Sunday, May 30, 2010

Ready for summer fun

I'm so excited...I don't have to set any morning alarm clocks! I'm ready for summer. We're going to get our yard looking fabulous, do some improvements on the house, and have lots of fun. I especially love summer nights, sitting out on the porch with a warm breeze playing through my hair, watching the stars. I'm so ready :-)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Road Trippin...

On my way to work on Friday (May 22), I had the thought that we should take a quick trip to see my brother Jack and his wife, Amy. I didn't have to work again until later in the week and school is only on Thursdays during the summer for me. I texted my dad about it, and he said that was funny because he had decided to go see them in the morning after a doctor's appointment. So we decided to meet at my house an hour after I got home from work so I would have time to pack a few things and get the kids ready. We headed out at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and Utah looked like this....

I was so excited to be heading to warmer weather. Jack lives in Redlands/Riverside area of southern California, so I expected nothing less than 70 degrees, thank you very much. Goodbye cold, hello warm! There was a smallish incident with a low (ok, practially FLAT) tire and a short two hour detour to get new tires on my dad's SUV, but we made it there safely and that's what really matters.

Here's Nick at Jack and Amy's, just exhausted from sitting in the car for 10 hours.

Here's Bella, sprawled out on the floor, happy as can be.

The proud parents-to-be, Jack and Amy. They are soooooo cute! So happy together and excited to see the new baby. They are ready, and it could be any day now! I know you can't tell because she's still so tiny, but she's almost 38 weeks here.

Here are my kids with Jack and Amy. Bella loved to feel her cousin kicking and tried to talk him into being born while we were visiting. Sadly, it didn't happen...

So, it rained throughout the entire stay in California (basically, Sunday). Here we are, heading back to Utah, and it's warm and sunny. yep. figures. Bella would have loved a beach day :-)

And here's Mr. Nick, who doesn't really like to be interrupted when he's trying to play his Nintendo DS...

Here are the kids at the Nevada/Arizona state borders. Nick wanted a picture while they were in two places at once :-) We decided against taking a pic at the California boarder...didn't want to make anybody nervous...hahaha.

A lovely shot near St. George. At least it was sunny and beautiful there.

And another boarder picture. Here are the kids at the Arizona/Utah boarder. You can tell by now that they are quite done with the road trip and would just like to get home, please.

And we're home. It was kind of a full-circle trip, leaving with snow and coming back with snow. But it's beautiful and it's home. We hope to take lots more trips out to southern California this summer to see the new baby, and we will just have to have a few beach days then. :-)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Time to catch up :-)

I can't believe I let a whole month go by without posting anything. It's been a busy month at times, not so much at others. Here are a few things that went on in our lives since my last post:

My mom sent this photo to The Friend a couple years ago, because the kids love to read about other kids and really wanted to be in the magazine. Apparently we had given up on looking for it, because the moment we stopped looking, a friend at work showed it to me in the March 2010 issue!

Nick had an ice skating field trip with his 3rd grade class at the end of April. He found out that hockey skates are much harder to skate in than figure skates. After changing skates, he had a great time and really wanted to go back with Bella. Bella wasn't so excited about the idea, because the last time she went, she slammed her thumb in the time out box and doesn't have great memories of the whole event.

Checkin out the zamboni...

Mel was kind enough to help me in the daunting task of stocking all 3 nurseries for the first time, so of course we had to get in costume and create a new division on the floor (Stock Patrol). Hahahaha! I love it. She has a lot more pics, so, to be continued...

May 1st was our 11th anniversary. Aw....

A robin set up this huge nest in our tree just in front of the house. It's kinda nice to play host to a new family :-)

These friends are not new. A family of sparrows made a nest on the side of our house years and years ago. At first I was bugged by the amount of droppings, but it was fun to watch them protect their eggs, then see the babies as they hatched, and then watch them grow and fly away. The most amazing part is watching them come back year after year. Even after some neighbor kids knocked the nest down, they came back to the exact same spot, rebuilt the nest, and continue to come back. I think this is about year 5 or so. :-)

My Mother's Day haul...Nick and Bella made me cute cards (Nick's included a Top Ten Things About You list), Bella painted a pot, Nick made a flower pen and vase, Mario got me my favorite cookies, flowers, a card and a little bear. Too bad the bear says "Love to Grandma". Hmmmm...

The Paramore Concert....WOW!!! So much fun! Julie and I went and braved the general admission crowd for the first time in forever. It was actually the best choice. We were so close to the stage, there weren't any idiots trying to start a fight, and it's such a high energy show, I doubt I would have been able to sit anyway.

They started off by playing a few of their older songs like "That's what you get" and others from their first cds.

Here's the funny story of the night....Julie and I had two separate guitar pics thrown our way and didn't catch either one. The first came at me, flew through my hair and the kids behind me grabbed it. The second came at Julie, bounced off her cheek and into the unknown. Figures. That's just our luck. hahaha...

Seriously, this girl has a crazy amount of energy packed into her little body. She is an amazing live performer, sings even better in person, and is just fun to watch.

My favorite songs on the new CD are the acoustic versions of "Turn it Off" and "Ignorance". I also love love love "All I Wanted", "The Only Exception" and "Misguided Ghosts". They may or may not be on a playlist on my ipod, frequently on repeat.

We had a great time and I would go again in a heartbeat. I've said it before, but concerts really are my favorite hobby. I just love the excitement and energy of a good live show.

***This has been a great month. I've had the best time catching up with old friends and getting to know new ones (heeeey Mac and Kenzie, of the Mckenzies...lol). It's a great way to lead into my new adventure in nursing school. Classes start in the morning (yeah, I might be a little nervous since I should be in class in about 8 hours and I'm blogging). But I know I have a great support system, and I'm so thankful for all my friends and family who will be there for me the whole way. Fair warning, I will call on many of you in the near future, I'm sure of it :) Thanks for loving me enough to put up with the madness I will endure while being a working mom going to school. I hope I don't drive too many of you away.... :-) Wish me luck ***