St. Thomas

I don't even know where to start! Every year all of the partners and their wives at Craig's office go on a retreat somewhere. This year it was St. Thomas.
It was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!

It took a little too long to get there and the plane rides weren't exactly easy for me. The humidity downright took my breath away (suffocating literally- couldn't breathe)-

HOWEVER


After a good dose of steroids and a pep talk from the most amazing husband a girl could ask for and I was focused and set.

We were able to take part of the day after Craig went scuba diving to go to St. Johns.
Oh man, the pictures don't even do it justice. We were told this beach was the most beautiful beach by Craig's mom and that we should see it- so we decided that if she thought it was the most beautiful beach she has ever seen (she has seen so many beaches- and they just got back from Samoa)- we had better go see this beach. It truly was the most beautiful, perfect, serene beach that I have ever seen. The water was warm, the sand was perfect and soft- satin like. You could see EVERYTHING in the water- there wasn't much right by me- but every little fish was so vivid. To enjoy such a perfect moment and then to look around me and see islands all around- was pretty surreal. It was amazing. AMAZING!!!

St. John's harbor. It was as if it was out of a movie.
I would have liked to spend more time in St John's.

Craig sitting at a little fish place before we got on the ferry to St. John's.
It was a little dive of a place- awesome Caribbean music playing-tasty fish tacos and the beautiful blue ocean right in sight.

This was the beach in St. Thomas right behind our hotel. Seriously!
Seriously- I wish I could describe it better!
My writing nor my pictures can do these islands justice.

These Iguanas are EVERYWHERE! They are quite docile little (huge) things. They were fun to watch and almost more fun to take pictures and videos of for Elliott to see later. This guy was watching us eat our lunch- it was as though he was eying our food and wanting some- so we threw him some lettuce.

He didn't want it. Licked it and kept on walking- under our chairs on over to the edge of the pool. So strange to see these creatures just hanging out with everyone.

Our last day there we decided to do a bunch of the stuff right at the hotel. We kayaked a little (notice the rope holding me to Craig- he's the BEST. I am not what I once was- and he just picks up the slack and makes me feel like I'm still the same.)

This is Joe. A good friend and co-worker with Craig. We decided to try a little sailing. Craig is a jack of all trades- he knows how to sail. Who knew?

And a leisurely peddle boat ride. Nice beauty queen wave, eh?

Craig even paddle boards without falling off. Seriously- puts me to shame. However, the rash guard does not put me to shame- it is a shame. Kidding! I haven't stopped laughing at this camo rash guard. Especially paired with the polka dot sexy board shorts!
Wew, wew! I love him. We are working on finding a rash guard that looks like tattoos now-
why not right?

It was the most beautiful place that I have ever seen.
The people there are humble, sweet, appreciative and sincere- they love their islands and they don't mind sharing and telling you all about them.

The best part you ask?
Just being able to get away for a little while and forget my
everyday cares and be with Craig.
I don't have to go to St. Thomas to enjoy that though- anywhere will suffice.
We had a great trip. If the opportunity arises I highly recommend going for a visit!

Small Obsessions....

E is totally obsessed- as of late with scuba. "Do you scuba?"

Craig is such a good dad. He got out and brought in all of his gear- Elliott wore it almost every waking moment we were home and slept with it right by his bed and night-
only to come into our room first thing in the morning with it all on.
I love his sweet obsessions. He thinks Craig is the greatest (me too) because he scuba dives and is adventurous. E has such a passion for life and for imagining things. I can't tell you all how many different scenarios he comes up with daily- he could really care less about his toys- he would rather create a scenario and act it out. Just last week- I was- a scuba diver, transformer, many a Star Wars character, alien, patient, mere spectator (I was told to just watch an clap or react in different ways...)- I can't keep up. I think as an adult I have lost my imagination a little bit. It is sad really. He keeps me thinking and creative, that is for sure. Oh, I love him.

Spring Soccer

Spring soccer has come and gone- where does the time go? We had a blast watching the games this season. It has been fun to see him grow in a sport- he is starting to catch on to soccer. He can't wait to start again this fall. It couldn't come soon enough for him.

