Safely

I was running behind getting out the door for ballet this morning. I was frantically trying to dry my hair because we errands to run immediately after. I heard the beep that indicates a door has been opened but thought it was the girls going into the garage. I heard it again and thought it was them coming back in. Then all of the sudden I had this strange feeling and started to run.

I got out of the house and to the sidewalk, looked to the left, and I saw them on the corner. Noelle was prompted before I was. She started yelling, "Mommy! She was in the middle of the street!" My heart stopped beating.

We ALWAYS have the front door locked, for this very reason. I have no idea what happened. All I have done all morning is thank my Heavenly Father for keeping her safe and for sending her sister out to get her. People drive too fast down that street. I refuse to think about what could have happened.

Madeleine Grace, I love you.

Never a Dull Moment..

Whether fun or not there is never a dull moment in a home with little ones. Something is always going on, someone always hungry, a chore needs to be done, personalities need entertaining. I feel the busier the better (to a degree). When we're home alone too much we all get a little crazy. Here are some recent haps:

We had a few families from our ward over for dinner.
We moved the coffee table into the hallway for the kids.
Noelle and Daddy set the table, she was pleased as punch with herself.
It was a serious Mexican food fiesta!


There were 8 adults and 11 kids.
It was like a circus and a zoo rolled into one.
Seriously fun!




If Madeleine was not right by me it's because she was eating.
Big surprise? Um, no.
Little Brittan sure enjoyed himself, too.
Homemade ice cream!


Saturday Daddy had a big surprise in store for me.
He'd gotten a refund from an overpaid bill and then
he added a little more and we went SHOPPING!
I have been beyond desperate for clothes.
I dread getting ready in the morning.
Old Navy and the Gap had some great sales,
I got a lot of stuff and feel so much better.
Of course, we had to ride the carousel.


Sunday evening the girls were going crazy and so was I.
I knew we needed some action and fast!
Funny how getting in our jammies and
getting out the popcorn maker out changes everything.
Popcorn! Butter! Parmesan Cheese!
Everyone was immediately happy.


And of course there Madeleine's total obsession with
wearing every one's clothes and shoes.
All day long I get her dressed again and pick up

everything she has strewn around the house.

Here she was digging through her sister's
dirty clothes. *sigh*

(Sorry about the HUGE pictures. By the time I realized I was not going to start over!)

Balloon Fiesta & Ruthie

Last Saturday Balloon Fiesta finally began, we've been looking forward to this since moving here!

For the opening ceremonies someone Aaron works with invited us over to see the balloons from his house. The sunrise was gorgeous but unfortunately the balloons flew the other direction and all we saw was a bunch of little specs. I kept thinking, "I got up at 5:00am for this?"

Oh well, their house was beautiful, the fire was warm, and the company fabulous. And my pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Yum-O!

Next, was home to shower and conference, and to get food ready for a little shower at the park for Casey who should have welcomed her baby boy today...

That evening Daddy went to Priesthood session of General conference, the girls and I went to pick up Ruthie from the airport. YEA! We've been anticipating her visit for weeks.

Sunday was waffles, hanging around the house, conference, a long walk. That evening we went down to the field for the evening glow but before it got dark, there were clouds, thunder and lightening. Balloons had to come down. :(

I was not on top of pictures the rest of the week.

But here are a few highlights...

Balloons from our backyard.:

A trip to Santa Fe:

Eating at Cafe Pasqual

The Basilica

Lots of cooking:

By far our favorite: Tikka Masala.

Let me know if you want the recipe!

We got up well before the Sun to see Wednesday morning's mass ascension. We got to the fields by 5:30 to see the dawn patrol take off in the dark. The dawn patrol are a few balloons who take off first to test the winds and conditions, making sure it is safe for the rest of the balloons.

Pictures cannot even remotely portray the beauty of hundreds and hundreds of balloons taking flight.

Before we knew it, her visit was over and it was time to head back to the airport. We were dipping cookies right up to the very second we walked out the door to catch her flight.

New Mexico State Fair

We had a great family night at the State Fair. Aaron got a free parking pass so we decided to give it a go. Anyone who really knows Noelle, knows exactly how she feels about roller coasters...she LOVES them. We tried walking around all the booths and animals but there were an insane amount of people. It was plain crazy.

