Family Rock Band

Sometimes, you gotta rock. Especially in light of the last post. So here we are, doing what we do best. Making noise!

Back in the day....

Mommy was a rocker. It's true. I spent way too much money on music and concerts. My sophomore year of college has a soundtrack that is almost all Aerosmith. "Who's that?" you ask. I know. I don't even think they put out any albums that year ("what's an album" you ask. Hush)

But the songs meant something to me at that time. Janey Got a Gun was all about all the boys who'd done me wrong. Sweet Child Of Mine was about the good girl I wanted to be, and Livin' on the Edge pretty much defined life as a poor college student.

No matter how crazy/hard/exhausting life became, Aunt Michelle and I found one cheap and easy way to make it all better. We'd throw on some Aerosmith as loud as we could and go drive as far as we could, watching the stars through Betsy's sunroof, and smelling the desert air (because Betsy didn't have air conditioning).

Two nights ago, it was 7:30, I had visits to make for the Primary and I welcomed the escape from the bedtime routine. I just didn't think I could handle the pajama-wrestle one more time without going clinically insane. I happened to drop by Target and saw these amazing t shirts. They made me laugh for 10 minutes straight and it was decided then and there that I couldn't live without one. And of course Auntie Michelle's little girl needs one as well.

The very next morning we were in Michelle's backyard and laughing so hard we could hardly take the picture. When Michelle saw the shirts, she said "Oh, now we have come full circle." To which I responded "Yeah, and maybe again when they're in college together and see an Aerosmith tribute band."

Somehow I have to remember this when you guys are 15 and 18 and 21 and blaring some horrible awful music 24/7. I have to remember that there are times when nothing but a really amazing guitar riff can make things better.

You know my minivan has a sunroof. And air conditioning.

Family Pictures Sneak Peak

Our family photographer Haleigh did our family photos. Great shots of you kids, even though Kariah was being her usual cranky "camera brat". She had used up all her cute earlier in the day. Luckily we have found a very witty way to use it for our Christmas cards. But you'll just have to wait and see.

For now, I'll leave you with Daddy's parting words as he made his way to bed five minutes ago. "You've got a cute family Mommy."

May The Force Be With You.

Happy Halloween from Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia

Guess Who's BIG??

Dear Riah,

You went for a weight check (and more shots, poor thing). You finally broke the 20 lb mark!! Happy Dance!! You're even on the growth chart!!!!! Sure, it's only 5th percentile for weight but it's a big jump from where you were before. I'm so proud of my big, big girl!!

Smiles and Giggles

For Grampa's Everywhere

A Mountain

My Dear Family,

Another weekend has past and luckily, we made a quick decision to get out of the house instead of doing the usual chores. We went for a quick jaunt up "A" Mountain (more like a hill) in preparation for our assent up Y Mountain during Thanksgiving break.

You boys thought is was super easy but you also had a really great time. Sis thought her chariot was a bit slow but the view was superb.

Bring on the Y!!

Best Friends

Dear Riah,

Mommy has a good friend who has had the good sense to have babies at the exact same time as me. Hence you and your best friend Aubree are only a month apart. Her Mommy and I trade babysitting twice a week so you and Aubree see each other lots. You trade toys, germs, and skills. She taught you "mine!" and you taught her "No!" I think. Maybe it was the other way around.

While the two of you look so calm and collected in this picture, don't let it fool you. It's only after you tackled each other over a baby doll. This picture reminds me that baby-time is only for so long, I can see the future in your eyes.

Soon will come the day that you are playing "princess" and maybe even gossipping abut boys. So I'm really trying to treasure the days that you fight over the lego blocks.

Don't grow up too soon Baby Doll.

First Haircut.

Dear Ri-Ri,

It's true. It was time. Face it honey, you have two hairstylists as Auntie's. They were only going to let you get away with the shaggy look for so long. Daddy's hairs and Brothers' hairs desperately needed chopped and you were along for the ride and I really couldn't come up with an excuse not to, so....

You were so good and sweet and really, it looks fabulous. Aunt Tanya said to let your bangs grow. She knows way more about girlie hair than I do, so if you don't like it, you know who to blame. :)

Ugg, I can feel Mommy-guilt already beginning. Is every decision going to feel like this??? I love you sweetie. And you're still very cute.

Good Morning

Communal Breakfast. First morning back from Fall Break. It's a hard life.

