Dyeing Eggs and the Balloon

Easter Weekend  

Spring Break 

+ Cousins in Town 

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lots and lots of FUN!!!

The Montierth's visit to sunny California happened to coincide with Easter weekend, the final weekend of the FREE Great Park Balloon (don't worry, you can still come if you visit us, it's just not free anymore), and Morgan's spring break.  Additionally, Great Grandpa and Grandma Miller came down to visit at the same time.  So, we moved into Grammy and Grandpa's trailer and joined the party!  Daddy came down for a couple of days, but, then had to go back to work.   

I did my best to take pictures, but, there were 17 of us when we were all together, 11 of them under the age of 7.  

Adventure One:

When everyone got to our house, we packed up the wagon with all the egg decorating supplies and headed off to the park to dye eggs!  (This year, we did it because there were so many people, but, in the future, I highly recommend it!  No mess to clean up in the house--leave it all at the park!)

Morgan and Grammy Tammy dyeing glitter/marbleized eggs. This was definitely a one-on-one task.

All the other kids, waiting for their eggs to color.  (I know, they look bored, but, they really did have fun!) Aunt Courtney showed them how to make two-toned eggs.  

Ethan decided to skip out on egg-dying and enjoy animal crackers instead!

 Rich, playing with Evie and Lincoln.

Grammy and Lincoln

Courtney and Evelyn

What kid doesn't enjoy playing with cups and water?  These three boys had a blast! Thank goodness for the warm weather!

Adventure Two:

Soon after we moved to Orange County, we learned about the Great Park Balloon.  It's one of those things that people driving on I-5 look at (come on, it's a HUGE orange balloon!), but only the locals seem to know the secret.  

When everyone came to visit for the Color Run back in November, we tried to go on it, but, they were full for the night.  So, we went on the carousel instead.  Since then, we have been a few times with our kids and friends, but, the Montierths, who live in Utah, haven't come.  Afton continued to talk about it and was so excited to come back and go on the balloon!  

For whatever reason (Brian says it was a city council vote), the city decided to start charging for balloon rides, beginning in April.  So, naturally, everyone in Orange County wanted to ride the balloon one last time while it was still free!  

We anticipated a large crowd, so Brian left work early and went straight to balloon to wait in line for 3 hours!  But, we all went for a ride on the balloon!  And, because of the marine layer, they had to shut down the balloon for the rest of the evening soon after we flew!  

These babies won't let anyone hold them while they drink their bottles!

Papa Dale and Ethan on the balloon.

Mei, Ben, Afton, Morgan

Harold and Nona Miller (my grandparents, kids' great-grandparents)

Grammy Tammy with Carson, Ben and Sadie. (Not sure why the grumpy face, though)

Rich, Courtney and the twins.

The whole gang (17 of us!) after our wild ride on the balloon!

Of course, no trip to the balloon would be complete with out a carousel ride (or seven)!  Too many lights and too much action to get a good picture, but, this one of my mom, riding as the responsible adult for 7 kids turned out neat. Even though the camera captured her stillness, I'm sure she felt like the chaos all around!  

Grandma and Grandpa chose to ride the horses, instead of sitting on the bench (my preference).  I only hope that I can grow up to be like them!  They celebrate 57 years of marriage in August!

Morgan and Afton

Sadie and Mei

 Stay tuned for more adventures from Spring Break and our Cousins' Visit!  

March Madness

Carson figured out how to play in the Bilibo.  He thinks it's hilarious when he tips out!

Carson has two blankies.  One, is big enough for him.  The other, big enough for Fillmore (i.e. it's an old burp cloth of the same material).  Carson's was in the wash, so he borrowed Fillmore's, but, it didn't quite fit.

Learning to play Wii with Daddy.

Daddy and Morgan made an awesome Leprechaun trap.  She brought it to school, and the sneaky little guy visited the classroom, but, no such luck in trapping him!  Oh, well, maybe next year?

Somedays, piano practice lends itself to a nap at the piano instead.  

 Sadie was so proud of her caterpillar and flowers from preschool!

"Why are you taking a picture, mom?"

Playing at the park before the big Easter Egg Hunt!

Carson and Sadie ready for the hunt!

Pretty soon, they won't fit in here anymore! (They were pretending they were on a roller coaster ride.  Hence, the "arms up".)

 

Oh, how I love these crazy kids!

Silly, Silly!

Oh, how I love this kid!  

The Orange Balloon!!

While it's expensive to live in California, it does have its perks.  Like, when your friends from Colorado  come out to Disneyland for a few days and meet you for dinner!

After dinner, we took them to the Orange County Great Park for a balloon ride!

Five of the six kids on the balloon!  Maisy was super tired after a long day, so she's not in the picture.

Our family on the balloon.  Complete with Carson's signature, "scrunchy face".

All of us after our great balloon ride!

Thanks for coming to visit, Wrights!  We had a great evening!

