My Love Deepens

I've loved M&Ms for many many years, but after this trip, I am forever indebted to them.


They can change a screaming toddler on an airplane full of annoyed people into a happy one.

They can end a temper tantrum on "The T" immediately.

They can even help a toddler and his parents survive a Boston Duck Tour that falls right during naptime... and even lull that toddler to sleep.

I will love them forever.

Cookie Car Therapy

You know when you have one of those days where you have A LOT to get done and it needs to ALL get done in a specific time frame? Well, on days like these, the little man gets to have a little extra fun.

Stickers from In-N-Out kept him entertained for only so long...

But fortunately my favorite friend, Mrs. Fields, kept him happy all around town running errands for several hours and even on a long drive to Google in rush hour traffic to pick up dad from work b/c his car broke down.

See food!!

This is the best day ever!
Happy Birthday Grandma Julie!
I wish you were here enjoying cookies with me!

So proud of himself as he smeared cookies all over himself and his toys

It's great that chocolate can always make everything better.

Memorial Day Moving

Furniture moving that is...

We typically end up spending major holidays working on something in our little condo. This Memorial Day we decided to do a little bit of furniture re-arranging in our living room. After several years of having it look the same, we were ready for a change... albeit quite subtle of a change.

Old living room (with big chair blocking view of room)

New living room (with big chair right under our pretty windows)

(ignore the lamp and table on the right of this picture... they will be moved soon)

Andrew had a blast as we rearranged furniture.

We now have a large space on one side of the room (close to the kitchen/bar) that is the perfect size for a small espresso dining room table.

The main furniture item we moved was this itty bitty TV console that was way too small for our TV... it went straight out of the house and was replaced... (it was about time!)

...with this larger prettier TV stand.

For some reason these cupboards are way more interesting to open and close and empty out, so Andrew was kept quite busy today.


They will be toddler-proofed shortly so that the cupboards aren't broken before they are enjoyed.


We are still adjusting to the new room, but it was fun to move things around. We obviously having very exciting lives :)

Airhead Moments

It was quite the day for me.

I started off by not seeing a curb in the church parking lot and winding up on my knees in excruciating pain with all my books/papers around me. I skinned both of my knees. One knee immediately swelled up. I was just happy no one was around to see me when I flew through the air. I looked so incredibly stupid... and I was in so much shock/pain, that I couldn't even cry. This picture barely even shows the damage...


After cleaning up my bloody knees, I went to teach the YW a lesson on self-reliance. I had a cute handout and toy visual aide to give to them at the end of the lesson. I bought them cute compasses at the dollar store and we talked about how the Savior is our compass and we need to follow him in order to become self-reliant. There was a great quote I stuck on the back of the compasses too... it was an awesome lesson... and then I learned that the compasses were not actually compasses (no wonder they never actually pointed the right direction!)... they were toy roulette games. They actually weren't as obviously gambling toys as the picture below shows... but it was still pretty funny, considering Mormons don't usually gamble. We had a good laugh, and I tried to tie them into the message of the lesson...


Hopefully I find a way to redeem myself tomorrow... today was a pretty airheady day!

Who needs a backyard...

when you've got a fun parking lot to hang out in :)


We were a little lazy today, so instead of taking Andrew to a park to let him run his energy out... we roamed around our apartment complex.

I loved this face as he was running and shrieking

Who knew the parking lot pathway could be so exciting?

Stopping to look both ways

Time for the fun to end

The Caffee B&B

Late Thursday night we headed up to the Caffee Bed & Breakfast :) for a short stay. It was fun to hang out a little bit more with Elise and Dan and see their beautiful home again. Andrew and I stayed in their spacious basement (it's about double the size of our apartment).


Andrew woke up nice and early so that we could enjoy every minute at Elise & Dan's house. We had fun eating breakfast on the porch. Andrew loved all the space to run around.

Uncle Dan came out and kept Andrew entertained.

Dan is just too fun... he kept Andrew smiling

The guys even got to jam to some music in the car

Andrew loves driving and dancing to music... Dan taught him how to turn the radio on and off.

Fortunately, our flight was delayed, so we got to hang out longer than planned. We had a fun morning with Elise & Dan!

Thanks guys for letting us stay with you!

Sugar & Spice

My sister is decorating her baby's nursery with a little sugar & spice theme... so my mom and I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for her baby shower. The shower was held on Thursday night. There was a great turnout, delicious food, and the night was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures...

Here are the yummy cupcakes we got specially made from The Sweet Tooth Fairy


Andrew, my dad, and I had a lot of fun picking out tons of balloons.


My mom found these cute candy jar favors. They were perfect! The personalized lid was darling already, and then mom glued pretty ribbon around the lids to make them look every better.


Other little accents... my mom always throws such fabulous parties




Andrew had fun hanging out with Uncle Dan a bit while we got ready for the the shower.


As always, there was a great spread of desserts. We also had some delicious appetizers and salads. I ate all evening. It was fabulous!

Elise and mom opening presents

After the shower

We really missed our other favorite party hostess, Jessie!! We are glad she is having so much fun in Europe, but we can't wait for her to get home!!

Now the waiting game begins... and we are already excited for another trip out to Utah when the little Caffee girl decides to make an appearance. We are hoping she decides to come a few days early... like maybe June 7th??... since we'll be out in Utah already for a baptism that weekend. :)

Congrats Elise & Dan! You're going to be awesome parents!

Pure Joy

We have been having fun on our quick and busy trip to Utah. Andrew has been a good sport running errands with us as we've been getting ready for my twin sister's baby shower.

I have loved these moments of pure joy. Things that make Andrew happy or excited are just so fun to watch. Here are a few of them.

Eating chocolate cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy while hanging out at Costco

Watching Grandpa open and close the garage doors over and over again.

Touching G&G's fountain/water fall and tasting the water (yummy! ;))

Going to check out the rocks at the empty lots

Throwing rocks into the rock pile (or at Grandma)

Picking up more rocks

Watering the flowers with Grandma

Playing in the water

So many beautiful little moments! I love trying to look at experiences through the eyes of a little toddler. Life is so incredible!

A little bit of family history

Each Sunday Kevin, Andrew and I go to this church building in Santa Clara. It was built in the 70s... can you tell? :)


Many years ago when Kevin's parents were newly married, they also went to this church building each Sunday. Exactly 37 years ago this week, the building was dedicated (May 21, 1972). Both of Kevin's parents participated in the dedication of the building. Shari was the organist and Allen led the choir. I thought this was a cool little piece of family history. Below is a copy of the program from that dedication, along with some other historical info about the church in our area (if you click on it, it will enlarge a bit).


It's kinda neat that several years later we are in the same place. We have gotten to hear stories from people that are still in the area about Kevin parents and how wonderful they are. We even recently discovered that one of our neighbors used to work with Kevin's dad at Amdahl. It was interesting for Kevin to spend some time talking with him about his dad.

I love the idea of keeping family records and journals (although I'm not great at it right now), so it is fun to discover little tidbits of history like this.

For My Dad

Hope these make you smile.

Andrew loves doing the air guitar during Regis & Kelli's Spring Wake Up Call... he drops whatever he is doing. It makes me laugh.

Goofing around with Banana.

Hope that isn't the block that he threw in the toilet...

Favorite new activity... I love it when he walks into the wall

Such a silly kid