Levi Lloyd Family

Fort McHenry and Baltimore Aquarium

2011-09-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we finally made it into Baltimore for the first time. We had an awesome time. Our first stop was Fort McHenry where during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key penned the Star Spangled Banner. They had a nice visitors center with an excellent video presentation about the Fort. Then we walked around the fort and checked out the bunkers, barracks, powder magazine and the guns. The kids enjoyed it I think. Noah was a little worried about the cannons and going in the bunkers at the fort.

Next, we headed over to the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore. It was overcast the whole time, but fortunately not raining. It is a really nice area and fun to walk around and see the sites. We had lunch at a couple different restaurants, some people wanted potbelly's, others wanted chinese.

As we were eating lunch we discussed the Aquarium. We weren't planning on going on this trip, but we had previously decided that when we did go it might be good just to buy the family membership. The we realiized that if we are going to buy the pass we might as well go. We didn't have a lot of time, but we did see the Dolphin show which the kids loved and we checked out the coral reef exhibit and the jellies. It will be fun to go back again sometime when we have more time.

Hopefully our next post will have news about baby #4 :-)

Church History Whirlwind Tour

2011-07-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

This past week we took a tour of some of the Church History sites in the East. We started by driving up to Palmyra, NY. We watched the Hill Cumorah Pageant which was awesome! The kids even enjoyed it. The next day we toured the Smith Farm and Sacred Grove, then saw the site of the first publication of the Book of Mormon.

After that we drove over to Niagara Falls. The falls are amazing. The kids enjoyed the swimming pool in the hotel more than anything.

The next day was for Kirtland, OH. We started out by seeing the Kirtland Temple. The kids were excited that they could go inside. We also toured Historic Kirtland which was neat, but our two youngest began to rebel...I guess they got tired of seeing 18th century buildings. The following day we got up and went to the Johnson Farm in Hiram, OH. It was nice to be out in farm country.

It was a lot of driving, but overall, it was an awesome trip. I would recommend waiting until your kids are a little older than ours, but hopefully they will remember something from the trip.

The Big Apple

2011-07-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Rebecca took me to New York City for my birthday. We left the kids with some friends from Church and headed off on our own. We had a lot of fun. We rode the Staten Island Ferry, visited the World Trade Center site, rode the subway a lot, went to Times Square, saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art, saw the temple at Lincoln Center, ate yummy New York pizza, relaxed in Central Park, and went window shopping in Greenwich village. It was a blast!

New Germany State Park 2.0

2011-06-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend we returned to New Germany State Park for another attempt at camping. We felt gypped that we had to leave early last time since it rained so much. This time around the weather was a little more cooperative. It rained a lot both nights, but during the day on Saturday there was no rain despite the threatening clouds all day.
We saw several new forms of wildlife, including crayfish, bats, and toads. We enjoyed riding on the paddle boats and swimming. We also had success cooking a yummy dutch oven meal. Here a few photos:

Calvert Cliffs

2011-06-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Our weekend adventure this week was to go to Calvert Cliffs, in Southern Maryland. Calvert Cliffs is known for its fossils from the Miocene era including shark teeth and megalodon teeth. We were excited to hit the beach for the first time on this coast, but what we didn't realize was that we would have to hike 2 miles from the parking lot to get there. We did not wear proper foot wear, and we had an awkward time transporting ourselves, and our fossil hunting gear (shovel, sieve, and buckets) to the beach. It was a tough hike, but the kids did a good job and we enjoyed digging through the shells and fossils that wash up in the surf. Here are a few pictures:

Pool time

2011-06-05T10:11:00.000-07:00

We joined the pool club in our community. Partly because we love swimming, and partly because it is so convenient being right next door. It is going to be so fun to have access to a pool this Summer. The kids have loved swimming so much and want to spend as much time there as possible. The bottom of the pool is a little rough and they have all worn their little feet out. Here are a couple of pictures.

Additionally, Isaac and Eliza are doing swim team and we are excited for them to become strong swimmers.

New Germany State Park

2011-05-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went camping at New Germany State Park in western Maryland. We went with our friends the Cleaves. We had a lot of fun, but unfortunately we got rained out. We had the site reserved for the whole weekend (Maryland forced us to) and we planned to stay Thursday and Friday nights, then come home Saturday evening. After half a day of crazy downpour on Friday, we decided at 8pm, to throw everything in the van and head for home. The kids had a blast fishing, boating, exploring, and catching wildlife. We're excited to go back sometime and hopefully get more dry weather. Here's some photos.

Harper's Ferry

2011-05-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

This week for our excursion, we went to Harper's Ferry West Virginia. It was hot and humid, but we enjoyed the hike. The best part was the ice cold watermelon that was awaiting us when we arrived back to our car.

Gettysburg

2011-05-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we visited Gettysburg. We enjoyed learning about the Civil War. The kids climbed on every canon they could find, which was a lot. The Pennsylvania landscape was breathtaking.

Patapsco State Park

2011-05-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

We went for a nice hike at Patapsco State Park yesterday. Here are the pictures to prove it:

Easter

2011-04-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

Easter is such a special time. It is wonderful to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and ponder on his atonement. I know that Christ lives and I am so grateful to Him for what He has done for me. He is my savior.

Here are some videos of our kids and our secular Easter activities.

We're in DC

2011-04-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry we have been so bad about posting on our blog. We have been busy. Earlier this month we moved to Silver Spring Maryland for a temporary assignment for my work. We should be here somewhere between one and three years. We are excited for the new adventures that await us here.

December in Rebiew

2011-01-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to make it up to David's senior vocal recital on the 4th of the month. Karl and Kate picked me up from the airport with a beautiful Christmas tree strapped to the top of their new van. Karl and I drove through glistening snow covered wheat fields to arrive without a minute to spare to watch David and hear his amazing vocal abilities. We loved all the music and wished he had done an encore of some of his own songs, but lucky for us he did play his own arrangement of a Celtic tune in sacrament meeting in Karl's ward while we were all there for Christmas. I really loved the little vacation of sitting on a plane by myself and reading a book, but as all vacations go, I was happy to return to my family only to say goodbye to Levi who had a couple of work trips before our official Christmas vacation.
I was in charge of teaching preschool for four days this month. It was a lot of work mostly because Noah thought he needed to participate in all the activities and kept wrestling the boys in the group. I don't think I have the patience to be a preschool teacher and am happy my turn is over for two months.
I spent most of my free time practicing for a little concert in the temple visitor's center where I accompanied a singer and a flute player. The music was challenging which was fun to practice, but also a little stressful since our time to prepare it was limited. Levi was my page turner for the evening and he discovered what a high pressure job it can be.

Isaac and I ventured into San Francisco to attend the San Francisco Youth Symphony's Christmas concert. We had to run from the BART station to catch the concert on time, but it was well worth it. Isaac sat at the edge of his seat the whole time and exclaimed, "your right mom, I do think this is cool". Isaac really wants to learn the French horn and was so excited when Kate let him try her horn when we visited them later in the month. While Isaac and I were enjoying glorious music, Levi was home in the everlasting low fog of Tracy trying to entertain Eliza by making lots of crafts.

We started our Christmas vacation on the 19th with a long and rainy drive to Washington.
We stayed with the greater Lloyd family at a church owned lodge near White Pass. The snow was heavy on the trees and deep upon the ground. We enjoyed sledding, building a snowman and snow fort, cutting down a Christmas tree, hiking through the absolutely beautiful snowy forest, cross country skiing, and good company.
We stayed with Karl and Kate in Spokane for Christmas Eve and Christmas. David was also there to celebrate with us. Our kids enjoyed time with their cousins and playing with their trains of which they have many thanks to Santa. Isaac declared this the best Christmas ever after receiving a Turbo Tank Lego set which he built by himself in one day. I too thought it was the best Christmas ever because I love being with my family and rejoicing in our blessings including the birth of Jesus Christ. Noah really liked our cold Christmas day walk through the little forest near Karl's house, he kept saying, "this is fun, right mom?". We are really trying to raise hikers so his words thrilled me. Of course Kate whipped up delicious meals for us during our stay which we ate amid the banter of little children who were all tired for days of excitement.
We stayed one night with Levi's brother Benj and his family in Portland. We stayed there to break up the long drive and it was good that we did because our drive home took 12 hours which is 2 hours longer than it would have been in sunny weather. There is always so much work to be done when we return from long trips, but this time we had fun putting things away as the children rediscovered forgotten toys. We packed up the crib in Noah's room and put in its place a big boy bed which he seemed to be fine with until last night when we kept getting out of it was about 12 until 4 am, we are tired as is he.
We took a day trip on New Year's Eve to Palo Alto to visit Stanford campus and the art museum there. I really loved the architecture of the campus, so European, a rarity on the West Coast. I really loved the art works in the museum. We had planned on visiting the city's children's museum, but it closed early due to the holiday. We took the kids to a toy store instead and they loved it. We also drove past the Woolley family home in Menlo Park, a sweet little house that must be worth about 1.5 million now, despite it's small size. We invited our neighbors over for games on New Year's Eve. Isaac did a good job participating in the games like Catch Phase and Gestures, he is growing up and I love watching him mature.
And so we look back upon a year full of happy family times and forward to a New Year of adventure growth.

She left me...