Morgan as Betsy Ross

"Hi!  I'm Betsy Ross.  I was a seamstress in Philadelphia in the late 1700's.  I sewed the first American flag.  The 13 stripes represented the 13 original colonies.  The red represented the blood that was shed for our nation...."  

We heard this so many times even Sadie had it memorized!

The first graders at Morgan's school presented a patriotic performance for their families to enjoy.  They sang songs and many of the kids got up and recited a short monologue about a famous American.  It was pretty cute--for first graders!

Reciting her line at the play:

Morgan was so proud to be a star in the performance!

 

Sadie and Carson, waiting for the play to begin.

Boring Tracks

He's done it with magnets, duplos, and now train tracks.  This man is talented!  

But, I hope he sticks to Prime Factorization for the ward talent show.  It's always a big hit!

10th Anniversary of Our First Date!!

The reason why Brian and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day is because we met exactly one week later.  So, we celebrate that special day instead.  Plus, we can avoid all the crowds, which makes it even better!

This year, we had an awful time trying to find a sitter for the kids.  Add to that, Brian had to work late (conference call or something with a client), and, we were destined to be stuck at home celebrating this great milestone.

I wouldn't let that happen.  So, I recreated our first date.  I gave Brian instructions to pick up Mexican Food and Coldstone on his way home, and we set off to enjoy our first date--10 years later!

I had originally put together a cute little poem for all of our activities, but, that was lost even before we got married, so the activities alone had to suffice.

1. Dinner--Brian originally cooked tacos for us, but, in the interest of time and a mess in the kitchen, we ordered Mexican food.  Brian's tacos were waaaayy better!

2. Kiddie Bowling--on our original date, I borrowed a set from a friend (we had played for FHE), but for our first anniversary of our first date, I bought Brian a set.  And, though we don't use them too often, its fun to have them around for nights like this!

 3. Swing at the park--Of course, we couldn't leave the kids home alone, even if they were in bed, so we settled on rocking on the porch bench and enjoying our beautiful view of the lake!

4. The Candy Bar Game--I don't know if there's an official name for this game, but, it's always fun!  Only, there was too much candy bar for the two of us, so we ate a few bites, snapped a picture, and saved the chocolate for another time!

5. Coldstone--10 years ago, this all sounded great.  That night, there was too much sugar involved!  Oh, well.  I think this is the first Coldstone I've had since that date.  And, it might be a while again.  I'm a Golden Spoon lover now!

6. Movie--10 years ago, we watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Brian held my hand for the first time.  So, we watched it again, and Brian and I held hands again, just like we always do.

So, even though I thought it was going to be a flop, our 10th Anniversary of Our First Date was a HUGE success!  I loved it, and I love you, Brian!

San Jose for Valentine's Day!

Morgan happened to have a 5 day break from school in February.  Plus, Brian and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day (I'll post about that later).  So, that left a perfect opportunity for a road trip!  We had to leave Daddy at home to work and study, but, hopefully, he'll get to come on all future road trips!

As usual, I was extremely anxious to travel 6 1/2 hours alone, with 3 kids.  But, also as usual, I received many tender mercies from my Heavenly Father as we traveled.  The kids were mostly good (thank you, DVD player!), and a gas station appeared right when I realized I had completely miscalculated my mileage and could possibly run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.  And, it was a Chevron, to boot!  Yay for me!

Once we arrived, my tensions eased up, as we had a great time with Alie, Tyler, and Jack.  Man, I wish we had cousins closer!  But, on the plus side, we are close to Grammy and Grandpa, so, when cousins visit, we get to join in on the fun!

Enjoying mustache lollipops in the backyard!

Carson and Jack loved pulling each other around in the wagon!  

It was $2 Jamba Juice week, so we took the kids for a treat!

Yummy!  I haven't had Jamba in ages!

We spent a day at Happy Hollow, and, lucky Tyler got to go on the roller coaster 3 (or more) times with the girls.  They can't wait to be big enough for Magic Mountain!  But, I didn't get any pictures, sorry!

Here they are on one of the old-school swing carousel rides.  They loved it!

 And, just for fun, Carson on the rocking horse.

And, now, more photos, courtesy of my sister's GOOD camera.  Yes, point and shoot is nice and pocket size, but, it makes for terrible photos.  Here are some better ones to enjoy!

The bug ride.  Jack wanted to go on it, until he actually got on it.  And, he proceeded to cry the entire ride.  Poor guy!  The girls enjoyed it!

Crazy kids!  L-R: Morgan and Rae, Sadie and Lulu, Carson and Fillmore, Jack and Leonard.

Carson was so excited to hold the ticket!  Too bad it wasn't his!  He's still free!

Smile = scrunchy face!  Some day, I'm sure I'll look back and miss that little face!

All the kids. But a little more serious this time.  Well, as serious as cousins having fun can be.

Alie got a picture of the roller coaster.  The girls had their arms up the whole ride.  It was the real deal (not really, but, they had a great time)!

Just finished chasing Uncle Tyler through the maze.

We only brought one stroller, and, only one seat for the stroller, so Carson improvised when Jack took his spot.  Still don't know why we didn't grab the doubles kit, but, hey, it made for a cute picture!

