April Festivities!

The start of April began with my family coming down to visit for spring break. {April 4-11} I love my family and it's hard when they are so far away, so seeing them for spring break was the best. On the first day they were here, Logan and I drove down to see them and carpool the whole gang. It was actually nice this visit because my sister Kelli and brother Jordan who also live here in California were also able to join in on the fun. The gang drove to Thousand Oaks. Us girls {plus Logan} went to Chipole for lunch while the boys went to Baja Fresh. Then while the boys finished eating, us girls went shoe shopping. We all met up and hung out with some old friends, The Bowles and their house. We sat around and ate chocolate covered strawberries, brownies, talked, and then headed out again to eat some more at Toppers Pizza. When we were done eating, Ann told us about this candy store, so of course we headed over there. Rocket Fizz is the name and they carry all sorts of candy and soda drinks! It's close to sugar heaven. We eventually got a hotel in T.O. and finally let the sugar high wear off. The next morning, we drove to my grandparents house in Victorville. We were able to catch up and hang out some more. We had dinner and then crashed for the night. The next day, we drove to San Diego to visit with some more family. Sadly, Jordan had to leave because of work, so he could not come. When we got to San Diego, we checked into our hotel, drove over to my aunt Liseija and uncle Rich's house and then packed their 9 kids and ourselves into the car and drove one block away to the Souplantation for dinner. It seemed like a mad house with so many kids, but Logan loved playing with his "cousins". The next day, we drove to Old Town San Diego and visited the Museum of Making Music & the Mormon Battalion Historic site in San Diego. The museum was very small, but cute for the kids. There were a lot of different instruments that they were also able to play. I had not been to the Mormon Battalion site in quite some time and the last visit was pretty "bare", so I was a little weary on how this time would go. It was amazing! They completely renovated the entire site so that it was more interactive. Logan and all of the little kids loved it. I loved it! Sadly, we had to leave. So we said our goodbyes and headed back to my house. My dad swung by and picked up Jordan while my mother, sister Kara, Logan and I made a quick stop at Krispy Kreme donuts on the way home. The next morning, the boys {Donald, my dad, brother Jordan, and my dad's friend, Jerry} went golfing. The rest of us went to the guitar center. This was more for my brother Blake. Again we separated for lunch, the boys went to Hawaiian BBQ while us girls plus Logan went to Panera Bread. We again went to Guitar Center and then met up at the local golf and stuff, Mulligans. Kara, Jordan, Blake, Donald, Logan and I went on the go-karts. Logan was tall enough, so he rode shot-gun with me. He LOVED it! At first he was afraid of me going to fast, but once he saw that we were racing, he became ecstatic! Afterwards, my dad had to drive my brother back home for work, so the rest of us, including my uncle Jaren and his wife Becka, came over for pizza. We watched the movie, Waiting for Superman, which was a really good movie. The following day, Kara, Logan, Donald and myself went to sacrament meeting and then came home to help everyone pack. We then loaded up the cars and went back to my grandparents house. We again had food, played some games and then took some pictures. By the end of the night, it was time for Logan, Donald, and myself to be headed home. Logan was not a happy camper. He did not want to leave. He kept saying, "I don't want them to go back to Washington". This of course made my mother cry, my sister Kara, and myself tear up. The following day, they hopped on a plane and went back to Washington. I enjoyed every minute of my family coming to visit. I miss them dearly and we are counting down the days until we see them again!

It's been awhile....

Okay, I know I've been slacking, so here is an update on the last couple of months...

February~ Logan went to Aunt Sarah's house for some Valentine's Day festivities. All but 2 of the cousins showed up. They had pizza, decorated heart shaped cookies, decorated mailboxes and valentines and even went to the playground to play. He was on a sugar high when he got home and knocked out fast asleep on the car ride. It was sweet music! ;)

The end of February marked the annual Academy Awards {Oscar} Party. Since I had won last year, I hosted again this year. Sadly, I was so involved with making sure everything was going okay that I forgot to snap some photos. I was able to catch a few, though.

March~ Was quite un-eventful. The only major thing was that Donald turned 30 years old!!! We went out to dinner with Donald's parents, Logan, Donald and myselft at the Olive Garden. Then they came over to have cake and watch Donald blow out his candles.

Well.... that's about it... for now. ;)

Our Visit to the Ronald Reagan Library

Yesterday, we were able to make the trip to Simi Valley to visit the Ronald Reagan Library. Now, I've been there before, but it was back in High School. Our high school chamber singers sang for some people but we never went inside so it was actually pretty cool to walk through this time. I guess that they had just renovated it and it had re-opened on the 7th so we were lucky to see the new stuff. Logan was actually pretty well behaved. There were quite a few "older" visitors so I was scared that Logan would be making a scene, but he did very well. I think that he just liked to be outside in the AMAZING weather. {Oh, how I miss it there...} I learned a lot about President Reagan. I even liked the {not-so} miniature White House they had on display. Logan wanted to play with it. Being able to walk through Air Force One was also pretty incredible. Next time, I will go with out Logan so that we can actually learn some more and focus on all of the information that this wonderful museum/library has to offer.

