9/11

 

Today is the 14th anniversary of when the Twin Towers in New York were hit. I can't believe that it's been that long, sometimes only seems like it happened yesterday.

I had written down my feelings years ago in my personal journal about this day, but I wanted to write them down here again reflecting back on that day. I want my kids to know where I was and feeling the day it happened.

I'm not very good at words, so here goes.

12 Year Anniversary: Boston Trip Part 3

Okay this is the final chapter of our Boston Trip. Day 3 was not packed, but more restful.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!

This is our actual anniversary day, 8/2/15.

We attended church with Joe and Katie. After 12 years of being in a family ward, it was different to be in a singles ward. Very quite.

Just before we got to church Matt and I drove by Walden Pond. I was surprised by how big it actually was.

12 Year Anniversary: Boston Trip Part 2

Okay onto day 2! This is now Saturday, 8/1/15.

This was also an adventure packed day. We first started out with a yummy breakfast. Joe had recommended this diner called Bickford in a neighboring town.

My breakfast, omelet.

Matt's, The Big Apple

I went simple with an omelet, but no Matt had to get an item that took 20 mins to cook. He picked what's called The Big Apple. Basically, what it is a baked pancake with apples, cinnamon and sugar. As you can see that is all he could eat. He did have potatoes brought out before this. We took it back with us to have for breakfast the next day.

12 Year Anniversary: Boston Trip Part 1

This year Matt and I celebrate 12 years of being married! I can't believe it! 12 YEARS!! This year we were able to afford a trip by ourselves! This was also the first time we have made a trip without kids. Yea us!

Well anyways, Matt was already in Connecticut for training for his new job. He had been out there the week prior, and his training ended a few days before our anniversary. So I thought that it would be fun to meet him out there so that I can experience Boston.

*sidenote: Matt has been to Boston a few times already. Also if you follow my on Instagram you probably have seen these pictures but now I'm dishing the details of the trip*

I made all the arrangements for the kids to be watched by their grandparents. They had fun while we were gone too. ;)

I took a redeye non-stop flight on Thursday, 8/29/15, and arrived in Boston early Friday morning. I tried to sleep on the plane, but the flight attendant didn't hear me ask for a blanket only a pillow. I had a window seat and 2 ladies next to me were knocked out and I didn't want to walk them up by binging for the flight attendant. So I tried to sleep I would wake up cold. errr. I have to be warm to fall asleep.

Happy Birthday to Summer and Zoey

This year I had a little fun planning a birthday for both of the girls. Summer's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, 18th, and Zoey's will be a in a couple weeks. Also with Matt going out of town on 19th for training we decided to celebrate both together.

Matt Gets a New Job

Well after 5 years with Karl Storz, Matt has moved on. He had been trying to get into sales for awhile and kept getting turned down. Well finally after a couple years of searching and rejection someone is taking a chance on him to give him that opportunity. YEA! Matt is now a sales rep for Cooper Surgical.

I'm very proud of him for not giving up. Someone saw his potential and said, "why not?"

He has to go to Connecticut for training and will be gone for about 2 weeks, with no coming home on the weekend. Bummer for me. But I will be meeting up with him after his training in Boston to celebrate our anniversary. Something to look forward to.

Arrow of Light

Scott earned his Arrow of Light in Cub Scouts and crossed over into 11 year old scouts! This is a big achievement in Cub Scouts.

 

He and his den all earned it! We are very proud of him and the boys for accomplishing this step in the Cub Scout program.

Zoey's Blessing Day {10.19.14}

Finally, I've gotten around to getting this down for the records! Haha!

We blessed Zoey on October 19, 2014. This is the 2nd time we've blessed one of kids on a non-fast Sunday. My reasoning is that I wanted to be able to host a brunch right after sacrament and not have anyone feel guilty to break their fast early. It's not in the books that you have to bless your baby on fast Sunday, but traditionally they are. Not how that started. Wells anyways, this was such a special day for us.

We had a good turnout from our family for this day. Tia Maggie and Tio Gerald came up from Tucson. And I had a special surprise from my cousin Trevor! I didn't even know he was in town from Utah!

Valentine's Day

This year for Valentine's Day we actually got to go out. We don't usually go out but this year we wanted to.

It was somewhat last minute. We didn't have a babysitter lined up nor did we have a place we were going to yet.

I think at about 3 Matt decided we were going out, and I mentioned we didn't have a babysitter and it was too late to get one. So we decided to go out later than we normally would have, so that Scott could stay home with the girls.

We got the girls ready for bed and all Scott had to do was put them to bed. We found a restaurant around the corner just in case there was an emergency we would only be a couple mins away.

We went to a Teppanyaki restaurant that also served sushi. When we got there was a line, of course because it's Valentine's Day. We saw a couple spots open at the bar sat down. Easy! We enjoyed some yummy sushi and had a great conversation.

