Rachel's 29th Birthday

Had a great day today for Rachel's 29th Birthday!

I woke the kids up and fed and got them ready for the day (big deal for me - I'm not the best at the whole single dad thing...). We let Rachel sleep in, cuz who doesn't want to do that on their birthday, right? :) After she was up and ready, we went to the movies to see Toy Story 3 with the kids. Great movie, but it's pretty much just like the first two. Still, tons of fun with the little ones. Logan and Kelsie kept saying how much they liked Woody, Jessie, and Buzz. After we got home, we ate a smallish lunch and then all took naps. Awesome, of course. :)

When everyone was up again, Rachel opened her presents. She got two necklaces, a portrait photography reflector (we both get photography stuff sometimes, and I'm not into portraits like she is, so...), and a scrap booking jackpot.

After that, we went to a local Mexican restaurant called La Cabana. While good, it wasn't the best and I felt really bad that it wasn't what people had hyped it to be. Oh well... I guess there just

aren't any good Mexican restaurants near us that aren't taquerias.

When we got home, I set to work making the most deadly homemade ice the world has ever seen. Let's just say it has ALL the good stuff in it.

All in all, it was a great day. Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

Good House News!

The bank sent us a counteroffer today and we agreed and signed it!  We're officially buying the house in Boulder Creek (assuming everything goes well with the inspections)! Once we have the official letter from the bank, we'll have seven days to complete all of the inspections.  After that they want to close within 20 days, which won't be able to happen because we have to complete our loan...so we'll deal with that when the time comes. It sounds like come the end of July/beginning of August we'll be homeowners again!

I'm starting to gather items for a garage sale and we're visiting the ward we'll be attending on Sunday.  Exciting times!

Ready for Summer!

Kelsie is ready for summer!  Every morning this week (and next) we head to Newark Memorial High School for Logan's swim lessons.  Kelsie was stylin' and ready to go!

Each day Logan has been getting better and better, but still has yet to go underwater.  Yesterday we couldn't go underwater because he didn't have goggles. So, last night I went to Target to buy goggles.  TODAY, he said he couldn't go underwater because he's not FOUR, he's three. :)  I give up!  How can I convince him otherwise with that flawless logic!

Logan's New Pool!

Logan was so excited when he found out that I bought them a $10 pool at Wal-Mart. He said, "We've never had a POOL before!" :) I didn't realize how BIG of a little pool I actually bought. I about passed out in the process of blowing it up...it's like the size of a small hot tub! The kids loved it and are now waiting for another warm day to use it again.

Swim Lessons - Day One

Logan got in the water, played with some toys, kicked a little, and got his chin wet. I'm counting that as success for the first day.

Fathers Day

I've been very lucky to be surrounded or influenced by some pretty amazing fathers!

My Grandpa Kyle (Mom's Dad) was a very hardworking loving man.  Starting I think in my mom's high school years, my Grandma had probably the equivalent of a nervous breakdown and couldn't/wouldn't leave the house or at least very far away.  Grandpa worked, did ALL of the grocery shopping, errands, etc.  I have fond memories of Grandpa and I laying on the floor in their old house clipping coupons together.  He always welcomed and loved having us grandkids over to the house.  He baptized me and my siblings and ordained my brother with the priesthood through his Young Men years. Before my Aunt & Uncle joined the church he also drove my cousin Keith to church and seminary on Sundays and school days.  He also picked out the best fruit. He worked in the produce department for many many years. :)

I never knew my Grandpa Smith (Dad's dad) because he passed away when my dad was only 18 years old, but I know he must have been an amazing man because my dad was.  From stories I've heard he worked some pretty crazy jobs to take care of my dad and his siblings.  For example, they worked carnivals where he ate fire or walked on glass and had to sleep in hotel rooms.  While they definitely weren't the best conditions, my dad learned the importance of sticking together and family from his dad.

