Trip to Newport Beach

This last week we did a lot of traveling! First we drove Tibi back to Logandale, then Peter and I left the kids there and flew down to Orange County for a few days. We had a lot of fun down there and managed to get burned to a crisp, despite constant applications of SPF 70. Oh well!

We rented a car so we could get around. Peter chose the convertible Mustang, and although I thought he was crazy at first, I loved driving it! When I have my mid-life crisis, I'm getting myself one of these babies!
We did plenty of cruising around Newport and Huntington Beaches and Balboa Peninsula. The weather was nice; a little hot, but it felt great coming from Arizona heat!
We went to Disneyland on Tuesday, and it was fun to go on the "big kid" rides that we don't get to go on when we take the kids. But even with all of that freedom, of course we kept thinking of the kids and how they would love to do or see this or that. I don't know if Peter and I will go to Disneyland without the kids anymore. It's hard not to think of them!

This was the only picture I got from Disneyland. I took this for Eden, who LOVES Aladdin and Jasmine. I would never have taken a picture next to a half-naked beautiful girl, so this is for you, Eden! I think I'm gonna need that Mustang sooner than I thought :)
The highlight of our trip was Catalina Island. We took the ferry over for a day and bummed around and played. Leaving Balboa:

On the ferry

This sign was posted not far from the dock. Cool to know that the Church is there!

The harbor

We rented some cruisers for the day and rode all over the place. We rode up one trail that was pretty difficult without mountain bikes, but we made it to the top, and the ride down made it worth it!
We went snorkeling at Lover's Cove. It was my first time snorkeling, and I am pretty proud of myself that I even did it, because I am terrified of the ocean and all things therein and I hate salt water. So I did it, even though I was pretty wimpy at first. It was actually pretty fun and I'd do it again. Here is the cove:After that, we did a lot of riding around and we got some of the best frozen yogurt I have ever had! I would go back there just to get some more! Papaya and Tart flavored yogurt with raspberries and cheesecake pieces on top!
Before we flew home, we drove around Costa Mesa and looked at my old house and school again, like we did last year. This time I also found out where my old church was, so we drove by that as well. It was so awesome to see it! It is exactly as I remember it. We would always walk up those back steps from the parking lot. I was baptized in this building in the Relief Society room. Good times.We were happy to get back to Logandale and see the kids after four long (and fun) days without them! They had a blast at Grandpa and Grandma's house, just like they always do. They got to play in the huge front yard with Kit, the cat, and the chickens. They loved feeding the chickens and trying to catch them.

Eden is not trying to hit them with that spoon; she's just carrying it around!Levi especially loves the cat, which is good, because no one else really does.

We had a pretty good ride home, and we are ready to get back to school and into our schedule! We had a blast in Nevada and California. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for watching the kids! We all love you!

First Day of School

First of all, on Wednesday we did some more swimming in Grandma Shirley's pool. This time with more cousins added to the regular bunch. Plus Tibi was there!
Jonah and Eden had their first day of school on Thursday. They were both really excited to meet their teachers, since we were accidentally late for Back to School night and missed seeing them there.

Eden was supposed to make a poster about herself, so I tried to take a picture of her for it, and this is what I got:Come on, Eden! Smile!

That's better, but look at the camera!
Success!

Here is Eden working on her poster.

And with the finished product. She got some help from her Mom.

And here they are, all ready to go!

I drove them to school so I could speak with their teachers and drop off some snacks for their classes. They both did pretty well getting dropped off. Eden was a little teary when I was getting ready to go, and Jonah was upset that Eden wasn't in his class. But they both had a good first day and even came home on the bus together. I think Eden loved riding the bus for the first time.
And as for me and Levi, we are going to be enjoying some nice quiet down-time at home and I might even finish painting my house!

Yes, We're Alive...

So, yeah. Long time, no blog. This has been a crazy and fun month so far. Lots going on here.

