A look back

WARNING... This is my yearly summary of what's gone on with us, so it might be kinda long.

As the year ends, it's always nice to look back at what happened. For us, this year was definately a year of changes.

Ty is still in the Elders Quorum Presidency as second counselor. I think he mostly enjoys the position because he holds some power, but not all of it and the stress that that would bring. Ty also still is working for the city as the Budget Officer. With California's budget crisis, it was hard getting the budget done this year. He is learning more all the time and is enjoying his work. His favorite hobby is working on his 1973 1210 International pick-up. He has actually done a lot of work on the truck and almost has it so he can drive it (after almost two years now). The biggest project was replacing the old axels with new ones. He currently has 5 axels for the one truck. His friends call him the Axel King.

Kristi is still teaching primary. Most of the year she has taught the 10-12 year old girls. She really enjoys teaching that age because they actually grasp what you are teaching them. She has just found out she will be moving to the 5-7 year old class and is really struggling with it, but willing to try it. At the end of February Kristi started working part-time again. It was quite a change from anything she'd ever done before, but something she fell in love with. She is a nurses assistant at an urgent care center. It has inspired her to get her EMT certification with the dream of one day getting her paramedic's license. Kristi organized a family reunion this year for her family. Never would she have thought it would be so hard to get everyone here, but she mananged to do it. We had a lot of fun seeing everyone together. The last time her whole family was together was when we got married.

Joey turned three this year and I think is crazier than ever. She wears everyone out who just watches her. She is figuring out how to ride her trike (she doesn't like making the effort to push the peddles down), though would rather just play on her scooter all day. Joey lost her first tooth in the middle of September this year. She was playing in the backyard of Nana and Bop-Bop's house and fell down and knocked it out. Now she thinks it's funny to stick food in the whole and pretend it's her tooth. Thankfully she hasn't been too self-conscience of it. Joey and Kristi went camping with her family up at Sherwin Creek, by Mammoth, and had fun. I think we may try to camp there every summer now.

Our Jetta was recently returned to VW!!!! We started the process almost a year ago about getting it returned due to all the safety problems we've had. It's nice that it is gone. So now we have a new Ford Flex. We just took our first long trip in it, and it was so nice and comfy! I highly recommend one. Lastly our biggest change of the year came during September when we put an offer on a house. It closed at the end of September and we started moving in on Oct. 1. We are enjoying making it our own.

We hope you all have had a good year and will have a good year to come!

What's this white stuff???

Saturday the forcast was showing a possiblilty for snow here for us for Sunday and Tuesday. Everyone seemed certain it was going to happen, but my thought was "I'll believe it when I see it." I was right. It didn't snow either day. However, today everynow and then this funny white stuff kept falling from the sky in little flurries. None ever stuck, but it sure was there. (It's on the mountains all around us and Joey keeps telling me she wants to go play in the snow.) I felt like such a nerd about it that I had to call my babysitter and tell her to have the kids go play in it. For those of you not familiar with our desert, it snows here maybe once every 3-4 years. It snows and sticks every 7-8 years.

Buh-Bye

Ty said goodbye to the Jetta two days ago, and Joey and I said goodbye to it yesterday. We finally have that all settled and done! I am so excited it's over. I signed it over to VW yesterday when I took it down to the VW place in Lancaster. Sometimes I think I'm really going to miss the car. It was pretty peppy and I think I'll miss that it's small, but I'm definately not going to miss all the problems with it.

Christmas Cards

So I am currently trying to figure out how many Christmas cards to get this year. If you are interested in one, let us know. Most of you will probably need to email me your address. You can get my email address by clicking on my profile.

I'm done!

Yay!!! I finished the second part of my final last night! It was a two part final that took two normal classes (so up to 8 hours). I was one of the first ones done and I finished the whole thing in about 4 hours total. I'm so glad that it's over. I feel like I can breathe again. I have one more class session to go to, but that's just to get my course completion certificate. Oh, and I have to work 8 hours in the ER on Saturday, but not a whole lot left. It will probably be early next year when I actually go and take the National Registry exam, but then I'll be a certified EMT-B! I think I'll take the spring off and just relax a little!!

