Happy Halloween

Hope your Halloween doesn't stink!

Until Isaac is old enough to tell us what he wants to be for Halloween, he gets to match with Cracker.

(We had fun dressing these guys up last year too!)

Disney Land

This week Isaac and I went to Disney Land... and we bought a season pass! Isaac had a great time and I am looking forward to going back with friends and family.

It was a hot day but we had a fun day with our friends Sherri & Daniel. The boys were really excited to go on the Tea Cups. I think they really liked the music and all the bright colored cups spinning around.

Isaac's favorite was the carousel. He was so happy sitting up on that horse!

He also liked the Jungle Cruise. He liked riding on a boat and seemed fascinated by the alligators and hippos and fish popping out of the water.

And after 4 hours of Disney Land, a miracle happened: Isaac fell asleep in his stroller for the first time ever! I think this means we will have to go back.

Roommates Reunited

Last week Isaac and I flew to Portland to visit my best friend Mikael. Mikael and I were roommates until four and a half years ago when we both finally decided to get out of Provo! It was a sad parting but we have done so good at staying in touch and have made an effort to see each other at least once a year. This time it was my turn to go visit her and see the new twins!

Roommates in 2002

Moms in 2008

We knew that with four kids all 2 and under we wouldn't be able to go out too much, but it was still really fun to just visit and be moms together. Our friend Ethan came over to visit one day, we went for a walk, made cookies, stayed up late talking every night, and even made an outing to Ikea with all four kids piled in the van (thanks Ethan & Natalie!).

Also, on my last night there Derek came home from work early and we set out on our big adventure. We took the kids to Safari Sams so Makenzie and Isaac could play on all the slides, tunnels, the balls, etc. They loved it!





Afterwards we went to dinner at Sweet Tomatos. This is another tradition for Mikael & I whenever we get together. When we were in Provo we used to drive 30 minutes away to go eat there and we loved it, so it is always fun to go back and eat there together.



Here is Isaac enjoying a few bites of my ice cream.

It was really fun to be able to sit and talk like the good old days... except now we have four kids to interrupt us! We still had a good time though and I am looking forward to our next get together.

Want a Ride?

Today we went to Balboa Penninsula and took a nice walk along the beach. We stopped for lunch near the pier and then headed back. It was a beautiful day and it reminded me that I really need to take advantage of the beach more often.


Cracker got lazy and tired on our walk back so we loaded him up in the stroller with Isaac. We got lots of smiles from people passing by.
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Utah Trip

We try to make it up to Utah at least once a year, but it seems that every time we go it is always such a short trip, with so much to do, and so many people to see, that it ends up just being a crazy jam packed weekend. Our recent trip was no exception. We decided to go to Utah for Labor Day weekend so that we could be there for the baby blessing of our newest niece. It was an exhausting trip, but it was nice to be able to see so many people while we were there. Here is a few things that we got to do while we were there:

• Visit with my sister Lisa and see our new niece Katie
• Drove to Price to spend 24 hours with Charlie's brother Chris and his family
• Dinner with Lisa's family, Grandma, Aunt Shirly, Mom & Wendy
• A quick shopping trip to Dillards (they always have a nice selection of modest dresses)
• Attend the baby blessing at church (and by some miracle I was able to keep Isaac quiet long enough to stay in the chapel and hear the blessing!)
• Attend the family gathering afterwards and visit with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
• Shopped at Deseret Book and the LDS Distribution Center
• Ate at Cracker Barrel twice
• Ate at Cafe Rio
• Made four stops for Sonic drinks - their Diet Cherry Limeade Slush is my absolute favorite and there are no Sonic's nearby at home
• Had breakfast with Charlie's friend Amber and her family
• Met up with a few of my old roommates and their families
• Walked around BYU campus (in the rain) and got a little BYU t-shirt for Isaac at the bookstore
• Stopped by my grandparent's house on the way to the airport to say goodbye
• Stayed up past 12:00 every single night because Isaac refused to go to sleep! And he also woke up screaming multiple times throughout the night. Way to go Isaac. Let's just see if we take you on anymore trips after that disaster!

We had a good time, but were pretty exhausted by the time we left (mostly due to lack of sleep). I kept forgetting to take out my camera, so I have almost no pictures of what we did or who we saw. I guess we will just have to go back. :)

Charlie & Isaac at the park in Price

Me & two of my old roommates Melissa and Rebecca

Guess Who's One?

Our little guy is growing up quick! Check out his blog for all the latest.

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Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Charlie and to his twin brother Chris!

In celebration of Charlie's birthday we decided to go out to Palm Springs for a night. Because it is so hot out there in the summer, the hotel rooms are super cheap. We got a great deal on a room at a 4 star resort where we spent the evening relaxing in our "heavenly bed" and enjoying the A/C. This morning we slept in, ordered room service, and then stopped at the outlets on our way back home. We had a fun little trip and now it is time to eat cake!

