Life of the Robertsons

Birthday Bike Ride

2011-12-23T23:51:00.000-08:00

It was a wonderful 35th birthday--starting off with sleeping in and then breakfast in bed and lots of hugs and kisses from my darling girls. Grandma and Grandma graciously agreed to babysit for the better part of the day. Mike and I went on a bike ride to Aliso and wood canyon. It was gorgeous and peaceful. The highlight of the wildlife we saw was a bobcat who let us get as close as we dared. We watched it pounce on and devour its lunch of field mouse. We could see the entrails hanging out. Fascinating. We hiked up to some little caves too. Then, home for a quick shower and out to dinner at Outback. I ordered lobster for the first time ever--yummy. I feel very loved and blessed.

A Wuggle Party!

2011-11-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

For Lindsey's 7th birthday we had a wuggle party--little stuffed animals you make with a little stuffing machine, magic sprinkles that bring them to life, personality chosen and inserted by child and then of course an official birth certificate. (Think miniature BuildaBear). After making their little critters the kids got a photo op with their new pet and then got to play wuggle toss (like bean bag toss) and pin the horn on the unicorn. Next we played "Which wuggle are you" where there was pictures of wuggles inside balloons and the kids tossed them in the air with a parachute. When it was their turn they got to catch a balloon, pop it and then act out which wuggle was on the picture. The first to guess got to go next. We had a unicorn pinata and of course a unicorn cake. The kids kept going into Lindsey's room to play with her toys whenever their was a lull in the party games. And of course the hamster offered additional entertainment. It was a fun party. We love our sweet, smart and sensitive seven year old.

Play Time With Baby

2011-11-05T14:35:00.001-07:00

I spend a lot of time these days playing with Melanie. Her two older sisters are now in full time school so it's just me and her most of the day. When her older sisters are home they usually prefer to play just between themselves. And this week since she was sick, and so missed preschool and playdate time, we had even more time together. Playtime with Melanie is never boring. She used to always want to start the game over every 5 minutes but now she just changes the game every 5 minutes. She has a very creative imagination and a short attention span so the game changes frequently. Just today so far for example:

We started with carebears--Mommy and baby carebears; after only a couple minutes she had the sea creatures set up and Barbie was being sneaked up on by a Mermaid. The next natural progression was Barbie wishing for a tail and then Mommy and baby mermaid being sneaked up on by a friendly polar bear (Lars). A few minutes later all the zoo animals were set up and the animal pairs were getting married. When the knots had all been tied we had to make a nest with socks for a polly pocket to hatch out of her egg and then her Mommy had to make the nest extra cozy each night for her baby to sleep in. Pretty soon the polly pockets were getting married and dancing.

As you can see we have lots of fun. Let me know if you'd like to schedule some play time for yourself with Melanie. Just be warned Melanie can be a little bossy during playtime.

summer 2011

2011-08-09T19:04:00.001-07:00

What a fast summer. We have been having house showings all summer since we have been trying to sell our home. That made it chaotic with trying to clean up the house real quick and get the kids out the door every time someone wanted to come see our house.

We went on a trip to Pismo Beach then Santa Rosa in July. It was so nice to stay in a beach house and hang out with family. The cousins spent a lot of time searching for Sand dollars of which there were many when the tide was low. We went for a ride on the sand dunes in Carl's car. . . and got stuck. Then, a bonfire on the beach complete with silly jokes and stories. We also went to tide pools, playgrounds, and outlet stores.

Mike posted pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/mgrobertson/PismoBeach2011

In Santa Rosa the girls had plenty more time to play with their cousins. Mommy had to stand in for Daddy (he headed home after PB) as the designated trampoline jumper--it was hard work. Howarth park and a water balloon fight was fun. The girls finally got to visit the beloved dollar store. Another highlight for the girls was visiting all the family pets listed in no particular order: cats, dogs, snake, lizard and fish. Guess which pet Audrey now wants.

