Taylor Family

Jordan's Birthday!

2012-02-21T21:59:00.000-08:00

Jordan's is FINALLY 5!!!
I've never met a kid that wants to be older as much as Jordan. She'll always ask, "how old will I be when Jack is 10, or how old will I be when Jack is 16, or how old will I be when Jack is 34."

We celebrated on the Saturday before since we were flying out to Denver on the actual day of her birthday. We had a fun day together as a family opening presents, playing barbies, making her birthday cake and trying out her new scooter.

She was dying to try out these fake nails. I reluctantly gave in and bought her some. They lasted about 10 minutes before Jordan pulled them all off.

This is my weak attempt at trying to sastify yet another last minute birthday wish of having an American Girl Doll cake. How do you make an American Girl Doll cake?!?!? My favorite line of the day came while decorating our little dolls. I was giving Jordan a few pointers and ideas and she stops and looks at me and says in a very matter of fact tone, "you know I have my own ideas mom."

Finally! Her own scooter.

Honey! This was the hit of the day. We ran to Costco and who knew, but they sell American Girl Doll pets and this little dog, named Honey became the love of her life. I think she was pretty confident that Santa would bring her an actual doll, so getting Honey was just in preparation for that.

On the actual day of her birthday Jordan got a pretty special gift. When the plane landed in Denver and while we were taxing up to our gate, the flight attendant asked everyone on the plane to push their "call" button. It was dark outside, so it made the inside of the cabin light up. Then she had everyone on the plane sing happy birthday to Jordan and then after the song was over, she said to Jordan, "now make a wish" and then everybody turnded off their lights (like they were candles she was blowing out) Jordan was so cute. Her cheeks were flush and I could tell she felt really special.

We love this giggley, fun, energetic, passionate, and independent little girl!

Lands End Hike

2012-01-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

What's this you say? Two posts in one week? I know, I know. Don't start getting all excited and your hopes up. It's January and I always feel more motivated in the new year. Plus, my friend Janet is inspiring me with her 5 posts a month goal. I think my goal is one post a month, so I'm really outdoing myself :) I will admit that there is a part of me that is very turned off and resisting the whole idea of social media. Even though facebook's headquarters are just a couple of blocks from my house and the house where it was launched in Palo Alto is a block from Jack's school I will confess I'm not a fan. But, like many things in my life, maybe I just don't like it because I haven't given it a fair chance. I am also convinced that I don't have time for it. I should be a better friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter, mother and wife, but I think there are a myriad of better ways to do that than to facebook. Sorry for the speech, but for now one of my smalls efforts of improving a few of those relationships will be to blog once a month. You heard it here...now let's see if I can do it.

Now, on to the show:

January 2nd: Lands End Hike (near the Cliff House and Sutro Baths)

Whenever we have a Monday where Kent's not working, I'm not working, and the kids don't have school, we feel compelled to hit the road for some kind of adventure. Thanks to Janet for letting us in on this great secret. The views of the Golden Gate are fabulous from this vantage point.

We took a short detour off the trail that led us to the perfect beach. Small tide pools and the discovery of starfish after starfish and anemones kept everybody entertained.

Kent caught me having a "soaking it all in" moment.

We finished off our great day by eating at In and Out. Jack will now snarf down a double double with no problem. By the way...I post these pictures hoping it will motivate some of my family to want to come visit. (hint, hint :) Don't the waters call your name? Our awesome apartment awaits you!

Catch-up

2012-01-15T22:04:00.000-08:00

Jack played "after school hoops" during the fall. He loved it and felt grown-up because he got to play with all the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. (he's in 1st) Not that he's that good, he's just that big :) On a more recent note, I had a good laugh watching him react to the recent 49ers win over the Saints. He watched every second of that game. He was cheering, coaching, calling plays, shouting, yelling, and commenting about everything. I heard him yell, "come on, that was PI (pass interference)!" He got SO in to it. Needless to say, there were tears of sadness when the Saints scored with a minute thirty to go in the game. Then tears of pure joy when Alex Smith and niners pulled out the win. This kid loves sports.

Jordan's first attempt at doing her hair all by herself. I was actually pretty impressed, so I just let her keep it in and go to preschool. If there is any word to describe my little miss Jordan it is "independent."

"Come on mom," "Let's go," are Ryan's favorite phrases these days. He'll grab any pair of shoes he can find and head to the door. Who cares if I'm just in a onsie :) Ryan is also saying, "No, that way!" while we are driving. Like he has Jack's internal GPS built in and he knows when we are going to the store and not to his friends house.

I swear, I did not teach her how to pose like this or the pose on our Christmas card. This girl does not lack any spunk or personality at all.

We seem to not be able to get enough beach shots while living here in CA. I'm beginning to wonder if I can ever leave it now that it feels such a part of me.

Jumping waves never gets old.

My kids were not supposed to get wet on the this trip (we were there to have a picnic and take family pictures) As you can see that didn't go as planned. Also, not planned was Kent leaving all of the kids clothes on top of the minivan on the ride home. Needless to say they weren't there when we got home. Kent miraculously found them all later that night when he drove back and retraced the path we took home with emergency lights on, and driving on the shoulder...all because he loves me :)

The breathtaking sunset we caught at Half Moon Bay back in October.

I know, I know, this was ages ago in the blogging world, but I had to get a few shots of the kids' Halloween costumes on here. I'll admit, I had to pat myself on the back for making Ryan's owl costume. The kids got plenty of chances to wear their costumes to school parties, the ward trunk-or-treat, a Harry Potter party at the city library, visiting a nursing home, and of course the actual night of Halloween.

More Catch-up

2011-08-24T23:06:00.000-07:00

Trip to Malta - June 2011
I love this place. Even though I'm growing up (or should be), have kids, and have lived in Palo Alto for 7 years, this house and this yard still fill like "home."

