Day 342 Bringing Ginger Home

Well pretty much the happy moment for the day today was bringing our sweet puppy HOME!  What an incredible and emotional day today.  I am so thankful for this sweet puppy that we have.  At the same time it was emotional because I know that Daisy was smiling down on us all day today, so happy and joyful that we have her sister!  I am sad that Daisy is not here, but I feel so blessed to have a precious puppy to love as well.

Little miss Ginger played hard today.  I got to show her off via text message and going door to door.  We got to visit our friend, Peter, who is moving  in a couple of days.  His dogs were Daisy's best friends, so it makes me a little sad they did not get to meet Ginger, but they will get to next summer....something to look forward to!

Our neighbors here in our little sidewalk area have an adorable Corgi, and he and Ginger played for a really long time today!  They had so much fun and Ginger slept and slept!  It is fantastic to have another dog near for Ginger!

Connor and Joel are so excited to have a puppy and they played with her all day today, taking turns walking her, kissing her, and finally taking a bath with her tonight.  After Ginger's bath, we wrapped her up in a towel and David took her downstairs so I could finish up with the kids.  Well, I came down to find that sweet little girl asleep in David's arms, still wrapped up in the towel!  It was too cute!  So instead of writing any more tonight.  I am going to try and post some pictures from the day.  Ginger truly was my happy moment for the day today.  I feel so lucky to have that sweet girl in our home, and I KNOW Daisy is so happy that we are finding the joy with her sister!

Day 338-341 Vacation Blog

• Friday- after having a day of rest, it was time to get out and go go go again today!  We headed out to our favorite water play area in Provo Canyon, but before that, we got sandwiches at a Provo favorite that everyone talks about back home.  It is called Gandolfo's and really did have amazing bread and even MORE amazing chocolate mousse cake!  So we went up to the canyon and headed over to Bridal Veil Falls.  The boys had THE best time climbing, throwing rocks, splashing, and getting pictures taken.  I had the best time getting to watch them splash and laugh!  It was some great family time, and even when it started to rain, the boys just kept right on playing!  They played for almost 2 hours in the water, but when it started to really rain, Connor got pretty cold, so we headed down to a park for a picnic lunch.  There was a nice park that had a big parking lot, a covered eating area, and a nice playground.  We had such a nice family meal and playtime!  The boys were so happy to have us all together and they loved having David and me watch as they went down slides, chased each other, and made lots and lots of noise!  After all of that, it was back to the house for naps!  Nap time was great and when that was over, we headed over to a great restaurant in Provo, The Brick Oven, to meet a bunch of my family members who live near there.  We had a wonderful dinner catching up and chatting.  Connor was so cute and formed a really quick attachment to my cousin, Kamberly.  They call her the nanny.  She is a nurse at a children's hospital.  I told her she is for sure a child whisperer.  Connor would not leave her side for the rest of the night!  After dinner, we headed over to a church parking lot where another one of my cousins shot of a TON of fireworks (yes that makes 3 nights now lol).  They were loud and amazing, but the boys got really tired so we had to leave early.  We all had such an amazing night and I am so grateful for our wonderful happy moments!

• Saturday-today we packed up and finished some laundry and headed to a hotel for the last 2 nights of our vacation.  The Olympics were on while we did laundry, and it was so fun to have Joel watch them with me!  Four years ago, we did not leave the house for 2 weeks while the Olympics were on.  It was so fun to see Joel get excited about archery and swimming.  After the laundry was done and we said our thank yous and goodbyes to the White Family, we headed to the hotel.  We got an upgrade like we did last year and it was SUCH a happy moment to go to the room with a king size bed and a pull out couch in another room for the boys!  We were blessed for that!  After getting to the hotel, we headed right back out again to go to my cousin's house.  We all headed out together to Heber Valley for some dinner at a really cute diner and then it was off to the demolition derby that we had waited an entire year to see!  Connor was SO cute, he sat next to Kamberly for a long time and snuggled down.  He barely moved!  She has some special power on that little boy's heart!  The demolition derby was amazing and the boys had such a great time watching the cars crashing together....ok on this one we ALL had a great time watching the cars smash into one another!  What a great night!  AND we also got to try Utah's famouse Hawaiin shaved ice for the first time....Pina Colada mixed with Tiger's Blood was just OUTSTANDING!  It was really great because it was pretty warm and sunny for a while so we all appreciated the ice concoction....very refreshing!  We made it back to the hotel safely and enjoyed an AMAZING night's rest!

• Sunday came around and Connor slept in until almost 10AM!  We decided since it was our last official day of vacation to make it a vacation day.  We went to a restaurant called Chuck A Rama for breakfast/lunch and the boys LOVED eating their yummy scones.  It was a nice lazy day.  We headed back to the hotel and had some really nice family time.  After that, Connor and I took a Sunday nap while David took Joel out for some father/son time.  Later on, we headed back to the White's home where Robin cooked an amazing dinner for us all!  It was so nice and we got to enjoy cookies out in the backyard while the kids played.  What a perfect way to end our vacation!  I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family and I am so thankful for the time that we spent with them all...if only we had another week, we could do even MORE things!  All good things must come to an end I guess, but it sure was fun while it lasted!

• Today was an 11 hour drive back home....it is 8 hours from Provo to our home, but with two crazy children and potty and food breaks, well, 11 hours it was!  For the most part they did alright, and the DVD player and tablet got used A LOT today!  I got to drive for quite a while and I have learned that I love to have a head phone in one ear and listen to my favorite Pandora station while I drive.  It keeps me from listening to the kids fight, and I am able to focus on the drive more.  So 11 hours later, we pulled into our community and got to see our neighbor who is moving in a couple of days.  We are going to miss him and his family so much, but next summer, we are planning a BIG drive to go and see them in Oregon, so that is a very happy thing to look forward to!

