The Leavitts

2012-01-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

We spent a couple of Kurt's days off at the beaches here.
Cayucos and Avila.

kids are crazy! But I prepared and had some extra clothes

Reagan wanted to talk on the phone so I gave it to her. Check
her out!

In Cambria there is a place you can see all the elephant seals.
This is a pup and it seemed to be posing for his photo.

This is Regs plugging her nose. I had to agree with her, not
the most pleasant smell surrounding the seals

If you have ever watched Yo Gabba Gabba you will recognize
Brobee. This was a gift from her older siblings and it was hard for
them to keep him hidden when we were all shopping. They kept trying to
find new spots to hide him in the car, or behind their backs and she would spot him and say, "hey, sneaky Brobee!" like she thought he was following us around the store. Christmas morning when
she opened up the box and found him she got so excited and said, "sneaky Brobee!!!" The kids loved it.

Christmastime

2011-12-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

2011-12-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

Can I just say that this is 1/4 of the pies that were actually created and waiting in the fridge. It was heavenly indulgence. We had to shoo away the kids to actually cut into them.

There were 31 people there but it still felt very homey.

Maya is in a beginning dance class and she is really having fun.

Grandma's backyard

Our first month

2011-11-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

our upstairs living area. You can see the loft above where the three kids decided to all sleep. We moved the bunk bed up there and are going to keep a mattress under the bottom bunk. I love that they all love being together and it works fine for now.

Our downstairs living and dining area. I don't think I got the rest of the house and I'm not sure why.

We are officially through with our first month here in Templeton/Atascadero. Kurt's practice is doing better than expected. There are a few minor things we are working through with one of the insurance companies. I am loving the weather here, the scenery, the schools. To be completely honest it's going to take more time to really like it since it's so new and it takes so long to get to know people. BUT I have started something that is building my character. I now wake up every MWF at 4:40 am to meet some girls for an hour long run. This area is really hilly and there are hardly any streetlights. We use headlamps to see. The other day we heard a large animal in the grass and my friend with the headlamp shined her light toward it like it was a light saber until it ran the other way. It was a deer-a very scary deer.

Kurt and Maya's birthdays were a huge highlight. We had a rainbow party for Maya at the park the Friday before her birthday. We had a pizza dinner,a rainbow pinata ,made fruit loop necklaces and I bought two big bags of skittles and separated them out to make a rainbow then everyone guessed on how many there were. The winner got the skittles. Kurt's parents and sister showed up to surprise him the evening of their actual birthday. Unfortunately we didn't buy our camera until after the Maya rainbow party. We do have pics of their b-day night though.

2011-08-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

My amazing brother Steve is having an open house in Salt Lake City this Saturday. I wish I could be there but I live too far away. Sad, yes, story of my life... If any of you wish to see his this GORGEOUS house in Holladay, you can RSVP at tiekbuilthomes.com. I got to see the house when I came up to Utah this spring. It is soooo beautiful. I love all the custom work and original designs Steve came up with. You can see some of it on his webite and blog too. If you decide to go you HAVE to look at the before pictures of the house. You won't believe that it's actually a remodel.

after, before and after

2011-04-29T09:11:00.001-07:00

I decided to redo this cabinet and mirror. I found them at an estate sale for $35. I thought about sanding down the whole thing and doing a watered down blue stain but after starting to sand realized there was only a layer of wood then laminate underneath. Plus the detail work would have been a royal pain to sand. So instead, I spray painted it. My camera doesn't do well with indoor lighting so you can't see the edges where I antiqued it. I think it turned out pretty good. I don't like having it right next to a different white (the door) but since we won't live in this rental forever I'm not too worried.

Here it is before...

and after.
Eventually I want to find a little sign about heading to the beach or something. Those are shells in those glass vases.

February

2011-04-15T11:15:00.001-07:00

Disneyland in January

2011-04-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland with the Owens in January. They flew down to see us and spend a vacation in California. The weather was so nice. Best weather for Disneyland we've had so far this year and it was in Jan.

Everyone was getting tired of walking by this point.

All of us on the Pirate's ride. Well, almost all...

We realized we needed to rearrange a few things if we wanted the stroller to stay upright even with Maya in it. Does this mean we brought too much to carry or that Maya needs to gain a few pounds. Both, I'm sure.

2011-02-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

One of my new favorite bands is Plain White T's. It all started with "Hey There Delilah" and lately I love the song "body parts" but my all time favorite of theirs is "Rhythm of Love"

Anyway, thought I'd share.

There is so much that goes on everyday and I just don't seem to have a chance to download and upload pics and post on my blog. I will try to do some of that today.

We are loving California weather in the winter time. I think maybe eventually I'll miss snow but then again, maybe not.

Today we had a really great FHE on Families being together for eternity. We talked about heaven and seeing our family there and all the friends we make here on earth and how the end of this life is not the end of everything. It was one of those FHE where the kids were asking questions and participating and there was such a good feeling. (It might have helped that Reagan had to go to bed early) I love nights like these.

I miss all my friends that I've made and moved away from. But it was nice remembering that some day we'll be able to see each other anytime. That goes for family as well...

2011-01-16T20:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas is come and gone...and it felt like spring here today. It was 70! 70 in January! I took a blanket in the backyard and just enjoyed the sun while listening to a conference talk on my ipod. Kurt joined me and fell asleep after 2 seconds. About an hour and a half later Natalie comes running outside telling us that there is smoke coming from the oven. Kurt had failed to mention that he had just put the last batch of cookies in before he zonked off. There was no real damage done other than the house smelling terrible for the rest of the day. Good thing we could open all the windows! I am only mentioning this because normally it would have been me that left the cookies so it was nice to see it can happen to anyone.

So, well I guess a blog post isn't a good one without pictures so I'll put some random ones on here:

For Maya's preschool class we took a field trip to see the dentist.

Kurt got to coach both the kid's soccer teams. The weather was great all fall and we had a lot of fun watching all the games. This is one of Lincoln's many goals. You can't tell he made the goal but you can see the ref giving the goal signal.

Maya's Preschool

2010-11-07T12:23:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Kiana, one of the other moms in our preschool co-op, we have these really great shots of the kids. She is taking a photography class right now and asked if she could take the kids pictures. They turned out so cute. I love the first one with them all holding hands. Maya is especially good friends with the boy on the far right-JD, who is sadly moving this week. When I told her today she started crying because she knows full well what that means. What is it with her and boyfriends? They really are cute. Every time they see each other they run up to each other and hug--with a kiss on the cheek once in a while. The other day they were at McDonalds and after they hugged and kissed JD's mom said, "you don't want to do that Maya, boys have cooties" and Maya said, "No they don't" kissed his cheek again and said, "see?"

kurt and Maya's birthday

2010-10-27T15:05:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd add a new picture of 15 month old Reagan. Her hair is getting longer!

Here is a picture of our living room off of our kitchen. I need to take some more pictures of the rest of the house.

The Watsons and that church

2010-08-27T07:39:00.001-07:00

I just ran across these pictures I have of the kids with the Watsons. They are an amazing couple we got to know in the Seattle ward we just left. They were literally angels for me and my kids. Mark was especially an angel with Lincoln and Linda with Maya. Every Sunday they helped me with my kids. Every week they saved me a seat and Linda brought a bag filled with coloring books, reg books, crayons, and fruit snacks, pretzels, etc. They had us on their left and on their right sat another bishopbric member's family--the Goodwins. When we left they loaded us up with goodies and a bag of chex mix that was amazing.

Thank you again Watsons--we love you and miss you!

Maya saw these pictures just now and she said: Mom I miss Sister Watson on Sundays. I miss that (Seattle) church.

New Orleans

2010-08-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

Kurt and I had a chance to be together kid free for five days thanks to a dental conference in New Orleans and my mom. I loved the architecture in the French district, also a French cafe I found that serves the best praline icecream i have ever had. I stowed away in there to read my book and people watch from the window while Kurt was busy at his meetings.
Here I am at the cafe. It was one of my favorite afternoons...so yes I decided to take a picture of myself, my icecream, and my table where I could see people passing outside.

The Jazz music was really fun too. Our favorite Jazz was at a place called Preservation Hall where they had the live music. The guy on the piano and clarinet were a-MAZ-ing.

Hello California

2010-08-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

A list of our July events:

Goodbye to friends in Seattle--what can I say? We loved our friends and home there and have such fond feelings for our time there...

Drive to Utah with a stop in Idaho to see my newest niece Emory--who is a red-head. They keep popping up in this family. She is adorable and tiny!