Nothing beats running barefoot in the grass on a perfect summer evening.

Ryan, always wanting to do things that are about one year beyond his ability. Here he is at 16 1/2 months.

The whole family (minus Jill and clan) at City of Rocks. I love hiking here, but Jack also thinks he is about 8 years older than he really is and tries to keep up with cousin Brandon (14 yrs). We end up doing a lot of yelling to get him off a big rock or scary drop-off.

Jordan with Grandma and Grandpa.

A view from the river house. Quickly growing in my heart as a special place.

Doing his favorite thing - fishin'

Playing in the same little tree house that I played in as a kid.

Driving the boat with Grandpa. Ryan's favorite thing was honking the horn.

Hot tubbing in the rain. Grandma's a good sport.

Saying goodbye is always dramatic and emotional. He loves his cousins and the farm and hates to leave. Last year, Jack didn't stop crying until after we passed the Nevada border. This year, he cried off and on all the way to the airport in Salt Lake.

Getting kisses from the kitties.

Until next year!

Catch-up

2011-08-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

May 31, 2011 Happy Hallow Park and Zoo

Jack and his cute, cute friend Emmy. I secretly hope that he will marry her someday :)

Katie and I went in on a membership pass to Happy Hallow this last year and went several times together. I love that we both have little boys names Ryan. They are very different despite having the same name. Her Ryan is fair, blond and blue eyed. My Ryan has darker skin, brown eyes and brown hair.

Ryan was actually a little braver on this trip and would go on several of the rides without fretting or crying.

Memorial Day at the Golden Gate National Cemetery

Joy School Graduation!

I loved, loved the moms in our group. Heather, Janet, and Emily were the perfect people to do this group with.

Catch-up

2011-08-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

Oh Ryan! This is such a funny little face. He looks little tired or like he just woke up. That's what you get for waking up between 5 and 6am every day buddy!

Jordan working hard at mastering these cross bars at the park where Jack was playing baseball. They were low to the ground so she had a lot of confidence in trying again and again.

Go Yankees! Jack loves baseball and this season went way too fast. He loved going to every game and every practice. So, did Ryan. Oh boy, that little guy knows how to hold a bat, swing and throw already...just 16 months old. (at least he thinks he can)

After their last game of the season. These little guys are so cute. This was their second season together and we're hoping to keep them together next year. About half of the team are from Jack's Young Fives Class. His little buddy, Jackson had a triple play this year, all on his own!

Jack and his coach, Albert.

Nice swing Jack!

Artichokes. "Why are you posting a picture of artichokes on your blog?" you may be asking. Well, they really are wild and knarly looking plants and I thought maybe you would enjoy seeing how they grow.

Happy 10th Anniversary!

We drove the hour and half from our house to Monterey and parked our car and then rode our bikes from Monterey along the coast and along 17 mile drive, past Pebble Beach and then to Carmel. It was the perfect day and the wide open views were spectacular. We've driven this rode many times, but to ride it made it even better. And even better to spend the day with Kent! Ten years and getting better every day!

We got lunch at an Italian Restaurant in Carmel, shopped, and I even surprised Kent with arranging for us BOTH to get pedicures! Ha! I knew he would love it.

I LOVE these pictures. These little girls really know how to play and make-believe. I wish Ella and Abby (her other joy school friends) were in these pictures. Jordan cracks me up with her glamour pose in the picture below. They would play for hours in their own little world. Once in a while I would hear, "Mommy!" or "Mom!" and I would go into the room and say, "what?" and then Jordan or one of the girls would just look at me like I was totally interrupting them and say, "Not you!"

We had a really nice Easter brunch at the Foster's house and the first of two easter eggs hunts. The kids loved jumping on their tramp.

Helping little brother...so sweet.

Jordan and her best friend Emily. Jordan is about 4 inches taller than most of the girls her age. I guess that's how I feel now with all of my friends, so I don't know why I'm surprised.

Easter egg hunting with all our friends at the Woolfs and Hatches houses. We are getting a lot of kids! It's crazy to think that when we moved here, Jack and Nate and Ben were the only little kids among our close group of friends. Now there are over 20!

Jack's class practiced for weeks with Senor Carlos to learn this dance of the pineapples. They performed it at a special night at school and at the school's big Cinqo to Mayo party. Jack was adorable and did a great job.

Having fun with bubbles one afternoon in April.

Hiking one Sunday afternoon up in the forests off HWY 92 on the way to Half Moon Bay.

The kids loved looking for Banana Slugs. I think we found over 20 of them.

Yoga time

2011-05-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Jordan and her best friend Emily, doing a little P90X Yoga. I was excited they wanted to try. They got bored after about 5 minutes and went back to play "family" or "sisters" or "mom and baby" or "mom and sister and dog" or "moms and babies."

Ryan's First Hair Cut

2011-05-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Kent said "it is time" and so I finally gave in and let Kent cut my little baby boy's hair. I was holding on to it because I knew as soon as we cut it, it would make him seem like a toddler and not my baby. He was getting some cute little curls in the back. Don't worry, I saved them. (Kent thinks it is weird and kind of gross, but they have to go in the baby book, right?)

Helpful tip for cutting kids hair: let them listen to your ipod. Ryan loved it and sat there so still for a long time.

My BIG boy! (this was also back in March and is about due for another trim now)

Dreaming of Baseball

2011-05-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

One night, just a few days after baseball started and Jack got his new jersey and hat, I went in to the kids' room to check on them before going to bed myself, and this is what I found. He loves baseball. I think he is dreaming of hitting that homerun, or sliding into second base (which he does all the time, whether it is necessary or not), or catching a popfly and throwing it to first to make a double play. The season is almost over and he has not tired once of the 3 day a week schedule of little league baseball. I'll post more exciting shots of him actually playing instead of dreaming baseball.

