It Was Either Laugh Or Cry

We both took the day off and were going to celebrate my birthday, since we weren't able to do it on the actual date.

Later that week, we were going to be making a dinner for our Singles Ward bishopric and I was in charge of the dessert. I needed some mousse molds so we drove to Sur La Table on Santana Row. I wanted some inspiration for flavors so we shared 2 desserts at Cocola Bakery and enjoyed every bite of them. On our way to Gilroy, we decided that a lemon and raspberry mousse would be yummy.

At the time, LaVor was working in Gilroy and he needed to stop by the store for a minute. On our way, I got a call from my Mom asking me how the day was going and what we had done? It was a little out of the ordinary since I normally told her about my day once I got home but I went ahead and shared with her that we found the molds and decided on what dessert to make.

After getting what he needed in Gilroy, we drove across the mountain to Santa Cruz. I wasn't too excited about going to the beach since the weather was cold and rainy but LaVor insisted. We pulled into Natural Bridges and the place was E M P T Y! We got out and walked around for a bit when LaVor started acting weird. He kept pretending to tie his shoe...even though it wasn't untied. I finally told him, "If you're going to do it, just do it! If not, quit playing around!" He took my advice and did it. He got down on one knee and asked me if I'd be his wife. I was on the verge of crying so I started to laugh.

The answer was yes.

He still claims that I was laughing at him but I wasn't. I couldn't have been more thrilled and excited to end the dating process and get on to bigger and better things!

It then clicked as to why my Mom called us during the day. Earlier that week, she and Pop met with LaVor and he asked their permission to propose. I knew something was up when my parents said they were going out to dinner. They never went out to dinner on Wednesday nights. I called LaVor on my way to work that night and asked him if he was meeting with them. He said no. He lied. They were sitting right there with him.

I'm annoyed that we didn't have any pictures from that day but here's a picture from two days after...(yes, those are the Fa'anunus sitting behind us)

What better way to celebrate than a trip to the Ice Creamery?

Now we're here, 4 years later, with a little Lime that has the hiccups and won't stop tooting.

My Boys

Perfect day, perfect weather, perfect dudes.

Do any of my siblings think of Grandma when you hear "my boys"?

Oh, This Is Getting Good!

First fast food toys, now this.

The government is SO concerned about childhood obesity but let's go ahead and legalize marijuana.

Yup, I'm feeling pretty.darn.good about our leaders right now.

Ey yey yey!

My Last One

This is my last week of maternity leave and it's going by way too fast.

I decided that I wasn't going to plan anything for these 7 days...just lots of cuddling and kisses. I've been trying to hold The Lime as much as I can and not just because his head is going flat. It's 12:30 and we're both in our pj's. It's a repeat of Monday.

I'm grateful that he decided to be born a week early because it gave me that much extra time with him.

I can't explain in words how much I love this sweet baby. He makes us so happy and has brought a sweet spirit into our home.

For now, I will enjoy his sweet head asleep on my shoulder.

When Will They Stop?

The video wasn't working...follow the link.

Seriously? If The Lime wants a toy when he's older and it involves him eating chicken nuggets and fries, I don't think the government should be allowed to tell him "no". That's what parents are for and if parents are feeding their kids fast food everyday, let them deal with the consequences. Why isn't the government banning video games? That's preventing the kids from going outside and getting some exercise.

Any ideas on what will be controlled next?

Disturbing The Peace

*I'm not writing this post in order to give these people any credit or spotlight... more for me to express my feelings towards the situation.

The weather was beautiful last night and I wanted to eat somewhere that we could sit outside and enjoy the warm temperature.

Although we aren't alcohol drinkers, one of our favorite places to go is the local ale house. Their fries and onion rings are Delicious. Yup, they deserve a capital D.

As we turned down the street of the restaurant, we heard/saw some commotion. Some patrons of the ale house were yelling at "preachers" across the street and vice versa. We hesitantly put our name on the list and sat down for what would be a 30-45 minute wait. The yelling stopped for a few moments but started right up again with the same patrons asking the "preachers" how they keep the Sabbath day holy. That somehow turned into talking about each others fathers and now I know that the loud mouth patron's dad served in Vietnam.

The situation was becoming more hostile and The Lime was soon screaming. People were laughing, mocking, screaming, swearing, and cheering. We decided that wasn't the place for our little family so we took our name off the list and started walking home.

The Lime soon calmed down as we left the scene and we talked about how completely different his living environment has changed in 2 short months. He's absolutely perfect and it makes me sad to think that he has to be subjected to the filth that takes place around us.

I completely understand the Plan of Salvation and how we must come to earth to gain a body, be tested and hopefully one day return to our Heavenly Father.

After last night, I long for that return.

Tally Mark 2

-He smiles, giggles, and talks all the time
-He tries to imitate Daddy when he does silly things with his tongue
-He sleeps 6-8 hours at night and a majority of the day
-He can put himself to sleep
-He's a spitter-upper...dangit
-He kicks his legs like it's going out of style
-He likes it when you say "goo goo gaa gaa"
-He's eating every 2.5-3 hours (this one's for Auntie Kari)
-We still love him to pieces

I'm Seeing Green

Woke up this morning and poured the milk for my bowl of cereal...


Weird.

