Light at the End of the Tunnel

After experiencing a good bout of morning sickness this pregnancy, I am happy to report that this past Wednesday, I started to feel better. Don't get me wrong -- I still get nauseous in the morning and at night, but at least I can get out of bed now and function on a somewhat normal level. My kids are ecstatic that I am returning to "normal" -- being that I have totally ignored and neglected them for the last 6-8 weeks. It's been a bit of a bummer too since Halloween is one of my most favorite times of year. But this year, I was forced to skip all of the trick or treating and halloween fun and opted to instead lay in bed. But enough complaining... it's time to catch up on some of the fun we have had.

First up, this year, we went to our local pumpkin patch to go on a hay ride, play in the pumpkin patch, jump in the bounce house, and look at the animals in their small farm. We ran into our friends, the Petersons, while we were there, so that made it more fun too.

Also, earlier this month, we decided to head over to the Zephyr Cove area in Tahoe for the weekend (Dallin's boss has a beautiful cabin there right on the water, and they offered it to us). It seriously was in one of the most beautiful places and being right on the water was awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't do much while I was there because I was sick, but the kids and Dallin had a blast playing on the private pier and on the beach.

The kids and Dallin enjoying the hot tub

Roaming the beach

The view from inside

Private pier

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I'll post about Halloween next entry!

How I Broke the News...

...to Dallin.

Baby #4 due early next summer! We're very excited!!

Due to some pregnancy sickness, I am taking a brief hiatus from blogging until I am back on my feet again!

So Far Behind

Thank Goodness for General Conference because I find that I am home more during these 2 days than normal and I am feeling motivated to blog. So, first up: Aubrey's gymnastics. Aubrey has been begging me for the last 6 months to take gymnastics. So, I finally caved and we signed her up. She absolutely LOVES it. She asks me almost every day if today is gymnastics day. She's in a small class of 4-6 kids and so far, she's loved jumping on the trampoline and walking on the balance beam. It's been fun to watch her finally get to participate in her own activity, instead of tagging along to her older brother's activities.


Since I have to sit in the waiting room with Evan during Aubrey's class, I decided to sign Evan and I up for a mommy and me class at the same time... just to keep him busy. He also LOVES it and I can hardly contain him during the class because he is so excited. This boy loves hanging on the rings and he is a whiz on the trampoline (I think because our neighbors have one so he gets some practice!)

Our Little Gymnast

Concentrating while crossing the balance beam

Doing her first flip on the bars

Next up is the annual Reno Hot Air Balloon Races. This year, we did our usual thing: got up early, set up our chairs inside the park, watched in awe as all the balloons got up off the ground, and hit up Pegs for our traditional breakfast there. As usual, the kids love every minute and Dallin and I sit there and talk about why we love Reno so much!

And finally, I just got back this morning from a literally whirlwind trip to Utah to visit with friends and to attend my mission reunion. I arrived yesterday and my friend Val who was my best friend my freshman year of college picked me up. We seriously haven't seen each other in like 7 years, but we keep in good touch and we always pick up where we left off. It was so great being with her and meeting her kids and seeing where she lives. We just reminisced about the 'good ol' days' and caught up. It was great.

She then drove me to my friend Laura's house who was also one of my best friends from freshman year. We did much of the same -- caught each other up on our lives and I also got to meet 1 of her kids, which was so fun.

Then, I was off to my mission reunion in Draper. This was a blast -- I haven't seen most of these people in at least 12 years! It was crazy how much everyone looked the same. My mission president and his wife were there, and it was so neat to see how everyone's lives have been blessed from serving in Hong Kong. I seriously loved every minute I was there.

Right after, I got picked up by my friend Kelly who is one of my dearest friends from my single's ward in D.C. We stayed up WAY TOO LATE eating milkshakes, onion rings and french fries with fry sauce and catching up! I almost didn't want the night to end so I could stay with her and chat longer.

Anyway, after this trip, I realize that I have been blessed with some truly amazing friends over the years. They are all intelligent, driven, classy and devoted mothers who truly serve as examples to me. So, thank you to my friends for driving me everywhere during this crazy trip. I had a blast!

Did You Know....?

So, Jacob has absolutely LOVED going to school this year. And he is a big science kid. He LOVES watching the Discovery channel and anything about wildlife, outer space, or bugs. Anyway, yesterday he came home from school and ran into the house excitedly. He was about to burst with excitement because he could not WAIT to tell me what was on his mind. He yelled, "Mom, did you know that the earth spins around and we don't feel it at all?!"

He was even more surprised when I told him that I did, in fact, know that and he is now convinced that I am a genius (which we, of course, all know that I am)! It was really cute.