 I feel so blessed that we made it home in safety.  What a great vacation that was!  There is still so much to look forward to this summer with Joel going to camp, Connor hopefully getting potty trained, and us getting our puppy tomorrow!  Looking forward to blogging about it all.....not too many days of blog left!

Day 334-337

Well, being on vacation did not leave much time for blogging, but it DID give me time for many happy moments!  Since it WAS a vacation, I am going to mesh a few days together to go over the happiest of the moments....so I give you Monday through Thursday on this blog....

• Monday was a fun day filled with going to Temple Square, enjyoing an organ recital, taking pictures, and then off to the Church History Museum kid's area to play play play!  We had the best time doing SO many family things!  After all of that, Connor was in need of a nap, so Joel and I walked around the new City Creek Mall area and had SO much fun shopping and sight seeing!  (I also got two new pairs of shoes that I have been looking for in California for a long time so YEA for that!)

• Tuesday was Pioneer Day in Utah and BOY do they like to celebrate!  We watched a parade on TV while getting ready for our day.  Then we headed to the Gateway kid's science center and the boys had a blast playing there.  We went back to the hotel for naps and then off to Thanksgiving Point where there is the largest collection on dinosaur bones in the world.  We spent a few hours exploring and Joel and Connor LOVED looking at all of the fossils and bones!  Then we headed to our friend's, the White Family, to spend a few days there.  We bought some fireworks on sale at the local store and after Connor went to bed, the White family, their daughter, Joel, and the rest of us set off fireworks with a few hundred of their neighbors!  Imagine July 4th on steroids....that is what Pioneer Day is like in Utah!  They legalized aerial fireworks this year and some of the neighbors were shooting them off until well pas midnight!  It was so fun!  Joel had the best time watching his dad light the fireworks and he begged us to do it again....then off to bed we went at about 11:30 that night!

 

•  Wednesday (day 336) was a fun day in the sun!  We headed up to Heritage Park (or what is sometimes called This is The Place Monument).  Where the pioneers first came in to the Salt Lake Valley.  It is now a fun pioneer town full of crafts for kids, train rides, pony rides, old pioneer houses to tour, a general store, restaurants, and more!  We saw a really neat Native American act and had these really cute doughnuts...Connor's favorite part of the day I am sure!  It was some really nice family time together!  We also got to try a slushie with the flavor Tiger's Blood.  Now, that name should have thrown me off, but I have heard good things from people in line lol.  So we tried it...SO good!  So don't be thrown by the name if you ever get shaved ice or a slushie...go with it...it might sound gross, but boy is it yummy!  The boys had fun playing in the water at the park with a pioneer lol.  My happiest moment from the day was just being with all three of my boys and watching them all smile!  Later on, we did another firework show with Joel and the White Family's oldest daughter.  We didn't end up getting to bed until almost midnight again, but we had SO much fun shooting off fireworks that flew into the air!  It is amazing what you can buy and do outside of California!

• Thursday- after doing so much and getting to bed really late the night before, we took it really easy and spent much of the day resting.  We went to breakfast with Robin White at this restaurant called Kneaders.  Oh my!  What an amazing place!  They have the most incredible all you can eat cinnamon French toast!  So if you are ever in Utah, that is the breakfast to have!  We all loved it and it was a great breakfast for the little kids as well!  We came back to the house and everyone took naps.  It was nice to have some down time that day!  That night for dinner, we went and had Five Guys burgers.  They are putting one near where we live and Joel cannot wait to get another hamburger from there!  We spent a lot of time at the house and all the kids got to play together.  It was a true day of being lazy and being on vacation!

So there are some of my vacation days!  I will make the next blog the rest of the days.  We had so much fun and I am so thankful for all of the happy moments that I was able to capture on film as well as in my heart.  It isn't easy being on vacation with two children sometimes, but other times it is worth all of the stress when the kiddos are so happy and enjoying one another!  Until my next blog!

Day 333 HEE HEE HEE

Wow, I just can't believe I am 333 days down!  I am so glad that we have internet access here at the hotel so I can blog!  I am not sure about what will happen when we stay with friends and family later on this week, but for now I am enjoying being able to type on a regular basis.

Today was so peaceful and spiritual.  We went to church with our friends that we are staying with in a few days.  Joel and Connor had a great time in primary and nursery and I got to hear my friend give a lesson in Young Women...it was really great!

After church, we headed over to a buffet place that the kids LOVE and had a late lunch/early dinner.  We came back to the hotel and took a great Sunday nap....YEA for Sunday naps!

After nap time, we headed out so the kids could get their wiggles out.  We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City and walked around the temple grounds.  We went inside the Tabernacle and took some cute pictures of the kids.  After that, we went to the grassy area on the other side of the Tabernacle and let the kids run for a bit.  (The Tabernacle is home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.....hoping to hear them sing on Tuesday!)

The kids had fun running around and I got some cute pictures of them by the temple and on the grass.  We are going back tomorrow to do more things at the large Temple Visitor's Center.  We decided to walk over to the Conference Center and see if we could look around.

WOW!  If you are ever in Salt Lake City and want to take a tour of one of the most amazing buildings with some of the most beautiful artwork, go to the Conference Center!  We were there touring for more than an hour looking at original pieces of art, water fountains, gardens, and the inside of the Conference Center itself where our semi-annual General Conference is held.  21,000 seats with no beams or posts to obstruct anyone's view!  AMAZING!

