October Update

The end of October was busy, Kira and I went down to California for a few days. This wasn't Kira's first time on a plane, we went down last October to help our friend Krista shop for her new home. Kira did as well now as she did then. We left EARLY (5:00 am) on Tuesday morning, ran through the airport and barely made it to the plane. We got lucky and had first class tickets from Las Vegas to Salt Lake (yes, they made us go from Las Vegas to Salt Lake and then to Orange County... how that saves them money, I don't know?) The first class section had little television screen on the seat backs in front of us so I turned on Dora for Kira (a treat since i sincerely HATE Dora) and the flight went well, including the 15 minutes we were stuck on the tarmac for.

By the time we reached Salt Lake we were both sufficiently hungry and tired. We had some time to kill so we grabbed french toast sicks from Burger King (our only option.... next time I'll pass) and sat down to eat. Then we went for a walk up and down the terminal to burn off some more steam. Right before we were supposed to board we went to go look at the planes and check out how badly it was snowing. Kira went CRAZY! She kept yelling, "Look Mom mom...the plane is sleeping!" Over and over ..... and over again. Luckily, she's cute enough to counterbalance any annoyance anyone around us had. Once we got on the plane, Kira crashed out before we even got into the air.

After arriving in Orange County we waiting outside for Auntie M and Kira was so excited to see her and of course, Kira's good friend Maggie.

We went to Auntie M's, ate lunch, watched Curious George, and napped until Auntie M came home. After dinner, we did girly night, we got our hair cut and I got mine colored. Kira had a lot of fun hanging out with Auntie M. (Auntie M, for those of you who don't know is my father's sister)

Our plans for Wednesday sort of fell through but it gave us the change to keep Auntie M company at her office for the day. We had a great lunch and went to the park.

My friend Korie drove down from Brea to join us in our shopping plans. Auntie M was so sweet and bought Kira her Christmas Dress ( I'm hoping to get Christmas pictures soon), some tennis shoes and a winter coat... all of which Kira LOVES!

Our Thursday was spent mostly at GG's house (my grandmother) after getting lunch at my favorite place that they don't have in Las Vegas, Chick-fil-A, we meet Gram-Jan(my mom) at GG's and at lunch while we watched Strawberry shortcake (Thanks Gram-jan, she LOVES them). Then we headed off to Toys-R-Us, Kira picked out a puzzle and crayons & paper to keep at GG's house and GG bought Kira some clothes for the winter. Kira needed to update her Elmo wardrobe and GG and I talked her into this one


instead of the pink fuzzy one! She also got some jeans, some cute shirts and Granjam bought Kira some Monkey jamas! She loves them too and LOVES that she has monkeys on her feet!




The flight home was good and we were excited to be home. A couple of hours after we got back we went to our wards Trunk or treat party. Kira was a Red M&M for Halloween. (Thanks so much Grandma Jetta for making the costume) Kira LOVED IT!!!

She wouldn't stand still so this was the best we could do!


And sitting



She had more fun handing out candy then getting candy.

Other than those events, Kira has learned probably 1000 new words and surprises me everyday with a new statement or word. She is fun to be around and a joy to raise (most of the time)
I thank the Lord everyday for blessing my life with her, and don't quite understand what I did to deserve her sweet spirit in my life. Looking back, I wouldn't trade that difficult first year for anything because now I have Kiki and I'm so grateful for that!

Flashback Friday

Been a little behind. My video card situation has made it hard for me to be insprired to look at pictures... i can only see green and blue...which isn't fun.
So, Flashback Friday for today, in honor of my friend Kories birthday...




Though this is similar to a pretty recent post, I just wanted to tell Korie that I'm thankful for her friendship over all these years and that she has done more for me than any good friend should. I love her and am thankful for her everyday!
Happy Birthday Korie!!!

Flashback Friday

It was two years ago this weekend than Kira was blessed, so I wanted to pull out the pictures of that special day.







Also want to tell Hanni that we are sorry to miss Tatiana's blessing on Sunday. We will be thinking about you guys! Love you!

Flashback Friday

Dedicated to my friend Korie!

Even though we didn't hit it off at first, through the years Korie has become like a sister to me. She has been there for me through it all.... Good times, bad times, in-between times. I was her Maid of Honor when she got married, and an honor it was to! (She would have been in my wedding, but was edged out by my sister - Korie doesn't have a sister so I had the edge there) BUT Korie did take lots of beautiful pictures for me that day, my favorite of which sits on my dresser and I get to see it everyday.