Finally, we gave up and went to the rides. My sweet girl could hardly contain herself! The price was ridiculous, but Daddy couldn't deny her. Madeleine did great (with the help of some lollipops and curly fries) and Noelle was in heaven.

I love how it seems that no matter what we do, we find a way to have fun as long as we're together!

Relief

It's after midnight and I just finished my primary lesson.

And I feel BLESSED.

BLESSED to have a husband who adores me.

BLESSED to have extended family that loves me to pieces.

BLESSED to have a comfortable home, healthy food, and clean water.

BLESSED to have a testimony of God and Jesus Christ.

BLESSED to have healthy children.

BLESSED to have friends that have known me for years and still return my calls.

BLESSED to have listened to a prophets voice.

BLESSED that when we went out afterwards I laughed so hard I almost wet myself.

Things are looking up.

My Madeleine

Madeleine and I both love the time we get

to spend together while Noelle is at school.

She is so precious, not to mention pretty dang funny.

Her vocabulary is exploding, loves to snuggle,

is a great sleeper and still a total foodie.

Yesterday she and I shared the best spinach salad!

Although, she must have texture issues because

most other vegetables get spit out.

~

She just soaks up all of our quality time.

Here we are at the Botanical Gardens

with no big sister taking my attention.

We washed her bedding and

she was completely fascinated.

I can still hear her little voice,

"My pee-wow! My pee-wow!"

(pillow)

Fun times at the park!

Trying to get up the courage to go

down that really big slide.

~

I feel more than blessed that I get to

be Madeleine & Noelle's Mommy.

We have our moments but

most times I just can't believe I get to

spend every day with these angels.

Several times lately I've met been asked what I do

for a living and I was love being able to

say that I get to stay home with our kids.

And their reactions were fantastic,

"Oh, that's so wonderful!"

"Good for you!"

"That's the way things should be."

I LOVE IT.

And it's not that my husband makes so

much money and we're able to do it.

It's a sacrifice.

We go without a lot of material things

but it's so worth it.

A Little Backtracking...

Here's just a quick review of our California Labor Day trip:

After getting a late start we arrived about 2am Friday morning...

After she woke up Madeleine finally got to spend some
quality time with Lena. She missed her so much.

After Auntie & Unc got home from work they loaded

up and headed off on their weekend adventure.

Camping at Pismo Beach. I was so happy and excited

for her but also sad that she was big enough to leave me.

They had the BEST.TIME.EVER.

Meanwhile, Aaron and I ran around like crazy

seeing people and getting things done.

Dinner with the Lindsays, dinner with Marin,

dinner with my girls. So much dang fun.

Saturday was beach day with Ruthie & Wilde's.

I could have sat there for days and days and not

gotten sick of it one bit. It was perfect.


Sunday after church we hung out with the

Lorenzens for a few hours. We reminisced about

their trip to NM by making Sopapillas.

They were amazing.

We went through and entire jar of her

homemade strawberry jam!

Labor Day was a fun BBQ @ the Meldrums.

Food = yum.

Water = fun.

After food the kids went inside and

played with the Daddies and the girls

sat outside in the fantastic weather and

chatted. Loved it.

(Photo by Heather Keil)

I got to snuggle sweet Naomi Jean who I've been

dying to get my hands on.

Our last night we spent @ Grandmas.

These two girls ran around like crazy getting

so dirty and stinky. They HAD to have a bath.

Auntie M was more than happy to help out.

All the while singing, "At The Car Wash."

We left the next morning. :( Leaving is so painful for me.

I love everyone so much and not having them in my daily

life is difficult. But, each time it hurts a tiny bit less.

That helps, I guess!

Next trip November 4-8...Beach Camping @ Refugio.

Ya-Hoo!

Bad, Bad, Blogger

I have been so disappointed in my blogging the last 6 months. But, I am turning over a new blogger leaf. This is our family journal and I want our day-to-day documented as much as possible. Not just a flood a pictures once in a while, what a bore!

So, I am making it public, I will be accountable! Stay tuned, friends and loved ones, things will be more entertaining around here.

