Thirty Flirty and Thriving

Yep. Today is that day. I'm 30. My husband and two children are asleep and I am enjoying a quiet morning eating apple crisp and pondering the cosmos. As I thought of turning 30, the movie, 13 Going on 30 popped into my head. I definitely was the awkward, flat-chested geeky girl at 13. And while I haven't completely shed the geekiness, I love where I am in life today.

I am married to the man of my dreams - who by the way wrote me the sweetest note for my birthday and is sending me to the spa. I have a super spunky two-year-old girl who is always excited to see Mommy. And a sweet, smiley baby boy who I could just EAT UP! I have the BEST Mom and Dad I could ask for, Five incredible sisters, three cool brothers, 23 super fun nieces and nephews and I can pick up the phone and call my mom, my sisters, or my cousin Natalie anytime just to chat. I love getting together with my family and am excited to spend my special day with them!

Oh - I hear Sarah. I will have to post later about the wild-and-crazy monkey-themed birthday party Roger threw me before we left San Francisco.

Youth Conference

I can't believe I haven't posted about Youth Conference. We had an amazing weekend with almost 1,000 youth from the Bay Area. I think our service project was one of my favorite parts of it. Each youth was challenged to bring 60 cans of food. It was a "hard" task that was asked of them, but I was touched at how many of the youth followed Nephi's "I will go and do" attitude from the Book of Mormon. This resulted in more than 20,000 pounds of food for those in need! I feel so blessed to be able to serve with the youth of the San Francisco Stake.

During the closing session of our youth conference, we showed the this clip to our youth. Channel 2 News had come in the morning while we were loading the Second Harvest Food truck and did a story. As we watched the video, the youth cheered and the leaders cried. I feel so grateful we were able to help out so much during such a challenging time for so many. Thanks again to all who dropped off food!

I just received this amazing wrap up video from one of the young women leaders in our stake. She did a fantastic job putting it together and I just had to share it. I LOVE IT! (BTW I am at 6:33 next to the astronaut.)

The Green Monster

So, after laboring for more than a year, as many of you already know, experimenting in some strange mad-scientist sort of way with my, what some have had the nerve to call, blended lettuce recipe, which in time is to become the ultimate meal replacement total-body-nutrient-supplying juice, understandably, referred to in our household as the “Green Monster”, and after needlessly wasting time wearing out multiple sub-par inferior blending devices, I have finally acquired the end to end all blending machines; yes, none other than the infamous Vita-mix 5200 (a.k.a. Heaven-mix) lifestyle machine graces our kitchen, resting in its designated granite counter top zone heralded by me as arguably the most important and protected section of real estate in the kitchen, anxiously awaiting the next moment its switch is methodically flipped indicating permission by its master that the time has come again to create a blended work of art. (yes, Hillary is cringing at the sight of horrendously long run-on sentence).

I would venture to say this machine miraculously creates manna from heaven, in liquid form, and I am excited. The night of its grand opening I immediately made a number of yummy blended treats, while simultaneously entertaining those lucky enough to be present with heart-felt and emotionally driven dance moves that I can only explain as being learned from poorly executed touchdown celebrations.

Thus, a toast to all those who’s ambition it is to develop the ultimate juice with the perfect balance of functional nutrition and the subtle blend of savory taste which entices the women folk to partake. Bottoms up!... and when in the neighborhood please stop by for a sip.

Princess Party

Sarah went to a princess party today and got to see Snow White, Cinderella and Belle. Sarah was in HEAVEN! She got to take lots of pictures, listen to princess stories, dance with the princesses, make a crown, color pictures, and eat princess cake. What is better than that? Sarah has been acting like a little princess ever since. After her nap she insisted I fix her hair - complete with crown - and put on another princess dress. I guess she's not all tomboy. And yes I am going to have to get the streamer wands. Sarah L.O.V.E.D them!



Enjoy the pics :)

More Palace

I had all intention to go to playgroup at Fairytale Land in Oakland on Wednesday, but I just didn't have the energy to go. Instead, we diverted our trip to the Palace of Fine Art. On our way, I called my "last-minute-friend" Stephanie to bring Kenzie & Jordyn and meet us there. It was fun to just enjoy a few minutes in the sunshine and relax. I LOVE this place.

5 Months!

I know, I know, I'm a little late. But here are Will's 5 month pictures!


A little about Will ... He is our smiley, patient, happy boy. He LOVES his big sister, Mommy, Daddy, Cyndi, Mary, Jenna, ... well pretty much everyone! He likes to eat, sleep and play. He especially loves sitting/standing in the exersaucer. He is content to lay on the play mat, but would rather be in the bumbo or exersaucer so he can see more! His legs and neck muscles are getting so strong. I'm excited to get out the Johnny Jump Up soon.

