A Late Merry Christmas to All

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Things have been crazy since we left San Diego. It was really great coming back home and settling down to our normal life and normal routines. The girls were ecstatic to come home to a whole bunch of "new toys." Ayden entertained herself very well for the first couple of days because she was so happy to be home with all of her things. Alex actually seemed happier too, maybe it was because she was happy to be out of a closet and have a real room to sleep in. All in all it was good to be home. Some of our good friends also had a welcome home party for us which was really nice and it helped us feel like people were happy to have us back.

Brad was thrown right back into work at the Boise office and worked pretty long hours immediately. It was hard for him to go back to a desk job after being able to play on the job site but I think he will be able to handle it.

Unfortunately after being healthy the whole time we were in sunny California we all got sick immediately after arriving to Boise and we have been sick since. If it lasts too long (like last year) I think we might be tempted to do some job searching in California.

Right now we are in Park City enjoying a wonderful Christmas break with my family. Everyone but Kyle and Laura are here and we are having a great time. Look for the upcoming blogs of our adventures here.

I just love this picture of Ayden Sledding last year. It is her favorite thing about coming to Park City (besides her Grandma and Papa of course)

This is one of this years sledding picture. She will only go solo this year!

The Holiday

I just have to say that if you want to go see a good movie go see The Holiday . When I was in Park City my amazing Dad watched my girls so that my mom and I could go to a movie. I don't know if it was the fact that I have not seen a movie (in a theater or rented) in over three months or because it really was such a great movie but I loved it. It was the perfect mix of crying and laughing. I hope you can all go see it and let me know if you loved it too!

Good Bye San Diego

With mixed feeling we say Adios San Diego. The girls and I leave today and we are on our way to spend a couple of days with my parents in Park City before we head to our final destination of Meridian, Id.

We will miss...
1. The friends we have made here.
2. Being so close to Taylor and Kayce.
3. The amazing weather!
4. The beach (especially Brad).
5. Trader Joe's.
6. Sea World.
7. The simple life I enjoy here and the kind of work Brad gets to do here.

We are happy to go home to:
1. RIVER!
2. Our amazing friends and Family.
3. Our own house and yard.

Hmmm... It looks like we are going to miss more here then we have to look forward to at home. Does that mean we should stay? No. We are just all going to have to rally for a Trader Joe's to come to Meridian and come back on vacation as much as possible!

We can't wait to see all of you at home! We will be there before you know it. Wish me luck on the flight!

Ayden the Photographer

Ayden has found a new love of photography. She can't get enough of taking pictures. It is so funny watching her take them because she acts so serious and tries to act like an adult. She really does not do too bad and she is getting better all the time. I REALLY want to get her a camera for Christmas. I want one of those fisher price kid tough digital cameras but I guess everyone else in the world wants one too. They are impossible to find unless I want to pay double for it on eBay. If anyone knows where I can get one let me know. I am getting a late start on Christmas shopping since our life is transitional right now. I planned on doing it all when I get back but I don't think anything will be left! Why can't toy manufacturers make enough toys to go around?
This is Happy(well, Reagan but they call him Happy). He is one of Ayden's favorite subjects as you will see.

Nice feet Ayden, just point a little higher.

Happy again.

Mom and Alex. It is kind of artistic don't you think?

Temple Lights

Last Sunday we took a drive with our friends, the Nitahara's to see the Temple lights. The San Diego Temple is so beautiful and the lights made it really look amazing. They have concerts every night for they Christmas season and that night there were some harpists. It was a great night.

The Terry's and the Nitahara's

Ayden looking at Baby Jesus.
They had a nativity set up and the kids loved walking around it and looking at everything.

Santa Pictures

Last year we got a very classic picture of Ayden and Santa Claus. She really was not too happy to be in Santa's lap. She was not anymore excited about Santa this year at our ward Christmas party. I really wanted to get a picture of her with him so we could at least have one to remember every Christmas so I took her to wait in line anyway. We were waiting in line to see him and she kept telling me that she just wanted to go see Santa's girl. Santa had a little helper with him and I guess she did not look as scary. I was hoping she would change her mind by the time we got to Santa. Other kids kept cutting in line in front of us so I had plenty of time to try and change her mind. I kept trying to use different tactics but nothing seemed to change her mind. "No mom, I am just going to go see Santa's girl." Finally we were the next ones up and Ayden was still very apprehensive about Santa. Then it clicked! "Ayden" I said "Santa is just like your Grandpa. He is very nice just like Papa." It worked! She went up to Santa and sat on his lap just fine. Papa is one of her favorite people and I knew it would work. I was happy to get that picture.
When we got to the front Brad handed me Alex and like everything else she did not seem to care much either way. She was a little worried and first but then settled in just fine.