Palm Springs Anniversary

2011-08-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

Mike and I have been married for 13 years. We had a nice trip to celebrate in Palm Springs last weekend. We stayed at the Desert Hills Inn--a delightfully small and quiet hotel nestled up against the mountains in a residential area. It was so relaxing to float around in the pool which we did the minute we arrived in Palm Springs since it was 110 degrees. The next day we escaped the heat by riding the Tram and then hiking to the top of Mount San Jacinto. It was 40 degrees cooler on the mountain--perfect. It was a longer hike than we anticipated though. We rounded off the day with a late night showing of Harry Potter part 7. The next morning we borrowed the hotel's complimentary cruiser bikes and rode around the neighborhood followed by one last soak in the pool. It was a great trip and we so needed the break from the kids. We could have stayed for a month. Mike already posted a bunch of photos so I don't need to: https://picasaweb.google.com/mgrobertson/PalmSprings2011

Ubby turns 3 (what Audrey calls Melanie)

2011-02-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

Melanie turned 3 on January 8th. To celebrate the occasion, Audrey created her own cookie recipe and made "snowy mountain cookies" all by herself. I think I wrote down the recipe and will maybe post it sometime if I find it. She used lemon juice, cinnamon and mint chocolate chips; stacked snowman style with chocolate frosting to hold the layers together and powdered sugar on top. I'm told they were delicious.

Melanie had a "princess birthday party" with her little friends. The princes and princesses decorated crowns with jewels, and made a sticker craft. They then played "pass the pillow" (hot potato) and musical chairs. They also played with balloons and I made each of them a balloon animal.

Melanie chose the princess party theme by seeing the princess paper plates at the grocery store a couple weeks previous and demanding that we buy them and have a princess birthday party (we had agreed on a little mermaid party weeks before). Then by the time her birthday came she was infatuated with Thomas the Train engine, it was too late to change her party theme but she did get me to buy her the huge Thomas balloon at the party store along with the princess balloon.

Melanie is so entertaining to our family. She has a great sense of humor and is a big tease. We do wish she would not be such a bully to us sometimes, but we love her regardless.

Hallloween 2010

2010-11-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

Just realized I didn't blog about Halloween. The girls had a hard time deciding what they were going to dress up as this year. Audrey originally wanted to be a witch but when she saw a Statue of liberty costume. She knew that's what she wanted to be. Melanie was planning on being a "baby princess." Then she saw me drawing a nose and whiskers on Lindsey the day of and immediately HAD to be a cat. Luckily we had a pink kitty costume and she was very happy wearing it. We had a blast a the Trunk or Treat on the 29th. We decided to skip trick-or-treating on the 31st because it was Sunday so instead we went to a park by the ocean for sunset and then came home and carved pumpkins. We left a bowl of candy on the porch for trick-or-treaters.

A happy hula birthday

2010-10-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

Lindsey wanted to have a hula dance party for her 6th birthday. We had it planned months in advance. We started out the party by getting dressed up in hula skirts, leis, bracelets, hairclips and hibiscus tattoos. Then I gave the girls a hula dance lesson to a song from Lilo and Stitch. Freeze dance and limbo followed. Next we played "Guess the Sea Creature"(like charades--they took turns pretending to be a sea creature. It was a big hit.) Then came "Pass the coconut" (hot potato) they got a kick out of holding a real coconut. Pizza and fruit were followed by a pinata. Last of all--hula girl cupcakes. We played hide the seashell (hide the thimble) while we waited for parents to pick up. The party was a blast and not stressful thanks to the help of Grandpa and Grandma.

Monterrey Bay Aquarium

2010-10-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

This was our end of summer trip the weekend before school started. The girls are in love with Sea Creatures so we had to make a trip up to Monterrey. The Harker cousins and both sets of Grandparents joined us at least for part of the time. Lindsey's favorite was the Sea horses. She took lots of pictures of them and also of the whale models hanging from the ceiling of the aquarium. The next day we went to Lover's Point park, a place Mike and I had picnicked on our honeymoon. We also visited a fun park that had a train to climb on and a big roller slide that the cousins slid down individually and together over and over and over again. The Monterrey coastline was breathtaking and I wish it wasn't such a long drive so we could enjoy it more.

A Surprise Baker

2010-08-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Out of the blue this evening Audrey said she wanted to bake something all by herself. She decided on Cinnamon, lemon, chocolate swirl cookies. I gave her a basic cookie recipe as a starting point and gave her all the ingredients and measuring utensils. She measured, poured and stirred to her heart's content. She added fresh squeezed lemon juice, several dashes of cinnamon and then swirled in some melted chocolate chips before spooning the dough onto the cookie sheets all by herself. I put them in the oven, but otherwise she was mostly self sufficient. They turned out pretty good too--kind of like snicker-doodles. She really enjoyed doing this and I was glad I had let her especially when I overheard her telling Lindsey a short time later about what a good day it had been.

