The Danguy Family

Baby Bruce

2011-12-15T19:52:00.002-05:00

My little sister Erin and her husband Marc welcomed their baby boy, Bruce Luis Braga, on November 30th. It was a long intense first labor, but Erin would be the first to say it was well worth it. The girls and I went over to Tampa to be there for the birth and Charles joined us later that day after work. The girls were parading around the hospital chanting "BABY BRUCE, BABY BRUCE!" They were so excited for their little cousin to be born.

It is no surprise that Erin is a wonderful mother. It definitely suits her!

The girls meeting their cousin baby Bruce for the first time. It definitely made them anxious for the arrival of their little brother.

He is so stink in' cute!

We all just adore baby Bruce and can't wait for him to meet our little guy in March, we know they are gonna be the best of friends!

Isabelle Turned 4!

2011-11-23T14:24:00.002-05:00

Our sweet Isabelle turned 4 on November 19th. Like usual, Isabelle was counting down the days till her birthday. This year she decided to stray from her Tinkerbell birthday theme that she has had the last two years. But she didn't stray far and it wasn't too unexpected, this year it was all about princesses. She decided to have a princess party with all of her little friends. They all came dressed as princesses and we did everyone's hair and nails to finish off the princess look.

Mikenzie was our hairstylist and did everyone's hair with glitter and all.

Some of the other mom's and I took on painting all the girls' nails.

Little Anya had to get in on the nail painting action.

After getting all princesses up, the girls all decorated princess crowns with stickers and jewels.

Isabelle had been eyeing this princess cake at Publix for a while so we had to get it for her birthday.

All the girls were eager to help Isabelle blow out the candles.

Isabelle was very spoiled by all of her friends with lots of fun presents. Thank you everyone!

Ever since we lived in NYC last year Isabelle has wanted an American Girl doll. We went to the American Girl store a couple times a week. She has talked about it ever since. My mom told her that she would get her one for her birthday and you bet Isabelle held her to it. She kept telling my mom that she needed to go on a plane to NYC to get her doll. Isabelle examined the catalog very closely for months and found her perfect doll, Kanani. Isabelle loved that she had long brown hair like her. When Isabelle opened her present from my mom, she was all grins. We got her a couple of outfits that she picked out for her and she loves changing her into her different clothes.

Our friends Scott and MaryLynn and their little girl Zoe were in town for the week from NYC and were able to come for Isabelle's birthday party. Isabelle was so happy to have her little friend Zoe there for the party.

Just a little update on Isabelle and her current interests/likes:

Isabelle is loving school. She only goes two days a week, but is thrilled whenever she gets to go. She has made lots of friends at school and loves her teachers.
Isabelle started off the school year not knowing any of her letters, but has really picked them up fast.
Isabelle's favorite color is purple.
Isabelle would wear a dress every day if I let her.
Isabelle loves playing dress-ups and changes her clothes all day long.
Isabelle loves playing outside and going to the park.
Isabelle always wants to know what our schedule is and has the sharpest memory. If we stray from our plans she will be the first to let us know.
Isabelle is a great big sister. She really takes ownership in her role in the family. I absolutely love seeing the relationship she has with Anya. They are the best of friends. I love seeing them interact and all of their inside jokes that are just between the two of them.
Isabelle is thrilled to have her little brother join us in March. Everyday she talks to him and hugs and kisses my belly.
Isabelle insists on routines. Everything has to be done in a certain order.
Isabelle is very opinionated on EVERYTHING.
Isabelle's favorite food is apples. We still struggle with getting her to try anything new. She is definitely the picky eater in the house.
Isabelle loves watching movies and can quote any movie or sing along to any song after seeing or hearing it only 2 times. She has a great memory.
Isabelle loves going to church and learning about Jesus and the prophets.
Isabelle loves reading the scriptures and memorizing scripture stories.
Isabelle loves Family Home Evening, especially when we pull out the flannel board and she gets to tell stories from the scriptures.
Isabelle's favorite time of day is when her Papa comes home from work.
Isabelle loves to cuddle.
Isabelle makes us laugh all day long, she is always doing things and saying things that keep us rolling.
Isabelle is working hard on her French. It isn't always easy for her to form sentences in French, but she is making a big effort to try. She has great understanding and comprehension of French thanks to Charles' continual effort to always speak in French to the kids.
Isabelle loves France and everything to do with it. She gets so excited when she sees pictures of the Eiffel Tower.
Isabelle loves New York City. Everyday she tells me she wants to go back to her new home in New York City and that she misses it there. If she could live anywhere it would be there. Sounds like her Momma.
Isabelle is very sensitive and loving. She always wants to make sure everyone is happy.
Out of nowhere Isabelle has gotten very good at art. She has taken a big interest in painting. I accredit most of that to her school and all of the art projects they do.
Isabelle loves going to Disney.
Isabelle finally learned how to swim this last summer and loves being in the water.
Isabelle has learned the value of money. She has picked out a few different toys at the store, found out how much they were and then saved up her money till she had enough to buy them. She is so proud each time she buys something with her own hard earned money.
One of our favorite things Isabelle says is when we ask her to do something that we don't know she has already done she always says "Maybe I already did..." It makes us laugh every time.
Isabelle has a few jobs around the house. She is in charge of setting the table and she always clears her own place without being asked. She also is getting better at cleaning her room and cleaning up after herself.
Isabelle is very independent and will help herself to whatever she wants in the kitchen.
Isabelle brings us so much joy. She is like sunshine on a rainy day. We just soak up every moment with her.

Parade of Princesses

2011-11-02T15:11:00.002-04:00

Oh how I love Halloween, especially now that I have kids! It is so fun to see the kids so excited for Halloween. Isabelle was counting down the days! We had several Halloween parties/events that we went to. Isabelle took that as an opportunity to have more than one costume. So this year she was Silver Mist and Cinderella. She was very proud of her Silver Mist costume because she saved up her own money to buy it. We have been trying to teach her the value of money and she is so proud when she buys something herself. Anya was her favorite princess, Snow White. I had also picked up an Aurora dress for her, but she just wanted to be Snow White. Normally I don't let the girls leave the house in dress-ups so they thought it was great that they got to go everywhere dressed in their costumes. Isabelle acted like an old pro at the whole trick or treat scene and Anya only took a couple minutes to get a hang of it.

Our very own Silver Mist at the ward Trunk or Treat

Isabelle and her best friend Addi were inseparable. Addi and her family moved to Texas just a couple days after the ward trunk or treat.

Anya and her friend Brielle (Addi's little sister).

We went to a fun Halloween party at the YMCA. The girls got to decorate cookies, get their faces painted and go on a Trick or Treat Parade. I couldn't believe Anya kept still to get her face painted.

Halloween party with Isabelle's class at school. The kids had fun Trunk or Treating and decorating Halloween cookies.

What a fun Halloween Season, can't wait till next year!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-01T14:18:00.000-04:00

To kick-off the Halloween Season we made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. It is so fun to see the girls so excited about picking out a pumpkin, and extra exciting for Anya to be a part of the action this year. They each got to pick their own little pumpkin and then one big one for the family to carve. Once we got home the continued to carry their little pumpkins around with them wherever they went.

We got our pumpkins!

Time to carve

Doing the dirty work

Isabelle wanted a "Spooky" pumpkin this year.

Girls Trip!

2011-10-25T12:06:00.001-04:00

We had our 4th Annual BYU Luv Shack Reunion. Unlike other years where we have gone to someone's home, this year we went to Laguna Beach, CA. Thanks to an awesome hook up and discount from our friend Tiffany, we were able to stay the weekend at the Newport Coast Villas. Gorgeous!!! It was absolutely perfect for us. We had a fabulous weekend full of shopping at malls and the Swap Meat, eating, and having much needed girl time. I'm still amazed that we are able to coordinate all of our busy schedules and find a weekend every year where we can all get together. This was the first year that I have been able to go without a baby, so that was a nice break for me! Charles did a great job holding up the fort while I was gone.

The six of us, plus two little munchkins!

We found this fabulous restaurant on the beach called The Beachcomber. We could have gone back there for every meal, there were so many things on the menu that sounded delicious.

My delicious lunch!

The two pregnant mommas. I guess we know who will have babies with them next year!

Did I mention how beautiful it was? I have a new love for California!

We thought we would try and be young and hip again by renting a red Mustang. Too bad it was too cold most of the time to put the top down. We were quite the site all packed to the max with four of us in the car and all of our luggage.

I am so grateful to have such good friends where regardless of the distance between us, we can always pick back up right where we left off. I'm also grateful for all of our wonderful husbands who allow us to have a little time each year to have our girl time!

Erin's Baby Shower

2011-10-17T11:36:00.003-04:00

We had a lovely baby shower for Erin. Carol was the mastermind behind it, but she put us all to work and it turned out so cute. We had a grey and yellow theme going on as you can tell in the pictures.