Family Pictures

So I briefly mentioned a while back that my whole family had a reunion. We had family pictures taken. I just got the pictures a few days ago, and they are so cute! I am super excited to have them. My family is a little nerdy, but we usually have fun together. I know a lot of you don't konw my family, but here they are anyway.

Bummer

So for all of those who were expecting us in Utah this weekend, I'm sorry, but we aren't going to make it. Yesterday Joey started throwing up in the morning. We decided that if she went 12 hours without throwing up before it was time for us to leave we would still go. She peed the bed (first time ever), but thankfully the flu seemed to have passed. We got about 30 minutes out of town and she started throwing up in the car. The brand new car. Thankfully it was only a little bit, and I was able to find a trash bag quickly. We figured it could be a little motion sickness and left overs from the flu, so continued on our way. About 45 minutes later it happened again, and this time we turned around and headed home. Again, we figured if she could go the rest of the day without being sick we'd head up, but alas, it was not so. So instead of infecting everyone in Utah with Joey's nasty flu, we will be camping out here at home.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Leaves, Leaves, all around

Our big tree has started dropping some of it's leaves. I thought Joey would enjoy playing in the leaves, and it would be a good way to burn off some of her never ending energy, so I started to rake them into a pile for her. As soon as she figured out what was going on, that was the end of the pile. She couldn't let those leaves just sit there with no one to play in them. I think her favorite part was throwing them down the back of my shirt. She did enjoy making "Leaf Angels" and we buried her in them when Ty came home from work. And, being the three year old she is, she spent the better part of an hour just throwing and kicking the leaves, then raking them back into a pile and doing it all over again. I decided it was time to end the fun when we both had slugs squished on us (for some reason our lawn is infested with slugs!!! Joey's favorite thing to do is dump lots of salt on the ones on the sidewalk and watch them die.).

She would rake herself into the pile and would kick her way out of it.

Leaf Angel

New Car

Everything with our car has FINALLY settled. It only took the better part of forever, but it's finally over. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, let me give it to you brief. Our VW Jetta was a lemon. We have had some major saftey issues with it. Back in January I got in contact with a lawyer about making VW buy the car back. VW finally agreed last month to buy the vehicle back. Now the loan is paid off and we are waiting for the title (it should be here in the next couple days) so we can turn the vehicle back over to VW. The biggest problem for us has been that we are planning to go to Utah for Thanksgiving, but we weren't not sure if we'd have a vehicle or not (we would like to turn the car in this weekend if we get the title). So we have been car shopping to figure out what car to get next. We have driven probably 10 different cars, and finally fell in love. Last Friday, we bought ourselves a new Ford Flex.

It is so nice and comfy. We are excited to go to Utah in it next week. It can seat up to 6, so if we ever need to take our friends kids somewhere we can. It also has Sync, which is nice since it's against the law to drive while holding a cell phone (I always seem to get my important calls while I'm driving). We really like all the features, and figure that it is big enough that we can grow into the car.

Are you for real???

So I am having a really hard time believing that it is mid-November. You walk outside and it seems early October. The last several days it has hit above 80!! The leaves haven't even fallen off the trees yet. They started the other day when a breeze blew threw, but nothing like it should be. I see pictures and hear people say how cold it is in other places, but it's hard to believe. This is what our big tree in front of our house looks like (notice that parts of it are still actually green).

Tagged

So my friend tagged me a while ago, but I'm just now getting to it (sorry it took so long Karen). So here is the tag. Go to your 4th folder of pictures, and go to the 4th picture. Then quickly tell what the picture is about.

This was at our ward Halloween party. Someone took my camera to take pictures with to send to her daughter who is on a mission currently. This is a picture of the missionaries in our ward. Actually, the one dressed as Frank Sinatra was transfered yesterday. He was in our ward for 7 months and in our town for 10 total months (long time for a missionary).

I tag anyone who wants to be tagged!

