A Lost 4th of July

Sadly...I lost my beloved camera...before I had a chance to blog about our wonderful fourth of July.  I have not lost hope that my camera will turn up. But for now I will just have to give an update with pictures from my phone. I have none of our 4th but I have plenty others :)

Our Fourth of July was super fun! We got to spend it with my family. We are so lucky to have family living all around us and my brother and his darling kids live just 45 minutes away from us.  We met up with my brother and his kids for a 4th of July parade.  The kids had a blast with their cousins and they got way way too much candy at the parade :) Elsie was an angel as usual...however, we did have one small mishap.  Yes, Elsie pooped...all over me!! Ugh- why does that always happen at the worst times? Oh well, a mother is used to going throughout the day with poop and spit up all over her.

After the parade, we had a BBQ at my brother's house. My Aunt and cousins were there whom I haven't seen in a very long time. And my mom flew in to spend the 4th with us as well and my brother who drove up from LA :) It was a great day.

My mom came home with us for a three day visit. My kids were on cloud nine having Grammy here to visit us!! We visited the Jelly Belly factory with my Brother who was visiting from LA.

 

 Here are Jane, Beckham and cousin Jack looking at the factory.

 

Later on we got together for game night- which is my absolute favorite thing!!  I love game nights with my family.  We always have a memorable time :) The game for the evening was Phase 10...gauntlets were thrown, tears were shed, laughs were had...aaaaand I'm pretty sure I won...hehe!!

Meanwhile, the kids watched a movie with treats :)

Jane had a sleepover with Grammy which made her super duper happy :)

Due to my lost camera I haven't blogged in awhile and a lot has happened.  Most recently, we had a scare with Beckham!!! He and Jane were riding their bikes to get the mail with Ryan. Like in most interactions with each other Jane and Beckham were fighting about who would get to put the mail in the box and therefore each was eager to get to the mailbox first.  This, unfortunately, resulted in Jane turning in front of Beckham in order to get to the mailbox first.  He ran into her tire and was thrown off of his bike and fell head first into the road. We immediately took a screaming Beckham to the ER. He had a mild concussion and some scrapes and this ginormous bruise which is morphing into a black eye. Jane cried so hard because she felt so bad- poor girl.  We are lucky it wasn't worse!  What would I do without my Beckham boy?? He is being way pampered by a mom who is super relieved to have her crazy, happy boy back in one piece :)

Elsie is now 3 months old!!  I cannot believe how fast she is growing.  Why oh why do they have to grow so fast?? She is such an angel. She is by far my most easy going and happy baby!! She loves to listen to her own voice and she has smiled at me every day since the day she was born!! That smile brightens my day so much!! She sleeps 12 hours a night and she is the only baby I have had success nursing!  I love this little lady so much and cannot imagine life without her!!

She may be growing too fast but she still loves to cuddle with her mama!!

The other day, we had a fun FHE lesson about the importance of following instructions...aka following God's plan for us and his instructions for happiness :) The kids had to make cookies without a recipe or any instructions of any kind.  They decided what went in the cookies, how big they'd be and how long to cook them...

This is how they turned out!! The kids were excited to try them...

...After they tasted them...they decided to eat my cookies, that I made with instructions, instead- hehe!!

It was crazy fun and taught a good lesson :)

Our Little Slice of California!!

 We are really loving our neighborhood here in California!! We are in such a beautiful area, right next to lots of farms :) This field of sunflowers has to be my favorite! It is literally one minute from our house.

 Ryan has already been hard at work making our yard look beautiful :)

 This picture doesn't do it justice...Ryan put a lot of hard work into making this yard presentable :) I am so grateful he loves doing yard work!!

  This is the first time in our entire marriage that we have had a back yard!!  We are really enjoying it.  Ryan has taken the opportunity to grow some herbs- basil, oregano and lemon thyme...yum!!

 Our backyard has two covered areas that are really nice with the near constant sunshine here :) He utilized our old table and turned it into a fun, colorful outdoor eating area with the help of IKEA! Ryan set up a little date night for me and him out there one night with cupcakes...my favorite!!

Here's the back yard!!

 To really drive home the fact that we live in California now, fate decided to put a real live orange tree right in our neighbors back yard.  delicious oranges fall into our yard every now and then.  Plus, it just looks so neat!!

