BEAUTIFUL DAY...

signing off...

2010-10-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

Dear blog readers,

I am no longer doing a blog:O)....haha, if you haven't noticed.

I am on facebook and will post some pics every now and again, so for family who is really interested and friends too....you can see some pics there.
I decided to put my pictures/thoughts directly into a photobook (blurb) and don't really want to keep this blog up. I know some people use their blog and put them directly into their photobook....but for me, I just find it easier to do it the way I am doing. I may revive the blog someday if I ever feel the need, but as of now....I'm signing off.
Thanks for all of the fun and kind comments!

Enjoy this fall season, I know we are!!!!!!

cheers,
sly,
carpe diem,
ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

emotional wreck

2010-04-11T22:21:00.000-07:00

it's been a long week.

I'm tired, I'm emotional, I'm pms'ing. I feel love, I feel frustration, I feel anger, I feel resentment, I feel discouraged, I feel overwhelmed, I feel like curling up in a ball far far away where nobody can see.

And so I will cry.

Q4 of nursing school started out as merry as can be; besides the fact that I wasn't feeling "ready" for a new schedule/teachers/requirements/growth in the clinical/classroom setting. Spring break was good and all... but I was not rejuvenated in any shape of the word.

But we started out good....All was well.

And then a fellow nursing student in the program committed suicide, and everybody in the program has had their world turned upside town.

We are a tight-knit community in our program, and though I did not know her, most everybody who I do know, knew her....and I have been reflecting on life ever since.

Life is precious.

At the end of the day, no matter the day, the thing I think about before I go to sleep are my children. "Why was I so impatient", "Why did I yell", "why am I not learning how to be more patient", "Oliver is just getting so big and I love him so much", "Eliza....oh eliza, you melt my heart, but man you're in a tricky stage", "Heavenly Father please let them grow and develop and lead long-happy lives"............

I watch them as they sleep. Oliver sleeps with a night cap on nearly every night. He is beautiful in his sleep, Angelic, and as peaceful as can be. I take his night cap off because it is so big....I give him a kiss and tell him I love him. Every once in a while he will respond with "I love you too mommy".
Eliza is just like me. She sleeps anywhere, so as long as she can be by somebody else. She has a nice little mattress on our floor where she "sleeps"....however, she doesn't choose to sleep there. She "quietly" and "slowly" makes her way to Aaron and/or I....she'll set up her blanket (sometimes pretending that she is only putting boopoo to bed there and not herself.....), but finally she will join boopoo in his covers, suck her thumb and his tail....and fall asleep. Just now I stepped on her because she fell asleep in the hallway/in the dark, waiting for me to finish in the bathroom while I was getting ready for bed...I did move her back to her bed, where she is peacefully sleeping as I type.
This is exactly how I was when I was a girl. I would fall asleep wherever I could, so long as somebody was by me. This must be genetic (as she has not "learned" this trait from me:O).

This week has been full of reflection, and continues on still.

On friday, I was supposed to spend the day in the lab at school, studying and practicing skills for clinical. Oliver had a field trip and I was to drop him off while I went and studied. Just as I was getting ready to take him, I decided "maybe I should take a few extra things...just in case they need some extra help on the field trip"....
I ended up staying for his field trip; not because they "needed" the help...but because I needed to be with my oliver. I truly needed to see him with his friends. I needed to see how he interacted with his teachers, how he played, what he likes to do, who he really likes to play with...I needed to be a part of this experience. I needed the memory of that day.
It was magical. Perfectly magical.
When oliver was younger he was a leader. I don't know why or how it came about, but he was "usually" a good friend, and his friends liked his way of playing and would often do as he did. He wasn't the "bossy" leader. He did his thing because it was interesting to him...and then others would often follow.
However, I have not seen him in this way for quite some time.

On the field trip, I saw my oliver. He is still a leader, he is still a good friend. It's not the fact that he is a "leader" that interests me. It is the fact that he has seemed to have that personality trait ever since he was born...it was just apparent. If that were to all of a sudden disappear, I worry he would be missing a part of himself, and it would break my heart.

I have not seen him so happy for a long time. It was a brilliant day.

That afternoon he also had his very first soccer class. This is his first extracurricular experience, and I pray only that he will enjoy himself and be happy there. He didn't want to go at first because he was very tired from the field trip...however, I told him we needed to go this once just to see how he liked it. He told me "if it doesn't work out, do I have to go next week?".....I of course told him no. He tiredly got dressed in his new soccer shoes and shin guards. He rode his bike to the field and dubiously lined up with the rest of the students. As soon as the coach spoke to him personally....Oliver was hooked. He lit up, and loved the rest of class. It was so fun watching him participate with other kids and the coaches.....it was just thrilling for a mom.

We went home and made ourselves a "blue" alligator smoothie, and all was well with the world:O)

It was a magical day in every way possible.

Saturday was sure to be "magical" as well.

I've officially got myself a new running partner since my dear friend moved away.
I've needed somebody to run with for a long time, and sure enough, when I had just about given up hope, a fellow classmate from another quarter wore running tights to school......the rest is history:O). She was heaven sent, and I am very grateful for our new friendship. We ran early in the morning up our favorite "mountain". It was a great run; peaceful, beautiful, sweaty and painful....it really doesn't get better then that.

Now for the next part, and where my guilty conscience comes in.....

We have never taken our kids to the temple...to SEE the Temple....EVER! That's right, neither one of them have ever seen a Temple in real life.
Due to the intensity of emotions and feelings going through my every CELL lately.....Friday night, aaron and I decided it was time. And so it was.
We took them to the Oakland Temple Saturday morning.
It was a stormy, windy, COLD day.
It was beautiful.
The kids were a little overwhelmed with the "newness". They ran around the temple grounds like two little crazy children who had never seen the light of day......I was a little embarrassed, to be honest. I thought to myself...."why isn't this magical"...."Isn't the temple a magical place for a child, especially if they've never seen it in real life?" "Why don't they feel something special and meaningful?"....."don't they feel the reverence that the Temple surrenders?"

I got discouraged, but then realized.....this is their first time. Let them experience something so new in their own way. Oliver loved it so much. He loved it, it was just different than what I had "expected" (ps....expectations are really painful sometimes, aren't they?)
We watched a movie in the visitors center and they both seemed to really like it. We wandered around everywhere we could, and just took it in. I'm slowly but surely learning about the impracticality of expectations....one day I will get it right.

After our excitement at the temple, we drove to a beautiful place. Ed Levin County Park. It is near Mission Peak, and OH MY.....it was beautiful. Incredibly beautiful.

There is nothing like the beautiful - spacious outdoors to calm a troubled heart.

And then today...oh how I dread sundays. Since honesty is no stranger in this post, I will not stop here.

Sundays are nearly, most often times DREADFUL. They are my least favorite day. Today was an especially bad day at church; a day when we decided to sit in the "middle" of the congregation (heaven forbid) rather than in the back where sometimes it is easier to hide...
Kids were not cooperative and I cried out in anger and frustration....of course I kept myself in control so as not to make a scene...but my heart was shouting at the top of its lungs, kicking, screaming, sobbing, RESENTING........it was miserable.
The only good thing at church for me right now are 2 things.....1. The days our kids are "decent" in sacrament meeting, and I don't feel like I'm going to go crazy. 2. My 7-8 year old class. I love them. I love them. I love them. They are as perfect as can be (most of the time:O).
Me and "church" are not on the same page as of now....but I'm not giving up hope.
I'm not sure why I find it so difficult, but I do...I just do, and that is it.

And now we're at day's end. It's pouring rain outside. We did have a little smoothie and no-bake cookie party this afternoon and watched a little movie together as a fam.....that was a good moment.

Everybody is asleep but me (I should be...)

And thus begins my reflecting....and thus I write, and have written:O).

It's been a long week, an emotional roller-coaster, if you will. I'm a bit concerned to be starting on the floor tomorrow with real live patients, and feeling the way I do. I'm kind of an emotional mess (if not apparent by all of my ramblings).

But....I'm excited. I love nursing school. I love my classmates, ALL OF THEM, dearly. I love what we are learning, and I love that I am finally on the road to helping people the way I have wanted to for so long. I read in one of our books that nurses must not only where their hearts on their sleeves, but they must also wear their brains on their sleeves....I love that. I want to not only have and feel love for the people I will be taking care of...but the brains/critical thinking/judgement skills necessary to figure out what it is they NEED in that critical moment and time.

And now that my children are sleeping....I love them dearly:O). I love them always.... but sometimes through all of the whining, crying and screaming...it is hard to see-FEEL that love....but I know it is ALWAYS there, no matter what. I love them more than anything. I love my husband more than anything. I love the beauty of the Earth...it's always an inspiration to me when I'm feeling the weight of the world....I can escape up a hill, and run all of my energy out into the dirt below me....and feel lightened.
ah.

And it is time for bed. Past time.

Good night.

I'll leave you with a few pictures (I'll try to do a long picture post another day....I have a lot:O). sly and good night
and remember to click on below picture to view the album.......

Temple and a beautiful hike...

before I go...

"God be with you till we meet again; by his counsels guide, uphold you, with his sheep securely fold you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; neath his wings securely hide you, daily manna still provide you; God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again; when life's perils thick confound you, put his arms unfailing round you; God be with you till we meet again
God be with you till we meet again; keep love's banner floating o'er you, smite death's threatening wave before you; God be with you till we meet again."

Rest in Peace our fellow nursing student, you will be missed...
sly

Nature Inspires me (just so you know)...

2010-04-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

here is what it looks like when you use fresh things from nature and add it to EASTER eggs....it really is amazing, you should try it:O)

I guess I will give a small intro to the below pictures. Last year I really wanted to make my own dye for coloring Easter eggs (you know...using stuff that is natural, to be one with the earth:O)....however, I didn't get started early enough....so it just didn't happen. This year however, I was DETERMINED to at least attempt it...and here is how it turned out. I am very proud I must say....it turned out much different then I could have ever expected (I wasn't expecting anything because I really had no idea how it would turn out...so I guess it was no surprise:O). They are very dark and I will try and work with a few more color schemes the next go around (tomorrow maybe?..haha, I really want to figure out a few "kinks")....BUT, this is a start to a very fun Easter egg tradition!!!!!
ps....Dear Grandma, I hope you can see these eggs from all the way up there, because every time I look at them I think of you......I'm MOST definitely your grand-daughter if I have a LOVE for the beauty of eggs, just like you!.....I love you! (p.s.s...if you saw my hands right now, you would be proud. They look just like yours at the end of a long day out in the garden....)

Items used:

Red Onion peels + raspberries and blueberries
Brown Onion peels + Paprika
Greens picked from outside: leaves, grass, flowers......and so on:O)
Spinach
Vinegar!

Wa-La!

above: grass + "orange" mixture

above left: leaves + purple mixture

Happy Easter Everybody...

sLy

HALF WAY!

2010-03-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

Dear followers....
I doubt there are many of you left, but I do know there are a few:o)

Here are the beach pictures from when I went with my classmates in celebration of making it to the HALF WAY point in nursing school!
hoooorayyyyyyyyyyyy!
Enjoy

Spring Break 2010_CLASSMATES!

(remember to click on the pic to see the album)
ps...does anybody know of a better way to show friends and family online photo albums? This doesn't seem like the best way to do this...but I DO NOT have the time it takes for all of my pics to download onto this blog page via "blogspot"...do you know what I mean? If anybody knows of something that works better then what I am doing...please do share your tips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...please please please.....haha:O)

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here's to a Beautiful....BEAUTIFUL day at the beach!