Sushi sampler

ps. the kids survived and were asleep when we got home.

Cub Scouts: Blue and Gold Banquet

This year's Blue and Gold Banquet was not held at the church. Instead with the weather being nice the Cub Scout leaders decided to hold it outside at Barney Park. We had some yummy food and the kids loved it.

All the boys earned their pins, rank advancements, and belt loops.

Christmas 2014

Christmas this year was a lot of fun! Jen and Greg and their kids came into town to celebrate this year. It's also Zoey's first Christmas! Oh and Papa Earl was here as well.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve this year was at Rick and Shellie's house. Rick read the traditional Christmas story from Luke. Grammy read her new Christmas book for the year. And of course the opening of the Christmas PJ's which I think is the highlight for the kids!

putting on the pj's

 

Zoey's Birth Story

I thought that it was time to share Zoey's birth story.

On Wed July 23rd I had seen the dr and I was still barely at 1cm. Very frustrating since with the other 2 I was further along by 38 weeks. So I decided to start taking the Evening Primrose oil capsules and rubbing Clary Sage oil on my belly.

I think this did the trick b/c on Sunday I was having some mild cramping but then it went away. Then on Tues, the 29th, as I was making dinner at about 5 pm I started to feel cramping again. I knew these weren't Braxton Hicks contraction like what I was having since 30 weeks. These contraction and pains were the real thing!

Introducing . . .

Our sweet baby girl has finally arrived and she's perfect!

Summer's Shinanigans

Oh man! Summer is sure giving me a run for my money! This girl gets into everything!! I was downstairs doing some things when Summer comes up to me and says, "mommy I color!"

What? Wait color what? I looked down and at her and started laughing. She had found one of the black sharpies and colored on her arms and legs. When she's at Marva's house her a Phoebe color with markers, I guess she thought this would be okay. Oh dear!

So of course I had to take a picture before I stripped her down for a bath.

Luckily it all came off in the bath. Phew! I need to make sure those markers are out of her reach! haha

Pinewood Derby 2014

This year Scott had a fun time making his pinewood derby car. He and Matt worked hard on it. All of that hard work definitely paid off!!

Scott place 1st for his Bear Den! Way to go Scott.

proudly displaying his 1st place certificate.

All of the boys did a really good job with their cars. They all worked hard and had a fun time seeing whose was the fastest!

Oh BABY!!!

This new year will be bring a new change to our family! We are expecting baby #3 and we are super excited about it!!

This new addition will arrive early August. This will be uncharted territory for us because we've never had a new a baby and a toddler back to back. At least we have big brother to help out!

I hope your new year will be filled with fun and new exciting adventures!!

P.S. We surprised our families again this Christmas with this little news. They were all shocked and happy by it!

Family Pictures 2013

This year taking family pictures was interesting. Summer was a bit of a nightmare, wanting to do her own thing! Seriously child, just sit still! haha

The end result was great, thanks to my amazing friend Amanda Shepard and her talent for making us look good!

What do you think?

Summer - 1 year Photo Shoot

I can't believe Summer is already a year! She is that happiest baby ever! She loves to make funny noises and faces. She loves her big brother and her daddy. She can say daddy very well and is learning to say Scott, but it sounds like dot. Other words she can say are baby, pretty, hey, hi and uh-oh. She loves her baby doll that her grammy got her for her birthday. She is a petite but growing and is on track with her milestones. This week she figured out how to walk and is doing very well with it.

Ok, onto the photo bomb of her 1 year photo session. Thanks to my friend Amanda I love how the pictures turned out. Here are a few that I want to share.

10 Years!! Our Story thus Far

I can't believe that 10 years ago I married one of the cutest guys in my singles ward. Our story actually starts 11 years ago when we first met.

I was the new girl to him in the group that I was in and he was just fresh off of his mission and new to me. I actually persued him and it most definetly paid off. It didn't take much and we were dating. By April of 2003 we were engaged with the help of my bestie and a video camera.

a month of dating and i took him home to cali for my baby brother's blessing. Sept 2002.

Memorial Day Weekend Vacation

Ah summertime is finally here and school is out, that means Memorial weekend and Scott's birthday. This year we asked Scott what he wanted to do for his birthday. We gave him the option of going to Sea World and visting his cousins in San Diego or take a couple of friends to Sunsplash. He chose the first option.

We left Friday morning. Summer did very well, I was worried that she would get bored and fussy but she slept most of the way. Thank goodness for the improvement of baby food packaging! I love the food pouches, because I could screw on a spoon designed for them and feed her on the road! We hit traffic on our way into Carlsbad but made in just in time to check into our hotel. Matt's sister met up with us at our hotel, she lives up the road from the hotel we stayed at. I do recommend the Carlsbad by The Sea Resort, if you are planning a vaca to Carlsbad. So the kids swam for a little bit and then we headed to dinner.



Summer sleeping just before we got into San Diego.