Goodbyes

Buying a home has been a sweet and sour process... sweet because we finally are on track to living on our own again, which feels good.  Sour, because we are moving far from friends.  Emmy had such a loving preschool teacher, Miss Wendy.  During her time at preschool, she figured out the potty, made new friends, and went on many fun field trips.  So hard to say goodbye.  I am also very sad to see James and David say goodbye to their church buddies...  James and Maxwell (pictured)  have shared birthday months and baptism days.  They have similar interests and personalities... so sad to see their time together end!  I am also sad to say goodbye to all the sweet women in my ward.  Just so happens that our goodbyes coincided with my birthday, so I was treated to lunch by Jessica Price, Suzanne Morse, Ti Chambers, Julie Franks, Amy Jorgenson, and Stacey Nelson.  Such a sweet moment to share with women I have shared so many memories with for many years!

Renovations and Lots of Decisions!

We bought a house..

Emily comes to town!!

After many years of wishful invitations, Emily finally came to California for a visit!  Emmy was so happy; she kept saying, "You're Emily.  I'm Emmy!  Emmy, Emily!"  Emily was a great person to host.  She was so sweet with the kids and patient with my pregnancy naps and long drives to and from school with the kids.  She even woke up every morning and had lunches assemble and ready for the kids.

We had a great few days.  Despite the unusually chilly weather, we visited Laguna Beach, Dana Point, and San Juan Capistrano.  The highlight was our visit to the farmers market.  Emily couldn't believe the rows and rows of citrus.  We then took all our freshly bought produce, made huge salads, and picnicked in beautiful downtown San Juan. It was so fun!

The other highlight of Emily's visit was Saturday, when we ventured up to Santa Monica to visit Jason and Anjali.  Jason rented city bikes for us and we rode all the way through Santa Monica Beach into Venice Beach.  We then ate a wonderful lunch and took an Uber back to the apartment.  It was such a neat way to spend the day in busy L.A.!

Lovely flowers and loveliest girls

Baking success!

The first few months of pregnancy are all about enduring through nausea, fatigue, and crazy hunger.  It is an especially miserable feeling to be hungry and nauseas all at the same time... certainly takes the joy out of food.  One Sunday, when David found out that there were no plans for dessert, he took it upon himself to do it himself while I watched from the couch, and he certainly did!  Congratulations David, you are officially a crazy cake expert. Funny side note... as we were cleaning up he said, "I can see why you get frustrated sometimes mom.  It is hard to cook with all these kids around!"

Pinewood Derby James

Just as David graduated from cubscouts, James began.  He enjoys the den meetings, the uniform, and being with his friends.  Pinewood derby was especially a highlight.  His car "sleepy" took 3rd place among the wolves!  Notice the color:  BYU blue is a big deal to this kid!