My masterpiece! It was my first time making a diaper cake, but I think it turned out pretty good.

Dessert table

Party favors made by Maryssa

The girls loved the chocolate covered pretzels!

Our Summer Getaway

2011-09-02T12:54:00.016-04:00

There aren't many places more relaxing to me than the North Carolina Mountains. All through my childhood we have gone up to the NC mountains in the summer. Those are some of my fondest childhood memories. It seemed like our family was always the happiest when we were there. No worldly interruptions, no fighting and no responsibilities. As we continue this tradition of going to the mountains, I hope that my kids will find the NC mountains as wonderful as I do and that we will be able to create some wonderful memories as a family. Two years ago we found a great place called Bear Lake Reserve, near Cashiers, NC. We absolutely loved it, so Ma rented two cabins there again this summer. The day the exchange students left here we took off for two weeks to the mountains for our much needed family vacation. Charles and I were both burned out from work, so we were ready to get away. This year we shared a cabin with Carol and Addison, while Ma, Aunt Louise, my mom and the rest of the kids were in the other cabin. Isabelle and Addison shared a room and thought it was the best thing ever. There were a couple nights we heard them up talking, but for the most part they did great. Bear Lake is so great because there is so much to do right there in the development. Our cabin was a 5 minute drive to the Lake Club, which has a huge pool that the kids love, and is right on the lake. Down on the lake there is a great beach area for the kids to play at. There are also canoes and kayaks that you can take out whenever you want and pontoon boats that you can rent. There is also a little movie theatre in the club house. Our cabin was also 5 minutes away from the tennis courts and golf course. We played tennis several times. Charles had a great time trying out his new golf clubs at the driving range almost daily and playing a round one weekend when Brian came up. I joined Charles one time at the driving range and then we continued our tradition of walking the golf course and looking for golf balls. We only walked 5 holes, but we found around 30 balls. Not so shabby.

There was a great picnic area with a pavilion and fire place up at the top of the mountain. We cooked dinner up there a couple of times. It was just breathtaking.

We attempted to get a good picture of all the grandkids, these are the best three that I could get. Addison wouldn't even stay in the first two pictures. It's not easy to get a good pic with 3 youngsters.

Even though it was a little bit cloudy, it was a beautiful sunset!

Isabelle has become a big fan of s'mores. She was especially excited about these super-sized marshmallows.

One happy girl!

Catching some rays!

Of course Charles made crepes for everyone a couple of times.

Addison and Anya playing with Ma

Ever since we were little we have been going to Sliding Rock when we go up to the NC Mountains. This year was no exception. Although I did stay back at the cabin with Anya, everyone else went and had a blast.

Jumping into the hole!

Kids playing on the shore at Sliding Rock

Back at the Lake Club there is a great beach area on the lake that the kids loved to play in. Isabelle loved it! She could walk way far out and not have to worry about waves.

Out in the lake there was a floating dock that had detached from the shore. Charles, Brian, the twins, Ashley's boys, Laila and Kenzie had a blast playing on it. They spent an entire afternoon jumping off it and trying to make each other fall off. It was very entertaining to watch.

Anya and Addison were happy as can be playing in the sand on the shore as the other played out in the lake.

Laila and Isabelle

Anya loves playing with Addison. Pretty crazy that Addison is a year older than Anya. Anya is almost as tall as Addison, and is definitely a bigger girl. I love her rolls!

"Cheese!"

We had a few discipline problems with Anya, so she got very used to going in time out.

This was one of my favorite moments. The girls were playing around this little table and when I walked up to see what they were doing I found them taking turns saying prayers. What sweet little girls.

We had such a wonderful time on vacation. It was just what we needed! We are so grateful that Ma is so generous as to rent cabins, year after year so that we can all have a wonderful family vacation.

Mother Daughter Disney Time

2011-09-02T11:57:00.005-04:00

Isabelle and I got to have a fun day at Disney while the exchange students were here. Normally we would NEVER go to Disney in the hot Florida summer, but since I had to take the students anyways, I decided to bring Isabelle along. It was so great to spend the day with my little girl, especially since I had been away so much. We did everything she wanted to do that day, which, like usual mainly meant seeing all the characters and a few rides here and there.

Isabelle desperately wanted to see Rapunzel. They have certain visitation times, but you have to be there at least an hour before that time and stand in line. At the given time they allow a certain number of people in to see Rapunzel. I told Isabelle that we were going to have to wait a long time, but she was okay with that. So we stood in the line with the hot sun glaring down on us for an hour. It was all worth it when I saw the pure joy and excitement on Isabelle's face when she finally got to see Rapunzel. She just thought she was wonderful.

For over a year Isabelle has been eyeing the Princess Autograph Books. Every time she would see another kid with one she would just look at them like they were the luckiest kid in the world. When she asked me to buy her one, I couldn't say no. She was so excited and just beaming. She also picked out a princess pen to go along with it. She held onto that book and pen like it was the most valuable item in the world. She was so proud and so happy to start getting signatures.

Isabelle can't get enough of the princesses!

She always loves the Carousel.

We finally got to meet Snow White!

Isabelle was so excited to see Jessie! This was her first time meeting her. She was pretty bummed though that she didn't get to meet Woody. We had been in line to see Jessie and Woody for almost 45 minutes when right before our turn they said they needed to take a 3 minute break, and then would be right back. Well only Jessie came back. We were pretty disappointed, especially after waiting in line for so long. Hopefully next time we will get to see Woody.

Despite the 100 degree plus weather, we had a wonderful day at Disney. I'm so glad Isabelle got to come along.

My "Part Time" Job

2011-08-31T22:12:00.011-04:00

Back in December of last year I accepted a part time job as a local coordinator for an exchange student program called CCI. I thought it would be a good way to make some extra money for our family and would be fun in the meantime. My responsibilities included the following:

Find and interview 11 volunteer host families for 10 students and one group leader from Spain
Create a host family directory for the families
Organize a schedule for the students during their 3 week stay
Arrange for 12 hours of English class a week (find a teacher and classroom)
Plan and take students on 6 half day activities and 3 full day theme park excursions
Organize a Greenheart Service Project
Arrange transportation for students
Hold a host family orientation
Hold a student orientation
Plan and carry out a welcome and farewell party
Handle any concerns or problems between host families and students
Handle any disciplinary problems
Handle any medical problems
Be on call 24/7 for 3 weeks

When presented with the responsibilities I didn't think it sounded too bad. Last year my mom and I had helped the local coordinator at the time to find host families and it wasn't too hard, so I expected a similar experience. In January I started looking for host families. I contacted all the families that had hosted in the past couple of years and didn't have a very good response. I started reaching out to everyone I knew from church , my tennis teams and in the community, still not much of a response. I was really surprised at how many people were so closed off to the idea of having an exchange student in their home. I love learning about new cultures and meeting new people. The students were coming for 3 weeks in July and I had a full schedule for them during the week, so the families wouldn't have to entertain them all day every day. But still I couldn't find families. Come March, when I only had 2 families signed up to host I started to panic. That is when my "part time" job became a "full time" job. I started looking at all different avenues for finding families. I posted an ad of Craigslist, I ran an ad in the paper, I tried getting into local schools, churches, local organizations, I posted fliers in gyms like the YMCA, I met with a local magazine editor an had an article run in the magazine, I offered to pay a few of the youth from church if they found any families who would host, I even went door to door. It consumed my every waking hour. With about 4 weeks left till the students arrived I still needed 7 families! It was really panic time. I don't think I have ever been so stressed in my life, there was definitely a lot of praying going on. Somehow in those last three weeks everything came together. Two families from church stepped up and volunteered to host. My friend Maren put me in touch with one of her long time friends who is a realtor, thinking she would have a lot of contacts. Well her friend ended up hosting, as well as one of her neighbors. Someone actually saw my posting on Craigslist and her family ended up hosting, someone I had been asking since January finally decided to host. I got a list of people who had hosted the long term program and one of the families on it wanted to host. It was amazing how everything came together. I was so happy and relieved. Somehow in the middle of finding all these families I arranged the rest of the program and tried to be a mom. I think that was one of the hardest parts was not being able to give my girls the attention that they needed. I could definitely see a difference in their attitudes and they were acting up a lot.

A few days prior to the students arrival I held the host family orientation. It went very well and I was very happy with the group of families I had gathered. Two days before the students arrived the girl who was going to host the group leader backed out of hosting. Panic once again. I actually had a family who called interested in hosting, but the group leader was allergic to cats and the family had a cat. I ended up doubling her up with a student at another host family home and it all worked out fine.

