Finally Blogging

MAY

Okay so I have been missing in action when it comes to blogging lately so here it goes. I will do the last two months. First off May. May is always the craziest month in our house.

We first had the Race for the Cure in memory of Nathan's mom. We are usually out of town when they have had the Race for the Cure. So we never got to attend with Nathan's mom. I was glad we made it this year in memory of her to remember what a strong woman she was in so many ways. It was a neat day to be together as a family.

Then we had Brycen's Birthday, can't even believe he is 4. We of course had a golfing birthday. In all the craziness we only managed to get a few photos. Which is better then none. Here is one of him with his cake and candles. We had his party right after the race for the cure. Then on his birthday we took him to Cherry Hill his favorite mini golf course.

Then that same weekend we had Mother's Day and our 8th Anniversary. Nathan surprised me with my own mini laptop. Which I love taking with me places and being able to have my own computer plus its pretty darn cute. Our Anniversary was on Sunday so we didn't get to do a whole lot. Just being together and with our kids worked this year. So glad for the 8 wonderful years we have had and all that is ahead of us. I love you Nathe!

We also got to go see Grandma Mildenhall's new horse Sis and baby kitten that the kids were dying to see. Many more fun horse rides to come for sure.
As we finished off May we celebrated Nathan's birthday and Memorial day as Nathan, his Dad, and Brother Stephen built a much need shed in our backyard. I am quite thankful for it and all the hard work they did. Here are the kids at Nathan's moms grave as we traveled to all the graves, we also made it to Provo to my mom's as well.

Elise also had her Preschool graduation which was fun to watch and see how much she has progressed. We also found out that when she grows up she wants to be a Cat teacher, which she later explained to us that she will teach cats not to scratch people. Nathan and I just loved it and was glad she hadn't told her teacher that she wanted to be a snail as we thought she might of.

Somewhere in the middle of May we bought a new car needing a bigger one with the baby coming. We got a Sequoia, at first I felt like I was driving a bus, but have now gotten use to the size and enjoy it. I will have to add a picture of the car some time, when its been washed. We are enjoying it and feel blessed with all that life has brought us and all that is to come with a new baby sister on its way.

San Francisco

The end of April and first of May we got to head out to San Francisco. Nathan had to go there for a class for work. The kids and I were just glad to get out of town. This was our third trip to San Francisco and we enjoy it every time. I don't think there is a city quite like it anywhere in the world. Every time we get off the bay bridge I marvel at the beauty of it all. We had a great time and got to spend some fun times together despite the fact that Dad had to work part of the time. We spent one day walking around the Oakland temple. I had never been to it, and had just seen it from a distance. It was beautiful and the gardens we amazing as was the view. After we went down to Rodeo beach and sat in the warm sand, it was so relaxing.

The beach is covered with small dark pebbles that were warm from the sun that felt wonderful between your toes. On the way back from the Golden Gate bridge we stopped at the Palace of fine Arts and took some photos.

(Nathan took this photo with a bunch of shots and stitched it together, it's a favorite of mine and I think he did an amazing job)

Another day we went to Pier 39 and froze as it was very windy, we ate lunch at our favorite restaurant on the pier and went and saw the seals.

We also ate as much In-N-Out as we could find. I enjoyed the mall across the street from our hotel while Nathan was in meetings. Elise loved the pool at the hotel although we froze every time we went for a swim she is such a fish. We also had the luck of having my cousin Kelly and her husband be in town so we all got together with my other cousin, her sister Brooke who lives in San Francisco. We had a fun time visiting and comparing our pregnant bellies. We love San Francisco and never mind heading out there.

Zoo...Anyone

I am finally getting around to doing some blogging. It is always crazy in May, but oh so fun. We bought annual passes to the zoo this year. Anyone wanting to go let me know. The kids love it. Here are some photos from the times we have already gone this year. I love my unsuspecting animal subjects that pose in the photos with the kids. The kids think its hilarious. The kids also enjoy having a zoo map and being in charge of telling mom which way we need to go. Elise is good at finding the bathrooms on it, which is helpful for me in my pregnant state. We are looking forward to some fun and great memories at the zoo!