Puddles!

2011-05-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

To any who follow my blog, (which I know can't be many, since I only post every 2 or 3 months), be prepared for another bragging. But come one, look at this boy! He is so good looking!

These shots are from a fun afternoon back in March playing in the puddles in our parking lot. Some might complain of the uneven and bumpy terrain of our parking lot, but we love it and the giant puddles that come after a rainstorm.

Update

2011-02-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

Oh how we love this cutie! Seriously, I know there are a lot of cute kids in the world, but come on, you have to admit this guy is so handsome. He is walking everywhere and getting in to all sorts of trouble (his favorite things to play with are my phones, the copier, our computers, the toilet, the garbage, the electric pencil sharpener, and the tv remotes). Anything he can't have, he wants it. Anything he can't do, we wants to do it. He is starting to throw little tantrums where we falls over, lays back (very carefully, so he won't smack his head) and starts to cry. He cries everytime Jack leaves for school and Kent leaves for work. Not so much because of them, but because they are going outside. We've also entered that stage where he is taking some tough falls and/or hits. He's getting confident in his walking and getting around, but has some goose eggs and bruises to show he is still learning. His official first words or I should say sounds were, "choo, choo" and the monkey sound, "oo, oo, aa"

This is what a California girl does when her mom says, "Jordan, lets go play in the snow! Go get your snow pants on." Clearly, she did exactly what I said, but didn't know that snowpants, unlike a swimming suit, go over all your other clothes. You got to laugh, this was her first time seeing snow since she was one year old.

Now, this is more like it. Hitting the beach in mid-January.

Jordan's 4 years old! She had a Minni Mouse party with a few of her friends that were still in town before Christmas.

Jack's kindergarten class celebrating Chinese New Year. He loves school and riding his bike there everyday and I love that he only has 14 kids in his class. Jordan's learned to ride with no training wheels lately, so now I'm running after the two of them trying to keep up.

This kid has great hair. He sported a faux-hawk for a "wacky hair" day at school. We've been trying to get him to let us cut it for weeks, but he whines that it keeps him warm during the winter.

As for Kent and I, we are doing good. Kent has been super busy with work (it's busy season!) but helps me out a ton in the morning getting everybody up and ready for the day. Ryan's been waking up early lately and Kent takes him most mornings, letting me catch a few more minutes of sleep. I'm forever busy with the kids, apartment managing, primary, and just trying to have fun every day. We love California and can't believe we've been here 6 1/2 years now! Will we stay forever? Who knows, but I still feel lucky to be here.

Sir Ryan

2010-11-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

Little Ryan is getting more mobile by the day and is getting more and more fun to play with. The other day Jordan put this knight helmet on him. He thought he was grand and loved it...for a minute anyway. He is TEN months tomorrow! He started really crawling in the last two weeks and is now standing up to everything and walking along all the furniture. He also is standing up in his crib and screaming like a mad man during the night. We've had the older two sleep in the living room the last tthree nights to have him "cry it out" again. It's like the moment he wakes up he stands up and starts jumping in his bed and then doesn't know how to get back down and go back to sleep. Fun times here at the Taylor house. Good thing he is like the cutest little guy in the world.

Stanford fans?

2010-11-21T21:36:00.000-08:00

So, we've become Stanford football fans this season. Kent and I got to go to the Stanford/USC game and then Jack and Kent went to the Stanford/Arizona game. We just ride our bikes down the road about a mile and a half to the stadium. Jack loves watching football and can get a little emotional when the team he is rooting for doesn't win. We've had fun following them this year, although our hearts are still in Cougartown.

Whale Watching

2010-11-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

When I heard that a blue whale had washed up onto a beach about 40 minutes from us near Pescadero, I knew I had to go and check it out. It was incredible. It was about 80 feet long. It was injured by a boat. It was pregnant when it died, so you could see the baby whale (in the last picture it is the long white thing you see to the left of the mom). The kids thought it was fascinating, especially Jack who could have stayed and studied it for hours. Due to the awful smell, I limited it to about 15 minutes before we headed to the other end of the beach. Now I can imagine that Jonah really was swallowed by a whale. Before seeing this incredible mammal, that story seemed a little "fishy."

Halloween 2010

2010-11-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! I know it was a week ago but we are still dressed up over here. We had a great Halloween this year minus the traditional trick-or-treating. Between Jordan's joy school party, Jack's school parade, class and school parties, and our ward party we got our fill of costumes and candy.

I like 'em BIG, I like 'em CHUNKY!

2010-04-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

I like 'em round, I like 'em plumpy! That's our Ryan these days. (sorry, if you haven't seen Madagascar 2, then this probably isn't that funny). He is three months now and is probably 16 pounds. At 8 weeks he weighed 14 lbs 8oz., so the 16lbs is a guess, but he's not getting any skinner that is for sure. We love him and just want to eat him up. He is smiling a lot now and my favorite is when he starts cueing and talking back to me. (not like the other two talk back, just sweet sounds and I'm sure he is saying how much he loves me and thinks I'm the best mom...at least that is what it sounds like :)

Katie's Cupcakes

2010-03-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Katie made the most beautiful and delicious cupcakes for Ryan's blessing dinner. They were amazing and I had to make a special post just for her. Thanks Katie!!

