A picture post…enjoy!

If we all spent some time doing this we would have fabulous abs.

Such a sweet boy.

Not so sure about this bow tie thingy.  It’s good for catching drool though.   I found Rosie squatting on the deck and upon further inspection discovered she was slyly taking care of her Hershey Kiss wrappers.  Out of sight…Out of mind.  

Julie Kirby and Ellen Price

Grandma Arnell and a healthy plate. 

Tasty vitals

A great aunt and uncle getting in on the Wes action. 

Dave and Melissa start off their life together with much enthusiasm. 

Melissa’s bro stuck with all these silly girls. 

Making cookies with Grandma and below Grandpa made little cars with humans for the kidlets. 

Serra put together lot’s of puzzles with Grandma on our last visit. 

Weston discovered toes.   

…and rice cereal

The kids have rediscovered the pool….and Wes is sitting at 5 months.  What a champ!

I’ve been out to the new house a few times in the past 2 weeks and I keep forgetting to take pictures.  But as of today the drywall is finished.  The mudding is the next order of business and that should take most of next week.  Then the paint goes on.  I guess we need to decide on the colors soon.  The outside is all ready for stucco but we can’t get the old dudes on the architectural review committee to approve ANY of our color choices.  It’s not as if we are asking for hot pink or anything, they just are on a bit of a power trip.  Last saturday we finalized our flooring choices…a mixture of hardwood, textured carpet, travertine, and ceramic tile.  I am actually just waiting for them to send me the samples so I can finalize the wall colors.  The cabinets are mostly ordered…they are waiting for us to buy a microwave and dishwasher for a few final measurements but other then that we are hoping to be done by August 1st.  There will most likely be a few hiccups to set that back a bit but one must have goals. 

Our ward has already got people to replace us but won’t release us until the end of July and that is fine with me.  I really don’t want to say goodbye to this ward.  We have become close to more people here than in any other place.  We have grown a lot here, as well, from our callings, and the folks we have rubbed shoulders with and worked with. 

Brian has been sick all week.  It was a sinus issue and we had a spare Z-pack lying about and as soon as he started that he has felt remarkably better.  Sophia seemed to be unwell mostly at night and complained that her ear was bothering her.  Weston had an appointment on Monday so I took her in too.  She has double ear infections…no wonder she wakes up crying 3-4 times a night.  She is on the road to recovery.  Weston’s eye started gooing and that makes for a very uncute baby.  With a few treatments of neosporin and another treatment that Liesl has used as well, he is back to normal.  Serra and I are cruising along comfortably.   Now for the baby stats.

The boy is 5 months old, 19lbs 7oz.  He is in the 90th percentile for weight and the 85th for height and head circumference.  A well rounded boy to say the least.  He is blond as can be with bright blue eyes and is said to bear a striking resemblance to his just older sister but when he smiles he is just like his daddy.  He recently had his 3rd haircut to keep him looking sharp for the ladies.  He busted out 2 teeth last week and likes to bite anything that gets in his mouth.  Yes, he is still nursing…carefully.  He is a very fair skinned child and Brian has taken to calling him “Powder.”  I never saw the movie so I’m not sure if that is ok or not.  Either way he is still a remarkably, amazingly good baby. 

We are still attempting to potty train Rosie.  She understands and likes to wear panties but likes to pee just about anywhere but the toilet.  Today, Brian’s office got sprinkled.   I asked her where she is SUPPOSED to go potty after the incident and she giggles and says,  “Daddy’s office, on the floor.”  Wrongo Dongo girlfriend.  We’ll get there.   At the doc she weighed in at 38 lbs.  She is 2 1/2.

It has been over 100 for the past two weeks and my kids won’t eat anything but popsicles and banana shakes.  I don’t blame them really. 

