October 2016 - October & Halloween Celebrations

 I left off the last couple days in Utah from the previous post. Brent flew into town and we got to enjoy General Conference together.
Ava found a dragon costume that Brent used to wear when he was little at Grandma's:

During conference my dad sat with his electronic fly swatter, taking it upon himself to catch every fly in the house. He thinks it's a game and loves hearing them pop. I told him I could open up the door and let in some more flies. My dad was like, "Fluff... Unclear on the concept." Hahaha.

Notice my shirt in this picture- it's the one Brent bought for me from University of Oregon. Donald Duck!

Coen just sat on his grandma's lap so calm for a long time at a girl's party.

Hopefully I don't have angry men at me for posting this... but look how much they all love Ava to hold hands and play ring around the rosies with her. 

Ava takes dressing up to the extreme.

My mom had lost her iPad a few weeks before we came and thought it was just gone forever. She thought it either ended up in the DI donation accidentally or was taken when she was volunteering at the humanitarian center. But then a person started using her iPad to send messages from her account,  so we knew it was stolen and the iPad hadn't been wiped. Brent used the "find my iPhone" app and actually located where it was, which means that the person had it connected to wifi.

And there it was, right in Rose Park. On Monday, the only week day Brent was in Utah, Brent called the police and worked with them all day. They told him they couldn't promise him it would be recovered, because basically the iPad needs to stay connected to wifi to ring as lost and the person has to be home for the police to question them about it. The police called Brent and told him they were ready to come out and "ping" it.

Brent had the kids with him (I was home working), and he went to the place on the map which turned out to be a multiplex and pinged the iPad. There were eight apartments and they couldn't hear the pinging, which means the police can't just start going inside people's houses. All of a sudden, a man walked around the corner and saw the police and started acting very suspicious and freaking out. The man went into one of the apartments and the police asked Brent to ping the iPad again. He did, and the police heard the iPad in this man's apartment! They brought it out to Brent, and it was such a miracle that it all worked out to get it back! Only Brent could pull of something like this.

The iPad was locked, and long story short, they figured out it was a person from the humanitarian center and we got the phone number of the lady who stole it to give to her teenage son. Brent called the son to get the code (boy couldn't ever remember it), and the lady apologized on the phone to my mom.

We got to see my cute cousin Caitlin and her two kids. 

Brent's flight home to Texas was on a different airline than mine because we bought our tickets at different times. He volunteered to bring Coen with him, which earned him some definite husband points.

I was worried that when Ava woke up and the boys were already at the airport she might freak out. So I told Ava that the boys were going together on the plane and the girls would go together. This was her reaction:

She is really into the boys being with the boys and the girls being with the girls.
It worked out that our flights landed pretty close together and then we went to get tacos at Fuzzy's. The line was out the door and we figured out that it was a special $1 taco Tuesday. Yum!  Here's Ava helping her baby drink at the restaurant.

We saw our friend Rita when w got back and had a goodbye dinner because she's moving soon.

We went to Lilian's birthday party at the park!

Here is a pretty random video. Ava was singing me good night songs. The end gets pretty good.

Coen's kisses just about do me in.

This is random, but apparently the hormones from when I was pregnant with Coen made my hair turn wavy! I have always had incredibly straight hair all my life, so this is very weird for me to have my hair dry like this:

Me and Coen time while Ava's at preschool- I love it.

I spent my precious time during Coen's nap making a chicken pot pie. Here it is before the homemade crust went on top. It turned out so yummy- like I seriously think I could have won a contest. Ava just bawled through the whole dinner because she didn't want to try it. And Brent politely picked out the vegetables. I guess all moms can relate right?

Happy boy, always!

We went to Ava's preschool pumpkin patch one Saturday. The fair part was pretty lame but we decided we could get a couple cute fall pics. And then the kids did this:

Haha! Coen does not like Ava's hand on his stroller.

Yummy butterscotch cookies I made

I found these two pictures in the Target dollar aisle and Brent helped me decorate for Halloween. This is about the extent of how I like to decorate, except for Christmas of course!

I went to Ava's preschool to watch her pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch with her class. I got there a couple mins late (Coen poops at inconvenient times!) and my phone had no room to take pictures! So luckily a friend took these.

Ava had picture day at preschool and I took a couple for myself outside because we're too cheap-o's to buy the ones from school :)

I was playing with the kids in our backyard on the cement pad and Coen's foot barely hung over the edge and touched the grass. All of a sudden he started crying and I saw his foot covered with ants. I picked him up and brushed them up and rushed him to the bath tub. Luckily they were all just on his foot, with a couple up his leg, but it was still over 20 bites that fast! Dang ants in Texas!

Play group at the park on Fridays is so fun for the kids and for me.