Looking back at the conditions Dad grew up in, I'm amazed at how well he turned out! :)  My dad was one of the most protective and loving men I know.  He worked hard to support our family which allowed mom to stay home and take care of us. He took us camping, fishing, played sports, cards, etc. with us.  We were corrected when we needed to be, for our benefit.  Most of all he made sure to let us know that if we set goals and worked hard we could do whatever we wanted.  His main goal in life was to have all of his children graduate from college (BYU) and married in the temple.  I'm happy to say that he was a success, not necessarily because of us, but because of the way he raised us.  Miss you Dad!

I am also very thankful to my father-in-law Craig.  I know he was and continues to be a great father because I see the great father Kurt is everyday.  He has set a great example to his sons of church service, hard work, and how to have fun!  He is the BEST Grandpa I could ask for.  My kids, especially Logan, LOVE Grandpa Keyser.  They love to play dinosaurs, fly planes, work on the "farm", etc.  I think I could send Logan out to Utah and he wouldn't even miss me he'd be having so much fun. :)

Now for the Dad closest to my heart - Kurt.  Not only does Kurt work hard everyday to support our family (and support us well thanks to being so smart!), he comes home and immediately starts taking over with the kids.  I know that I sometimes need the break, but he takes over because he genuinely missed them.  They wrestle, play computers, work in the garden, take walks to see the ducks, etc.   Most nights HE is the one who bathes them, reads them a story, and put them to bed.  He was the only one who did it with Logan, but needed a little more assistance once Kelsie came along. :)  He is going on year 4 of being our ward's Young Mens President, so every Wednesday I realize exactly how much he does do for me and the kids.  Love you honey and THANK YOU!

Daddy's Day

Senior Recognition Night

Wednesday night was the 4th Annual Senior Recognition Night put together by Kurt and his Young Mens Presidency.  It's hard to believe he's been Young Mens President for that long (kind of)! We traditionally have a big Polynesian BBQ, but since the families were planning a big party for Saturday we scaled it back to an icecream party.  Pictured above are 4 of the 5 seniors - Shellyse, Beau, Ben, & Nolan.  Muli was attending a friend's graduation so he missed the party.  With 4 of Kurt's priests graduating he's only left with one YM in his quorum so it should be interesting putting together activities for this summer. :)  This years seniors are a lot of fun.  Shellyse is one of our main babysitters.  The kids love when she comes to play.  Beau is hilarious. Another one of Logan's favorites - Logan likes to "fight" with him.  Ben and Logan both like dinosaurs.  And Nolan is the football jock whose parents have mad BBQing skills.  We're especially proud of Muli who wasn't able to make it to the activity.  He leaves tomorrow morning to fly to Utah and will starting school at BYU on Monday!  I'm sure it will be a little bit of a culture shock for him, but it will be great for him.

Six Flags with the Tu'itavuki Girls

Friday the kids and I spent the day at Six Flags with my friend Tanya and her 2 girls.  Anissa (my SIL) hooked me up with the some free tickets so I was able to treat the Tu'itavukis for FREE!  This will be probably be my last trip over there for a while, so I'm glad we had lots of fun!  Logan loved having his friends ride the rides with him and Tanya took Kelsie on a couple that Logan was too scared to go on!  I think we have a wild one on our hands!  She really wanted to go on the little kid rollercoaster, but Tanya had too many little ones with her and I had to stay with Logan.  Maybe next time!

We took a little break to let the kids play in the big play structure that is in Tava's Jungleland (or whatever its called).  Kelsie found this little slide that was just her size.  She kept marching up the stairs and then would FLY down the slide.  She had the biggest grin on her face and was so proud of herself!

Old Stuff

Over the last few days (maybe longer) I've decided that I'm tired of most of the stuff in my house! A lot of the decor has been around 6-9 years. So, next month I think I am going to have a monster of a garage sale. Why move and drag stuff that I don't like to another house? I'm sure we won't have a ton of money to replace some of the things for a while, but oh well. Maybe other people will decide they like my old crap and I'll make tons of money? Probably not, but maybe I'll be able to buy a new rug or something. :)

Also, our new house will be bigger than our current one, but the layout is VERY different. We're going to have to sell our nice big oak entertainment center because it would just look silly in the living room, and although it would fit in the huge master bedroom, it doesn't work with the layout. It pains me that we'll have to sell it for 1/2 price at best because it is in perfect condition. So if anyone is in the market for a large nice entertainment center let me know.

