The Strong Family

My new camera!!!

2012-01-25T12:44:00.000-08:00

We ended the trip with a stop at Whodelicious which was I fairly impressed with- one in particular was like a cinnamon cake with a brown sugar frosting, YUM. If you are in the neighborhood check them out.

grapes!!

Creed SO wanted to climb in. The little giraffe kept coming up to the kids

Our little goofball...

Creed made a beeline right away for the snake and insect house. He LOVES it in there

In the afternoon we took a family trip to the zoo......lately I have a thing for bright colored jeans lately....

Random close ups. Can you see my pores?

I have been wanting the Canon S95 for over a year but it dropped to 220 a few days before Christmas and after a couple persuasive emails to Mike that he ignored, I bought it for myself. For him to give to me. DUH. Skip the middle man, hello....these pictures were all just taken in the manual setting but I heard its one of the best smallest cameras. We love our SLR but really don't like to take it with us everywhere. I like to have a smaller one for my bag and stroller.

For Christmas Mike gave me THIS

Christmas 2011..........

2012-01-22T13:01:00.000-08:00

Pictures of our Christmas in Utah.
We were able to spend a couple days with Geoff and Rebecca and the boys. They are so much fun!!!
Nicole was going crazy over baby Rex.

Rex has the cutest smile.
The boys got the coolest laser tag set for Christmas. We had lots of fun playing laser tag together with the kids.
This picture was taken from the South end of the Salt Lake Valley, looking North towards Salt Lake,I don't know why my son isn't wearing a jacket. I guess he's tough like his dad.

Nicole kept trying to get a good picture of all the kids. Cole literally began crying because the sun was so bright and he couldn't open his eyes for the pictures.
It seemed weird that their was no snow on the mountains. These pictures are taken from the Paragliding take-off point on the North side of the Mountain.

Savannah loves all of her dolls.
This is the Baby Alive Doll. The only thing Savannah really wanted for Christmas this year.

Cole got lots of Cars toys, animals and Squinkies. Best idea ever for the manufacturer. They are like the size of my pinkie nail so they get lost instantly and therefore parents are sent out to buy some more.
Savannah got a lot of squinkies too.
Cole loves this Darth mask. it's got a button you can push and it says some Darth one liners.
Cousins Collin and Dresden. Collin is a huge Denver fan.
Aunts Shannon and Natalie. Great Sisters, better Aunts.
Logan. Such a happy little kid. We are excited to take him with us on our secret vacation in a couple weeks. Our kids don't know about it yet so I can't say anything more than I just did.
Nana Donna and Papa John in front of their beautiful Christmas Tree. They will also be joining us on our secret vacation.
Baby Stryder. He is one happy and cute little boy. Not really little anymore, he's actually a big guy now. I'm not sure if it's Strider or Stryder. I like the name either way.
Strider drooling over the Santa Cookie from Kneaders. Nicole's favorite restaurant in Utah. The cookies, I was told, were not as good as most things at Kneaders.
Nicole and her super hot pajama model husband. I think Soupie and Grandma Ellen got a little weirded out over my pajamas equipped with a sweet moose caboose.
See!!! Tell me those are not the coolest pajamas ever!
All the grand kids after opening and putting on their pajamas from Nana and Papa.
Savannah lives for the times she gets to spend with her cousin Sydney.
Uncle Larry, Cousin Carlee and Cole celebrating their December Birthdays!
Beautiful Sydney.
Cole's best friend Tayler. She is such a beautiful little girl.
Strider and Grady. They are such good looking little boys.
Carlee and Cole.

We finally gave up on waiting for snow to fall. Instead we drove up the canyon to the snow just to let the kids throw some snow balls and to get some pictures.
Cole and Tayler making crafts at Nana's house.

We went to a jump house place down by Provo with the Nielsens. The kids had a great time.

Savannah and Drew working on a ginger bread house. One of my least favorite things to do at Christmas time! But the kids love it.

Savannah and Cole playing at the sledding hill up at Soldier Hollow.

We got to go to a trampoline gym that was a total blast. I was the only fun adult to actually get out their and play with the kids. The best part was that Savannah taught herself how to do a back flip on the trampoline. She was amazing to watch! Creed just loved being thrown into the foam pits.

Sorry, pictures obviously not in any kind of order. Clarke working with his dad on their ginger bread house.

Pirate Party at the Gateway Discovery Center...

2012-01-12T08:27:00.001-08:00

Cole's birthday is right before Christmas so it always tends to be overshadowed by Christmas plans! This year we were going to be in Utah around his birthday so decided to throw a party there. We had been to the Gateway Discovery Center before and decided to have it there since the kids absolutely loved it.

Baby Strider

Mike says Creed looks like our little edward cullen in this one. Sad how he knows who edward cullen is

Soupie, Nana, Papa and babies.. and sara trying to hide...

Present time! All Cole wanted was Angry bird stuffed animals! And he got a bunch. Like 6! Guess he has no problem telling his friends what he wants!

Birthday boy

cute carlee

Uncle Gary with Baby Rex

Make a wish!

Colin was super bored until Dresden showed up. Then his face lit up. I love to see cousins being best friends.

It was so awesome to see so many family members and friends and celebrates Coley's birthday! He is my big guy and I love him SO much. I can't believe how lucky I am to have him in my life! Happy 5th birthday Cole!

