Our Birthday Boy!

Happy 30th Birthday Joseph!

I love Joseph because.....he works really hard for our family, with rare complaint about the nonsense he has to deal with and if he does he always does it with laughter and a smile....he is always happy and has a contagious smile....he is a handsome feller....he is very affectionate and gives the best hugs (and kisses)....he is passionate in his interests in life, the gospel, his family, mountains, cycling, and recreation....he reminds us nearly every day that righteous families are strengthened through wholesome family recreation....he is never stingy with compliments...he has a very warm personality....anything fun we do as a family is usually his idea....he has more energy than anyone I know....he is always positive....he has righteous desires....he isn't afraid to get dirty and work hard....he makes me laugh everyday....he is smart....he is very kind and compassionate to all types of people....he insists that I have time to myself for developing hobbies, interests, friendships, and attending the temple....he doesn't leave or enter the house or let me in or out of the house without a hug and kiss...he likes to talk....he values my opinion....he always kisses me goodnight....he is very even tempered....he has eaten an apple everyday for as long as I can remember...he loves to get down and dance and can really move it....he has a song for everything and is often found singing....he loves Disneyland as much as I do....he enjoys good food....he feels strongly about staying physically active as an adult....he is humble....he has experienced disappointing and sad things in his life, but he has never become bitter or angry....he learns from other's mistakes....he loves movies....he is quirky....he always remembers to say I Love You....he is encouraging to me and others....he does not judge others....he always helps out around the house....he is extrememly grateful and always remembers to show gratitude to me, Heavenly Father, and others....he is diligent in holding FHE, family prayer, couple prayer and personal prayer .... he tries really hard to have scripture study most days, and on the days it doesn't happen he feels and expresses a sense of urgency that we need it everyday....he has a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ which he shares often in our home and isn't afraid to share with others....he is an involved dad and plays with his kids everyday...he has never left my side when I have been in the hospital after having a baby, even when it meant having stinky socks and sleeping in a chair for 3 days....he loves my family as much as I do....he puts up with me, I don't think there is another person out there who could (my parents would both agree)....he loves me....he tries really hard to live a balanced life....he is not perfect and he does not expect perfection out of me or anyone else....he believes that every man should fight like hell for his family and his salvation every day, and he lives by his words....he is my best friend....and last but not least (I could go on forever) he paid me $20.00 a pop for every nice thing I wrote about him ;)

"A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world anxious to bless the whole human race." Joseph Smith

For his birthday date on Friday I asked him what he wanted to do.....I was thinking a manly steak dinner or something...no, he wanted to run for an hour together after work and go get a salad bar at Ruby Tuesday (he loves the rye croutons). I thought it was funny, but I was dreading it (the run) all day after a long day of kids and housework, but I thought it IS his birthday...so that's exactly what we did and it really was fun! Yesterday he went on a grueling bike ride because he wanted to ring in his 30's by doing something really hard physically. He came home very spent, but extremely happy! Today we will feast on homemade cafe rio salads and oatmeal cake and enjoy a walk around the UC Davis duck pond. Happy Birthday Joe!

Happy Birthday Kory!

Happy 30th Birthday to my cousin, friend, old roommate, and fellow blogger Kory!

Things I love about Kory....

she is the cleanest and most organized person I know...she is a wonderful wife and mom...she's a great cook...she is smart...she is always dressed fashionably and cute...she has a great sense of humor...she listens...I can tell her all of my problems, frustrations and she empathizes...she is naturally beautiful and looks great even without make-up (almost makes me have to hate her)...it doesn't matter how long it's been since we've seen each other or talked, we always pick up where we left off...she is a great athlete...she let me play on her summer softball league twice, even though I lacked great skills, all I can do is run hard :)....she has had amazing faith and trust in Heavenly Father during her trials and always uses them to make herself a better person...I love you Kory, I hope you have a great day!

Easter Sunday 2008

With Joe at early meetings on Sundays, I start our Sundays pretty early in order to get every head of hair done, every tummy fed, and every body covered. Abby wasn't too thrilled about her early morning picture. It's pretty much a nightmare getting Aaron ready every Sunday. I pull him out of bed, he has to skip his morning cuddle on my shoulder and go straight for the breakfast, and then into the tub. He exits the tub screaming and kicking, I put my feet on his shoulders to pin him down enough to get a diaper on and get him dressed and I then take full advantage of his open mouth for a quick brush of the teeth and buckle him in the carseat. I am usually coevered with wet spots and lotion smudges all over my clothes. Off we go, always hoping that the 30 second drive to the church will calm him down. This Sunday I got dressed last which helped out a bit. After church everyone was all smiles!