Breakfast and hot air balloons for the Fourth of July with Youngs followed by bbq and sparklers,homemade icecream and visit with my side of the family that night.

Kurt and I go to New Orleans for six days while my mom dad and Aaron watch my kids in Lehi

Come back to stay with my mom in Lehi while Kurt flies to WA to get released from Bishop and drive our moving truck to Ridgecrest, CA where he unpacks our stuff with Carol, Kyle, Elise and Janelle's help. (hardest move I've ever had to do...poor Kurt)

Three weeks with my mom, dad and Aaron--tying baby quilts, free piano lessons from grandma, grandma's camp complete with t-shirts, swimming in the backyard pool, Darc cousins, dinner with uncles and aunts and cousins Eli, Cohen, Emerson, Nathan and Darcs, dutch oven in American Fork Canyon with Grandma and Grandpa Rollins, and most importantly all-you-can-eat icecream sandwhiches...mmmm

Five days at Steven and Allison's house in Orem. They have a new house and it's beautiful! They let us stay in their very cool and spacious basement suite. We had so much fun with Emerson and Cohen. When it was time to go Cohen hopped in to our car and wouldn't get out. It was very bitter sweet. I wanted to take him but Steve and Allison said no

10 K with Allison and Lou on Pioneer day --We ran/mostly walked up a giant hill called a "goliath" We made it all together under 1 hour. Pretty good especially for Allison who had a baby four months previous.

Goodbye Utah, hello Ridgecrest California-spend a week moving in with Carol helping by watching kids, cooking us meals, and anticipating everything we might need to make it go smoothly. I LOVE living by Carol and her family!

Reagan turned one and started walking! She looks so cute on those little legs.

Mark and Michele come to Ridgecrest for a visit.

We hang up our hammock--it is so fun, it gets it's own line on this never ending list--if you are still reading you must really love our family... : )

Camping with Carol in Mammoth---wow, gorgeous place to go and we just scratched the surface being there two days.

Pictures to come.... : )

Dental School Graduation

2010-06-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

My friend Allison made this cake for me. She makes amazing cakes and she just started learning how not that long ago. Talk about serious TALENT! She also watched Reagan for us so we could enjoy the grad ceremony and dinner afterward. Thank you so much Allison!

They read a script Kurt had written and put up pictures of him with the kids me and him etc. It made the ceremony more personal and fun I thought. I did feel like the picture of him and I was up there too long though.

Camry putting up with her little cousins. She and Libby were huge helps and fun to have up here for the visit.

Kurt's sister Tamara

This is Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. It is such beautiful little place to walk around. There were some English style gardens and I loved seeing all the flowers and the way they landscaped.
Here is Lincoln with Timothy they are about a year apart so they had a lot of fun together.

Kurt's brother Aaron's family. They stayed after the graduation for a week over on the San Juan Islands. We went over to visit them for one night. They had been on a whale watching tour and spotted the perfect place to see whales so we all went to that spot and I got to see a whole pod go by twice! The second time I saw one jump right out of the water right in front of where we were watching. It gave me goosebumps.

Kurt's siblings minus one. We missed you Adele.

Here is where we saw all the whales.

Right before Kurt left for the ceremony I took a picture with all of us since Reagan wasn't joining us for the day.

drum roll please...

2010-06-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

We have officially signed a contract...we are moving to Ridgecrest California. I know, it's old news but I thought I'd post it on here in case anyone stumbled onto this blog that didn't know and would care to. I'm really very excited when I'm not sad about leaving all the great friends we've made here. I am planning to really start packing boxes tomorrow. The move is only two weeks away. I've been preoccupied with the festivities. Kurt graduated and all but one (Kurt's youngest sister Adele was induced two days after the graduation--we sooo missed you Adele and new baby Emory!) came up for the big event. I have some pictures, but as always, wish I had taken more. I loved having his siblings here. Thank you all for coming! I'll have to add pictures later when I've downloaded them onto my computer.

Baptism, Birthday, and Easter

2010-04-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

My friends who came to support Natalie being baptised. So nice of them!

Right before the baptism

This is after it's over in front of the building

My parents made a really quick trip. My mom spoke on the Holy Ghost and played some prelude--good thing she was here. Mom and dad also are the ones who gave Natalie this dress for Christmas-so beautiful!

Spring break-with the Hunts

This is all in a little icecream shop in Langley, on Whidby Island. We stayed the night over there and enjoyed some fun with the Hunts. Christina and I tried to run 10 miles while we were together Sat. morning, but lets just say running in a downpour with winds up to 40 mph--Christina holding up her pants, they were so wet--we didn't quite make it to 10. We did run 6.5 though. Good thing Jason heard the rain when they quieted the kids for a prayer over breakfast and came to our rescue.

Lincoln, Jackson, and Ethan at Jump Planet to celebrate L birthday.

All of the pics I took of Reagan in the bounce house are blurry because she was having too much fun to stop and pose. She was really brave---I remember Maya doing this and crying because it freaked her out.

This is Natalie with her good friend Erin outside her school-- Right before they entered the second grade spelling bee.

Play group Easter hunt and cupcake decorating.

Maya's friend Austin and family came up for the weekend. They had fun together that day and then Sat. night during the P session of conference he came over. We had a house full of moms and kids that night for a potluck girls night--sooo fun!

This is a common sight for me lately. Reagan loves to crawl to my leg and hang on until I'm holding her. Who could resist those eyes...

I'm going to get her pics professionally since I feel like I just can't get a good one anymore-now that she is so mobile. Almost all the ones I get are slightly blurry. But here are a couple that show just how big she is getting. I can't believe she is eight months old.

what we've been up to

2010-03-16T16:00:00.001-07:00

Here is the spread for Natalie's late-over pajama, pizza party. She was so excited when she saw the table decorated like this.

Here is Reagan doing her downward dog yoga routine. This is about a month ago when she was just starting to crawl. Now she's pulling herself up on furniture and me. She's very advanced...I think I'm going to start her on Japanese next.

Lincoln joined her for some yoga

I haven't been so great at posting. I haven't been great at downloading pictures. I just downloaded these and it reminded me that I was sick twice in the last month. Maybe that is part of the reason I'm a bit behind. I also attribute it to the pace my life has recently taken. Somehow we've turned a corner on how fast time goes. Weeks fly by. I don't think it's crazier, as in more stressful, just fuller. Ok, sometimes very much crazier as in more stressful.

And for those of you who are wondering...no we don't know yet what Kurt is planning, we are planning, after he graduates June 5th. As soon as we have something concrete, I'll update that news on here. I WISH I knew.

Yesterday for FHE lesson Natalie took the kids upstairs, got her new scriptures out, and found three stories for her, Lincoln, and Maya to act out. My favorite was Moroni burying the plates. Lincoln was Moroni. He prayed over the scriptures, then buried them under our living room rug, and got up and walked away. At that point Maya jumped out from the corner with a foam sword and started whacking him over and over. He would fall down, then get up and walk to another spot in the room and she'd jump at him again until he was down again. They did this three times until Natalie said, "Ok guys, that's good, he's dead." Then turning to me, "Can you guess what it is mom?" I was laughing too hard to say anything for a full minute... Man, they are funny!

101 ways to use a . . .

2010-02-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

I caught this smile today. But there is a significance to this picture beyond the cute face. Can you guess what it is?

Here is a more obvious clue.

one last BIG hint

And finally...

Yes, Reagan has graduated from the bumbo and is now sitting all on her own. Congratulations Reagan! And thank you Lincoln for showing us 101 other uses for the amazing bumbo.

update on Leavitt Life

2010-01-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

Life has been a little more busy around here lately. I planned a trip to Utah (just Reagan and I) the second week in December so it was just her and I for about 10 days...wonderful! Kurt drove the rest of the family down for Christmas at my mom and dad's. It was, as always, so fun to see all my family and Kurt's sister plus the bonus of getting to see my best friend growing up Laura, and our good friends Steve and Ginger. We haven't seen the Snyders in a few years and they were our surrogate family when we lived in Port Orchard. I love family and friends that are like family--it always feels like you just left off talking with them even if you haven't seen each other in a long time. After I got home it was back to catching the bus, nap times, PTA, YMCA, playdates, laundry, Primary chorister, and all the other things we mom's do...

Kurt's dental school schedule wasn't busy enough so he thought he'd tack on a bit more when he was called as bishop of our ward. That happened back at the end of October. He also decided to really get serious about exercise the beginning of the year, so he's been really busy. The nice thing for me is most of the time he works out in the morning--sometimes 5am--so it doesn't effect my life as much as the bishop hours do. Some days I can tell it's a lot on his shoulders but most days we both feel like life is really good. I know the Lord is lifting our burdens to feel light. And I'm glad we've made a habit of Friday being date night so I always know we'll have that time just for us.

