Christmas 2011 Highlights

Elise and her lookalike friend Skye on Christmas Eve

Highlights of Christmas this year was NOT the pictures. This pregnant lady doesn't like to be in any pictures--I've already got pregnancy nose--and I have been too lazy to take many. Jared filled in for me yesterday, but let's just face it, he doesn't take a million pictures of the same pose like I do, which greatly lessens the chances of getting one where all the kids aren't squinting.

At any rate, we had a fantastic Christmas, and I want to remember my favorite moments and interactions.

*Simone and Miles must have spent hours wrapping presents for their siblings and putting them under the tree for weeks before Christmas. At one point I did ban them from further wrapping, but I loved that they were so excited to wrap up random things from around the house to give to everyone. And it was darling to see how excited they were for everyone to open their "gifts." Miles made me the cutest coupon book. They always ask me what I want, and I always tell them a card or picture that they made, just like my mom.

*Elise and Monet work hard for their money. Each week they do a bunch of jobs including cleaning toilets and bathrooms, vacuuming the house, and switching off the weekly dish duty. They get $4/week for their efforts. They each went shopping with us and bought the cutest, most thoughtful gifts for their siblings. I was impressed with their generosity and thoughtfulness. They each bought me a necklace, so sweet.

*Our kids get SO excited to decorate the house. They did the tree all by themselves this year. Then Simone built a fort out of the Christmas tree box and hung ornaments all over it and even lit it with the electric tree topping star. It was in her bedroom for most of December.

*Monet and Elise *know* all about Christmas these days, and were so sweet with Miles and Simone. Miles is absolutely obsessed with Santa, Elves, and all things North Pole. Monet helped him track Santa on Christmas Eve. They really helped to keep the magic alive for their little siblings.

*Miles is very clever. He decided that it was smart to ask Santa for the most expensive item on his list, that way, he is saving us from having to buy it. And Santa can make ANYTHING!

*Miles also encouraged Simone to ask Santa for an extra large giant Doodle Bear type stuffed animal. Even though they don't exist, he knew that Santa could make it. I let them know that Santa has to have extra time to do special order toys like that, but he did bring Simone a Build-A-Bear certificate. All she asks for each year are more stuffed animals.

*We enjoyed Christmas Eve with our neighbors this year. They had some fun ideas for things that I've never done and it was good to shake things up a bit. Christmas morning brunch at Grandma's house was wonderful and chaotic and filled with cousins and family. Christmas afternoon we just chilled at home and let the kids get their fill of their new toys. I think my favorite kind of Christmas Day is the kicked back, wear your jammies all day, eat neighbor gifts and stocking junk for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and just sit around and not worry about accomplishing anything. I love that.

*The kids loved watching Frosty and Rudolph DVD's. The old ones that used to be on TV when I was a kid. It was fun to hear some of the songs.

*We had Aunt Marge here at our house and it is always so fun to have her. She spent the day helping Simone construct a house from her new pink Legos.

*Jared came through and bought me a bottle of Easy Cheese. He in turn got his own box of Fruity Pebbles and a jar of Sauerkraut.

Here is my 24 week obligatory picture.

My running days are over for a few months. I ran a mile on Christmas Eve and ended up with Braxton-Hicks all day for the rest of the day. I get those a lot when pregnant and they can be pretty annoying. I hoped that if I consistently ran, my body would adapt to the growing belly gradually and I'd be able to continue comfortably running. But I took a couple weeks off due to insomnia and now it looks like I'm a walker.

Moving

Taking a little break from packing, washing walls and filling nail holes to let everyone know that we are moving!

Moving during Christmastime is liberating in some ways. We didn't do 90% of our decorations, nixed hanging Christmas lights and sending Christmas cards. Stuff I usually love, but am happy to forgo this year.

I've been decluttering all the kids stuff, and it really makes me realize how much I don't want to buy them a bunch of junk for Christmas. We do not need more stuff. I love decluttering. Taking loads of stuff to the D.I. is therapeutic for me.

And it has been really nice because we got most of our shopping done online, and everything is wrapped and ready to go. I've never been done this early before!

We've sold a bunch of our extra furniture that we won't have room for in the new house. That feels good.