House Project

2012-01-10T21:46:00.000-08:00

I love our home. We are so lucky to have it to raise our kids in. It is in a beautiful city and our ward is amazing. But it is so so green. Green grass fronts a green house with painted green brick and framed by large green trees! So I made the decision to tear the brick off the house, build a garden wall with a nice patio area behind it so we can sit and watch our kids play, and put in a nice stacked stone on the front of the house and the garden wall.

You can see the orange paint outlining where the garden wall is going to be.

Oh, and when I say I decided to build a garden wall, I really meant someone else will build the wall for me!:>

Beautiful Nicole and handsome Cole. The wall hasn't been touched up here yet, so not quite finished. Looking good though.

Nicole looking at the house. This was more my idea than hers. She trusted me to go ahead with it. Hopefully she will enjoy it as much as I know I will. We now have one of the nicest house on the block (My opinon only of course).

Here is a view of the garden wall. I want to include a fountain just behind the wall. Nothing too big. Maybe a vase style fountain with a bubbler just to give us the sound of running water. Again, Nikki isn't really on board for this part of the project either, but I think she will trust me and my vision... Or maybe not. We shall see.

I love my so cal winters...

2012-01-10T21:41:00.000-08:00

Heavenly Cinnammon Rolls.......

2012-01-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

The Dough:

4 TBSP Yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 can evaporated milk (12 ounces)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup shortening (I use butter flavored)
4 tsp. salt
10-12 cups flour
2 eggs beaten

1. Mix water and can of evap. milk (mixture should be warm). Mix yeast in and let stand for 5 minutes in large mixing bowl. After standing for 5 minutes add salt, sugar, shortening, and eggs.

2. Work in 3 cups flour then gradually add the rest of the flour. (You might not have to add all of it. Dough should not be really dry or stiff)

3. Cover until dough doubles in size

Filling & Frosting

IN mixer add

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2-4 TBSP cinnamon

Frosting

in mixer add all at the same time

4 TBSP soft butter
1 tsp vanilla
7 1/2 c powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups cream

My favorites lately.....

2012-01-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

At first I really wanted to write a gripe post about how horrible my week at work was and how I HATE whiny dishonest people but then I remembered that there is nothing more annoying than a bitter complainer. So I decided to get over it and post about the little things that have been bringing me joy lately instead!

almond milk in my smoothies...........saves me 45 calories and tastes a little better......

My corpse bride pendant from True birds. I am finding it matches tons of my outfits lately and is super unique....
Who knew something exhisted that made it possible for a 7 year old girl and 5 year old boy who usually bicker like cats and dogs to play quietly together for 30 minutes at a time! Squinkies, my new best friend............

Cardio Barre! Never before have I found a workout class that I absolutely LOVED and looked forward to going to! We were out of town for 2 weeks and when I came back to the first class, I SWEAR I was flooded with endorphins just from walking through the door! I am totally addicted and its the best addiction I have ever had for my booty.....

I have been a long time user of Bumble and bumble's hair powder but they changed the design several years ago and I don't really like it now. Stila's hair refresher is comparable to bumble's original hair powder but smells even better! Anything that lets me skip a day of shampooing blow drying and flat ironing gets an A+ in my book.... last FOREVER too.

This one goes without saying! What's not to love, Missoni's signature style on my all time favorite stroller. Total hit....

Oh my gosh, Carinn shared the ALL TIME BEST cinnamon roll recipe with me. I mean so amazing I made them 3 times in the first week. They are divine. They are heavenly. They make you think life is good again. I will post recipe seperately.........

My eyelash extensions from Janice whom I adore and couldn't live without! It has seriously been the biggest time saver for me, especially since I take a lot of call and never wear makeup to work. Now I look like I actually got ready at 3 am....

Luxury Rebel brady boot- super comfortable and can be worn 2 ways, loving these...
and got them from myhabit.com for 80 bucks shipped!

Boatneck Tunic tee by Shade Clothing. I don't know WHAT it is about this t shirt but it is super flattering on for some reason even though its just a slouchy t shirt. Looks good with black pants, jeans, or leggings. And both pairs of my fav boots. Think I need another color.......

My new go to jeans, the snakeskin and bright blue, both from Gap. Try these jeans on if you haven't you will fall in LOVE...................

and last but not least.............

my Vince Camuto Bilco Boots (from my honey he actually has a good eye for boots) totally obsessed with how cute and comfy they are.....

Please let me know what your latest obsessions are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love new finds especially from my friends!

Polar Express

2012-01-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

This year instead of toys my Dad and Lisa gave our family tickets for the Polar Express in Fillmore. The kids were excited about it for weeks. And I was excited to have 3 less toys to find places for! Savvy had her robe and pajamas after minutes after getting home from school. It was super cute and the kids loved it...

Whenever we eat anywhere in a new city we always use Yelp to find a good restaurant. This time it pointed us in the direction of Yannis I would highly recommend.....

Strong Kids 2011

2011-12-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

Holiday Pictures 2011. Thank you Miriam . Dang I just can't stop looking at these pictures and thinking how beautiful my kids are! And how painless this photography session was. Literally like 20 minutes and we were done. Good thing one of my parenting methods is bribery (and that Miriam is amazing). Made a quick stop at the dollar store after. Hey we all do things to get SOMETHING, I don't care what any of you say. Raising your kids may seem selfless, but part of the reason we do it is so they can turn out to be good people. Go to church and choose the right so you can feel the spirit and get blessings. Go to work to earn money. Might as well start them young. The other day I was at Sprouts and telling a screaming Creed if he stopped I would give him a balloon. An old lady next to me stopped and said well I know who's in charge here. I smiled at her politely and thought to myself easier said than done!! I handed over the balloon when he stopped, making the rest of my shopping trip stress free (and quiet). So I'm in charge lady.....but thanks for the advice....:)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

christmas day 2011

Rex the masseuse

2011-12-23T19:35:00.001-08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Nielsen house

Disney in the Rain

2011-12-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

our favorite days at Disney, when its raining and there's only a 5 minute wait to see Rapunzel!!

