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The girls are back in town. 

Tuesday evening we got the call from Gary and Liesl that #5 was coming fast and so we jumped in the car and headed toward Cedar.  The desert was alight with lightning on all sides.  We could see fires burning in the surrounding mountains all around.  It was all a bit unnerving and continued until we hit the Virgin River Gorge.  Along the way I got the call that Lizzy J had made her entrance with no time to spare, a mere 40 minutes from Liesls arrival at the hostpital.  Yowzer!  We pulled into thier driveway at midnight and their friend that was keeping watch left.  Gary showed up a few minutes later. 

The next few days were spent in pure bliss for Serra~V~.  She just jumps right on in and becomes one of the crowd.  She has missed her cousins and so this was a good time for some catching up.  I didn’t do much.  I helped keep the masses fed and tried to help maintain order.  I didn’t have to do much though.  Gary and Liesl have thier house running like a well oiled machine.  The kids are learning responsibility and help out a great deal and I heard VERY little complaining.  It is impressive to watch thier family in action.  Little Lizzy is a lucky kid.  She is so tiny and precious.  It is so wonderful to see a baby come to this world into a family that she has the best possible chance in.  Congratulations to Gary and Liesl and all your good kids. 

Liesl and baby came home Wednesday evening and we stayed until this morning, which is Friday.  It only took us 2 1/2 hours to get home.  It really isn’t a bad drive at all.  We are now tidying up a bit in preparation for Jeff and Maren.  Brian kept the place pretty tidy though so I don’t have to do much. 

 

Rosie in the tub in Calabasas.  I had to get this shot since I have one of Serra~V~ too.

The Vee enjoying some wedding cake while mingling with security detail.

 

Brian and the little people.

Art in action.  It takes a small army. 

 

Jacob?

A wedding.  They performed a whole ceremony.  It was interesting to say the least. 

 

A future book lover.  Rosie attacks the bottom shelf. 

Remember doing this anyone?  A first for Serra. 

 

Happiness is….

…being with cousins…at the park.

 

Hey George.

 

Hey Rosie.

A good daddy.

A new cousin.

 

Here we are.

 

 

 

Wednesday evening Mom, Dad. Julie and little girls showed up around 6:30 on their way to the CA reception.  I am finally in a home where I feel like I can accommodate a few people.  So we ate, relaxed and slept.  The visiting crew took off in good time the next morning and by then I had the full blown flu…something I haven’t enjoyed since I was 12.  I had forgotten what loads of fun it is.  I managed to finish our preparations to also leave for CA between collapses while Brian finished up some errands.  We finally left Vegas at around 4pm which put us in Calabasas at just after 9. 

Friday Tracy C did family pictures for us.  Brian has that disc with him so no pictures right now, but there are quite a few post worthy shots.  I am glad to have that done.  It is stressful to try to keep kids faces scratchless, get coordinating clothing, and all look nice at the same time, and then get everyone looking good in the same shot.  It helped that Julie was there doing the bootie dance, it kept everyone smiling.

Wedding prep was going on all that day and we skipped out a little early to attend the Santa Paula Ward BBQ.  That was a lot of fun.  I wish I could have enjoyed the tritip.  It smelled really good, but my stomach wouldn’t tolerate it.  They send us home with bags of fresh avocados (mmmmmmmmmmmm) and other fresh garden produce everyone had there to share.  Serra thought the carrots with the greens still attached were quite clever and I caught her snacking on those several times.  It was so nice to see everyone again.  We sure miss that ward. 

Saturday the finishing touches on the wedding.  I laid low in the cooler house with the kids while most of the stuff got finished outside.  It was nasty hot and humid out.  Then just as the reception started a layer of clouds moved in and a cool breeze picked up.  NICE!  It was an enjoyable evening.  We visited with a lot of people we hadn’t seen in a long time.  Shayla even brought her family our from San Diego.  Her 1 year old Isabella looks just like Rosie.  It was uncanny.  Julie has those pictures on her camera.  After the reception we all met back at the Calabasas house, including Rich’s folks, Don and Rosemary and  Dallas cooked up quite a feast.  Mom and Dad had to take off and that was a real turn around.  Then Serra and Rich took off too.  As Julie, Jared, Dallas, Brian and I sat in the living room we commented that it was weird that there we were hanging out at Mom and Dads and they are the ones that flew off home somewhere. 

