Giant Balloon

My Dad got this giant 4ft balloon from our neighbor. (they wanted to use it in a marketing thing but it didn't end up working so he gave it to my Dad thinking the boys would love to play with it).
OK, so he really blew it up with a pump, but it was dang funny when he pretennded to blow it up with his mouth!

This balloon was HUGE! Almost bigger than Cole!

We had Cole pretend to be .... Atlas?.... I think thats his name, the guy who holds the world on his back. Anyways, it was funny to try and make the balloon stay on Cole haha

Then they took it in the pool! Now that was a great idea, until it started almost floating over the wall and onto the freeway, afterall it was a super light balloon. But Dad was there to hold it in place and such, and when he wasnt they tied a milk jug filled with water to it to make sure it didnt fly over the wall. But while they were playing with it in the pool the little boys dove over it.

Kaden

Cameron....thats some serious air. haha

Cole

That balloon was so huge and super fun!

Indoor Soccer

Kaden is on an indoor soccer team. He loves soccer. He is very good too! This is his first time playing indoor soccer, its season is in the off season of outdoor soccer, so he has constantly played soccer. I went to one of his indoor soccer games on Saturday. It is INTENSE and brutal!
I was able to really watch the game because my Dad had Paige the whole time. He loved holding her and explaining how things worked and being with her! It was such a nice break! haha

There is some crazy physicallity (really physical haha) in this game. Kaden doesn't like to wear contacts but he has to wear glasses, so he got these sweet sports glasses. And believe me, he was head butting and shoving and all that jazz in the game, he needed them.

All in all indoor soccer is a CrAzY game! And Kaden ROCKS at soccer! =>

New Mexican Restraunt

Kalyn had to go back up to UT for work and school today so Trey drove back with her and flew back on Saturday.
So they drove up and I stayed down. Well, Friday night has always been, and will always be, my parent's date night. They never miss it. (and I love that tradition) Well that night was date night and they wanted to include the family in part of it. We went to try out a ne mexican place. (ok not new to the world, it has apparently been there a while, but it was new to our knowledge.) It is in La Verne and is called El Merendero.

It was a cute little hole-in-the-wall place, which typically means GREAT food. haha We were excited to be there and try it, well everyone but Cameron and that definately shows in the picture haha.

As a side note: my Dad just (that day) got a new phone, the Droid 2x (or something like that). It is pretty dang cool! He was getting all sorts of cool apps on his phone with the little boys while we waited for our food.

The food was delicious! I had a tostada but had a bite of the bean burrito, which is apparently their specialty. Both were so yummy!

Everyone (even Cameron) liked the food. This will definately be a place to revisit.

Tea Party

On Thursday some girl cousins came over for a tea party! Kalyn got a cute tea set from London and was dying to use it! When the girls first got there I taught them how to make cute headbands! Some flowers I have made before they arrived and some I taught how to make! They turned out so cute!

Kalyn had done a lot of cooking that day. She made all the treats for the party. There were cookie/scones, mini cheesecakes and sandwiches. And pink lemonade instead of tea of course.

IT was such a fun idea! and the food was delicious!

Even Paige and I were invited! => Paige's first tea party, and I am sure it will not be her last.

The girls and their adorable headbands/flowers again!

Thanks for such a fun idea for a tea party Kalyn! Cheerio! =>

San Diego

On Tuesday my Dad was able to take off work and we went as a family to San Diego! We stopped first at Seaside Village for lunch.

We ate at a little corner "food court" typpe of thing, so they had something for everyone there. And of course, the boys chose burgers and fires haha

We then went to the USS Midway. It is a retired air craft carrier used in 3 different wars (at least i think it was 3) and now they let people go on it and tour it! How cool is that!?! Cam and Cole are sitting in the ejection seats (ones that eject out of airplanes when a lever is pulled). They thought it was pretty cool. Here they are pretending to be flying and their plane is going down so they are trying to decide if they want to pull the lever or not. What great imaginations! haha

On the top level of the ship you could go in many different typed of aircrafts (bombers, helecopters, spy planes, etc) Paige was in her stroller and could not go in so we watched the boys go in some. Trey stayed with us for a little while and was just making Paige smile so much! She really loves Trey! It is so cute to see!

