October Travels

The kids and I were gone most of October- 3 weeks of it!

First, I drove -all alone- to Las Vegas with the children. I was a little nervous doing it all by myself, but I also really wanted to visit my sisters who live in Las Vegas, so that won out. Google maps said it would take 9 1/2 hours and I actually made it is just 10 hours 15 minutes. Not too bad, I'd say!!!
We stayed at my sister's house for a whole week. My sister, Katrina, has 4 children- some older and some around the same ages as mine. It was fun to have so much time together. We hadn't seen each other for 2 years! The kids had a lot of fun playing together and of course, my kids loved playing with so many new and different toys! My sister, Wendy, also lives in Vegas. We were able to spend a few evenings with her and her husband, which was a blast. My kids officially LOVE John and Wendy!

Here is Ryen, Katrina's youngest with Grant and Emma in Katrina's backyard. They had so much fun on that playground!

Here is Emma manhandling Grant (oh-excuse me, that is her way of helping him!) Andie is on the slide with Arianna in the background.

Once again- manhandling. Poor little guy. I also have to say that if I lived in Las Vegas, I would totally have astroturf in my backyard! Look how awesome that is!


Here is Joe, Katrina's oldest son, watching little Grant.

Ethan on the slide. Isn't he a cutie!

After our wonderful week in Vegas, Katrina got in the car with us and we drove to Salt Lake for my niece's wedding. All of my siblings were there for the event- which is pretty darn special!! We hadn't been altogether for 6 1/2 years; my wedding was the last time. I wish we had had more time to actually spend together, but alas, such is life. My mom did put on a nice after-the-wedding-dinner so we could all be together at a relaxed event. The kids and I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law, Jason and Rachel. I wish there had been more time to spend with all these people that we love!

The Bride, Brittney

My brother, Karl, holding Grant (he was starving for a Daddy figure in his life by this point!) and Ryan, my nephew in the foreground.

My sister, Wendy, and Emma

Mikelle, my niece; Katrina, my sister; Natasha, my niece; and my mom at the Dinner my mom put on.

The kids playing with their cousin, Natasha.

My big brothers and me

My brother, Glen making my children happy as can be with super stroller rides.

The crazy driver with the other 2 kids.

My kids attacking their uncle Karl.

They were having so much fun crawling all over him!!

After the wedding, I stayed in Salt Lake at my mom's for a couple of days and was able to see a some dear friends who live in the Salt Lake area and spend a little bit more time with Rachel and her daughter, Grace.
Here we are at the Living Aquarium in Sandy with my sister-in-law, Rachel and her daughter, Grace.
Arianna riding a frog at the Aquarium.

Picnic lunch with Rachel after the Aquarium outing.

Visiting Holly and her two little munchkins (Amorie also came over with her little guy) Holly let Emma play with her guitar. Such fun to spend the day together! Thanks for having us over, Holly, and for the fun cookie project!

Finally, after being away from him for almost 2 weeks, Kenneth flew in to join us! Oh, we sure missed him!!! That is the longest we had ever been away from him. We then drove up to Logan to spend a few days with Kenneth's sister, Karen and her family. Everything was great until a couple of days into our visit we ALL got the stomach bug. It was horrible!!! Arianna got it the worst, poor little thing. She couldn't keep anything down for 48 hours. We even had to stay an extra day so we were healthy enough to drive back home. Consequently, we drove all the way from Logan, Utah to our home in Milpitas, California on my birthday. 14 hours. Fun. Actually, because the kids were still kind of weak- getting over being sick- they did not have their normal energy, so didn't mind sitting in the car all day watching movies and the trip was quite nice.

Cookout in the Logan Canyon- it was freezing!!!

Daddy and the girls in the Logan Canyon- I love this picture!

Grant playing with Joslyn, his cousin

Tyler reading Grant a book (also a cousin)

This is how the girls spent a lot of the time at Karen's house. So sad.

We saw this scene on the drive home. Herding cattle in the wilderness. Very cool.