Also, they've recently done some fun activities in his class. They're learning about the sense of smell and did an activity where the kids had to smell something that was hidden from them and guess what it was. Some of Jacob's answers were hilarious:

What the item was............What Jacob wrote down

Vinegar ..............................gurbij (aka garbage)
Cinnamon ........................ham
Chocolate .........................choklit

Also, I am way belated on updating my blog on our annual hot air balloon races in Reno and Aubrey's new gymnastics class. So, hopefully I will post soon.

First Day of School

The first day of school has finally arrived once again! Aubrey actually started pre-school last week. She LOVES it already! She has really grown up a lot this last year, which makes me a little sad, I have to admit. Jacob started first grade this year, which means he's in school ALL day long. I can't believe my baby is in school all day long, but I know he is ready for it (and so am I!) And now that leaves me with Evan at home. He is my mellow, easy going child, so being home alone with him will be a real treat, I think. Anyway, I'm including a few pictures of their first day of school below. Enjoy!

My Little Sisters

My two little sisters came out to Reno last week with their families and it was so great to be with them. Ligia, Matt and Maddie came out mid week, and while they were here, they got to go floating down the Truckee, we went to Great Basin Adventure with them and we even snuck in dinner at La Famiglia, which I think is THE BEST Italian restaurant here. The rest of the time, we relaxed, went swimming at the pool, and hung out with my other sister Becky, and her husband Garrett, and daughter Adeline who arrived on Thursday. After everyone arrived in Reno, we went to Tahoe. We started off in Sand Harbor and had so much fun on our tubes and inflatable raft that I bought. It seriously was so much fun paddling around on that thing. Then we headed south to the Tahoe Keys where we rented a house. Friday was also Dallin's birthday, so we celebrated by making him a delicious meal (thanks to Lee & Matt) and brownies covered in 37 candles!

The next day, we hit the private beach in the Tahoe Keys with the kiddos. On Sunday, we went to church, then went walking on a little nature trail by the house. In the afternoon, Dallin and I took the kids out on a little bike ride over by Camp Richardson. Then finally, on Monday, we got all of the kids ready and went hiking with them. We got a little lost on the hike, which meant we hiked a little more than we should have, but all of the kids were troopers and did great! In between all of that, we watched movies, ate great food, tried to catch a nap here and there, and of course played games like mad gab and scattergories. I was so sad to see my sisters and their cute families go after such a fun-filled week. But hopefully, us getting together will become a more "regular" thing. So, thank you to my sisters for making the effort to come out and visit us. We had such a blast!!

My sister's pictures came out a lot better than my did, but I at least wanted to post some pictures of their visit before I forget all of the fun things we did!

After floating on the Truckee

After dinner at La Famiglia

Evan crawling into the jaws of death at Great Basin Adventure

Madeleine in her cute leopard print bathing suit. Where can I get ME one of those? SOOO cute!

Garrett helping Adeline get used to the sand

McQueens in South Tahoe

CA Giles relaxing on the beach

Aubrey LOVED playing on the tubes, which she called "tubas."

The whole crew by Emerald Bay

The Beginning of our hike

Okay, I'm actually So Much YOUNGER

So, my sister just informed me that I actually only turned 35 this year! And I accidentally wrote 36 in my previous blog entry! Well, I think it's obvious I'm beginning to lose my mind with my age. But hey, at least I've got 5 more years (instead of 4) until the big 4-0!

You Say It's Your Birthday!

Well, the big 3-6 came and went this year with a fun-filled trip to Lake Tahoe without the kids, courtesy of my husband. Dallin seriously makes my birthdays awesome every year. This year, we wanted to go to Lake Tahoe without the kids and do some of the fun hikes/stuff that we can never do when we have our kids with us. So, we got a babysitter for the kids (thanks to our great neighbors!), left after Dallin got home from work, and headed over to Tahoe City (on the north side of Tahoe).

The next morning, we went hiking over by Squaw. This hike was breathtaking -- literally and figuratively. Although it actually wasn't THAT rigorous, I could not believe how tired I was at the end of it. It's called the Five Lakes hike, although we actually only ever saw 2 lakes. We looked and looked for the other 3 (along with a few other lost hikers), but never actually found the others!

Once we got back from the hike, we headed over to Sand Harbor. I absolutely LOVE this beach. Seriously, I could LIVE at this beach. The water is a gorgeous, clear (I'm talking 'you can see the nail polish on your toenails' clear) teal color and there are these great big boulders that you can climb on, lay on, or jump off of. We had so much fun doing all of the above, and I did a little snorkeling -- just for kicks!

Then we were off to the Shakepeare Festival. I've been dying to go to this since we got to Reno but we never made time for it. So, we went and saw Much Ado About Nothing. To be completely honest, the production is NOTHING close to what you would see on Broadway -- or really at any local community theater. But we had a great time anyway.

