California Pt 2

Jeff's parents work 3 days a week at the family history library at the Los Angeles Temple. So we decided to go down one day and say hi and show Jane around. Can I just tell you how much I love her face in this first picture. 

They have a bunch of interactive features at the visitors center. Stuff for kids to do. Jane really liked it.

Needless to say Jane was wiped out each day. We would find her in funny positions on the bed. She did fall off the bed one night and so I think that she was paranoid about falling off.

On recommendation from Jeff's sister, we went to aquarium of the pacific in Long Beach.  They had some of the craziest fish. It was pretty cool.

We also got to touch some fish. There were some sharks and manta rays in this pool and you could reach him and feel them. We also touched some jelly fish and anenames (not sure how to spell that).

Grant was obviously having a good time too.

Of course, they put all of these fish in one tank together. Jane kept talking about seeing the nemo fish. "look there's Dory"

We also went on a harbor cruise as part of the aquarium tour. Jane wasn't too sure how she felt about it but we saw some interesting things.

Everyone was tuckered out after the aquarium. We took a minute to rest before we went to dinner.

We left the next morning. It was a really good trip. I am so glad that we were able to go. Jeff's parents are the best hosts and Jane just loved being there and having time with them to play. Plus, Jeff's mom let us go on a date of sorts one day while she watched Jane. Thanks it great.

California Pt1

I just have so many pictures of california that I decided to break it up. So here we go.

We didn't get in until late and so the next day we just lazed around. There was a lot reading and playing with Grandma. So fun. We also went swimming at a friends pool. It was really nice of them to let us come at a moments notice.

We decided to go to a baseball game since Ellis is a huge Dodgers fan. It was pretty hot but it cooled some as the sun set. Grant wasn't very fussy and seemed to enjoy everything that was going on around us.

On Saturday we hit the beach. We went to a beach up north of where they live. It wasn't too crowded. I forgot how beaches are kind of hard with a little one. Sand is just everywhere. Everywhere. So that was fun to manage. Jane really loved being in the ocean in Texas but wasn't too keen on it this time. He just loved playing in the sand with Grandma.

Jeff and I debated for a long time about wether to go to Disneyland or not. Is Jane too young to appreciate it? Will she have a good time? Will it just be too much work for us? Ultimately, we gave into going. One of the factors is that Grandma could come with us because they have season passes. She was so nice to come and help us out. It was a good day because it really wasn't very crowded. It was kind of hot, though.

Jane really loved the tea cups and kept asking to go back and ride them again. We did ride them a couple of different times.

Jane is all about castles and princesses. Cinderella is probably her favorite movie. So the castle was so fun for her to see. Then when we ran into the fairy godmother, it was just the greatest. She loved it.

So Jeff's mom was such a trooper. She let Jeff and I go on a couple of rides and she watched the kids. Once she took both of them on a ride, twice, while we went on a ride. I seriously love this picture when we were strapping the baby carrier on her. Seriously she was such a trooper.

I was a little worried that Jane wouldn't like the rides. Especially since she freaks out about the horse at the grocery store. She really liked them, though. She even really like the little rollercoaster that is in toon town. She was barely tall enough to ride it. When we got off she said she wanted to go again. And of course, small one was a hit.

One of the great things about going is that my friend Sharla joined us later in the afternoon. She lives really close and had season passes. So she brought her 2 boys. I haven't seen her in almost 7 years. We worked together in Idaho Falls. She is so fun and it was great to catch up. Plus her boys are so dang cute.

 We stayed to watch the parade. Jane was all about it. Especially when the float came by with all of the princesses.

So even though it cost an arm and a leg to get it, we are glad we did it. Grant, again, was such a trooper. She only had two small naps and didn't cry until we were about to leave. He cried for only a minute and then fell asleep. Jane overall did good too with only one meltdown. She still talks about going. She was just saying today that she had fun at disneyland. 

So there is much more to come on our California trip. That is all for now. 

cooking class

      As some of you know, I try to eat healthy. I don't eat a lot of meat or dairy. So I have a lot of people ask me what I eat. I always say 'well I have some good recipes I can share'.  But I don't ever end up sharing them for one reason or another. I had an idea a while ago, from seeing other people do it, that I would do a cooking class. Not in that I show people how to cook but that we cook together and share the recipes that I have. I really do love to cook but I don't want to spend a ton of time doing it. So easy, fairly quick and healthy recipes. Why not share? So I had the first one. It was a small showing but will grow in time. I do plan to have another in a couple of weeks. We cooked the black bean soup and the mango chicken at the class. The other is just a bonus recipe that is really easy and good. I will continue to share the recipes that we do in the classes and maybe more. 