Last years picture:
This years picture:

Ayden told Santa that she wanted a red bird for Christmas. Where on earth did that come from? Hmmm.. where and I going to find a red bird? I mean where is Santa going to find a red bird?


Alex is checking out this strange man and all Ayden cares about is her candy cane.


Alex's first Christmas picture with Santa Claus.


The funny story of the night came when all the primary kids got on the stage to sing their Christmas songs to the adults. Ayden saw all the kids piling up on the stage and wanted to go too. She climbed up the stairs to the stage all by herself and plopped herself down with a huge grin. She was so proud of herself. All the kids started singing when Ayden yells "I want to listen to this music" pointing at the CD player sitting next to her. Brad and I both put our fingers to our mouth and said "shh" so she started clearly mouthing the same words to us. She kept pushing things on the CD player and I just kept praying that she would not turn it on. Thankfully she didn't. Then she ran off the stage down to Brad and holding her hand in the air said "give me five daddy." Brad gave her five and then she ran back up the stage to her spot.

San Juan Capistrano

We spent our last weekend here in California in San Juan Capistrano with some of our favorite people. We met up with Taylor, Kayce and Axel and also our good friends Nate, Brooke and Siyah to spend a fun afternoon at the San Juan Capistrano Mission. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and we could hardly believe it was December! The mission is absolutely amazing and we had a fun time walking around and enjoying everyones company.

These cousins are sure going to miss each other! At least we will see them for Christmas.

After the Mission we all went and had a yummy authentic Mexican Lunch before Taylor and Kayce had to head home to the LA Auto Show. The rest of us went and got some ice cream and hung around for a bit. Alex and her famous nose grab. She always goes strait to the nose. Poor Brooke. (Nate and Siyah are in the background)

Brooke, Alex and I. Now Alex is thinking about going for the hair! Hurry take the picture!

Siyah and Alex.

They are about 4 months apart but you would not know it! Alex had a growth spirt at about five months and has not grown since. Siyah has certainly gone through one since we saw them in October. What cute little girlies.

Thank you for Knees and Toes

I love listening to Ayden's prayers. It is fun to hear what she is thinking about through what she says when she prays. Since we have been in Idaho they are mostly about River. She always says "Dear Heavenly Father, please bless that I can go back to Idaho to see my River." It is so heart breaking to hear her little voice pray for her big dog. But tonight her prayers were different. Tonight her prayer was, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for my knees and toes, thank you for Daddy's knees and toes, thank you for Mommy's knees and toes, thank you for River's knees and toes, thank you for Alex's knees and toes, thank you for Axel's knees and toes, thank you for Kayce's knees and toes, thank you for Taylors knees and toes." What a goof ball.

Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant

Now that my work is coming to an end here in glorious San Diego, I thought it would be good to let everyone see the site where I have been working. The Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant when completed will be the largest membrane plant in the world. The plant will have the capacity to produce up to 100 million gallons per day. That is enough to supply treated water to up to 220,000 households per year (San Deigo has a huge water shortage). The site is located in the hills of San Marcos north of San Diego. It is a high-profile design-build project with a contract worth 160 million dollars. Being a high-profile project, I have had the opportunity to rub shoulders with some great people and help build my resume. One of the main reasons I went into engineering is for the satisfaction of designing a structure and having it built and I am grateful this opportunity has allowed me to see the fruits of my labor.