To the right of the ship, or left depending what way you are facing haha, there is this giant statue of the famous post war kiss. (it was a picture taken of a soldier just coming home from the war and he grabs the first girl he sees and kisses her. They do not know who the soldier is but found out who the girl was. And now the picture is pretty famous, and they even made a statue of it) I love that they did that! So cute!

Mom and I trudged on ahead of the group (they were still going inside various air crafts) and went to the front of the boat. I forget what these are called but there are two of them and they kindof look like horns on the boat, and they hang over the water way high! But it was so cool to go on them! They used to be used to catch the rope/elastic thing that helped planes launch from it, or something like that =>

After the air craft carrier tour we drove by the San Diego temple! (on our way to Old Town/ Mormon Battalion center). I LOVE this temple! It is so gorgeous, even with scafoldings. But then again, what temple isnt gorgeous? But this is one of my all time favorite temples! It is like straight from a fairy tale!!

We then went to the Mormon Battalion center. That place is SO COOL! The Mormon battalion was amazing, and I never realized just how much they did for the settlement of CA!

After the battalion center we went to Islands for some food then headed home. What a fun day trip with the fam!

FHE Swimming 2

I took a LOT of pictures on this vacation but for some reason I can only upload four pictures per post, so it is causing me to be very selective and even break it into different posts. Hence, the second swimming post.

I promise Paige really enojyed the water, it just doesn't look like it in any of these pictures. =>

Like I said before, BJ is very protective of Paige. He would constantly come over and lick her and make sure she was ok. I am not an animal person, I think licking is gross and would try to stop it, but there are some times I just didn't move away fast enough. And it really doesnt hurt anyone, and is kind of cute BJ liked Paige so much, it is just gross to me. haha

Pappa sure loves his little Paige girl! And she loves him so much! She is always so smiley and happy when ever my Dad (Pappa) and my Mom (Granny, or any other name we think of) come around. I really don't know why she looks so unhappy here, again I promise she really was happy haha

The pool started getting too cold, but Paige still wanted water (this girl never wants to get out of the water) So Granny drew a warm bath in their bath tub and they had a little pool party in there!

I LOVE swimming! And I love being down here, and I love Paige getting to know my family more! We are having a blast!

FHE Swimming 1

For Family Home Evening (FHE, or family night) we went swimming in my parents pool!

There was an ongoing battle between the boys of trying to push eachother in the pool. Trey mostly won, until my Dad came along. Trey had been particularly picking on Caeron and pushing him in a lot, probably because Cam always tried to push Trey in. So when my Dad came along and flipped Kaden in Trey never suspected Cam and Dad to gang up and get him. But get him they did. haha

Hanging out with Paige on the beach step. The pool really was very cold and none of the girls really wanted to get in. =>

But we did eventually get in a little bit. And Paige loves the water, even when it is freezing, athough she extremely loves warm water =>

 

Showing Off Sunday

Thank goodness my parents church did not start until 11:00am! Paige did great sleeping and only woke up her normal one time in the night to eat and then went right back to sleep. But even with a good night and two extra hours to get ready for church (ours at home starts at 9) we were a little tardy getting there. I think it is my curse to never be able to be on time to things, no matter how hard I try or how much I plan. Oh well, such is life. =>

At church it was so fun to see my parents show off their granddaughter. They are so proud to be grandparents! It is so cute to watch! They would brag and dote and beam everytime someone commented on Paige (which was a LOT). I am so glad I have a cute baby, that was seriously one of my fears (to have an ugly baby).

When we got home from church my Mom was playing with Paige and then her other baby, their dog BJ, came up to play with them. My Mom was so excited to have both her "babies" with her!

Their dog was suprisingly good with Paige! He took it upon himself to be her little protector and gaurdian. Adorable! My parents had also bought a stroller for Paige (and a porta-crib) so they could always have those things at their house for when grandkids come over. So we had to try it out. This is Paige's first "big girl" stroller, the one we have we just hook her car seat onto the stroller so she has never actually sat up in it.

