Dishwasher nightmare

OK- so you KNOW you're a stay at home mom when you start dreaming about dishwashers!

Have you ever had something trigger a memory of a forgotten dream? Well, tonight while I was loading the dishwasher I remembered I had a "nightmare" where I accidentally put soap for hand washing dishes in my appliance rather than the required detergent! I had to laugh at my sad, and obviously bored little mind.

1. I Am David. Got this movie from Netflix recently and I really liked it.

2. The Red Tent. I started reading this at my dad's, bought it when I got home, and finished reading it this weekend. It was a good book. Really explores what it might have been like to be a girl, woman, mother and wife during biblical times/customs. Since the book is told through the eyes of Dinah and tells a biblical story its a little strange at times since its not scripture (nor does it pretend to be) so I had to get over that- but it did give me new insights into reading the old testament. Mostly what I enjoyed though was just the celebration of being a woman. It made me appreciate all the more my husband, my children and my birthing experiences and what it means to ME to be a woman.

3. A non-eventful Saturday. Saturday we didn't do much. Jake worked on our plane (for the Bernhardt reunion competition coming up soon) and I read while the kids played and napped. It was kinda nice to have such a laid back Saturday. I think we felt okay with it since we'd had Thursday to play and since Jake took off Friday a bit early as well.

4. Sunday dinner. It's only been one week that we missed this tradition of ours but it really did feel nice to have everyone over for dinner again. We ate ham and pineapple kabobs outside, did our 3 best things from the last TWO weeks, and then played bocce, password, and just hung out. I feel so lucky to have so many close friends and family nearby to spend Sunday evenings with.

5. Music. I finally broke down and created a playlist for my blogs. I've kinda avoided it, because sometimes when I'm on the computer and I'm looking at people's blogs there playlists start without me realizing and kinda disrupt my "gig" if I'm listening to my own music, trying to watch a video on their blog, or just don't like their songpicks- but at the same time I've liked hearing what others listen to and have even found some new favorites myself from there playlists.... so I jumped on the bandwagon. It was fun picking out songs... its just a start but I love how songs can represent your thoughts, feelings and memories. So if you DO like listening to other people's playlists you can listen to mine and know that you're also getting another little piece of me at the same time- because these first song pics really are part of me as well.

Pioneer Day

We thought about trying to do something Pioneerish to celebrate- maybe crack our own wheat, or go for a long walk. Instead we headed up to the canyon for a picnic and tubing/rafting down the Provo River. It was us with my friend Becca, my sister Karina, and our friends the Barrands. We ate a yummy lunch- then the boys (Jake, Bryce, Sam, and Josh) went down the river while us girls watched the Lucas and Dekker and played cards at the park. The boys got back and then it was our turn. Marcia and I took the raft, and Becca and Karina had the tubes. The river is a pretty chill ride and we only did a small part of it- but it had its moments (there are guys that sit there and wait to jump in or swing right over the top of you just to scare you!) Apparently Josh didn't like it too much- I think mostly because he was pretty tired- but he had fun playing at the park with Sam- and the rest of us had a blast.

1. My sister Karina. Becca (who is living with us for the summer) called me while I was in California asking if I wanted her to water the garden (another thing to be grateful for) and said, "Yeah- someone cleaned the house today. I came home and things were picked up and cleaned up all over the house?!" Jake was already gone at this point and so I knew it must have been Karina since she'd called me earlier that day asking if she could stop by and pick up the game cube stuff even though I wasn't home. Not only that, but she watched the boys Wednesday night so Jake, Becca and I could go see Batman, and then she joined us on our trip of the canyon the next day as well - and as always- was very helpful with the boys.

2. "Trish". AKA Becca. It's nice to have her around- she's always willing to do last minute babysitting gigs for us in the evenings, she goes to the gym with me, and I have a girlfriend to chat it up with in person around!

3. Old videos. Jake has been trying to go through and edit/capture our old home videos. It's been fun to go back and watch them. I can't believe how fast time goes by!

California Trip

1. Slalem ski course behind my dad's Natique. I forget how much I love the challenge of the slalem course and how incredibly tiny the wake behind my dad's boat is. The two things get me racing across the wakes and smoothing out my turns. Its one of the things I feel pretty confident doing and just love so much.

2. The beach. I figured I couldn't go all that way and not go to the beach. So, Sunday Dad, Brian, the boys and I drove out to the beach (its only 15-20 minutes form my dad's house). The water is cold, and it was a little chilly, but it was still fun to hang out on the sandy shore, listen to the waves, smell the air and stick my feet in the waves. Josh and Dekker weren't too sure about it at first- but had lots of fun after a few minutes of observing everyone else there exploring.