Terrible Twos.........

2011-12-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

Its a good thing he's so cute because he's is SO busy......constantly finding places he shouldn't be in and things he shouldn't be messing with. He loves taking the clean clothes out of the hamper and sitting in them.

Could there be a better place to sit back, relax and read than the piles of folded laundry I just spent 30 min folding?

More pictures of my kids in costumes...

2011-12-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

I know at this point I have posted about 5 posts of my kids in their Halloween costumes but its still not enough right? Halloween we spent at the west's like we did last year. Enjoyed the good company and yummy food (even thought the kids were too excited to actually eat!) Don't worry they had their fill of candy later.

October picture blog

2011-12-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

this is going to be a picture only blog because it seems like our life is too crazy lately to actually add in captions! hopefully I will find some time next week to update some of our more recent happenings. Fall has been going too fast, can't believe Christmas is almost here....

viva las vegas!

2011-11-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

We went to a family reunion in Vegas for the weekend. Did lots of swimming, playing with cousins, hit up a chocolate factory, Kids museum, and most of all enjoyed our family!!

random!

2011-10-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

finally found my camera and here's some of the shots that were hiding on it...
my adorable kids loving mickey....

its tarzan's treehouse now! Can you believe it, used to be the Swiss Family Robinson one...

This time's the one!

Much needed nap....

First day of school for savvy! Besties reunited....

first morning of school...............lazy days of summer are over! Sad for mom more than anyone...

Underwood Farms

2011-10-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Every year we take a trip to the Underwood Family Farms at Halloween time. Here are the kids at the end listening to the country band play and eating their snacks.

Unlimited snowcones- we got 2 refills..........gotta get our moneys worth!

Creed started getting a little tired at the end and decided to cover himself with his hat

Our little cowboys

Everyone LOVED climbing up and jumping down the hay stack.

Creed couldn't get enough of brushing the goats.

They went down this John Deere slide about 20 times.

we love the farm!

Purple Pixies

2011-10-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Soccer season is here! We have loved watching Savvy play and Mike has enjoyed coaching...........

Goodbye to the Fuj's.............

2011-10-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

Our good friends the Fujikawas are moving to Italy! While we are thrilled for them we are so sad to lose such amazing and fun friends! Can't wait to visit in the spring.....Italy here I come......:)

half days.........

2011-10-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

Last week Savannah had all half days and it was awesome! We went to the beach, lots of park days and play dates, Savvy went ice skating, and went on a few walks. Spent a day at the Santa Barbara zoo too............

BOO

2011-10-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how cute the custumes are getting! I look so amazing, don't I!!! Well, the kids look cute. Savannah is going to be a brown haired Tinker Bell, Cole is a knight and Creed is a skunk. I am Buzz Light Year.

Savannah and Ruby at the church party. They both won fake teeth playing carnival games.

TO3 kids

Our handsome Sir Cole. He loves his costume. He'll tell you a hundred times that it comes with a real sword.

I'd look like I was happier if I wasn't wrapped in a multi color emergency blanket!

In the background you can see a skunk sneaking around and refusing to do what he is supposed to do.

Our beautiful fairy princess.

Finally a picture of the skunk!

We were worried Creed wouldn't want to keep the head of his costume on, but he was actually the opposite. He would get frustrated with it if it came off.

Creed and daddy before getting all dressed up.

Quesadillas!

2011-10-07T11:32:00.001-07:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Eating on the run...

2011-10-04T10:40:00.001-07:00

I guess creed wanted a banana when I was taking a shower and one just wouldn't cut it?

I sorry mama. He said immediately. I then took some pics and made him clean everything up. Couldn't help myself, he is the busiest toddler....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Creed having a snack....

Fun trip with Nana and Papa

2011-10-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

We had a fun visit from Nana and Papa a few weeks ago! Still can't find my camera so stole these pics from her.

sleepovers in the loft

Small World

Space Mountain

First day of Preschool. Excuse me pre kindergarten (Cole gets bugged when you call it preschool!)

Concert in the Park

Splash pad fun

Enjoying noodles in downtown Pasadena

Right when we got there Creed leaned into a HUGE pile of peacock poop. It was the nastiest thing ever. That shirt got thrown away.

Playing at the park
We loved having them and had a blast....

2011-09-29T22:20:00.001-07:00

Lost my little camera so sorry for the lack of updates lately! Here's what we have been up to....

Tirp to disney

Lots of fun watching savvy play soccer...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Disney and soccer

Summer days 2011

2011-09-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

lots of days spent in swim suits.........

Lots of riding around in the beautiful So. Cal 75 degree weather

Lots of impromtu naps from pure exhaustion

A quick trip to Sea World with the Batemans

Savvy developed a new hobby- its her new favorite thing EVER and she was actually super good at it!

New bike for savvy............sad story, we went on walks almost everyday to the hill close to our house. Well one day we were running late and I didn't bother to hide the bike, thinking WHO WOULD STEAL A SIX YEAR OLDS BIKE! Well it turns out there are a lot of sick wierdos out there and guess what, when we came back down it was gone. So sad. Savvy cried the whole way home.

Picked up this beauty off craigslist though and we are all better now

Spent lots of time playing in various water fountains....

