In the words of Logan, "today was the bestest day!" It really was the best day we've had in a long time as a family. We spent the entire day at the Harvest Festival at Ardenwood Farm. Highlights include picking Indian corn and popping corn straight off the stalk, husking the corn from hay bales onto the ground, playing with sticks, hopping on logs and hay bales, riding a handcar, helping press apple cider, drinking the apple cider ;), petting the horse and goat, making corn husk dolls, eating flavored honey sticks and popcorn, enjoying each other with no whining, tantrums or meltdowns! NONE! It was such a fabulous day.

J brought some of her birthday money to the Farm and bought a twirly toy as soon as we got there. She offered to buy the boys one too, but by the time we got back to the money pit the twirlys were all gone. Jess had the boys each pick out something and then bought a wand for herself :)- all with her own money. She was very generous and sweet all day.
I love how my three kids are lined up watching the juice come out of the press. We all got to help turn that bamboo around to press the cider. You better believe that Logan and Toby found that stick in the bushes afterward and wanted to defend the universe with it.

We were bummed that the farm didn't have their annual pumpkin patch this year because of a low crop. We're cheap though, so we go to the patch to play on the hay pyramid, in the mazes and take in the sights. Then we go to the grocery store and buy the big pumpkins for 1/3 the price.

The little kids and I took a snooze in the car after the Festival while Jessie went along with Dave to treat the Dentist he trades with. *detour* Can I just say that Dave trading services with other professionals is one of the coolest perks that I didn't even think of until he graduated from school. I admit I might offer him up to trade without asking him first, but he's usually cool with it. Like just last night when I asked Holly (in our ward) if she had time to take a family picture of us this month. She actually suggested she'd trade with Dave for help with her arm. Such a great thing!

Anyway, Dave adjusted and treated our dentist and we stopped at FoodMaxx to get some pumpkins. The pumpkins were pathetic and puny until Jess and I dug to the bottom of the cardboard bin and found some beauties with large stems for $2.99 each. Score! I really love everything about Fall. For me, October 1st (which happens to be my birthday) marks the beginning of cooler days, peppermint tea, soup and bread making, pumpkins and gourds, the Farmer's Market, and that fall smell in the air that I enjoy so much. I was sucking it in by the bucketfull on Saturday.

Our 'bestest day' wound down with dinner at our family favorite restaurant, Fresh Choice, where we filled up on lentil and chicken soup, salad and ice cream. Everyone was starving and ate a great meal. I'm thankful all our children are usually very well-mannered. It makes our family outings so enjoyable and gives Dave and me a chance to get to know our sweet kids even better. They make me laugh so much. Logan is at the age that he loves to talk and says hilarious things. He keeps us all entertained, especially at the dinner table. Toby, bless his heart, loves to make noise all the time. I could tell he was really hungry when he started eating as soon as he sat down and didn't talk much until after dinner. Jessie had a good day because she was so helpful and happy the entire day. She has the personality where you know instantly if she is grumpy, but that Jessie never surfaced.

10 years on 10/10/08

Happy 10th Anniversary My Love!! It's a tribute to the wonderful man I married day! These ten years have been like any marriage, rough in spots and wonderful in others, wonderful most the time really.

Inspired by Cassie's number countdowns of late- 10 things I LOVE about you babe;

1. when you call me wifey

2. smooching in the kitchen

3. the fact that you love God and Jesus Christ, ME and our young family so much that you always put us first, in that order. ;)

4. that you have found a profession that you love and are so good at. I appreciate the good influence your school and training has on our family's health, and the opportunities being a chiropractor has afforded YOU and our family. Not to mention you never complain about working on me late at night.

5. when you bring me flowers or a little treat for no reason or when you say "have I told you today that you're________(cute, hot, i love you, etc.)?"

6. that you want to talk to me about your day after the kids are in bed and when you ask me how my day was.

7. that you are an amazing, loving, patient Dad! The way you play games and wrestle with the kids is so endearing and cute!

8. that you are thrifty and help me curb spending/stay within a budget. We'll get those school loans paid off in no time!

9. that you have the desire to be physically fit and healthy.

10. that you cook most of the weekend when I'm sick of being in the kitchen! That you wash the pots and pans too! ;)

So we went away last weekend for an early Anniversary Getaway to Santa Cruz. With Sydney only 8 months old, we didn't want to go for long or spend too much money that could go towards school loans (I told you we're cruisin' to pay those suckers off). We opted to book a nice place close to home and I am so glad we did. We stayed at the Babbling Brook Inn in Santa Cruz. I highly recommend the place- it was a fabulous 2-night stay. We took our time getting there Friday night after we dropped off the kids. First we exchanged a birthday present and ate a late dinner. Oh yeah- I turned 31 last Wednesday (the 1st) Blah. So we checked in just after 9 PM and got straight in the 2-person whirlpool tub. That tub was fabulous! It rained hard that night too- seriously, the romance was dripping off that place that night. That's all I have to say about that (Forrest Gump style). The big window tucked in all that green in the picture below was where we stayed. There is a brook running through the grounds at the inn so you always hear water running which just added to the romance. Isn't that gazebo fabulous? I saw it as soon as we parked the car in the dark and immediately thought of Sound of Music. This is my favorite picture from the trip. It was so nice to wake up rested and go on a long walk around the water with only my husband. We ate a delicious breakfast at the Santa Cruz Diner to refuel then walked around the Boardwalk, took photo booth pictures (like we did 10 years ago) in the arcade, and shopped a little at the pier. Over the course of the weekend we kind of recreated the day Dave asked me to marry him which was so fun and sentimental for me.