We are staying close. We love our neighborhood and our kids' friends. So we're just moving a couple of streets over. We are so glad to have found a place the kids can stay in the same school, and walk to all their friends houses.

We will miss our views out the back windows. But I think the kitchen more than makes up for it. Double ovens! That means I can make 12 loaves of bread at one time. And I think I'll love having a big open family room connected to the kitchen.



We'll be sad to leave our ward! I've enjoyed being a Beehive Advisor so much this year. We had at one point 24 Beehives. They are such a sweet and fun group of girls. One of the reasons we felt impressed to move here in the first place.

But our new ward seems really great, and very friendly. We were invited to the ward breakfast last week, and when we went, the YW leaders were so nice to grab Elise and introduce her to all the girls. They were super cute and friendly.

It may take awhile to get updated on all our Christmas happenings, but we'll have lots to report by the time we do get up and running again.

Father Son Trip

Jared had a class to teach in California a couple of weeks ago, so he brought Miles along for a little father-son trip. Miles has never been on an airplane. So it was really fun for him to go along and have that fun experience.

Jared loves Disneyland, you might recall that it isn't my favorite place. Miles hasn't been since he was three. So Jared took Miles to Disneyland one day. Miles asked him, "Why does mommy say that Knott's Berry Farm is better?" Lol. I guess when you can't go on all the best rides at Knott's because you are too short, Disneyland is an acceptable alternative. He loved it and had so much fun being able to do all the rides. I think I spent the whole day calling Jared to ask him what they were doing now.

I think for his age, it is just perfect. He loved the Tower of Terror especially.

Other highlights of the trip were riding in Papa's cool Porsche. He loved hanging out with his uncles, Nana and Papa, and his cousin Chase, going to the movies, out to eat, and spending lots of time with Jared.

I have to say, it was so quiet and different without Miles at home! We missed our boys. We had a fun girls night out though, and lots of girl bonding time at the movies and at dinner.

Hello Baby!

Hello Baby. It was so fun to have another ultrasound today! Baby is measuring at one pound and about a week ahead on most measurements. That is pretty normal for us, since we have good sized babies. Everything looked perfect and he's still a boy. I have lots of fluid apparently, so he's not too squished yet.

I loved seeing him kicking around and holding onto his foot. I can't wait to meet this little guy. The kids loved seeing him too. Simone and Miles have taken to patting my baby bump and giving hugs to the baby.

I was thinking today that if a full term pregnancy was 6 months instead of 40 weeks, that would be perfect. 9 months is just a really long time. I feel like I've been pregnant forever and I still have 4 months to go. It is kinda like reaching that 16 mile mark in a marathon and realizing you still have TEN more miles. It just feels like forever.

I'm thinking Emerson will be his name. We're still taking suggestions. And there are quite a few possibilities, but I just think of him as Emerson, so it just seems right. We'll see. I've been scouring German and Swedish names to see if anything pops out at me. I've liked the name Soren for a long time (it is a version of Thor, so Miles should like that one), and I love that it is Scandinavian. I also used to like Adam, but I'm not as excited about that one anymore.

I'm getting very round. I'll have to take a new belly picture soon.

Girl Jimmer

Elise has a new nickname at school. The boys call her "girl Jimmer." She had a great game today in her AAU league. 23 points! Way to go Elise. Everything she shot went in it seemed. She had good ball control and lots of layups on those fast breaks.

Jared took the camera with him to California, so we'll have to get pictures next time. But we are looking forward to watching these girls play this season! They are a great team.

Jared's team has won two really close games the past two weeks in a row. It looks like it will be a good season for everyone.

Miles's New Computer Skills

Jared took Miles to the gun show the other day. Miles was very excited to get a $5 airsoft gun with a laser on it.

But sadly, the next day it literally exploded. So Miles was very upset and he and Jared spent a few hours searching the internet for a replacement. They found an awesome one with a flashlight, laser, etc, on eBay.

Miles is really excited to get it. This is what I found in my google search bar today:

"wen is jaredwinger airsoftgun goeng here"

He is just a little bit excited for it to get here.

So funny.

Sibling Love

Does anything make a mom happier than seeing her kids love each other and getting along? I was at my sister's house last year when one of the kids was leaving and called to the other one, "Bye, I love you!"

