Who Am I?

Noelle: "Who am I?"

Mommy: "I don't know."

Noelle: "Snow White waiting for her kiss."

Mommy: "Oh no."

Some St. Patty's Day Highlights

After a breakfast of green pancakes and green scrambled eggs, we got ready to head out for the day. As I was drying my hair Noelle came in and announced she had dressed herself for the day.

After we were finished (for real) we headed out.

It was a gorgeous day.

This little girl cracks me up, 95% of the time

her tongue is hanging out of her mouth.

(That comes from my side of the family.)

After we ran our errands and had lunch,

I had to take care of a situation.

A Jelly Belly thief!

She made sure to get my attention before she ran off with her loot.

She ultimately decided hiding by the couch would be best.


Then she brought them out for the whole family to share.

Daddy got home early and decided to

take us on a walk to get smoothies.
We went to Keva Juice (like Jamba.) Good times.


This is a partial mountain view from our apartment.
The whole thing is breathtaking.


Noelle has been begging to go to the 'hot pool' since we got here but it's been under repair.
We checked it out on our way home and it was hot so we ran back upstairs and suited up.
No pictures of all the fun. :(

Comical moment: Last summer when she would jump into the pool I taught her to say "Cow-a-bunga!" When we walked into the pool area she said, "I don't see any stairs into the cold pool, I guess you can only do Cow-la-bunga!" So stinkin' funny.

After baths, we put Madeleine to bed, and let Noelle stay up. We ditched the corned beef & cabbage in the crock pot. Instead, we ate Golden Grahams and & microwave popcorn on our bed while we watched Biggest Loser (i.e. Pounds) on my laptop. Noelle fell asleep half-way through and Daddy scooped her up and took her to bed. I love her life.

New Mexico

I posted most of these on Facebook, sorry but it's faster!

But here they are again with a little more info.

Family Night @ Chuck E. Cheese's. Can you believe we have NEVER taken Noelle there?

Fun was certainly had by all, but Madeleine had the most out of anyone.

She loved all of it, the noise, the lights, the people.

Watching the snow fall.

We took the train to Santa Fe, just for the fun of it, it's only about 50 miles.

Little Hot Chocolate mouth.

She could not wait for that train to come.

Beautiful church.


We had lunch at this organic Cafe called Pasqual's.

The Kale salad was almost like a religious experience.

Yum. Yum. Extra Yum.

Now onto the house...

This is in the kitchen looking to the left. Dining area.

Yes, you do in fact see: DOUBLE OVENS!

My requirement for moving was that I would get a fantastic kitchen (i.e. lots of counter space with NO GROUT, lots of cupboards, and double ovens. I think my requirement was met.) But now that so many loved ones are so far, who am I going to make wonderful food for? :(

Looking from the door to the backyard into great room/kitchen. Straight back is the front door. When walking through the front door directly to the right are french doors into the office.

Looking from kitchen into great room. The kitchen sinks is also made out of Corian, isn't that great? When you are cutting produce you can just slide it right into the sink.

Master is to the right, two girls rooms & their bathroom to the left.

Fireplace. Now we have a mantle to hang our stockings.

Girls Bathroom...double sinks! How many arguments will be avoided?

Sunday Morning Wake-Up

First of all, before we get started,

what do you notice about this picture?

Yesterday was yucky daylight savings. Boo! So we let Daddy sleep in for a little while. Then the girls couldn't stand it anymore, they went in and gave him a proper wake up call with all kinds of hugs & kisses. If you're going to get woken up, this has got to be the best way to do it.

They even gave each other hugs & kisses. I love them so much!

Funny, Sweet, Girl

We went to Santa Fe this weekend (will post later) and there was a beautiful church that I was taking pictures of.

• Noelle's face lights up and she turns to me turns to me, "I know! Let's go inside and take a picture of the Book of Mormon!"
• While Madeleine naps I turn the TV on to some random channel to make some background noise so that she does not get woken up by the noise in the small apartment. I have no idea what Movie was on this morning but two guys jumped into a body of water. Noelle jumps up points at the TV and says, "They're getting baptized just like Jesus!"

I just love the way her little brain works.

Memories of Good Times Past...

Bear with me...I will be updating with pictures of our last few days.

Here is our last time at the park. It was perfect.

Here We Are

I am sitting in our temporary apartment in New Mexico.

I know people are wondering how we are doing.

Aaron loves it, working hard in his new position.
There is much to accomplished and he has jumped in feet first.

Noelle is well, her sleep schedule is a wreck and that makes for some interesting episodes.
She is her happy-go-lucky self, mostly, with some intermittent break downs over the smallest things. I am waiting for her to ask when will this adventure be over and we go back home?

Madeleine is finally walking!
Not full-time but she tottles from place to place and it's adorable.

Me? You want me to honestly answer this question? I'm a wreck.
I miss home more than words can express.
If someone could tell me how to pull off the elephant that has been standing on my chest for the last week, I'd appreciate it!

I would do anything to be able to hop on a plane back to California and return home to my life of: going over to Auntie & Unc's house every other day, being Liz's neighbor, hiking with Jo, afternoons in the park with my girls, dropping Noelle off at Mrs. Andrea's, driving to Santa Clarita so Noelle can play with Jake & Norah while the Mommies chat, scrambling to get to my R.S. meeting, you name it...I want it back.

I know these things take time but I don't want to wait it out.
I want to be happy again.

We found a house and put a deposit down. We'll see if it works out.
I want to be excited about it, it's beautiful. And it's ONE story!
But what fun is doing all this without those I love so much in California?

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I am so grateful for my blessings.
I have healthy children and a marvelous husband.
Who could ask for more?

I still know this is the right thing for us.
I'm just not that happy about it right now.
All things in time, right? Right?