2010-12-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness it is only temporary. Rebecca went to see her brother David's Senior Recital this weekend, so I've been at home with the kiddos. It's good for her to leave every once and a while so that I remember how hard her job is. I'm so grateful for all that she does for me and the kids. It is a lot of work to get three youngin's moving in the right direction and to keep everyone happy, fed, and free of bodily waste. And that's just the survival aspect, I am in awe of what she teaches our kids and it makes me so happy that I married her because she is a great person. We're sure going to be glad to get her back tonight.

In the meantime, here are some photos of us a Chuck E Cheese's. I can only take the kids there alone, because Rebecca can't stand it. I kinda like it. I guess I never grew up all the way.

Christmastime is here again

2010-12-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

We love Christmas at our house. We always look forward to the Family Home Evening after Thanksgiving because that is when we set up the Christmas tree and get out the other decorations. My grandparents made it a tradition to give us an ornament each year, so I have quite a few that always bring back memories. My parents have continued the tradition and are giving ornaments to our kids. It is so fun to be able to hang your own ornaments on the tree. It is hard for the kids to not play with the ornaments, because they have some really cool ones. Every year a few more get broken. By now, there is as much super glue on our tree as anything else. Hopefully the ornaments will make it through until the kids are grown so that they can show their kids.

In other news, we saw Santa Claus yesterday. At least, one of his helpers, Isaac informed all of us that he wasn't the real one because his beard moved. It's so fun to see the magic of Christmas in my kids' lives.

Trip to Golden Gate Park

2010-10-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

Months ago I bought tickets at Coscto to the impressionist painter's exhibit at the De Young and Friday we finally had time to drive into the big city to use the fine tickets. I love that it is foggy and cool in San Francisco when our city just an hour away is hot and more hot. We brought along our two youngest, (not a good idea for absorbing great art). We waited in lots of lines despite our time designated tickets. When we finally reached the exhibit our children were done with the experience and anxious to get to the children's park. Levi and I did manage a few thoughtful glances at the masterworks of Van Gogh, Vouillard, Sargeant and others as we tried to hold our restless children. I love art and the its power to move the soul.
Golden Gate Park, where the De Young Museum is located, is the best city park in the West. I could spend days wandering the trails through a myriad of plant and tree species. There are so many sections that I always find myself a little lost when we visit. We ate a picnic lunch under towering trees and hyper squirrels. The Children's park is so artistically designed with an ocean theme. The kids loved their ride on the carousel. Noah loves horses by the way so riding on a horse was a thrill even if it was stiff.

The Birthday Rush

2010-09-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

We love birthdays in our house. It is so much fun to see our kids growing older and enjoying their advanced ages. There are ups and downs to having two of our kids with birthdays five days apart. The good thing is that neither of them is too jealous of the other since there isn't much time between the two. Another good thing is that we can get both of the parties over and done with. The difficult part is that it is a lot to plan and coordinate, and it knocks out two weekends back to back. The cost also comes all at once. Overall, though it is fun and worth it. Eliza had a fairy themed party, Isaac had a star wars party for the second year in a row.
We're so glad you are in our family, Isaac and Eliza. Here are some action shots:

This last one is a shot of the pvc light sabers that I made for Isaac and his friends. They turned out pretty good.

Family Photo Shoot

2010-09-03T18:46:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos that we had taken while we were in Utah. They turned out good don't you think? The photographer, Alicia Jones, was great. Check out her site at http://www.ajonesphotography.blogspot.com/. She even Photoshopped our clothes to match better.

Summer is over and it's only August 11th

2010-08-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

Isaac started school today. He is in second grade. I dropped him off in his new classroom with 19 other children with names I can't pronounce and a teacher I don't know. I am nervous about what the year will bring. He is wore an ugly shirt that he picked out, (he didn't want any striped rugby shirts that I thought would look nice). He wanted more Star Wars shirts, but I thought that one was enough. I will miss him this long school year.
We had so much fun this summer! Here are some pictures from our latest adventures.We went to Monterey and stayed overnight enjoying two days at Carmel's white sands beach and swimming in a warm pool. We went on the coolest hike just off of Highway 1 through a heavy fog bank. We hiked by a cactus laden hill through trails of wild flowers into a redwood forest and then back out onto the rocky coast. Levi and I took a break from the kiddos thanks to his parents who kindly watched them and spoiled them while we were away. We went to San Francisco and Carmel.
We took a long coastal hike free from whining. We ate the best seafood at a Mexican restaurant in Castroville, (artichoke capital of the world). We caught some sweet waves on our boogies boards and enjoyed stunning views from our hotel rooms. Levi earned all these hotel stays from his frequent travels. He was went out of town every week, but one this summer and is gone as I write and will be gone for travel the next two week and who knows after that.

Let the Summer Games Begin

2010-06-06T19:33:00.000-07:00

Isaac is officially on summer vacation and I am officially on entertainment duty. We celebrated with a hike in Morgan Territory and then a trip to the Livermore library to grab a stack of books for summer reading. We have already been swimming twice and enjoyed several ice cream cones.

Morgan Territory

2010-05-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

We lived in Livermore for 3 years, and although we had heard of Morgan territory we never ventured there to check it out until a couple of weekends ago. I heard a couple of guys talking about how awesome of a place it was for hiking especially this time of year, so we decided to give it a try.
Morgan Territory is ten or so miles north of Livermore, and you have to follow a steep and narrow road to get there. It's worth the trip though. Unfortunately, the first time we forgot our camera so we had no pictures to show for the trek. We liked it so much we went this last weekend too. Here's a few photos.

Both times on the way up we stopped at the best strawberry stand in the world and got a half flat of strawberries. These are seriously probably the best strawberries I have ever had. The kids also enjoyed them.

The best part about Morgan territory is that it is quiet and peaceful. Both times we went there were very few people there, which is strange for anywhere in California. There also, isn't much evidence of civilization. Here are a few shots.

We saw lot's of wildlife (i.e. bugs, squirrels, prairie dogs, snake, lizards, frog, falcons/hawks) and some weird trees that we call alien trees. It was well worth the trip and we highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice hike close by. Unfortunately the green is fading, so get there soon.

More projects

2010-04-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

I've been spending lots of time on my yard and garden. I just can't seem to get enough of kneeling down and digging in the dirt. I love walking out to my garden and picking lettuce and spinach each night for a salad. Our blueberry bushes are bursting with blossoms, making my mouth water with anticipation. My tomato starts are ready to go outside and now all I need to do is build an earth box for them to grown in.
Aside from gardening, I've been doing a little painting and transformed my kitchen from the oak of the 90's (although our house was built in 2001), to clean white with gray blue walls.

Bamboo Floors

2010-02-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

I spent Thursday night and all day Friday and Saturday tearing up our oldy moldy carpet and installing new Bamboo flooring. The job was quite daunting, but once I got going it wasn't really that bad. I mostly finished the living room on Friday. Saturday Rebecca and I decided that it made more sense to do the entry between the family room and the living room, rather than waiting until next week as planned. That little section took as long as the whole living room because of all the cutting that I had to do. Thanks to our Friend Josh for helping and lending his tools. We can't wait to get the rest done. It looks so much better than the stained carpet. Here are a couple before and after photos.

Sunshine

2010-02-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

Not to brag or anything, but is has been in the 60's here and we are loving it. We took an awesome hike to "little Yosemite" in the Sunol Regional Park south of Pleasanton. Hiking in the sunshine was just what I needed. The kids begged to run in the sprinklers so I consented. I just can't get over that my kids can run in the sprinklers in February. For those of you in colder climates please know that you are always invited to stay at our house whenever you need a reprieve.

Hiking

2010-01-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

I love to hike. Yesterday I left a foggy Tracy and drove to Oakland to attend the temple. It was sunny in Oakland and the redwood forest near the temple was beckoning me to come and hike. I was very tempted to just take a hike in my church dress and black shoes, but I decided that it probably isn't a good idea to hike by myself in Oakland even if it is a nice area of Oakland. Instead I came home and persuaded my family to go to Del Valle to hike. I noticed on my drive home that it wasn't foggy in Livermore and I just can't stand the fog. Del Valle's nearly dead oaks aren't quite as stunning as the redwoods, but I take what I can get.
We had a great hike. Levi taught Isaac to skip rocks in the lake. Eliza picked up lots of "beautiful" rocks (I think she has a little of her Grandpa Lloyd in her), they are for her collection. Unfortunately Eliza wet her pants just as we were turning back and Levi had to wrap her up in an extra coat and carry her back to the car, at one point Eliza said, "Oh this is impossible", but Levi made it.

Fog

2010-01-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

We have been living in a fog since the first of the year. The fog is so thick and everlasting. We are currently enjoying a little reprieve as it is raining and the clouds are nice and high at the moment although gray and gray still. To combat the winter foggy blues, I decided to paint my dark green family room to a cheerful "pale honey". We also painted our island black. As always it turned out to be more work than I anticipated and I have yet to paint the kitchen in a complimentary color, but every new project completed is one step closer to my overall vision of a beautiful home.

Home improvement

2009-12-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

Family room and kitchen before casing.