I thought that was the cutest thing ever. I know growing up there was plenty of fighting in our house, but somehow we all ended up being very close.

So I am reassured when my kids are screaming at each other. I know there is still hope that they will someday be great friends! Those moments when they are so sweet to each other are ones that I like to remember.

Last week I brought Simone to the school with me while I "finished up" some reflections work. "Finishing up" ended up taking seven hours. So she went to eat lunch in the lunchroom with Monet before I ran her over to preschool. The two of them were so excited. Monet was so sweet to her little sister, and being in the lunchroom was such a wonder for Simone.

Miles was immediately wanting us to come back and eat lunch with him the next time. So yesterday Simone and I got to eat in the school cafeteria with him. His teacher said he was talking about it all morning. He saw Simone and gave her a big bear hug. Then put his arm around her and showed her exactly what to get and where to sit. It was sweet. I was impressed with how good their school lunch actually was. Tons of veggies, a pretty decent sandwich or Tortilla soup. Eased my conscience since we've been relying on school lunch a lot lately.

Next Miles wanted Simone to go to recess with him. He ran off with her holding hands and didn't seem to care at all about any of his other friends. It reminded me of how cute they were when I'd take them to the gym daycare. Miles was always holding Simone's hand the entire time. All the workers there would say how sweet he was with her and how well they got along.

They are really excited to share a room soon. It always ends up that one of them is sleeping in the other's room anyway because they get scared alone. So I figured we may as well put them in the same room. Looks like Simone is going to have a basketball room for a few years. Hopefully we'll figure out a way to make it look somewhat cute. I love her quilt and her girly room and don't really want to give it up just yet, but I guess this will work much better for everyone.

The other day, Miles was all excited because his new Lego set came. He was asking me what time it would be here all day. He and Monet were so excited to put it together. They make a great little Lego team. Monet is into Lego Atlantis and Harry Potter sets, and Miles loves the Star Wars and pirates. They love to look up the kid reviews on Youtube and see the movies kids have made with their Legos.

A few months ago some boys were bugging Monet at school, so Elise and her friends showed up and beat them in a mean game of soccer. I love that they stick together at least at school.

Miles's Flag Football Team

Miles was so excited to play football this year. He had a great time on his flag football team with some other kids in our area. He had some touchdowns and some great passes. He is a fast little runner.

Next up, Basketball! Jared is currently co-coaching Miles's team and Elise's AAU team too. Miles's team is really fun to watch. It is the first year any of them have played basketball, and it reminds me of when Elise started out. They are so excited to make that rare basket.

Monet's league will start up after Christmas and, as if that weren't enough, Jared is playing in his own league again too. There is a lot of basketball happening at our house. They love to go shoot around for a few hours at the neighbor's house. Monet made 450 shots the other day. I'm excited that she will play with her two cousins this year! Even Simone is in on the action. She can actually make a basket if she squats almost to the ground before launching the ball. It is pretty cute.

Baby Update

I'm 18 weeks along (cheesy, posed picture was from last week) with this little guy. It has been so fun to feel little kicks every once in awhile. I bought some cute little outfits for him for next summer. I keep seeing babies everywhere and just can't believe I'm really going to have one of those! It is surreal.

I was in Target and heard a baby crying and it was so cute it almost made me cry. Isn't it amazing how our bodies respond to babies physiologically? I remember just after I had Elise I was shopping and I heard a baby cry, and my milk started letting down for the first time ever. I didn't know what was going on. But it was amazing to me that my body would respond to someone else's baby. It just knew what to do when I heard that sound.

Pregnancy and labor are just amazing like that too. I think it is cool how our bodies just know when the baby is done in there and what needs to happen for it to be born.

I'm at that great easy stage of pregnancy. I'm not sick or craving anything anymore. I am not too big and can still run and move around well. I get very few braxton hicks. I am ready to order some maternity clothes. I figured I'd wait as long as possible since I know I'll want to burn them by the time I deliver. The worst is the end of pregnancy when you don't even fit in the maternity clothes anymore.

I came downstairs last week in a little t-shirt after drinking over a gallon of water that day, and Jared saw my little belly and got all excited that it is protruding more now. He was so cute. It makes me happy that he thinks it's cute, and that he is so excited to have another baby. I need that reassurance sometimes.