So, whats the haps? Things are actually pretty boring for us, but in a good way. As I have said believe it or not New Mexico is a really nice place to live. It will never replace California but we continue to feel that living here is an opportunity and a blessing. There is always a lot to do, museums, parks, community events, festivals, so many outdoor activities. Speaking of festivals we cannot wait for the Balloon Festival!

Aaron is doing really, really well at his job. Loves his bosses here (and the lack of politics) but is still adjusting to the much more lax way of doing business in New Mexico. Apparently, they are not desperate to make each dollar like they are in California. Huh? He has been called as the ward Choir director, he's never done this, so there is a lot to learn. They have their first performance on Sunday, yeah!

Noelle is as happy-go-luck as ever. She has started a new ballet class with someone in our ward. They live right around the corner so she rides and we walk. As always she loves, loves, loves school and everything about it. Nothing brings my girl more joy than getting on that bus, her bus drivers is named Jack and he is an interesting soul. She is growing and maturing each day right before my eyes. Some mornings she will even get up and make her own cereal. She pulls the stool around from cupboard to cupboard to refrigerator collecting all she needs to get her meal together. It warms my heart and grieves me all at the same time. I love watching her grow up but miss my baby.

Then there is Ms. Madeleine. Sometimes she makes me want to have 100 more babies just like her and sometimes she makes me sure that I will never, ever do this again! And talk about growing up...Oh Boy. Someone needs to inform her that she is NOT the adult around here, nor, is she in charge. She loves to give five, kisses, hugs, and 'hit the rock.' Madeleine has never been and still not one for toys. So, the majority of her time is spent: walking behind me mimicking all I say and do i.e. getting dressed, wiping up spills(see above), vacuuming, folding clothes, putting on make-up, getting into everything (most often destroying it), and pestering her big sister. Actually, both of them do a lot of pestering. I think it shows how much they love each other.

Lastly, there's me. I just finally got a calling, I team teach the 6-7 year old primary class. It's a big group with two sweet girls and about 10 rowdy boys. So, one week I teach and the other does crowd control and then we switch. I've never been in Primary and I love it, but I do miss Relief Society. I am slowly meeting people in the ward but it is so dang huge and now that school is in the opportunities for interacting during the week are few. After we drop N off at the bus I have some quality time with M and it is so much fun! Then she goes down for her nap and I have a couple hours of pure quiet, it's so great, I feel guilty! I clean, I get dinner prepped, I organize. Yesterday I watched a movie while folding clothes and then collapsed on the couch in a crying fest (My Sister's Keeper) and watched the rest. What a treat! A whole movie in the middle of the day! Who does that?

Life is good, we are blessed, couldn't ask for more.

Lately...

Story time...

My heart soaks up moments like these.

Grandma and Grandpa Jones came to visit!

We had fun doing some projects around the house

and taking in some of New Mexico's beauty.

We got hit with storm on the mountain top

and blue skies followed 5 minutes later.

Little sis woke up while Mama was getting dinner in the oven.

Big sis said she would entertain her for a few minutes.

She chose to take pictures.

Made some seriously yummy after school chocolate-banana shakes.

Evening walks down by the river.

Sometimes we are lucky enough to have company.

So much dang fun that sometimes you just knock out where ever you are.

Weekend In Review

Friday morning before we even got out of our jammies my girls

prepared an excellent meal for their Mommy.

They even set the table!

Then we got ready and took Sis to the bus.

Madeleine and I came home to a snack of yummy toast.

I am loving the quality time with her.

Sorry to say it, but she's so much easier with a sister around pestering her!

Friday was "Feast with the Beasts" at the zoo.

We packed a yummy dinner and headed over.

It's a night for only zoo members, which meant less crowds!

They had music, treats, and all kinds of things for the kiddos.

The animals at night were much more active, too!

Saturday Aaron had a surprise in store.

He wasn't sure how I would feel about it.

His work had an event at the Horse Races.

Uh, what?

Yes, we took our kids to this type of establishment.

It was actually pretty fun.

Noelle loved watching them run

and cheered with the best of 'em.

Sunday has been a great typical day of rest.

Church, lunch & naps, choir.

Rest of the evening spent playing with our girls,

laughing at their silliness and marveling at their imaginations.