Can anyone tell I have the itch to start packing? I'm not really in a hurry to move, but the thought of moving within 30 days kind of freaks me out. The annoying thing is, it might take longer...but what if it doesn't?!?

Crazy night!

Despite the traffic,

Jack in the Box,

Windy roads,

Logan barfing on said windy roads,

Logan having to wear just his Spiderman underwear the rest of the evening,

Kurt breaking the front gate to the "short sale" house,

little weeds now growing up to my shoulders....

We've found our house!

Now we just have to work out a few details, wait for an official letter from the bank, and pray they don't find anything bad during the inspections. If all goes well I anticipate that we'll be moving sometime in late July or August.

More Short Sale news....

More good and bad news from our agent today.

Good news:

• The banks want to close in 7 days.

Bad news:

• There is absolutely NO WAY we can close in 7 days. Hello! we're getting a loan! Also, it might be hard getting all of the inspections done in 7 days.
• The bank holding the first mortgage wants $5,000 more, and the bank holding the second mortgage wants $3,800 more.
• Our realtor has been pulling recently sold comps to justify our sales price, but it looks like the house REALLY IS a smoking good deal! (Duh! That's one of the reasons we like it so much!)

I think we're going to go look at a couple more homes tomorrow night along with the house on Highway 9 ("Short Sale House"). Honestly even with increasing the offer another $8800 it's a smoking good deal. We'll probably push ahead with that unless we like one of these new houses. I guess we'll have to wait and see as the week goes on. Wish us luck!

Mom's Weekend Away

Yesterday afternoon I left my kids in my husband's very able hands (even if he didn't think so) for the night to head to Cameron Park for my high school best friends bridal shower. I decided to leave the night before to break up the drive and to spend a little extra time with my mom and sister. My mom and sister treated me to an early birthday dinner, movies, and presents! We ate at Bistro 33 in EDH's newer town center. How come they didn't have a movie theater and fun restaurants when I lived there?!? After dinner we went to see "Letters from Juliet". It's a pretty cute movie with a few cheesy parts. Definitely one for the girls.

After attempting to sleep in (which didn't really work) mom and I got cleaned up and did a little shopping. We scored a ton of cute/fun stuff at Target, which I love. It's gotta be my favorite non-name brandish store. I bought a super cute lime green purse, white peasant top, pink & brown plaid shorts, and bronze flats. Love all of them, just not together. :)

Next, I drove up to Lisa's bridal shower. Lisa and I met in the 8th grade, and have been best friends since high school. She was actually one of my bridesmaids almost 9 years ago. She's marrying a great guy named Kevin Shanahan in August. She'll be a GORGEOUS bride. I can't wait.

Aunt Again x2

A few months back I started working on some super cute fleece baby quilts hoping I'd find a home for them...good news is 2 of the 4 will have homes come this winter!!!

Within the last month we've found out that 2 of my 3 sister-in-laws are expecting little ones!!!

Rachelle (Kurt's sister) is expecting her 2nd sometime in December 2010. She's had her pregnancy confirmed, but as far as I know doesn't have an "official" date yet. They just bought a cute house in Stansbury Park that has an adorable little girls room with ballet slippers painted on the wall. We're hoping she doesn't have to paint over them...but Dane WOULD do great with a little brother. So I guess we'll have to wait and see!

AND Anissa (Noah's wife) is due with their 4th child on January 15th, 2011. We're hoping for a boy this time, but honestly they make pretty darn cute girls...so a 4th wouldn't be a bad thing!