I love this boy. He has a heart of gold and a love for beauty and simplicity. Never a day goes by that I don't know how blessed I am.

That's what he said-

While making a banana dance (yes, a banana)- this is what I heard-

"Who's that lady....Sexy lady....."

Wait- what? Did the word SEXY just come out of my 5 year olds mouth?

Sure did.

Damn commercials.

I skip them every time I am watching with him- he, however, thinks commercials are better than the shows.

Visit from Grandma Lauralee

The kids had Spring Break at the same time. My mom was able to come visit- we had a lot of fun. We wish we could see her more often, way more often. The kids loved having her around- one more grandma to spoil them- they loved it.

Golf

Did a little miniature golf with our little buddies. The last shot was my favorite part of the day!

Dear Fish Number 4

Dear Fish #4-

You will be the last fish adored by this household. So far you have been man handled and sloshed around- I change your water faithfully and almost poop free- and fed. Please don't die- well not for a little while-until E is tired of you- then- by all means- please die.

Love,
Me

Beach

We went to the beach over our little Spring Break- perfect beach day. Elliott hasn't ever LOVED the beach- he tolerates it- and then when it is almost time to go he starts to really enjoy himself and the water. Happens just that way- EVERY TIME!

We were out at the tide pools scouting for treasure and creatures. Out of the blue Elliott takes my calculator out of his pocket and says:

I just need to weigh some of these fish for a second.

What the heck?

He has recently started to really use his pockets. He takes things from everywhere. So far he has pilfered from- school, Shelly's house, and Grandma's house. I am waiting for the day he decides to use the pockets to "borrow" something from the store.

Disco

Give the first one a few seconds to get into the dancing. Enjoy!

Our New Pets

Meet our new pets. Well- let's just say we are down to 1- meet Pluto (named after the planet).
We started out with Pluto and Polly. We got home with our 12 cents each fish and our $20 bowl, rocks, food, etc. put the little ones into their bowl and within- oh- minutes Polly was floating. Woops. Elliott was a little shocked so we went and got Penelope (all named by Elliott) and 2 days later she was dead too. Woops, again.

Pluto is going like 2 weeks strong. Elliott loves the fish. He has asked these two questions multiple times:

Can I please just get him out and play with him and hold him?

This summer when we are swimming in the pool can we take Pluto with us and play in the pool together?

So sweet. They are way more work than I thought too. I clean the bowl every few days or it stinks and gets cloudy. Ergh, pets. I am not a pet person.

Nature Day

Elliott and I have been enjoying our beautiful weather. I LOVE living here! Right in the middle of our little city we have this beautiful Nature Center- you'd never know it was as big and beautiful as it is- we love going there and can spend hours playing in the little creek, looking at the flowers, following lizards and going into their indoor center. It is awesome!

For the love of Star Wars....

When is it appropriate to hear your 5 year old say-

"Assassin"

I guess when it is accompanied by "Droid".

Assassin Droid

Something I hear multiple times a day.

Karate Boy

Elliott got his first stripe on his belt Friday last. We are proud of our little Karate kid. This has been a VERY good thing for him. Boost of self confidence! Way to go El-dogs!

Beautiful Weekend

Weekend last was so BEAUTIFUL here! It is February but the weather was a perfect 70-80 degrees. The crew above went on a 7 mile bike ride- all the kids did the whole ride. We were so proud of them. I had my trusty steed- the Zip bike- thank heavens. But with E still on training wheels I got plenty of pedaling in on my own- which was awesome too. It was a great Saturday- great day.

I LOVE living here in California. Years ago, someone asked me why I would want to live in California. Where to begin....- let's start with the weather- you can probably tell just from the pictures why I'll start there. I'll touch on other reasons another day!




On Monday we took the kids out fishing. It was really fun. They had a great time- we caught puny little mackerels but the kids didn't care- they were loving every minute of it- until it came time to touch the fish. They weren't too into that! It was another beautiful day and I loved every minute with these guys.