We had a blast and I am so happy that the weather was nice over the weekend so we could go...now it is back to raining!

We went as a family on saturday, and my classmates went the friday before in celebration of our HALF WAY mark of being done with nursing school!!!!
It was soooo fun. I love my classmates so much.
Enjoy the pictures!

SLY

Spring Break 2010

ps....click on the album to see all of our pictures. Also, after you click on the album, click on the slideshow button and then on the full screen button....they just look better when they are bigger.
ok,
cheers!
SLY

once upon a time...I ran a marathon

2010-01-03T23:44:00.000-08:00

St. George Marathon - 2009

so....
here's to running marathons..."cheeers!"

ok,
now for a little TMI

Here is what I learned from running this marathon!...again, this might be TMI for you, so beware.

1. If you are not used to eating fast food or random food from a gas station....don't eat this right before you run 26.2 miles.

2. If you choose to eat the above items which may or may not include: a Wendy's Frosty (come on...I couldn't help myself, I really only get it once a year), subway sandwich, CHEEEEEEEEEEESEY taco soup, and a fettuccine Alfredo pasta/chicken dinner...ps, this wasn't all in one sitting; this was the day prior to me "having" to run 26.2 miles.

3. Again...if you perhaps chose to eat the above items before running for a very VERY LONG time....here is what may or may not possibly happen:

a. diarrhea
b. throwing up
c. nearly passing out
d. needing an IV related to the above complications....

and yes....all of the above occurred to me on the day of the marathon. Unfortunately the "D" word presented throughout the race.... 3 TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!.... One of which could not be held until the next porta-potty...and I had to run out into the bushes, up a hill and behind a tiny little stub of a bush to "you know..." Fortunately the other two items (barfing and IV) did not have to occur until after I crossed the finish line.

so...
LUCKILY I had my great friend Brooke who ran with me (part of it....she is much faster than me :O),

AND

LUCKILY I had my two beautiful sisters to help me when I honestly thought I was going to pass out...I was miserably miserable, but the IV fluids rejuvenated me and I was able to spend a few pleasant hours with my sisters whom I love and adore, and then had to catch a shuttle to the vegas airport.
I flew home that night and was OH SO HAPPY to see my family!

Ok folks...
I'm caught up as of now, and I probably will not revisit this blog until the end of the quarter; if you are lucky (or not...depending on how you look at it:O), I'll be back in 6 weeks with an update!!!

wish me luck on this quarter, it's supposed to be the second hardest out of our whole nursing program...so I'm anxious to get it over with!!!

good night and
sLy...
(ps...most of the pictures were taken from my sister's blog.....thanks bean, I hope you don't mind me snatching these:O)....I'm just glad you took some pictures!

obsessive bandana collector and a triathlon!

2010-01-03T23:19:00.000-08:00

yep!
....I can't not buy an interesting bandana; it's impossible to stop myself.
Thanks Grandma Beth (it all started with using her bandanas as dress ups when we were kids...now I have a bunch of her old bandanas, and add to the collection, WHENEVER I find an interesting one:O)
sLy!
The really "neat" blue one that eliza is wearing came from a tiny little shop in downtown Leavenworth Washington...how I love that place!

oh...and yes, the triathlon was a blast! looking forward to trying some more...next summer maybe :O)???

Cheers!

bandanas and a triathlon!

yes....beach time at the end of this last summer!!!

2010-01-03T22:50:00.001-08:00

Enjoy the sun....
revisiting these pictures makes me LLLONNNG for hot summer days!...Oh sun how I love thee!

sLy

THE BEACH!!!!!!...and a few other things!

ummm...just me!

2010-01-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

hey,
so ~ I was just going to send these to my mom, but decided to just post for the world to see...yes I did a Halloween "photo shoot" in my witch costume because I didn't get any pictures of me in it...and my mom really wanted to see the outfit (maybe I just wanted to show her since she was a witch too and I thought we chose a pretty similar attire! :O)
A big thanks to mr. katz for taking so many pictures...he wasn't thrilled, but it was kind of fun :O)
Anyway,
....
that is my disclaimer! hahaa

sLy

Witch costume!

HALLOWEEEN ~ 2009

2010-01-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

click on pic to view the album!!!!!
sLy

HALLOWEEEN-2009!!!!

first set of October!

2010-01-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

Enjoy!

ps...remember, to see the whole album you need to click on the picture!!!!
sLy

OCTOBER!

let's see if this works....

2010-01-02T02:03:00.001-08:00

ok folks....click on the pic for more!....this website takes way too long to get pictures uploaded, so I'll do this and see how it goes!
mom, dad...does this work for you? :O)
sly

December_3_2009

DRESS UP! funnnn...

November_Thanksgiving_beach_dress-up

lots of pictures....

2010-01-02T00:20:00.000-08:00

More of December 2009

my friend didn't have a star for her christmas tree...

so I decided to make her one.

I like how it turned out :O)

little ornaments we made...

Aaron and the kids working on our weekly bread...

he makes it once a week,

and it lasts until the next week!

getting SOOO good at staying in the lines!!!!!!

Christmas Eve!

Homemade cranberry/orange/walnut bread and Eggnog for Santa...and us:O)

(and a carrot for the reindeer)

aaron's eggnog was SO delicious!!!

mmmmmmmm

Santa had a BLAST this year!!!!

thanks mom and dad!

we love it....

Trix and Reeses Peanut Butter Puffs are a tradition every year for Christmas...

the kids get them in their stockings!!!!

Merry Christmas!

"The PINK star"...

2010-01-01T18:24:00.000-08:00

ok...

so, I really wanted to get eliza a kitchen for christmas.

Here is what I found on Craigslist.

...I couldn't wait to fix it up.

Before I even got to making it look "pretty".... Oliver and eliza came up with a name for it:

"the PINK star"

We don't know where they came up with that idea, but it sure stuck.

From that~I decided to paint the kitchen red, and print on it the name they chose....

so here it is...

the pink star!

sly

(and its transformation)

Merry Christmas sister!!!!!!!

can you say....CATCH UP!

2010-01-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

yep...I'm catching up.
This is a post-quarter-pre-quarter update! I'm going to try and go from December back to September before monday, which is when school starts up again.....(we'll see how far I get!)
sly
ps...this post is dedicated to "HOORAAAAAAAAY, she did it!".....and lots and LOTS AND LOTS of AIRPLANES! Thanks mom and dad, these planes have provided us hours on end of FUN FUN FUNNN!

welcome 2010!!!!!

2010-01-01T10:31:00.001-08:00

Hey folks,
uh...long time no NEW POSTS!!!!!
hahaha....
Well, I don't have time to write much, and my parents just want to see pics anyways....so here is a post of what we did on New Years Eve 2009. It was NOT exciting at all, but that is ok. We had a family photo shoot (just for you mom:O), and then we watched a movie. The kids went to sleep at 10 and I fell asleep somewhere in between 10 and 12....Aar woke me up to "ring" in (half a sleep) the NEW YEAR!...I'm pretty lame sometimes:O)
So here is our photo shoot. A big thanks to our Photographer (aaron and I's LLLONG Arms)....and Mr. Oliver!
sly
and mom and dad~ enjoy!

the beach...

2009-08-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

So...

yesterday my friend got in touch with me (after much trial and error on her part :O)...sorry ash!

She told me that she was headed down to Santa Cruz before her and her sister and their husbands headed back home to Utah.

She invited me and the kids....so we decided to go!

It was really fun (mainly because the kids just really LOVE sand, water, waves, buckets, shovels...and so on:O)

It was also fun catching up with my dear friend!

(however, I'm not sure we'll ever meet up at "the boardwalk" in Santa Cruz ever again:O)

haha...

ANYWAY,

so here are the pics from our little Excursion.

And a big thanks to Mikkel for finding 75 cent hot dogs!

(parking cost an arm and a leg...so at least the kids got a CHEAP meal (and I'm just grateful that they haven't shown any signs of food poisoning:O)....haha, we're not sure about the food standards of the place we picked them up at.

Enjoy the pics.

These kids are so cute.

he's looking so "macho" to me....

or something :O)

me and miss ashley!!!!!

more macho-ness :O)

vist...graduation....birthday.... = PARTAYYYY!!!!

2009-08-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

hello blogging friends and family :O)

I know I've been a slacker this summer...but do you see that I am trying to catch up by all of my marathon entries?

SO,

here goes another "LOTS of pictures" entry!!!

they are out of sequence for the first several pictures as I took some pictures from my moms camera and also was playing around with editing/coloring.....

so I won't give too much info. on the first several pictures.

BUT....

if you are patient, after a while, I will give more info. on the pics!!!

enjoy

SLY!!!!!!!!!!!

now that is a precious smooootch if I do say so myself:O)
And that is a PRECIOUS cheeser as well!
an "it's my birthday and I'll do what I want to", type of cheeser:O)

precious kiss in black and white....
SO ROMANTIC
haha, I know I'm funny, don't worry!!!! :O)

just two little cuties!

Oliver graduated with his PhD!

...bet you thought it was aaron all along:O)

maybe he'll want to be a professional photographer someday....?

hmmm? that would be cool!

our neighbors cute little turtle!!!!

(we really need to get the kids a turtle....they love them so much)

who could resist...

Grandpa J and eliza.....

we miss you dad.

a little oreo's and milk in his "oliver" cup...

YUMMMMMM

geeez...aren't they a cute pair.

grandma j and sister....

ps...this was a VERRRY long flight of stairs up

to the stadium seating for Aaron's graduation.

an afternoon at a Reservoir....

gosh it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!

something so sweet about

daddy and daughter....

I LOVE HIM!

Eliza giving Oliver a haircut with a kitchen Utensil...

went rather well.

haha

We love cupcakes at our house...

LOVE THEM!

(cupcakes WITHOUT the wrapper though...very important.

I don't like cupcakes unless they are "wrapper-less")

TOOO COOOOL!

Oh the joys of DRESSING UP!!!!

one of my very most favorite things to do as a little girl!

(ps...that beautiful apron is from russia...)

SO CUTE!

grandma j and grandpa jon brought oliver THE COOLEST TOY EVER!!!!

A very sturdy, very yellow...very COOOL TONKA TRUCK!

(my dad said he always wanted one of these as a boy and never had one...so he had to get one for oliver....thank you grandpa jon...HE LOVES IT and plays with it EVERYDAY!!!)

so sweet....

we've got ourselves a "dunker"

....actually both of our kids dunk everything.

(thanks to their mother:O)

precious?

I do think so....

The funnnnest mess EVER!!!!!

(packing-popcorn that oliver and grandpa jon cleaned up by putting loads and loads of it into the Tonka truck and then dumping it into a bag....very clever!!!! :O)

oliver and the lady bug...

now this brings tears to my eyes....honestly.

I didn't realize until I was editing this picture that there are 3 different hands together in this picture:

grandma j (nickname = lady bug, or just really in love with them :O), oliver and eliza.

It just seems so symbolic and meaningful to me.

For those who don't know, my mom loves lady bugs. She has them EVERYWHERE decorating her house, and even on her clothes she manages to have at least one on a day.

She even has a beautiful ladybug pillow that oliver fell in love with while she was here visiting.

My mom let him borrow it while she is away in russia, and he takes such good care of it, and sleeps with it EVERY NIGHT!!!!

I love you mom and we miss you so much.

oliver and grandpa jon making the trek up the never-ending stairs!

up-up-up

eliza and "boo-poo"...

they're rarely apart!

love it...

just seems so "BOY!!!!"

love this look on oliver's face...

what are you contemplating boppy???

The Stanford Graduation "WACKY WALK!!!"

