Random Update

Hmmmm...Christmas is next week and we haven't posted since Halloween. I think I might be a bit behind. With Thanksgiving, my sister's wedding, Ethan crawling, choir performances, parties, Disneyland, museums...all things that have been going on the past month that I've missed.


It hasn't rained much since we moved to California. The umbrella was still a novelty for Brielle.


The 4 cousins digging in the dirt at Kid Space Science Museum. Brielle told James that he was going to 'Daddy Space' while the rest of us went to Kid Space.


Visiting Santa


Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Utah


Oquirrh Mountain Temple, South Jordan, Utah


Oquirrh Mountain Temple, South Jordan, Utah


Our ward party had the children do a live nativity. It was quite eventful. Here are our cute little lambs.


The dessert table our neighbor's Christmas party. (She is a professional food decorator and makes all the treats herself).

Great Halloween Times

We started off the Halloween week with a trip to Disneyland. We have been making tons of trips there since the kids are still free and we have season passes. After seeing the spectacular firework show synchronized to spooky music we went on Ellie's favorite ride, the Matterhorn. It still doesn't make sense to me that she is tall enough for this roller coaster but not a log ride like Splash Mountain.

Later in the week we carved the pumpkins that we picked up in Morro Bay a few weeks ago. Ellie loved pulling all the seeds out and making a huge mess in general.

Here is Ellie with the finished products. Ethan was asleep by this time, so did not make it into the picture. We weighed the benefits of having him in the picture, but ultimately our own sleep later on that night seemed more important.

Here is the Trick or Treating crew for Halloween night. They were just too cute. Elise and Ethan rode in the stroller and Ellie and Gavin were in the red wagon. If you know where my parents live, then you know we burned off at least a few of the calories we consumed that night!

Brother and sister just before getting loaded up with candy.

Here is Gavin and Ellie's haul after just a few houses. While going around the neighborhood the kids were so excited about all the candy they were getting. Sitting in the wagon Ellie kept asking "Gavin, what are you going to do with all that candy?" to which he replied "I don't know what are you going to do with all that candy?" It went back and forth like that for several blocks. Both kids were sacked out by the time they hit the pillow. So were we.

Quick Trip to Morro Bay

We were able to take a quick trip up the California Coast this weekend. We stayed at James' grandparent's beach house. It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of work and life and enjoy a much slower pace (although James did bring a good chunk of journal reading to catch up on!). We were able to go to bed late and wake up late(r), as the kids don't seem to care that you are on vacation when it comes to their morning routines. Still a great way to recharge the batteries. Here are a few pics from the trip!

I snapped this picture from the deck of the house the last night we were there. The whole sky was a red-orange color. It only lasted about 15 mins before going dark. Then it was movie time!

Here are Megan and Ethan out on the beach next to Morro Rock. This beach is one of the best for taking long walks as it is very flat and the sand is sooo fine. We did not get to walk as far was we wanted as Ellie wanted to stop and examine every shell and rock.

Ok, so maybe James was finding things on the beach too. He noticed this little guy while making a sand ball for Ellie. As you can see this little shrimp is well... a shrimp. He was translucent as well.

Ellie "caught" her first starfish down by Morro Rock while we went to go and see the sea otters. She was pretty impressed with herself.

Part of the day Saturday was spent at Montana de Oro State Park a little ways down the road from Morro Bay. Everyone had a great time dodging waves and throwing rocks.

We stopped by a pumpkin patch to let the kids pick out some for Halloween. They were partial to these giants, but Meg and I decided that $70 was too much for a pumpkin. Besides, who could make or eat that much pie?

Here are the kids at Tidelands park. Ethan was enjoying the taste of the grass (we tried to get it all out of his mouth!) and Ellie loved climbing on the toys and pirate ship.

Fleet Week 2009

We had the fantastic opportunity to enjoy Fleet Week in San Francisco from a unique perspective. While most see the parade of boats and the air show from the marina, we were able to watch from the deck of a 225 ft Coast Guard buoy tender. The Coast Guard clears a portion of the bay so that ships are not in danger during the air show which gives us the equivalent of a front row seat. Despite the windy weather we had a great time!

