Blog hiatus

virgin please...............
romantic dining without screaming children and mac & cheese

We won't be able to update the blog for awhile because we will be stuck here. It's a rough life! Everyone has a good week!

Quiz

Mike did the quiz and I don't know how to change it. Prop 8 is confusing because you want to vote YES not no. The prop will reverse what the supreme judges have already put into action on gay marriages. This would have a HUGE negative affect in our church, money wise and moral wise, and especially to our children. We were told in our ward that in school teachers will be required to teach the children to try both ways, even encouraged. We are so leaving the US if thats the case, that will solve all our IRS problems :) But really VOTE YES!!!!

Lunch with the Princesses!

Samantha and Savannah, hanging with Ariel
Cole was totally into the princesses too.........joking he never looked up from his food!

Going home after a busy day at disneyland! Look how happy Cole is!
Savannah loved when everyone sang to her!

I feel like Snow White and Ariel were the best cast princesses
Steven goes do you think their hair is real??? Definitly no on Aurora and Cinderella!
C
For Savannah's 4th birthday we took her to Ariel's Grotto, she has always wanted to go but I thought this would be the perfect time. Mike was all worried that it would be gross food, or like pb & j, but the food was actually really good! They have one price to pay for adults and children (outrageously expensive in true disneyland style) but it includes salad or soup, a main entree -I got salmon (very yummy), Mike got fish n chips, then a dessert and drink. Of course the girls were too preoccupied with the princesses to do any eating. Every 5 minutes or so they announced another royal princess, then she would come in and come around from table to table talking to the girls and whatnot. Very cute, around 3-6 would be the perfect age to take them (under 3 is free too!) I would highly recommend, just to see the astonished look on your little girl's face!

I'm 4!

I can't believe it but my little girl is 4! She has just blossomed into this beautiful, funny, sweet, girl! Everyday is an adventure with Savannah around and we are so blessed she was sent into our lives 4 years ago! Emily tagged Savannah so here are 7 things about her:
1) She loves princesses and her favorite- of course - is Cinderella, although she doesn't like to watch the movie yet
2) Her favorite shows are Max and Ruby and Calliou
3) She thinks soda is of the devil and recently told Mike and I that if a bad guy kidnapped her he would make her drink soda
4) She loves her "aunties" that is what she calls Jenna (real aunt), Alauna, Vanessa, Juliana, you get the picture. Every teenage girl is somehow her auntie
5) She is still tall for her age >97%, so Mike's dreams just might come true for the Olympics
6) She HATES having her hair done, but I can bribe her to do just about anything with gum
7) She loves her family and tells us all throughout the day!

Beach House

Wonder if this was the site of Ryan and Marissa's first kiss??? Any other OC fans out there? While in Newport we also tried to find Lucille's apartments from Arrested Developement. Anybody know the whereabouts??

Watching the sunset from the window (mike was downstairs on the beach when he took this)
Doesn't Savannah look grown up in this picture?? Can you believe she is almost 4!!
This is Aleena, isn't she adorable!! I think she looks like Savannah when she was younger..
Winding down before bedtime with pink milk - Samantha was getting ruined by us, I am sorry jolisa!!!
They were so excited and silly!!
Bath time fun
Coley all ready for bed after a hard day of playing in the sand and ocean
If you look in the middle window you can see Savannah peering out........
The Grimmers were nice enough to invite us to stay at the beach house they had this weekend and it was SO much fun. Let me tell you they have been such a blessing to us and the best friends! (not only because they invite us to stay at beach houses :) This is seriously the best way to vacation. The kids can play all day and if you forget anything or want to go back really quick it's just a few steps to the nap / lunch / wind down zone. The views were amazing too!
We really want to get a beach house like this next summer for the Strong family, it would be pretty affordable if we all split it. Then our kids could get to know the cousins better! We found a couple that would sleep all the families, any input on dates or interest Shannon, Natalie, Donna, and Soupie??

Frogs and Snails and Puppy dog tails!!

