This one's for my bro, Derek!

Ahhh, how cute! Look at those beautiful princesses twirling and dancing around!!

New Hair

Amy and I both got new cuts this week! I went and had all my hair chopped off on Tuesday. I still cannot believe how incredibly short it is. I do love it, but am still getting used to the reflection in the mirror sometimes. I have never had it this short before. I do love that it is super easy to style...5 minutes and I am done!

Yahoo for new super fun hair.

Easter Pics

Two full and heavy easter baskets!

Soccer

Avery started a soccer class at the YMCA last Saturday and she did pretty well. I want to expose her to as much stuff as I can, but I am not sure she will be our athletic child. :) She had fun learning to dribble, shoot, and stop the ball, but I think her favorite part was at the end when she got to run through a tunnel the parents had all made with their arms.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Today we headed down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was Avery's first time and she had a blast. It was a bit crowded, but fortunately we bought membership passes today so we can go back whenever we want! Our favorite spot was watching the huge tuna and it was especially fun watching Avery see and discover new things. On our way back home, we stopped in Moss Landing to eat at Phil's Fish Market. It was a great way to end a beautiful day.

Fun, Friends, and Fondue

Last night, after much anticipation by Rachel and I, we finally had our fabulous fondue experience. We went to a fondue restaurant in Saratoga called La Fondue. We started off with a complimentary pear schnopps followed by salads. We then had our yummy cheesey fondues with an assortment of dippers. The main course was next which consisted of lobster, shrimp, and filet mignon for Jaron and I. Matt and Rachel chose a variety of meats including ostrich, shrimp, chicken, chinois, and some others. Then the best part of the meal was next...chocolate. We ordered chocolate peanut butter and the flaming tortoise (chocolate, caramel, pecans). We had a ton of dippers - strawberries, grapes, marshmallows, cheesecake, poundcake, snickers, rice krispies, and a few more. We were definitely full by the end!! To top off the evening, Matt and Rachel gave me my own fondue set for my birthday. When's the party???

Photo Shoot

A while back, the girls had their pictures taken at The Picture People. There were so many great shots to choose from. My mom scanned these from our prints so now I can show off my beauties!

Birthday Celebration

We headed out to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner. So yummy! This is one of my favorite restaurants. I am a brand new cheesecake lover so it was my first taste of this incredibly yummy dessert. I had the original cheesecake with fresh strawberries and it was worth every calorie!!

Jaron got me this fabulous watch for my big 3-0! I love it!!

A different ending, please!

Do you ever watch movies and wish that you could change the ending? This happens to me a lot and I often find myself watching the movie again in hopes that I can change the ending just this once to see how things could be different.
I absolutely love period movies. Some of my favorites are Little Women, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Shakespeare in Love, Anne of Green Gables, and today I can add another...Becoming Jane. As I watch, I always wish I could have lived during that time. I can watch these movies over and over again (as Jaron will tell you). I think I have seen both Sense and Sensibility and Little Women well over 25 times each. Thankfully, both of those have wonderful endings.
Anyways, I watched Becoming Jane and was so saddened by the ending. (If you have not seen it and want to, please stop reading!) I so wanted Jane and Tom to end up together! I know it sometimes makes for a "better" movie if the characters do not end up together, but come on...on a rainy day when your kids are both napping and your husband is working a basketball game and tears are starting to fall, you just want that happy ending!

Orergon Travels

On Thursday morning we (all 4 of us, my parents, and my uncle) set off for Hermiston Oregon to visit my grandparents. We met up with my sister in Portland then we drove the 3 hours to Hermiston. We had a lovely time visiting and eating. On Saturday, my aunt and uncle drove over from Lebanon, Oregon to join us for a nice lunch out. Avery and Riley were excellent travelers and had a great time. Avery was so excited about flying in the airplane and staying in the hotel. Here are a few pics. Most of the pictures were taken by my sis and parents so there will be more to come.

On the airplane and ready to go after 5 hours of delays!

We stopped at "Cousins" for dinner on the way out to Hermiston. It was excellent food. Jaron said he had the best chicken fried steak. Now he is going to start his own food network tv show in search of the "best chicken fried steak" in the country.

Riley was such a great traveler. She was smiling all the time, of course!

On Saturday we all went to "Anthonys" for a special anniversary lunch for my grandparents' 55th wedding anniversary! Great food!

On the way back over to Portland to catch our flight we stopped to view Multnomah Falls. It was very beautiful!!

