today

so normally our days include this:



but today was different.

today, we got a little crazy.

oh, wait this was yesterday. this is nova's "costume" that she wore to dinner. don't ask, because niether dan nor i have a clue where this came from. on the way home from picking dan up from the the train station, she was talking about a costume and a surprise and how it was going to be "breef-taking" (breath-taking) and it was. panties on the head and all, it was breathtaking, and literally brief-taking. :)


but alas, i digress. that was yesterday, and this post is about TODAY.
TODAY, we went and got ourselves one of these babies.


'cause everyone knows that with a library card in your pocket, you just look this good.


believe it peeps. we are taking california by storm. library cards today, who knows what tomorrow will bring. we will try to calm it down, but, with a library card, we may be on a roll, and it may be hard to stop us.

internet!!!

we are here and have internet! here are some pics for the g-ma's who have been dying:

nova and her best friend sam.

my sisters i left in utah.

best women ever.

my daughters i left in utah---the yw threw me a going away party. seriously, i bawled all night. i love these girls more than i ever thought possible. this is the cheesiest smile pic :) love it.

pic by our old address sign right before we left.

we are here in california and we have internet!

it was a whirl wind of a week but we feel settled minus hanging stuff on the wall.

so much has happened that i have no idea where to start. so instead of the details, i will give a top 10 things of what i have learned in the last week.

1. if your license plate says california on it, you don't signal.

2. leaves actually DO change color in california----yay! (and they are really pretty!)

3. i never thought i would enter a walmart worse than the one in harrisville utah. i was wrong. mountain view wins the game of worst. walmart. ever. i need to find an alternative place to purchase for my business.

4. i should have paid more attention in spanish in ms. pugina's spanish class.....(or listened more intently while she repeatedly showed us E.T. in spanish.) at any rate, i am the only one who speaks english to my child in my apartment complex. i need to buy a dora dvd immediately to be a part of the "in crowd".....because "vamos nova!" isn't going to fool them much longer.

5. nova can live in a swimming pool and has a white bum to prove it.

6. johnny appleseed day can will live on no matter where we live. (see above pic that i can't move.)

7. we have too much stuff. why do we have so much stuff?

8. i can successfully drive on a busy 5 lane free way and live to tell the tale....but barely....see number one

9. don't store real gourds and pumpkins for the following year. its gross.

(ok, a disclaimer here: i didn't realize they were real. i know that sounds dumb, but i thought they were fake, in the real-est of ways. i bought them last year, and then put them away with my fall decor. i opened my fall box this week and..............lets just say, they looked different and SMELLED different than they did when i put them in there 12 months ago. luckily they were bagged good and nothing else was affected. lesson learned.

10. showering with a glass shower door makes me feel wierd. i don't like it and will not be putting that on my list of things i need in a future home.

Big News Redux

Suzanne kinda buried the lede in her post yesterday, so here's the big news up front:

We're moving to California!

Silicon Valley to be specific. We're excited for the adventure, and we really feel like this is the best move for us, in both senses of the word. I start a new job September 19.

However, we could use your help if you know the area or know someone who does. We're aiming for the Menlo Park/Palo Alto area because I firmly believe that I'll be happier by paying more for an apartment to be close to work and saving gas/car insurance/sanity on the 1-2 hour commute that's the norm for so many there. And of course, Suzanne would love to live in a safe (which translates to "not cheap") neighborhood.

Before you say it: We know, it's ridiculously expensive over there. We're currently weathering the third wave of sticker shock during our apartment hunt. Nearly everyone we talk to immediately brings up the cost of living when we mention the move, and it's giving us a neurosis. We're so grateful that you want to help us stay informed, but on this particular issue we are keenly -- nay, painfully -- aware that prices are astronomical over there. So please don't be offended if you bring up cost of living and we roll our eyes or go into paroxysms.

So, if you have any leads on apartments in the southeastern bay area (approximately Redwood City to Sunnyvale), or have relatives in the area, we'd sure appreciate a kind inquiry into open housing options, especially if they know of a deal.