Superbowl 2011

Sunday was the Superbowl & it is by far one of my favorite sporting events. Luckily, every year, Don & Carrie throw a great Superbowl party. Our block for church is the 9am {which kills me; I am not a morning person} so this helped us to get things done and attend church. I had to do some homework before we headed to the party. Donald & Logan were ready to leave, so I put the homework on pause and we drove to the party. It is great to have Donald's family so close. His uncle's, aunt's, cousin's, sister's, nieces & nephews, and grandmother were all in attendance. The food was great and it was fun to have everyone around. The kids especially loved playing together. I pretty much did not see Logan all day, except when he wanted to eat or when he came in to refuel with chips and nuts. After everyone left, we stuck around and Donald's aunt, Andy, helped me finish my accounting homework. We finished it so much faster than had I tried to complete it on my own. While I was working on it, Logan fell fast asleep on Donald's lap. He was exhausted! It was a great night and I am so sad that I have to wait close to 9 months for football to return. :(

* A special thanks to Andy {Donald's aunt} for helping me finish my accounting homework. It really saved me some time and headaches. :)

Travel Town Visit

Today, Donald was off of work, so the three of us decided to take a trip to Travel Town. It is not too far away & admission was free, so we got dressed, hopped in the car and made the hour and a half drive down there. When we arrived, Logan was pretty excited about the trains but I think that he thought they were going to start moving. He liked to walk down and look at all of the old trains. He especially liked the "chicken nugget" train {the trains name was the little nugget but I guess food is just always on his mind}. After being able to get inside some of the trains, we took the train ride that ran around the entire exhibit. Logan was so impressed that he could get inside this train that he kept saying, "see mom, I'm a big boy now!". When the train went around another trip, Donald and I both turned and said I guess we're going again. Logan was excited to go around one more time also. When the train finally stopped and let us out, we walked through and saw some old cars, firetrucks, and other automobiles. After our trip, we made our way home but first stopped at Krispy Kreme Donuts to pick up some yummy treats. I just love the New York Cheesecake donuts! Delicious! Then we headed down to Valencia. We drove around then made our way to the Hamburger Habit for some late lunch and then headed home. I tried to keep Logan awake, but about 15 minutes before we arrived home, he was out! We had a fun day and we can't wait for our next family trip.

Logan's 3rd Birthday

On January 10th, 2008, the sweetest little boy was born... that's right, LOGAN IS NOW 3!!! Everyday he surprises me with how smart he is and how much he has grown. He is no longer a baby, but a big boy. This year, he wanted to have a pirate party. Donald will say that I brain washed him into wanting this theme, but he was the one that picked it out. On his actual birthday, we did not do much. I felt bad because it was a Monday. We did let him open up 2 presents from us. Of course they were not toys but clothes so you could tell he was a little disappointed. Being born shortly after Christmas can have its drawbacks... Donald had work all day, then he had a basketball game and afterwards that evening I had to go into work for inventory all night long. So the actual day of his birthday was a bust... but we made up for it later that week. {Plus, since he did not decorations up, he did not think that it was his birthday. So, several family members called him and sang happy birthday and he would reply, "guys, its not my birthday yet. Theres no decorations!"}

That Friday, Donald got off of work at noon and we took Logan to our local mini golf course. He was so excited for it. He chose the color ball he wanted {blue, his favorite}, had his own size putter and was ready to start putting. He did so well. He even did a hole in one on one course. Towards the end {almost 27 holes later}, he was done and wanted to play some arcade games inside. Donald and I helped rack up the tickets and he was able to get some prizes. Afterwards, we headed over to Olive Garden for some food. Logan chose his own pizza with chocolate milk and he devoured the salad! We headed back home and a few hours later he fell asleep. As we were driving home, he informed Donald and myself that he had had a fun day and that he loves to "mini golf".

On Saturday, the party arrived! Logan received a pirate costume from my mother and wore it. I had a cake made with pirates on it and Donald picked up pizza. In addition, I made cupcakes with pirate flags on them and we also had root beer floats for dessert. Logan's friends from our ward came and so did all of his cousins. The kids played in the play room while the adults chatted and ate. The kids inhaled their food and were right back to playing. The played "pin the treasure chest on the map" and there were a few older kids who cheated. :) Next was the cake. He loves being sung "Happy Birthday" to and loved opening the presents. He scored with so many great presents that we no longer have anymore room in our house for toys! It was such a blast having everyone dressed up as pirates. Thank you to everyone that came!

SNOW!!!

So close to this time 2 years ago, it snowed pretty heavily where we live. Since we are the desert, there are time when it snows, but it doesn't usually stick or stay around for awhile. This year, on January 3rd, it snowed and stayed! It began while we were at church and as the day went on, it never stuck to the ground. I later that evening had to go into work for a few hours, and had Donald drop me off. I can drive in the snow {did it in Idaho Falls} but it was just easier for him to have to pick me up and drop me off. When my shift was over, I exited work and the entire town was covered in white wonderland! It was so pretty! We drove home and Logan was super excited how much snow there was and kept saying that he wanted to make a snowman. {How does he know that a snow man is a necessity during snowfall? haha} Since it was dark and cold, I told Logan that we could play in it the next day. That next morning, he woke up and ran to the window. He shouted, "IT'S STILL HERE!". So I told him that he needed to have breakfast and that he needed to change into warmer clothes. I have never seen this kid eat so fast! I was dreading the cold, but it actually wasn't too bad. Since our house is on a huge plot of land, there was plenty room for us to run around. Logan has a blast. He was throwing snowballs, making snow angels, and even attempted a snowman on his own, but couldn't quite get it to stay. So he made a small one and by the time it took me to run inside to grab the camera, the snowman was no longer with us. haha.

For the past couple days, Logan wakes up every morning and looks out the window to see if snow is still there. Since some of the property is heavily shaded, there still is snow. He tries to run out there, but I quickly tell him that it is more like ice than snow. He doesn't care, he just wants to throw it at me! {Such a boy!} I enjoy the snow in small amounts, but I actually look forward to the spring and summer weather. The beach is just calling my name...

***The picute of Logan outside is when I was at work... Donald dressed him. The rest is from Logan and I playing the day after.