Vacations, Births, and Death...

I'm on vacation right now with the kids! I'm at my brother-in-law's house in Utah and my niece was nice enough to let me use her laptop.

I left California last Thursday and got to St. George. It was Maryn's 4th birthday so we took her out to dinner to Chili's. They were so nice and when they sang, they even gave her a signed card and a free meal coupon. That evening we took a tour through Brigham Young's house. The kids love to tour his home every time we go there. After that, we went back to our bed and breakfast, The Seven Wive's Inn. It's an old Victorian home that some of the early presidents of the church would stay when they visited. The people that lived in it also hid polygamists in the attic in the old days. It's been a wonderful place to stay because the owners are so great, the food is wonderful, and the rooms are so wonderfully decorated, clean and comfortable.

The next morning we went to Mindy's house. We had so much fun! We went out to dinner to celebrate her birthday and played games and sang karaoke!

After that, I visited my sister and met her baby on my way to Idaho. I got there the day after my SIL Joanne had her baby Megan Irene. She had told me that she wanted me to be in the room for the delivery but she didn't wait for me!! Anyway, the baby was 2 weeks early and so tiny- 6 lbs. 2 oz. So cute!

We then stayed a couple of days at Glenn's parents' house. Charles was able to go fishing with his grandpa. It's become such a wonderful tradition for him! Once again he caught a fish! (I'll have to post all of the pictures later.)

We left there this morning and on the drive Glenn called us with the sad news that Charles' guinea pig, Crazy, died this morning. I can't tell you how much sadness we are feeling. Charles is especially sad because this was his first pet that he loved so much. He had had a bump on his lower eye lid and I took him to the vet before we left. They gave us an oral antibiotic to give him to prevent infection. But it made him sicker! I was gone and Glenn tried his best, but he couldn't pull through.

I'll add the pictures when I get home and finish my travel log.

Our Anniversary!

Tonight we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary!! It's actually tomorrow, but Glenn has to work. It's kind of funny because every year we really do celebrate making it one more year! But, I have to say that Glenn has been a wonderful husband. He's a hard worker and really goes the extra mile to help people out. I love him!

Tonight Glenn took me out to a movie and dinner at PF Chang's. We always love going there but we've only been for our anniversaries. Then we walked around the Irvine Spectrum for a while. The Winston's were watching Maryn for us and we ended up playing a really fun game at their house when we came to pick her up. They are such a fun couple!

Where was Charles, you may ask? He went home with my mom and is now at my brother's house! I know that those of you that know me well, know that this is a HUGE step for me! I really don't like being away from my kids- almost at all. If it weren't for the fact that he's thrilled to death to spend time with his cousin Jesse, I might not have ever let him go! I also totally get the fact that it's good for him to have experiences and build relationships. So, in that way, I was excited for him. I have cried a few times though. Maryn is having a really hard time without her brother. I will be so relieved when he's actually home and she can stop crying all the time.

Glenn and I did have to laugh at one thing: The day Charles left we had been giving him hugs and kisses and telling him how much we love him and how much we hoped he has a great time. He would smile and hug us back. When he went in to tell his guinea pig, Crazy good-bye, he came out just sobbing! I had to hug him and hold him and reassure him that Crazy would be fine and well taken care of. He said he knew that, but he'd just really miss him! Wow! We know where we stand!

Here's a picture of my new niece, Sadie:

Charles' Observations in the Walmart...

I took the kids to Walmart today to pick up a few necessities. I'm starting to think of all of the things that I need for our trip next week. While we were there I decided to pick up a box of baby wipes for the car. As I was checking the different prices and brands, I hear Charles say, "Cool! Strawberry and Grape!"

I looked over to find him holding two bottles of flavored personal lubricant! Horror washed over me!! In my haste, I'd neglected to pay attention to the whole birth control section in our same aisle! I quickly told him to put them back and come stand by me before he started noticing all the other things right by it! He obeyed even though he seemed a little confused and never asked me why. I was grateful for that. I think he just thought it was candy or something. But, it left me a little irritated that they had baby items (lotion, wipes, shampoo) right there. Why would they set it up like that?

The second observation Charles had was in the aisle that had all of the cleaning products. He looked at the shelves and commented how dirty they were. Then he said, "I wonder why they don't clean them? They have all the cleaning stuff right here." It made me think. It's so true! Why don't they clean them?

Sadie Sophia and Pancakes!

Today is such a wonderful day! My niece Sadie Sophia was born at 3:50pm in Utah! Sadly, I won't be able to meet her for a couple of weeks. But, she was 8 lbs. and 9 oz, 21" long!! I'm so happy for my sister! She wasn't up for talking because I guess the epidural was a little too strong and made her feel like jello, but she's doing great! I can't wait to get up there!

Tonight for dinner the kids and I made whole wheat pancakes! I usually hate pancakes unless they're homemade from scratch. So, the kids helped me with all of the ingredients and mixing. I told them we were making a very special recipe and that these pancakes were going to be so healthy for their bodies. They were so excited to try them. Sure enough they both loved them! Even though they weren't big pancakes, Maryn could only eat one and Charles only ate 1 1/2. The whole wheat makes such a difference. Charles said that he only wanted to eat this kind of pancake for the rest of his life. This is what Maryn said about it:


Maryn: "Mom, these pancakes are much better than chocolate chip pancakes!"
Me: "Thanks! I'm so glad you like them."
Maryn: "You know what's better than these pancakes?"
Me: "What?"
Maryn: "You!"
Me: "Aahh-ah, that's such a wonderful thing to say!"
Maryn: "I know."

