bountiful canyon bone fire

our family picked a spot up bountiful canyon to have dinner and spend time together around a fire

of course with my family - it didn't stay a 'little' fire for very long :)

violin

this is just a precious picture of my baby girl playing her violin. she is getting so good and is so fun to listen to.  we had to sneak this picture and she heard the 'click' of the camera so the door was promptly slammed shut.  :)

painting & cookies

our little artist creating a masterpiece

after painting she took homemade cookies around the neighborhood and handed them out for free

balloon shower

Tanaya and three of her friends - Emma, Abby, & Olivia spent the afternoon blowing up balloons and loading them in the shower.  the shower door kept opening so i had to lock them in using the clothes hamper as a door jam.  They spent hours in there and of course it wasn't long before the water was turned on and a water fight ensued. i could hear them laughing and screaming all the way down the hall. cute kids!

23 weeks prego

23 weeks pregnant and loving it! 

last week while we were on our Cali vacation John & Tanaya both felt the baby kick for the first time!  it was SO neat!  this past week the baby has really started to move and kick, but only when i'm sitting or lying down - won't move a bit if i'm moving. had a doctors visit today and all is well.  my tummies measuring a little small for 23 weeks but at this point its no biggie. i'm chalking it up to the baby just loves its momma :) 

lesson learned:  don't drink a Snapple drink right before you give a pee sample to your doctor unless you want to spend the next 20 minutes talking about all the reasons you could have high blood sugar and have your finger poked to rule out any other factors.  thanks john for thinking about the Snapple.  we all had a good laugh once we realized that's what made my test skyrocket out of control

Easter 2012

we arrived home from cali early Easter morning and guess who had snuck into our house?! THE EASTER BUNNY!  on Tanaya's bed was a basket FULL of goodies just waiting for her to devour

that sneaky little bunny made my baby girl grin from ear to ear

Tanaya spent the rest of the afternoon painting with a mouth full of jelly beans

her beautiful artwork...with her refusal to actually smile face only a mother could love ;)

HAPPY EASTER LITTLE BUTT! WE LOVE YOU!

California Vacation - family style

we had a great vacation in California.  its was awesome to spend a whole week with my brother Bret, his family, and my parents. and as luck would have it Johns mom and sister where in Vegas the same time we were driving through so we were able to arrange a stop and spend a couple days with them.  the weather was pretty perfect for us - a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings but very comfortable during the day.  only wish our days at the beach could have been HOT and the water warm, but the Tanaya and John didn't have trouble diving in! it was a fun trip and our last big vacation before baby comes!

Las Vegas 

with johns mom and sister

the girls with papa on the strip

entertainment found while walking the strip

nose pickers!

playing at circus circus

our family's so competitive :)

 poor tanaya...she's the only one that didn't win anything

Santa Monica Pier

my pretty girl enjoying her favorite place on earth - the beach!

kids with grandma

kids with grandpa - and of course Brayden couldn't resist pushing Tanaya in by surprise

my cute family

 

the pier

Redondo Beach in L.A

our first hotel stop

the views from our hotel

brayden teasing tanaya...i'm glad they love each other :)

 Universal Studio

 Johns favorite ride

bret and the kids SOAKED after watching the Water World show

we celebrated Baylee's 15th birthday every chance we got this week! the hard rock at universal was her favorite place for a birthday shout out because our waiter involved everyone walking the streets in the celebration

a family gathering around the fire pit on a chilly night

it was late but we couldn't resist a drive to Beverly Hills and drive down rodeo drive

Knotts Berry Farm

our first stop - a cinnamon roll at Cinnabuns :) we're very happy girls

i'm a horrible mother but this was SO funny.  Tanaya wanted to ride this ride and she was so excited UNTIL they strapped her in...then she FREAKED! it was hilarious! she was SCREAMING for them to let her out but it was too late...they started to move and go up and she screamed even louder. just looking at her face in these pictures makes me laugh all over again.  thankfully when the ride was over she had stopped screaming and there was a smile on her face :)

after the ride :) i had to document that she lived through that! ;)

the favorite ride: the 'Xcelerator' (which Tanaya wanted no part of :) )  it shoots you out of the gate at 82mph

does this crazy rise and fall

then this side bend - all at just over a minute!