I saw a cute little family in the checkout line at Costco today. The dad was trying to get the baby in the infant carrier to smile at him. It was a very cute moment. And I thought of how different it would be to not have a supportive spouse to be there during pregnancy and afterwards when you are exhausted and need help. How lonely. I am very grateful this season for a husband who loves babies, loves me, and is such a good dad.

We have a few names that we are mulling over. The first one we like is Emerson Jude. I've always kinda liked Jude. And Emerson seems to fit with our last name.

I really like one syllable names though. And Emerson seems a little fussy to me. Another one we love is Nash. But finding out that my favorite basketball player, Steve Nash, just left his pregnant wife for a 22-year-old girlfriend, has kinda bothered me. I know we aren't naming our baby after a basketball player, but it is still disappointing.

What I'd really love to name this kid is Dash. But I don't know about naming my kid after a cartoon character. I just think it is a cool name. Dash. Miles. Good runner names.

Another one on my list is Tate. Tate Emerson is cute I think. It just might be a little too common for our taste. But I like that it isn't fussy and it is a little more normal.

Any suggestions? I'd love some more one syllable names. I like last names for first names. They can't start or end with a W, or end in an -ER.

Amazon Mom

I love Amazon.com. And I REALLY love the free 2-day shipping. Last year someone told me about Amazon mom. Whoever it was, THANK YOU!

Basically it is free 2-day shipping for three months after you sign up. Sign up is free. Any caregiver, mom, dad, grandma, basically anyone who knows a kid can sign up. When you spend $25 in the baby department you another month of free 2-day shipping plus a discount. So diapers, wipes, etc. You can get up to a year for free.

I used up my free months last Christmas and beyond. But I remembered the other day that Jared can sign up too. Yipee! Three more months of free 2-day shipping please. And I'm sure with our new baby coming, we'll be buying lots of diapers and wipes and earning even more months of free shipping.

You don't have to remember to cancel or anything. Once your months are up, they'll just start charging you normal shipping charges again.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mom/signup/info

Flu Prevention

When I was a kid, I remember being really excited that I threw up one day. I'd never remembered being sick before, and it was fun to get so much attention. I got to lay in bed and watch tv as much as I wanted, and I didn't even feel sick.

As I got older and started eating out and buying more of my own food, I definitely had a few bouts of illness. Once in Jr. High I probably had the flu but didn't know what to call it because I thought the flu was a 24 hour deal, not fever, chills, and a week of misery. The next time I got the flu was in 2003, right after I ran my first marathon, and the only year I've ever had a flu shot. Elise, Monet and I all had the shot and we all got the flu because that year it just wasn't effective. It was miserable. I do remember that I ate nachos every day for about a week before I got sick. I'm pretty sure that having a worn out body and not replenishing the nutrients I needed contributed.

I read a recent article on KSL the other day about how there is a genetic link to flu prevention. I thought the title was awfully misleading, but it was published by a Genetics journal, so maybe the title needed to reflect something genetic. Basically, 17 people were injected with the flu virus. Only half of those people actually got the flu. The other half did not. When comparing the blood of those who got the flu, and those who didn't, it was found that the ones who did not get it had high levels of antioxidants in their blood. I believe the title is misleading because the amount antioxidants in blood may vary slightly by genetics, but it is very heavily influenced by diet. We've experienced this firsthand in our family as we've had our antioxidants scanned numerous times and the numbers go up dramatically when we are eating more fruits and veggies. When I was little, my siblings and I ate tons of veggies and fruits, and I think our diets helped us keep strong immune systems so that we rarely got sick. My mom didn't even worry about taking us around other people who were sick because she knew we wouldn't get it.

This finding of antioxidants preventing flu corroborates what has been found by other scientists. WebMD also has done a piece on antioxidants and colds/flu as well. I've noticed that our family tends to get sick around the holidays. Which is when we are consuming the most junk, eating fewer fruits/veggies, etc.

So this year, we are going heavy on the antioxidant rich foods, lots of salads, green smoothies, oranges and pomegranates (my kids favorite treat). Last year I spent Christmas with a cold/ruptured ear drum. I was miserable. With being pregnant now, I am especially concerned with how awful it would be to spend the holidays sick once again and unable to take painkillers, so I'd like to boost my natural immunity.