The students arrived on a Tuesday evening and everything was finally together and ready to go. All the families met up at the airport to greet the students. They were excited and nervous to be here. Our student who we chose to host was named Beatriz. She was such a sweetheart. Isabelle had been counting down for her arrival and connected with her right away. Isabelle was quite the trooper allowing Beatriz to have her room for 3 weeks. She loved going in there and showing Bea all of her toys and playing with her.

The day after the students arrived we had the Welcome Party at one of the host families' homes. It was a great way for everyone to get to know each other better and for the host families to start making friendships with other families. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, a true American meal.

Charles and some of the students (Beatriz, Lucia, Alejandra and Carolina)

After the dinner we roasted marshmallows. It was their first time doing that, so a fun new experience.

We had three theme park outings, Universal's Islands of Adventure, Sea World's Aquatica and Disney's Magic Kingdom. First stop was Islands of Adventure. The kids loved all the roller coasters and fortunately the lines weren't long at all so they went on them over and over. Around 4 or 5 it started pouring rain and didn't stop for the rest of the night. Everyone was soaked, but still wanted to stay till close. Even though it was the middle of the summer I couldn't stop shaking from being so cold from the rain. It was pretty miserable. Fortunately we had great weather on the other theme park days. When we went to Aquatica Kenzie and Laila joined us, so that was fun. For our Disney day I brought Isabelle with me. The students all took off and did their own thing and Isabelle and I had a great time just the two of us. It was definitely some much needed mother daughter time.

Harry Potter was by far the best ride I have ever gone on! It was the only one we had to really wait for, but it was pouring rain so we figured we might as well be standing in line. It was pretty incredible and worth the wait.

Coming to Florida the kids of course wanted to see alligators. We went down to the Black Hammock one day after English class. It is right on a big lake that is full of alligators. This is Bea checking out a gator. We only saw a couple baby gators in the the lake.

For the half day activities we went roller skating, to the outlet malls, to Cocoa Beach, to the Science Center, to a movie, and to Wekiva Springs. I think the students enjoyed most of the activities. They mainly just loved all being together.

For our Greenheart Service project we did a river cleanup at Wekiva Springs. We all went out in canoes with a net and garbage bags and picked up any trash we could find. It was a fun way to do service.

Bea and I were in a canoe together. Along the way we spotted one baby alligator.

After the service project we went over to the springs and went swimming. My mom met up with us there with my kiddos.

After 3 weeks of go, go, go we had a Farewell Party at my mom's house. Everyone had a blast swimming in the pool and I catered Macaroni Grill. Yummy! It was great how all the students really became great friends and had such a strong bond. Not only that, but the families all became very close. I couldn't have been happier with the group of families that I ended up with. Everyone was involved and the students all loved their homes.

The last morning- leaving for the airport. The last four days Lucia also stayed with us, her host family had a previously planned family vacation, so we got to have her with us. She was so great to have as well. We just absolutely loved having Beatriz stay with us and having Lucia with us those last few days.

Time for take-off

This was a great experience coordinating the program and hosting a student. I had no idea how much time it would involve when I "signed up" for the job. Nor did I know how completely exhausting it would be to go, go, go for 3 weeks with the students. I'm definitely not a teenager anymore! But it was great. It was such a feeling of relief when the students went through security and I was all done! I think all the students were great and I definitely miss them, but I was ready to be able to breathe again. The day they left we packed up and went on vacation for 2 weeks to the mountains. A great way to unwind and spend some much needed quality family time.

Our School Girl!

2011-08-25T10:16:00.006-04:00

Isabelle had her first day of preschool today! She has been counting down for a long time and she was definitely ready. In July, Isabelle's teacher, Ms. Jodie, came and did a home visit. Isabelle loved her right from the start. I can already tell that she is going to be a wonderful teacher. She has been talking about Ms. Jodie and school ever since. A couple weeks ago I let Isabelle pick out a lunch box online. We had her name put on it and ordered it. She was very excited for her lunch box to come. Once it came she would carry it around everywhere. She has been so excited to take her lunch box to school with food in it. She has been telling me for a week what all she wanted me to put in it. This morning we packed her lunch and got all ready to go. Charles made a big breakfast to celebrate her first day of school and then he was able to go with me to drop Isabelle off for her first day. She was just glowing, she was so excited. I hope she keeps up her enthusiasm about school.

Isabelle is going to do 2 days a week this year, from 9-1 on Thursdays and Fridays. Next year for PreK she will do 4 days and then be full time the following year in Kindergarten. Isabelle is going to the Tuskawilla Presbyterian Preschool which conveniently is right across the street from our neighborhood. We are hoping that once the weather isn't so hot that we can just walk to school, which will be nice.

Walking into school.

I'm not sure how other preschools have their kids check in, but at Isabelle's school they find their name and picture on the front door and then put it in an envelope to show they are at school. I thought that was pretty cute.

After checking in Isabelle found her place at the table. Anya made herself at home too and started playing play doh with the kids. After a couple of minutes we figured we should leave. It did not even phase Isabelle that we were leaving. She gave me a half hug and kiss and then kept playing. As we were walking out Anya turned to Isabelle and said "Abelle, come on, let's go." She was a little sad when I told her Abelle (Isabelle) wasn't coming with us. Charles and I looked at each other and took a deep breathe when we left. There were no tears, but it was a little surreal that our first child is starting school. When I picked her up after school she was excited to to see me. When I asked her what she did at school all she had to say was that she ate lunch. I guess her lunch and lunch box was a hit! I had to pry more information out of her to find out about her day. We are so proud of our Isabelle and we know she is going to do so well in school this year.

Last Friday we had Isabelle's orientation. She was so excited to see Ms. Jodie again and to meet her new friends. Of course she found the dress ups right away and made herself well acquainted with the classroom and all the fun stuff to do.

Season Finale!

2011-08-24T14:24:00.010-04:00

Our final wedding of the season was for my cousin Jessa and her sweetheart Chris. Their wedding planning has been in the works for a year or so, so everything was perfect. They had the ceremony at their church in Vero and then had the reception at the Moorings Club. It was all beautiful and very classy. I got to play a duet of "The Lover's Waltz" with my cousin Lauren during the ceremony. I played the piano and Lauren played the violin. She had come to Orlando to practice with me and stayed overnight. The first few times we went through it it was terrible. I had never played a duet with a violin and I wasn't familiar with the song. We couldn't help but laugh at how bad it sounded. But we practiced for hours and hours and started coming together. When it came time for us to perform we somehow pulled it together and did our best yet. That was a relief to have that done and to have not butchered it during the ceremony.

Jessa with her parents.

Isabelle did a great job walking in...and then she crashed! But after a nice little nap she was good and ready for pictures and dancing!

The hubbies

One of my favorite pictures!

My beautiful flower girl!

Isabelle with her Tata Erin. Erin was a beautiful bridesmaid in Jessa's wedding.

Walking into the reception.

I loved the center pieces. They were stunning and smelled fantastic! The best part was that we got to take ours home!

Isabelle loves her new Tonton Marc!

My mom, Erin and Ma put together a wonderful bridal shower for Jessa prior to the wedding. There was lots of fun games, presents and of course yummy food.

Always a hit! Making wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses out of tissue paper.

Charles' mom was in town and got to join in the festivities!

We are so happy for Jessa and Chris and hope that they will continue to find so much joy and love in each other.

Now Presenting the Happy Couple...

2011-08-23T18:33:00.016-04:00

In May my little sister Erin got married! She found the man of her dreams and they are just perfect together. We first heard about Marc when we were living in NYC last summer. My mom was up visiting and she got a text from Erin saying she "met someone." Somehow we knew that there was something different in this new guy. We met him when we got back from New York and we knew he was a keeper. They complement each other perfectly. I have never seen Erin so grown up and mature and most of all, happy. Before we knew it we were helping plan a wedding. Erin, being very busy with work, let my mom, Carol and me do a lot of the planning. It was a blast. Erin decided on a Peacock Theme and we ran away with it. She was the easiest most cooperative bride I have ever seen. There were a couple things that she wanted a certain way but otherwise she was open to all ideas. Erin and Marc decided to have an outdoor wedding down in Vero Beach at my grandma's house. She lives on the water and has a beautiful backyard, so it was the perfect setting. The entire week leading up to the wedding there was rain in the forecast for the day of the wedding. We were pretty nervous, but hopeful that everything would work out and it did. The weather could not have been more beautiful.

Erin's dress was absolutely stunning on her. One of my favorite parts of the wedding planning was going dress shopping with her. We only had to go to one store. We had picked out probably 15 or so dresses for her to try on. The first 3 or 4 were beautiful on her. We loved them all. She asked me "aren't you supposed to know when it is the one?" I told her most people are like that, but maybe she just looks perfect in any dress that they all could be the one. Well the very next dress she tried on was "the one." We just knew! She didn't even want to try on any of the other dresses in the dressing room, but she did just to give my mom the fashion show she wanted.

