August 2012: Yosemite

Simply beautiful!

We spent the next two days after Monterey Bay in Yosemite.  What a beautiful place!  As we drove there J-rod and I figured out that the last time either of us had been there was when we were about M's age.  As we pulled into a parking spot, it began to drizzle.  The guide on the tour we took assured our group that if you can handle sticking around through the rain, the park would empty out and we would basically have it to our selves.  True to the guide's word, as the rain increased throughout the afternoon so did the steady stream of cars trying to exit the park.  We stayed and enjoyed the rain as we walked along the trails and boardwalks.

This is such a beautiful view!

We added a puzzle to our collection--

it's of this view and it's a pretty tricky one to put together!

Views while walking the trail around Yosemite.

On one of the trails we came upon another very tame creature, this time, a mama deer and her fawns.  We saw them heading up the same trail as we were headed down and they were quite a ways off so we stepped off the trail to sit on big log, thinking that way we wouldn't disturb her and be out of her way.  As it turned out, the mama deer had other plans.  Once she spotted us, she and her babies made their way right over to us.  The fawns munched on leaves nearby while mama deer surprised us by nudging C-sta's shoes and J-rod's thigh (C-sta was sitting up high in a pack on J-rod's back)!  We could see that they were used to being around humans, and we could also see that this mama was nursing and in great need of nourishment herself (her ribs were clearly visible against her coat), but we didn't dare feed or touch her.  While I snapped a few photos, everyone else watched quietly.

Mama deer and her babies.

When mama deer realized we weren't going to feed her, she and her babies headed off into the meadow towards the little creek we had just crossed over.  We watched them stop to visit with the couple picnicking by the creek and noticed that they did feed the mama and her babies.  I guess not all visitors heed the signs posted throughout Yosemite, nor any of the verbal reminders from park employee's to NOT feed the animals.  All posted signs and verbal warnings included the phrase, "For Your Safety"!  As we continued on our walk (in the pouring rain at this point) back to the visitors center, in the middle of another meadow we saw a young buck with the velvet still on his antlers munching on some green leaves.  We all agreed that seeing and visiting with the deer up close was a highlight for us that day.  

Views from Glacier Point Road.

Our second day at Yosemite we spent it exploring along Glacier Point Road, Glacier Point, and Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.  The animals we saw this day included a coyote (from our car), more deer, chipmunks, squirrels (among them a very tame and rather plump one that ate amongst us inside the shop we stopped at for lunch).  As we were eating our lunch and the plump squirrel was crawling all around under the tables, I felt a tap on my shoulder.  When I looked up this little old man asked, "Do you see the squirrel?" I answered, "Yes." He said, "Can I have a piece of your sandwich so I can feed the squirrel?"  Uh...what?  I guess he didn't care to heed the signs either!

Glacier Point

Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias

We headed home the next day and spent the weekend recovering from our road trip, doing laundry, and getting ready for the kids to start school that following Monday.  It felt a bit funny to have our big trip at the tail end of the summer and then the start of school felt rushed and like it was too soon to go back, but since we were planning around the S Family Reunion that was how it worked out.  

First Day of School

At the start of school M began 6th grade where he became a full-fledged middle schooler and a member of the advanced band.  Li'l J began 2nd grade, happy to be in a class with a lot of his friends from 1st grade and from our ward as well.  C-sta began attending a 3hr a day, 5 day a week preschool which she loves.  Two days into the school year C-sta celebrated her 4th birthday with a good visit to the dentist, dinner from her favorite local Mexican place (a little hole in the wall that has yummy food), cake and ice cream with just our little family, and fun presents from us and her grandparents.  While still a big fan of the Disney Princesses, we have now entered the world of Barbie and Zhu Zhu Pets.

Our sweet birthday girl.

BFF fashion show

Unfortunately once kids go back-to-school, germs and bugs tend to thrive amongst peers and though it usually doesn't strike this early into the year Li'l J picked something up at school the last week of August and as a result spent a couple days home with a fever, vomiting, and asthma. Aside from Li'l J feeling so miserable, it was fun to have him home.  We watched movies, napped, and played LOTS of Star Wars Monopoly (he beat me every time!). : ) 

August 2012: Monterey Bay

When we left San Jose we surprised the kids by taking a detour from where they thought would be our next stop and headed instead to the Monterey Bay to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium (we were only an hour away, how could we not?!?!).  Boy was there a lot to see and do there!  

Our first visit to Monterey Bay and its Aquarium.