I’ve learned that a washing machine is a throw away item.  That really bothers me.  Something that costs several hundred dollars (and is that large) should last awhile and if it breaks down it should be economical to fix it instead we end up adding it to our already full landfills.  Mid way through the travel laundry my washer stopped agitating and spinning.  The baby was out of bibs and it was his load that was in at the time.   Those of you that have met young Weston are aware that bibs are a very important wardrobe item for him.   I made some phone calls to local appliance repair places and I was looking at $75 just for a service call and most likely $200 to fix the problem.  The machine was probably only $300 to start with (I don’t really know since it was here when we moved in)  So I got on Craigs list and found a better one for $150.  Brian did the picking up, carrying up the stairs, and installing of said item and I am up and running again.  There is a feeling of slight panic when I realize that I can’t do laundry and the piles are getting higher.  (The only laundromats in town are in sketchy areas)  The new one is better and bigger than the old one and I was able to clean behind the machines while the move took place.  And I found two lost socks.

Funny…while Brian went to the ladys house who listed the washer on Craigs list he had an interesting encounter.  She was a forty something woman, in a wheelchair from a surgery gone bad, and was thanking the Almighty that he was here to take the washer off her hands.  She was so thankful that Brian felt obligated to buy the thing even though it had a few dents and dings.   After Brian got the thing loaded she started coming on to him.  She asked him if he was married…as if the giant ring on his finger didn’t give him away.  He replied that he was.  ” You know… you are a really big boy, and I mean that in a good way.  You could come over anytime and help me with my physical therapy.”  NICE!  I’m afraid of what she would have said if he took his ring off and said he wasn’t married. 

Anyway,  were up and running and the clothes are getting clean again.  I have an awesome husband who took care of the problem in under 24 hours. 

Rosieism…I haven’t done many Rosieisms because up until now we really haven’t been able to decipher much of what she says.  When Daddy is away from home she calls him Daddy.  When he is home she calls him Daddyome.  I think it started because when Brian gets home we all say, “Daddy’s home!”  So she actually has started calling him Daddyome.  Pretty cute. 

I went to Logan with the kids last week for the Dave and Melissa’s second reception.  I knew it would be a chance to visit with folks I don’t get to see often.  It was indeed.  Ellen Price, Carolyn Parker, Grandma Arnell, and a plethora of Uncles, Aunts and cousins.  It was also very relaxing to spend a few days reading and hanging out with my family while the kids wore themselves out with their cousins and chasing the cat. 

On the way out we stopping in Cedar City for a short break.  I thought about getting gas then but thought I might be able to get it cheaper the farther north we went.  I had plenty to make it to at least Provo.  I was going to stop in Sandy to visit with my friend Heather who just had a baby.  That put me pretty close to empty.  I planned on filling up after that visit.  Of course, I forgot.  I’m driving along and I got through Farmington and I was in the fast lane when I lost power.  I knew what the problem was immediately.  I tried to limp along as long as possible hoping for an exit but had to pull off to the side before one showed up.  I didn’t get off the road as far as I would have liked and every time a truck passed the whole van shook.  Serra was freaking out, “I don’t want to die!”  She said about 40 prayers.  A highway patrol showed up after about 30 minutes and I already had a call into roadside assistance at that point and was waiting for them.  He pushed me off the road a bit further so I could rest a little easier and took off.  I thought that was a little weird…a woman with 3 small children on the side of the interstate and he took off.  So then a little car pulls up behind me and a young 20ish guy gets out.  I was a little concerned at first since I was expecting something more official like a tow truck type vehicle until I noticed the hue of his shirt.  Very bright orange.  No human would wear that color unless it was a uniform of some kind.  Indeed.  He gave me 2 gallons of gas, I gave him a nice tip, and he waited until I was on the road again before leaving.  The next exit was just around the slight bend in the road and less than 1/4 of a mile.  So I now know that my van gets 465 freeway miles to a  tank.  Good to know.  That adventure put me back an hour and we pulled into Logan around 10 pm.  The drive home was less eventful.

Baby Weston has been fussy this past week and much more barfy and drooley(if that is possible).  And his first tooth explains it all.  Thursday after our return to sweltering Las Vegas I discovered his first tooth poking through on his bottom front.  He has already bitten me once with it.  How do you scold a five month old.  By the way, he is right around 20 lbs and will soon have to switch car seats.  This gets tricky because he is still an infant and yet the infant seats are only supposed to be used to 22 lbs.  Maybe I should start a line of baby gear especially for the hefty baby. 