It was a family affair for us. Carol and I were both matrons of honor, Charles was a groomsman and Isabelle had round 2 of being a flower girl.

Carol's husband Brian was also a groomsman and their little girl Addison was a flower girl with Isabelle. Fortunately we were able to get Addison a matching dress to Isabelle's. They were so cute together.

With my Ma!

I love this picture of Erin and Isabelle. Isabelle thought Erin was a princess in her dress.

Yes, there were 11 bridesmaids. Erin is a popular girl, and there were still plenty of people she could have had in her bridal party.

Laila, Aunt Carol, and my cousin Drew. You can kinda see the center pieces there that we had fun creating.

Toast time

My very talented friend Tanessa made their wedding cake. It turned out great!

They left the reception on the boat as we all waved sparklers. Fun getaway!

The morning of the wedding Marc's mom hosted a brunch for all of the girls in the bridal party. In the meantime all the guys were out golfing. A great start to a great day!

The day prior to the wedding we had a rehearsal with a picnic dinner followed at the park on the beach. We had a hula hoop contest, played tug of war and just had fun all together.

My dad and Uncle Richard were able to join us!

The happy couple

Marc and some of the groomsmen goofing off.

Awe, we love Erin!

All the girls!

The week before the wedding was Erin's bridal shower. Carol headed it up and did a great job.

Isabelle loved the chocolate covered strawberries. She must get that from her Papa!

My mom and her sister Carol

Some of the guests. You can see some of the decorations. It was a fun Shabby Chic theme.

Erin and Ma

I can't even express how happy we are for Erin and Marc and how happy we are to have Marc join our family. They are doing wonderful and they are so happy. They are about to purchase their first home next week and they have great adventures coming up.

The Year of the Flower Girl

2011-08-22T15:24:00.008-04:00

Isabelle is now a professional Flower Girl! She was in 3 different weddings over the past couple of months. She practiced her flower girl walk for almost a year leading up to all the weddings and was so excited. Fortunately for my bank account, she was able to wear one of her flower girl dresses twice! Unfortunately for my bank account, the dress she wore for only one of the weddings ended up costing me double because the original size I ordered was too big and then when I ordered a smaller size and tried to return the first one they wouldn't honor their return policy and I was only going to get about half of my money back, so I ended up having two dresses for the 1 wedding. Hopefully in a year or so she will fit in the bigger dress and Anya will fit in the smaller dress.

The first wedding was for one of my best friends from high school, Brad and his new wife Liz. They have been together longer than Charles and I so this was a much anticipated wedding. Isabelle adores Brad and Liz, so it was really special for her to be in their wedding. Charles and Brad have become good friends over the year so he was a groomsman in the wedding.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful. The ceremony was held on a golf course and then the reception followed inside in the country club. The weather was great and everything went perfectly.

Ready to walk. They were quite the pair.

The Smilebooth at the reception was a big hit!

The day before the wedding they had the rehearsal. The kids were so cute practicing together. They went from walking nice to running down the aisle together.

They decided they were done practicing and started to take off.

At rehearsal dinner

We are so happy for Brad and Liz. They are such a wonderful couple and they are perfect for each other.

Soccer

2011-08-22T13:01:00.006-04:00

Isabelle played her first season of soccer this Spring. We signed up for a team through the YMCA with her best friend Addi and thought it would be fun for the girls. Isabelle was so excited to start playing. We went out and got her a pink soccer ball and started practicing every day for a few weeks before the season started, she looked like a natural. Then the season started...

Isabelle was so excited for the first game. She was determined to kick the ball and get it in the goal.

Then came our first obstacle...she couldn't use her pink ball. Why did I have to buy her a pink ball??? She had a complete melt down. When we finally got her out on the field she had the ball and someone took it away....obstacle #2- you don't share in soccer. Isabelle just couldn't understand why people would take the ball away from her when it was her turn. Obstacle #3- kids would run right into her and not say sorry. Yes in soccer you don't stop to say sorry. It didn't help that Isabelle was the shortest one on her team and usually one of the shortest and youngest on the field. Each week before the game she said she was going to play and kick the ball and not cry. She would go into the huddles with her team and be all ready but then we kept running into the same obstacles. Would this ever work?

Typical scene of me trying to get Isabelle out on the field as she cries from the sidelines.

Erin and Marc came to watch Isabelle play, but saw more tears than playing. Anya liked coming to Isabelle's games. Fortunately she hadn't started walking yet so I didn't have to worry about her trying to run into the field.

We kept hoping that Isabelle would see Addi playing and want to play like her.

After about 4 weeks of tears, I decided to try a new approach. I took Isabelle to the store and let her pick out a toy. I told her if she played her soccer game that week and didn't cry at all that I would give her the toy. Yes, I bribed her! Some may frown on that, but at this point I was willing to try anything. That Saturday we went to her game. She watched me bring the toy with us and put it in the stroller, still in its packaging. She went in the huddle with the team and then went out on the field to play. And she played! It was like she was a completely different child. She kept looking over at me so proud that she was playing and saying "I'm doing it Mama." At the end of the game she came over and said "now can I have my toy?" Of course! I was one proud Mama. The next week I was a little concerned that she wouldn't play if I didn't get her a toy so we went out again and picked out another toy and went through the same process. Sure enough she played again. This continued for a couple weeks till she was good and comfortable and playing. Now when I say she played, I don't mean she was suddenly making goals and kicking the ball a lot. In fact she hardly touched the ball, but she kept running up and down the field with the other kids following the ball. So there is still a lot of room for improvement, but at least she overcame her fear and her need for her pink ball. I'm proud of her!

Charles coached one week when Isabelle's coach was gone and helped out on the other weeks.

Coach Rob and the Rays!

Trophy Ceremony

Coach Rob with Isabelle and Addi. The kids loved their coach!

Looks of Awe!

2011-07-05T13:24:00.002-04:00

We always love the 4th of July. I think my favorite part is watching the girls' faces during the fireworks. It is always a priceless moment.

Bummed the fireworks are over!

A Visit from Mamie!

2011-06-01T15:27:00.004-04:00

We just had another wonderful visit from Charles' mom. She is always making an effort to come and visit. It means so much to us and it is so wonderful that she is able to have such a strong relationship with the girls with how far away she lives. While here she was a huge help, as always. I had a lot of wedding planning going on for Erin's wedding and she stepped right up to help me. She was able to be here for both Erin and Jessa's bridal showers. Unfortunately she already had her plane tickets when Erin and Marc picked the date for their wedding so she left the day before their wedding. While here Charles was able to take a week off work. One of those days we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom, one of my new favorites. We had a great day there full of fun.

My favorite thing at the Animal Kingdom is the Safari ride. It is so amazing. This time when we were passing the Lion it actually started to roar! Even though we were in a big jeep, I did get a little nervous. What a cool experience.

We are so glad we got to have such a wonderful visit with Mamie!

First Trip Away

2011-05-03T15:39:00.003-04:00

Isabelle took her first trip away! My mom and Mikenzie were going up to visit Carol in Atlanta for the week and came by my house to pick something up on the way out of town. While at my house they asked Isabelle if she wanted to go with them to see her cousins. Isabelle immediately said yes and I started to panic. My little girl hadn't been away from both Charles and me for more than a night and that had only happened twice. Once when I was in the hospital having Anya and the other time she went to my dad's for a night, again with all her cousins. I explained to her that she wouldn't be able to see me for a lot of days, but she was okay with that. I was now really starting to panic. I told my mom I would have to call Charles and ask him. I thought for sure he would say no... au contraire.. he said he thought it was a great idea, that it would be a great experience for Isabelle and that she would have so much fun playing with her cousins. I couldn't believe he was saying yes. By this point Isabelle was upstairs packing her suitcase. I went upstairs to help her and felt like a zombie, like I was just going through the motions. Still in shock. A few minutes later she was getting in the car. Everything happened so quickly. I only had a matter of maybe 20 minutes at most to get used to the idea of her leaving me. As they drove off I cried like a baby. I missed her the whole week. Each time I would look in her room and she wasn't there I just felt an emptiness. Anya missed her too, she would look all over for her. At night Isabelle would call and have me sing her songs to her before she went to bed. That made me feel better, like she still needed me. Isabelle did great while she was away. They had a great time playing with all the cousins and going to the Aquarium. By the last day she was ready to come home. I watched at the window the last few minutes till they drove in the driveway. What a feeling of relief, it was so wonderful to see her.

My sister Ashley drove to Atlanta from SC with her boys to spend a day with everyone.

Crepes!

2011-04-09T16:05:00.000-04:00

One of our favorite family traditions is Saturday morning crepes. We often have a house full of guests for Charles' delicious crepes!

