Monday, January 30, 2012

I'm Seeing Stars

Once again I have waited a whole month to blog about out lives. There really has been so much going on with trying to unpack and get all settled that it has gotten lower and lower on my to do list. I have made a new resolution to be better though and blog more consistently. We'll see what happens!

In the middle of January Neil had to take a business trip to Austin Texas to learn about a tool he needed to use at work. Since he was going to be gone for a whole week and we just barely got all of our things we decided that I should go with him and of course bring Preston along. It ended up being really fun. Preston and I really got to see lots of Austin while Neil was at work. We stayed in a hotel that was within walking distance for Neil's work and the downtown area, which made it even more fun.

Here are a few pictures of our little adventure:


We did a few different tours while we were in Austin. We did a walking tour, a capital tour, and a few self-guided tours in different places. This is a picture of the capital building from inside the top floor of the visitors center, which was right next door. Isn't it such a pretty place!
 When we were on our walking tour the lady stopped in front of this sculpture and told us a story that changed the history of Austin and taught us about Texas women. I guess there was a bunch of men sent to collect documents that were held in Austin. They were sent by the Governor who was trying to get the capital changed to Houston. He told the men to get those documents but to not kill anyone in the process. Once she saw the men coming she jumped out of bed and ran to the town cannon and lit it up. The men didn't advance once they saw this, but turned around and went back. (I might have gotten that wrong, so if it is feel free to correct me. I'm sure there is much more to the story anyways...) The tour guide said that this was a good illustration of what Texas women are like and how proud people are of their beautiful capital. 
All around Austin are these guitars. They are in the airport, on the streets,and in the important building around the town. They are all done by different artist, but represent the "Life Music Capital of the World" which is Austin, Texas. I was told that it got this name because of the sheer quantity of live music all around town. Almost every restaurant or bar has live music playing most of the day. 
This is a picture inside the capital building in the dome. Texas sure does love their stars. They really are everywhere...even at the very top of the dome. Can you see it?
 This is Preston after one of our tours. He seems to really like it when we walk and see things. He was a happy guy most of the trip and really is pretty easy to travel with. We couldn't be more blessed!
 Here we are in front of the Museum of Texas History. There was a huge star there, so I thought that it would be appropriate to be in front of their largest symbol. 
 This is Diana and her little daughter. She also has a new little baby boy who was sleeping at the time in his stroller. Her husband works with Neil. He was the one that really got Neil interested in the company and put in a good word to get him here. They were so sweet and invited us over for dinner at there house while we were there. Diana and the kids came to hang out with us too! We went to the visitors center and then walked to the University of Texas campus. It was so fun!
 This is the Omni Hotel where we stayed while we were here. It was a really nice hotel with an extremely helpful concierge. Almost everyday I went down and had to ask him where I should go and how I could get there. They were super helpful and very nice. 

All in all it was a very fun trip. I was glad we got to go to Texas and see what it is like, but I was glad to get home and start unpacking all my stuff. I am excited that we finally are able to feel like we have a home!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Baby's First Hair Cut

Preston's hair has been growing and growing lately and has gotten a little bit too scraggly for me. I have been hesitant to cut it myself though. I was afraid to take scissors to his head knowing that when I cut his finger when cutting his nails I was a mess, so we went to go get it cut. We walked from Grandpa's house to a Great Clips that is just across the street. A lady named Dziem Le cut his hair. She was so great! She even made him a little Baby's First Hair Cut Card with all the information about his cut. Today he was much better than the last couple of days. He has been teething and now has his two teeth on the bottom and I think he is working on his top two.

He was actually really good for Dziem. She was Asian and sang to him little nursery rhymes while she cut. It was so cute! She had me hold him and put on a smock and put a towel around his neck and a smock on him too. Preston really is good when he has lots of new things to look at, and this place really allowed him to do this, which was one of the reasons he was so good for Dziem.

Here are a few pictures of the whole event:

Look at that face and crazy hair!
 It was all over his ears and really all over the place. 
 Now it looks so much better! She cleaned up the edges and cut some off the top and sides. His hair isn't too thick, but now it looks more put together. 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Niles District: Fremont CA

We are currently staying with my Grandpa and Margaret while we wait for our stuff to get here. We did find an apartment, and I will blog about that a little bit later when we get all moved in and I can click some great pictures. They have a tradition that every Thursday they go out and do something or discover something new in the area. It is usually a walk or museum or something like that. This Thursday Preston and I were able to go with them. We first took a load of our stuff to our new apartment in Fremont and then they showed me a little cut district that is part of the city of Fremont, but is called the Niles District. This place is known for the railroad that goes through there as well as the place where they filmed black and white silent movies. The whole main street is so cute and well put together. There are lots of antique shops and cute places to look at. They do still show silent films with live accompaniment, which sounds so fun! They have a museum that features this theater and then another museum for the old railroad history.

