We Watsons

Goodbye Christmas!

2011-12-29T12:44:00.001-08:00

Well, it was a good run, but I have to admit I'm ready to be done! Decorations are down and now it's time for the New Year!
Bring it, 2012! We're ready for you!

Recycling Day

2011-11-15T21:16:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure how many months we've been saving these, but we sure did have a LOT of bags of bottles and cans this time. And we had our best take to date: $17.74! Not too shabby! Ethan spent his cut immediately on candy and a snub nosed cap gun. Here's to long term saving leading to instant gratification! Funny!

Radley Vader

2011-11-14T22:30:00.001-08:00

Strikes back!

The Cheese

2011-11-12T23:17:00.001-08:00

Is it just me or are 3 day weekends a mixed blessing? I mean, it's fun having an extra Saturday-esque day with all the fam, but on the other hand it's another day to put on the ol' cruise director hat to entertain which means... Chuck e cheese! Luckily, the boys both loooove the place and now that the pizza isn't just cheese covered cardboard, Aaron and I like it, too. And we love the skeeball, too. Who doesn't? Even Analea got into it-- forward facing in the sling for the first time! So cute!

Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-11T18:13:00.001-08:00

I think this is the first Veteran's Day we actually spent with a Vet! We are so lucky to have Grandpa close to us, and it was fun to talk to him about his memories about being in the merchant marines. I'm grateful for the men and women who work to keep our country free.

B Ball

2011-11-08T23:32:00.001-08:00

Tonight was Ethan's first basketball practice with his new team. Annie, Radley, and I all sat outside in the freezing cold on the blacktop for an hour and a half while he watched him practice, but it was worth it. I think he had a great time. It will be fun to watch him this season as he improves his skills – and learns how to not double dribble ;)

Like this sweet action shot?

Dressy

2011-11-07T23:09:00.001-08:00

So I didn't post last night because I was busy finishing up this little treat! I can't take credit for the design at all (I was blog surfing-- caught me!), but I'm still proud that I made it myself. Creativity is highly over-rated! At least, that's what I tell myself ;)

Turned out pretty cute, huh? Oh, and I even made a headband to match! Can't wait to put it on her!

Daddy Girl

2011-11-05T22:49:00.001-07:00

Well, Aaron certainly has a pint-sized admirer-- Annie can't get enough Dad time! She always saves her biggest smiles and loudest laughs for him.

Sleeping beauty

2011-11-04T19:54:00.001-07:00

I was just thinking about what I was going to blog about today and then I looked down, and there's my little sleeping baby in my arms! She's been awake for a total of four hours today so I can see why she's so exhausted ;) Smiling, giggling, and blowing spit bubbles really will take it out of you. Such a sweet little girl – we're so lucky to have her!

Shhh!

2011-11-03T23:10:00.001-07:00

Should I feel insulted that Radley shushes me all the time? If he weren't so darn cute, I probably would! He always says, "Shhh! Annie's sleeping!" even though she's wide awake. We took this picture today, and he thought it was just hysterical! He's such a fun, albeit bossy buddy!

Bargain Fun

2011-11-02T23:02:00.001-07:00

Our little family looooves to go to the dollar store on a lazy Saturday, and last week was no exception. We all picked out our $1 gems; Ethan inevitably chose candy, Radley selected a pink slinky, and I chose 3 buckets to decorate for the kids for Halloween.

But the true highlight of the trip? Analea sat like a big girl in the shopping cart for the first time!
I'm so proud!

best brothers

2011-11-01T23:44:00.001-07:00

parts

2011-11-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry, but aren't these the cutest little toes in the world? Don't you just want to eat them up??

Great Great-Grandpa

2011-11-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

So my grandpa is back on the West coast! Hooray! And not only that, but he lives right around the corner! Awesome! You'd think that having your grandpa just a few blocks away would make daily visits a snap (as I did before he came), but... not so much! It's so hard escaping each day! But it really is worth the effort-- I especially love seeing Grandpa James and Radley James interact-- Rad loves sharing his toys with him-- and Grandpa loves sharing his cookies and candy with him-- they're a match made in heaven! Love you Grandpa!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:07:00.000-07:00

What a treat! I'm blogging again! :)

Well, it was another great Halloween weekend! We loved the Carnival Friday night, and it was so fun carving pumpkins and 'boo-ing' Saturday night. Ethan is quite the carver! Speaking of carving, he had so much fun as Edward Scissorhands (probably as much fun as I had putting the costume together! You know how some costumes just take on a life of their own?). He looked awesome! He even won the Most Creative Costume at the Carnival! Analea also shined as a fancy cupcake and Radley monkeyed it up as Abu (from Aladdin). I even made Halloween candy buckets to match their costumes-- way unnecessary, but so so fun!

choo, choo!! happy number TWO!

2011-02-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

i can't believe my baby boy is TWO (well, tomorrow!)-- where does the time go? anyway, we had a fun little train party with his two best buds, josh and milo, and it was so so fun! essentially, it was a play date with decorations and cupcakes, but i'm so glad we did it!

snow (?) trip

2011-02-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

there wasn't much snow up at the watson cabin this year, but there was plenty of fun, fun, fun! one of the days we decided to head into big bear town and had a blast at the dollar store and the laundromat, of all places! this picture was chantel's idea, and i love it! (but the face was all radley's-- he's becoming quite the little funny little character!)

my boys

2011-01-12T12:32:00.000-08:00

i know it's been FOREVER since i've blogged, and i don't really have time to do any major catching up right now (story of my life!), so i just wanted to share this little winter picture of my two favorite little guys. i actually even photoshopped it a bit (i still can't figure out how to make it less 'sunny' on ethan's face)-- i took out an ugly ground light and tree trunk thing. it took a long time, so i'm not sure if it was worth it, especially since ethan and radley are darling no matter what. ;)

halloween part I, II, & III

2010-11-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

halloween is a trilogy this year! we started the celebrating on friday night with the spoooky ward party (complete with spook alley and trunk-and-treat), then on saturday we met up with a bunch of families in the area and went door-to-door trick-or-treating (and ended up at our house for candy trading, pumpkin pie, and hot cider!), and then finally on sunday we stayed at home and watched a scary movie and handed out candy. whew! what a weekend!

ethan is frankenstein this year (the costume in its entirety cost about $4.58! his "angry brows" were his idea!) and radley is a little pumpkin (the construction hat is his favorite! he loves that thing!). i love homemade costumes!!

alert! we've got a walker!

2010-05-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

well, my lazy baby finally decided to try out bi-ped mobility! he first started taking some steps around memorial day weekend, but he's kind of retrogressed lately. i think he figures he gets around just fine on his knees (although i have learned to always keep socks and shoes on him-- although he rapidly wears through the tops of both of these-- because he gets ouchy sores on his feet if i don't!). silly boy!

but here's proof that he's at least capable of walking on his own! now whether he chooses to do it regularly, well, that's a whole different story...

