Stepbrothers

If you want a good laugh, check this out! It's just another reason why we might name our next little boy, Nash :) Please enjoy!! Seriously, check out his moves.

http://www.ibeatyou.com/entry/afde0b/boomdizzle-and-me-stepbrothers-in-santa-monica

It's no secret that we are a family that likes sports and meeting Steve Nash a few years ago was certainly a big treat!! He really is a great guy and so down to earth. This video just confirms the fun side he has. Plus, check out his web site, he is doing some great things for the "green" movement and making a difference in a lot of communities. http://www.stevenash.org/

Open Wide!

I took Jace to his very first dentist appointment last week! We prepared him all week for this adventure! I told him what they would do and showed him pictures of dentists and the masks they wear. (he's weird about masks) I was SO proud of him! He did amazing! He let them clean his teeth and floss and then when the dentist came he was completely calm and let him look in his mouth and poke around. I was so impressed with the dentist, the office and the hygienists. My first thought was, I hope I can find something just as great in Colorado. If not, we'll come to AZ for his dentist check ups :) Also, the best part of all.....NO CAVITIES!!! The dentist was very pleased with his teeth brushing skills. When we left, Jace got a goody bag with a new toothbrush and I didn't realize it until a second later, but he started his brushing his teeth in the car on our way to go swimming! He walked out of there, very proud of himself and he said "I'm a good boy." I was so relieved to have a positive experience. If you are looking for a pediatric dentist, I would highly recommend this office, Valley Pediatrics.

Oh.....

Mamma Mia! I went to see this movie with my good friend, Amber. It was a pretty cute film. Definitely some corny parts and once you got past the shock of Pierce Brosnan singing....it was really enjoyable. We had a great time and the music is AWESOME! (ABBA) I want the soundtrack now. The acting was great, too. I laughed so much! You walk out of this movie feeling 10 years younger and realizing that you can have fun at any age!! So, for those of you out there that can handle people breaking out into song in mid-sentence, go see the movie!

Getting Nice and Dirty

We had so much fun this year on Heath's annual family camping trip! I like camping but seriously, I do it for Jace because he loves it so much! He had a blast being with his cousins. They took trips to the Fish Hatchery, played rounds of baseball, (notice Jace as the catcher) roasted marshmallows and just got real nice and dirty! We had quite an adventure this year when a HUGE storm hit our camp. Within 5 minutes of rain, thunder, lightning and hail, our canopy was collapsing on us, water was past our ankles, we were huddled together in a ball because it got so cold. The temperature just dropped so fast!

I was very impressed with the men--they knew just what to do. They all went out in the pouring rain and dug trenches and a draining system around our whole camp to drain it. What boy scouts! I just know if it was us women, we would've been piled in our cars waiting for the storm to pass. It was a pretty traumatic experience for the kids. Jace still talks about it and how daddy saved us. What a memory. Oh, and lightning hit the camp site right next to us--that's just a little too close for comfort. It's always so great to get together and just enjoy the outdoors. It's beautiful out there and I am grateful Jace gets the opportunity to take part in this tradition. Hope we can come next year.

The Pains of Cravings

I absolutely am craving Pinkberry yogurt right now. It's the most refreshing frozen yogurt I've ever had. I even bought yogurt and freezed it hoping it would taste the same--not even close!!! But, seeing as my craving is miles and miles away, I don't think I'll be able to quench it tonight. I just looked up the locations in hopes of one being in CO--it's not! Only California and New York! I guess it's true.... absence makes the heart swirl fonder...and for me, that will be until December. Until then Pinkberry.

Catch Me if You Can

I made these thread catchers with my mom a couple weeks ago! I have to say, I am super proud of them! They are so cute and definitely handy! They were kind of difficult to put together because the directions were SO confusing. This experience just reinforced my belief in patterns being not so useful at times. When all else fails, use common sense! The top is a sand bag to hold it down but also works as a pin cushion and the hoop catches all the threads, fabric strips and scraps in one place! I love them!

Joys of Packing

Jace is being quite the helper these days...when he's not inside the boxes :) We've been up to our ears in boxes lately. We have so much to do still but I'm just taking it a day at a time. I love that Jace can fit into the box with the lid close. He's such a little munchkin! We've been trying to prepare him for the move...and the baby...and the new house...and the new weather. It's quite a bit for a toddler to take in but we are hoping and praying he will be resilient!

Hello Hello Again

Hello again to the blogging world. I've been MIA for a while now. Sorry! As you'll see in the below posts, we've had a lot going on on top of getting ready to move! Blogging has kind of become like a very good friend to me--one I haven't spoken to in a while, so I keep putting it off because there's just too much to catch up on. We'll this is me trying to catch up.