Thanksgiving 2006

After our fabulous trip to Disneyland (see below), we all drove to LA where we spent the next couple of days. On Thanksgiving Day Taylor spent a large part of the morning cooking for our big feast. While the turkey was cooking we went on a drive to Malibu and walked along a beautiful beach. When we returned to the apartment we were overtaken by the wonderful aroma of a well prepared Thanksgiving meal. After a little team work in the kitchen we were able to eat a nice quiet meal since the littlest of the three kiddies were both sleeping! We were all thankful for that. It was a great meal that included Moms stuffing and gravy and Kayce's sweet potato soufflé. Brad and I are very grateful for all of our blessings this Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for the time we have had here in Southern California; for Brad's work opportunity and to be close to Taylor, Kayce and Axel for a few months. Brad and I are so very blessed with a great family, a good job and the gospel.
(sorry but we all forgot to take pictures on thanksgiving!)
Friday we went to the La Brea Tar pits near Taylor and Kayce's house. Ayden enjoyed seeing all of the extinct animal remains that have been preserved in these unique tar pits for a long time. After the tar pits visit we drove around Beverly Hills and looked at all the ostentatious houses and of course did some people watching. We even saw one of the Olsen twins (don't ask me which one) trying to drive through all of the paparazzi out of a parking lot and she pulled out right next to us. In the evening we went to Rodeo Drive and walked around all of the shops we can't afford to even walk in. The only notable thing from the evening is walking by Hilary Swank and going to the famous Sprinkles cupcake shop. We got some good star sightings for only being in LA two days!

Kayce, Alex, Ayden and I atop a giant sloth at the La Brea Tar Pits!

Taylor and Ayden riding the sloth.

Ayden and I pretending to be a vicious wolf as they are always unfortunately portrayed. We don't look so vicious do we?

Kayce and Ayden on Rodeo Drive.

LA

We have been spending a lot of time in LA this past week with Taylor and Kayce. Last weekend Brad flew home to Burley for his Grandpa Terry's funeral so the girls and I stayed with Taylor and Kayce in LA. Brad had a great time in Idaho spending time with his family and he was very grateful that he could make it back home for the funeral. A lot of changes have been happening in his family with the passing away of an Uncle and his Grandfather and the birth of a new baby while we have been here in San Diego and I know that it has been difficult for Brad not to be able to be there with his family. I was grateful that it worked out that he was able to make a trip home. While he was gone the girls and I had a great time with Taylor, Kayce and Axel. And it was very helpful to have them around to help me with the girls. The highlight of the trip for me was meeting Dr. Robert Rey from the t.v show Dr. 90210. Yes, for all of you who have heard but were not sure, he is Mormon. I met him at church and I also saw his wife Hayley and his two kids there too. He is not in the same ward as Taylor and Kayce but they meet in the building at the same time. Kinda funny, huh!
When Brad got back on Sunday we went back to San Diego for Monday and Tuesday and then early Wednesday morning left for DISNEYLAND! Taylor and Kayce met us there and we had a great time.

The girls and Goofy

Off we go!

Ayden is excited about the Christmas Tree. She asked Brad to take a picture of her with the tree. It is a new concept to us that you can be in the Holiday season yet still be able to wear shorts!

Taylor, Axel, Kayce, Jenni, Alex, Brad and Ayden on our last ride of the day, the Jungle Cruise.

Although Ayden got cut off and Alex is hiding under a blanket, this is the only group picture we have from Disneyland.

The cousins sitting on the Mickey Mouse's couch.

Alex just chillin as usual.

Ayden is riding Dumbo.

Ayden and River Sliding

We were looking through some of our videos and thought we would post this one too. It makes us miss River, but we will get to see him soon. We are teaching Ayden how to take turns.

By Popular Demand...

Ayden was not injured in the making of this film.

Leaving San Diego

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are headed back to Idaho sooner then we thought. It was unknown how long we would be here and we have found out that we are leaving the second week of December. The girls and I are flying to Park City on the 7th of December and Brad is finishing things up here and is driving back on the 9th. Brad should arrive in Idaho on the Sunday in time to pick us up at the airport in Boise Monday morning. We have had a wonderful time in San Diego and in many respects we are sad to leave but we are also excited to get back home to River, our house and our friends. Now it is just a rush to fit everything in we can during these next few weeks.

Our Recent Adventures

Brad took the day off last Thursday so we decided to go to Sea World again. We are just making sure we get our moneys worth out of our passes. It was our third time there and I was surprised how much there was still to do. We went to Shamu's Happy Harbor which is a play ground/splash park for little kids. They had a maze of netted tunnels extended in the air you could climb though and Ayden loved them. Brad and I also took turns and did the roller coaster. It was fun, but there is something about doing it with another person that makes it more enjoyable.

Come on, Daddy!

What a cute dolphin. I finally got to feel a dolphin! They did not feel like I expected them to. All the other times we went it was so crowded you couldn't get a space on the wall to see the dolphins. I was happy to see them this time, Ayden was too.

On Saturday we went to Moon Light Beach in Encinitas with some friends. It was a little cold and windy but that did not stop Brad from getting into the water. While we were all up on this hill playing with the kids Brad and H were building a sandcastle all by themselves. Now, who are the kids?