(a guy in his underwear and "where's Waldo"... so clever :O)

the best way to kill time......

on granpa jon's shoulders.

thanks dad :O)

Anthony M. Kennedy, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

was the commencement speaker at the ceremony held at the Stanford Stadium.

(It was amazing, and it made me cry...)

(ps...aaron just informed me that this picture is not of Anthony M. Kennedy...it's the President of Stanford....my bad:O)...however, this doesn't change my remarks that I wrote above. It really was a great commencement speech!)

The graduates :O)

(I never saw Aaron THE WHOLE TIME :O(...

Dr. Katz....

and sister

(don't ever call him doctor though..haha)

her face cracks me up in this picture:O)

the simple things...

being cheered up after scuffing her knee,

thanks dad...

wow...she was tired

...and so was he!!!

(thanks for the strong arms mom :O)

(this was at Aaron's School of Engineering graduation on the same day as the "main commencement..."
More personal, and really was very cool!

Aaron and his very cool and Eccentric Advisor,

Professor Jameson.

love him...both of them!

My parents made great timing....

Aaron's graduation, and eliza's 2nd birthday (both on the same day :O)

....it was SUCH A BUSY DAY!

After being gone all day at Aaron's graduation,

I didn't feel like celebrating eliza's birthday...I WAS SOOO POOPED, and so were the kids.

HOWEVER!

Thanks to some encouragement from my mom, aaron and the neighbors (who knew it was eliza's birthday and really wanted to help us celebrate....)

We threw a party together in just minutes

and had a great time.

There are a lot of girls around here that range from 10-12. They were all playing outside, so we invited them in to celebrate eliza's birthday by decorating cupcakes, eating ice cream...and of COURSE singing happy birthday!

It turned out great...really great.

Low key, and just so fun.....

(oliver's "first" cupcake masterpiece)

"the girls", eliza, oliver and grandma j

he was in heaven...

and so was she...

one of the girls' masterpiece....

so creative!

(they thought/think eliza's name is spelled with an "s".....)

that's ok...:O)

a very SLEEEPY sister....

Thanks grandma j and grandpa jon for coming to visit.

We love you so much and miss you so much too.

We had a great time while you were here,

and can't wait to see you "soon" :O)

SLY

Leavenworth, Washington!!!!!!

2009-08-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

ok...so here they are:

Pictures from our vacation to Leavenworth!

and...there are a LOT :O)

We started out very early on a Wednesday morning and drove to Pinewood Lake in Oregon.

We camped the night there, and then drove the rest of the way to Leavenworth on Thursday!!!!

So this is our stop at Pinewood Lake!

WE LOVED IT HERE!!!!!

lots of fun things to do...

Frisbee, badminton, baseball....

little explorers...

cool, eh?

see...I told you it was SHORT!!!

just the way we like it:O)...

Fun in the tent!!!!

the cute frog we found...

a beautiful sunset

we finally made it to Leavenworth!

Ready to go around the icicle river...

THE HAT SHOP!!!

And doesn't he look thrilled!

SEXY!!!!???

VERY SWEET!

ICE CREAM FOR EVERYONE!!!!

she is
so messy, it's hilarious!!!!!!

A game of chase...nothing more fun than that!!!!

We LOVE YOU LEAVENWORTH!!!

daddy and sister LOVE!!!!

Dilly-dallying....it's what she does best!

His favorite toy there!!!

a favorite treat of his....

he can never wait to go camping because he wants S'MORES SO BAD!!!!

heading to Black Bird Island!

Watermelon Anybody?

she'll eat the rind and all!

Puppy Love....

so sweet

a little baseball on the peninsula!!!!

Mr. Bono himself......

bono with his microphone!

He was really serious about this....

haha, so CUTE!

We had a dance party upstairs one night, we played a bunch of U2 songs, and danced and sang our hearts out. Oliver gave his impression of Bono singing "crazy" and "elevation"...his two most favorite songs right now...oh, and "sexy boots!"

looks a little worried....

doughnut time!!!!

showing us how it's done....

(tyler and myrna making the doughnuts!)

cuteness...

more cuteness...

tired in the car....

after a very long day at "slide waters!!!"

at a park..

classic eliza shot....

eliza and boopoo

he was so tired...

he fell asleep so fast in the car and then stayed asleep even after we transported him from the car to the playground by the lake!

just hangin' out...

aaron was pretty impressed by this picture...

so I thought I would post it:O)

sweeter than honey....

oliver finally woke up...

but he wasn't too thrilled

:O)

(and neither was eliza apparently, haha)

so sad...but SO cute

sexy?...I THINK SO!!!!

that's right....

they found a bag of chips on the grass and decided to feed it all to the birds...

FUNNN

(cousins...aren't they sweet!)

daddy and lize....

I love this boy!!!!

We found a fun, quiet river beach to play on....it was a blast!!!!

this boy was having too much fun...

again he fell asleep, while eating his KIX and grapenuts!!!

YUMMM

cherry pickin' time!!!!

I know he looks thrilled :O)

can you believe all those

CHERRIES!!!
YUMMMMMMMM

family fun....

wild thing!!!

The lady at the cherry orchard "you pick", had these beautiful labs for sale...

I wish we could have one.

Hopefully when we move.......

we'll have a cat named "cat" and a lab named "polly"....it's already been decided!

after driving for over an hour in the 90+ degree sun/heat....with NO AC....aaron finally found the best deal on apricots and peaches!!!!

yummers!
I couldn't have been more relieved...atleast me and the kids had bono to jam out to....if we hadn't have had that, I'm sure there would have been a riot!!!!

:O)

My DREAM house!

Seriously, one of these days I'm going to knock on their door and ask to buy their "blue prints" for this house.

I love it, love it, love it!!!!

I know it's not a great picture...but use your imagination:O)

More lovin'

A lost kitten found the perfect home!

(atleast while these cute kids were around :O)

they gave that cat so much love and attention...and food.

it was really sweet.

Oliver really loved him.

I love playing in the sand...

probably one of my favorite things to do.

I'm sad because I forgot my camera when we went to pick huckleberries..

but here is what we made with the delicious little things...

huckleberry syrup for our waffles!

yummmmm

a little pb an j on the rock climbing expedition!!!

oliver getting prepped for the climb!!!

thanks nate and debbie,

that was SOOO FUNN!

up up and away....

don't hold back sister...

don't hold back!

haha,

she is SOOO FUNNY!

and look how dirty those hands are...

man, vacations are the best!

that would be me...

strut that little thing....

roastin' the S'MORES!!!!

again...

:O)

all of the grandkids (minus creede who was sleeping at the moment....I think:O),

being read to by grandma katz on the last night of our trip, it really was so sweet.

Oliver really came to LOVE LOVE LOVE his grandma katz this trip.

He told her after a while, "I used to be shy of you...but now I'm not". He was so sad to leave her and wants to see her all of the time. Whenever we go running on the dish you can see the ocean in the distance and he always describes how he would cross that ocean so he could get to grandma katz's house so he could see her....he wanted to use a boat, but I told him an airplane would be much faster, so he decided on the airplane!

He also on our run one time randomly asked about her back (it broke while we were together on our trip)...he said he remembered that she hurt it, and wanted to call and see if she was ok.

So grandma katz, just so you know, Oliver loves you dearly, and he thinks about you always, and can't wait to see you again!

on our way home we stopped to camp at another place in oregon....

Oliver caught this grasshopper ALL BY HIMSELF, and was so proud.

It was his first catch EVER, and he really wanted me to get a picture of it.

He also was excited to tell Tyler about it.

(Tyler, along with all of the other cousins are experts at catching grasshoppers, Now oliver is ready to join the club, and he has the "grasshopper picture" to prove it! :O)

pics...Pics...PICS :O)

2009-08-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

just a few...I'm tired :O)

enjoy

and good night

sly

I've always been "kind of" obsessed with bandanas.

therefore, it's always my favorite when the kids will wear them...

too cute.

lizey and boopoo

mr. tough

this was a bandanna I purchased from a really cool shop in
Leavenworth, Wa.
I LOVE IT!!!!
so cute on eliza....SO CUTE!

just so HANDSOME...
getting so big!

in color...

ok...these are triathlon pictures...

ENJOY :O)

haha

a sexy HARD CORE bunch!!!!

love you guys!!!

just an interesting shot...

cute little "boppy"

We've got a PAINTER on our hands. HE LOVES TO PAINT!

this picture was of a waterfall that was "falling on both sides" he said...

CUTE!

sister and boppy working together...

sister's masterpiece!

Just playing around with color...

Why?, you ask....

BECAUSE IT'S FUNNNN!!!!!

cheers,

and may you all have a very good week to come.

Enjoy the rest of summer.....

life...Life...LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ok folks,
I don't even know where to begin. Honestly. So much has happened, so much I have wanted to post about...but just haven't.
so....I guess I will just start from the beginning of the summer.

For finals week, we had my friend ashley williams fly out to help us watch the kids while I studied and aaron worked. I studied a lot...but I also think we had a really fun time too (wouldn't you agree ash?....hahaha, I'm not sure she would, she was the one watching our crazy kids:O)
On the last day of school and right after my very last final of my first quarter of nursing school....
we jumped into the car and headed to a salon. I CHOPPED MY HAIR OFF, and DYED IT TOO!!!! I'm not sure I was in my right mind as I had just had a miserable week of trying to study for finals....
BUT...
Ashley did a great job in "attempting" to make my hair look "cute" after we returned home. It looked great while she was here, but since she has left, I have done my hair ONCE (and she left at the end of june). I am bad when it comes to hair, I just never find the time to do it like I should...OH WELL, haha:O)
But thanks Ashley for such a great time....It really was fun to have you here; and thanks for putting up with "kipper", it has since been BANNED from ever being watched, so you would be pleased:O)

I also went to visit my other dear friend Ashley Brown/jackson (oliver very lovingly calls her "brown-ashley"....very cute :O). She was/is living in a near by city for the summer, so the kids and I went to stay for a night with her and had a really great time. I love reuniting with high school friends, they really are so special, and could never be replaced:O).

In the middle of july we went to Leavenworth, Washington....
Oh my gosh, this is honestly my very most favorite place to go on vacation (so far:O). Every summer we go, and each summer it gets better and better. I love it there...love it.
Aaron's mom and brother and sister along with their families were all able to meet up there ( along with many of their cousins...) We had a great time spending time together. We slept outside for a couple of nights, played badminton, picked huckleberries, and cherries, made cobblers, and huckleberry syrup for breakfast, made dough-nuts, floated and swam down the icicle river, skipped rocks, soaked up the hot sun, the boys went fishing (oliver caught 4 fish), we went shopping (I finally bought something from the fun Leavenworth shops), visited the HAT shop, got ice cream, went for several EARLY morning LLLLONG runs, debbie and I explored lots of new places to run...one of which took us "almost" to the top of a mountain where we had the most BEAUTIFUL view....man, that was a VERY memorable run...between the view, the intensity of the run (in other words I almost killed over), and "the bear scares"....It was very memorable indeed!
We go to Leavenworth because that is where Aaron's grandmother lives. However when we went this summer she was in a nursing facility, so we were able to visit her there. It was sad to see her in there, and it seemed pretty clear that she was ready to be with her husband....
she died last week, and we are so sad that she's gone, but even more happy that she is with her husband and other family members, and at peace on the other side. We love you and miss you grandma blanchard...
Thanks to the Katz family for such a great trip to Leavenworth this year. It was a very memorable trip; Aaron's mom broke her back while we were there (and I won't go into detail on how it happened because if it weren't for us...she wouldn't have broke her back...and I feel really bad about it).
But...she says it is getting better, and I hope and pray she will recover FULLY, very soon.

