7 Down.....Eternity to Go!!!

7 years later.....WOW! Where did the time go?!  Seriously, I feel like we were just married and moving to NC on our first big adventure......and then I have this flood of thoughts and memories and ALL the things that have happened since then and it seems like a blur.  A crazy, vivid, can't believe that much time has gone by and can I please have a stop watch thing like Hermione did to freeze time now and get a few more hours in each day.  Life is crazy now, so much busier, so much more different, and yet the quote says it correctly: "the only thing you can expect from life is the unexpected!"  And with all of that and all of the highs and lows and moves and kids and jobs and trips etc I have had my very best friend by my side.  He is my support, my shoulder to cry on, the person who can make me laugh the most, my partner and teammate against our kids, my hero, my example, and my favorite person in this life.  He makes all the hard parts in life bearable and the great parts so much better!  Thank you honey for allowing me to make the best decision of my life and marry you 7 years ago.  I love you oceans and am glad I get to spend Eternity with you!  

This year for the first time we got away from ALL the kiddos and spent the night up in Santa Monica at the JW Marriott!  First we went to dinner at Joes and it was fabulous!  It was recommended by a friend and did not disappoint!  (although when they first brought out the appetizer of grilled asparagus and there was only 2 on the plate and we realized we just paid $10 for one piece of asparagus I was a little worried we might leave hungry....we didn't!)  It was actually fabulous food and even better to just have the two of us, and since we had an early reservation we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves too which was nice.  We then went up to the Santa Monica Pier and played like kids riding the rollercoasters and rides, eating icecream and churros, taking pictures in the photo booth, and walking around hand in hand.  Made us feel young and free!  I was SO excited to not wake up at all in the night and get to sleep in, but I guess I am just such a creature of habit I woke up a few times thinking I heard a kid and needing to go check on someone, and by 6:30 I was up for good.  I am SOOOOOO grateful that Emma was with the kids and they were all happy and had fun too and she kept telling me not to worry and just have fun.  It was such a needed getaway, and although short was just perfect!

Outside the hotel

At the restaurant, a little selfie of us!

In the morning I convinced Chip to run with me on the beach.  He was much faster but stayed with me the first few miles - at the end of it we walked to find some water and found instead some interesting creatures.  This guy was hilarious! He was walking around, dancing, moving all crazy, stretching, and just very odd with his ultra tan body, white bum, white hair, and crazy personality.  Brought back memories of when we lived here.  

Here is another view of him - i was too afraid to be so obvious and take a closer front shot, although I wish I had.  It was fun trying to do pull-ups, climb the ropes, and do the dip bars and other things they had here.  I LOVE being outside and running along the ocean - something soooo soothing and nice about it!

After wards we went and found some yummy breakfast, went shopping, and then when we had had enough we went home to see our cute kiddos!  

I didn't want to go out to lunch first because I had some of this awaiting me at home - my new FAVORITE food is cobb salad - I absolutely love it and although it takes a little time preparing I make it healthy and delicious!  SOOOOO good I crave it almost every day!

These 3 were SOOOO excited when we walked in the door....that is to see daddy.  I was kind of an afterthought I guess but i was sure excited to see them!  I had cleaned Ivy up later after dinner and then put her down to play when Griff yelled out "look mom, I sharing!"  Well, he sure was, and what was a clean Ivy 5 seconds earlier was now a very chocolatey Ivy now, although she was very happy as well, grinning from ear to ear and begging for more!  She sure loves when Griff shares!  Chocolate fudge bars from Costco are another favorite in our house!

We go to the park a bunch and the other day Ivy was playing with my phone and snapped this photo - pretty good I guess and shows what I love to do - lay on the blanket with her while the boys run every which way!

I LOVE everything about this photo - the lighting, her cute little profile, how she's sitting all dainty, her bow, and just my cute little Ivy!

 She does a very funny bear crawl when we are at the park to avoid scratching up her knees.  It is so funny!

 She is starting to venture away and play with the sand a little, and I can't wait til she can walk and gets to do even more with the boys, and I can really just relax at the park!  So much fun!

Chip got this GREAT idea, or so he thought, and ordered the boys metallic silly putty.  He was so excited about it and kept asking if it came. When it finally did he was super happy.  HOwever, he is not around and the stupid stuff has caused more problems than it's worth.  To fits, being stuck all over the house on things, etc....and then finally this!  Yes, somehow G ended up with it being stuck in his hair sunday morning.  No good!  It is worse then gum coming out, and although peanut butter sort of helped a large chunk of Griff's hair is now gone, and it caused an extra shower being needed from what we had planned for the morning!  Needless to say I have since gotten rid of it and forbid that stuff in my home!

This little girl turned 11 months, started eating peanut butter, drinking whole milk, and pretty much is my favorite little girl in this world.  She has me smiling all day long and I think she is the cutest!  Love our little Ivy Jane!