Reno, Nevada Temple. We stopped here on the way home as a break. It was nice to just walk around the grounds.

Arianna in front of the temple.

It was good to be home again after being gone for so long. It really is true what Dorothy discovered- There's no place like home. . .

Camping Adventures!

In September we decided to enjoy of the beauty of California and took a couple of camping trips. It was such fun!!!(Albeit a LOT of work with 3 little ones, one of which still was not walking!) As we prepared the girls for the experience by talking about camping and sleeping in a tent, etc., they were not at all excited at first. They had visions of bears and bats and spooky noises. (We have a Arthur's First Camping Book, that's the only thing I can think of that would have put such ideas in their heads.) Once I told them about S'mores, however, that sealed the deal and they were excited after that!
Labor Day Weekend we camped one night in Big Basin Redwoods State Park- California's First State Park and then in Portola Redwoods State park the next night. It was the kids' first camping experience and they loved it!! They thought it was cool that we had headlamps for them to wear. They liked sleeping in the tent and even thought it was neat when the pesky raccoons wouldn't leave us alone!! (They did manage to swipe a box of Wheat Thins from us)

After our first night of camping, we walked around some of the Redwood Forests and saw a lovely little waterfall, had a picnic lunch then got in the van to drive to our next campsite. Most of you who know us well, know we like to save a buck whenever we can. Since we decided to camp Thursday and Friday nights of labor Day Weekend (the less busy nights, we figured), we didn't bother paying the $7 reservation fee and decided to just go and get a campsite. Well, that worked out fine the first night, but Friday night we wanted to try beach camping, so we drove along the coast to find a spot and they were all filled up. Bummer. So, we headed back inland to a more obscure park (obscure because you have to drive quite a while on narrow, winding mountain roads to get there) But, hey! We got a campsite, no problem!! We ended up camping at Portola Redwoods State Park. We took advantage of some of the activities they had going on and went on a Ranger-led nature walk Friday evening and also to a Children's activity Saturday morning. The kids loved seeing the animal pelts and talking about banana slugs.

It got a little cold during the night, but I had brought enough warm clothing and bedding that we were fine. The girls slept amazingly well all weekend in the tent. Grant didn't do so well the first night, but did much better the second night.

Here are pictures of that camping trip:

S'mores making 101; Daddy is a great teacher. Gotta love the headlamps!

Watching Daddy cook breakfast! That's one of the things I love about camping. Kenneth is in charge of the cooking!


Dirty little man (but he sure is happy!)

Getting ready for bed. Yup- all five of us slept in a 3 man tent. They're small, right?!

Heidi and kids on a Redwood stump

Dad and Grant on a little walk

Mom and girls inside a hollowed out Redwood

Teensy, Weensy Waterfall in Big Basin Redwood State Park

Picnic Lunch

Gorgeous trees!


The girls had so much fun climbing and playing all over the campsite!




By the second night they were pros!


Enjoying the S'mores!

Emma lining the tarp with wood so the ball wouldn't roll off the tarp and down the slight hill.

Emma at the tent

Playing in the dirt

Portola Redwoods State Park

Arianna emerging from a tree

Kenneth with a view of Silicon Valley in the background. Picture taken from the Palo Alto Hills. The drive home from Portola Redwoods State Park was incredible.


The second camping trip we made was to the gorgeous Yosemite National Park. Unfortunately, we could only stay for one night. It was quite a hike for us to get there- about a 3 hour drive, but all in all I think we are glad we made the trip. (Most of us, anyway. Emma's comment after it was all over was, "Mom, I don't ever want to go there again- that was too far to drive!) That all being said, Kenneth and I both admit that we definitely let our sense of adventure go a little too far. It got down below freezing that night and Kenneth was starting to get sick. It was very cold. I got very little sleep because I was so worried about the kids staying warm enough. Grant was up earlier than everyone else, so he and I ended up hanging out in the van for a good hour in the morning so as not to wake up the whole campground. Finally, I had to wake Kenneth up because we were so cold and I could not manage to start a fire while holding Grant- yeah, I tried. In addition, Grant would NOT stay on the tarp as he did on the last camping trip. He was filthy, dirt everywhere, including in his mouth.