Some great foods to boost antioxidants are listed in the WebMD article, and I'll copy them here:

Beta-carotene and other carotenoids: Apricots, asparagus, beets, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, corn, green peppers, kale, mangoes, turnip and collard greens, nectarines, peaches, pink grapefruit, pumpkin, squash, spinach, sweet potato, tangerines, tomatoes, and watermelon.

Vitamin C: Berries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, cauliflower, grapefruit, honeydew, kale, kiwi, mangoes, nectarines, orange, papaya, red, green or yellow peppers, snow peas, sweet potato, strawberries, and tomatoes.

Vitamin E: Broccoli, carrots, chard, mustard and turnip greens, mangoes, nuts, papaya, pumpkin, red peppers, spinach, and sunflower seeds.

What I liked most about this finding is that it empowers people to take charge of their own health by being proactive. It would be nice if everyone who was contagious just stayed home, but we know that we can't rely on that. And even flu shots, as I learned, are not all that effective. Fruits and veggies have far more lasting benefits than simply preventing illness.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/antioxidants-your-immune-system-super-foods-optimal-health

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/20-common-foods-most-antioxidants

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029125538.htm

Halloween 2011

We had a great Halloween! Perfect weather, soup party with the neighbors, handed out 350 glow necklaces. Miles and Simone loved helping me answer the door when they got back from trick or treating. Notice Simone is a witch again. I think her favorite part of the night was getting make-up on. Elise was an NBA player. I loved the gold tooth--too bad you can't see it as well in the pictures. Monet refused to wear anything but the jersey from Knott's. I kinda wish we had Jared's old basketball uniforms with those tiny shorts. ;) Miles is a cowboy. His hat has real buffalo nickels on it. He was very excited about that hat from the DI.

One of these days Jared and I are actually going to dress-up.

doTerra Gala

Jared has worked so hard this year training his down line all over the country and teaching classes, doing trade shows, etc. This week was the convention and gala, and Jared received an award for reaching Platinum rank.

I was a little nervous when he decided to work doTerra full-time last November. He'd been doing it part-time for a couple of years, but was really focused on his job at SEO, and just wasn't putting much time into it at all, even though he knew that it was something he eventually wanted to do. I loved having it as a second source of income, and loved how it just kept increasing each month, but of course doing it full-time would mean replacing his other income completely, and that worried me a little.

His other job was a great opportunity, but he wasn't as excited about it as he was with the essential oils. He gets a lot of satisfaction from knowing that there are so many people whose lives are being completely changed by what they are learning about the oils.

By May he was able to completely replace his other income, and we've been pretty excited about what that means for our family as far as flexibility. I have always wanted to live somewhere else for a few months, and with this job, we can work from wherever we have internet. I absolutely love having him working from home. He is always available to coach the kids teams, or spend a weekend away, and that is nice.

It was so fun to see our friends Megan and Mike from Spokane. They started doTerra in June when we came to visit and have done phenomenally since then. It was fun to be at the convention with them and their group.

Motivating Miles to Read

All it took was Captain Underpants series. I brought them home one day from the library, and suddenly he is eager to read each night. : )

Not sure if it is worth encouraging the diaper/potty humor, but at this point, I guess we'll take it.

My favorite moment was a few days ago when Jared and I were sleeping in on a lazy Sunday morning, and Miles comes in to tell us that he's been researching lego sets on the internet and he found a Star Wars Lego ship he wants on Amazon for 56.99 and it even has free 2-day shipping. He is suddenly very motivated to earn money and do chores.

Date Night

October is crazy. I'm sure moms everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief when October is finally over. I had put the Sundance Full Moon Lift ride into my google calendar months ago, and then when the day arrived, I just looked at Jared and said mournfully that I wished we could go because I really wanted to do that. But things had been so busy, it was the only day in a couple of weeks that we weren't scheduled out, and I was sure he'd just want to chill at home.

Surprisingly, he was all for it. So we headed up through AF canyon for a nice drive and got to see some beautiful fall colors against the new snow up on Timp. It was beautiful! I think it was the perfect date with lots of time to talk, and I want to go back every year.

Crazy Hair Day 2011

Elise and her friend Skye are twinners. They created their own crazy styles.

