Blake Estate Gardens

Growing up in California was the best. We lived in a small little town where you could leave your doors unlocked and not worry about your kids roaming the streets. Behind our house is the Blake Estate Gardens. It is the Botanical Gardens owned by the University of California at Berkeley. It was the best backyard any kid could have. We spent hours back there building forts, much to the dismay of the gardeners, wandering the paths, climbing rocks and relaxing in the shade of the big trees.

I don't have too much energy lately but I wanted to get the kids outside for a little fresh air and exercise. (Poor Michela had been throwing up all morning so we left her at the house watching cartoons.) We walked down to the Gardens and ended up having the whole place basically to ourselves, except for some big fat squirrels we saw running up the trees.

My favorite part of the gardens is the forest area. I used to spend a lot of time there as a kid. I would bring a book and a lunch and spend hours curled up on a bench reading in the quiet and the shade. The kids didn't take much time to notice what was around them, they were too busy running down all of the paths.Another favorite spot was the huge rock down by the bottom of the gardens. We loved climbing this as kids. We would often take our lunches down there and eat them up on the top of the rock. Hunter and Chase climbed up about halfway before they looked down and freaked out.There is a big lawn that I just let them run around on. They were having races with each other. Chase and Hunter would let Aria get about halfway across the lawn before they would start running to catch up with her. Aria kept saying, "They're coming, they're coming!"It was funny watching Chase and Hunter race. Hunter is much taller than Chase but Chase is way faster so they tied every time.

Hunter doesn't seem quite sure how to use all the height he has gained in the last year or two. Hopefully he'll be able to gain more control of his limbs in the near future.

The gardens are just a wonderful little piece of heaven. I love going there to look at the beautiful flowers and to appreciate this amazing world that has been created for us.

It also gives you some wonderful views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It's not the biggest botanical gardens in the world but I like to think of it as my own special garden, one that has captured memories of my youth and hopefully it will capture memories of my children's youths as well.

Aria's 3rd Birthday

Aria's birthday always seems like an afterthought after the hustle and bustle of Christmas. How do you make a birthday four days after Christmas seem separate from Christmas? Aria came down the hall in the morning with a big smile on her face and a mass of tangled hair. It was pretty comical. Can you guess which side she was sleeping on last night? :)

All day long I kept asking her how old she was. "Two," she would say. I'd ask her, "Are you sure?" Then she would scrunch up her face and think, "Three?" It was pretty cute. And the whole three finger thing had her confused for awhile. She wasn't sure which fingers to hold up.

We decided to go see "The Princess and the Frog" for her birthday. It was such a cute movie. I loved the music, lots of fun New Orleans jazz, and the characters were so much fun. Aria was laughing through the entire movie. I also enjoyed the moral of the story about working hard and figuring out what is most important in life.

After that Aria requested a "burger sandwich" for lunch so we headed over to Fat Apples. Can I just tell you that I crave Fat Apples when I am in Utah! It was good to get my fix while we were there. And the best part about lunch? Everyone was happy with their food! I love a meal without hearing any whining.

After we got home I made Aria's cake. When I stuck it in the oven I realized that Aria was nowhere to be found. I ran around the house calling her name and all of a sudden she burst out of the bathroom and went running down the hall. Once I caught up to her I could smell her stinky diaper and saw the mess she had made on her face. I started cracking up. She is so entranced when she watches me putting on my makeup. I usually dust a little leftover powder on her face and swipe her lips with a little chapstick or lipgloss. Well, I guess I left my makeup bag where she could reach it and she decided to do a little makeover on herself.

She had powder all over the side of her face, and dress, lipgloss on her lips and eyebrow, and mascara everywhere. Too funny!

That night we opened presents and she was so excited with her new castle puzzle, Polly Pocket Cinderella, an ABC quilt from Aunt Tiffy and a pink tutu and wand from Grandma.

She was running around the room saying, "Bibbity, Babbity, Boo! I turn you in a pig!"

After that we had cake and ice cream.

She did a great job at blowing out her candles and didn't sneeze on the cake once!

What a fun day for such a fun little girl! She is such a joy to have in our family.