I had a meeting after church, so Joe had someone take a picture, then we traded so he could help with tithing and I could go home and finish the Easter dinner prep. They're so cute, I just want to squeeze them all!
I tried to get a photo with Aaron when we got home. This is as far as we got..."Get your hands off me Mom!"
Little Miss Abby
Aaron, going for the messy hair look. We had a good wrestle with the gel as part of our pre-church brawl. His hair grows so fast! For some reason he refused to stand by the girls for pictures. Oh well!
Lunch at the Ellis' with a few other families and the sister missionaries.
It was a beautiful day for an outside Easter dinner. We feasted on ham, turkey, salads, lion house potatoes, yummy bread, boiled eggs with hummus, chips and 7 layer dip, veggies, mixed berry/cream cheese jello salad, and cake and ice cream. It was divine and we left with our tummies way too full! It was fun visiting and watching the kids play, I love that my girls are best friends.
Aaron really enjoyed the cake and ice cream.
In fact, he loved it so much that he helped himself to the rest of the carton.
What a little animal!
Aaron ran around with the big boys playing football after dinner. He was so cute. Every time they threw the ball he would run after it as fast as he could. It's so funny how preprogrammed they are, with two older sisters and spending time with a girly mom all day you would think he wouldn't know what to do, he acted like this is what he does all day long everyday. Hopefully spending so much time with the girls will help him be sensitive to the womenfolk in his life? P.S. I highly recommend the boys tan pants from Gap with Gapshield, a stain resistant something or other. He had smooshed blueberries, blackberries, marionberries, chocolate and grass ALL OVER his pants and it all came completely out.
Brynn
Abby

2008 Woodland 1st Ward Easter Egg-Stravaganza!

Our ward activities committee always does an amazing job planning fun activities each month. We loved visiting with friends and enjoying the nice weather on Saturday at the park near our house. This was Aaron's first Easter Egg Hunt! Last year he was only about 10 months, and wasn't walking or eating candy, so this was a whole new experience for him. At first he wasn't quite sure what to do...
.....but after a little coaching he started to catch on....

Okay, I've dropped it into my basket....
Hey, it's still there!
This is fun! I think I'll go for some more!
Whoa, this thing is gettin' heavy!
Brynn and Abby were a little harder to capture, they moved a little faster than our novice egg hunter. Luckily, they split the kids into different age groups.

When the whistle blew, there was no stoppin' Abby!
Brynn, stops to pose for a picture, of course!
It was hard getting a picture of the kids after the eggs were gathered. They couldn't think about anything else...except for Brynn, she's always up for a photo op!

The concentration....
I love those chubby little fingers....
Determined!
We thought we put the candy away when we arrived home, but we found Abby's basket dumped in the corner of her room, with remnants of wrappers and opened eggs. Brynn, of course, was afraid of that tummy-ache dad promised her would accompany and overindulgence of candy, so her candy went straight to the counter in a ziploc baggie. Every time we turned around Aaron had a dripping mouthful of chocolate and sticky brown fingers, and every time Joe was stumped, sure that he had put the candy out of reach...hmmm, wonder how that happened. Maybe a little help.

Goodnight Kisses

For the 8 1/2 years we have been married, Joseph has always remembered to give me a goodnight kiss.... He never forgets this ritual which is pretty cool, because sometimes I do. Anyway the purpose of this post is not to get mushy about him, but to write about our cute little Aaron. When we moved to California, Aaron became an all-star at sleeping in his crib. Naps, bedtime...piece of cake. During the holidays he became accustomed to falling asleep under Joseph's arm and we haven't been successful in getting him back into his crib since. He sleeps with Abby most of the time, but prefers to fall asleep with us, and prefers to go to bed with the last person up. Yes, I know, who are the adults here? :) Last night we were in bed and he was lying between us, Joe leaned over to give me a goodnight kiss and then laid his head back down. A few seconds later, Aaron leaned over in like fashion and puckered up, with a "Mmmmm" I gave him a goodnight kiss and then he laid his head on the pillow with a smile. For the next few minutes every 15 seconds or so, he would lean in to plant another on me. I could not stop laughing, so of course he kept doing it. We love this little guy so much, so glad he's part of our little crew.