I know its SO cliche, but why does the summer always fly by SO fast! It is unbelievable. We are going into our 3rd week of school. So fall is upon us and I have yet to share and document some of the fun happenings of summer. This will be a mostly picture blog but will summarize whats been going on pretty well.................

Disney in August....

2011-08-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

We went to D land on Savvy's Bday!

Eating dole pinapple whip.........yum....

fighting over who gets to ride in the chariot........

Met up with Linnae and Brent for the first half of the day and Jody for the second half. It was super fun

Bugs World ride

Pluto!

Creed taking a little nap. This guy took 3 hour naps BOTH times we went to disney...so nice!

Sweet baby eden...

Mommies and their strollers..........

So the following pics are from a couple weeks ago. We went to disneyland when Jenna and Kellan came down for a visit. We stayed ALL day and had a blast!

creed lost a shoe during his nap :(

We love disney and love Jenna and Kellan! We are ready for your next visit!

Baby love....

2011-08-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

It made me so sad today when I was looking at these pictures and thinking how I grew up with my cousins like we were all brothers and sisters and now I rarely get to see them. Wish we could all live closer together!

People who think they are done having kids should not be allowed to hold babies this cute....

Lake Louise & Maligne Lake

2011-08-13T14:57:00.001-07:00

The Chateau Lake Louise- one of the most gorgeous views ever....

After speding two days in Edmonton and St. Albert, we headed back down South and West to the mountains. The rain finally cleared and the mountains looked amazing. This post will be mainly about Lake Louise and Maligne Lake, though one or two pictures of Banff Springs may have snuck in.
The above picture is my two beautiful girls sitting in front of Maligne Lake. I love the color of the water.

I always thought of the Utah Rocky Mountains as tall and rugged, but once you see the Canadian Rockies in person, it's a whole different league of rugged!

This is the view from inside the Chateau Lake Louise. The hotel is absolutely amazing! We didn't stay there, but I did get to take Savvy and Cole on a canoe ride out on the lake.

Creed loved exploring the nature surrounding him. The squirrels and rabbits gave him plenty to chase.

They had these really neat canoes that lifted Savannah high above the water to get a birds eye view of the lake and mountains! Just kidding. Just a lot of weight in back.

I love this picture. It just seems so peaceful and beautiful. It also reminds me of when I worked at Schofield Aquatics Camp and taught canoeing. We had a 30 passenger canoe that we would use to take scout troops out to the island for an overnighter.

The Chateau Lake Louise.

The water is so blue it looks fake. There is such a high mineral content that you can't even see through it, even though it's probalby some of the cleanest water on earth!

Cole and Savannah did such a wonderful job out on the canoe that when the opportunity arose for me to purchase a canoe, I jumped at the chance! I can't wait to put our canoe out in the water in some of the lakes around us.

Edmonton and West Edmonton Mall

2011-08-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

After leaving Calgary, we drove North to Edmonton. The weather was miserable and wet so we sorta hung out at West Ed Mall the entire time. The kids were not dissapointed with that. We didn't end up going to the water park in the mall because three of the main slides were closed. We did get to go on the bumper boats, we saw a sea lion show, we went glow in the dark miniature golfing, we went bowling and best of all we all got to go to the amusement park! All inside the mall! The picture above is of the Edmonton Legislative Building (I think). Sad, I can't even remember something like that. I love the color of the stone though.

Cole and Savannah on the Ferris Wheel inside Galaxy Land.

Is Creed chewing on his tongue? Oh I hope he didn't get that trait from me!

One of several roller coasters that winds through the amusement park. It was neat to see how much they could fit into a reasonably small space.

St. Albert, Alberta, Canada

2011-08-13T13:54:00.001-07:00

My last area was in a suburb just outside Edmonton called St. Albert. This is downtown. I loved St. Albert so much. We drove by the apartments I lived in and drove out to the softball fields and grain elevators. The city is so beautiful and green and the sturgeon river flows right through the heart of the city. It actually reminds me of where we live because it has a continuous ring of natural land surrounding it.

I remembered this church from when I served here and always loved the name. Nicole didn't think it seemed as funny as I did.

Grain elevators like these are scattered all across the country side in Alberta. These two are on the outskirts of St. Albert and just down the road from the softball fields. The last person I was able to teach, and who was baptized, gave me a painting of the softball fields and these grain elevators.

Creed wasn't too happy with Savannah and Cole holding his hands for this picture.

This photo was taken by Savannah. She loves taking pictures with any camera, whether it be on an ipad, phone or camera. She is still working on holding the camera straight.

Nicole said that maybe we can move to Canada. She really loved how green, clean, and alive everything was. No, we won't be moving to Canada, but we really did enjoy ourselves while we were there.

Canada Vacation Calgary Part 2

2011-08-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we are true tourists. We had two camera's and therefore you are stuck with lots and lots of pictures. These are pictures of us in Calgary. These posts are all going to be mixed up so I'm going to stop trying to do it in chronological order and just talk about what is seen in the pictures. Enjoy! Just arriving in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Just look how clean the sidewalks are in Calgary. This is right downtown near the Calgary Tower. Crazy how clean the cities were.

It's hard to tell what this is, but it's Creed standing on a glass outcropping high above Calgary at the top of Calgary Tower. He loved looking down at the small taxi cabs cruising by picking up their soggy passengers.

This is a picture of me. You are seeing West towards the Kananaskis Mountains and Banff National Park. It was extremely rainy and cloudy so you can't see the mountains, but on clear days the mountains look like they are right next to the city.

