The Rest of February 2014

The night/morning we got back from Disneyland, I noticed Hazel felt warm. Sure enough, the next morning she woke up terribly sick. That night (Thursday), I started feeling sick and sure enough, I caught whatever Hazel had and it knocked me off my feet. It was AWFUL! I seriously don't know the last time I was that sick. I literally laid on the couch for nearly a week. I had a fever for three days, sometimes around 104*. Even once I was able to get off the couch, my energy was so limited. I had to rest for 30-60 minutes for every 15 minutes I stood. It was bad, but I survived thanks to help from people around, including our Elder's Quorum president that dropped off some canned soup. Something that seemed so simple was actually so appreciated because I couldn't cook or grocery shop. So here's what went on during that time: Hazel sick, sick and sick. She basically hung out on the couch for 2-3 days. Clara's second top tooth was SO wiggly but she refused to let anyone pull it for her. Toys. Gray/red tight theme for church. I taught my RS lesson when I was sick. The night before I prayed to Heavenly Father and told him I needed to know tonight if I could teach tomorrow because I wasn't going to be able to call someone to fill in for our 8:30am church in the morning. I felt reassured that I could teach. I felt fine and was able to teach, but as soon as we got home from church, I went straight to the couch. A new way to pick oranges. I laid down anywhere I could when I was recovering. If my kids wanted to play out front, I went and laid in the grass. Ugh, even six months later, I can still remember how horrible that 10 days was and am so grateful for good health.

One day Hazel begged for a picnic. She helped make her sandwich and went and sat on the porch to eat. I love watching my girls be independent. It makes me feel like a good mom.

Hanging out - on the couch - still sick ||| Hazel loves to peel her own oranges ||| For Valentine's Day, we had a little cookie decorating party at our house ||| Unfortunately, Hazel was sick (again! but luckily this only lasted 12 hours) and had to stay inside ||| Riding a tricycle ||| Making Valentine's ||| On my way home from the temple open house, I stopped and got Jason and I Filiberto's to eat on the couch for Valentine's Day. :) I actually think we were going to go out but since Hazel wasn't feeling great, we changed our plans. While eating our classy dinner, we watched a basketball game together and we had a lot of fun. Neither of us cared that we weren't at a fancy restaurant or doing something more exciting. We just like being together and we can show that we love each other any day of the year ||| Technology party in our bed. Every morning |||Hazel and her scissors. This girls has cut more with her scissors than Clara ever could have even thought about cutting. Luckily they were nice straight lines so I was able to tape it back together.

The Gilbert Arizona Temple open house was in February. James missed being able to go with my mom and dad and Lilly, so we had him come with us. It worked out good because Jason got stuck at work and wasn't able to go. We waited A LOT. While waiting to go in to watch the presentation, Hazel threw up. She said her throat hurt and started coughing and threw up all over. James handled it like a champ and helped me with the girls while we got someone to clean it up. He's such a sweet guy and I love having him for a little brother. We sure are going to miss him when he leaves on his mission. The temple was beautiful. I loved being in there with my kids. The next day, I got to go back. This time I met my cousin Lisa, her son Travis and my Aunt Peggy. Since they have never been inside a temple, it was fun to be with them and be able to explain a little more about what we do in temples and why they are so important to us. I love the restored gospel, which includes the sealing power. I love knowing I'll be with my family forever. That brings so much peace. I kept trying to get a good picture when I was there the next day, but there were too many people there. I realized I can go back anytime to take more pictures when no one is around so I stopped trying. :)

Hazel crashing Ava's party and eating pizza with Olivia ||| The tooth finally came out ||| ready to gather oranges with Dad ||| It seems every time I watch Margo, it ends in a bath... ||| Hazel at the park ||| My apples from October were still in my fridge at the end of the February. They started to wilt so I made homemade crockpot applesauce. It was so easy and delicious. Hazel loved "screwing the apples" ||| Lilly + Clara eating chocolate covered strawberries - my most favorite treat ||| Just Hazel ||| And Hazel again with her glowing hair ||| Sisters at the park

Hazel getting into makeup. Again. She loves being "big". At least she got it mostly in the correct spots, right?

Lost Dog Trail hike with my dad in the McDowell Mountain Preserves. This was a great hike. It was pretty easy, but a little longer than some of the others we have done. Clara was such a good little hiker. We even saw a few mule deer which was exciting. One direction we could see the sun, the other the setting moon. I can't wait until it cools off enough to be able to hike again.

Penrod Orange Fest 2014

I missed these pictures last year. :( I was not about to miss again and I even got a mostly successful family picture with our orange eyes. I don't think we'll ever get sick of our orange trees. It is so wonderful having fresh, delicious produce for several months out of the year. I wish all produce grew on trees.

