Our Santa Barbara Zoo pass expires today and so yesterday the girls and I headed up that way to enjoy it one last time.  It was a beautiful day and we wandered around for a few hours and said goodbye to the animals we have become acquainted with over the past year.  Then we headed over to the beach which is just across the street from the zoo so Serra could run in the sand for a while.  Sophia was not impressed with the beach and cried the whole time.  We took lots of pictures. 

First off:  Sophia on Sunday with a new frock.  Look at those blue eyes!

 

The otters and the elephants

 

 

Let it snow?  NOT SNOW!                            Serra and Sophie

 

Chasing birds

   

 

Not so happy Rosie and The V freaked out by too many birds.

 

 

Yesterday morningas we were preparing to leave to go visiting teaching, I told Serra to go get some shoes on.  She has two pair of brown shoes one of which are sandals.  She hollered up from the shoe closet, “I am going to wear the brown ones, the ones with no roof.” 

I have been planning on buying a small digital camera and after hauling around my huge one plus a video camera to disneyland I knew I better do it now.  With our upcoming trip to the East coast and another Disneyland visit in a few weeks I got on the ball yesterday and ordered the one I have been looking at.  The price went down $25 overnight.  Whoohoo!  I bought the Canon Powershot SD550 Elph…And Julie…it has almost no delay.  (I went to Ritz and played with one for a while.) Now it’s like anticipating Christmas as I await its arrival. 

Last week, after cleaning the house until it shined like never before, we loaded up the car and headed to Las Vegas.  I met Brian in Calabasas on Saturday evening the 14^th, since he had been in class all day and we headed up.  We stopped for dinner on the way and made good time with our girls behaving like little angels.  Serra accidentally dropped her DVD player and we haven’t been able to get it to work since.  She did will without it but missed in nonetheless. 

            We spent the next few days looking at real estate and Brian working on continuing the set up of his business there.   There are a few properties we are interested in but will wait until our house sells before getting too serious.  It is so great to be able to be in a price bracket and situation that we don’t have to grab up the first thing that comes available and hope no one makes a better offer. 

            On the way home we were making amazing time and were looking at less than

4 ½  hours to Calabasas when we noticed the flash of lights behind us.  Brian’s five year no ticket run has ended.  Serra~V~ and her Dad have a favorite show to watch together-Cops or as Serra calls it “Bahboys” .  Serra recognized who had pulled us over right off and got very worried.   “Mommy, what the policeman want?’  We told her that he just wanted to make sure we were ok and to ask Daddy a few questions.  “Is Daddy in trouble?”  We started laughing at that one.  When we stopped at mom and dad’s in Calabasas to pick up Brian’s truck they were still up so we stopped to visit for a minute.  Serra told Maren (Jeff and Maren arrived that day to visit for a few days) that she was scared that Daddy was going to get taken away and locked up.  OK so maybe Cops isn’t the best thing to let your 3 year old watch. 

            We had to vacate our house on Saturday so our realtor could conduct an open house.  We went out to breakfast and then to some car dealerships to compare the Honda and Toyota vans.  I was convinced I would like the Sienna (Toyota) better than the Odyssey  but was surprised at how much better the Honda is.  They definitely have kids and moms in mind when they build thier vans.  We have the one we want all picked out.  We hope to buy one later this summer.   

          We ended up having 7 different groups come through our house on Saturday so that is pretty good.  We need one to make an offer though. 

            Later that evening we gathered in Calabasas for dinner with the family so we could visit with Jeff and Maren as well. 

            Monday the 23^rd (yesterday)  we tagged along to Disneyland with the Disney pro’s of our family.  Gary’s family and Jeff and Maren.  Mom and Dad came with us as well so we had quite the group.  Brian had jury duty and was unable to go with us.  We got there a little later than the rest but had quite a long day anyway.  Serra had such a great time with her cousins I had to beg her to go on a few rides with me.  She took to the fast ones like Splash mountain and Thunder Mountain like an old pro and asked to go on another ride as soon as we got off one.  She was able to meet a few characters as well and when Disneyland closed she cried that she didn’t want to leave.  She had already fallen asleep during a short movie and on the way home crashed hard.

I was also pleasantly surprised at how many things I could take Sophia on.  More than half.  What a fun day.   We got 2 day park hopper passes so we can come back with Brian in a few weeks. 

 

Here are some pictures.  First is Sophia posing pretty for her 2 month shots and the others are at the happiest place on earth. 