A Day in San Francisco

We love going over to San Francisco when we are in California visiting my family. Last Christmas we didn't do it and we felt like something was missing. This year we decided to ride BART over to the city. The kids loved riding the train and looking at all the interesting people that rode with us. They especially were excited when we went through the tunnel under the bay.

After getting off of BART we walked up to Union Square.

They kids thought the huge Christmas tree sitting on the square was awesome and liked watching the ice skaters on the tiny little rink that was set up there. Aria's favorite thing to do was chase the pigeons.

She was so fun to watch running around and squealing at the birds. "Come here birdies, come here!"

We tried to go to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch but the wait was way too long. Instead we opted for the basement of Macy's where they have a little food court. This isn't your regular mall food court though. They have a Sushi bar, Wolfgang Puck's pizza, Ben & Jerry's, a little gourmet bakery and a Bourdin Deli. Bourdin makes unbelievable sourdough bread so we decided that would be the ticket. We munched on clam chowder in bread bowls, sandwiches, caesar salad, and sourdough crust pizza. Yum! The kids begged for ice cream and Mike gave in. After lunch we walked around some more, checked out the huge Christmas tree in Nieman Marcus and spun around in some revolving doors. I wanted to check out the maternity department at H&M but came away sadly disappointed. I was able to find a couple of cute things for Michela in the kids department though. There were some adorable clothes I wanted to get for Aria, but they were too expensive.

The BART ride home was just as fun for the kids but not as much for the grown ups. The kids were a little crazy on the ride back. By the time we got back we were all ready to go home and take a nap. Fun day in the city, I think we'll have to do it again next year.

Christmas Fun

Once again we went out to California for Christmas. The drive out took us 13 1/2 hours! It was the dreaded Sacramento area traffic that got us. Mike is determined to leave an hour earlier next time. Yikes! The weather was beautiful. Temperatures in the 50s and not much rain to speak of. And of course it was so much fun to see my family and to have my wonderful mother take such good care of us. Grandma around equals more time for Mommy to lay around and relax. Bliss...

On Christmas Eve the kids decorated the tree for Grandma and we opened up our Christmas jammies. When I saw Michela's pjs in the store they were calling her name.

If you can't read them it says "A little bit Naughty and a little bit Nice". Is that perfect or what?!

Christmas morning we told them they could get up and look in their stockings but they weren't allowed to open any presents until after breakfast. Growing up we weren't allowed to even go near the presents until after breakfast and the reading of the Christmas story in the Bible. My sister and I were the youngest and we were often made to wait until our four older brothers decided to grace us with their presence. I heard the kids creep down the hall at about 7 in the morning. When I went down the hall they were all in the TV room watching cartoons, playing with the little toys from their stockings and stuffing their faces with candy. Nice...

After breakfast we got to the present opening. Christmas morning is so much more fun for my Mom, my sister Tiffany and my brother Craig with little kids around. The kids were tearing into their presents and were so excited to see what they got.

All Chase asked for this year was Legos. There were about 25 things on his Christmas list and 20 of them were legos.

Hunter scored legos as well as a cool K'nex roller coaster.

Mike and Hunter spent 7 hours putting the roller coaster together. Michela got roller blades which she wore the entire time we were there. There are some nice long halls in my parents' house and she took advantage of them. Aria was bouncing all over the place. She wanted everything open right that second. Her favorite presents were the Disney Princess Barbie dolls from Grandma.

I made her a doll but she wasn't interested in a handmade doll when she had Princess dolls around. Maybe if I make a crown for the doll she will want to play with it. :)

I made my Mom a hat for Christmas, she was so happy to have it. She said it would keep her warm on her morning walks.

Mike and I had told each other pretty specific things that we wanted.

He wanted clothes and I wanted little things like bobbins for my sewing machine, a pretty camera strap, a scrapbooking book, ... little things that I probably wouldn't have gotten around to buying for myself.

I made some beautiful necklaces for my sister and friends but of course I forgot to take pictures. What a doofus I can be sometimes!

That afternoon my brother came down with his family so the kids had cousins to play with. It's so nice that they are past the whole awkward getting to know you stage now. They just jump right in where they left off from the last time they saw each other. Michela and Hailey are so cute together.

