Happy Birthday to Me!

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes for my birthday. It was really fun! I'm glad that my last birthday ever was so nice... I shall now eternally remain 29!

Where else than in Southern California could we buy a Christmas tree in the morning and then spend the afternoon at the beach collecting seashells? We found some great shells - we always do in the winter months since the beaches are MUCH less crowded. This trip we also found a sand-dollar (which the girls were very amused with). It wasn't the nice white pretty kind either. It still has the grey fuzz all over... I'm hoping after a couple of weeks outside in the backyard that the fuzz goes away and leaves just the sand-dollar. Is it still alive? Am I murdering a sand-dollar creature? Maybe it's still alive after spending this week in the cold rain...

Going Bowling...

Jeff & I are heading for the Las Vegas Bowl this weekend to cheer on BYU...

We've never gone anywhere overnight without the kids, so this should be different. I hope the girls do well for Grandma & Grandpa (and their aunts).

Besides the game, the part of the trip Jeff's most looking forward to is the BBQ tailgate we're going to before the game. Jeff LOVES BBQ food. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post when we get back.

Until then, hopefully everyone's keeping warm!!! Who needs a heater in Southern California?

Thanksgiving

We had a great time visiting family in Utah! It was hard to be motivated enough to come back to reality (work & school), especially with that traffic we hit outside of Las Vegas all the way home... 16 hours in the car was NOT fun. But still, we can't wait until our next trip up there.... the girls love reconnecting with their cousins. Here are some pictures while we were up there:

Kara, Grandma Stevens, Brooke:
















Brooke & Grandpa Stevens:
















Kara, Great Grandpa Edwards, Brooke:

















Grandma Stevens & her dad (who was already very festively dressed for Christmas):

















The girls and some cousins (Brayden, Ethan, & Chelsea):

















The girls and more cousins (Hayden & Connor):
















Kara & Brayden:

Brooke & Brayden:

Jeff's brother John, his wife Christal, and their oldest Chelsea:

Grandpa & Grandma's new chair (don't know where it came from or why it's there, but the girls both fought over who got to sit in it):

Not a picture from Thanksgiving, but cute anyway.... Brooke saw a small boy decorating his face at a nearby booth at In-n-Out which meant that Brooke had to decorate her face with stickers. Silly kid.

They're Here!!!

I almost spilled the beans several times in the past few weeks - almost blogged about it, almost made comments on other blogs about it.... my brother, Ronnie, and his wife, KaLee, and their baby, Easton, came to surprise our mom for her 55th birthday. I'm so glad they were able to come and that the party went off without a hitch today! Thank you to everyone who helped make the party a great success today.

Brookie's Christmas

I came home last night to the girls up in their respective rooms, punished for fighting with each other - common when they are hungry and Brooke decides to try to rile Kara up (which she did by sneaking into Kara's room and then refusing to get out). When they found out I was home, they came down and continued fighting in the kitchen.

Constant "Stop yelling, Kara!" and "Stop pestering her, Brooke!" coming from both Jeff and me, I finally said, "That's it! If you don't stop you'll each get two less Christmas presents!" As if I've even picked any out for them let alone buy them yet. This got quiet from the room.

Brooke came up to me a few minutes later, her eyes swimming with tears and her chin dimpling and said, "Mommy, my actions to my sister have made it so I don't deserve any presents for Christmas." My heart melted. I told her to tell Daddy. Once she did, he scooped her up and said, "Of course you deserve Christmas presents!" Brooke instantly smiled, snuggled into her Daddy, and didn't seem to give it a second thought.

Either she really meant it, or she knows how to play us... you decide.