Mommy with Camera. The world is good again.

First self portrait with new camera

Watching tv in pajamas, what more could one ask for? Answer: fruit loops

Dear Kids,

Yesterday was Sunday. I spent over an hour writing and editing pictures for this post. It was visually lovely, it was witty, it was sentimentally descriptive. With one errant click, I erased it all. Such is life.

So I try again. We finally have a camera again. It's merely a point and shoot but I saved up for it by forcing Daddy to go on really cheap date nights (thanks to babysitting grandparents!) and it's tiny but with big potential. (much like yours truly). It's even pink! I love it.

So we just wrapped up an exciting Fall Break. Filled with lazy days, play dates at the park with friends we haven't seen since school started, a wild trip to Chuck E Cheese, football in the park while it was a cool 95 degrees (thank goodness for sprinklers), and Kariah learning to remove her diaper. Hence Mommy HAD to go chasing her naked butt around the house with her new, pink camera. (Pictures not published on this public blog, but hysterical all the same.)

All in all it was lovely. But today the boys are back in school, Kariah has Mommy all to herself again, and there is time. Time to blog about all the stuff we had time for.

Life is good. Don't forget that, life is good.

Creating the book

I've had a lot of people ask how I'm going to turn this blog into a book for my kids and family. I had planned on using Blurb.com. This blog that has taught me much about photography and publishing has a review of Blurb. Very beneficial I thought.

Flashback Friday: Marc

Dear Marky-roo~

Oh my crazy boy. You are so wonderful and so loud and so funny, all at the same time. You are doing so well in kindergarten!

The funniest thing is that your homework folder comes home FILLED with all sorts of airplanes and tanks and other fun objects, all that you have designed and cut out of paper. Which that alone I think is very creative.

But I got an email from Camden's mommy the other day. I put that together with some comments you've made and I realized....you are spending all of quiet time every day designing and cutting out warcraft for all the boys (and some girls) in your class. And you are very clear on which ones are capable of what.

I would say you are a budding engineer but your imagination is beyond even that, I think. It reminds me of a Time article I read recently. It discussed how quickly our society is changing, specifically to technology and careers. The top 10 paying jobs right now, did not exist 10 years ago. So, in essence our college students are trying to get educated for jobs that don't even exist yet.

You and your siblings will never have wondered if a black man could be president. You will never have experienced life without an Ipod, a computer, digital cameras, and YouTube. Your reality is completely different than mine.

And I think it has to be. For your imagination, my son, is going to be your biggest ally. Your ability to think and invent and create without limitations or pre-conceived ideas, just might be the key to your success.

I can't wait to see what you will do and what you will create. I just know it will be amazing.

Marky I love you.

2005

Flashback Friday: Jo

Dear Joey-Bear~

Life is good for you right now. You are doing so well in your piano class. You teach Mommy everything you learn, so maybe someday Mommy will be able to play piano too. But you are already way better than me.

The weather is finally cooling off so you're enjoying a little freedom outside at the park, zooming up and down the hills on your scooter.

I'd say your only challenge right now is the Accelerated Reader (AR) program at school. You read these books, at a pre-determined level, then you sign up to take a computer quiz that checks your comprehension, then you take the quiz, then you sign up to go to the library, then you go to return your 2 books and get 2 new ones. Then the process starts all over again.

Well, see here at home, you read 100 page long chapter books for fun. And your score on the quizes are 100%. So I really didn't care very much that your amount of books read was less than the class average. I knew you are an amazing reader and I wasn't worried.

Turns out that there's a big bulletin board in your classroom on which everyone has a rocketship. It moves towards a goal determined by the amount of books you've read and tested on. And you were in last place, week after week. And I had no idea. I am so sorry.

So now, we agreed as a family to help you catch up and stay caught up. So, we go early to school everyday to take the quiz in the computer lab, then we go to the library to check out new books. Then at home we constantly checking in, reading more, determining where in the process you are and what the next step is.

I think about how you are my first and you are my "learning child". By the time Marcus gets to the same place, I'll have all this figure out. But with you, well we are always going to be learning together.

And I have a feeling that more often than not, you are going to be teaching me. Lucky for me, you are a really good kid.

Jonah, I love you.