Mom and Creed looking out over Calgary. Creed loved being up so high above the city!

Cole and Creed hanging out like best buds. I love what great travelers our kids are. We love taking them places. If only we could go to more places more often!

This picture is of the Calgary Zoo from the Calgary Tower. You can see the Rain Forest exhibit and the bridges leading to the Zoo.

Cole wasn't quite so confident standing on the glass ledge.

We were walking around downtown and we came across the Fairmont Calgary. We wandered inside and took some pictures. This is Nikki and Savvy in the lobby.

This is the footbridge leading to Princess Island Park. We let the kids chase the squirrels and play at the playgrounds.

Everything was so green and alive. Savvy wanted to run ahead and just play. I loved this bridge in the background.

HA!!! See! Black Squirrel!!! I wanted to steal some and bring them back here.

The kids were so excited to see this little family of ducks. They were just sitting in a little puddle that had formed under a tree in the middle of the park.

I don't remember seeing any parks in Los Angeles that look like this one.

Canada Vacation-Calgary part 1

2011-08-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

So back in June Nikki and I took our little family to Canada where I served my mission. We flew into Calgary and spent a few days there and then headed up to Edmonton for two days and finished up down in Banff for two days before driving back to Calgary for our flight home.

The next several posts are going to be dedicated to our trip to the Beautiful Country of Canada!

No, not a real live deer. Just a mount inside the Bass Pro Shop in Calgary. I can never get enough of Bass Pro Shop's and Cabela's. The kids love them too. Nicole is only partial to them but patient with me and the kids.

Savannah would do well in Canada, she loves the cold weather like her dad, and enjoys the rain and snow.

The first couple of days it was raining non stop. We still enjoyed ourselves though. This is Nicole standing in front of the Calgary Skyline with the Bow River and Princess Island Park between her and the city. Calgary and Edmonton are both so green, clean, beautiful and full of such friendly people!

If you look close you can see the pedestrian bridge that takes you to Princess Island Park. The park is awesome and their are these black squirrels that I have never seen anywhere but right in Calgary.

The first full day in Calgary we headed to their Zoo which is located on an island of the Bow River. I was able to go to the Zoo twelve years ago when I was serving in Calgary and I remembered it to be really nice. It did not dissapoint! The animals were so lively and up close for the kids to see. Savannah was upset in this picture because she just realized that mom packed her tan coat instead of her blue coat.

This animal is called a Red Panda. I learned that this animal is not related to a Panda at all. In fact, it is more closely related to a bear than to a panda or a racoon, which it also resembles. Really neat looking animal though regardless.

This tiger was so agitated. There were two other tigers just on the other side of the metal fence it is looking at, and for some reason this guy was isolated and not happy. He was growling and snorting and staring the kids down. Really cool to see up close

Our hotel in Calgary was so nice. Not super luxurious or anything but so great for a family! There was a nice sized indoor swimming pool with a huge tube water slide that Savannah lived on for the few days we were there.

Creed thought the hot tub was just a little too hot.

I published the pictures backwords! This was us on our way to LAX from the Hotel where we parked the car. SO excited!

This picture of Cole was taken just before we left the house. I guess he was just a little upset. Luckily, his fits don't usually last too long.

Tropical Daze.......

2011-07-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy lately. And now that I discovered how to blog from my new ipad 2......well lets just say everyone will be more informed about the strong daily happenings. Loving my new ipad, takes pictures and posts to the blog with little effort! Genius. This morning we had the pioneer day breakfast followed by a cub scout auction. We went in with the batemans and bought a canoe. Scott and Mike swear they will use it tons. Hmmmmm.........lets see if that happens.....after we headed to the Tropical Daze, an event at our local park. There were tons of booths, jump houses, lots of yummy food. Here is Savvy holding a tarantula...she loved it.

The snake....

Yes the apple fritter is bigger than Creed's head. And yes I ate it all. Please don't judge until you have tasted a fresh apple fritter. I am feeling a little queasy right now but it was totally worth it..

My super cute new shoes.....on their maiden voyage

Creed wanted NOTHING to do with the jump houses. They freak him out. If you even turned toward them he stated to cry...

We let the kids jump about an hour to burn off some energy....

All Creed wanted to do was look at the birds. There was a bird there who had been on regis and kelly and a bunch of other shows. He was pretty funny. The guy would ask him questions and he would shake his head yes or no, whistle, etc. Super cute.

Hula hooping contest....
Mike's the winner :) Love how he moves those hips ;)

Look we we won in the cub scout auction!

2011-07-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

We came home from the cub scout auction this morning with a new toy...

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Family day

2011-07-22T16:18:00.001-07:00

Eating Sprinkles salted Carmel cupcake at the beach on a gorgeous breezy day watching my kids play- is this heaven?

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Location:Santa Monica

2011-07-14T17:49:00.001-07:00

It's rough being 4. Obviously he's not as excited about dinner as me....

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Location:On our way to get dinner at cafe rio

White Water Rafting

2011-07-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

We went on a new adventure last weekend. White water rafting. And i learned why they call it white water-because the where there are rapids the water churns and makes it turn white. Exciting and informative!

Bridget and Scott

Kathy and Tim

Mike threatening to dump me

Lydia and Kathy

Scott has his own equipment and invited us out. there were 2 groups of 8

Taking a much needed lunch break. Rafting is hard work! We left the house at 6 am and didn't get home until 11 pm. We rafted down the river like 5 times I believe? the last run one boat started at the top with more rapids. Of course I was stupid enough to want to go down that run. Bridget and I were steering in the front. Scott was giving directions in the back. We were headed straight for a rock and not hearing any instructions from Scott. We hit it and the entire boat flipped. It was pretty freaky. But what an adreneine rush! I definitly want to go again. It was hard work but relaxing when you just got to sit and float down the river at times.