Favorites of the day, for M it was the Jellyfish exhibit; Li'l J was thrilled to watch the penguin's during their feeding time (he has recently developed an obsession with penguin's); and C-sta loved watching the sea otters.  

Jelly's!

I loved the sea horses!

Such cute little penguins.

Ocean life

An octopus's garden

Otter-mania!

Cannery Row, Monterey Bay, Ca.

A parking meter.

J-rod and I hadn't seen one of these is a long time. So my reaction was, "People still use these?". It was fun to see how it's been updated to reflect the time we live in. Our kids of course had NO idea what it was!

A last look at the beautiful bay.

We enjoyed our time in Monterey Bay, Ca.

As we were loading up the car to leave and drive inland again, a very tame seagull approached me at the trunk of our car.  When I ignored it, he waddled around to the side of the car where J-rod was helping to buckle C-sta into her booster.  When he ignored it, it hopped up onto the hood of our car and just eyed us so of course I pulled out my camera and snapped a few pictures.  He even stayed on the hood of the car as J-rod started up the car.  Once we pulled out of our parking spot the seagull finally flew away but not before giving us all a good chuckle as we waited to see how long it would ride along with us!

"Feed me? Feed me. Feed ME!"

August 2012: Sacramento and San Jose

While in Sacramento our first stop was the beautiful Sacramento Temple--it was our first visit to this temple. Driving up the long driveway to the temple, we saw a jack rabbit with HUGE ears and a flock of wild turkeys roaming around.  As we enjoyed walking around the temple grounds we were able to visit for a little bit with two of J-rod's cousins that were attending a singles conference at the stake center next door to the temple. It was so fun to see cousins M & K!

The Sacramento Temple

After our stop at the temple, we found the house J-rod's mom grew up in and took a couple pictures of what it looks like now.

Memory Lane!

From the old family house we drove to J-rod's Aunt G's house. When we first walked in, the "gamer" in our family immediately sniffed out that this house was set-up with a Wii.  How on earth did Li'l J figure it out? I have NO idea as it was not out in plain sight! Fortunately for Li'l J, loving Aunt G indulged him and let him play the Wii while we visited with her and her kids R & N before R dashed off to work.

While visiting Aunt G she gave us a tour of her beautiful backyard and very productive garden. Our desert raised kids didn't quite know what to make of the squirrels visiting the yard. One of them thought the squirrels were bunnies. It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that our kiddos wouldn't know what a squirrel looked like since we have NONE in the part of AZ that we live in. It actually made me a little sad since once of the things I remember well from my childhood was the enjoyment of watching the squirrels when they'd come around.

After coming back inside, we ate many delicious fresh veggies from Aunt G's garden and then got to tour Aunt G's workshop where she makes amazing custom ordered draperies and high end home decor for local home designer's (some of the fabric she had waiting for her to work on was absolutely luxurious! Oh to have her talent!).  Later in the evening we went out to dinner with Aunt G's oldest, son--Cousin B and his darling family--and Aunt G's youngest.

Dinner with family

'Hadn't seen these guys in FOREVER!

The next stop after Sacramento was San Jose where we spent a couple of fun days with my dear friend S from high school, her husband D, and their beautiful 3 month old daughter, A.  

S, her sweet baby girl A, and Zippy.

Baby A

We enjoyed swimming in their beautiful (and refreshing pool) that not only had a rock slide, but an cozy little cave hidden under a waterfall--my dream pool! 

The slide was such FUN!

While in San Jose, S and D took us to an indoor trampoline activity center.  While everyone else had a lot of fun jumping, flipping, and playing dodge ball, I got my baby fix and cuddled with Baby A...until she got hungry, at which point I had to surrender her to S so she could nurse.  

Jumping at Sky High

Li'l J and C-sta were also absolutely taken with A and spent every waking moment doting on her--it was so cute!  At the end of our stay Li'l J melted my heart when he asked if we could please bring  Baby A home with us. Oh little man, I wish we could have!

Look at us all grown up with kids of our own!

August 2012: Lake Tahoe

The first half of August 2012 was devoted to getting ready for, traveling to, and then finally getting to enjoy our summer family vacation. We were gone from home for almost two weeks in which time we drove 2220 miles throughout three states.  We began our adventuring with a drive up to G'pa & G'ma S's where we stayed for a few days.  For the first time ever, the drive that usually has taken us 11-12 hours only took us about 9.5 hours--SO nice!  While we were there we had fun visiting with extended family and preparing for the three-day S Family reunion in Tahoe.  

