Fall Break

Fall Break. What IS "Fall Break", anyway?! It seems like school just started, and the kids already need a break? Geez, Louise.

Well, despite it's obvious uselessness, Fall Break was a lot of fun for our family. Most notably, the girls had a great time playing with their cousins Vanessa and Christian who had come in for a surprise visit from Chicago.

Here's a pic of Ava and Vanessa at the park (...yes Ava has a black eye....and, NO we don't beat her. Do you remember when she broke her little leg on the slide two and a half years ago? Well, she apparently has a knack for barfights with slides. And the slide always wins.)


Sleepover time!

And of course, there was quite a bit of eating out. Between Costa Vida, Paradise Bakery, Rubio's and the food court at the mall, we pretty much covered the whole town. Here's Ella at Paradise Bakery. Seriously, can she get any cuter?

And the week ended with Dave's birthday on Friday. So where did we go to dinner? Famous Dave's of course! Usually, I have objections to eating at restaurants with neon signs of a pig in front. But hey, it was David's day, so he got to choose. And, it was actually pretty darn good. Thanks to the bottle of TUMS I brought along. At this point, I don't leave home without it.

The girls were obsessed with Famous Dave's mascot, Wilbur. He must have been the model for the neon sign out front.

So, there is our week of play-dating, park-going, eat-outing, and birthday partying in a nutshell.

But the best part of my week was this morning. As we were leaving for church, Ava handed me a picture she had drawn of our family.

Our whole family. Ella, Dad, Mom, Ava, Kona...and Dallin. Dallan? Dallen? Whatever. We haven't decided on a spelling yet, and Ava is keenly aware of this... so, she simply writes, "Dall n". With a backwards N. Can you see the blue bundle in my stick-figure arms? That's him. And that's Ava for you. Including everyone, down to every last detail - up to and including the color of their eyes. Including everyone, even they are not born quite yet....and even if we don't quite know how to spell their name.

Labor Day 2010

When David asked me what I wanted to do for Labor Day this year, my answer was pretty simple. All I said was, "I just want to be outside and NOT HOT...just for a little bit."

So.... up north we went. :)

We decided to take a quick trip up past Payson and camp out for the weekend. As we drove northward, I kept watching the temperature gauge on our dash drop lower, lower, and lower...all the way down to 75 degrees! Woo-hoo!

Sometimes I have to remind myself that Arizona is not all heat and desert. Arizona offers a lot of this, too...
...and this.


The weather was so beautiful! We found a gorgeous little spot to camp out at Upper Creek Canyon, and as soon as we stepped out of the car, I was greeted with soft shade and a cool breeze. The air smelled absolutely delicious...so clean and refreshing. Heaven!



The girls enjoyed exploring all around our campsite. I was so happy to see them get dirty and dig in the mud... and forget about princesses and dress-ups and Barbies...just for a few days.



So, our Labor Day was filled with trees, campfire, hikes by meandering streams, and lots of roasting marshmallows. This made for two happy parents, two happy kids, and one VERY happy dog. All in all, a successful weekend, to be sure. Happy Labor Day!

Well, it's about time...

It's been ages since I've posted. There's no real rhyme or reason as to why I decided to re-enter the blogosphere today, except to begin the countdown to baby boy Tait and document a few other family-related things. I've realized that my personal journal feels a little scatterbrained sometimes, and this is the best place to keep my family journal.

So, if you are ready to endure the ongoing accounts of all things kid-related, read on, my friends...read on.

First off, I have to relate my favorite portion of Ava's bedtime prayer last night. It sums things up quite nicely as to our state of affairs lately. I'm quoting here. This is way to good to make up.

"Dear Heavenly Father....we are grateful for our family. We are grateful for the swim school and that Daddy got home safe. Please bless the baby to be healthy and strong. And please, please bless Ella to be more flexible and not stubborn so much so mommy doesn't have to lose her patience." Amen to that, Ava!!

Ella is a handful, but she is a cute handful, so that pretty much makes up for it. She is just about completely potty-trained (quick! knock on wood!), and is always saying and doing the most hilarious things. It is not uncommon to see her tromping around in one tap shoe and one Ugg boot, wearing every sparkly necklace she can find with lopsided sunglasses, and a backpack full of rocks. She is mischevious and stubborn, too (as clearly mentioned in Ava's prayer). As for Ava, she is such a sweet little helper, and **usually** willing to share with her sister and help out her momma. She is a busy girl with ballet, swim lessons, preschool, and piano. She is a wiz at folding handtowels, too. Last week she was able to bring home the "Adventure Animal" from preschool and take it around with her. Here are a few pics we took with "Rex".





Baby boy is less than 90 days away.... GULP. Last weekend was our official "Friends Weekend",, which is basically a reunion of a large group of friends from the singles ward days. There are quite a few of us pregnant this year, so I have dubbed 2010 "The Year of the Baby." Can it really be that in just a few months (weeks, really!), I'll be back at square one...nursing, burping, diapers, sleepless nights?! It feels like eons ago that I was in that stage with baby Ella. If it's possible to have pre-partum depression, I may be at risk. Sigh. I'm just not quite ready to face that reality yet! Oh well, at least I am in good company!


So, there you have it. An official bog post. There may be more to come, depending on whether or not I can keep my act together. Until then, I will resume my blurking with the rest of you. :) C'mon, you know you all do it.