After Leavenworth, we had a lot of BIG IDEAS....we are so tired of living in such a busy place. We dreamt of moving to Oregon or Washington and living on an Orchard where we would grow lots of delicious fruits...and also have a garden full of yummy vegetables.....a home with LOTS of land for the kids to run FREE on.
We really hope one day our "DREAM" will come true...

We've done a lot of camping and it has been A BLAST! I am very happy about that because I remember the summers being FILLED with camp outs with my grandma and grandpa martin.....I've missed it a lot, and this summer it just worked out so perfectly to go out a lot...
Oliver loves it so much, and I love seeing him so happy.

We've spent a LOT of time with our Stanford friends this summer. We picked up and moved so fast last spring that we didn't get a good chance to tell them goodbye, or even hang out with them while I was in school...it was just so CRAZY.
We realized how much we missed them and how lonely we feel here...so we go back to campus A LOT and visit. IT'S THE BEST!!!! Thanks for being there you guys, and for loving us even though we kind of dropped off the face of the earth for quite some time:O)

I just did a triathlon with a few of my friends.....IT WAS AMAZING! I loved every second of it...even though it was REALLY REALLY HARD! I cannot believe I've been missing out on such a fun EVENT! I hope to do many more...it was one of the FUNNEST things I have done in a long time. It was so different too than anything I have ever done before...so...it was just amazing...end of story.
ps... It was a sprint triathlon and consisted of a: 400 meter swim, 11 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run.....it doesn't sound hard, but come on....you try it and tell me if you think it's a "piece of cake" :O). I about killed over, but man...I will do it a hundred times over, the adrenaline you get from doing it is incredible....

and now....
we're just hanging out. I've had a lot of fun hanging out with the kids this summer. We've done a TON TON TON of swimming because there is a pool here at our new place (community pool). Oliver is a FISH. HE LOVES TO SWIM SO MUCH!!!! He'll go under water for a long time and just hang out there and swim (try to swim)...he doesn't swim great, but he can do it, and is getting better and better.
Eliza is the cutest thing you ever did see...honestly, she is just so cute (sure, I know I'm bias:O)...
none the less, she is darling, and just so funny. Her and oliver love to play together and will go quite some time playing a game together (just silly games that they make up:O), without fighting at all....just lovingly playing. It is very sweet, and I couldn't ask for more.

Well... I hope to post pictures tomorrow. There are so many, so I'm not sure how to get them all up...but I will do my best.

Have a great night everybody~
SLY

pics...the best weekend in a VERRRY long time!

2009-06-17T21:49:00.001-07:00

No time to chat, but thought I'd send some very fun pics!!!!
SLY
I love my husband, whom I am so proud of...I love my dear sweet two year old....and I love our little oliver..

I love that my mom and dad were able to come and visit us, and be here for Aaron's Graduation....it really meant a lot to both of us.

thanks mom and dad,

for everything...

have I told you lately....

2009-05-22T22:47:00.000-07:00

that I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

oliver is a real mountain climbing pro.
He loves it, even though it doesn't really look like it in this picture :O)

Oliver took this picture.
I think he did a really GREAT job!

he took this one too :O)

scootin'

the kids sportin' my hat!

a little water fun...

on a COLD evening (this was tonight:O)

I love this picture.

They were having SOOOO MUCH FUN!

I love him

I love them.....

2 little cuties....

and one little wedgy

(sorry boppy)

Oliver took this one too!

he's so good...

clinical....

Blood pressure time!

We had to do EVERYBODY in our class....

so this is us doin the BP!

(I wish I had a picture of "the butt")

"the butt" is what we practice putting sterile dressings on....it's pretty sweet.

clinical group!

(not the whole class, just half of us!)

"Pop that collar, throw up that sign- L.A.C. puttin' it DOWN, baby!!!"

This was entitled by one of my classmates!

I love them....

I really love love love my classmates!

and ps...don't worry, I know I look like an idiot:O)

Us being normal...

haha

Well,

it's been a long time.

I have had a hard time updating my blog because I have NO pictures to add...not because I haven't taken any....believe me there are TONZZZZZZZZZZZz your're missing out on:O).....but.

Alas....I am a stinking perfectionist and haven't had the time to go through ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL of them and weed out the bad (which there are way too many, which is why I probably don't even go there....) and dig hard and deep to find the good. (I'm talking picture quality if you weren't quite following the whole "bad" and "good" thing:O)

Anyway....

lame I know...but deal with it because that is just how it is:o) ha!

anyway (I just had to get that off my chest).

(after I finished writing this post...I decided to add a few "sneak peak" pictures....not many....but hey, it's something, right!?)

The reason I am posting tonight is because I am seriously HEAD OVER HEALS IN LOVE! I'm not kidding you....I have never been more in love in my life.

I'm in love with my husband more than I have ever been....and I am SOOO in love with these two beautiful children who are sleeping peacefully and sweetly as I type this..... children whom my husband and I get to cherish and love for time and eternity....

my heart is so full...

Things have been crazy lately. School has kept me very busy and I am exhausted so much of the time that sometimes I wonder if we/our family/I will make it out of these two years SANE!

But through this SANITY, I have a CONSTANT....his name is Aaron. I cannot tell you how grateful, how blessed, and how TRULY lucky I feel to have him as my husband. He has stepped to the side from his own persuits, to let me have the dream I have/we have been waiting for, for so so long.

My husband cooks our meals, he does our grocery shopping, he stays home 2 days a week with the kids, and still works 40+ hours a week for his job.

He is my hero in this time of craziness....I couldn't do it if I didn't have him. I couldn't. He keeps me sane by helping keep our life as orderly and chaotic free as possible, even though what I used to think was chaotic is quite normal these days.

I've had to let a few things go...which has been hard...but we're going to get through this none the less.

And just for the record, here are the things that I have had to somewhat let go of, and just take care of when possible: LAUNDRY...this has been a big one. It gets done and folded eventually...but a big CLEAN pile builds up in a corner of our room. I do laundry at night because that is really the only time to do it...but it's usually in the middle of aaron working(from home) and myself studying...so as soon as it comes out of the dryer...it just goes to "the corner". It's awful, and I HATE IT...but, it's one of those things that I've had to kind of let go. I've also had to let the TOYS go....I had them so organized and so functional....now, in order to keep things as CLEAN AS POSSIBLE, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!.....they just get thrown in any one of the toy bins that happens to be sitting there.....so, to find anything is really impossible.

Running has also fallen to the way-side. This has been really hard on me..... I want to go so bad, but honestly I have not had the energy to get myself out there...plus I've learned something new about myself...I HATE RUNNING IN NEIGHBORHOODS! ....that's a strong word...I know, but it's true. Therefore, in order to run, which I have to do with the kids because there is no other time....it has to be in a neighborhood, on a sidewalk (because the have no paths here and the streets are pretty busy, the ones that are "through" streets anyway)....so, to say the least it's hard to get myself out there because I just don't enjoy it much.....AT ALL actually:O)

I'm a trail runner. I like the hills, I like the dirt...I like THE QUIET/no cars... I like the fresh, clean air, I like the smells, I like it because it makes me feel so good, it's so much more of a release than running on a street. My body has a LOT to sweat out, things that are on my mind...anxiety, fears, frustrations, emotions that just have no other escape than SWEATING out in a peaceful place:O)

I need it.

So...it's been hard trying to find the time and energy to run, but I think I'm getting the hang of this first quarter for now (knock on wood)....so I'm getting back into it. I've gone 4 times this week, and it felt really good. Saturday mornings I run at Rancho (my long run), on monday's I go back to "the dish" and run with the kids. On tuesday I run with a friend, 6 am at Rancho. On thursdays we're trying to go together as a family....this week was our "pilot" week...AND IT WAS SUCH A SUCCESSSS!!!! I loved every minute of it (even though we were in neighborhoods). I LOVE NOTHING MORE than being with my family. I have missed more than you can ever know, running with my husband and our two beautiful little "boopoos"(that's what aaron has begun to lovingly call them...eliza's giraffy, whom she loves and adores probably more than aaron and I, is named "boopoo", so oliver and eliza are our "boopoos".....)...anyway...it was an incredible feeling to all be together, running, getting fresh air and just being outside. I told you...I am so in love right now, I can hardly stand it.

I'm ok writing this maybe "cheesy" post because it's not always like this. There are times when oliver and eliza have driven me so crazy during the day that I feel like I am going to burst...

and often times it's not only for a "day"....it's like a week...or MAYBE even a month at a time.

Life is hard and there is a lot that can be bad some of the time.

BUT, right now it IS good. And I want to remember how incredible it feels.

Tonight was precious. We have started putting the kids to bed in separate rooms because they keep eachother awake FOR HOURS if we let them sleep together. It's really fun to hear them giggling and playing...but it has really affected their sleep...which they need in order to function...

anyway, so every night we get to make the switch at about 10pm. We move eliza from our room back into oliver's room. I do "the pick up" and aaron moves the bed and gets it ready in oliver's room (it's the pack'n play).

"the pick up" is one of the best parts of my day. It includes holding our beautiful sleeping baby in my arms, as tightly as I can....who doesn't love that? It really is the most peaceful feeling in the world. I never feel so much love and peace as I feel when I'm holding our sleeping children...

I could hold them forever, and sometimes I wish I could.

(my computer froze and I just lost a ton of this entry....so I'm just going to end here because I am too tired to figure out what I lost :O)

Anyway~just thought I would let you know we're still kickin' and going about our lives!

I love school, and am really happy that I am finally doing what I've been wanting to do for so long. It's craziness, but it'll only get harder, so I'm trying not to get too lost in it all...because I have to save myself/our family for what's to come. At least that's what everybody says who are in quarters ahead of us, so I am bracing myself, and hopefully we'll just make it through :)

Ok,

I think that's it for now.....have a great week everybody, and a Happy Memorial Day!

SLY

THE DISH!!!! My solace....

2009-03-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

I present to you...

"the dish"

My solace.

So this is the run that I've done for the past 4.5 years. I don't stray too much from this route because, well....It's beautiful...it "speaks" to me...It has hills, my body needs lots of hills, lots of SWEAT...it's long and I like LONG (time to think)....one of my closest friends was made by running this time after time together....

This has been a really emotional experience for me. I'm not sure why I feel so torn from here, but I do. My heart is full.

So here it is....the dish.

Enjoy, and don't judge too harshly my picture taking skills. This is not for "eye-candy" purposes...this is for the sake of learning a little more about me...what I love, and what I hold very close to my heart.

THE FIRST HILL

(it's only just begun :O)!

(ps..this is the first 1/2 of the first hill...it continues for quite a while :O)

isn't it beautiful?

(this is looking behind me...not ahead :O)

"my" tree.

I could not get a good picture of this little tree...but I always spot

him and we share a little moment. No matter the time of day I would see this tree, the scenery surrounding him was always breathtaking. Gosh I love the outdoors.

ps...don't mind the spots on my camera/lens...not sure why they are in some pics and not in others...unfortunately, this one has lots of SPOTS :O)

"looking back"

the bell tower, one of oliver's all time favorite structures on campus (this and the 2 cranes that never go anywhere)

another looking back...

and nearing the end of that VERY long hill!

Off to the left....

beautiful foothills.

(are you getting why this place is my solace? :O)

me and sister!

I took her on this picture taking journey, and she was a CHAMP!

I would have gone by myself...but I needed a "camera holder" :O)

This run usually takes a little less than an hour...on this day it took us an hour and 45-50 minutes :O)

thanks eliza for humoring me....