I had been to Yosemite when I was young and Kenneth and I had been when we were dating, but I was again hit with the Park's breathtaking beauty. It is an incredible place. So, after breakfast, we packed up and drove down into the valley (about 45 minutes from where we were camping) We hiked around just a little, saw Half Dome from a distance, went to see Bridal Vail Falls (which was barely a trickle at this time of the year), had a picnic and made the long drive home.

Here are some pictures of our Yosemite Trip:

The girls loved exploring

We never knew our daughter was a mountain goat!

We had such fun climbing all over the rocks near our campsite

Mom and Emma atop a rock

You never knew I was so strong!

Our favorite part of camping!

This is the morning. Can't you just tell how cold it is looking at this picture! Good thing I had looked at the weather report before we went and brought all our winter stuff!

The gorgeous Yosemite Valley

Emma looking over the bridge- Half Dome in the background

Dad and the kids

The deer weren't afraid of people at all!

Look how close they were!

El Capitan
Beautiful

Climbing rocks below Bridal Vail Falls

The girls sitting on the rocks below the falls

El Capitan on our way out

Good Things

I just had to share these good things I have really been appreciating or enjoying lately. I thought about making a Thankful post, but then didn't want to spend the time to come up with a comprehensive list (how awful!) so, here are some of the things I have enjoyed lately:

1) Fruits and Vegetables! A friend of mine organized a produce group and we have been relishing the bounty! We have had so many different kinds of produce and have been loving it! I love all the colors and flavors! We still have loads to eat! Yum! I have always loved this scripture:

Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart. Doctrine and Convenants 59:18

2) Going along with the above post: Roasted Cauliflower! I never really knew what to do with cauliflower. Sure, a little steamed cauliflower was okay, but I rarely bought it because I didn't want a whole head to have to eat. With this produce run I got quite a bit of cauliflower because I wanted to puree some and a friend told me about roasting it. It is fabulous! Even Emma asks for seconds and wants to share it with friends and relations! So, cut into florets, toss in a little olive oil and sprinkle on some seasoning salt and put it on a rimmed baking pan in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. You will need to keep an eye on it and move it around once or twice. It is so delicious!

3) Jersey Knit Sheets: We were given a set of Jersey knit sheets for our wedding (Thanks again P&L!). I don't know what it was about them, but I had no interest in using them and didn't for 4 years or so. Then one day I put them on. I LOVE them for the Winter time. Not so much in the warm times of the year, but for cool nights, it is so nice to get into bed (or get back into bed) and not have freezing cold sheets; Especially those nights when the kids are getting me up 3 and 4 times a night between the three of them!

4) Parenting Class- I have been attending the Church Sponsored parenting class this fall and it has been a great experience for me. I have really learned a lot and hope I can be a better parent for my wonderful children. I only thing that would make the class better for me is if Kenneth were bale to attend with me. Maybe someday!

5) A couple of great movies- In the last month, Kenneth and I have watched a couple of really fantastic movies that I wholeheartedly recommend:

One Good Man, made for an LDS audience, and Fireproof, made by a Christian group. The later is particularly inspiring.

Well, Those are the great things I wanted to tell you all about.

The Best Daddy Ever

Lately I have been noticing often what an incredible father Kenneth is to these 3 little ones. I love catching moments like these on camera. He is so loving, funny, and caring with them. He is always looking for ways to teach them and to spend time with them. We love you, Daddy!

Daddy and the girls in the Logan Canyon during our visit to Aunt Karen and family
Daddy and Arianna on Sunday afternoon.

Story time
Story before bed

Pizza Party Videos

So, I successfully posted some videos this evening, so I thought I should try these again. You have got to see this little dog in action- he is so cute!



This is the parade we had in the backyard so the kids could show off their costumes. It is hilarious to me that the girls stay right around the bush walking nicely and then you see the silver bullet zoom by- the oldest boy at the party!