 We have had visitors for the past week straight and my friend Jenny was the latest to come and we did a little beach day yesterday - it was MUCH breezier and colder than we expected, and since Ivy was in a swimsuit only, the boys had no shirts, etc I had to put her in my sweatshirt to keep her warm.  She still somehow ended up with a little tan line from her suit though and it's pretty cute!  G got a little burned though and was up all night becuase of it last night so that was not so good.  Gotta lather up everywhere I guess to avoid burning with my kiddos!

 The kids adore Jenny, especially Cash, and he kept saying how sad he was she was leaving!

 This morning we dropped Cash off for pre-school and then walked down to the pier and along it with the 2 little ones in the stroller - fun, and cold times!  Hard workout with the kids!

Griffin wanted to run at part and was hurdling the lines - super funny, and reminded me even more of his daddy!

And finally - a HUGE goal was met today.  Cash set a goal to finish his reading lessons by today, April 30, and this afternoon we did the last one - lesson 100!!!!  He LOVES reading, is currently reading the first Harry Potter book, and recognizes words everywhere.  I am so proud of him for doing this goal and completing it!  Guess he did earn the light saber he wanted!

Life thru a Mom's eyes!!!

For some reason this week has got me down!  Maybe it is the fact that I was struck sunday night with a HORRIBLE stomach bug that kept me soooooo sick all day monday I didn't leave my bed til after 6 pm - I am SOOOO grateful that my sil was here and willing to help me out by watching my kids cuz I couldn't have done it without them.  Or maybe it is the fact that April is almost come and gone this morning and I am just not as close to some of my goals I had set, or maybe the fact my baby is almost 1 and somehow I still look about 5 months pregnant and the excuse of "I just had a baby" is no longer valid, or maybe just the gloomy skies outside that have as winnie the pooh calls it a little black raincloud hanging over me.  But for some reason I feel down.  

Anyways, I have So much to be grateful for and life is good so I will just give some pictures of the happy things to try to cheer myself up, and also to document our last week or 2 here in good ole So Cal!

This little girl is so big and standing up and walking around everything.  She is ALWAYS smiling and is so much fun!  She has started to talk and says "mama, dada, hi, and Cash (yelling it like I do even)!  She mostly just says hi though consistently - and she also waves (usually towards herself) and points with her finger and claps her hands.  Her favorite thing tho is hearing people on the video chat and seeing them and giggling.  She is a master giggler!  It is very fun!

 She also quit nursing last week and it's very handy that she will just drink her own bottle and feed herself!  She pretty much has given up baby food and only prefers the real deal - she loves anything I cook pretty much, especially homemade french bread, and she also LOVES icecream.  Yep she's my girl!  She finally started sleeping through the night consistently this month too so that is nice!

Another of her tricks I am not SUCH a huge fan of is that she is very quick to go up the stairs.  She is good at it and thinks it's a game to get away from mom and go as fast as she can up there.  Since the boys didn't crawl neither of them really ever went up the stairs well so I didn't have to worry, but she is an expert!

 This little guy LOVES junk food and can always find the sweets in the house - here he had finished off a very yummy chocolate donut!  Who can get mad at him for eating their donut when he says "sorry about that mommy" in his cute little voice.  He is so hard to stay mad at because he is so happy and always apologizes like this: "sorry about that mommy! SOrry about that! I still love you too!"  It is pretty funny and I think he has just learned how to be a master manipulator.  He has me!

 We got the kids beds done and in their room - pics to come when it's all decorated - and I splurged and got this chair to go in their reading nook!  It is so perfect and they love it.  I love that they are liking reading and we have started to go to the library once a week to get books and enjoy reading a bunch together!  

 They play really well together these days and are so much fun to watch be kind to the other.  Griff wants to do everything like Cash and I am just grateful that they each have chosen a separate favorite color so we can keep things separated and tell them apart - Griffin's is blue (I think Cash picked it for him) and Cash's is green.  It makes cups, plates, and all other things separated perfectly!  They wanted to do this funny face!

 Little Ivy is just the cutest and her brothers LOVE to play with her, hug her, and make her happy.  They are great examples to them and have taught her how to be tough already!  I am obsessed with dressing her and have to restrain myself every time I go to the store from buying her too many cute outfits!

She has also made us very happy and shows promise in the dancing category - check out her moves - she LOVES to shake and dance any time music comes on and also sings along to songs.  Love it!

 She also has tried swinging and LOVES this too.  So much fun seeing the joy all over her face!

She also doesn't like the feeling of sand on her at all, or her knees scraping the cement apparently and so she has learned a new way to crawl when we go.  Makes me laugh!

 I have taken to flower arranging and practicing for my sisters wedding and this one turned out pretty great I think!

 We had a visit from this little cousin this weekend and I just found these pics from when we were in AZ but Ivy LOVES her cousin Ryland and they are so much fun together.  He teaches her things every time (might be the reason she likes the stairs so much now in fact!)  He is 2 weeks older and they are the cutest little almost one year olds out there I think!

 Love all the expressions!

 Made a berry trifle for Sunday dinner and it looked super pretty.  Easy recipe too!