Ryan's Blessing

2010-03-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

March 7th:

Ryan's blessing day turned out great. Kent gave him a really nice blessing. We were so thankful to have all of our best friends there. After church we had dinner at Pete and Julie's house (big thanks to them for hosting us). I did most of the food, which was a little stressful, but not too bad. I owe a big thanks to all our friends for bringing the food they did and helping me get it all ready. I kind of felt all grown-up, arranging it all on my own. We had a fun evening talking. The star of the day (Ryan) was asleep in a back room during most of the night. We love Ryan so much and are so thankful he is apart of our family.

March 7th:

Rya

More of our little (but quickly growing) Ryan

2010-03-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

Ryan is getting big! My guess is that he is 13lbs. He seems to be doing better. He still throws-up a lot and seems a little fussy after he eats, but he definitely seems happier. In fact, he's smiling now! I kind of caught one of him smiling in that picture of him and Jordan on the floor. More pictures of Ryan's blessing day to come...

Ryan update

2010-02-14T21:20:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Ryan is already 3 weeks old. Time has flown by. We enjoyed two weeks of visits from my parents and Kent's parents. They were so much help. Jack and Jordan cried both times when each set of grandparents left. I'm a little nervous for this next week when I go at it alone. Ryan is such a sweetie...most of the time. I will admit that he is my hardest baby so far. He cries more than I remember the other two crying. He just seems to have a bellyache or gas or air in his belly. We're starting to figure him out though and we had our first 4 hour stretch at night last night :) He typically is up every 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Which means at 9:35pm I should be in bed sleeping instead of blogging. We love him so much and he makes us all laugh with his funny noises, cross eyes, and gassy smiles. He is already packing on the pounds and becoming my little chunky monkey. So far some nicknames that we have for him are: baby Ry, Ry dog, mister man, bugger, baby bear, and buddy.

Baby Ryan is here!

2010-01-24T21:10:00.001-08:00

Finally! We are so happy Ryan is here safe and sound. We are just soaking him in and enjoying the first few magical days of having a newborn. We think he knew exactly what he was doing coming when he did. First, he was thinking of me and didn't come on my birthday. Second, he was thinking of Kent and came on a weekend so that he wouldn't have to ask for too much time off work and we would have a full week with Kent next week. And third, he was thinking of the kids because as of January 21st the hospital where I delivered lifted an age restriction that said that no kids under 14 yrs old could visit at the hospital, so the kids got to come and see us and have that special moment. It was so sweet to see how the kids loved him at first sight and had to take turns holding him over and over and over.

Here are his stats:
born: January 22nd at 7:44am
weight: 8lbs 6ozs
length: 21 inches

I wish I had some digital copies of the pictures of when Jack was a baby (we were old school then and just had a film), but we think they look SO much alike. Oh, and his offical name is: Ryan Morris Taylor. Morris is Kent's middle name, Kent's dad's middle name, and Kent's grandpa's name. We love him so much and are so thankful for him!

O.K. You Asked For It!!!

2010-01-19T20:41:00.000-08:00

Alright, here is to hoping that no weirdos, strangers or just that very few people actually look at this blog. After having gone through two pregnancies and not having a single picture of my big 9 month pregnant belly, I decided that like it or not, it had to be done. Hopefully no one is sickened or offended by the skin picture! (mom or dad!!!) Still no baby, but I'm relieved that it won't be on my birthday. Here's to hoping for tomorrow :)

The New Mini

2010-01-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

Here she is: the new minivan. We don't have a name for her yet. (we always name our cars...it's tradition since I first met Kent and he drove "Gina") I have LOVED it! I will admit that I'm so glad we decided to get the leather and automatic doors. The kids think it is a playground and they always try to jump out of the door right before it hits them when it is shutting. We are official now: the Mormon Minivan drivers.

40 weeks and counting...

2010-01-18T21:12:00.000-08:00

So, you're all probably amazed at that I'm actually posting, but more amazed that I'm still pregnant! Me too! This is what happens when everything on your pre-delivery checklist is done and you have nothing else to do while you wait to go into labor. So now it is the eve of my birthday and while before tonight I was doing everything you could think of to get this baby to come (including a run to the park) now I'm going to sit on the couch and try not to move a muscle for the next 27 hours. Call me selfish, but I really don't want a baby on my birthday. A baby is a great present, an incredible present, but it is still awesome whether it's on your birthday or not. Just because I'm writing about it, I'll eat my words and it will happen tomorrow. Everyone needs to combine together and pray that I can hold off for one more day, then in our little family we would have birthdays on the 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd. We'll keep you posted...

Saying Goodbye...part 2

2010-01-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Jordan made a (somewhat forced) New's Years Resolution of no more binkies! We were blessed to catch her on the right day, at the right time, in the right mood. I wanted her to give them up willingly and knowingly. We told her we would take her to the toy store and buy a new toy if she would throw all her binkies away. She was a brave girl and actually didn't even hesitate as she threw them into the dumpster in our parking lot. That night and the following were pretty brutal, but by the third night she did great. She has actually been a little better behaved and not as whiney.

Saying Goodbye

2010-01-18T21:00:00.001-08:00

For almost a year Kent has been driving our 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix with the transmission not working very well. It would pop out of gear every time he turned left. Good thing on this way to work in San Jose everyday he only had to turn left once. With baby #3 on the way we decided it was time for a minivan, so we decided to donate Kent's car and keep our other car. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to it. It almost had 200,000 miles on it. It was a great car. We'll miss "Goldie."