I love you :O)

see the sweat beads.... :O)

ah, the joy!

Again to my left!

Straight in front of me and to the right a little bit :O)

Isn't that fog COOOL!

"the big dish"

off in the distance

pretty cool eh?

three little trees lined up in a row...

not sure how I feel about this shot...

the end of the first hill....

flattening out for just a bit :O)

the little dish

the cows!

We LOVE the cows :O)

close up of

"little dish"

the valley below :O)

overlooking the tail end of the bay...

a glorious tree...

don't you think? :O)

another pretty valley...

gosh I love this place

(ps..this is my friends "favorite" hill...I will forever think of her when I run that hill.....haha...I love it so much, puts a smile on my face :O)

love you brooke

back to the hills...

I like this picture...

kind of cool :O)

going down folks!!!!

Indeed, this is a very steep and long down hill part...not my fav. because it hurts my knees a bit :O)

oliver calls those white things below snowmen or astronauts....

he's so funny!

Oliver's cranes!

Nearing the end of our run (depending which way I go...) the cranes are there...

he loves them so much and always wants to stop and watch them pick something up!

roller coaster hills ahead!!!

This shot was taken at the top of another very long gruesome hill....(it's behind me :O)

bell tower, with a bridge in the back :O)

don't mind this one.. it is out of order

(it comes later :O)

Another one of oliver's favorites...

"the heron"

we watched one swallow a whole rat once...YIKES!

a cool ditch!

off the dish and on a very cozy little pathway to my home....

I love this path.

Not a great picture, BUT, that is a duck in flight near the top and to the right :O)

there are usually ducks here and the kids LOVE seeing them!

over the bridge and through the woods.... :O)

out of the woods and this is the
last straight shot!

MAKE A RUN FOR IT....

memories....

bell tower in view.....

gorgeous blossoms...

spring is in the air

cute little sister at the end of our journey!

(and her "boo-poo"...you rarely find her without him :O)

Our home!

The tall building in back is where Aar and I first lived when we moved to Stanford. See the single straight line of windows going vertical? Those are bathroom windows. If you go to the one on THE VERY TOP (the 12th floor)...that was Aaron and I's :O)

We always point to that window and tell oliver that he lived there when he was in my tummy....he asks about it often when he sees the building :O)

That is also where we did our laundry our ENTIRE time at Stanford.

6 loads a week...all on the same day...GRUESOME!

and yes...

our U-haul....

our apartment is behind the truck tot he left just a bit :O)

The Memories and Happy times will forever live in my heart.

Oliver and Eliza were both born at the Hospital on Stanford Campus...this was the home we brought them to.

This is where all of their memories up to this point are...where all of our memories as a FAMILY began.

In that respect it makes me so sad to leave.

One night before we left I sobbed (really)....I didn't want anybody to move in after we left... and "take" our memories away.

I loved our times there. We loved our friends (don't worry we still do :O).

ok...

I'm going to sign out for now.

Tomorrow I will post pics from our new apt.

goodnight!

SLY

wow...that's all I can say

2009-03-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

hey folks.....

Well here I am. A lot has changed in our lives since the last post...It's been crazy to say the very least.
So let me start from the beginning. (ps..I'm in journal mode because that's what I planned on doing during naps, but I left my journal in our room....and that is where eliza is sleeping....thus I write here :O)
Anyway... I will start from the Beginning.

In September Aaron presented his thesis. He passed. This was 4 years exactly from when we had begun our adventure at Stanford. Since he would be graduating soon...we knew we would be needing to move.
In November, I finally FINALLLLLLY got a spot in the Spring 2009 Nursing program at De Anza. At first I was angry (to say the least :O) because I didn't get into the program starting right away in January...I had to wait CLEAR UNTIL APRIL!
Anyway, so we knew a change would be coming in April and that we would need to figure out what we were doing with our lives.....who would watch our kids while I was in school, and where we would move to.
In the beginning we felt strongly that we didn't want to uproot our kids from their life at Stanford and their social group at church as well.
Therefore, we decided when we had to move we would stay in the very close by area so that we would be in the same ward and keep the same social happenings alive.
Everything was planned to a "T". We had the babysitter, we knew we would be moving very close by in June or August...and that was that. No Suprises, right?
Ok...
So...
a few weeks ago Aaron and I decided/felt that for some reason we should be looking into different options (as far as where we may want to live). Somewhere closer to my school perhaps.
On a Saturday (a little over 3 weeks ago), we took the kids out and went hunting for nice areas in which we might like to live. Places that were closer to my school.
We never really found much, but we did have the feeling that when we did move, it wouldn't be as we thought before. We would be moving farther away which meant changing everything for the kids.. (However, keep in mind that this move wouldn't take place until June at the earliest, and August at the latest.)
On that Saturday night, after we got done looking for nice areas to live, we decided to make a map. We made a BIG Map that would show all of the places we could live, keeping in mind Aaron biking to work and me getting to school (we needed wherever we chose to be easily accessible for both of us.)
We found all of the good schools and marked them on the map as well (oliver will be starting kindergarten here, in 2010...YIKES).
So that was kind of fun for us to look at and kind of see places where we could maybe find to live.

Ok...so, this was a saturday that we did all of this.

Now...On the very next MONDAY (only 2 days after we had really even decided to start looking for places to live), Aaron got a call from the housing people at Stanford. In that call they politely explained to Aaron that we had to be moved out by March 22nd. They needed our apartment for another family.

This changed everything. If we had to move, we needed to do it quick so that we could be settled in a new place before I started nursing school.
It was a mess.
We spent the next 5 days searching night and day for an apartment. Not just any apartment, but the apartment that was best for us, and for what is going on in our lives.
There are tons of apartments here, and it was gruesome to try and figure out the best place for us to live.

I found my "dream" apartment (so I thought) on that wednesday. We called the lady and went to check it out. It had a 2 car garage, a loft, wash and dryer, 2 bathrooms, and it was really close to outdoor recreational activities...also decently close to my school.
well...come to find out (and believe me, a long story short) this place was not for us. When we arrived there for our first time, we realized that the place was EMPTY....like a ghost town really. We couldn't figure out why. As the story unfolded we found that this place was mostly filled with older people who really didn't wand ANY NOISE AT ALL! The HOA rules were ridiculous (you couldn't even leave your shoes outside by the front door. They didn't want any interacting with people, they didn't want people walking/playing on the nice grassy areas, and they didn't want kids playing after a certain time in the afternoon. WOW! And can you believe that they didn't even tell this to us until a few days later. We were thinking for a while that that was the place we would end up.
But on the next saturday morning, I called the lady and she told me this info. I was shocked.
Anyway,
In the mean time, we did find another apartment that was a possibility. However, we COULD NOT GET A HOLD OF THE LAND LORD!

(just a little fyi, and backing up...:O) During these 5 days, Aaron and I seriously were searching almost non stop for the perfect place. And on the occasion of this last apartment, we both called the lady within 5 minutes of each other and left messages. Then we called each other to tell each other about it...and it was just very comical. He called her, left a message...and then tried to call me. The line was busy because I was calling her too.... Then I called him to tell him about it... it was so funny.
Anyway...

So this last apartment looked GREAT (on craigslist), but we didn't know anything about it except that it was RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM MY SCHOOL :O) :O) :O) :O)

ok...
so, where was I......
Oh ya,
It was on a saturday that I found out that we did not want to move into the "ghost town apartment" because the rules were way too ridiculous.
Aaron had gone to the store with oliver and I was frantically wondering what we should do next. The place that we had been hoping for fell through, and I didn't know what to do.

In my anxious state of "oh crap", I dialed the lady about the apartment that we didn't know anything about (except that it was across the street from my school :O).
I of course got a message and in that message I'm sure I sounded very VERY desperate. I told her we needed to find a place soon and that we really wanted to go look at the apartment so we could see if it was something that would work for us...and then told her to call me back :O)

About 15 minutes later the phone rang and it was her (I was at a friends house a few houses down, and heard the phone all the way from there and RAN as fast as I could to get it....not wanting to be too hopeful that it might be the lady I had been wanting to talk to about the apartment.

IT WAS HER!

On the phone I told her of our situation, and told her that we really wanted to come see the apartment....we were desperate.
She continued to tell me that she was out of town and could not show us the apt....I was worried because I just didn't want to lose this place to somebody else.
Another long story short, this is what happened :O)
She told me that if I sent her a fax/copy of my drivers license, she would give me the code to the locked apartment so we could go in and check it out....without her.
I jumped on the chance and did just what she said. I was so nervous because aaron was gone and I was being so proactive about this whole apartment thing...and I just hoped that I was doing the right thing, but also felt VERY cool that I was taking the lead :O) (ps...when aaron got home and I had everything all situated to go see this apartment...he was very impressed/excited:O).
Anyway, she sent us the code and we were able to go check it out all by ourselves!
It was soooo fun.
It was fun to feel a little sneaky walking around in an empty apartment. And to do it without somebody showing us around was kind of fun. I enjoyed exploring on my own :O)

We decided we LOVED it! Here are some of the best things about this place:

1. It is a 3-5 minute walk to my Nursing Lab.
2. It has a washer and dryer (which we didn't know from the add...so we were kind of worried that it wouldn't have one. We've lived without them for 4.5 years and we were REALLY ready to do laundry whenever we NEEEEEDED!)
3. It's right by the top 1 and 5 elementary school's in the area.
4. Our ward meets in a building that is only a few blocks away.
5. It's a few blocks from a REALLLLY fun park.

As soon as we got home, we called the lady and told her we wanted it! We got money orders and all of our paperwork ready that night.
The next day we came and made it final.
On Thursday we signed the lease, and on Saturday we moved in....whew!

It has been a really hectic 3 weeks. We're excited to finally be able to get settled here. Yesterday I finished unpacking and we went to celebrate that night.

Oliver and I have been having a rough spell for the past few months now. For some reason we just have been at each other's throats (I feel like I am a kid again :O). It's been really hard.
This whole moving thing added stress to our relationship and I really felt like I was becoming a monster....not fun if you can imagine :O)

Anyway....Aaron came up with a plan. And this is what we decided...Oliver is just fine when eliza is not around. He really is a very good kid. When eliza is around, he feels threatened (or so it seems). I think this is common...but how to deal with it is the hard part.
Oliver is not very cuddly and eliza is ALL about that. So I think it bothers oliver to watch her be cuddled and loved (even though it's usually intiated by her....) it seems to bother him because I think he would like to be cuddly, but he just isn't and doesn't want to be.
Therefore he does everything in his power to make her miserable. And not only that, but he also becomes very defiant to me as well...and then I am angry and nobody is happy :O)

So yesterday evening, he and I went on a DATE! Just me and oliver and nobody else! I had to get a shot on campus (De Anza), so we decided to walk there and do some exploring. IT WAS SO FUN! Seriously it was a blast. We saw the swimming pool, a soccer field where they were playing soccer, a track...all of these places were just crowded with people and it was such a FUN atmosphere! Oliver was amazed. Then we went and got my shot (that wasn't too exciting :O).
After that we went and found a fountain and played in it for a long time. He'd throw sticks and bark into the bowl on top and then watch it flow out....it was really fun.
We even heard the bells from a bell tower, but we couldn't find the bell tower. We'll have to go back and see if we can find it. Oliver found a quarter and couldn't wait to go home and show daddy his treasure. We found a duck in a pond and oliver thought he was so cute. We think he was waiting for food because he paddled to us and looked anxious for us to do something :O). Oliver talked to him for a while and then we left. Oh, we also saw a really cool statue of a turtle on campus! It was cool.