(this also catches radley vader in one of his favorite shirts holding one of his favorite toys-- a wii remote)

hair today, gone tomorrow!

2010-05-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

yay for short hair! hallelujah! (and hallelujah i spelled hallelujah right! wow!)

isn't he soooooooooo handsome! now we can see his beeeeeeeautiful face!

before

after :)

insanely adorable

2010-05-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

okay, i realize i'm pretty much the most biased person in the world about this particular subject, but isn't this little boy the cutest thing you've ever seen??

i'm cheating

2010-04-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

i know, i know, i'm a terrible blogger!

i've just backtracked a teeny bit to give you a quick snapshot of some of the goings-ons...

more to come! (hopefully soon!)

wet togetherness

2010-04-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

it doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it always means a fun, albeit soaking wet time. ethan, now a solid shower man, still has a hankering for a tub experience, especially when he sees his little brother getting stripped for a bath. and doesn't this cute pic make you want to grab your bottle of bubbles and jump on in, too?

more az fun

2010-03-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

at the end of my arizona vacation, ethan and aaron came out to pick me and radley up and they stayed for the weekend. this meant lots of time on the trampoline, lots of games, and lots of playing with our new baby cousin. radley was super curious about libby, and i think they're going to be great friends in a few years (when she stops sleeping all day and he stops wanting to poke her in the nose). thanks again, hancocks, for a great time!

welcome baby libby!

2010-03-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

first of all, is it fair that my little sis gets to look this gorgeous immediately following childbirth?

second of all, yay for baby elizabeth annette hancock! what a beautiful baby! i feel SO blessed that i got to witness the birth of this little one. she gave her momma a hard time in her belly, but she sure did just come out absolutely angelic. i got to hang out with ash and lil' libb for about 10 days in arizona after she was born, and i barely heard her cry once. she's so good! and ashley dresses her little girl so cutely! and her big brothers, ethan and hayden, love her sooo much!

it was fun having 'fashion shoots' with her on the couch. i'm just the luckiest aunt in the world! love you little libby and momma ash!

trailblazer of the month!

2010-03-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

yay for ethan! he was chosen as trailblazer of the month for enthusiasm for march! we're so proud of him!

(coincidentally, it was also dress up as your favorite book character, so ethan chose to be tom sawyer. doesn't he look so darling?)

(mrs. skinner was pink from the book pinkalicious!)

swinging good time

2010-03-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

wheeeeeeeeeeee!

happy birthday radley!

2010-02-25T10:52:00.000-08:00

he's number ONE!! i can't believe this day has come! my little baby is (rapidly!) growing up! we had a wonderful 1st birthday party for rad to celebrate his big day filled with his favorite things: balloons, balls, and bubbles! for the invitations, i stuffed them into balloons (and then had them filled with helium at the store) and attached a little sign at the bottom of the ribbon that read "pop me", made a super cute "happy birthday sign",and then we rented a helium tank and filled the whole house with colorful balloons. at the party, i had the kids draw a picture of themselves and radley to be displayed on his bedroom wall, and then the kids made balloon animals (courtesy of a cute martha stewart crafts pack). then we went outside and had a ball bouncing contest (i think gabe's and spencer's went the highest), and then while aaron and i were cooking the baby burgers and getting the salads ready, ashley took charge of the balloon game. after lunch came the highlight of the party for me (and most definitely for radley): our birthday boy got to have his first chocolate cupcake! at first he didn't know what he was supposed to do (we plopped him in his high chair outside and he had 35 people staring at him expectantly), but he quickly figured it out and started demolishing the cupcake (he's champion of the super huge bites). we took no fewer than 5o pictures of the whole process from clean to a very, very messy conclusion. radley was such a happy, happy boy all day! we love you radley!!

welcome baby ellie!

2010-02-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

where do i even begin? my big sister was long overdue, but she was super excited about having her new baby girl au naturel. but not just no pain meds-- been there done that (not wimpy me, of course, but taryn has several times). oh no, this time she wanted to spice things up a bit and have the baby a la bathtub. i offered my tub upstairs, but she opted (wisely) to avail herself of the pros at the women's center in san diego. never one to pass up a chance to witness one of my niece's or nephew's grand arrival into the world, i headed down with my parents one exciting evening because we were told they were going to break taryn's water, so we needed to get down there prontito. we did, but as generally happens with natural child labor, the action didn't start for several hours to come (hence the picture of sleeping family--all of taryn's kids were there, too). anyway, taryn was a trooper, and despite the atrociously painful back labor, taryn got through the whole ordeal like a champ. and the grand finale? taryn in the tub leaning back against her best friend, melissa's, legs, with danny in the foreground ready to catch the squirmy bundle of joy. welcome, beautiful eleanor noel clawson! we're so happy to have and love you!

(oh, and did you catch the name-- she has MY middle name! mine! i'm so proud! she's my little namesake! i just adore her!)

brother fun

2010-02-23T20:40:00.000-08:00

there are so many no-school mondays in february! no problem! free time = park time! as radley gets bigger, he enjoys parks more and more, much to his big brother's delight. they're so cute when they play together! radley and ethan really are super lucky to have each other-- and i'm super extra lucky to have them!!

up high

2010-02-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

radley LOVES to sit on top of aaron's shoulders. wouldn't you?

castle park

2010-02-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

this is the second year we've gone to have some castle park fun with the keelers and sorensons. kristi is really good about buying the special $5 tickets so we can all enjoy a fun, cheap adventure. radley's favorite ride is still the carousel, but ethan mixes it up with a bunch of fun rides including the wizard ride which he loves to do with dad, and the motorcycle ride (because it has several different buttons he can push for the horn sounds). what a fun day! thanks aunt kristi!

san fran

2010-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

one of our favorite music artists, mark kozelek, was playing in san fransisco, AND aaron's best friend from high school, david, is now working up there, so we decided to make a fun mini vacay out of it. we had some delicious food (i love you burmastar!) and did a little sight seeing, and had a great time. it was our first weekend away from little rad (he and i were both a little nervous about it), but i think we all did just fine! thanks david and cheyanne!