Monet is the toilet paper princess, and Miles got an M carved out of his buzz. Then we spray painted it, but I didn't get a picture that day, so we took one at his football game.

Snowbird

My family had a timeshare at the Iron Blosam, and every year we'd head up there in June and swim, hike, play bingo, and hang out in the game room, scavenging quarters from the machines. I have fun memories of the friends we had there and the beauty of being up in the mountains, but still close to home.

We went a couple of weeks ago with our family. I thought the trees would be bare, but I was so happy to see how beautiful everything was. It smelled so good! We had fun playing on the playground in the dark, and being spooked out by some racoons. My kids loved playing board games in the room and eating plenty of junk food. We swam in the pool and looked for animals. The best thing about Iron Blosam is all the fun little activities they have scheduled. I love bingo especially. Miles and Elise both won bingo twice, so we were lucky! We even went to church at the Snowbird Center. You don't even have to dress up, it was "come as you are." Kinda cool.

I remembered why we don't have a TV on our main floor, or cable for that matter. Disney channel was starting to get me in a very bad mood. Thankfully I had a good book to rescue me. My family used to have a one room place with two queen beds and just a bathroom. No kitchen, no privacy, nowhere to escape. I don't know how my parents handled having 6 kids bouncing around. Maybe they did a lot of reading too. I think I'd need a bigger room if we were going to stay a whole week. This mama gets a little cranky without some quiet and alone time.

My favorite was we took the kids to the ropes course and the bungee trampoline thingys. They loved the ropes course. And we had to stand in line for an hour for the bungee trampolines--Miles looked so mad, I had to get a picture of his little pouty face. So we got to watch a lot of kids just bounce, and nothing else. My four kids got to go all at once, and it was a proud mom moment. They were doing double and triple flips, even Simone. It was a beautiful little fall getaway.

Another Brother for the Winger Kids

We had our ultrasound today. It was the perfect ending to a fun weekend up at Snowbird. We went to the mall so we could find out extra early what we are having. I've never been one to like waiting to find out. I even rip open a tiny bit of my Christmas gifts if they are sitting under the tree too long, so you know waiting just isn't my thing.

The ultrasound tech is totally sure it is a boy, and it certainly seemed obvious in the pictures. I've been thinking this was a boy since this pregnancy was a lot like my pregnancy with Miles. I was absolutely exhausted--which I never had any of with my girls. And I didn't get sick until much later, and it wasn't like throwing up daily like I had with my girls, but more of a once a week or so kind of thing. And I have felt so good. No moodiness or crazy hormones. It is wonderful.

I told Jared's dad back in September that I was about 98% sure it was a boy. But right after I said that I started thinking that maybe I was wrong. I love little girls and the thought of another girl baby just makes me happy. But I know how much Miles has wanted a brother all these years and how sure he was that it was a boy, and it made me sad to think of the disappointment he'd have if he missed out on brotherhood. He has a really sweet relationship with all his sisters, especially Simone. But I'm glad he'll get to experience having a brother.

It was so fun to see the baby kicking around in my belly. He was putting his hand in his mouth and moving all over. The kids loved seeing how this tiny baby was so active already. I love having that little window into the womb. It makes me feel like this is real.

We have a couple of names in mind. One of them is a bit different--but I think we are all leaning toward that one. I'll have to share when I think of a good middle name. We've always done family names for middle names, and nothing seems to go with any of the first names we like. So we'll just have to see.

Elise is Twelve!

I officially have a "young woman." Lol. I know how much I LOVED being called that when I was her age (just kidding, I hated it.) I am so excited to have my daughter in Young Women's with me. She is officially a Beehive. Since I am a Beehive Advisor, this is a really fun thing for me. I think she was excited to miss being the tallest one in the primary program at church.

I've still got Elise by about a quarter inch, since I've grown 3/4 of an inch since college. She is officially 5'4" and we are hoping she gets to at least 5'7". Feet don't seem to be growing anymore, and at 9.5, she is happy about that.

What has changed the most about Elise this summer is she outgrew her shyness. It happened literally overnight it seems. Last year, she spent a good part of each day reading. She talked very little to the kids in her class. Although she was very outgoing around her close friends. Her teacher mentioned to me at both parent teacher conferences that Elise rarely talked and that he couldn't really tell what she was thinking, and he didn't think she was really close to any of the girls in her class.

