the good kind of spoiled

I am blessed. I am also sometimes spoiled. Like when my husband shoots a wedding near the city in California where my sister lives, I get to go, and have my other sister and mom watch the childrens while we're away. It was a great Labor Day weekend!

A trailer made out of skate decks. Stay cool Murray.

My happy place: High quality farmers market at the Ferry building!

If I ever find September Snow peaches again I'll buy some. 

Or better yet, find a tree I can plant in my yard so I don't have to pay $3.50 a pound for them.

View from the Coit Tower

the best

ok maybe this was the best

While we were away, Liz was holding down the fort

Pescadero Beach. 

They played while I snuggled in my layers of warm clothes and chatted with Jenn :)

Picnic among Redwoods. And hardly another person in sight!

Mosaic Stairs, the Wharf, and food at Mama's

Walking Kate and Max to school. I loved being able to see their everyday life.

The Memorial Church on the Stanford Campus is amazing. It is definitely worth taking time to visit.

Best people, best weather, best food.

Max's obsession: Monopoly Millionaire Deal. I sincerely tried to win. 

He beat me all 4 times I played him. He's 5 years old.

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this one to make me smile. Soccer sisters :) :) :)

                                       

And a shout out to our amazing Auntie Liz! 

Happy Birthday tomorrow, we are so thankful to have you in our lives!

All Squeeze In

Despite that having a nephew return home from a mission makes me feel old, we couldn't be more excited! Ruby and Jane didn't really know Noah since they were so young, but gave him hugs when he got back like they'd missed their best friend. 

Ruby wears a old jersey on game day so she can be one of them

And then we went on a trip. First time camping with our whole fam and we loved it! Yes, access to bathrooms, showers and pool enhanced our stay :) Thanks to our friends for planning and making it happen.

excuse the morning face

emerald pools

it was hot, like, melting my face off hot. 

I was so proud of Siri and Jane for their hiking and good attitudes.

I first met my friend Haylee in junior high when we started playing soccer together. 

Go avalanche!

we made dutch oven pasta

Ruby loved playing with Gordon

One of my favorite parts was when some asian tourists came and starting taking pictures of Haylee and Anna and Mark and Ruby when we stopped in Bryce on the way home. They just came right up to them like they were animals. Awesome.

Stopped at the Payson Temple on the way home

How cute is this lady! My friend's little girl is unreal. She stole my heart.

And my favorite ever...after we say prayers together as family at night before bed, Ruby always says "all squeeze in!" and she basically forces us into a pile of hugs. Its the best.

As planned

This summer I planned to not have many plans. It was a success!  We have enjoyed sleeping in (which was a dream come true. When Siri was tiny she'd wake up at 5:30am and I thought my life would be one long tired day forever), going to the pool, playing outside, watching movies together, hiking, cooking, and playing house.

bake sale

weeding

4th of July!

crazies

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hiking to Cecret Lake

Siri and Jane both did the high dive this summer!

Dadda teaching his girls to make breakfast!

Took these crazies to see this movie

 Cheesy, yes, but this lady is our gem!  Ruby had ultrasound/xray in July and everything looks normal. We also found out that the gene mutation in the mass that was removed, is not in every cell of her body, which means she is less likely to have cancer in the future. I cried tears of joy and gratitude. Thank you family, friends, strangers, ward council, who have continued to pray for her and us.

It's special to spend time with my Mom and John since they work full time. We like to pop in and visit Grandma Carol at work...and Siri covered her face in post it tape.

We went to the rodeo, sleep over, and parade at Grandma and Grandpas for the 24th. Loved it!

And my dear Aunt Joan on the annual Fetzer 24th of July gathering at her house. I am so very thankful that she asked Mark and I to live in and take care of their home while they went on a mission 2010-2011. 

I admire and love her and her family.

This article in the Ensign gave me the motivation to try rise earlier and get to be earlier. I'm not there yet, but am working at it!  I also got released from Primary (got called as a teacher when we moved in), and am helping with Relief Society activities. I've been in Primary the majority of my post high school life. I don't know what/who prompted the change, but it has been really good for my spirit. I've been soaking in the Gospel Doctrine/Relief Society lessons, and have generally found a renewed energy for learning, studying, and applying the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in my life.

There is so much more I'd love to share, but instead I'm going to get off the computer and take the kids to the library. I LOVE my girls and Mark. Life is good!

The vegetable challenge

I acknowledge that I like to be in control of what my kids eat at home. I think this is normal and ok while I'm the one shopping and cooking for them. I know that outside our house, its not all in my control. They go by taste, not nutritional content, and our environment has so many 'super foods' aka fast food and packaged foods, that they don't understand how easy it is to get sick by eating that food to often too long.

We parents often get frustrated that their kids won't eat what they make, which for us often includes vegetables. So, last year Siri and Jane took up my 'Vegetable Challenge' for them: Eat your vegetables whenever we have them at meals (including breakfast, lunch and dinner) for a year, and you get $100. Siri has until the end of September and Jane the end of October. It's ok if they don't want to eat them, I tell them I'll clear their place if they're done. But, if I clear it, they will lose money. So far, and with much patience and second chances, they are still going to reach their goal.

I'll add pumpkin puree to the pancakes, shredded carrots to their yogurt parfaits, spinach in the smoothies, but they generally eat their veggies cut up and raw, maybe with dip. Ruby's favorite is plain cooked broccoli, Jane loves Mark's sauteed green beans, and Siri is a straight up raw carrot/cucumber kind of gal.

As for a Ruby update, nothing new :)
She goes for scans in July, just as a precaution. The genetic test to see if the gene mutation they found in the mass is in every cell of her body is still not complete, or at least we haven't heard back yet. I'm not anxious as there is nothing we can do to change it, but it will help us to know what to do going forward.

As for me-I had a phase of I'm-getting-old-itis. I saw a podiatrist-I have a bunion on my left food, but its not painful so he said to wear orthodics and that's about it. When we got back from Jamaica I needed a detox so I did the diet of the book I read, The Fast Metabolism Diet. I could do a whole other post on that! Maybe I will...but I got a physical after the 28 days and all my numbers, including blood sugar, thyroid and cholesterol, were good.

Non scale victory? Fitting (just barely and with very shallow breaths as not to split the fabric so that your daughter can wear it one day) into your wedding dress.

Out of curiosity, I saw a chiropractor. I've had some random back pain, but nothing I thought was serious. I got a 2nd opinion to see what they'd say. I have mild scoliosis in my back, the curve of my neck is non existent, in fact it slightly curves the wrong way, and some of my discs in my cspine and lumbar are squished-thus the back spasms. Anyway, I'm not about to pay $3K and go 4x a week to 'fix it'. But I have tried to do more yoga and swim. If nothing else it made me so much more aware of my posture and the impact and stress I put on my body. So yes, I am getting older, and I'm kinda glad about it. It's nice to take it easier :)



Siri got a hair chop!




She LOVED Kindergarten but is happy for summer! I am too...loving being all together before she's gone all day for 1st grade!