So now we are facing Kurt's graduation. Which means we are looking everywhere for a job. Ideally we could find an associateship around here and he could work for a few years and then find a practice to buy, but we'll see. There aren't very many associate jobs in this economy so we're looking and praying and I'm sure we'll find something soon.

Oh yeah and right now I'm training for a half marathon and it's nuts! Running is hard! My half marathon is first of May so we'll see if I can do it.

So that is an update on Kurt and I...I'll have to update on my kids another time since this is already way too long for a blog update.

some pics...

2010-01-24T21:17:00.001-08:00

Steve with Cohen and the cape I made for him.

Cousin Nathan

Avery and Natalie made a tunnel through the snow

Grandma...Reagan misses you...

Natalie and Aubrey

Waiting to see what Santa brought

2009-11-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

I think Lincoln is a sweet brother. He picked out this crown for Maya and wanted it to be from him for her birthday. He wanted her to open it as soon as she was up and she wore it all day. I have a different picture with them just smiling but I loved this blurry one better because it shows how much they enjoy each other.

Maya has talked for weeks about sharing a cake with daddy

This was the trunk the kids and I decorated for the chuch trunk or treat. I was husbandless during this since Kurt was fishing in 75 degree Texas weather over the weekend.

We ended up carving pumpkins on Halloween and lit them up right before trick-or-treating. Kurt's brother Aaron was here and he made the spider and the ghost in the window with Lincoln and Natalie.

I love how it takes the muscles in her face and other hand to get all three fingers to stay up on ther right hand. She wore this outfit all day. Such a fun age! Thank you Aunt Carol for a birthday outfit, and her Halloween costume!

This is the annual dental school party. It's actually just a group of us friends from dental school. I guess this is the last year for it.

Uncle Aaron was a hit. Lincoln said he wished Uncle Aaron could come to our house every day.

blessing day

2009-10-13T10:23:00.001-07:00

Natalie helped me get Reagan to smile and look up for the camera. Lately Natalie gets the biggest smiles.

Grandma Leavitt's blanket. It's a tradition to use it for the baby girl blessings.

Happy Blessing Day Reagan!

two weeks ago

2009-10-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

Maya and Alyssa wanted to be part of the pictures. It was pretty funny trying to keep Reagan asleep with four other noisy kids. Reagan didn't want to sleep so we got a bunch of her awake.

This one is my favorite

And this is my other favorite...I have a lot of favorites...THANKS KATI!

while mom's taking pictures . . .

2009-09-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Maya loves to wash her hands. They are always squeaky clean even if her face isn't

Here is my two year old using up all of my dish soap.

I'm about to get mad face

You can catch her smiling if you are quick. She's a lot more generous with them now though.

She still spends most of her time like this.

end of summer

2009-09-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Jason and Melissa (my brother and his wife) flew out to see us. They were so much fun! I was only half fun since Reagan was still so new. We took it easy but managed to see some fun sights.

Reagan in her carseat on our trip to see some friends in Whidby Island. That was our longest time in the car. She didn't seem to mind it. She slept for most of it.

Note Jason's hand---I guess I should just be glad that they are close...

Meadowdale beach

Melissa and I after our short hike down to the bottom of Snoqualmie falls

Hiking down.

First day of shool. Lincoln was so much more excited about riding the bus than anything else.

Here he is at Kindergarten orientation. (The day before the bus ride and real first day)

We went to the park the other night to let the kids ride bikes and I was playing with Reagan on the bench.

Before school officially started we took the kids over to an little mini island called Jetty island. They have a small ferry to take everyone over. Apparently it's really popular. They ferry ride adds that little bit of charm. We really liked it. It was really fun for the kids.

Here they are with some of their friends. Ausitn, Lincoln, Maya, and Jackson--and the one standing up in the back is another Jackson.

We managed to catch her smiling! Well, kindof smiling.
This is my most recent one of her. This is her at six weeks. She will be seven weeks on Tuesday. I actually did a fun little photo shoot with my friend Kati and her nice camera this morning so (don't worry mom) we'll have more pictures of her soon

Grandmas

2009-08-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much mom for coming and helping with everything! We all miss you so much!

If you look close that is grandma Leavitt checking in on Reagan. She wants to see her as often as she can. She's serving a mission in Brazil right now. We miss you grandma!

2009-08-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

Reagan is about a week old here

Lincoln is loving his new 16 in bike.

These last two are from today. Three weeks old.

3 days old

2009-08-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

It's a girl!!!

2009-07-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

Reagan Michelle is here! 6lbs. 11oz. She came into the world with a full head of black hair. We're excited to have her in our family. Both Mom and baby are doing great and feeling good in the air conditioned hospital while the rest of Seattle bakes in 100 degree weather! For those of you not from Seattle, it never gets to even 90 here, much less 100. Today we are setting the record for the highest temp ever on this day in history. It wouldn't be so bad but nobody has AC here.
Enjoy the pictures!

Fourth of July

2009-07-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

We watched fireworks with our friends the Fords.

Kurt made two batches of homemade icecream. One was the original Rollins favorite (my side of the family) The other, his creation of Oreo. It was soooo yummy!

mustache-80's party

2009-07-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

I just found these sweet pictures of Kurt on my friend's blog. Her husband is the one next to Kurt with the D.A.R.E. shirt. We were invited to Kurt's friend's 30th birthday party. He said mustaches were mandatory and so here is Kurt's...so gross! He had been growing out his goatee (sp?)and I thought that was bad until he shaved it down to the molestache. (that's kurt's word by the way)

Yes, those jeans are peg-legged. We didn't know, or I should say, Kurt hadn't read through the email so we didn't know it was 80's theme so unfortunately for us we were not dressed in the correct era.

This is one of Kurt's clinical professors, and his wife. There were mostly dental students and spouses there.

I am so glad Raya took this picture of Kurt...It's too funny.
The whole birthday party was decorated with 80's games: light bright, mouse trap, etc. Posters; 16 candles, Top Gun etc. Toys: Rainbow bright, care bears, etc. and this is Kurt playing Duck Hunt on Nintendo. She got all the stuff from Goodwill Outlet (did you know there was such a thing?) It was pretty rad.

2009-07-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

One of Maya's favorite friends is Austin. Here they are at the zoo. Austin is helping her get a drink. I didn't capture when she is actually drinking while he's holding the button. I missed that shot. It was cute.

Austin's mom emailed me this shot. This is another time when they were at the park. They get along really well. It's sweet. Sorry if the picture is too small.

brand new babies

2009-07-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

I love this arrangement. I wish I had these flowers growing in my garden so I could make this arrangement for all the new moms.

My brother and his wife just had their baby boy Nathan. My sister in law Michele had a baby girl Elizabeth. My two friends here in Seattle had their babies-girl and boy. I am always amazed that these babies come and do so well. I just love seeing how tiny they are. Their feet are so tiny! I just pulled out my baby stuff from the garage and am dusting it off. I picked out a little girl outfit and need to find a boy outfit to pack for the hospital. I've been re-reading my hypnobirthing book the last few months and am now reading for the first time, Ina Maye's Guide to Childbirth. The first part of the book is birth story after birth story. It makes me excited and anxious.--It's bringing it all back for me. I sometimes wonder why I chose to do this when life is so nice right now. Maya is practically potty trained, the kids are out of school and so far are really enjoying just being together. We have a good routine going . . .but then I hold my friend's little newborns (Wish I could hold my nephew and neice too!!!) I just cannot wait to meet my next little addition to the Leavitt family. I'm excited to have my baby during the sunniest part of the year. My one problem is figuring out a boy name....suggestions? Boy names are hard. I'm sure we'll think of something in time...