Christmas 2009

2010-01-18T20:36:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Christmas at home in Palo Alto again this year. We did go to Half Moon Bay on Christmas Eve. It was a beautiful day and had fun exploring around the point near the Ritz. We had a really fun night with our friends the Asays, Steigers, and Johnsons. Janet did an incredible job making her house and the dinner table look so fancy and festive. The kids acted out the nativity and we played a few fun games later. Our little family has started the tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve and then reading "The Night Before Christmas" right before going to bed. Christmas morning was so much fun. I LOVE watching the kids open their gifts. Jordan would have been set with her stocking full of candy. That occupied her for a long time and she didn't even bother to open some of her presents for a while. Jack on the other hand tore into everything he could as fast as he could. When he first got on his bike in the living room he was a little tippy and unbalanced (it is really big for him), he got off of it and said, "it could be for next year!" He really loves it now and I feel like I have to really cruise along on my bike to keep up with him. Jordan loved her new dolly, dolly clothes, tea set, and cash register. Poor girl came down with a fever on Christmas day and was pretty wiped out by the afternoon. We missed being with family, but love being able to give our own kids lots of time and attention. We had the missionaries over for brunch and walked to a park with them. It was a sunny, beautiful day. Oh, Kent got me work-out clothes (I guess I really have to start working out after the baby comes) and he got me a bluetooth (since I got a ticket for talking on my cell phone while driving my car about a month ago). Kent got a surprise trip to Las Vegas to watch BYU play in their bowl game. He met Kenneth down there and I think they had a great time. Thanks to Emily for arranging that!

Jordan's 3!!!

2010-01-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

Jordan and her two friends Abby and Emily had a princess party for their 3rd birhtdays. The three little girls were born just 6 days apart. They got to decorate crowns and have a special visitor from Cinderella (a girl in our ward really did have a job in Disneyland as Cinderella and even has the dress and glass slippers!) The girls were mezmorized by her. Jordan actually isn't into the the Disney princess thing, but did like getting her picture taken with her. The picture of Jordan in the princess dress was only obtained after bribing her to put on the dress. She's funny. She's a bit of a tomboy, but loves the color pink and playing with dollies.

Jordan's Ballet Recital

2010-01-18T20:18:00.000-08:00

Jordan and her little ballet group performed a sugar plum fariy dance at a recital in December. They did pretty good performing on the spot. We liked it so much that we had them do it two times. Right in the middle of the second time through, Jordan ran to me announcing to everyone that she needed to go potty! I guess that's better than peeing during a performance!

Christmas in the Park

2010-01-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

We've made it a yearly tradition to go down to San Jose to Kent's work to see Santa and then go to Christmas in the Park. They have hundreds of Christmas trees decorated, fun little Christmas scenes, entertainment, and our favorite a ferris wheel ride.

Nolan and Ashley come to town!

2009-12-10T21:18:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun with Nolan and Ashley when they came to visit in November. Nolan was working up north of here in Vacaville, so Ashley and kids stayed with us for the week. We had a fun time going to the jr. museum and zoo here in Palo Alto, the San Francisco children's park (in Golden Gate Park) and Japanese Tea Garden, and the Jelly Belly Factory. Ashely is SO helpful and has an amazing talent of seeing a need and just jumping up and taking care of it. I loved having her around and the kids had so much fun playing together. It was great to get to know Gracey girl and Thomas better.

Halloween 2009

2009-12-10T21:03:00.000-08:00

Don't pass out, but I'm finally getting around to posting some Halloween pictures. I had to get a few shots of the kids on here. I was pretty happy with how their costumes turned out. Jack looked pretty scary. Jordan decided that she DID NOT want her face painted. We had a great time at the ward trunk-or-treat and trick-or-treating in a nice neighborhood in old town Palo Alto. After that we took the kids to Jim Welch's spookey organ concert.

Jack's Five!!!

2009-09-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

Jack had a great birthday. I can't believe he is five. I feel so lucky to be his mom. He is such a great kid. He's happy, mellow, fun, tender, and tough. He was honored in his class at school and I could tell he felt so special. Then after soccer practice we took him and his friend Ben Asay to Chuck-e-Cheese's. They had a great time playing the games. After, we came back to our house for cake. The boys chased each other around the house and were having so much fun shooting each other with nerf guns. I hated to break it up, but it was after 9pm and a school night. The main thing he wanted was a bow and arrow. Ever since the pioneer themed primary activity day back in July that is what he asked for. He also got some more legos, which he loves and is a better builder than I ever was. We love Jack!

Labor Day Fun

2009-09-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

On Monday we went up to the city and rode the ferry over to Angel Island. We were able to catch-up with the Asay's (almost by accident) and had a great day with them. We rented bikes and rode the 5 miles around the island. The view was spectacular. You could see all around the bay. I was really proud of Jack for biking that far and for not complaining one time. It was a fairly difficult ride in some places. We had to walk our bikes on some really steep parts. After the ride, the kids played at the beach. I don't know how, it being Labor Day, but we had the beach to ourselves and the kids had a great time cooling off.

When you can't go camping in the woods, your backyard is just as good. The Woolf's hosted a "camp-out" in their backyard the weekend of labor day. I wasn't sure about 4 tents all within inches of each other and how bedtime would go. But, luckily the kids were worn-out by 9:00ish and the adults were able to stay-up and talk and laugh around the fire. We had tin foil dinners, samores, and pancakes the next morning. We love our Palo Alto friends!

Tide Pools at Half Moon Bay

2009-09-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

I dragged the family out of bed early on Saturday morning and we went to the Fitzgerland Tide Pools in Half Moon Bay. You have to get there early before the tide is too high. We had a great time walking around the rocks and looking for sea anemones, star fish, little hermit crabs and fish, and watching a group of about 12 seals play in the water.

Jordan!

2009-09-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

Jordan loves her ballet class. It is mostly fun to dress-up and twirl around like a princess. She is learning a lot from her teacher Miss Heather, my good friend. Her class is made-up of all her ABC school friends plus a few more girls from the ward. They are so cute!

This is Jordan's dream, a huge bowl of strawberries. Whenever I buy them she searches the flat over for the "big one." The bigger the better in her little eyes. She LOVES strawberries.