Yesterday for Fathers Day Brian got to stay home from his early morning meetings so he got to have “Goldenrod” for breakfast.  His gift was a digital picture frame with pictures already loaded for him.  I went back through the archives and put pictures of him with his kids and of the kids so he has something fun for his office.  He got a new tie of course, and Serra bought him a new tie tack.  And new big and tall socks.  Those are sometimes hard to find but Jaque Penne (JCPenney) now carries them.   After lunch the girls and  I made him cookies while he took a two hour nap.  When he woke up he had fresh c.c cookies and a glass of milk. Then we were off to for dinner with the Anderson folk.  Always nice. 

 I have some pictures but they haven’t processed them yet…another day perhaps. 

Not my fault.  Really…I had every intention of updating after we got back from Chicago but my computer took a dump and I was unable to do so.  Now I have to try to remember everything that has happened in the past month. 

I guess I’ll just start blabbing.  Serra finished Kindergarten today and has had her graduation program.  She is a little weirded out with the knowledge that she will not see her classmates or teacher again unless by some coincidence we run into someone at the store or park.  If we move mid-summer we are on the other side of town.  We are proud of her achievements this year.  It has been a challenge for her at times.  She seems to panic when something new is thrown at her and is moved to tears easily when that happens.  She was also rather clingy to her teacher.  She is that way with me though so I suppose that is just in her nature.  She is reading and writing a lot more than I remember doing at that age.  She learned all her sight words and is owed a movie with Mom and Dad for reaching that goal.  One of her accomplishments this year was taking a spanish class one day a week for the whole year.  Her teacher held a little fiesta this week and the kids showed off some of the things they learned.  I was pretty impressed with how much she learned.  When asked questions or told to do something in Spanish she responded quickly.  It was more for fun than to become fluent and she enjoys throwing words out there every once in a while. 

Serra and her Kindergarten teacher at the graduation picnic.

One of Serra’s birthday butterflys before takeoff. 

Rosie is becoming understandable more and more every day.   She talks constantly but sometimes it is really hard to decipher.  She is a nudist and can be found streaking most of the time.  At least when she is nude she will use the potty (sometimes).  She still teases Serra mercilessly.  It amazes me how a two year old knows which buttons to push to make her six year old sister go crazy. 

Weston is somewhere in the 18 lb range and nearing 5 months.  He is due for a checkup and weigh-in which we will attempt mid June.  He is grabbing at things and smiles and giggles constantly.  (Especially for his biggest sister)  Serra and Weston are real buddies and I make other adults pee their pants from panic by letting Serra pack him around like a plaything.  She really is quite competant although we have to remind her on occasion that he is still just a baby.  He is a throw up boy as Serra likes to say.  He is still quite the little barfer.  I can’t nail it down to anything I am eating so I have just decided the kid sucks down too much air or has an immature esophagus or something.  I usually smell like puke though and there is no wearing a shirt more than once around here.  I am considering buying stock in bibs as we go through 3-4 a day and that doesn’t include burb cloths.  I am thankful for a washing machine and dryer. 

So… at the beginning of May Brian was given a set of Cubs/Padres tickets at Wrigley field.  He asked me if I wanted to go.  I told him if he had enough points to cover airlines and hotel I would be all over it.  He did so we put a trip to Chicago in motion.  Our family here in Vegas helped us out with the girls and we took off May 9th for the Windy City.  Did you know it isn’t called that because it is windy? It’s a politial statement from way back during the World Fair. 

We took off very early for the airport Saturday morning for a 7am flight.  Brian managed first class for the flight there.  So nice.  He doesn’t like to board first though even though you get to because he says all the peasants passing on their way back to coach give you the stink eye.  Everyone was too busy smiling and pointing at Weston to give dirty looks though.  It was a very nice flight and Baby Wes was a dream traveler.  We flew into Ohare in Chicago and took a cab to our hotel.  The Raphaello.  Very nice suite right off Michigan Avenue and next door to Oprah’s condo.  We rested a bit and then ventured out into town.  We had a hard time finding a place to eat since it was Saturday night and the lines were all way long.  We ended up at a tavern nearby eating burgers and watching sports.  (Brian was good with that) We found a Walgreens nearby and got some fruit for the morning and some treats for the night. 