BMX racing

2009-06-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

We took L to watch his good friend do some BMX racing on a pretty intense looking track. (I can't even imagine how intimidating it would look to a five year old.) We brought his bike and told him he could try it if he wanted to. After watching the kids for awhile we asked him if he wanted to try. He shook his head like, "no way you have got to be kidding me." Then when we were saying we should go he started breathing hard and said I want to try it! So Kurt walked him and his 12" wheel bike up to the gate. He did it! The third really steep hill he pumped his legs like crazy but couldn't make it to the top. Everyone was cheering for him because he had the tiniest bike out there. He cried when he didn't make it to the top but he finished. Kurt thought he would want to be done but he just pointed to the track and said again! He borrowed his friend's bike (16" wheels)and made it around without any help. He went over and over and we stayed until it was about to close. Natalie has always been envious of Lincoln's bike skills and I've had to remind her many times to be happy for him instead of pouting about not being able to keep up. She was just as excited for him as I was. She watched from the fence and cheered so hard. It was a sweet moment. I spend so much time trying to teach them. I am constantly correcting, instructing, reminding, time-outing. It was like manna to watch N cheer for him and get to see L do something I knew he wanted to try even though he was scared. He was so happy with himself afterward.

sweet and sassy

2009-06-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

Maya is starting into a new phase. She is trying to see how much she can get away with. I've had to put her in time out a few times already this week. She's also so much fun right now. She's up for anything she sees her big brother and sister do. She's pretty coordinated at running and jumping but she doesn't see why she always has to be holding my hand. I took these pics right before we left for the YMCA the other morning. One thing you can count on with Maya is she is always up for an outing.

book club pregos

2009-05-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

It was quite a shock to learn that my two good friends from bookclub were due the same day as me. It's been fun to see each other once a month and compare bellies and share progress. They were good sports last wed and let me take a picture of all three of us. So here is my latest prego picutre. I put it up on the side but it's a little small so I thought I'd post it officially. 8 weeks to go!

sunshine in may!

2009-05-31T14:10:00.000-07:00

It was hot enough to bust out the pool! It's been a gorgeous may and
the kids have enjoyed the sun almost as much as I have.

we drove to the temple last Sunday and enjoyed the gorgeous flowers there.
If you didn't know that is Wisteria above us in this picture--it smells amazing.

Kurt and I went sea kayaking yesterday for our weekend away trip. It was a little foggy just where we were kayaking. We're right by deception pass next to Anacortes (just past Whidby Island.)

Here is one of the views from the top of Mount Eerie. We had a picnic lunch up here.

Kurt and I got to spend a day in Leavenworth then a day exploring Anacortes, Mount Eerie area. I loved the houses around Anacortes. We swapped with some friends (thanks again hunts!) so we could have a mini vacation just the two of us. The kayaking was my favorite. No we didn't spot any whales. The guide said he gets to see them often but we weren't really near where they are right now.

2009-05-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day!!!

visiting with family

2009-04-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

The pictures below are in exact opposite order of events. I was trying for the other way around but it really doesn't matter. The end of March we went to Cali to visit Kurt's parents and sister Carol. We managed to get there in time to see Adele and Josh too. We were helping K parents get packed and ready for their mission to Brazil and also visiting them one more time before they left. It was fun to see so much family (K's other two sisters, Michele and Tamara live there by his parents so we saw them too.) We got home and a week later my parents and brother Aaron came up to Washington to spend Conference and Easter. It was my kids spring break and my dad's spring break. The weather cooperated pretty well considering the time of year. We ended up going on a ferry over to the Olympic Nat'l Forrest and hiking a gorgeous hike to a sort of pitiful waterfall. Since we were so close we decided--and i'm using the term "we" loosely--to go visit Forks. I was less inclined to spend any time sight seeing there but I was glad we went. La Push beach was so pretty! It was fun to create more memories with family the last two months.

At the Locks.

This is Lake Union. This is where sleepless in Seattle had Tom Hank's houseboat.
Doesn't Aaron looked thrilled about it?

This is called gas works park. It used to be a gas plant. Why is Kurt scaling it in his nice clothes? Well there were these other guys and they were doing it to impress their girlfriends. Only one could make it to the top. When they left I told him I wished he would show off to impress me like the old days. So he did. And I really was actually. It was pretty far up. Awww!

This is La Push beach. If you watch the movie--like we did when we got home that night--you can see this in the background. Please laugh at us because it is pretty funny! There was a Twilight Tour bus parked there when we pulled up. I couldn't make fun.

These kids were awesome on our hikes that week. I was especially impressed with Maya. She is tiny but she enjoys it so much she doesn't whine or have me carry her hardly at all.

Mom's watching conference. I think my kids like grandma.

This is right before we piled in to head home. We have already skyped them in Brazil. Maya kept saying she wanted to go to Grandma's house while we were talking with you over skype.

Carol and us on the hike. I couldn't believe how high we were and how much we could see. Thanks for having us Carol! I love hanging out with you and your family!

This face is just too cute! We miss you baby Beckett (maya says baby bucket but we all know she adores him so we let her.)

Taking Josh and Adele to the airport. I didn't realize how tight a fit it was for Josh until he kind-of fell out when we opened the door. Next time you can have the front seat Josh.

happy birthday Lincoln

2009-04-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Lincoln got spoiled for his 5th birthday. He not only got a lot of fun gifts from friends and family he also got to have a friend party and then a family party. The great thing was that we were in Madera for the family party so he got to have grandma and grandpa Leavitt, Nelsons, and Lafferes. Thank you all for making it so much fun for him and us!

Sonic the hedgehog game from Uncle Aaron Tiek.

He loves green so I guess that's how I ended up with green frosting, green hat and a green frog painted on his face.

i LOVE this picture of L and grandma Leavitt. What a precious picture!

2009-03-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Natalie really wanted to have her birthday at Red Robin restaurant so we told her to invite two friends and we would take her there. I couldn't figure out why she was so set on going and so excited until she kept asking if we'd told the waiters that it was her birthday. This shot is when they were singing to her. Look at her face! I think she is enjoying the attention just a little.---by the way she ordered a cheese pizza for dinner.

This is right after school when we opened Grandma Debbie's package. The kids really enjoyed skittles for their after school snack. After this we put together the treat bags. I'm pretty sure that's my kid's favorite part of getting ready for their party is putting together those treat bags. Her's containted:
2 balloons
a mini HSM notebook keychain
pixi sticks
jelly beans
kazoo

All of these things she (and Lincoln since the same things will go in his treat bags this Sat. minus the HSM notebooks) picked out at the store. She couldn't wait to present them to her two friends.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!

fun in the sun . . .

2009-03-10T22:08:00.000-07:00

Lincoln was thrilled to slide down the slide clearing all the snow with him. Look at his face. You'd think he was at Disneyland.

I had so much fun playing in the sun with the kids yesterday. The sun and snow. I forgot how much fun it is to play in snow with the warm sun shining on you to take that bite away. Speaking of the bite you get from the cold--Tuesday morning I was walking L into preschool and it was lightly snowing. I asked him if he was cold and he said, "No the snow is warm and ticklish." Aren't we supposed to say it is cold and stings? I thought it was ironic that he came up with the exact opposite of the norm. And on the way back to the car I noticed that it was so light it did sort-of tickle when it landed on your face. It made me smile. I sure like that kid!

2009-02-28T21:09:00.000-08:00

Natalie has been reading The Boxcar Children series and has been pretending to live in a boxcar in the back yard. Well it got really cold and rainy this week so she had to compromise. She gets whatever food I'll let her have and shares it with Benny (Lincoln). It's so nice to see them play something besides Sonic or Pokemon.

Thanks aunt Adele for the Towels! Maya was willing to sit for a bit while I grabbed the camera. The lighting was so perfect and she was in such a cute mood-I couldn't resist.

dental school formal

2009-02-22T13:24:00.000-08:00

Here we are in front of one of the tanks. I loved how pretty things looked with the lights low and the glowing fish tanks. What a cool atmosphere!

We turned the flash off the camera to see if we could capture how it looked. Well I guess I should have stepped out of the picture. I still thought it looked cool though so I put it in.

I borrowed this dress from my friend Kati--Thanks Kati--It was really pretty and stretchy so I actually had a nice dress to wear prego. We weren't sure what to expect from the evening but decided it would be good to support this since it was all for charity and it was Kurt's class putting it on. We actually stayed out until 11:00! It really was a lot of fun to dress up and the Seattle Aquarium was beautiful! They had a dance by this huge glass tank wall that lit up the room so it was very romantic and classy! One of my friends took a picture of the group of us that all went together. When I get it I'll add it to my post.

musical chairs

2009-02-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

Lincoln learned this game at school today. When I got there to pick him up he was in a group of about six kids that were sill going. He didn't win but didn't get upset he just loved playing. He set this up and the kids played tonight before bed.
I just adore them all!!!

2009-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

week 14

week 15

week 16

So I thought if I lined them up there would be a more dramatic effect. I am thinking I might really have to wear the same shirt every week. To me, from these pictures I looked bigger a week ago nd that's definately not what's happening. Oh well, it will have to do for now. I'll give it a month before I post any more. It's embarrassing posting pictures of just yourself.

Latest room projects

2009-02-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Back in November we decided to paint the kids rooms. We went for stripes in Maya's room and we love how they turned out. It is quite a process measuring it all out and taping but a lot of fun when you peel the tape off.