Crazy 8's Tag

8 Favorite TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. Heroes
2. The Office
3. Project Runway
4. Top Chef
5. Law & Order: Criminal Intent
6. Monk
7. Law & Order (Original)
8. The Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Islands
2. Applebee's
3. Johnny Rockets
4. Lucille's BBQ
5. Joe Morley's
6. BJ's
7. Don Ramon's
8. Sizzler

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
1. Had no traffic driving to or from work
2. Read a good book
3. Answered a call at work where the guy didn't know his name (when I asked his name he said "I'll check and call right back")
4. Laughed with my co-worker about random stuff including the above
5. Listened to music
6. Knit a sweater
7. Read about Nephi building the boat and crossing the sea with Jeff & the girls
8. Watched a movie

8 Things on My Wish List
1. No bills
2. New house with no mortgage
3. New computer
4. Faster transfer of pictures from the camera and uploading onto websites
5. Time to do everything I want to get done in a day
6. Better pay at work (or better yet, better pay for Jeff at work so I don't have to :) )
7. Kids that obey the 1st time they're asked
8. New cell phone

8 People I Tag
1. KaLee
2. Anyone who reads this who hasn't already done one and wants to give it a shot

Brooke Turned 6!

I am behind on this post - Brooke turned 6 on October 20th - where did these years go? My baby is 6!!! I had to sneak a copy of these photos on my thumb drive from my parents so I could make this post (I was bad and didn't take any of my own pictures). And who wanted a post about Brooke turning 6 without any pictures anyway?

Our happy 6 year old:




















Striking a pose:




















Blowing out the candles:















Brooke's birthday is the 'worst day' of Kara's life. The same is true for Brooke on Kara's birthday.

Halloweening

We have two Hannah Montanas this year... Purple Hannah and Pink Hannah. Brooke has had wig malfunctions already. These photos were taken when we were getting ready for Trunk-or-Treat last weekend. The girls put on their wigs for the first time and it sparked some pretty modelesque posing. Whenever Brooke strikes a pose, she jets out her hip, her knee, or her elbow. She's so funny... this is the first year in awhile that they have each picked one costume and stuck with it all throughout the week-long celebration Halloween has turned into lately. The past few years the kids have changed costumes for at least one event or another. Jeff wore the Hannah wig briefly. To spare you all, I will not post those pictures - let's just say that he should never grow his hair long and bleach it.





























































































Now for this year's quick pumpkins: We told the girls that they couldn't do patterns like they normally want to (lots of little cuts and intricate design work). We waited until the last minute (last night) to carve the pumpkins this year and still wanted the girls to get to bed on time. Brooke and Kara both chose flowers. I chose the skull for Jeff because I knew he could get through it quickly and then he could finish his essay for school. I opted out of pumpkin carving. I just wasn't in the mood to carve a whole one this year. I got my fill with helping the girls clean theirs out and assist the girls where needed in carving.

Brooke's flower:
















Kara's flower:
















Jeff's skull pumpkin:
















Our pumpkin trio:

Crazy Hair Day at School

This is the happiest they've been to go to school in awhile...

Frightening Experience

We thought we'd lost Kara last night - and Jeff and I are both still completely freaking out over it. We had begun our nighttime routine - the kids showering or bathing (both girls wanted to take a shower in our bathroom instead of theirs, so they had to take turns). Brooke was in the shower, I was at the computer with Jeff and we were working on his Statistics homework. Kara was on our bed waiting her turn for the shower.

We heard a large crash come from the window and looked over to find no Kara and the screen missing. Remember, our bedroom is on the second floor - Jeff & I both immediately thought she was dead. I started to run downstairs and Jeff was going to take off out the window after her (his thought process when he panics baffles me still). Thankfully, we have a ledge that could be turned into a balcony and Kara only fell 3-5 feet. She walked away with only a small scrape on her head (about the size of a quarter at her hairline above her forehead), some scrapes on her feet near her ankles, and a headache. Jeff and I weren't so lucky and spent most of the night shaking and sore in every muscle (I guess the adrenaline rush had worn down and left us both really stiff).

I don't know what it would feel like to actually lose a child, but I don't think I ever want to come close to that feeling again. PLEASE make sure your kids know not to push on the screens to windows (that sounds stupid, but as much as we'd lectured Kara in the past few weeks since she has knocked out the screens to two other windows upstairs already, she still had this accident). I hope it was a lesson learned for her.