Friends

Not the greatest picture, but, I wanted to make sure I captured this moment.  I've been helping my dear friend, Shaylyn, by watching her kids on occasion, while she attends her doctor appointments.  

Carson has been ever so kind in showing Kayla "the ropes" around the house.  Particularly his sippy cup drawer.  And, Kayla, being just a few inches taller (she's almost a year older), can reach the water spout on the fridge.  

So, here are the partners in crime.  Hey, at least they put lids on their sippy cups!

2 Years

It dawned on me today that 2 years ago, this past weekend, we decided to take a HUGE leap of faith and basically turn our entire world upside down, praying all along, that we were making the right choice.

It was right after General Conference in April 2011.  One of those experiences that you knew every message was exactly what you needed to hear.  And, looking back now, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to pick out just what it was that inspired us.  But, it did, and we acted on it, and that's what matters.

For a more detailed re-cap, click here: Part One.  And, somehow, in the last 10 months, since we've moved into our house, I've failed to document Part Two, other than through our daily activities and the change of scenery in the pictures.  So, I guess you could say Part Two would have included Brian's job change and our move up to Orange County, CA.

Now, the Cliff's Notes Version: We decided to move from Colorado to California.

I've been thinking about how much we have grown as a family and I have grown as a person during this time.  Of course, most of those things are slipping my mind as I'm typing, but, I know they exist, even the ones I can't think of right now.

When we first decided to move, I was excited and scared and trusting all at the same time.  I didn't think it was possible to feel all those emotions simultaneously, but, trust me, I did.  We both did.  And, for the first time in our marriage, I felt 100% certain that we needed to do this.

Not too long after we bought our house in Colorado, Brian and I both knew we weren't going to stay.  We didn't know if that meant just that house, or Denver, or, what.  We just knew we needed to be there to learn something (didn't know what at the time), and, when we had learned it, we would know it would be time to move.

Some of the things I learned while living in Denver--
1. Brian is my best friend and strongest advocate for happiness. (I was pretty much an emotional basket case while we lived there--probably still am!)

2. My patriarchal blessing can provide comfort and peace in ways I didn't ever notice before. (Working at J8 was a tremendous blessing for me.  What started out as a little part-time job to occupy my time became a haven of peace and friendships that I will cherish forever.)

3. It is possible to live in a house with imperfections. (the kitchen wall that blocked all views of the front room, where the kids played.  Didn't think about that one when we bought sans kids!)

4. You don't really need 4-wheel drive to drive in Denver snow. (I convinced Brian that I needed an SUV, not a van, to drive safely in Colorado weather.  5 1/2 years of Denver and I used the 4-wheel drive once.  But, I got my Pilot, and still love it, to this day!)

5. Basements are awesome!  (No, really, they are!  Especially unfinished ones with little kids! 1400 sq. feet to ride bikes, climb on the play cube, run, etc.  all heated during a freezing winter storm!)

6. Even terribly awful plane flights eventually come to an end.  (Amongst many exciting trips, I'll highlight the most memorable--2 year old Morgan, newly potty-trained, got diarrhea on a COMPLETELY FULL flight, while newborn Sadie-7 weeks?, screamed for most of the flight because of her ears--remember how her fluid didn't drain? click here)

7. Colorado snow is a million gazillion times better than Utah snow!  (Yes, it's still snow, but, usually, Colorado snow melted quickly and we had many beautiful winter days of 60+ degree weather.)

8. The Lord is always there.  You just need to be humble enough to talk to Him.


Some of the things I learned after we left Denver--
1. While life wasn't always everything we had hoped it would be, we had some fun family memories from our time in Colorado.  For starters, it will always hold a special place in our heart because that's where all 3 kids were born!

2. If you trust in the Lord, it will all work out.  Not necessarily the way you thought, but, it will all work out. I'm comforted by the quote, "Sometimes good things fall apart so that better ones can fall into place."

3. I am truly blessed!  Yes, I'll be the first to admit that the last 2 years haven't been perfect.  There have been lots of struggles, frustrations, and even doubts that we made the right choice.  But, those thoughts are quickly brushed aside with an overwhelming feeling of peace that we had faith and obeyed.  And, I know there will be more struggles in the future.  But, despite everything that has and may come, I know that my Heavenly Father loves me!

4. A lot can happen in 2 short years!  To think that Carson wasn't even born when we started this adventure just blows my mind!  I can't imagine our little family today without him in it!


5. An INCREDIBLE job is hard to come by.  Sure, there's lots of great jobs, but, we were both blessed to have the best working experiences ever while in Denver.

6.  If you do the right thing, it will always work out in the end.  (Thanks, Mom, for always reminding me of this.)

Currently, we have NO intentions of relocating, locally, or otherwise.  But, I am so thankful for this experience, which has taught me to truly trust not only in the Lord, but also in his timing.  I don't know what the future holds, but, I do know one thing.  If we stay His course, it will be great.