Dinosaur Museum

The day after Labor Day, we headed up to Utah for a week to spend with my family. September has always been a slow month for John's work, so we use that time to do most of our traveling for the year. Once again we left our house pretty early (4 am) and arrived in the afternoon after an uneventful trip up.

While at my parents house, we went a few places that we have never been to before. First up, was the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. We really thought Brody was ready and would be so excited to go this time around. He is totally into dinosaurs right now with all his favorite dinosaur books and toys that he reads or takes everywhere. Lindsey and her kids and our family all went. Both Brody and Brooklyn loved it all and even the little ones, Piper and Easton, were happy and content.

Checking out the dinosaur heads.

Brooklyn posing for the camera and learning about fossils.

Anything with buttons is always a hit.

These two were so good. Love that smile of Easton's!

Look at all those cool tools that the Paleontologists use!

Great entertainment, free food and drink, and all from the comforts of your stroller.
Can't remember why there was a fish aquarium there, but the kids loved it. It might have been a part of the crustacean fossil exhibit.

A closer look at the ocean fossils.
Coral Fossils.
Now for the real dinosaurs! These guys were called Eryops and ate mostly fish and small animals. They sure looked like little pesky critters to me, but they could probably take me down in a second.
Love that adorable grin!
Brody posing with the big guys. Is that a Stegosaurus behind you Brody?Alright! I'll take one too! Brachiosaurus, right?Lindsey and me.Little Miss Sweet Thing and me.

I think this was the kids favorite part of the museum where you can play with toy dinosaurs in water and sand. Brody was a bit afraid at first, but by the end he was right in there with the rest of them. I should have put an apron on Piper because she was having so much fun with the water that she got a bit too wet.
See, so happy!
Brody hanging out with his buddy Protoceratops.
Everyone wanted to get a picture with this guy.
Oh on! T-Rex is after us!One of Brody's favorites- Triceratops.
John getting in on the action now."WOW! Look out Piper and Daddy!"Now he is after Brody!That is one enormous Great White. Hope I never have a meeting with him.
The Woolly Mammoths. I was pretty excited to see these guys. They are some of my favorites.Our last stop of the museum was the fossil digging in the sand. Brody plays a computer game about this on the Caillou PBS Kids website where he finds the bones and then puts the dinosaur together. So, he was super excited to play in here.

They had paint brushes for the kids to use in finding the bones. Very fun!

Before leaving, we stopped at the gift shop, looked around, and then bought the kids little 50-cent toy dinosaurs and they were so happy. Here is our impression of the museam: Very fun, but maybe a bit too pricey, for Utah prices anyway. It is quite normal for what we are used to, which is way we don't make it out to too many museums. So, I would go and find a friend that has a season pass and then it is half off! Now that is a much better deal.

After the museum, we met up with Grandma (my mom) and had lunch at Chick Fil A. It had just opened recently and, if you know anything about new restaurants and the Utah Valley, you can pretty much guess how packed it was. It was borderline ridiculous. Nothing but tons of moms and their kids. After John's usual commentary of, "is this what you do all day?" (haha), we found a table pretty quick since the crowd was mostly on their way out. I think Chick Fil A is pretty good, but it is nothing I really crave or have to have, so I am not sure about all the hype. I guess in a few years I'll go back or when they have their next free food giveaway. :)

Much more of our trip to come!

It's Official!!

On August 17th, my dad's birthday, we became HOMEOWNERS!!!!! We finally took the plunge that we, or I, have been waiting for for 7 years, or painfully just the last 2. The process was a mess and definitely not fun. We did it amongst one of the busiest times for John's work, making it that much harder. And after all the unusual seller's deed problems, we pulled through for the win with just a few days past the original closing date. Hooray!! It is such a good feeling now and we love our new home!

In the afternoon on the 17th, as we were coming back from a day spent at the parents house, we got the call from our loan officer, Alan, that we were all done and the loan was processed. All we were waiting for now was a time to come pick up the keys once our realtor Jeff got them from the seller. A few hours later, we got the call to met Jeff at the house to give us the keys. So, I ditched the Relief Society picnic and were off to our new home. It was so exciting and of course I made John and Jeff reenact the exchange of keys that had just taken place just so it could be documented. They both look so thrilled.

Here are a few pictures of the house. KitchenFamily RoomI am so in love with my backyard! It is a rare thing in Orange County to have much more than a patio as a backyard. It was on my "must have" list!

It is a fairly new home, built in 1998. The previous seller was a flipper and made the house all nice just for us. We definitely couldn't have asked for a better home. It was exactly what both of us were looking for. I am so surprised to say that because before we found this, I was sure we were going to buy a home that we needed, but definitely didn't love. It was a big change for us, though. We are completely on the opposite side of town from our wonderful friends and things we are used too. We are in different schools now and a completely new ward at church. With that said, we are ONLY a few miles away! What am I thinking! Sigh. It is still change and change is hard for me, I have come to realize. We are really blessed, though, to be able to be in this wonderful home, to get to know new people, and still be able to see the people we loved these past 7 years. I was a bit nostalgic as we packed up the last our things in the old apartment and realized, while I can still pass by, we will never be there anymore. So many memories in one little place. It was the first place we lived married, had two beautiful kids and lot of growing up. It was good to us. How many of you can say you lived 7 years in a 2-bedroom, 900 sq ft apartment? We did and are pretty proud of it. Good bye old apartment and hello new home!