They are both into sports, reading and laughing a lot. The other five kids had a lot of fun running around the house, screaming and giggling together.

Here's my sister-in-law Shelley with Whitney and Carley.

And the newlyweds, my brother Steve and his wife Shannon, were able to come by for Christmas Dinner.

We had so much fun catching up with each other and laughing a ton. I'm so thankful for such a wonderful family where I feel so loved and know that my own little family is so cherished. Thanks Mom for the wonderful time and for letting me catch up on my sleep.

Chase Loses His First Tooth!

Chase has been waiting and waiting for a loose tooth. He is now 6 1/2 and he has watched our 5 year old neighbor across the street lose 3 or 4 teeth already. He was so excited when he got his first loose tooth. He has been wiggling it for a month now and he wouldn't let anyone try and pull it out.

On Sunday we were at a family Christmas party. We had lots of fun there and were all tired when we finally got in the car to drive home. From the back of the car I heard Chase shout, "I lost my tooth!" "Where is it," I asked? "I don't know," Chase replied. He then told us that when he was eating dinner he had bitten down on something hard. "Oh no, I think you swallowed your tooth," I exclaimed. Chase was pretty bummed out that he couldn't put his first lost tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy. We suggested he write her a note instead and explain to her what had happened. Hunter helped Chase compose his note and he went to bed much happier. In the morning he found money and a note from the tooth fairy under his pillow. The tooth fairy told him how proud she was of him for telling her the truth. (We've had some truth telling issues lately so an extra nudge from the tooth fairy couldn't hurt, right?) Chase still has the note on his special shelf on the bookcase in his room. He is so proud now to show off his smile.

Christmas Best

I have been meaning to make Christmas outfits for the girls for the last month, but I've been so worn out or busy with other things it kept getting put off. On Saturday I knew I couldn't wait any longer if I wanted them to wear them for Christmas Sunday. I spent the morning making Michela's skirt. She wanted a long skirt because she hates wearing tights in the winter. We fought about the length for a while but I eventually gave in since it was going to be her who would be wearing it. She was so happy with it when it was all finished. I teasingly started calling her my Amish Grandmother. She thought that was pretty funny.

Aria's little jumper was from a pattern I bought online. I had been envisioning it for weeks. I had bought coordinating fabric for the girls so they wouldn't be too matchy matchy. I spent the rest of Saturday sewing and hemmed it up Sunday morning before church. She loved her new "princess" dress and wore it for two days straight. She is such a little cutie pie and such the girly girl.

Here are some pictures of us all dressed in our Sunday best. The kids looked so cute all dressed up.

My boys.

The girls.

Snow Baby

Aria is always taking a nap when the kids come home from school so she doesn't get to go outside to play in the snow with them. This day she got an earlier nap so she begged Michela to play with her outside. She was so excited to get all her snow gear on. Watching her out there made me think of Michela when she was that age. She was so cute, wobbling around through the snow. Michela had to help her walk around because the snow got too deep for Aria sometimes.

Is it just me, or does everyone else just love these pictures of older siblings holding hands with younger siblings?! It always melts my heart to see them walking hand in hand.

Are we having fun or what?!

Michela making snow angels.

Aria trying to get some snow to throw.

Michela in the snow chair she made.

And the evening ended with cups of hot chocolate and big "smashmellows" to top them off.

I think Aria was more interested in the "smashmellows" than the hot chocolate.

Trimming the Tree

I didn't think we would be getting a Christmas tree this year. For some reason Mike always fights me on getting a real tree. He wants to buy a fake tree and be done with it. We always had a real tree in my house when I was growing up. There are just some things that can't be compared between a real tree and a fake one. The smell, and seriously it's way better than a pine scented candle, the soft feel of the pine needles, going out to pick out that perfect tree, ... I even love watering it!

On Friday night Mike took Michela, Hunter and Chase out to get a tree. I was so happy when I saw it in the family room. Saturday morning I let the kids decorate it. Our tree growing up was always a mish mash of decorations and lights. There is something about that kind of tree that just says family and home to me. When Mike and I were first married I did the lovely color coordinated, beautifully decorated tree. It always felt kind of to prim and proper for me. When the kids starting coming along I went and bought a bunch of wood ornaments so they couldn't break them. We've just added random ornaments since then.