I need to try and post a video, but Jordan is swimming now! I have to admit that I am a pretty proud mama. She can go about 6 or 7 feet. She'll jump off the steps and kick her little legs so hard. She doesn't use her arms much, but manages to move. She will jump off the side of the pool and swim to me too. Thanks to her little friend Jackie that has been our inspiration.

Jack's First Day of School

2009-09-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Jack is loving school. He goes everyday from 8:30am to 12:15pm. He has made a lot of new friends already and loves to get-up and go everyday. One day I asked him to tell me one good thing and one bad thing that happened. The good thing was that he got to eat lunch on top of the castle and the bad thing was that a girl told him that she wanted to marry him. Then another day he came home and hold me that a girl told him that he was handsome. He wasn't sure about that either. It's funny to hear of all these little happenings. I love that I get to be in his classroom once a week and see first hand what they do in a day and get to know all the kids in his class.

Camping!

2009-09-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

I had to post a few pictures of our quick camping trip to Camp Lehi in Big Basin. We just stayed one night (which was good enough for me :) The funnest part was watching the kids perform to Kent (the never ending jukebox)singing "Ghostbusters."

Crazy Kids

2009-09-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

It seems that finger painting always turns in to body painting.

Half Moon Bay

2009-09-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Janet, Katie, and I hit the beach on a beautiful day. The kids always play so well on the beach. They can entertain themselves forever. They had fun flying a kite and building sandcastles.

Swim Lessons at Rinconada

2009-09-24T22:14:00.000-07:00

Jack did a great job and really took off with his swimming this summer. Now he is diving down for things in the 9 foot end, diving really well, and seems to spend more time under the water than above. He also loves doing crazy jumps in to the water, especially when dad is there to give ideas and demonstrate.

Trip to Idaho - June 2009

2009-09-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

City of Rocks

Jordan loved the jet ski (as long as I let her drive)

Playing in Darin's yard. The kids LOVED playing on the swing set, trampoline, sandbox, swimming pool, and slip-n-slide. It's a kid's paradise.

Riding with Grandpa in the tractor. Jack's favorite part: honking the horn.

Floating down the Raft River. A first for me!

I still got it at 13 weeks pregnant!

I talked Jack into jumping in and taking a little swim in the "snake". Just the name of the river can get a kid scared.

The view from Dad and Mom's new river house.

A beautiful sunset on the farm.

Our Perfect Cruise :)

2009-05-31T22:43:00.002-07:00

This is just a teaser of more cruise photos to come. This was our first full day at sea and I have never felt a cruise boat move like it was this day. Kent needed to throw-up, Janet did throw-up and me and Jason felt fine. It was just crazy outside, blowing like 55 mph, cold, and wavey!

Sleeping Beauty

2009-05-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

Jordan totally sacked out on the couch one day after lunch and when I took her binkie out, her tongue stayed out too. She looks so cute, so tired, and we so need to get rid of the binkie!

Jordan's Running Clothes

2009-05-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

One day after working out, Jordan found my sweaty clothes and put them on, saying, "I go exercise mom!"

Easter '09

2009-05-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you boggers (you know who you are) who fretted about posting Easter pictures "just one week late!!!" this ought to make you feel better :)

We had a wonderful Easter. We celebrated with our ward at a park enjoying a pancake breakfast, Easter egg hunt, and good old fashioned games. Then on Sunday we had a DELICIOUS meal with 4 other couples and their families. It was kind of a magical afternoon: the kids ate and then played without any incident, crying, or fighting for at least 30 minutes in the other room, while the adults finished dinner and chatted, then we went to the nearby park (which we had entirely to ourselves) and had a great egg hunt, and we finished it off with key lime pie and laughing and talking on a blanket on the grass. I love our Palo Alto Friends!

Kiss me!

2009-05-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this make you just want to kiss this handsome boy!

Emotions

2009-05-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

I had fun taking pictures of the kids pretending to be happy, sad, scared, surprised, etc. Mostly, they switch between happy and even more happy. They are so cute...sometimes!

Jordan's Cutting Frenzy

2009-05-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

Jordan LOVES glue, paper, and sissors. She really got into a cutting frenzy about a month ago, where she would just sit and cut and cut and cut. I was constantly cleaning up bits of paper off the kitchen floor. If I didn't hide the glue, she would be going through a bottle a day if I let her. She doesn't really understand that you just need a little bit!

Jack's Plane on the Hudson

2009-03-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

When news came in about the airplane that landed in the Hudson river Jack showed a lot of interest and concern. He asked about it for days and even searched the news channels for more pictures. He got out his airplane and set it all up like this by himself. I was amazed at how well he remembered the photos that he saw briefly on t.v. He wanted to reenact the whole thing. Cute kid.

Jordan's crazy nap

2009-03-26T22:06:00.000-07:00

This is what I found when I went to check on Jordan during her nap time. Looks like she had fun before she fell asleep. She could reach some of the games and puzzles off the shelf next to her crib. Since that day I take down those bins that she can reach every time before her nap. She is so funny.

Christmas Break Get-Away

2009-03-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

We went had a great little get-away to San Francisco, Point Reyes, and Napa over Christmas break. First, we went up Coit Tower which has a great view of San Francisco and the bay. Then we drove to Golden Gate Park and had a picnic and played at the children's park. We then drove about an hour north to Point Reyes. There is a cool old lighthouse there. It was SUPER foggy when we got there. Jack counted every step as we walked back up the 300 steps from the lighthouse to the car. We drove east throgh some smaller roads to Napa and got dinner and found our hotel. The kids thought it was so fun to stay in the hotel and did what all kids do in a hotel room--jumped on the bed. The next day we explored Napa and several different wineries. Napa valley is beautiful. I loved how there was field after field of perfectly straight rows of grapes. We explored a castle winery and rode a tram up a hill to another one that provided greats views of the valley. The kids fell asleep in the car which was a life saver. We had a late lunch, rode a trolley around Napa, and even got to stop at a few outlet stores before heading home. One memory I have of this trip is that night when we pulled in to Palo Alto after 8:00pm we decided to continue to live it up and went to Red Mango for frozen yogurt. We just didn't want the fun to end.