So now we need to send good omens to Jeanette to make it 3 for 3. Just kidding...kind of. :) Jeanette will make a GREAT mom when the time is right. My kids LOVE her. She & Jason will be finishing up their schooling within the next year, so waiting a little longer wouldn't be a horrible thing. :)

Ardenwood Park Day

Ardenwood is this cute full-functioning historic farm not far from our house. The kids and I (along with a few friends) had a great time despite the bus loads of kids that showed up for their end of the year school field trip. :) Logan loved the rabbits best and maybe the chickens because we got to walk through the chicken coop and see their eggs. Kelsie did great too...I think the leash helped. :) Note cute monkey "backpack" in the pics. Kelsie is a runner and generally does not like sitting in a stroller (complete opposite of Logan), so the monkey is working great so far.

After the animals and lunch we took a ride on the old-fashioned train. It hasn't been running every other time we've come to the farm, so Logan was super excited!

Day at Six Flags

Tuesday morning I packed up the kids and met my sister-in-law Anissa and my nieces at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. We had a great time! Kelsie loved seeing the different characters, but didn't get too close. Logan on the other hand was freaked out by them a little which surprised me because he loved having his picture taken with them at Disneyland.

We spent most of the day in Thomas Town, the kiddie ride area, and the splash park. Logan is tall enough to ride a lot of the rides now, that is if he's not scared of them. :) Kelsie was actually able to go on a lot of the rides too, assuming I'd go with her. Her favorite ride was the little jeep ride because she got to "drive". She cried when I took her out. She also wanted to go on the swings really bad. She'd point everytime we passed, but she was definitely too small to ride.

Before we left we changed the kids into their swimsuits and let them play in the water. Logan, Autumn, & Aubrey had a blast! Kelsie on the other hand just observed from dry ground which really surprised me.

Santa Cruz Beach Day & Bonfire

We gathered together with some good friend Saturday afternoon for a beach bonfire at Twin Lake State Beach in Santa Cruz. It's one of the few beaches that allow bonfires...and the pits feel up fast! So fast in fact that we didn't get one until the very last minute. Tanya wandered around until she found someone who would be leaving around dinner time. We ended up with about 7 or 8 families from our ward at the beach...unfortunately I didn't take pictures during the actual bonfire, but we had a great time! All of us were glowing red at church the next day. Poor Logan looked pretty sad, I am officially handing over ALL sunscreen duties to my dear husband; he ended up with reverse racoon eyes. :( Kelsie as a side note LOVED the ocean. She started to run in by herself. There was a pretty strong current, so we had to hold onto her pretty tight.

Still Waiting...

Since a lot of people have been asking if we are moving or not, I thought I'd give an update. In April we put an offer in on a short sale. The owners accepted our offer right away and sent our offer onto the bank. They were only a few days/weeks away from their house being sent to auction. The owners have submitted all of their paperwork to the bank and now we are waiting for a negotiator to be assigned to the case. We're continuing to look at houses, but we have not felt good about any other houses like we have this one.

I thought I'd share a few more pictures of our "hopeful" future home. Few stats - 2300 sq. feet, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 1.03 acre lot, built in 1994, located on a non-busy mountain highway in Boulder Creek. Only 10 minutes from decent shopping and 15-20 minutes from the beach (Santa Cruz). Kurt's commute will be a little longer than it currently is mileage wise, but only about 10-15 minutes longer. He's also planning to request an additional work from home day.

Note: current owners aren't the cleanest people in the world. The whole house needs a good scrub down and landscaping.

Flat usable lot that backs up to San Lorenzo Valley River.

Living Room/Kitchen/Dining Room areas.

Currently entertainment room - will be Kurt's office. Previously was master bedroom before later addition. Hot tub located out sliding door.

Master suite is upstairs (pantry underneath stairs).

Whole house will be getting new carpet among other things. :)

We're sunburnt and tired from yesterday's trip to Santa Cruz and Boulder Creek. Those pictures will have to come later, but here are a couple cute pictures of our crazy Kelsie to hold you over.

Texting already? (sunglasses compliments of Aunt Rachelle)
Loving Aunt Jeanette's red shoes!