Nikki's Wedding!

Nikki is a dear friend from college that I met over 8 years ago, holy mole that seems like a long time!! I was fortunate enough to be there with her as she was married to John in the Newport Beach temple. Everything was absolutely beautiful and it was such a wonderful wedding. Megan and I flew to SoCal on Sept. 11th and I would be remiss if I said I was not just slightly overanxious to be flying on that date. But... all was well and we arrived just fine. Nikki's mom watched the girls so we could get manicures together and we stayed up later than we should talking and catching up. The next day was the wedding and it was all so beautiful and lovely. Megan was so tired from the busy day and the late night from being up late at the reception that she slept the entire way home on the plane--hallelujah!
I am so excited and happy for Nikki and she truly has found a wonderful man in John and I know he will work hard to give her all the love and happiness she deserves. It was such a wonderful weekend!

How beautiful is she?! Holy mole! Nikki's smoking hot!
Me and Megan, she was a a little tired...
Megan and Avery, exactly 3 months apart and the cutest little things you ever did see!
Nikki and John as they came out of the temple.
All the bridesmaids, it was misting at this point, but at least we got some pics before we were totally frizzy and wet.

Some friends and roomies from college
At the reception
Meggy with Jessy, thank you for all the help!!
I made this vinyl lettered tile for a gift for them, I think it turned out pretty cute :)
Their beautiful cake!

5 Things...

Tagged...by Christine
THE FIVE

10 years ago I:
1. Got my license to drive
2. Started my Junior year of High School
3. Went to my first concert--N*Sync baby!
4. Was Junior class Vice President
5. Went on my first date

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Get my Achievement Day activity ready
2. Clean the house
3. Exercise and take the girls swimming at the gym
4. Get my lessons ready for teaching tomorrow
5. Bathe Megan and get all the squished blackberries and raspberries out of her hair!

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
2. Junior Mints
3. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (dough form and ice cream form!)
4. Almond MnM's
5. Diet Pepsi (gotta have one healthy thing right? hahaha!)

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a house
2. Travel to tons of places and take cruises
3. Buy a Subway and a Jamba Juice franchise so I could have both whenever I wanted
4. Stash a bunch in accounts for the kids
5. Take friends and family on cruises/vacations

5 places I have lived:
1. Sacramento, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. Ukiah, CA
4. Tacoma, WA
5. Galt, CA

5 jobs I have had:
1. Deerwood Country Club
2. Cal Skate roller rink
3. Subway at the Cougar Eat at BYU
4. Elementary Art Teacher
5. North State Cafe and LaVae's food server

I tag...
1. Allison
2. April
3. Ashley
4. Ruth
5. Megan K.

Rules:Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog

Labor Day Fun

So, first time teaching water aerobics went well--better than I thought it would anyway! My tutoring position is working out quite nicely and I'm working on getting the hang of our new schedule. So, in a nutshell... life is good. :)

I know this post is late, but we enjoyed a fun time camping at Rucker Lake over Labor Day. It was colder than we thought it would be, but we still had fun! I grew up enjoying camping each summer with my family and I'm glad my girls get to enjoy the same fun trips that I did.Is it wrong to say that my favorite part of camping might just be the s'more making? yum! :)

Doesn't this face just say it all?! Mikayla loved every minute of camping, canoeing, swimming, s'more making, rock climbing, hot dog roasting, and getting dirty! It actually was harder than I thought it would be for me to let them get (and stay!) so dirty! I couldn't believe the amount of dirt that found the girls faces, clothing, and fingernails while we were there!

Mikayla and cousin Noah drying off after a swim in the lake.
Mikayla having fun playing Old Maid with Magaw.
Uncle Josh and Uncle Dusty took the girls for a hike and to go rock climbing.

The 3 of us went for a fun canoe ride around the lake.
Megan, sittin' pretty!
Me, Magaw, Megan, Mikayla, and Aunt Chloe
Mikayla loved rock climbing with Uncle Josh.
Trent giving Meggy some snuggles after playing in the lake.

Let the Fun Begin!

Whoa. What just happened?! We went from long, lazy summer days eating popsicles by the pool to one crazy start of another school year for all of us.
Trent started teaching seminary, began another semester of school and is still working on the weekends. Mikayla started everyday morning preschool. I started a job as an inpendent study teacher for an 8th grade tennis pro in town and have been training for a position at Del Norte as an aqua aerobics instructor. Which, I might add, I am teaching my first class tomorrow! Aauuggh! We are also in escrow on a home(actually my dad is, we plan to rent from him), but nonetheless, we could be moving across town in a few weeks and I have no idea what I have gotten myself into.
I didn't even go looking for these jobs. Two different friends actually called me and basically offered the jobs to me. I took them both and am scared out of my mind as they are both jobs I've never had and it is requiring A LOT of time and preparation and practice for each of them. The opportunities are exciting and challenging; this will definitely be an interesting school year for all of us. Unfortunately, I see a lot of Taco Bell and Papa Murphy's in my family's future... haha (I'm partially kidding!)

