Million Cute Things

Christmas at Disneyland

2012-01-15T23:53:00.001-08:00

We took the girls to Disneyland right before Christmas. We drove down on a Monday went On a Tuesday and drove back home on a Wednesday. It was short but we had a great time!

Pumpkin Patch and Pre-Halloween

2011-10-25T22:37:00.001-07:00

Half Moon Bay must have some of the prettiest pumpkin patches in America. We love going to this one there that has hayrides, pony rides, petting zoo, you name it, they probably have it and they really put you in the spirit of Halloween and Fall with their decor.

It was very sunny as you can tell. Half Moon Bay is known to be foggy most of the year so it was a pleasant surprise to have clear skies while we were there.

Jillian loved her pony ride...

While Aaron took Jill to some jumpy houses, I walked around with Kiera snapping photos of her all over...

They loved riding back to the car in the wheel barrel with all of there good finds...

Look how pretty the walk way is...

We love our sweet Max. He is now about 6 years old. He is so perfect with the kids.

The other night I put them in some costumes and they danced around the living room. Kiera loves to twirl every chance she gets. Look at those teeth!

Ariel is who Jillian has chosen to be this year and today we went down to Rodeo Drive (J/K but very similar feel) to go trick or treating at the shops. It was so fun. We went last year and loved it so we went again this year. She loves wearing her wig. When I explained to her that I got her a wig she said, "Ok, take this hair out and put on the new hair." I love her!

Watch out! There's a scary pirate coming through!

She has it down this year, she knows exactly where to go to get the candy! Look at her on a mission!

Even Max went in his jailbird costume. This is my world when daddy is at work, these sweet three:)

kiera turned 1!

2011-09-10T12:30:00.001-07:00

Kiera turned one on August 26th. We invited some of her cousins over for cake and icecream that evening.

"yum, this was tasty, how can I get my mom to give me more"

We had a birthday party on Sept. 3rd in a park. She was a happy little camper that day!

So was Jillie!

Smiley girl

We all took a train ride around the park.

Then we rode the carousel. It was a great day with Family and Friends!

Summer Days are here!

2011-07-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

Here's an update of our two crazy kids... They both love to play with each other in the crib.

Happy 4th of July. we went to the Berkley Marina where they had lots of stuff for kids to do on the 4th.

Can you see Jill and Aaron way in the back of the train?

Having a pony ride on a pony named Snickers.

Now here we are in the city. We walked up from the Embarcadaro to Nob Hill near Grace Cathedral. Its crazy up hill before I took this picture (here we are at the top)and Aaron ended up walking alot of it like this. At the top across from the cathedral is a park where everyone lets there dogs off the leash and play around.

They have a playground at the park too. They love swinging together.

Here we are just before swimming with cousins in San Jose

Here's Jillie and her cousin Gabriela running around by the pool.

Here they are again resting by the pool.

We went to Carmel yesterday to walk around. We love it down there. Here's Aaron with both girls again.

Can I have this door and Ivy?

Look at these sweet three

Yes, finally one with all of us, even Max.

Its been awhile...

2011-05-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

We went to the aquarium awhile back and Jill found a nice little cave to watch the sea turtles.

They love taking baths together!

Little Audrey and Little Kiera! They are 4 months apart.

My nephew Beau and his baby sister Audrey. He's a sweet brother to all 5 of his sisters!

It snowed while we were out in Utah last month for my nieces baptism and my other nieces blessing. Jillian was in heaven while I think everyone else was sick of the snow. So we built a snowman, which she called a snowbear.

I got to hang with my good friend Mia. She lives right by the Temple in Salt Lake. We walked to a Jazz game and I snapped this on our way there. To bad I didn't get one of us together.

Livia and I while waiting for everyone to get done getting their eyes checked by Jesse, my uncle.

My mom and happy Kiera in the waiting room at the eye clinic.

funny Jillie and Sadie in the waiting room also. They are nine months apart and play so well together. Its fun to watch them play and talk to each other. Jillian still talks about Sadie everyday.

In my parents backyard one sunny day in April. More updates to come.....

Children Quotes I love

2011-02-28T13:16:00.000-08:00

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance."
-Franklin P. Jones

"I brought children into this dark world because it needed the light that only a child can bring."
-Liz Armbruster

"Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man."
-Rabindranath Tagore

"You are worried about seeing him spend his early years in doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Nothing to skip, play, and run around all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy again."
-Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile, 1762

"While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about."
- Angela Schwindt

New Haircut, School bus, and Snow

2011-02-23T15:22:00.000-08:00

I decided to go short again. I was growing it out, but I never styled it when it was long. This is much easier and styles it self. Kiera likes short hair too:)

About a month ago Jillian was able to go inside a school bus! I believe this was her favorite event yet. She always wants to ride a school bus. We just happened to have one pull right up to us when we got out of our car to go to a cute place called Happy Hollow for kids where they have zoo animals, petting zoo, and rides for kids. The driver was waiting for some the kids so it was empty. I decided to ask the man if Jillian could go inside. Well he let her but wasn't too enthused about it. so I quickly took a picture and then told Jillian we had to go to the park. She didn't want to leave. She would of rather stayed on the bus then go on rides and see animals.

It snowed up the mountain about a 30 minute drive from our house last weekend. Aaron was out of town but I decided to take the kids anyway since Jillian has never seen snow. She had so much fun walking and playing in it.

Look at that grin!!!

It was so much fun that I told Aaron we should go back up there when he got back. So we went up there yesterday. Alot of the snow was gone but we still found some patches to play in. I think this is my favorite picture of them so far!!!

Gingerbread Man Fiasco

2011-01-16T16:53:00.001-08:00

After work yesterday, I stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up a few things and in line to checkout I happened to come across a large stack of Gingerbread Man kits left over from Christmas. It was only 99 cents so I had to get it, knowing Jillie would love it. So this is how the story went last night after making Mr. Gingerbread Man (Don't mind the mess, you try living in a 950 sq. ft. apartment with two kids, a husband, and a dog):

Jillie: I wanna hold him.

Me: Ok, let's take some pictures of you holding him.

Jillie: Okay! (Very excited and proud of her work, she held him up)

Jillie: I wanna eat him.
Me: Okay but can we take some more pictures?

Me: You better hurry and eat him or else the Gingerbread Man is going to run away...

Jillie: WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Me: Oh no, he's your friend. He's nice. Don't be afraid of him, I was just kidding. He won't run away.

note: Thank you Jenni for the photos

Kiera's Blessing Day

2011-01-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Kiera was blessed on January 2, 2011. My sweet mother made her this beautiful dress and headband. I wish she could of been there but she was sick and is still getting over it! She also made the white blanket for Jillian when she was blessed so I used it for her as well. Kiera didn't make a peep thru the blessing and Aaron gave her such a beautiful blessing. He blessed her that she would come to know the love of our Savior and feel his compassion towards her and everyone. He also blessed her to pursue righteousness and serve her fellowmen. He said more things but I just can't remember right now. I love this sweet baby. She is so smiley. I can't believe she will already be 5 months on the 26th of this month. We love her so much.

Rody the Horse

2011-01-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

Today we took some things to the Goodwill and while we were in line to drop things off Jillie and I noticed a red inflatable pony Sticking out of a huge box full of random things. When it was my turn to give the nice man my things to donate, I happened to ask how much the pony is. He replied, "Do you want it? I was going to throw it away." I was so excited not only for Jillie but I new it was worth alot too. It makes me wonder what other cool things they just throw away. The only thing wrong with it was it was a little dirty. So I googled it right when I got home and found out that it is from Italy and its called a "Rody" horse. The horse itself is around $40 and the base alone is $40 too. Isn't Rody cute? He has a new home now. She did get another rocking horse for Christmas that was a hand me down from my sister in law's neighbor, but I think this one fits her better and Jill seems to like it better.

