekend!

Halloween at Newport Beach

2009-11-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, we went to Newport Beach to meet up with Adam's parents. We had such a wonderful time...I'm still on a high from it! We started our weekend together at Disneyland and it was fabulous. Alexis was tall enought to ride "Indiana Jones" and laughed and screamed the whole way through and Aubrey was just barely tall enought for "Splash Mountain." I have never heard a little girl laugh so hard on a ride before! She absolutely loved it! (I was terrified the entire ride that she would somehow fly out of the log on the drop!) We got to see the parade and eat treats and ride "Peter Pan" and "Pirates" ...we all want to go back! After the majority of our crew tuckered out, we took them home to bed and Adam and I went back for some more late night fun. We rode "Space Mountain" and "The Haunted Mansion" and got to see both the firework show and "Fantasmics" while we were waiting in line for the rides. We also rode "Thunder Mountain" and "Pirates of the Carribean," where we got to have a boat all to ourselves. ;) Just after all the rides closed up, there were private parties just beginning. They added fog for effect and every Disney villain you could think of was out and about. I even saw the Step-mother and step-sisters from Cinderella; they were in such great character! The night wouldn't have been complete without a glimpse of Mickey and Minnie, whom we saw as well. It was a great night!

On to trick-or-treating the next day...
We found a wonderful neighborhood, filled with kids and friendly residents to trick-or-treat in. The girls had a good time and we were all exhausted by night's end. Allie got the most treats because she melted everyone's hearts when they heard her tiny voice say "trick treat!" She was a ladybug, Alexis was a witch, and Aubrey chose to be the tooth fairy. We are still enjoying our spoils!

We also enjoyed some time on the beach while we were there. One night, while out watching the sun set on Laguna Beach, we saw dolphins! They were SO close to the shore. It was absolutely awesome! The next day, we got to swim and splash and play in the sand. Adam and I even got to ride a few waves together (body surfing). I lost my sunglasses in the ocean and stopped looking for them after spying a couple sting ray. All in all, we had a great vacation! Thanks Munch and Pad! See you again soon!

catching up on October

2009-10-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy October! We have been playing hard and trying to keep up with the day to day stuff along the way. Adam got to take a trip to San Diego in conjunction for a case he has been working on; the next weekend we all took a visit to the coast with our good friends. We had a fantastic time! We headed out in the morning fog toward San Luis Obispo where we visited the Avila Valley Barn, Gopher Glen Apple Orchard, and Avila Beach. The best word to sum up the places we visited is "charming." The barn had a pumpkin patch, hay hide, petting zoo and fresh ice cream; the apples from the orchard were delicious and so fun to get them straight from the source (we have since used them to make dried apple chips and applesauce); and the beach was perfect. The girls love the water! We played ball, searched for seashells, chased and were chased by the waves, and loved the scenery and the company. We went out on the dock to see the sea lions and then headed off for Fish 'n Chips! It was a great day with great friends!

This past weekend Alexis had another soccer game (I failed to previously post that she scored three goals in an earlier game this month and as a deal with her dad, the whole family got to go out to dinner to celebrate - way to go Alexis!). Alexis also went to a Halloween party dressed as the prettiest little witch I've ever seen.

I love making the month of Ocotober fun for the kids with spooky meals. We have tried several fun new ideas over the past few weeks. Tonight we had mummies and spider legs. It was a hit! For dessert, I made ice cream witch hats. These were a traditional treat brought to my family by our next-door neighbor when I was growing up. We looked forward to them every year! I called my good neighbor to find out how to make them this year and look forward to making them for years to come. We enjoyed our special treat with friends following our traditional pumpkin carving party. (I'm making note so we don't forget, that we vowed to return to the traditional pumpkin faces using triangles for eyes and zig-zags for mouths next year...much less complicated with all the kids!) We had a great night together.

FINISHED!