I love this blog - hilarious!

If you aren't reading this blog yet, you have to subscribe!

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

So funny!!!

Girl Scouts

It's official... I'm a new Brownie Girl Scout troop leader. I guess this is where I'll put my 11 years of Girl Scout experience to good use.

Know anyone who wants to be a co-leader or has girls in grades 1-3 and want to join? I need at least 3 more girls and a co-leader....

September

Did I really not post anything in August? So many good intentions... the computer (I used to call our 'good' computer) upstairs has gotten REALLY slow and hard to use. I'm sure we'll be replacing it soon. Our now 'good' computer is the one in our kitchen that Ali & Alex gave us - and we haven't bothered to install anything on it (like MS Office). It's really nice to have the extra computer so the girls can play games while Jeff is working on his schoolwork.

I wish I had pictures to share this time (from the first day of school & from the other summer events I promised pictures like gymnastics and zoo and museum). I'll settle for a post with no pictures otherwise it won't get done at all.

I finished my first adult size sweater (knit). It took 1 year (I did put it down when Spring came and I realized nobody would want to wear a sweater in the summer anyway). I finally finished it and was able to give it to my Aunt Toni. She looked really nice in it -- I had a lot of fun making it and I'm glad to give her something back. She has given me a LOT of knitting supplies which sparked me to want to learn to knit. I forgot to take pictures before I gave it away, but even if I do say so myself, it turned out like the picture on the site I got the pattern from (see picture below). I made the sweater in white with antiqued brass buttons - I skipped the scarf mainly because it never gets cold enough in Orange County for a scarf.

It's been a fun habit and has given me something to do to wind down at the end of the day while Jeff's watching football or the girls are watching their tv shows. Kara has even learned to knit a little and has been working on a scarf. She picked it up a lot easier than she picked up crocheting when I tried to teach her that craft last year. Brooke understands crocheting a lot better. I couldn't believe how easily Kara picked up knitting. To me, balancing two needles and the thread and not dropping stitches is a lot harder than crocheting with one needle and one loop at a time. I learned to crochet when I was 5 from a combination of both of my grandmothers. I assumed kids could learn to crochet easier. Leave it to my 30-year-old daughter stuck in a kid body to like knitting better.

Earthquake!

We just had a long, jolting earthquake. I hope everyone's ok - cell phones aren't working. I'm not sure how bad it was anywhere else, but it was really moving here. SCARY!

Nicer Pic of Kara's finished baptism dress

Kara's 8th Birthday Party & Baptism

Before Kara's Baptism, we wanted to get everyone together and eat dinner - the crowd-pleaser we chose: Pizza! Some pictures from the day.... (Please note, I just installed photoshop on the computer and am having fun playing with it - especially the smudge tool hence all the swirls!). Also, this is random order - you are all my favorites, so don't be sad if you are not near the top...

Kara's 8!:















Kara Blowing out the Candle:



















Happy Daddy (actually, a more accurate title would be 'Tired Daddy' but he was happy):



















Of course Brooke needed presents too!:


















Maggie with cutie Easton:



















Little Boys - Hayden & Connor (laughing at Uncle Jeffy):













Older Boys - Mike, Skyler, Bailey:

















Steph with Connor:


















Alisa & Alex:



















Ronnie & our baby sister Kari:


















The rest of Ronnie's clan - lovely KaLee & Easton:


















Grandpa & Grandma Stevens:












Grandma Lopez with Easton (Could we pry him away? Not when Grandma knew he was leaving the next day...):

















Grandpa Lopez & Aunt Katie (I caught you - at whom were you aiming?):













We had a great day! Thanks to everyone who came from so far to be with us!!!