We decided to go home and have some dinner, and we were both excited because we had also planned a family DATE to get some ice cream from McDonalds!
We were celebrating our finally getting moved in and unpacked....Crawling through piles and piles of boxes for 3 days gets REALLY REALLY frustrating.

Anyway, it was so fun being with just oliver. I want to do it more often. And it was also fun going on our family date.

This morning was fun because we just did what we wanted. Oliver is into making "cards" so we made a card, watched a little caillou and then went to the park to play! It was very fun. I took the camera and after a while oliver begged and begged to take pictures as well. I'm excited to get them downloaded so that I can post them on here. He actually took some really great pictures! :O)

We came home, ate yummy peanut butter sandwiches...and now they are napping peacefully. I love my kids.
It's been a long time since I've had a really good day. That may sound depressing, but it's the truth.
Last night was a really good night (my date with oliver and our family date :O), and today has been a really good day. I feel happy. I feel very happy, and I'm grateful for these moments when I can feel so good inside......

On Saturday (the day we moved), I did one last run up to the dish (ps. I plan on going there as often as I can, but it won't ever be quite the same....I can't just run out of my house, up to the dish and back home)...
I decided to take pictures of all of my favorite things up there...I took a lot of pictures. Basically the whole route of my run was captured on camera :O).
It's mind boggling to think about how many times I've run that thing, and all of the thoughts that have been cleared up there....all of the steam that has dissipated, all of the good talks that I've been able to have with a really good friend of mine/running partner, all of the "baby names" I've come up with (up there is where I first thought of Eliza Beth as a name for our daughter :O)....
The dish is my solace away from home. I love it up there. It's always refreshing to me, no matter how many times I've run it.
I miss it already, and hope that I can make it back as often as I possibly can.

Now, for all of you who have actually made it this far in my huge long post and who had any part in helping us with our move.... Thank you!
I seriously cannot thank everybody enough. We had friends watch our kids while we scurried to find a place to live, we had friends help us load and unload the moving truck, friends who watched our kids on the day of the move, a friend who made us a dinner for our first night in this apartment, and friends who watched our kids the last couple of days so that I could get our house in order.........
I really really can't thank everybody enough for all of your help. We couldn't have done it without you, and that is the honest truth. We feel so blessed to feel of your love and support...and to be able to be on the receiving end of such kindness. We love you all so much.

ok.

I think I am done now. I'm tired and think I will go lay down and rest for a bit!

SLY
ps...pictures to come later :O)

Rainy days...oh, and a sexy husband too :O)

2009-02-27T13:28:00.001-08:00

hey blogging friends :O)

Here are some fun new pics.

I'm a little bothered because I accidentally erased some of the "originals", thus the black and white ones were the only ones left. Anyway, so some of the pictures looked better in color...but all I had was the BW version...

anyway, I'm just a little sad about it, so I thought I would mention it.

As the title suggested...these are a lot of FUN rainy day pictures! They didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but oh well, at least you get an idea of our fun little mud puddle jumping excursion :O)

And the first two pictures are of....YES, my VERY sexy husband!

The quality of my picture taking was not up to par...but man, isn't he sexy?

Anyway, you don't have to answer that, just know that I VERY MUCH think so!

He had just cut his hair. It was a very big fro only moments before these pictures were taken.

I love him so much :O)

sly

my spotted friends....

1, 2, 3....JUMP!

just enjoying the moment....

and why not!

1,2,3...blast off!

our little "tongue" concentrator...

I love him so much

digging with a shovel bigger than her...

it was tricky :O)

Pretty little girl with pretty little curls!

I really could eat her..SO CUTE!

more mud bathing!

....more spots!

I LOVE THIS FACE!

hilarious... :O)

...both of these two faces are hilarious...

why are kids so funny!

A little concerned....

hm?

Another thoughtful moment....

(maybe he was just putting his shoe back on :O)

Rolling on the green green grass...

oh wait, it's black and white!

Darn it :O)I'm not good at "eliminating" pictures...

I need to work on this skill :O)

these two pics were especially darling in color....

Use your imagination :O)

a WHOLE slew of pictures...Enjoy :O)

2009-02-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

just a little FYI...

these pictures are in a very random order. I didn't want to spend forever sorting them, so the ones that I kind of "fiddled with" as far as coloring goes are named different, so I couldn't just go through them from beginning to end without them being out of order...so anyway, that is my little disclaimer today :O)

Enjoy anyway!

When I was little girl, somebody took a picture of me and my mom right after she returned from along run. I have dreamt about the day when I could take a picture of my little girl and me when I just return from a run as well. We've taken some pictures, but they've not turned out nearly as cute as the picture I remember...soI figure this is "cuter" anyway....

she found my running shoes, and took off!!!!!
we call this "rain play"
It's a tent fort made of blankets, cushions, pillows, sleeping bags... and our kitchen table!
VERY FUN!
more "rain play"
We slid down the stairs in our sleeping bags...
we did this when I was little and it was always such a blast!

just a cute oliver and eliza moment at a REALLY FUN birthday party!
It's fun to see them together, it just puts a smile on my face!

Eliza in one of her MANY "punky brewster" outfits...

she comes up with the silliest things, and I just think it is SO CUTE!!!

The "DANCE HAT"

Whoever is wearing the hat HAS to dance!

We blast the music and dance away sometimes, it's really fun!

It's especially fun because oliver is VERY serious about whoever wearing the hat having to dance...ESPECIALLY when it's HIM!

This time he wanted the tiger to dance with him...so in the pictures you will see a Tiger on his head!

SO CUTE!

Valentines Day Party!

pretty...don't you think?

bothered by the cold...

this is our oliver (he REALLY hates being cold)

Cute little COOKIE!

ok...this is funny!

Oliver asked me the other day where I was in all of the pictures?

Since we got this new camera there are NO (very few anyway :O) pics of me...that's ok with me, but it is just funny that oliver noticed and wondered why?

so here you go...a picture of me :O)

(taken by me because aaron is kind of...not ready to try this new camera yet :O)

Punky Brewster outfit #2

a 3-6 month old sleeper (remember, she is 20 months now), oliver's tractor underwear, and oliver's red crocs!

We really get a kick out of her!

quircks and all...ISN'T SHE PRETTY!

Aaron's Sweet new Bike!

I want to call it his "HIPPIE" bike, but I can't...YET!

I'll post a picture when he's finished getting it all "dressed up" :O)

When it's done it will have: A sweet new brown leather Brooke's Saddle (seat), Brown Leather handle bar tape, a rack, and bags to go on the rack!

I can't wait! I'm more excited about "dressing it up" than he is...but he still is "pretty" excited!

I could eat her :O)

She's much cuter in my running shoes than I am! :O)

One handsome BOY!

the rest of the pictures are me...."fiddling around" with colors!

ENJOY!

Have A Great Rest Of the Week Everybody!

Cheers

sly

A little Valentines Day treat for you all :O)

2009-02-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

Valentine Thingy (thanks Amanda :O)
♥ How long have you been together? married almost 5 years…dated for 2.5 (-ish:O)
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? a couple of months…he liked my roommate and some other girls before he decided to give me a try :O)
♥ Who asked who out? It was him! Rollerskating, home-made dinner…pretty typical, but fun :O)♥ How old are each of you? 24 and almost 29 (he was conceived in the 70’s you know!)
♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? about even
♥ Do you have any children together? why yes we do…two beautiful children. Oliver who is 3 and Eliza who is 20 months!
♥ What about pets? None at the moment, but when we do it will be a dog and a turtle…HOOORAY!
♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
This question is worded strange or something…but I would say the thing that is tricky for us is our DIFFERENCES! And there are way too many to even name. Our differences definitely come between us at times, but when it comes down to it, they're actually what bring us together. I’m the creative, people person who loves any sort of dancing-music type thing. He’s creative also, a scientist, a cook, a budget king…and all of the stuff that I am usually not…however we’re blending and one of these days we'll be blended to perfection...now that wasn't cheesy at ALL :O)
♥ Did you ever go to the same school? USU…and he was pretty much the only good thing that came from my experience there.
♥ Are you from the same home town? nope. He makes fun of Kanab and I poke fun at Iowa…it’s all in good fun and neither of us REALLLY mean it :O)
♥ Who is the smartest? Well…this is kind of an obvious question…he’s smarter when it comes to school/books, anything with problem solving…. I’m “smarter” when it comes to dealing with people (not all of the time though :O)… So you choose!
♥ Who is the most sensitive? me…at least it’s more obvious :O)
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? It used to be The Cheesecake Factory…man we loved it. But it’s let us down the past couple of times, so we’re ready to spread our wings and try out some new stuff :O)
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Alaska…and boy do we have LOTS of fun stories to tell :O)
♥ Who has the craziest exes?
We’re both probably equal. We’ve both had one CRAZY….(both in college)
♥ Who has the worst temper? we both get fired up sometimes. I’m more easily tempted…it takes him a while. I don’t know whose is worse…but I don’t think either are that bad.
♥ Who does the cooking? He is definitely the TOP cook at our house…and he’s REALLY REALLY REALLY good! I’m working on it :O)
♥ Who is more social? definitely me…but I think most times people think I am more social than I really am. I think people might be starting to realize that I’m not a huge social person…I like small and intimate groups, I’m usually really uncomfortable in big groups.
♥ Who is the neat freak? oh gosh…definitely me. I feel like I am cleaning our house all of the time. I can’t stand a mess, it makes me really irritable….I NEED SPACE…CLEAN SPACE :O). Luckily Aaron is for the most part a “clean” person, but he could go a day without sweeping or vacuuming….I can’t go even a half of a day.
♥ Who is the more stubborn? we’ll both put up a good “fight”…I don’t know who wins the most though :O)
♥ Who hogs the bed? neither of us….
♥ Who wakes up earlier? we both wake up early…really early. Lately he wakes up and takes care of the kids, and I go for a nice run. (this all happens in between 5:30 and 6:30…but I don’t usually go running until 6:30…)
♥ Where was your first date? rollerskating :O)
♥ Who has the bigger family?
Mine (by a smidgen)
♥ Do you get flowers often? Once or twice a year…it’s not usually what we do.
♥ Who is more jealous?
Definitely him. He’s afraid I’m going to run off and try to become a professional dancer/performer or something. He also hates it when there are “boys” in my dance classes…(I like it though, it’s fun to see him squirm a little bit :O)
♥ How long did it take to get serious? Not too long…a few months. But it took us a long time to really decide and go for the “marriage thing”.
♥ Who eats more? he does.
♥ Who does/ did the laundry? We do it once a week (to our dismay :O)….I gather it up and put it in bags ( 6 loads :O)…He takes it to the laundry, I change it out…and he brings it home. Then I fold it usually, but sometimes he helps.
♥ Who’s better with the computer? he is
♥ Who drives when you are together? He does! I just prefer it.
ps...that is a really boring question to finish on...so hmmm? let me think of a REALLY great last question....hmmm?

GOT IT...

