Picker, Sucker and Stander

AKA Emma, Arianna and Grant. These little ones keep us hopping and laughing! I just wanted to do a little post on what these guys are up to. (One of these days I really will do a few posts about our trip across the country.)

Picker and Sucker: Emma and Arianna were watching Sid the Science Kid one morning in the hotel and I looked over and one has her finger up her nose and the other had her thumb in her mouth. Nice. Actually, Arianna has always been a thumb sucker, but ever since we left Maryland it has gotten WAY worse. She is sucking all the time now. Our rule is that she is not allowed to suck unless she is in her bed. But, with traveling across the country, there has been an awful lot of sleeping going on in the car, so she is of course sucking her thumb there, too. Now, she is sucking almost non-stop. Help?!?! We aren't sure what to do to help her stop.

As for the Stander: Little Grant has made tremendous progress since we left D.C. When we left, he had barely learned to wave. Now, he waves whenever he hears Goodbye or Hello or See you Later or when he sees someone else doing something that even remotely looks like waving. He also loves to clap. So cute. He actually learned to crawl while we were at Aunt Karen's house in Utah and now a couple weeks later, he is all over the place and even pulling himself up to stand by the couch. Today he even started cruising a little- went from the couch to the chair in the hotel room.

Our number one comment we get when we go anywhere with the kids is, "Boy, you sure have your hands full!" NO kiddin'! (Interestingly, what we hear almost as often is, "Are they twins?" (Referring to Emma and Arianna) We aren't really sure where that comes from, they really look nothing alike. They are 2 little girls that generally move too fast to get a really good look at them, so I'll give the people that.

Some funny things the girls have said lately:

Emma walked into the bathroom when Kenneth was shaving and said: "Dad, you have mustard all over your face!" (Arianna repeated it, too, of course.)

The girls, all on their own, call the Palm trees we see here "Lamanite Trees". (Lamanites are one of the main groups of people spoken about in the Book of Mormon (Ancestors of the American Indians) We have a picture book of Book of Mormon Stories and I guess they think the palm trees look like some of the headdresses they have seen in there. Funny girls.

Emma was pretending to have Family Home Evening with her animals the other day and I heard her say, "Jesus is in heaven. We will go see him one day when we get dead." She cracks me up.

In the last couple of months the girls have both learned to swim all on their own with water wings on. It is an absolute miracle to me that Emma has taken so well to the water. I have mentioned before, but Emma not even 3 months ago, would SCREAM if even a trickle of water dripped down her face during bath time. This week at the pool, she jumps in all on her own and is completely submerged under the water before she pops back up. Amazing. Arianna is also doing pretty well swimming all around. I think she likes the freedom that comes along with being able to do it on her own. It certainly does make going to the pool for us a lot more fun. Grant also loves to be in the water. (I especially enjoy the heated pool here in Northern California!)
Emma swimming on her back
Arianna and Daddy

We are very happy here. Hotel living definitely has it's perks. But, it will be nice to be in our own home again as well. I have started the painting projects in the house we will be renting and the girls are having the time of their lives playing in the backyard while I work. Grant, on the other hand, is not having as much fun. He crawls around after me whining most of the time. Sometimes I can distract him with a toy or a cracker, but today we just had to go back to the hotel. Luckily, we have 9 more days to finish before we move in for real.

Maracas all around. One of the ladies who works at the hotel gave the big ones to the girls and we already had a little one for Grant. Good times.

A couple of days ago this bad mommy set him down in the wrong place while I was fiddling around with an uncooperative lock and he nose dove into the cement. He's pretty banged up. I feel horrible. Here is a picture a few hours after it happened:

Poor sad baby. He was actually happy right before this shot was taken, just didn't want to sit still for the camera.

Hello, California!!!

We made it!! We actually arrived in California over a week ago now, but have been househunting almost non-stop. . .until tonight that is. We found a house to rent- finally! Boy, oh boy- is this place expensive!! At least we got used to the higher rent and home prices in D.C., so the sticker shock wasn't quite as. . .shocking. . . as it would have been.

Just as an example: we were driving around Sunnyvale looking at homes for rent and saw signs for an open house for a home for sale. Just out of curiousity we decided to stop. (We are not buying at this point because we don't know how long we will be here.) My guess as to the price of the home as we pulled up was 250 K. It was neat and tidy. Neat and tidy neighborhood for the most part. It was older, but well kept. Only 1100 square feet or so with 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths, I think. It was listed for $532,888!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! How anyone affords to live here is beyond me!