Sensing a theme

This is how E plays Dart Tag. He doesn't want to get hit- so he suits up. Craig got the Dart Tag from Elliott for Christmas and we have been trying so hard to get him to play it with us- finally after Craig and his brilliant plan to suit up- we have a dart tagger.





Elliott and Craig out scoping their hunt in the backyard. To me it looks like way more of a gun than a pellet gun. *No animals were harmed in the shooting- just a metal target thingy. However, I wish the neighbors porch light were harmed.

Dear Valentine's of mine....

I am the luckiest lady in the world.

My two guys-
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Max's visit....

Elliott's preschool has a "Star of the Week" each week of school. There are so few kids that they end up being the star multiple times throughout the year.

When they are the star they get to take home a bucket (in which was conveniently placed empty right by me the other night when I had the flu and I vomited in it- Thank You Max.) with a few changes of clothes and hats and a little book to write down the adventures you had together.
Elliott really could care less about Max. He takes him right out of the bucket does like one thing with him and then discards him the rest of the week.

Played a game of football and then he decided that Max needed to go to sleep- and was that way until I moved him. All of his stuffed animals are always sleeping. Funny kid!

Burrito- no good.

If you know my little guy- you know that he is one of the most cautious people. He takes his sweet time doing everything- he does NOT want to get hurt.

Well, we have this game called Burrito. Pretty self explanatory- wrap him up tight in a blanket like a burrito and Craig throws him on the sofa and rolls him around- he rarely gets up and goes anywhere- however night before last he decided to get up and walk away from Craig, he was laughing so uncontrollably that he biffed it big time. He was wrapped up so tight he had no hands so he couldn't catch himself. Man, it was a bloody sight. I am not used to this stuff.

The best was Elliott's comments during the action:

Ow- ooooooooooo am I bleeding? I'm bleeding, mom, dad I'm bleeding. When is it going to stop? I'm bleeding.

He was way more concerned with the blood than the actual pain of smashing his face right on the wood floor.

Karate

That's what he said-

Today two of E's best:

After- literally ripping the toilet paper holder out of the wall- whilst throwing the worst fit I've seen in months Elliott yells at me:

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm repenting.

Then after loosing some serious media time- (note: he has been battling some sort of stomach something- so the "belly" has been on the mind heavily...) he says:

My belly feels like watching a movie.

Then later- knowing I have a little sewing project in the works:

My belly feels like sewing.

Seriously- he works it like no other. He did not get to watch a movie. He did get to sew!

Preschool Outing

We had a little preschool outing to ride the ferry- back and forth and then do a little beach clean-up. It was awesome- there was hardly any trash. Yes, I know it is January- so it's a given that there wouldn't be as much as in, say August, however, there wasn't much- it was great. Isn't it beautiful? We have had such nice weather the last few days. I LOVE the rain- but love a good sunny day after the rain. Hopefully we'll get a little bit more of both in the next week or two.

Do you ever pity yourself?

Do you sometimes find yourself pitying your mere existence? That possibly there must be more in store for you? That you can't possibly live another day as yourself? Annoyed at the hand that was dealt to you? Why in the world would I have chosen this...- type of scenario?


Well, I do. If you can't admit that you do this once in awhile- you're in denial.


I have found great comfort in following a life of another soul- one who has WAY MORE on her plate than I- one who humbles me and makes me remember the GREAT PLAN that is this life. She is truly amazing- one day I shall meet her and I will have a MILLION things to talk with her about.

So if you ever find that you feel as I have- why don't you explore HER great journey and put yourself in another's shoes- then decide if you'll trade your existence for another.

I KNOW that our trial are custom made- they often, TOTALLY SUCK but they are ours. It all comes down to how we choose to live through them.

I just can't help myself-

These are the newest little additions in my life!

No- they aren't mine- I can only wish at this point in my life for this to ever happen again for us- but- close enough. My sweet friends Karlea and Don have been so blessed to adopt these little twin babies! One boy- Ian and One girl- Isla. They are SERIOUSLY perfect- SERIOUSLY- PERFECT. I inspected quite well- perfect little toes, fingers, perfect round heads, perfect little 6 pounds of perfect baby. Did I say that they were PERFECT???