Where is your DREAM vacation for the two of you as a couple?
thanks for asking :O)... my DREAM vacation would be this: A beach...and it doesn't matter too much where, as long as it's extremely beautiful, HOT HOT HOT, has soft luscious sand, lots of room to play Frisbee, and some space from other people so we could have "quiet/romantic" time. We'd spend a few days doing nothing but this. Laying in the sand getting a tan and playing Frisbee....also looking for sea shells ( I still really love that :O)
Then we would start EXPLORING! We'd do some really great hikes in whatever the "terrain" was/is. We would get some bikes and do a really cool bike ride through the mountains and even on the coast....I've heard there are some amazing bike rides in Hawaii!
Gosh, I'm salivating as we speak.
oh ya, and I forgot to mention that for the few days when we're basking in the sun on the beach we'd be staying at a SUPER fancy hotel, or have our own little bungalow all to ourselves...whichever the place, the food would be really really amazing as well. For the "exploration" part of our vacation...we would be camping or staying in hostels!
Gosh....I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! (no this isn't being planned yet...but hopefully soon...I'll keep you posted :O)

SLY
and ps...I agree with amanda's request, which is this: IF YOU READ THIS...DO IT TOO :O)
goodnight

Barack-O-Bono....and Bono comes for dinner!

2009-01-21T11:26:00.000-08:00

so,

here's the scoop on "Barack-O-bono"

It's no secret that we are die hard fans of the group U2...that's right, Aaron, joni and Oliver (eliza has yet to have been wooed).

Aaron's fascination came when he was just a little tyke. It has escalated into something I have never known before...until I met Aaron.
He knows every song, he knows every album, he knows EVERYTHING (a lot anyway :O) about U2. It is ALL we listen to, unless I change things up....that's 99.9% ok with me most of the time :O)

My fascination came when I met Aaron and listened to him play their songs on his guitar and sing them also (he's really good, but I think only his sister and I have been allowed to hear him really rock out...) He secretly wishes he could be on stage doing just what bono is doing... (don't tell him I said that :O)

Oliver was introduced at the young age of a NEWBORN! Seriously. This is how Aaron would put him to sleep sometimes. He'd turn on the DVD of their last tour "vertigo"....and all the lights, guitars and singing would slowly help oliver drift into sleep!
To this day Oliver LOVES U2....
he especially LOVES bono (lead singer...I'm sure you got that) and the edge (their guitar player).
I can't remember if I mentioned it in my Halloween post, but that is what oliver REALLY wanted to be for Halloween. I wasn't sure how to make it work, so we went for the second best thing "the dread pirate roberts"... Anyway,
Oliver loves loves LOVES bono.
When his friends come over, he often times wants to put that same dvd in (vertigo tour), and watch it with them.
He really has watched the whole dvd before~ and still wants more when its done.
He notices the tiniest little details about the whole group from what they're wearing, how they are standing, to how they sing...everything. He especially gets bothered when bono takes off his glasses...he really likes bono with the cool shades.
He can sing parts of all of their songs and always wonders what they mean...so it is fun to try and tell him what certain things mean, and why bono uses certain words...eg: "tough...you think you got the stuff...." He just really wants to know what that means. His favorite is "in the city of blinding lights"...and sings "OH...You..Look..SO...BEAUTIFULLL tonight..." (very cute), he also loves the "little sister" song and he always says that that one is for eliza...since he says "little sister". He'll say "sister, sister...this is your song".
One song even talks about a monster....and he likes that a lot too!

Anyway~this kid is over the moon for bono. His friends know this as well.

Now back to this posts title... Oliver has a friend, we'll just call her "little :O)".
Ps. This all happened a while back, but due to the inauguration yesterday~
it fits nicely into this post.

So, a while back, Little (who was 2 and 1/2 at the time) was talking to her mom and dad, and they asked her what the name of our next president of the United States was going to be?
To that she said "BARACK-O-Bono!"

Her parents got a kick out of this, because she most certainly heard about Bono from Oliver, and she just kind of put the two of them together (Obama , o-bono...sounds close enough, right!!!)
Anyway, isn't that funny? I thought/think it is really hilarious. I love saying it in my head because it really rolls of the tongue so smoothly...it really is just fun to say.
Go ahead say it in your head: "Barack-O-Bono"....wasn't that fun!

As for dinner lately...you definitely read that right, Bono has been joining us for dinner every night since Sunday (I believe).

We get a knock on the door just around dinner time, and it's always Bono! We invite him in, he sits down with us, talks with us, and eats with us. Oliver tells him all about his latest thoughts, discoveries and milestones!

It's really cute.

It's funny when oliver pretends because he is always very quick to remind us that he is "just pretending".... as if we were wondering if he was really being serious :O)

Isn't that cute.

I love oliver so much.

Oh, and Bono doesn't just come for dinner anymore, he also comes for snacks, breakfast and play time too.

It is kind of sad though because oliver REALLLY REALLLY wants bono to, FOR REAL, come for dinner and to come "sleep" at our house.

We asked him once that if Bono came to stay with us if it would be ok if bono slept with oliver in his bed. He wasn't sure about that, so he said that he could sleep with eliza in her crib...or on the couch. We thought that was hilarious...Just something that is really funny to picture.

I wish he could really meet bono. That would be so so SO AMAZING!

You never know, if they continue on going and going as they always seem to be doing...oliver just might get to go to a concert when he is a little bit older....maybe even 10 or something :O)

Ok...I think I am done with all of the Bono stuff :O)

But speaking of the new president, I really am excited to have Barack Obama as our president. And for some reason, even more so than having him as "the commander in chief"....I'm excited that Joe Biden will be our Vice President. Aaron thinks I'm weird for thinking Joe Biden is amazing. Do I stand alone?....I don't know, there is just something about him that I really love. He just seems so real, he has a grumpy looking face sometimes...but for whatever reason, my heart thinks he is really incredible. And every time I see him on tv, I wish I could give him a big hug and tell him that I think he is really great.

Onto family "news"....

Oliver learned an AMAZING skill today!!!! He can pump himself on the swing!!!!!! ISN'T that AMAZING!!!

I couldn't believe it. The first thing he said was "this is so fun", and then after he had done it for quite some time, he got kind of limp and said "I'm really tired"....

he worked so hard to get it down. He hasn't really cared too much about it before, but now he just keeps trying and trying and loves to feel himself get higher All on his own!

Man its fun to watch your kids learn new things!

ok, well, I think I should jet.

I've started studying for nursing school (starts in April)... and it's been really really fun. I'M SO EXCITED FOR NURSING SCHOOL TO START!!!!

I seriously am so anxious to begin this new chapter....I know it won't be anything like I expect (at least that is what I am expecting :O)...but I hope I love it, I really hope I love it, because I really want to!

out for now!

sly,

joni ann

thanks grandma j and grandpa jon....

2009-01-11T20:00:00.000-08:00

Oliver's Pride and Joy :O)

the following pictures are of the fire station oliver built for his very cool

NEW fire truck!!!!

He seriously loves it so much...and it is so heavy duty too!

Family Outing to Campus!!!!

We played in the fountains and went to the bell tower and post office!!!

Well (back to the fire truck story :O),

It was a lovely afternoon, and I was just getting ready to put oliver down for his nap. I heard a "thump" by our front door, so I went to check it out ( I had a feeling it was something fun! :O)

Anyway, I was right!

There was a nice little box, and it was addressed to Oliver!

I showed him the box and HE COULDN'T WAIT to open it. We finally got it open...and guess what was inside?????

A REALLY COOL WOODEN FIRE TRUCK!!!!!!

Oliver couldn't believe it!!! He was just so excited and kept saying he wanted to build a fire station so it could have a place to park!

It was really cute.

Anyway, I tried to then put him down for a nap....of course it wasn't working because he just couldn't think about anything but that fire truck.

I finally talked him into the nap....but as soon as he woke up that was the first thing out of his mouth.... he just wanted to build a fire station.....

So here are the pictures of the VERY COOOOOL fire station that we built!

Ever since the fire truck has arrived it has been "the beloved toy". I love seeing him be so imaginative with his fire truck. He puts a pig on the ladder and takes it for rides (but also tells it to be careful up there because it's dangerous :O). He just loves it. When he goes up to go potty, he takes it with him.

So, thanks grandma j and grandpa jon for the belated Christmas Present!!!! It has definitely been a favorite!

sly

I am officially lonely...

2009-01-06T22:32:00.001-08:00

may 8th, 2004
Mr. and Mrs.
(finally :O)

SO..
here's the deal,
Aaron's gone and I'm a little lonely....
so this was something to cheer me up a bit
and get me all excited to see him tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!

jan. 2003
we slept outside
IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
in the middle of January
um...we weren't really even dating
(thus no smoochin went on that night I promise :O)

engagement picture...

Yellowstone again :O)

May 2004
Alaska
We lived there over the summer after we just got married.
We lived in a house with a bunch of boys. It was like a dorm set up and really not the most exciting for a very newly wed couple.
It's very fun to look back on now :O)

Alaska
Sleeping on the beach at Fox Island
(that was fun :O)
too bad I was camera illiterate
(I shrunk ALL/most of our pictures on accident...now they all look like this :O(

Alaska
Talkeetna Lodge
Our little getaway from the "dorm"!!!!!

ok,

so I know I'm lame. Aar left yesterday morning for Florida....
yesterday was really good, today was really good too. But now I'm lonely. It's 10:31pm...and I'm lonely and bored.
When he goes out of town I stay up as late as I can until I can fall asleep...not sure why I do this. Maybe it's some weird defense mechanism (I need to keep watch over the children to make sure everybody is ok, if I fall asleep I feel so vulnerable.....does anybody else feel this way?)
I end up watching Jay Leno every time he goes out of town (which is maybe twice a year!)...anyway, I think it's funny that I always end up doing the same things.

Anyway, I feel sad.

Maybe I'll post pictures of he and I....maybe that will make me feel better.

When he is gone I realize how different we are. We really are so different.

He was the kid in school that on the first day of school when homework and major projects were assigned he had them allllll done in just a FEW days (tops).
I on the other hand was the polar opposite. I got projects and homework done...but I stayed up all night doing so.

Where does his motivation come from...? I really would like to know. Many people could benefit from this if we only knew his "secret" :O)

Because of this attribute of his.... I think he is the best husband/father a wife and children could ask for...maybe not for everybody, but for me it was a perfect match :O)....

He is never pressed for time when it comes to his "work". He always has things done and never frets that he may not be able to FINISH something. He may fret at how everything will turn out because yes he is a perfectionist....but never that he will not be able to finish something.

His time is prioritized to a science. If he does work at home, it's usually just because he is interested in all of the problem solving that it takes to accomplish whatever research project he is doing.
This makes it perfect for hanging out with the kids. Even though he has a lot on his plate, he manages to get everything done way in advanced so he can be with us.

He definitely has OCD about many things (this is no secret...he would be the first to tell you :O).

We were running the other day and I had to laugh because for some reason at that point in time it really hit me just how OCD he is.
He can't have "NOTHING" going on....something always needs to be figured out in his brain. When we are on vacation, or he has a break...the first thing he does (subconsciously of course) is figure out something to figure out and then perfect it!
Examples:
. buying the perfect car: He made so many charts and graphs I couldn't believe it. He needs to know everything about everything before he will make a decision...it's a game to him.
. Finances: If ever he is bored, you will definitely be able to find him researching about the best way to do finances. Our "budget" could be a template for some finance magazine I'm sure...he's been perfecting it since we got married, and he seems to always be finding ways to do things better. His system is calculated very carefully...and I think it is really impressive.
. BIKES: We really love the "free-energy" lifestyle idea. Aar started commuting to work in the summer of 2007. Ever since then he has biked to work nearly every time he has gone in. His bike has finally bit the dust...so over the last few months most of his free time has been dedicated to finding the perfect bike.
He found it (after I told him that he better take a leap of faith or else he may never end up with ANY bike at all :O). He/we chose the SURLY LONG HAUL TRUCKER! It's a sweet bike that is great for basically everything. It's a touring bike.
It should be coming sometime this week...so we are both very excited for him to get it! I was going to get one too....but Surly doesn't change much year to year...so we'll just wait on mine :O)

Aaron really is an amazing man. He loves our kids so much and I love watching him love them. He and oliver have always been reallllly close. Their minds think very much alike. Aaron loves eliza so much. Randomly throughout the day he will say out loud "she is just so pretty"..."don't you think she is just so pretty?"
He had a hard time saying good night to them the day before he left....he got up at 4 the next morning and was unable to tell them good bye. Anyway, it was really hard on him. He didn't want them to go to bed at all...he even decided to have a little ice cream party right as I was finally about ready to put them to bed.
He just didn't want to miss out on any time. It was really sweet.
He loves them so much.