We are going to change up the pink in the stripes room and change to red by painting the dresser, putting on a new cover. I'm excited for when it's all done. We still don't have much up on the walls because I am very picky. If you have some great suggestions let me know.

Here's Lincoln trying out his new room. He totally made this shot in case you were wondering.
He says he really likes his new walls.

This pics blurry-sorry-I wanted to put it in anyway to show that K wrapped the window too to make it looked more finished.

This is the best shot I got of the woodwork we did--Kurt did. Doesn't it look awesome?! We figured out how to do it for as cheap as possible but I feel like it looks perfect. Good job hon.

2009-02-04T15:32:00.000-08:00

Maya got her own party since she had success with potty training. She was very excited. I don't really think she's ready yet and I haven't pushed her when she says she doesn't want to try. I'm just easy going with this one. I figure we'll get it all figured out eventually. No need to make it a chore---yet.

She was so proud. So were her brother and sister. It's fun, as they get older how much they enjoy each others successes. They were soooo impressed with her and it just made her even more pleased with herself.

Big News!

2009-01-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

I am officially announcing my wonderful news . . .I'm pregnant. Today is the first day of my second trimester and so I am 14 weeks.

Don't laugh at my picture. I know I look pretty silly but this is the official weekly picture spot so It will be fun to see the belly grow---well for someone like my mom anyway. I really feel like it's poking out a lot already but after looking at the picture have to admit it's not much.

Yes this was planned. We are both very excited---it was actually Kurt's idea to take a weekly picture with the same background. We've never done it before so I was surprised he wanted to. I think he's trying to somehow show me he's excited too. Thanks hon.

Have I been sick? Wow yes---then only slightly. I was really sick for four weeks or so and nothing worked that worked with my other pregnancies I just couldn't seem to get a grip on it. When I went in for my first midwife appt. she suggested zofran and I've been much much better since. It is a miracle med for me! I am never 100% comfortable with taking meds so I'll be happy when I can stop taking it. But for now---hooray!

Sick kids

2009-01-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

As soon as he saw the camera he smiled. Poor kid has only eaten goldfish and juice since Saturday. He had 103 temp today.

Maya thought it was a great party.

Here they all are watching Maya's choice of movie because
they just didn't care much.

Poor Natalie. I was tempted to make her go to school even though she claimed to be sick this morning but decided she really might be. I took her temp an hour ago and it was 103! What's weird is each of my kids have something different. Natalie has a fever but no other sympoms. Lincoln has croup (he went to the dr. today and got meds--that is the scariest sounding coughing and wheezing I've ever heard!) and Maya just has a really nasty runny nose. I got some good pictures of them all watching Maisy. Maya thought we were having the greatest pajama party ever. She got juice and goldfish, pillow and blanket and movies all day. She was in heaven.

Thanksgiving---yes that's what I said, Thanksgiving

2009-01-25T19:37:00.001-08:00

I know, pathetic. Don't read on if you are disgusted by be-lated blogging. I FINALLY downloaded all my Thanksgiving and Christmas pics. I was going to combine but I just had so much fun with my family over Thanksgiving I had to post. Steve Allison and their new baby Cohen flew up from Utah to spend Thanksgiving with us. Sooo much fun and very sweet of them. I hadn't seen Cohen yet and he is so adorable. You'll see . . .

Walking around the market in downtown Seattle. Yes the guy in the back is with us. That's my brother Steve and the beautiful blonde is my sister in law Allison. Aren't they cute?! Well wait till you see what their genes created!

We were blessed with family and good friends for our thanksgiving feast.
Here are the kids all playing the Wii. If you look close Maya has her dukes up.
They are playing a boxing game.

Ta Da! Isn't he sooooo adorable? My nephew Cohen. This is all the
way back at Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to play with him. He's waving at me. Ok not really.

Yummy potatoes! I couldn't have pulled off this dinner without Allison's help. THANKS for coming and THANKS for being my co thanksgiving dinner maker.

These are the silkys. Autie Allison made the one in Maya's left hand
when she was born and then replaced it with a nice new one when she came up.
Cohen has his in his lap. Maya is just so happy. She LOVES this blanket so she is in heaven with not just one but two.

Snow and Cold

2008-12-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I'm the worst blogger ever. It's been confirmed. I called my friend Natalie and those were the first words out of her mouth. I admit it. It's true.

So Christmas hit our city today. We have snow everywhere and when it gets this cold, ICE everywhere. The kids bundled up to play in the backyard and I couldn't get the screen open. It was frozen shut. I took my kettle of hot water out and melted the ice off the runner so we could open it. The kids thought that was really cool. The air was so cold and windy that the snow was un-ball-able so no snowmen or snowballs. And Maya didn't last long--it was freezing.

I am sick today. I always feel so bad making someone else do singing time. It's one of those that's really hard to substitute last minute unless you are comfortable with Primary songs and singing solos in front of teachers and kids. Luckily my friend Kati saved me yet again. I have such sweet friends.

Feeling sick makes me appreciate what the Savior did for us. My experience seems so hard for me and yet what He did for us we couldn't endure. He suffered it willingly because He loves us. This makes me want to endure my small scale suffering gracefully and keep things in perspective.

I am still getting Christmas cards out! I really should be fired.

October, November . . .

2008-11-25T15:46:00.000-08:00

there really are too many things to post for the two months. I think it is why I haven't done it. I will just put in some pics and let them tell the story . . .

Here's K (the one in the red jersey I made him) playing b-ball at his surprise party. They played three on three- double elimination tournament. I set up a concession stand and served corndogs chips etc. It was a lot of fun!

I really should post more often but I have been really busy lately.

2008-11-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

I just recently re-read one of my favorite books, "Mitten Strings to god" (given to me by Rebecca--thanks again!) I love what that book helps me do as a mother. It centers me and helps me reevaluate my routines and schedule. It reminds me how to maintain simplicity in a hectic world. I love how peaceful we can make our homes if we try. Some things I have implemented from the book that have been wonderful:

candles at dinner time every night---the kids love it and if they haven't said the words, "gross, sick, or yucky, and they actually try to eat whatever I make they get to blow the candle out when we're done.
(chapter on peace) Turning on our fire (I know, sad huh.) and listening to music in the dark (We listened to "When Christmas Comes To Town" from Polar express a couple times. They all three ended up on my lap. It really felt like heaven.
Reading books with a flashlight by the fire

I just realized all three of these things involve the lights out.

Tag

2008-10-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

Here is how you play:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Some things you may or may not know about me:

1. My new found LOVE is rock climbing. I'm actually pretty good at it too. I love making it to the top and having the thrill of how high you are. Especially when the belayer (sp?) knows how to hold the rope so you don't feel held up. It really feels like it's just you. FUN!

2. Every time I make homemade bread there is a giant hole right in the center running through the whole loaf. It's weird. We eat it anyway, we just call it doughnut bread.

3. I schedule my life around my hair--. It takes a certain amount of time and patience to do after it's washed that I have to be really careful to make sure I have time to do it the day I wash it or I'll look like an over-grown chia pet. No I do not wash it every day! That would be a nightmare.

4. I love singing a tricky second soprano part.

5. I spend way too much time getting junk out of the cracks on my black table with an old library card. Usually when I'm on the phone or after the kids are in bed etc. It's so you don't see crumbs when the kitchen lights are on. I absolutely hate it when my kitchen table looks/is dirty.

6. I still like peanut butter sandwiches and eat them for lunch almost daily. Most of my love is the fact that it's just easier and lasts in my tummy for a long time. Lunch is done and over with. My kids go through phases. Although Natalie swears I make the best ones. She says dad's are gross compared to mine. Ha!

7. Sometimes I think I'm actually a grown up then other times I realize I'm still 7. Kurt took me to phantom of the Opera a few weeks ago. He surprised me with it partly because he knew if he told me I wouldn't sleep the night before because I'd be too excited. And the sad thing is he wasn't kidding because I wouldn't have. I get too excited about things. And some of those things are really small (like one time I could hardly sleep the night before a women's conference--day away with some girls in my ward.) Does that just mean I need to get out more?

So now I tag . . .

Natalie
Allison
Mellissa
Tami
Raya
Aimee
Heidi
Kati
Really anyone who wants to do it . . .

A boy and his bike

2008-09-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

This is Kurt - Michelle has recruited me to do some of these posts now. Today is officially my last day of my long vacation from school and we've had a great month off. For a little background, since I've been in school, we go somewhere every time I have a week off, so a month with no trip is new to us. We've gotten a lot done - the house cleaned, carpets steamed, cars cleaned, finished the fence and stained it, etc.