Good at finding

My conversation with Elise the other day consisted of the following:

Elise: Mom I am really good at seeing snails and really good at finding snails.

Me: Yes, Elise you are good at finding snails.

see here

Elise: Dad and Brycen are really good at finding golf balls.

Me: They are really good at finding golf balls.
see here

Elise: So mom, what are you really good at finding?

Me: Laughter

After giving it some thought, Elise I am good at finding your socks all over the house, but I love it!

it's a....

GIRL

Elise can't wait to be get a sister

Brycen not so sure
Mom and Dad just glad everything looks healthy
Due Date: September 4, 2009

Happy Birthday

I just wanted to take a moment and wish Jess happy birthday. She is a great sister, sister-in-law, and aunt to all of us and we love her very much. I have many fun memories of Jess and love the relationship she has always had with me and with Nathan. I still remember the day I met her and how cute she was, she is a wonderful person and such an important part of our family. Hope you had a great day. We love you.

C'est la vie

Our trip to France. We had an amazing week of Paris in the spring. First of all a HUGE thanks to Heidi and Dwight for watching the kids and taking care of them while we were gone. The kids had a blast! Our first day down in Paris we went to the flea market and then headed to the La Sacre Coeur (the Sacred Heart) church that is on a hill.

We walked about 300 stairs to go up to it and go through it. It is probably my favorite church in Paris. After seeing the interior Nathan and I paid to walk all the stairs to the top of the dome like we did in Italy. It was an amazing view. After we walked around the streets and saw the painters and sketchers. We ate lunch and headed to the Arc d'Triomphe.

We went to the top of the Arc as well and enjoyed seeing more of Paris. On the way up you are inside the Arc and can see some examples at how large the sculptures on the outside of the Arc really are. We then walked down the Champs Elysee and enjoyed seeing all the expensive stores.

The second day in Paris we went out to Versailles and saw the home of King Louis the 14th. We enjoyed the grounds and gardens, it was to bad the flower beds weren't planted. On our walk back into Paris we stopped of at the Eiffel Tower.

We ended up waiting two hours in line to go up to the top but it was worth it. We got to see the sun set from the tower and see all the lights of Paris turn on. When we got down we were walking back to the Metro and turned around to find all of the lights on the exterior of the tower flashing, giving the tower a glow of glittering. It was beautiful and amazing. The third day we went to the Louvre and got to see the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, Cupids kiss, the winged victory, and the dying slave.

The Louvre is HUGE and we had a fun time walking around and seeing some of the amazing works there. After we walked down the garden of the Tuleries and went to the Place de la Concorde where they had placed the guillotine during the revolution, we then also walked up the street and saw the Madeline a Greek looking church in Paris. The next day we came back to Paris for our last time and we went to Notre Dame.

We walked across the Seine River and went through Notre Dame and saw the amazing Rose windows and stained glass. We then went to the Musse d'Orsay which is a much smaller museum of impressionist works of art. We saw some amazing paintings. My new favorite was a work by Jean-Francois Millet called the Shepherdess with her flock. Having grown up with sheep most of my life I loved it. The other days we spent in the small village by our villa that we were staying in. We were out by Disneyland Paris and spent some time at downtown Disney. The village by our villa was so fun and everything I had always learned about France with the Bakery, the Butcher shop, the flower shop, the post office, the Fruit and Veggie stand, and the Grocery Store all right there next to each other. Nathan and I had fun going and buying some of our food at the grocery store and preparing our meals. I loved translating the packages so we knew what we were getting, and having fresh baked chocolate croissants for breakfast from the bakery. We also feel in love with the Mustard and Pickle Lays potato chips we found there and I have already called Lays and requested that they sell them in the US. We also drank as much Fanta Orange as we could. We fell in love with it in Italy so we loved having some more. It is an Orange soda but different from the US version in that it isn't as carbonated and has some grapefruit in it. Its delicious. We had an amazing time, and feel blessed to have gotten the opportunity to do it. I loved being there with Nathan and am so thankful for him, and his amazing ability to find ways for us to travel and create new experiences for us. Being able to experience something like France with someone you love so much makes it all the more amazing. Thanks for a wonderful trip Nathe, Je t'aime (I LOVE YOU)!