(Christmas 2005)

Follow-up

Dear Kids (and loyal friends),

The show went great. The cast and I, we weren't amazing but it wasn't horrible either. The most amazing thing was that there were 12 of us performing, we had an audience of about 100, and 20 of those were my friends and family!!!!

It was such an honor that so many people would take time out of the busy lives in the middle of the week just to support me! I am so, so, so blessed.

Speaking of blessings and great friends, our family photographer Haleigh R is doing a photography give-away on her blog. If you have loved the amazing pictures of the kids here, it's worth leaving a comment for her. Your chances are good and the prizes are great.

And guess what? The director of the improv club invited me to take the Advanced 12 week class. Guess what I'll be doing on Thursday night?? Whoo hoo!!!

Why Mommy is Nervous, the Conclusion.

Dear Riah,

So we left off with Mommy meeting Daddy. Mommy was introduced to Daddy, as you will hear over and over and over again in your life, by her college roommate and Daddy's high school friend Aunt Michelle. She took me to his mission homecoming, Grandma T cornered us in the hallway and made sure we came over for the luncheon and the rest is history.

Sounds typical, why was my world upside down you ask? Because falling in love was not in the plans, let alone getting married.

But there he was, this man who actually listened when I spoke. He laughed at my stupid jokes. He was crazy tall and handsome and SMART and for some crazy reason, thought I was smart and funny.

But as always, it was bigger than that. From our first date, I finally found that sense of "belonging" that I had been looking for all my young life. This relationship made no sense at all, and yet it was crystal clear to both of us that together was where we belonged.

And Daddy had a scholarship to BYU so apparently we "belonged" in Utah. After we were married, he took off one semester so I could graduation, then Christmas, then move, then BYU started.

I decided I wanted a break from theatre, especially knowing the professional groups were in SLC, a good 1 1/2 hour drive from Provo and I was downright scared of the Utah winter. I rationalized it saying I was burnt, having lived and breathed it since I was in 3rd grade.

It took me 6 weeks to find my $8 an hour secretary job, which I hated. The Provo job market was one big community-theatre-precast. It sucked. I finally weasled my way into a job at BYU and then we focused on having Baby #1. Baby #2 weasled his way into our family soon after, then graduation, first job, diapers, callings, then an awesome stint in real estate. But theatre was nowhere to be found.

Till my 30th birthday. A huge group of girlfriends took me, preggo with you, to an awesome improv show. I found myself laughing so hard, I couldn't see. It had been a long time. It was shockingly inoffensive, the owner an LDS man that won't even let people use the Lord's name in vain, let alone swear words and nasty topics. And yet ridiculously funny.

I vowed to someday be on that stage, making people laugh. I promised myself I would find my funny again. I promised I would give myself the second chance I had taken away in college. Maybe I would suck, fall on my face in a cloud of forced uncomfortable giggles. But I wouldn't know until I tried.

And that's the point, honey. Sometimes you will disappoint yourself. Sometimes you choose the Better over the Good. But always give yourself a second chance.

And tonight, in front of strangers, family, and friends, I will. 7:30 pm. Jesterz Improv.

Why Mommy is Nervous. Part 1.

Dear Kariah,

The last few days have been hard for us, Daughter. I daresay we have even snarled at each other a few times. It's not your fault, you are attempting to grow incisors and I'm sure the resulting pain is very uncomfortable. It's not my fault, I have about 50 butterflies in my tummy and they seem to multiplying by the hour. So together, we make quite a pair.

Why the butterflies Mommy?, you ask. Well, Daughter sit down. I have a story for you.

When Mommy was little all she wanted to do was be like her big brother and sister, your Uncle Mick and Auntie (Noel). They were 12 and 9 years older than me and the epitome of cool in my little eyes. In the height of 80s coolness, they did drama at the local high school. When I got to be a 3rd grader or so, that drama club needed some cute kids and I volunteered in hopes of being just that cool.

That continued until my freshman year of high school when I got to do my own plays and found I was reasonably talented. And I really really liked being on stage. One performance was a dinner show. I found myself with two other girls in 50s prom dresses, doing a 50s song and dance. My dad, your Grampa Ken, laughed so hard he cried. I was very very proud. And completely hooked on the stage.

My sophomore year I moved to a new high school that had a big beautiful stage but no one to use it. The drama teacher was way more into "techie gear" than Shakespeare. Knowing no limits, I simply wrote and directed my own shows. I went to drama camp during the summer and grew and grew (well not literally, sorry you have my height genes, but figuratively, in the drama world).