Jillian turns 2!!

2010-12-01T22:59:00.002-08:00

Our little Jillie is growing up so fast.

Here is a list of things that fascinate her lately:

cars

trucks

trains

dinasours

yo gabba gabba

little people by Fisher Price

Caillou (pbs)

Max and all doggies

kitties

going to the zoo, discovery musuem, or aquarium

anything that has to do with Christmas; especially lights and santa

balls- she loves to play catch but instead of catching she bumps it like volleyball:)

Goodnight Gorrilla book

But not the Hippopotomus book

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Edelviess

Jumping

running

Swings

balloons

nursery

kids

baby Kiera

Jingle Bells

daddy

Okay, this is just to name a few. She is curious about everything!

We love our smiley sweet sunshine! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JILLIE!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

We had a great time this Halloween. Jillian was really getting into the whole thing.

I had to put this one on here, my friends friend( I don't really know her) had her son be Nacho Libre!!

Jillian fit into my snow white dress that my dad bought me back when I was 3 years old. I love that my mom held on to it. It fit her perfectly.

Her friend Wyatt went as a golfer. I love that he is a couple months older than her and she is way taller. She talks about Wyatt all the time its pretty cute.

Snow white beauty and little miss pee in a pod

Here's a close up of this cuddle bug!

updates on Jillian

2010-10-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, rest assured, she is doing a little better. Aaron came home and said it was an absolute waste of time seeing the doctor last night. She didn't know what to do. She even said she had to go see other people. She basically asked the same questions the advise nurse asked us on the phone and that was it. I wish the advise nurse didn't tell us to bring her in. She woke up crying about 6 more times last night but fortunately went back to sleep. She woke up at around 10:30, so she got alot of sleep. She is starting to eat and run around so I know she will be back to normal soon!! Thanks for your prayers.

Flu Shot gone bad

2010-10-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

Here it is 1:45 am and I am worried sick. Aaron took Jillie to the emergency room tonight about an hour ago because she has had a fever for two days now because of the flu shot. This is the second time she has had the flu shot and last year no side effects but this year has been rough on her. About 6 hours after she got the shot she started to run a fever of 102.7. That night she woke up screaming at 1 and wouldn't go back to sleep until 5 am then woke up at 8:30 am and has been a walking zombie ever since. She won't sleep for more than 10 minutes at a time then she wakes herself up by trembling and being scared. She has been acting very delirious. We have been giving her childrens advil and tylenol but it doesn't seem to bring the fever down very much. Tonight I was laying with her in bed and she woke up suddenly and jumped screaming in terror and didn't recognize me. It took Aaron and I a while to calm her down. That is when we called the doctor for the second time today. They told us to bring her in. I keep trying to tell myself that she will be okay, she just needs to sleep. I hope that when they get home her fever will be gone and she will go right to sleep. I pray that she is resting right now. It is so hard for me to see her this way because she is usually so lively and curious about everything and so happy. She is not herself at all today.
I've decided I won't be giving my kids flu shots anymore.

Just got a text saying they are coming home. They have no answers but are making an appointment for her to see the doctor tomorrow.

Pray that she will get better!

My cuddley bunch

2010-10-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

"Mommy, I wanna pump... " This is what she says to me almost everytime I pump. I just love her! She cracks me up.

Can you tell she loves having a little sister?!

Just Can't get enough...

2010-09-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Baby Kiera is now 9 days old today. We have been having so much fun with her. She's such a good baby. I feel like I have it easy. She's a good sleeper and eater.
Here's a recap of my Labor:
They started to induce me at 11:30am wed. August 25th and we waited and waited and kept waiting. That night around midnight I was feeling alot of Back Labor (which means feeling alot of pain in your back) so they gave me the epidoral around 12:30 am. Then the potossum. We got a few hours of sleep in that night and by 4:00am I was only dialated to a 4 and then they checked me again at I think 10 am and I was still dialated to a 4 or 5! I was getting so discouraged at this point. Aaron actually had a dentist appointment at 9:30 am. Your probably thinking, bad timing. Yeah, it was but unfortunately, he was having alot of pain and needed a root canal done and that was the only opening so since I was only dilated to a 4-5, we thought it would be okay for him to be gone for a couple of hours. Well, after they checked me at 10 then the doctor decided to break my water to get things moving. Well, that infact is what happened. At 11:00 am I called the nurse in to tell her that I think she should check me again and sure enough I was at a 10 and I was feeling like I needed to push. By this time it was around 11:30am and Aaron wasn't there yet! I called him and told him to hurry up and luckily he was in the hospital lobby. Aaron was only there for about 15 minutes by the time Kiera came out. I was so glad he made it. In 5 pushes she was out at 11:58 am. Weighing 8 pounds 11 ounces, 21 inches long.

Max and Jillie can't get enough of her, its pretty cute.

Thank you mom for coming for a week to help me. I couldn't of done it without her.

Our little family is growing..

I love these girls

Just a few more days!

2010-08-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Our baby is coming soon, real soon, like tomorrow or the next day, stay tuned........

My Great Grandma Marie

2010-07-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

My dad sent me this picture today with my great grandma holding the American Flag sitting on top of the truck. This was a Victory parade celebrating the end of World War I on November 11, 1918 in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming. I was named after her. I remember as a little girl visiting her a few times. I am glad I got the chance to meet her. I remember her smiling all the time.

Giraffe Frame

2010-07-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

I finally finished a project that I have been wanting to do for so long. I found this giraffe frame at the Cancer Society thrift store awhile back and I thought it had so much potential to be cute. I should have taken a before picture, I forgot. It was just this boring laminate wood. I think it was made in the 70's. I had this idea to paper mache it with cool paper so this is how it turned out! I have alot of fancy paper that I hardly ever use because I used to do book binding but I haven't done that in a long time so I put this pink paper with white embossed Henna drawings on it. Atleast that is what it reminds me of. I will be puting pictures of Jill and the new baby inside, I can't wait to hang it in their room!

What has Jillie been up to?

2010-07-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Eating lots of corn on the cob...

Dressing up in Max's halloween costumes, here she is a reindeer...

Riding on goldfish

What have you been up to lately?

JIllie's Adventures

2010-06-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I took Jill to the Gilroy Gardens on Memorial Day. It was such a fun day. There were so many rides she could go on. Here she is on a swan paddle boat with daddy...

Here she is on a worm ride eating an apple...

We spent alot of time here where she could play in the water. She loved it...

This is her at the San Francisco Zoo at the petting zoo area. She loved feeding and petting the goats...

Every statue they had she wanted to sit on, she loved this bear...

We were the only ones practically on this merry-go-round...

We went up to Sacramento a couple of weekends ago for our friends, Dell and Janets baby shower. They are having a girl 3 weeks before us! They recently moved to Houston and we want them back so bad. (I think I've decided that I'm too old to wear a tiger shirt,b ut its comfy being prego so I don't care)...

At the baby shower they had these balloons and Jillie kept running around with them...

She loves balloons and...

pushing strollers. Another girl had brought her stroller to the park and all she wanted to do was push it around.