100

2010-02-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

did you know that feb 5th was ethan's 100th day of first grade? well, it was, and to celebrate he joined all his classmates in dressing up like a 100 year-old man. he looked great! and the other picture is his fun teacher, mrs. skinner. she gets around really good for her age!

a valentine for our ethan

2010-02-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

Top 50 things We Love About Ethan

50. He’s so cute.

49. He is super helpful around the house.

48. He loves his mom and dad.

47. He is a great big brother.

46. He loves making people laugh.

45. He is SO funny!

44. He has great manners.

43. He is very sensitive to other people’s feelings.

42. He likes to play games with the family.

41. He has beautiful eyes.

40. He is a great friend.

39. He is super smart.

38. He lost 6 teeth (and still looks So handsome!)

37. He has a great laugh.

36. He is a great cuddler.

35. He loves to make people feel good.

34. He is very generous with his toys.

33. He can play well with older kids as well as younger ones.

32. He is a super quick lego builder.

31. He runs Really fast.

30. We love to go on nature walks.

29. He is a good cook.

28. He sometimes sets the table without being asked.

27. He loves everyone he meets (and people can feel it!)

26. His smile lights up the whole room.

25. He is a good dresser.

24. He loves to dress fancy.

23. He likes to help daddy wash the car.

22. We love to go to Disneyland.

21. He is a great mini-golfer.

20. He likes to try new things.

19. He likes mom’s cooking!

18. He likes to push Radley around in a little car.

17. He is Very ticklish!

16. He is a really good reader.

15. He always has really good ideas.

14. He can swim like a fish!

13. He jumps really high.

12. He is great at Tae Kwon Do (he has his orange stripe belt!)

11. He loves animals.

10. He can make really funny faces.

9. He’s a good tree climber.

8. He loves to have his back scratched.

7. He has an amazing memory.

6. He’s very loyal.

5. He’s always in a good mood.

4. He’s (usually) very obedient.

3. He gets excited about little things.

2. He’s very creative.

1. We love him because he’s a great son!

front facing and ready to go

2010-02-11T18:25:00.000-08:00

radley has reached another milestone: he's big enough for a front facing carseat! hooray! he already loved riding in the back with his big brother, but now he has even more fun playing with him and (on the occasional long road trip) watching movies together! it's a whole new world!

light speed ahead!

2010-01-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

have you ever seen a 5 foot lego depiction of the millennium falcon?

have you ever Built one?

well, i haven't either, but my handsome husband and brilliant son have! wow! what a team!

happy anniversary! x 2!!

2010-01-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

and they said we would never make it! ;)

first we had our "family anniversary" and went to dinner with ethan and rad at our favorite (and historic) bailey's in old town, and then on the 26th grandma and grandpa watched the baby so that aaron and i could go celebrate... at disneyland!

here's to another 48 years! love you, honey!

rainy day fun

2010-01-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

what do you do when the whole family has the day off from work and school... and it's raining? you go to the indoor glow-in-the-dark mini golf place, of course! aaron even had a hole in one! ethan battled a gigantic (and eerily glowing) jack sparrow and radley applauded it all! (he's big into giving people claps!)

just for the heck of it

2010-01-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

random tidbits:

ethan: you may already know this, but our ethan is a fancy boy. he Lives to get dressed up. you merely suggest that we're going to a nice dinner, and he'll be in a three piece suit in no time. generally he tones it down for school (although he is very much his father's son: he can't handle wearing the plain white hanes socks i now know not to buy-- socks have to have some bright colors, stripes, or cool logos on them to even be considered), but this day he was getting dressed and decided that he wanted to be fancy. such a handsome boy-- i just love him.

radley: he loves to eat. anything and everything. he can't stand being around someone who's eating and not sharing (he'll bug you until you break). we still feed him baby food, but he's just as happy (if not more so) sharing my soup, mashed potatoes, chicken, and (oops!) frozen yogurt. if you spend any time with radley, you probably know all of this, but what you may not know is that when he eats, he has to have at least one foot on the table. i know, i know, terrible manners we're cultivating in our littlest one, but it's kind of funny. we'll put his foot down, and he just pops it right back up. so cute, so cute.

happiest place

2010-01-14T11:25:00.000-08:00

aaron and i got annual passes for our birthdays, and we're determined to take advantage of them this year. so, when we realized we had a saturday which was completely free from plans and obligations (hugely unprecedented), we made a break for anaheim. what a fun day! brave ethan went on indiana jones for his first time (wasn't a big hit) and brave radley went on mr. toad's wild adventure (not a big fan of that one either). i think it's safe to say that the family favorite of the day was the carousel (and the big ice cream sundae we all split at the end of the day!).

my vampires

2010-01-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

ethan lost three teeth within three weeks, and radley's top two teeth are making an appearance... on either side of his mouth! little radcula and draculethan-- so cute! they're going to give edward a run for his money!

(please excuse the shameless twilight reference-- it's dedicated to my sweet niece maddie!)

ice racing

2010-01-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

we decided to spend new year's day on the ice skating rink, so we headed down to the iceoplex, rented some skates, and got to it! ethan was a little hesitant side-hugger-arm-grabber at first, but then we hunted down an "easy rider" (a contraption made of pvc pipes) and ethan was like an olympic champ! just don't get in his way! ;)

happy new year!!

2010-01-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

welcome 2010! we decided midnight was too late for ethan, but i wanted him to experience a new year's eve party, so we brought in the new year... at 7pm! we had some family over and had some food and cake, but of course the best part: the countdown! we had party hats, horns, poppers, sparkling cider in fancy glasses, and A BALLOON DROP! it was so fun! hooray for the new year! i think 2010's going to be a good one!

(and yes, i realize this post marks the end of my blog drought, and yes, i fully intend to recap the major events of the past 6 months-- just chalk it up to new year's reminiscing!)

old tooth, new tooth

2010-01-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

ethan was fiddling with a loose tooth all day yesterday until last night it fell out! luckily the tooth fairy still makes visits on new year's eve, so ethan found a little jackpot under his pillow this morning.

and just as quickly as it seems ethan is loosing teeth, radley is gaining them! the latest development: two new top teeth... on either side of his two bottom teeth. that's right-- our baby's got fangs! yikes!

snowy days

2009-12-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

we went out to the watson's cabin again this year; the childs and the fifields accompanied us this time, and we found some fun sledding hills, played some fun games, ate some good food, and just had a wonderful time. even the three babies had a fun time all bundled up in their warmest jackets and hats!

this year on the way home, ethan and i decided to tackle the alpine slide, and we're so glad we did! we rode up the mountain on the ski lift and then just zipped down on our little toboggans. how exhilarating! ethan wanted to go by himself-- he's getting so old and brave!

my middle-aged honey

2009-12-26T17:38:00.001-08:00

DSC07632
Originally uploaded by amberlywatson

sweet 34 = aaron has officially entered his mid-thirties. congratulations! how we chose to celebrate, you ask? well, by going to disneyland, of course! then we met david (aaron's bff from hs) for dinner at a yummy mexican restaurant. happy birthday, sweetheart!

merry christmas!