Yosemite time!

2011-07-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Every year we try to get to Yosemite to get some camping in. This year we went a little later expecting the water level to be a little less. We were SO wrong! It was the highest I have ever seen it. All the falls were gushing with water and there were tons of extra falls that usually aren't even there! It was beautiful...

We saw a momma bear and her cubs. There was 3 of them and they were jumping on the logs and climbing trees. So cute

John and Donna joined us for our adventure. We stayed at a nearby KOA since we couldn't get camping in the park and drove in in the mornings.

After one of our long hikes we stopped for a much needed ice cream break

Creed fell asleep so I went on a nice walk around the park with him while everyone else crammed into the bus. It was nice...

The highlight of the trip of course for Creed was throwing rocks-can't ever get enough of that!

Beautiful Donna!

Bribery with Twizzlers....

So funny, Stephanie and Michael happened to be in Yosemite one day the same day as us, so we got to see them! She looks adorable with her cute baby belly....

We hiked to the bottom of nevada falls to eat some lunch and look at the falls

Then headed over to Yosemite Falls.

the kids had a rare moment of getting along and sharing their chips. I kept all kinds of junk in our house at all times and the kids usually couldn't really care less about eating it. But I don't ever buy chips (mainly because I am seriously just not that tempted by them) and as a direct result the kids are obsessed with them. Even Creed begs for chips. So whenever we go out of town or to the zoo or disneyland we take them. Savvy started calling them zoo chips when she was 2 and it stuck. So if my kids ask you for zoo chips they are looking for doritos.........

Creed loving his big brother....

Saw a few deer but not as many as usual

It was super fun and beautiful! We are so happy John and Donna were able to meet up.

Camping at Refugio

2011-06-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

spent the last day in Solvang. Good friends good food good fun!!!!

A little late posting this but still worth being posted. Savannah and her new friend. We went camping at Refugio State Beach and were lucky enough to stay in the group camp spot which was awesome!

Creed enjoying a ride on Katana's shoulders.

The weather was crazy. Extremely windy.

Mom and Creed enjoying the view looking out over the ocean.

Creed munching on fresh caught halibut-to die for!

Looks like the kids had a nice night doesn't it.

Our Savvy playing with her friends. The kids played so well together the entire time. That happens about once every month so it's kinda a big deal!

Creed cuddling with mama.

Even though it was freezing cold, the kids still loved playing in the sand and water.

This reminded me of those sunblock commercials where the dog is pulling down the little kids swimsuit. Just a different variation.

I'm not sure what Cole is doing in this picture. It looks kind of like he's trying to floss his teeth with a bow and ribbon or something.

Creed has become a little monkey. If he see's a table he feels like he has to be on top of it.

Savannah getting ready for a bike ride on her cruiser.

Daddy and Cole hangin out.

Cole didn't want to ride his bike, he opted for his scooter instead. We did get to go on a decent bike ride as a family along the bike path. On the way back we found a snake. I tried picking it up but their weren't any sticks for me to pin his head down.

All in all we had a great time even though the wind almost blew us into the ocean. I was just glad we had our tent trailer.

Cole graduated!

2011-06-06T15:37:00.001-07:00

From preschool. To preschool. Lol. It was a big to do and we were super excited. :)

Los Angeles World Affairs Council dinner

2011-06-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Our friends invited us to a dinner.............. President Uchtdorf was the key note speaker. He did a great job. Especially with the question and answer session. I really enjoyed it...........Mike was supposed to get Bridget in this picture too but didn't do the best job. You can see half her face though :)

We had Savvy take a few pics before........not too often we get dressed up and go to fancy dinners...we need to do it more often. It was nice and relaxing. Plus stimulating. Perfect evening out with great friends!

hanging out at home....

2011-06-06T15:14:00.002-07:00

I think Creed looks exactly like Mike's baby pics in this picture! It is crazy

My cute kids....

School field trip and visit from grandpa steve....

2011-06-06T15:14:00.001-07:00

Grandpa Steve came for the weekend. We played wii, went hiking, watched a softball game that mike convinced him to join in, went to stone fire grill.............had a great time!!

I got to supervise a field trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo. The kids loved it.....

What's happening?

2011-05-26T14:30:00.001-07:00

Day at the Park

Running

Riding

Climbing

Jumping

and swinging of course!

I recently upgraded to the 2011 Bob Revolution. I figured with how much I use my stroller and how badly I wanted to try the new one what the heck? Plus my friend found me a deal that ended up actually making me a little money after selling the old one. LOL. After trying both I decided to stick with the new one. There are a few differences but the push is the same and that's what I am most concerned with. I love the look of the black/grey, very sleek.

Took it on a little walk up the hill

Here on the right you can see the top of the hill we climb.

Girls Weekend!

2011-05-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

We really wanted to go up to Utah together as a family this weekend but are really over the long drive. So we decided Mike would fly up and take the boys and I would stay with Savvy so she could go to school (plus it gets expensive to fly with 5 people since Creed turned 2!) I am sad I didn't get to see everyone in utah and meet our new nephew, but Savvy and I had a blast and got to hang out tons. It turned out to be such a fun weekend! Heres a few of the fun things we did this weekend
Chopped Savvy's hair! It was getting super long and grows super fast so we really just took her in for a trim. It was her idea to get it super cut-like Rapunzel at the end. I am in LOVE, it looks adorable and I won't have bring her to tears everyday trying to comb through it-she has a TON of hair and it gets really tangly.

