Beatin' the Heat

It was HOT today. Like over 100 degrees HOT. After a summer filled with 60 and 70 degree days, we're wondering where this came from...and I'm kind of hoping it leaves soon. Just give me some perfect 80 degree with a slight breeze weather and I'll be happy.

So, we started off the day by going to the park with some friends. At 10 in the morning it was so hot that the kids were begging to leave, so I knew we needed to get out of the heat and find a nice air conditioned place to hang out.

We had gotten some discount tickets to this fun little indoor gym type place and headed there with a friend after lunch. It was great! The kids bounced and swung and jumped and spun for 2 hours.

The balloon pit...so fun. The best part was the super cold fan they had in there to blow the balloons around. :)

This picture cracks me up!

We took a little break from the jumpy place and wandered around Target for a little bit. I happened to find a slip n slide on clearance for $5 so I grabbed it. We put it to good use as soon as we got home and boy did that water feel good!

A Few of My Favorites

Just a few of my favorite pictures from the last couple of weeks...

Matthew and his favorite friend, Madeline. These kiddos are hilarious together and they know it!

Just hangin' around. I love these three!

We love riding our bikes to the elementary school in the evenings to let the kids get some of their energy out.

Emma's getting really good on the monkey bars

A friend invited a few of us to go swimming in their complex pool. This is the best kiddie pool ever! We had a great time!

Matthew is developing his own style. He loves wearing his rain boots with everything. It's pretty darn cute!

We've spent the last couple of weekends at Jon's parents house so the kids have gotten to see their cousin, Owen, and have gotten lots of trampoline time in.

I love the hair!

His and Hers...and Theirs

HIS

HERS

THEIRS

One up side to Jon having to work so much overtime lately is that it gives us some extra money to play with. We decided to get bikes and a trailer since we knew we would use them a lot and it's something we've wanted to get for a long time. Labeling the bikes as our second car made it easier to justify spending the money too. :)

So, Jon upgraded his 10+ year old mountain bike with a much nicer and newer version. Every time I see it I think of the line from Napoleon Dynamite (read with a Napoleon voice) "Shocks...pegs...Lucky!" So, it's a sweet bike and he got an awesome deal on it.

Next we happened upon a bike trailer on clearance at Target. It was cheaper than any of the used ones we had been looking at on Craigslist so we grabbed it. Matthew was TERRIFIED the first time he rode in it, but both kids love it now. And I love the freedom it gives us.

Then I started looking at a bike for me. I found one at a bike store, a comfort hybrid, that I loved. It had the wide comfy seat and higher handlebars, so I don't kill my back. It was more than I wanted to spend so I started looking around online. Then I went to Target and just happened to pass the bikes and there was the exact bike I had been looking at. The floor model was the only one left so I asked if they would give me a discount, which they did. With the discount it was much cheaper than anywhere else so I grabbed it.

We love our little bike set up!

Five Years

Today is our fifth anniversary...hard to believe! Five years seems like such a big milestone and at the same time it feels like hardly any time at all. I am so grateful to have Jon in my life!

Instead of writing a bunch of mushy things, I just want to share a poem that Jon wrote me recently (I know, I'm a lucky girl!). I thought it was appropriate for the occasion.

Love is like a flower. It grows only with proper care.
Sunshine, rain, and nutrients yield blossoms, bright and fair.
Without the key ingredients it soon begins to dry.
Watering, just once a day, and sunshine from the sky.
But some days it does not rain, and some it doesn't shine.
And on those days we look to God to see the grand design.
He tends His garden and each young bud He watches tenderly.
But for each flower to reach full bloom it takes the work of three.


Happy anniversary Jon! I LOVE YOU!

Impromptu Performance

Emma loves to sing. Her favorite song is the Primary song "Love is Spoken Here", but she calls it Mother Leeling (because the first line is I see my mother kneeling...). By request, we sing this song every night at bedtime.

SO, on Sunday Emma was in Primary. Some of the kids went up to give talks and say the prayer and she followed them right up. The person in charge asked her what she was doing and she told them she was going to sing "Mother Leeling". Of course none of them knew what she was talking about, so they sat back and let her have the stage. She confidently walked up and sang the entire song in front of the whole primary. Meanwhile, we had NO IDEA any of this was happening.

After church a couple people came up to me and commented on how cute Emma was in Primary and how she is such a good little singer. I thought they were referring to her singing during singing time. So I smiled, said thank you, and went on my way. Then at the park today a friend commented again on her singing in Primary. At this point I'm thinking how strange it is that everyone is commenting on her singing. She's been in Primary for 8 months now! Then she went on and explained the whole story. I got a good laugh out of it.