3. Talking with dad. My dad hasn't always been the easiest person for me to talk to, but on this trip he really opened up to me. Its kinda strange when you get to that point where you start having adult to adult conversations. It was nice though to hear his honesty, his struggles, his excitements, and his opinions. I think my dad really needed my brother and I around for a bit.

4. My brother. Brian is such a cool big brother. Everyone just loves having him around. I felt like when he got there (Thursday night) "the party" could really begin. He was so sweet with the boys too. On Friday he took Josh by himself (while I stayed at the house while Dekker took a nap) down to the lake and out on the canoe. They took fishing poles and pretended to fish, rowed out to one of the islands and got off there to explore. Brian even got out his pocket knife and carved them a couple of spears. How cute is that?!

5. Blackberries. While we were there it never got real hot, but apparently the week before they had 100* weather- so some of the blackberries had been ripening earlier than usual. Blackberry picking is kind of addicting- once you start its hard to stop because you're always sure there are even better ones just around the corner. We picked a TON and the boy were helping (well, kinda- Dekker just ate them- even out of the basket- and Josh mostly ate his too) but we still had PLENTY for cobbler and topping off homemade tapioca (I'd never had it warmed and homemade before and actually liked it prepared this way).

6. Saturday was my favorite day of the trip. Saturday was my dad's birthday. EVERYONE went down to the dock TOGETHER and had fun boating. Shauna and Sera even tried wake boarding. We had yummy sticky buns for breakfast that my brother picked up at a local bakery and for dinner we made my dad yummy grilled racks of lamb, garlicky mashed potatoes, and a fresh salad. For dessert- blackberry cobbler of course!

7. Josh and Dekker's first modeling gig. My sister Sera did her 8th grade project on photography. She's been learning and practicing a lot. One of her freinds' parents started a mineral makeup line and asked Sera if she would want to do the marketing photography. She was working on that a lot while we were there and asked if she could use Josh and Dekker as models for some ideas she had for the bronzing and shimmering powders. It was lots of fun and pretty darn cute. I'll have to post pics on our photo site...

8. Cute kids. Josh and Dekker were always busy and exhausting as usual- but they did relatively well for being out of their element and routine. There were lots of cute/funny Josh and Dekker moments. The one that I remember most was while we were picking berries:

Josh: Mom, Dekker has boogers!
Me: Thanks Josh, but I don't have kleenex, it'll have to wait till we get back to the house.
Josh: But Mom, he's TASTING it!!!!

9. Small town wards. I went to church there on Sunday. Everyone was so friendly!

California

So I'm here in Sebastopol California visiting my dad. Jake was going to "Manzilla" (yearly guy trip to Jackson Wyoming) and so I figured since it was the same weekend of my dad's birthday I'd bring the boys on a little trip. We got great flights on Southwest, and though I was nervous about taking the boys by myself, they actually did pretty good. Josh got to see the cock pit and pilots of the plane and thought it was pretty cool.

1. The boys did so well on the plane. I brought treats and new coloring books/crayons to help- and they had their moments- but it really went pretty well.

2. The air here. I just love the smell of the air here. Much more humid than the dry dessert air of Utah and full of smells; ocean, plants, trees.

3. The property. My dad's property truly is beautiful. The vineyards, the gardens, the lake. Today I took Josh and Dekker exploring. They loved seeing the chickens, spotting jackrabbits, frogs, birds, etc....

Busy, busy

I've been bad about posting lately... I've just been really busy. Jake and I are going to Costa Rica in September, and so all this last week when I've had time on the computer its been spent researching all about Costa Rica and trying to figure out where and how to spend out time- not to mention how to get around and all that. Plus, getting the paperwork and stuff together to renew my passport and get Jake one.

It's been a good week though. I'm thankful for many things but here are a few highlights of the top of my head:

1. Jake not only came home about an hour early from work so that I could get my hair done- but when I came home I found him in the kitchen making his famous breakfast burritos for dinner.

2. I pulled out Jake's baby book looking for his birth certificate- which then got us looking through his, Josh and Dekker's and reminiscing...

3. Jake had a big sell for Magellan this week- and to celbrate we got take out from Bombay House!!!!

4. Going to the VERY BUSY Timpanogos Temple this week. Apparently the Provo, Jordan River, and Salt Lake Temple were all closed this week for cleaning and so it took us longer to get into a session than to actually do a session. Though it was unexpected it was kinda nice to spend so much time just hanging out with my sweetie and talking quietly with him there.

5. My friend Bri had her baby this weekend. They had WIFI in their hospital and so were sending out updates during the whole thing- so it was really neat to feel so a part of a moment so special. Bri is a champion 16 hours of labor with no pain medication, then an additional 20+ more with an epidural followed by 3 hours of pushing for their first 8 lbs 14 oz boy!!!

My new do

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I got my hair colored and cut. Kinda a fun change... not sure I want to post pic on our photoshare page yet... I feel I can be a little more forthcoming on this one.