I always get a family ornament for each year and get the kids their own special ornaments too. I also love seeing all the fun ornaments that the kids have made in school over the years. Each ornament has a memory attached and that makes the tree even more special to me. Our tree might look like a haphazard mess to some, but it speaks volumes of love to me.

Here are some pictures of the kids putting up the ornaments.

Aria tried putting up some but she couldn't get them to stay. She would try just setting them on the tree and didn't realize that you had to put the hook or loop over a branch. It was pretty funny to watch her. Michela ended up helping her out until Aria got bored of it and just started playing with the ornaments instead.

Michela putting the angel on the top of the tree.

There's no better way to spend a Saturday with the family.

O Holy Night

On Saturday night Mike and I were lucky enough to get some tickets from my sister's friend for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert. It was AMAZING! Natalie Cole was the guest singer and David McCullough was the guest narrator. We were up in the balcony and had a great view. Really there isn't a bad seat in the Conference Center.

It started out with a original piece by director Mack Wilberg called "O Come, O Come" which transitioned into "O Come All Ye Faithful". There was a children's choir that accompanied the Tabernacle choir and their sweet little voices sounded angelic. Natalie Cole was beautiful, gracious and her voice sounded divine. If you closed your eyes it sounded like you were listening to a CD, the sound in there is that good. I think my favorite songs that she did were "Grown Up Christmas List", "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", and of course "The Christmas Song". This song always makes me cry. It reminds me of Christmases past and especially of my Dad.

The story part of the program was beautiful. David McCullough narrated stories about "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas". With the orchestra playing behind him he told of how these two songs helped to bring hope to our nation during WWII. I read in the newspaper that the first time they rehearsed he almost fell of the stage when the Tabernacle choir started singing. He said their singing was so powerful that he wasn't ready for it. :)

I think my favorite song of all that night though, was "O Holy Night". This is one of my most favorite Christmas songs. There was so much emotion going on in that song, it was so powerful and the spirit was so strong. I wasn't the only one wiping away tears in the audience.

What a special night that was. I was scared I wouldn't have enough energy and that my stomach wouldn't allow me to go but I was determined. I went away feeling uplifted and full of the Christmas Spirit. Even though I had to lay down in the back of the car on the way home I was so glad I got the opportunity to go. Thanks again Tiff for the tickets!

An Untraditional Thanksgiving

A couple of weeks ago Mike dropped a bombshell on his family. He told them he had never liked Thanksgiving dinner. His Mom looked so shocked and everyone else looked at him like he was from another planet. He went on to explain that what we usually do for Sunday dinners is always way better than the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. Good thing we weren't doing Thanksgiving with the Stakers this year. :)

We ended up having Thanksgiving with my family and we all agreed to nix the turkey and go with a more untraditional route. We broke out the grill and grilled up some chicken and steak. Wow, it was so much better than a turkey! Our menu also consisted of loaded mashed potatoes, rolls, my raspberry jello (you can't go without the jello), green salad, 7 layer dip and a little Martinelli's to wash it all down with.

My brother said we had enough food there to feed the Salvation Army. Ha, Ha,...

And for dessert there was pumpkin pie, but I think the other desserts were the favorites though. Banana Cream Pie, pumpkin cookies and the famous Frozen Lemon Pie. Thanks to Tiff for our favorite Hunt family dessert. Yum!

It was nice having a very small and casual Thanksgiving dinner. It was just my brother Brian, his wife Steph, their son Kyle (their other son Marcus is on a mission) and my sister Tiffany who joined us.

We played outside in the beautiful weather. The kids threw around the football with Mike and Aria dragged Brian around to do her bidding, like push her in the swing until his arms fell off. :)

After dinner we watched the new Star Trek movie. That movie was a lot of fun, it had humor, action, romance and some serious spaceship warfare. Brian even got in a little nap during the movie.

What a fun day we had together. Now our new tradition will be the untraditional, how fantastic is that?!