Me and my 2 little guys (one being in my uterus)
Another little guy like this one!!! We will totally take him!!
Ok much to Savannah's dismay, we are having a boy. When I told her she just sighed like she had given up and said okay. She also asked if she could wake up in the middle of the night and feed him a bottle. She always follows up with "That's a good idea, right?" I was totally in agreement on this one. Just don't wake me up ok Savannah. Hopefully she remembers not to microwave the breast milk. I remember being SO worried when I went to work after Cole, I would call Mike 5 times a day and ask him if he was warming the milk in the hot water, so annoying. Now I don't have to leave the kids so I won't have to worry about that!! We are super excited to have a little friend for Cole, he will love to wrestle and play with a little brother!! The machine at Los Robles doesn't have a printer so no pictures for now. I guess I will have to wait for my 20 week ultrasound............

August Update

It was Audree's baby blessing on Sunday and it was such a nice day! Steven looking happy to be eating hot dogs shortly........

Matching apple dresses - thank you gymboree fall line......
You can't see Savannah's purse, but it is very lovely. Grandma Lorraine gave her a purse made from a little striped sock, then put money in it. Then Aunt Jan made it into a necklace with some grosgrain ribbon and filled it with candy. It is a Savannah favorite now.
Audree decided she wanted to try rolling over at the ripe age of almost 2 months -(she should really only be almost 1 month but she decided to come almost 5 weeks early) We were propping her up for pictures and she kept rolling over.
Here is Samantha and Savannah. Samantha is one of Savannah's BFFs. Savannah is always asking when we can go see Samantha or when she can come visit us! We loved seeing the Grimmers this weekend! ( I posted these pics after Mike blogged because the pics weren't uploading)


Hello all who read our blog from time to time. It has been a beautiful summer and I can't believe it is nearly over. We have enjoyed ourselves so much and can't wait to see how the winter is here in Thousand Oaks. Hopefully for Nicole, it won't be nearly as cold as Lancaster was.

Savannah got a great surprise today from her doctor. I (Mike) took Savannah to the doctor today for another check up for her broken arm. The doctor said her arm is healed and said it was time to take the cast off. She just had a new cast (water proof) put on one week ago, and now it was time for it to come off? I could not believe it was already time. I always thought a cast needed to stay on from 6 to 8 weeks, Savannah's has only been on for 4 weeks to the day. So off came the cast. I thought Savannah was going to pass out with how much she was screaming and crying, even after I held the saw against my hand to show her it doesn't hurt. I think she had a harder time with the cast removal, than with the initial break. But it's off, and she just needs to keep her arm in a sling for a week. Just in time for her birthday!

Nicole said she thinks she saw gender last this morning while scanning herself at work. Does anyone want to guess what we are having? Feel free to give us your impressions.

Cole is still playing like a boy, hitting biting, scratching, pulling, jumping and falling. I'm just waiting for his bones to start breaking from all of the rough play! Nicole swears he is going to be brain dead by the time he gets to preschool, I'm just glad he likes trucks and trains and not dolls and tea parties!

Nicole and I are making final preparations for our trip to Mexico. We bought new swimsuits for ourselves (thanks to Shannon for Nicole for visiting her little favorite layers clearance sale and getting some suits for 15 dollars which nicole was super thrilled about) and have been taking self defense classes in case any drug cartel thugs try to kidnap us while we are there! Not really, but how bad would that suck if it really did happen. Maybe then I'd choose to go to Hawaii instead of Mexico, but until then, I'll take my chances.

A family of 5!!

We are quite happy with our little family of 4, but super excited to announce that I am 12 weeks pregnant! My due date is Feb 11/2009
Savannah really wants a girl, but we would be happy with either. Savannah keeps saying she just wants a little pink baby to love. She told me the other day she "prayed to Jesus that she would have a little sister so hopefully he will listen to her prayers" Hopefully her faith won't be crushed at the ripe age of almost 4! A little guy for Cole to play with would be fun too. Either way we are very thrilled at the impending addition! There will probably be an update next weekend with gender so stay tuned................