Our first known visitor

I say our first know because back in january we had someone who stayed with us for a week. His name was Scott, we met him at church and he was from the states and was here for leisure and work. We thought we could help him out and gave him Erik's bed for the week. It was fun getting to know him and trying some Aussie things we hadnt tried yet, like vegemite. While I dont hate the vegemite, I dont think I would ever crave it either. But I digress, maybe I will post about that soon.

So our first visitor that had made plans to come stay with us came in February! Yay! We were so excited! Matt came through Brissy on his way to and from backpacking in New Zealand. We didnt see him long but we had a lot of fun in those few days. I took him out to the koala sanctuary, we walked around our suburb and yes we took him to Chinatown for a scrumptios meal! And I think it's safe to say that he got a good fill up on Ginger Beer. Which by the way is not beer (kind of like how we have Root Beer), its like gingerale on steroids because its less sugary and has a bunch of real ginger that settles at the bottom you have to shake. Me not so much a fan, but Matty, well we kept him stocked up-he had consumed it previously and knew it was yummy to his tummy.

 The two men being goofy, neither would give me their real smiles because they were too busy catching up.

 Driving and loving having a friend here. Seriously Matt, you totally helped ease some homesickness, for me at least. It was so great to have you!

So we went to a nicer restaurant in China town that we had never been to before and it was AWESOME! It wasn't chinese but I can't remember which asian cuisine it was, just that it was good. It was a buffet where you order off a menu from a list of dishes. You just order a few at a time but can continue to order as long as you are hungry. You cook your own meats and veggies on the grill in the center of the table. And when the gril gets icky they come and replace it with a new one.

below is the seafood plate with calamari (my fave) and prawns from a local beach

We had some simple sushi rolls, edamame, dumplings, some type of fritter

 the fresh seasonal produce....pumpkin, zuchini, corn, onion, mushrooms

 chicken and corn cooking

mmmm makes me want to go back. It was a fun experience and good food. Definitely another must for next time we have visitors come.

There was a delay

A delay in posts that is. I should have kept posting anyways without pictures but I was lazy and hadnt uploaded pictures in a while. So things in our household just seem to get busier by the week. While some things lack I feel like we are keeping up just great.

January was good month. The first half of the month Lindsay still had off for his Christmas/Summer holiday. It was a transition to have him all the time but it was nice and it was a transition to have him go back. Around that time we came across a guy at church who was traveling here from the Utah doing some self employed work and play. We knew we could help him by letting him stay with us and so we got to know Scott and spend a week with him while he was here before he traveled farther south. Scott is the man behind Fullgive Leather . And honestly his work is awesome. I will be doing a post all about his work in the near future because we ordered some sweet bags from him after seeing his work up close and personal. We were the recipients of his belts and I love mine. Definitely check him out and be on the lookout for my upcoming post.

January was also hot hot hot, so we spent lots of time in the pool or inside when it was raining, because if it wasn't hot it was raining (well I guess it was still hot when it was raining, that is so WEIRD!) You get a little relief as the rain falls and the humidity spikes up and you just cant get dry, even indoors. Your sheets, the carpet, your clothes, never all the way dry. Both Scott and Later in February when our friend Matt came out to visit asked each day if they could put their clothes in the dryer before changing so they felt dry for a few minutes. So funny! But sadly true.

After our fun times eating vegemite for the first time while Scott was here, and introducing him to the infamous tim tam slams February rolled around. And you know what that means? A certain little boy turned a whopping 3 years old!!!! I know, I could hardly believe it as well. These years are going by far too quickly. He is your textbook three year old, learning to manipulate well, throwing more massive fits than I have seen from him yet, and imagination growing out of no where. Funny story....just a couple nights ago...he was using the couch as a jungle gym. Lindsay reminded him again that he was not to jump on the couch, Erik's reply...."no jumping just flying dad." Those are the times it is hard not to just bust up. So for every bit of bad and pull my hair out moment there is an equally joyful one. He loves to get a kiss and a hug before you leave him and gets upset if you try to leave without it. (melts me), and he is understanding that other people have feelings so one night I was pretending to cry because he and Lindsay hadnt brought me home food when they went out to get some. Erik's response to my crying was to turn out to Lindsay and say, "You naughty naughty Daddy," and actually start crying because he felt bad. Obviously I stopped at that point and explained that I was okay. And now we know that we must be careful of our little guy's sensitive heart.

Erik's little language is progressing and his accent is slowly getting more aussie. He by no means sounds aussie upon normal conversation but there are a few words here and there that definitely come out with the accent. When he says, "last night" and randomly one day without prompting he started saying" g'day mate." I am teaching him about heroes in the scripture and he loves Abinadi from the Book of Mormon. He says his name with the accent and it is adorable.