arm woes

2010-08-07T03:54:00.000-07:00

I woke up with my arm hurting and couldn't go back to sleep so here I am blogging in the middle of the night. I'm not sure when or how I originally injured my shoulder. I think I remember hitting it hard on a rock or tree when we were hiking months ago. It really hurt but I assumed it wasn't serious and I didn't take special care of it. Unfortunately it never completely healed. It bothered me off and on with a dull ache and decreased range of motion. This summer I started stretching it more to increase the range of motion and it seemed to be mostly all better. Then, two nights ago I slept on it funny (I think I slept on my stomach with my arm up by my head) and re-triggered it. I woke up the next morning with it worse than ever. It got worse through the day and was even worse the following morning. It hurt to raise my arm more than a little bit. I'm talking about the kind of pain that hurts so bad it makes you cry when you have to reach out to grab a runaway two year old. I hurried in to see the doctor. He thinks it is just inflammation, but will X-ray if it's not better in 4 weeks. I was a bit dubious of this diagnosis (my shoulder really hurts even if it is just bumped) but I am gamely trying out the suggested treatment: ice 2-3 times a day, take anti-inflammatory meds, and rest the arm. The meds and ice really help. I'm also supposed to do a couple exercised with it and not favor my other arm, but I want the pain level to go down before working on that. Driving has been interesting the last couple days as I can only reach the bottom of the steering wheel with my left arm. I've had Melanie climb into her crib and car seat by herself and had a friend lift her into the baby swing for me today. Changing Lindsey's sheets is difficult and of course she has wet the bed the last two nights. Mike helped so I wouldn't have to lift my arm too high, but I still explained to Lindsey that it hurt my arm to change her sheets so she can't wet her bed again. She took this to heart and as I was putting her to bed tonight she told me she wished she could do all the work for me. I had to smother her with kisses for saying that but I assured her I was fine and all I needed was for her to not wet her bed. I hope my shoulder heals quickly and completely this time. I don't like feeling weak and I was pitying myself far too much today.

My Little Shopping Buddy

2010-07-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

I was so excited for my shopping trip with Melanie today while the older girls were at Hero Camp. I had a Mommy/daughter shopping time with Audrey last Friday and that was fun. Lindsey is a HUGE pain to shop with (begs for everything and tantrums when she doesn't get it) so I haven't been shopping (at least offline) more than I could help in a long time.

So today we power shopped and hit 6 stores in 2 1/2 hours. Melanie is a born shopper, she knows what she wants and it was so much fun. We first tried shopping for shoes. She wanted to try a bunch of them on but didn't' end up liking any of them and said they were all too big (I wanted them to be a little big). She opted to purchase an Ariel umbrella instead (she was so cute about it that I couldn't refuse). Next we tried shopping for place mats and a mirror. They didn't have what I wanted so Melanie decided we should buy a toy fish, whale and gum balls instead. She had great taste in clothes and had no problem deciding which shirt and skirt I should buy her. Then of course just before the last store she started asking for chocolate. (smart girl knew no shopping trip was complete with out chocolate). Luckily the last store was Trader Joes and we happily shared a bar of organic dark chocolate.

I'm looking forward to many more trips with my littlest shopping buddy this next year while Lindsey is in Kindergarten.

Mammoth June 29-July 1

2010-07-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

Last week in June we went up to Mammoth and camped at Obsidian flat across from upper deadman creek with two of my brothers' fams and my parents. It was a group campsite out away from everything in the middle of the woods. Nice to be off on our own but close enough so we could go check out Mono Lake, other lakes in the area, Devil's Post-pile National Monument and a ghost town (Bodie). We had a big campfire each of the three nights we were there. Complete with story telling, songs and Granpa's famous penguin joke (though Grandma laughed more than Grandpa this time). The girls were great campers and hikers. They had fun playing polly pockets, frisbee and ghost in the graveyard with their cousins (it's a game I taught them-sort of reverse hide and go seek that I used to play as a teenager).

Pocket Full of Happiness . . .

2010-06-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Was the theme of Audrey's dance recital this year. She did a jazz dance to "We're having a party". She was center stage and danced beautifully. She was graceful and did great big arms.

Major Milestones

2010-06-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

These girls don't stop growing no matter how often I tell them too.