 To celebrate our very first back yard, we just had to get a trampoline!!  We ALL have so much fun playing in it :) The best part about our yard is the three HUGE redwood pine trees in our neighbors yard that provide a canopy of shade over the trampoline nearly all day long!! And they are simply beautiful and we see humming birds flaying around them alot :)

 Here is Elsie's very own room!!

 She really loves it- hehe...

 One of the wonderful things about the layout of this house is there are two living spaces on the main floor.  So this front family room stays totally separate from the kids play area :)

 Here is a view down stairs. I love that big window! Beckham loves when he can see the big C5 airplanes flying by in that window!

 This is the view outside to the backyard from the kitchen window...it makes me happy!!

Jane and Beckham love their new rooms!!  Jane really wanted an owl theme in her room!!

 We decided to give Beckham a "big boy" theme and gave him a super hero theme rather than a jungle theme that he previously had.

 This living area has been designated for the play area right now.  It is nice to keep the kids' play messes out of the front family room and it is right off of the kitchen so I can be readily available as a referee for my kids whenever I am needed...which is often.

 Another view of the front room.

 Here's the entrance :) I loved this sign that I saw at my moms house so I stole the idea and got one for mine as well. It says "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."

 And here's the kitchen and dining room with a door leading right outside!!  It has been so nice.

 We are also very lucky to have a three car garage!!  We are truly blessed to have our own, comfortable little slice of California to call our own...for now at least :)!!

Let the California Adventures Begin!!!

 California has been treating us very well!!  There is so much to do here and the sunshine never ceases! Plus our ward here has been amazing and I am already meeting some wonderful people. Ryan's work schedule has been laid back this whole first month, so we have tried to make the most of this time and explore Northern California before Ryan's schedule gets super crazy!

One of our first stops had to be the Jelly Belly factory.  I am obsessed with Jelly Belly candy, so when we heard we would be living so near the factory, the kids and I have been dying to go.  It did not disappoint :) We got to see how the Jelly Belly's are made and we even got a free bag!

 Yes...there was a sample bar, which we visited several times...

 This time at the sample bar, the kids tried some crazy flavors...pencil shavings and baby wipes.  Their faces say it all- hehe!!

 On our way to visit my brother who lives close by, we stopped at a lookout near a lighthouse which overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge!!  It was so beautiful.  I loved seeing the fog pouring over the mountains.

 Muir woods was another stop on our way to visit my brother and his family.  These amazing trees were so majestic and beautiful! They were huge!! The kids loved walking around these magical woods. Beckham even found a banana slug and was super pleased with himself :)

 On another weekend, we visited a cute little place called "Funderland" for the kids!! There were several cute little rides that Jane and Beckham could ride all by themselves!!  they thought this water log ride was fun and they felt super cool being able to ride all by themselves :)

 This was another favorite!

 We knew we had to see San Francisco before things got crazy!! The curvey, hilly roads were crazy to see right in the middle of a big city.

 Ryan made sure we rode on the most twisty road in the America, Lombard Street!

  It was very beautiful!!

 Next we stopped at Pier 39 and had a grand old time eating lots and lots of treats!! :)

 We got to see Alcatraz from across the bay.  Hopefully we'll get to take a tour of it some day.

 The kids loved the maze of mirrors.  Ryan went in with the kids and found his way out in a few minutes.  I went in and got completely lost for twenty minutes until I got panicky and had to ask a random couple to help me get out...I am pathetic...but the kids sure loved every minute of it.

 There were tons of seals sunbathing that were pretty neat to see.

 Of course we had to eat at a sea food restaurant on the Pier- yum!!

 There was also a two tiered carousel that we just couldn't resist :) Pier 39 was a complete blast.

 I have to mention my wonderful husband since it was just Father's Day!!  Ryan is the best daddy in the world and he works so hard for us.  So, I tried to make Father's Day special.  He got a bunch of  "pop" inspired treats with a sign that said "World's Greatest Pop"- which is so true!!

 I also surprised him with new Crocs!!

 Elsie update:  Poor little Elsie was been such a trooper with all this craziness. She is such a sweetheart and is so much fun.  We love seeing her smile everyday and hearing her starting to coo and talk to us.  Having this sweet little angel around is so wonderful!!

 So far California is treating us very well and we are looking forward to more adventures!!