2009-12-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

this is undoubtedly one of ethan's favorite days of the year, and i can easily so why. christmas = presents, family and fun. what's not to love? christmas day was especially fun this year because we had lots of visitors-- grandma and grandpa watson came over to celebrate for awhile, and then we were joined by the clawson family. it was great because almost all the kids had received outdoor toys, so we spent a good amount of time just playing and riding along with them in the street. i love the closeness and love of family that we feel this time of year. i'm so grateful for christ's birth and for the chance we have to celebrate his life and sacrifice. as ethan would say, happy birthday baby jesus!

utah bound

2009-12-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

every year i look forward to my christmas-time utah trip to see my best friends, cherilyn, summer, and rachel. i always have so much fun with them! this year, i got to take radley (he was such a good flyer!), and i got to meet summer's darling little baby girl, niya-- what a cutie! i also got to see some other old roommates and dear friends, lisa (who just got engaged!) and tabitha (who is pregnant again!). oh, and rad got to see snow for the first time! thanks everyone for a wonderful trip-- can't wait for december again!

isn't this so cute?

2009-12-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

i love doing projects with ethan (he's a really good crafter and cook!), and his school family assignments are especially fun. this one ethan did all on his own (i was his assistant!). didn't he do such a great job?

passing time in paso

2009-08-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

we decided it was high time our northern relatives met little radley, so we made the trek north last tuesday morning. it was great to spend some time with funny uncle kevin, hard-working aunt dale, cute cousin hillary, and of course sweet, sweet grammy. it was so fun catching up with them, and highlights of the trip definitely include ethan's first behind-the-wheel training (kevin never even touched the steering wheel! ethan claims that he owes his driving skills to video games) and bonding with grammy wednesday morning. radley just loves his great-grammy!

sfc part II

2009-06-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

every night was punctuated with a little family bike riding which usually ended us up at the theater. one of my favorite evenings was when becca and ethan p began an impromptu talent show. all of the kids performed: xander, ethan t, and hayden breakdanced; becca and maddie danced the box step; lovey and grandpa darryl told jokes; aaron and i performed "i'm a little teapot"; and ashley moonwalked. what a talented family we have!

summer family camp part I

2009-06-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

i think the reason i haven't blogged in awhile is because we went on our annual fantastic family vacation, and i'm afraid i won't do it justice in my blog! so i'm going

to follow my wise little sister's footsteps and just split up some of my favorite activities that we did into several different blogs.

first of all, we again journeyed to san clemente for our week of merry-making; we love 'campering' there because while our campsites are in the woods, we're also short drive to the beach. the boys loved to climb trees and play in their 'bases.' we also had some great times around the wonderful fires that grandpa darryl would light. and every night all the adults would gather for some heated games of rummikub or rook!

(i don't have any pictures of the adults playing, but i do have this cute one of when i took on becca and ethan patrick-- they're a force to be reckoned with for sure!)

baby's hot wheels

2009-06-09T17:44:00.000-07:00

i decided radley is finally old enough to be taken in the jogging stroller with me on my morning walks. it's pretty spacious inside, so i surrounded him with tons of blankets, but he kept upright just fine! and he LOVED it! i think he's totally over the 'always looking backward' part of his carseat and he's enjoying seeing the world! but i think he got so tuckered out seeing all the new sights, by the time we got home, he was fast asleep! isn't he a doll?

arizona lovin'

2009-06-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

well we wanted to make sure we got at least two arizona trips in this summer, so we decided to start early! we took a (way too short!) trip to visit ashley et. al. and had a wonderful time! it was radley's first road trip out of the state, and all things considered, i think he did pretty well! it's probably because he knew he was going to be in auntie ashley's arms! that's something well worth traveling for!

the hancocks took great care of us-- we were fed great meals (both ashley AND shawn cooked for us! what a delight!) and taken to the ever-fun water park (ethan jumped off the HIGH dive!), to the movies, and to church! it was an action-packed weekend! we were so sad to leave!

we're already looking forward to our next trip! thanks ashley, shawn, gigantic ethan, and hayden!

my little smiley face

2009-06-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

there's few things i like more in life right now than making my baby smile. can you blame me? doesn't this huge, gummy grin just melt your heart??

love notes

2009-06-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite things is to make (and receive!) love notes. it's a family tradition that aaron and i started even before we were married. anyway, guess who else loves love notes? ethan! he loves finding them and now that he can, he loves reading them. anyway, a few months ago (pre-baby) i was making dinner in the kitchen when all of a sudden, ethan asked me what i was going to need next in the fridge. i told him i'd need milk pretty soon, so he grabbed a sticky pad and pen and feverishly started writing. then he jumped up and ran to the fridge (i was pretending not to notice, but he was being so funny, i kept having to turn to hide my smiles). then he skipped over to where i was at the stove and announced, "i think you need that milk Right Now." well, never one to turn down a surprise, i opened up the refrigerator, pulled out the milk and found the sweetest little note. if you can't read it in the picture, it says, "i am so glad that mi babe is kumen" in ethan's cute handwriting. of course i ooohed and ahhhed and we repeated the process for three more notes that ethan wrote and hid. i just love being a mom! everyday is full of surprises!

puzzling

2009-05-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

the easter bunny brought ethan a puzzle in his basket last month, and we all obsessed over it for two days until it was done. the other day when aaron and i were wandering aimlessly through target (one of my favorite and needless to say, most expensive ways to spend an afternoon) and we found ourselves in the toys/games aisle and decided to 'challenge ourselves' with a harder puzzle this time. and boy was it! it took us two weeks this time (aaron completed the vast majority of it), and of course the most exciting part was the last hour when all of the pieces really came together! aaron is such a great problem solver and puzzle put-together-er. what a catch! ;)

back to school

2009-05-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

we went to back to school night last week and got to see all of the projects that ethan's been working on. i think he's especially enamored with the current bug unit they've been working on. i am just so impressed

with his kindergarten teacher, mrs. lipka, and all that the students have learned this year. during family h

ome evening the other night ethan actually read mosiah 2:17 almost entirely by himself! he's such a great reader! and he's getting really good at math, too! what a smartie! we're so proud!

sewing

2009-05-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

so last year for mother's day, aaron bought me a sewing machine, and i have been loving it this past year. i'm not terribly consistent (just like with blogging), so i'm either working on three projects simultaneously... or nothing at all for months! but i decided to share some of my favorite projects: animal zoo baby blanket i made for little rad (when he was a wee little thing in my tum tum) and a family keepsake blanket (which hopefully my kids will fight over when i'm gone!). they were both super fun and relatively easy to make. they make me sew happy! ;)

bikers

2009-05-04T11:37:00.001-07:00

ethan and i have been wanting to ride our bikes to his school for a long time and this morning it finally happened! the easter bunny brought ethan a new "i love my bike" bell and bike lock, and so we were ready to go! it only took us ten minutes! ethan's getting to be such a good bike rider-- he can go up most of the hills without having to get off his bike and walk. i'm so proud! yay for bikes!

