We're Back!

Dear Kate and Riley,
Well we made it home from Italy safe and sound. It was the trip of a lifetime! Dad and I had an AMAZING time. It was so wonderful to be alone with him and to be in such an amazing romantic place. I loved hearing your Dad speak Italian (it all came back to him quickly) and it was good for me to just have to put all my trust in him that we were taking the right trains and going to the right places, and driving up the right one lane gravel roads! But he did a great job and I couldn't have asked for a better trip. And its a good thing too because after the bill comes for this trip I have a feeling we won't be going on another one for a LONG time!

What about Zachary? Oh, don't worry he was FINE. More than fine. In fact I think he was probably sad that we were back and he had to leave his pack of adoring cousins. I'll admit that it made me want to cry a little this morning when he called Aunt Amy mom and not me but we've got that all straightened out now and I'm glad he had a great time and we didn't have to worry about him at all. Aunt Amy and Aunt Stacy were WONDERFUL to take such good care of him for us.

So, with about 500 pictures to go through I think it will take me a while to post about all of this. I think I will have to do several posts so bear with me for a little self indulgence in the coming days. :)

Love,
Mom

And well, just because it would be lame to make a post with no pictures at all I will post some eating pictures, since there are SO many of those and they probably won't make the cut for the other posts later on...

My first (of many) gelatos. Notice that it is gone (I couldn't wait for Aaron to get out the camera)

Aaron's "wine". It was really just Coca Cola Light (seriously what happened to diet coke? Its NOT the same). I sort of wish I could see how much we spent on coca cola light, those babies were running us like 4 euros a CAN at restaurants (that's more than $5!). By the end of the trip we'd given up on them at restaurants, we just bought them at the grocery store and had them in our hotel room. When you are also paying for your water, we were easily spending $10-15 on drinks at every meal!

Stay tuned for more...

Mother's Day!

Dear Kate and Riley,

Well once again I've been spoiled rotten on Mother's Day. This year we took advantage of an amazing deal and headed out to Palm Springs with our friends the Hunts. Its sad when you go on vacation and get to stay in a place that is bigger than your condo. We actually realized while we were there that if we could get the same rate every night it would be cheaper to live in that big two bedroom two bathroom "vacation villa" than it would be to live in our house!

It was hot but perfect for doing exactly what we wanted to do all weekend-- sit by the pool. The place where we stayed had a baby pool, a water slide, a splash park and a bunch of big pools. Zach was in heaven. Aaron and Wade got to golf one morning (we mom's generously allowed it on "our" weekend) and Katelyn and I got to go to the spa one morning. It was heavenly and just what I needed, a vacation before our vacation! We have been too spoiled lately but that Marriott discount is just too good to pass up some weekends.

I am so grateful for you girls and for Zachary. All I have ever wanted was to be a mom and I am living my dream in real life right now. I miss you and wish you were here with me but the promise that I will be with you again helps me get through. Zachary brings so much joy into our lives every day. His sweet smile and hugs are my favorite. When I get him after his nap and he says "HI!" it melts my heart every time. Thanks for making me everything I've ever wanted to be.
Love,
Mom

Going down the water slide with dad. The first day he was nervous but the second day he would get done and say "more! more!" until Aaron took him again.

Our only group shot and I'm not looking! Oh well. Mother's Day breakfast at Don and Sweet Sue's

Zach and Tessa (or te-ta as Zach would say)

The splash park, also took a little warming up to but you can see he eventually got into it

I just had to have some proof that I was there!

Ragnar Relay

Dear Kate and Riley,
This weekend I did one of the craziest things I've ever done! I ran a relay race from Santa Barbara to Dana Point. We had a team of 12 girls, 2 15 passenger vans and 24 hours to get there. Each of us ran 3 legs ranging from 3-10 miles in length. Sleeping was really not part of the plan. We got breaks while the others ran but that time also included navigating to the next exchange point, cheering on our runners, etc. I did not sleep for even one minute.

