Trip to Cali part 2

Our vacation started Wednesday with a long drive to Northern California. Luckily it was overcast most of the way. It made driving so much nicer and the day so much cooler. But once we hit Donner's Pass, it got a lot cooler.



We stopped in Truckee for gas and the temperature was 36 degrees. We got to drive in a bit of a snowstorm as we came down the pass. But it really was pretty (and mind blowing to see snow the end of May).

We got there Wednesday night and spent the evening relaxing and unpacking the car. Thursday was a pretty lazy day. I went shopping with Merna, April and the little boys at the outlet mall. It started raining (hard) so we went home and spent the afternoon talking and playing. Friday we went to San Francisco and this was the first thing we saw.


It was really cool to go to San Francisco. As we drove through the streets I had many thoughts. First, I was amazed at how many streets, buildings, etc. reminded me of Uruguay.


Another thought was how much I wanted to be watching "What's Up, Doc?" with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. Then we went down Lombard Street.


I know it's not a good picture, but I really felt like I was part of that movie. So cool. Maybe no one else will think it that cool. But I felt like I was in a car chase and was going to end up driving into the bay ("they drove in", "into the country?" "no, into the bay").


This is Joseph playing with the birds ("touch, bird" "Joejoe, touch bird") We could have only done that and he would have been perfectly happy.


Here are my two beautiful boys with the bay in the background. Alcatraz is to their right just out of the picture.


This is the closest we got to Alcatraz. Maybe without little kids it would be fun to go on a tour. But not really interested with the kids.

Following are some of the pictures of the pier. We really didn't take that many. But we did have fun. We went to the aquarium they have there. Pretty cool. It's small, but you get to walk under the aquarium and the fish are swimming over your head. So cool.


Joseph looking at the pier.

Joseph and I posing in front of the anchovies tank. The boys (Joseph and his cousin Jace) loved watching the fish go round and round.


Josh and Joseph watching the fish (and the sharks) swimming overhead.


More fish swimming round and round.


Joseph being a shark.


I don't even need to tell you what this is.


All the sea lions basking in the sun. I couldn't believe how many there were. Pretty cool.

After this we drove over to Ghirardelli Square. We didn't spend much time there (about 10 minutes) but we did get some chocolate. So yummy. I wish I would have bought more than just a little square.


Joseph enjoying his chocolate.


Lamps.


Here are Joseph and Jace enjoying blueberries together. Notice the blue stains on their mouths. These two had so much fun playing together (as long as the one wasn't taking a toy from the other). They shadowed each other almost everywhere. So cute to watch them having fun.


Jumping on the trampoline. Their favorite "downtime" activity.

Saturday the boys (meaning Jake and Josh) went white water rafting, while Merna and I took the kids to the Folsom zoo. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and I'm still waiting for copies. But they had a lot of fun. There is a little train that goes around the zoo that the little boys just loved. Then we went to the park right there and let the kids play.

They also had a car show going on at the time so Joseph had to touch every car there. I wish I had some pictures of that.

Sunday after church we went for a walk down to the lake about a mile from their house. It was just enough of a walk that we worked up a sweat by the time we got there.

The water was cold. But it felt good on our tired feet. Jace and Joseph had fun throwing rocks in the water. I think they were having a contest to see who could throw in the largest rock. For little guys, they sure threw some big rocks.

Here is a big part of the crew. Merna, Kallie, April and Jake.


Here are my boys enjoying the sun.


After we'd been there a few minutes, Jake said he'd give anyone who went all the way in $10. I need to reiterate that the water was quite cold. No one wanted to take him up on his offer. Shortly before we left I thought I might try it. I was wet from the waist down because of Joseph, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad to go the rest of the way in.


Here I am getting into deeper water.


When I hit that water I almost gasped. As I came up I was trying to get out of the water but I couldn't breath it was so cold. Great big adrenaline rush.


It probably took me 5 minutes to get out of the water I kept slipping and sliding on the rocks. I still have bruises on my legs. But it was so fun. And so worth it.