Shopping, found this cute dress at gap among others :)

Love her tooth missing. This might be one of the last pics we have of it, it seems to be growing in pretty fast

For mother's day we had Sara over and made this SUPER delish dessert, oh my gosh it was divine. (as you can see by the amount that was eaten!) in our defense Heather stopped by too!
Definitly try it if you need a new dessert recipe.

Savvy made me this awesome flower pot. Made all the designs with her thumbprints!

So adorable

She surprised me today. While I was taking a sunday afternoon nap, she set the table. Picked a tablecloth, place mats and even picked flowers from outside and spread rose petals all over the table! It was SO cute and thoughtful

Had sleepovers every night..........

Venessa my hairdresser is the BEST. She cut it so I don't have to blow dry it or round brush it. This is how it looked after swimming and being too lazy to take a bath after...she cut about 6 inches off

Swimming at our neighbors

Having a sucker after and getting dry before coming in

Other things we did:

Lazy dog cafe which Savvy LOVES

pedicures of course

Bright child

caught up on some movies-hotel for dogs, narnia, and UP......

walked up the hill

I loved spending quality time with my daughter! Had such a nice and relaxing mother's day weekend.

But don't worry boys, I am ready for you guys to come home bright and early tomorrow :)

more egg hunts...

2011-05-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Of course we had to have an easter egg hunt at our house after church. Here are our 3 adorable children

the finished rooms. We still need to find Cole a bedspread but found Savvy one.

horrible pic, just trying to show how cute her bookshelf looks with the colors in the wall! and we didn't even plan that one!

Easter fun

2011-05-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Matching pillow pets. And cheapo easter baskets. Easter bunny finally got smart this year.

Easter morning!

The room is finished now and there will be more pictures to come. Don't know why I added this one but its late and I don't want to try to find it and erase it.........

Her bottom tooth is growing in. Very crooked i might add. Can't wait for braces :)

Then Kirsi finally decided she would come. This is the best shot I could get of them together

Got all my kids together. but they blocked creed's face

Kirsi and her uncle Jay

Kirsi just wanted to eat the candy (can you blame her-they were filled with Cadbury mini eggs, yummiest candy ever!)
Creed keep wanting to put those big balls in with the eggs....
Ready for the egg hunt
The kids playing wii.....
Easter Weekend! Started out with brunch at Linnae and Brent's. Yummiest food ever, crepes and quiche and lots of yummy goodies!

Reading Loft

2011-04-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

This is Cole's room with his built in closet and new paint job. I love the colors. They are Acapulco Sand and Waterfall blue. The new carpet is being installed tomorrow. The ladder should be in tomorrow or Tuesday. Completed by Wednesday let's hope.
Savannah's room colors are Potpourri green and raspberry mousse pink. I thought it would look nice for her to have one main focal wall with vertical stripes. Cole's room has two focal walls with horizontal stripes. Notice how everything is cleared away for the new carpet!
This window was the sliding glass door two days ago. I am so glad to have that door gone. I hated that my daughter had a glass door in her room. This way she can actually open the window and enjoy the cool breeze in the evenings.
I was just trying to get a picture showing the two side walls with the horizontal stripes.
This shows the reading loft with the closet and paint job.

The reading loft has recessed lighting with a three way switch so it can be controlled by Cole or Savannah. The lights are really nice 6" recessed LED lights so they won't be hot to the touch for the kids.
We completely tore out all the walls and ceilings in both rooms. There was no lighting so we installed four 4" canned lights. The 4" really look nice, and I thought I was saving money buying the smaller size, until I saw how much the casings cost.
Savannah's focal wall. Paying someone $2oo dollars to do the painting. SOOOOOO worth it!!!!
Savannah's new window. It's not too big. 48 X 36. The next size up without having to special order was a 60" which was too big I thought.

Anyways, we are really excited for this to be complete and I will add some more pictures once we get the ladders in and the rooms put back together.

Spring break fun....

2011-04-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our friends John and Erika, we were able to stay at a really nice hotel/condo in Indio over Spring Break!

However, we didn't know it was Coachella Music Festival the same weekend. Darn Young Folk!!!
Savannah blowing bubbles off the balcony. The grounds at the hotel were beautiful.
Creed having a tantrum because he wanted to eat a sucker for dinner. Seriously, the kid does not eat anything!

Beautiful family!!! Just on our way back to the room for a nap before heading back out to the pool in the evening.
Cole and Creed playing in the kids pool. Notice how Cole had to wear a PFD and Creed did not. Hmm.
Savannah playing with her super squirter in the kids pool.
This picture doesn't do justice to how big and full the moon looked.
Finishing up swimming after a long long long day at the pool! The sun and heat kicked my behind!!
Dad and Savvy. I had just shaved my head (summer hairdo) so I was worried about frying my scalp. Luckily I was smart and kept the sunscreen slathered thick.

Creed spent hours just falling back into the water and rolling over and picking himself back up. He is so comfortable in the water this year. Bad news, he has no idea how to swim. The beach will be exciting this year.
My Big Moose! I am trying to get this nickname to stick for Cole. He is such a big guy. Funny thing about Cole, he talks with his hands more than anyone I know. It's funny. When he talks to Nik and I it probably looks like he's lecturing us with how much hand action is going on.