After a wonderful evening, we headed back to the hotel where we put the kids to bed and I got to finish watching the last episode of the Bachelorette.  Joel was so cute because he was still awake and when the guy was proposing to the bachelorette, Joel kept saying, "please say yes! Please say yes!"  It was adorable!  I told him he will get to ask a girl that someday!

Well all, time for bed and hopefully another great day tomorrow!  Going to try and start the day off with some Lion House Cinnamon Rolls...we hear they sell out quickly so we will see!

Day 332

Fun day today!  We made it to Salt Lake City and enjoyed the drive along the way.  We stopped at one place and loaded up on slushees, yum!  When we got to Salt Lake, we walked around and ate lunch at one of our favorite lunches from last year.  We are going to try to eat breakfast there on Monday morning as they were out of cinnamon rolls this afternoon!

After our lunch, we took a drive up to the Salt Lake Cemetery.  Now, a cemetery tour on vacation might not sound like too much fun, but it is something my family and I have done for years.  There are many prophets who have passed away buried there, and more importantly, a lot of my ancestors are buried there!  We weren't sure that we would be able to find the Hill gravestones because it is a huge cemetery, but after driving around for a bit, we found the headstones!  It was really neat to get out and take pictures of the kids at the grave of their great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents!  The boys also were able to get their wiggles out running up and down the grass....who knew cemeteries could be fun right?

So we checked into our room and are really happy to have both a microwave and refrigerator....that is going to come in handy with the milk and snacks we packed....small happy moments are the best!

I am so thankful that we get to be here!  I hope we get to enjoy lots of fun moments and happy family time....I also hope Connor takes a nap soon because traveling with a NON napping toddler is not all fun all the time lol  Happy Saturday all!

Day 331

Hello from the road!  Lots and lots of driving today.  And driving with children for 6 hours may not bring too many happy moments lol.  They actually did pretty good and I am proud how they treated each other....mostly. 

So off we went at 6 AM.  I have Pandora on my cell phone and I was able to plug in my head phones and put one of the little speakers in my ear.  That way, I was able to listen to the kids and help them out when they needed it, but be able to tune out any whining or little noises....it was great!  I love that I can listen to whatever music I want to!

We made great time and when we got to the hotel, we were the only people here!  So I let the boys run up and down the hallway of the 3rd floor, outside our room.  They had the best time and I am pretty sure they thought mom was a little coo coo for letting them do something that is usually a big time no no....hey, when on vacation!

After settling down, we got on our swimsuits and headed to the indoor pool.  The boys had a lot of fun swimming with mom and dad!

After swimming, we went to dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants that is not in California, Cracker Barrel!  Yummy food as always!

After dinner, we drove over to see the Saint George Temple.  It is interesting.  I remember the temples being much more gated off than they are now.  I don't remember being able to walk the grounds or see the visitor center when I was little...but I am so glad my kids have that chance!  Joel and I walked around the temple and watched as a bride was getting her pictures taken in front of the temple steps.  It was a great moment to talk with Joel about eternal marriage and he was so cute!  We have a list that he has been making for a long time about what to look for in a bride.  Well, he told me he wanted to add one to his list lol, she has to like playing video games with him..."that's a must!"  I told him that was a good idea....I love playing video games with David and some of those games are really fun!

So that was our day one of happy moments here.  Hope everyone is having a nice summer and staying cool because my goodness it is HOT here!

Day 330...35 days to go!

WOW, I can't believe I am down to just a little over a month until I am done blogging!  What an adventure this has been to do this every day!  I have actually found books where people wrote down happy things every day for a year and then wrote about that experience, lol I don't think I will be doing that, but I will treasure my 365 day blog for a long time and I hope my children and their children get to read it to learn and to grow from my experiences because what a YEAR it has been!

As we look forward to heading to Utah, I think back to last year when we went.  We went to ease our heartache over the loss of our puppy and to find some joy in another state.  Little did we know that we were just at the beginning of what would be a VERY long journey of surgeries and emotional trials.  I am so looking forward to finding the joy in Utah once more, but this time, no urgent cares please :-)  My dad actually had emergency gall bladder surgery in Utah one summer when we were up there, but that was taken care of for me in October last year, so really, we should be good LOL.

Lots of laundry and getting things done today.  Joel had a great time at Vacation Bible School, and what better way to end his time there and begin our trip to Utah with learning about Jesus today?  I am so thankful he came home with a little testimony that Jesus lived and that he died for us and that if we live good lives and believe in Him, that we can go to Heaven someday.  Hopefully that little foundation of faith can be strengthened as we tour Temple Square and visit sites where we feel the spirit and the love of God.

One of the BEST happy moments today did not happen to me, but I got to be an onlooker to such a sweet act of love, that it warmed my soul from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes!  I was taking Connor up the stairs for nap time today when he asked if he could get a Joely kiss...or as he calls kisses "puss."  So he asked, "Joely puss mommy!  Joely hug!"  So I asked Joel if he could come give Connor a hug and kiss good night.  Well, on the stairs, there were both boys, hugging and kissing one another and being beyond sweet.  Oh that those moments would last forever!  You better believe this mommy praised them like crazy for the love that they were giving to one another.  It was beyond sweet and I am so thankful for that sweet happy moment I just got to sit back and enjoy!

Well, I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow!  I cannot wait to see what happy moments happen and I pray for a safe journey for us and anyone else traveling this summer!

Day 329

My blogging is all caught up tonight!  I don't know what I am going to do when we go on vacation soon.  I might just blog offline and then add it all when we get back home so I can keep track of it, and be able to post all of the vacation blogs at once.  We shall see!

