Thanksgiving 2011

Originally we weren't going to go anywhere for Thanksgiving because traveling with 2 newborns did not sound like fun. But trying to take care of 2 newborns alone became too much for us to handle and we needed some help so we decided to make the drive to CA for Thanksgiving. It was the first time my family met the boys as well.

We had a great weekend full of help, good food and wonderful family.

 

 

 

a trip to cali

We went to California a couple weekends ago and got to meet our newest nephew, Ryder. I thought my babies were still small until holding this little guy.

The boys loved playing at my parents house

We even took them down the pool slide for the first time!

the weekend

the weekend in huntington was great {E came with me but kind of did his own thing the whole weekend}.

friday my mom, sis and i went shopping. which was lots of fun and i bought this dress at Anthro. it is so comfortable and super cute {plus it has pockets}. we made a great dinner that night and an awesome peach cobbler.

saturday morning, mom left and ali and i hung out and got pedicures and then in the late afternoon took off for the lilith fair at irvine meadows. it was awesome! we had GA tickets so we sat on the lawn for the first couple hours. but right before Sarah McLachlan came on they were offering free upgrades for seats in the terrace. so we jumped on that and moved to our new seats which were much better. which was awesome cause sarah was awesome. we saw brandi carlile, miranda lambert and sarah machlachlan {there were about 5 other artists but we didn't really know who they were or like their music}. but it was so great! i've wanted to see Sarah McLachlan for years and she didn't disappoint. she only played for about an hour but i would've listened for a lot longer. it was all worth it just to see sarah, she sounded amazing. loved it and thanks for coming with me ali.

our first seats on the grass

the view

our upgraded seats

Miranda Lambert and Brandi Carlile

SARAH

these are some official lilith pics that i did not take. but love.

sunday E and i stopped at the beach, watched the world cup and then drove home. it was a great weekend {thanks ali and ryan}.

carpenteria

In 1992 when I was 7 years old my family started camping at the beach in Carpenteria over Memorial Day weekend. There were some great families from the ward that came along too. I looked forward to it every year. It was the best.thing.ever. and one of the greatest parts of my childhood. We camped many years at the campsite in the top left of the picture. We also camped in one on the right hand side of the picture too.

I don't remember that first time we went but I do remember lots of things from all the other years spent there. Things that make me smile and laugh and that bring me happiness as I remember them.

Playing cards {lots of card games}

Makenzie {who was allergic to bees} getting stung by a bee

Boogie boarding

Sand in and on everything

Accidentally pushing Jann out of the tree we'd play in

Laughing

Getting sun burned {every year}

Campfires and smores

Dutch oven cooking

Living in my bathing suit

Riding my pink bike around and around the camp grounds

Roller blading

Smashing pennies on the train tracks

Sunsets, lots of beautiful sunsets over the ocean

Quarter operated showers

Falling asleep and waking up to the sound of waves

Santa Barbara

Always getting home on Monday {Memorial Day} and unpacking and cleaning everything up from the amazing weekend

The tradition continued and we went almost every year until I graduated from High School. My parents still go some years but I haven't been back for probably 7 or 8 years. I have some great memories from those weekends spent at the beach. I am home sick for Carpenteria, I miss it. I miss the way the beach felt in the early morning and I miss the friends. But what I really miss are the feelings I had there. The joy and carefree ways of being a child. I know that if I went back it wouldn't be the same. It would be similar but it will never be the same as when I was young. But  I'm glad I have the memories and pictures to remind me of the awesome time at Carpenteria.

reminiscing and a purse

when we lived in california, i became friends with a wonderful woman. we trained with each other and did this race and this race together. she got certified to be a doula while i lived there and we had the best conversations about birth and babies. she was a great comfort to me as we started on our infertility journey, mostly because she always listened to me ramble about our troubles. i always felt i could confide in her.

we also loved to sew and were able to get together a couple times to have sewing days. those were always fun days. another good memory i recall was when we'd carpool to relief society activities together. we'd decide beforehand to only stay an hour {you know how you can get caught up while visiting, plus families at home to get back to} and we'd always be eyeing each other when that hour rolled around. it was nice to have someone to do that with.

shortly after we moved to CA she had a little baby girl {now 2}. her second {a boy} is due in a month. i made this purse for her to hopefully serve as a diaper bag. but what's so great about this purse is it's easy conversion to purse after the need for a diaper bag ends.

you may remember that i made a purse from the same pattern for my sis in law at christmas. i love how that one turned out and i absolutely love how this one turned out too. and still my fav part about the purse are the 4 outer pockets. they are perfection.

the pattern is Anna Maria Horner - Multi-Tasker Tote. All fabric is from Anna Maria Horner also. The exterior and interior fabrics are from the Drawing Room home decor collection and the red pockets on the outside are from the Good Folks collection. Anna Maria Horner patterns and fabrics are amazing. they are so easy to understand and work with.

i mailed it today Jess. and you may find another surprise in there with it. hope you love it! here's to good memories and friendship.

um, i'm so in love with it... i couldn't pick one picture

thanksgiving: the race

We started Thanksgiving day off with a race. The kids and adults ran the 1k
Eric and I ran the 5k

Eric's time, 19:45 a personal best.
My time, 31:20 a personal worst.

This was the best way to start off Thanksgiving.
I am thankful for a healthy body and a husband with a healthy body.