So Feb. started off with a little birthday celebration. I failed epically at picture taking. We decided not to do a big party with friends this year, I think we will save that for next year. We invited one other family over for a birthday breakfast. (I chose breakfast because as I was thinking of his favorite meal I could make...well pancakes are his favorite) So we did it on a saturday morning.

 Upon talking with Erik about what he would like to do for his birthday he told me he wanted a "blue" birthday and so that is what we did. A few decoration and the counters loaded up with a pancake buffet. All regular pancakes with fun toppings. I didnt do a birthday cake, we just added ice cream to his hot cakes, stuck in a candle and blew out the candle. It was fun and low key, perfect to not have to stress about but hopefully he still felt special.

This year in place of his traditional birthday crown I made him a superhero mask with the number 3 on it. I made it durable so he could add it to his small collection of dress up attire and he loved it! It was a proud mommy moment.

At the start of the new year along with all my other small improvements around the house I added these trays underneath our entertainment center. Originally I thought I would change them out every week or two with new material......I do change it but not as often as first planned, thats okay I am not needing to hold myself to any certain standards, and he still loves it all.

 These are all trays I came up with on my own from scouring the web for tot tray ideas. But if you are interested in more seriously do a google search. One of my favorite homeschool sites I like to check out is 1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com but there are loads of other sources as well. You can find them on google or pinterest!

 Practising fine motor skills to use tongs to move puff balls from bowl to tea light holders

 Matching chipboard letters to ones I traced onto paper.

Cut up an old photo of Lindsay and I, laminated it and it is now a puzzle. I have since added magnetic tape to the back and it is on the fridge. I plan on making more of these!

Twist the lid off the jar, get the rocks out and put the corresponding amount on the numeric number. Erik can't identify numerals yet so this was exposing them to him.

So that was a bit more about the first month and half of our 2012, exciting and fun!

Meet Erik

First of all I must apologize. For those of you who know Erik (the adult one) this was the only digital picture I could find. This one was taken outside the temple at our wedding. The real one of us posing has gone missing and I don't have any others so........if any of you reading this have a digital photo of Erik please let me know, I would love to have copies.

All right to the good stuff....

This man if you had the chance to meet him is the most genuine, kind, and caring people you have ever met. I feel blessed that he was such a huge part of Lindsay's life to have had such great influence. Erik and Lindsay were best friends and grew up down the street from each other. There are lots of stories of eating pizzas, turning on a microwave for 5 minutes at a time through an entire night to make sure they woke up for a paper route they were covering, pink helmets and rollerblades, too many to mention.

Erik and Linds pretty much shared everything, well actually Erik shared everything with Lindsay. When Erik went to college he even let Lindsay drive his truck until he left for his mission. Erik was the best type of friend you could ever want. Erik did not share all the same beliefs that Lindsay and I do and was not LDS but would stand up for Lindsay anytime. He respected Lindsay and even helped make right choices when Lindsay was tempted to do otherwise, even though it was not against Erik's beliefs-pretty amazing huh? I only had the opportunity to meet this fine creature twice. Once when Lindsay and I were engaged (Erik was actually supposed to be a part of Lindsay's proposal but Linds couldn't wait for Erik to get into town and did it earlier) we all went rock climbing and then again at our wedding.

Lindsay and I were married in the LDS temple in Spokane Washington and even though couldn't attend the ceremony he still came out to the temple and waited in the waiting room and was right there when we came out. He is near and dear to our hearts.

Ever since we got married we always wanted to name our first boy after Lindsay's best friend. But it became even more special when a year after Lindsay and I were married Erik went missing and was never found. He was a very adventurous man - remember Lindsay and him are just alike, and he got his pilot's license young (18 or 19), he went to college and then was a bush pilot in Alaska during the summers working super hard and then he would travel the world the rest of the year making it by however he could. He was working his last day in Alaska and getting ready for his fun season when he was on his way back with a fishing group, some storm came through and Erik's plane never landed. They never found any parts of his plane or passengers on land or in the sea. It was heartbreaking to say the least. Lindsay wanted so bad to fly up there as soon as we got the call to help with search efforts but we just couldn't make it work. I felt helpless. We prayed for him and his family.

And now we have this little man to help remember dear Erik James- we even kept his middle name the same. Our little guy has traveled parts of the world and is very mellow like his adult namesake. What a blessing to have both touch our lives. Even though I didn't know Erik as well as Linds, I feel like he has blessed our lives in more ways than I could describe, he is the epitome of a friend. I hope that we can raise our Erik to be the same.

A week at the moon's

I love the above picture, it's like he is intently contemplating a deep issue.....but in actuality he is staring out the window of the car during a ride. Although I guess he still could be contemplating something great.