Joey Quotes

So I have noticed much more lately, that Joey is saying all kinds of things that I think are hillarious and deserve recognition, so instead of boring you all with those being my only posts, I just added a new element to the side of our blog called "Joey Quotes." The one's on top will be her most current quote, and I'll update them probably more often than I actually write real blogs, so check regularly if you are interested what she has to say this time.

Chicken Chili Lasagna

So about three weeks ago my whole family was in town for a reunion (there were 24 of us total). I was in charge of making dinner on Monday and it was requested by my parents that I make Chicken Chili Lasagna. It has definately become a favorite dinner of Ty and I, although I usually only make it when we have company over since it makes so much food. Anyway, I put this recipe on my family's website, and thought I'd put it up here in case anyone wants to try it. If you do try it, let me know what you think of it.

Chicken Chili Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 medium onion, chopped
8 green onions, chopped (I actually use like half this amount)
2 cups shredded Mexican-Cheese blend, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp ground cumin, divided
1/2 tsp minced fresh cilantro
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1/8 tsp thyme1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
9 flour tortillas (6 inches), halved

Directions:In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, onions, 1 1/2 cups Mexican-Cheese blend, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon cumin and cilantro. Stir in chicken; set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, chilies, thyme, salt, pepper, and remaining cumin. Spread 1/2 cup of the cheese sauce in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish (I perfer a glass dish). Top with 6 tortilla halves, one half of the chicken mixture and one third of the cheese sauce. Repeat tortilla, chicken, and cheese sauce layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese sauce. Cover and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and add remaining Mexican-Cheese blend and bake for 10 minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting

Number Of Servings:12

Bye-Bye Rosemary

So I wish I had thought to take a picture of this rosemary monster, but it didn't occur to me until after we finished, so oh well. But this morning that was my project. The rosemary monster. Well I guess technically it was a bush at some point, but once it was almost three feet tall and at least that wide, I'm not sure it's considered a bush any longer. We decided to rip it out. I was afraid to walk near it because I thought it would eat me alive if I did. The removal process actually started last week one morning when I was feeling brave. I got my little flower pruners and started to hack away at it. I quickly realized this project was larger they my little pruners could handle, so it got shoved to the back for nearly a week. Then we borrowed my parents big tree pruners. To make things worse, you couldn't even see where the base of the monster was because it had been eating dead leaves, sticks, and trash for who knows how long, and didn't want to give any of it up. It took me about two hours to prune it down enough that we could find the base and dig it out. Thankfully it is now done and gone. Maybe some day I'll no longer be terrified of rosemary and plant a nice LITTLE bush, but for now... nope.

Also, today Joey was climbing on our block wall out front. At one point she raised her arms over her head and said "I am king of the Jordan!"

Joey Quote of the day

I know this isn't a good picture of this desk, but I had to put the picture up anyway so you'll know what I'm talking about. And this quote is actually from yesterday, but it still deserves to be acknowledged.

So Saturday we bought this new desk to go in our office. We left the corner piece out so we actually now have two matching desks in our office, but that's really irrelevant. Last night Ty decided to put the desk together. He got all the pieces out and was reading the instructions, making sure he had everything. Joey looks down at everything and says, "Are you going to wrench it together?" Ty and I about died laughing. Apparently later when he started assembling everything with the little wrench that came in the box, Joey got all mad and said "That's not wrenching it! That's turning it!"

We still have know clue what "wrenching it" must mean.

Pumpkins

I'm not a big fan of carving pumpkins. I wish I was, but it makes such a mess, I'm ususally the only one doing it, and I'm the one who has to clean it up. That, and after Halloween, we always forget to take them to the trash, so they just sit and mold on our porch (Yeah I konw, GROSS!!). So this year I saw something at Walmart that I though was ingenious. Potatoe Head type pieces for the pumpkin! I took Joey and she picked out the ones she liked (there were a couple different types, like monsters, cute ones, stuff like that). Well tonight we decorated our pumpkins, and here's what Joey came up with. Oh, and Ty actually got down and helped us. It was so much easier, cleaner, and nicer as we all did it together.