Three cute blondies

We met my friend another day at the park to play. October was unusually slow for me at work, so I got to play a lot and enjoy the warm weather! This day at the park it was 88 degrees- SO hot with the humidity!

We went to our friend's the Merrells for dinner and played games after dinner. We have so much fun with them.

Just me and my babies.

My mom came into town! I picked her up from the airport and then we went to a pumpkin patch in Flower Mound. Ava loved the jumping castles.

It was really hot there!

That evening we went to our ward's Trunk or Treat. It was really fun with a Chili cook-off first. The kids were adorable as Donald Duck and Princess Sofia the First.

This picture we took of Princess Sofia and Prince Charming turned out hilarious! They're both like, do we really have to do this?

Poor Coen got all tuckered out.

The next morning we went to Ava's Fall party, which really was just their snack time :) It was fun to see her in school because I hadn't seen her in the classroom setting yet. Coen wanted to sit at the table too and eat.

In the afternoon Ava rode her bike around for my mom and we just enjoyed having extra attention!

On Friday we went to Fort Worth. First we went to the water gardens, which were really pretty!

Then we went to the botanical gardens. It was a very relaxing day :)

After, we went to our favorite BBQ restaurant in Fort Worth and Brent got all you can eat ribs. Brent ate about 10 ribs! After we ate, Ava help up the container her hamburger was in and said, "Look guys.  It's boobies! Cuz boobies is round." We laughed pretty hard at that one.

Beautiful Fort Worth.

That evening Brent went to guest teach a class and we stayed in. My mom and I ordered Mexican food for pickup. I was finishing my order on the phone, "and a taco..." when Ava yelled into the phone, "and a pizza!" 

Here's a video from after dinner. Ava was yelling, "it's naked time!"

I introduced my mom to my new favorite TV show, Call the Midwife. She's read the books that it's based on, and I absolutely love the show. England, the 1950s, midwives, nuns, true stories, what is not to love!?

On Saturday morning we went to the library for a special Halloween story time. Ava went as Belle, because Belle loves books.

After, Ava had her friend's birthday party at the park across the street from our house. She was super excited for it. 

That evening my mom babysat for us so we could go on a date. We were planning on going bowling, but when we got there we saw the prices are hiked up on Saturdays. So since we're cheap, we improvised and went on a drive around town, spent our Kohls cash and bought a new bedspread, and went to Sonic. No matter what we do, it's always fun with this guy.

On Sunday I had to give a talk in church. It was on how supporting our church leaders strengthens our testimonies. It was a hard subject to figure out and I spent a lot of hours preparing it. Luckily it went well in the end.

After church we celebrated Coen's birthday with my mom. He opened his presents from her and we had cupcakes.

He didn't love his cupcake the first day, but the second day he did!

Messy face:

On Halloween Ava went to preschool and I worked for little bit. After school we went to the grocery store:

Here's a picture of our new bedspread. Also, Coen loves belts. He loves to carry them around, and if he sees one in my pants, he cries to hold it. What in the world?

We colored Halloween pictures that Grandma Tammy sent us while we waited for it to be time for Trick or Treating.

Finally, it was time! Ava was so excited, because she could remember it from last year and knew what it was.

It was such beautiful weather, so warm that we didn't need jackets and Brent wore shirts. 

Brent was a hard-core trick or treater again, pushing us on for TWO hours! Here's the spoils.

My mom put this on Coen and I thought he looked so cute!

The day after Halloween it was time for my mom to go home. We had so much fun with her here, having her join in on our Halloween celebrations and give us attention and love.

September 2016 - Trips to Oregon, California, and Utah

During the last week of September my work had a training in SLC that they flew me in for. I brought the kids with me and the grandmas helped babysit while I went to work. Brent and I decided that this was a great week for him to go to some campus visits for possible Ph.D. programs, so he went to Oregon and California that week. I think this was the longest we have been apart since we were married. I'm a little bit of a baby about it, but I luckily was distracted with being busy at work and I had lots of family around.

First, the Utah side:
We were looking at the airplane we were going to be boarding, and Ava was so excited that there were A's on the tail (American Airlines). She said, "look mom! A for Ava!"

 I was really nervous to fly alone with both kids, but they were both so good and we got lots of compliments on how well behaved they were. Luckily it's only a little over 2 hour flight.

 On Saturday evening I went to dinner with the Cowleys to Outback, fun times.

On Sunday the kids had colds so we only went to one hour of church with my parents. They are serving in the single's ward right now, so any noise they make is like amplified and distracting I feel like!

We went and played at the Cowleys in the afternoon and went on a walk. Ava loved being on Marcie's longboard with her:

 I miss the mountains so much! This is what my parents get to see every night.