Till I went to Arizona State and majored in theatre. I thought I would act, I never questioned that. I didn't get any parts but I didn't worry because I was still a freshman. I tried out for a Tempe community theater production of "Fools" by Neil Simon which I had acted in twice and directed myself. And I didn't get the part. I was crushed.

I felt if I couldn't get that part, I obviously must not be any good. Little did I know at the time that community theatre is very much a clique and invariably pre-cast. I decided to change my major to business (why? no clue) but then started to question my math abilities (again, why? Baby Girl never question your ability.)

I decided to stay with theatre and switch to the backstage. It was a long path though. I really didn't fit in with the theatre crowd, the majority of them were east coasters that seemed to have their own language and culture. I didn't smoke so I didn't get that bonding time on the back steps with all of the professors. And I tried to not curse, which is really dang hard when your college homework is to memorize and perform a scene using really bad language. In a program of 1,000 students there was only one other Mormon. And let's face it, he may have worn a CTR ring but....no.

So, I became a stage manager. And a darn good one. By my senior year I was managing for the Dance Dept and Valley Youth Theater and the Black Theatre Troupe (still makes me laugh), doing 2-3 shows at one time while doing school.

The plan was I would graduate in Dec '99, right before my 20th birthday. I would stage-manage on cruise ships so I could see earn great money and see the world. I would pay off all my student loans and then come home and see what happens.

Then in Dec '98, I met your Daddy. And my world turned upside down.

Daddy's Example.

Dear Kids~~

This morning the thought came to me while we were all doing our morning chores..."Daddy sets quite an example for his children. But just what is Daddy teaching you?"

From my perspective it consists of:

**Daddies are meant to watch college football on Saturdays which means ESPN is turned on by 9 am and stays on all. day. long.

**Daddies are also meant to do Saturday chores which means scrubbing toilets, vaccuuming, taking out the trash, and general honey-do items, all while said football is playing.

**Daddies are also meant to wrestle, tickle-till-nausea, spin in circles, and generally do all the physical playing with kiddoes that Mommy generally doesn't do. All while the tv shouts out touchdowns and personal fouls.

**Daddies are meant to whistle at Mommies while they go up the stairs. This is required.

**Daddies even appropriately ooh and ahh over the sewing project that Mommy slaves over all day long.

**Then Daddies are meant to fall asleep in front of SportsCenter while attempting to catch up on all the football they missed while trying to be a Very Good Daddy.

Baby Talk

Dear Riah~

You are 17 months and one day old. Your vocabulary has exploded in just the past week. "peez" means please. "hep" means help. Up is pretty clear. I won't explain how you say "sit" but it makes me laugh every time. Today you added "socks" to the mix. "Bah" means bottle, blanket, and brother, depending you know.

The funnest word is "BABEEEE" which you scream about 40 times a day. Sometime you spot your own reflection. Or you're referring to the millions of stuffed animals and toy dolls that you own. Sometimes you see another child. Any other child. Even if said child is 40 pounds bigger than you. BABEEEE!!!

The absolute cutest though has to be "uh-huh". You say it in the cutest little girl voice, with a lilt at the end. It melts your daddy's heart and he'll talk to you all day long just to hear you say it.

Little girl, you are loved.

Oh Brothers...

Jo and Marky-boo,



You guys have a love/hate relationship. You love to cause trouble, you love to torture each other, you hate to be apart, you hate to be together. Typical brothers.

Since the beginning it's Marcus' job to come up with crazy ideas and Jonah's job to put them in motion. When Marcus was little, it went like this......

Let's cover me up with stuff so Mom can't find me.

Well, you better get in the tub then. I can still see you, I'll get more stuff.

Can you see me now?

Yup, let me get more stuff. Oh wait, Mom's coming....

Sometimes it's all laughs and giggles....

Sometimes there are tears and hurt feelings. (we don't take pictures of those times)

But mostly, you're just the very best of friends.

Pictures of Pictures

Dear family and friends,
Thank you all for voting in my picture poll a few weeks ago. Here is the result, "Kisses" won by a long shot. "Serious modeling" was second (my second fave as well) so it's also in the living room on another wall as a 5x7.

Also, I finally completed Kariah's one year collage. I am so crazy happy I did it. Every time I'm in her room, I get warm and fuzzy. Everyone needs a daily warm and fuzzy feeling-creator.