Cam stroller her around the house to test it out. She did very well in it, cam was a little goofy tho haha.

We Made It!

From our pit stop in Vegas we drove about 3 hours to my parents house. Paige was great again, up until the Cahone (is that how you spell it?) Pass. I think she had just had enough of being in the car. But she had her little moment then fell asleep and slept from about Rancho Cucamonga to Claremont (20ish mins with the traffic we had). When we got to my parents house we were greeted with one of the best treats EVER! A giant cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company! Yummy!

Everyone was so excited to see us, and especially Paige! She is truely one loved little girl!

The boys and my Mom had bought some books for Paige as a "welcome to our house, we love you" present. So nice! And the boys wasted no time each picking a book and reading it to Paige. They are such good uncles!

I am so glad we made it, and especially glad Paige did so well on that long drive! Horray for vacations!!

Paige's First Vacation! Driving There

Vacation Time!! Sat Aug 14th Kalyn Paige and I drove down to Utah! We left our (Mine and Jared's) apartment ten minutes til 7:00am. Early.

Paige did GREAT in the car! She loved to look out the windows and also sing along to the songs Kalyn and I were singing! SO CUTE!!! I just about melted when she sang along to a song for the first time! Thats my girl!

We had a pit stop in Vegas to have lunch with my cousin Cera!! It was perfect timing because Paige was starting to get tired of the car (who could blame her after 5 1/2 hours?) and it was great to get here out and moving around for a couple hours. It was wonderful to see Cera again! The last time I saw her was a couple weeks before my wedding, 2 years ago!! Far too long! =>

Cera is about 29 weeks pregnant with a little girl, Paisley! Paige and Paisley were already just hanging out and chilling together! => So Cute! I hope they are able to play together when they are both older!

Thanks for meeting us for lunch Cera!! I just LOVED seeing you again!

Now onto the home stretch of driving! Claremont here we come!!

Monday Night....Long

Last night was a long night! It started with a family dinner! My Gram and Pa drove up from CA to attend one off their nieces wedding, but while they were up here they wanted to have dinner with all the fam! It was so much fun! I love it when everyone gets together, and it was even better because Gram and Pa were there too!

This is the second time they were able to meet Paige! And she did great! She was smiles all around! Even caught a little half smile on camera! Oh I love seeing my grandparents with her!

We all went to dinner at Golden Corral. They gave us our own private room, which was great because all the kids could run around as they pleased! Again Paige did great!

She wanted that phone so badly! It was quite amusing to see her try and get it.

Paige was just a bundle of awake/talkative/happy cuteness! We could all tell she wanted to be one of the "big kids" running around. She would just stare them down and pump her little legs! I can not wait until she is older! I love to see her learn new things!

After dinner (we left the restaurant at 10pm) I went home, obviously. And right as I parked and was walking the 2 steps to the back of my car to get Paige my Mom called. She said Kalyn had been taken to the emergency room by one of her roommates and Mom wanted me to go down and see whats going on. So I called Jared (he was not at dinner he had to work, and now he was back in our apartment) and he came down and we went to the hospital. I will leave the details to a later post. But eventually she got released and came back to my apartment to stay the night at 2:00am. Thankfully Zach and Pa were so willing and able to help out and Jared and I were able to go to our apartment and put Paige to bed around 1:00am. Thanks so much Zach and Pa for all your help!! Needless to say, it was a LONG night! But Kalyn is feeling better and we are all safe and good. That was our Monday night......eventful.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership With God

I LOVE this talk by Elder Holland. I don't know when it was given or where (I am working on fining it out) but I had to post it, mostly so I could watch it whenever I need to. =>

Holding Paige

At Nikkis house yesterday all the cousins got to play together! It is so fun to see all those little kids running around playing games, it reminds me of when I was little and would play with my aunts and cousins! And of course, all the girls ADORE Paige. But today there was a new one that wanted to always be with Paige, little Crew! He was constantly wanting to "Hold Baby Paige".