Then on Monday we went to the Jelly Belly factory. Again, I didn't take many pictures. But we had fun and the Jelly Bellies are so yummy. Fun fact: I found out Jelly Belly makes candy corn. That's about my favorite candy. And theirs is so much better than any other candy corn I've ever had.


After Jelly Belly we went back into the car. Joseph was doing such a good job in the car. He's never been in his car seat for more than an hour and a half. And almost every day he was in the car for two or more hours. What a little trouper.


He knows the routine now.


Getting ready for another trip.

We drove to the Sacramento temple to look around and take pictures. Joseph fell asleep in the car and wasn't too excited when he got woken up to take pictures.


Crying cuz Daddy got his hair wet with the water fountain.


Mesmerized by the water fountain.


Kallie mesmerized by the fountain.


Temples are pretty every where. I love the flowers and plants around every temple.


Joseph going for a walk with Daddy around the fountain.


Standing in front of the temple.


Pointing out Moroni. He knows what that thing is in Moroni's mouth and loves to make trumpet sounds when he points to him.


Merna, April and Kallie.


Okay, Mom, take another picture.

After the temple we went back and packed up the car. Then we went out to dinner at the best Mexican restaurant in the world. Dos Coyotes. If I lived in Cali I would eat there every...well, week at least. Maybe just once a month. But dang, it is good.

After dinner we came home. It was a LONG trip home. Joseph didn't sleep the whole way and most of the time he was awake, he was screaming.

We got home about 6:30 Tuesday morning. Then we slept for the rest of the morning.

We had such a fun trip. Totally thanks to Jake and Merna for turning their house over to us. Thanks to April for coming with us and taking care of Joseph in the car. We can't wait until the next vacation.


Joseph is perpetually on vacay with his Jelly Belly hat. Such a little cutie. He keeps asking about Jace and always asks "where's April?"

Trip to Cali part 1

So over Memorial Day weekend we went to visit Josh's brother and sister-in-law in California. They live in the Sacramento area with their two kids. We had a blast. We did so many fun things. San Francisco Bay, Ghirardelli Square, Jelly Belly Factory, Sacramento Temple, the zoo, and aquarium, and a train ride. Plus Josh went white water rafting with his brother and I went Outlet mall shopping with Merna (Josh's sister-in-law).
Joseph got to play with a little cousin (eight months younger than him) and it was an all around relaxing and enjoyable visit. I have pictures to put up (not as many as I would like, kept forgetting the camera) and I hope to do that tomorrow. It's always nice to spend time with family and go new places.

I also need to put up pics of my garden. It's thriving (in spite of the weeds that are trying to make a comeback). Hopefully I'll get everything up tomorrow. In the meantime enjoy this (or enjoy not being in this).

New at Our House

So this really isn't about a whole lot of new stuff. But sometimes I can't think of a title that covers everything.

You know the old saying "it never rains, but it pours"? Well, I've felt a lot of that lately.

We paid of some debt with our tax return and then put some aside to use on Joseph's bedroom. Then about 3,000,000 things broke or came up unexpectedly so we now have less than half of that amount to work with on Joseph's room.

One of the things was our fridge. We've been lucky with that though. This was the third fridge that we'd either been given by someone getting rid of theirs, or bought for a very good deal (I think we'd paid $200 in fridges up to this point).

But finally, this most recent demise came about when our fridge decided that it was tired of keeping food cold. And slowly we noticed our food getting warmer and warmer. At first, we just noticed that our milk wasn't ice cold. It was still cold, but just didn't have that edge you want on milk (especially with warm cookies). Then it got to the point that we needed to get the food cold or risk it going bad. That was the last week of April. We called around to people in our ward to see if we could drop off our food for a couple days until we could get a fridge. All the "deals" that we could find were on fridges half the size of the one we were losing. Not an option.

Finally, we decided to buy a new one. But where, and could we really afford it? I went to RC Willey (yes, we are starting to like that place) and looked in their scratch and dent department (call ahead to find out what stores have a better selection in that department. They don't spread it around to all stores) We ended up with a $900 dollar fridge for $500. All because of a little scratch on the door (it took me a week to find it)

So here is our new fridge (pretty huh?)




I would never have picked out stainless steel, but hey, I'll pick low prices any day.