The next day, we just relaxed and bought tickets for one of those Lake Tahoe cruises that takes you all the way to the south side of the Lake called Emerald Bay. The cruise was so great. We got to meet a nice couple from Chicago who we chatted with along the way and we got to take in the spectacular views.

All in all, turning 36 has started off on the right foot! Many thanks to my wonderful hubby for making my day extra special.

Starting off our Five Lakes Hike

Relaxing at one of the two lakes we were able to find

Relaxing at Sand Harbor

We loved climbing the boulders behind me.

Snorkeling and checking out the crabs in the water

Bundling up for the Shakepeare Theater

Dallin and I on the Tahoe Cruise

Yes, that's the REAL color of Lake Tahoe -- BEAUTIFUL!!

Nauvoo and D.C. Trip

Trip to Nauvoo, IL

We left the last week of July and headed out to Nauvoo, IL to visit Dallin's parents (who are serving a mission there) and to visit some of the church's historical sites out there. Nauvoo is a very, VERY small town. But the church has done a wonderful job of restoring some of the buildings there and giving you a glimpse of what life was like back in the 1800's. We had fun going to the Nauvoo pageant, watching a play, visiting some of the restored houses, seeing the Nauvoo temple, and of course, just spending time with Grandma and Grandpa D. They were great to my kids and watched them while Dallin and I went and did a session at the Nauvoo temple, which was amazing.

Putting Dallin to work!

The kids showing off the rope that they made

All ready for our horse drawn wagon tour

The Nauvoo temple

Marching in the parade

Trip to Washington, D.C.

After our trip to Nauvoo, we flew out to D.C. to spend some time with my parents. We had so much fun there too! Dallin and I got some time by ourselves, so we went and visited some of the sites, visited one of our favorite museums (the newseum) and drove by the D.C. sites by night. We were also able to squeeze in a visit with some of our friends from our single's ward. We absolutely love these guys and are so happy we got to see them -- even if just for dinner!

We also got to spend time with my sister Ligia and her husband Matt and daughter Maddie, who is seriously so cute! She is the happiest baby I think I've ever seen and my kids had so much fun playing with her. They had us over for dinner and we got to go swimming with them at my parent's neighbor's house. We miss them already, but we're excited to see them here in a few weeks for our trip to Tahoe!

And of course, no trip to Maryland would be complete without a crab fest! Yes, we bought half a bushel of crabs and broke out our mallets and went to work. Those things were seriously to die for -- especially the Old Bay! I'm salivating just talking about them!

And my parents were so wonderful to my kids. They took them to chuck e. cheese, which to my kids is like going to Disneyworld. And they did all sorts of fun crafts with them and played with them.

Lastly, I snuck off by myself one day and flew to NY so that I could visit my 90 year old grandma. My father's mother lived with us growing up for many, many years so we are extremely close. I had so much fun visiting her and flipping through her scrapbooks and journal. We are coordinating writing her personal history together which I am very excited to work on. I love my "Ouita" so much and am glad I got to spend some time with her on this trip.

Aubrey enjoying the Air & Space Museum

Ligia, Matt & Maddie

Me and my granny "Ouita"

Can you say 4-D at the Newseum?

Dinner at my favorite restaurant, Carlyle Grand, with some of my favorite people

The kids with grandmacita and papa

Pool time at the Anderson's

CRABS!

Where Have I Been?

Oddly enough... not too many places this summer. But maybe that's why this summer seems like an ETERNITY to me. I always remember not understanding when moms complained about how they couldn't WAIT for their kids to go back to school. But now I get it! As much as I love my children, the countdown is already beginning!

Since I have done a TERRIBLE job of blogging lately, I'm way behind on writing about all of the stuff we've done this summer, so here's a short recap:

Aubrey finished preschool in June. She absolutely loved it there and became "best friends" with a girl named Madeleine.

We never miss the chance to go to the Reno rodeo every year. The kids and hubby got all decked out in cowboy gear and hats (I would have -- if I had any cowgirl stuff to wear)! The kids loved watch cowboys flying through the air after getting bucked off a horse or bull. They loved the barrel racing and of course the mutton racing is always a big hit too!

We've also gone to a few of the watermelon concerts at UNR this year. The kids always love to get their faces painted.

Of course no summer for us would be complete without a little bit of hiking thrown in. We recently did the Crystal Peak Mine hike which the kids loved. The weather was CRAZY that day. It would be sunny for 2 minutes, and then it would start raining on us for 2 minutes, and then it would start hailing on us, and then it would stop and be sunny for 5 minutes, and the cycle would start all over again. Despite the weather, we had a blast!

The final picture here was taken from our balcony and is of the kids and Dallin flying kites in what used to be a golf course behind our home. We're hoping it stays open space because we love to go out there and play on the land. You can barely see them in this picture, but as you can see, the view here is GREAT!!