 

We went to the inaugural game at the Cubs' new stadium in Mesa. It was pretty hot out, but fun to be there for such a historical game. I think the girls preferred rolling down the hill and wrestling each other. We all had fun and are glad we went.

Disneyland February 2014

We took the girls to Disneyland for the first time in December of 2012 as a combined birthday and Christmas present. It was fun, but it is so expensive and it's a pretty exhausting trip, so I didn't think we'd go again for at least a few years. But then, Suzanne decided to plan a trip with the Estes family and invited the Melzers. I was going to go only if my parents went. They decided not to go. So I decided not to go. Then they decided to go and Kathryn and Ryan decided to go. So I decided to go. I'm not usually such a follower, but I couldn't help it. Kathryn was able to get us discounted tickets and I wasn't sure if I would have the opportunity to go with so much of my family again. Jason didn't come. My parents and James drove to California with us. The sky was beautiful and James bought me my first vanilla frappuccino.

Lilly went with Ryan and Kathryn. Doug and Suzanne, Suzie, Jill and some of her kids, Jake and Britany, Kyle and Miranda all went too. Emily, Alexis and Justin met us on the first day too. We didn't see the Esteses much, but it was fun visiting briefly with them. The drive over was fine. We left after school on a Monday so we didn't get there until pretty late. We got settled in (we stayed at the Ramada - Main Gate) and tried to get kids to bed as soon as possible knowing we had busy days ahead. The hotel wasn't super nice, but the location was superb since it was across the street from the main gate. I would definitely stay there again. Clara and Hazel shared a bed and were SO excited to look out the hotel window when they woke up bright and early.

Our first day at Disneyland was fun. There were a handful of rides that were closed, but there was plenty to do. 

One thing that was different about this trip compared to our last was Hazel. Before, if I wasn't with Hazel, Jason was, so it didn't feel weird to go do stuff without her. This time, I had to rely on my family to watch her if I went on a ride without her. I didn't love leaving her, so we spent a lot of time on rides together and just walking around when everyone else was on a ride that we couldn't go on. One of Hazel's favorite rides was this rocket ship one over the water in California Adventures. Just like when we were there a year ago, we rode it many times.

That night we watched World of Color. The worker told us there was a constant mist if we were in the designated "Wet Zone" so we decided to stay there anyway. Um, we got drenched. It was horrible! And freezing! I took my jacket off for my kids and huddled behind the stroller. The cupholder in my stroller had about 1/4 inch of water by the time the show was over. The show is awesome, but both of my kids fell asleep, we were wet, freezing cold and exhausted from a late arrival the night before and walking who knows how many miles that day. Needless to say, when everyone else went out to eat, my kids said they preferred to go back to our hotel, get in their pajamas and eat snacks from the car ride. So that's what we did. My mom brought me a baked potato which I ate in my bed at like 10pm while my girls slept.

I had a pretty urgent work e-mail when I woke up that I felt like I needed to respond to. That delayed us about 45 minutes and even on vacation, Hazel felt the need to cause mischief. She put my cover up stick on as lipstick. 

 

Day two at Disneyland was also fun. Other than the Cars ride, the longest we waited for a ride was 10 or 15 minutes. We got to ride so many rides repeatedly and lucked out a few times. Like when the Toy Story ride broke down so a bunch of people got out of line and then it started up within 5 minutes. Or when we went straight to Peter Pan as soon as the park opened, only had to wait 10 minutes, rode on Dumbo since Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was shut down and got back to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride just as they were opening it up. It really made our trip more enjoyable. 

We all happened to be near each other on day two for lunch, well, I guess Suzie and her kids and grandkids weren't with us, but at least we got Jill and her kids and Doug's family!

As dinner time approached, we figured we better get ready to go home. Some of the people wanted to go on the River Raft ride. I told Clara she couldn't because lots of people in my car had work or school the next day. But then everyone said she could go. So she went with James, Kathryn, Annie Lucy and Elsa. Since no one was on the ride, they rode it I think three times. By the time they were done, Clara was drenched and pretty uncomfortable so it's good it was time to go. We headed back to the car so I could drive through the night. I was the only driver that didn't have to work or go to school the next day. Good thing I'm used to staying up until 3am, so I didn't get too sleepy. :)

Some people thought I was crazy for taking my kids without Jason but our adult to child ratio was so high there was more than enough help. I am so glad I went. It was really fun being there with my parents, Lilly and James, Emily and her kids and my extended family. One bummer was my mom hurt her knee so she rented a wheel chair to make walking all over easier. But other than that, it was a very memorable trip and I'm so, so happy I was able to go.

January 2014 - Part II

In honor of the new Cubs' Spring Training stadium, the City of Mesa had a big party. We went with Ryan and his family, my parents and what seemed like every other resident within 30 miles. We got to see the stadium, which was cool, but we didn't do much else. There were just too many people. It's exciting for the City and also, for us, because they put a really fantastic park for the kids on the grounds.  