We have a long list of home improvement projects, but not the time or money to get them all done when we want to. We recently finished two projects. The first was to put molding around our windows in the family room and kitchen. Levi's family was in town to help with the project and thanks to them we got it done in a day.
Yesterday Levi updated our fire place into a nice stainless steel, no longer do I have to see black and brass. I painted the mantle white. We plan on painting all the kitchen cabinets, oak is not my favorite and there is a lot of this in our house.

After

Disneyland

2009-11-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

We spent a fun filled day in Disneyland this last week. My parents and brother and sister came down for my Mom's birthday. The kids loved disneyland. Isaac did a good job going on some of the big rides like Space Mountain and the Indiana Jones ride. Noah and Eliza did good waiting patiently in lines all day. There were a lot of people there since it was the week of Thanksgiving. The kids got worn out before we went on all the rides, so we'll have to go back another time to catch the rest. Grandma and Grandpa spoiled the kids with lot's of Disney paraphernalia. It was nice to have them there so that Rebecca and I could go on some rides alone. It was a little weird that everything was decorated for Christmas and they were playing Christmas music everywhere, but it was 75 degrees. I guess we're still getting used to California Winters. Here are a few pictures:

This last one is of Noah at the end of the

day when he fell asleep with a granola bar

in his mouth.

Chocolate and Chicken Soup

2009-11-12T16:34:00.000-08:00

Since I'm at home and don't have much to do, I thought I would update our blog. Two interesting things going on in the Lloyd household at the moment. First, I'm sick as a dog. I came home at lunch yesterday from work, feverish, headachey and nose runny. Just a few days before I was counting myself pretty lucky for avoiding all the sickness that is going around. I'm not sure if it is the swine flu, but I think it is one of the worst flus I have had. Hopefully it will end soon. Rebecca has been a good nurse and is taking good care of me (thanks honey).

The other interesting morsel is that our living room is filled with chocolate. Rebecca headed up the annual chocolate order for our ward so we have over a thousand dollars of chocolate sitting in our living room. Talk about temptation for the kiddos...and me even if I am sick. A nice side affect is that our house smells great.

Magic soup

2009-11-07T19:21:00.000-08:00

Noah and Eliza had a great time these past few days making delicious concoctions in our little turtle sand box. I love to watch them pick grass and gather rocks for their soup. Kids are wonderful.
It is November, but we have had our fare share of warm days and my garden is loving it. I am having a hard time thinning my veggies, they look so pretty all bunched together.

Noah

2009-10-26T06:34:00.001-07:00

This is my sweet baby Noah. Noah has no taste buds . He loves to suck on glue sticks, rocks, and clumps of dirt. He was a little disappointed with the flavor of the liquid laundry detergent that he tried to drink. We have to keep Noah out of the bathroom and especially when we are using the toilet because more than once he has stuck his hand in the bowl and once he even pulled out Isaac's used toilet paper. I know that sounds awful, but Noah was just curious. On Friday I was doing the dishes and looked down to see Noah with a knife from the dishwasher in his mouth, it had some frosting on it and no it wasn't a butter knife. Last night we had several earwigs crawling around Eliza's room. I attempted to kill them with a book and Noah tried to do the same. I stepped out of the room to get some toilet paper to pick up the remains and came back to find an earwig on the side of Noah's mouth, he had tried to eat it. What a kid.

New England

2009-10-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

Since we moved to California 3 years ago, we have really missed Fall. It just doesn't happen here. Summer lasts until October then it gets a little cold, but it doesn't feel crisp and delicious like the Falls we grew up with. The trees never know quite what is happening so the leaves just hang around until they dry out and fall off.
This year we decided we needed some Fall, fortunately I had a couple of frequent flyer tickets, so on a whim we booked a flight to New Hampshire. It was a little tricky figuring out what to do with the kids and in the end, Rebecca's Mom flew down to watch Isaac and Eliza and we brought Noah with us. It turned out to be an awesome trip.
As soon as we got off the plane and felt the cool, crisp autumn air in Manchester we were glad we made the effort. We spent three days sight seeing around Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The colors were amazing, just like you hear about, especially in Vermont.

We went on a couple really great hikes and were impressed by the beauty and sparse inhabitation of Vermont. We also checked out Boston and the Freedom Trail which was a lot of fun if you haven't done it.

Another random tidbit, as we got of the subway in Boston, we bumped into one of my Freshman roommates from BYU, Clinton. He, his wife, and their son were also there on Vacation, so we spent the day together. It was a lot of fun to catch up and recall some of the great hudfests we had Freshman year.

Noah is close to walking

2009-09-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

California Living

2009-06-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

I know that I complain about living in California, but there are other times that I just love it, like this weekend for instance. We went to the beach in Half Moon Bay and then camping in Butano State Park. I was nervous because when we left in the morning it was cold, (well at least it was cold for California). When we arrived to the beach, I sported my purple parka-ish (not really a parka, but Levi has to call it that to tease me for wearing a coat). It wasn't very long before I realized I didn't need my coat, off it went and in it's place I put on my wet suit and scrambled into the ocean. I love having a wet suit! I caught the best waves of my short boogie boarding career. I was reluctant to leave the water, but Noah needed his mamma and my baby comes first. Isaac really surprised us by wading farther in the water than in times past and even standing up on the boogie board, although after one crash landing the boogie board standing was over. He is really learning to overcome some of his fears.
Now for the best camping ever, we went to a LUSH coastal redwood forest. There were banana slugs, ferns, and towering redwoods, oh and newts. In fact, it is the only place that I have ever seen a sign that reads "SLOW Newts Crossing". We camped with our good friends from Livermore, the Andruses, they are true campers and helped us enjoy ourselves. My only regret is that we couldn't stay longer. I love the color green!

Speaking of green, our gardening is improving. We have devoured our first blueberries and relished our zucchini. Today we harvested beets for our dinner and a lovely cabbage for some slaw tomorrow. I have far to go with this gardening thing, but I find it is fascinating want to keep at it.

Self Reliance

2009-05-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

As part of the Mother's day celebration in our ward, all the sisters attended Relief Society while the men took over nursery, primary, and Young Womens. The RS lesson was on self reliance. Is it just me, or is this a major topic right now? I can't pick up the paper without reading an article about the bad economy and then another about people getting back to the basics like gardening.
Well our ward is ready to put their shoulders to the wheel and can, sew, garden, and all those other good things that they did in the depression. I wonder if I'm really ready for the commitment of canning. Should I really order the huge amount of berries to make jam with all the other ladies?
One thing that I am trying to do is garden. I would be very hungry if I had to live off of my labors, but I can say I am learning a few things so in twenty years I might make a good gardener. I am currently perplexed because my thriving blackberry start shriveled in a matter of two days, so sad. I will call the ag extension tomorrow to find what I did wrong. The first fruits of our labors is this little radish. We all had a bite and it is sad to say, but the store bought ones in my fridge tasted better. Our next crop will be beets, anyone for borsch?

Raised Bed Vegetable Garden

2009-03-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

We are excited about growing a vegetable garden now that we have a place of our own. We have read a lot about the benefits of doing gardening in a raised bed, so we decided to give it a try. We used 2x6 redwood boards for the sides with a 16" length of 4x4 pressure treated post in each corner. We also put down hardware cloth (wire mesh) on the bottom to keep out any burrowing rodents. I filled it with one part fill dirt which I got from the local cemetery, 1 part topsoil from Golden Valley Nursery, and one part compost from the Tracy dump. The area we selected for the raised bed already had sprinklers, so I simply removed the old risers and put in a 24" riser to make them tall enough. I attempted to put a drip line system in, but it didn't seem to work that well. Instead, I swapped out the drip lines for regular shrub sprinkler heads. Here's a photo:

So far we have planted zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans, carrots, cabbage, onions and radishes. We started a cantaloupe in our kitchen and will transfer it when it is a seedling. Hopefully the hard word will pay off and we'll get some good veggies in a few months.

By the sweat of our brows

2009-03-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy trying to beautify my new home that I have found little time to be at the computer, but here I am in hopes that I can impart a little wisdom that gained since last I blogged. My big personal project was painting our master bathroom. First mistake was my color choice. I found a great brown and requested a gallon instead of buying a quart to check the color on the walls first. Second mistake was type of paint, I bought Dutch Boy it was like applying water colors to my wall compared to the Kelly Moore paint I used in the downstairs bathroom. Third mistake was using blue painter's tape instead of regular masking tape, it leaked a ton of paint where we didn't want it. Forth mistake was to rush the paint job while Levi was pulling out our old carpet and linoleum. Fifth mistake was to not prime the walls when I decided the brown was too dark and it was time to paint with a nice neutral Kelly Moore color, (the paint started dripping down the wall into big clumps). So from all this I learned, always test your paint color first, buy good paint the cost is worth it, prime the walls, use sticky tape and paint, use a fan and turn the heat up high, and take it slow.
Yesterday I took a break from painting and helped Levi lay sod and plant trees, shrubs, and flowers. I liked this work much better despite the hard labor involved and the now achy muscles. Here are some pictures of our work, a real work in progress, but not bad for one day.

From the Mouth of Babes

2009-02-21T07:22:00.001-08:00

Levi - "Eliza, what's that all over your hands?"