We have already suffered some of the pitfalls of homeownership in short month that we have owned. The day after we got the keys, we took some tubs over to the house, started to leave, and closed the garage door. The door started to close normally, but then crashed to the ground. Um, that was not good. A hefty bill from the repairman later and we were back in business. It is funny now and even seems like a scene from the movie Money Pit, so classic!

Despite the unexpected, we are doing good now. All moved in and mostly settled. I now wonder and have forgotten what life was like in the half-the-size-of-our-house apartment. I am loving the little things, like taking the groceries from car to the kitchen in a matter of steps, no more walking from the parking lot with sleeping kids on your arms and up the rocky stairs, letting the kids play outside with their bikes and things on the driveway, and not having to go outside just to do laundry. These are the things I am glad I never have to do again, but glad I did them, just so I can tell my kids and exaggerate the truth for them.

A big thank you to our friend Jeff for helping us along with it all. If any of you need a realtor in this area, he is wonderful! And for those wanting to see more pictures of our house, I should have some up shortly. :)

Celebrating 7 Years Together!

On August 16th 2003, John and I were married in the Los Angeles Temple. Last month we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. It seems like it was so long ago that we got married, in the sense that, it feels like we have always been together and so much has changed. It has been a great 7 years so far and now we are entering in a new chapter of our lives. A little nervous, but SO happy.

This year we didn't plan any big trip or fun concert like years past. It was just as great and very much needed. After a very busy July for the both of us, we were dying for a vacation. John's parents took the kids for night while we enjoyed the time off and remembered what it was like to have a life without kids. The 16th fell on a Monday this year, so we celebrated the weekend before. After the friend party that Friday, we hurried home to get ready to go and to meet up with John. The drive to John's parents house was filled with commuters racing home for the weekend and we got there an hour later than projected. After a quick goodbye to the kids and seeing Piper's bottom lip quiver from sadness :( we were off.

We raced to our first destination to make our 8:30 appointment. It was the first time we had been to the Redlands temple and it was so beautiful. It reminded me a lot of our Newport Beach temple with almost the exact layout. That weekend the LA, SD, and NB temples were all closed for cleaning, so we went there instead. We also usually try and do a sealing around our anniversary, but it didn't work out this year so we enjoyed a session instead. It was great and I definitely would love to go there again.
After we got out of the temple, it was pretty late and we were starving from not eating dinner. We drove around Redlands in hopes to find something good open. We struck out once with a Mexican place John loved, but then stumbled upon a Famous Dave's. They let us in with only a half hour left before closing. We have only been there once when visiting Steven and Becca in Minnesota and loved it. It was just as good as I remembered and we had a great time.

Loving our night out together!

The next morning we slept in, well I did anyway, and got ready to head out for a little shopping. Our first stop was my favorite bagel place, Bruegger's, to cash in our free bagel coupons. I am very predictable when I go and always end up getting a blueberry bagel toasted with strawberry cream cheese. I can't help it! I would love to branch out, but I just don't go that often, so when I do that is all I crave and want to make it good. That is how I feel about most restaurants I go to.
After grabbing a bite to eat, we enjoyed some kid-free shopping and reminisced about how our weekends used to be without kids. Then it was off to get the kids. While we were gone, the kids did great, thank goodness. Aneta told us a cute story about Brody and Piper as they were going to bed. Piper was crying because she didn't want to go to bed alone, so Brody climbed into her crib and told her, "Its ok Piper" in a sweet little voice. The next morning, they were found sleeping together in the crib. Oh, I am so glad to hear sweet stories like that. Some days I wonder if they even really like each other.

A huge thanks to Lee and Aneta for watching the kids for us, to the kids for actually being good, and to John for being the most wonderful husband ever! Here's to 7+ great years together!

Friend Party

Brody was invited to his friend Maddie's 6th birthday party at the beach club mid-August. All his friends were there and he had so much fun with everyone. The kids had fun digging for shells in the sand to put in their buckets. Brody found two shells that he still cherishes and lots of rocks. This kid is definitely a lover of rocks. I unfortunately find lots of little rock collections all over my house. Brody is over to the left in the back. Thanks to my friend Angela as I stole these two pics from her blog :).

Digging away! Brody is on the far left. Maddie's daddy was helping him find some shells.

After diggin', it was cupcake time! They had Ariel seashell cupcakes for all the kids. Piper loved her treat as you can see.

After cupcakes, it was Pinata time! It was one well constructed pinata and took several rounds to get the candy out.

Brody waiting for his turn with his friends Sawyer and Jack.Come on Brody! Give it some good wackes!
Brody was all over that candy and ended up filling his bag pretty good. It was a great party and fun for the parents too as all my friends were there :). Thanks Maddie for inviting us to your fun party!!!