Ava's First Preschool Field Trip

A few weeks ago, Ava's preschool class took a field trip to the AZ Southwest Dinosaur Museum. Here are a few pics of Ava's cute class right before entering the museum. Such cute kids!


Ava's gotta get that pose just right...........

CHEESE!


Thanks to ABC Preschool for an awesome day!

10 weeks and counting...

In 10 weeks, I am going to be 30 years old. THIRTY YEARS OLD.

Ugh.

Last Friday night, I got together with some girlfriends. As we continued our sugar high into the wee hours of the morning, we got a little crazy. (See more evidence of our kookiness here, here, and here).

So, as for you, Mr. Big 3-0, as long as I can still do this, I feel pretty okay. So there!

So You Think You Can Dance!

Some of you out there may have heard of a little show called....

Well... a few friends and I are absolute fanatics, and decided to drive out to Hollywood to see the taping this week!!


Sherri, Jen, Leah, and I. Showered, dressed, packed and ready to go at 6:00 a.m. Let the fun begin!!

Uh-oh.... I got a little too excited to get there.

Uh-oh... Jen got a little sick.

(** Please note, this is a dramatic reenactment of Jen's puking. No, I did not take a picture of her as the poor thing was getting sick in the car. That would be cruel. But reenacting it later was just plain hilarious.)

By the way, have you ever sat in a car for six hours? Has it been an enjoyable experience for you? Let me tell you, all speeding tickets and vomiting aside, that was the most fun I have ever had on a road trip. Great conversation the whole way. The hours literally FLEW by. And before we knew it, we were pulling in at the hottest hotel in Hollywood (cue the sarcasm)...

The Beverly Inn.
Okay, okay...so it wasn't the NICEST hotel in town. So there were only ten rooms. So the pool was about the size of our bathtub. So there were a few suspicious stains on the bedsheets and the air conditioning didn't work. It was cheap, okay?! AND... it was just across the street from the studios where the show was being taped. Score!
Do you see CBS Television City in the background?!!?!?

So, as soon as we checked in, we got into line. Here, we enjoyed some yummy pitas (courtesy of Jen) . And we enjoyed a few crazy dance poses for the camera.
Finally, after a few hours of waiting...we got in to see the show! Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this because there were no cameras allowed. Dang it. But, we sidled our way in to the studio, and managed to get right in the front, dead center! We were just about three rows back from the stage, and it was great! We had a little chat with Cat Deeley in between takes (she is even more gorgeous in person), and she made a little joke about us "getting a cocktail" after the show. Should I have mentioned to her that we don't drink? Oh well, we just played along.

I'm pretty sure we're friends now. Don't be jealous.


After the taping of the show, I weasled my way towards where the choreographers were sitting, and I managed to meet Sonya, Louie Van Amstel, Tyce DiOrio, and Tabitha and Napolean. I did happen to mention to "Nappy Tabs" that they were possibly the cutest couple of all time. They laughed. They said thank you. They shook my hand. So, now, I'm pretty sure that I am friends with them, too. Now you can be jealous.

By this time, we were all starving for some dinner, so we went over to The Grove.



After walking around for a bit, we decided on The Cheesecake Factory (YUM).

Guess who we spotted inside?



One Melissa Sandvig (a.k.a. "The Naughty Ballerina")...that's who!!


As soon as I saw her, I blurted out, "We're 29, too!!" She laughed, and we ended up talking for like 20 minutes with her and her husband. They are possibly the nicest people alive (aside from my friend, Cat).



Anyhow, after we spent such a long time talking, we joked with her and said that we should all hang out sometime, considering that we are such hot 29 year olds. At this point, she said, and I am not kidding, "Well, where do you live?" (As in...maybe we CAN get together sometime!) We said that we all lived in Arizona, and then she said to look her up on Facebook, and we could keep in touch that way. SO..... we really ARE friends with Melissa now!! YES!!

**At this point, I am realizing that I might sound a little stalker-ish? It's okay. I've come to terms with it. That's what "fanatic" means.... right?**

Hold the phone, I haven't even mentioned that we also ran into Kourtney from Season Four! She was so adorable. I just wanted to put her in my pocket!

So, we had a fabulous dinner. Too fabulous, actually. I ate so much that I was looking a little preggers. LOL


So, after a few more laughs at the Grove,

we decided it was time to get in our jammies and cozy up at The Beverly Inn.

We did have two beds, actually. But this was the only one with the awesome neon green blanket.

The next morning, we decided to head over to Graumann's Chinese Theatre for some tourist-y sightseeing.




And boy, did we get an eye-ful.


So, after grabbing some lunch (and a few souveniers), we headed back home.



After getting Jen some Dramamine, of course.

We stopped off near Ontario to see my Daddy-o. He still works in Cali during the week. I love him so much! It was great, even just to see him for a quick stop at 7-11.


Thank you to these wonderful ladies for the most fun I have had a long time. I laughed so hard and had such a great time. Show or no show, just the driving and chatting was a blast. Of all the friends I gained during my quick trip to Hollywood, these ones are my favorite!

Sisters

The other morning while I was making breakfast for the girls, Ava started reading a book to Ella.
It was so cute, I just had to capture the sweetness of it on video.

The picture quality isn't that great, very fuzzy... I was really trying to hide the camera from them so I didn't ruin the moment. And yes, once again you get to witness both of their bedheads in all their glory. Enjoy, :)