2009-10-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Some time ago, I came across the book "John Adams" by David McCullough. I saw it in the library of my father-in-law while I was reading another of McCullough's books, "1776." After hearing good comments about this book from him, and after loving "1776," I became interested in reading "John Adams." At the beginning of the year I ordered my very own copy (I just knew I would love it and want it for my collection. Amber was here the day it arrived. She may recall my excitement! :)) It was my goal to read the book this year and at 651 pages of not "light" reading, it was quite an undertaking. I started the book this summer and finished last night. I loved every single page! (Adam kept telling me to quit marking up the book and bending pages; but really, that's why I bought my very own copy, thank you! I smiled to myself near the end of the book when I read that John Adams used to do that to his books too.) I was moved by this book, literally to tears! I was so touched at it's conclusion that I called my brother after 11pm (his time) to tell him I had finished and to read to him one of the concluding paragraphs. The most amazing part, is that it is not a work of fiction; it all really happened and I am in awe. This book was magnificent and told of a magnificent man to whom we owe so much. I am now also a huge fan of his "dearest friend" and wife, Abigail Adams who was his strength and foundation. I can only hope to be a measure of the woman she was. I have such a yearning to take a trip back east and see many of the historical places that remain entact there; to see pieces of history. I have come to appreciate and understand so much more about our country than ever before. I recommend this book to everyone! Simply put, this is one of the very best books I have ever read, if not the very best!

Another of the books that made it's way to my night stand this summer was the book "The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Schaffer (the title is a bit of a mouthful). I took a hiatus from reading "John Adams" at the request and recommendation of my friend Jenn, so that I could read this delightful book prior to her visit in August. This book was a charming book to read and I found myself wanting to meet these charaters too. These figures however, are fictional (not that I could easily meet John Adams right now either, but maybe someday; and I can at least visit his home, etc). I give my recommendation for this book as well as a definate "good read" and "feel good" book. It was a little slow getting started as I tried to place all the characters because the book is written as a series of letters between a variety of different people. Once I got all the people organized, I quickly fell in love with this book and you will too.

I mentioned reading "John Adams" as being one of my goals for the year. I am pleased to report I've accomplished another goal as well. Many of you moms may recognize the term "mom brain" where you feel like your mind has gone to mush and wonder if you are still capable of any of the things you used to do like write a research paper, do long division (let alone trigonometry), or learn to play and memorize a new piano piece. The latter was another of my goals for the year. I wondered if I was even capable of memorizing a piano piece any more and I'm delighted and a little surprised to tell you I have succeeded; and it wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it might be. I guess in some ways, my earlier skills have only been laying dormant and have not been all-together lost. I memorized a short piece called "Solfeggio" and love to play it for the delight it gives me as I've discovered that "I" am still inside me somewhere. :) I can hardly wait until the next time I see my dad and I can sit and play it for him. He's always pushed us kids to be just a bit more than we wanted for ourselves, ever saying "play it just one more time." For some reason, I still feel the need to impress him most of all and just want to show him, I still have it in me. :)

Fun on "Great Day Live"

2009-10-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

My friend invited us to come along and be the "audience" for a kids performing group called "The Jammies," who were set to perform on the local morning news show, "Great Day." We headed down to the news station early this morning and spent three hours in the studio performing off and on for numerous "tv teasers" and "tv spots" during the news. We had a really good time and the kids enjoyed the music quite a bit. Aubrey was a little tired of dancing around by the end but otherwise, it was good fun. Alexis was thrilled to tell her friends she was on TV! The segment I'm posting is the only one I could find online, although there were several. Copy the link below into your browser and then click on the link for "the jammies." Kind of fun to see the "behind the scenes" view of things. (What would have been really entertaining would be to have had a camera on all the parents trying to "control" the kids without speaking from ten feet away. That I would really get a good laugh at! There were a few "brawls" throughout the morning on camera, but hey, that's life, and that's kids!)

