Card Making

Since I had some spare time I decided to make more cards. I usually find some paper that matches and then makes a series of cards with that paper. Here are some of my latest series. I'm now taking orders, just kidding. But seriously.

Beach House 2009

We were lucky enough to go with friends and family to a beach house in Ventura for a week. On Monday I get an email sent to my phone with this subject: Hope you don't mind, and this picture:

Ja decided to buy a surfboard (I knew I should've went with him to the store!). 

It was a good purchase because he used it all the time and any time he wasn't surfing he was teaching someone else to surf. He had a 100% success rate. Jill, Zack, Jesse, Kenny, and Bryce were all able to stand up surfing.

Ja and his surfing buddy Josh.

Some people went boogie boarding, kayaking, and surfing. That water was way too cold for me so I didn't even try to get in. I spent most of my time reading in the sun, luckily I had a lot of people to sit with me. 

We spent most of our nights playing cards and talking. It was so much fun to get to know people better from my home ward and spend time with old friends. Beach vacations are always to relaxing it was really hard to come home!

Out of a woman's mouth and into a man's ear

Last night I was eating a piece of homemade pie. I said, " Homemade pie crust is to much better than store bought."

This is what Ja heard, " Why do they ride with their shirts off?" Sure he was watching the Tour de France but Dorothy sure thought it was funny.

I was just thinking...

It's funny how little things in pregnancy prepare you for having a child.

- you can't sleep very comfortably, or very much, even though you really want to

- you take food and water with you everywhere

- you constantly think about this child

- you don't cook real planned dinners very often

- you snack on whatever food you can get your hands on

I'm sure there's more but that's what just popped in to my head.

Father's Day

My dad really liked his Father's Day present from Ja and I...

Lake Powell

We enjoyed a week in Lake Powell last week with our friends Andrew and Chelsey. We had nice weather and the water was nice and warm. 

Andrew and Ja had a great time skiing and wakeboarding on the beautiful lake and Chelsey and I enjoyed catching some rays in our rafts. 

Their son Truman looked so adorable in his lifejacket. 

Other than water sports, we played on the slide off the house boat, watched movies, read and played games. We even had a cream soda taste test where we tried 8 different brands of cream soda.

We had a wonderful time being with friends that live far away, being in such a beautiful location, and having a relaxing time.

Mistaken Identity

I just finished reading a book titled "Mistaken Identity." It's the true story of a tragic accident involving a college van carrying students and employees back to school. There was only one survivor, but she was misidentified. A family thought it was their daughter and cared for her in the hospital for 5 weeks. The "real" family thought their daughter died and held a funeral for her and buried her. 

You would think this book would be about the families being upset at the EMT who misidentified the girls, and at the hospital for not making sure who was who. It's quite the opposite. Both families are very religious and the majority of the book is their prayers and faith promoting stories about their daughter recovering. It was a great read, and a quick one too. I finished it in only 2 days. I would recommend this book to anyone. 

My Two New Favorite Things

1. Cheez-it Cheddar Jack Crackers.

Actually they aren't new to me, but rediscovered. I bought them last summer and Holly and I ate them up. I saw them at the store, had to buy them, and fell in love again. These crackers have big cheddar-jack flavor. You've got to try them! Sadly I've found out that not every grocery store carries them so you may have to look around.

2. Our new vacuum! 

We discovered that our old vacuum wasn't picking up anything off the floor! How bad is it that we haven't noticed how long this has been going on?! Well, we decided to go big or go home and we purchased the new vac. I love it because it's super light, very easy to move and picks up tons of dirt and dust. And it won't ever lose suction :)

I know what you're thinking...

ANOTHER VACATION?! What can I say other than we are lucky?

Yes, we did go to Maui with Ja's parents and my parents. It was my parents first time to Maui so we had a lot of fun experiencing Maui with the first timers. On our first day my mom said she wanted to do everything she could this trip because they wouldn't be coming back. Then on the way to the airport to go home my parents were discussing how they can start saving to come again when my brother gets back from his mission. I thought it was so cute. 