 On Monday I started my work training which was at a hotel downtown. My firm merged with a firm called Haynie & Company and so we had all the audit departments from the 4 different offices get together (a couple in Utah and a couple from Colorado). The first day we went to Boondocks in the afternoon and did laser tag, miniature golf, etc.

 Since the kids had colds, they weren't sleeping, and then I came down with the cold! So in the evenings I was so tired, but luckily my parents helped me play with these cuties.

 On Wednesday afternoon our work took us bowling and I was proud of myself that I actually got the ball down the lane and didn't get gutter balls :)

 Ava and Coen had fun playing with Grandma Tammy's sandbox.

 Throughout the day at my work trainings we had "minute to win it" games to keep things lively. Here we are having a paper airplane contest. I really enjoyed getting to know some of my new coworkers and also getting to see my old coworkers. There are about 35 of us from the audit department and every day I left feeling grateful for my good job and awesome firm.

 My work training ended on Thursday and then I had the weekend to play! Lucky for that, because on Thursday I completely lost my voice. Ugh.

 Coen helping in Grandma's garden

 Cousin time!

 Look at the smile on this boy's face!

 He loved Natalie pushing him and I think he's going to be a car lover.

 Ava saying hi to the horse on the other side of my parent's fence.

 My parents had a wedding reception to go to and Ava insisted on going like this: an 80s leotard, an apron, and a lei. We talked her out of a scarf. She asked me, "am I perfect?"

During the week, Coen learned how to wave. Check out this adorable video:

Meanwhile, Brent flew to Oregon a day after we left for Utah. He got to Portland Sunday morning and drove to the temple. He was in love. He hasn't been there since visiting Christmas Tree plantations with his dad for Allied.

Brent's top pick for a Ph.D. program is the University of Oregon in Eugene. He loves the area because it's so green. Among other things. This is the new SOJC Media Studies building:

The mascot is Donald Duck himself, which Brent thinks is definitely a sign. "Go Ducks!"

Brent went to church in Eugene and a family in the ward invited him to dinner. He had fun talking to them that night, and then they invited him to come back the next night too! That was so nice. He had great meetings with several professors and Ph.D. students and got really excited about the prospect of moving us to Oregon.

Brent saw Kris Kristofferson at the airport in Portland going to San Francisco. I didn't know who he was, but now I do :) He's a musician and is also in movies like "A Star is Born" for those of you that don't know.

Brent got in really late to SF and had to drive to his hotel in Santa Cruz on Tuesday. The next day he met with more professors and students on the University of California Santa Cruz campus. This campus is right in the redwoods and also is gorgeous. Check it out:

Brent liked the campus and people and all, but they don't guarantee funding and it's just incredibly expensive to live in California, so not a top pick.

He did check out the beaches and other areas around Santa Cruz.

One of the buildings that the California Gothic home in "Psycho" was based on. Alfred Hitchcock had a weekend home in Scotts Valley, just out of Santa Cruz and thought the architecture was creepy.

Sea lions! On the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, where "The Lost Boys" and "Harold and Maude" were filmed.

On Thursday afternoon Brent drove up Highway 1 to San Francisco to check out some sites. Of course, he looked up lots of places where movies were filmed too.

This church is where Maude meets Harold in the movie "Harold and Maude" and offers him licorice at a funeral. (He shows this movie every semester in his Film and Culture class for Ageism, so he's seen it dozens of times). He also went to Redwood City where Maude steals the tree and the Chasen Mansion.

On Thursday night Brent drove over to Oakland, where his hotel was. Apparently the hotel was only a mile down the road from the temple, but it was a sketchy neighborhood! He woke up super early Friday morning and saw the sunrise at the Oakland temple.

Next he went to the Pixar studios. You can't go in, but getting this close was still exciting.

Then Brent drove across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco.

Lombard Street with Coit Tower in the distance (where he went earlier).

Alamo Park- where "Full House" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" were filmed. The famous painted ladies are there.

A cemetery in the old Mission Delores Church (Oldest building in SF). The is the location in Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" that Scottie follows Madeline and sees Carlotta Valdes' grave. After he went to SF City Hall and Castro Street to see The Castro and Harvey Milk's Camera Shop.

He walked across half of the bridge, but ran out of time. He also went to Sutro Park and the ruins of the Sutra Baths on the furthest north west tip of SF. It was a swimming resort similar to the Great Saltaire on the Great Salt Lake.

Brent has been excited to go to the Walt Disney Family Museum, which is operated by Walt's daughter's Diane's family who live in San Francisco.

Here are some of the oscars that Walt won over his career. The special "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is my favorite.

This is one of the original multi-plane cameras that gave the illusion of three dimension to animated films, starting with "The Old Mill" (1935), but was really developed for "Snow White". It means a lot to film people.

Happy boy.

Then Brent caught his flight that night and got into SLC late (thanks Marcie for picking him up!) We were pretty dang excited to see each other :)