Sunday

Ahhh- the sound of silence. ALL my children are sleeping- I can post in complete peace!

Yesterday my big boy Tyler gave his first talk in Primary! He's the more reserved of the 2 boys and he wasn't very excited to do it at first. As he was whining and crying about it, I wondered, "Oh no, how do I handle this? Do I be sweet and say okay you don't have to do it or do I put my foot down and make it happen?" Well, knowing my son, I decided to put my foot down and be sweet. So I persisted and he finally gave in and he did a wonderful job. What would you have done? Is it bad that I bribed him, just a little? I just can't believe I have a child old enough to be giving talks! I am so proud of my little man.

My sister and her husband came to church with us to watch Ty and then they came over afterwards for dinner. We had chicken caesar sandwiches, pasta salad, watermelon and corn on the cob. It was a yummy summer dinner! Auntie and Uncle Matt teach my kids all kinds of crazy stuff. Whenever the boys are with them and then come home, they say the funniest things. Then I'll say who taught you that, I don't even know why I ask anymore because the answer is always, "Auntie." Yesterday we were blowing raspberries and taking pictures of it. It was pretty funny!




We finished the night with some delicious dessert. It is this yummy chocolate, caramel bar thingy that is quite scrumptious. You must try it! Here is the recipe. It was a nice Sunday and days like this remind me why we moved back to S. California, I love being close to my family!!
The boys picked some apples while I was making dinner.Now Tyler keeps bugging me to make apple pie, I hate apple pie!

An Addison sandwich!

I have an announcement. . .

No- I'm not pregnant. Geez people!

pinkberry is officially coming to Mira Loma- our neck of the woods. In the words of Glenda from Wicked "I couldn't be happier!" Check pinkberry.com to find out if you will be as happy as me!

I'm in Love!

I really am! I love this little guy. He was such a great shopping/errand buddy today. I left Tyler and Addison home with Jessica (our neighbor who is our favorite babysitter, in fact I could do a whole post just about her, in fact I think I will!!) Aaron and I are trying to take the kids out one at a time, to spend some alone time with them. It was Jake's turn. I took Jake to get his collarbone X-rayed, just to make sure it's healing properly. For those those don't know since it was pre-blogging days, he broke it a few months back. Then we headed out to Montclair Plaza to Gymboree- it's Gymbuck time! He was a little angel while I shopped, the TV they have there didn't hurt! In fact another Mom came up to me and told me what sweet little boy I have because he offered his bag of Wetzel bites (pretzels) to the little boys who came and sat with him. Then we went to Macy's, Baby Gap (he saw this hat and loved it, couldn't resist!) and ended with a trip to Disney Store for a special present because he filled his chart with stickers (this week the boys are learning the letter "E"). This boy says the funniest things and I just love his enthusiasm and excitement for life. He's excited about every day, no matter what we're doing. He was so fun and I loved spending the morning with him!

I'm it!

I got tagged...and now....TAG, you are it!

4 jobs I have had:
1. Nanny for little Chi Wei Chin
2. Hogi Yogi
3. 2nd grade teacher
4. Reading Specialist

4 movies I could watch over and over again:
1. The Holiday
2. My Fair Lady
3. Pay it Forward
4. Finding Nemo

4 places I have lived:
1. SJC, CA
2. Detroit, MI
3. Rexburg, ID
4. Windsor, CA

4 favorite tv shows:
1. Prison Break
2. 24
3. Bachelor (I'm embarassed, but I do enjoy it!)
4. Jon and Kate Plus 8, Little People, Big World
(TLC)

4 of my favorite places I have been:
1. Maui, Hawaii
2. Sacred Grove- New York
3. Palm Springs
4. in my parents family room, playing games with my fam

4 favorite foods:
1. Karmel Sutra Ice cream
2. My mom's cinnamon rolls
3. Tomato Basil Spaghttini at CPK
4. Sushi at Ken's (Rancho Cucamonga)

4 websites I check daily:
1. Hotmail
2. various blogs
3. wellsfargo.com
4. weather.com

4 favorite hobbies:
1. Blogging
2. Shopping
3. Reading
4. Baking with my kids

4 places I would rather be:
1. Maui, Hawaii (Hyatt Regency)
2. at the beach
3. Palm Springs with the Fam (one more month and I will be!)(thanks for that one Ani)
4. massage and sushi (with Aaron)

4 friends I would like to TAG--YOU'RE IT!!
1. Brooke
2. Pricilla
3. Julia
4. Jenn

Family Vacation: Part I

I don't have all the pictures from our vacation, my camera battery died and my in-laws are going to send me the rest of the pictures on CD. So this is all I have for now. But there are certain people, I won't name names, who are very impatient for a new post.