http://www.kmph.com/global/story.asp?s=11241945

Jog-a-thon

2009-10-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Alexis participated in her school's fundraiser called the "jog-a-thon." The kids run around the track and earn money for each lap they complete. Alexis ran 14 laps around the kindergarten size track! The kids were absolutely adorable to watch! Aubrey and Allie were excellent cheerleaders and we even went around for a lap ourselves. :)

Blue Ribbon Award

2009-10-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

In Alexis' school, three different awards are given every month to students in the class excelling in some area. Alexis was the recipient of the "Blue Ribbon Award" for being "the best of the best" as her teacher put it. We are very proud of her -way to go Alexis! She was rewarded with a certificate and a voucher for a mini pizza at Me-N-Ed's, which she enjoyed with her daddy a couple nights ago.

a visit to San Diego

2009-10-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

We ended September with a bang! On the last day of the month, Adam and I became an uncle and an aunt, respectively. Adam's brother Danny and his wife Heather welcomed baby Brayden Mark to their family and we couldn't be happier for them. Congratulations! When I told Alexis I would be an aunt and she a cousin, Aubrey piped in to ask, "what will I be?" :) We can't wait for our next visit with them to let the spoiling begin!

Prior to that exciting news, Adam had a work conference in San Diego this past weekend and as long as he was headed southward, we figured we should tag along. We had marvelous time! We went to a streetside art fair where we enjoyed watching sidewalk chalk artists and sand castle creators and many other types of artists as well. We enjoyed he La Jolla coast at sunset, which was absolutely charming. We also visited our favorite beach on Coronado Island. As you can see from the pictures, a walk along the beach is rarely ever just a "walk" along the beach. (The girls went swimming in their clothes and we all got covered, literally, in sand! Poor Aubrey couldn't keep her wet skirt up and everyone on the beach at some point or another became aware that she was wearing elmo undies.) While Adam was in his meeting I took the girls on a morning walk to see the boats and the sea lions and then we spent the rest of the day at the pool. It was SO great to go swimming again. My girls really love the water!

Soccer Season

2009-09-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was grinning to myself while I washed the counters and Alexis was vaccuming the family room. I was thinking how great it is to have a slave, I mean helper, in training to do chores. (How great will it be when I have three little Cinderellas that can help tidy up as least as much as they mess up!) Just as the fantasy of kicking back while my kids clean up for me was beginning...I was abruptly woken from my daydream by the sound of the vaccum eating its own cord (luckily, it's nothing a little electrical tape can't fix)! Guess my celebrations were a little premature. :)

Other exciting events around here include the beginning of soccer season! Alexis is on a team with fellow Kindergarteners from her school and having a great time running around on the field in cleats and shin guards chasing kids for a chance to kick at the ball. (The ball, by the way, is more often "out of play" than in bounds.) She has been enjoying it so far and is gearing up for her first game next weekend!

Alexis also recently got to attend "Donuts with Dads" at her school. That was a fun special morning for just the two of them to visit over donuts and juice and choc. milk. It's so fun for me to remember the way I looked up to my dad as a little girl (and I still do) and how special he made me feel, and how sureal it is now to see Lexi looking up to Adam in that very same way.

Taking me back in time

2009-09-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a "blast from the past." If ever we'd wanted to try and plan to recreate a weekend from our years of "younger love," this would have been it. It was not our anniversary or anything, it just happened this way and what fun. Adam got us tickets to go to a Good Charlotte concert, which was SO awesome! We had such a great time rockin' the night away. We used to love listening to that band back when we first started dating so it was a memory jerker just for that reason and was a ton of fun besides. Here are a couple fab. cell phone pics from the event:

Following our rock concert, we headed off to 7-11 for a slurpee. Another time warp! Adam used to take me out for Slurpees after putting practice at Mulligan's. We did this many, many times as dates. I use to wish he'd bet me a kiss for a good putt instead of a Slurpee some time...and eventually he did!

Last, but not least, there was Nutella! This was the ultimate flashback! I don't know why we hadn't thought to do it before, but we saw a jar of Nutella at the store and brought it home to make crepes, much like the ones we ate on our honeymoon 7 1/2 years ago! After just one bite, I closed my eyes and I was back in Paris, on the streets near Montmarte eating my crepe! What fun memories and a fun weekend remembering them.