New Song!

2009-03-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

Does this count as a post??? I changed my song. Ha, ha! Actually, this song from jason mraz and colbie callait, and the other one I added to my playlist from plain white tees are my two favorite songs right now. Enjoy :)

Christmas 2008

2009-01-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas at home in Palo Alto.

Christmas this year will be remembered by:
-a fun Christmas Eve spent with our dear friends, the Asays. Yummy food, Janet's beautifully decorated house and table, fun group games, doing the navity with all the kids.
-reading the "The Night Before Christmas" right before going to bed.
-feeling more excited about Christmas than ever before. I had no idea as a kid that my parents were actually more excited and having more fun than I was.
-doing the countdown and running down our hall to the living room (in keeping with tradition...hopefully someday we'll have stairs)
-watching Jack rip open the trampoline and seeing Jordan's look of pure delight when she saw the kitchen and opened the food
-eating pizza and root bear by the tree Christmas Day night
-delivering cookies to a few friends "secretly" Jack loved it and thought it was so cool to sneak away.
-Jordan's chocolate covered face after eating chocolate ice cream bonbons.
-dancing in the kitchen with the kids

Sorry for the late posts! Better late than never, right? I guess this means I don't have to post for another couple of months :)

December Highlights

2009-01-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

We met Kent his work in San Jose one night, saw Santa there (again), went to dinner, and then went to Christmas in the Park. It is a delightful display with tons of decorated Christmas trees, miniture Christmas scenes, little train, and even fake snow. The highlight of the night was going on the ferris wheel ride with Jack and seeing the city and all the beautiful Christmas lights from up top.

I caught Jordan snitching some popcorn off this tree. This girl LOVES popcorn. We went to a little event at the Four Seasons Hotel where they offered free gourmet hot chocolate and cookies, and rides with Santa on a horse drawn sleigh (however, right before it was our turn to get on the sleigh a wheel broke and we settled for just sitting on Santa's lap.

Other December highlights: Going to the Oakland temple christmas concert and first night when they turned on the lights, visiting our favorite houses in Sunnyvale that have their lights synchronized to music, ward Christmas party, joy school Christmas party, and Kent's work party, more lights in Palo Alto and ice cream.

Jordan's TWO!

2009-01-09T20:56:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Jordan's birthday with her friends Abby and Emily. They were all born within 6 days of each other. We had a little party on a Saturday morning with the three families. It was SO FUN to watch those three girls dance around, play ring-around-the-rosies, and smile for the all the flashing cameras. We love our little Jordan Dolly. She cracks me up lately. She loves her babies. She got diapers and wipes and a little dolly bed for her birthday. She even sticks the babies up her shirt and puts a blanket over her belly. She's been hanging around a lot with my nursing friend April. Whether or not she really gets it??? Her life doesn't get any better than when she has her babies, stroller, and purse (complete with keys, wallet, old cell phone and of course the diapers and wipes. She's a good little mommy.

Halloween

2008-11-11T11:12:00.001-08:00

Little Miss Spider and the Fire Breathing Bat (that was all Jack's idea...perhaps I need to explain to him that dragons breath fire, not bats. Oh well, I didn't want to crush his idea). The kids had several occasions to wear their outfits: our ward trunk-or-treat, the joy school Halloween party and on Halloween night.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2008-11-04T21:51:00.000-08:00

Another Family Adventure! We took the kids to the Monterey Bay Aquarium back in September. The kids were fascinated by it all. Our favorite things: the jellyfish, the sleeping otters, and the kids zone. The giant tuna were pretty awesome too.

We made a whole day of it and stopped at the outlets in Gilroy on our way home and ate at In in Out. We have so much fun together :)

Moonlight Run

2008-11-04T21:35:00.001-08:00

September 12th

Jennilyn (my good, good friend and running partner, who was pregnant when she ran this!) ran a 10K in Palo Alto's annual moonlight run around the baylands. The race started around 8:00pm so it was really dark when we started running and it was a full moon. It was so fun. There was a big group of girls from our ward and a few from other wards we knew who ran it or the 5K too. We definitely want to make it a September tradition.

Joy School

2008-11-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

Jack's Joy School Group

Jack is surrounded by girls! He is the only boy in our joy school group and in his primary class. He is getting lots of dress-up and make-believe play in. Kent and I try to keep him "all boy" by playing tackle football at home and setting up play dates with Nate and Ben.

Joy School is going great. Jack loves it and is really taking some strides with letters and numbers. He loves to do "homework" while Jordan naps.

Jack's 4th Birthday!

2008-10-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

We had a bike party for Jack's 4th Birthday. He loved it! We had an obstacle course, bike decorating and a parade. The funniest moment of the day came when I sent the kids around this loop in the park on their bikes. Jack and his friend, Ben, were coming down the home stretch when Jack noticed that Ben was slightly in front of him. Jack yelled out, "Benny, it's my birthday!" and proceeded to speed up and cut Ben off, causing poor Ben to crash. Ben was so tough and didn't even cry despite a bloody knee. Jack got in trouble and cried like a baby. Other than that, it was a great party! Jack got a razor scooter from us that he loves. He is already a pro on it and zooming down the ramps to the parking garages.