Saturday night we went to a nice dinner at Peachwood's Steakhouse. Dave had the Porterhouse and I had the Filet which were both so, SO good. It's the first time in a long while that I have eaten steak and it was so worth it. The best part of the meal was their coconut shrimp in mango sauce. Mmmmm, so good! If I have any say in the matter, we're going back next year just to eat their coconut shrimp. There was a wedding going on while we were there which was fitting for our anniversary celebration.

We experienced "the locals." We could hear the seals talking in the morning from our king-sized featherbed (which I wanted to bring home!) miles away.

Sunday morning we had a couples massage and enjoyed a private outdoor spa and sauna to soak up one last bit of relaxation.

We sat and talked on the beach where Dave asked me to marry him. It was fun for me to relive that experience because it is still so clear in my mind and he really surprised me! Dave was more interested in watching the skim-boarders. ;)I know, this picture looks like boring grey, but that black dot in the middle is my best attempt at catching the group of dolphins playing in the surf. There were 2 large groups that put on a show for us- jumping out of the water and surfing the waves. It was awesome!

We stopped in Capitola to do a little shopping and then headed home. I was starting to miss the kids but mourning the fact that our time alone was at an end so soon. We joked that we needed to get away like this every year. It was such a great recharge for our marraige and will help us be better parents.

Mermaid/Pirate Party

It's a couple weeks late but I wanted to post pictures of Jessie's big 8th birthday party. We decided early on that we would have big birthday parties for the kids at 5, 8 and 12 (and 16 but I don't want to think that far ahead). Jessie requested a Mermaid party and I was happy to oblige her. She helped me stamp and put together her invites for her Mermaid/Pirate party. Luckily, she is almost assured a hot, beautiful day for water activities on her birthday. We had an awesome day! I couldn't have done it without Dave and Grandma's Evie and Grace who came to help set up and keep baby Syd entertained. Even though we live in a small apartment complex, the inside courtyard was perfect for our party. We set up 2 slip & slides on the large grass area and opened the pool for swimming. We even had a couple kids from the complex tag along.
After everyone was cooled off the kids painted and decorated treasure boxes. I was pleasantly surprised at how much they got into it- even the boys. Dave added a craft of his own by painting all the kids faces. We ate some snacks and dove right in to cake and presents. Jessie, of course, requested a mermaid cake, and she made it easy because she already owned this fancy Barbie mermaid. All I had to do was tie Barbie to a rose nail with fishing line and plunge her in the top layer. I made the chocolate and gum paste decorations a couple days before and spent the night before making the cake. I have always been interested in cake decorating and this was my first foray into the craft. The finished product wasn't quite what I envisioned, but I sure had fun making it and the kids loved looking at and eating the sea creatures and chocolate shells.
My one picture of the day- just to prove that I was there. ;)
After cake and ice cream the kids went on a treaure hunt around the complex. Aunt Denise and Dave made up some great clues that took the kids to the mailboxes, up the stairs and finally under the food table to find the box of treasure hiding among the present bags. The kids filled their treasure boxes with candy and everyone got a goodie bag to take home. The photo below is Toby and Dave playing with Flarp- a "noisy" slime that I knew the boys would love. Since Jessie invited as many boys as girls I had to find something that they would like to take home. Dave and Grandpa Dave loved it just as much as the young guys. ;) There were random farting, puffing, slapping noises for days afterward. I saved the best for last. To date, this is my favorite picture of the year so far. I love the colors, the face paint, and Toby's funny pirate scowl and muscle flex.

schedule-shmedule.........

school started yesterday
i'm ready for summer break already
although i do enjoy a tiny bit more free time (really not much)
i am meant for a slower pace, less schedule
setting an alarm sucks

started watching a friends 5-month-old on tuesday
with my 7-month-old that's a crash course on having twins
harder than i thought

all the kids were trashed after school, lots of walking, and swimming yesterday
1 of 4 kids slept through the night last night
it was like putting out fires every half hour
dave and i are trashed today

on our long walk home from picking up Jessie at school yesterday Logan was so tired
plus it was a super hot day
half way home Logan says, "MOM, I can't walk anymore. It's not good for my energy!"

i want to post pics but the camera got left on Grandma's table last night
they will be up soon

Baptism day!

Jessie is officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Her baptism went so well today. The room was overflowing with family and friends and the entire day was so enjoyable. There was a little stress there for awhile when I didn't think we were going to make it to the church on time to prep refreshments and set everything up. Thanks to Grandma's Grace and Evie, Denise and Arnold, Lauren and Dan, Jill, Scott and Sami and probably a few more people that I didn't see who helped with food and set-up/take down. Thanks so much to all who participated in the program.
It really was a special day. I didn't want to speak or get up and participate in the program to avoid losing control of my emotions and crying like a baby. My idea was to sit down and enjoy the day. I did end up leading the opening and closing song and I'm SO glad I did. During the last verse of "I'm Trying to be like Jesus" as the closing song, I scanned the faces of all the people that came just for our sweet Jessica. A spirit of overflowing love and joy was in the room. I then looked at Jessie sitting in the front row in her beautiful white dress, and she was singing with pools of tears in her eyes. There isn't another occasion I can think of that I have seen Jessie cry happy tears. I know she felt the Holy Spirit that had just been confirmed upon her- that peaceful, happy, thankful feeling- present in the room like I did. It is the moment besides seeing Jessie get baptized that I will always remember about that day. I couldn't hold it together after that. Good thing I can cry and lead music at the same time. ;)

Thanks Ken & Cassie for the neat gifts. The picture was perfect for this table out front. We had a book sitting next to the programs that people wrote messages to Jessie in. And we couldn't pass up some super hero action! I love Jessie's sweet pose here.