Je t'aime mon amour!

A Princess in Training

2009-09-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Today, Alexis and I were looking through her book order form for school and I offered to buy her one book and told her she could buy any others she wanted with her own money. She "hum-hawed" about that for awhile (she really doesn't like spending her money) and eventually picked one out that looked fun but didn't cost too much. We got the money out of her bank and filled out the order form and I noticed Lexi playing around with her bank again. Amazingly, although we had taken out the only five dollar bill she had, there was another five dollar bill in her bank just a few minutes later. I asked her about it and she came up with some story about how she'd been keeping another five dollar bill somewhere else and now that she used the one in her bank, she was replacing it with this secret stash. I didn't get upset (viusally, anyway) right off the bat but keep up the questioning so that I didn't accuse her if she were really telling the truth. The further she got into her rather elaborate "story" the more suspicious I became until I eventally cracked the case and figured out what had happened. I was broken -hearted to discover that Alexis had stolen money from Aubrey's bank and then lied about it! My sweet little girl! You want SO much for them to make good choices and hope you are teaching them good things and then when they do something like this...well, it hurts. I can teach her how to read but how do I teach her to have a good heart? I left her alone for a few minutes to think and when I came back, she was on laying on my bed with tear streaked cheeks and sobbed, "I feel like Katie! She stole the Widow shoemaker's pie and lied about it like I did to Aubrey!" Katie is the main character in the wonderful book, "Daughter of A King" by Rachel Ann Nunes. If you don't have it, you should! We have read this book to Alexis dozens of times and we talk about it and use the principles in the story (which are those of the gospel) often as we talk about our choices and actions and how we want to act like princesses so we can return to the "Crystal Palace" one day. Although we talk about it regularly, we haven't read the book in a little while so I was surprised she thought of that incident in the story. I was glad Lexi reminded me of the story to help me decide what to do next with Alexis. (I wanted to be really mad at her and call her daddy at work to think up some great punishment!) I thought for a moment, "what did Katie's parents do in the story?" We had a good talk and took care of the necessary apologizes and moved on and I will keep up my hope that next time she gets a crazy idea to do something like that, instead she will think about it and choose not to do it in the first place!

My littlest girly girl

2009-09-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

Allie is growing up fast! She nearly 17 months old and is leaving baby-hood behind and quickly entering toddler-hood...and causing a great deal of trouble along her way. She is into everything and climbs like crazy. My barstools can no longer be near the counter or table and since she is learning how to push the stools around, I can't leave ANYTHING on the counter either. My cupboards are always emptied out (the child locks keep breaking) and she has learned the "N" word ...NO! She does still have a very cute side and is learning a lot of fun things too. She loves to "sing" and "jibber jabber" and is actually learning quite a few words. She recently cut through seven new teeth all at once! She is very much into girly things. She loves purses and lipstick and especially painting her toe nails. In spite of the terrible twos on the horizon, she is still my little sweetheart!

Box Tops

2009-09-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Alexis is loving Kindergarten (she's a little tired after a couple weeks without a nap but is otherwise great). She has met several new friends and it is true that Kindergarten is a place to learn the rules of life as the poem says. Every day she comes home with some new "catch phrase" to remember a rule about this or that. She is also learning all sorts of cute little songs about colors, numbers and letters. Fridays at school are "cooking day" and that is high on Lexi's interest list; she's been counting down until Friday all week. Another thing that Lexi has been busy doing is scavanging through my cupboards looking for "box tops." She is collecting them for her school and would love help getting more. She would like to invite her grandmas and aunts and uncles and friends to clip any box tops they come across and send them her way. They can be found on hundreds of products including General Mills cereals, Ziploc bag boxes, Kleenex products, and many more. A complete list of participating products can be found at www.boxtops4education.com
Thanks in advance for your help!