Party

This last weekend we had a couple things going on. First, my family had a reunion. We haven't all been together since Ty and I got married (which was over 5 years ago), so it was long past due, and added with my dad's diagnosis of cancer, we made it finally happen. So that was fun. Everyone but the youngest nephew was here (he's only a couple months old and was a premie, so he stayed home with his mom). We had 7 of them at our place, so that was fun. Saturday our friends had an 80-15-5 party. 80% Halloween, 15% "E" birthday party, and 5% "H" birthday party (he got the least cuz he's the dad and doesn't need a big party). The kids were told to come in costume. Our friends said we could invite all our family to come if they want. Well, only my 4 year old niece "K" wanted to go really. Here are the pictures of Joey and "K". Joey is a sailor girl for halloween and "K" is a "Fairy Princess."

Total Exhaustion

Since moving into our house, I have been constantly exhausted. I don't know if I've ever been this consistantly tired before. It just seems like everything has been going a mile a minute. We have tried unpacking most things because my family is coming starting Wednesday. This also means doing some of the more important repairs to the house. We had paint for two rooms, so we figured we'd get that done before they come as well. We had to take the blinds down from both rooms and decided they were trash, so we had to buy new ones (we've yet to install them). I also have been working one or two days a week all month (next week I work three days). Plus, I have a class that is 8 hours of class time a week and probably twice that in homework. (I'm 2 chapters behind because of everything that is going on, but thankfully catching up). Oh, and Joey is sick with a cold, so she's not sleeping well which in turn means I'm not sleeping well (in the few hours of sleep a night I get). I am so exhausted, that I have to have Ty open most jars of anything because I just don't have the strength to open them. I don't forsee my exhaustion getting better until my class is over, so this year especially I can't wait for Christmas.

Sorry to tell you, but...

My dad got home from his second round of chemo last night. Joey missed him and has been wanting to see him, so I figured this afternoon we'd go see him. I told her we are going to Nana and Bop-Bop's to see him, and she tells me we can't because he's still in the hospital. This argument goes on the whole ride to my parents (the whole 1 mile). Finally I pull up in front of my parents house and say, "we are going to go in and see how Bop-Bop is doing." Joey promplty replies, "Sorry to tell you Mom, but Bop-Bop is still in the hospital."

Good luck Dad

I know that my dad doesn't read this a whole lot (if he reads it at all), but I want to wish him luck anyway. He just started his second round of chemo today. We can't wait for him to get back and help us some more. He's been a big help during the move and setting things up and changing things around. When he gets back, he'll teach me how to replace outlets, light switches, cable jacks, and phone jacks. Then he'll teach me how to replace the handles in the bathroom sink (if I don't just do it before he gets home). I think he's pretty bored at home since he can't go to work, so it's good for everyone around when he can come help us.
Here is a picture of Joey and her Bop-Bop the day before he went in for his first round of chemo. Thankfully all that has happened is that he has lost his hair. He hasn't been very sick, he's only lost a little weight (they think it's actually due to his cancer, not the chemo), he's recovered quickly... it's just been a big blessing that he's doing so well. We love you, Dad!

Pictures

This is our house. It's hard to get a good picture of the front of the house because it's shaded so well, but it's got some good curb appeal. It's got this nice patio in the front, but I didn't get a picture of it now because there is a bunch of stuff on it right now. Dan #1, I know you can't see it from the pictures, but there are hooks all along the eaves, so that's how are Christmas lights are going up this year. Unless you can make it down before then. ;)

The only room in the house we have painted is the office. It was the first color scheme we decided on, thus it was the first painted. The color on the walls before was blue. We went grey and will be doing the trim either black or white (Ty would rather have black, but making a black paint is very hard) We now have paint for the formal living room, but just haven't had time to paint it.

The office before it was painted

Another office "before"

Joey helping me paint the office

Tonight we are going to have some friends over for game night (during the summer we tried to do them every other week or so). We are excited. We haven't completely finished unpacking yet, but we are making headway. We are enjoying coming up with plans on what we can do to make things better.