Here are the highlights from our trip. The weather was beautiful and couldn't have been better. 

We got leis from the hotel.

We found a really cool peninsula at D.T. Fleming Beach and had a blast exploring all the rock formations formed from lava, watching two turtles, and running through a crop maze.

We took the infamous "Road to Hana." Luckily no one got car sick and we had a great time discovering new flowers, visiting a black sand beach, and swimming in streams.

Ja tried paddle surfing.

We also went on a catamaran to Molokini (a crater) where Ja and my dad were able to go scuba diving with an instructor. They loved it and now want to become certified. We also went snorkeling at turtle bay. Unfortunately these pictures are on my mother-in-law's waterproof camera.

We went parasailing 800 feet in the air. My mom doesn't swim so I couldn't believe she did this. It was amazingly high up in the air. I have pictures from 800 feet up but they are also on the waterproof camera. Those are my parents up in the sky.

We had great food and very much enjoyed each other's company.

Oh, and for some reason, Ja never washed his hair. I think he wanted to be a surfer dude.

p.s. all the pictures are posted on our web gallery

We have a date!

Ja finally got word from PwC when he will start his job. Training starts August 24th. We are happy to finally receive a date because a) that means he still has a job, b) the job is in D.C. and c) we can start planning our life!

Our New Pet

It turns out we were taking care of a new pet, unbeknownst to us. It's probably been living in our car for the past week and a half. It wasn't smelly, didn't pee in the car, or eat any of our food. Luckily it didn't chew through any wires either. Here is a picture of it's home.

Jonathan took the car in to get an oil change and this is what the mechanic found. A rodent nest in our engine. It's no wonder why the check engine light came on. Now it's really time to buy some rodent repellent.

Williamsburg Family Vacation

The family met up in Williamsburg, VA this year for our historical family vacation. It rained on and off most of the week, but we realized that was a blessing. Thursday and Friday were sunny which made it very hot. We also had a few surprises: Holly was put on bedrest and Addie had to get stitches on her lip. Other than that we had a great time. 

Our first day was historical Williamsburg. We walked all over the town and I tried to take as many pictures as possible before my camera battery ran out. Did you know that Williamsburg was the capitol of Virginia before it was moved to Richmond? And that the college, William and Mary, is the 2nd oldest in the U.S.? Here are some of our pictures.

Henry, Luc, Addie, Brigham watching the cattle. Isn't it cute?

Ja, Addie, Trevor. The only time Addie sat still.

The kids loved having the wagon to play with.

Addie loved walking through every puddle she saw.

We also enjoyed some night time activities without the kids. We listened to ghost stories being told about places in Williamsburg. They have you walk to the homes where the ghosts are and then tell you the stories. The best part was attending the witch trial. Since it was against the law to be a witch, anyone thought to be a witch was put on trial. The judge, lawyer, sherriff, the witch, and witnesses were actors and we all pretended to be the jurors. We got to ask the witnesses questions, the accused and the witnesses got in a few verbal fights, and we voted wether we thought she was a witch. I voted her a witch because she failed the witch tests which were considered law at the time. She floated "unnaturally" when put in water, her "devil's teeth marks" didn't bleed (her moles), and she couldn't recite the Lord's Prayer. 

On Tuesday we went to a Mariner's Museum and learned all about the Civil War that was fought on water. I never thought about the water battles, I figured all the fighting was done on land. Both sides had large submarine-like ships that were the first of their kind. 

Next was Yorktown. It's a small little town on the coast. I don't remember too much about that place, except that we had a great lunch and took a family picture.

Jamestown was our fourth day and we enjoyed learning about the first settlement and the exploring the Indian village, the ships, and the soldier camp. The boys, I mean men, liked posing with their battle gear on.

We saved the most exciting part for last, Busch Gardens Williamsburg. This theme park was so much fun and the rides were very scary (fun after riding them but frightening while you're on it). Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but you can check out the website here. 

We had a blast and were very sad to return home and go back to work. But not for long because we leave for Maui in two days! Life is so hard.