My Sweet Girls

2011-03-28T23:29:00.007-04:00

Just a few pictures of my girls. It is so hard to get a good one of both of them!

Miami Beach

2011-03-28T22:35:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Charles, the girls and I headed down to Miami. My close friend Drea, who lives in Arizona, was in Miami with her family. They had gone on a cruise out of Miami and were spending a few days there after the cruise. I couldn't pass up a chance to go down and spend some time with them. Unfortunately we were only able to go down for the day, but we made the most of it. I finally got to meet Drea's little boy Levi. He is as cute as it gets. It was so fun to see her beautiful girls again too, they are growing up so fast. The last time we all saw each other was right before Isabelle turned 1, so they had never met my little Anya girl either. Drea is one of those friends that I may not see for a long time, but we can pick up right where we left off. She's like family to me, I just wish we lived closer together. There is nothing like seeing our kids all playing together. It really is quite special.

Hailey was so sweet to Anya.

We pulled out the kite, which was a hit with the kids. Isabelle decided to take it out in the water.

After the beach we went out to dinner. The kids all caught a ride in the stroller. We had such a perfect day with Drea and her family!

Family Snap Shots

2011-03-13T23:46:00.010-04:00

Back in November my brother-in-law Brian took some family pictures for us. We had every intention on sending out a Christmas card, but once again it didn't happen. Maybe next year. So here are our pictures that could have made the Christmas card.

Puppy love

2011-03-06T21:25:00.001-05:00

In December my mom's dog had 5 puppies. Isabelle loves to chase the "little fellas" around and carry them everywhere. I'm surprised at how much interest Isabelle has shown in the little pups considering she is typically terrified of dogs, even my mom's dog who she has been around for as long as she can remember. Anya loves all dogs, so I'm not surprised that she loves the puppies too. Every time we walk into my mom's house the first thing Anya says is "puppies." My mom just sold the last two puppies yesterday, so I'm sure it will be sad for the girls next time we go over there.

First haircut

2011-02-26T14:15:00.000-05:00

Isabelle finally got her first haircut. We cut off about 2 and a half inches, but it is still beautiful and long. I was worried she wouldn't sit still, but she did. She is so proud.

Wilmington, N.C.

2011-01-28T12:18:00.000-05:00

The year started off tough with my dad's stepfather, Grandad Charles passing away. We will definitely miss him and his sense of humor. He had been pretty lonely ever since my Grandma Jeanette passed away a couple years ago, so it brings me comfort to know that they are together again. I think the best thing about funerals is that it brings everyone together. My Dad, Deana, the girls and I flew up to Wilmington N.C. to be with the family and to attend the funeral. I love seeing all of my family in N.C. I wish we all lived closer together. My Uncle Richard, who lives in Missouri, happened to already be in town when my Grandad passed away, so we got to see him as well, so that was really special. My cousin Parker was so kind and generous to let Carol and her girls and me and my girls all stay at his house.

Uncle Mike, Uncle Richard, and my Dad (the brothers)

All bundled up for the cold weather.

Despite the COLD weather the kids loved playing outside at my Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy's house.

These three are gonna be trouble together as they get older!

One of the best parts of our visit was that we got to visit with my dad's father, Grandaddy Buck. It meant so much to me that he was finally able to meet Anya and that Isabelle was able to see him again. Even though we don't get to see him much, you can just feel his overflowing love for all of us.

The girls were such great travelers.

Isabelle pulled her own suitcase the whole time and was so proud of it.

Fun with Cousins!

2011-01-24T22:57:00.000-05:00

Caden and Masen came down from West Virginia for a visit. Isabelle and Anya loved playing with them. We got to spend a fun day at Disney.

Anya ADORES Mickey and Minnie.

Lovin' that ice cream!

Isabelle and Masen were so cute walking around together holding hands. Masen acts like her big brother. It is so cute.

Annual New Year's Day Family Bowling

Carol and Addison came and spent a week here while Chloe and Cassie went to a week long camp with my mom. We loved having them here. Of course we had to go to Disney with them too.

The Fairies are my very favorite thing at the Magic Kingdom. There is always a long wait, but it is so worth it. The fairies take so much time with each of the kids. They really make the kids feel so special.

We love having family come and visit. I just wish we all lived closer together so that we could see everyone all the time.

Isabelle's 3rd birthday

2011-01-23T18:04:00.010-05:00

This is a much overdue post, but one I couldn't ignore. In November Isabelle turned 3! Her birthday celebration lasted almost a week. Isabelle has become very excited about birthdays. "Birthday season" usually starts in August when I have my birthday, as well as my dad and Charles' mom, then Charles is a few days after me, and with our large family, it is one after the other. So by the time we hit Isabelle's birthday, she is VERY ready to celebrate.

We started her birthday morning off with her new present... a bike. She was so excited! She had been asking for a bike for a while. She had a hard time at first pushing the pedals and steering, but with practice she is getting better. Isabelle is also big on puzzles, so she got puzzles galore for her birthday. They keep her busy and it's a good alternative to watching tv all the time. I'm amazed at how good she is at doing puzzles. She loves to have races with people, and she usually wins.

Isabelle's birthday wouldn't be complete without going to her favorite place, Disney. After playing on her new bike for a little bit we took off for the Magic Kingdom. Isabelle had a ball dancing with Donald and Mickey at the street party.

Charles was Isabelle's hero and went and waited in line for us to see Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen. Isabelle was thrilled to finally meet them.

The Teacups are always a hit.

A couple days after her birthday we had a birthday party at the park with her friends. Isabelle wanted to do a Tinkerbell birthday party again, just like the year before. Lucky for me I still had all the decorations. While last year I felt adventurous and made a Tinkerbell cake with the help of a friend, this time I decided to go the easy way out and buy a Tinkerbell cake.

Anya sure loved the cake!

Addison and Anya were little troopers during the birthday party.

Isabelle loved every bit of her birthday. She still talks about it every day and makes mention of it in all her prayers. I love seeing her get so excited about things. She is growing up so fast and is such a delight to be around. She sure knows how to bring a smile to my face.

So Much to Celebrate!

2010-12-31T11:51:00.002-05:00

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, but now we have yet another reason to celebrate. A year ago we had our best Christmas present ever, Anya Noelle! She has added so much joy to our home. We just adore our little Anya. Christmas day Anya turned 1. It is amazing how much a baby can learn and develop in a year, to go from a tiny little baby in your arms to such a darling little firecracker is so fun. When Anya was born I thought she was going to be my petite child, but I sure was wrong. She is our big girl and we love every roll! To go along with that, she is a great eater. She will eat pretty much anything I put in front of her. She is also a lot taller than Isabelle was. Anya isn't walking yet, but that doesn't stop her from getting around where she wants to go. Right on her birthday Anya had a handful words in her vocabulary, but within a week of her birthday all of her jabbering started turning into real words. She has become our little parrot. Anya is a great sleeper, which she must get from me. My favorite is seeing her in the morning when she wakes up. She always wakes up happy and talking and when we go in her room she gets so excited. We just love and adore her to pieces.

We had such a wonderful Christmas season. It was so nice to have Charles home with us, unlike last year where he was in India for most of the Christmas season, returning just days before Anya was born. The girls' main present this year was big beanbag chairs from Pottery Barn Kids with their names on them. It was quite the task to get them, but we finally got what we wanted and they are a hit. The girls opened all of their presents Christmas morning while sitting in their new beanbags.

As tradition goes, we went over to my mom's house after spending Christmas morning at our house. Since we already had lots of pies for Christmas I decided against making a birthday cake for Anya and stuck a candle in one of the pies. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to make sure she feels special on her birthday as she grows up. Isabelle loved that it was Anya's birthday. To her, Christmas this year was "Anya's birthday." Throughout the whole Christmas season Isabelle thought everything was for Anya's birthday and she loved it. When I put the Christmas tree up she asked if Anya was going to blow out all the lights on the tree for her birthday. Anya loved the tree too and would do the sign for lights everyday to have me turn the lights on.

Enjoying her birthday pie!

Decorating Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve. This is one of Isabelle's favorite traditions.

The day after Christmas we went down to Vero for Ma's Christmas party. I was so glad to be able to go, since I had missed it last year. It was wonderful like always.

Thanksgiving Holiday with Family

2010-12-01T23:21:00.000-05:00

The family coming together makes the Holidays my favorite time of the year. Thanksgiving is just the beginning of that joyful time.

We started off Thanksgiving with a big dinner at my mom's. Carol and her family came down from Atlanta, Erin came in town from Tampa, and Ma came up from Vero. We started a new tradition this year of writing things we were thankful for each day on a piece of paper and then we put them in a gratitude jar. On Thanksgiving day we read all the slips of paper and really reflected on all of our many blessings. God has truly blessed us in every aspect of our lives.

Little Addison is such a doll!