This has kind of ended in an even more cheesy post than I intended.

Anyway, I think I am tired enough that I just might be able to go to bed....we'll see :O)

good night!
sly

Little People...

2009-01-03T12:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of "the little people" that I made for our kids for Christmas. They are inbetween 2.5 and 3 inches long (depending on the one :O)

They are supposed to be US!

It was a really fun project for me...and I have a lot more in the process of being finished!
Enjoy!
sly

The family!!!!

AARON

JONI

OLIVER

ELIZA

MORE..... I told you so :O)

2008-12-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

Dearest viewers...

I stayed up late last night updating this silly blog.

I realized this morning that somehow I deleted most of the pictures that I uploaded (I must have beeen reallly sleepy)...

WEIRD!

Anyway....I went through my files and found most of the remaining pictures that somehow got erased last night.

So, Enjoy the MANY pictures, and if you did not see the previous post.....

I did a "brief" (ya right:O)

synopsis of what's going down with our familia lately!!!!

SLY

for my mom and dad...mostly :O)

2008-12-30T18:30:00.001-08:00

A TON....

and I mean

A TON of Pictures......so enjoy!
ps...remember, this is mainly for my ma and pa, so if you actually stick around and read all of this and look at all of the pictures...don't blame me if you get bored! :O)
I warned you .....
also...I wrote a ton about most of the pictures you will be seeing at the bottom. Therefore, if you would like an explanation for the pics...you'll have to go to the end :O)

directly below are a few of our halloween pictures...not all of them, but some :O)

Then even more below, are the December pictures:O)

ok...here's' the thing...

it was taking way too long to update all of my pictures on this one post. So I have posted a bunch from december....but there are still quite a bit more.

I've put the remaining on slide shows, so we'll see how it works.

This is going to be very unorganized....but at least my family can see what we're up to.

I'll try my best to make this function properly ;O)

SLY

Ok folks,

Betty Boop is really cute (I've always thought so....) BUUUUUUUUT~ I am really really REALLY tired of looking at her cute little picture.

Therefore, I realize it is time to UPDATE!

So here I go...and this is going to be a long one folks, so sit yourselves back and hold on tight :O)

And just as the Title implied...this is mostly for my ma and pa...if I don't get them their "pic-fix" quick....they just may dis-own me :O)

Ok...let's see...where should I begin.

I'm going to have to start clear back in October....because I never posted Halloween pictures of our kids :O)

Eliza had two costumes, the first being "the princess bride/Princess Buttercup". This all came about because Oliver LOVES LOVES LOVES the movie "Princess Bride"... and if you could guess, he really loves the sword fighting part (or as he says "swort fight" :O). Therefore, he was "The Dread Pirate Roberts...and yes, they of course made a DELICIOUS duo! The costumes turned out really cute. I didn't make them from scratch, but I did transform them from other articles of clothing :O)
Oliver loves his "swort" and still is always asking to play with it.
Eliza's second costume (due to weather and messy food) was a big cozy, and yet again, VERY DELICIOUS Lady bug!
This costume was also for my mother, who pretty much IS a lady bug herself :O)

So that is that! OH wait...I FORGOT! Aaron and I dressed up too :O) I was a very friendly witch :O), and Aar was, drum roll please............... A NERD!
Next year I think we're all going to dress up as "The Ghost Busters"....Oliver is really into that movie lately (I promise he doesn't watch movies all day :O).....
But he really wants to wear the proton pack ( he calls it a proton "tack" :0), so if he is still interested....we just might do that :O)

Anyway, let's see....

November was an interesting month. It seems so long ago now, and I can't remember too much that happened. It rained A LOT, which made for a TON of fun playing in mud puddles, a tiny creek that we run by, and the mud that once was our playground!
We also had a really fun Thanksgiving with our friends!
This was also the month that I heard about Nursing school. I definitely will not be starting in January, but April already seems to be coming fast...so I am grateful for the delay :O)

December has been a fun month. I won't lie...Oliver has been really REALLY tricky! I've considered buying ONE plane ticket and heading southwest for the winter....(HAWAII!)
However, I think I'll be able to manage, but sometimes that seems like the best idea for me....and for the kids :O)
My sis also came to visit! This was really fun. She helped me organize our upstairs living quarters...and that was really really REALLY heaven sent. I must have order in my life or I quickly fall apart at the seams :O) ( you would have never guessed that if you'd have seen my bedroom growing up....ps. Sorry mom :O)
We stayed up REALLLY REALLY late talking, and even going for a "coke" run. That was fun :O)
We also spent a LOT of time looking at my new-found FAVORITE FAVORITE MAGAZINE! I have never been a "magazine-looker"....until this one came along, and now I am having anxiety attacks waiting for the next months edition to come out! (It should be soon...YAY!)
Are you ready for the name of the Magazine................ ATHLETA
If you have never heard of it before, you have to check it out. I love pretty much everything in the whole magazine. The models are really pretty...especially one in particular who is now hanging on my fridge to give me Hope and encouragement... (that, or make me feel really bad about myself :O)
Just kidding, these models aren't string beans....THEY ARE TOUGH! Especially the one that I really like.
Anyway, enough about that.
You can check it out for yourself....here is the link: http://www.athleta.com/
(Ps..aar was just looking over my shoulder and said "Don't tell me your going to put a picture of that model on your blog..." Ah, that's funny :O)

This month was also very historic in our lives because we FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY got real grass in our courtyard! HOORAY!
Ever since we've been here in this apartment (June of 2005), the grass out back where kids play has been not really grass at all. It's been mud with a few little greenish, but mostly brownish STUBS scattered here and there....not fun to play in AT ALL!
They did a TON of construction, and in the end we got Green - luscious - BEAUTIFUL Grass. It really is all very exciting. December also brought a REALLY FUN CHRISTMAS holiday break! It started with the hanging of our VERY fun christmas stockings, and then setting up the tree. Oliver loved decorating it, and did a really really great job! Eliza loved it too!
The night our tree was decorated and all lit up....Santa paid us a very nice visit!
After the kids had gone up to get ready for bed, Santa slipped in and put a very nice little package under the tree.
I quickly ran upstairs and told oliver of the NEWS...and we all scrambled down stairs to see what Mr. santa had left.
Of course we let oliver open it...... and guess what it was????? A book.... "CHILLLY BILLY!!!!" This was a gift from Santa mainly to Oliver and daddy! It was a book that daddy had gotten for his fifth birthday from his grandma katz...The VERY BOOK! Aaron had just been telling oliver stories from this book that he could rememer off the top of his head at bed time every night. Oliver loved the stories so much....and always wanted more! Well...Aaron knew he had the book somewhere, but he could never find it..... Luckily~ I'm pretty good at being sneaky, so I found the book, and hid it. I waited for the perfect time to let oliver and daddy unwrap it....It was very fun, and they loved it SO MUCH! After this, when we asked oliver if he wanted to sit on Santa's lap...the first thing he said is that he wanted to tell Santa thank you for the chilly billy book!... He really does have a sweet spirit....sometimes he just likes to hide it :O)

We planned a FUN stay-cation, as we did not travel anywhere for the holidays.
Our "stay-cation" started on December 22nd with a hike at Arastadaro. Our friends joined us and we had a really fun time! The kids looked for "critters and animals" under old logs....but we didn't find much. It was really fun and most importantly Oliver had a great time. We really wanted this "stay-cation" to be geared towards things we thought he would just go crazy for....and hiking was a good choice. He was at the head of our excursion nearly the whole time. He never tired once, and he was very happy the whole time.....that was a good pick :O)
We also planned to have a fire that night and sleep outside in a tent. The tent part didn't quite work out as it was rainy and very cold.
However, the Fire was a blast. We tell stories to Oliver every night at bed time, and one of his favorite stories is how I used to go camping with my grandparents and we'd make hot dogs and S'mores by the camp fire.....
Therefore we did just that! He loved having the hot dog, and he really loved eating the S'mores! We also decided to let the kids roll out and bake their own cookies! So we came in, got warm, turned on a cute little christmas show... and let the kids do their cookies! It was fun; They did a really good job.
That was our longest "stay-cation" day :O)
The second day included a walk to the park, but oliver was going to ride his bike all the way there!
He and his friend made it all of the way to the "train park" on their bikes, and it was very impressive!
We played for a while, and then it got REALLY cold! We stayed and had a picnic of a fresh salad bar (Aaron and I's new favorite :O), then also: cheese, crackers and oranges!!!!

On the day of Christmas Eve we went and flew Oliver's new Airplane kite that he received from somebody he really ADMIRES!!!! Britton! A few sunday's back, Brittion told oliver that he had a christmas present for him. Oliver couldn't believe it when he saw it...it was in a realllly long case, and beautifully wrapped. He couldn't wait to open it, so we opened it as soon as we got home. And it couldn't have made him happier. It was too wet and rainy at the time to go fly it....so we waited for the perfect timing....and Christmas Eve morning was it! We took it to a big field and flew it for quite some time! Oliver thought it was so cool!!!!

Christmas day was a huge success. Oliver's gift from Santa was a Really COOOL tree house bed tent...and he LOVES it SO MUCH! He can't wait to sleep in it at night, and we also read "chilly billy" in there by the light of our lantern! Oliver just loves it. Eliza's gift from Santa was a "tea party set"...this included: pots, pans, utensils, dishes, and cookie making supplies. It's really cute. However, I knew this would be the case, but Oliver is definitely more into it than she is...so she'll have to "grow" into it!
Oliver's stocking included something also that was a big hit... SCISSORS!!!!!! Oh my goodness, I have never seen a person look so cute cutting paper into tiny pieces! This is seriously what we spent most of our time doing on christmas day....cutting cutting cutting! He worked so hard to get it down, and I was so proud of him when he could do it all by himself.
The kids also got "wood people" that I made for them. It wasn't a HUGE hit...but I think eliza will like them more when she gets a little older (hopefully :O).
Christmas day was just really really fun! I loved seeing oliver get so excited. He loves Santa so much, and he is always wanting to tell him thank you....he really is a sweet kid.
We also "accidently" started a new and really fun tradition in our family.... every night before bed, the kids put baby Jesus to sleep on his manger under the christmas tree.....
Oliver would wrap him up (very strategically) in his blanket, and give him a kiss and a squeeze, and then hand him over to eliza so she could give him a kiss and a squeeze too...then he would take him from her (sometimes nicely, sometimes not :O) and lay him on his manger (that he made) and put him under the christmas tree! They would tell him good night and that they loved him on their way up to bed (oliver mostly :O)
It was very sweet.

We also continued our stay-cation and went to another fun hiking place called "Huddart-Park". We really love this place because not only is it absolutely beautiful...LUSCIOUS green...but also because it is full of fun critters to spy on! You can lift up nearly any log and find something really cool hiding underneath it! It also has banana slugs which are really cool too! They are huge, Yellow, and really slimy!

Ok folks, I think I'm going to be done now with all of this typing... enough is enough, right :O)?

I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures...and we'll just be in touch!
sly,
joni ann