I talked to her a bit afterwards and asked who she played with at recess, etc. She named some girls from school. So we invited them all over for pizza and smores. And with a whole bunch of girls from school over, suddenly we got a bunch of boys showing up to hang out with the girls.

Ever since that day, we've had a steady stream of friends hanging out at our trampoline. And Elise is not shy anymore. At our first parent/teacher conference, for the first time ever, we found out that Elise talks a lot at school. Having some of her best friends in class is probably a big part of that I guess. It is clear that we are moving into new territory here. It is fun to see all the fun things they do together.

Jared and I absolutely love watching her play sports. It is fun to see what a good athlete she is. She is trying out for a competitive basketball team this week. For a few nights before tryouts, Jared had butterflies in his stomach for her. LOL. It is hard to choose just a couple of sports we'd like her to try. I keep thinking of more and more things that she'd be great at. But for now, it is basketball and lacrosse. Although I know she has the perfect swimmer's body and that with her hand eye coordination she'd be great at tennis too.

I am always impressed with what a loyal friend Elise is. She is pretty competitive in sports, but off the field, she is mild-mannered and easy-going. Low drama is always good at this age.

Earlier this year, she made a goal to finish the Book of Mormon before she entered Young Women's. She read almost every night and reached her goal. I don't think I did that until college. So I think that is neat. She's even inspired Monet to do it too.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

We took the kids to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Hale Theater a few weeks ago. It is one of my favorite musicals, and I thought the kids would love it. We were lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa G come too! We went to Jared's favorite Thai food before the show.

The kids were very excited to be invited to be part of the show. At the beginning the narrator is telling the story to a few kids out of a book. Miles and Monet were a couple of the kids. Miles got some laughs from how shy he was. He kept looking down everytime one of the cast members would talk to him. He loved it even though he was a little uncomfortable in the spotlight. I wish we could have taken a picture in the theater. It was funny.

Newport Beach Trip

Jared and I wanted to do something fun with the kids before this baby arrives and while traveling is relatively easy. So we headed down to California; our favorite place to visit. We chose to go over Elise's 12th birthday because she loves nothing more than the beach, fishing, and Knott's Berry Farm.

I love roadtrips. The whole way down, I just thought of roadtrips from the past. Driving to California with 8 or was it 9 of us? crammed into my grandma's Opal--which is a little bigger than a Suburu. But back in those days, you just laid blankets over all the luggage and the big kids got to sit in the back and sleep. I sat on Grandma R's lap the whole way. She had a nice cozy lap, but it seemed to take forever. There were apples at our feet and a gallon of water if we got hungry or thirsty.

Our car broke down in the desert. But with a little coaching from grandma, my dad was finally able to get it started again. I remember my mom singing "California here we come, right back where we started from!"

We went to Disneyland when I was five or so. We slept on my other grandma's floor in San Jacinto the night before. And I could hardly sleep. I remember grandpa eating cornflakes with me out in the driveway under the carport, because grandma was too nervous to have kids eating in her house. Lol.

Our roadtrips these days are a little different. My kids don't even know how lucky they are. Devices such as iPod touches all loaded with movies, music, games, etc. They have their books too. We did hear "how much longer?" about a hundred times from Miles and Simone. Jared is always a good sport and plays the ABC game with Monet over and over again. I love hearing how excited he gets about all the baby animals we see on the way. He is funny. I was able to get into a good book, Sarah's Quilt.

We stayed at the Newport Coast Villas that Jared's sisters stay at. We were excited to have a trip where our kids could spend a lot of time together. We love that we usually have so many cousins and friends to play with. But this time we thought it would be good for them to play together more and get some sibling bonding time.

They were very cute together. They swam in the pool every second they could. Sunday we spent going to church at our old ward in Tustin. It was fun to see the same people from years ago when we lived there. We watched the Steeler's game afterwards with Nana and Papa.




Monday we swam in the pool and explored where we were staying. Jared participated in a basketball challenge and won. Miles was so proud to carry around that first place ribbon. He made 11 of 13 three pointers in less than a minute. Elise and Monet were excited to find that there were several tetherball poles. Simone loved the kids room. We celebrated Elise's 12th birthday with cake and ice cream at Nana and Papa's with the aunt's, uncles and cousins in California. It was fun to see everyone.