4th of July

We happen to live in the perfect location for the 4th of July. We had a fun day and everything that we did was within walking distance of our place!

We got up early to run the Woodbridge 10k. We did this last year too and plan to make it a yearly tradition. It was a beautiful morning and it turned out to be a nice run. I pushed Isaac for the first 3 miles, and then Charlie was nice enough to stop and wait for us to catch up and then took Isaac the rest of the way.

I knew Isaac wouldn't make it the whole way without a little distraction, so I gave him a Gerber "biter biscuit" to keep him entertained. I had no idea what a mess it would make!

In the afternoon we went swimming at one of our community pools. Then around dinner time we headed over to the 4th of July celebration at our church. There was lots of food and a few lives bands playing. We had a fun time chatting with friends and enjoying the summer evening.

Woodbridge does a firework show over the lake that is just a few blocks from our house. Isaac was way too tired to stay up for that, but Charlie & I just walked out our front door and could see the fireworks from our walkway.

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Does anyone want to come join us next year?

San Diego Zoo

Last weekend we had a fun little get away to San Diego. We drove down on Friday night and used some Marriott points to stay the night there. In the morning we loaded up Isaac in the jogger and went for a run through Balboa Park. Next we headed to the zoo. We had some free tickets and thought that Isaac would like to see all of the animals.

Here he is looking at camels with dad.

And looking at the birds with mom.

This bird exhibit was probably the most interesting thing we saw. Not because of the ducks or flamingos, but because of what happened while we were watching. Some other big bird that was hanging out in there ate one of the baby ducks! It was really sad to watch, but also kind of amazing because the bird swallowed this duck whole and you could see it going down his long skinny throat. I felt really bad for the little duck and the mommy duck too.

Isaac's favorite part of the day was snacking on the flyer that they handed us at the entrance.

Cracker didn't get to come with us to San Diego, but he was well taken care of. He had a fun over night date with his girlfriend Lucie.

Isaac + Cracker = Best Buddies!

It's been almost a month since we last updated our blog, so I figured I better post something. I decided to look back over the pictures I'd taken recently and see if there was anything worth posting. Here's a sampling of what I found:

Isaac & Cracker in the morning...

...and at night.

In the backyard...


...and in the pool.


In the living room...

...and in the office.

What a funny pair! Isaac & Cracker are best buddies. They follow each other around all day. Now that I think of it, I am actually missing some pictures of these guys. I need to snap some of Isaac trying to follow Cracker outside through the dog door, and Cracker laying under neath Isaac's crib during nap time! I'm glad that they like each other so much. Isaac is constantly laughing and giggling at Cracker or crawling after him and even pouncing on him to give him a hug. And Cracker loves every bit of the attention.

(Check out Isaac's blog for his 10 month update!)

Day Seven (The Last Day)

Kauai was wonderful. In Hawaii- it is known as the 'Garden Island' as it is unspoiled and a dream for people who love the outdoors and beaches. It is not as 'built-up' as other places and no building is taller than a palm tree.

We spent our last day in Kauai at the Poipu Beach near our condo. Isaac loved being in the sun and after a week in the sun with SPF 50- he has a nice little tan to him.

Isaac loved to taste mom's Hawaiian shaved ice.

Here are a few pics of our condo we rented. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit with ocean views, laundry, internet, pool etc. And the best thing about it was the price. It made the trip very affordable for two families:

Here is a picture from the kitchen window. If you have to do dishes- at least the view is nice. In fact- this was the best place in the condo to see sea turtles swimming in the ocean.

Here is my brother Chris in the living room.

Here is the view from the balcony.

We are now home! We took the red eye on Saturday night. Isaac slept from the minute we took our seats on the airplane till the moment we had to wake him up to get off the airplane. Unfortunately- mom didn't sleep a bit with a baby in her arms.

Our vacation was perfect. The weather was beautiful, our condo was great, Isaac was a joy, and we loved spending time with Chris, Carly, and Lucy.

And Cracker is very happy to have us back home.

Day Six

We took an early morning walk this morning along the coast with Isaac in his baby backpack. It was a beautiful morning!

We headed back to the northern part of the island today to Lumahai Beach. I've never seen South Pacific, but this is the beach in that movie. When we first got there it was so hot that we couldn't even stand in the sand without burning our feet, but it eventually cooled off a bit and turned out to be a beautiful day. I liked this beach because there was hardly anyone there and because the water was really calm and clear. That is my kind of beach! We stayed there for a few hours and swam, relaxed, and ate lunch.

Later we went back to Tunnels for more snorkeling. Chris & Carly took turns with Charlie & I watching the kids so we could all have a chance to get out and snorkel.

Here is a picture of Isaac after rolling around in the sand. He is a funny kid. He does not mind one bit getting dirty or wet. He is a good little beach bum!