We just got back from visiting Cheryl and Ryan and the kiddies in Utah!! It was so fun even though it progressively got colder and colder. Some of the days were in the 50's and rainy, crazy I know! This was the first day we were there, so it wasn't as cold. Jill loved going on LIvies 4-wheeler...

We went up to Logan one day. I love Old Main!

Eating popcicles= Happy kids!

Jillie with her first popcicle. She did pretty good I must say...

Last Saturday, Tess had her dance recital. She was in 7 dances which included: Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Toe Ballet. Tess is amazing. It was so fun to watch her. She is so graceful and so elegant when she dances. I hope she keeps dancing for the rest of her life. She is blessed with this talent.

Here's one of the cold days. Look how bundled up they are and it is June!!

Tess and Tayli brought these cuties out into the living room with their hair done in piggies and a headband. They were so cute and fun to watch together. We miss you guys already!

Sweet Old Man at the Bakery

2010-06-03T09:54:00.001-07:00

This morning I got to work early, so I walked over to a local bakery to get a cinnamon roll. As I was waiting for them to heat it up, this sweet old man with a cane got up from where he was sitting and came right over to me and tapped me on the shoulder and said, " Excuse me, when are you expecting a baby?" I replied the beginning of Septemeber. He then put his hand on my shoulder and with tears in his eyes, he muffeled, " Do you know what your having?" I told him a girl with a grin on my face. He then replied, "Awe, I have 4 girls!" He then brushed my cheek still with tears in his eyes. He was such a sweet old man. I wanted to give him a hug but I thought that might of been weird. That made my day!

The Simple Things in Life

2010-04-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

One of Jillie's favorite things to do is...

get herself up onto our chair by...

Using a decorative suitcase I have underneth it.

Then she claps while standing on the suitcase because she is so proud of herself. This is just one reason why I love being a mom and just one reason why I love her so much.

Baby number 2 is coming!!

2010-03-31T22:52:00.000-07:00

Today we found out! We went in for our ultrasound at 11:30am. Were having another girl!!!! We are so excited and feel so blessed to soon have two sweet little girls. She is due September 2nd. Right now she is about 7-8 inches long. I love her already! P.s... I know the first and second pictures are a little freaky, but I will bet money that she's gonna be a cutie.

80 degrees in March

2010-03-20T11:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had such a fun day at Grandma and grandpas house. I couldn't believe it was that hot. All I could think about was how am I going to get through summer being pregnant, when I was already complaining about the heat in March! We pulled the pool out of the garage and put some water in it for Jill. She had so much fun going in and out of the pool. Her other favorite part about being outside was going up and down the steps in their backyard and just running around barefoot in her swimsuit.

keyboarder

2010-02-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

When it shows the keyboard player towards the middle of the song, who does it remind you of?

Doesn't it look like Will Ferrell!

Wiggily Jill

2010-02-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

Its been awhile since I've updated on our sweetiepie. She was 13 months in these photos with grandma and grandpa. She loves sitting on their laps. She also loves exploring at grandma and grandpas house. The stairs are her favorite. She loves climbing them, but she still hasn't quite figured out how to go down. Luckily she is careful and waits for me or grandma to help her. We are working on getting her to go backwards on her tummy down. She will do it sometimes on the carpeted stairs but not on the wooden steps. She's smart, I wouldn't either.

I love this picture of them. I think Jillie has grandpa's eyes a little bit.

The bumble bee car is one of her favorites. She got it for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Benning. We push her around the house in it as she says, "wee weeee"

Jillies also loves to go on adventures. Here we are at Rancho San Antonio park. They have a little farm but we got their to late to see the animals up close. We did see some through the fence though. She loves to pick up sticks and as many as she can hold in each hand.

Her first time drinking out of a drinking fountain.

Her hair turns all curly when she gets even a little bit sweaty. She loves to wiggle all around the house when mommy and daddy are both at home. One of her favorite games is when we chase her around the house.

We took a day trip up to San Francisco about a week ago. Here we are near the water at the bottom of Van Ness where all the piers are.

Oh look, she found a stick and some bark!

Another favorite thing she loves to do is walk Max. As you can see she is holding the leash and she saw this "pretty" orange baracade that she wanted to lean up against for awhile. Another day she was with daddy in downtown San Jose and she again was walking Max and then saw a big art mural on a side of a building, so she stopped and leaning up against it and just stayed there for a little bit. So Aaron took some pictures with his cell phone and immediately she walked over to Aaron and reached her hands out to see the pictures. I will have to post that photo later.

It's about time...

2010-01-25T12:48:00.000-08:00

Okay Okay so its been awhile. I'm at work and I'm bored. Its a slow and rainy day and I would much rather be home in bed. There I said it.

It really hasn't been that horrible today, I have had a few sales. I sold some really cool handpainted fish that look like these:

And I sold a crystal candy jar. I can't find a picture to show, but its pretty self explanitory. It was pretty heavy, but she liked that so the kids couldn't get into it that easily without help. Pretty sneaky I'd say.

A Night at Christmas in the Park

2009-12-23T22:43:00.001-08:00

I love going to Christmas in the Park in Downtown San Jose. Its like walking in the North Pole. There are all these displays of Elves building toys, an old fashioned candy store, and much more and they all move so it looks like they have come to life. Jill loved looking at all the lights and things

Max did too... This is how he sat in the stroller the whole time. We had to put him in there, cause we found out that no dogs wer aloud.

The best thing about the whole night was having her sit on Santa. At first she was worried and almost started the cry but she quickly decided it wasn't so bad after all.

Look who's turning 1!

2009-11-19T00:24:00.000-08:00

I just made this tonight for her little party we will be throwing for her.

I hope you like it!

The Monteray Bay Aquarium Trip

2009-11-14T22:04:00.000-08:00

Amor I Love You!

2009-11-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

If you want to hear this, turn off my other music. I love this song. My firt Missionary Companion told me to buy this cd after my mission and so I did and fell in love this song. I just found this video for it! Enjoy!

Fishies and Sea Lions!

2009-11-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

While I was at work today, Aaron and Jillian had a fun day at the California Acadamy of Science Museum or it is also called the Steinhart Museum. He sent me these pictures from his phone. I love that he goes on little fieldtrips with her even at such a young age. She loves fish can't you tell and isn't it awesome that he left her in her pajamas!! I think that is a guy thing to do. She does look cute in little feetie pjs though I have to admit.

Next, they headed off to see the Sea Lions down at Pier 39. Jill loved them but Max was afraid of them. Here he is protecting her with kisses from the sea lions :)

Halloween Hurray!

2009-11-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

I passed out candy at my work. There were alot of great costumes like this family above. I have no clue who they are. I just asked if I could take their picture, they were probably wondering why. Maybe one day they will radomly look on my blog and see themselves. How weird would that be.

Here is the Halloween Menlo Park parade. They march down our street where I work. Its pretty cute for the kids then they all go trick or treating. Side Note: How come kids hardly say Trick or Treat anymore? Whats up with that! Not very many kids said those traditional words while I was passing out candy. They would just open up there bags not saying a word. A few times I said, "what do you say? They were like,, "um thank you?" Then I would say, "No, I mean before that, what do you say?" I felt like a jerk, but seriously how hard is it to say, TRICK OR TREAT to get free candy!!

Here's our little pirate girl!!

We were all going to be Hawaiin tourists but I found that totally sweet jacket at the thrift store so I was Mary Lou Reton. I look pretty pyscho, I know. We had fun though!!