blessed little baby

2009-05-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

radley james was blessed yesterday in church. i had a heck of a time finding a blessing outfit, so he ended up wearing a sweet white-with-navy-trim jacket and pants... which unfortunately made him look a little like the state puff marshmallow man. or the michellan man. or an astronaut. take your pick! anyway, the clawsons, kilbys, and chavez' came to church with us, and then followed us home for some celebratory blessing bbq. we had a really fun afternoon with everyone taking turns holding radley (he just LOVES being in his family's willing arms!), eating, and chatting. we also got caught up on birthday presents for lovey and ethan, and of course mom (who loves giving people-- especially her grandkids presents) had little spring gifts for all the kids. top it all off with a delicious dessert and you have one very fine family gathering! thank you everyone for your love and support!

(and ashley, don't think for a second that i didn't miss you the entire day! miss you! excited to see you soon!)

feliz dos de mayo!

2009-05-04T11:00:00.001-07:00

the child's decided to have a pre-cinco de mayo party saturday. and the fifields, always quick to costume, inspired us to do some saturday morning thrift store shopping. we were thinking about being mexican bandits, gauchos, or mariachi band members, but alas, salvation army was apparently out of huge sombreros. soooo, we decided to go as mexican gangsters instead! probably not the best example toset for ethan, but i have to admit our little cholo family looked pretty fantastico. we even dressed rad to match-- he made a darling vato baby. anyway, the party was bien divertido! gracias to kristen and dougie for cookin' up this fun fiesta! ole!

guide to the fotos:

cholo watsons

senor doug at the parilla

fifield senoritas y pauncho jeffy

senorito mustached milo moody

my baby's a freakin' GENIUS!

2009-04-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

i know every mom thinks this about her little angels, and i'm happy to join this happy club. radley just rolled over the other day! i instantly called out to aaron to come and see the baby's newest trick, and radley happily complied a second time (totally un-radley like-- he's usually Not a performer at all!). and just to prove it wasn't just an anti-tummy time fluke, he did it two more times two days later! rolling over at 2 months! see? my baby's a genius! ;) i'm so proud! he gets that from my side of the family!

(please enjoy the "before and after" pics-- sorry about the red-eye!)

two months old!

2009-04-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

another month has passed! radley's smiles have increased, as have his sleeping times! yay! he has also found his thumbs, fists, blankets--ANYTHING he can shove into his mouth. i just love to snuggle with my little sweetheart, and ethan loves to play with his brother. one of his favorite games is making radley 'run' by moving his legs up and down really quickly. happily, the baby loves it, too! and the other day around 6am, aaron and i began to hear the baby stir through the baby monitor, and then just a few minutes later we heard a soft little voice (also on the monitor) saying, "it's okay, radley, you're alright. big brother is here." how sweet is That? i love my boys!

wet birthday magic

2009-04-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

ethan turned SIX april 23rd and we are so excited! his b-day celebration has been pretty much non-stop! the weekend before his birthday we decided to have a Very last minute pool party (we had to take advantage of the freakishly hot mid-april weather!) and invited over some friends for a little costco cake and snacks. it turned out to be a great day and ethan had a blast celebrating and having water gun fights with his friends.

it also turned out to be a big day for little radley as well-- his first time in the pool! we took him in the not-yet-super-hot jacuzi for a dip and he got so relaxed that he fell asleep in my arms in the water! now ethan's getting super excited to teach him how to swim!

one month old!

2009-03-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

i can't believe my little newborn is already a month old! he's getting so long and handsome! at a little bit before one month radley james smiled his first smile... effectively melting his mama's heart! i love you, my precious little baby! don't grow up too fast!

(i know this picture is kinda creepy-- but funny at the same time, right? he's got such an old man face! i love it!)

gratuitous baby pics

2009-03-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

i just think my new baby is SO beautiful!

first bath

2009-03-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

i was so nervous to bathe the baby for the first time! so, i read up all i could about it in my parenting books (courtesy of taryn!) and my mom came over to give me some extra back-up. it actually turned out to be super fun! radley did cry a little the first time i put him in the bath, but he's been loving them ever since! he even smiles and coos when he's in the water, especially when i soap up his little tummy. what a good little boy! and boy does he smell just delightful when he gets out! i just want to eat him up!

big brother

2009-03-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

"oh that baby is so cute!" someone will exclaim.

"i know. he's mine," ethan will inevitably reply, instantly placing a very protective-- and possessive-- hand on radley's cheek.

i'm so grateful that radley has such a wonderful, loving older brother. ethan takes great pride in his role. he's super quick to give the baby (sometimes over-exuberant but sweet) hugs and kisses. and in the back seat of the car he's always a life savor when he gives the baby his pacifier when radley's crying or helps buckle the baby in. he also helps get me a clean diaper when i've run out (he's even helped wipe the baby's bottom a time or two!).

i'm so lucky to have two little loves!

first tan

2009-03-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

so a couple of days after we brought radley home, our wonderful family doctor, who just happens to be a good friend AND next door neighbor, stopped by and told us that rad's jaundice wasn't getting better, so we needed to take him back to the hospital. so we did, and the nurses helped cook radley a bit more in the "billy bed" for a couple of days. radley was a super good sport!

anyway, the day after we brought him home from the hospital, it was a beautiful day, and so i decided to nurse radley outside to give him some extra sun time. well, he started out all bundled up, but before long he was naked, stretched out, and just loving it! i think i have a sun baby on my hands! pass me the sunscreen!

i had a baby!

2009-02-28T21:03:00.000-08:00

so here's our baby story:

mon. feb. 23 6pm aaron and i went to falbrook hospital to get checked in. that night they gave me a cervix softener. aaron went and got dinner (carl's jr) and we watched a little tv (csi) and then got some sleep.

tues. feb. 24 8am nurse checked me: still no dilation. they started me on pitosin.

12pm mom and darryl came over and chatted us up. got checked: one centimeter. whoopdeedoo.

3pm taryn and dad arrived... and so did the contractions. BIG time. taryn helped me breathe through them, but they hurt. a lot. dilated to a 4. finally.

5pm anesthesiologist arrived. got an epidural. super scary

5:30pm started to feel like a new woman. no pain. amazing. love, love drugs.

8pm nurses told everyone to leave. aaron and i slept.

10pm nurse came in to check me. told me i was totally dilated and ready to start pushing. i pushed. nothing happened. i woke aaron up.