Audrey passed 2nd grade with flying colors. Her teacher, Mrs. Milani, never ran out of good things to say about her. She told me multiple times about how great Audrey's writing is; she said that her writing was extraordinarily organized and detailed for a 2nd grader. Mrs. Milani also, more that once, commented how gifted Audrey is and that she's sure Audrey will be gate identified. On one occasion Mrs. Milani told me that Audrey was "one of those people who would change the world" who would get an idea and just take off with it. Her report card was unsurprisingly outstanding and we are so proud of her.

Lindsey finished preschool and is all ready for Kindergarten. We waited an extra year to start Lindsey in Kindergarten hoping she would mature a little more. I'm soooo glad I got this extra year with her. Lindsey and Melanie played especially well together last Fall while Audrey was in school. In the Fall she also had a weekly play date with her best friend, Krista who unfortunately moved away in January.The winter and spring we're a little trickier to keep Lindsey busy. She only had preschool 2 mornings a week. She did lots of crafts and baking with Mommy, played with Melanie in her play kitchen and she also played with her friends: Juliet, Tyler, JT and Hailey. Lindsey also took a singing class in the spring. I think she is going to love Kindergarten. I think she will make friends and I think she will be the smartest and cutest one in the class.

Santa Rosa visit June 12-14

2010-06-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

More furlough days. We drove up to see Lee, Mayuko and Koto who were visiting from Japan. Jason's daughters were also visiting for the weekend so there was a lot of girl cousin fun. Audrey, Lindsey and Melanie had a slumber party downstairs all three nights with Koto. Lindsey especially liked playing with Koto. We were fortunate that it was raspberry season as well. The girls loved picking raspberries with Grandma.

Camping at O'neil regional park June7-8

2010-06-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the furlough days from school

we got to squeeze in another June adventure.

Harker family and Grandpa camped with us.
Daddy and Grandma joined us for the evening
(Daddy didn't have work off).

San Diego Zoo May 22, 2010

2010-05-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Finally made it to the Zoo again. The girls' favorite to see was the Koalas.

Great to Be 8

2010-04-11T22:19:00.000-07:00

Audrey kept asking me yesterday (starting in the dressing room) after she was baptized if it had really happened if she had really been baptized. Hard to believe it's over after so much planning and waiting for the day. It was a good day for Audrey; made extra special to have both sets of Grandparents and other family and friends there. Three other kids in the stake were baptized on the same day, Audrey's friend Harry Callister being one of them. It was neat to be together in the chapel with all the people from all the baptisms. Having the stake leaders coordinate the baptisms for us made it stress free (relatively of course). Each of the children being baptized was introduced by a parent also telling why that child was ready to be baptized. I told about Audrey being a caring friend and sister and about her prayers being sincere and thoughtful. The musical number was "When I am Baptized" sung by Grandma and Grandpa Oblad and Mommy and Lindsey; accompanied by cousin Laura. Daddy Baptized and confirmed Audrey. The two Grandpas were the witnesses. Uncles participated in the confirmation. Aunt Louise gave the closing prayer. Aunt Betsy was a life saver in the refreshment department.

A VERY Adorable Toddler

2010-03-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

We LOVE this grumpy face of Melanie's. Doesn't she do the best grumpy face?! And she does it all the time. She can be quite moody. The first picture was taken just moments before. We also love what an amazing talker she is--she seems to understand everything. One word she know well is very. She has been known to say, "I very stinky" or "It very hurts" (that one was when she wanted a band aid just because Mommy had one). Yesterday she told her sister, "I very smart." We agree and as you can see she is also very grumpy!

Last post for the day, I promise.

2010-03-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

Campfire at the beach January 30th. Lindsey was the instigator of this plan. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We all love the beach and are glad we live nearby.

While I'm posting . . .

2010-03-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

I may as well keep at it right? These pictures are from when My mother was visiting in January. All taken by Mike.

Melanie is 2!

2010-03-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

I little late, here are pictures of Melanie's Ducky birthday party from January. She was in love with duckies at the time. She still sleeps with "Fluffy Duck" at night.

Gluten Free

2010-03-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

I realized today that I've passed my one year mark for being gluten free. I celebrated by finally making gf lasagna. Lasagna used to be my favorite food and I hadn't had it in over a year. It turned out heavenly.

Holidays 2009

2010-01-04T16:11:00.001-08:00

We had a relatively relaxing Holiday Season this year and it was filled with fun activities. We didn't travel far, did much of our shopping online, and avoided serious illness or catastrophe. The girls bickered more than we would have liked is the only thing.