1. First of all, Eden went to her friend's Tea Party a while back (maybe even in June) and I never posted the cute pictures I got. She loved getting dressed up, something she hasn't had much experience in. She loved the glitter, nail polish, and especially the "necklaces," which she totally hogged. I think she was wearing every single neck piece available.
2. Jonah has been continuing his photography hobby. I am always finding his works of art on the camera. 3. Levi finally has given up bottles. I know, he's almost 2. I have seriously slacked with getting rid of the bottles, but it just wasn't a big deal to me because he can already drink out a cup. It was more of a concern when the other two couldn't, remember? Anyway, he's doing great with sippies. Next stop, the binky.4. Tibi's here! She'll be here for a few more weeks. The kids are having fun with her, but she has been sick since last night. Hopefully it'll pass quickly so we can have more fun!
5. We went to see Harry Potter opening night with a bunch of local family. It was a lot of fun, although the movie was a little bit of a disappointment. You gotta go to the midnight showing though!
6. I didn't get any pictures (I'm killing myself), but I got to see my cousin, Camie, and her adorable new baby girl. It was so great to sit down and talk, something we haven't been able to do probably for years. I've missed being able to be around Camie since we've both been married, so it was fun to get to see her. And also, my other cousin, Karena, moved here from Iowa! It's going to be awesome having her cute little family so close after having them so far away for so long.

7. And a huge piece of news... we got a second car! I can't begin to tell you how ecstatic I am about this! No more commuter miles on our family vehicle! Freedom to go places! Plus, this Sentra has low miles, gets great gas mileage, and has an auxiliary audio input jack so you can plug an ipod right into the stereo system! Kinda wish it was my car!
8. This is just a little video of Levi getting ready for his shower this morning.

Dancing and Jumping

We haven't posted a video of the kids dancing lately, so here is a video showcasing Jonah and Eden's latest moves. Jonah requested this song.

The kids also tried out their High School Musical jumps. I got some pretty good jumps from Jonah! Eden kept jumping forward instead of up. Oh, well.
Now that I think of it, why is Jonah always in his underwear when he's dancing?

4th of July Weekend

This last weekend we got to go swim at Grandpa and Grandma Shirley's house. Peter's brother, Kevin, and his family came down from St. George for the weekend, so we got to see them as well. The kids had a great time swimming; the pool was just the right temperature and it was nice to be able to get out of the heat!

I was interested to see how comfortable the kids would be swimming after having been through a session of swim lessons. I bought the kids some floaties, which helped a lot. Jonah LOVED swimming. He just kicked around the whole pool and was having so much fun. Eden did well too, but wanted a buddie to swim with. She swam with Grandma for a while. Levi liked the water too, and hung out in the intertube.
Later on, Jonah wanted to take his floaties off and I told him he can't swim without them, but he get in the shallow end and played around. Then I guess he decided he could swim well enough and took a step off the shallow end and he sunk to the bottom of the pool like a rock! I had to hurry and get him up, and it didn't even seem to phase him, which is weird, because he's always been the kid who didn't like water in his face or was a little scared of swimming. Well, he's over that! He tried to swim by himself twice before I forced him to put his floaties back on. I never thought that Jonah would be the kid I'd have to watch super carefully around water!

Jonah making the rounds...

Well, anyway, we had a fun time and it was nice to be able to get in the pool. Our little toddler pool in the backyard just doesn't cut it for me. I wouldn't even be able to get my whole self in.

We hope you all had a great 4th of July. God Bless the USA!

I guess I should also mention that we saw Wicked on Friday night, here in Tempe. It was my first Broadway show (even though it was traveling) and I was so excited to see it. I have been addicted to the Wicked soundtrack for quite a while now, and I think it just might be my favorite Broadway musical right now. I really loved it, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone, so I'll just say that I loved the opening sequence, Dancing Through Life was pretty cool, and of course, Defying Gravity was awesome. I was surprised how much I liked Popular; I think it was because of Galinda. She was so funny throughout the whole play and kind of stole the show for me, even though Elphaba was great too. And I also loved No Good Deed.