Today was another busy day.  I am trying to get road trip folders ready for the boys so they have plenty of writing and coloring to do in the car and not just watching the DVD player the entire trip.  I used to love looking outside the car and watching the cars, plants, animals, and other people go by.

Joel had his second day of Vacation Bible School and he loved every minute of it.  I am so thankful he is learning about people from the Bible and sharing it with me!  Connor and I took a trip to Target and got lots of snack items for the rest of the summer, and for our road trip.

I got to visit teach one of the ladies in my ward today.  She has a 2 month old baby who is out of this world adorable!  It was so fun oooing and aaahing and getting to talk to the little baby.  Connor had a lot of fun giving the baby toys and trying to put the Paci in the baby's mouth....he would make such a great big brother! (No we are not having any more children...it is just an observation that can never have a conclusion :-(  )

So then after that, we got Joel from VBS and had some free time at home.  Joel and I watched Ghostbusters upstairs and Connor watched a Baby Einstein downstairs...it was a lot of fun and I am glad that Joel is starting to like movies I used to when I was little.

After work, I got to go out to dinner with my friend, Tara.  She is moving next week and I won't get to see her much after tomorrow.  I am so sad she is moving, but so happy for her and her family's new adventure!  Everyone needs a great adventure now and then, and I think they are going to have a good one in their new place where they are moving.  We ate at a nice Italian restaurant and had a great time talking.  After dinner, I got to go to her house and see her dogs.  Both of her dogs were Daisy's best friends and they are a big reason why we love Golden Retrievers so much.  I had THE best happy moment getting licked, hugged, and nuzzled by Riley and Bella tonight!  One of my favorite happy moments of the day was getting my ear and armed licked over and over again!  I can't wait to bring our puppy home so I can have that everyday.  Dogs are so amazing!

Well, I am off to bed.  Lots to get done tomorrow, but I am grateful for today and all of the joy that I found!  Have a great night and check back tomorrow for more happy moments made!

Day 328 Tuesday

Finally getting caught up on the computer with my happy moments!  Since I was gone all weekend, I had to write my happy moments down on paper and then transfer them to the blog....gotta keep it going even IF it is just on paper for the day!

So today was a fun day with the kids.  Summer time is so wonderful!  I love being able to spend this much time with Joel and Connor and today was no exception!  We headed out to Legoland today for some fun in the sun.  It was wonderful and so nice that Joel could ride by himself.  It made him SO happy to go alone on some rides and it was nice that I could ride with Connor without Joel feeling left out.  We had a nice lunch and then hit the little water area inside Legoland.  The boys played for over an hour running around.  After that, we did some more fun rides on the other side of the park.  My cousin, Heather, was at Legoland with her family, so we got to meet up with them towards the end of the day and play with her kids for a while.  It was a lot of fun and Joel and Connor were so cute when it was photo time with the cousins!

We headed home happy and tired tonight.  On the way out, I bought the boys cold cereal and milk for dinner to eat in the car....it was quite a treat and they were quietly eating most of the way home!  I put Connor right to bed tonight and Joel got to stay up and play on the computer while I did some unwinding and eating dinner downstairs.  After a while, I gave Joel a bath, gave him a haircut, and then put him to bed.  It was nice just putting one kid to bed at a time tonight.  They each got some quality mommy time in!

After a while, I got to talk to my mom on the phone, David came home, and I began to type up my happy moments on the blog.

Overall it was a great day but a busy one!  I can't wait for tomorrow!  The weather has been so nice lately.  Looking forward to getting things done for our upcoming trip!

Day 327 Monday

Happy Monday all!  Not a lot going on today, but happy moments happened nonetheless!  Here they are!

• It was a lazy morning this morning.  After a while, I took Joel over to Vacation Bible School at my friend Lauren's house and then I went and took Connor to get a hair cut....he looks so cute now!  

• After lunch and putting Connor down for a nap, Joel got to go and play at our neighbor's house for a bit.  I got a power nap that was fabulous!  Then it was off to work...it was a great day at work and my one kid who usually gets really upset was calm the whole time...yea!
• After work, I came home to help David with dinner.  We had a nice family meal and then got the kids rushed off to bed so we could do a PJ run!  We got them out of bed right after we put them INTO bed with the flashing of lights...they get what is going on now so it is really fun!  We went to McDonald's this time and had ice cream.  The play area was totally empty so Joel and Connor got to play just the two of them!  That was quite the treat!  We also did Family Home Evening there and talked about what we are grateful that God made.  David said me....aw so sweet!  Joel said Corn....not sure why he is grateful that God made corn, but we went with it lol.  I am very grateful that God made animals.  They bring so much joy into my life and I am thankful for ALL of the wonderful happy moments I have had with animals over the years.

• After the boys went to bed, I went to my friend Lauren's house again and we watched The Bachelorette together.  Her husband ended up watching it with us as well and it took us about 3 hours to watch it because we were having so much fun commenting on it and talking about our trip to Ojai with her husband!  Fun times!  I am so thankful to have friends to watch fun TV shows!

 Today was a fun day.  I am glad that I go to have so many happy moments with the kids.  They are my little treasures, but they are growing up so fast!  Tonight while brushing Joel's teeth, I found that two 6 yr molars are growing in!  Time goes by quickly raising kids, but I am so thankful that I can write down some moments of joy each night from the day.  I hope you all had a great start to your week!  Until tomorrow!

Day 326 Sunday

One last day at Ojai today....boo!  All good things must come to an end, but what a good thing it was!
We started out our morning eating breakfast at the same restaurant where we ate dinner.  There was a really nice breakfast buffet with make your own waffles and an omelet station...OH YEAH!  It was so yummy!  Then we headed back to our rooms to clean up for check out.  I went with my friend Lindsey to the shops and did some shopping for the kiddos.  I got Joel a cute watch and I can't wait to give it to him in the morning!