This was not our ship (the Aspen), but ours looked just like it only bigger. The buoy tender ships can haul up 30,000 lbs buoys in the worst sea imaginable. An interesting note about this ship, it was patrolling the sea down in Mexico and got a full on drug bust of 16,500 kilos of marijuana. The only buoy tender of this size to ever do that!

Here is Meg and the kids aboard the Aspen taking time for a quick snack. We drove from Duarte to San Francisco on Friday and then woke up early Saturday morning.

Here is Ellie sitting on the chains used for hauling up those huge buoys. Yes her butt got all dirty and yes I got in trouble (Megster doesn't like doing laundry?) for putting her up there!

Just call her Captain Brielle. She felt right at home on the bridge. You can see through the window the large crane.

Here we are on the very top of the vessel with the Golden Gate in the background. The ship was anchoring to act as one of the four corners in the restricted area.

Here is most of the gang on the bridge. We hope were were not too much in the way!

Passing under the Bay Bridge.

Here is a shot of the Patriots Jet Team. They were our favorite to watch for their stunts and close fly-bys to the ship.

And we can't forget the Blue Angels. Their show was cut short due to weather, but they were still impressive to see soar over the water with the city in the background.

A huge thanks to the Crumps for letting us be a part of this fun adventure!

Morro Bay over Labor Day

Here is a quick little video that Brielle and I put together in iMovie. We went to Morro Bay last weekend and had a great time. We went to the beach and relaxed plenty. Ellie likes to watch the part of the video where she gets (in her words, taught by me) "pwned by the water". Enjoy!

Labor Day Fun!

We drove up to Morro Bay on Friday after work. It has been great to
be out of the smoke and heat of LA for a few days. We have been able
to enjoy some pretty fun activities up here while taking plenty of
time to relax and rest.

Gavin and Brielle on the boardwalk in the Elfin Forest.

Some of the crew in the Elfin Forest in Los Osos

Playing the the waves!

Gavin and Brielle at the Home Depot working on a kid's project.

The whole gang watching the BYU game. We were all surprised (and happy) with the results.

Our BIG baby boy

Ethan finally was able to have his 4 month well-check vist at the doctor today. (He is a little late going in with our move and waiting for new insurance to kick in). He had a few shots and even after the nurse poked him with the first one he cried for a second and then looked up and gave her a huge smile. He is going to be a heart-breaker I'm sure.
So, at almost 5 months old here are the current stats:
Height: 28 inches (off the charts)
Weight: 18 lbs 10.9 oz (about 90th% of average)
Head: 44.5 cm (about 90th% of average)

Yes, he takes after his Dad. Aren't they cute? :)

Camping

We've been busy with a lot of fun adventures. Brielle has been camping a couple times in Michigan, but she didn't seem to remember it. I told her we were going on a road trip to go camping (we went in the Eastern Sierras outside of Bishop, California which was about 5 hrs away.) As we drove she kept pointing out hotels for me, since that is what she remembered from our roadtrip from Michigan to California.


When we got to the site however, she discovered that she LOVED the tent. She honestly would close herself in there and play for minutes at a time. It was like 30 minutes which gave me a chance to sit and relax before getting up to chase her again.


Cousin Gavin was able to come up as well. Brielle and Gavin loved exploring their surroundings looking for lizards or just cool rocks.

Pool Play and New Camera

Ian bought a new camera a few weeks ago and I am considering getting the same one as a graduation present. It is waterproof, so I figured I would put that to the test with his camera before I got mine. It works great! I threw this clip together in iMovie and thought I would share. The kids love playing in the pool and their new slide.

The Big Move

A cross country move is a bit of a challenge. Add a nursing baby, a toddler and a 12 year old van with no a/c and broken windows and you have an adventure!


Our Navigator


The Happy Traveler

We made quite a few stops along the way. Here are just a few of them.


Starved Rock State Park
Utica, Illinois


Historic Nauvoo
Nauvoo, Illinois


The Big Tree House
Marshalltown, Iowa


Union Pacific Railroad Classification Station
North Platte, Nebraska


Ames Brothers Pyramid
Buford, Wyoming


Temple Square (and A LOT more with our week long stay in Utah...more on that later)
Salt Lake City, Utah


And finally we arrived in Duarte, CA. The bear came out to help us unload our pod at the end. What a great help.