We got into the season by building a snowman of course (one years worth of shredded bills made up the snow)

Other activities in December: Long Beach Aquarium; Irvine Park Christmas Train; Newport Beach boat Parade with our good friends, the Gordons; Christmas Eve at Grandma's complete with a "snow ball fight" with wadded up paper; Trip to Big Bear to stay at a cabin and play in the snow. Mike even squeezed in a solo adventure--camping and biking one night up in the freezing mountains. The girls got to see Santa 3 times and got their long anticipated roller skates for Christmas. I don't think they could have asked for more. We are so grateful for our three little girls even if they do bicker a little these days.

2009-11-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

Both girls had a really fun soccer season.

Audrey's team was the Dragonflies and had most of the same girls on her team as last year and we were very happy about that. She really improved and turned into a great team player. Today as a forward she did not let that ball get past her and same thing for when she played goalie last week (she stopped all 4 attempted goals during the quarter that she was goalie. Today she won her first tournament game and we think the championship trophy is in the bag.

Lindsey's U5 group was "festival style" so no real teams. She loved the practices where she got a ball to kick around the entire time and tolerated some of the games (there were a few she didn't even want to play) where she had to compete for the one ball. She is fast and scored some great goals for this, her first season. The highlight for her was getting her trophy today.

Melanie liked swinging in the swings during practices and after games. Today in the swing she said out of the blue, "Forward, bounce!" (She was quoting Roo from the Heffalump movie which is her current favorite.

Ode to Michael

2009-10-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was his birthday. He had H. Salt's for dinner, a favorite we hadn't had for years. He then let me go to book club and he put the kids to bed for me! I brought him home left over cake as repayment.

Mike is the girl's favorite person. He has them laughing every day. They hide and jump out at him every day when he gets home from work. Then they all want to walk to the mailbox with him. (Melanie will say "Box?! Box?!") He is so fun at swimming with them in the pool and playing hide and seek. Lindsey told me the other day that Daddy is better at playing than I am. She also told me that she would help me by playing with Daddy so I could go do whatever I wanted.

Mike is loved at his work too. His employee reviews are always glowing with praise. He got a promotion recently. A coworker he had several years ago still emails him and said in a recent email that Mike is "charming, witty and hardworking." She might have added handsome too, I can't remember. I'm sure she was thinking it even if she didn't write it.

Angel Island

2009-09-05T22:23:00.000-07:00

I meant to do a post about our camping trip to Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay last month. It was neat to be able to take my girls there since I had had such great experiences going there with my family when I was young. And of course it was wonderful to be there with my parents and sister again. Mike put up many pictures of our trip, see the link at right under sites to see: "lots more pictures posted by Mike."

HERO CAMP

2009-08-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

A huge highlight of the summer has been Hero Camp. For those of you who have not heard of Hero camp it started as the amazing brain child of a couple talented Moms four years ago and has continued each year. Audrey, Lindsey and I have been involved for the past two years. It takes an amazing effort by all the Moms and is a great experience for the kids. It is a co-op day camp based on LDS standards. Each day starts with a visit from a Scripture Hero and then the kids rotate through a lesson, craft, activity and singing time.
Here I am quoting S.A.:

This year we are going on a quest to find true happiness and joy. Our quest will take us through the life and mission of Jesus Christ. Each day will focus on part of His mission and what He has taught us about being truly joyful. I have a really great song that says, “Jesus has come that we might have joy.” The song ends with “Feel the Joy!” So this year we are going to Feel the Joy.
Monday- It’s Christmas! We feel joy as we understand that Jesus came to Earth because He loves us all. Feeling God’s love and loving like Him brings joy.
Tuesday- Story time! We will have a pajama party and learn the stories of Jesus’ ministry. Learning from Him brings joy.
Wednesday-We will learn about the joy of serving like Him as we celebrate Easter and learn about His important service to us in the atonement and His resurrection.
Thursday- We will talk about the living Christ and the joy that comes from following Him and being Obedient. It will be a day full of games and fun.
Friday- It’s graduation day! The kids will perform the songs they have been learning all week for their parents and take home their books with pictures from their fun week. We will emphasize their responsibility to now go out and share the joy. We will end with our traditional party.

