super fashion and s'mores

more california goodbyes

We tried to enjoy every moment we could with our friends before moving. I'm so grateful for the wonderful friendships that not only I made, but the girls also. They grew so much over the past two years in California, and a large part of that learning came from their relationships with friends. I'm so grateful for the amazing families we were able grow close with.

We also were lucky enough to find a great preschool teacher for Kapria (short as her preschool stint was) and an amazing babysitter. Marissa was so great about playing with the girls and making my work time fun for them.

Love these favorite people of ours!

parties and goodbyes.

We had a busy month in August. The first week started out with lots of parties. Here we are at Aaron's birthday at a splash park. So much fun!

Later that evening we attended a farewell party that our good friends the Lillenbergs threw for us. We loved seeing all our friends together, but it was sad to be saying goodbye.  Two years went by so quickly! I think I'm a four year person. I need four years in a place to be okay to maaaaybe leave. Maybe.

 

 

egg hunt playdate

Jen and I found out the ward wasn't doing an egg hunt, so we decided to organize one of our own. We kept it simple: everyone brought six eggs per child, then we hid them and the kids hunted. Super easy and super fun! (Thanks go to Jen and Jason for hiding everything.)

Here we are with all our friends.

Find That Friend:

Jason, Chelsea & Ellie (new friends we met at gymnastics)
Sarah & Ian with Libby, Diana & Jake
Natalie, Aaron & Eli (with Kapria :)
Leslie, Avery & cousin
Holly & Cohen
Maren, Madison & Collin
Marisa & Jenna
Crue
Laura & Zeke
Emily & Cailyn
Jen, Paiton & Ellie with Mila

an evening with friends

These are my favorite kinds of days.

zoomars

one last february disney day

We met up with the Z family at California Adventure and had a great day. It was so fun to see friends from Utah and to get to know their kids. And what cute kids! June and Kapria were so chatty once they spent a little time together and they had a lot of fun on the rides. Isaac was okay with me as long as I shared snacks with him. Jeniel adored Mila and wanted to carry her everywhere. Normally Mila would love it because she loves when older kids carry her around. But for some reason she was being especially shy. I think David was the only one I didn't get to talk to much. But I love his face on the Monster's Inc ride. I wonder which monster he's staring at?

Anyway, we had a lot of fun and next time I need to get a picture with Erin!

disney day

We love going to Disneyland with Jen and her girls. Our kids get along so well, and Jen and I get to talk all we want and help each other out with kids running back and forth between strollers and making sure everyone is together. It is fabulous.

The big highlights of this day were joining in the Phineas and Ferb dance party, meeting Sully and Peter Pan, and playing in the fountain water. Jen was a good sport and went on the teacups even though she hates them. I love how happy the girls are in that teacup. And Ellie - looking so darling as she tries to open Mr. Rabbit's door. Too bad the Disney people don't open it anymore. Travis says they used to when he was a kid.

Mila is always nervous about the characters, especially ones that aren't human. She was terrified of Sully, and in the picture she's trying not to look at him.

Mila's reactions to the other characters made the fact that she talked to Peter Pan even more surprising. She was the only one who would answer him when he asked their names! Kapria and Paiton were so shy and just kept giggling. Silly girls were smitten with him.

(PS. Yes, this Peter Pan looks an awful lot like Terrance, whom we met a few weeks back.:)

I didn't get a good picture of it, but Kapria and Paiton sat in their own seat together on the Ariel ride with no adults. They were a little nervous at first, but then loved it when the worker let us ride twice without getting off. What big girls they are getting to be!

The time is going so quickly that we get to enjoy these fun family days, and I am loving every minute of it with my girls.

andrew & sammy come to visit

 

date night swap: october 2011

Have I mentioned this before? I can't remember. We do a date night swap with our friends Alma and Alex where we watch each other's girls once a month for four hours so the other couple can go on a date. We started (I think) in August, and it has been fantastic! Our girls get along really well and my girls adore Alma. In fact, Mila often wakes up in the morning and says, "Alma's house today?" If I have to answer no, she starts sobbing for Alma and Vicky (she also adores Vicky (6) who is often at school when we get together with Alma and her two younger girls).

Let's just say that we've found some great friends and we all love spending time with them. :) We feel so lucky!

Here we are having fun on our babysitting night. 

warm fall weather

. . . is absolutely wonderful!

I fully recognize that next year we most likely will be living in a completely new place (wherever Trav gets a job), and few places in the US have such amazing weather as where we're living now. So we are enjoying every ounce of sun that we can. That means we head to the park several days each week. And of course we love meeting up with friends while we're there.

When Mila isn't asking to play with Alma and Vicky, she's asking for Crue, Paiton, and Baby Ellie. Yes, still feeling lucky to have so many great friends.

PS. Kapria has worn that wig every day since this one (the day we bought it). She's pretty excited about her Halloween costume.

time out for mom

I had a great overnight trip with one of my favorite people. Click the picture to read all about it. (Thanks Mckenon, Dad & Mom for watching the girls for me!)

disney day with friends

We went to Disneyland with several friends and had a great time together. The kids all got along really well, and it's always fun to have other moms to go with. I loved talking with Leslie and Jen. We went on Small World, Teacups, Winnie the Pooh, the Tiki Room, Tarzan's Treehouse, and ended with the Ariel ride. By then the kids were exhausted and ready for naps. Baby Ellie was a sweetie and SO good the whole time. And I learned that there's a great baby care room with tiny toilets for the kids to use! New things to learn about every visit. Ha ha ha.

disney day: last with jane & elsie

June 1, 2011

We spent a great day with Allison, Jane, and Elsie. It was bittersweet because we knew it would be our last time going to Disneyland together since they're moving at the end of June.