Let's walk

2009-10-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

Jillian's new favorite toy is her stroller that she walks around the house with. She loves pushing it and since our apartment isn't that big, she quickly runs into the wall or objects and that is when I jump in and turn her around to head another direction. We've discovered doing this out in our hallway is much better since she can go straight for a longer distance. Oh, our sweet jillie. By the way, she has taken atleast 6 steps on her own, so any day now she will be taking off!

At the Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Alex and Jillian. Alex always reads to Jill whenever they see each other, its very cute.

Max and Jillian in the wheel barrel. Here she is with her arms out straight. She does that when she is excited.

Here she is doing it again. She loves pumpkins!

She was so happy to be surrounded by so many of them!

Orange and Black is Back and Green too!

2009-10-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. Yesterday I was thinking about the seasons and my order of most favorite to least favorite goes: Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. Trees are changing color, leaves are falling, pulling the sweaters out, hot chocolate, tasty treats, whats not to love.

Our Thing 1

2009-09-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

How many things will we have?! I hope we have many things, I love thing 1.

Aspiring Musician

2009-09-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Jillian is fascinated by the guitar when Aaron plays it. She starts to make noises like shes singing along. She even puts her fingers on it like she is strumming it.

Whenever we go to both grandparents houses she loves it when I sit her by the piano. She has so much fun pushing the keys. I think we might have a little musician in the family, what do you think?

blessings

2009-09-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in Young Womens the teacher for the Miamaids asked the girls to each tell the class one thing possitve about their week. There was one girl who said she did really well on her Math test. Another girl said she spoke to a friend that she hasn't seen in a long time. One of the leaders said that her husband just received an award for his heritage and will be picking it up in Washington DC this week (I'm not quite sure exactly what it was for), then it quickly came to me to say something positive that happened to me last week. I was a little nervous cause I couldn't think of anything really, then I remembered this, I said I ran with my baby and my dog three times last week. Thats all I could think of. I am proud of myself for doing that but why couldn't I think of anything else at the time? It made me realize that I need to be more grateful for everything I have in my life and to think more postively. I don't want to ever hesitate if and when asked that question again. There are so many things right now in my life that are positive. My little girl who I adore in every way possible, my hard working husband and good father, my sweet pup, my understanding boss that lets me work part time after taking 3 months off for maternity leave, my loving parents that I get to see so often, my good friends all around me and knowing Jesus Christ lives and loves me. I am so blessed.

Apple Pie Design

2009-09-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

I just found this website today, here is the link: http://www.applepiedesign.be/choice.php

I am still trying to figure out how to add a link without the website posted. Does anyone know how? Anyway, I love the simplicity about these rooms as well as the creative decalls.

Past Due past due past due...

2009-09-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Heres our little sweety when she was only 2 months old. These beautiful pictures were taken by my good friend Emily Turk. She is a great photographer. Check out her website here: www.emilyturkphotography.com

I love this little girl. She is my little sunbeam.

Dryden Family Reunion 2009

2009-09-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

I added these pictures in the wrong order. If you start from the bottom of this post and work your way up they go in order except for the first two pictures.

This was the first night at Steve and Erica's house before Tess, Tayli and Grandma and grandpa came. We played alot of Guitar Hero. It got even more fun when jessie unlocked some new songs to play.

We went to Cunningham Lake for the day near Gettysburg. Here is Eve, Jillie, and grandma

Paulie and Jillie at John and Laura's house

Some of us went to the Dupont Mansion in Deleware one day. This was so exciting. The DuPont mansion has 9 floors! But we only saw the 5th floor. In this room, he bought the wallpapar and then made the room to fit it. Above each window he had an artist paint the mountain scenary to match the wallpaper but over time the parts above the windows have gradually became darker. You can tell if you look closely.

jillie and I in New Jersey

Faith and Sara in Cape May, New Jersey

We stopped at this fruit and vegetable stand to buy some corn for dinner. I loved how they had everything displayed in baskets and barrels

Cute Kate

Just one of the beautiful homes Iback there

Dad, John, Sara, Eve, Thomas, and Jillie walking from one museum to the next.

On our way to the AeroSpace Museum

Eating lunch outside the Natural History Museum.

Gettysberg battlefield. This looks like a painting that is how beautiful it was.

Jillie with a handful of sand enjoying the lake.

Yes!!! I love this picture of her in Mid Scream.

At the Washington Monument

The Old Post Office in D.C. We went up to the top floor and saw a panaramic view of the city.

All the girls including Thomas and Tyler waiting for the men to catch the Metro into D.C.

Jillies first plane ride.

Fun-Filled Week

2009-08-14T22:58:00.000-07:00

Cheryl, Beau, Livia, and Sadie came out to see grandma and grandpa Dryden and I this last week!! It was so much fun spending the whole week with them! It worked out perfect with my work schedule cause now I am just working Mondays and Saturdays and she was here Monday night thru Friday morning! Sadie and Jillie are exactly 9 months apart and they were so intrigued by each other the whole time. Well, I should say Sadie was more intrigued by Jillie cause she is older. They became intstant best friends. It was so adorable seeing how they interacted. Sadie couldn't stop touching her face and hair.

All the kids were playing at the kids table and Jill crawled over to them and stood right up to be right up by them.

Beau and Livia had such a fun time with both of the dogs. They took them on atleast 5 walks a day!

We all went swimming at my parents neighbors pool, it was so refreshing in that heat!

I snapped this shot of Sadie with her arm around Jill, that was so cute! She was so gentle with her.

the 4 cuties

I miss you guys, come back!

A Properly Dressed Baby

2009-08-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight Aaron came home with white onesies, images of some of Aaron's (and mine) favorite bands and tv show, and special printing paper... and this is what his crafty mind came up with.

One of David Bowie "Ziggy Stardust"

One of the Clash

and one of Flight of the Conchords, we didn't want to change her a third time tonight into this one. I have to say, these are pretty awesome. Thank you Aaron.

Life goes by so fast...

2009-07-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture my dad took of us when we were engaged. It was Aaron's Birthday the other day. I love this man. He makes me so happy. Tonight he was helping me feed Jill. She keeps her mouth so tight when I try to feed her, its been a challenge. He showed me how he does it and it worked: first of all he added a little cinnamon to the rice cereal along with carrots and apples. He pretended like he was eating it and then Jillie started to just stare at him wanting some, so he would give her a bite. He repeated this and she began to eat it. She loves having cinnamon in it, is that ok? I hope so. I love him for being silly with her. He makes her laugh all the time. He was gone over his birthday up in Seattle coaching a high school and at the University of Washington for a week and a half and he just missed her so much. I love him for wanting to go up to the city for walks and a good bite to eat. I love him for thinking of packing everything in her diaper bag along with back ups of blankets, jackets, and hats in the car as well as the stroller. I love him for helping me put her to bed tonight. I love him for giving me head massages and back rubs, I love that one of his ring tones on his phone is of Elbow, with a line in the song that says, "holy cow I love your eyes" because that makes me think of how he loves my eyes. I told him before we were engaged on the way to the beach one night for a ward bonfire that if a guy sang green eyes by Coldplay to me I would marry him. I was joking even though I love that song and that night he pulled out his guitar and started playing it and singing it directly to me. Noone else knew he was singing it to me but me. It didn't scare me, it actually made me feel like this could be the beginning of something really cool....

and I was right.

Waving and Jumping

2009-07-15T11:31:00.000-07:00

First time at the Beach

2009-07-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

We went to Santa Cruz today for awhile and hung out at the beach. It was Jillie's first time to feel the sand and touch the water with her toes. She loved it. Especially grabbing hand fulls of sand. I had to be careful she wouldn't put it in her mouth.