Vineyard

2009-09-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday was the annual Grape Harvest at the LDS Church's Vineyard. The grapes are harvested and sun dried for use as raisins in the Church's humanitarian aid program. Adam and I have both had the opportunity to serve there over the past couple years at various times of the year and during varying stages of the grape growing process...from training the vines, to prunning, to harvesting and rolling up the "trays." It has been really neat to learn a bit of what is involoved and to have a hand in helping out.

For this stage of the process:
the grapes must be picked...

and collected in a tub...

and then laid out to dry in the sun on "trays".

(Hey Austen, I think that might be you in the background of the first picture!)

I finally got to ride the trolley car!

2009-08-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

We have visited San Fran half a dozen times since moving to California but I've never been able to ride on the trolley, although I've always wanted to give it a try. This past weekend while my family was "stranded" in California, we took a trip up there and I finally got my chance to hang off the side as we went up and down the hills of the big city. It was everything I hoped it would be...especially hearing Allie shout "Wow!" sporadically throughout the ride. We also go to enjoy such delights as Ghiredelli Square, Fisherman's Wharf, bread bowls at Boudin (okay -we went to Boudin about 6 times in this one weekend...I really like their bread!), took a bay cruise, visited Union Square, Alcatraz, went over the Golden Gate Bridge (we drove this time; much easier but not nearly as breathtaking!), and took a first trip into Sausilito. It was a fabulous weekend with fabulous company! Thanks family for a wonderul visit and a lot of fun! Can't wait until next time! ...my poor family may quite possibly never take a road trip to see me again. They were supposed to get home Sunday night and didn't get home until Thursday! Their truck first broke down here in Fresno, then again on their return trip home in Las Vegas where they were again stranded over night. It was a tough week for them but we were glad to have spent the time with them, for better or worse. My mom and brother brought with them a friend from France who has been staying with them for the summer. It was so fun to have boys in the house for Adam to be a boy with and we all loved hearing them rattle off in french all day! Enchante Adam et Bon Chance!

Kindergarten!

2009-08-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today was the big first day! Alexis was SO excited for school and all that she would learn. She tried on several outfits (she had one picked out before but nothing looked quite right today) and packed her backpack (with everything that the list she picked up at the store suggested; including boxes of tissues for the class, etc. I convinced her that there would be a class set of markers and crayons and we should keep ours at home for homework so she emptied out a few things). Her teacher was sick today so she had a substitute on the first day! All in all though, things went great. I even benefitted from the misfourtune of my family, who came to visit last week and is stuck here with a broken down truck. This allowed me to go to figure out the school pick-up / drop-off routine without toting the younger two along. That was a huge help today! It was pretty great to have Grandma along for the first day too! And so Alexis' journey through school begins... (we were thrilled to learn last night that she has plans to go to two colleges like her daddy did!) As I lay in my bed the other night thinking about Lexi starting school today, I thought of this poem I'd read years ago. It is so true. We could all benefit from a reminder of the things we learned in kindergarten.

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten
by Robert Fulghum

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW about how to live and what to do
and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not
at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the
sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some
and draw and paint and sing and dance and play
and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic,
hold hands, and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup:
The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody
really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even
the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die.
So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books
and the first word you learned - the biggest
word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.
Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any of those items and extrapolate it into
sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your
family life or your work or your government or
your world and it holds true and clear and firm.
Think what a better world it would be if
all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about
three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with
our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments
had a basic policy to always put thing back where
they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you
are - when you go out into the world, it is best
to hold hands and stick together.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2009-08-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

Sending our best birthday wishes!

FRNDS 4 EVR!

2009-08-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was wonderful with a visit from my dear friend Jenn and her fantastic husband, Ryan. We had such a great time with them! We went out on a double date to a fabulous chinese restaurant in town, ate frozen yougurt in the beautiful evening weather, and attempted to play tennis. Later on we played cards, went to the pool, did a little shopping ;) and movie watching, spent an afternoon at the park, and of course, what visit with the A.Wahls would be complete without a trip to See's Chocolates! Thanks for a great weekend guys! Can't wait until you hit the road to come see us again.