On to the topic of the post - Lincoln has been asking to take his training wheels off his bike ever since I took them of Natalie's. Unfortunately, Natalie hasn't had much success with the whole balancing part and so she hasn't ridden her bike for a while. I kept putting Lincoln off to avoid having two kids struggling to ride their bikes and being forever banished to bending over, running behind a child that isn't close to being able to ride his/her bike. I may be selfish, lazy, or whatever, but after about 10 minutes of running bent over I'm done but the child never is.

Well, a couple of weeks ago Lincoln approached me again and I decided to let him try. He had really shown an uncanny ability to balance on the little scooter we have so outside we went.

We took off the wheels (he was really excited we were using the tools on HIS bike) and I took him over to the park next door where the grass would soften his landing. I put him on and we got going. After about 10 feet I don't know why, but I let go. Much to my suprise, he rode another 25 feet before falling. I had stopped walking when I let go and when he looked back at me, he realized what had just happened and started laughing. We went out to the road and he really took off. By the end of the hour he was riding up and down curbs, in circles, and he even rode down the hill to the bottom of our subdivision - which is pretty steep. Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. At one point when he was still trying to learn how to get the bike started on his own he was crying every 30 seconds so Michelle had to put the bike up. I came back outside and explained that he could have the bike as long as he understood the rule that as long as he has his bike, NO CRYING IS ALLOWED NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. I wonder what the psychologists would say about that rule. Since I made it up, things have been great. Of course, we are all excited for him and now all he wants to do is ride his bike. It's just too bad the rains started this week and it may not be sunny until next June..........

Go Cougars! I mean Huskies! No Cougars!

2008-09-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

Kurt and I had sooo much fun at the BYU vs UW game on Saturday. I wanted to paint my face half purple and half blue but Kurt wouldn't let me! We were sitting with all our fellow alumni from BYU some from church and some from dental school. I have to say I haven't been to a more fun game since the BYU UTAH game I went to with K and my parents. Kurt was hoarse on Sunday between yelling at the refs and for the touchdowns. Too fun. The kids were at the zoo with our wonderful great awesome friends the Morgans. They came home with posters, tatoos, stickers, flamingo visers, and bubbles.

sharpening pencils

2008-09-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

s

Natalie started school this week. Kurt made her a giant minnie mouse pancake. That morning I was going over her list of supplies she's supposed to bring and we realized that her list specifies a 24 pack of SHARPENED no 2 pencils. So we busted out the new sharpener and the kids had so much fun. Natalie was so excited. She was planning to take the bus but changed her mind and asked dad to take her that morning. Kurt and Lincoln went since L had a check-up with the dr. that morning that K was taking him since I needed to be here to b-sit for a friend. They were so cute when they left. Natalie has two of her neighborhood friends in the class and also her favorite school friend from last year. She also got to bring pikachu with her to show the class as the teacher assigned the kids to bring one thing the first day that helps others learn about them. Pikachu? Oh well she was so happy to take him. Whatever. From what i got out of her when she got home she seemed to love her teacher and first day of first grade. I'm still getting used to having a kid in school all day long.

So when they all left it was just me and Maya. It was so quiet. And kind-of peaceful. Maya cried when they left but I distracted her quickly with her dolls and pretty soon we were just playing in her room. She started rocking on her big rocking chair then stopped it suddenly and looked at me and said, "mommy home." then I agreed, "yep mommy is home" and she went back to rocking. It was one of those I'm so glad I get to be home with my kids moment. It meant a lot to me. Thanks Maya for noticing.

2008-09-01T16:22:00.001-07:00

park days with the ward moms

2008-09-01T16:18:00.001-07:00

Kurt's white coat ceremony

2008-09-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

summer has been so funa nd went by too fast. I would say it's been busy but that would imply that I didn't sit around in the backyard by the kids pool or sit and read while the kids played at the park and i definitely got to do those things. It's been full. Full is a good word because I feel like we have made some really great friends and have been enjoying our ward callings and other hobbies. I guess Kurt might say busy though. He took the boards and passed! Yeah!

I have pictures of it all but I don't know how to put a picture on and then write about it underneath without making a new post. . .I know I'm a sad little blogger.

Oh well, here's what we did:
-T-ball with the YMCA for lincoln and Natalie--very fun and entertaining.
-Carol and Allen and kids--canoes, beach, zoo, beach, motorcycle shopping with Allen : )
-Adele and Josh came up for a week--hikes, beach, space needle, mariners game, pikes place, shopping, canoeing, hiking, snoqualmie falls, (i'm sure I missed something we did a ton!)
Kurt's white coat ceremony. They recognize the change from didactic learning to practical application by presenting the students with a white coat. He is now an official student doctor who will be practicing on patients. I'm so proud!
-Thursday park days with Aimee and Jillian. We go together and meet the rest of the moms at different parks or beaches in the area. It's so fun to see how much is just around the corner from us here. The perks to living in a big city.
there's more but seriously I'm just going to have to save things for a different post.

Cathing up--we had a great 4th!

2008-07-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

So I have been meaning to post our pictures from the 4th for awhile now. The day before the 4th it was thunder and lightening and storming and the forecast showed more of the same so my friend and I decided we would go camping on the Eastern side of Washington (completely different climate and weather across the mountain) We figures two hours and we're guaranteed sunshine. We called our friend Heidi who grew up in Eastern Washington --she was there with her family-- to see if there was a great firework show or if she could recommend a place and she convinced us the best place to spend the 4th was with her and her family in Mattawa on her family's farm. And she was right! It was sooo much fun. They know how to have a party! And so welcoming, inviting, fun company. We will forever remember our tour of downtown Mattawa, mini hay cubes, Kurt's first motorcycle ride, My first time taking Kurt 4-wheeling, My kids first time 4-wheeling, a really really great home created firework show, and sooooo much good food! Thanks Heidi! I hope sometime we can return the favor!

--oh and I better mention, or Kurt will, it was raining when we got there--ok pouring. But that finished within an hour and it was perfect for the whole rest of the time. Since it was my idea to search for sun, and I had to talk Kurt into it, Kurt thought that the rain was hilarious---couldn't help laughing his head off . . . he thinks he's a comedian. . .

private blog

2008-07-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to change into a private blog for awhile. It's sad we have to worry about weirdos. I am just worried I will forget to put someone's email on the list and offend them. I keep double checking but it's annoying because they don't put my list of friends and family in alphabetical order so it would be easy to miss someone and not realize it. Hopefully everyone that actually wants to stay connected to us can.

Tagged by Ginger

2008-07-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

20 Years ago...
1. I was 9.
2. Living in Brigham City, Utah.
3. Riding my bike to Kings with my younger brother Steve and if we were lucky we stopped to get a tigers blood flavored sno-cone.

10 Years ago...

1. Kurt had just left on his mission and I spent every minute thinking about him (well, almost every minute).

2. I had moved back home after my first year at BYU and was working at the BC golf course with Laura Bagwell.

3. I didn't know what I wanted to do for my major at BYU.

5 Years ago...
1. Natalie was 1. Kurt and I had just graduated (me in English, K in Chemical Engineering)
2. We moved to Washington - Kurt had just started his job as a nuclear engineer in Port Orchard, WA
3.One week after moving to Port Orchard I thought I had the flu and it turned out I was pregnant with Lincoln.
4. We bought our first house that fall - we loved that place - we really miss that place and all our friends there! We had a great thanksgiving with the Snyders and McBrides (9X13 pan of jello for each family-2 pies per person-and a hot tub to finish off the day!)--I just realized after talking with K that that was four years ago, but still worth noting. So fun!

3 Years ago...
1. Kurt decided to go to dental school and took the DAT and did DA-Amazing.
2. We were loving Washington and all of our amazing friends there--ditto Nat, we miss all you guys too.
3. We spent the summer replacing all the siding on the house and then painted it the same color all over again.
4. Kurt got in to UW so we got ready to sell our house - did I mention that we miss that house?

1 Year ago...
1. We were living with RATS in our rental in seattle. (Then we really started to miss our PO house)
2. Maya was 6 months old and so dang cute, Lincoln was being potty trained and ended up so constipated we started him on medication. Oh man that was so not fun.
3. Natalie was getting ready to start Kindergarten.
4. We were about to move into our new house in Lynnwood.