Eliza - "Sour cream and markers"

Our New House

2009-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

Things have been pretty hectic lately, and so naturally the blog has been somewhat neglected. Sorry about that. We are now mostly settled into our new house. We have had mixed feelings as we have moved away from Livermore and our friends there, but we are excited to finally have a place of our own. We have been busy with the small improvements that we wanted to do right away (i.e. replacing appliances, painting the whole inside, finishing the garage and building shelves, re-caulking the shower, installing ceiling fans, and half a million other small things). Rebecca has done a great job running all over the place and getting things set for us while I'm at work. The kids are adjusting well, and Isaac is enjoying his new school.
We have a lot more room now which is a blessing for our expanding family. The kids are excited to be back in their own rooms and they love the stairs to the second floor (no injuries yet). The biggest problem with the extra space, is we have discovered it is very difficult to yell across the house now. We actually have to find each other if we need to communicate. Here's to improved marital communications!
So far the commute hasn't been that bad, it takes me about 25 minutes to get to and from work. I want to try the train, but I know that it will take about 45 minutes which sounds like a lot more to me. I guess public transportation isn't about saving time though.
Here are a few photos of our new place. We'll have more in the future.

Isaac's Room

Noah's Room

Stairs to upper level

Eliza's Room

Garage

Us and our house on day 1

Living Room

Snow Day

2009-01-29T09:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Isaac had a snow day at school. Perhaps you are asking yourself how is that possible in sunny California, well I'll tell you. Several motivated parents with shovels and a pick-up truck meet at an ice skating rink way too early in the morning and shovel in the ice shavings from the Zambonie. Then they unload the contents of the truck onto the playground and let the kids make snow balls, more like ice balls, but the kids can't tell the difference anyway since half of them half only seen snow on TV. So there you have it my son got to play in the snow at school and even got hot chocolate a big treat for a school that sent home a authoritative letter telling all parents we are only allowed to bring food to school with zero calories and zero taste, oh and it must be store bought, we wouldn't want to posion the kids with some homemade whole wheat bread, it would be too much of a shock to their systems after their daily regime of fire cheetos and hostess cupcakes.
I had to include some real snow pictures. The first is from Christmas 07' when we made a snowman in 10 degree weather at my mom's in Spokane. The next is of me, Karl, and Joel making a snowman in warmer Spokane weather with heartfealt youthful cheer, and mismatched boots.

The Artist's itch and Peanut Butter Fortunes

2009-01-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

Our son is creative. His preschool teacher last year said of Isaac, "his imagination is like wow!". Sometimes coloring just isn't enough for him. The other day I brought home the book "the Gentle Art of Domesticity", Isaac couldn't put it down. He kept asking if he could knit, sew, quilt or cook with each respective picture. I tried to explain we didn't have any knitting needles and that my sewing box was already packed for our much anticipated move, he thought I was a sorry excuse for a homemaker. After crying over his need to sew, he went into the kitchen and starting making his own treat. With just a few hints about ingredients he came up with a delicious bar cookie he named Peanut Butter Fortunes. His creative urge was satisfied and we could get onto reading "Jack and the Beanstalk" by E. Nesbit (a very fine version in my opinion).

I went on a hike

2009-01-22T07:59:00.000-08:00

Isaac is writing a journal in his Kindergarten class. Yesterday his journal entry was titled, "I went on a hike". Indeed we did go on a hike with our good friends the Andruses on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Warm weather in January makes me love California. Notice that Noah is in the sling his favorite spot, I tried to put him in the Baby Bjorn since it is more comfortable for longer wearing, but he is just too big already! He had his two month check up and his in now 15 lbs and 4 oz. The mean nurses stuck him with lots of needles and he was sad the rest of the day. I hate shots!
I also wanted to say I am excited about our new president especially because the nation seems to be united in our hope that he can help us get back on our feet. I love America! Good luck Obama!

Spring Cleaning

2009-01-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

I must begin by saying I survived this long week without Levi thanks to meals with friends and perfect park playing weather, a balmy 70 degrees almost everyday. The hardest thing was when my landlord called on Thursday asking if he could show some perspective renters our house on Saturday. I calmly replied yes and then hung up the phone in a flurry of worry, how was I to clean this house? I spent all day Friday cleaning and packing, poor Noah spent too much time crying that day as I just couldn't hold him as much as he wished. Levi returned Friday night so we spent Saturday morning frantically painting, mopping, scrubbing, weeding, raking, sweeping and any other cleaning verb you can think of. I am proud to say that our house was clean for the hour that people toured the house, after that we let our kids be kids and play in the sandbox thus tracking in lots of sand into the house. To celebrate the spring weather and our clean yard we had a little fire in our craigslist fire pit. We had friends over and roasted marshmallows. We love California weather.

The man of the house

2009-01-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

This is my man, the man of the house. This week we will be thousands of miles apart. Who will wrestle with Isaac and Eliza? Who will rescue me at dinner prep when Noah is needy? I can't wait to see his handsome face again.

Polar Bear Dip

2009-01-05T07:24:00.001-08:00

Eliza loves the ocean. She doesn't understand that there are times of the year when it is best to keep dry. On the Monday following Christmas we journeyed to Natural Bridges, our favorite Santa Cruz beach, partly for the tide pools and partly for the free parking. Levi's family came along for the fun as they were in town for Noah's baby blessing. The weather was a balmy 60 degrees so Eliza thought it was best to get all her clothes soaked in the salty water. Luckily we had her swimsuit with us and we put that on her. She made her aunt Jenny play in wave after wave until Jenny announced her feet were numb and dragged Eliza out of the water. Eliza tried and tried to pull Jenny back out, but to no avail and so she stated, "I will do it myself". I think we have a little suffer on our hands.
On Saturday we decided to visit the Newark indoor swim center so Eliza and Isaac could get some water time without catching pneumonia. The facility has two large slides, a lazy river, a zero entry pool with a play structure that shoots lots of water, and a pool to just swim in. We had a blast. As with the ocean, Eliza was very upset when it was time to go.

Santa Baby

2008-12-31T21:06:00.001-08:00

This is a little late, but it is too cute not to post.

House

2008-12-31T07:34:00.000-08:00

Well, it's finally happening, we're getting a house. Our offer was accepted on a house in Tracy. We got what we feel is a good deal, and it is the perfect house for us. It is right across the street from a park and just a few blocks from the elementary school. We are so excited to get our own house, but a little sad to be leaving Livermore and all the wonderful people we know here. We'll probably be moving in the middle of February.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

5 a.m. Christmas morning, Isaac announced he was ready to get up. Levi told him give it one more hour and indeed an hour later Isaac was ready once again. We woke Noah and Eliza, raced to the living room, and excitedly pulled out the contents of our stockings. I am so proud of Isaac because he was enthusiastic about every present, whether it was his or not. He even waited patiently as we took turns opening presents, Levi says that must be from the Otterstrom side because Lloyd kids never did that. Noah was smiley as we opend gifts, like he knew what was going on, smiling is something he just started this week so we were thrilled.

Thanksgiving Tradition

2008-11-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

While growing up, we had a tradition, everyone makes a pie for Thanksgiving. This is probably one of my favorite family traditions. Not only is it fun to have lots of pie to eat, it is spend the time together in the kitchen making the pies. I always made a Chocolate-Dream Pie when I was younger. This year I handed that one down to my oldest son, Isaac. Here is the breakdown:

Levi - Pecan
Rebecca - Cheesecake
Isaac - Chocolate Dream
Eliza - Apple

We gave Noah the year off.

We're on our own

2008-11-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

I said farewell to my mother this afternoon. I feel better about her departure than when she left after I had Isaac. I remember feeling a little helpless with my little newborn who wanted to nurse constantly and stay awake all night. I remember poor Levi having to trudge off to school in the morning and take high level engineering exams. Life is a little easier now that Levi has lots of personal leave and vacation time.
My mom came on Saturday took charge of the kitchen right away. I have been spoiled with days of good meals. I keep telling myself the time to diet can wait. I am so grateful for her help. Levi's parents drove down for a whirlwind visit on Saturday. They came bearing lots of gifts, my favorite was the flowers. I also want to say thanks to all my friends and family who have dropped a line of congratulations. It feels so good to be loved.
We drove up to Lake Del Valle this morning for a little fresh air and to take photos for our Christmas card. The lake was empty and peaceful. Here are a few photos.

Big kids and Dad

2008-11-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

I've tried to make it a tradition (don't know if two times counts as a tradition) to take the other kids to do something fun shortly after a new sibling is born. Today I took Isaac and Eliza to the new California Academy of Science in San Francisco.
We rode the BART and Muni trains which is an adventure in and of itself for us suburbanites. The kids enjoyed putting the tickets in the turnstiles and walking around on a moving street car. Dad was glad he didn't lose anyone.
The Cal. Academy of Science is really cool. It is huge and home to thousands of plant and animal species. The only problem is that there were many thousands of human life forms as well which made it less enjoyable. I guess going a few months after a major attraction opens during a time when many kids are off of school is not a good idea.

Eliza liked the aquariums the most. She could watch fishies all day. Isaac says he liked the penguins the most, which is surprising because he only saw them for a minute and I don't think they were doing much. I think that the indoor rain forest was pretty cool...warm actually. There were lots of exotic butterflies floating around especially once you made it up above the canopy.
It was an adventure and it turned out well. Needless to say I'm worn out, so I'm going to bed.