Here are a few pictures I got of Niles:

A shot of the train station
 One of the trains that was on display outside. We weren't able to go to the railroad museum because they are only open on Sunday, which is a bummer. 
 Here is a shot through the window of one of the old shooting films for the movies. The famous man Charlie Chalpin himself starred in a few movies they shot here. 
 They have these cute street signs on the lamp-posts that tells you where things are. They are all different and support the things the district is known for. 
 Cute Main St.
 They had these amazing little details all along the way that really added to its cute feel.
 This was the look Preston had pretty much the entire time we were there. He did take a nap through most of it though. 
I like their tradition to go out and try to discover something new everything Thursday. It really helps them know what is around them and what the possibilities really are. We have gone with them when we have visited before and have such a fun time wherever we go!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Back in Cali

Well, we are back in California a little earlier than I was expecting. Neil was scheduled to come home on Sunday night and then I was supposed to fly in on Wednesday night, however...we changed my flight since we didn't have an apartment still. We thought we had one, but we didn't feel like we were completely sold on it. I have come to learn that usually that doubt is the spirit telling you that it is not the right choice. I know that most people don't think that Heavenly Father really cares where we live, but I know that I wanted a place where I felt at home and could feel the spirit there. I wanted that confirmation that we were where we needed to be in order to serve others and learn and grow ourselves, and so the hunt continues.

Neil did still fly in on Sunday night and I flew in with Preston on Monday morning. We went right to it that day and looked and looked and looked. I was pretty depressed by the end of the day, but still felt like we could find the right place. After we were done looking we went to Jenn and Evan's place to celebrate Jenn's birthday with her family, Donna and Mike. We had a great enchilada dinner and then some amazing cake that Jenn made. We opened gifts and had a fun evening visiting with family and catching up from the holidays. We really love having family close!

How cute is this! The girls all blew out the candles together. 
 The girls were so excited to show Jenn what they got her that they had to get as close as they could to watch her open her gifts!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Birthday Fun

Over the holidays we usually celebrate Margaret's birthday since it is usually only a couple of days after we leave. We all got together the Sunday before we left and opened presents and had some amazing red velvet birthday cake. It is always fun to celebrate with family. I made a blessings blocks thingy for her this year. I had one big block that said blessings and then the other small blocks had pictures of all her grandkids on them. It was funny to watch the grandkids look for their picture and hold it as if they were so proud of it.

Here are a few pictures of the celebration:

This is Margaret opening her gifts. The kid were sitting there so excited to see what she was getting.
 Ehlana started playing with the blocks right away, stacking different pictures of her cousins.
 The boys then sang a song "to the women" which was really nice. They all have good voices and sounded wonderful together. The Spencer's are a very musical family and enjoy singing together on Sunday nights. 
The whole vacation was really nice. We were able to spend some really good time with both families and had some great adventures.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Years and Pickles

New Years was so fun this year, and it usually is for us! We do like to party, play games, and have fun. This year we were at the Spencer's for New Years and it was fun! The kids stayed up till about 8 and enjoyed playing Rock Band with everyone. Then we put the kids to bed and played Sing It and other games with all the adults. We sang and sang and sang!  We got some really great food from a local Thai food place and enjoyed that for dinner, along with some amazing donuts for dessert.

While we were all getting food to eat Preston got a little fussy, so we put him in the high chair and gave him a big ol' pickle. We were expecting some nasty reaction. When he doesn't like a certain food he tends to spit it back and shiver with uncontrollable disgust. It is pretty hilarious to watch.

Here are some pictures of the whole event:

The kids loved playing Rock Band. The adults have to help a little, but no fail mode makes it so much more fun.
 Audrey wanted to sing, so she got the mic and they picked a song that she knew. How cute!
Here he is with his pickle!
 He's saying: Don't touch me or my food or else!
 Eating away!
 Jakob and Kathy enjoyed watching the whole event. They are too cute!
And here is a video we caught of him eating his first pickle! Enjoy!

Jakob and Preston

Since Jakob and Preston are so close in age we tend to put them on the ground to play together. They usually look at each other and try to figure out what is going on. That isn't quite what it ended up as though. Jakob has really taken off and now does the army crawl at an amazing pace. Preston started doing his own style of crawl while we were in Washington for Christmas too, but it isn't quite at the same pace yet. With both boys wanting to play with the same toys the race to see who could get to it first was on and it was so cute to watch them! Here are a few pictures of them playing together at Delee's house. They really are so cute together!

Here are a few pictures to illustrate what I mean:

They do play right next to each other and not even notice what is going on with each other. 
 Jakob wanted something that was on the other side of Preston, so he just went right on over him. The funny thing was that Preston didn't even seem to care...didn't cry ot seem to mind at all. 
 Then all of a sudden Jakob wanted to eat Preston and his toy! Hahaha...