We had a great time! We spent a week at Bear Lake, on the border of UT and ID. Addie and I ended up flying out on Tuesday morning (I got the flu, too, so we had to wait until then.) We met up with everyone on Tuesday night. We spent all our time at the lake. Aaron's uncle just bought a boat, so we had so much fun playing out on the boat. The kids played so hard, all day. They were up at 8 and didn't get to bed until 10 or 11 each night. Despite our very earnest attempts to leave Addie behind in CA, she did really well and had just as much fun as the boys. The kids loved meeting (2nd) cousins. All the kids got along really well, so that made it extra fun. We had such a great time, we ended up staying 2 extra days! One night we went to pizza and to a cute little play called "A Pirate's Life" at the Pickleville Playhouse. Each night one of the families was in charge of dinner and then we just sat outside and visited while the kids played. Then once all the kids were in bed, the older cousins and aunts/uncles reconvened for games. We left Bear Lake on Saturday and headed to Provo.

We went straight to BYU and took the kids to the campus and went to the bookstore. We are in heaven there and picked out all our BYU apparel for the 2007 football season- there are 3 games in our area this year! You can bet Aaron's already got every gamed planned out! He took the boys to the new football facility and I kept shopping. Then we visited our friends, the Wendt's, who live in Pleasant Grove. We were neighbors in our married ward at BYU. We stayed at Aaron's uncle's house in Draper that night. They have an amazing house, 7 bedrooms, awesome pool- it was so fun to stay there and we even got a good night's sleep! (The first one since leaving home.) The next day we packed up and after breakfast at IHOP, we started our trek home.

Oh my gosh, it was the most intense drive of my life! There was always at least one child that needed a snack, a drink, a potty break, a blanket or just some attention. I thought I would never see our off-ramp, "Haven Ave." Those blessed words finally came at 11:30 that night.

Hooray for family vacations/family reunions- double hooray for being back home safe and sound!

The boys on one of many potty stops on their way to Utah.

Launching water balloons

Nana and Addie playing in the sand.

Addie found some snacks and made a run for it!

Jake and Anna Sophia

Girl Cousins!
Madelyn, Anna Sophia, me, Katelyn, Kiely

A night on the town!



Uncle Lee and Jake driving the boat.

Tyler (he looks so mad!), Jacob and Dustin


More pictures to follow!!

PS- For the record, Addison Beth WILL NOT be going on anymore family vacations that involve an excess of 2 hours of driving. You think I'm joking?? I'm not, trust me. That drive has scarred me for a very long time. The girl seriously screamed (not yelled, but ear-piercing shrieks) every 4-5 minutes the whole way home. Yes, she's cute, but oh my, she can scream like no other!

Bear With Me

Please be patient with my little blog. We are temporarily under construction. Please check back soon for a new and improved site!

Bye Boys

And they're off.

After considerable deliberation last night and all morning, we decided that the boys should go on ahead, while good ol' mom stays behind with the sick baby. Problem is, we're not exactly sure that Addison really is sick. So I'm going to sit it out today and hopefully (cross your fingers) she's fine in the morning we can fly to SLC and meet up with the caravan that's on their way to the lake. If she is sick, then we'll wait for a couple days and hopefully join in on the fun at some undetermined date later this week. Hopefully, there will be no new posts from me until I am reporting on our fun filled vacation, next week.

To Go or Not to Go?

This always happens to my family. The bags are packed, the car is ready and the kids are excited to leave for vacation. And then. . .someone gets sick. Seriously, it happens every time. WHY??? We are supposed to leave at 10 am tomorrow morning for our family reunion at Bear Lake, in Utah. We were going to be gone 6 days. The plan was to leave our very sweet, but very loud screaming daughter with my oh-so-sweet mom. Then my mom got the flu today and ended up in Urgent Care with the works: 102 fever, aches, chills, etc. So we decided to take Addie with us. That's right- bite the bullet, listen to the screaming all 12 hours and take the whole fam damily to family reunion. Well, guess what-- after our outing to Chuck E. Cheese tonight (okay, fine, we did stop by pinkberry really quick) I noticed that Addie felt hot- not like hot because it's hot outside, but that other hot that Mom's know by kissing their babies forehead. And as I was putting Tyler down, he was hot, too, and his eyes looked funny.

So there you go. So do I send Jake and Aaron to have a fun vacation without me or do I make everyone wait until Monday and then we all go late or do I send the boys (depending on how Tyler is in the morning) and then Addie and I meet up with them in Provo for the second half of our vacation (visiting BYU friends, seeing my brother, visting the BYU football facilities and campus and of course, Cafe Rio)? AHH- I hate this. If anyone has a great solution to my problem, please let me know. Because right now the million dollar question is: to go or not to go??

I'm Doubly Obsessed!

So, I have 2 new obsessions that I must share with you all...