Sunday morning we were prepared for rain as it was in the forcast.  We knew from experience in Boston and two dilapitated umbrellas later that an umbrella does no good if it is windy.  It was very gusty.  We got a cab and headed a few miles down the road to the Chicago Art Institute.  We had a great ride watching at least 30 people trying to use umbrellas only to have them turned inside out.  It was like a comedy routine. We enjoyed a nice quite day at the museum.  There is a great Chinese exhibit.  They sure know how to do pottery.  I especially liked the Egyptian collection which included a mummy still in its case.  I have been doing a lot of reading on Egypt lately and so it was a real treat to see some of the things I have been reading about up close. I liked the renesaince jewelry collection as well.  Amazing stuff.  I thought about Julie while looking at some of the early American furniture.  When we left it had stopped raining so we enjoyed the cool air and walked to dinner and back to the hotel. 

We spent Monday site seeing and did the Sears Tower obsevation deck thing and then to Navy Pier where we took an architectual tour up the Chicago river and and speed boat out onto Lake Michigan.  It was pretty cold.  Speaking of Lake Michigan.  Crazy big lake.  It’s strange to see water as far as you can see and it not be the ocean.  Chicago is a beautiful city and we hit it during their tulip festival season and so it was really pretty.  We found some really tasty Chicago style deep dish pizza that night.  A first for me.  Weston sat in a high chair for the first time. 

Tuesday we took another tour, this time on land.  We saw and heard much of the same and like most city tours many of the stories we heard contradicted each other.  We headed out toward Wrigley field late afternoon by way of the Subway.  This was a first time for me.  Brian braved the NYC subways with Serra in December.  It’s pretty crazy.  They give you about 2 seconds to get on and off once the train stops.  No snoozing or you could end up who knows where.  We ate at Harry Carey’s and then found our seats.  We were fortunate to be under the terrace so when it started raining we stayed nice and dry.  The Padres ended up winning so Brian was quite pleased.  We got rained on quite a bit on the way back waiting in line for the train.  People were very nice to me because I was packing a cute baby.  They even gave up their seats for me.  When we got off at our stop it was on the opposite side of the street that we got on in the afternoon.  Soon we were really turned around and the neighborhood started looking a little sketchy.  Brian quickly hailed a cab and got us back on the right track. 

Wedesday morning we went to a restraunt called  Ditka’s.  It was pretty fancy for breakfast but tasty.   We headed to the airport and had plenty of time.  So we thought.  Delta was retarded when it came to moving people through check-in.  There were only about 6 people ahead of us and it took them 1 1/2 hours to get to us.  We barely made it.  It had time to feed and change the baby and grab some food to take with me. 

Brian was unable to get us first class on the way back and they won’t upgrade a reward points ticket.  Both our flights were full.  The first 2 hours leg we were in a 3 seat row and I was between Brian and a fat guy.  I am not a tiny petite woman myself and so I had to sit with my arms out in front of me for the full two hours and breath shallowly.  Half the time I was trying to keep Weston happy too.  “Would you like a drink?”  “Yeah, just balance it here on my head.  That would be fantastic!”  Luckily we landed before I started hyperventilating.   The second 5 hour stretch we were still in coach but in a two seat row so I only had Brian and Wes to contend with.  I don’t know what I would have done if I had had to nurse him on the previous flight.  It was uncomfortable but managable.  We were pretty done in by the time we landed though. 

Thanks everyone for keeping our critters safe and happy and shuttling us to and from the airport.  We had a great time.  I missed tucking my girls in everynight and got a renewed appreciation for my life and family.  As much fun as it is to have a little break I am happiest when my little clan is gathered close around me. 

Nice hotel room in Chicago. 

Art Museum…crazy chinese art

Recognize that one?  I got in trouble for letting my flash go off.  Oops.

Couldn’t pass this one up.

There is a seriouly old princess inside that thing.

Pretty tulips

By the Chicago river. 

A Dad and his boy. 