Once in Lake Tahoe we were joined by J-rod's two brothers and their families, J-rod's Grandma and Grandpa S, as well as his Grandma S.  The house Mom and Dad S rented out is located in the South Shore portion of the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe and is called "The Party House".  Fortunately it was big enough to fit us all as there were 21 members of our family there! 

While in Tahoe Mom and Dad planned lots to keep us all busy and happy.  We spent a day at the beach at Zephyr Cove where the water is almost crystal clear. We rowed boats on the lake, had fun swimming and/or splashing in the lake and watching our kids enjoy their time with their cousins. M, Li'l J, and I were the only ones CRAZY enough to actually swim in the 70 degree water--but trust me, it was FABULOUS compared to the over 90 degree water we left back home in our pool!  

The rest of our time in Tahoe we enjoyed a great FHE/devotional given by J-rod's dad, celebrating my sister-in-law M's birthday, watching old home movies J-rod's brother N transferred over from VHS to DVD, cheering on all the little kids as they played a game of "Minute to Win It" hosted by J-rod's sister C, watching the Olympics every night as a family, playing in a family baseball game, archery with Grandpa, family portraits, and of course, lots of yummy food!

Minute-to-win-it

Happy, Happy Birthday Aunt M!

Family portraits--behind the scenes

(photo credit © Amy Hunter Photography)

Family portraits:

1. Everyone

2. Grandparents with 

their grandchildren and 

great-grand children

3. Dad and Mom S with

their grandchildren

4. Dad and M S with

children

5. Our little family

6. BJ & C's family

7. D & M's family

After our goodbyes from "The Party House", our little family travelled on down the road a bit to the California side of South Shore.  Here we stopped to picnic among the blue jays and yellow jackets, hike for a little bit (we were rewarded with some gorgeous scenery), and then finally, a swim at Kiva Beach.
  

Lunch time companions

Kiva Beach, South Lake Tahoe

After enjoying our time at Kiva Beach on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe, we called it a day and drove on to Sacramento.

July 2012

Our melted dishwasher!

Despite some mechanical hiccups July 2012 turned out to be a pretty good month, one where we felt really blessed.  At the end of my last entry I mentioned that our fairly young dishwasher died on us and that it went out in a great cloud of smoke. What we discovered is that the wiring to the heating element malfunctioned, overheated, sparked, and ultimately melted itself to the plastic casing on the underside of the dishwasher.  There was no repairing it, replacing it was our only alternative.  So we began July preparing to spend a big chunk of change on a new dishwasher.  As J-rod's only day off the first week of July was the 4th, we then planned to spend a good portion of that day at Lowe's picking out a new one.  Blessings were sent our way and by the middle of the afternoon on the 4th of July we had a "well-taken-care-of 2 year old 'upgraded'" dishwasher installed.  A family in our stake (who's daughter and son-in-law are in our ward) had recently replaced all of their kitchen appliances and were looking to find new homes for the ones they changed out.  As a result we were able to replace our old one for only $75.00!!!  Seriously blessed!

Not too long after replacing the dishwasher, on one of our extremely hot AZ afternoons my car overheated while C-sta and I were out running errands. For the second time in four months I had to have my car towed to the mechanic.  No fun!  J-rod and I thought my radiator had blown and again we prepared for a hefty bill.  Fortunately it turned out to be a cracked manifold that connected three hoses and it wasn't as costly as we had thought it would be.  Once again we are so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who watches out for us!

The rest of the 4th we enjoyed as a family by going to see "Brave", swimming, grilling up some yummy steaks, watching fireworks from across the country on t.v., sitting on our drive-way to watch the fireworks from the high school that sits behind our house, and then setting off some fireworks of our own on our street.  It was a fun day!

Having fun at swim lessons, town pool

Underwater in our pool.

When the kids finished up swim team and lessons mid-month we were finally able to devote some mornings to a favorite summer past-time that we all enjoy: sleeping in! : )

Swimming until the last possible second 

before the dust storm hit us!

A few days later, storm free pool fun.

Along with sleeping in we also attended summer-time movies (where we discovered a few new favorites), went swimming in our pool, worked on better organizing our house in preparation for the new school year, weathered some pretty crazy dust storms, and enjoyed watching our cute little Jeffery as he and Copper play and enjoy each other's company.  Apparently that last activity captivated a lot of our attention as I found that most of the pictures we took of this month were of the two of them. : )

First picture:

"You got something in your teeth Copper. 

Here, let me help you get it out".

Last picture:

"There, there. All better buddy?"

Best buds in the making!

Bishop's Night.

