Day 12

I've always wanted to travel but never really had the means to do so. When I was at Ricks, I went on a bus with a school group to see some church history sites. I loved it! I've been to Texas when I was little. Went to New Orleans on a business trip. I've been to California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado. A couple years ago, I went to Hawaii and that was an amazing experience, which I never even imagined I'd have until later in life. Thank you to my boss for that!!! All things considered, I guess I'm a west coaster. Yet, I REALLY want to go see some more of the world. I've decided to talk about the top 3 places I want to go.

First and foremost, I've always wanted to go Italy. Growing up, I wanted to serve a mission for my church and I always imagined I would go to Italy. I don't know if it's the amazing architecture, unique design of the small cities, yummy food, or the beautiful scenery, but I wanted to go there. The mission didn't work out obviously...my mission was to find my sweet hubby and start a family. Someday..

Second, New York. I heart New York. I've never even been there but I know I would LOVE it. This city seems to be brimming with life, passion, and excitement. I'd like to take a cab, try a NY pizza pie, steak sub, serendipity, etc....food food. I LOVE food, see ground zero, the giant Christmas tree, ice skate in Central park, and every other tourist thing you can think of. This will have to be later in life so I actually have money to enjoy it!

Third, Kauai, HI. Yes, I've been to Hawaii but we went to the Big Island. Kauai looks so exotic and adventurous with hidden springs, lush cliffs, and private white sandy beaches. Ahh...the relaxation. The Big Island was gorgeous but lots and lots of lava....not so much beach space.

Day 11 - Ode to Camden

Camden is 10 months today!!! I can't believe how fast he is growing. I just ADORE him!! For 10 months, 10 things about Camden.

1) He already has 5 teeth and i love his smile. He lights up any bad day.

2) He is tough. He can take Jace jumping on him, squishing him, and wrestling him all day.

3) He loves his brother more than anyone!!! He can be completely upset and Jace will walk in the room and he'll immediately stop and start smiling.

4) He can say mama, dada and uh oh.

5) He LOVES being outside. If Jace and Daddy go play basketball, he'll climb over me to look out the window and watch them or crawl to the door, stand up and yell. And yes, I always take him out there.

6) He is a screamer!! I need to teach him sign language so he can communicate bc I can't take his screaming. wow. he has some lungs

7) He loves playing catch with me and can throw any ball. He loves taking baths, playing little piggies, being tackled by Jace, cars, animals and people!!! He'll smile and woo any old lady in the grocery store.

8) He is still a little guy. Weighing 16 lbs. but this kid LOVES to eat. Anything and everything that's on my plate, of course.

9) Knee n' foot: His crawling method. He won't crawl with both knees. it cracks me up.

10) He took his first step yesterday! Heath and I were both there for it. He was standing up holding Cam's fingers and let go. He stood for a second and then took a step.

Day Ten

Sorry - had a migrane. no post.

Day Nine

Spent my blogging time designing my blog. Probably will change it again...that's the fun of it!

Day Eight - Jace Adventures

Here's a summary of some of Jace's summer adventures! We took a lot of beach trips! He finally would venture into the ocean but was more than happy to play in the sand all day.

We signed him up for swimming lessons and he did great!! I was so proud of him. He was the only one in his group that would whole heartedly jump in the water and go for it.

Our sweet neighbor invited Jace to march in their 4th of July street parade. He was the hit of the parade with his flute and march. Everyone stopped and said how cute he was! This boy has such a love for life and an amazing passion for music. All I had to say was, you can play your flute, and he was there in a heart beat. He has no fear of being infront of people and def. LOVES the spotlight. :)

Jace loves sports and for the last year, it's all been about baseball! We found an affordable class this summer in T-ball. He loved fielding the balls in the outfield and throwing them to the catcher. His favorite thing was hitting, of course. I'll have to upload the video. He's dang good and has quite an arm.

The last week in Thousand Oaks, we went to the mall's kids club activity. They had Gymboree come and do songs and dances with the kids. Afterwards, a local orchestra brought every instrument you can think of for the kids to touch and play. Of course, Jace was beyond excited. He played a trombone, trumpet, xylophone, drums, harp, celo, violin and flute. What a great activity for kids to be introduced to musical instruments.

Day Seven

What a fun day we had today! We talked about going to Boulder or downtown Denver to celebrate Labor Day but we decided to just hang out around here. Heath wanted to check out if this new burger place had opened up, so we decided to drive down there first. On our way, we spotted this great park, Bellview park. We went around the corner to a Little Ceasars, grabbed a 5$ pizza and drinks and headed to the park. It was totally spur of the moment and we had a blast! Cam and I just chilled on the blanket under the trees and Jace and Heath explored the creek, which runs through the park and kids were playing in it everywhere. We rode the train there for $1 and went through a dark tunnel and over two bridges. JACE was in Seventh Heaven!!! (Yeah, so all you Colorado moms, this would be a great cheap outing during the summer. Today, however, was the last day the train runs.) He can't get enough of trains...still. He got a picture with the conductor and he let him ring the bell. I didn't have the camera bc i didn't know we were doing all this fun stuff. Originally, we were going to do putt putt. Guess we'll do that another day. We had a fun day and spent hardly any money. Having a great day doesn't have to mean spending lots of money, it's just being together.

Day Six - Four Letter Word

Please proceed with caution as the following language contains a four-letter word.........................D-E-B-T. Pres. Hinckley has said to get as much education as you can and he's also said going into debt for education is understandable. Well, that's where we're at right now. Heath...still getting an education and us going into more debt. Gratefully, we've been able to secure some free money but it hardly makes a dent in the loans. Seriously, how does anyone do it and still live and have a family? Living off loans seems worth it so I can be with the kids but it feels like now we'll have to pay for loans for a while. I have faith that this schooling will lead us to a bright future and hopefully a successful career path for Heath. I can't understand why grad students don't get any pell grants. It seems like we are the ones that need it the most. It's actually gone faster than I thought it would and i'm hoping that trend continues bc his schedule this semester is hard. Oh, what a four-letter word!!