10:30pm called mom and darryl. wasn't sure what was happening, but didn't want them to miss anything. they didn't. i pushed for the next THREE HOURS.

12:30 am had to stop pushing because i was puking and had a fever.

1am started pushing again. starting to be super ouchy and super tired. kept pushing. wanted to be done.

2am dr. bianchi showed up in scrubs and a baseball hat.

wed. feb. 25 2:23 am I HAD A BABY!! little radley james entered the world, all pink and wide-eyed. definitely the most beautiful thing i have ever seen in my life. i immediately fell in love.

radley james watson was born 8 pounds, 14 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long and just about the most perfect little thing i'd ever seen!

always

2009-02-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

february 14 = valentine's day AND the day my wonderful husband and i were sealed for time and all eternity in the san diego temple. it was a beautiful, blissful day. i don't know what else to say about it, but i promise i'll always remember it.

i love you aaron. and i always will.

ps my two dear sisters were there that day... but conspicuously absent in this picture! sorry we missed you at photo-time, lovely ladies! but guess who wasn't m.i.a-- our baby! four days until my due date! we're cutting it close!

happy anniversary!

2009-01-30T11:27:00.000-08:00

yay for one year! we made it! for our big night we went to baily's for dinner and then returned home for one year old wedding cake! mom and darryl had wrapped that thing like fort knox and had been patiently keeping it in their freezer for the last 12 months! and guess what-- it was deeeelish! thanks so much you two! you made our 1st anniversary the best! love you!

big ol' tummy

2009-01-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

sweet wendy took these maternity pics for me a month before i was due-- so exciting! as always, the shoot was super fun and wendy got a bunch of cool pictures. my favorites are the ones with ethan hugging my tummy... i'm not sure who's more excited about the new baby-- me or him! ethan also looooves to have his picture taken by wendy, probably due to the fact that she's so sweet to him! thanks for being such a whiz with the camera and the kids, wendy! love you!

k kim TAEKWONDO!

2009-01-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

so i decided that it was finally time to put my laziness aside and sign ethan up for a sport. the taekwondo place down the street was having a great introductory offer, so kristi and i decided to sign ethan and owen up. and i'm so glad we did! the boys LOVE taekwondo-- they love the shouting, the kicking, and most of all, the uniform. i think ethan wore his to bed every night the week he first got it. just ask him to do his 'fighting stance' for you--he's so fierce!

ward xmas mania

2008-12-19T14:52:00.000-08:00

this year's ward christmas party was so refreshing! the activities committee did a great job coming up with a new twist on some tired traditions. first of all, we had soup for dinner (so yummy on a cool winter night), a christmas PARADE (aaron was in charge of coming up with our "float"-- ethan loved wearing it, though!), and even SNOW at the end of the evening! it was a big hit with young and old alike!

(by the way, YES, that is the sorenson family in this last picture-- they decided to be "whos" from whoville in the parade! they looked Awesome!)

we wish you a merry christmas...

2008-12-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

ethan has been singing christmas carols non-stop! it's the cutest thing ever! i love that he learned them in school (he's generally so reticent to tell me what he did in school, so it's nice having sing-songy proof that his education is sinking in!) and that he's so proud of them. every time we hear a christmas song that he knows on the radio, he asks me to turn it up, and then he just belts it out. such a great way to feel all christmas-y!

his class' christmas program was SO cute! he knew all the songs and most of the hand motions that accompanied the songs. his favorite is "we wish you a merry christmas" (mostly because he gets to yell in it, i think). after the program, all the kids retired to the classroom to make gingerbread houses. such a fun and delicious idea!

SURPRISE!!

2008-12-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

well, sweet aaron came and picked me up from the airport on my 30th birthday with big plans in mind. he gave me this darling card that told me he wanted to take me shopping for some things that i said i'd been needing, so we went to the container store (man, i could spend hours in that place! actually, i think we did!) for a necklace holder and then we went to a couple of baby boutiques to check out some baby rockers and gliders that i'd been ogling on-line (we ended up getting the most adorable lime green glider with white piping-- so cute!).

anyway, i thought we were just having a great time, just taking it easy and enjoying each other's company. little did i know that i was married to the best liar of all time! i had no sooner walked into the house when i heard everyone shouting, "surprise! happy birthday!" aaron had thrown me a surprise party! and what a surprise it was! it was great seeing everyone, especially my little sister who aaron had flown in from arizona. i felt so loved! what a great way to usher in my thriving thirties!

rachel gets married!

2008-12-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

my dear friend rachel white was sealed to her sweetheart dec. 11th, so i went out to support her. i got to stay with summer one night and cherilyn the next and we had such a great time! of course rachy looked absolutely stunning and it was wonderful to see her so happy. the reception was also really fun-- i hadn't seen tabitha, kristen, or raquel in forever, so it was great to be reunited again.

cher and i hung out the next morning before my flight and did a little birthday shopping-- just like the good ol' days! i miss you, cher!

(umm... not sure why my self-port skills are so lacking in this pic-- gotta work on that!)

east coast trip part II: the big apple and dc

2008-11-29T15:01:00.000-08:00

after enjoying a leisurely couple of days in upstate ny, we decided to head south to manhattan. it was kind of a long drive (i knit a whole scarf for ethan!), but aaron had downloaded some new music beforehand, so it was enjoyable just being with aaron and watching the beautiful scenery. in the big apple, we stayed at a hip hotel next to central park, and just spent our days wandering around the streets, doing a little christmas shopping, and enjoying some good ny cuisine. oh, and seeing a broadway play-- it was boy's choice and aaron picked spamalot. it was pretty funny. luckily, we made it out of ny before the craziness of the macy's day parade, and, after paying our respects to lady liberty, headed down to our nation's capital, washington d.c.

our days in d.c. were spent checking out some sweet historic sites and, of course, learning a ton at the smithsonian museums. we did the newly renovated museum of american history first, and after being thoroughly inundated with TONS of information, i decided to enforce a strict "no reading, only looking" rule which made going through the natural history and space and air museums much quicker and enjoyable (hey, pregnant lady can only walk around for so long!).

it was a wonderful trip, and i'm so glad we were able to take it. i love being with my husband. i'm so so lucky to be married to him. we just always have a great time. love you, babe.

east coast trip: upstate new york

2008-11-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

aaron and i were really lucky this year to use some of our accumulated amex points and go on a trip! we decided to head east and rent a car so that we could see lots of different spots. we flew into palmyra, new york, and guess what we encountered? SNOW! it was so beautiful and oh so cold! the first order of business was to stop at walmart and buy some black boots to replace the ballet slippers that i was wearing (and freezing in!). after that, we checked into our quaint inn. the next day we decided to drive up north to check out niagara falls, which were both gorgeous and ridiculously cold! the next day we spent checking out historic church sites (the sacred grove was amazing in its winter purity) like joseph smith's log cabin and hill cumorah. neither aaron nor i had ever been to palmyra, and we really enjoyed it.