So, after driving all over creation for the past week, we finally settled on a home in Milpitas, CA. (pronounced "mill" "pitas" just like pita pockets that you would eat.) We definitely wanted a home this time around. Our last apartment was great, but we are ready for our own walls and a yard and garage again and more space! It is about 9 miles away from work for Kenneth. 4 bedrooms, living room and family room and a 2 car garage. Wonderful fenced backyard with fruit trees and a large shaded patio. Downside: it is old. There is wallpaper all over the place. The bathrooms and kitchen are OLD. But, Kenneth and I both felt really good about it- amazingly enough. It will work out really well for us I think. There is a cool park within walking distance, which the kids loved playing at. We are planning on doing a little bit of work on the house (with permission from the Landlord and owner) before we move in to try and spruce it up a little bit.

So, here we are. We are still in the hotel another couple of weeks before we move in. So, I get to enjoy someone else cleaning for me for a while.

The trip across the country was actually quite fabulous. The kids did much better than I had expected. We really enjoyed stopping at a number of Church History Sites along the way: Carthage Jail, Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, and This is the Place Heritage Park. We also LOVED seeing some of our family members and friends out west whom we rarely get to see.

We miss our friends in D.C. and New York. This certainly is a great adventure. It will definitely be interesting to see where we end up next. . .and how long we will be there. . . For now, we are loving the California weather and are excited to see some of the beautiful sites in the area.

Our trip across the country- Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and finally, California!!

After a nice visit to Winter Quarters, we hopped back in the van and traveled to Parker, Colorado, to the home of my sister, Sheri. We stayed here 2 nights, went to church with them and were able to see my other sister, Terilynn, her husband, Brent, and their son, Ryan and his family. It was fun to be all together.

Monday morning, we headed to Logan, UT to see Kenneth's sister, Karen and his brother, Dennis. We stayed there a few days. Our kids had a lot of fun being with their cousins who are close in age. I think we all enjoyed a break from being in the van!!

From Logan, we made the short trip to Salt Lake to see my mom and also saw Kenneth's brother, Jason and his wife, Rachel and their daughter, Grace (they live in Lehi). I had never seen their home before, so it was fun to actually see in person the home improvement projects I had only seen on their blog.In addition, 2 of my nieces, Debi and Natasha, were able to spend some time with us, which was such fun!!! I hadn't seen them in years! They are all grown up now. Heather, my sister-in-law, also happened to be at my mom's house at the same time we were, so it was fun to see her. Salt Lake really is the crossroads for my family. Even my brother, Glen and his daughter Tyia were there for a few hours while we were! Oh- we also got to see our dear friend, Andrea, whom we knew in New York. There are so many people in Utah- I wish we could have seen everyone. So, those of you we didn't get to see, we still love you!!! We happened to be in Salt Lake for Pioneer Day, which is a big celebration. Kenneth and his brothers and my sister-in-law and Natasha went to the Days of 47 Rodeo. Kenneth says it was awesome! We lucked out on some fantastic seats to see the Days of 47 Parade, made a visit to The This is the Place Heritage Park and walked around Temple square. We especially enjoyed seeing the new model of the Salt Lake Temple. Pretty incredible if you haven't seen it yet.

From Salt Lake, we pressed on Westward, breaking up the trip with a stop in Winnemucca, Nevada. I have a dear college roommate from there and it worked out that she was going to be in town at her parent's home the same weekend! What timing! We enjoyed catching up and I especially loved meeting her little son, August. After church in Winnemucca, we left for California! We drove as far as Fairfield that night and stayed in a hotel. The next morning, we took Kenneth straight to work in Sunnyvale (about a 1 hour drive) and the kids and I went to check into our "home" for the next month, the Residence Inn. Whew!!! We made it!

Here are all the pictures to document this trip:

A much needed break from driving. Corn fields of Colorado in the background. Kenneth is having races with the girls.

Grant the airplane.

Here are the girls as we drive away from Denver. Their cousins and Aunt gave them goody bags with games, snacks and activities. They were in heaven! Too bad I didn't take any pictures while we were with my family! Poor Arianna in the sun- don't you hate it when you get the sunny seat?!

Beautiful scenery north of Denver. I love being the passenger and being able to really enjoy this sort of things!! Thanks for all the driving you do, Kenneth!

Who wouldn't want this little guy as a travel companion?!

Bear Lake. My first time seeing it. It really is quite beautiful.

The kids were so sick of squinting into the sun. Too many pictures taken on this trip!!!

Picnic with the Dawes clan.

Wading in the creek with the Dawes family

Grant and Mommy, however, hung out under a tree instead. (The water was cold!!)

Emma and Arianna eating breakfast at the Tinkerbell Table at Grandma Pilz's house.

Indian dancing at This is The Place Heritage Park. There were many special activities going on the weekend we were there in celebration of Pioneer Day.

My Mom with Me and the kids with the This is the Place Monument in the background

Grant's famous 'double point'. Reserved for when something is so exciting, one finger to point simply wouldn't do. In this case, it was aimed at the horses.