Monday included a visit from Santa Clause. Tuesday the kids listened to stories about Jesus's life and met a live sheep. On Wednesday the kids got a visit from the Easter Bunny and learned to dance the bunny hop. Thursday was all about choosing to follow Jesus now, which included a carnival in the "Land of Obey" to show the children how following Jesus leads to joy. So much fun! I did balloon animals. Friday was graduation day, the kids performed the songs they learned all week, got their memory books and then had a swimming party. Lindsey still sings her "Sheep song" daily complete with her sheep sock puppet. I love how she says "baaaaa."

Melanie and Barney

2009-07-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

Melanie loves Barney, Pooh Bear and Ducks. She is a very sweet, busy critter: talks ALOT, makes adorable facial expressions and keeps us entertained. She also won't stop unbuckling the top buckle of her carseat! You can see in the picture it is undone.

Camping at Horse Meadow in Sequoia NF

2009-07-23T15:39:00.001-07:00

We couldn't have found a better campsite. No noisy neighbors, and surrounded by rocks and caves for the girls to explore. We hiked a beautiful little trail bordering Salmon creek and waded in the cold water a bit. We definitely want to go back another time and when the girls are bigger there are some farther swimming holes to hike to and then tubing down the nearby Kern river someday would be fun too. See Mike's website for lots more pictures of our little adventure.

Anniversary bike ride

2009-07-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

We rode at Crystal Cove State park--right along the ocean. Beautiful. We wish we had brought our swimsuits. We saw a big rattlesnake pass right in front of our bikes on the trail we had to stop so we didn't run him over. He took his time passing.

Summer Fun

2009-07-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

We've been swimming lots this summer. We also have had swim lessons, play dates, fireworks, camping, art classes, park play and day camp. Audrey and Lindsey spend hours at a time playing happily together. Lovin' it.

Eleven

2009-07-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

Eleven years ago on July eleventh I married my best friend because I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing him everyday for the rest of my life. We just happened to live at the same apartment complex our Sophmore year at BYU (thanks to Julie for picking that place for us to live). Our apartments were both on the second floor and faced each other across the pool. So we used to stand on our respective balconies and yell back and forth. I first met him at my door step. My roommate, Julie, had met his roommate and suggested we call and invite them to go to dinner with us. They came over, at the door we introduced ourselves and I shook Mike's hand. My first impression of Mike that evening was of a witty intellectual, a little reserved. I soon learned he had a silly side too. Our first official date a couple months later was seeing "Mars Attacks"--being the only movie not sold out at Movies 8. Favorite earliest memories are ice skating, where I held his hand for the first time; hiking the Y; him laughing; spelunking and hiking with the gang; looking through a scrapbook--cheesy I know.

Our first year of marriage was our Senior year at BYU. We were poor since my school and internship schedule didn't allow time for a job and Mike worked part time. He drank 2% milk, I drank skim. We watched Simpsons and Seinfeld on our tiny 9 inch TV, set on a folding chair. Our tiny basement apartment came furnished for $425/month! It also came with a rose garden and porch swing and access to a music room with piano--we didn't want to move at the end of the year.

Year two we both graduated. We moved into a non furnished $570/month apartment--a big jump for us. I got a job and Mike did some graduate work. We compromised and started drinking 1% milk, we still do. We spent nearly every weekend hiking, backpacking and exploring the wonders of the Uintas, Cottonwood canyons, Canyonlands, etc. Those were the days! I was in such good shape too.

Year three I think I got pregnant and slowed down a bit.

Year four was full of big changes. I quit my job and had Audrey. She had acid reflux so was really collicky. Mike found the dotcom crash had destroyed job opportunities. We moved in with my parents and Mike got a job at a Title company.

Year five: we again got our own apartment. Best of all Mike got his current job at Boeing. We moved down south and have loved it here.

Year Six: Lindsey was born.
.
.
Year 9: We bought our first home in a location we LOVE.

Year 10: Melanie was born. She was our third child to be born in the morning on the 8th.

Year 11: Has been one of my favorite years. Each of my kids are at a stage I want to remember. Melanie is still a baby to me and sooo entertaining; Lindsey is in that wonderful stage where she is starting to do big girl things but still has that sweet little girl innocence; Audrey is our little pioneer and is learning so much so fast. They play sooo well together. . . And Mike? He's still my best friend and his laugh is still one of my favorite things to hear. Happy Anniversary to us.