I love her hat...

And her doctor Seuss onesie...

Someone actually had a pet bunny on a leash, it was adorable...

We walked down to the shore and Jillie just stared at the water...

She's a people watcher just like her daddy...

Before we left, I had to ask the guy with the bunny if I could get a picture of both of them. We had a great day. Aaron leaves for Seattle this Sunday for a week and a half . It will be so sad to have him gone, especially since he will be gone over his birthday. I love when we can all be together.

Grandpa and Thomas

2009-07-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

I took this with my cell phone last year in November at John and Laura's after eating Mexican food. I don't think they new I took it. I love that they are just sitting there talking away probably about airplanes or something. (just a guess).

Sleeping Beauty

2009-06-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

Here is Aaron's mother holding Jill while she sleeps. She fed her a bottle and then she fell asleep on her. I love the expression on my mother in law's face. She looks like she is in heaven having Jillie lay on her.

She was so tired at this restaraunt we went to awhile ago with Marylin, one of Aaron's sisters. She must have been so tired, even with the bright lights and loud noise she slept in the high chair .

This is how I found her sleeping at my mom's house. It didn't look very comfortable. She was just discovering that she could sleep on her stomache. Now that is the only way she wants to sleep.

My Father and Family

2009-06-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

I went to my parents house this weekend for Father's Day and because they were babysitting Jillian on Saturday while I worked. So after work I drove out there. I had so much fun looking thru old photos from as old as when my father and mother were little to as old as about 6 years ago. I wanted to post this yesterday for Fathers Day but I had trouble with the scanner. Finally I got it to work so I emailed the pictures to myself so I could do it today. Here is my dad and my grandpa Jack somewhere on the coast in Southern California. Dad looks terrified of the starfish my grandpa is showing him. I love how my grandpa is cracking up.

Here is my cute dad when he was a little boy in Pasadena, Ca.

The whole family around 1979 or 1980. I love this photo especially dads mustache.

We always went hiking and camping as a family. Here we are in the Tetons I think in the early 80's. I love Cheryl's long socks.

Here is another great family photo with Corneilia. Cornelia lived with us for awhile in Poway, CA. She is from Sweden. I called her "Why-yah". I couldn't say her name so that is what I called her.

My dad and I at Disneyland in line for the submarine ride (now where the Nemo ride is). I loved going to Disneyland, what am I saying, I still do.

Mom and dad with 9 out of the 14 grandchildren they have. from Left: Paulie, Tayli, Thomas on my father, Faith, Beau, Livia on my mom, Jessie, Tess and Sarah.

I love my family. Thanks dad for always being there for us and loving us. You are a great father and Grandfather. Everyone that knows my father knows that he is always so positive and happy all the time. Thank you for that.

Various Cellphone photos

2009-06-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

This one was taken today in the BabysRus bathroom. I love it that they have a little seat so mommy's can go to the bathroom too. There have been times where I have had to go to the bathroom after I change her diaper on the changing table but I have to first go back outside and give her to Aaron then go back inside the bathroom to go. So great! So convenient BabysRus! I love that she is all happy sitting there, like she is going on a rollercoaster.

This one is one of my favorites. Guess who took it? Thats not that hard of a question, I know. This is what Jillie does all day at CityBeach with Aaron. Well, not quite.

She is always so happy in the tubba tub tub!

3 month old Jillie smiling away!

Max looking very prestigious or shall I say king of the forest.

Ah yes, let us never forget how close we were to Coldplay. Thank you Barb and Steve!

My LIttle 6 Month Old

2009-06-01T23:21:00.001-07:00

Today was a beautiful day spent with my little ones. I can't foget about her big brother Max. We drove up to Foothills park which is a park strictly for Palo Alto residents. I know, that sounds kindof rude but I heard that they asked some other cities to buy the land with them but no other city wanted to so Palo Alto bought it on its own so that is why it is a strictly for us "Palo Altoins". Guests are aloud too of course. It is a 1,300 acre preserve with lots of deer and other wild animals. There is a lake and many hikes. Aaron and I go there on occasion. I love that it is only about a 20 minute drive or less and you are totally out in the wilderness.
This was Jillie's first time here and she seemed to love it. She is always so peaceful and amuzed outside. She kept trying to grab the wildflowers. She fell over a couple of times onto the grass but she didn't even cry. Probably cause it was cushiony. We saw a couple of deer but they were too far from us to get a good picture, except when we were walking back to the car, there was this doe that was so close to us in the bushes trying to keep still that I spotted. I wish I had my camera handy then. There were some other people around walking there dogs and just relaxing. It was such a gorgeous day today.

When we got home, Jillie downed 5 oz. and took a nap. Then when she got up she was all smiles again. When Aaron got home from work, she got so excited to see him that she screamed and kept shaking. She loves her daddy.

(Scroll down some more, I have another post that I did today!)

Look at my 6 month old cutiepie!

2009-06-01T23:03:00.000-07:00

Every DAy is sO FuN witH JilLiE. TodaY sHe is 6 mOntHs! ShE iS verY inTerEsteD iN thE cAmEra. ShE ALwayS wAntS tO PuT iT In HeR MouTh.

WE haVE a MirroR hOOked to tHe baCK sEat sO we caN sEE heR wHIle we driVe. I Had to taKe THis piCTure of her, How could i resist! LOOk aT hEr liTTle FacE!

CaN You See hEr TwO fRonT tEEth?

hER SmiLE iS ConTAgiOUs.

Austin and Jill

2009-05-30T23:19:00.001-07:00

I love when we get together at Aaron's parents house for dinner with everyone. It is so fun to see Austin and Jillian interact. These were taken about a month ago so when she was 5 months and Austin was 8 months. Right now they are still at the stage of just figuring each other out.

What are they thinking in this photo? It is so cute seeing them look at each other like this.

"Okay we can be friends, let's hold hands!"

A Miracle Happened

2009-05-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

I started to write this last Saturday but didn't finish and it has taken me a couple more days to decide to post this or not but now I think I should so you can all read about what almost happened to me. I know some of you have heard me tell this story but most of you haven't heard it. I think this was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me...

Last Thursday I decided to drive out to my mom and dad's to spend the day and night there. When I got off the exit, it shortly become a dead stop in my direction. Knowing that I still had about 20-30 minutes of driving I wasn't sure what to do and after seeing a fire truck, ambulance, and police car drive by I knew it wasn't good. After talking to my parents on the phone, I quickly did a U-turn to go a different way to their house. Right after I started to go the other way, I found out on the traffic report that there was a head on collision and both ways were blocked. I started to feel so bad for those people involved in that accident and especially for the families involved. As I was carrying on my way, I got back onto the freeway and as I continued to pick up speed I noticed a long line of semi-trucks that were stopped on an exit to get onto the scales, but I had noticed seconds earlier that the sign said they were closed, so I thought it was strange that there were so many lined up for that exit. Right after I thought that, I had only a few delicate seconds to make the right decision over life and death. That may sound a little exaggerated to you, but these few seconds which I am about to tell you, almost took the life of my daughter and me. I have never in my life been this close to death.