 White denim and switched out her earrings for the first time since she got them pierced - SO cute!  Thanks Grammy for the hearts!

Playing around!

PURE JOY!

 Drove up to PV for a Sunday drive to this great park with a lighthouse and awesome view of the ocean with Chip's sister's family.  It was so beautiful and I hadn't been there so a great new find! Griffin fell asleep on the way so once he got woken up he never quite got super happy until we were in the car ready to leave again!

 Mom of 3 - living the life!

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 Panoramic view of the view.  

 Family photo there.  

Less than 10 hours later from this shot is when I awoke feeling like I was on my death bed, but the weekend was good before, we had a great time with family, I am so proud of Chip's sisters for completing their Ragnar race and then had fun hanging with them and having them in my RS lesson Sunday.  So overall life is great.....

I just gotta get myself outta my funk!

Happy Day!

Off To the Races...

I really feel like I am running a race EVERY day and somehow NEVER getting to the finish line.  This year is just flying by and I am trying to stay caught up, trying to do a lot of things, and yet somehow it is still slipping by!  However, life is GREAT!!!  Really it couldn't be better and I am so content (for the most part right now)!  I actually did run a race 2 weekends ago and it was so much fun!  Thanks to my beautiful SIL Emily for convincing me to run with her and train and get me jumpstarted again on working out.  She has moved in with us and that is probably one reason life is SOOOOO good right now!  I feel like every day is a party when she is around, no matter if we are just cleaning, running errands, cooking, or doing the other normally boring mom things!  It is so awesome having another pair of hands around and she is like super woman - ALWAYS cleaning, helping cook, tending the kids etc. I seriously might die if she leaves any time soon!  Also, we have so much fun talking and hanging out that it really does feel like a party all the time.  I am happy she has a new job but also am sad because I want to just hang out with her all the time too!  Anyhow, our house is full of love and happiness with her added to it.

We got our numbers!! Em ran the half marathon and I ran the 10K.  It was not the easiest course but it was a good run!

 Still not sure at this point I really am wanting to run!

 Here we are at 5:30 am on Hollywood Blvd - ready to run!!!  

 Cash wanted to take a picture with the medal - which he now claims is his!  Then he told me he would take a pic of me for me if I wanted, but he needed the medal back afterwards - how nice of him!

 My family didn't make it in time to see me cross the finish line - 7 am is pretty early to have 3 kids and make it to I guess, but they did however show up before Em crossed for the half marathon!  Here we are enjoying the post-race chaos!

 Our cheering squad - ivy is here just in the stroller right there!

 This little girl is constantly on the go and is so much fun right now!  She also dances anytime the music comes on - as in right here and makes us all smile!

 Daddy woke up with this shiner one morning last week - thanks to a head butt from Griffin he now looks like he is wearing pretty purple eyeshadow each day!

 Cash started school this last week again and I worked in the classroom that week so Griffin got to come participate too!  We love his school and Miss Gina his teacher.  

Daddy took off a few days last week to work on the beds and finish other house projects but we did take an afternoon off and go to Knottsberry Farm - the boys love it and it was SO MUCH fun watching them laugh and giggle on the rides.  Chip is a big kid at heart and so he got to ride a bunch with the kiddos too since I was a little nauseated from the big rollercoasters (my first time riding them since before Cash was born and I got a little sick - which I NEVER get sick on them so was a little sad.....then realized it was a supplement I had taken that was causing it - phew!)  Next time I can ride the big ones hopefully!

 Here is one pic of the HUGE project Chip took on - the fact that they are done and look great and up in the room shows that we can make it through anything - we joke they caused more marital fights, stress, frustration, etc than anything we have faced over the past year - SOOOO happy they are done!  And so is Chip!  He is a perfectionist so they look SO AMAZING!

Excited to decorate the room and get everything else up to go with them - will post pics of the new room soon!

 I haven't met my little niece Emma yet  but I am constantly getting pictures of her and updates and videochatting and am counting down the days til I get to snuggle those cheeks!  Can't stop laughing at her cute little pout she has going on!

The biggest thing of this past week has been Chip getting called into our Bishopric on Sunday.  He is the 2nd counselor and it was a huge surprise to us, but I know he will do great.  He is such a good example to me of being a good church member and I am so grateful he is worthy, willing, and wants to serve.  His parents came over so his dad could ordain him to be a high priest and support him when he was called and it was great having them! We love you Chippi! (wish me luck taking care of the 3 kiddos in sacrament meeting each week alone now!)

 He also finished painting this little table and Ivy loved crawling in it all yesterday.  

 Happiest little girl EVER!

 My favorite girl!  I can't get enough of her smile and cute personality! Even though she cut 5 teeth last week she was still this happy every day, and also managed to learn to sleep through the night every night for the past 5 days!  Loving the good sleep again!

 I came home to this pretty sight today after dropping Cash off for school - Emma and Ivy snuggled up sleeping on the couch!  I am jealous!

So life is good, and keeps getting better!  Bring on this week!  Hopefully we can get all the stuff done and play A LOT!!!!  Have a great day!