Although we had TONS of fun, I mean you can't go wrong with 6 crazy girls in a van, lots of old school music and sleep deprived silliness, it was also really tough. The people who planned the race had apparently never been to California since they had us running through some of the scariest parts of LA and Long Beach in the middle of the night! We had a few scary run ins but everyone survived and despite the things that made us temporarily miserable, we had a good time over all. In fact, I'd do it again in a heart beat!

Our Van, Moka, Mia, me, Sara, Sadie and Tara, this was after a good night's sleep and when we had no idea what we were getting in to!

Finishing my first leg and handing off the "baton" (slap bracelet!)

Me and Moka after our first leg

We all had a little break in the evening in Santa Monica so we piled in to one van and headed to a classy establishment for dinner...

Denny's which I blame for the "gastro intestinal" issues that many of us experienced later (seriously who eats Denny's in the middle of a race!?)

Rachel and I before our 2nd leg, this one was hardest for me at 2 am!

Last leg for me in Long Beach and you can tell I was OVER it!

Our team was the "hormonal hotties" (credit goes to Moka for the name) we finished with shirts that said "Baby on Board" and stuffed our bellies to look pregnant.

Love,
Mom

Easter-- part 2 Zachary style

Dear Kate and Riley,
I told you we had a lot of Easter festivities this year! I am going to try to condense them into one post.
Friday we got started with Zachary's first Easter egg hunt. I had him practice at home (yes, seriously) but I knew he'd be one of the youngest and I wanted him to know what he was doing! He did great although most of the eggs he got had already had the candy eaten out of them by the bigger kids, I don't even think he understood that there was supposed to be candy in them.

Saturday we had egg hunt #2 with the ward. He knew exactly what to do and had a great time (and Dad had a great time raiding his loot later on).

On Sunday the Easter bunny came and brought Zachary some hot wheels a "mo-mo" (motorcycle) and some coloring books. He also got candy but I think Dad is the only one who got to eat it. Zach refused to eat breakfast and dinner on Sunday, I think all that he had all day was candy and half a hot dog (hey you win some you lose some). I got to make a big Easter feast and we had some friends over to share it with us, we had a great time! Now if only I could get rid of the rest of this candy!
Sorry for the picture overload, there were so many cute ones!
Love,
Mom

First egg hunt

Checking out his loot

Don't mess with us, we're eating jelly beans!

Hunt #2, checking out the loot with Will and the dads

Mmmm, beans

The "mo-mo"

I wasn't trying to be artistic, it just happened to be the best picture and dad just happened to be in the background!

Happy Easter!

Dear Kate and Riley,

I think that this year Easter is going to require a few different posts. We have had a lot of Easter festivities this year. But today I want to stick with the important things. You know that I love Easter because we get to celebrate the act that will bring us back together some day. We get a chance to really focus on Christ, his atonement and resurrection and the promise that gives us of another chance, another life and an eternal family. I cannot wait for the day that I see you again and can hold you in my arms. I know Jesus lives. I know He died for us and rose again. I know that through Him and the ordinances of His true and living church we will be together as a family forever. Easter makes me want to be better, to live up to my end of the covenants I have made and to make sure I raise your brother so that he can have the testimony that I do. I love you, I can only imagine the celebrations of joy that must happen in heaven on a special day like today. Yesterday at the cemetery there were two new graves, one right next to yours and my heart ached. I hope that those parents can find the truth and the peace that a testimony of Christ and His church can bring to them. It made me realize that I need to share my testimony more often.
I love you girls. I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday.
Love,
Mom

All Aboard!

Dear Kate and Riley,
We had a great little adventure today. Zach, his friend Jack and the moms decided to take a little trip on the train. We took the train from San Juan Capistrano to Solana Beach, walked around for a while, met some friends for lunch and went home! It was Zach and Jack's first time on a train and they were both so excited. It was great on the train because it was pretty empty and the boys could have their own seats and be loud without really bugging anyone. Zach was SO tired by the end of the day that he slept most of the train ride home. It was a fun little adventure and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

By the ticket place there was an old fashioned train, of course Zach loved "steering"

I was excited about this picture all day, he was actually looking at me!

Zach and Jack waiting for the train. Jack was SO cute with his backpack all day which he called his "rescue pack" (he's really into Diego).