Special thanks to my good friend Haliegh. She took the original pictures as well as the pictures of the pictures. She's pretty much amazing.

Funny sidenote, Kariah and Haleigh's baby are almost the exact same age and the two were playing today. Haleigh laid her sweetie down to change her diaper and Kariah wandered over, grabbed a couple wipes and laid down too. She looked at me like, "Aren't you going to change me too??" Yeah, I think we know who's in charge around here.

Flashback Photos

Dear Kids,
Since the camera is still broke and things like Dad's car 60k mile tune up seem to be more important, and I've been a brat and haven't blogged forever, I decided today is an appropriate day to showoff some old photos. Not to mention today is BYU football's season opener.

This picture was taken in September 2005. That would make Jonah a little over 3 and Marcus almost 18 months. Oh my gosh! You guys were so cute. We had just been back to BYU on a little family trip. I want to say that Dad was sent there by PwC for some recruiting and we just tagged along, but I might be mistaken.

While we were there, you both got new BYU hats and new BYU basketballs. Marcus chased that ball all over campus. We stopped in at the Wilk and you both got gimongous Rice Krispie treats that were the size of your heads.

When we walked out of the Wilk, there was a midevil type club that was wearing robes and carrying wooden staffs. Jonah said in a hushed voice of awe, "Mom there are Jedi here!" To which your father responded, "Yes Jonah, and if you go to BYU you can be a Jedi too."

Let the brainwashing begin.

Broke.

Van Broke. Camera Broke. Wallet Broke. I'm goin' fishin'. Wait, I don't know how to fish. Dang it. Fish Broke.

Crash.

Dear Kids,

It is 4 in the morning but I can't sleep. So I write.

Last night at 5:45 we were in a car accident. The insurance says I can't talk about it but the public record states that it was right near our house, I "failed to yield" and all of the airbags on the drivers side deployed.

That being said everyone is okay, only Mommy is damaged with only scrapes and bruises and soreness. The driver of the other car walked away as well.

I have learned I was not the cool and collected Mommy I always hoped I would be in that situation. Once I found my glasses, I couldn't find my cell phone because it was in the cupholder. I kept trying to get out and ask someone to call your Daddy but the car was still in drive and therefore locked, and it wouldn't let me out and I might have called the car some naughty words in my efforts.

I finally found the phone and made one fairly incoherent call to Daddy, who was 45 minutes away in rush hour traffic. Apparently the only understandable words were "car accident". Poor Daddy. I then called my good friend Brittany who's husband is our Home Teacher. He was there in 5 minutes and eventually loaded all of you, your car seats, the stroller, the diaper bag, the dry cleaning, and babbling Mommy into his car to bring us home.

Our minivan was towed away. For hours when I thought of the minivan, I would cry. In my old age I have learned that women have emotional attachments to their cars and when things go wrong, it is a season for tears. Maybe from the prospect of having to deal with mechanics, maybe not.

But now I cry from gratitude. That thing is like a tank, I used to complain that it drove so heavy and cumbersome. Never again. It took a really good beating for us and really, we are just fine. The other car crumpled like a tin can, but the cops told me it was designed to do that.

The cops. The emt's. They were so nice. They brought you all cold water and gave you stickers and joked about how much leftover food you guys had stored in the back seat. Seriously the minivan was messier than it had ever been, it's just been so hot for so long that I haven't cleaned it out. I felt like that adage, "Always wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident." I have now changed it to "Always drive a clean car because you never know when 20 medical personal and every single driver on Warner Road is going to see the inside of your minivan."

By 6:45 we were home and by 7, Grandma and Grampa were there for comfort and blessings. Jonah and Marcus, you promptly started playing video games and asked for pizza for dinner. Grampa asked if you were alright and Marcus, this was your response.

"It was like being on a roller coaster at Disneyland. I liked it. But a roller coaster I wasn't supposed to be on. But I still liked it."

You later commented, "Mom, now that the airbags have been popped on my side we can't have any more accidents on my side." Jonah, I could see your response to that rolling around in your head but you wisely kept your mouth shut.

And let me finish with this. By 7:15 the first batch of cookies arrived. (after all, there is nothing that chocolate chip cookies cannot make better) Followed by a visit from our Bishop and wife and more cookies. The last batch arrived at 9:45 pm. Before I went to bed there were 10 texts and countless voicemails, all from our ward members and friends, offering concern, dinner, and help with the kids in the upcoming car-less days.