Almost lost it... twice

The house, that is. My sanity, well I lost it a while ago, and I never found it again. But I promised the story of almost losing it twice. The first one was a week before we were due to close. I got an email from the seller. She was talking to the escrow officer, and he suddenly sprung the news that she was going to have to pay this 3.3% tax to the state when the house closed (it's some stupid law that Gov. Davis made to help the state finances). The big problem with it was that she didn't have the money. If she couldn't come up with the money, she was going to have to pull out of the sale. It really upset us all because she asked the escrow officer straight up "What will my total be with all the fees, taxes... everything, when it's all said and done." So she went scrambling to get this money together so that we could still get the house. We don't know what would have happened because we had already turned in our 30 day notice at our old place. Under normal circumstances I'm sure my parents would have let us stay with them until we figured something out, but with my dad in chemo, he can't be around kids unless he constantly wears a hepa mask, and we didn't want to do that to him. But thankfully by that night everything worked out.
The second time we almost lost it was even worse. It was the day they were to record it with the county. Our funding and everything went through, but somehow during the night between the funding going through and the next day when they were going to record it, the title company lost our loan. As in they had no clue where the money was. How do you lose a house loan?????? Anybody know? The seller found out and was pretty ticked because it had to be recorded by that night! Thankfully the title company found the loan shortly before the deadline and was able to record it. I am also thankful that I didn't find out about this one until the next day when I ran into the seller around town.
But everything went through, and it's ours now!

Quick update

As Ty said, yes, we got the house. Which is why we haven't had time to blog lately. We have been moving in all our spare time over the last week, and for me, it hasn't been a whole lot of time. I just wanted to let ya'll know when we've got the move finished, I'll post pictures and tell you the drama of almost losing the house twice in the week before it was due to close.

The Joys of Moving

So, our house closed on Tuesday. Yea!!! Now we are painting some of the rooms before we move. It's been a decade or two since the inside was painted. It needs new carpet too, but that will have to wait until tax refund time or we come into some money somehow. But the big move is scheduled for this weekend. It should be fun (said with a hint of sarcasm). Anyone that would like to help won't be turned away.

In other good news, supposedly our car litigation has been settled. That should all be taken care of in the next 3 or 4 weeks.

And no, Joey hasn't grown a new tooth yet. Poor kid.

Hold them a little closer

Today I just want to hold Joey a little closer, love her a little longer, and play with her a little more. Last night my sister told what happened in her ward yesterday that was very traumatic for their primary and most people in their ward. One of her good friends has at least two little girls. A 4 year old and a 6 year old. This lady also teaches in primary, so they are all together at the end of church. During sharing time, the 6 year old went up to her mom and said "I'm having trouble breathing." She then quit breathing altogether. Right there. As of late last night, the little girl still wasn't breathing on her own and they don't know if she'll pull through or not. If she does, they are worried she'll have brain damage. They have no clue yet why she quit breathing. My heart just aches for the family. So today, take some pictures of your little ones, hold them a little closer, and love them a little more because you never know what the next minute will bring.

All I want for Christmas is a...

...new front tooth.

Yesterday we went to my parents house to give Joey some time with her Bop-Bop (Grandpa). He starts chemo tomorrow, so Joey and Bop-Bop will have to wear HEPA masks around each other for at least the next 6 months, probably more. Anyway, back to the story. Joey and her cousin were out in the back yard playing on the swing set. My mother, Ty and I had just settled down to a nice game of Rummikub (we had taught my mom the day before how to play). We were about three rounds into the game when we heard Joey start screaming bloody murder. I ran outside and saw a little blood coming from her mouth, so I ran to the bathroom to start cleaning up. She regularly bites her lip or something, so I'm not too worried about the blood, because it wasn't a whole lot. Then I got her to the bathroom and it turned out, it wasn't a lot of blood because it was pooling in her mouth. I am cleaning it up when I notice that she no longer has a front tooth. :( Thankfully doing whatever it was she did, she knocked the whole tooth out (we know because I got her in with the dentist today, so she had xrays done). We have to watch for signs of infection with the surrounding teeth now, but the dentist doesn't think it's too bad. She also has a huge road rash on her chin from it, and a large bruise under her chin. It's a real bummer because your permanent teeth don't come in until you are about 7-8 years old. To make her day more traumatic, earlier in the day, we had to perform a "removal of a foreign object" from her nose, as she stuck the cereal part, not the marshmallow, of a Lucky Charm up there. Really, it's easy to get things out of kids noses as long as you have long tweezers, but it's just no fun for them. As this is the second time in as many weeks that we've done this, we are hoping that she is done sticking things up there.