In the middle of month J-rod and I headed up for a half day and evening of fun at Girls Camp.  The theme this year was "I Know Who I Am" so the leaders incorporated a lot of owls into the decorations, t-shirts, crafts, etc.--it was super cute!  We really enjoyed being up there with the girls and the leaders.  The theme of the day was "What's in a name" so the after dinner program included a fun game an uplifting segment where each bishop shared stories from their personal history of either family members who they were named after or family members that honored their name.  It was so neat to hear all of this great stories and gave me cause to reflect on the great women I was named after and evaluate how I am doing on honoring them and the names I was given.  After the program we visited with our ward girls and leaders as we shared a strawberry cheese we brought for them as a surprise (a tradition Jared began when he was called as bishop) and then joined them for their testimony meeting.  It was so neat to hear the many sweet and growing testimonies shared that night.  

On a side note, it was also nice to note that we had our very one "Bear Grylls" (think of the show "Man vs. Wild") on hand as one of the priesthood members there for the night.  As the girls lined up to share their testimonies I heard one of them exclaim, "aw, don't hurt it!" followed by a very distinctive rattle.  Off to the side of where the girls were lining up, our "Bear Grylls" had quietly spotted, corralled, and was then ultimately able to dispose of a rattle snake that clearly had come way too close to where we had gathered for testimonies!  Afterwards he showed us the rattle and I have to say, that is the closest I EVER want to come to one of those!

Ward Pioneer Day activity.

A fun little photo shoot with C-sta.

At the end of July 2012, we spent a lot of time as a family watching as the Summer Olympics began in London. In light of the Olympic games I was asked, "what event would you like to compete in (you know, if your life was slightly different than how it is and you were a professional athlete). Second....make up an event that you would win the gold in." My answer was, "without a doubt, if things were different and I had the opportunity to compete in the Olympics I would LOVE to compete as a swimmer.  In high school I was a sprinter and enjoyed swimming all but the butterfly.  My favorites were the breaststroke, freestyle, and relay events.  I'd be happy to swim anything from a 50m to a 200m.  A made up event in which I think I could be a pretty fierce competitor for the gold would have to be the, "running into someone I know, no matter where on this planet I may go" event. " : )  Ha, ha!

June 2012

The first day of June is always J-rod's birthday. June 1st 2012 J-rod turned 35 years young.  We celebrated his birthday by attending the boys Spring piano recital.  For this recital M and Li'l J's piano teacher combined with another teacher and both teachers had each student play two pieces. M played "Canon in D" and "Musette in D Major" and Li'l J played "Reverently, Quietly" from the Primary Children's song book and "Dual of the Fates" from Star Wars.  After the recital we took J-rod out to dinner and the next day we had some friends over for swimming, sub sandwiches, and cheesecake.

M & Li'l J with their piano teacher D.H.

The next big event after J-rod's's birthday was our stake youth pioneer trek: 18 miles over rough terrain, wearing pioneer clothing, pulling a hand cart the whole way over 3 days.  J-rod was asked to go as a big brother and had a great experience.  A sister from our stake who is a professional photographer and her daughter, a professional videographer, traveled along side those on trek and documented the journey.  Later in August of 2012 there was a "trek reunion" fireside where a beautiful video was shown of the experience.  Each person who attended the trek received a DVD of the video and a disc containing thousands of pictures.

J-rod leaving for Trek. Mom S made his shirt and vest.

J-rod on the trail with his Trek family.

(photo credit © CjCarroll Photographs)

J-rod's Trek family.

(photo credit © CjCarroll Photographs)

The 6 Bishops in our Stake with our Stake Presidency:

(R-L) Bishop N; Bishop W; Bishop H; Bishop P; 

Bishop H; Bishop S (J-rod); Pres. K; Pres. B; Pres. G.

(photo credit © CjCarroll Photographs)

Our stake president asked J-rod if I'd be interested in going on the next trek in 2016 so J-rod and I can serve together as a "Ma and Pa".  One the one hand, I'd LOVE to go as I know it would be an amazing experience.  I've been hearing all about it since the last trek when I was pregnant with C-sta in 2008.  Since I was pregnant then, my going was not even a consideration.  This year I couldn't go because we didn't have anyone who our kids could stay with had I gone.  All the people we usually leave our kids with in this area when we go somewhere, were also on trek.  I'd also love to go next time around because M will be old enough to go and I think it would be fun to be there with him (though by that point in time, M may not want his parents around).  On the other hand, anyone that knows me well knows that 1. I CANNOT choke down oatmeal for breakfast and that is what they eat for breakfast each and every morning of trek.  2. The only ones on trek who have access to "porta-potties" are those who go as "back-up camp" (those who help set-up/take-down and cook throughout the week).  Again, those who know me well know that I have NEVER, not once, been able to...how do I put this delicately? Um, "squat" when needing to go potty.  For those two reasons alone I don't know how I'd do on trek (let along all the other challenges) and J-rod really wants me to go as a "Ma" and not as part of "back-up camp".  Hmm, we'll have to see what the decision is come Trek 2016.