 

   

 

 

 

     

 

Big day yesterday.  We signed the papers last night to put our house on the market.  Asking $370K   An unbelievable amount if you ask me.  We hope to buy a house in Vegas twice the size for $100K less.  California is out of control but we are more than happy to reap some of the benefits. 

Brian spent a few days this week wrapping up some honeydo’s.  The stairs are all Pergo now and I hold on tight going down.  All that is left there are the trim pieces.  The bathrooms are crown and base molded, caulked and painted.  I packed up a few things from shelves to declutter a bit.  I have been spending my days deep cleaning.  One room a day is about what it takes with all the interruptions from little ones.  We are headed to Vegas late Saturday and I hope to have it all done by then.  This way the masses can start coming through while we are gone.  The average time the condos in our complex took to sell last year was 5 days.  If it lasts more than 2 weeks I would be surprised.  I think it shows nicely. 

Sophia had her 2 month check up yesterday and has cruised past her same old boy cousin by leaps and bounds. 

25 inches long

14 lbs 10 oz.

head 15 inches.

She is the size of an average 5 month old and is still off the charts every where.   She is also as strong as the average 5 month old with her head holding ability and leg strength.  The doctor just shakes her head.  She had her first shot yesterday and has a bit of a sore leg but handled it well.  She follows us very well with her eyes and head and we are treated with smiles and giggles constantly.  She sleeps for a 6 hour stretch at night and eats every 3-4 hours during the day.  We are finally into somewhat of a routine.  After a bath and morning feeding she goes down for about 4 hours and this is my most productive time to get household things done.  In the afternoon she is much more demanding of me and wants to be held and paid attention to.  We are having so much fun with her but are a little sad she is growing so fast.  I think I got a little cheated out of the infant stage. 

 I don’t have any pictures ready but hopefully next week I will get some 2 month old shots done and share. 

Toward the end of December the Arnell sibs started to show up in Calabasas.  That meant that most my days leading up to Christmas were spent there hanging with them all.  The week of Christmas was warm and sunny and it was perfect for our last hurrah in California.  Christmas Eve was spent at Mom and Dads.  We had the traditional dinner and Mom outdid herself with ham, beef and turkey.  Her excuse was that there needed to be lots of leftovers because she wasn’t cooking on Christmas.  Works for me.  There was a small program put together by the grandkids with some music and Christmas themed games and stories.  It was great to see all the cousins interact with each other.  Olivia was new to the mix and she got right in there and stuck up for herself. 

                Christmas Day was on a Sunday this year.  I got up early to make sure we had enough time to get the girls pretty for church.  We made time to do our stockings and Serra tore through hers quickly through sleepy eyes.  Sophia wasn’t all that impressed with her shampoo and nail clippers.  Serra got some necklaces she decided to wear to church even though they didn’t really go with the dress.  I guess that is part of being three.  We attended our Sacrament meeting where I sang a solo this year, Mary Did You Know, and it went well.  There were two other musical numbers one of which was the primary.  I have great feelings of pride when our little group pulls off something like that.  We only had Sacrament meeting and so we headed home and finished off Christmas.  I was a little glad it was only us as we might have been embarrassed by the way Serra showed her greedy side.  She would tear off the wrapping paper  of one, look at it briefly, and exclaim, “I need more presents!”  I have a feeling Christmas is going to replace favorite day over birthday from here on out. 

              When we finished making a mess at our place, we headed up to Calabasas to enjoy the family.  Dad did one last hunt for us and I must admit I got stuck in the more difficult group.  One of our clues was not only cut in half but one of the halves was put in the wrong place.  That is what makes it fun though and we had a great time trying to figure out what Dad could possibly mean.  The hunt ended in the trunk of the Jag.  We also read our memories and they were the highlight as usual.

We were able to spend Monday with everyone as well and then  half the troops headed back on Tuesday.  Julie, Olivia, and Serra stayed though and Serra came over to my house and helped my get Christmas taken down. Our tree headed south about a week before and was really starting to stink.   I had to get laundry done as well and get packed for our trip to Utah for Amy Jo’s wedding.  Serra was a life saver.  I would never have gotten everything done without her.  Having an infant around takes up a lot of time, not to mention keeping Serra~V~ busy and happy.   SV fell asleep before Serra left and was upset that she was gone and that it was dark outside. 