oh, and don't worry about that last picture-- it's just me enjoying my first icicle.

faux thanksgiving

2008-11-27T14:17:00.000-08:00

even though aaron and i decided to head east for thanksgiving, i didn't want to miss out on being with my family and eating great food! so, i decided to host a 'faux thanksgiving' for the family, and i cooked my very first turkey as a married lady! it started out with a very frozen tom turkey, but it was nothing that a lingering ice bath in my kitchen sink wouldn't cure! aaron was in charge of carving (such a handsome butcher!), and taryn was in charge of taking the pictures! (which is why, sadly, i don't have any of her! but i'm on to you, taryn! i'll get some digital documentation of you next time!)

what a fun evening! i'm so thankful for my wonderful family! we missed the hancock clan, though! hopefully, we can get them out to the 2nd Annual Faux Thanksgiving next year!

"hello pilgrims!"

2008-11-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

the teachers advertised this as a thanksgiving "presentation", not a play, and it was hysterical. they piled all the kids into a (very fragile) mayflower ship and then they baby-stepped it to the new world. the two groups greeted each other "hello pilgrims!" "hello indians!" and then they had a cute thanksgiving feast (with turkey sandwiches and corn muffins! so smart those kindergarten teachers!). i love my little pilgrim!

the spy car

2008-11-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

so one of my favorite parts of sunday (besides nap time) is craft time. after church, ethan and i sit down at the kitchen table and do some sort of project. sometimes it's just making cards out of construction paper, but sometimes it's a little more involved. this was one of those times. i decided that it would be super cool to make a box car with suspenders so that ethan could 'wear' it when he plays cops and robbers. i told aaron the idea, and as i did so, the project automatically took on larger proportions with spray paint, real back light reflectors, and sweet design. anyway, it turned out pretty well-- ethan loves his little spy car!

(oh, and check out his sweet spy belt-- i made that one afternoon so that he had a easy place to put all of his spyware. oh what a little elastic and sewing machine can do!)

finally!

2008-11-02T13:47:00.000-08:00

so i finally put my family pictures up on the wall! (yeah, the ones that i blogged about back in august!) i'm sooo indecisive and so i hem and haw over every little decision! luckily, i have aaron who will help me weigh out the factors and then help me decide. i'm also lucky that he has all sorts of gadgets to help him get my pictures perfectly straight! thanks, honey! now if only i could hang up my pictures on the upstairs landing-- now That's a never-ending project! argh! oh well-- one at a time, right??

meet the swatsons

2008-10-31T23:38:00.000-07:00

happy halloween!!

for halloween ethan wanted to be, well, someone with a gun, and when i randomly found a 'swat' uniform at costco that had a vest with all sorts of gadgets (including handcuffs, his favorite accessory), it was a done deal! then we decided that aaron and i would dress up in black too, and, well, the swat-sons were born. it was a fun night-- we went trick-or-treating with the keelers, sorensons, and moodys, and afterwards we had some of nita's delicious pumpkin pie!

(oh, and ethan is in the first group picture-- at least his body is! look to the top! oops!)

at the patch

2008-10-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

ethan's first official kindergarten field trip was to a nearby pumpkin patch, and i think it's safe to say that one of his most favorite parts was the school bus! can you blame him? a big, yellow bus with all of your friends, lots of bouncing, and no seat belts or boosters? what's not to love?

it was a really cool place

complete with a corn maze, little petting zoo

with real turkeys, a pig run, pumpkin lecture-- the works! they even got to pick out their own pumpkins at the end! what a great day!

the ultra-horrible turned ultra-wonderful sound

2008-10-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

so i went for my big ultrasound appointment last month-- you know, the one where i FINALLY got to know the sex of the baby-- and i was literally jumping-up-and-down excited to go. aaron took me and we made sure to be there 30 minutes before our appointment, as they requested. they were running a bit behind, however, and didn't call me until about 20 minutes after my appointment time, and when they did, they told us that aaron had to stay in the waiting room. they assured us that they would call him back a little later, so i eagerly followed olga down the hall and into the darkened room.

well, olga jelled me up and started whirling that mouse-looking thing around my tummy and didn't say Anything to me for the first 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity). i couldn't see the screen because she had it faced entirely towards her (at one point, she pointed it toward me in order to point out a pulsating bulb and said, "heart," and then she moved the screen back towards her, indicating that it was hurting her neck.

i was getting a little nervous at this point and started asking questions like, "does it look healthy?" and "is that normal?" as she took her notations and measurements on the screeen. it was then that i realized maybe i wasn't missing much by her not talking to me, because she had the Thickest Accent Ever. now, i fancy myself somewhat of a linguist and have had many conversations with people who had trouble with the english language, but alas, i couldn't understand her to save my life. but then she started moving the mouse thing around frantically and said, "i can't tell what it is-- it keep moving round and round." desperately, i pleaded, please don't tell me before my husband can come into the room!" and she, feigning some sort of sympathy simply replied, "ah, yes, people do like that. ja, i go get him."

so, finally a fairly steaming-with-anger-aaron comes back into the room and joins me in my quest to translate our crazy technician. olga resumes her post at the computer and jells me up a bit and finally calls out, "oh, i see a pee-pee, a pee pee!" what??! is that the russian medical equivalent for the male anatomy? could this experience Be any more horrible?

oh, yes, it could. after all of that, i didn't even get a picture. apparently olga-the-ape's printer was broken.

well, there is a happy end to my story-- we're having a boy! and my new next door neighbor, eric lundquist is a member and an ob-gyn And shares an office with my doctor, and, after hearing my tale of woe, told me that he'd love to "practice" giving me an ultrasound in his new office. so we went-- aaron was allowed to be there the entire time, and even ethan came! and we got a picture! what a difference! it was a great experience and we're so excited about our brand new baby boy!

run ethan run!!