While J-rod was away at trek, I had a local photographer come take some fun "lifestyle" pictures of the kids to surprise J-rod with for Father's Day.  This is a photographer that was offering a great deal to come take photographs in your home of the daily things you and your family enjoy doing.  I had her photograph the kids at our new piano and playing in the pool.  She delivered the cd of pics the afternoon J-rod got back from trek, the day before Father's Day.  It was fun to have these pictures taken and surprise J-rod with them.  

M.

(photo credit © Serene Images)

Li'l J.

(photo credit © Serene Images)

C-sta.

(photo credit © Serene Images)

Siblings.

(photo credit © Serene Images)

At the pool. I like this series so much, 

I can't decide between black & white or color!

(photo credit © Serene Images)

Father's Day the primary kids sang in Sacrament meeting as well as J-rod and I with the ward choir.  My favorite was when the primary kids sang their second song, "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" and the Bishopric sang with them.  At the end of Sacrament meeting the YW passed out homemade chocolate chip cookies to all the men in our ward.  When J-rod got home from church later that afternoon we had a yummy dinner, showed him the cd of the kids pictures, and called his dad.  It was a good day.

C-sta finished up ballet for the summer with a second recital.  Unfortunately when she went on stage and realized she was the only one in her age group there that afternoon and that her two teachers would dance with her, she just hung her head down and cried.  She later said she missed her "dancing girls" terribly.

She loves it when she gets to wear make-up!

Cute ballerina toes!

Such cuties!

J-rod and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary a few days early in Las Vegas.  Our kids spent two nights and two days with our friends the H family who we've been swapping with for anniversary celebrations for the last three years.  

On the way to Vegas.

Where we stayed.

J-rod and I stayed at our time share a couple blocks off the strip and then shuttled over and used the Vegas monorail to get around.  Though J-rod and I have driven through Vegas numerous times over the last thirteen years, this was the first time we'd been there together.  Neither of us had spent any time on the strip since high school--J-rod went a few times for state track competitions and I went once to Circus Circus on our way back from a camping trip in Utah with my family.  It was fun to see how things have grown and changed.  We enjoyed delicious meals at two different buffet's (which made coming home to my cooking feel a little...blah), walked through many of the different themed hotels, took lots of pictures of all the fun buildings, rode up to the top of the replica of the Eiffel Tower (which had some pretty amazing views of Las Vegas--it reminded me a bit of being at the top of the Empire State Building in New York), took in a clean comedy/magic show that was such fun, enjoyed the dinner show at the Excalibur--Tournament of Kings--and enjoyed the water/music show on the lake front of the Bellagio Hotel.  

Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino interior boulevard

Exterior of The Eiffel Tower Las Vegas

View from The Eiffel Tower Las Vegas

The Las Vegas Temple

Vegas selfie

On the strip

At night

The day we headed back home we met up with J-rod's brother D and his cute family in Henderson for a short visit--our nephew C had just celebrated his third birthday the day before so it was fun to deliver his present in person.  While we were away our kids and the H kids swam in two meets.  Bless D and K for taking all six kids with them!  

Happy to have Mom and Dad back home!

The following week we took our turn and got to have all three H kids over while D and K went away to celebrate their fourteenth wedding anniversary.  We too took all six kids to five hours worth of swim meets.  Good thing all six kids get along SO well, or we wouldn't even have attempted it!  

Li'l J and M

Friday night after we met D & K at the temple to return their kiddos to them and then J-rod and I attended our ward temple night.  We had the best attendance so far for a ward temple night, and then all from our ward who came for the session stayed after hours to help clean the temple for a couple of hours.  After our cleaning tasks were completed, the custodial crew treated us to some of the "behind-the scenes" of the Mesa Temple. What a neat night!

Next exciting thing on our list: the replacement of our 5 1/2 year young dishwasher asap!  One night during the last weekend of June 2012 as the dishwasher was beginning it's dry cycle, it began to smoke horribly!  Fortunately we were home when it happened and were able to turn it off right away.   We were prepared with the fire extinguisher when we opened it just in case there were flames--so glad there weren't any!  Bummer, we were hoping to make it quite another number of years with it.  Pictures and more details in my July 2012 entry.