After shopping, we got our bathing suits on and hit the pool.  I stayed in the shade and read magazines, ate a great lunch, and then did some swimming with friends.  We didn't stop doing all of the above until around 6 PM when we loaded up the car and headed for LA.

In LA, we stopped by Tito's Tacos for a bit of late night dinner.  The drive home was great and we had a great time girl talking it up!  The food at Tito's did NOT disappoint and we all left the restaurant happy and full and ready to go home!

I got home at about 10:30 tonight so I will have to see the kiddos in the morning.

What a fabulous trip this was!  I learned so much about plants from one girl who is a landscape architect.  I had more fun listening as she pointed out the name of various plants.  Our planet is amazing and I am so grateful I got to take the time this weekend to appreciate all of the beauty on it!  I am so thankful I spent two full days with some wonderful women and got to know some other ladies I didn't know before.  I am thankful that my husband watched the kids so I could get away and relax....I truly do have an amazing man and I called him and told him so about every hour on the trip lol....he NEEDS to know!

So that is the end of my adventure for the weekend!  Bring on Monday and all of the fun things in store for the week!  Going to be a fast week, but a good one!

Day 325 Saturday

WOW!  What a fun filled day today was!  We met at my friend Lauren's house at 7:45 this morning and were off to Ojai!  The drive didn't take long and when we got there, I was off to the spa for some treatments.  Now, I have never done almost a whole DAY at a spa before.  But my sweet husband told me to go and have fun and relax.....after all, I am currently off ALL medications, so relaxing and being completely stress free is what is going to keep me FLARE free for the time being.  Oh how relaxing it was!  My nails looked great, my feet felt SO loved after all of the massaging, and I was full of herbal tea!  It was such an amazing day at the spa!

After all of my spa treatments, I headed to the adult pool to join the rest of the gals.  It was a fun time sitting and visiting with them for a while before we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner.  Dinner was at a fabulous restaurant at the resort and we spent about 3.5 hours talking, eating, and laughing really really hard!  Some of the best medicine I have had in a long time!

After dinner, we headed back to the suite where some of the ladies were staying and talked for a while.  Now, all of us are moms and lead very busy lives.  So our version of "staying up late" was till about 11pm and then we all turned in because we could sleep without anyone waking us up in the middle of the night! LOL

It was a picture perfect day today in Ojai.  The sunset was amazing, the gardens here on the property are so beautiful, and the weather is so nice and warm!  I am so thankful for this amazing trip and the chance to get to know some lovely ladies even better!  Until tomorrow!

Day 324 Friday

Fun day today and good day today folks!  I had my X-ray taken earlier this morning and the bone is showing progress!  It is more than I have EVER had before, so I will take it.  I wish I could be MORE optomistic about it, but I have had so many let downs before....I will be very happy and joyful when I see that the bone is HEALED completely and that I can get back on my medication for my RA!

  I got to do lunch with my parents today which is always fun.  It was nice to see them and have them help me with Connor....he is trouble let me tell ya!  So we went to my dad's work after lunch today and the kids had a blast running around and playing.  I did some paperwork with my mom, haven't done that in a while so that was nice! 

It was a pretty mellow day today.  I spent most of my night packing for the trip that I am going on for a girl's weekend tomorrow.  Gotta get up bright and early and then we are off to a resort in Ojai!  So excited about that!  Have a good night all and I will cannot wait to see what happy moments are in store on my trip!

Day 323

Good evening.  I bring you blog bullets and then bed for me!  What an interesting wave of weather we are having this summer!

• We woke up this morning to rain and there are expected thunderstorms all night tonight!  Summer storms make me so happy!  I just wish it would make my body so happy too lol
• We went to the movies with my mom and her two friends today to see Brave.  Really cute movie.  It made me sad to watch and know that I will never have a mother/daughter relationship with my kiddos, but I hope and pray every day that I will have two wonderful daughters who marry my sons someday and that we can have a special bond.  The boys really liked the movie, and the popcorn, and the candy, that Grandma bought for them.  Connor did great at his first movie in a long time!  Makes me want to take him to another movie soon!  Maybe I will have TWO movie buddies to see movies with soon!
• After the movie, we went to Island's for lunch with the ladies and the boys had fun coloring and talking with my mom and her friends.  Growing up, my grandmother and her three sisters would go with us to a pizza parlor for lunch on almost a weekly basis during the summer.  Today reminded me of those good times I had.  So glad the boys could enjoy some old lady time!
• We came home and I put Connor down for a nap.  David came home shortly after that, so he and Joel played while I got to take a nap! YEA!  Haven't had one in a while and they are so wonderful :-)

Well that is all for today.  Heading to bed tonight with great expectations for tomorrow.  Either Chuck E Cheese or Pretend City for fun time, but first, my X-ray at the doctor's office at 8 in the morning.  Oh how I hope to have a great X-ray picture showing BONE to post tomorrow night!  Until then, thinking happy, positive thoughts and praying for this part of my life's journey to be OVER soon!

Day 322

I feel very blessed tonight.  I have been blessed with the gift of friendship from many people in my community and I am so thankful for the happy moments I created with all of my friends today!