Number 1: Jon and Kate Plus 8. Are any of you out there familiar with this reality show on TLC? Seriously, it is the best! I'm not crazy for any of the shows on during the summer, fall/winter is another story, aka 24!! I stumbled upon this show and I can't get enough of it. This cute family has twins that are 6 and sextuplets (yes, that's 6!) that are 2. HELLOOOO??- I thought I was crazy to have 3 under the age of 4. No way- my life is a walk in the park compared to this amazing women! I think about her all the time and whenever I want to complain, I just think of their crazy household. You can tune in and become obsessed like me: Tuesdays at 10 and 10:30 ET on TLC.

Number 2: pinkberry. Maybe I'm just late to the scene, but oh my- this is to die for! I went by there tonight and there was a crazy line, however it was definitely worth the wait! Here is a good description I found from a newspaper article online:

It has been called "Crackberry" and "frozen heroin juice" by its fans and detractors because many of the college kids, television writers and well-to-do families who cheerfully queue up as many as four nights in a single week agree with food blogger Rosie O'Neill, who wrote recently: "I would get Pinkberry IV'ed into my veins if I could." Leslie Grossman, an actress, described it like this: "The first time you try it, you're like -- 'Eh,' and then you're like, 'Did I eat that whole thing?' And then the next day you are like, 'I could really go for a Pinkberry right now.' "

I am not even going to try to describe this yummy goodness, just try it for yourself. You can find a store near you at pinkberry.com. Good luck and enjoy.

Even better- go get some pinkberry, kick your feet up and enjoy a little Jon and Kate!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th! We sure did. We started early and ended very late. We started the morning with a breakfast and flag raising ceremony at our church at 8am. It wasn't hot yet, so it was fun to be outside and enjoy some yummy food and good friends. My friend Amber and I headed over to the pool with our kids, after breakfast. Our husbands went to help a family in our ward move and they met us there after. We hurried home for a quick lunch, shower and then naps. My assignment for dinner was an appetizer and dessert, so while everyone was napping I finished up my food. I made a delicious black bean and corn salsa and a double lemon raspberry pie. Then we loaded up the kids and drove down to my parents. My sister, her husband, my brother and his wife and my parents were all there. (my younger bro. Dave is at BYU) My mom had the backyard all decorated and we ate out on the grass. We had a scrumptious dinner, thanks to my mom, the best cook ever! We dined on ribs, potato salad, rolls, corn on the cob, homemade baked beans, yummy green salad (thanks Ani!) and lemonade. For dessert: homemade vanilla ice cream and my pie. Oh my gosh- I was so full!! We played a few games of ping-pong which Aaron dominated- sorry Mike, Matt and Megan! We set off some fireworks in the backyard and then went to watch fireworks. The rest of my family was there and thankfully they laid some blankets out for us, because we sat down right as the first firework went off. I was a little worried about Addie, but she laid on Aaron the whole time and just stared. We got home close to midnight and everyone sure slept good! The perfect 4th of July!

Yummy dinner!
Why are Matt and Tyler the only ones looking?
Handsome boys!
Aunt Megan and Jake
Addie kept lifting up her dress so everyone could see her shoes- what a girl!
Mommy and Jakey
Aaron wanted to hold her the whole time, Addie didn't have any complaints!

10 Years Later

Ten years ago, I was living in the Chatamtowne apartments in Provo, UT and attending BYU. I was blessed to have the most wonderful roommate, Jenn. We didn't really live together that long, because she left me to get married! Thankfully, we have stayed in touch all this time. She now lives in Texas with her 2 sweet, beautiful girls. Her family still lives in CA, so lucky for me, she comes out to visit and we get to meet up. Jenn is such a great friend and I love that when we get together, no matter how much time has passed, we always pick right up and have so much to talk about! We got together last week and had such a great time. We met at my house and then headed over to Joe's Crab Shack in Rancho Cucamonga. Since between the 2 of us, we have 5 kids 4 years old and under, I tried to think of a place where the 2 of us could actually talk and the kids would have fun and be safe. Joe's has a great outdoor eating area with an attached playground. Even better, on the day we went, kids meals were only .99 cents. Cheap, fun and kept the kids busy- can't beat it! It was so hot, Golden Spoon was the natural ending to our fun morning. Here are a few pictures from out adventure.

The little boy on the right wasn't with us, but it was so funny how he jumped right in, serious as can be, when we were getting ready to leave and wanted to take a picture.
Isn't Savannah the most beautiful little girl? Love her eyes!


Thanks Jenn, Savannah and baby Kate for a great time! We love you cute girls and can't wait until next time!

Tape Fun

My parents stopped by on their way home from Utah on Friday. My mom and I were talking and when I looked over to see why the boys were so quiet, this is what they were doing. . .




Then my mom got in on the fun!


No wonder my kids adore Grammy and Grandpa!