It's a slippery slope!

The other night Abby pulled out a juice pack. She had already helped herself to a couple that day, so I told her she needed to wait until tomorrow to drink it. She gave me a deflated, "Okay mom." A few minutes later she came to me while I was folding laundry and said, "Mom, I'm just going to put it out so I can see it, so I don't forget about it tomorrow, but I'm not going to drink it." I told her that was fine. About 5 minutes later, she came to me again, this time with the straw punched into the hole. "I just decided to get it ready for tomorrow Mom, but I won't drink it." Again I told her that was fine. I noticed it sitting full on the counter while she brushed her teeth for bed. After they went to bed, I went to close down the kitchen and found the juice, sitting there half-full waiting for tomorrow to come. I had a little laugh and put the juice in the fridge.

Like Father, Like Son

Boy do I love having a little boy! There's no doubt I adore my daughters too, but I am so happy we have been blessed with Aaron. I just love him! I love that he loves me too! In fact I think he has me wrapped around his finger.

He's also super fond of his dad. I love the second Joseph walks through the door after a day of work, not only does my heart start pumping with excitement, but everyone goes running and screaming to the door to greet him. (In fact, I love getting away once in a while, so I can look forward to that treatment upon returning home!) Aaron is no exception, he runs as fast as he can (and he's pretty fast!) with his arms and mouth open wide, his little voice vibrating with each step, until he meets his dad's arms to swing him up for a squeeze! I love it!

Well the other night the bishop called and asked Joe if he wanted to go workout after the kids were in bed. Joe agreed and helped get everyone to bed, except Aaron, we've been having crib problems lately. Anyway, he saw Joe put on his gray shirt and shorts, so he went to his drawer and pulled out his gray short outfit and brought it to Joe to have him help put it on. While Joe was putting on his own shoes, Aaron came running to the room with his shoes. I said to Joe, "You realize he knows you're leaving and wants to come, don't you?" He was going to the park to do lunges and pull-ups, and it was past 9:30 p.m. he said, "I can't take him at this time of night!" I told him he couldn't leave him with me...crying and screaming... so he had no choice. He put him in the baby jogger and ran to the park.

When he got home Joe, started stretching, and Aaron got into a lunge position and started to do the same thing, switching legs as Joe did. Then when Joe got into push-up position, Aaron followed suit and did the same lifting his little bum up while bending his elbows.

I thought he would stay in the stroller at the park and just watch Joe. Joe said that he got out and ran around Karsten and him as they worked out. I can picture it now! I'm so glad they have each other!

Cute, Tender and Funny Things They Say....

I wish I could video tape every little thing they say. The words themselves are funny, but the intonations, the speech impediments, slight accents, and expressions of body and face, all come together to bring a smile to my whole soul.

Joe had lots of busy nights this week with work and church service and on one of the nights after doing ministry visits, the bishop took them to dinner. Joe came home stuffed to the max and started talking about how all of his hard work (in exercising) was going down the drain because he was so full. He told me that he had weighed less all week after he had started running, but he was sure he wasn't "skinny" anymore. Brynn was at the table doing her homework and said in her little country girl accent, "Dad, it needs to be Saturday again so you can go bikin' and get skinny again!" We both laughed. She's so cute! It's amazing how well they listen to what you say! We're "supposed" to be running a half marathon on May 3 together, but we've been slackers in our training. For all those who felt bad for being in a fitness rut after hearing about the fun Trinidad race, know that we get in ruts ourselves and now we're trying to find a way out. Since our trip to the Montage I think I've run twice. Ya know, I don't think that's proper training for a half marathon. We may be doing the 10k if we can't get movin' soon!

On Friday morning at 2:53 a.m. I woke up to the phone ringing, which was a miracle, I don't wake up easily. It was my friend Tiffany telling me that her water had broken. I headed over to her house to watch her other two kids. Her kids woke up at 6:30 so we headed back to my house to get everyone going for the day there. Joe took Brynn to school, but when the time came to pick her up, I was on my own. I'm sure it was a sight to see, I put the two kids I was babysitting in my double stroller and strapped them in tight because they are both FEARLESS and will escape and take off running! With all of the cars around the school, I didn't want to take any chances. I put Aaron in the umbrella and had Abby push him. She was so cute! She kept saying over and over, "Mom, I'm learning how to be a mom!" About every 20 feet she would say, "Hold on mom! I need to fix something!" She then would walk to the front of the stroller and fix the wheels that were turned the wrong way. It was the longest walk to school, but she did an amazing job! My friend had her baby. A whoppin' 11 1/2 pounder (11 pounds 7 ounces to be exact).