Christmas tree box:::she asked for it:::they love each other:::makeup thief:::deep concentration:::my friends bought a huge clock for my wall and then even hung it up for me:::chalk with Margo:::little artist:::peek-a-boo

dropping Lilly's notebook off:::folding laundry:::my awesome deal - zucchini, tomatillos and serrano peppers, 25 cents each - then they rotted in the fridge because I got sick:::yardwork is a family affair:::Dan and Karen had baby Miles:::a giant orange

one day I walked all over, the park, through neighborhoods, etc., and when I got home, I noticed a bird had pooed on me!:::crazy hair:::my tiny little Sunbeam:::goggle phase - her pose and expression are too much:::pretty flowers in my yard:::they grew into the trees:::beautiful fresh produce:::Jason playing restaurant with the girls while I was sick

Clara got sick at school and although she seemed okay the next day, she stayed home just in case. She stayed in her pj's all day and they painted and blew bubbles to avoid watching movies all day. They missed the sleepover at my mom's too since we were all going out of town the following week and I didn't want to take any chances, so I tried to make sure we had fun.

Ostrich Farm

I miss having Clara home all the time so whenever she has a day off school, we try to do something fun. We usually drag Angela and Margo along with us. We went to the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Farm January 20th when she was out for MLK day. It was kind of a drive, but we had fun. Clara probably liked it the most, considering her passion for animals. She saw me looking at these pictures and asked if we can go back. Her love for animals cracks me up. There were deer, goats, prairie dogs and ducks in addition to the ostrich. The deer noses were all slimy and snotty and the ostriches were super mean and aggressive. There were a few tiny goats roaming around and Hazel chased them all over saying, "Here, goaty-goat." 

The best part, however, was the lorakeets. It was awesome how they would just land all over you to eat the nectar. We bought three rounds of nectar because we were having so much fun. I'd probably go there just for that part, it was that fun. It is a bit of a drive, but if I'm ever on my way to or from Tucson, I'd probably stop for sure. Good times.

Hazel

I know I've mentioned before that I was worried Hazel would have a really reserved personality. Having an older sister like Clara, I thought she might hide out in her shadow. My fears were absolutely unwarranted and Hazel is a reminder that everyone comes to earth equipped with their very own personality. She is a bit of a whirlwind and there are days that I seriously can not keep up with her mess making. It's incredible how quickly she can undo things! She reminds me a lot of my brother Daniel and I think she has a very mechanically-able mind like him. She undoes things to see how they work. I'm just hoping we avoid some of the pricey repairs my parents enjoyed thanks to Daniel's curiosity. Here are just a few of her expressions one day at the park. I was laughing so hard. I asked her to smile and this is what I go. I normally don't include so many pictures of the same thing, but every expression makes me laugh. 

By chance, I realized I had pictures with most of Hazel's favorite things... the park, especially swinging, reading books, candy, reading books, peeling and eating her own carrots, chapstick and the park. Basically books and parks are all she needs to be happy.

This picture on the left is funny because it's one of Hazel's favorite toys at the park by our house. There are four of these things that spin in circles, but each one has a different shaped platform and her favorite is the circle. She won't get on any of the other ones and it this one is occupied, she'll wait until it's vacant. She is great.

January 2014 - Part I

Around the middle of 2013, I took on a new role with one of my clients. Things snowballed and by the end of December, I was working way too much and got much more involved than I ever thought I'd be. Unfortunately, no matter how much I gave, no matter how quickly I responded to e-mails and phone calls (replying to e-mails while at the park with Hazel, talking to lawyers in the Costco parking lot) and no matter how many hours I worked and despite how little I slept, it was never enough. Although they couldn't provide a single example of a time I didn't perform, they said the situation wasn't working out. I came to a point where I had to decide if I was going to defend myself and fight to maintain the level of responsibility that I had, or surrender, step back and possibly lose a lot of work. Backing down and letting it go would make me feel like a failure. But it would also free up my time for other things. Around that time, Hazel woke up from her nap one day and came into my room where she found me working. This was a normal every day thing and usually, she'd hop up on the bed next to me and watch me until it was time to get Clara from school.

This day, however, she said, "Hold me." I tried to get her to sit next to me and she said, "No, I just want you to hold me." I set my computer down, and she laid on me like this until it was time to get Clara. In that moment, I knew what was more important to me and I knew what I needed to do. I was overwhelmed knowing this time at home while my kids are little is precious. I can't get this time back. I felt sick to my stomach for days and worried so much about what my role would be with my client, how we'd survive without that money and what this would do to my reputation. Early one morning, around 4am, I woke up and had impressions that brought clarification and comfort. I was choosing this and this was a result of priorities. If I wanted to work full-time, my client would have me full-time. But that wasn't what I wanted. So I stepped back and not only did my time free up, but the stress the left was incredible. I felt like a different person and I was doing what mattered most to me. My role has changed with my client, but I have been blessed to continue to have a role there. Everything worked out ideally. I don't know how long it will last, but I do know I won't have any regrets when my kids are grown up. 