This is one of the cutest things ever! This is how Crew wanted to "Hold Baby Paige". And Paige is almost as big as Crew! He did this at least half a dozen times! He just loved it, and Paige didn't mind haha! Look at those two little people! I hope they will be great friends when Paige gets older! So cute!!

I Love Skype!

I LOVE SKYPE!! It is one trillion bazillion times better that phone calls and text messages!

For some reason I have had a harder time being away from my family being married. When I was single I loved being out and on my own, and talking to them once a week was enough. Now I have done a complete 180. I miss my family so much! And I wish we lived close to them! Living by my aunts does help this late onset of home-sickness (what else should I call it?) but its still there. One thing that is very close to a cure is Skype! I can get my 'family fix' video chatting! LOVE IT!

Look at my cute family! They miss me too! => And yesterday, for the first time, Paige Skyped! It was so much fun! My family can get a little 'Paige fix' now too!

Paige's first Skype call was less that a success. My fam called me and when I answered, all my family, in unison, yelled "Hi Paige!!". And the best I can figure is that is scared her and she just started crying. So we hung up and called back like 5mins later when she was calmed down. The second call went great!

I am a little ashamed to say I had forgotten about Skype until now. (We Skyped a LOT when Jared and I first moved to Utah and it just stopped when Paige was born). I am so glad we started using it again! I LOVE SKYPE!

First Time Swimming!!

Today Nikki and her kids came over to swim! I have been wanting to go swimming FOREVER but was way nervous to take Paige by myself, purely because I didn't know what to expect. So it was a perfect set up with Nik and her kids! And we all had a BLAST!! I am so excited to have them come over again, and more of our family too!!

There was no shade in the pool area, and Nik and I had anticipated that, so I brought two umbrellas to make shade. Nik had the idea to pull two chairs together. IT made for one pretty cool little station for Paige. =>
My friend Julie gave Paige this ADORABLE swimming suit! This suit had a big part in making me want to go swimming so badly! I wanted Paige to use it and look so cute! And she did. =>
When we first got to the pool Paige fell asleep for a little while, which was totally fine with me haha. When she woke up clouds had covered the sun (but it was still a bajillion degrees) so I wanted to brave the pool with her. We went in the "cold pool" first. She obviously did not like it too much.
I felt like such an evil Mom, but I thought it was so cute at the same time! =>
So I decided to try again. This time Paige did not cry, she was just unsure and not enjoying it too well, but it was definately a step up from teh first atempt!
We had survived the cold pool!!! Now time for a shade break. =>
After a little shade break I decided we should try the "little pool". I had tested the water out first and it was not hot, it was as warm as we make Paige's baths (but it was certainly not cold like the big pool). As soon as I put Paige in her eyes closed and she just relaxed.We could not get her to open her eyes for anything while she was in the water. When I took her out of the water she would open her eyes, but put her back in and closed they would go. haha
The cute little girls swimming. A little before Paige and I came in the small pool Nikki and the kids went in there. That quickly changed to their favorite pool and they stayed in there for most of the rest of the time.
Paige and I just chilling in the jaccuzi.
I can not believe how much Paige liked the warm pool. Well I guess I can because she LOVES baths, and it did feel like her bath water.
I know we were there only a couple hours ago, but I can not remember why I was laughing during this picture. haha But I do know we all had a BLAST playing together in the pools!
Nikki and her kids in their favorite pool.
Sydney was learning how to snorkle. She got pretty good at it!
After all her swimming adventures Paige was tuckered out. She went right to sleep in her little cove while Nik the kids and I continued swimming. What a great little baby!
I just HAD to put one more picture of Paige in her cute little bathing suit! I might be a tad obsessed with it haha. I just can't get over how precious she is in it!!
While I was packing up the towels and gear I had to make some shade for Paige. This was the best I could come up with that would stay by itself. haha I amuse myself. =>

I LOVED playing with Nikki and her kids! I am so glad they could come over! And I am so glad I was able to take Paige to the pool and survive! Maybe after a couple more times with company I will be brave enough to take her by myself..... we will see. But Paige will become a water loving/California girl yet! haha