Will has had a croup cough twice in the last 6 weeks. Poor guy. We broke down and bought a humidifier. Sarah never needed one. Even though he was fairly sick, he didn't really complain. There were a couple of mornings where he wanted me to hold him all morning, but other than his sad barky cough you wouldn't have known he wasn't feeling well.

Will is growing steadily. I'm excited to see what he weighs at his 6 month appointment in May. I have a feeling he's going to be wanting Sarah's car seat by the end of the summer. Let me know if you have a recommendation for Sarah's next car seat.

Also during this past month we tried introducing rice cereal. Here he is unsuspecting the first bite.


Here he is - unsure of what is going in his mouth.


Here he is swallowing. Yes, he did swallow ONE bite.


But alas, this is his opinion of Rice Cereal. We'll try again in another week or two... I mean, really, he's not going to starve without it at this point.


I think that's all this month for our cute William. He is so fun to be around. Here he is with Daddy. This is really the face William likes to wear most of the time. He LOVES smiling at us when we talk to him, play with him, etc. Oh I could eat him up!


Oh and in case you were wondering. Here's Sarah at 5 months (William does this "reverent" pose as well. So cute.)

Easter at Fawn Hill

I know you've all been anxiously awaiting my Easter post so I will tease you no further. I also just discovered that I can share a slide show of our pics with the picasa technology. I.LOVE.IT.



However, there is a slight downside to putting all the pictures in a slide show format because I can't narrate each one. I say "slight downside" because, well, there are many of you who just want to see the pictures. But in case some of you want the synopsis of the trip here I go ...

I picked up Rog and Cyndi just after 1 pm on Friday for our two-hour drive up to Fawn Hill (Auburn). Highlights: Sarah and Will slept. Rog ate his lunch in the car. Cyndi, Rog and I discussed Holy Week and debated about when the Last Supper was given.

We arrived at Fawn Hill around 3:30 and met "Boppa" Heber and Grandma Ann (our host and hostess). Cyndi's brother Craig and his family (wife Susie and kids Carly, Sam & William) were also visiting for their spring break. Afternoon activity highlight: Feeding the neighbors' donkeys and stick racing in the ditch. Sarah was "scared" (her new favorite word) of having the donkeys eat out of her hand. However, William braved it like a champ. Sarah's stick did pretty good during the race down the irrigation ditch, but Cyndi's stick pulled through with the victory.

Friday night highlights: Super yummy Easter Dinner. (Craig's family needed to leave Saturday morning.) Everything was delicious. I especially LOVED the salad and Sarah scarfed down two rolls! (This is somewhat spectacular from my low-carb queen.) After dinner we dyed Easter Eggs. Since this was Sarah's third time dying eggs in a two-week period she was a PRO. She was just a little disappointed that she didn't get the same free-reign as she had at home. She consented to let William, Sam and Carly have a turn. After we put the kiddos to bed, Rog and I enjoyed the incredibly good homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and settled in to watch Get Smart. It had been a while since we had seen it in the theaters, but Roger still laughed so hard he had tears coming from his eyes. We may need to own that movie ...
Oh and before we went to bed, the Easter Bunny helpers filled the plastic eggs and snacked on way to many chocolates in the process.

Saturday morning after breakfast we found that the Easter Bunny had taken all of the plastic eggs and dyed eggs and hid them outside. Sarah had a great time finding the eggs - especially the ones that made noise. She even stomped on one hard-boiled egg. I still don't know if she knew it was an egg or if she just thought it was part of the rocks. After all the eggs were found, we headed over to the well road to roll our eggs. Sarah didn't quite understand the "rolling" technique and threw her egg down the hill. The poor thing, there wasn't too much left of it by the time we got to the bottom.

The Easter Bunny left clues for treasure hunt that ended with the kids finding their Easter Basket. Sarah was particularly excited to find that there was "Juice" in her bag and ALL of the eggs in it made noise when she shook them.

With all of the exercise we had chasing down the bunny treats, we decided it was time to hop into the hot tub (or pool as Sarah referred to it.) We played a game of corners that was super fun.

Wow ... we did a lot and it's just lunchtime!

After eating a quick lunch, we said goodbye to Craig and his family and were off to Bridgeport for some hiking. Sarah and Will napped in the car on the way down. I think Rog and I even got a quick snoozer in. The hike was BEAUTIFUL! Sarah found a stream right before we turned around and had a great time throwing rocks with Daddy. I kept William out of the sun with Cyndi's visor. It was fun to learn the names of the plants along the way.

When we got back to the car we proceeded to eat all of the snacks we forgot to take with us on our hike. We were famished!