Me holding my little man while reading some great material ;) a gossip magazine! My mom and I love to read them, even though it's probably not the best thing. When we both lived in the same town whenever one of us would get one we would read it and then swap it and then pass it on to co-workers or friends who enjoy them. Now I get to try to read, which usually doesn't happen. You lucky ladies who breastfeed get the luxury of an extra hand while feeding, while I have the luxury of having help with feedings, both of my hands get tied up-well until Erik can hold his own bottle at least. But I don't want to think that far down the road yet!

Grammy Cindy came to hang out with us for the week while my mom has been here. We enjoyed her company thoroughly as we played scrabble, ate her yummy homemade cookies, chatted, and I can say that my house looks much much better after her and my mom worked their magic helping me to rearrange my furniture and set up the new nursery stuff. My house feels much more comfortable now! We wish Grammy Cindy could have stayed longer but we are excited for the next visit!

Grammy Spinelli is here helping out and has been helping with cooking and taking Erik in the morning for a couple of hours so that I could get a bit more sleep ( what will I do when everyone leaves?) . She taught me how to bath him and as you will see he loves his baths. Well actually he loves being in the bath and hates being taken out to get dressed. The ritual starting this week has been to play the barenaked ladies cd while bath time and dressing occurs and he loves it! Music will be this little guys passion I think. He loves all sorts and calms quickly when music is started.

We had our first "after placement" visit with our amazing social worker Travis! He came to make sure all of the adjustments are going smoothly and answer questions. He is such a great counselor and social worker, we have really enjoyed working with him!

Erik also had a doctors appointment this week and is growing well. Nothing to be worried about with our little man. He is up to 8.1 pounds and 22.something inches. He is in the 35 percentile for his weight but 75th for height and head circumfrence. So he is tall and skinny! But doing wonderfully! He is lifting his head more and is starting to smile sometimes when we talk to him. He loves Boomer and when Erik can see Boomer he always grins really big! Boomer is still cautious around the baby and curious. But when Erik cries he is the first at his side and if he doesn't think someone responds quick enough he runs from person, to baby, to the next person, until Erik is soothed. It's pretty cute. They will be good friends, no doubt in my mind!

chillin' like a villian on the bed while i was finishing up getting ready to run an errand!

looking adorable as a little fishie as he came out of the tub! Those hooded towels are so cute!

relaxing in the tub while mom washes him down. I can't wait for him to hold his head himself so it will be a little easier to let him stay in the bath a bit longer!

I added this pick to show the coolest sling! We went down to northridge last weekend to pick up a coat that I had repaired at REI and we did a little shopping. Instead of carrying the car seat I put Erik in the sling, and he was soooo content! Plus it helped with strangers not touching him because he was so close to my body. It's great because he will be able to grow and still use the sling. Erik will be able to face forward in it, and sit on my hip, and even on the back side of my hip as he grows. And the sling is soo comfortable. It's Hotslings brand, and though a bit spendy, already totally worth it!

All right Lindsay and my mom are waiting to start a movie. Until next time,

Som

Poor Puppy!

So this cute little one is a stray that our neighbors found.We told them that we would foster her (who couldn't foster such a cute girl?) until we could find a home for her and asked that they would still look also. Well those of you who know us, know that we are huge dog lovers! Lindsay first off wanted to keep her, but our rental lease only has Boomer on it. We didn't name her for almost a week hoping that we could find a home and not get too attached. Well we ended up naming her-Sadie. When she first came to us we could tell that she had worms so we went to the vet and got de-wormer and took care of the nasty little things.

She has honestly been the best puppy we have ever watched, and let me tell you we have not only had plenty of dogs of our own but watched many other military members' pets while they were TDY (temporary duty- business trip) or Deployed. She is not perfect but has picked up potty training well and is eager to learn. Just all around great.....

....Sad news is she has got Parvo! Yikes! She has been in the hospital since this weekend and I am picking her up today to help her continue to recover which is a miracle in itself. Most puppies don't survive. She is a total survivor. So we are now debating whether or not to try to convince our landlord to let us get a new dog, or still try to find a good home for her.

On other news.....Lindsay and I had a great weekend! We went hiking this weekend to keep in shape and keep the skin on our heels tough ( I know sounds totally lame, but blisters suck on the trail!) and then I made Proposition 8 calls with my dear friend Amy from our ward.

It is so amazing at what some people believe on this issue. They think it is just about the definition of marriage, but it goes so much deeper. Parents will lose rights to what their children are taught in schools, and religious institutions such as LDS Family Services could lose their right to help with adoptions. HOw ridiculous!!!! It is so sad, so we were calling to make people aware of repurcussions. Please anyone who knows anyone in California please tell them to check out protectmarriage.com and vote YES on PROP 8!!!!