Back in the room munchin some string cheese.

Who needs a pool?

2011-04-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

Our project!

2011-04-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

Poor Sav had a super busy week last week. It was the last week before spring break. She had lots going on and on friday we went out with some friends and got a sitter. Our sitter's little sister is one of savvy's best friends so they played super late. When I got home she was asleep on the couch. I went to get Cole to bed (it was like 11 and cole was going strong) when I came back to get Savvy she was asleep sitting on the floor leaning against the couch. I asked what she was doing. She mumbled "i can't wake up" and fell back asleep. Too exhausted, lol.....

Updated pictures. You know how one thing always leads to another! Well our playroom/loft led to many others. First we discovered that there is no insulation in both kids walls. Might as well tear down the walls and fix it while we are working on a project anyway, right? And we don't have lights in any of our rooms (we have to use lamps) so lets fix that too. Recessed lighting in both kids rooms. Last, Savvy has a sliding glass door in her room which we don't particularly like. So we decided to change that to a window. Phew.......................it will be super nice when it is all done.

You've got a friend in me....

2011-04-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

The Micralite Toro....

2011-04-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

I got a smoking hot deal on this cute little yellow guy. He will be hanging out with Baby V #4 since I just can't get rid of him but don't really have use for him now. Yes I am a reformed hoarder. But isn't he cute?? And the rider too of course. Actually more like a sitter. He is reading himself his bedtime story. You can tell by his face his eyes are getting droopy....what do you think of the stroller? If anyone wants one for an unbelievable cheap price lmk.....

Surpise Project day 3

2011-04-13T20:59:00.001-07:00

Brooke guessed it! We are putting up a play room/reading room loft in between Cole and Savannah's bedroom. It is going to have a bean bag and a little bookshelf a little window two lights, plush carpet.......so fun! And when they outgrow it it will be a place to store surf boards, soccer equipment, etc etc! We are super excited. I will keep posting pics as we make progress on it. Our contractor is super amazing and so nice, we have been so lucky!

Suprise Project.....

2011-04-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

Can anyone (who I haven't told) guess what our surprise project is?? Hint, we got it off the pages of a pottery barn kids catalog :)

hiking...........

2011-04-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

I found this super cool double stroller blanket on Gilt.com. of course I didn't pay retail (more like 75% off) but it is an amazing product and I would definitly recommend. Hooks over your kids and zips up the middle for easy ins and outs....

We found a trail by our house this weekend and decided to go hiking. It was SUPER cold but the boys loved it. And we got our workouts in :) We could have actually hiked all the way down to the beach. But it would have been a SUPER long uphill battle to get back, so we chickened out.

AZ the place to be....

2011-04-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

We have made a habit of heading to Arizona for Spring Conference. A chance to see some of Nik's family and to enjoy the warm / hot weather. The kids wanted to spend the entire weekend in the pool. Mom and Dad are far too lazy for that,but they did get to swim a couple times.

Above is a picture of why, even if we could afford a pool, we will never have a pool. Nicole is a nervous wreck with the kids in the pool. Creed didn't have any interest in getting in the pool, just touching the water falls, but that was just too dangerous to just sit back and allow him to do.

Holding his hands under the water falls and throwing soccer balls into the pool. Hours of fun for our little guy. He is so funny. The first day he was throwing small rocks into the pool, so the soccer balls were a good trade. Nick actually cut the bottom of his foot on one of Creeds thrown rocks. Sorry Nick.

Oh yea, after spending time cleaning out leaves and such from the pool, Creed thought he would join in by dropping the net back into the pool releasing all the mess we had just cleaned out of the pool. Thanks little buddy.

Nick was showing us some of his dunks. He is going to be the next Amare Stoudemire or STAT (standing tall and talented)????? as he is known. Seriously, who gives themselves a nickname like that? Pretty cheesy I think.

Cole doesn't swim yet so he just clung to the side the whole time. Maybe we can get him swimming this summer so he can be ready for whatever vacation we go on next year.

Here is Creed showing Nick what a real Dunk is! He is such a tiny little guy still. He doesn't eat very much no matter what it is we are eating, unless of course it's string cheese.

Savannah is our little fish, or mermaid or perhaps a mixture of the two. She could have lived in the pool without ever getting out. This is a picture of her posing behind one of the water falls.

So it was a short trip, we wish we could have stayed longer but we are happy we were able to go. We had a wonderful time with our family and enjoyed listening to the Prophets speak. Nicole and I enjoyed several Sonic Drinks and Nik got her Bahama Bucks shaved ice. We ate at Cafe Rio and had some really fun times. I played raquet ball with Nik's dad as usual, and as usual I enjoyed embarrasing myself at it. We played four games and I scored a total of four points. Steve said he plays three to four days a week, and he is very good. He has an amazing serve and his shot placement is spot on. But I still hate losing and for some reason feel like I should actually win. Why would I feel like this when I only play the game once or twice a year when we are in Arizona? Who knows. I'm still trying to adopt the idea of playing with people and not always against them. This doesn't just go for raquet ball either. Ask my dad or anyone else who has played golf with me. Now that is a fun time. Anyways, we had a blast and are greatful for our family who show us so much love and support!

We are hoping we will be able to make it to Utah the begining of May, to meet our newest member of the family, Stryder. He is a super cute guy and we can't wait to meet him.

Rain rain go away

2011-03-25T22:20:00.001-07:00

Outside mama? Please outside...............

If I smile sweetly will you let me?

Sorry kid. No playing outside in the rain. Good thing the weather can change fast........