I also felt really proud right then. I'm proud of her for getting up there and singing. I don't think I would ever have the guts to do that. I love that she loves Primary and always wants to participate. I am so glad that she loves going to church and learning..and singing :) . She is such a good example to me and I love her for that.

A Visit with Family

On Monday the kids and I took a little day trip to the Sacramento area. My aunt and cousins live there and even though we only live 2 1/2 hours from them, we haven't seen them since we moved here over 2 1/2 YEARS ago...I'm ashamed to admit it! This week my oldest cousin was visiting from Texas with his wife, who I have never met, so I figured it would be the perfect time to visit and catch up with them. They were kind enough to let us drop in for a few hours and I'm so glad we did.

The kids LOVED their yard and spent most of the time out there. Matthew loved all the cats roaming around...I think they have 8! He really wanted to hand feed them, but they didn't trust him that much. :)

Emma had a blast trying out all of their swings.

This was the only picture I got of Aunt Susie. She and Emma played a little marble game together.

The cousins- these are all of my cousins on my dad's side (minus Victoria who wasn't well). Aren't they gorgeous?
Back L to R: Hope and Gracie
Front L to R: Brad and his wife, RJ (and their baby due in Feb), me, Matthew, Emma

I really enjoyed being able to catch up with family and meet RJ. Thank you for letting us come!

Where Did July Go???

This last month seriously FLEW BY! Really this whole summer has. We've had a lot of fun and tried to stay busy. So, here is a quick rundown of our last few weeks.

We've spent a lot of time at the park. I LOVE living so close to so many parks. There are 4 that are less than a mile from us that we walk to often.

A couple weeks ago we went to Crissy Field in San Francisco with some friends...and yes, it was as cold as it looks. It was supposed to be sunny and warm, but this was obviously not the case. The kids ran and played and had a great time anyway.

Emma has always loved building. I am so impressed with how exact and symmetrical everything always is.

Last week we watched Jon's little sister, Fij, while the rest of the family was at girls camp or working. We have watched her for the last 3 years during girls camp and love having her. The kids LOVE playing with her and she is so good at keeping them entertained and happy.
We tried to stay busy while she was here. However, I forgot my camera most of the week so I don't have many pictures.

One night we rode our bikes to the elementary school to play.

On wednesday I met up with a friend. We went to the temple and then went to nearby Tilden Park.

We went on a train ride...this is seriously one of the best train rides I have ever been on. It is really long and takes you through some beautiful areas in the Oakland Hills.
The kids totally loved it!

After the train, we went and rode the carousel (also in Tilden). So much fun!

We took advantage of the Kids Bowl Free program a couple of times. Matthew thought he was hot stuff and they all had fun.

Friday morning we went to Ardenwood Farm with a friend. I brought a camera but the battery was dead...ugh. Unfortunately I realized AFTER we left, that our other camera was in the diaper bag with us the whole time. Big bummer! We'll just have to go back. Ardenwood is a small working farm, so the kids got to see all the animals and help feed a couple. There were also little demonstrations and activities that portrayed life back in the day. One of the highlights was the train ride around the farm...can't get enough of those trains. :)

After the farm we took Fij home. When Michelle got home from work we got some yummy Chinese food and hung out. It was a fun night.

Other things we did that I didn't get pictures of...Monday we went swimming at our new favorite pool, Rinconada Pool in Palo Alto. It is a great kids pool. The deepest part is 3 ft and there are tons of fun things to do.

We also went to the park a few times, ate lunch at McDonalds, and ate lunch with Jon at work. We stayed so busy and were all EXHAUSTED at the end of every day! Thanks for coming Fij!
In other news, we found a bike trailer on clearance at Target. We have talked about getting one for 3 years so we figured since this was a great deal and something we would use a lot we would get it. We took it on a ride that night. Emma loved it, Matthew was terrified. :) I think it's growing on him though.

Jon also bought a new (used) mountain bike. This is something else that he has wanted (and needed) for a long time. He found a great bike and got a sweet deal and is really excited to try it out on the trails now.

Jon has been super busy at work and has been doing a ton of overtime. Not much fun, but the paychecks are nice. They should hopefully be done with the movie by the end of this month and then we will be able to see him a little more.

Since meeting my weight loss goal last month, I have been trying to maintain that weight...and I have! I have actually lost another 5 lbs, making my total loss 31 pounds. So, I feel really good about where I'm at. I feel comfortable with my eating and exercising. I have found the perfect balance that works for me. I eat enough that I'm not hungry, I still splurge on my favorite treats, and I'm still losing weight (slowly). So, I'm happy.

And that just about sums up the last month!