The next day we headed down to Vero Beach for my Aunt Carol's surprise 50th birthday party, where we got to visit with even more family.

The three youngsters sure like to play together.

What kind of animal are you?

2010-11-28T20:21:00.003-05:00

A random dinner conversation (I've translated it to English for all non-French speakers).

Isabelle: Papa, what kind of animal are you?

Papa: A monkey. What kind of animal are you?

Isabelle: A monkey.

Papa: What kind of animal is Mama?

Isabelle: A fish.

Papa: What kind of animal is Anya?

Isabelle: A monster!

Parade of Princesses

2010-11-05T21:08:00.008-04:00

Our Halloween was full of fun festivities. It was fun to see Isabelle really get into Halloween this year. Last year we were in France for Halloween, so the only time she really ever celebrated it was when she was 11 months old. She loved having day after day full of activities. Of course we started out with pumpkin carving with our friends the Cupits. Then there was the infamous Trunk or Treat and chili cook-off at the church. Isabelle thought trunk or treating was the best thing ever. She would run up to a car and say "trick or treat" and then "thank you." Then she would start running to the next car saying "we have to go to the next car." Now every time we go to the church Isabelle tells me she needs her costume and "we have to say trick or treat." She has had a hard time accepting that Halloween is over and still wants to put on her costume and go trick or treating. It must be confusing for a child to do something all week long and then we say we can't do it again for a year.

Isabelle decided she wanted to be Belle for Halloween, it probably has something to do with her watching the movie every day. I had actually bought her the Belle dress last year and planned on her wearing it for Halloween, but we ended up being in France. She wears it all the time and fortunately the dress still fits so she was able to wear it this year. Anya was our chubby little Cougar cheerleader. Charles and I dressed up in some outfits Charles got us when he was in India last year. So I guess we were Indians.

My mom loves getting into the trunk or treating too.

Princesses are definitely the popular costume choice among the little girls.

My little Cougarette

Pumpkin carving at the Cupit's.

"Papa is silly."

On Saturday night we went to the Waters' house for their annual Halloween celebration. Every year they make homemade donuts and show the Charlie Brown Halloween movie on a big screen outside. When the movie was over they put on some music and the dancing began.

On Halloween, Isabelle decided she wanted to change her costume and be Sleeping Beauty, aka Aurora. Fortunately, she has lots of dress ups, so we were able to pull the dress and all the accessories out of her dress-up basket. Anya also changed costumes and wore a Cinderella dress that my mom picked up for her. We didn't want her to miss out on the princess action. We went trick or treating with the Cupits in my mom's neighborhood. The first few houses Isabelle was right up front with the kids yelling "trick or treat" and always saying thank you. Then we came to a house that had a dog outside. Isabelle is terrified of dogs, so the dog coming right up to her barking, didn't help the situation at all. After that she waited on the street while the other kids went up to the door and said "trick or treat." Once they verified there was no dog at the house Isabelle would go running up to the house, screaming "trick or treat" as she ran, to make sure they knew she was coming too and didn't get left out. Every time after she got candy she came up and showed me the candy, she was so proud and kept assuring me that she wasn't scared. Anya just loved watching everything going on and seeing all the kids running around. By the end of the night Isabelle crashed in the stroller. It was quite an eventful day for my little princesses.

Our little Cinderella

Our Sleeping Beauty!

Puzzle time

2010-11-05T14:47:00.004-04:00

Isabelle has a new passion for puzzles. She has always loved puzzles, but when we were in NY we bought her a Melissa & Doug 48 piece jigsaw puzzle. We thought it was time to challenge her a bit. Within a couple days she had it down. I'm amazed at how quickly she has learned. We pulled out a 63 piece Tinkerbell puzzle my aunt had given her last year and with a little assistance she put it all together. Charles then went and got her a 150 piece Princess and the Frog puzzle. Some parts of this puzzle are still tough for her, but she can do most of it. This little girl amazes me. Whenever she finishes the puzzle she says "I'm so strong," and "I'm so smart." Too cute!

The other day my family was over and Isabelle and Roland decided to have a race to see who could finish their puzzle first. Here is a little glimpse at how it went.

You can see how after about a minute Isabelle had a good solid lead.

Not much was done on Roland's puzzle when Isabelle finished hers.

"Don't worry Papa Ro Ro. I can help you."

Oh, the Luv Shack!

2010-11-03T09:44:00.007-04:00

A couple weeks ago I went to Houston, TX for our third annual Luv Shack Reunion. The Luv Shack was the house I lived in my sophomore year at BYU, over 10 years ago. There were six of us girls who had all met freshman year and decided to live together. That was a wild and fun year. Now we are all a little more mature and married with children. Two years ago we decided to all meet up and have a reunion. The tradition stuck and now we meet every year. Last year the reunion was while I was in France so I didn't get to go, but I was sure not to miss it this year. We all flew in Thursday night and stayed till Monday morning. Kristen was an incredible host for all of us. She was 37 weeks pregnant and had just moved into her new home the weekend before we all got there. Her house looked perfect, like they had lived there for years. I don't think I could do all that at 37 weeks pregnant. We had a fabulous time shopping, eating, getting pedicures, going to the temple and staying up till all hours of the night. We have a new tradition we started where everyone brought something to share with the group that has helped them as a mom or wife. I learn so much from all of these gals, they are all such wonderful and strong moms and wives. I am so grateful for friendships that can pick right where we left off, even when so much time has passed. I can't wait for our reunion next year.

Houston Temple- Carrie, Amy, Kristen, me, Michele, and Erin

Erin and Kristen

Pedicures

The first year I had Isabelle with me and this year I had Anya. It felt a little like deja vu. Last year three of the girls had babies with them. Three of the girls were pregnant this year, so I imagine there will be some babies at the reunion next year. I think I am a little off on the baby schedule. Kristen's husband Danny and her parents, who also live in Houston, were so kind as to watch Anya for me all Saturday so that I could enjoy the day a little more.

Doing a little shopping.

I tried to make sure Anya had fun too.

A Little Get Away

2010-11-03T09:10:00.007-04:00

Charles took a few more days off and we went with his mom up to Atlanta to visit Carol and her family. We spent about 5 days there and had a great time full of games, tennis, yummy food, etc. I absolutely love seeing the girls all play together.

We took one day and went up to Helen, in the Georgia mountains. We had a picnic in the park there and walked around the little village.

Cousins!

The girls loved having matching car seats.

Our last day in Atlanta we took the girls to the Children's Museum. The girls loved it of course. They especially loved playing in the water and painting.

Isabelle and Addison showing a little bit of their artistic side.

Time for a break

2010-11-01T09:13:00.008-04:00

Once we got home, Charles took some much needed days off. He had been worked like crazy in New York. He probably averaged a 2am arrival at home every night. After 2 and 1/2 months of that, he definitely earned a few days off. To kick it off we went to Disney with family.

Right before Charles' mom got to NY, Charles got a phone call from a member of the Stake Presidency asking him if we were planning on going back to Florida. When he said yes, he asked him if he would accept a call as second counselor in the Bishopric. The call caught us off guard, especially since we had been away for a while. But Charles accepted the call. Charles called his parents, who were on the way to take his mom to the airport, and asked his dad if he could come to Florida so he could ordain him a high priest. He booked a ticket and came and spent a week with us. We are so grateful he was able to come and be there with us and for Charles.

I love the way Isabelle was looking at Belle here.

Anya was pretty into the parade, especially when Mickey Mouse came by.

Our final adventures in NYC

2010-10-26T23:00:00.000-04:00

We've been home for a little over a month now, but it feels like just yesterday we were walking the streets of NYC. Our time there was everything I could have hoped for, plus some. I would go back and live there in an instant, but Charles would have to find a different job there where we could actually see him. I'm not so sure that exists in NYC. It was interesting going there with kids, it almost feels like a completely different place than where I had visited many times (pre-kids). We loved exploring all the many different parks, museums, restaurants, and of course shopping. I developed two addictions while I was there, NY Pizza and Garrett's carmel popcorn. Those are two things a miss desperately and am going through serious withdrawals. I could always order some popcorn online from Garrett's, but I'm not sure I want to spend $40 for popcorn to be shipped to me. But the more I think about it, it does seem worth it. We might just have to add that into our monthly budget. I cant seem to find good NY Pizza here in Orlando either. I also redeveloped my addiction for Jamba Juice. Every time we passed by one, which was almost daily, Isabelle insisted we stopped and got a smoothie. On several occasions Isabelle was asleep in the stroller and the instant I walked into a Jamba Juice she shot straight up. I guess she became accustomed to the smell and didn't want to miss it. Of course we have smoothie shops in Orlando, but for some reason we don't have Jamba Juice, and nothing seems to compare. I also miss the friends I met there and those we reunited with. I'm so grateful for the church and how it allows you to make instant friends no matter where you go.