Well behaved passengers (I love Zach's arm on the arm rest)

Loving the views, the train goes right along the coast, I wish you could see what they were looking at, the ocean was beautiful today. (of course Zach was screaming-- WA WA!)

Love,
Mom

Palm Springs

Dear Kate and Riley,
Last week we got to tag along with Dad to a conference in Palm Springs. Dad was really busy doing "work" things (like playing golf) so it was mostly just Zach and I hanging out at the pool. We had a blast. I have found that when we can live on "Zachary time" and have no obligations or things that we have to do, he is just happy all the time. It was nice to worry about nothing but having fun, if it took us 30 min to walk from our hotel room to the pool, fine. If he wanted to eat half his lunch at 11 and half at 12, it was fine. If he wanted to get in and out of the pool 100 times, it was fine! Take an hour to eat an apple? Great! It made for one very happy baby. If only real life was like that. He is independent enough that he could play in the baby pool on his own and I could sit on the side which was my favorite part. He made a new friend every day which also made my job easier. We even got to stay an extra day past the conference to have some play time with Dad. It was a good little "spring break" for us and I'm glad Zachary got to have a fun time, because the next vacation, we're leaving him behind!

These pictures are a great example of "Zachary time" he took this apple off the table and started eating it, I thought about taking it away but thought, ahh, whatever, we're on vacation. He spent almost an hour chowing down on this apple! He even took it out on the balcony and sat in the chair looking down at people and chomping. He ate it all the way to the core, when I finally took it away he cried (ok so I had to do SOME mommy things on this trip!)

Every day when we came in from the pool he would just CRASH. this day he actually fell asleep sitting up in our bed. He just sort of flopped over and stayed there for over 3 hours!

Love,
Mom

Spring has Sprung!

Dear Kate and Riley,
I know all the people in Utah and Wisconsin and other cold places hate it when I say things like Spring is here! because, well let's face it, its pretty much spring here all the time. But I look forward to our California springs when we can get back to the reason we live here, the beach. We've had some good beach days in the past few weeks. I've also discovered how much a very active almost 18 month old deters even the most determined mom from taking pictures. He just moves too fast for me! I find that by the time I even find my camera he's often no where to be found. Just not worth it most days. I'm determined that next week in Palm Springs (we get to tag along with Dad to a work conference). I'll get some good shots.

a beach day

St. Patrick's Day, it seriously took me like 20 min to get one shot of him looking at me

I got rid of our patio furniture and felt like I doubled our sq. footage, he LOVES playing on the patio!

I found the solution to the eating problem, get him REALLY hungry! This day after playing on the patio all morning and at the park all afternoon, I swear I've never seen him eat more. Here he is eating every last crumb, even the ones that fell on his shirt. And seriously, are those fat feet in the flip flops the cutest thing you've ever seen or what?!

Love,
Mom

We've been MIA

Dear Kate and Riley,
Well there's nothing like the month of February to make sure that life is really boring. After all of the traveling we were doing I was ready to get back to boring and we have done just that. Unfortunately that makes for bad blogging as well.

We've really been up to nothing lately and its been nice. A lot of park days, play dates and napping and its just how I like it.

Zachary is just getting bigger every day, he's flown through the last two sizes of clothes and I almost wanted to cry when I had to buy my BABY shorts that were size 2T! He is big and everyone seems to assume he is older than he is. He's learning SO much and it is so much fun to watch him so aware of his surroundings.

Some "new" things in our boring last month--

• new words-- almost every day its something new and he will imitate almost anything. His personal favorite is "TRUCK" which he yells non-stop as we are driving. Also "birdie" which sounds a LOT like baby and I couldn't figure out why he was always pointing and yelling about the babies until I realized they were birdies! "Pooh Bear" is another cute one though it may only be decipherable by mom and dad. I love hearing him try out new words (and sounds, he's really good at car and motorcycle sounds)
• food-- it has become such an issue. Zach (and mom) found out the hard way that eating nothing but carrots for two days WILL cause digestion issues (I won't go into the other details). He seems to be all or nothing. I agree with Aunt Kelli's theory that they are like rats, he must just store it up for those bad days.
  