On the way to the memorial service on Saturday we tried to prep the kids about what was going on and what had happened to the little baby who had passed away. They both were all very respectful at the viewing and during the service. On Sunday, the day after we attended the memorial service for little Caleb, Abby said to me matter of factly, "Mom, babies come to earth when they are born and when the times comes, they die. That's just part of life."

Abby is our little kitchen mouse and loves to just help herself when it comes to finding a little snack to eat. She knows that I am happy to get her a snack when she wants one, all she needs to do is ask, but that small task seems insurmountable to her. Today I found her eating some blueberry struesel bread at the little table. (Atleast she was at the table, I feel like I say "at the table" a million times a day). Abby loves to reason and is always thinking up explanations about her behavior. Today she said, "Mom, the reason why I was eating the bluberry bread without asking you was because when I am a mom I'll know how to get out the bread and feed myself, that's just why I was doing it." Glad to know you'll be able to take care of yourself Abby, not that I'm worried, you do a pretty great job as a 4 year old. :)

The other day Abby, Aaron and I were walking to school to pick Brynn up. Abby turned to me and said in a reassuring tone, "Mom, it's okay that you have blonde hair.....you can still be part of our family!" She keeps repeating this to both Joe and me, it's obviously occupying much of her thought lately.

Her cutest one liner this week had to be, "Guys, I am SO going to bed!" and like I said, the lisp, original accent, hand swing, head flip, and intonation make smiling absolutely unavoidable.

Day Trip to San Francisco

This past weekend we took a trip to Moss Beach which is south of San Francisco to attend the funeral services for the 4 month old baby of one of the other administrators. The service was very touching, filled with faith and testimony. We left with a renewed testimony of the plan of our Heavenly Father and were reminded of the delicate nature of our lives and our time here on earth. I am grateful for our Savior who overcame all that we might live again. That knowledge gives such hope during trying times, no matter how big or small. I know I've said it before, but the Northern Coast is beautiful! Moss Beach is located south of Ssan Fran near Half Moon Bay. Small coastal cities outside of the city....very pretty. After the funeral we told the kids we were going to San Francisco. We had in mind that we would drive up the coast and visit Golden Gate State Park, maybe Presidio Park and then stop in Sausalito. The kids had other plans. Brynn wanted to eat seafood, preferrably salmon and drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. Abby wanted to see the "sea lions that kick each other off the dock," and ride on the big red and white boat. Brynn told her we couldn't because dad doesn't have as much money as mom...ha! What a kick! (When we went to SF with Emily, we went on that red and white fleet harbor cruise!) When we told them that we were going to do something different, they both whined, "You said we were going to San Francisco! That's not San Francisco!" That's when we decided to ask them what San Francisco meant to them. :) We ended up eating seafood, walking the Pier, seeing the sea lions, driving over the Golden Gate Bridge and then heading home.



Next time we want to see something else in San Francisco, we'll be sure to say we're going to that specific place... now that we know what going to San Fran means to the kids. We still had a good time....that city amazes me and makes me grateful I live in little old Woodland. It's just much more "us" than the big city life.

I always enjoy driving past Mount Tamalpais where each time I am reminded by my husband, "There's where mountain biking was invented...do you remember by orange Mt. Tam bike?" We've been through about a dozen bikes in our almost 9 years so, it's honestly a blur, but it's always fun to see such a beautiful place and to hear him get so excited. Northern California is really beautiful especially this time of year. Everything is so green! The drive home was on the edge of wine country, Joe wanted to head north a little more for the scenery, but we decided to get home to prepare for Sunday. Another trip and more great ideas for little day adventures. It's nice to take the time to go and see these places. Each time we do we realize just how close we are to so much beauty! We stopped in Davis to get Aaron a much needed church belt, and shared a tub of halfed baked at Ben & Jerry's before stopping into Borders for a quick browse. I love hanging out with these people....big and small.