My Darling

2009-07-08T16:02:00.001-07:00

Lindsey considers darling another word for daughter. She used to say things about a mommy and her darling. Here are some preschool pictures from this past year that her teacher (the fabulous Ms. Kristin) gave me on a cd and I forgot about till now. Lindsey loved preschool at Ms. Kristin's. It was so wonderful to see Lindsey come out of her shell. We are excited for her to go there again next year with two of her best friends.

July 3rd Creek Crossing

2009-07-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

We told the girls we were going hiking in the "jungle," as Mike put it, and took them to the Tijeras Creek trail, south of O'Neill Regional Park. We passed through some natural tunnels and tall trees. We saw several butterflies, two blue dragonflies, a ladybug, and other critters.

Melanie especially liked the stream crossing. I set her down, thinking she would simply cross the stream. Instead, she sat right down and had a splash-a-thon.

Recital Costume Portraits

2009-07-02T21:50:00.001-07:00

Yankee Doodle and Dance of the Toy Soldiers

2009-07-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

Dance lessons for two girls: $99/month. Recital Costumes:$75 each. Tickets to watch the recital:$10 each. Seeing my daughters on stage: PRICELESS.

They were so cute! It was Audrey's third big June Dance recital and Lindsey's first. Neither had stage fright, but Lindsey was afraid of waiting backstage with out me so I spent most of the second half of the show back stage with Lindsey.

Dance Recital Costumes

2009-06-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

Aren't they adorable? . . .The girls I mean. The costumes are cute too. Their recital is next week. I'm a bit amazed by all the work going into this thing. I'm hoping Grandma and Grandpa are able to come down to attend.

Tanaka Farms

2009-06-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

We'd been meaning to go here for a few years and finally got around to it. We had such a great time, I don't know what took us so long. We got a hay ride tour of the farm, tried lots of vegetables and ate lots of strawberries. The girls loved picking strawberries and were so excited to show us each time they picked another berry--"look how many strawberries I've picked!" They begged to come back later in the summer for a watermelon tour--we'll see.

"I don't have a pet of my own"

2009-06-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

I can't remember exactly when Lindsey said this, but I think it was sometime earlier this spring. I tried telling her that we have three goldfish--one for each kid, but she said that didn't count. Luckily it doesn't take a large, expensive or labor intensive pet to satisfy her. The problem is her pets haven't lasted long. She has had a run of little critters starting with a moth (Mothia as she dubbed it) which tagged along in the car on the way home from camping over spring break. Next was Joanna, a green caterpillar (pictured here hanging from a leaf) that I caught for her off my tomato plants. We were especially attached to Joanna and I even picked one of my precious little green tomatos for her to eat, but she did not surive being knocked off the counter by a stray ball. The latest was a ladybug. Scared from the previous experiences I convinced Lindsey to let it go within a day since it was not tempted by whatever the tiny black bugs on my roses were (we didn't have any aphids handy). Anyway, we are on the look out for our next critter. Let us know if you see one for us.

Open House May 21st

2009-05-22T21:49:00.001-07:00

Audrey has had a fantastic year in First Grade. She is an amazing reader, speller and artist. Her report cards have been outstanding. We love her teacher too. The class has been studying Australia for the past couple of months. Audrey gave a report about the Frilled Neck Lizard complete with diorama and lizard made of clay. After she came home from giving her report I grilled her about it and she could tell me what each kid in the class did their report on and details about each of them. They were all that interested in learning about Australia and doing their projects. For open house the class did an adorable skit with songs. Audrey was an Aborigine.

Santiago Oaks May 17

2009-05-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

La Brea Tar Pits May 16th

2009-05-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

Amazing how many thousands of animals they've already found trapped in the tar all crammed in together. The girls were fascinated by the gas bubbles still rising up in the tar.

Auddy and Zinzy

2009-05-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

This is what Melanie calls her two sisters. She says Mommy and Daddy pretty clearly. Grandma is "Bama" She also said Remy's name today for the first time (cousin's dog) "Memy".

For Mother's Day today Audrey made me breakfast: two gf toaster waffles with butter and two gf cookies stacked on top of them on a napkin. She also gave a beautiful heart magnet with her picture on it that she made in school. Mike gave me two dozen beautiful pink roses.

At the beginning of Relief Society today an adorable primary class came in with bookmarks they had made for their Mommies. It just happened to be Lindsey's class so I was very happy that I was there to see her and get my bookmark. I'm only there at the beginning of Relief Society because I have to leave to do the music in Jr. and Sr. Nursery (the creme de la creme of callings).