The Highlight of my Day

So even after spending hours with a mortgage broker, I had a better highlight of my day. Joey walked up to me, hugged me hard, and said "You're my best friend."

Signing our life away!

Ty and I felt like we signed our life away today. We went into escrow on a house. We are really excited about it. It's a 3 bedroom 2 bath about 1450 sq ft on .2 of an acre. It's got lots of established trees, so that is really nice. It's just down the street from the church, so that's another plus. It needs some work, so we got it fairly cheap for the area. I am excited to fix it up the way we want it to be. I'll hopefully take some pictures of at least the front of the house soon to show you guys.

Smart Aleck

Jordan made her first smart aleck comment today. I'm not saying she doesn't back talk, because she does that regularly. It's just today, she was such a smart aleck!!! I wanted to be mad, but I was too busy laughing. While I was getting ready for the day, she runs in and goes "Mommy, my movie is broken." So I go out, and sure enough, it had done something funky, so I hit play and get it going. I turned to her and asked "What did you do to it, Joey?" Without skipping a beat she replies "Nothing, what did you do to it, mommy?"

Thank goodness they are pre-cooked!

I am so grateful that we have food now-a-days that is pre-cooked. Like hot dogs. Whenever Joey is hungry she goes to the fridge to scrounge for food. Regularly she'll come out with a hot dog. It doesn't matter if it's 6 in the morning or if we just had dinner, she'll eat them anyway.

Latest News

Man... I have been so exhausted this week. It is due to several factors. First off, Thursday after we got back from our trip to Utah, Joey and I went camping with my family. Ty had to stay home because of work and the fact that we had to be back early Saturday so I could write a talk for the next day. We had a blast camping, but I didn't sleep much because Joey woke up a lot due to the cold. I had forgotten how dirty camping was! We'd clean Joey's hands, then turn around and she'd already by filthy. Joey won the most injured award and I won the best fire-starter award. Joey didn't get seriously injured, but got about 5 splinters in her hand that were fairly traumatic to remove. While camping I learned how to throw a frisbee backhanded. It took about 20 minutes, but by the end, I was throwing it pretty well.

Also this week we have been worried about my parents. Everything that has been going on has been hurry up and wait, and it looks like the trend will continue for a while longer. They don't have a firm diagnosis, but they are about 98% sure that my dad has Lymphoma. So they have set him up with the cancer center City of Hope down in LA. Hopefully this next week we'll know exactly what it is and he'll get down there for an appointment to see about chemo.

Lastly, school started for me. I was pretty nervous about that because I haven't been to school in 5 years! It will be good, but way harder than I originally thought. I thought my class would take all the way through May to complete, but I was wrong. We will be going through 38 chapters in 14 weeks. The class is 5.5 units and 3 hours 45 minutes twice a week. For those of you wondering what class that could be, it's EMT-Basic. It is going to be a lot of work, but I have a lot of RN's I know that are willing to help me study, and the PA (Physician's Assistant) at work is helping me and teaching me different things.

Ty got his motorcycle completed this week. He's pretty stoked about that. He loved riding it, even if all he's ridden so far is to my parents house and back. He's excited about riding it to work since he'll be able to do that year-round here. For those of you who don't know what kind of bike he has, he has a 1973 Honda Trail 90. It's a fairly small bike, but he loves it.