As I was going about 60 mph in the slow lane one of the semi-trucks that was in the line off the exit started to get over into my lane. The first thing I did was slame on my breaks, which made Max go flying to the dashboard. I continued to break and I as I was looking into the rearview mirror and over my left shoulder to get over to the left, there was another semitruck in that lane just about to fly by me. To my surprise, I actually stayed calm which helped me do the only right thing in this situation to stay alive, I kept the car straight driving on the middle of the dotted lane (in between both semi's) feeling the vibration of both semi's on both sides of me inches away from my car and the screeching of the semi on the left was unbearable. I tried to then proceed to go and the car would not go, then I realized that Max thru the car into neutral when he went flying. At this time, I was only a few feet in front of the semi on the right, I quickly put the car into drive and continued driving. I honestly don't know how we made it. If I would have gone all the way into the second lane and tried to gun it, the car would have been in neutral without me knowing and then for sure I would have been rear-ended by the semi with Jill in the back seat. It just makes me sick to even think about that and all the unknowns. All I know is that I was not alone. I know that I was being protected. Sweet little Jill slept thru the whole ordeal. I would hate for anything bad to ever happen to her or anyone in my family including all of you that will read this. Life is so fragile.

"Life is but a day; a fragile dew-drop on its perilous way from a tree's summit."
(John Keats 1795-1821)

"Life is fragile, handle it with prayer." - -- Arthur christopher benson

nike lovers

2009-05-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken almost 4 years ago! This was a river rafting trip we took with the young adults in the singles ward we were attending. Good old Monta Vista Ward!

Tug a War

2009-05-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Jill just learned how to sit up on May 4th! So I have been taking some videos of her sitting and look what happened.. her first tug a war with Max. I'm sure there will be many more of these. I thought this was so cute. I can't wait for you all to meet her.

Family Photos

2009-04-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Maxy boy!!

I had to put this one on, were such bad parents neglecting our daughter. Poor Jillie doesn't like it when we kiss.

Wait there's more....

Family Photos part two

2009-04-22T16:52:00.001-07:00

Nice one Aaron!

A big Thank you to our friend Ian for taking these!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

Fun times at the Benning Home. All of Aaron's siblings live in the area but one sister who lives up in Washington State. Every month we get together atleast once for dinnner, its so nice. Well, here is a taste of what to expect after dinner for dessert for Easter. Pretty Scary but good!

Here are the 6 little Benning cousins with one on the way, due in June.

Michael Austin and Jillian Marie sitting on Aunt Kristen. She's gotta wear those bibs all the time or she'll be slobbered on. Look at that drool!

She is such a happy little baby. She's a good sleeper too. In fact, last night she was down at 11:00pm wanted a snack at 6 am than went back to sleep and slept until 12 noon! Sometimes I want to wake her up cause I miss her when she sleeps that long.

Her favorite thing to do is blow bubbles and stick her tongue out. She's got a funny personality.

Whatcha doin Jill?

2009-03-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite ways to hold her. This way I can catch all of her cute expressions and she does so many these days. She's started to giggle and she smiles alot too. Yesterday, she rolled over for the first time onto her back. Then I turned her on her tummy one more time and she did it again! Hurray! I tried to catch her doing it again on video but no luck so far.
I love this photo of Max and Jillie. They are best friends.
Look at that SMILE
Oh, and look at this smile too. She loves her new headband from Aunt Cheryl, can't you tell?!!
She loves her baths too!!!

I'm grateful for old and used things...

2009-03-24T23:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I was rear-ended. It wasn't bad at all so don't worry. I just have to say that I am so thankful for my old car, because first of all if I had a brand new car and I got rear-ended, I hate to say it but I think I would be furious, even if there were just a few scratches.
We bought the couch we have right now on craigslist for $300. At the time, I was really wishing we could of had a brand new fancy sofa from the design center. I saw one up there one day while I was shopping for clients. It was on sale and I called Aaron desperately trying to get him to say yes. Now I understand why we didn't need that since everyday spitup gets on it and dirty paws. This saves alot of headaches.

My wardrobe consists of thriftstore finds, Ross, Target, and H&M mainly. Why?? Cause I can only afford those #1, #2 because I know they will just get dirty and not fit after awhile. Believe me, I would love to have a completely different wardrobe full of Anthropologie, etc.

Maybe I am a little to materialistic. That is weird to say since being materialistic implies, "a person who is markedly more concerned with material things than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values."

I think what I mean is having old an used things keeps me from freaking out about things that shouldn't matter in life. I know myself to well that if I had the nicest things out there I would worry so much about something happening to them.

I am just thankful that I even have a car that runs and a comfy couch to come home to and clothes to keep me warm.

Unforgettable Moments

2009-03-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

I just found this video along with two others that Aaron took right after Jillian was born. I am so glad that he did this! It was such a treat to see these for the first time! I know, it's been almost 4 months and I am just new discovering these videos, where have I been! I cried watchcing this along with the other two that I will post. I love little Jillie.

Stroll around Los Gatos

2009-03-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Monday night Aaron and I met Jenny and Jared at the Gelato place in downtown Los Gatos. Then Aaron, Max, Jillian and I went on a walk. She loves going on walks in the Baby Byorn looking forward. She loved looking in all the windows at the lights. It was pretty chilly that night so we had her all bundled. She loves to stick her tongue out so when I took the Byorn off, the front was all wet :) I will have to remember to put a burp cloth or a bib on that section of the Byorn since its not the cleanest.

Beautiful Temple

2009-03-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

I love the Oakland Temple and luckily we have been able to go there alot lately. Two Fridays ago, my good friend Heidi was sealed to her husband Patrick their. Then Saturday we went back because my sister in law, Kristen, went thru the Temple for the first time so we were all there again. Then This last Saturday, I was able to help out at our Regional Youth Conference that was held at the Oakland Stake Center on the Temple grounds. I was sitting in on the testimony meeting and so many of the youth stood up to bear their testimonies. The spirit was so strong and alot of them made comments on how special it was for them to be able to have the youth conference their, right be the Temple of our Lord. I am so grateful for temples.

Happy Birthday Laura!!

2009-03-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today is my sweet sister in law Laura's birthday! Happy Day to you Laura! I hope you are having a fun filled day with your family. I wish I could jump on a plane right now and come and see you guys and have you meet Jillian. I can't wait for the family reunion this summer so we can all get together.

I love you Laura! Have a great day!

All Ready for Church

2009-02-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

I'm 2 months old today!!

2009-02-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

"Roar!!! I'm a tiger and I'm two months old." I love this blanket she is on. Its a fleece blanket made by someone in my ward. Jillie loves to spread out and she loves her passy.

Year of the babies in our ward!

2009-01-28T22:35:00.000-08:00

A lady in our ward, Ruth Ann Daines, invited all the moms that had babies in 2008 to come over for brunch and have a visit a couple of days ago. I think our ward holds the record for births in one year. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that their were about 15 births with one set of twins!! Here are some of the girls that were born with Jillian in the middle.

Here's my little cutie, I just love her....

Jillian, George, Anya, Ethan, twin 1, forgot name, twin 2, Samantha, and I forgot his name too. Oh my, I need to learn their names. Look how cute they all are, this was so fun having them all sit together in a row.

This one's my favorite!

Jillian's Blessing Day!

2009-01-04T20:49:00.001-08:00

Today has been such a special day. So many friends and family were able to come and witness Jillian's blessing. Aaron gave such a beautiful blessing for her. It is so neat that grandma was in town visiting my mom and dad so she was able to come as well.

Here is Michael Austin, Jillian's cousin that is 3 months older than her. They live close by each other so I look forward for them growing up together and playing.

Here's our little family.