Since my camera is STILL out for the count, here are some photos courtesy of Jenn and Ryan:

previously this summer...

2009-08-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

I was thinking back on the fun we've had this summer and realized I'd never posted all the pictures from our trip home. So here are quite a few of them. Good times indeed!

Ode to Summer

2009-08-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

As I put the little ones to bed the other night, I noticed that it was a touch darker than usual and thought perhaps we were getting to bed later than I thought. Nope, not the case. Instead, I realized that the days are starting to get shorter; summer is coming to an end. My camera is in the shop again (it evidentally wasn't repaired properly during it's previous fix up and I'm now left without my memory preserver for another couple of weeks!) so to entertain you, I have will post a bit of bad poetry for you.

Ode to Summer

Oh dear summer, how did your days pass by so quickly?
Is your end really drawing near?

We spent your days at the swimming pool,
splishing and splashing away most afternoons.

We enjoyed the peach pies and cobblers; ice cream cones a plenty;
fresh fruits and BBQs,
slushies, smores and corn on the cob.

We read books, grew a garden,
went on trips, enjoyed friends.
We slept in, stayed up late,
went to movies, even had a date!

Must this season come to an end?
Must we really hang up our towels?

Oh, summer we love you. We can't wait 'till you come 'round again!

Looking for more recipes to try

2009-08-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

I'd love to try some of your favorite recipes. E-mail me at alyssa_wahlquist@hotmail.com Thanks!

New Favorite Recipes

2009-08-06T10:58:00.001-07:00

I want to share my two new favorite recipes from the summer (not that they are "summer recipes," just things I've made this summer).

The first is for Spanish Rice, which I love but don't usually ever make because the mixes for it are SO high in sodium. This is not only better for you, but it SO tasty and SO easy! Another thanks to Danina for this great find!

Spanish Rice:

saute:
2 TBSP oil
2 TBSP chopped onion
add:
1 1/2 cups uncooked rice (NOT minute rice)
Cook until lightly browned.
add:
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup of your favorite salsa
...and I like to add 1 or 2 chopped tomatoes from our garden

Stir to a boil. Cover and cook on low 20 min.

My next new favorite recipe is for Oatmeal White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies.
(Anyone who knows my taste buds must be surprised that these are on my fav. list since they sound all fancy. I questioned them in name only but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to eat them.) Trust me, they are amazing! Thank you to Jenn for my new cookie obsession.
Jenn's mom has an awesome website filled with such delights as these at: www.barbarabakes.blogspot.com. I recommed checking this site out if you are looking for something fun to make.

Oatmeal White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups flour (or 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
1 1/4 cups oats
1 cup craisins
1 cup white chocolate chips (Jenn suggest Nestle brand are the best)

Cream butter and sugars. Mix in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together dry ingredients (except oats). Slowly add to wet ingredients. Add oats, craisins and white chocolate. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes. Makes 2 dozen.

Key Lime Pie

2009-08-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

My cousin Danina challenged me to bake a Key Lime Pie with her, and so I did. Here is the result:

It was SO delicious! We ate it too fast to take a picture!
(Adam even liked it and he's not the biggest fan of key lime.)

Here's the recipe for any else who is up to the challenge:

Ingredients:
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
2/3 cup toasted coconut (optional)
1/3 cup key lime juice* (the girls loved helping me juice the tiny limes)
2 1/2 teaspoons key lime zest
9 inch round graham cracker crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300. In a large mixing bowl, using your electric mixer, beat the egg yolks, lime juice and zest until the eggs are creamy. Slowly add condensed milk and toasted coconut and mix until well combined. Pour into crust and bake 15 minutes or until the pie is "set" and no longer feels liquid to the touch. Cool on wire rack, refrigerate.