We had another yummy dinner - this time Enchilada Casserole. (Yes, they were speaking Roger's love language.) Sarah loved it too!

After the kids went down, Cyndi, Ann and I worked on the quilts for girls camp. Yes, Ann and Cyndi are very talented over-achievers. They helped me start on a 9-patch square for the Stake Young Women's contribution to the quilts. In 2 1/2 hours I was able to put together 1/3 of the square (x25). I had tremendous pressure to get it perfect. I am not known for my exactness in sewing. I am happy to report that Ann took pity on me and did not make me redo a single row. I can't believe we didn't get a photo of this experience. I guess you'll just have to believe me when I say I did it! All the while, Rog and Heber watched The Ten Commandments on T.V. Rog did do a little studying as well.

By 10:30 we were exhausted and fell right to sleep. Again, I am thankful my babies were good sleepers away from home. Will slept in his car seat and Sarah in the pack-and-play.

Easter Sunday started early with tasty french toast and then church at 9 am. The night before, I realized that I forgot William's church pants. I was sad to not have him wear his new Easter outfit to church. However, Sarah got many a compliment with her cute green polka dot dress. And I am pleased to say we made it to church during the prelude music. I can't remember the last time I have gotten there before the welcome! On the way home, we got to drive through two tunnels - twice each. Sarah LOVED it.

In the afternoon we walked with Flat Stanley in tow to the lone pine tree on the edge of Ann and Heber's property to take pictures. Sarah wasn't too sure about riding on the swing, but ended up having a great time with Daddy. Will loved swinging with Mommy. He would smile every time the swing swung backward.

Well, I think that's all. We hopped into Cyndi's car-truck and headed back to the city. It took just over 2 1/2 hours to get home. Sarah and Will slept in the car on the way back. (Yes, we were three for three for naps in the car!)

Thanks again to Cyndi for sharing her home and family with us this weekend! We had a great time with Boppa Heber and Grandma Ann. We can't wait to go back!

Note to Self

NEVER go to the Academy of Sciences during Spring Break in San Francisco. Spring Break is a good time to stay home. Yep. Stay home.

Exercise

Sarah woke up ready to work out with Mommy and Daddy this morning.


First she hopped on for a ride while Daddy was doing a variation of push-ups as part of his abdominal workout.


We both thought his "break dance" exercise was super cool.


Mommy was also working on Abs. I prefer the 8 Minute Abs series. I don't have to think about what exercise to do next and it is only 8 minutes long - every time. Sarah thought touching her toes was super funny. The guy on the video says it's "virtually physically impossible" to touch your toes in this position. Sarah does it without breaking a sweat!

Cherry Blossoms

I love springtime. I guess that's why I live in a place where it feels like spring almost year-round. I had to read on my friend Jamie's blog to remember that in March/April - when it is really Spring - the cherry blossoms are in bloom in Japan. And since we have a little bit of Japanese heaven here in San Francisco, I made Roger go in late for work today so we could take some fun pictures at the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park.


Here are a few of our pictures from the adventure. Don't worry, we only took MORE THAN 200 PHOTOS in the hour we were there. No wonder Sarah was "all done pictures" by the time we got back to the car. Talk about the Paparazzi! The lighting was harsher than we like it, but I think a few turned out pretty cute. These will count for Sarah's two-year-old photos as well as the family Easter photos. (Though, we will likely have more Easter photos from our upcoming weekend at Fawn Hill.)

More Celery?

Yes, Sarah is her Daddy's child. This one of her parents would not be begging for "more celery" for a snack. I am happy to report that instead of the usual slice of cheese pizza to make it through our Costco trip, Sarah ate celery sticks. She was sad when the bag was empty.

After her nap, Sarah asked for chocwet and celery. Now, the chocolate definitely comes from me!

Virtue Value Experience #2

I love the new value for Young Women! I realize Virtue was generally covered by the other values - like Divine Nature, Choice & Accountability and Integrity - but I think it is great to be able to focus on virtue and purity. I am excited to do my personal progress in this area too!

Promised blessings of having the Holy Ghost as a constant companion.
John 14:26-27. Holy Ghost comforts, teaches, helps us remember and brings peace.
John 15:26. Holy Ghost testify of truth.
2 Nephi 32:1-5. Guidance.
D&C 45:57-59. The Lord will be in our midst. Posterity grows up with the gospel, truth.
D&C 88:3-4. Eternal Life, Celestial Kingdom.
D&C 121:45-46. Confidence in the presence of God, everlasting dominion.

How to qualify for Holy Ghost:
D&C 121:45-46. Virtue garnish thoughts. Charity. Faith.
2 Nephi 32:1-5. Feast upon the words of Christ.