Then I heard some commotion coming from the living room...

A little leprechaun! He even brought us a pot of gold!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Good Question

At my sister's baby shower on Saturday, I was taking a few pictures while she was opening her gifts. One of her co-workers commented on my camera and asked when I became interested in photography.

Good Question.

I took a photo class my senior year of high school. Not necessarily because I wanted to learn about photography but more because it was my senior year...I wanted a fun class and all of my friends were in the same one.

I told her how we grew up with my dad constantly taking pictures of everything. We would spend Sunday afternoons looking at old pictures and reminisce.

I suppose that's one of the reasons why there's multiple pictures on every wall and shelf in our family room.

After remembering how much I enjoyed looking at old pictures, I decided to look at the pictures I've saved over the years. These are just a handful...

September 1989 - Kindergarten

Based on Amy's haircut, she was in 4th grade (I think), putting me in 2nd grade. Brother Thornton and Amanda invited us to Kennedy Park. That petting zoo smelled so bad.


May 1994 -4th grade
I'm not sure how I was picked to participate but our school district did a performance every year called "Marching On". This particular year included songs/dances from different countries. I did a Filipino light dance. I can still remember some of the moves. My dance partners name was Victor. The girl with the glasses is Ruth Ann, girl kneeling is Wendy.


My dad @ Bear Valley. I believe he still has that jacket. I also think this picture was taken with my brother's seafoam green camera that he passed down to me. I made a strap for it out of my sisters senior ball dress fabric.


My sisters and I always took modeling pictures. I have really embarrassing ones where I took it a bit too serious. I'm wearing one of Kari's old dresses.


We had two chinchillas growing up. This one was Chippy. Dang I have big teeth.

Girls Camp - I'm not sure why they had us running but boy was I. "Run Forrest, Run!" comes to mind.

August 2002 - Baby Claire


2004? - Not brand new baby Claire but still a baby

It Wasn't The Hormones

Thanks to my friend Rachael, I now know that it wasn't the hormones that caused me to be emotional yesterday...it was the Spirit. She was teary-eyed too and I was relieved to know I wasn't the only one crying.

We blessed The Lime yesterday and it could not have been more perfect. I had a dream a couple weeks ago that everything went wrong...we didn't put him in his outfit, nobody knew how to start the blessing, my mom was having chest pains, my sister wore obscene outfits. Then I had a dream last week that the 1st dream came true. Thank goodness neither one really did.

As each man placed their left hand on the shoulder of the man in front of them, I was overcome by the love and support that LaVor and I have been given as well as our little boy. Every person that participated was their for him and I'm so grateful.

The blessing was followed by an amazing testimony meeting. We're in the same ward as Zac's aunt & uncle and his aunt bore her testimony. She mentioned Zac's service and how when certain scriptures were read, she related them to Christ yet the person speaking was relating them to Zac. As I listened to her, rocking The Lime, I couldn't help but think of the 3 months he and Zac had with each other. What fun it must have been.

Lighting My Fire

I bet you thought this post would be about the song, "Light my Fire" by The Doors (great song!) but it's not.

LaVor gives me a hard time about all the trash tv I watch. Some of my favorite shows are The Real Housewives of ________ (fill in the blank), Real World, 16 & Pregnant, etc. Not exactly what I'll be watching when The Lime gets old enough to acknowledge that it's trash.

But my new favorite show is Who Do You Think You Are. I've always been a huge fan of history and at times, get very excited about genealogy. But I only seem to get so far in my research and then I get frustrated and stop. But this show has lit the fire underneath my buns.

LaVor's grandparents are amazing at genealogy and have gone back years and years and years. I can go back a couple greats and then it stops. I'd love to know much more about who I am and be able to pass the information on to The Lime so he knows where he came from.

And just for kicks, if you have a couple minutes, enjoy the song.

Welcome To The 90's, Mr. Banks

That's one of my favorite lines from Father of the Bride.

I feel like saying, "Welcome to 2010, Mayor Newsom!"
His hair came straight out of an early episode of Beverly Hills 90210. He's definitely got the wave going on.

Found?

Authorities think they found the body of Chelsea King, the missing teenager from San Diego. They arrested John Gardner, a registered sex offender, in connection with her murder.

When I found out she disappeared after going out for a jog, it made me even more nervous to be out alone. I've always had a fear of walking/jogging by myself for reasons like this. I would always try to stay in a populated area and even jot down on a piece of paper, what I was wearing and leave it at home...just in case. When I could, I'd bring my dog with me (when I still lived at home) to feel more secure since he did have a habit of biting people.

In one instance, we went running one day and the route I took just so happened to pass a registered sex offenders home. As we got closer, I saw that his garage door was open and I became hesitant to continue. Despite my reservations, we kept running and as we passed the house, the man looked up from the car he was working on. I've never run so fast in my life. Clearly nothing happened but just knowing that he saw me, gave me the creeps.

I changed my running route after that.

One Of Many

A reason why I love the Bay Area...green hills!

Another Round

My Omi and I used to be the only March birthdays but times have changed and families have expanded.

Here we go...

LaVor's Dad

LaVor's brother-in-law & nephew
(sorry guys, had to steal a pic from your blog)

My niece


Omi & Me


LaVor's niece

We're ready for ya, March!