I'm lucky enough to have such a good friend who shares the same life stories as I do. Adoption is a miracle. Those around us know and have seen the miracle but there are very few that get to have it happen to them and live the life- Elliott gets to grow up with close friends- Matthew and Conner (Karlea's other little boys) who have also been adopted. (Matthew is actually why we are in the Karate class we are in- to be with him.) I am so very blessed to have met and gotten to know Karlea- well before we too would adopt- I had no idea- but I KNOW she was put into my life way ahead of time to be there for me and help me through something that I could not have gone through without her. I consider she and Don and her little ones Matthew and Conner- and now Ian and Isla some of my most treasured tender mercies in my life. It is unexplainable how blessed I am and how well taken care of by my Heavenly Father I am.
So, if I have no more little ones- I rest assured that I get to spend some good quality time with these two new little miracles.
Even Elliott is stoked for them- it is amazing how at 5 years only he grasps little parts of how lucky we are as a family to be together and have each other.
Yesterday- WAS A GOOD DAY!

Christmas- I'm a little over it!

I have somehow lost my Christmas photos. We got a new computer and I feel like I am re-learning everything- programs seem to have changed. I'm sure it's me. Anyway- It was a really lovely Christmas. Elliott was sick but other than that it was beautiful and special. Sorry- however, I'm sick of Christmas posts and I imagine so are all of you!

Piano and other things...

Elliott LOVES music! Always has- we sing all of the time and listen to music constantly. We thought it was time he started learning to play something- we chose the piano- I play a little and we thought if he could learn the piano he could branch out to another instrument when he was ready. As of late there is some talk of the tuba (heaven help me if he really chooses that one- ergh!). We had a little Christmas money and so we CraigListed and found this awesome deal for $200! We thought we just found something pretty good for our needs- however, the piano tuner thinks we totally made a steal- he says he'd sell it for $700. So we are stoked with our purchase!
Elliott is loving it- every time he walks by he plays a little something and I am in heaven playing again. I've already learned a few new songs that had been my goal YEARS ago!

This is the sparring gear. They only wear it when they spar with one another. It is HILARIOUS!!! He loves putting it on and wrestling with Craig. It is quite a show.

Elliott is a rather shy individual- mostly when it comes to his physical abilities- meaning- he really takes forever to do things because he is so very cautious. Once he started walking finally (19 months) he never fell- he was up and running and TOTALLY ready to go. He is like that with everything physical. Where his cousins are riding bikes without training wheels- I suspect it will be months before he will even consider it. I'm fine with this. However, we have just felt like he needed some confidence to help him in his life- especially with his physical development. When he is at the playground with some of his friends or cousins he won't even try some of the stuff they do- he watches with excitement and anticipation and I will see him start to try what they do- and then he just gives up- even though I KNOW he can do the same things.

So- he started a Karate class about 4 weeks ago. He LOVES it! He isn't the biggest fan of sparring- it really bothers him. My hope for his is that he learns how to control some of his emotions better and gain some serious self confidence that he could really use by taking Karate. So far, so good. Happy boy.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Fabulous Christmas details to follow...another night!

That's what he said-

Tonight Elliott comes to me and tells me to look behind his ear. I say-

Oh, you have a penny stuck behind your ear.

Mom, I know- the Holy Ghost put it there.

Love him.

For the Grandparents...

This post is mostly for the grandparents who are not here with us this year- which is ALL of them! Very strange not to have them here- we were hoping some would get here and then in the end it didn't happen. We miss all of you!

The kids started our evening with "Christmas Bells are Ringing"- it was lovely. As you can see Elliott's lovely tissue in his ears- his relationship with bells is a love/hate relationship. They did a fantastic job as you can see!

We've hardly begun with the presents- they each opened one tonight- from Grandma Lauralee. They were all a HUGE hit mom- THANK YOU! You're the best!

Until tomorrow...Merry Christmas!
This time of year is AMAZING with little kids. I can't imagine life without these little people in my life- it makes it so perfect with them here!