Max loves Jillie

2008-12-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Max is really protective over Jillian, it is very cute. He always wants to be by her or know where she is. One time I was in the shower, and Aaron was still sleeping and the baby started crying so Max started licking Aaron's face and that didn't wake him up so then he sat on his face to wake him up to get the baby.

I had to put a chair by the bassenet so Max could see the baby.

Ahh...

I love my little girl!

Grandma and Grandpa Dryden

2008-12-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

It was so nice to have my mom come and help me with Jillian. She stayed Friday thru Monday. It's so nice to have her live close by to help out often. Thanks mom.

My dad came to visit today. I love this picture so much. Jillian was so content in his arms. Thanks mom and dad.

First Bath

2008-12-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

Meet Jillian Marie!!

2008-12-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

Here she is! Jillian was born 10 days early and weighed a whopping 9 lbs. 11 oz. on December 1, 2008 at 8:31 pm. Thank goodness I was able to post one photo, I have been having problems uploading any images. I hope to put a lot more on here soon. Jillian had Jaundice when she was born, which is the yellow color seen in the skin of many newborns. It happens when a chemical called bilirubin builds up in the baby's blood. Her bilirubin went really high so on Thursday, Jillian had to undergo photo therapy. She was placed in a special incubator for a day and a half with special lights on her to lower the bilirubin. She was only taken out for feedings and then put back in. The bilirubin dropped really low so finally on Friday afternoon we were able to bring her home!! We love her so much and we can't wait to have you all meet her.

Here I am- BIG and READY

2008-11-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

Can you guess which pair of feet are mine? I know its tricky....

I wish I posed for every picture like this one...

Only 11 more days till my due date!

Only 4 more days till my last day of work!

so very soon till we can hold our little girl!

My Grandma

2008-11-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

Aaron brought my laptop into work for me today since my work computer isn't working and I have sooooooo many pictures on here that I haven't looked at forever cause I never turn on my laptop. Anyway, Here is my cute Grandma. I love her. (and I love that my mom stopped whatever she was doing to smile at the photo)

The Alpha Male

2008-11-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

Max and Aaron.
They are two peas in a pod. I have never seen a dog love his master as much as Max loves Aaron and I never knew how much a master can love his pup. Its adorable. I love to watch them interact. Its good that Max is a daddy's boy, because the baby will be coming soon and need my full attention and daddy's attention can be spread amongst both our babies.

Back East part 2

2008-11-13T23:39:00.000-08:00

Here is my handsome brother with his beautiful wife and children.

Hi Eve!! I love this photo.

Look at the colors in the trees! It was absolutely beautiful in Phillidelphia and Maryland.

Faith's baptism day! What a happy day for her! Love you guys!

Trip Back East-part 1

2008-11-09T23:00:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun last week visiting family in Baltimore and Philly! It was a blast. Here are Steve, Erica, Sara, Kate, and Tyler all ready to go trick or treating.
Here is Sara as Sharpeh (from High School Musical), Kate is minnie mouse, and Tyler is a scary dragon! This was taken at Sara's halloween parade at her school.
Tyler and I at the school waiting for Sara to come out. What a cutie!

It was so much fun seeing you guys and seeing where you live.

I will post the second part of my trip soon!

What should Max be?

2008-10-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

A Monkey...

or a prisoner...

I am leaving for Washington D.C. tomorrow morning and will be there for Halloween with Steve and Erica and the kido's. and then off to Philly to see John and Laura and their fam, I can't wait, so I guess Max won't be dressing up for Halloween unless Aaron does it. So you all tell me which costume you like best so I can tell Aaron which one Max should wear!

It's too hard for me to decide, cause let's be honest, he makes a pretty cute prisoner and monkey.

I want you

2008-10-29T15:31:00.001-07:00

I am dreaming, but I really think it would be fun to have this. I love it. Here is the craigslist listing for you all to look at in case your heart is telling you that you also can't live without it: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/896876390.html

Lucas' Lunch

2008-10-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is Lucas, he is my nephew and since Heather my sister in law doesn't have a blog, I decided to post the latest news of Lucas. The conversation went something like this:

Lucas "Mom, I eat money."
Heather (Is he serious) "Where is the money now?"
Lucas takes his finger and runs it down his esophagus.
Heather (Alarm bells)"Is it in your belly?"
Lucas shakes his head yes.
Heather (Loud Alarm bells) 'Did it go down your throat?
Lucas shakes his head yes again.

The doctor told Heather to hold out every coin and have him point to the one he ate, low and behold he pointed to the penny and since it has copper in it the doctor told them to come in and get x-rays of the penny. Look how naughty but cute he is...

The doctor said that if it didn't pass thru, they would have to do surgery. According to what Heather said, "he withdrew his funds."

(note: this is not the penny he ate; totally different penny)

"It's a Major Award!"

2008-10-11T23:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the city tonight with our friend Jared for some tasty Eliza's (the best Chinese food),and as we were driving home, Aaron started telling us a story about this new knee brace that he is trying out and how it is helping his leg and right then I looked out the car window into an apartment window and spotted this...

Can you see it?

Here is a better picture if you can't quite see what is shining so brightly in the window...

A leg lamp, it was pretty amazing!! Oh, and again another reason why I love the city.

SF Book

2008-10-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

One of my close friends, Mia gave me this old book. It has old images of San Francisco. I keep it displayed on a shelf we have, I love it. I just love old books with cool hard back covers.

Paul Newman

2008-10-06T16:56:00.001-07:00

I don't really know much about Paul Newman. But on Saturday, after the last session of General Conference, I went to get a pedicure and I started reading the People magazine they had there. They had a big article on Paul Newman and his life. I was fascinated by how much he loved his wife. He only had eyes for her. Joanne, his wife once said of him, "Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that's a real treat." She too felt the same of him. This makes me happy.

Disneyland

2008-09-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

We had alot of fun last weekend. We spent a half day at Disneyland and the next day we went to SeaWorld with our friend Amy Catale. We left Disneyland around 4, (I know lame)but my feet were hurting and I couldn't really go on the fun rides so we spent alot of time shopping in the stores. We bought baby Jillian mickey mouse ears with her name on the backside, they are so cute. We also found some old fashioned mickey and minnie dolls so we bought some of those. Max stayed at the Disney Kennel club and received a certificate saying that he had very good behavior. We think it would be funny to frame it and hang it on the wall above his doggie bed.

Surprise for me!

2008-09-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I have been planning on going somewhere next weekend for quite sometime now. Originally, we were going to go to Lake Tahoe for the weekend, but now I'm not sure where we are going. I'm getting a little excited right now because Aaron has informed me that he is not telling me where we are headed. I believe this will be the first time that I have let him surprise me. I have ruined multiple surprises coming from him and I'm not about to blow it again. I don't know how I do it either, because I like to be surprised but somehow I always say to much or ask to much and ruin each surprise. I will let you all know where we go! If you want to find out ahead of time, maybe he will tell you, but whatever you do, don't tell me.

I was attacked..