2008-10-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

so today i'm playing catch up! at the beginning of the month we had ethan's first big event at tony tobin-- the 3rd annual jog-a-thon! it was such a fun day, and i loved helping out and seeing the kids race around the track. (i think aaron was disappointed that ethan only ran 13 laps-- seeing as other kids ran 30-33 laps-- but ethan had a great time at the "pit stop" chowing down oranges and guzzling water bottles!)

the jog-a-thon was also a big milestone for me because it gave me my first official assignment as room mom: making the banner. i was excited to do it, and i think i may have gone a bit overboard, but it really did turn out super cute! and it didn't even take that long to make (thanks to mom's help!)

yay for mrs. lipka's lions!! rooooar!

k is for kindergarten

2008-09-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

this is ethan's third week of kindergarten. he had a bit of a rough start, seeing as his little clothespin was demoted to yellow THREE times in the first nine days of school, but i think now he's back on track. we started a new rewards/consequence arrangement with him which is somewhat tantamount to bribery, but, hey, he's been on green everyday this week so far, so that trip to Toys 'R Us tomorrow afternoon will be very much deserved. my mom made a good comparison about how we all work for a paycheck, so how is a reward for a well-deserving child any different? thanks for that perspective, mom. you're so wise. :)

i worked in ethan's classroom yesterday and it was really fun. i'm part of the wednesday 'literacy rotation', which essentially means i help three groups of kids as they rotate out of the classroom do a variety of activities. yesterday was supervising coloring and painting. it was interesting to have ethan in one of the groups. initially, my thought was, 'geez, kid, no wonder you've been getting yellow-- pipe down,' but after having later groups, i realized that it could have been Much worse. some kids just have ants in their pants, i think. no wonder i teach college. i just couldn't hack it with four-foot tall people all day-- they have the attention span of a gnat. luckily, my service of duty is only three hours a week. i can handle that. i think.

land o' legos

2008-08-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

this summer, every time i asked ethan what he wanted to do on a particular day, he would almost always look up at me with a really hopeful look and suggest sweetly, "how about legoland?" well, he finally got his wish on tuesday of the last week of summer. aaron was able to take the day off work, and we lucked out and were able to take a couple of our darling nieces and nephews-- owen and shelby. we started out fairly early tuesday morning and drove down to carlsbad for our special day. the first big hit was when a life-size darth vader and r2d2 made entirely out of legos greeted us near the entrance. the boys went crazy checking them out, pushing their buttons, and getting their picture taken with their heroes (should i be concerned that ethan's favorite star wars character is the evil darth?).

the day continued with lots of legos, rides, and playing. there was even a huge water park set up to help the kids beat the heat (although owie wasn't a big fan of the big bucket that sporadically dumped water on squealing kids).

honestly, legoland doesn't even begin to compare to my beloved disneyland, but i have to admit that the kids (and please know that i'm fully placing aaron in this group today-- at the end of the day he was the one who ended up with the biggest box of lego pieces to put together!) had a wonderful time.

family beach pics

2008-08-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

so instead of getting bridal pictures with my wedding photo package, i asked my photographer and sweet friend, wendy (of bluelilyphotography.com), if i could just get family pics done, and she said sure! well, the wedding was a loooong time ago, but we finally scheduled the shoot and headed down to oceanside. isn't wendy so talented? don't i have such an amazingly beautiful family??

(side note-- in these pics i'm about four months pregnant, so even the baby is represented, even if only in embryo!)

(side note #2-- the second pic of my runners is ethan's all-time favorite! he loves running with daddy!)

golf days

2008-08-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

so over the summer, aaron decided that he really, really wants to learn how to play golf. (secretly i think it's because he wants to get good enough to challenge his dad and just annihilate him, but i could be wrong.) anyway, we've been taking lessons, but we couldn't ever find enough time to practice on the putting greens. so, one day i took ethan out to the driving range with me! redhawk golf course lent us both clubs and we rented a bucket of balls and had a blast. check out these pics-- i think we may have a mini tiger on our hands! ;)

the greatest show on earth!

2008-08-15T12:15:00.001-07:00

i'm not sure if it was THE greatest show on earth, as widely proclaimed, but the barnum and bailey ringling brother's circus Was pretty amazing!

yep, i decided to put aside my aversion to clowns and take ethan to the big top. we were really lucky and even got to take one of my youngest nephews, hayden, with us and we all had a great time. highlights: trapeze artists, tight-rope dirt-biker, lion tamer, elephants with headdresses, and crazy contortionists. my personal favorite were the Seven dirt-bikers that all went round and round a great big metal ball-cage without crashing into each other. aaron and i kept looking at each other with big eyes that said, 'are they Serious with these guys??' yep, they got us good with that one. i think the boys were equally captivated. although their favorite part was undoubtedly the sugar element-- huge cotton candy ball for ethan and enormous, multi-colored lollipop for hayden. i'm not sure who had more energy at the end-- the boys or the singing ringmaster (hey, since when are circuses musicals??)

so so fun.

vegas, baby!!

2008-08-12T23:19:00.001-07:00

last weekend for our sixth month anniversary, we decided to go with some of our wonderful friends to the city which never sleeps... vegas, of course! the child's were also celebrating their 10th anniversary, and i think the trevinos were celebrating their seventh and the fifields, well, i think they just like to celebrate! ;) anyway, it was a terrific weekend getaway, complete with tons of laughter, a little vicarious gambling, great food, great shopping, great opera (my first time to see phantom and it was AMAZING!), great massage, all in all, 'gts' as jen and brian would say. i can't wait to see where the next adventure takes us! thanks guys for a fantastic time!

the festival to end all festivals

2008-08-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

all i have to say is: WHEW it's done! it was certainly worth the effort, but i'm not going to say it wasn't long and arduous. that last marathon thursday was a killer. fortunately it was followed by friday and saturday which involved devotionals and stellar performances. i was so proud of my girls! everyone pulled together and did a wonderful job! i was in charge of costumes on friday night, but i got to sneak away for the beehive's "hairspray" dance and it was just brilliant! three of my beautiful nieces were dancing, surrounded by many other girls i've grown to love dearly. everyone did a fabulous job and i think (judging by the testimony meeting that sunday) most of the kids really caught the vision of the bigger picture. hip, hip, hooray!

these pics are of sweet maddie and i and some of the other girls showing off their crazy antics!

(sorry the quality is so poor-- my camera on my phone is less than optimal!)

girlie camp

2008-08-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

last month was girl's camp and it was SO fun! i loved bonding with the older girls and seeing everyone have a wonderful time. highlights: synchronized swimming (which was absolutely hysterical), ropes (a sweet symbolic hopefully spiritual experience), skit night (i generally Detest forced impromptu scenes, but these were actually quite fun!), meal time (yes, being pregnant means even cafeteria food seems appetizing), and of course the awesome devotionals. can't wait for next year!!

dun na na na nuh nuh na nuh nuh na na.... BATMAN!

2008-07-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

last night we went out on a seven-tuple date with friends. it was the typical date-fare: dinner and a movie. we went to the iron wok and then stood in line for an hour to ensure great seats at... (drum roll, please) BATMAN: DARK KNIGHT!! it was sooo good! the joker was beyond creepy, and christian bale was as dreamy as always, the special effects were fantastic, the action scenes exhilarating... two thumbs up!