Yesterday I...
1. I hate admitting that I was a cranky pants but I kind-of was in the morning--Natalie had a T-ball game-she did awesome and was so cute out there, we were trying to finish the fence, I was trying to organize for my calling, and the house was messy . . .
2. I got out crete paper and balloons and helped the kids decorate their bikes for the pioneer parade
3. Apologized to Kurt for being cranky, asked him how he stays married to me--(he said same way I stayed married to him)
4. Went to the pioneer day picnic for like three or four stakes that our stake hosted--it ended up being so fun but only because I spotted the line for the food as it started to form and asked Kurt to jump in for us.
5. Went to Kohls to replace Kurt's shorts, found a whole bunch of other great deals, tried to keep the kids happy while I had Kurt try tons of stuff on, ended up just replacing Kurt's shorts.

6. Kurt got his letter saying he PASSED THE DENTAL BOARDS! yeah!!!

7. Cleaned the house like crazy after the kids were in bed even though I was really really tired. But today I am glad I did!

Today I...
1. Slept in until 8:45 (I really never ever ever do that!--it was awesome!)
2. Got the kids and me ready for church. Lincoln was in his new summer church clothes and looked soooo cute! It really made him look older, i'm not sure why but it was bitter-sweet to see as always.
3. Tried to teach 3 and 4 year olds the ASL for the chorus of Called to Serve while they were trying to spit on each other. At one point I was reaching for Lincoln right before he expectorated something he'd been working on and leading music at the same time.
4. Had fantastic mexican chicken with homemade tortillas for dinner
5. Got yummy brownies from my new VT comp Erin
6. Figured out finances (how much debt we are in from dental school up to date--don't ask) It's a good thing I had something chocolate.

Tomorrow I...
1. Will go work out at the YMCA
2. Probably do some laundry, folding while I watch Cosby at 4pm, make dinner, Vacuum, dust, hang out at the park next door with the kids if it's sunny, read a book . . .
3. Babysit for my friend Aimee
4. Have FHE

In the next year I...
1. Find a way to bring more music back into my life!
2. Kurt's trying to talk me into training for a marathon--we'll see I've never even ran a 10K (depends on my knees)
3. Do something fun to celebrate Kurt and I turning the big 30!
4. Hope to remember to play with my kids and be really careful to not over schedule our precious evenings.

I tag anyone that had the patience to read this entire thing through!

I'm a chameleon

2008-07-06T19:36:00.001-07:00

So I finally found out how to change my skin---I wasn't really actively looking until a few days ago and then my friend Heidi and her sister showed me how. Yeah! I have already changed it twice and still don't love it yet. Something about this one bugs me . . .I'll just have to keep looking. : ) I can see how you can get addicted to this. Kind-of fun.

California trip

2008-06-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Between May and June we feel like we are road-tripped out for awhile. We made the drive down to California (14hr) for a family reunion and had so much fun. For the record I will say it was worth it even with Lincoln puking in the backseat from winding down the canyon outside of Oregon coming into California. It was that fun a trip. ---By the way the first town in Cali is siskiyou, and so there's a sign that reads, "Siskiyou" right after the sign saying, "Leaving Oregon" That made us laugh.

I think the reason it was so fun was because the reunion was a blast--we rented wave runners one of the days--and the camp sight, called family camp, was so fun. There were flush toilets and little cabins that all surrounded the fire pit. We were right by Shaver lake so we spent most of the day there. After the runion Kurt's mom was sweet enough to take the kids for a night so Kurt and I could go up to Yosemite and stay the night. Kurt and I wanted to try to make it to the top of half-dome. Kurt hiked it when he was younger but I wasn't so sure I could make it to the top especially after reading about it online. Anyway, i'm proud to say we did it and it really wasn't that bad. I was tired but we made pretty good time. And the cables weren't as hard as they looked. I had seen pictures of the cables before but they were way more intimidating in person. (Click on the picture of Kurt and I together and you can see them in the background) Once you were on them though they weren' that bad. I had an almost empty water bottle on the outside pocket of my backpack and at one point it somehow came lose while I was on the cables. It bounced down and down and down until we couldn't see it anymore---that was a little creepy. It was crazy how high up we were. We figured it out and we hiked over 20 miles overall. The trail was really beautiful and there's a stream we soaked our feet in on the way back down. It made me want to try other really cool hikes.

You have to click on the pictures and see them full screen to really appreciate how pretty the hike was. And how good lookin' my husband is. . .speaking of notice his t-shirt? There were a lot of hikers at the top that noticed and asked if he could fly them back down the mountain. Cute.

may weddings

2008-06-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

I guess I can't call myself an official blogger because I really don't post as regularly as I should on here. I've was visiting family last month for two very important and beautiful weddings. My littlest brother and sister got married. I was surprised at how unique and special each one was even when they were only 11 days apart at the same temple. And I'm not even talking about the weather (80 degrees and sunny for one and 40 with wind and rain for the other). It was one of those trips that you look forward to for months and then when it comes it becomes a whirlwind of activities and visiting and before you know it you're back home. I am just glad I took pictures because they help me remember how much fun I had with everyone. I absolutely love my family--on both sides.

Here are some pictures of the weddings:

Maya

2008-04-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Maya saying "me" and "cheese"

I guess Maya is really tiny. We took her to the doctor for her 18 month and she is off the charts. She still weighs 18lb and YES I do feed her! She is in her highchair a lot more now though. Part of the problem is she didn't like milk before. It's only been a month now that I can give her a sippy cup of milk and she'll drink it all. So I'm sure she'll catch up soon enough. The doctor didn't seem too worried.

It's been really fun to see Maya's personality lately. The other day we were in the van just leaving the store and I said, "Ok who's ready to go home and get some lunch!" and I hear this little, "meeee" and it's Maya raising her little hand in her carseat right behind me. She has always been really easy going but lately if Lincoln's doing something she doesn't like she yells, "stop" of course it sounds more like dop. She also says cheese and makes the funniest face when I point the camera at her. When I put her in bed at night she says, "bu-bye" and blows me kisses. when I put the kids in time out on the bottom step I will often find her over there trying to tickle them or just sitting there with them. She also does long division . . .

Easter without daddy

2008-04-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

We managed to have a really nice Easter even with a very important member of the team gone. Kurt spent the week in Texas helping build a pergola for his brother. Kurt's dad was there too and took his boys bay fishing off the coast of Texas. He didn't catch the most but he did catch the biggest fish of the day. Meanwhile I was very lucky to have really sweet friends invite us over to enjoy ham and egg hunts with them. I have decided to take on my mother's treasure hunt complete with scripture questions and eggs with jelly beans. I It was a hit this year---the reason I can tell is they have been playing "treasure hunt" with each other everyday since. It was raining outside so I kept it to just inside our house but the kids loved it. Maya was following the other two as best she could. At one point of the hunt they had to sit and watch a clip I found on LDS.org of Christ's life, death and resurrection. I then had some questions for them about the movie. It really brought the spirit of Easter to our day and I felt like it was such a success! Yeah!

Lincoln's Birthday

2008-04-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun time celebrating Lincoln turning four. I can't believe he's that old already. Although when I look at him I am occasionally struck by how much taller he looks or how his face has lost some of the cheekyness and he looks older.
Lincoln is so much fun to do things for because he gets so excited over everything. When he saw the cake I made he said "Oh yes! It's just what I wanted!" We had a party with some of his friends at McDonalds. Then later we had a family party with just us. Natalie gave him her old bike with a big bow on it and a dinosaur. That morning he got a couple e-cards that he enjoyed a lot! He really likes watching the e-cards over and over again so I took some pictures of him laughing while he's watching them play.
We sure love him!

Our Spelling Bee Champion!

2008-03-18T18:06:00.001-07:00

Natalie came home from school with a list of words a while back. She wanted to be in the all Kindergarten spelling bee at her school. Well, she never wanted to study much until the week of the event - so every night last week we practiced with her until she didn't want to do it anymore. The night of the event arrived and we got there to see that she was the very first name on the list so she had to go first. She stepped up to the microphone and spelled her first word correctly "m-e". She didn't even seem very nervous even though there were about 200 people there. The second round she got "hug", then "milk", then "off", and then came the one that did her in - "away". By this time there were only three kids left so she had to have a spell-off for fourth place. She got the word "knot" as in I have a knot in my shoelace (pretty tricky for someone kindergarten). She stepped up to the microphone and confidently said "k-n-o-t". I think the crowd was a little surprised because people let out a little cheer when she got it right. The other boy got "want" and spelled it wrong so Natalie is the alternate for the district spelling bee (which will be in May while we're in Utah). We were so proud of her for being so brave and being able to get up and actually think in front of all those people. We're pretty sure she was the crowd favorite because she looked so cute up there - but we're biased so you can judge for yourself! Great job Natalie!