My Confessions

My sister in law gave me this idea... she did a blog titled "the confessions of a 25 year old mommy queen" where she listed some of her deep dark secrets and it really makes you think about some of your own confessions. I decided to give it a go and see what I come up with.

1. I attract freaks and old men. So if you are a friend of mine and you are not an old man you might want to reevaluate yourself.
2. I wish I was a doctor.
3. Brad and I have yo-yo competitions after the girls are in bed.
4. I center my life around when I get to eat next.
5. My biggest fear in life is that my kids won't turn out to be productive, good, God fearing individuals.
6. I once had the whole movie Clueless memorized word for word.
7. I have been on national television, a radio add and a billboard (for those of you who know why, don't leave a comment about it, he he).
8. I hate and won't eat anything that once lived under water.
9. Depending on my mood it is hard to make me laugh...unless you are a dog.
10. Until I was about 19 I thought that when someone said the word "bless you" after someone sneezed they were saying "ble shoe." Which I thought was just some weird nonsense word like "gazoontite," but gazoontite isn't even a nonsense word. It is actually Gesundheit which means good health in German.
11. I never knew a pirate's loot was called his "booty" until last summer (thanks Elizabeth).
12. People in general really intrigue me and I can people watch for hours.
13. I have a memory from when I was five years old that I still don't know if it really happened or if it was a dream.
14. I will not sit on a public toilet... even if it is covered with something. Squatting is the way to go.

What are some of your confessions? Leave a comment. (anyone can leave one, you don't have to sign in anymore)

Our crazy little girl

We are not so sure what Ayden is doing but it seems she thinks she is a super hero shooting people with her rays and using special powers to stop people in their tracks. I wonder where she got these super human powers. We might have a mutant on our hands!!!!

World Famous San Diego Zoo

The whole family posing for a picture at the end of a full day of looking at bears, lions and tigers, oh my!! Both Ayden and Alex did a wonderful job keeping up with the pace.

The crowd favorite, an Arctic Wolf.
Towards the end of the show, the crowd all howled with the wolf and it reminded us so much of our dog River. Seeing how much all the people loved this wolf it is no wonder why River is the most popular individual in our neighborhood in Idaho. It is miraculous watching the wolf and seeing how much River is like him...it is hard to believe that huskies are not any closer to a wolf genetically than any other dog. Oh, we miss River!

Jenni and Ayden heading up the moving sidewalk. Alex loved all of the sites and sounds throughout the day. I wish everybody could have seen how excited she was when we sat in a stadium waiting for the sea lion show to begin and 6 Macaws flew into the stadium.

Ayden decided to feign sleep for the picture. Do not be fooled by her calmness in this picture. Immediately after this picture was taken Ayden was growling like a lion at the giraffes, walking on all four making monkey sounds while announcing to the crowds that she was a monkey, climbing up on the fence and running around everywhere.

The Beach Babes

I don't think there are enough pictures in this blog of my wife. Look at how hot she is.

Halloween 2006

Halloween started for us on Saturday when we went to our ward Trunk or Treat. We all passed out candy to the kids out of our car trunks. Ayden was a lady bug and has certainly gotten into Halloween this year. It has been a lot of fun because she enjoys it so much. She loves wearing her costume and trick-or-treating is the best thing that could have happened to her in her mind. Alex was a Tiger. It is kind of funny because she has recently started growling so it worked out perfectly that she was a tiger for Halloween. It is so cute hearing her growl in her costume. It is almost like she knows exactly what she is doing.
Today we went to the shopping area by our house for trick-or-treating. It was a lot of walking for Ayden but she still had a lot of fun. She was so good at saying trick-or-treat and she would always say thank you after they gave her candy. Many of the store employees who were passing out the candy commented on how she was one of the few children who said thank you. I was proud of her.

Our little tiger. Don't be fooled by he sweetness. Once swipe of the Alex paw...

Ayden taking a break from walking. She just plopped herself down and said she needed to rest.

Alex got tired too.

Brad and Ayden are carving the pumpkin. We asked Ayden what kind of face she wanted on the pumpkin and she told us that she wanted one like the pumpkins at Disney Land at the house. The "house" was the haunted mansion that was decorated for the upcoming holidays like The Nightmare Before Christmas and they had some pumpkins that sang on the ride.

At the ward Trunk or Treat. She just wanted to sit in the back of the car and eat all her candy.

Alex is trying to get some candy!