Wednesday , it was all I could do to get everything packed and ready to go before Brian got home.  I also had to drop Mo off at a Kennel.  Gary and Liesl kindly agreed to pick him up for us on Friday so we wouldn’t have to wait until Tuesday to pick him up.  The kennel wasn’t very accommodating over holidays and was happy to charge us full price for three extra days they weren’t there to let us pick him up.  All packed up and ready we headed to Vegas at 4pm.  We stopped at one of our favorite Mexican joints along the 14 freeway for dinner and then made it to Brian’s parents place by 10.  The girls traveled well.  Serra napped and watched Mulan  and Toy Story on her DVD player.  Sophia slept mostly with only one extra stop for a snack and some attention.  

We were up and out by 9:30 the next morning and headed straight for Provo.  The weather cooperated and the girls did well.  I think it only took us 6 ½ hours.  There were a ton of people at the Grandparents and I won’t even try to remember who all, but there were many Robisons, and all the Andersons.  We took a big group out to pizza at Brickoven while Amy Jo and the folks were out with Tucker and his folks. 

Friday morning, Dec. 30^th, cold and snowy, and the wedding day.   We headed out at 9:30 and made it to Manti in time to feed the baby and get the kids to the babysitting area.  It was one of the most emotional weddings I have ever been to.  A little bittersweet as Amy Jo is grown up enough to make one of the most correct choices she’ll ever make.  I have a soft spot for Amy Jo since I have known her since she was barely 13.  I got to know her well as we spent summers in the same house for several years.  I have seen her go through a lot and Brian and I have been involved with many aspect of her life.   As we watched her make covenants over the alter I felt a great deal of pride in the woman she has become. 

It was a white wedding because we had to walk through the celestial room to get to the sealing room.  That was a great experience and we were able to spend some time in the celestial room of that great pioneer temple.    

I did the photography and we spent the next few hours capturing memories.  It was very cold and Amy Jo’s dress was a bit on the summery side.  She had the biggest goose bumps I have ever seen. And my trigger finger was numb from the cold.  Amy Jo and Tucker seem very happy to be married and we hope they will be very happy.   We headed to Salt Lake with only Sophia.  Serra went with Adriane and Vito.  We went a different way then most and it turned out to be a good thing.  Every one else went by some canyon and the weather turned really bad.  Adriane ended up spinning off the road and upsetting Serra badly.  She passed her off to Grandma and Grandpa as soon as she could but they all got stuck in traffic due to a bad accident in the canyon.  Everyone eventually made it to the reception in Salt Lake that evening.  I spent my time taking pictures and visiting with folks.  It was a good time. 

We headed to a Sheratan hotel in downtown Salt Lake.  It was a really nice room and we took hot baths and crashed.  I was up with a baby quite a bit but got enough sleep.  We met Jeff, Maren, Doug and Darci the next morning at Jeff and Marens, where we had breakfast.  We couldn’t spend too much time because we needed to get home by that night or we would have to deal with New Years traffic out of Vegas. 

This part of the journey was interesting.  We hit snow, rain, sleet, intense winds, dust storms with zero visibility, and tumble weeds you would not believe.  I think my car took some pretty bad hits and got a few scratches with those.  Toward the end Sophia had had it and we had a very upset baby in the back seat vocalizing her discomfort.  But we made it, picked up Mo in Camarillo (he stunk really bad from his days at the kennel), and pulled into our garage at the stroke of midnight and the beginning of 2006. We heard shouts and cheers from all the neighbors and fireworks blasted at our return.

I caught a bit of a cold on the trip and so stayed home from church, but we headed up to Calabasas after Brian and Serra got home.  Julie’s family, and Serra were leaving that night and so we wanted to have dinner with them all and celebrate Brian, Liesl, and Jared’s birthday’s. 

On Tuesday as I was doing my hair I pulled a muscle in my neck and the joints froze up causing me a lot of pain. I had my 6-7 week doctor appointment to get to and so went to that but made arrangements to see a chiropractor as well that afternoon.  Since then I have been 3 times to him, and I am about 80%.  What a pain in the neck (ha ha) this whole week has been.  I could barely do anything.  Even sleeping has been difficult.  So I am looking forward to being back to normal. 

Our house goes on the market hopefully next week and we are working on a loan to purchase a house in Vegas.  Things are starting to happen.  It’s exciting and little sad at the same time.

current cousins

 

 

Brian and Sophia

 

Christmas Day

   

Amy Jo and Tucker…..Amy and her neices

   

 

Mom and Dad…Brothers….Sisters

The Andersons…Adriane and Holly with our girls