The girls loved seeing Vidia. Kapria didn't want to stop holding her hand. Vidia talked to her a lot (and totally acted the part). She said, "Kapria, who's on your backpack? I see Tinker Bell and all her friends. But guess who's not on there. Me." 

She felt better when Kapria told her, "I love you, Vidia!"
(Mila wanted nothing to do with the fairies. She likes looking at them, but still doesn't like it when they talk to her.)

We also rode on It's a Small World and went to Toon Town, where the girls loved exploring Minnie Mouse's house and Goofy's playhouse. I think we stopped by Tarzan's Treehouse, too, since it is still a favorite. And maybe went to the Tiki Room, where Elsie fell asleep. 

A great last visit with our favorite friends! 

goodbyes are really see you laters

I know one of the reasons we moved to California was so that we could meet the Wilsons. I needed Allison in my life and God knew it. I'm not so happy that He decided it was time for them to move, though . . . but we've had so much fun together over the past eight months that I can't complain. It was eight months of having a perfect gift that every time you open it you find out new things you love about it and new things that surprise you and make you smile and make you realize how that gift was so perfectly made for you.

Part of that has been how well our girls get along. Jane and Kapria both turn 4 this year, and Elsie and Mila both turn 2 this year. The four of them play together and dress up together and pretend together in the cutest ways. Of course they have their moments - they're normal one and two and three and four-year-olds, after all. But they are also sweet and kind and so caring to each other.

With June being our last month living in the same state for awhile (because I'm determined it will happen again sometime), we packed in as much time together as we could. Here we go:

 

 

 

 Saying goodbye was so hard . . . made only a little easier knowing we'll get to spend time together in Utah in a couple weeks. I can handle goodbyes when I know the next time I'll be seeing my favorite people. So Allison, we just have to make sure we've always got something planned. 

We love you and miss you!

park day

funnygirls

Jane and Elsie came to play one afternoon while Nate and Allison went to the temple. Trav got home toward the end and, as usual, the girls all mobbed him. Elsie loved his helmet and wanted to wear it. Jane, not so much. But the girls were plenty silly that night.

I love these girls so much!

five girls = a whole lotta fun

Melissa and I lived on the same street for a few of our elementary school and junior high years. We spent a lot of time walking down the hill and up the hill to each other's houses. And talking books. And making toast with honey. And playing games and talking in her treehouse and having sleep overs.

After her family moved to Utah I think when we were in eighth grade - or maybe seventh? - we still managed to keep in touch through letters and visits. In college we finally lived in the same state again, and over the last twelve years we've sometimes lived in the same state and sometimes not, but whenever we can we get together. Now that we're in California, we're only about an hour and a half drive from her family. And since it was spring break for her girls (and I hadn't even met  her youngest!), they decided to come visit.

We had a great two days together with Ali (8), Ashling (5), and Annika (2) - swimming, watching movies, playing, and coloring. Mila and Kapria adored Ali - they wanted her to carry them around and play with them, and I think she liked going along with all the attention they threw at her. Thanks, Ali!

On Tuesday we went swimming at our pool. Kapria loves swimming, but Mila hates the cold water. She refused to get in and instead sat and ate lunch on a chair. Once she was done, she wanted to wander all over the pool area, so I didn't get much swimming in either. But at least I could catch pictures of everyone else since I was dry.

Having five girls in our tiny apartment got pretty messy - clothes, toys, and shoes were everywhere. But the craziness was fun. On Wednesday morning Melissa made us delicious family pancakes (kind of like german pankakes) with homemade syrup. Yumm. I had to work a little bit that morning, so Melissa watched my girls for that, then we all played hide-and-seek outside during Mila's nap. The day was on and off rainy, so we decided to take the girls out to lunch at Chick-fil-A - where they not only have good food, but they've also got the cleanest play area of any fast food place I've ever been to. Win-win!

It was a quick visit, but I loved catching up with Melissa and meeting all her girls. And now we're excited to drive up to their mountain home next time!

green party

Wednesday 03.30.2011
Since we were driving to Arizona on St. Patty's Day (a favorite holiday at our house), we held our celebration a little late. We made it a green party and headed to the park with some friends and family. The kids played on the playground, then we ate some green snacks, made rainbows (which Kapria and Mila weren't really interested in...so we don't have any to show), played a pot of gold game, and ate treats. We had so much fun!

Mila loves blowing bubbles.

disneyland with jane & elsie

I took the girls to Disneyland for the first time without Trav. We met our good friends Allison, Jane, and Elsie. And it was so much fun!

We first went on the teacups, which the girls all love. Then we went on the Peter Pan ride. You float up in the air on a flying ship, and Kapria loved it but Mila was terrified. We saw Tarzan's Treehouse, which Kapria had been wanting to see so badly. She loved it! She heard Tarzan yelling and said, "Mom, when is Tarzan going to get here?" Hmm...I just can't see Disneyland hiring someone to dress up like Tarzan and greet the kids, can you?

We had a relaxing time eating lunch and loved being with our friends.