How to toast coconut: (We didn't use coconut and it was still great.)
Preheat oven to 350. Arrange shredded/flaked coconut on a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Stir and check frequently to prevent burning. Remove from oven and allow to cool before using.

CRUST: (This crust was SO yummy!)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
Cooking spray

To prepare crust, combine first 3 ingredients, and stir well with a whisk. Add melted butter; toss until moist. Press the remaining mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray; lightly coat crust with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, and remove from oven

***For visual appeal, I added a few drops of neon green food coloring before we baked it and then served it topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with key lime zest. It looked so pretty...I still can't believe I didn't get a picture!

A trip to the Underground

2009-07-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

Adam's parents and sister and bro-in-law drove all the way out to just to say hello this past weekend. (Now that's love!) They got here Friday in the late afternoon and we packed in as much fun as we could before they had to leave Sunday morning. We did some shopping, some eating, the adult girls got pedicures! :), we went to "As You Like It" in the park under the stars and also visited the "Underground Gardens." This place was really cool! It was built by an Italian immigrant in the early 1900's who had a dream of having a citrus plantation like his father had in Italy. He came here, where the land was cheap but upon discovering the awful heat, got the idea to move underground. He single-handedly carved out over 10 acres of tunnels complete with living quarters and the beginnings of his plantation. His trees grew from the underground receiving their sunlight and rain water from skylights. He dreamt of even having restaurants and a resort where people could come to visit and escape the heat. Sadly his life, and his dream were cut short before their completion but what he did accomplish was magnificent...and without any formal education on farming or architechture. So here is your "sneek peak" at the underground: Thanks for the visit guys! Can't wait until next time!

Taquitos!

2009-07-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

The most traditional meal my family had during my growing up years would have to be cheese taquitos! The "grown -ups" made them for most every family get together on my dad's side. (I always got to help roll the cheese into the tortillas but never help with the frying because of the hot oil.) I'm surprised to admit, but until yesterday, I had never actually made them myself and when I did, I had a real "I did a grown -up thing" moment. I put on my apron and rolled up the cheese and fried the tortillas. It was so great! It was so strange to have the feeling of doing something I'd never done before. You get to having a husband, three kids and a house to look after and think you've done all the grown -up stuff. Nope - for me there was still this and it was a thrill...and they were absolutely delicious! Thanks for the tradition, family! I will now be passing it on to my kids and hopefully having you over for chesse taquitos at my place sometime soon!

Updates in July

2009-07-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

We have been having a great summer! It has been HOT but that means lots of swimming, which we love! We have really just been enjoying "hanging out." We were excited to have a quick visit from Adam's brother Danny and his wife Heather last week and look forward to a visit from the rest of Adam's family this weekend. (Drive Safe!)

The kiddos have been causing all sorts of humorous trouble around here. Let me share a few examples:
*Allie -She has entered "toddler-hood" and is way more excited about it than I am. She has officially been corrupted! She has been learning to count to three at Aubrey's promptings to jump off the couch with her (on the count of three); she throws all the books off the bookshelves, laughs when I pick them up, then runs back and does it all again; we can't keep her off the counter-tops (from which she throws drying dishes and steals chocolates); and she has an opinion about what she eats and drinks. She also does cute things like trying to sing "Happy Birthday" and telling us "po-po" when she wants a diaper change. She is growing up SO fast!

Satisfied after getting into yet another piece of chocolate!

*Aubrey -She has kissy lips! Her nursery teacher informed me she and her supposed boyfriend were caught kissing on the lips during class on Sunday! Yikes! We had a little talk about it when we got home but really, try explaining why we don't kiss other little boys to a three year old! They just don't get it and I'm afraid there really isn't a good explanation. She also recently got very upset at me when we were picking up some books in the playroom. She was SO mad at me! Evidently the books were her baby's pillow. I apologized and told her I was just picking up and didn't know they were "pillows." She responded, "That's because you didn't see!!!" Through the eyes of a child... I'm making a renewed effort to see with my kid vision just for her. It's like that story where the parent scolds the child for not staying out of the street like they were told and the child says, "mommy, what's the street?" There is much we don't understand about each other!