My life these past weeks have been filled with searching the internet non-stop for housing, securing education loans, getting insurance for Colorado, packing everyday, worrying about things I have no control over, not sleeping very well at night, and pretty much losing my mind at times. I am happy to say that just today we got approved for the townhouse we want so I can check that off my list! Yeah!! We'll be heading out the first week in August for our new adventures in Denver.

These pictures are from our Fabulous Fourth of July! It was such a fun day!! Heath's parents took us to see WALLE. Jace LOVED it and I too thought it was a very cute and creative movie. I was surprised how many times I laughed out loud :) Then we went swimming, ate yummy food, spent time with lots of family and watched fireworks for the finale of a great day! That's a picture of my sister-in-law and my new niece. She was born two months ago at only 31 weeks and she's truly a miracle!

Girls Havin Fun

Well, a few weeks ago, we had our annual Girl's Weekend! We had so much fun! I had the best time ever. I really needed this! The first time we had it, I missed Jace terribly. So, the second time, I brought him and it was hard to enjoy myself as much. Third time's a charm!!! I left Jace and decided to have a TRUE girl's weekend for myself. We laughed so much and had so much fun together. It was so nice to just enjoy my family and we can just be completely ourselves! We had some fun shopping trips to Anthropologie! A couple trips to the best frozen yogurt place, Pink Perry! Attended the Newport Beach Temple together! We also had some great mexican food down at the Pier. Last of all, we went to see WICKED!!!! I loved it! As we were taking pictures, a limo drove by and we all commented that it would've been so fun for it to be for us. Guess what! It was!!! My sister, Alison arranged it all! We were all so shocked and thrilled! We rode to Wicked in style. When we got out of the limo, we all kept our sunglasses on so people would think we were some famous gals! The show was amazing! The music was inspiring! I really loved it! I can't wait for next year! I love you Alison, Tiffany, Jenn and Mom!

California knows how to party

Couple weeks ago, Jace and I went and spent a week with my parents in California and we had so much fun!! His great grandparents came too and between everybody, Jace got plenty spoiled! We went to the beach, the park, the movies and saw Kung Fu Panda, an indoor play gym, watered the garden with Grandma, danced a jig with some outdoor music, got really dirty in the mud, ate yummy oranges and strawberries and so much more.

He certainly had an adventure with his cousin, Haylee with some paint. All I have to say is, when the cats away, the mice will play! The women left the men in charge for 30 minutes and came back to this beautiful piece of art in the backyard! The men had fun cleaning it all up!!!

We had such a great time and Heath drove up the last couple days to watch Jace so I could go to Huntington Beach for Girl's Weekend!!! Wahoo...more coming on that.

Little Monkey Achievement

Jace graduated from Miss Maren's Monkey Preschool! Wahoo! Two years of fun with a class full of boys. Jace had so much fun at preschool and made some great little crats. My favorite was his pinecone owl! He loved his teacher so much!! I only hope we can find someone that will be as wonderful and fun in Colorado. We will really miss it! Thanks Maren!

Starting to Show

I took this picture almost a month ago and I'm already showing so much more. So, I'll keep updating with size! :) I certainly have shown a lot earlier with this one. I feel the baby kick all the time. We are at a total loss for names. We think we like something but then it just doesn't seem to fit. I guess we still have 19 weeks to figure out a name! :)

Girls Camp "There's No Place Like Home"

I've been up to a lot this summer. One of which, was spending 5 days up at Girls Camp at Camp Lomia with my wonderful young women! We had a great time! Our theme was "There's No Place Like Home. And our ward specialty was under the sea. I wrote the skit for our ward and it was quite cute. We had all the OZ characters under the sea with Ariel lost on the yellow seaweed. It was so fun! Our girls did an amazing job. Girls Camp is more of a spiritual retreat these days and we come back with such a spiritual recharge and new perspective of the love the Savior has for you and all his children. The highlights of this camp was the reinactment of the "Tree of Life" The girls walked through the forest with mists of darkness, holding to the iron rod, temptations along the way to get off the path, one stop was watching a mother and father fight and then get divorced, they built a tower with people making fun of them as they walked with the rod, then at the end, they were met by the stake presidents and bishops. When the lit up the tree of life, you could literally hear audible gasps. The spirit was so strong and the girls were touched, as was I. The leaders waited for two hours in the darkness for the yw to arrive and it was a very reflective time under the stars of heaven. We had a great time. I hope I get to go again sometime. I've learned so much from this stake yw presidency. They truly love these girls and come up with amazing spiritual experiences that will hopefully stay with them through the difficult times in their lives. I LOVE YOU STEWAHONA and will MISS YOU!!! When I got home, Heath had the whole house spic and span, a welcome home sign from Jace and lunch on the table! WOW-- perhaps I should leave more often :) What a great hubby.