Korie and I have had some very good times and I just wanted to take a minute to thank her for her friendship and love and remember some of the good times we have had together.

Korie, Kristina and Me as bridesmaids at my sisters wedding

Korie and Me in front of Cardiff Castle circa 2000



In front of the Newport Kentucky aquariam 1999




In Windsor circa 2000


At my wedding... to see the beautiful picture she took just look at the top right corner of my blog.
Thanks Korie for always being there for me, not matter what! I love you!

Flashback Friday - Gratitude!

As I tried to go to sleep wednesday night, I was caught up in all the things I was grateful for....I know with the economy the way it is, things are hard on everyone.... but I have been throwing myself a pity party for a while now. I have prayed and prayed about finding a job that would work with Jacob's schedule so that I can bring in some money and feel like I'm contributing more than just sitting around with Kira. So far, the answer has been NO... you are not suppossed to be working right now. This is a hard concept for me to grasp... we need the money, and up until I went out on maternity leave I have worked since I was 15 (with the exception of a couple weeks here and there with layoffs, or job changes). Jacob always says I hate working, which is true but at the same time, I'm feeling more like a mooch than an active partner in this marriage.


So, as I went to bed Wednesday night (or at least tried to) I was thinking about this time of year... specfically November... which I know is more than a month away, but I love November. I love Thanksgiving, it's always been my favorite holiday (maybe it's all the food), I love that it's finally cooler in California and Nevada (last Halloween, I wore shorts). I was also contemplating the milestones that November brings.... I was endowed in November. November 13th, it was a memerable experience I may get into later but this November also marks the 5th year of our marriage and 8th year together. I'm so grateful for those moments and those memories.

So, I wanted to take a minute to list the things I am grateful for... even though I feel a little hopeless right now.
I'm grateful for family who have always loved me and supported me no matter what...











I'm grateful for good friends who have helped me through thick and thin...








I'm grateful or an eternal marriage that helps me see the longterm goals.








I'm thankful for Jacob and Kira who make me laugh everyday whether they are trying to be funny or not.

I really do have a lot to be grateful for .... and really this post was for me to come to when I'm feeling low and see all the great things I have in my life. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense to anyone else but next time your feeling low, make yourself a list of all the things you are grateful for and concentrate on those... it will get you through the rough times.
what do you have to be grateful for?

Kira's Update and Kitchen

I feel that with my activity on Facebook you guys are getting double doses of pictures and stuff... so I thought I would give you guys a quick update and post some pictures and then decide if the blog is worth continuing....

Kira has been both a ball of fun AND a ball of trouble. She is talking like crazy, some of her words are R rated but she's trying and other than turning red at the store sometimes, I'm just glad that she's wanting to communicate.

Let's see, she is a very helpful girl. She actually gets mad if I empty the dishwasher on my own. She sets the table most nights and knows right where her hamper is when she is changed from pjs to clothes or vice-versa. She is not so afraid of people she doesn't see often, which is nice, Wade actually watched her for me when I hit the Zumba class last month with Sabrina. It was nice to be able to get away for an hour.

She's doing ok in nursery at church. Jacob stays with her often... not always having to do with Kira, sometimes there are just not enough leaders to take care of the 14 or 15 or 18 kids all under 3.

She's gotten over her stomach bug and is eatting a lot better. The other day, she helped me make macaroni and cheese for lunch. It was fun to be able to get her so involved. As far as potty training is going, we have sort of left it for the moment. I thought she was a little young, but wanted to see where she was with it....

Here are some pictures of Kira and the kitchen she got for her birthday. Sorry for the repeat, but we have been camera deficient lately. Jake takes his camera to work and the two I have don't always work.... I broke the one Korie gave me (sorry Korie) and my Sony is just dieing. After all the pictures we have taken with it I don't feel so bad about it, except a new one is out of the question and so I'll try to get a picture of her today in the outfit she picked out... it's not outragious.... I am just once again surprised by 1- how opiniated she is and 2- how girly she is at so young an age....

Anyway... pictures..

Flashback Dedication

So it was 6 years ago this week that my Grandma Brock passed away. She lost her fight against cancer after fighting so hard for over 10 years! I miss her every day. So to honor the 6 year anniversary of her death here are some pictures of her.




At age 8

In her teenage years

She loved her family, traveling, diet pepsi and reading as much as she could. She served her family without complaint. She truly is one of my heros and I miss her all the time.