The kids with my mom and Kenneth playing with a horse. These pictures are all from This is The Place Heritage Park.

Grant touching a horse for the first time.

Arianna RIDING a horse for the first time.

Ditto for Emma- they were so excited! Daddy was a little nervous!

Days of 47 parade. It sure is cool when your mom lives right downtown, so you can just walk to find good seats and not have to deal with traffic or parking!

Debi and Natasha (my nieces) at the parade with us. I don't know who was happier: my kids to see them, or them to see my kids!

Cool horse at the parade

Arianna and Grant with their much older cousins in one of the Visitor's Centers on Temple Square.

The Salt Lake Temple

Model of the Salt Lake Temple

All of us who were at the parade together. Arianna is ready for a nap, can you tell?

First stop outside of Salt Lake- potty break. (For Emma, not me!! I am on clean up duty. That is hand sanitizer in my hand if you can't tell!) You can see the Great Salt Lake in the background. Having a potty in the car was one of the best pieces of parenting advice I have received. Thanks, Trina!


Kenneth at the Salt Flats. They are in western Utah. Very cool. I had driven by a few times in the past and had even stopped to look at them once, but this was the first time that I walked out ON them. Talk about blinding!

Heidi at the Salt Flats

The girls can hardly see. It was really strange to try to focus on anything standing on the flats.

Emma

Beautiful scenery in Nevada.

That's it, folks. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures when we visited with Amorie and her family in Winnemucca, NV. We were all too tired and too ready to make it to our final destination!

Our trip across the country- Winter Quarters, Nebraska

We left Nauvoo and drove the rest of the day to Council Bluffs, Iowa. This is the town across the river from Omaha, Nebraska. (The site of Winter Quarters) So, about Council Bluffs. We called my brother (aka, the Master of the Internet) on the way there to help us try to find a hotel room. We wanted something not too expensive, so my brother found a place which sounded pretty good, so we made a reservation. When we arrived, it was quite interesting. The hotel was located in the back parking lot of a run down gas station. Lovely. When we walked up to the hotel through a cloud of smoke. Double Lovely. There were some interesting characters 'hanging out' out front. Then I go inside to get the key and it's a real key. Like the metal kind. I didn't think that actually happened anymore. Yup- it does. The room wasn't too bad and we were really tired, so we did stay. The carpet was a little old. But, we were safe and got a decent night's sleep.

The next morning we drove across the river to visit the Winter Quarters Visitor Center and Temple. I had been there once before on my trip across the country after I graduate from BYU and moved to NY. Let's just say I got a lot more out of it that time around. But, I am glad that we stopped and were able to feel the spirit of that place. I am so thankful for all those who went before us so that we can enjoy the gospel in our day.

Winter Quarters Temple

Girls in front of one of the Statues in the Cemetery there on the Temple Grounds

A little rest before we get back in the car. It was a very hot day!

Our trip across the country- Nauvoo, Illinois

From Carthage, we made the short drive to Nauvoo, Illinois. I had been here when I was young, but it didn't mean as much to me then as it did now. I feel as though I know the people who lived there a bit after having studied the Doctrine and Covenants at BYU and after reading The Work and the Glory Series.
We arrived in time to grab a quick lunch and then check into our hotel. Then we all slept. It was wonderful to have such a refreshing nap after having been in the car all night long! And the shower after that felt heavenly! We ate dinner at a buffet in town that I had heard good things about. It was delicious. Then we headed down to the Pageant. There were some field games going on before the show actually started that we enjoyed. The kids had fun riding in a cart and watching mom try to walk on stilts.
The Nauvoo Pageant was incredible! We are so glad the timing worked out that we were able to see it. It is very special that the Temple is again overlooking the bluffs. What a testimony to the saints who lived in and built up that city, only to have to leave it!
The next day we spent in Nauvoo, seeing the sites and enjoying all the hands-on activities they offer. One of the favorite parts of the day was the wagon ride through town. In the afternoon, we loaded back in the car and headed west again. . .

Heidi trying to walk on stilts.

Getting ready for the Pageant to start. Notice the beautiful temple in the background.
Emma and Arianna and another little girl we don't know riding in a handcart.

Grant and Daddy watching Pageant.

Finale.

Nauvoo Temple Cupola.

Daddy and kids sitting on the temple steps.

Our family

The girls on the temple grounds.

Wagon that we rode on through town.

View of temple from the wagon.

Fence climbers

Family with the oxen. We also got to have a short ride on that wagon!

Nauvoo Brick kiln. Arianna holding our souvenir brick next to Grant.

Arianna and Emma riding the toy sheep.

Playing pioneers.

Emma, the mommy in the 1800's.

Arianna playing pioneer homemaker.