Sunday morning it took us longer than we wanted but we made it out the door.  We decided to head over to the beach just to drive up the coast a bit.  We headed north and then cut across to Santa Paula to drop off a car seat I promised someone, and then it was off to Vegas.  We stopped at Brian’s parents and they fed us a nice dinner before giving Mo back to us so we could go home. 

Laundry is nearly complete, house is nearly in order, Rosie finally went down for a nap, another bag is packed, and we await the call to head to Cedar to keep an eye on the 4 cousins whilst the 5th one makes her debut. 

Going to Logan always feels like going home, and this time was no different.  We left Vegas Thursday at around 11am.  We stopped  in Cedar to visit with the cousins.  Serra~V~ has had a cousin drought of about 3 months and has been begging to visit.  We obliged for about 2 hours and then it was back on the road again.  We stopped again in Provo and had dinner with Brian’s little sis Amy Jo and then it was on to the final stretch to Logan.  We didn’t get in until 1am partly because Rosie was not pleased and we had to stop to console her and coax her to sleep.  Of course, by the time we got to our hotel room the girls were well rested from the trip and all their naps.  They enjoyed a tub together and we finally settled in a little after 2am.  We planned on sleeping in a bit but Serra woke at 5am crying that her tummy hurt.  Brian was so kind and got up and dressed and took her down to breakfast and to get some tummy medicine.  With such an early start we were to Julie’s by 9am I believe. 

Serra was feeling a bit better by then and was happy to “play” with Olivia.  It seems more like a battle of wills with those two most of the time.  I stuck close to Julies all day helping a little with wedding and shower prep.  Brian headed to the city buildings to find some building info and to get an “official” copy of our marriage certificate.  It is indeed something we never received.  We now have an official stamped copy so should the state of Nevada ever give us grief again we’ll be prepared.  Everybody eventually showed up by the end of the day.  It was so good to be nearly all together again.

Friday evening was Serra~A’s family bridal shower.  The theme was firsts.  So there were some clever gifts given along those lines.  If I had had time maybe I would have made them Halloween costumes for their first Halloween together, but time I did not have.  Michelle Koch brought along a bunch of squeaky shoes from China that she is selling and we had all the little kids squeaking  before the night was out.  The boys stayed out of sight most of the time except when they came out to eat and let the kids play.  I don’t know why but the guys don’t seem to like bridal showers. 

We stayed at the University Inn up on campus and it was fun to be up there.  Many good years were spent there.  We were up early on Saturday and dropped the girls off at Julies where Kaitlyn, Jessica, and Allison were kind enough to watch ours and Julies girls during the temple ceremony.  Rosie was the only one that misbehaved.  What can I say but that it was nap time. 

I got a crack out of the temple sealer.  He made a few funnys and got the job done along the way.  It was really wonderful to be there and what a beautiful couple they were.  Julie took charge with the camera and did all the photos.  I’m sure I could have helped more but she seemed to have everything under control.  She is a take charge sort of gal when she has her finger on the trigger.  Poor Rosie got a bit sunburned during the process.  I need to remember that she isn’t a little brownie like Serra~V~. 

We rested for a moment at Julies and then the lunch took place at a local Mexican joint.  It is located at the old train station on Center street.  Brian and I used to frequent the place when it was something else.  (Habaneros)  We enjoyed ourselves.

The rest of the evening was spent setting for and having the reception at the old rock church in Providence.  It was beautifully decorated and all of Serra’s plans came together without a hitch.  I caught my Serra~V~ cruising around the room with a full cup of m&m’s and I only fell down the stairs once.  It got awfully warm and so Brian and I, Dallas and Caroline spent a bit of time in the giant walk in freezer.  That was would be a handy edition to any home in Las Vegas.  It was a fun evening.  Brian was able to catch up with quite a few of his old neighbors seeing as how Rich’s family and his were old neighbors back in Farmington days. 

We spent the rest  of the evening at Julies visiting until it was way too late.  We crashed back at the hotel.

