Lettuce and onions

Today we went to the Zoo with Friends. We had a great time. There were six boys under 2 1/2 yrs old (Charlie is missing from the picture). Mitch loves to see his little friend Logan. They were both pretty brave reaching in to touch the sting rays but Mitch was not so brave when it came to the goats in the petting zoo. Thanks to Grandma Claudia for getting us in. Days like these make me so, so happy that we have chosen to have me home with the kids.

A moment for Mitch. He is so funny. He loves stickers but, he does not stick them in the usual places. They always start on the face and end up in really random places around the house.

This other picture is from a walk we took the other day. He always tells me when baby spits up. As we were walking he said, "Mom, baby spit up." I looked and well, it was not spit up. I guess I was not walking faster then the birds. needless to say I cleaned the tray right away.

While in San Fran, last weekend, we got to spend time with friends that the boys and I have not see in a long time. We had a great visit and they were so patient with are little guys. They actually did more parenting then we did during the visit (Mitch thankfully did not fall off the pier thanks to Sam and Mike).

Mitch loved the trolley ride, the water and the gellato.

The title of this post refers to a tradition we learned about this past week in China town, San Fran. At a very cool store re-opening we attended there was onions and lettuce hanging outside the store. We learned that means "Make more money." We also learned that the Chinese "Happy New Year" translate to make more money. No wonder Dave likes the people there so much. It was a really neat event and we were treated like honored guests. Mitch really liked the drummers, firecrackers and Dragons. Monte didn't get to see them because I had bad timing feeding him. It sounded great but I didn't see the really cool stuff. The whole event was great and we were so glad we made it a family trip.

The Grandparents

Here is a big Hooray for the Grandparents! The boys are so lucky to have each of you in their lives. So, great and grand we love you all. We couldn't and would not want to do it with out you.

Easter, a time to gain forgiveness

So, I wanted to have a section that I could just put a few thoughts. Of course Easter made me think of all sorts of things that I was grateful for. Dave and I really tried to teach Mitch the reason we celebrate Easter during our Family nights. I think a little of it stuck. I know at different times David and I each felt the spirit confirm what we were teaching.
This also relates to special experience I had this week. It was small but special. Mitch is two and although he is a really good boy, he is still occasionally a two year old discovering his freedom. Well, I have found myself to be less patient then I want and need to be. I have raised my voice and definitely gritted my teeth lately. I could tell Mitch was bothered by my anger. I felt so bad. I prayed and prayed one night that I could be more patient and not get angry. I prayed I could be more like a sister in our ward at church who was the picture of serenity. Well, part of the answer to my prayer came when that same sister spoke in church on Sunday and spoke of how she would get angry with her children when she was a young mother and her kids were small. She said she prayed all the time for help to be calm and loving to her kids. She spoke of how Easter was about receiving help and forgiveness from the Savior. Well, I felt that the message was just for me. I love my little boys and I am going to keep praying for patience and forgiveness.

Our Easter week

Good news, Monte is officially crawling! Bad news, he can get into things that mom, dad and as the picture shows, brother does not want him into. He is determined. We guess he will be walking before a year but, if not he will still get where he wants to go.

There was a three way tie for the funniest picture of the week (at least, I couldn't decide). Mitch wanted him and Monte to wear bunny ears to bed, well, why not. Finally, the bubble beards were completely be accident. Unfortunately a few bubbles were ingested in the making of the bubble beards.

This past week we had a visit from Nana Mary. We don't get to see Nana too often so, it was a treat. She got to see the boys in all their glory. Mitch even painted for her. Even with a full rain suit on he still managed to get the paint on himself.

I like these two pictures because it shows what a good sales man Monte is already. He got the better deal by far between the two baskets.

I can't seem to get the picture of Mitch to go the right direction so sorry, You'll have to turn your head. The boys had no shortage of Easter Egg hunts. They had one the week before with Charlie and Ella, one community one at the discovery center and one for the Grandparents that were in town. So, even though some eggs were filled with money and fruit snacks, Mitch candy then he needed. Monte found one egg just for him with plain cheerios in it. Dad was kind enough to help with some of the candy.

We hope everyone had a great Easter! We really enjoyed ours. I have proof in this picture of how patient Dave is. I found these matching ties and they were on sale, how could I not get them. I thought me three men looked so good. I was glad to see when we got to church that there was at least one other matching father and son. Thanks husband for going along with my silliness. I guess I didn't have enough dolls when I was young.

The set-up

I am justifying staying up late to add another post because consider this like a journal so I am just working on my family history. With that I wanted to start on a series of posts about our past. I will start with a few wedding pictures.

David and I first met as a set-up. Yes, we were a blind date success story. I have a friend (J. I wonder if you remember saying this) that told me 73% or so, set-ups result in marriage. She told me this just before I accepted the set-up. Well, obviously I was wise to go on the blind date because it was divinely set-up. We dated for about a year (just under if you are counting from when we became exclusive) and we were married at the Fresno Temple. Oh what a wonderful day that was. When ever I feel like a chicken widow (translation, Dave sometimes has to work long hours) or I am hormonal, I look at a candid picture taken on our wedding day that hangs in our bathroom and I think " I love that guy, we are lucky,Heavenly Father sure did bless us".

There is much more to our story but, I will leave that to another post. You must agree (If you don't, you just need to see them in person) we made some handsome boys.

So, I went far beyond my fitness level and did a five mile mud run in Monterey. It was really fun. Those that I ran with were so far ahead that they were out of my sight in the first mile but, it was fun and at least I finished. It took me 1hr and 19mins. I got a t-shirt and a metal. It was also a fun weekend with friends. I haven't really exercised since because my shoes were so muddy (and old) that I threw them out and have not gone to the store for new one. Here are some pics to prove I ran.

I am not blogging savy but, I enjoy others blogs so much I thought I would try my hand at blogging. I hope it gives you my family and friends a chance to see what is going on in our families days. I will do my best at updating this site but, those of you that know and love me will surely be forgiving if posts are less than frequent. For now I will just say, enjoy conference! For now here are two video's of our boys.