My big news from yesterday is that we bought a new vacuum. Our old one just wasn't working really well anymore, and the cover wouldn't stay on the bag anymore. We didn't get anything super expensive like a Dyson, but I love the vacuum. We got a Hoover. It even senses when it's done sucking stuff off the floor to tell you when the floor is clean. We went over the same spots as the old vacuum, and it was nasty to see what was left behind. It's nice to have a clean floor now.

Ty has budget hearings this week. Basically it means I won't see him Tuesday, Wednesday, and possibly Thursday nights. I will be glad when the budget is done and passed! The biggest thing for us is that I'll need to have my parents watch Joey during my class, but that's no biggy. Hopefully all will go well and he won't need to change anything major. Once the budget is done Ty will be taking a 2 week vacation.

We're back!

We are back from our vacation, much to his family's sadness. I say that because I know they are already missing Joey. We had a great time relaxing and seeing a few old friends. Annie's wedding was beautiful. Ty and I went to Lagoon for our anniversary and had a blast. Then the next day we took Joey to the zoo. She loved it, until she started getting tired.

I want to let ya'll know that I did keep up my walking... a bit. I walked all day at the amusement park, all day at the zoo, and then I took my 2+ mile walks two other mornings. I lost another pound last week which was amazing because I ate a ton! So now I'm down 6 pounds and have 14 to go.

Now I have a ton of pictures from the last week, but I'll just put up a few of my favorites now, and hopefully make a slide of the rest of them so ya'll can see.

Joey and Dan #1 (With two uncle Dan's, we had to give them numbers so we know who is who).

The Love Birds (Annie and Dan #2).

Joey and her cousin Katelyn looking at the flowers at the temple.

Joey's handful of flowers.

Dan #1's I-phone sure kept Joey entertained. She is a master at the Bee game now!

All the guys chillin' before the reception.

Cute Joey

This is how Joey insisted on carrying the bouquet.

Our little model.

The whole Staheli fam.

And lastly, Joey holding the bouquet.

Vacation is coming!!

I can't wait for Thursday to be over. That night we are leaving for our first, and possibly only, vacation of 08. We will be in Utah for about 10 days for Annie's wedding and our anniversary. We are just so burned out on several things going on here, and are ready for the break. Joey is excited about seeing her Nana and Bop-bop Staheli. And she runs around telling everyone who will listen, and those who won't, that she's going to have TWO Uncle Dans soon. It's pretty cute. My mom keeps saying she doesn't know how she'll survive that long without Joey. The people that sit behind us in church say they don't know how they are going to survive two Sundays without Joey to keep them entertained. I am excited that I don't have to prepare lessons! Don't get me wrong, I love my girls (I teach Valiant 10&11 girls), but they just are too much sometimes.

Ty is working overtime right now in order to get everything done before Wednesday evening (that's his deadline). He went to work yesterday on his flex and spent about 8 hours there. And today he went in 2 hours early and will probably be getting off late. It will be so nice when the budget is done and passed. Although, then he'll be starting on next years budget, so does it ever really end?

A couple weeks ago I decided that I have to lose about 20 lbs. I'm telling ya'll this so you can keep me accountable for how it's going. So I have started getting up early every day to walk. So far I've lost 5 lbs!! It's been great. I also feel better now and love starting my mornings in the relative quiet of our little town. I've walked about 12 miles so far and have roller bladed about 6 (sometimes I need to switch things up a bit). I am hoping to keep up with my walking while on vacation, but no promises.

A first for Ty

So since we moved here two years ago, Ty has been dying to feel an earthquake. They are pretty common here. I mean, as a kid, you have big fire drills in school, and big earthquake drills. It's just how it is because we are surrounded by active fault lines.
Well, today Ty got his wish. Just about 20 minutes ago there was a 5.8 earthquake in Chino Hills, California (in the LA area). We felt it up here. I was parked in my car and it felt like someone was shaking the car. Ty says it was like he was on a boat.
We are fine here, and thankfully so far there are no major injuries or accidents anywhere from this earthquake.

Joey's b-day

As ya'll know, it was Joey's B-day this past week... These are some of my favorite pictures from them, and she and her friends enjoying the sip and slide we got her.