Regardless, we're excited to share news with you, and we are super excited about this opportunity. We'll be sure to keep you informed as the process progresses.

updates and some big news!

blogging clearly isn't a priority right now for me. clearly. but i'll give it an update anyway. july started with the celebration of our nation--we celebrated in jerome. a morning run, breakfast, games, hike, nap, fireworks and family.























next up, the celebration of my birth. it was such a sweet day with the people i love the most. and dan successfully surprised me with an awesome gift that i did not anticipate. (i ALWAYS can guess what he has up his sleeve no matter how hard he tries to fool me.....but this year i was fooled....and it was fun!)


















then it was our little nova's birthday. 3! how did that happen?!?!?! she had fun and kept saying it was the best day ever. she made her own low-protein cake, went swimming with her best friend sam and we had a barb-q.


































girls camp! i have crappy pictures, but it was SO much fun. i love these girls like crazy and it was the best week. here is the hike with my 4 years. we zip-lined, hiked, ate, sang, did NOT sleep and danced. AND, we created a flash mob choreographed by yours truly. 300 people participated and it was so awesome!





































then, we had a family camp out. nova was OVER. THE. MOON. the tent was "so beautiful" and "the best tent ever" and we were the "best mom and dad" and "i can't wait to go to bed".....but didn't......sweet, sweet camping.

















and then nova wanted to take some pics of me and dan




































and then it just got crazy...


































like i said......over. the. moon.


and finally, our anniversary. 6 years.




















we even got a profesh photographer:


















and then, we celebrated in family fashion. we figured 6 years ago we started a family for eternity and we wanted to hang out with that family, even if we are still small in numbers.























and FINALLY, FINALLY, the big news.....dan got a new job in CALIFORNIA. he starts september 19th. we are excited and nervous, but definitely feel we are going where we are supposed to. nova swam in our stream to celebrate....ok, it was just really really hot today.....but it seemed fitting.....sorta. and if any of you have relatives in the san fransicso bay area, who have a sweet rental they want to rent to a small family......let us know! :)

boat load of pics

here is a boat-load of pics with little explanation. so here we go:



we made a trip to idaho for a girl get-together. nova seriously adores her cousins and plays so well with them. she was in heaven. i am so glad that she gets along with them so well. it is so important to me for her to have a good relationship with them since the relationships i had with my cousins were so important and critical for me growing up. here are some pics of the fun we had.


we had our annual girl tea party for the hall girls. it was rainbow, and as maddie said, 'its so beautiful!' we had rainbow fruit, rainbow tutus for everyone, and rainbow pancakes.


i had youth conference with my lovely adopted daughters. it was a blast and we even met someone kinda important.....AWESOME!!

in front of the temple with my girlies 14 and up. seriously love these chicas. like. a ton. they are so fun and so good. i really can't get enough of 'em.


i literally have been running around this last month too. i ran the odgen 1/2 marathon, the teton dam 10K and the ragnar wasatch back. the ragnar was crazy intense, but i was with some seriously fun people. our team name was: "you don't think we know a butt load of crap about the gospel, but we DO." it really was so fun. a nacho outfit was worn several times, we ran 194 miles between the 12 of us, we didn't sleep much and sat in a van and cheered each other on. we ran it in 32 hours and 18 min.


this week we also went to the princess festival at thanksgiving point. nova was in serious heaven. in the picture with cinderella, she is almost crying she was so excited. way worth the drive to go to see her face. you basically walk around meet princesses, watch little performances, and get their autographs. its a charity event to raise money for "in our own quiet way." its a great charity and it was really fun to be there. it was also fun to see the hundreds of little girls all dressed up and excited to be at the festival.

sleeping beauty

rapunzel

and princess and the pea

7 long years

let me tell you a story. about 7 years ago my good friend ryan introduced me to the CD wicked. he gave me the CD on the grounds that he knew i would love it and one of the songs in there reminded him of me. he played the song 'dancing through life' and from that moment in the crestwood lounge in rexburg idaho, i wanted to see the broadway musical wicked......