Tuesday was Elise's big day. Elise and I went shopping at Fashion Island. We learned quickly that Fashion Island is not really our scene. We aren't big on designer clothes. But we did find some really cute things for her at Forever 21. Jared had been watching the fist counts out of Davey's Locker, Newport Landing, and Dana Wharf. He was really anxious to get out and fish since they were catching thousands of squid. The day Elise was born, when I was in labor with her, we went walking on the beach and there were these red squid washed up all over the beach in San Clemente. I guess they come in at that time of year. Elise loves calamari, so we thought it would be fun for the kids to catch some. Jared and papa took the kids fishing that night. Simone and I stayed home and had a girls night in.

Unfortunately, the squid were gone and the main thing they caught was birds! These crazy birds that would dive under the water and eat their bait. The kids don't really care much if they catch a lot though. They have a good time even just playing with the bait and watching what is caught. Miles got the only keeper of the night, a sand bass. He was so excited to cook it up on the grill. He is pretty sure he is a pro fisherman now.





Wednesday was Knott's Berry Farm. We love that place. I absolutely loved the Accelerator and Silver Bullet. But the Revolucion and the Supreme Scream are my favorites! Simone was barely too short to do a lot of the rides. So that was kind of a bummer. Next time, we are bringing her clogs. Monet of course reads all the rules before getting on any rides. She looks at me all crestfallen, "Oh mom, you can't ride this one because you are pregnant." Lol. I had to explain that my little baby is so small that I can still fit in the seats just fine. So we are all good. It was cute that she was feeling so badly for me. Jared of course had to do some of the crazy expensive basketball games. He won some jerseys for the kids and some stuffed animals. They were pretty excited about it--even though the jerseys were huge. Elise wants to be a rapper/gangster for Halloween. So maybe they will be useful afterall.





Thursday we headed to the beach! Newport is one of my favorite places. We love walking down the pier to see what everyone was catching, and visiting our favorite shell shop. Miles was really excited to get a shark tooth necklace. We got yummy wings for dinner. The kids were so excited about all the fancy cars. We saw a Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley, etc. They were busy looking up how much each one cost. I have to admit, I am always just amazed at how many nice cars there are down there. The kids loved playing in the sand and the ocean.








We had some discount tickets to Legoland, so we decided to go. It was fun. Jared was bored out of his mind most of the day. Maybe just tired? But I loved seeing how excited Miles and Simone were about the rides. It definitely catered to the younger kids better than Knott's. Miles loved the big Lego store where you can create your own minifigures. Monet and Miles both absolutely love Legos right now. So the miniland was really cool too. There were lots of different cities (Washington D.C, Vegas, New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Etc all made out of Legos. It was fun to see Legoland since we've always wondered what it was. It is probably not somewhere we'd return to, unless it was just the little kids.
We visited the Sea Life Aquarium that is attached to Legoland too. My kids all loved it. I think someday we'll have to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.



On the way home we stopped off in San Clemente and watched the sunset over the pier. I think it was my favorite part of our trip. I loved that little city! We only had one car when we lived there. So I walked all over to the grocery store, the post office, etc with Elise in the Baby Bjorn. There are not a lot of babies there. So she got tons of attention and everyone was so excited when she was born. Jared and I used to love going to Fisherman's on the Pier for a bucket of clams, or their ice cream pie. We got tacos at Pedro's. I think they are even better than we remembered. We even drove down into our old apartment complex to show Elise her first little 400 sq ft. home. We only lived there for about six months before we moved to Utah. But we had some fun memories there.




Saturday we headed home early so we could get to the wedding reception of a girl I used to babysit. It was so fun to see Maddison Peck getting married! I love that family.

It was a good trip. Next time we'll visit Catalina again. I think the kids had a great time and it was so fun to see them all playing together all week. Simone just is right there with the big kids, doing whatever they are doing. It is amazing to me that a year from now, we'll have a six month old. It will be so fun to see how the dynamics change again with this new little sibling. It was so nice for me to have time to just relax and hang out by the pool. I loved being able to just sit and read. And I think Jared was just absolutely loving the idea of having a job where he can work from wherever he wants, and still get paid. It is his dream come true.