There are those that say that Mormons aren't Christians. ( I know, right??) This experience prompts my response, How Do Ya Like Them Apples!!

hehehehehehe

Lessons in Life

Dear kids,

School started yesterday and really I should be blogging about that. Yes you guys are really cute and yes it was almost heartbreaking waving good bye and driving off with only one baby in the car. And yes, I get all kinds of anxious when I think how fast the time flew with Markie as my baby and now he's my big boy and when exactly did this happen???

But what's in my heart today is last Sunday night. Before Daddy gave you Father's Blessings for the new school year, we had our good friend Liz and Mark Kelly over for dinner with their 4 beautiful boys. I really wanted to take a picture but I couldn't find a socially acceptable excuse to randomly pull out the camera for a Sunday dinner.

You see, Mark and Daddy grew up together. They have more memories of each other than I will probably ever hear. Mark is one your Daddy would call "Good People". He's steady and real and funny and has a deep testimony. His wife is his equal in all things. I find her beautiful and instantly fun and easy to be around.

A few months ago Mark was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. It's when your nervous system progressively just shuts down. It started in his left hand and is slowly moving from there. He is one of the youngest ever diagnosed with it. He's 29, one year younger than Daddy.

He walked in with a marvelous looking staff which he uses to walk, to stand, and to whap his boys. Boys need that sometimes. A good whap. His hug isn't what it used to be but his smile is.

Even though we hadn't seen them is so long, too long, he was easy to talk with, talking both about his disease and the future with ease and confidence. You get the sense that he knows he's losing some things, balance and strength, but he's so grateful for what he has. A testimony that his family will always be together, a faith that he is only given that which he can handle.

While I greatly admire his testimony, his endurance, and his great faith, the strongest thing I am taking away from Sunday night is the need to not take the future for granted. I have today and today, with you my children, is wonderful.

....seriously.

My Babes~

Our last full day in California started out with a kink. Literally. I woke up at 5 am, stretched and hurt my neck. You (hopefully) aren't aware that Mommy does this regularly unfortunately. But I've always had someone to lend a hand, Daddy or friends or someone. But it was 5 am and I was all by myself with 3 sleeping babies. I snuck out for some ice, took a handful of ibuprofen and called your Dad. It was 8 am in Chile. After a good cry, I laid on the bed to try to relax.

At 6:30 Marcus, you woke up with a seal-bark cough. I can't imagine why, since the day before you took a dip in ice water. But whatever. By 8:30 I called Grandma Jane and asked for help. She was already on her way but called her chiropractor and asked for an appointment even though it was his day off. In the meantime she took you boys swimming and Kariah took a nap.

The chiropractor did the trick and we went by the farm to pick up Grampa. Lo and behold, Susan had a pony for the boys to ride!!! Jonah went first and was a little scared. Mostly because the pony kept whinnying loudly for her boyfriend and Jonah is always a little nervous around new loud sounds. Marcus begged for, and got, two turns and he grinned the whole time. Kariah wasn't impressed. Period.

Then we went for a drive to find the ocean and real clam chowda, as Grampa says. We found the good stuff at a restaurant perched on a cliff over the ocean. Turns out Jonah loves it, Marcus is not a fan (what a surprise). But he did have to go pee (another shocker). So Grampa takes him outside to the port-a-potty also perched on said cliff.

Well, the story goes Marcus, you went in the potty, but forgot to turn the latch. So when you were done you turned it the wrong way and couldn't get out. So Grampa told you to turn in the other way and push. PUSH you did, and you came flying out of the port-a-potty, head first towards the cliff but first into the ground. Luckily Grampa knows how to tickle tears away.

The next day Grampa took us to an overlook of the Golden Gate bridge. We parked on yet another cliff, this one without a guard rail, and he asked if we wanted to get out and take a picture. I thought over our wonderful (and oh so exciting) vacation and decided, "No, the view is just fine from Marcus' seatbelt. Thank you very much."

We ended the trip checking out Sausalito, houseboats, and gourmet grocery stores for a picnic at the Larkspur park. It was a wonderful vacation which taught me a lot. Namely, with Grandparents at her side, a Mommy can do anything!

cool pic with the dog, Tess running with all four feet in the air!