The BIG 3-0!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!!

The big one is here...the big 3-0! Now you can no longer say you are in your 20's and married to a woman in her 30's.

Ha-Ha...welcome to the club.

You've accomplished a lot in your first 30 years...

...And your greatest accomplishment(s)...


You are such an amazing Father, Husband, Friend, and Person.
I can't wait to see what you accomplish in your next 30 years!!

Have a great birthday,
I love you!!

The First Day of One Long Year

Monday was the first day of school. It wasn't exactly a brilliant idea on my part to come home from a vacation the day before school started. I had so much to do to prepare and I didn't get everything done that I needed to. So, the morning started out pretty chaotically and a lot more unorganized than I like to be. Last year I could wake up Landon at 7:15 and be out the door by 8:00. This year, having two kids to get ready (especially a girl who needs her hair "perfect") took me a lot longer than I expected. We got up at 7:00 and by the time I got all three kids ready and out the door, it was 8:15. School starts at 8:30, oh, but did I mention it's a 30-minute drive?!

Ya, we were late.

Because we were in such a hurry, I only snapped two pictures and forgot to get one of Landon alone. This is Emma's first day in Kindergarten and since Landon is such an old pro, the attention unfortunately was drawn more towards Emma.




Then Jeremy took Landon to class and I went into Emma's class. We snapped a few of her in the class, but we were holding everyone up, so I tried to hurry.


Then I ran over to Landon's class and I was too late, they were already starting the Pledge. So, I snapped this one through the door...slided once again...sorry buddy!


When the kids got home, I asked them about their teachers (since I didn't get the chance to meet them) and all the stuff that went on that day. They were both really excited about their day and were feeling so smart that they just did homework for the rest of the night.

When Jeremy got home, he reviewed Landon's homework and said, "Wow Landon, I didn't know a sentence had to contain both a verb and a subject." Landon responded casually, "or a predicate". Um, I didn't even know that was a word. I'm so glad they are both so smart and eager to learn.

I wish all my kids were smart...



The next morning, we were up much earlier and things were right on schedule. We even had a little extra time, so while Emma was still getting ready (that whole "perfect thing" again), I took a few pictures of Landon to make up for the day before.

I think it's safe to say he enjoyed the attention!

Then Emma came out and wanted a little lovin' too and Landon was nice enough to let her in on his photo-shoot.

Then Daddy jumped in on the action...attention stealer!

San Diego Day One

We've been holding off on a family vacation this entire year. In Jeremy's words, Livi just isn't "right". She's hard enough to take a trip to the grocery store, so an airplane or extended car ride just seemed out of the question. However, with Jeremy working and traveling so much this summer for business, we've missed a lot of family time. So, we decided to fly to San Diego...as of this minute, I'm sure Jeremy is wishing he didn't go (more on that later).

We went for 8 days and I'm making a different post for each day, so don't feel like you have to read them all. There are only 3 people I can think of that wants to know all of the details and it's because they gave birth to us and are retired with nothing else to do...otherwise, this is just for our records, but read on if you so choose...or just skip to Day 7 to read about why Jeremy regrets this trip ;)

No family vacation would be complete without the pictures of the drive to the airport and subsequent airplane ride:





We were all smiles in the airplane and Livi actually only had a mini-meltdown which didn't last too long. Then the smiles turned to complete frustration when we had to shuttle to our rental car with 3 kids and 4 bags and absolutely no room on the shuttle. We felt like cattle. Moo. Then we got completely lost and ended up on the wrong side of town. At that point I decided that San Diego was the most ghetto place I had ever seen and I was already set on hating this trip. I'm not normally a negative person, but I have a bad history with this place (long story-more than one). It's been on my short-list of places to never visit again, but it was one of the few places Jeremy had never been to. This first day really validated my feeling of this place. Moo.

San Diego Day Two

With a good night's rest, everyone woke up very happy and excited to be in a new place.



We rented a house on the beach so we could go back and forth as often as we liked. I've always loved the beach but I was concerned that Livi would hate the sand (she hates the grass) and that I would just worry the whole time about the two older kids near the waves. Once we got there, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that all of the kids loved it. I forget how fun it is to see things for the first time through the eyes of my kids...it's one of my favorite parts of being a parent.




Livi didn't like the sand, but did fine when she was on the towel with me and she would play with it in her hands, she just didn't like it on her feet...

After the day at the beach, Jeremy and the kids went to see a movie while Livi took a much needed nap.

San Diego Day Three

Today we went to Sea World. The kids have been to Sea World in Florida but Emma was only three, so she doesn't really remember it, so we figured we should go again now that she is a little older. I had no idea they had a whole Sesame street area there. Livi is absolutely obsessed with Elmo and so it started out our Sea World experience on a really high note. The whales and other sea creatures were pretty lame to her after that, and she just wanted to be back in the arms of her boyfriend Elmo.









No Seaworld adventure would be complete without seeing the great Shamu...




Then Jeremy took the kids to the Journey of Atlantis splash ride.






Overall it was a really fun day for everyone!

San Diego Day Four

Another day at the beach. This time Livi didn't mind the sand at all and dug right in. Emma was still pretty tentative and didn't want to go more than a few inches in the water, but she was having fun collecting sea shells. Landon liked to lay down on his stomach on the beach and let the waves carry him to the shore. He called it a "super slide".





I promised Emma we would paint her finger and toe nails before school started. So while Livi was napping, we decided to go to the nail salon together. She was so cute trying to act all grown up as though she had done this a million times before, but her constant giggling gave it away. She got a pedicure and a manicure and chose blue sparkle polish. While the cute Vietnamese woman was giving her a pedicure she and Emma had an interesting conversation...

"How old are you"?

Emma: "Five"

"Five, wow, and you are getting a pedicure? I didn't even have food to eat when I was five!"

Emma: "Oh, I have lots of food to eat. Anything I want. Yup...all the food in the world."

Yeah...I don't think she got the point. Anyway after that we all went to Fashion Valley Mall and then we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. This was probably my favorite day.

San Diego Day Five

We went to LegoLand today. I don't really know why...I guess we were just trying to hit every cliche attraction in the area. It was fun for the kids and something we wouldn't otherwise see, but it was way over-priced for what you get. For those Utah folk- it's not as good as Lagoon if that tells you anything.






We drove back on the "Beach Scenic Route" and it was so beautiful. I think after Day Four I was in love with this city, but this drive really solidified it for me.
However, no matter how many times I come back to this city, I will NEVER return to LegoLand!

San Diego Day Six

Zoo Time. Not much different from the Hogle Zoo, other than being much bigger and with a bus and sky rides. There were a few things we were able to see here that we couldn't see back home, like the Panda and Koala Bears. They were so freakin' cute.







We ate lunch and had every intention of going back through the zoo when Jeremy spilled Diet Coke in my lap. We spent a seconds debating who actually spilled the drink. I knew for sure it wasn't me, but he disagreed. He thought it was pretty funny that I had wet my pants, and I didn't want to have all of the fun, so I "accidentally" spilled the rest of my drink in his lap. So we left after that.