PS you should be able to save the image and then print it on our own. 

She's 3

So I am really far behind in my blog posts. I decided that I am going to work backwards. For some reason that seems easier to me. So the most recent thing to happen is Jane's birthday. I can't believe she is 3. So crazy. It is really funny how fast time goes, especially when you are wrangling two little ones. When we were at Disneyland (more on that later) she told the fairy god mother than she was going to have a chocolate birthday. So we tried to accommodate that. Although we didn't get celebrate with cake until Friday (her birthday was on Wednesday) we did go out for ice cream on Wednesday night.

She had fun being able to choose her flavor and topping. It is hilarious to watch her eat ice cream because she takes the tiniest bites. She doesn't like to get brain freeze.

This is when we told her that she could have chocolate cake.

Much to Jeff's chagrin, I made a 'healthier' cake for her. I don't bake much so when I do I try to make it a little better for us. This is a gluten and sugar free cake. I know that sounds bad but it was actually pretty good. Don't worry though because that is chocolate butter cream frosting. It literally has like a pound of butter in it. It was delicious. Even Jeff really liked it. Oh and to clarify it did have maple syrup to sweeten the cake.

Amongst a few other presents, she scored a bike (thanks craigslist). She is still getting used to it but was pretty excited.

She also got fairy wings, a rapunzel necklace and this sweet glowing wand. 

 

Jane is such a fun girl. She is really outgoing and chatty all of the time. She loves to sing and dance. She recently loves to play with Grant a lot and is so sad when I put him down for naps. She recently started Joy School and really loves it so far. She loves to wear dresses and constantly has her new rapunzel dress on (if you can't tell from the photos and such). She makes life so interesting every day. We sure love her.

Just as an added bonus. Here is a video of her singing with Jeff. She loves when he sings and she started singing along with him a couple of months ago. 

Rain Rain Don't Go Away

We have had a bit of a monsoon season here the last couple of weeks. Lots of cloudiness and rain in the afternoons. It is really good because we started the summer in a drought and they actually just lifted our watering restrictions. So one early evening Jane and I were sitting on the front grass watching the clouds and the lightning. She was so fascinated by the lightning. It was her first time really seeing it. When it actually started to rain she didn't want to go inside. You can't tell in these pictures but it is raining and she is just loving it. You can tell more better in the video. 

Yes she said Wahoo. It is her favorite expression of excitement right now. I actually really love it.
I can't leave Grant out of this post so here is some super cuteness for you.

All over Utah

We went to Utah last month. We had a whirlwind tour going around to visit as much as the family as possible. Unfortunately, I was still not able to see everyone. When we first got there, Jeff's mom was in town because his sister had just had a baby. So we spent some time over there the first weekend. Jane loved playing with cousins, especially since they had so many beautiful dresses (as she would say). Get ready for a whole ton of pics

Here is the newest member of the family. His name is Tyler and he was a cutie. Him and Grant will be good friends.

I was able to see my good friend Danielle and her kids while I was there. They were living in Texas and just happened to be there too.

I stayed at my sister Audrey's house and Grant was a big hit. Well so was Jane and the younger kids played with her the whole time.

Then we started to make our way north. We stopped in SLC to see my friend Misty and her new baby and daughter. Jane and Sophia had matchy swim suits. I seriously love this pic of Jane on the phone. She looks like she is having a real conversation. I also love the pic of the two babies and how it looks like Max has his finger in Grants mouth.

With all of the playing, Jane would often fall asleep in the car when we were driving around. She wouldn't let me take away the pretzels. She wanted to eat so bad but was too tired.

We then went to Logan to see Aunty Fun. Even though there was no kids at her house, Jane had so much fun with all the animals. Horses, dog and cats. Plus a lot of cool toys. We also did some strawberry picking.

Aunty Fun went to Morgan to stay at my sister Shauna's with us. She had cousins and and tramp and swings. So once again Jane was in heaven.

This is Jane and Amelia. She is my nephews daughter. We were trying to figure out what relation these two are but I am not sure there is a name for it.

And, of course we spent time at Rachel's house. Mabel is a favorite to play with. Not only do they have beautiful dresses, Mabel is all about the make up lately and showed her skills with Jane. Very nice.

Even though we did a ton of driving. I am so happy we did it. I loved seeing everyone and visiting up north, as I don't get up there very often. Also, a bonus is that my nephew Golden was able to come back and spend some time with us here.