Last week, I was in the bathroom and Joseph was going through the hanging clothes he can reach. So mainly, my dresses. He saw my temple bag (it hangs on my dress) and asked what it was. I explained that's where my temple clothes are. Then he saw the bag with my wedding dress in it and asked about it. So I took my dress out and explained that's the dress I wore on the day I married Daddy. He kept telling me the dress was "nice" and "cute" (two new words he loves). I modeled it for him. Well, sort of. It doesn't fit. I can't even fit my arms all the way through the sleeves. He loved it anyway. And I had him model my headpiece. He loved that too.


Sometimes I think my son is a girly girl. But then he reminds me just how much boy he really is. I guess he's just secure in his own masculinity.

Last Sunday I came home from visiting teaching after church (church is at one and this was about 6:20). Joseph had told Josh he was going to "bed". This means he takes a pillow and a blanket and lays on the couch. It usually lasts about 30 seconds before he's up and at it again. But he zonked out this time. It's nice to know he can "self nap" now.


And finally, here are a couple more of the projects I've been working on. This is a baby blanket (you can see the yarn where I'm still finishing it.)


And here is a bag that I did. I didn't have enough of either color but I think it worked out just fine.

Josh told me I should open an etsy shop. I'm still thinking (and researching) about that one. I love to crochet, but I don't know if I could "crochet on demand". We'll see. I'll let you know if that happens.

Happy Mother's Day all!

Crochet Projects

So I had a ton of yarn left over from the afghans I made for Christmas (thanks so much to my neighbors for the 5 bags of yarn). I found a website for yarn that also has knit and crochet patterns. I don't knit, but I love crochet. This site has oodles of free patterns and they are really cool. Not sweaters that only grandmother's would love, but stuff for kids, teens, adults and the home. So I've been doing quite a few projects lately.

First, I have these flowers I did for my sister in law. She has a crocheted hat she wears and now she has different flowers to match her outfits. They are so easy. I think I did them all in two nights.

Then I have these placemats. Their not quite done. I need to put a fringe along the edges. But those were fun. And a very simple stitch.


Lastly, I'm working on a bag. I'm not quite done yet, but I'm excited to see the finished project.

My sister has asked for some wrist warmers. I can't wait to see how those turn out. Stay tuned for more pics of other projects.

Easter Pics

I know it's been a while since Easter. But I wanted to post some pictures. First I need to show the finished project of my chairs.

I really love the way it looks. I am so excited with how much more "finished" my kitchen looks now.


Then we have a cute picture of Joseph in his Easter outfit. If he didn't have such a skinny waist his shirt would stay tucked in. But he's adorable anyway.

The Saturday before Easter we had a girl's night at my sister's house. These originated when my brothers first started going to Priesthood Conference with Dad. Dad would always take them out to dinner afterward with his friend Steve and Steve's boys. Mom would take us girls out to Arctic Circle (love that place) and then we'd go home, watch a chick flick and make shakes. It has changed a little with the addition of multiple grandchildren, but we still get together, eat and try to stick the kids with toys or a movie so we can have some time for a movie or something.

This conference we had an egg hunt for the kids. My sister lives in a townhouse so she doesn't have much property attached to her house, but she is on the end. Anyway, the kids had fun and got a lot of candy. Here are some pics from that. We figured out how many eggs each kid could get. It was fun to see the older ones help the littler ones. Once everyone reached their limit, we went back in and watched a movie. It was so nice to spend time with my sisters.


Here's Joseph and his cousin Ethan saying goodbye to each other. Ethan loves that he can lift up Joseph. But Joseph isn't sure how he feels about that.

Then on Sunday we had another egg hunt at our house between conference sessions.



Joseph loves finding eggs. He wanted to keep looking for eggs. In fact, for the next few days every time he went out side he looked for eggs. Luckily, when he does find eggs (chicken) he leaves them alone.

We loved being able to listen to conference. And like always, it makes me feel close to my parents as we listen to the prophet on opposite ends of the globe. What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of our Savior. So grateful for this semi annual respite from the craziness of the world. I just need to find a way to keep Joseph more subdued so we can hear more of what is said.