2008-09-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

We had a boy in our ward take these pictures. I love them! I thought he did a great job. I was so pleased at how well the kids did. They were taken at Gamble Gardens, here in Palo Alto. I feel like these shots capture the sweet stage of life that we are in right now with two kids, and show Jack and Jordan's unique personalities.

2008-09-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures - August 2008

2008-09-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

Muir Woods/Stinson Beach/Golden Gate Park (July 7th)

2008-08-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Kent had work off on Monday, so we went on a family adventure (as Jack likes to call them) to the Muir Woods, Stinson Beach and Golden Gate Park. It was a perfect day. We love being all together and wish we could get away more often.

Muir Woods

The Muir Woods was beautiful. It is about 20 minutes north of San Francisco. The kids loved walking along the path, getting side-tracked by things like spider webs, the wood railings, and each other....everything but the trees :) Jack was so excited when we saw this deer.

Stinson Beach

Jordan actually fell asleep in the car driving from the Muir woods to the beach and surprisingly transferred to the beach. We laid her down on the blanket and she slept another hour. It was a little chilly when we got there, but it warmed up and we even got in the chilly northern California water and played in the waves.

Golden Gate Park

Jack LOVED this cement slide. You ride down on a piece of cardboard. He went down it over and over and over. It is located in this great children's park area of Golden Gate Park. I definitely want to take the kids there again. There is a great old carousal that we all rode on as well.

Kauai - May 21-27th

2008-06-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Our Kauai trip was a dream. We had so much fun. The kids stayed with Aunt Kristine and some dear Palo Alto friends. We were gone 6 nights and loved every second of it.

This picture is from the Princeville Hotel's hammock right on the beach. We didn't stay there (it's about $400/night), but we did eat dessert there and snuck down to the pool and beach area and found the perfect spot for cuddling and listening to the waves.

Here's a run down of what we did:

Wednesday: Flew there (loved the plane ride with no kids :) rented our sweet car, found a farmers market, bought groceries, found our condo and watched season finale of American Idol.

Thursday: Snorkeled at Kee Beach, hiked to Queen's Bath, jumped off cliffs (we ran into the surfer girl that got her arm bit off by a shark there), played in a waterfall (we got sunburned the first day...stupid), ate at Bubba's burgers and walked around Hanalei.

Friday: Drove to Opekaa falls, drove to Wailua falls, hiked down a fun trail to the bottom and walked up the river to the bottom of the falls, drove to Kipu falls where we had so much fun jumping off cliffs (I even talked Kent into it) and swinging into the pond from the rope swing, then drove to Poipu where we saw the Spouting Horn, snorkled, and layed out...getting even more sunburned, drove around Koala and got a shave ice.

Saturday: Snorkled Tunnels. It was awesome, tons of fish and really cool coral and rock formations. Hiked the first leg of the Napali trail, 2.5 miles each way. The views of the Napali coast were spectacular. Princeville Hotel and sunset.

Sunday: Hideway beach in the morning, church, Fern Grotto, Lighthouse and secret beach and lava pools.

Monday: 17 mile ocean kayak along Napail Coast. Incredible. The most beautiful site we've seen in our lives. No pictures of that yet, we had our water camera. Highlights included: Kent throwing-up, 10-15 mile/hr head wind that made for a tough paddle, sleeping on the beach during our lunch break and my arms killing me by the end of the day. It was totally worth it.

Our sweet Pontiac G6 GT Convertible that only had 15 miles on it when we got it.

O.K. so you're probably thinking "why the random picture of a rooster?" Well, actually I could have taken a thousand pictures of roosters or chickens. They were literally everywhere that we went. Kent has a million dollar idea which he called the "Cockbusters" He said, "If your Cock is crow'in, who ya gonna call? Cockbusters!" He figured he would help slim down Kauai's out of control chicken population out by charing $5/head.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-30T19:38:00.001-07:00

We went to Provo for an EY recruiting trip. It was a super fast trip. We left Friday night and came home Sunday night. We surprised Jenny and her family Easter morning at their house. The kids had an easter egg hunt in Jenny's backyard and we were able to visit with the family for a couple of hours before heading back to the airport.

Christmas in Idaho

2008-01-25T15:14:00.000-08:00

We braved I-80 and made the 12 hour drive, with the car packed to the max, to Malta for Christmas. It will forever be remembered as the "throw-up Christmas." A stomach flu passed around the whole family. Other highlights included:

almost going tubing in a crazy blizzard, but playing in the shop instead
fliming our traditional "The Night Before Christmas", with the addition of "Office" style interviews at the end
Snowmobiling (being the first on the newly groomed trails)
Grandma and Grandpa tending all the grandkids while we went to the movie
Playing dice, hand and foot, ticket to ride and blokus
Kent surprising me with black boots!
Kent studying for the CPA :(
Jack throwing-up in the hot tub :(
Getting a ticket on the way home :(
Hanging out with the best family ever :)

2008-01-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

2008-01-25T15:10:00.000-08:00

2008-01-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

This picture pretty much summarizes Jordan behavior the whole week that we were in Malta. That or she just saw Grandpa Harper. (She would start to cry every time that she saw him.)

2008-01-25T14:51:00.000-08:00

I love mom and dad's house at Christmas time. There something magical about that great room, with all the decorations, lights, stockings, the fireplace and the giant tree. Maybe it is the memory of so many "best Christmas's ever" spent here.

I love these pictures! I think they show how genuinely happy everyone was that Christmas Eve night.

2008-01-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

T-Rex!!! Jack loved being a dinosaur for Halloween.

The cutest pumpkin you ever saw.

It's Official: I'm a blogger

2007-11-28T15:08:00.001-08:00

O.k. family, I'm getting into the blogging spirit. I'm not making any promises of how often I'll update it, but here it is.