Here is Avery watching Charlotte's Web on Daddy's computer because of course we were delayed again on the flight home. Only 2 1/2 hours this time, though. :)

New Trick

Riley has discovered her tongue and loves to stick it out all the time.

Avery's new trick is mimicking lines from her favorite movies such as, "I hate you" (from Finding Nemo), "stupid dodo" (from Alice in Wonderland), and "you idiots!"(from 101 Dalmations). How nice.

The Beginning

Avery went to a gymboree-like class today at the YMCA. She will be going two to three times a week for some fun. She had so much fun and was sooo sad to leave when it was over. I sat in and watched today since it was the first one. Avery has been out of preschool since June and has the occasional playdate, Mops, and church to play with other kids, but she is still learning how to be social and play with others. I would like to think I am not one of those moms that freaks out when her kid gets pushed or hurt by another kid, but a small bit of that came out in me today. Avery was so excited to be there and be jumping around that she got a little impatient and would put her hands on the other kids in front of her, not to push, but so that she could squeeze on by and she would also cut in front of other kids who were waiting in line. This was her first time so I pulled her aside a couple of times to tell her to wait her turn and be patient. BUT there was this one girl who was not happy with Avery. She kept glaring at her and putting her hands out in front of Avery to get her to wait and slow down. I watched the first few times to see how she would handle it. She just moved back and waited, but again would soon forget and run ahead for another turn. Finally the girl started to push Avery back a bit so I stepped in. I reminded Avery to wait and politely told the girl it was Avery's first time and she was just learning. The little girl, remember she was probably 3-4 yrs old, glared at me and huffed with anger. I was so annoyed and wanted to give the girl a piece of my mind, but I resisted. (I was the bigger person :) The class was soon over so I did not have to deal with it again. I did not know what the best thing was to do. Let it go and let them work it out? Let the teacher and helper, who were overwhelmed because one was out sick, deal with the issue, or continue to step in and be the peacemaker. I know she will get it after a few times and the more exposure she has to playing with other kids will teach her the "rules of fair play", but I had a glimpse into the future as she begins to have to deal with friends and school. I could imagine her running up to me after school and complaining about a friend who pushed her or called her a name or how much she loves/hates her best friend that day; A vision of her teacher telling me how Avery hit and yelled at another kid floated in my mind as well. Yes, this is just the beginning of fun things to come our way.

Pismo, cont.

As previously stated, I took my truck out to the Oceano Dunes SVRA in Pismo. I met up with Steve and some other full size broncos. I was the only non-bronco of the group, but it was fun trying to hang with the V8's. Truck came out in one piece and under its own power (more than I can say for Steve's bronco, LOL).

Baby Ruby

My good friend Sarah, aka the best college roomie ever, is having her first baby. Little Ruby is due in March and I have been working for the last few days on some gifts. The first is a fun monkey bib and burp cloth. I love this fabric. The next is a "hooter hider" as they are called. They are fabulous for breastfeeding in public. Just slip it over your neck and you are completely covered. I made one for myself before our disneyland trip and it is so nice to not have to mess with positioning a blanket and always making sure everything is where it is supposed to be. Mine is not nearly as cute, but does the job all the same. Making these gifts has been so fun. I can't wait to met baby Ruby!

Laughs and Giggles

I absolutely love this picture of Riley. It is such a sweet face and her blue eyes really stand out. She has started laughing and last night I really had her going in a game of Peek-a-boo. A child's laugh is truly one of the greatest sounds. She is getting so big and Jaron is constantly saying how he wants her to stop growing and stay small. As I am sitting here writing she is getting very close to rolling over and we now have to be careful when laying her down on the changing table and ottoman. I am really trying to love every day with her and not try to rush her into growing up.

...and all I got was one lousy picture

No, the picture is not lousy, but it is the only one that was taken on our trip to Arroyo Grande last weekend. We went for a short trip to visit our friends Steve and Kelci and their 2 girls. Jaron and Steve headed to the dunes on Saturday and I stayed with Kelci at the house. We had a great time- Jaron with his truck at the beach and I chatting about everything crafty with Kelci. Avery kept saying how excited she was to see Bella and they had a great time together. When we were in the car to go home, she informed us she did not want to go home, but stay with Bella. Fun times.

6 years of wedded bliss

Jaron and I also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary today. Avery's big day sort of overshadows our day of love, so we will celebrate with a dinner at La Fondue thanks to my parents on another day!