Later on Saturday we went to a church function where I got to play softball and we had a big picnic dinner. It was so fun! OUr team lost but it was fun anyways.

Sunday we rested, and then Last night for Family night we did self defense with our friends Orin and Amy! Orin is a highway patrolman and knew a bunch of stuff, so he taught us how to take a gun out of someone's hands and get out from underneath someone who had you pinned down, and flip them over your back. It was outstanding! I like to know how to protect myself!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!

On Top of the World

All right kiddos, so this is going to be a big post. A few days after my last post I received word that a close family friend had passed away. Actually it happened on September 11th, which brought on a whole new meaning to the day this year. So I scrambled to find a way to Arizona where the family lives and mourn with them (as well as play and have fun, cause Bob would NOT want people crying over him, just enjoying each other). Unfortunately Lindsay was not able to come with me, which was so sad cause it would have been nice to have him there, but I made it.

You see Bob Bess was an amazing man. Him and his wife Cindy met my parents when both were newlyweds and went on to create an amazing life long friendship that anyone would envy. Me and my siblings grew up in our younger childhood years next door or near The Bess boys and were like extended siblings. Bob's death came as a shock to all of us but everyone is doing well. It is so nice to have an understanding of the Gospel of Christ and a belief in the Plan of Salvation knowing that we will be reunited with our loved ones after death!

So I went to Arizona and we played and visited, spent time in "memory of Bob" shopping and eating. The funeral was probably the most amazing that I have been too. There were lots of great musical numbers as Bob's favorite things in life were Music/Media and food. And there was an abundance of food provided from all sources (Bob worked in a corporate position for a grocery chain). It was amazing! There were lots of tears shed and lots of comfort but all in all we kept laughing and joking about things Bob would have commented about.

Some of my favorite memories include having Lindsay learn how to give a good foot rub from Bob (He gave Cindy one every night!), eating off the BBQ by their pool, going to Disneyland, going to the raceway tracks, bartering in Mexico, and just listening to his wisdom and advice that he knew just how to give. Him and his family ( minus one son) also came to Spokane for My brother's wedding a few years back and ended helping Linds and I clean our house that we were moving out of to prepare for an inspection and helping us move in. I felt so bad that they spent part of their vacation doing that and yet they say they had fun. Crazy!

His memory will not be lost on many people and I know his wisdom will continue to pass down. Here are some pics from that trip.....

I get the opportunity to go back tomorrow because I am going to pick up a car down there! Yes, we will now have two cars which will be so nice! I am sure that with small trips I will still bike, but I can grocery shop in the day now and run into the city if I need to without trying to find a ride, or take Boomer to the vet. It will be so grand! I can't wait.

Also I got to see this little boy for the first time in person....

This little guy's name is Carson and he is one of my best friend's from high school little boy. I got to spend an afternoon with the two of them and it was so nice. Last time I say my friend was while she was six months pregnant with Carson! It seems that their little family is doing well indeed and I want to wish Kasey good luck with your new job!!!!

The next morning after I got back Linds and I went on a backpacking trip that we had already planned and had a complete blast! We were able to take Boomer with us and see some of the gorgeous fall colors in central california! A few highlights and a lowlight....the colors made the forest look like it was on fire-greens, fire orange, yellows, and a bit of red here and there, towards the beginning of the trail it was like you were walking through an enchanted hallway of aspens, totally breathtaking. Usually Lindsay and I have a hard time taking pics cause we are too busy having fun but we took almost 70 pictures of this trip it was all so beautiful. Continuing on with highlights and such......we hiked by six lakes all of which were crystal clear greens and blues and you could see fish swimming in them, it was perfect weather (about 60-65 sunny with a breeze) for hiking. It makes me want to go back thinking about it. The not so good, we had this dinner that we were preparing that smelled delicious-especially after that day's hiking and I was starving. You are supposed to boil water then pour it in the pouch, stir, and let sit for a set time. Well Lindsay thought otherwise, we boiled the water, he poured it in, and instead of stirring and sitting, he decided he could seal the bag and just shake it. Not so good, this is the outcome ( so sad!)

I actually started laughing cause it all happened in slow motion. Poor Linds burned his hand and thigh in the process and Boomer got a tasty dinner. I actually did try some of it off the ground. I was just so hungry and it smelled and looked so good. Luckily we re-rationed our food and cooked a not so good Mexican rice and Chicken dinner. Better luck Next time!

And this last thing is a hilarious video we took of Boomer the night prior to leaving. We bought him some booties because we weren't sure if it was going to snow, or have ice, and just in case one of his paws were to get injured. We tried them on at home and they are now dubbed the "Anti-Gravity Boots." Oh so funny, it was like the booties spring loaded Boomer's feet off the floor when he moved. I hope you enjoy!