2008-08-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

Last night Aaron, Max, and I went to the city hoping for a splendid evening taking the dog for a walk and then grabbing a bite to eat. It was great up until we were walking back to the car after eating a delicious italian pastry in the park. We were heading up to our car that was parked near columbus on a side street near china town when we noticed a strange lady covering her face with her umbrella and carrying a folding chair up the same side of the sidewalk we were on. We proceeded to walk around her and while I was right beside her, she decided to wack me with her folding chair. I screamed and let Aaron take over. She was such an idiot! She started yelling at us saying, "Why you sneak up behind me!" We of course didn't, we were chatting away about something way before we approached her so she new that we were coming. It was crazy, the lady totally just wanted to be right, even when Aaron yelled back at her saying, " Why did you just hit my wife, she's pregnant, she's having a baby!!" She just kept yelling back, "So, I don't even care..." People like that make me so mad when they clearly are in the wrong but they won't admit it. We almost called the police, I wish we did, maybe it would have taught her a lesson. She even tried to fight back to Aaron shoving her umbrella at him, which was pretty funny seeing a 5'-5" chinese brod trying to fight a 6'-8" white male. It was insane. You know in her mind she was thinking we would run away and not fight back leaving her with no consequence to her actions which would then leave her in control of the situation, but she was wrong, so wrong. Good thing she was short because I do have a pretty nasty bruise on my leg, so if she were a little taller or I shorter, I would have been hit with a folding chair in the stomache.

What are we having??

2008-07-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

I went in for my monthly checkup this morning and I told our doctor what had happened during the ultrasound. Before I even had a chance to ask him if he wouldn't mind checking for me, he was practically already bringing in the ultrasound machine. He is awesome! Unfortunately, Aaron is out of town, but we decided that if I could find out, to go ahead and do so. So I did... and we are having a BABY GIRL!!!! We are so excited! Now I can start shopping (just a little bit)!

Happy Birthday to you!

2008-07-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

Surprise Aaron!

I got him a bike for his birthday. Now we can go on bike rides! I think he likes it...

Yah, he likes it! Yeah, I chose wisely!

Look at him go...

I love you Aaron. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Today is his big day and to top it off, we are going to go see Coldplay tonight, I can't wait!!!

The baby is a.....

2008-07-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

A lot of you may know the news already, but I am aware that some of you do not. So yesterday was the big day to find out what we are having and so we went into the radiology department for the ultrasound. It turns out our baby is to modest. He/She kept his/her legs crossed the whole entire time. The ultrasound tech was even trying to move the baby by jiggling the ultrasound tool on my belly a few times but that didn't work. So for the whole half hour or so the baby remained in one position with the legs crossed tightly, (which is pretty funny since that is how Aaron sleeps sometimes).

So it remains a mystery. Maybe we will just keep it a surprise and wait for the baby to be born to find out. That would be fun, but I really don't think I can wait that long.

My next monthly checkup is next Tuesday with my doctor and I am sure that when I tell him that we still don't know, he will wheel the ultrasound machine into the room and try to check for me. The bad news is is that Aaron will be out of town next week, so if I do find out, he won't be there to share the moment. So maybe I will wait another month. I know Aaron won't care one way or another. I mean, he would be happy to be there but news is news to him. He probably would want me to find out even if he wasn't there.

I always had in my head this magical moment of lying there on the bed with my husband at the foot of the bed and both of us watching the ultrasound machine anticipating to find out what the baby will be. But no, that is not at all how yesterday went. First of all I got in trouble for not having a full bladder. The first thing she said to me was, "didn't anyone tell you that you need to have a full bladder?!" I mumbled back to her, "nnnooo", very softly. Then I looked at Aaron and he shook his head yes. Apparently, our doctor did tell us to do so, but I completely forgot. So as I lied there with complete silence in the room for a half hour, I prayed that she would be able to see clearly the images of our baby. Oh and please note that all along, I could not see the screen at all. So I just lied there looking back and forth at her face, Aaron's mad face, and the wall and tears started coming down my face. I started thinking what if something is wrong with the baby and that is why it is so silent. Finally, Aaron's mad look turned into a loving look and he comforted me and I mouthed to him, "Is the baby okay?" (cause I was to afraid of the tech lady to say any thing outlound." He said, "yes, everything is fine." Finally when she was done, she turned the screen to face me and she showed me our cute little modest baby moving around (except for the legs). That put a huge smile on my face. I could see the little heart beating, the spine, the nose, the hands, and then I thought to myself, "well, the baby is healthy and content and that is all that matters at this point."

So, maybe we will find out or maybe we won't.....

More pictures of Carmel

2008-07-11T15:00:00.001-07:00

I have to thank my parents for many trips to Carmel when I was younger. I remember driving through the neighborhoods along the coast in Carmel and my dad pointing out intriguing architecture to me, for example the "Anchor house" by Frank Lloyd Wright. This is where I decided I wanted to learn more about architecture and design.

Just one of the many beautiful window displays. I love walking up and down the streets at night here. I probably would love it in the daytime too, but we never seem to go shopping during the day, maybe that is Aaron's sneaky way of having me not spend any money here since everything has a pretty large pricetag. So we just window shop...

Dell and Janet strolling along in the misty fog...

Aaron, Janet, Matt, and Dell. It looks like Matt has known Dell and Janet for awhile but in fact they met last night.

Look at this door, Don't you just want to walk into the restaurant because of this door, I do. Maybe another day.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Carmel By the Sea

2008-07-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

I am in love with Carmel. Last night we took our friends Dell, Janet, and Matt Trip to Carmel for dinner for Matt's birthday (and Max, our baby, of course). Matt just turned 22 so we went to celebrate his birthday. His older brother Jason is one of Aaron's coaches and Matt has helped out alot with CityBeach the past two summers being an assistant coach. They are from Dallas Texas and are just great guys.

I have alot of pictures that I want to post on here, but for some reason I am having a hard time posting more than one at a time. What's up with that! I will try again after this post.

The weather was so refreshing there last night, especially coming from the inlands where we have had so many heat waves, it was so good for a change. It was foggy and misty and magical.

One day Aaron and I will live here or atleast have a beach house here. We hope.

What's it gonna be?

2008-06-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

For all of you who are wondering what we are having, we still aren't sure. Baby bobby or baby sue will be determined on July 15th, so a couple more weeks.....We can't wait!!

Our Baby!!

2008-06-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to scan this image earlier and put it on our blog. This was taken about a month ago, so our baby is much bigger now. We are looking forward to our next visit in a week to see our doctor, we will find out what we are having!! Look at the little arms and legs and face! The baby was moving around so much during the last visit. It was very cute. Well, we will keep you all posted on the exciting news next week!

Doritos are cool....

2008-06-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Who loves Cool Ranch Doritos?! In Iceland they are called Cool American. I think I want to take a trip to Iceland now...

Camping on Mount Madonna

2008-06-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

We went through a heat spell a couple of weeks ago up here. It reached 102 degrees two of the days. So we decided to go camping with some friends, Dell and Janet. Janet and I drove up later since we are working women with husbands that don't work. Just kidding. But it was so nice, because when we got up there, our tents were up, everything was set up, and dinner was ready! It was perfect!
Burnt Corn, yuck! It actually was great eating around the burnt parts.
Happy Dana, Grumpy Aaron....

Mom's Day

2008-05-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

I know its a day late, but I had this image saved on my work computer and realy wanted to post it for Mothers Day.
I love you MOM!

Day at the Dog Park

2008-05-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

On my day off last Friday, I took Max to a new dog park that I found in Mountain View. When we first got there, we went into the large dog area since there weren't any smaller dogs in the small dog area. So here is Max checking the place out, not sure of the whole thing...
After watching the big dogs run around for awhile, Max decided to lay down in his favorite position...
Finally Max decided to play around with the big dogs and not be shy, as soon as he saw them chasing balls, he was all over that. The big dogs all decided it was fun to chase Max...
This is Max at my work resting his chin on one of his favorite "babies"