The culmination of the day - one truly special night for Kara and her mom and dad:




















Jeff and I are so proud of Kara for choosing to get baptized. I am truly thankful for the Gospel and for Heavenly Father's plan for us. I am glad that we're able to be a family forever. I'm thankful to have parents (both my parents and Jeff's) who set a good example to me and who I love very much. I am thankful for my loving husband who is so kind to our girls and who loves to spend time with us. I know how close our family is and I'm thankful for that closeness we share.

I'm sorry for the long post - perhaps it comes from still not having a voice and needing to talk. I hope this cold goes away soon - I'm quite tired of it.

Silly things they say...

This weekend the girls managed to say quite a few silly things. While I don't take the time to post these a lot, I'm bored and laughing to myself and thought I'd share some...

1. Conversation (last Thursday):
Kara: We need to make a promise - give me your pinky.
Brooke: Okay, let's pinky square
Kara: Let's swear that we'll always (and then she said something, but I was laughing too hard to hear what they were 'squaring' to do)

2. Brooke (last week) was talking all about 'pawkeeks' to Jeff - he finally figured out she was talking about peacocks. I don't know where she came up with it, but still funny.

3. Kara (last Friday): Mom, I know what depict means
Me: Oh, what's that?
Kara: You know, it's when you take the sharp things off of something like a flower
Me: Like when you pull the thorns off a rose stem?
Kara: Yeah

4. Brooke (Friday while we were watching the Spiderwick Chronicles): Dad, where did they say they were sending her?
Jeff: To a mental hospital - it's where they send people when they are crazy
Brooke: Does she live in the 'dental' hospital?
Jeff: Yes :)

I could go on, but these were the highlights.

It's been WAY too long since I've posted

So much has gone on this summer so far: we've had a lot of visitors, a few birthdays, a baptism, and a daycation.

Now I'm sick - my voice is gone. I should be teaching primary at this moment, but I have a nice dad and husband who are helping me out with that... I also have two maids home helping me.

The girls asked me if they could take a bath earlier today. They kept telling me how they were going to take care of me - not that I need it, but the offer is nice. I am just glad they've gotten along today and there's not been any fighting. After the bath, the girls reappeared like this:




















They made name tags a few minutes after this picture. The name tags read 'Maid Kara Stevens' and 'Maid Brooke Stevens' and had some nice flowers drawn on them. The girls taped them to their shirts. Very cute maids I have - aren't you all jealous? I don't think child labor laws apply when they're my own, right? At least I hope not, because I plan to exploit this a little.

I hope to post this week pictures from our summer so far - our family coming in from Utah and Wyoming (I got to see lots of nephews!), Kara's 8th birthday, Kara's baptism, our trips to the beach and pool with cousins, and our daycation at the San Diego Zoo yesterday.

The Dress is Done!

Still needs to be ironed, but the dress is done!!! And you'll have to excuse her dazed expression and bed-head, but I put it on her as soon as she woke up so I could upload pictures today from work....

We're getting close to being ready for her baptism ~ hope to see you all there on Tuesday, July 8th at 7pm (in the FV building). :)

Friday the 13th

I don't believe in bad luck on Friday the 13th....

For all you believers who think there is a hex upon this day, a few good things about Friday the 13th:

- I was sealed in the temple on Friday, August 13th. We will have our 9th wedding anniversary this summer. For those who remember stories of tornadoes in Salt Lake that August, I will remind you that the tornado touched down while we were in the Salt Lake temple on Wednesday the 11th. No bad luck there, right? Wedding pictures even came out nicely (the only person who had issues during pictures that day was 7 year old Kari who was chased by bees around the temple grounds).

- My birthday is December 13th and has fallen on Friday the 13th a few times in my life. No bad birthdays so far. :)

- Today is Friday the 13th and nothing terrible has happened to me. In fact, work has been very slow today (so except for boredom at some points, it's been a good day!).

- Also, you can't get much better for a good day than FREE DINNER!!! Hot Dog on a Stick has customer appreciation day tonight from 5-8pm and we will be going for our free hot dog on a stick tonight!