In other news...

Sydney has been at Camp Campbell Science Camp all week with the rest of the 5th graders at her school. She was so excited about it & we were somewhat nervous since she's a regular sleepwalker! Well, no news is good news I guess and we can't wait to see her tomorrow when she gets home.

New Cabinets

Let the picture speak for itself (although it's really not that great of a picture since I took it at night with just my camera flash). I'll post pictures of our fireplace area later.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving with Steve's family down in San Diego. Every 2 years we (and by we I mean Steve's mom and dad - Thanks mom & dad!!) rent a beach house somewhere for Thanksgiving week. It's a blast! The cousins have a great time and we come home we tons of sand and shells! This year while Syd and her cousin Dallin were out Boogie bording and seal surfaced right next to them. They said they could have reached out and touched it. I'm glad they didn't. We saw a lot of dolphins this year too, which we kept thinking (cue Jaws music) were sharks!! I know they weren't because the lifeguards were patroling frequently and I'm sure they would have said something, but... they didn't look at all like the dophins we've seen in the past. Kinda spooky!

Here are some of the cousins waiting patiently for a grown up so they can go catch some waves!

Steve & Lala...what a cute couple!

Surfer Steve!! Rock on, dude!

I'll post some kitchen pics tomorrow. It is looking good. The walls were all painted when I got home from Thanksgiving and things are moving along pretty good this week.

Kitchen Update & More

We have a ceiling now. Since I took these pictures they have also finished texturing the walls and ceiling. The painters are supposed to come today to paint, but I haven't seen them yet. Next week we'll get our cabinets in.

I can't quite get over how small this new window looks. The window is the only thing I'm not sure about with the remodel. I'll be glad to have a little more cabinet space and plugs, but I think I'm really going to miss the big window.

In other news, Sydney had her soccer playoffs this weekend. Natalie is fun to watch, but it is really fun to watch the older girls. They are on a full size field and their abilities/teamwork make it so much fun to watch. Sydney in the middle looking down. She's a lot smaller than most of her teammates (the coaches give them their number by size and she's #2), but she's a firecracker! She played most of the first game which they won 2-0 and the coach asked if it was okay if she could play the entire 2nd game without subbing out. Keep in mind they play on a full sized field and she's a midfielder which means she runs almost the entire length of the field (as opposed to staying on the offensive or defensive side). That girl is tireless!! She kept her energy up the entire 2nd game and had some great assists and steals. They won again 2-0. They ended up taking second place after losing in the first place playoff on Sunday. Sydney doesn't play Sunday games so she felt bad not being there to support her team, but we're proud that she is so determined to keep the Sabbath. Here's Olivia's new little friends. She calls them her babies and we have plenty in our front yard to keep her entertained. She also likes the big snails, but she's not happy with them right now because she says they're not playing with her (in fact she was in tears over it).

Happy Birthday Dear Lala!!

Olivia age 1 week...
Olivia age 1 ... Olivia age 2 (with her favorite guy and her binky, which is lost) ...
Olivia age 3 and proud of it ...
What a fun little girl we have. We ran out of diapers this morning wink, wink. So she is officially a big girl with undies. She spent about a half hour arranging all her new underwear last night for the big day. We've already been through 4. Some on purpose and some on accident. Happy Birthday Lala!!!

Halloween and Diwali Pics

For anyone who doesn't know what the girls are dressed as, here's the rundown... Natalie is Lucy (from Chronicles of Narnia), she's been wanting this costume since the movie came out and we finally found one on clearance at Disney; Sydney is a Munchkin (from Wizard of Oz), she loves to make her costumes and she recycled this one from when she was in the play a couple years ago; Olivia is a cute witch.

Here are the girls and our friends dressed up for the Diwali Party. They loved dressing up in the Indian dresses that our neighbors were so kind to lend us. No, this is not some type of traditional Indian hand clapping. Some good old "lemonade clap, clap, clap; country ice clap, clap, clap; etc..." . Very popular with the girls around here and I'm sure everywhere else.

Aaagh!

Today I refuse to go anywhere. I'm saving all my energy for tomorrow. We have 3 soccer games, 1 soccer party, 1 basketball tryout, 1 Pampered Chef party & 1 Diwali party... all before 4:00. At least our games don't start until 9:00. Oh wait, we also have snacks for the 9:00 game, I guess I have to leave the house after all. We are really looking forward to going to our neighbors house for Diwali. There will be lots of yummy Indian food, and the girls are all borrowing Indian dresses to wear. Syd & Sonoli are painting henna tattoos on their hands in the back yard right now. That will be a nice end to a busy day.

Most importantly, we now have a ceiling in the kitchen. The electrical wiring & plumbing is done. My new kitchen window looks so tiny compared to the old 10 foot window that didn't allow for any electrical outlets. The sound system people came in to get us "wired for sound" and of course had to take out the already installed lighting because it interferred with premium sound. So the electricians had to come out again yesterday and redo the lights. They were very nice about it. Steve is very excited about his new TV and surround sound system. I'm not sure why... I've never seen him sit down for more than a few minutes to watch TV. Maybe that's because Dora's on 24/7. Well, not really, we also watch Hanna Montana & The Suite Life.

Just a thought...Can you really tell a 2 year old "don't spill" and then hand her a cup of apple juice?

Excuse me while I go clean up a puddle of apple juice.

Playing Catch Up

• 10-30 After eating dinner at the Hartung's home we had our first earthquake. Sydney held onto Sister Hartung for dear life and the rest of us sat in shock. Fortunately, everything was fine. Unfortunately, the girls were pretty upset and we had a few extra bodies in our room for a couple of nights.
• 10-31 Happy Halloween! Olivia discovered the true meaning of Halloween...FREE CANDY!...ALL YOU CAN EAT CANDY!!...BIG HANDFULLS OF CANDY! She really likes candy. I took her trick-or-treating during the day with our friends in hopes that would save Steve from having to take her in the evening. But no, that just whet her appetite. She was the last one in that night.
• 11-1 I left for my fun weekend away with my best friends in Utah. We have been going to Park City for 9 years now. We have a great time doing and talking about "top secret stuff". Let's just keep them guessing girls!!

I'll try and catch up with pictures and whatnot later. We are off to a very delicious dinner at Wendy's!