Happy Birthday Baby Noah

2008-11-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

Kids meet their new brother

2008-11-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

Well, we're all home from the hospital. Baby Noah is doing really well. He passed all his tests with flying colors. Rebecca is also doing well and feels that this will be a speedy recovery.
I picked up the kids this morning and took them to meet their new brother. They were both really cute about it. Isaac spontaneously started singing Happy Birthday to Noah and Eliza made up a little song about baby Noah too. Isaac couldn't get enough of holding Noah. They both bought present for their brother on the way to the hospital. Isaac chose a pack of binkies because he has always been concerned that Noah would have binkies. Eliza bought a little toy for his car seat. See the pictures below. Things are going well. We're hoping for some rest tonight. Rebecca's mom will be here to help tomorrow.

Noah Jacob Lloyd

2008-11-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Noah Jacob Lloyd. He was born on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 6:44 pm. He was a whopping 10 pounds even and measured 21.75 inches in length. He and Mom are both doing well. We are so excited that Noah finally joined our family. Here are some photos:

Baby Announcement...

2008-11-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we haven't had our baby yet. We are getting pretty antsy. Rebecca's due date was yesterday but who's counting. We have already done all the house work that we wanted to do, and we are just kind of waiting around. I stumbled across this blast from the past:

Isaac's Birth Announcement (http://www.lloydlings.net/isaac.html).

I figure that since many of you didn't even know us when we had Isaac you might get a kick out of this. We'll be sure to post when the big news comes.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

2008-11-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

My due date it fast approaching and I am constantly wondering when I will have to go to the hospital. Levi and I have been busy checking things off our list that we need to accomplish before life reverts to sleepless nights and newborn cries. One of the things we hoped to get off the list was buying a home. We were way outbid on two homes even though we bid high, so much for a housing bust in California, the last house we bid on went for 60k over the asking price.
I got my braces off last week. I love not having lots of heavy wires in my mouth, but my temporary retainer is not much better since I can't eat anything with them on.
I finished my first quilt, (well kind of my second if you count one I did in Moscow that I just tied) with lots of help from a friend. I think quilting is cool, but I am not sure I possess the exacting discipline it takes to be a quilter. I am glad I made something for my baby boy.
Levi begged to get a prego pose so I obliged while we were visiting my sister Sarah in Ventura. I love the picture of Eliza and her cousin Jonas.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

We had a great Halloween. We went down to Ventura to participate in Elliott Rutherford's (Rebecca's Nephew) baby blessing and spend some time with Sarah, Rick and Jonas too.
Isaac was a pirate and Eliza was a fairy. Rebecca made both of their costumes and they turned out great. The kids went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood where the Rutherfords live. They really liked it and it was so fun to watch them getting candy. Eliza thought that part of the deal was to be able to select her own candy from the candy pots at each house and was quite forceful in making this known to the the trick-or-treatees. The kids got way too much candy and ate way too much over the next few days. Rebecca and I agree that having kids makes Halloween much better.

Busy times

2008-10-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

It has been forever since we blogged. All of my computer time has been spent searching for homes and all of Levi's computer time has been spent in Prop. 8 support. There are homes within our price range now, but they are not in Livermore and thinking of becoming a commuting family is scary. We have toured many bank owned homes and have been amazed at how trashed many of them are. I don't feel sorry for most of the people who lost their homes because you can tell they didn't value them in the first place. We are now less than 4 weeks from my due date!
I went with Isaac's class to the pumpkin patch last week. It is located next to I-580, not exactly a peaceful farm experience, but the kids enjoyed themselves. We were all very hot because it was about 90 degrees. I wish we had fall here.

Book Review: Mormon Scientist

2008-09-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you all know about a great book I am reading. It is called Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring by Henry J. Eyring. Before reading this book, I had heard of Henry Eyring the renowned chemist and father of President Henry B. Eyring, but didn't really know much about him.
Henry was born in one of the Mormon colonies in Mexico in a polygamist household. During the Mexican revolution he and his family were forced to flee to Arizona and lost all their possessions. It seems strange that such a brilliant scientist could grow up on a farm, but his parents always encouraged him to work hard and he could do whatever he wanted. This became his way of life and even after he became a successful scientist continued to work hard and even teach extra classes, so that the university wouldn't fire him. He even went as far as to say that if the economy was shot and all chemists but one were unemployed, he wanted to be sure that he was that one. This work ethic was evidenced by his 500+ scientific papers that he published.
There are also some stories about Dr. Eyring that are quite humorous. He held annual foot races on the University of Utah's track against his graduate students. He also was known to attempt jumping up on top of lab tables.
Not only was he a genius in chemistry, but he was faithful and had no problem finding room for both science and religion in his beliefs. Here is one of my favorite quotes in the book:

"The gospel is to be found not only in the scriptures but in every detail of the world, if we can but read it."

Dr. Eyring was an advocate for science and faith and frequently voiced his opinion that the two were not mutually exclusive, but rather perfect science and perfect religion fit together quite well since or Heavenly Father is after all the ultimate scientist. I have always felt this way and enjoy reading Henry's views on the matter. After all isn't faith in some ways an experiment:

But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than ^adesire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
Alma 32:27

Give this book a try, it's a good one.

Kindergarten

2008-09-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Isaac started Kindergarten at Jackson Elementary School last Monday. He has enjoyed every day thus far. I have to admit that I was sad dropping him off the first day. I see in front of him so many years of public school with all the trials that come with it. When I picked him up on the second day, the teacher told me that he was following the wrong kids and didn't listen so he got a yellow crayon meaning he was in trouble. I felt bad about this and was amazed that she had already picked out who the "wrong" kids are. Isaac's class is very diverse and I'm afraid many of the children come from poor families. I've noticed that several of them have the free backpacks our stake filled with school supplies and distributed to the needy. Isaac's teacher has no assistant and so far I am the only parent who has volunteered to help, she has a difficult year ahead of her. All in all I think this will be a great year for Isaac!

Eliza's Haircut

2008-08-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

We finally gave Eliza a haircut so that we could get it all the same length. It broke my heart to cut my little girls long beautiful hair. It was quite the catastrophe, because we couldn't get her to hold still. We had to keep making it shorter and shorter to try and even it all out. The end result was shorter than we wanted, but she looks cute. We're excited for her birthday in a few days.

Oregon, Washington, and the Quest for a house

2008-08-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since we last published an update. Life has been busy. Now that we are back home, it was time for some vacation, so we went up to Oregon for the Joe Lloyd Family reunion. We stayed in a nice beach house in Waldport, OR just south of Newport. It was great to see my siblings and meet my future (now current) sister-in-law Krista. We had a good time playing in the ocean even though we had typical Oregon Coast weather (i.e. rainy, overcast and cold). Fortunately this year we came prepared with wet suits, which made it much more enjoyable. We also went crabbing in Newport, which turned out to be fun. Later we had delicious crab pizza from our catch.

Following the reunion we returned with the rest of the Lloydlings to Benton City for Josh and Krista's wedding.

It was a nice wedding, and we were glad to be there. Krista seems really nice and we are glad to welcome her into our family. They had a great dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The caterers brought out 8 entrees, and there were only four adults at our table, yum yum.

During all this time we have been getting ourselves ready (mentally mostly) to buy a house. We are looking mostly at Mountain House since it is very affordable compared to Livermore, and not too far of a commute. Our lease doesn't expire until the end of November, so we are trying to be patient, but it is so hard. We have already seen a couple of great houses come and go that we could have bought. We are still in shock that there are houses we can afford in California. Stay tuned for more details.

Utah

2008-08-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great summer in Albuquerque, now it's time to go home. Since going through Utah only adds five hours to our drive we decided to make a pilgrimage to Zion and the land of our forefathers. The kids have had a blast playing with their cousins and their cousins toys. Here are some photos

The Hills are Alive

2008-07-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

We have spent two happy weekends hiking in the Sandia Mountains. There is almost no place I would rather be than in the forest with my family. It is really a marvel that this densely wooded mountain is right up to a barren desert. Yesterday we took the Sandia Tram to the top of the mountain. The Tram is 2.7 miles long and ascends about 4,000 ft. We hiked along the crest of the mountain among douglas fir and apsen groves. I will surely miss having a mountain so close when we return to Livermore in two weeks, but at least we will have the beach to visit again.

It's A...

2008-07-11T18:18:00.001-07:00

BOY!!!

We're having another boy and we are so excited. To celebrate we went and bought a couple of boy outfits and then went out to eat. It's fun to have an excuse to celebrate. Here are a few of baby's first portraits.

July 4th

2008-07-09T07:53:00.000-07:00

On July 4th we participated in a tri-ward breakfast. The highlight was the kids fun run that Isaac participated in. He was very proud of running in his first real race. We drove north to Taos to visit our friends from graduate school, Morgan and Jacob Young, who live there working with the BLM. We were joined by Chance and Beth Munns who also were in our U of Idaho ward. Taos is artsy tourist town set among many mountains. We drove to Taos Ski Valley to watch a very short parade with more candy than I've ever been thrown before. Ski Valley is very high and alpinish. The ground was covered with ferns, columbine, and shooting stars. It was an absolutely ideal setting to contemplate how wonderful it is to be an American. We had a great picnic in the Young's backyard and were constantly interupted by the poor chickens that were being chased by the kids. As the sun started to set, we broke out the sparklers. Isaac found them too scary to hold, but Eliza really liked them. We watched the fireworks from the Young's driveway. Isaac was afraid the fireworks were going to fall on us, Eliza was the opposite watching them with awe. We stayed the night at the Young's so we could see a little more of Taos on Saturday. We loved being together with friends from our favorite place, Moscow!