We started off the morning early at our local water park with friends from the moms group.  We had a great time and the boys played for the better part of 3 hours almost non stop!  We had to leave at the noon safety break so I could get Connor home and down for a nap before they went to daycare and I went to work.  It was a fun time hanging out in the water, meeting new friends, and watching the boys play in the water.  Joel has grown up so much since we first started playing at that water park!  He will now climb up on the play area and he was dumping bucket after bucket of water on his head!  Something totally UNHEARD of just a couple of years ago because of his sensory issues with things on his head!  I was so proud watching him play!  Connor was so cute.  He found a toy watering can and was constantly adding water to it and watering the little bushes and grassy area....he is a gardener at heart like the rest of us!

After naps, work, and family dinner with the boys and David, I went to the mall to meet up with some friends from church to celebrate a girl's birthday.  It was a really nice time and I had SUCH a great time talking, laughing, and sharing stories.  I hope to get to see some of those ladies again very soon, they are all really wonderful people!

After the birthday celebration was over, I was heading back to my car when I ran into my friend Lauren, who was working at the mall tonight.  She was visiting with some friends who are here from Ireland.  They were the nicest people and we had a really nice visit.  I hope to get to see them again soon as they are staying here for a month in our community and having a great time playing.  Our kids are the same ages and so cute!  After they left to head home for the night, Lauren asked if I wanted to hang out and go to the Cheesecake Factory since she hadn't eaten dinner yet.  So off I went to another restaurant and we were there for the next hour talking and laughing!  What an amazing night!  It was so much fun and I just feel so blessed to have so many dear friends to laugh and to talk. 

After Lauren and I were done at the restaurant, she drove me back to my car on the other side of the mall.  She was parked in a parking structure and there were boys there skateboarding DOWN the ramps of the parking structure.  We both laughed about how STUPID teenage boys are, but how much FUN that looked at the same time! LOL It was really fun to watch them...hoping they all make it back in one piece to their homes tonight!

I am very thankful for the happy moments that just kept on coming today.  The Lord has truly blessed me this week with amazing experiences and happy moments that He knows I needed to have.  I am very grateful for this adventure we call LIFE and I can't wait to see what happy moments are headed my way tomorrow!  Have a great night all!

Day 321

Happy Tuesday all!  The week is coming and flying away quickly!  Can't believe Wednesday is tomorrow already!  We had such a great day today!

I started out the morning pretty slow....pretty sure rain is coming at some point this week, or at least that is what my trick ankle is telling me!  So after shuffling around the house, I got us packed up to go to Legoland today.  Well, I packed the backpack with swimsuits, swim towels, snacks, and water bottles.  Then I left it on the kitchen table!  When I got to Legoland, I had a mini panic attack.  But thank goodness I have a MOMMY car!  There was a suitcase in the car with pajamas and clothes for Connor that I brought home this past weekend.  We had a bag with diapers and sunscreen from the pool the other day, and the stroller was in the back of the car.  So, Joel fit pretty well into some 4T shorts and Connor wore his pj bottoms to the water area at Legoland, AND we all had plenty of sunscreen to wear!  So it was happy after all.  I told Joel that I forgot the backpack because David didn't come with us and he is half of my brain, so when he isn't around, I only think half as well. :-)

We had an AMAZING time at Legoland and we went on plenty of rides, played in the water area, had lunch, rode more rides, played in the children's play area, rode more rides, took a break to eat some popcorn, and then headed home.

We met David at our local hot dog restaurant in town because kids eat free on Tuesdays.  The boys were SO tired, but happy to see Daddy!  We had a nice dinner and then it was home for baths and bed.

What a great day today!  I love love love spending time with my children.  When I keep them busy, they are happy and I am happy as well.  Hardly any fighting today and lots of laughter and play time.  It was GREAT!  I am so thankful that we got to end the night with some family time and prayer time.  We missed Family Home Evening last night because Daddy was gone, so it was nice to make up for it a bit tonight.  Have a good night all!  Off to snuggle down to bed until the morning where our next Summer adventure awaits!

Day 320

320 DAYS!  Wow, it is coming down to the final month almost!  Good day today with happy moments.  David was still gone in New Mexico, but he was really productive and is coming home tonight so yea!

I got to spend a fun Monday with the kids at the pool.  We spent time in the little kid pool, and then moved over to the bigger pool.  There were moms there from a community mom's group and it was a lot of fun playing with all of the boys in that group!  It is so nice that there are so many boys around for the kids to play with.  For the past few years, I haven't gotten out too much, with being pregnant with Connor, a mom of a baby, and a whole YEAR of surgeries.  The groups that have formed in my congregation are pretty solid because everyone knows everyone so well.  It has been really hard feeling really left out most of the time.  A lot of people have girls as well, and well...boys and girls just play differently lol.  So the moms group is great to have to be able to have the boys meet new friends. 

After the pool time, Connor went and took a nap and Joel went out and played with the boys in the neighborhood.  He rode his scooter, his bike, and played Knights.  He had SO much fun...he said as much, and nothing makes me happier than seeing him get out and play with other kids and have a great time!

So then it was work for me and then dinner with my parents and the boys.  We had YUMMY Mexican food and then came home and Joel played some MORE with the neighborhood kids and I got to talk with one of the moms.  She has a puppy Corgi and we can't WAIT to get our puppy and her puppy together to play!  A lot of the time, we talk about what we have pinned lately on Pinterest (I am a Pinterest addict, but I USE so many of the things I pin I promise!). 

Well time to snuggle down to bed.  I am SO wiped out today.  It was a day with happy moments, but a very tiring day as well.  So happy that Monday is over and that Friday is on its way!  I have my next X-ray this coming Friday and I am really looking forward to hopefully seeing some bone growth!  Have a good night all and may you all be blessed with many Summer happy moments to come!