7 LONG years......and......

this weekend i went to WICKED with my mom and sisters! it. was. awe. SOME! i have a secret desire to perform on stage, and secretly wished i was there alone so that i could stand up and sing and dance and cheer spontaneously. but, i held myself back. i have such an appreciation for people who can make that much sound with their vocal chords.....and have it sound good. really good. because lets be real, put me on a stage with a microphone, a costume and a green painted face and i could probably make loud sounds too, but it definitely wouldn't sound good....but it would be funny right?

anyway, here are the highlights from our 24 hour adventure to boise:

-olive garden.....do i need to say anything more? yum!
-heather, natalie, my aunt robin, and my mom. need i say more? some of the best people on this planet.
-lots of snacks....which may have not been a highlight--the fact that i am running a half marathon this saturday may make me think less of this as a highlight.
-jumping on the hotel bed, and catching my mom do it on video. funniest thing ever.
-staying up late, laughing and talking, but trying not to wake up nat's little boy archer
-archer. the squeeziest baby ever
-pier one imports and all things bright and beautiful in that store......
-a husband who was as excited for me to go and have some 'mom and sister-time' and watched nova, and did all of her pku-feeding business so i didn't have to worry about it.
-a dans mom and family for helping entertain nova--i don't think she was even aware that i was gone for 24 hours
-learning that my map navigation skills are way totally awesome.
-wicked
-wicked
-wicked

jumpin on the hotel bed to show our excitement

even my mom was a sport.


heather

and natalieand at the show...oh, and did i mention it was awesome? oh i did? ok, because it was but honestly, the these women right here and that i was with, are even better, which is saying something....

Nova the Runner and Magnificent Moms

Two quick notes for you today. First of all, Nova took part in a race yesterday and, much to our surprise, ran over a kilometer by herself. Suzanne ran a 5K to support a fundraising effort for an ill friend, and organizers held a Kids K race after the adults finished. On a whim, Suzanne signed Nova up for the Kids K, fully expecting her to poop out after the first minute and need to be carried.

As you can see in the video below, it turns out that Nova got into the running spirit immediately. I think she was excited by seeing everyone else take off running, but whatever her motivation, she stood in awe for a few seconds when the other kids started and then ran after them, arms pumping wildly and Sunday-shoe-clad feet slapping the sidewalk.

Aside from being carried for 30 feet and subsequently demanding to be put back down so she could run, she ran well over a kilometer all by herself. Reportedly, she even stopped midway through the race, got down on hands and knees, and for reasons unknown did a little pushup before jumping to her feet and racing away once again. That's right, my little two-year-old isn't just tough enough to run a race without stopping, she's also confident enough to sacrifice her finishing time to stop and intimidate fellow runners with a display of upper body strength. She's not too proud to admit that she's completely terrified of men in soldier mascot costumes though, as you might have noticed when she crossed the finish line.

She's one of a kind, our little girl.
The second item that needs to be addressed today is mothers. They deserve our praise, thanks, and love every day, but today of all days I'd like to do it publicly. Too often we dismiss the roles of mothers in shaping our lives and assume that people would have turned out roughly the same regardless of who had mentored them.

Ridiculous, I say. Simply absurd.

I'm grateful that Nova has such a caring and hard-working mom to help her shape her future and become a brilliant and beautiful woman someday. And I'm equally grateful for a mother who was instrumental in shaping a man who isn't very brilliant or beautiful, but is as close as he could be considering what Heavenly Father gave his mom to work with.

Furthermore, thanks to all the moms out there who put endless hours, days, weeks, and years into raising upstanding children, no matter how hopeless it seemed at the time. We have wonderful friends and family because of you, and we can never thank you enough. Whether you're enduring the terrible twos or just wishing your twenty-something son would call you more often, remember that we need you and you truly are the epitome of charity and love.

Thank God for mothers.