Tent Rocks

2008-06-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

Our family enjoyed a hike among Tent Rocks. These amazing rock formations are a result of pyroclastic flows following a volcanic eruption. The heat was intense, the higher elevation makes the sun feel so close. Levi was so enamered by the narrow canyon and tent shaped rocks that he couldn't stop taking pictures. Tent Rocks is located in the middle of nowhere north of Albuquerque. I liked driving off the freeway and through Indian reservations. There is so much empty space here and the air is so clear you can see forever. Our earth is amazing!!

Petroglyphs and Atoms

2008-06-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

For this week's Saturday excursion we drove across town to the Petroglyph National Monument. The petroglyphs are found over a large area of desert that has more than its share of volcanic rock. Lucky for us there were a multitude of petroglyphs close together and an easy hike for our family. The art work reminded me a lot of Isaac's pictures of dragons and rockets. I really feel for the Native Americans who made this dry arid plane their home.
Isaac became a Junior Ranger and had to take a pledge to help perserve our national parks. He is very excited about his badge.
We went to Old Town Albuquerque where the Atomic Museum is located. Levi and I found it full of fascinating information, but Eliza didn't last since the mechanical Einstein puppet really freaked her out and she couldn't stop crying. Learning about radiation was interesting. There was a x-ray machine that was used in the 1930's at shoe stores for patrons to step in to see if their shoes fit well. Of course the dangers of radiation weren't understood at the time so children would put their feet in it time and time again. I have had to miss a dental x-ray and an orthodontic x-ray due to this pregnancy. I am grateful we are more careful about radiation. There was info about the Hanford site in Washington. They housed 50,000 employees in tents in the middle of no way. Looking at the bombs and watching movies of bomb tests was depressing. As we left the museum, I asked Isaac if he wants to be a scientist now and he said yes enthusiastically. He usually says he wants to be a dragon scientists, but maybe somewhere down the road we can steer him to the study of chemistry or computers.

Bandelier National Monument

2008-06-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we ventured out to Bandelier National Monument near Los Alamos. It is a canyon that has lots of ancient cliff dwellings and ruins of buildings that Native Americans built and lived in. It was really cool to see the rooms in the cliffs and imagine what it was like during the peak of civilization there. The buildings were multi-story though we thought the rooms looked a little small. The kids liked climbing the ladders up into the little caverns and chasing lizards. The rock formations in the area were awesome.

Feeding the Birds

2008-06-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I took the kids to the zoo. The zoo is located in a sad part of town where there are bars on everyone's windows. It reminded me of Kansas City. I sure like living where I feel safe. Anyway, the kids enjoyed all the animals at the zoo, but I think that the best part was feeding the Lorikeets. We were given a small cup of some sweet drink and the beautiful birds lapped up the liquid with their strange little tongues.

sleepless in Albuquerque

2008-06-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

We have been in this little apartment for over a week now and our children have had night after night of restless sleep. I didn't think that having Isaac and Eliza share a queen bed would have been such a problem. Eliza likes to hit Isaac and crowd him out. We tried Isaac on the floor, but Eliza kept throwing things down at him like her books. Last night Isaac slept on the couch, fell off and slept on the living room floor, then Levi put him into bed with Eliza, an hour later both kids were crying, then I put Isaac on the floor in the room, he must have moved into the bed himself because he called out to us a few hours later saying Eliza was hitting him, so we let him into our bed, but after about 30 minutes none of us could fall asleep so we put him back on the couch where he slept from about 4:30 to 6:30. Today we are going to buy some kind of sleeping pad for Isaac that will be comfortable for a nights rest so Eliza can have the big queen to herself and stop keeping us all up.
Side note, we live in a pretty quiet complex, but two nights ago we were awoken at 3:30 in the morning by our downstairs neighbor singing very loud like he was the American Idol.

Hiking in the Sandia Mountains

2008-06-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we took an awesome hike in the Sandia Mountains. I was in heaven among the pine and fur trees. The quiet of the forest and the sweet smell of fresh air helped me to feel renewed and happy. I wish I could live among such a forest, but alas that is not my fate.
Isaac and I found a dragon cave and mustered up the courage to look inside. Eliza was pretty excited about the butterflies we saw. Of course we had to get ice cream on the way home.

Natural History Museum

2008-06-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went with the kids to the Museum of Natural History. New Mexico has a rich history with plenty of Dinosaur fossils and other ancient animals hidden in the desert. I think Eliza's favorite part was watching the Nemo fish since she is our little fishy girl and talks about fish non stop. Isaac liked the giant Dinosaur skeleton with a tail like a lasso. Both kids were too afraid of the volcano exhibit with its dark entrance and fake smoke. My favorite exhibit was the minerals. The variety of colors and formations was fascinating.
After the museum we ate lunch at the park across the street. Eliza reached a milestone, she told me "I don't like this" after she took a bite of her sandwich. She was already a little picky, but now she can say it.

Grand Canyon and Albuquerque

2008-06-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it to Albuquerque. Yesterday's drive wasn't too bad. The kids were pretty good, and everything went smoothly. We really enjoyed our stop at the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately we could only spend a couple of hours there. The views of the canyon are truly amazing. The first time I saw it, it took my breath away. It's really a big hole. Isaac enjoyed riding on the shuttle buses that take you to the different lookout points. Eliza enjoyed looking through the wrong end of the binoculars. Isaac was a little disappointed that there weren't any dragons there, but he realized that they probably only come out at night.
The desert in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico is pretty. There are lots of red rock formations which reminded us of Southern Utah.
Our apartment is nice, it has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, and is very spacious. I think we will have a good two months here.

On the road at Kingman, AZ

2008-05-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

After driving all day, we've made it to our hotel in Kingman, AZ. Fortunately, we made it in before too late, because the kids were excited all day to go swimming at the hotel pool. We passed through a lot of barren wasteland and I've got a feeling we've got a lot more to go before we reach Albuquerque.
Fortunately, I checked our tires before we left, because I saw that we had a big gash in the side of one of the front tires. Thus our day started with a trip to Les Schwabs which set us back temporally and financially. I'm just glad that we didn't get a flat in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
Right now the kids are bouncing off the walls in the hotel room.

The Land of Enchantment

2008-05-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

I am working on a project in New Mexico over the next couple of months. Rather, than flying back and forth on weekends and leaving Rebecca as a single mother for all intents and purposes, I decided to bring the fam. We'll be staying in a furnished apartment in Albuquerque for the months of June and July. Every thing I know about Albuquerque tells me that being there in the summer is not a good idea, but the locals ensure me that the weather doesn't get too hot (at least not over 120 degrees).
Actually, we're excited for the adventure. We have grown accustomed to moving every couple of years, so this feels normal. We'll be sure to post plenty of photos from our fun times.

Fun in the sun

2008-05-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

It is finally starting to feel like summer is approaching. I have great hopes of days at the pool with the kids and camping in the woods as a family. The days at the pool will probably happen, but camping may not since we are spending all of June and July in Albuquerque without our camping gear. The kids have enjoyed playing in with the hose and making mud in the yard. Eliza got a nice mud stain on her new shirt the first time she wore it. I guess that is why I don't spend very much on kids clothes.
We took a walk in the hills at Lake Del Valle. Although it is May, it is bone dry here since we have had no rain for months. The hills here have lost their green luster and are now a dull golden brown. Isaac was a great walker for once and was very proud of himself. I wish we could take a hike in a quiet wooded forest or up a canyon in Utah.

Playing in the mud

2008-05-10T15:11:00.001-07:00

Our kids get a big kick out of playing with the hose and making mud. I think it is just about one of their favorite things. It is fun for them, but is sure makes a mess.

Oops!

2008-04-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Today I had to run a Relief Society errand that my kids were less than thrilled about. To get them out the door I mentioned the magic words, ice cream. I had to keep my word, so after I did my errand of angels I stopped by Safeway with the kids. Just as we were pulling into the parking lot a Carolla backed out of its spot, slammed right into a fire hydrant, rebounded, and slammed again toppling the hydrant. Now I thought, is that person angry or something?, but then I realized that there was no one in the car. The water gushed forth with intense pressure creating a magnificent display. We watched as an astonished teenager jumped into her Carolla and zoomed it out from under the avalanche of cascading water. In no time the parking lot was filled with water, as the drains could not keep up. Many unsuspecting cars were now stuck in a flash flood of sorts. The fire men came, much to Isaac's delight, and they shut off the water. I felt so bad for the crying teenage girl as the policeman talked with her. I think she learned her lesson, always use a parking brake when driving a stick. Isaac talked non-stop about the incident on the drive home. Isaac retold the events to Levi, but through the lens of a child.
Here is a picture of Isaac with his cape he sewed himself. Being a kid looks like lots of fun.

