More Hiding Spaces

More Hiding Spaces. This is one of the things Apollo's most excited about. Carleton likes the three car garage, I think the laundry chute is cool, and Annie likes the backyard. Anytime someone would talk about the house, she would talk about the backyard. When we found out we got accepted on our offer, Annie jumped around the room saying "new house, new house" she was so excited. We are very happy to be here.




















I wanted to make a list of things I won't miss about our apartment so I can look back on it and not take our house for granted:
-2 bedrooms and one bathroom. It gets complicated when we had people visiting or when we babysat and put the kids to bed-we were very creative.
-Laundry. We spent tons of time walking back and forth. Apollo said Marshal gave him some coins and he told me he was saving them to use for the washing machine. He didn't understand when I said we wouldn't need them anymore.
-No yard. There was a drive around our whole complex and I had to keep close eye on the kids if they ever played outside so they wouldn't get run over.
-Space. The living room was our toy room, craft room, laundry folding room, etc. Even a little mess made everything look chaotic. My family has stored some things for Annie's room and a piano my great grandma gave me when she was young.
-Decorating?? Didn't happen.



I took some pics before moving of 5 kids sleeping in two bedrooms while we played games to remember the good ol days.













Yes, I also feel blessed to have lived in our apartments since we've been in CA too. I tuned out that love of decorating part of my brain for awhile. I really had a chance to really be with and be with my kids-we were always literally close together. I know now that I can be happy anywhere. I was truly happy there with great friends, a great church group, neighbors, and beautiful surroundings and weather. We made the most of it.

Two days after we moved in, I ran a red light, hit a truck, which in turn hit a car. Lawyers are involved. All three cars had to be towed...very big mess. Realized I need to slow my life down. Big mess. We had tons of sprinkler probs-had the guys fix it...and the next day had a lake outside our house. They came back to fix it and the water was shut off in the house when they left. We didn't have hot water for awhile and now we do:) We have been busy on the phones with insurance people, gas people, pest control, and Carleton has been fixing up a lot of stuff himself. Even in the midst of this, we have been having a lot of fun. Carleton doesn't mind the commute-he gets up at 5am to meet his biking buddies, play racquetball, or workout at the gym, and is home earlier or at the same time as before! For the first few days, the kids didn't ever want to leave the house. They loved running around and playing together. We're excited about some of the updates we can do in the house.

Thank you to Suzana and Kimberly for all your help unpacking!! and Krista, Carol, Heidi, Ken, and everyone that helped us to get here.


A little catch up. Carleton, Heidi, and I ran a half marathon in Vegas.


Vegas buffet...who's hungry?



Big Bear ski weekend. Little cottage with a hot tub, great weather, good slopes, fun trip.



Carleton did a killer mountain bike race called Vision Quest. He biked 50+ miles and climbed 11,000 feet in elevation. The kids and I made a sign for him to cheer him in.






Fun with Buddies.






Happy Birthday Aileen. Beautiful Hike.




Apollo likes to organize his toys-his projects.



Last time with our little preschool troop together. Aren't they the cutest! What a magical year.

Annie Turns Two!

Our baby Annie is growing up! She still gives us reminders that she is little when she says "wrap up baby" (talking about herself) and says "Rock a Baby" and wants us to rock her as we sing Rock a Bye Baby with her. We had a fun party. Of course Carol outdid herself again by making a beautiful cake just for Annie.






She also made 30 personal cakes for each person with several layers of frosting and cake-beautiful and yummy. On the outside she tied a flower and a wooden spoon-they were beautiful enough for a wedding!






























Annie:
-loves her big brother. Apollo is her best friend and playmate. She does what ever crazy thing he does-stuffing stuffed animals up their shirts, jumping on the bed, running around, etc. In Apollo's prayer the other day at lunch he let Heavenly Father know that "Annie does what I do".
-the nursery leader at church says she's so great-is always cleaning up and is happy
-I can't remember our family without her. She brings fun, joy, and a sweetness to our family.
-Her favorite song is "Rock a Baby" and "Slippery Fish"-also likes "Popcorn Popping".
-She says "Hold You" when she wants us to hold her
-She's been potty trained for awhile. The other day Apollo and Annie were pooping together in the bathroom on different potties (Annie has a tiny one) and Apollo was telling her that our poop is food and you can see it in the poop. When I walked in, he said "We're just talking". They looked so cute in there.
-Annie loves kissies whether they be butterfly, Eskimo, or right on the lips-loves them all
-She has a sweet high little voice that always goes up as if she were asking a question. Like when we say, "Annie, do you need to go potty" she'll say "go?...potty?".
-She's a morning person. She jumps up and says "Good Morning" in the sweetest happiest voice every morning. She's ready for the day (just like dad and unlike Apollo and Mom)
-She loves shoes, coloring, makeup, to "take a bath"-she'll float around in the tub, dance parties (loves music), and books.
-She loves flowers and has to touch or smell all of them as we walk by.
-For the last couple of days, she says "yep" to everything (replacing yea)
-A couple days ago Apollo said he had a secret to tell me and whispered "Annie is the most important sister." There is a lot of Annie love in this house.
-Her little personality is really coming out as she makes us laugh.
-In the car, we were taking turns doing what ever we wanted (sing a song, play a game, etc.). She says "My turn" or "Annie's turn" when it's her turn. On her turn she wanted to play a game. She said "I spy something". Mom-"Is it in the car?" An-"Yep" Mom-"Is it a person?" An-"Yep" Ap-"Is it me" An-"No" Mom-"Is it Mommy?" An-"Yep". She wanted to play the same game on the next turn and figured out she had spied a tree. It's fun that she can start to play games with us.



When Carleton is busy or gone, I pick up sleeping Annie out of her bed and bring her into mine to snuggle with her. As I snuggled with her the other night, I prayed to feel Heavenly Father's love (I guess I sometimes feel like I could always be doing more, be more spiritual and just wanted some reassurance) and my answer was asleep in my arms. He has shown me His love by sending me baby Annie. I look at her and think how pretty she is-her pretty lips, big brown eyes, perfect skin, light hair, kissable cheeks, and little body. She is little for her age and is so much smaller than Apollo and we always say how tiny she is. I think that's why she is still a baby to us.

Creative marries Follow Through

My good friend, Katie, was on Wipeout the other night so I went over to watch the first airing with her and some friends (you can see it on Hulu-the Musical Snow Wipeout). She did great.







Here's how we brought in the new year with friends.



First Curlers.



First time making pb and js.



Testing out our new lunchboxes (I bought one for everyone for Christmas). We went on a beautiful hike after our picnic. Thank you CA for a warm and adventurous winter.




Annie really likes hers.



Here's how I found this happy little couple the other day sharing a seat - had to snap a photo.


The new addition to our family. Carleton has had it reset...twice...and still has to go in for surgery tomorrow to get pins drilled into his hand. He'll have a cast for about three weeks. He's becoming a pro at using his left hand.



Creative married Follow Through. My mind is always full of fun things to try and do and Carleton makes it happen.



Annie at her best...and most happy. She's got her heels on. We're happy to say everyone in the family is now potty trained.