Very cool bridges that cross the Chicago river all the way through the city.  When they go up to let a ship through I can only imagine the traffic issues. 

A view of the city from our speed boat tour on Lake Michigan

First attempt at a high chair.  It was fun at first.

This is for Julie.  Oprah’s penthouse at the top of the Water Tower Condos

Weird chrome jelly bean thing.  We had fun messing with the camera on this one. 

Famous fountain that I recognize from the beginning of a show that I wasn’t allowed to watch…love and marraige, love and marraige…

The reason for the trip.  Hey if a baseball game gets me a cool trip I’m for hitting all the fields in the country. 

I got back to a Mothers Day present from Brian.  A docking station for my IPod…since I hate headphones.  We have really enjoyed it.  I have all my music on that little bugger and it is so nice not to have to put in and take out CD’s.

It seems like one trip is running into the next.  We got back and got laundry done, finished up some school things for Serra, spruced up the yard so the HOA doesn’t fine us, made sure everything was running smoothly for our callings, and packed the bags again.  Next Destination…California.  Rude Man Dave was scheduled to tie the knot on Thursday May 29th.  We headed down late Wednesday and arrived at the DiPadova’s in time to go to bed.  What a nice set up for us.  Half the family was staying there and the room we got was huge and the bed was nice a big.  It was nice that the family lunch was there the next day too. 

We all got to the temple on time the next day and the only mishap that I can recall is that because I was wearing a dark shirt I had on a black bra.  Oops.  When I went to change into my white temple dress I realized that I had a bit of a problem.  I was a little self consious going braless at the temple.  Luckily the dress was like a night gown.  It’s all good….

So Dave and Melissa are married.  It was pretty cool in the sealing room to know everyone there.  Usually the other side of the family are all strangers but we knew everyone including the sealer…our old Stake Pres.  Fred Huckvale.  Brian and I stayed as long as we could in the celestial room afterward.  It was sure nice to be in the LA Temple again.  Julie captured them coming out of temple and a few shots of those of us who were there.  We headed back to the DiPadova’s for food and chilled out the rest of the night. 

Friday most of us went to the beach and everyone except my family got fried.  I stayed dressed because Julie had just done our family pictures, I looked good, and I didn’t want to fight for showers later.  Wes was unimpressed with the whole beach thing while Serra and Rosie wore themselves out.  Rosie was so wasted that when it came time for pictures at the reception all we got was screaming Rosie.  Oh Well!  At least she looked good in the beach pictures which are the ones I cared about for my wall.  THANKS JULIE!  I’ll bet your finger hurt after this weekend. 

The reception was a lot of fun and the kids looked great in all their matching duds.  Julie has all the pictures and so I will get copies this next week and post some for all our fans.

We went over to the Petersens for the gift opening gala on Saturday morning and Serra and Rosie took advantage of the sunshine and swimming pool.  We headed out after lunch to Santa Paula where we drove around a bit.  Brian peeked over our former fence to check on his avacodo tree (it seems to be faring well).  We dined at one of our favorite Mexican holes in the wall and then drove by the church to find them having a ward party.  So we stopped by and it felt like we never left.  Not much has changed.  We really miss the folks there.  That night we stayed at the haunted Glen Tavern Inn.  I took a bubble bath with the kids in the huge tub (sorry I forgot to take pictures) and then it was a pretty rough night.  I came down with a cold and Rosie and Wes kept waking up.  Maybe the ghosts kept pinching them.  We still managed to make the 9am church meeting.  We visited with a few more folks and Serra and Rosie went to Primary with their old friends.  We did get cornered and got our ear talked off by the ward loon who has neglected to take her medication in months.  It was remarkable that she could talk for 30 minutes and not a single bit of it made a lick of sense.  We made it back to Vegas in time for dinner which the crew saved for us. 

I’ve been doing laundry all week and we are heading out Friday to Logan for the rest of the wedding festivitites.  Brian will stay behind this time.  Phew!

It was so good to see everyone from the old days this weekend.  Wow!  It’s weird to think we may never see some of them again although I have a hard time believing that. 

Here’s something to look at while I compose a narrative of the past month…