Laying in the pool at the end of the slide.
Just having a blast!
It wasn't so much a slip and slide as it was a commando crawl through the water to get to the little pool at the end.
Joey and "N" saying cheese before we cut the cake. We forgot to get candles (actually I thought I had some but it turned out I didn't) so she blew out my scented candle three times.
This is Joey's birthday Princess costume (well, and a dress that we didn't put on her because she had been playing in the flood water).
Joey's beads that Nana Staheli gave her. She even sleeps with them in her bed.
The scooter that Nana and Bop-Bop Ross gave her. It has been well used already!

We decided to adopt

No, not a child. We adopted a puppy. He's a Lab/Shepherd mix. He's got brick colored fur and the cutest blue eyes. He's Ty and Joey's dog. Oggie, the white and brown big dog, was Joey's b-day present two years ago, but he listens to and obeys me more than Ty, so Ty says he's my dog. Lately Ty has been saying that Oggie is lonely and needs a friend. Hence, Maximus. We call him Max. Joey calls him Maxi. He definitely is a bundle of energy and wears Oggie out.

When it rains it pours...

Blessings come in may forms. As you guys may know, so. cal is in a major drought. Our desert is in a huge one! People around here regularly pray for rain. I think it's time to tweak the blessing a little bit, so that the rain comes slower than it did today. We woke up from our Sunday afternoon nap around 3:30, apparently just in time for the second wave of thunderstorms to hit. By about 5 it had dumped over on inch of rain, probably close to an in and a half. The real problem for us is when you realize that three sides of our yard are concrete, and the fourth side is higher. So everyones water from the block, ran into our back yard. I really started panicking when the water started coming over our back porch. It was within and inch, inch and a half of starting to flood our house. My parents finally come over, and my brilliant dad finds the only way to drain the water. It was an amazing site to watch the water drain. All in all, we had about 5 inches of water in our back yard.
So what blessings did we have, well, obviously the rain. But I'm really grateful for my dad's thinking outside of the box to ensure the saftey of our house. And I'm really grateful that they were willing to come over because I know my mom was busy making sure everyone else in the ward is safe since she's relief society president. We also liked the rain because it washed our cars. That was nice. And it lessened the pollen count in the air, so hopefully my allergies will ease.

BTW-- in case you didn't notice, the pictures are of our backyard over the course of the rain showing how much it started flooding and the last one we took shortly after we started draining it, so the water is a little lower off the porch than it was when it was at it's peak, but you get the idea.

What a week

For those of you who don't know Ty buzzed his head. This picture was actually taken a few minutes ago while he's sleeping, and he won't appreciate it, but oh well.

Joey's bike

What a week!! I am so exhausted. For those of you who don't know, I work part time. Right now it is basically one 8 hour day a week, sometimes more if people call in sick. That's not bad. I like it. But this week I had a 40 hour work week. I haven't worked 40 hours in three years (right before Joey was born). By lunch time Friday, my brain and body were fried! I could hardly function anymore. I was just so worn out. I was talking to Ty about things that happened a week ago, and to me it seemed like three weeks ago. Man, I am so glad that I don't have to work full time. I don't think I could handle that!

Joey did something the other day that made me think of the song I've been watching you by Rodney Atkins. I was chewing on a piece of plastic (Yes, I know it's a bad habit, and Ty hates that I do it) and Joey picks up another piece and goes "Look! Just like Mommy." Now I know that she really watches us and picks up on things, but man. For some reason, that phrase just really hit home that she really does watch and pick up things from us!

Friday afternoon Joey earned her bike. Some of you may know what she had to do to earn it, but most don't. It was a big deal and a big sacrifice. She threw her pooty (pacifier) away. Actually put it in the trash! She was only using at night, not even for mid-day naps. But yesterday she threw it away to get her bike. The night was tough because she told us to take the bike away so she could have her pooty back, but we told her we can't do that. I'm hoping after a few days she gets used to not having it and things get easier and she gets to sleep quicker.

It may not seem like a whole lot happened, but it sure was a long week for us.