Tanaya sat for a drawing.  she was told not to smile which was really, really hard for her - cutie! 

she wanted to play a game to redeem herself from losing at circus circus. we were excited that she won until we saw her prize...

...this HUGE bear. then Bailee played and won! thankfully grandma and papa gave up the back seat of their car so we could get these bears home :)

holy molly as chance would have it they have a Portillo's just down the street from Knott's Berry Farm. John was a very happy man for dinner as was Tanaya for a chocolate cake shake

Hermosa Beach

...at night. the 4 of us and John couldn't wait until morning

it was dark and cold but we braved it and it was a blast

the sand was SO cold on our feet!

this was one of the only nights the covers actually stayed on the bed throughout the night. other nights they both woke up cold with all the covers on the floor. neither one of these sleeping beauties can sleep without thrashing about

Hermosa Beach in the daylight. this was my favorite beach of the trip.SO pretty!

Tanaya riding her rip stick down the board walk

we bought breakfast from a local bakery and had breakfast on the beach as we watch the volleyball players

the pier

a view of the volleyball courts.  there were courts as far as the eye could see

walking the pier

Torrey Pines

a close 2nd on my favorite list. it was about a mile hike to the water which was a blast and beautiful

 

 the beginning of the hike

 this picture just makes me smile. my cute beach family

John dragging Tanaya out to the water. she didn't struggle enough to get away...just smiled and laughed. my little fish. the water was too cold for me and you can bet i threatened John that i'd keep this baby inside me if he dragged me out there :)

Brayden pushing Tanaya in

looking for sea shells

Brayden, Tanaya, and John body surfing- the only ones crazy enough to get in that cold water

my sexy husband

me and my baby..and my baby :)

the crazies!

my parents sunbathing and having a snack. we brought lots of snacks to eat and we found a cute little squirrel that Bret fed

the whole gang

side note: so apparently this beach is on a reserve and we didn't noticed a sign that was posted at the beginning of the trail that states very clearly that there is to be absolutely to sea shell collecting, food, or feeding of the animals. oops! 

Palisades Park in San Diego

we bought fixin's for sandwiches at the store then went to the beach for dinner

you can't see the surfers in this picture but there were hundreds of them. as we drove to this beach we watched them all running down the streets in wet suits carrying their surf board trying to make the tide. it was pretty cool

sparkling cider, champagne glasses, and a perfect toast thanks to grandma. so romantic!

Sea World

the girls getting ready

at the entrance to the park

the dolphins

the whales

Tanaya and Bailee text their names in to play this game to race to the top.  you can see Tanaya's name at the bottom of the screen.

and Bailee's name at the bottom

then they text their picture in which is the 4th picture down on the left side of both panels. cute girls!

 the SLL show

these sweet little angels sweet talked their grandpa into buying them dipping dots ;)

 

kiss kiss...i love you!

smile! :)

on the sky ride with my sweetie

Brayden and John watching the seals

Tanaya and Bailee watching the seals

at the pet show

cute cousins!  they had SO much fun together!

La Jolla Beach in San Diago

Tanaya being the cool cat she is

we all look so sexy hot ;)

John rocked the kayaking

Tanaya and I - she impressed me with her ability

the caves...which we didn't get to go into because of the high swell. still pretty to look at

hot, hot, hot

we did the impossible and completely wore out the kids. they are all sleeping under their towels

Cabrillo National Monument in San Diago

we walked the beach and looked for tide pools

 

driving around John spotted 'Moss Lane'

Old Town San Diego
as we left to come home we took a short drive through this cute little town

leaving Cali & making the drive to St. George

the girls were very entertaining :)

we arrived in St. George late Saturday night and spent the night at Uncle Kelly & Aunt Susan's.  we woke up at 5:30am on Easter morning and made the drive home.  it was an amazing trip which made fun memories.  the kids are such great cousins and they had SO much fun spending time with each other!