Lincoln

2008-03-18T08:42:00.001-07:00

We were in the car yesterday going to UW campus to pick up Kurt driving through the U district where there are always a LOT of people everywhere. Lincoln is in the back seat pointing out whatever he sees.
Lincoln-"Look mom there's a bus"
Mom-"yep there's a bus"
Lincoln "Look mom there's someone riding a bike!"
Mom-"yeah, lots of people ride bikes around here."
Lincoln "Look mom there's a giant dinosaur and he's trying to eat all those people! They are running away very fast!"
mom-"oh really?"
Lincoln-"just kidding there isn't a dinasaur. But there is a lot of people."

Lincoln loves to have control of things. He gets a little weird when he feels like things are not working like he wants. One morning a while back he woke up sometime around 6:30 and came into my room. I told him to come get in bed with me. After a few seconds I started to doze back off but then hear this slapping sound. Lincoln is smacking himself in the face. I ask him why he's hitting himself and he says, "My eyes won't stay open!" I tell him that it's because he woke up too early and he needs to go back to sleep. He proceeds to slap his face and his head jams back and bangs me in the lip. So then I say, "Lincoln! You just hurt mommy! Please stop hitting yourself" He continues but now he is out of bed doing a sort-of break dance move only he's really smacking and kicking at himself.
Seriously? Completely absurd.

Ok my last Lincoln story--I am the Primary chorister so I am constantly saying, "Ok I am going to call on whoever is most reverent." So the other day Lincoln wanted to take a page of stickers to the daycare at the gym. He said he wanted to pass them out. After we checked in and right as he's walking through the gate he says loudly raising them up above his head, "I have stickers for whoever is good today." Then later that week we had homemade rolls--the kids favorite--and we were telling L he could only have another roll if he ate some of his other food first. He reached and grabbed one anyway. Dad started coming over to him so he quickly raised the roll up high and announced, "This is for whoever is the most reverent" Kurt had already grabbed it so he says, "Dad was the most reverent!" really quickly. He cracks us up.

Happy Birthday Natalie!

2008-02-27T11:23:00.001-08:00

Why I go to the gym to work out

2008-02-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

Ever since I started working out at the gym regularly I've had a several people ask me why I don't just work out at home. Friday, I had to, and was reminded why I cannot count on a good work out at home. It starts with an L and rhymes with Lincoln. I decided I would put Maya down and stick Lincoln in front of the TV and run stairs and work out on my step and jump rope, then do some weights since Maya's nose was running pretty bad. (I think it's because she's teething but who knows) Anyway, the pictures can tell you how well the step workout went. And as for the stair exercise, he thought we were racing. I always beat him up the stairs but then he would slide on his fanny and be so proud to beat me down. I tripped on him several times and we are lucky nobody was injured. I have to say, though, that I wore him out. After racing for a bit he said it was time to take a rest and I'd say, "nope come on, we're exercising" and he'd get up and run up the stairs again. He was ready for bed for sure last night. . . And it is so worth every penny I spend to have a gym membership that includes babysitting.

snow day

2008-01-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

I woke up last night around 3am and saw that it had dumped about a half foot of snow. I hardly watch the news lately so I really didn't expect it at all. Natalie, Lincoln, Maya, and I all bundled up and headed out to play in it. Maya wouldn't try to walk in it so she just stayed in that spot while she watched us make angels and throw snow at each other. She was so happy and intrigued by it all. I made her her own snow ball and she kept chattering with every sentence ending with a very clear "ball." She looked like a marshmallow in her suit----thanks Ginger!--- and she was so warm. After awhile I made her a little chair out of the snow and she just sat there and jabbered at us.

Natalie

2008-01-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

Natalie lost her first tooth a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure who was more excited Kurt or Natalie. He used some floss to finish the job--at first it didn't work, the floss kind-of got stuck in there so I whispered to him to just yank it, he did, and it came right out. After a few tears she was very excited for the tooth fairy. It's so cute to me when she smiles. I can't believe she's so old!

So lately Natalie has been trying out new words. When we were walking home from the bus stop today I asked her why her hair-band was so far back on her head and she said, "Ben" and sighed. I asked who Ben was and she started dropping her new favorite word. She said, "Oh it's this boy that I always end up sitting by on the bus or at school. He's so distracting."---her new word. I asked her if he actually pushed her head-band back on her head and she said that he did and that he was only nice if she talked about pikachu. "If I don't talk about pikachu he's mean and so distracting." I'm not really sure if she knows the full meaning of the word or if she absolutely does. She cracks me up.

Lincoln's prayer

2008-01-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

I just got done putting the kids down. I haven't been really good about making them say their prayers with me I just occasionally remind them that they should as I turn off the lights and close the door. But tonight I decided to make sure they said their prayers and asked Lincoln to say his with me. He said, "Heavenly Father, thank thee that Christ likes me, bless that no people will go in the bushes." and then he ended. After he was done I asked him what he said because I thought I heard him wrong but he said word for word the same phrases and then looked concerned and said, "oh sorry I'm going to say another one. I was glad because I thought maybe he would elaborate on the bush people. He said, "Heavenly Father, thank thee that Christ likes me and mommy, and bless that no people go in the bushes" then he ended and looked at me like--better? So I guess we all have Lincoln to thank when we see all the people-less bushes everywhere.

Tami is engaged!

2008-01-16T13:52:00.001-08:00

My little sister in engaged! I knew they were talking about it but I don't know, I wasn't totally convinced until she called and sure enough he proposed. They don't have a date set yet but I wish I could be closer to be a part of the planning. Here is a couple pictures I took of the two of them on New Year's Eve.

life's simple pleasures

2008-01-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday I told the kids if they helped me clean up the upstairs well enough so I could vacuum without sucking up any of their toys then we could go to the library. They did a great job and we were getting ready to go when Lincoln wouldn't get his coat on right. Every time I held it up he would put it on backwards--on purpose because it's so hilarious. I finally said, "fine, do you want me to zip it up that way then?" He nodded with big eyes and as soon as it was zipped up began running around in circles like he was a dog chasing his tail. Natalie immediately wanted her coat like that and proceeded to run in circles as well. I grabbed the camera because it did look pretty funny. So that's how they wore their coats to the library and the grocery store. I kept forgetting they had them on that way but then people would stare and smile and I'd remember.

oh my kids!

2008-01-15T12:32:00.000-08:00

I was already thinking about joining the bloggers but wasn't quite sure where to begin, and then today happened and I had to share. It all started when Lincoln was playing alone in his room. I heard a bang, bang, then a snap, and Lincoln appears at my door with Natalie's plastic flute broken in two. I lectured him on being too hard on things and he said he was sorry and asked if Natalie would be mad at him. I assured him that she would and gave him a time out. (I was hoping to make an impression) As soon as the time out was over he didn't seem to be phased and I chalked it up as a good try but, oh well. Then when it was time to pick up Natalie from the bus stop Lincoln said he wanted to come along--usually he wants to stay home and play computer so I was a little surprised. We kicked at ice and stomped on what was left of the tiny snow balls that fell sometime the night before. (It was so windy and cold last night that it froze the snow into the tiny dots just like the icecream at the baseball games--pretty cool) Natalie was excited to see us and we had only taken about ten steps when Lincoln turned to her, looked straight in her face and said. "Natalie, I broke your flute." Natalie's face looked surprised, then confused, then turned mean and she said, "I just got that flute!" I had already forgotten about the flute since it cost $1. I was surprised by Lincoln's honesty and that he felt he should get it out of the way. Natalie walked off and Lincoln called after her. "Are you mad at me?" Then he started to cry and I grabbed his hand, we started walking and I told him I was proud of him for being brave and being honest. I was really proud of him. So then he asks me if Natalie was mad and I said yes and he said he didn't want her to be mad and I said she wouldn't be mad forever which he repeated to her as we were hanging up our coats. She said she wouldn't be mad forever with heavy sigh and He told her she can't be mad on Saturday, Sunday, or Thursday--she then informed him in was Tuesday so he then included Tuesday. After that he ran upstairs and brought down the broken pieces of the flute and gave them to her and she said maybe dad could super glue it and I said maybe I could super glue it, which I did, and miraculously enough it worked. But I have to add that before Natalie knew if we could fix it Lincoln apologized one more time and she said, "it's ok Lincoln." I was amazed at how well they both handled the situation. I was very impressed and hadn't prompted any of it. I told them how that was how we treated friends and that even though they were brother and sister I could tell they were good friends. I was feeling very proud of both of them when about 5 minutes later Lincoln grabbed something off the counter and the flute flew off and broke into three pieces . . . seriously kid.