Sunday morning we headed out stopping in Provo to visit Grandparents Gee.  They were kind enough to feed us and we stayed for a few hours catching up on their mission.  They are working in the employment resource there in Provo.  We didn’t want to leave but had too if we didn’t want to drive all night.  We stopped at a KFC in Mesquite since it was that or McD’s for a light meal and I think that was a mistake.  It was filthy and the workers and customers were scary.  Serra has not been well since.  She keeps having to change her shorts if you catch my drift and complaining of a tummy ache.  Maybe it is just a touch of what everyone else seemed to have.  Anyway at least she isn’t blowing chunks.  Brian and I are fine.  Rosie has a cold and gets seriously angry when I wipe her nose.  Hopefully they will be better within a few days. 

I spent the majority of yesterday getting all the makings for drapes.  It is a little irritating when you have a really good idea of what you want and no one carries the fabric that is in your minds eye.  Then I decided on part of it and they didn’t have enough.  Then I forgot my coupons so I had to go home and get them.  I can’t pay full price when I have been to the LA fabric district and gotten everything for 1/10th  the price.  Man we have a lot of windows. 

 

The other day a guy backed into Brian’s truck and dented the side.  He is paying for it though so no worries.  It is just an extra headache.  We are so excited to see everyone this weekend at the wedding.  Here are some pictures. 

   

This first pic is of Sophia at the airport in Boston.  She was 6 months old that day.  Sophia getting ready for bed is the next.  She was enjoying a few minutes of naked time.  This was taken before we moved into our new house.  Then there is Serra~V~ in her little pool in her backard. (As she calls it)

   

I didn’t have my computer all set up and was a little overwhelmed with everything so I decided to take the girls into a studio for some pictures.  Sophia is about 6 1/2 month.  I don’t know about you but I think I have some of the cutest little girls there are to be had.

Remember the identity theft situation.  The bank the checks cleared from have done thier “investigation” and have decided not to cover the checks.  It looks like we may have to take it to court.  They didn’t even look closely at the evidence we gave them.  They said that since we didn’t have the checks locked up in our office it’s our fault.  What office?  I think they deny all claims because most people will just roll over.  It’s too much money to give up on though.  Brian is on the phone this morning dealing with that. 

Dining room table scheduled to arrive today.  Serra’s bed tomorrow.  I hate how long things take to be delivered. 

Go back to the May 11th entry.  Brian finished the trip update and put it there so it flows with the rest of our updates.  Enjoy.  There are pictures too.

Brian is in the process of finishing the last trip update as we speak.  He keeps asking me questions about stuff and I just cock my head to the side and can’t remember details.  This is why he is doing it.  He has a better memory and is figuring it all out.  Two weeks in our new home and we had another party last night.  We invited over Brians friends.  They all came with their sig. others except for one who was away on business.  We did carne asada on the BBQ.  There were 4 extra kids as well, all boys.  Serra and one of them a 3 year old both had to go potty at the same time and ended up locking themselves in the bathroom together.  I knew Serra could unlock it so I wasn’t overly worried, but  the other mom hurried over to see what was going on.  Serra had finished her duty and Cole the little boy was doing his thing when she opened the door.  Serra whispered to Shannon the other mom, while pointing at Coles nether regions.  “What’s that?”  Shannon replied that he was just going potty.  Serra reflected a moment and then said. “Boys are down and girls are up?”  Shannon said that was right.  Serra looked reflective again for a moment, and then repeated to herself as if to cement the concept, “Boys are up and girls are down.”

Anyway, things are progressing.  I am on my new super duper fast computer and am in the process of transfering files from my super duper slow piece of pucky computer.  The disc writer on the old hasn’t worked in ages and so I am using a 1GB portable hardrive to transfer a few things at a time.  It will take 20 minutes to copy 1GB worth of files to the hardrive and 30 seconds to download it onto the new computer.  WOW!  A new world for me.

This week I took the girls to get pictures done since I didn’t have the time, energy, or equipment handy to take them myself.  They turned out pretty good and I’ll share soon.  I am still installing all the software on the computer.  These things take time folks.  I also took Sophia in for her checkup and shots.  At 6 months she is 20.5 lbs.  28 inches long and is still off the charts for her age.  She is snuggly into 12 month clothing.  In fact I had to break out the clothing bins to find some things that would fit her.  She is bursting with personality.  Today in church she kept laughing hysterically at the teenagers behind us.  She made quite a racket.  She is now making a racket downstairs because she is hungry.  I must go.