I wasn't sure how it would be living without a car for a couple of months, but I loved it. I was a little apprehensive at first about getting around with the kids, but it worked out great. We walked everywhere and took the subways. The kids loved being outdoors all the time and so did I. Now that I am home I miss being able to walk everywhere. The other day we walked to the grocery store and packed everything up in the stroller for old times sake. The kids loved it. The hardest part about using the subways was having the stroller. Not all subway stations had elevators and handicap access. So we had to figure out which stations had subways and then figure out the best route. It wasn't always the most direct route, but it worked out fine. A few times when Charles was with me we used stations that didn't have elevators, so we would just carry the stroller up and down the stairs. That worked out fine on most occasions as long as there was a handicap gate to get through, but a couple times they only had turnstiles to get onto the platform so we had to lift our huge double stroller, with the kids in it over the turnstile. Now that was interesting.

We thought it would be fun to go for a ride on the big ferris wheel in Toys R Us at Times Square. That was the longest ride I have ever had on a ferris wheel and I think we only went around like 4 times. It kept stopping to let people on and off and never really got going. While Isabelle enjoyed it at first, she was definitely ready to get off after two loops around.

We loved watching the cruise ships pass by from our window.

Looking out at Lady Liberty.

John's Pizza was our favorite pizza place we found. We went to the one in midtown and then to the original one in Greenwich Village.

A great view of the Statue of Liberty from Liberty Park.

FAO Schwartz and the BIG Piano! They put on an awesome concert while we were there.

Isabelle loved doing the grocery shopping at Morton Williams.

We loved spending time in Central Park, strolling around, climbing on rocks, playing at the playground, and just enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Isabelle loved climbing on the rocks at Central Park.

Charles kept up our Saturday tradition on making Crepes. It definitely helped it feel like home.

A few years back we saw a special on a place called Pommes Frites in New York. They sell all sorts of french fries. Every time we have gone to New York we have planned on going there, but it never happened. So we made sure not to miss it this time. It was definitely worth the trip there.

Of course we had to make a trip to Pinkberry.

Right outside our apartment there was a playground that we went to almost everyday. But for a bigger variety, there was a great park about a 15 minute walk away that we went to quite a bit. We had to walk through the mall to get there, so that was a dangerous perk. We always had to stop at the Disney Store, where Isabelle would try on all the different princess shoes and dresses when I would let her. At the park, Isabelle especially loved playing in the splash park, and going up the rock climbing wall. It was a great playground, with endless things to play on.

Anya loved going on the swing at the park.

We were quite the scene leaving to come back home to Orlando. Fortunately, we had Charles' mom there to help us with the 8 suitcases, carry-ons, huge double stroller, diaper bag, car seat, and 2 kids. Somehow we managed to fit everything into our car coming home from the airport. While it was so hard to leave, it was wonderful to be back in our home. I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity that we had. I think we made the most of it and really took advantage of the time we had there. Isabelle still talks about New York City all the time. She really got a feel for the city and knew her way around. Our few months in New York will always be great memories.

Charles' BIG 3-0!

2010-10-25T15:59:00.004-04:00

Charles, Isabelle, Scott and Zoe at Battery Park

Charles turned 30 on Labor Day, 12 days after me. Typically he wouldn't get Labor Day off, but we made a special request for him to have that whole weekend off. What a great time we had. For his actual birthday we went and had a picnic at Battery Park with MaryLynn, Scott and Zoe. The kids ran around and had fun. After the picnic we went and let the kids play on the playground, then we did a little shopping (that was more the girls' idea than the guys of course). We tried to take the ferry back across to Newport, but it wasn't running because of the Holiday, so we ended up taking the PATH back. We went back and ordered Chinese food and picked up an ice cream cake, my favorite. I know it was Charles' birthday, not mine, but I knew he would love it too. It was so nice to have a full day to enjoy together.

MaryLynn, me and Anya

Of course Isabelle had to get in on the action of blowing out the candles. Now she is ready for her birthday to come.

Good job Papa! Lots of smoke, you must be getting old!

US OPEN

Part of our combined birthday present was going to the US Open. We went the first Saturday to the night session and took the girls and then we went back just the two of us for the Women's Finals. Even though Clijsters creamed Zvonareva, it was pretty exciting to be a part of a Finals.

The Finals took place on September 11th, so it was pretty special being in NY, listening to the National Anthem.

Isabelle had a lot of fun at the Open, cheering at all the right times.

More fun with friends in NY

2010-10-25T15:57:00.000-04:00

Our friends Scott and MaryLynn and their little girl Zoe live right in the heart of the theatre district. Scott served his mission with Charles, but finished his mission before I got there. So I met him after I got home. While in NY, we got to spend a lot of time with them. I loved hanging out with MaryLynn and Isabelle just adored little Zoe. One fun outing was to Central Park Zoo. Laila was there visiting at the time.

MaryLynn and Zoe

Another fun place we discovered at the end of our stay there was the Children's Museum of Manhattan. It was fabulous. I wish we had a children's museum here in Orlando. Isabelle thought it was the best place, well probably second best after Disney. Anya loved all the action and watching the kids all run around. We liked the museum so much, we went back another time with Charles' mom.

Isabelle has a new found interest for Dora, so she was thrilled to find an entire floor dedicated to Dora at the museum.

Fireman's pole

Friends and Family in NYC

2010-10-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

I guess NYC is the place to be, because while we were there we had lots of visits from friends and family. We also got to meet up with a lot of old friends who live in or near NYC.

Our first visitor was my sister Laila. She came up for two weeks to keep me company and help me with the kids. We had lots of fun exploring the city, shopping, eating and playing. While she was there we got to go see The Addams Family musical. It was a lot of fun.

Laila had fun doing Isabelle's hair all fancy.

Looking out at Jersey City from Battery Park. You can see our building we stayed in, it is the third one over on the right.

My friend Tim, from BYU, lives in NYC, so we got together one night at his place and had dinner with him and his wife. It was so fun to see him again after all these years. His wife just had a baby a few weeks after we were there.

My mom and Roland came up for my birthday. We had a fun filled week together.

My MTC mission companion and college roommate, Brittany, lives near Princeton, New Jersey, a little over an hour away. Her friend Maile was in my ward. We hung out a lot and made a day trip to Brittany's house. It was so fun to hang out again and see her as a mom.

It took us many tries to finally get a picture where all the kids were looking and smiling. We didn't even have the three babies involved.

Brittany and her kids at a little coffee shop we went to for ice cream.

Maile and two of her kids

Carolee and her boys came to see us from Pennsylvania. I absolutely loved hanging out with her and the boys. We haven't had that quality of time together since college. We had fun exploring the city and visiting Central Park. Isabelle loved playing with the boys. I wish we lived closer so they could know each other better.

Taking the ferry across the Hudson

Charles' mom came the furthest distance to visit us. She spent our last week in NY with us and then came back to Florida for a couple of weeks. It was so nice for her to get to see what we were experiencing in NY/NJ.

Another old roommate, Sara, had a layover for a few hours in NYC so we got to meet up with her for a couple hours and grab some lunch at the Shake Shack. It was a quick visit, but great none the less.

Thanks everyone for the visits, we loved sharing part of our time there with everyone.

In memory

2010-09-12T00:47:00.002-04:00

A beautiful reminder of those lost 9 years ago.

The Big 3-0!

2010-08-29T17:07:00.008-04:00

So the rumor is true, I turned 30 this week. As my 20s came to a close, I reflected a lot on the last decade. I am convinced that it was and will remain the most productive decade of my life. I am a little amazed at how much I fit into a short 10 years: served a mission, graduated from BYU, got married, bought a home, bought 2 cars, worked for almost 4 years, had 2 kids, traveled a lot, and much more. As I look forward to the next ten years I wonder what big events will take place. It is exciting to look and think ahead to the future and where we will be in 10 more years. Only time can tell.

For my birthday my mom came up to NYC to visit us for a week. She got here around noon on my birthday. We enjoyed a nice lunch at my place while my girls took a nap. We had plans to go into the city and Charles was going to get off early to spend time with us and go out to dinner. Well, shortly after Isabelle got up from her nap she threw up all over me. Poor thing, was so miserable. Charles got home shortly after that and just in time for her second round of being sick. I was so glad to have my mom and Charles there to help clean up and take care of Anya while I tried to clean Isabelle up in the bath and take care of her. Needless to say our outing to the city was postponed. We did manage to get out for a walk for about an hour that evening (after Isabelle was feeling better). We ordered in Chinese food and enjoyed our time together.

Last night we finally got to go out for my birthday dinner. We went to Pellegrino, a fabulous little restaurant in Little Italy. After dinner we went and got some rice pudding from Rice to Riches. It was a perfect evening out with the family.