March

2008-03-30T14:51:00.001-07:00

In elementary school I learned that March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb, but here in Livermore it starts like a lamb with a few appearances of a lion to keep us humble. On a lamb day I took the kids to the lake and let them swim with their friends. I shouldn't really call this particular body of water a lake since it is a reservoir and is home to many geese and other unsavory materials that come along with geese. You may ask why I would let my kids immerse themselves is less than pure water, well I don't know, but peer pressure has something to do with it. On a lion day our whole family went swimming in an indoor pool in Newark, one of those new facilities with slides, a lazy river, a play structure in the water, and several pools. We were surprised at how quickly the kids adapted to the water. Eliza was not satisfied with the kid slides and kept leading us to the big slides for a ride, but alas she has a few years of growth before she can have such a thrill.

We celebrated St. Patrick's day with our ward at an adult dinner. I must say that I have never had such mouthwatering corned beef before. I sat next to a Chinese friend who asked if all Mormons were Irish, (she was a little amazed about our enthusiasm for the holiday).

Easter was a definite lamb day with temperatures into the 70s. On the Saturday before the kids participated in the ward Easter Egg hunt. When we returned home Isaac immediately went to the backyard telling us the Easter bunny must have surely come to our house too. There were no eggs to be found, but feeling a little guilty about it, the bunny left eggs on Easter morning. On Saturday we went to the temple as a family and Levi and I took turns doing initiatories. I enjoyed walking the temple grounds with my kids and contemplating Christ's eternal sacrifice. On Easter we had a quiet Easter dinner with the missionaries. It is on holidays that I especially miss all of you. It would be wonderful if we all lived a little closer to one another.

Sunol Regional Park

2008-03-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great time today at Sunol regional park. Being spring, everything here in Northern California is extraordinarily green. The rolling hills are beautiful and the weather was great. The kids enjoyed playing in the stream and getting a little wet. We also climbed a tree and spent time chasing butterflies. Isaac was disappointed that I didn't catch him one, but those little buggers were fast. Next time I'm bringing a net.

Rimrock Lake – South Fork Camping

2008-03-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

One of the best memories, or series of memories rather, from my childhood is camping at South Fork campground near Rimrock Lake in central Washington. This location became somewhat of Joe Lloyd family pilgrimage spot and we camped at here once or twice a year all through my growing up years.

I'm not really sure what it was that makes it such an ideal camping spot in my mind. Possibly the proximity to the South Fork River, the large established trees and the crisp mountain air? If not that, maybe it was the fact that the water was a little too cold for swimming but shallow enough and calm enough to wade for what seemed like miles in other directions. Maybe it was just the fact that when we went camping there it seemed like we owned the place.

The earliest memory I have of South fork campground was when our ward had a Father's and Son's outing there. I think this was the trip where shortly after arriving, I accidentally pushed Benj in the river as I was stretching to see what the other boys said was a submersed alligator. I guess it wasn't an alligator because Benj came back out in one piece, though he wasn't happy and neither was Dad if my memory serves. The following day was much better. I had my first experience canoing, Brother Park from our ward taught us to fly fish, and we had an awesome scavenger hunt. I also remember that as usual the river was pretty cold, but the mud on the banks was warm. We found that by moving our feet the right way (kind of like the cheater way on the Nintendo track pad) we could sink up to our knees in the warmish mud. Another great thing for boys to do was catching tadpoles in little ponds that we made and then watching them swim around.

On other occasions, I remember watching my Dad roast his pants over the fire on a stick to dry them out after getting wet. I remember swimming in the green colored pools where the river had dug out deeper spots. I remember sitting for what seemed like an hour watching a chipmunk pulling toliet paper of the roll and running it back to his nest. I remember going on a hike and finding the biggest tree in the world. Our whole family, holding hands, couldn't reach around it. I remember seeing enough sucker fish in the shallow water to make it seem that you could walk across the river on their backs.

It's memories like these that give me the motivation to withstand sleepless nights on the cold ground with kids waking every hour to hopefully provide some good memories for my children. Keep on campin'!

Eliza Video

2008-03-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Dating is good

2008-03-09T21:37:00.000-07:00

Levi and I love an excuse to get out of the house without the kids. This weekend we decided to check out the downtown Livermore scene. We are amazed at the vibrancy of the restaurants on Friday night. Unwilling to spend our hard earned cash at one the new fancy restaurants, we ducked into a little Mexican dive and ate tacos. There is something satisfying about eating carne asada tacos and watching a Mexican talk show, a type of paradigm shift.
We decided to check out the local rock climbing gym. We felt a little sheepish at having so little climbing experience that we needed an instructor. After my third climb, my arms had had enough. Levi did some great bouldering. We both felt the urge to go climb outside in nature.
We got a smoothy and sipped it slowly taking in the fresh air of a warm March night. We returned home to find both kids in bed!!

January Happenings

2008-02-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

Rain, wind and cold temperatures set the stage for our activities this month. Levi and I went on a star gazing date on top of a hill outside the of Livermore. When the cold sunk down into our bones, we played Boggle in our car. It was one of those no frills yet memorable dates.

Isaac's big accomplishment this month was riding his bike, conquering his fear of falling down. He has so happy about riding his bike that he made up a little song that went something like this, "when you are afraid of something and you do it, you will be very very happy".

I took the kids to Chabot Space and Science Center near the temple. I lost Isaac inside a literal black hole (a very dark tunnel), I went to the end to wait for him to come out, but he had turned around from fear of the dark and came back through the entrance. We were reunited and went on to have a blast learning about space. My favorite part of our excursion was driving through a redwood forest to reach the museum. Everything looked so green and lush in the rainfall, it reminded me of Western Washington.

My piano students had a recital. Only four of the six students played so it was short. They all played well giving me reassurance that I am teaching them something. We are now enjoying more music in our home thanks to Levi who picked up a free radio on craigslist. Levi crawled around in the attic wiring speakers for our kitchen. Doing dishes is much more fun while listening to music or the news.

Levi went to Albuquerque for work. He presented a project he has been working on with much success. Now he has lots of people interested in his work and will be busy helping them to use the technology he has been developing. He has a great job.

We visited the library a lot this month due to the weather. Aren't we all so blessed to have public libraries? Eliza is a little terror at the library. She runs away from me and pulls books off the shelves. Isaac laughs and eggs her on. Shopping is even worse with the kids. Despite the struggles, I love being a mother. I enjoyed a Sunday afternoon reading the scriptures with Isaac. He was so interested and wanted me to keep reading him stories about how God rescues his people. We were so sad when President Hinckley passed away and will miss his love and encouragement. We are happy that he has been reunited with Sister Hinckley.

Playing at the park

2008-01-26T11:02:00.000-08:00

Our kids love the park (what kid doesn't). Isaac is doing a great job at riding his bike now. And Eliza is quite the climber.

Spring is coming

2008-01-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

We were given a blessed sneak peak of Spring yesterday. The balmy weather was perfect for a family run and bike ride. Just a side note, Isaac conquered his fear of riding his bike just the day before. He made up a little song at dinner after riding his bike for the first time in over 6 months. The song went something like, "when you are a afraid of something and you do it, you will be very very happy" and so forth. It was cute. Anyway back to spring, we went on a trail that follows a little creek. Last week the creek was flowing beautifully, but due to the lack of rain this week, the water was shut off and the creek bed was dry as a bone. Levi and Isaac found a large sycamore that was perfect for climbing. We went on a bear hunt and found a "bear cave" under the roots of a sycamore. These pictures are from last week when it wasn't so warm, but there was plenty of water to throw rocks in. Eliza has a great arm and can throw rocks both big and small very far.

December in Review

2008-01-06T15:09:00.001-08:00

Happy highlights of the month include our ward Christmas party where a very real Santa came to visit. Eliza wasn't thrilled about meeting the jolly old fellow, but Isaac found it a great opportunity to communicate his wish for Star Wars legos. Unfortunately Santa only brought normal legos on Christmas. Levi has since convinced Isaac that you can build Star Wars ships out of normal legos and not just out of the 50 dollar set they sell at Target.

Our neighbor made Isaac around 150 wood blocks and a nice wood box to hold them in. We were touched by his sweet gift for Isaac. We received other Christmas gifts from friends including some kale, swish chard and spinach. The veggies were from a health food friend to help me over come anemia.

I was anemic due to blood loss from a ruptured cyst. Levi and I had an eventful time in the emergency room in the early early hours of the 15^th. I had a laparoscopic surgery to remove the hemorrhaging cyst. I think the surgery was much more painful for Levi who had to wait and wonder how I was doing. Thanks to Rick who didn't complain when I called and woke him to ask what I should do about extreme abdominal pain that wouldn't go away. It is great to have Rick in our family. It took me the rest of the month to recover my energy and my ability to lift things. I am grateful for my good health and for health insurance.

We traveled to Washington to visit the Lloyds and Mom and Bryon. We spent Christmas with the Lloyds in a lodge located on church property in the cascades. It snowed all Christmas day much to the delight of the children. Levi wasn't too excited since he had a bad flu. On Christmas Eve Eliza found some rat poison to eat. We don't think she actually swallowed any, but we found some in her mouth. Levi had a nice chat with the telephone operator for the rat poison company. It turns out that she would have to eat a lot of the poison to be in any danger.

