Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Camping...

We met up with Peter's brother and parents and camped memorial weekend. They brought their four wheelers and we had a great time. Max had so much fun getting dirty, playing with bugs, experiencing smores for the first time, but most of all riding on the four wheelers. Thanks for a great time Gwen, Paul, Brin and Aaron!
















Max's first Strip experience...





St. George getaway...

We were able to go to St. George for a night to see some of our friends from Utah. It was our friend Tara's 30th birthday and they rented a beautiful home for a week and were generous enough to share it with all of us! Thanks guys!




'Reunited and it feels so good...'

(I am just too tired to journal much so these next few posts will be mainly pictures with a few captions...sorry...or maybe you are welcome. lol)

It has been so much fun to be 'reunited' with all our great friends in Vegas!

Karver's birthday...

Kyle is a favorite among the neighborhood kids...

Wranglers hockey game...(one of Max's favorite things he has done in Vegas hands down! He still walks around the house yelling 'here we go wranglers, here we go!')


Max with Harley and Layla...

One of the fun water parks in Vegas...
Max and Austin...
Max and Avery...


no, that is not a barbie dad...
Some of the best friends anyone could ask for!

Max playing with a lego star wars ship that his daddy bought him so that he could have a toy of his own...(since all of his are still in storage) What a thoughtful daddy!

We can't forget about the perfect baby ever! He always has a smile on his face!

A few moving pictures and visit from Aunt Monica...

Six Flags...(Natalie's first roller coaster)














The Giraffes...




















































before the truck arrived...



















driving the truck...




























the packing crew...














saying goodbye to a very dear friend...


















driving away...














sniff...sniff...

Sunday, May 3, 2009

We are alive...(barely)

So we made it to Vegas. It was a bittersweet moment loading the kids in the car Saturday morning. One that brought a few tears to my eyes. As I pulled away from our house so many thoughts went through my head...'this is the last time I will be pulling away from this house...when will I be back...why didn't I take more advantage of all the amazing things the bay area has to offer...I am going to miss all my wonderful friends here!' I am so sad that I did not take more pictures of the adventures this past month. There were some funny ones, some that made me cry and some that made me want to check into the nuthouse! lol

First of all I need to thank everyone that helped us. We are so lucky to have such great friends. Not only did I have a crew help me load the truck, I was bombarded with help the week prior with packing, cleaning and babysitting. You all are so wonderful and I hope that we will be able to keep in touch with all of you.

So as most of you know, Peter left two weeks before me to begin his new job, which left me to pack up the house. If you don't already feel bad enough for me, just know that this is not the first time he has done this. :) But also, in Peter's defense, he had a pretty good reason to leave. Regardless, this left me with the task of packing up the house with two kids, cleaning my house with two kids and also taking care of my two kids. As I mentioned above, I had lots of help. I had my parents and sister's family here for Easter and they helped me pack some stuff up before they headed back to Utah. After my family left, I was all alone...or at least that is what I thought. The day after they left, I already had friends calling me to help pack, babysit and clean. Someone took Max for me everyday the week before we left.

On Thursday a bunch of my friends came over for a packing/cleaning girls night out at my house. I wish I had pictures of this night. It was so much fun to hang out with everyone. (probably not so fun for all you girls...you all worked your buns off!) I thought that I was pretty much done when they came over, but I didn't realize how much I still had left. I would not have finished if it weren't for their help. Sarajane brought me a loaf of homemade bread with honey butter....YUM!!! I had it for every meal for three days straight it was so delicious. (still waiting for the recipe) ;) Also, Jenny brought some orange creamsicles which hit the spot after working up a sweat. Thanks so much girls!

So then the much dreaded Friday came...MOVING DAY! :( I actually started off the day with a pedicure which was so nice! It was nice to just relax for about an hour before I started this crazy day. After my pedicure, I tried to clean the house for my inspection. Again one of my friends, Sarajane, came over to help me. I had my inspection and then it was off to get the truck. Originally, the plan was for our friend Chris to go with me to pick up the truck. (so I didn't have to drive a 26' truck around town) That was before I realized that the truck place closed at 4:30 and that was before Chris got off work. So yes, I ended up having to drive the semi back to my house. I have never been more scared to drive in my life!! I was so happy when I made that last turn to my house! We had a good crowd show up to help us move and we were done within a couple hours. The truck was packed SO tight and everything fit! Hooray! After we loaded the truck I picked Peter up from the bart station. Max was so excited to be reunited with his daddy! He missed him so much. Shortly after Peter came home we went to sleep only to wake up early to a long drive neither is us were looking forward to.

Now for the drive...I wish I would have journaled about this trip the day after it happened. It would be in much more detail and maybe a little more humorous. I will just sum it up. Peter left about an hour and a half before the boys and I. (thinking it would take him longer because he had to drive so slow) The first half of the trip went great. The second half not so great. I think I averaged more time stopped than on the road. Both of the boys were not feeling well. About 30 miles before we reached our "final destination" Max decided it would be a great time to throw up. I had to pull over yet again to clean it all up. The most frustrating thing about him throwing up was that we were sooo close!! So with all my speed bumps along the way, Peter managed to have the truck unloaded and loaded into our storage, made a trip to the grocery store and had the BBQ going ALL before I pulled up!


(an update on our time in Vegas will come later...along with pictures)

Monday, April 6, 2009

Viva Las Vegas...


Just wanted to let everyone know we are moving back to Vegas! Peter accepted a job there and he starts next Monday. Max, Sol and I will be packing up the house and leaving on the 25th. We are going to miss California so much! We have made great friends here and hope they come visit us lots. We are also going to miss the beautiful weather here. All the culture and unique things to do. The beach. The parks. The museums. I could go on and on. That said, we are so excited to re-group with all our great friends in Vegas!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Look who wears big boy underwear...

and you guys thought Max was smart for his age!


Peter and I have tried EVERYTHING to get Max excited for the big boy potty. He just simply has NO interest. I have started to tell him that we are going to give his Thomas, Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny and Diego underwear to his friend Peyton, (his friend from church that just became potty trained) to see if he would want to try to start wearing them. He did not seem to care much. So after Peter changed Solomon, he put on Max's underwear over his diaper and said that he was going to give Solomon his big boy underwear so they did not go to waste. Still, no reaction.

Any suggestions?