Earlier in the day we went for a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Charles had to work for most of the day, so he didn't get to join up with us till the evening.

Roland flew in Saturday morning to join in the fun.

There is a pizza place in Brooklyn called Grimaldi's that we love to go to. After waiting in line for almost an hour, and still not close to the front of the line, we ended up going to a pizza place around the corner. It turned out to be great pizza too. But that is no surprise, we were in Brooklyn after all.

On my actual birthday Charles surprised me with an Incredible Edible cake, it was YUMMY! What a great choice.

For Isabelle's sake we had to light up candles and sing Happy Birthday, to her it isn't a birthday without it. So Charles put 30 candles in a loaf of banana bread that I had made.

It's getting a lot harder to blow all the candles out in 1 shot. I had to get Isabelle to help me. There is a lot of smoke with 30 candles!

On Thursday everyone was feeling good so my mom, the girls and I went over to Flushing Meadows to see some of the qualifying matches for the US Open. It is always fun to go on the grounds there and be a part of the excitement. We got to see quite a few of the pros practicing and we watched some good qualifying matches. While we were there I bought tickets to come back to the Open. I got tickets for the night session on the first Saturday 9/4 and I got tickets for Charles and I to go the Women's Finals! I am so excited to go. I tried to get tickets for the Men's Finals, but they were all sold out, but I am thrilled to go to the Women's Finals. How often do you have a chance to go to the Finals of a Grand Slam?

My mom and Anya trying to keep cool and out of the sun while watching a match.

Yes, that is Nadal, #1 in the world! It was cool to see him practicing. Man he kills the ball.

Ana Ivanovic- former #1 in the world

Melanie Oudin

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Roger and my mom

Even with the delayed start of my birthday, we had a fabulous week of fun. Here's to the next 10 years!

Hello New York City

2010-07-26T09:51:00.011-04:00

Right before we left for Hawaii Charles was asked if he would be interested in doing a rotation in NYC from mid July till mid September. It didn't take long for us to decide it would be a great experience, both for our family and for his career. He said he would go if they brought the whole family up and got us an apartment. To our surprise they said okay. So we started planning as much as possible. We had two days from the time we got home from Hawaii to unpack, do laundry, repack, get over jet lag, clean, doctor's appointment for Anya, close up the house, and leave. It was a bit stressful, but somehow we pulled it off. It was hard knowing what to pack, knowing we'd be gone for a little over 2 months. I wanted to make sure the girls felt at home and comfortable. So I brought dress-ups, toys, dolls, coloring books, movies, all of Isabelle's many pajamas, kid dishes, blankets, crepe pans, etc. It was quite tricky fitting it all in suitcases and getting on a plane and then in a taxi to our apartment, but we did it. We were quite the sight with 3 large suitcases, 2 large carry on bags, a diaper bag, Charles' work bag, double stroller, car seat and 2 kids.

Posing along the waterfront walkway

Before we came we found out we would be staying in Jersey City, right across the Hudson from NYC. It's a newly developed area called Newport. Of course I did my research on the area to see what it was like and I was very pleased. When we arrived we were even more pleased. Our apartment building is right on the water and we have a gorgeous view of the Hudson River and NYC out our windows. Our apartment is a lot bigger than we expected, which was a pleasant surprise as well. There are two bedrooms and two bathrooms, so the girls share a bedroom and have their own bathroom. The Newport area is fabulous. It is full of parks, shopping, restaurants, etc. There is a waterfront walkway that is just outside our door that runs for miles, up and down the Hudson River. I love going running along the walkway, you forget you are exercising, the view is so beautiful. It's a great area to have kids and still be just minutes from NYC. We are just around the corner from the PATH station, which is the NJ subway that goes into the city. It takes Charles about 40 minutes to get to work by subway. We are very happy with our "new home" as Isabelle calls it.

The view from our apartment.

We cant get enough of the beautiful view, we leave our blinds open round the clock.

We are up on the 31st floor, so we can see everything!

Views of the marina and lighthouse from our apartment.

Several cruise ships sail by weekly. Isabelle loves to go downstairs and watch the boats pass by.

Since we don't have a car here, grocery shopping is a little tricky. Fortunately there is a Target with Fresh Foods a little less than a mile away. This was our first trip home from Target. We had the stroller all loaded up since we didn't have any essentials e.g. paper towels, toilet paper, laundry soap, dish soap, food, salt, pepper, condiments, Tupperware, foil, plastic wrap, Ziploc bags, garbage bags, etc. Anya still fit in the stroller, but Charles had to carry Isabelle on his shoulders. I've been to the store a few more times, and somehow I still manage to fill the stroller every time. I love looking like a bum pushing my stroller with bags tied all over it.

Taking the subway to church.

After going to church three weeks in a row, we finally figured out the best way to get out of the subway station and get to church. What took us an hour the first week and 40 minutes the second week, only took us 25 minutes yesterday.

When I found out we were coming here I got in touch with my old mission companion and roommate Brittany. She also lives in New Jersey, so I was excited to be able to meet up with her again. She only lives about an hour away, so they made the trip here and came and hung out with us. It was so fun to meet her kids for the first time and to watch our kids play together. We look forward to hanging out with her and her family some more while we are here. Brittany has a good friend, Maile, who is in our ward in Jersey City that she got me in touch with. It was nice to feel like I kind of knew someone going to church the first time.

Our first NYC outing- The Bronx Zoo

Maile invited the girls and me to go with her and her kids to the Bronx Zoo. It was by far the best zoo I have ever been to. What a treat! Isabelle and Anya loved seeing all the different animals.

Anya got to go on the carousel at the zoo for her first time. She is definitely a fan like her sister.

The American Girl Place on 5th Ave. The girls love it. It truly is a little girl's heaven.

One of Charles' co-workers from Orlando came to the city for vacation with her husband and daughters. We met up at the American Museum of Natural History in Central Park. Isabelle loved playing with the girls. We had a fun time hanging out with them and visiting some New York cites.

Anya likes to try new foods, even lemons.

FAO Schwartz

On Charles first day off we went all over the city. We started with lunch on 5th Ave. followed by another stop at the American Girl Place, then onto FAO Schwartz, Central Park, and finished with a wild search for Garrett's Popcorn. After we found the first two stores listed in our google search had closed down, we finally found a store still open. It was a lot of walking, but it was well worth it.

Central Park

At the end our long day Anya was getting pretty hungry, so we stopped in at the GAP so I could feed her. I thought I was being discreet about feeding her and then changing her diaper and getting her pajamas on in the dressing room, but Charles got a picture to show me otherwise.

We discovered a fun little water play area right next to our house. Isabelle could have played there all day. We will definitely be spending some time there during this hot summer.

One of our friends from church back in Orlando works for NBC and got us VIP passes to go see John Mayer on the Today Show's Summer Concert Series. We got there a little late, thanks to the subway, so we weren't able to get up close, but we could still see him. It was pretty exciting.

Isabelle found the bow ties in Macy's and thought they were hair bows.

This past Saturday Charles miraculously got the day off for the second Saturday in a row. He told me not to get used to it, because he will be working most Saturdays. I sure hope that isn't the case, we already don't see him during the week since he works till 10 or 11 at night. In any case it was about 100 degrees on Saturday so we decided to do a little NY shopping so we could be inside with AC. I am continually amazed at how HUGE Macy's is. We spent hours in there and still only touched the surface.

So far our New York experience has been a good one. It can be a little challenging getting around with the two girls by myself and sometimes a little lonely, especially with Charles' long hours, but it is worth it. I have always wanted to live in NYC and this is a great way to do it without the full commitment. Some of my family is going to come and visit, so I look forward to getting out and doing more things and having some adult interaction. Laila is up first, she'll be here Wednesday. We can't wait.

Hawaii Days 12 and 13- The Farewell

2010-07-20T12:42:00.003-04:00

After a wonderful time in Hawaii it was time to say goodbye. We went to our favorite ice cream shop we had become regulars at one more time. Even Anya got in on the Ice cream action.

We are so grateful to Ma for making this trip possible for us. We had a wonderful time together as a family. Hopefully we will be able to go back and visit this paradise again one day.

Hawaii Day 11- North Shore

2010-07-20T12:30:00.003-04:00

We took a day and went up to the North Shore. First we drove around BYU-Hawaii campus and then we went by the Hawaii Temple. The temple was closed for renovations, but we got to go in the visitors center and look around. It was beautiful.

Polynesian Cultural Center

After visiting the temple we went to the PCC for the rest of the day. Of course everyone had told us we had to go there, and they were right. It was incredible. We loved learning about all the different cultures and seeing the dancing and clothing. At the end of the day at the PCC we had dinner and then went to the Luau. It was absolutely amazing and exciting. For anyone visiting Oahu this is an absolute must do!

Two of the boats in the boat parade