Day 319

So stayed in bed for most of the morning and afternoon.  It was a rough flare day for me.  Hoping to feel better tomorrow and REALLY hoping my X-ray at the end of the week shows promising results!

So, did have some happy moments.  After dinner with my parents, the kids and I took a nice walk.  David had to leave for New Mexico on a business trip and will hopefully be home tomorrow.  The three of us had a nice walk around our community and got to look at different colored flowers, pet dogs, and enjoy the warm sunshine.  I felt so happy!

Well, hoping David makes it to New Mexico in safety and I am happy because I get to enjoy some TV time tonight without David lol he goes to bed pretty early!  Have a good ight all!

Day 318

Not feeling so well tonight folks...being off of my medication for my disease is really starting to wear on my body.  It has been almost a year now and I am SO thankful for the amazing miracle that my body has not been worse than it has been.  I am in pain every day, but only certain parts of my body and not everywhere.  For that, I will take that little happy moment and hold on to it!

So we started off our morning by making chocolate chip waffles from a mix I got a while back at William Sonoma.  Well, it was more like brownie waffles!  So I cut up some strawberries and put them on the waffle, but it was still very much like eating dessert for breakfast...we were stuffed!

Joel and I went to pick up Connor from my parent's house and David stayed back to accomplish some Saturday chores.  We had a nice time visiting with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law were there trying to get some stuff moved around so they can move in at the end of the month.

I am so sleepy today!  Connor and I sat and watched a Baby Einstein together.  I rarely sit and watch the whole thing, but it was nice to do that tonight with him while Joel played outside with a friend and David talked with the dad.  Connor was very snugly and after the DVD was done, he even TRIED to go potty in his little potty.  Fingers crossed the potty training continues in a positive direction!

Well, tomorrow begins a new week and also the second week of July!  Summer is flying by as I expected it would this year, but I am so thankful for the happy moments I am posting and the joy we are finding in our warm Summer days! 

Day 317

Getting to bed really late tonight, but today was such a fun day, and I am so thankful to have been able to share some really fun firsts with Joel today!

We started off the morning at a meeting at a school where Connor was tested for his speech and language.  He is finally getting dismissed and is within the average range for language!  So happy about this and so very thankful that speech therapy works!

After the meeting, I took the boys to IHOP and they enjoyed a pancake breakfast and then home.

We headed to my dad's work where the boys got to play for a couple of hours and they had such a fun time running around and watching Sesame Street!  I think I wore both of them out because they both came home and took naps.

After naps, my mom came and picked Connor up for the night and Joel and I headed to a train station.  We boarded the train and went to an Angel's Game in Anaheim.  It was so much fun and Joel had THE best time keeping track of who had a strike or ball and what the score was.  He loved it so much and asked to go back soon...I hope we will get the chance to very soon!

After the game and fireworks, we got back on the train and headed home to the car.  What a fun and much cheaper way to get to the baseball game!  What a fun time to be there with Joel for his first train ride ever and his first baseball game ever!  David met us at the game after he got done with work.

I am so grateful for the wonderful day we got to spend some quality time with Joel.  Also, I got the tickets for pretty cheap and when we got to our seats, it turns out our tickets were at the "Club" level and so the seats were padded AND we had our own waitress to go and bring us food.  It was a REALLY nice time tonight and I am truly thankful for so many happy moments today!  Night all!

Day 316

So sleepy tonight folks, so here are some happy moments via bullets and then off to dream land I shall go!  Have a great night and look for more happy moments tomorrow!

• we went to lunch today with my mom, her best friend, HER daughter Shannon, and Shannon's son.  They live in Florida and we don't see them often, but they are lovely people and it has been so nice to see them every few years.  I had a great time with Shannon one summer in Utah many many years ago.  We became friends that way and we like a lot of the same things.  It was a treasure for her to get to meet my children and spend some time with her today.
• The boys have been begging me for our nanny, who watched them most of last summer while I recovered from one surgery or another, to babysit them.  So yesterday she came over to babysit and the boys were SO excited!  I got to go out and walk around the mall for a bit, and then meet David for a movie.  We saw The Amazing Spiderman.  It was a nice date night with David and I am glad the boys had such a fun time as well.

Day 315

HAPPY 4th of July AMERICA!!  What a very LOOOOOONG day it was today!  We got up at 5AM to go stake our claim at the local park for the firework show.  Then I tried to go back to bed, but too many things were going through my head, like the schedule for making each menu on my 4th of July Menu:

Ribs
Crock Pot Baked Beans
Deviled Eggs
Strawberry, banana, blueberry flag kabobs
Banana Pudding Dessert
Each item takes a certain amount of time to make and prepare and so I kept thinking about which to do first.  Let me just say also that making each one of these was a happy moment for me, because last Summer, there was not a whole lotta baking going on in my house due to my broken arm and broken heart over the loss of Daisy.

This year our family gathered together at our home and my 92 year old Great-Aunt Ramona came as well.  She had such a great time with us and I am so happy she came and joined the family fun this year!  The kids all had such a fun day playing with the neighborhood kids in the morning and then their cousin in the afternoon.

There was a community fair going on all day and my friend Jennifer was a volunteer for the community.  I got to go and spend some time with her and that was so nice to catch up for a bit!

After our amazing dinner and dessert, we headed over to the park to listen to music, visit other people, visit with each other, and let the kids run around.  The firework show started at around 9PM and did not disappoint this year!  It went on for almost 30 full minutes with amazing colors and sparkly sounds!


So here it is 10 pm on a Wednesday night and I am BEAT!  So off to bed I go, but I am so thankful for our nations freedom and all of the wonderful people who fight to keep it that way.  I am so thankful for all of the fun Independence Day happy moments that occurred and I am grateful to be getting some much needed sleep now!  God Bless America!