*Alexis - She is always up to something. She has been entertaining us with the elaborate tales of her imagination, puppet shows, and craft projects. This week she has also been using scraps of fabric to cut out quilt pieces which I am to sew together should I have the time to make a blanket for her baby. :) She is very proud of the reading she has been doing this summer and the "tricks" she has been doing in the swimming pool.

Would you do this for free Chick-fil-A?

2009-07-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-fil-A. They offered any customers who would come in dressed as a cow, a free meal. I came upon this happy information just as I was about to start marinating some chicken for dinner. Instead, I started cutting out "costumes" for our free night out! Adam was a great sport. He declared that "no self respecting person would dress like a cow for food!" and then he proceeded to adhere black paper spots to his shirt. It was SO worth it too! Each member of our family got to pick any meal off the menu; it came complete with waffle fries and their fabulous lemondade! What a treat! The restaurant was all decked out and it was fun to see everyone in their different versions of cow attire (and of course the funny faces from those who weren't dressed up but secretly wished they were.) The girls had a good time being silly and the only truly embarassing moment was when Adam and I realized that the girls had taken their "gid-up" off and only he and I were left with our cow ears on!

Happy Fourth of July!

2009-07-06T09:39:00.003-07:00

We spent the fourth of July at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and had an absolutely fabulous time!

not for the faint of heart

2009-07-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

We rode our bikes across the Golden Gate bridge -twice!

We got this crazy idea that it would be fun to bike over the Golden Gate Bridge, so this past weekend we did...and we barely survived! If we had known what we were in for we would never have done this but as my mom said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" And in the end, we are glad we did it, but it was a whole lot more than we bargained for. We didn't know about the two massive hills we'd have to go up (which we could barely walk up let alone pedal a bike towing 50 pounds of children); we didn't know how much harder it actually is to remember how to ride a bike after 10 or so years; we didn't know Lexi was going to get an ear ache and cry all the way across the bridge (and back); we didn't know about the crazy wind blowing against us that nearly defeated us; we didn't know we wouldn't be able to make it to the last ferry back across the bay (which meant we had to ride ALL the way back -yeah, I very nearly just sat down and cried!); we didn't know there was no such option as a rescue helicopter when we wanted to give up; we didn't know we'd end up riding almost 12 miles!!!; we didn't know we'd be bruised and aching for days after (I took a few swiggs of the children's tylenol we bought for Lexi to help ease the intensive aching in my legs -it helped!); and we didn't know what a sense of accomplishment we'd have after surviving all that! It truly was breathtaking (not just because of the wind in our face)! We are glad we did it and enjoyed the downhill ride back to the city during which we could reflect on our triumph. I will recommend to anyone with the same crazy desire to bike across the bridge to ride a ferry to Sausilito and then bike back to SF across the bridge from there. It would be mostly downhill and a delightful ride. For us, this trip made the top of the list for both the worst and the best of our many "weekend warrior" adventures.

At Long Last!

2009-07-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to see the waterfalls at Yosemite since we moved here and finally got my chance a weekend back. They were spectacular, as is the Yosemite valley in general! What a beautiful world we live in!

I just had to share this one!

2009-06-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

"Kids say the darndest things" and yesterday I really got a crack up over this one:

We went to check the mail and the kids dumped it all the floor of the front room to scour it for any piece with their name on it. Lexi found one for her and upon opening it she asked me what it was. I told her it was a bill from her doctor for a check-up she'd had. She looked it over for another minute and got a concerned look on her face before her little eyes filled with tears and she said, "Mommy, it says I owe $80 and I don't have that much! I've been saving up so hard to get my microphone and now I just don't know what I'm going to do!" Oh, little Lex! I told her that her daddy would probably help her out and she gave a whimpered "ok". She was SO relieved this morning when she talked to her daddy to find out he'd be covering all her medical bills for her. Whew! Now back to saving up for that microphone!