• sickness-- first double ear infection combined with a sinus infection and a nasty cough. No fun for mom or Zach. This led to first round of antibiotics and mom's first worry that her kid is going to be a druggie as he literally SQUEALS with delight every time I give him his medicine and immediately says "mo, mo mo" (more, more more!)
• singing-- Zach is LOVING when we sing with him and although he doesn't try to sing along so much he is getting better at doing the motions, this kid is READY for nursery (oh PLEASE can't we send him a month early!?)
• shows-- yes I'm one of "those" moms. I swore I wouldn't be but if its between turning on a show or having him get into a huge mess while I get ready or make dinner, well I choose show. He loves "Tigger and Pooh" and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" they are both pretty annoying but whatever keeps him happy. Mom prefers "Backyardigans" and "wonderpets" so we compromise sometimes.
  
• Cars-- what is it with boys and their cars? While spring cleaning last weekend we found a big bag of Dad's old matchbox cars. It was like Christmas morning! He has done nothing for the past three days but line those cars up and then throw them all on the ground. He also puts them all in a basket which he then carries into the kitchen. Then he RUNS the cars back and forth from the basket to the coffee table. I don't know why, but I'm not asking.

Ok I think that was a long enough post to make up for two weeks of not posting. March should be more exciting. We have at least one trip planned and Aunt Jill and Uncle Austin will be in town so that will be exciting too.

Here's my treat to make up for having no pictures. Ignore the horrid singer in the background. And forgive me for trying to get the most out of the St. Patrick's Day shirt.




Love,
Mom

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dear Kate and Riley,
What a fun, fun weekend we had! Friday night Dad took me out for a romantic pre-Valentine's date. It was easier to get a reservation and a babysitter the day before so it worked for us. Dad took me to a nice Italian restaurant called Antonello. It was fancy and SO nice to eat a meal without a little monkey needing my attention. We walked around after and ended up at BJ's for a pizookie where we discovered the new TRIPPLE CHOCOLATE pizookie which was pretty much to die for. I can't wait until I have an excuse to have another one. Zach had a great babysitter and probably had a lot of fun without us.

Saturday I got to get my hair done, it had been months and it was really a treat for me. We got chinese food and just stayed in to avoid the "going out" crowds.

Sunday we celebrated Dad's birthday by having some friends over for dinner and dessert. We had four little kids in our house and it was pure chaos.

Monday was Dad's actual birthday. We decided to head up to Disneyland because they are having a promotion this year and annual passholders get a gift certificate on their b-day for $69! The problem with going to Disneyland is that it was POURING rain. I bet its the most rain we'll have all year and there we were at Disneyland! We took Zach to the playhouse Disney show since it was inside and then Dad stood in the rain to get his gift card. We were so soaked afterwards we just left. Probably wasn't quite the day he wanted but it was an adventure! We spent the rest of the day warming up and drying off.

Love,
Mom

Zach, amazed at the playhouse Disney show!

Dad, trying to wait out the rain at Disneyland

New haircut!

Valentine's Fun

Dear Kate and Riley,
I decided that Zach was old enough this year to participate in a little family tradition. Valentine's cookies. My mom used to make sugar cookies with us every year at Valentine's day. I loved that she made the dough pink and I loved making the giant heart shaped cookies. So for Family Home Evening we decided to give it a shot. Zach had a lot of fun and made a big mess. The cookies turned out pretty good! We are going to send some to Uncle Bret in the MTC, hopefully they don't all break in the mail.
Love,
Mom

The first thing he did was rub flour all over his face and in his hair

He was very serious about this job

Over it, and off to the bath before he could touch anything!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Dear Kate and Riley,
There is only one word for your brother right now and that is TROUBLE! This kid is keeping us on our toes. He has learned how to climb on everything and anything. It seems that any time I turn my back he is into some kind of crazy situation. Nothing is safe any more. I thought that falling off of the kitchen chairs a couple of times would teach him a lesson but he hasn't seemed phased at all.
Keep an eye on him!
Love,
Mom

This is how I found him the other day. He climbed up there all by himself and pulled
out the keyboard. He was very proud of himself and his little hood that he kept on all day
just really completed the "thug" image he was going for.