Day 314

Pretty mellow day today.  I woke up with a migraine, so we kept it pretty low key and at home...tried doing the naked potty training since we were home, but that didn't go so well lol.  So some happy moments and then to bed!  Gotta get up REALLY early in the morn!

• getting to spend time with the boys every day all day...pretty fun AND Joel slept in until 9 today!
• Joel playing with the neighborhood kids and Connor being down for a nap meant that I could take a nap....headache went away for the most part....so nice!
• Going out to dinner with the family because I didn't feel like cooking.  We got a good deal on an Italian Family Meal and the boys LOVED the food and were really good at the restaurant.
• Got to see our neighbors and have the boys play with them...we haven't seen these neighbors in a while, but they are such wonderful people and we spent about an hour and a half talking, hanging out, and watching the kids run around and laugh.  It was a great way to end the night for the kids.
• Getting to talk to Aunt Joyce on the phone while getting the kids ready for bed.  We can talk for up to 3 HOURS sometimes, but I got a great recipe from her, talked about life, her children, and the family.  I love that woman!

So even though today was pretty mellow and we stayed close to home, I enjoyed the happy moments that came my way.  There is something good in each and every day if you look hard enough!  Have a great night and hope many of you are looking forward to tomorrow!

Day 313

Hello and goodbye to Monday...wow today went by quickly!

• Got up and headed to physical therapy and then the chiropractor today...felt SOOOO good after doing both this morning!  Hardly a flare to speak of on Monday mornings post working my arms and hands!
• I spent the morning snuggled back in bed while the kids watched TV and Connor went pee pee in the potty!
• We went to the local pool for a bit that is walking distance to our home and spent a couple of hours swimming around.  The boys had THE best time and Connor and Joel both amazed me with their swimming abilities!  Joel is working on diving down to get a stick on the bottom of the pool, so of course little brother wanted to do it over and over and over (with the help of Mommy) today as well.  Then they did some jumping into the pool, swimming to the steps, and Joel even tried to do a hand stand!  I will be forever grateful for their incredible swimming instructor who worked so hard with them at the beginning of this summer!  She would be SO proud of them!
• I fed my hungry boys some BIG lunches today and then put Connor down for a nap.  I took a mini nap and Joel went outside to play with his group of friends.  They were on the noisy side so I skipped the nap and got ready for work.
• After work we had a nice dinner together and then a beautiful Family Home Evening lesson on the Restoration of the Gospel and Joseph Smith's "First Vision"  I really felt the spirit as I taught the boys, sang with them, and read scriptures with them.  I am so thankful for the scripture that says "Raise up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it."  I hope so....all I can do is continue to teach with love and hope the boys feel my love that I have for them.

Well, feeling very sleepy so I am off to bed!  I hope all of you have a great night and had some moments to find happy today!

Day 312

The days are flying by and the weekend is over once more!  Hope all of you had some happy moments happen this weekend!  It has been such a beautiful summer weekend!  Can't wait for the next one to arrive!

So we started off the day today by actually making it to all three meetings of church.  First time in several weeks that we have been able to do this because I have been flaring so badly in the morning that it takes me a LONG time to get moving!

It was nice to see people we have not seen in a while.  I had to get very creative with my 4 year old class today in using up all of the time we had for our lesson.  The lesson plan lasted about 10 minutes today ( I don't know who writes the lesson plans, but I would love to give them a few pointers on writing HOUR LONG lesson plans that are only a page long....yeah....not so much an HOUR LONG there!) so we went outside and walked around the church.  Several other classes had the same idea, and we all got a good smile about the lesson being so short today :-)

After church it was home for nap time.  AFTER nap time, we headed up to Long Beach.  We were heading up there to pick out our puppy!  The family's children were taking naps when we were almost there, so we decided to go and eat first.  Oh my goodness, we found a great restarant to eat and we had a nice meal on the water front! 

After our meal, we headed to the family's home and met all of the little girl puppies.  We took about 30 minutes picking each one up, playing with each one, and watching each one.  I said I little prayer in my heart and hoped that somehow Daisy would lead us to the correct sister.  Well, the prayer did not disappoint!  One of the dogs acted and did some of the exact same things that Daisy used to do.  David even held her "baby style" and she just laid in his arms and licked his nose.  We are confident that we picked the right dog for us and we can't wait to bring her home!  Our Ginger....what a wonderful event that is going to be!

 

Well I hope you all had a great Sunday.   We certainly did and I am so grateful for the puppy happy moments our little family was able to enjoy today.  Have a good night all!

Day 311

WHOO!  So tired tonight but we had fun today!  The day started off with just me and Connor (David was really tired from the nite before and all the fun he had) So I took Connor over to a park and we played for over an hour.  While we were there, I caught a dog trying to run away from its family.  The family was having a picnic at the tables and had pizza and offered Connor some, so we had pizza AND a park play date :-)  It was a lot of fun and when we walked back, Joel and my in-laws arrived.

We hung out at home for a while and then went to a different park to try to fly kites with the boys.  It was a lot of fun TRYING to fly the kites, but they never got up very far!

My in laws watched the boys for us tonight and David and I went out and had a FANTASTIC dinner at a local sushi place.  Then we went to the movies and saw The Avengers and really enjoyed it the second time around! 

It was fun day today and we made a lot of happy moments.  I am so thankful for the area where we live and all of the children that we find to play with!  It is so fun meeting new people all of the time, seeing people that we have met before but not seen for a while, and playing at all of the parks!  We are very blessed and I really appreciate what we have.  Hope all of you are having a good weekend!