Tubing for the first time

Mikayla went tubing for the first time on Lake Oroville and loved it! She went with Uncle Josh and held on the whole time! She didn't want her turn to be over when it was time either!
She kept sitting up to wave at us, it was pretty funny!
Here's Aunt Chloe with Meggy
Mikayla even got a turn to help Papa drive the boat.
Then she jumped in off the boat for a swim with Magaw and Papa. What a fun day of boating and tubing!

Sister?

Megan can't say much yet, but she can say "sis-tuh." That's kind of what it sounds like anyway! She's breaking in all 4 molars at once and has a runny rose and is quite frankly, pretty crabby. So we let her sleep in and I took Mikayla to preschool while Trent stayed with Megan. She woke up a little later and walked around the house with her blanket around her shoulders, looking so sad, just saying "sis-tuh?" over and over again. She couldn't figure out where she was and was so sad to not have her favorite playmate around! 11:15am can't come soon enough for Megan--that's when we load up into the car and I say, "You wanna go get Sister?" She grabs her shoes and runs to the door with the biggest smile on her face! I love that they love each other. :)

The 2008 Olympics

I LOVED LOVED LOVED watching the Olympics this year! I loved gymnastics, swimming, running, hurdles, diving, etc. etc. BUT, my absolute favorite of all was watching Michael Phelps smash records and take all 8 golds! Amazing! I watched every single race and qualifier of his and loved every second of it. He is an incredible athlete and my one single favorite race of all was the relay when Jason Lezak had some superhuman surge to overtake Alain Bernard in the final leg! Unbelievable! I love the Olympics!

First Day of School 2008!

Mikayla's first day of preschool! she was so excited to go back and see her friends and her Teacher Noel and to play and learn new things. This kid loves to be busy and loves to play with people, so it's been a long summer just waiting for preschool to start again! She was so excited to go to school yesterday and came home and asked me to help her with her homework. Only problem: they weren't given any homework yesterday so I had to hurry and draw up a tracing page and a counting page for us to do together so she could have some sort of "homework" to do!

Jason is the new Bachelor!

So, I'm a few days late on this, I know, but Jason Mesnick has been named as the new bachelor for the 13th season of The Bachelor. I am soo excited! I fell in love with him on the last season and my heart was broken when he didn't get the proposal he was looking for. I hope to heck he can find love on the next season and can't wait to watch him again! No, not just because of the nice abs, but because he is a single father who loves his son more than the world, he loves life, he's charming and intelligent, and would make any woman happy. Here's to a great season (hopefully) with Jason in the driver's seat!

(Gotta love a little reality tv every now and then!)

Our Trip to Colorado!!

The girls were so excited to fly on a plane! It had been 2 years since Mikayla had last flown and this was Megan's first trip. They did SOOOO well!! They both slept on the flight and were quiet and we got lots of compliments when we arrived on Denver about how well they did!

Trent, swimming with Tevin and Mikayla. We had lots of fun swimming!
Our little family at the Denver aquarium.
Tevin being eaten by a shark!
Bryna and Megan are only 6 months apart and had fun playing together. Megan loved laying her head on Bryna and giving her hugs, so sweet!
At the pool with Megan

I love this happy smile on Megan!
Uncle Brock with Emily, Paytin, and Mikayla
All the cousins in front of the aquarium

Mikayla and Emily had fun playing together. It is so fun to get together and let the cousins play. It only happens once or twice a year so we pack our days full of fun when we get together!

Mikayla's Party

Happy Birthday my big 4 year old girl! I can't believe she is 4 already! Mikayla had an ice cream party and Magaw brought these huge ice cream wood cutouts. I made a cake shaped like an ice cream cone and we had ice cream sundaes and hot dogs and sausages and fruit too. The kids all went swimming in the backyard and the adults had fun talking and watching the kids play. It was a fun party and I know my big 4 year old loved every minute of it!
She LOVED her ice cream shaped cake!
Posing with mom and dad for a quick pic. I swear I only end up with 1 pic of me at each party just to show I was there!
Uncle Josh and Aunt Chloe just moved out here from Utah and Mikayla couldn't be happier!

Thanks for coming Magaw and Papa and for all your help with the party and the fun, big ice cream cones!
All the kids loved the party horns!
Mikayla tackled her buddy Erik and kissed him and said, "I just love you, Erik!"
Here's Kayla with Sophie and Bella, our little bathing beauties!

Happy Birthday Mikayla and Sophie!

This just makes me laugh and think of them as 80 year old women going shopping with their purses and bad hats and jewelry! Cracks me up!
March 2007

Oct. 2007-- These first few are out of order, they just make me smile! These girls love to play dress-up together and the outfit combinations they come up with are priceless! They are great friends and only 5 days a part. Sophie is older and Mikayla is tired of her being older first every year, so she has asked us if she can please turn 5 before Sophie next year... makes me laugh how something soooo trivial can seem like such a big deal to a four year old!
Sept 2007

At Mikayla's 1st birthday party (Aug 2005)
Playing at Lance Apts, 19months old (March 2006)

Halloween 2006
Sophie's 4th birthday party. The girls REALLY wanted crowns so since I couldn't find enough of one style at the store they got to make their own instead! They were huge, but they loved them! So happy birthday big 4 year old girls! I cannot believe how fast the time has flown and how big and beautiful you two are. May you always stay just as sweet and loving as you are now.