Onto lighter subjects from the month of January...

Clara's first top tooth was so wiggly and the end of the month. She kept pushing it forward and it looked like she had really buck-teeth. But she refused to let anyone help her pull it out.

In January we set a family goal to memorize all 13 Articles of Faith in 2014. I knew I could use a refresher and I love how it is the basics of the Gospel. Each time we memorized one, we'd go do something as a family, the park, ice cream, etc. Here we are enjoying ice cream. (as of 4.30.2014, we've mastered 1-5).

Margo and Hazel have the most intense love/hate relationship. Although they will be a year apart in school, I think they are going to be really good friends. They are cute together and I love taking them places. Both of them make me laugh and while it's pretty rare to get through a playtime without one of them freaking out about something, overall they have a good time. These pictures are from a trip we took to Riverview Park.

Hey Baby...

In January, Jason and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I posted on Instagram that by this point he thought we'd have more money and I thought we'd have more kids, but we have each other and that's all that matters. And that's true. Things don't always go as planned. In fact, things rarely go as planned, but we can still be happy and we are. I often think about how well Jason and I go together. Actually, he's pretty laid back so he probably could have got along with anyone. My personality, on the other hand, needed someone exactly like him to make it work.

Since 10 is such a nice, round number, we wanted to do something more than just dinner or an overnight in town like we did a few years ago. However, I still have issues leaving my kids for too long and we didn't want to spend too much since there are a lot of things we should probably be spending money on other than a getaway vacation (i.e. furniture, our yard, food storage, etc.). All of things considered, we planned a two night trip to Vegas. I hadn't been since I was there at the temple for a cousin's wedding when I was probably 10 and Jason hadn't been since he was there for a high school basketball tournament. It was somewhere we could drive and we thought we could do it fairly inexpensively. We packed our bags, dropped our kids off at Kathryn's and headed to our destination. We stayed at the MGM Signature, which we both really liked. The first night we ate a nice dinner at The Steakhouse. I love a nice meal. Then we walked around. Friday we went shopping, went to Ka, a Cirque de solei show and then walked around some more to take in the lights one last time and get some souvenirs for the girls. Saturday morning we had a very late breakfast, packed up and headed home.

This was our breakfast at Hash House A-go-go. It was huge. Like out of control.

Night view from our balcony.

On our way home, we stopped at the new bridge by Hoover Dam. It was awesome. I joked that I enjoyed that more than anything I saw in Vegas. And unlike Vegas, this is something I want to bring my kids back to see.

We also stopped to get a picture by the Joshua Trees. They are so crazy and awesome looking. Pulling off to the side of the road is one of Jason's least favorite things to do, but he still does it when I ask. :)

Here is our conclusion on Vegas: we'd probably never go again. Ha! We had fun because we got to spend three days together and if there is one thing we are good at, it's being able to enjoy each other's company without having any other entertainment. So yes, we had fun, but I would've preferred San Francisco or Santa Monica, which were options we considered. Our resort: it was really nice: off the Strip, non-smoking, very secluded from a lot of the filth. I'd stay there again. Walking: I felt like we spent most of our trip walking. Now don't get me wrong, I like to walk. In fact, I love to walk, but we walked excessively and the only thing we got to watch while walking was gambling, drinking at 9am, women with no respect for their bodies, illusions and sleeze. I had a guy say to me, "You're smiling too big to be from Vegas, where are you from?" And all I could think of was, yeah, I'm smiling because of my lifestyle. It seriously was a little depressing seeing the filth there and the people gambling and drinking first thing in the morning, young girls being paraded around the Strip in next to nothing to have their pictures taken with people. I joked with Jason that the one good thing about that is not once did I wish our kids were with us. The food was okay, but very over-priced. We didn't end up going to any buffets. The Ka show was probably the biggest disappointment. We paid a lot of money for our tickets and it was about 90% play 10% acrobatics. We both expected much more. I do think it might be a fun trip with a group of friends and being more prepared on activities that aren't super expensive. We learned after we got home about some things we probably would have enjoyed. Even still, I think Jason summed it all up nicely: if I drank, gambled and had no morals, Vegas would be awesome.

The kids did fine without us. They stayed with Kathryn the first half and then my parent's the next half. I remember being little and how much fun it was when my dad would travel because he'd bring us the coolest things. Granted he was traveling mostly to the Orient so the things he brought back were pretty awesome. We settled on these hat/mitten animal combo things, a Las Vegas monkey with magnetic hands and dice suckers. Four months later, the girls still love their monkeys. The length of our trip seemed just right. Anything longer and I probably would have missed these darlings too much.