I celebrated Mother's Day today with a very much needed nap this afternoon and then we went to Betsy's for dessert tonight. I love being a Mommy!

WLAH

2009-05-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Lindsey has started writing on her own with out help. She's gotten down her's and Audrey's name; Daddy and Mommy. Beyond that she uses the first letter of each word. She drew a darling picture of butterflies yesterday and wrote "WLAH" across the top. I was delightfully surprised when she told me that she had written "When there's Love at Home."

Lindsey is sporting a new hair style recently. She cut her own hair about two weeks ago (don't tell her I did the same thing when I was little). Luckily she just cut the front part of her hair and not too short so I was able to salvage and cut bangs. I was afraid at first when I first started cutting and realized I had cut it too short but have since grown to like it. And I wouldn't have had the courage if she hadn't given me an excuse. Here's the cutie with baby sis:

Pandemic

2009-04-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

I've been reading up on swine flu and pandemics today. With precious little ones to keep healthy I want to be prepared in case of a quarantine which is starting to sound possible . I recommend reading:

http://blog.totallyready.com/

http://www.ldsmag.com/emergency/index.html

Also this site is an essential resource: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/general_info.htm

I won the Sparkle game --posted by Audrey

2009-04-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

Today in school we played Sparkle. How the game is played is my teacher says the spelling words that we are learning this week. When it's our turn we have to say one of the letters in the words she pulls out. If you get a letter wrong or take too long to guess it then you're out of the game. When a word is finished you say, "Sparkle!" If you say, "Sparkle!" too early you are out of the game. There is not a third place, only second and first place. When we played it today I got first place. Carter got second place. The words I said were: Beaches, Dishes, Coral, and Boxes. Since I got first place I got two stickers. (Carter got one sticker).

don't ask me to come up with a title at 1:00am

2009-04-29T01:12:00.000-07:00

I CANT sleep. So even though I know I'll regret this in the morning, here I am blogging. The Dr. just called a minute ago to let me know Mike's surgery was a success. . . Let me back up. . .

Mike is really tough when it comes to various mountain biking injuries; but feeling "sick" usually makes him miserable. He came home from work around noon in total agony from abdominal pain. Having him take me up on the offer to drive him to urgent care was a clue to how bad he really felt.

I dropped him off at the urgent care center at 1:50pm. He then WAITED almost 4 hours to see the Dr., then another hour for the blood test results, another 2 hours to get the catscan and yet another half hour for the results. Around 10pm (yes 8 hours later) he received his diagnosis: Appendicitis. Ironically his pain had gone away by the time he received his diagnosis. We agreed with the doctor that it was a good thing she didn't just send him home since he was feeling better before doing further testing.

My ever supportive in-laws came over to stay with the slumbering girlies around 9pm so I could be with Mike. I took Mike to the hospital around 11pm and he had his appendix removed around 12:30am. Dr. said everything went fine, the appendix was all inflamed and it was good that they got it out.

Definitely a day we don't want repeated; but I'm so glad that it was all figured out, that Mike got the care he needed and that it is over!

Joshua Tree April 2009

2009-04-23T16:51:00.000-07:00

Rocks and Rocks and more Rocks to climb--we never got tired of it and the girls were so excited to sleep in the tent too.

Orange County Zoo and Irvine Park with Grandma, Grandpa and Joey

2009-04-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

All the Critters were out when we went over spring break. And we were happy to see they had added a petting zoo! Melanie got her first pony ride, but unfortunately she didn't think it was a good idea. At least she enjoyed the Train.

Easter 2009

2009-04-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

hello world

2009-04-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here I am starting my blog finally after wanting to for quite a while. I must warn my faithful public that this blog will probably contain mostly photos and updates that only a Grandparent would be interested in; posts on a variety of subjects unrelated to my current role as MOMMY will be few.

I am dedicating this first post to my DAD since today is his birthday.
Some memories of my Dad: Camping at Angel Island and many other places; Cutting down our Christmas tree every year in his old plaid coat that I hope he didn't get rid of; walks around the neighborhood observing house and yard features; the excitement in his face and voice over new technological gadgets; HIM laughing so hard he can hardly finish telling his famous "Penguin Joke" (I'm sorry, you have to get yourself invited to an Oblad camping trip if you want to hear it); Great emails and advice my freshman year in college. My Dad is a hard worker, is always willing to help others and is a great example. Happy Birthday, Dad!