A Fun Fun Summer!

This summer has been so fun and relaxing! Last Thursday Leasa invited me and the kids to Garden Grove's concert in the park. We brought food and sat on the grass and listened to a band that played The Monkeys, The Beatles, and the Beach Boy's music! We had so much fun! The kids all loved it! Leasa really wanted to get up and dance but I think it would have killed Kaitlin, so she controlled herself.

Friday was our Mom's Group at the park. The kids always have a blast there! Ronda and Kim showed up and we just talked for hours while the boys ran around and the girls played in the sand box. It was really relaxing!

That night Leasa invited me over for a jacuzzi night. Let me tell you, it was very much needed and we had such a great time. Rebecca was so nice and offered to watch the kids for me!

Today we all went to see my SIL Pam. She has been wanting help with her blog. So, it was a good excuse to take a day and see her! She is always so much fun and has so much to talk about! I could talk to her forever. The kids were happy to go out for ice cream with Aunt Pam. She likes being their "Treat" Aunt! She's trying to guarantee her place as their favorite aunt. Glenn was especially glad to spend some time with her because she's really his only family left in SoCal. We love you, Pam!

When I was at Pam's house, My friend Mindy called me twice wanting to know when I was going to be home. She let it slip that she had sent something to me and she was worried because it was sitting on my porch. We didn't get home until almost 6PM and found a vase with a dozen yellow roses!! They had been sitting in the heat all day long but they were still in great condition! They smell so delicious! Mindy has always done special things like that for me! She really cares about people and has a huge heart!

OK, I have to rant about something though. On the way home, it was rush hour traffic, so I was trying to stay in the carpool lane. I kept getting trapped behind slow drivers! They were only going the speed limit! Both the cars that trapped me along my journey home, were single passenger cars! There was no one else in their cars!! I was so ticked! Each time I passed them we would look in their car and there was no one there!! They were probably staying within the speed limit so they wouldn't get caught. It really bugged me! But, I don't know what bugged me more- that they were in the carpool lane, or that they were in my way.

Once again I'll have to wait for Glenn to bring home my camera cord so I can post all of the pictures.

Disneyland!!

The Whole Group!

The Greathouse's!!

Charles and Jesse!

My Crazy Brothers!!

Maryn, Slade and Me!

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to Disneyland with my family! Chad bought all of us tickets so that we could all be together! The day turned out to be so much fun! The kids got to go on so many rides!



The best part for me was being able to have a completely fun day and being able to just be together. Chad had made reservations to go to the Blue Bayou restaraunt for dinner. It was absolutely the best food we've had in so long! We all enjoyed it so much! Thank you, Chad, for thinking of us and making the day so special!

4th of July!

I'm finally able to post all of my pictures of the past week! The 4th of July has become "our" holiday. Every year we enjoy having our friends over and celebrating with our own fireworks. I want to continue this as long as possible because I don't know how many more years we'll be able to set off our own fireworks before they get banned!

Glenn had to work the first part of the day- of course, but he made it to my family's little reunion just in time! I was so happy! My cousin Linda had planned a big BBQ with everyone and it turned out so wonderfully! The food was great and everyone seemed to love spending time together! I love getting to visit with my cousins and feel like I'm able to get to know them better.

We left the park before they went to see their fireworks show and got home in time to set up for our friends. We had the Jenkins' and the Chase's over. I had ice cream bars, brownies and watermelon ready. (I think Jack ate at least a half of a watermelon all on his own!) The Chase's "chased" (hee! hee!) the sister missionaries down and they were able to celebrate with us too! Glenn and Jimmy did all of the fireworks while Bryce and Charles got as close as they could to feel like they were helping. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun sitting out just talking after the fireworks. We really love our friends and it's been so great to spend this holiday with them. Of course one family was missing but they moved away to be with the "Utah Mormons"!

Natural History Museum!

Today we had a fun family day at the Museum of Natural History in L.A. Glenn had the day off and the kids have been wanting to go for so long! I took pictures but I'll have to post them later when Glenn brings home my camera cord.

We ended up spending 3 1/2 hours there! It was so much fun and so much to see! They had a T-Rex exhibit with a real working lab. The people were really working on the T-Rex bones! I was so excited to see them work but it seems to be a tedious process!

They also had an insect and reptile room. It had all sorts of live insects and reptiles and lots of hands-on stuff for the kids. Maryn decided that she was scared of all the snakes, so every time she saw one she'd start screaming! It was so embarrassing! A little old lady walked away from us and started muttering in Spanish. Then Charles picked up some fox skins that still had the shriveled heads on them and she really freaked! He thought it was so funny that he did it numerous times when my back was turned just to see her freak out and scream bloody murder. I had to hold her all through that room.

We almost decided not to go last night because we want to make sure we have enough money for my trip with the kids this summer, but we had already promised the kids. So, we decided to pack our lunch instead of buying- which was very difficult for Glenn! And we thought that we could just do the metered parking. Much to our surprise, they were doing construction on the street where the metered parking used to be and the only parking lot was $6. So, we paid it with some disappointment. I noticed that the museum was packed with people walking up to it! Lots of day care kids and groups. I had forgotten that the first Tuesday of every month is free! Yeah! We saved over $25!!

It turned out to be worth the crowds. Although for some reason, as large as this place was, I kept ending up standing next to the smelliest old man! It was so crowded that I wouldn't see him I'd smell him first, and then see him! He had B.O. that just hung in the air even after he left! For any of you that really know me, that really, really grosses me out!! Blah!