Getting to mom's house was a challenge, the hardest part being her driveway. Luckily Bryon was able to get us unstuck and then drive our card a million miles an hour to get it over the hill and to the house. We spent time at mom's recovering and eating good food. Mom saddled up her horse two different times for Isaac to ride. He was braver on the horse than he is at the playground. We went sledding at the golf course with David. I love the quiet of a snow covered forest. Thanks to everyone for the love and support this month!

A Poem By Isaac

2007-12-20T20:19:00.001-08:00

When dragons breath fire
Our backyard sings
When our trees blow
Our house goes boomph
When our seeds fall off
Our plants get as big as a giant
When our table gets pushed
Our place mats dance

Christmas Survey

2007-12-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
It depends if the hot chocolate has mint chocolate chip ice cream in it. But probably Egg nog over all
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Rebecca - definitely wrapped, it lengthens the enjoyment of Christmas morning
Levi - presents out in the open, paper gets in the way.
3. Colored lights on the tree/house or white?
white, white, white
4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No, where do you get that stuff anyway?
5. When do you put your decorations up?
Monday night following Thanksgiving
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Rebecca - My mom's chicken enchiladas for Christmas Eve
Levi - Spiral honey ham, mmmmm.
7. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Rebecca - Cheesecake
Levi - Santa floats (mint ice cream in eggnog with a candy cane).
8. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Rebecca - Hearing reindeer hooves
Levi - sneaking around all night long Christmas Eve to see what we got in our stockings.
9. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Rebecca - ?
Levi - When I was sneaking around and saw all the stockings on my parents bed
10. What do you leave for Santa?
Cookies and milk and carrots for the reindeer.
11. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes
12. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Levi got an ornament each year from his Grandparents, so now we have a lot. Angel on top.
13. Snow: love it or hate it?
Love it and miss it
14. Can you ice skate?
Rebecca - Yes, I took lessons as a kid
Levi - barely
15. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Rebecca - cabbage patch doll, as an adult pressure cooker
Levi - Nintendo (the original)
16. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Being with family and thinking about Jesus Christ.
17. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Rebecca - Christmas Eve Nativity play
Levi - Seeing Santa (aka Brother Splatstozer) every year and almost breaking his leg when we all sat on his lap.
18. What tops your tree?
Angel
19. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Giving good gifts is hard, I hope I can improve
20. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Rebecca - Silent Night
Levi - The Christmas Song
21. Candy Canes:
yes please
22. What is your favorite Christmas Movie?
Rebecca - Miracle on 34th Street
Levi - Clamation Christmas

Thanksgiving and beach bumming

2007-11-26T19:51:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving in sunny Ventura, CA. We were there visiting Rebecca's sister Sarah and her family. We went for a hike in Ojai and went to the beach several times. The food was great and the company was even better. A big thanks to Sarah and Rick and their hospitality.

Saturday afternoon the weather was perfect, and Eliza and Isaac enjoyed playing on the beach. One highlight was that Isaac conquered his fear of the zip line and then had a blast zipping along all by himself.

Artist Kids

2007-11-05T18:39:00.001-08:00

Isaac and Eliza did some painting today. It was the first time Eliza has done it. Finger painting is great because it allows the kids to get messy and create something.

The closeup is of Isaac's art. He says it is a dragon. We're so proud of our kids.

October in Review

2007-11-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Our family was so excited for Halloween that we decorated our front porch on the first Monday of the month. Stuffing the kid sized scarecrow and getting to to sit on our porch rail was an engineering feet. The scarecrow spent most of the month balancing on the rail and scaring the bajeezies out of Levi each time he peered out the kitchen window. After we purchased our minivan, we caved to Isaac's request to purchase a bale of straw for the scarecrow to rest his weary rump.

I spent a vast amount of time on the internet researching minivans and then disregarding all my research and purchasing a Chevy. The dollar really is the bottom line for our family. We actually are pleased with our new car, I for its roominess, Levi for the many computerized components he can tinker with, and the kids for the DVD player.

Attending Grandma's funeral was the highlight of the month. As I wrote in my journal on the plane ride home, I was overwhelmed with emotions too difficult to pen. To you all I would like to say I love you and I know that families are eternal. I felt a strong connection to all those who attended and also to those noble ancestors of ours whose headstones are found in the sacred Nephi cemetery. We are thankful for the website that Paul made. We downloaded all of the songs that Grandma sang and put them on an mp3 to listen to while driving. When Isaac heard Grandma's voice he shouted out, “ I like this song!”, this surprised me since he usually opposes non -mean guy music, ( anything that isn't the Rite of Spring, Shostakovitch, or Holst's Planets). I am excited for us to learn these songs for Grandma. Thanks to Jennifer who shared her nice Hotel room and drove me to and from the airport!

Levi and I went on two dates this month, a virtual world record for us. We attended the temple and did a sealing session for the first time in over four years. Our second date was to the Temple Hill Symphony concert. The orchestra is composed of amateur musicians who played extremely well considering their rehearsal time constraints. We were delighted to hear the winner of the Van Cliburn Amateur competition perform the Schumann piano concerto.

Levi created Isaac's Robin Hood costume while I was in Utah. Isaac's favorite part were his real arrows and the feather on his hat. Eliza made a darling dragon, she has the best roar. I took Isaac trick or treating. Our neighborhood was pretty dark and silent with only every few houses with porch lights shining. Isaac got all the candy he wanted, but I was left with a sad feeling wondering if America can ever return to the happy family neighborhoods of yore. I Believe in America!

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to a Pumpkin Patch/Farm with the kids. Isaac's Preschool had arranged the time so that the kids could all be there together. We brought some friends with us. Isaac and his buddy got all wound up and were bouncing off the ... fences. It was good to let them get some of their energy out in large open spaces, though it was a little worrisome since we kept losing track of them.
Here's some pics.

Home with the Kids

2007-10-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

Rebecca went to Utah for her Grandmother's funeral. I took time off work so I could stay with our two kids. It is the longest I have been with the kiddies by myself. So far it is going pretty well. We haven't had any major catastrophes. Isaac decided that he wanted to be Robin Hood for halloween, so we worked on the costume last night. It was difficult to convince him not to be the fox Robin Hood from Disney's Robin Hood. He cried when I told him he wouldn't have a tail, but I think I finally have him convinced that the real Robin Hood was a person. We looked at various Sherwoodesque photos online and we figured out how to make the costume. I'll post a photo when it's all done.
This morning we went to the place where a kid can be a kid...Chuck E Cheese's that is. We got a great deal on tokens (register on their site and they send you a coupon for 60 free tokens when you buy 40) and the kids had fun spending them. Isaac mostly enjoyed playing the video games and Eliza liked holding onto as many tokens as she could.
Tonight I figure we'll hit Baskin Robbins for Dollar-scoop Tuesday. Only 7 more hours to go till Mom is home. I think we can make it.

Painting and Minivan

2007-10-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

Isaac spent an afternoon painting countless pictures for his book. The book is called "Astronauts to the Rescue". It is as real to him as any book from the library.

After many sleepless nights and countless hours spent searching craigslist, we bought our first minivan. We are pumped to have extra space. The first thing Isaac wanted to do when we drove our car home was buy a bail of hay. He thinks our scarecrow really needs hay, but we put him off telling him there was no room in the volvo for a bail of hay. Believe it or not we live down the street from the farm feed store and plan to pick up a bail of straw this week to indulge Isaac.

Kids in a Bench

2007-10-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

It's fun to see our kids playing together. Isaac is glad to not be an only child anymore, and Eliza just thinks Isaac is the coolest.

2007-10-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

October is one of my favorite months because I love fall. I love the leaves changing colors. I love apples fresh from the tree, (a treat that is very hard to come by excluding our five apples we got from our tiny tree in our yard). I love the warm days that turn into cool nights. I love cooking soup and baking rolls for dinner. I love Halloween! Here in the bay area fall comes very slowly. My neighbors tree is changing colors, but it is the only one on the block that isn't green. I have to admit that fall is when I miss the aspens of Utah. Here is a picture of Levi and I on University of Idaho campus in the fall of 2004. We miss Moscow and all our cool friends! I also miss the blueberry dream rolls at the co-op, he he.

Car trouble and General Conference

2007-10-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Cars are a pain. We took our car to the shop on Friday. The ABS light has been on for a few months and the brakes are starting to act up. Anyway, they said we needed $3000 in repairs and that it isn't really safe to be driving it until the brakes are fixed. Since our car is only worth about that much we are going to buy a different car. Fortunately we are prepared, since we were saving to buy a minivan anyway. Now we will just have to buy it a few months early. We are looking at Honda Odysseys and there are several for sale near us that look good.

In better news, we were able to watch all the sessions of General Conference these last two days. It was great to hear from our Church leaders. Some of our favorite talks were Elder Holland's, Elder Cook's, Sister Beck's, and Elder Eyring's. We are excited that Henry B. Eyring was sustained as the second counselor in the First Presidency. Rebecca and I have felt a connection with President Eyring ever since he came to a dinner with our ward (his daughter Liz was in our ward our Freshman year at BYU). It was awesome to see him in an informal setting and to talk with him. He spoke to my roommates and me about the calling of missionaries and bore powerful testimony that the calls come from God.

Halloween is coming

2007-10-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

In celebration of October, we started decorating for Halloween. We made a scarecrow out of some of Isaac's old clothes. Isaac was quite excited about making a kid scarecrow, but he kept asking why we need it if we don't have any corn.