We've Been...

*Celebrating the 4th!

* Riding the Metro Train with my mom and dad (grandma and grandpa)...

*Swimming and playing in sprinklers! The kids are turning into little fish!

*Helping 'Uncle Chris' and 'Aunt Abby' sweep up bugs and find scorpions. Always entertaining!

*Bonking heads. Ella keeps pulling up on things and then bonking her head when she falls down. So sad! She's got a pretty bad shiner right now.

*Waiting for new babies! My brother, Todd, and his wife Jenny are being induced tonight. Woo hoo! Can't wait to meet baby Amy. AND, Josh and Jenni (Jake's brother and wife) are having their baby Friday if he hasn't made his debut by then! Exciting stuff!

I wanted to post a picture of the 2 bald guys at our house.

But, I didn't get one of them together before Jake went off to COT yesterday! Bummer. We'll have to take one when he gets back at the end of the month. After Luke and I shaved Jake's head with the clippers, Luke told Jake that he looks like Caillou. Haha.. the kid loves Caillou lately. This is Caillou if ya don't know who he is... Jake isn't quite as bald as Caillou is, but close. It's the first time he's really changed his hair since I've known him, so I was surprised he went through with it! Haha. Luke got a short summer 'do' too. Must be nice to have a totally maintenance-free head!
So, Jake is in Alabama now. He'll be marching, getting yelled at, and studying for the month at officer boot camp. Should be interesting to see how things go! Hardly seems fair that the kids and I get to play in AZ with family while he's there. We'll miss having him around.

Visiting Family and California!

Since Jake has been out of school and hasn't started work yet, we have been able to play this month! Last week we drove up to Fairfield, CA to visit Josh and Jenni! They are such great hosts. We had a blast hanging out with them! While we were there, the kids played nonstop and we visited some fun places. We went to the park one day, to San Francisco one day, celebrated the boy's birthdays and went to church another day, Jenni and I went to a girls night dinner for baby on the way, and we got away without kids one night to shop at the outlet mall and watch a movie. So fun! Oh!... and we went on a tour of the Jelly Belly factory while there. I had no idea Jelly Bellys were made in Fairfield. Needless to say, I ate WAY too many of them. They are so good! It was interesting to see where and how they are made!
San Francisco is such a fun city. Here we all are!
(Ella is sleeping on my shoulder, and you can't see Austin's cute face, but we're all here! )

Pier 39! Checking out the Sea Lions...

Jake, Ella, and I went on an Alcatraz tour while Luke hung out with Caden and Austin. Here's The Rock...

Pics from the boat...

At Alcatraz!

Cool wildlife and flowers on the island... I thought it would be all ugly and prison-ish...

We had to make a stop at Ghirardelli for ice cream and chocolate! We also ate at Boudin's Bistro. Yum!!

Jelly Belly Factory!

We were there for Austin's birthday! Jenni got he and Luke a cute Cars cake and they both blew out candles since they are just 2 days apart in age.

All the kids before we left.
Thanks guys for a great time!

Disneyland!

After leaving Josh and Jenni's house, we drove down to Anaheim to spend a couple of days at Disneyland! Our little guy turned 3 while we were there, and got to party hard! (And we didn't have to pay for admission for him since it was his birthday! Woo hoo!) Jenni told us about the free passes for military, so we wanted to take advantage of Jake getting in for free too. Can't beat free admission tickets! Here's Mr. Luke the morning of his birthday... so excited to go to Disneyland AND officially 3 years old.
The whole fam!

I was surprised how many rides Luke was old enough to ride! And, how many things I could take Ella on too. The Matterhorn and a couple of the 3D movies spooked Luke, but he really liked the rest.

We liked the bugs life section of California Adventure (Except for the creepy It's Tough To Be a Bug 4D show! Really- way to scary for little kids.)

The Nemo Submarine Voyage was a big hit ...

Pluto snuck up on Luke while we were waiting in line for Playhouse Disney Live, and Luke was NOT a fan of him. I asked him later why he didn't like Pluto and he said "I didn't want him to lick me." I guess some dogs do lick. I don't like that either.

Luke wanted to show Buzz his Mickey ears...
The Pixar Parade!

Ella!
Luke kept getting in trouble for running away from us and messing around in lines. The kid couldn't keep still! Here he is running through the park with Jake.

The Electrical Parade!

Fun trip! We crammed a lot into our two days at Disney, and had a fun time. I want to go back already!

We're Here!

We're alive! Getting used to our new spot, and almost all done unpacking. We pulled up to the house last Tuesday and have been busy getting everything in order since then! Calling utility companies to set stuff up... running errands around town... all the moving chores. Can't wait to be totally done with all the 'moving in' stuff! So, here's the house we're in for the next year. We are liking it so far!

I'm trying to decide if it's worth the time to paint this entry room since we'll just be here for a year. Luke thinks the green should stay. The rest of the house is pretty neutral... why did they have to do this room green? Haha. Makes a good picture background though.

Jake's dream came true this past week. He got a BIG T.V. and LOTS OF CHANNELS. I hope I still see him once in a while between sports games ;)

We went down to the strip to check out a few things. I want the wall of M&Ms from M&M world in my house! The colors are so cute! Oh, and if you do go to M&M World, don't waste your time on the movie. The 3D isn't really working and you will go cross-eyed trying to watch it and make it work!

Fountains at the Bellagio!
Goodbye to all the Tex-Mex... HELLO to In-N-Out... Jamba... and Cafe Rio!

It was my birthday this past weekend! I'm 25 now. Holy crap. Sounds old to me, and I don't like it yet! Anyway, to celebrate, Jake took me to Paris...

Then we flew to New York...

Well, I can dream right? Anyway, we had fun on the strip this weekend. What do you like to do in Vegas?

Oh, and back to my birthday... it was a good weekend, despite being old now. Jake watched the kids while I took a looong nap, I ate lots of ice cream, talked on the phone to family and friends, and we got to go to our new ward. I think it's going to be a fun one!

Water Fight!

We stopped in Mesa for a couple of days before making the rest of the long road trip here, and Luke had a blast getting my mom soaked one morning. She got him back pretty good though with a dunk in the pool! I went outside and they were both laughing their heads off. Too funny!

A Few Things Before We Left...

Jake's parents stayed for a few days after graduation to watch Aaron and Kristen's kiddos, so we went down to the riverwalk for one last downtown hurrah. We also hit up the zoo another day. Luke had fun hanging out with his cousins and grandparents! I love this picture of him and Lily. She is the boss, and he loves to follow her around. They ran around holding hands a lot of the time. Cutie.
A few from the train/zoo!

Riverwalk/Alamo! We had gone downtown quite a bit when we lived in S.A, but never did a riverboat tour until now. I think the city is prettier from the water!