Casa De Bells

2010-05-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

Warm Weekend Fun!

Paul and I had an opportunity to get away to Vegas for a weekend.
Actually Paul got away earlier but not to play. He had a Dental conference in Vegas during the week and I was able to join him that weekend.
I was a lot of fun. My parents came to watch the kiddies while we were down there.
The weather in Colorado has not been the best so it was nice to finally get some nice warm sunny weather.
It was a quick trip but we played hard going golfing, eating out and watching a Muse concert! I love these guys! They did such an amazing job on their special effects. We were really close to the Video Dj ( I call him that because he was really putting all the effects together instantly with the music and it was incredible what he could do) and boy what a show!

We got upgraded to an executive suite. We had three bathrooms a bar because we drink you know and even our own pool table!

At the Concert!

2010-03-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Our Recent Family Photo

Our 3 Most Favorite People

Princess Addi

Paul's Creative Skills going to town for Addi's 1'st Birthday

I have decided to re-commit myself to my online diary. I am determined to not be so shamefully overdue on writing again. So I want to just update on what has been happening lately. Here are the top 10 things that have gone on this year.
1. We have bought a new house! This happened in Aug of 09- yes way past due on the fyi. I will post a pic of it as soon as I find one. We still live in Castle Rock the Meadows area still.
2. I am now the primary chorister in my ward. I love it but I hate it because trying to entertain different ages of children every week if very tiring.
3. Paul is now a partner of Almeida and Bell dental in Lone Tree Colorado. He is loving his job and the business is doing great. This also happened much too long ago.
4. Addison had her first birthday. Paul made her a princess cake which turned out super cute. She was truly a princess that day. Addi is also walking now and loves to get into the snacks in our pantry. I actually don't mind because it keeps her entertained.
5. Parker is going to first grade. He had to change schools last year when we moved but he is doing fine and we really love his teacher. She is so sweet to him. He also learned how to ride a bike this year sans the training wheels! Yeah Parker
6. Emmet started preschool last fall and he really loves his teacher Miss Carol and has a little girlfriend name Delaney. Emmet is now 4 and is a little lover. He hugs everyone around him everyday. In fact just today he told us that he was a great lover! I am so afraid for him to hit puberty.
7. I actually watched the Bachelor this season with a Bachelor Party. I am sorry but this show is worse than when it first started. And Jake and Vienna are proof of this!
8. I am currently reading Centennial by James Mitchner and have been reading it all year. This book for some reason is very hard for me to read. It's a thousand pages and very historical. It's all about Colorado so I am determined to finish it if it takes me 10 years to do it! I recently read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and i highly recommend it! Very terrible post apocalyptic book and yet soo good!
9. Paul and I are going to las vegas next week for a Dental Conference/Getaway. We are going to go see Muse and I am super excited.
10. I plan on catching up with all of my long lost blogger friends to see what they are up to as well.

2009-02-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the World Addison!

Well it's been quite a new year for us! The blog has been deemed a relic of the past these days, However I will try to resurrect it one more time in honor of the latest addition to our family. Addison Ann Bell came into our lives on Jan 30, 09. She was going to be a Feb baby but we pushed her along a little early so we could make sure we had our family in town to help with the kids. And it worked out great! I was induced that Friday and she came six hours later although she came screaming and upset we had made her come early. I really think she was mad because she didn't stop screaming for an hour. Normally our kids calmed down pretty soon after delivery but she had to make her anger known to the world. Any way for those who care about the stats she was 6lb 3 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. She is my smallest baby yet and will also be the shrimp in the family. Any worries I had about dating. finding tall jeans and playing for the wnba are now gone. So here are some pics of our little monkey. You'll see these are not in a time sequence because I didn't have time to put them right. But atleast I got some pictures on the blog finally

2008-12-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Well I know it has been way too long since our last post. I am not very good at keeping up with the blog thing. I just get so busy and the blog takes the very very last of my time and so therefore I never get around to it. But earlier tonight I thought about it and realized gosh my blog looks so crappy and I never even got the Halloween pics on! What a blogger loser I am! So now it is more winter presentable and finally some new pics! We had some pictures done of the boys for christmas with santa and themselves. They turned out really cute. While we were there Parker kept quizzing the santa there about if he was the real santa. Their santa was pretty good too at keeping up with all of Parker's questions. He had a real beard and Parker and Emmet pulled on it a few times just to make sure it was the real deal.

So as far as any new news, I am still pregnant and yes it is still a girl. I had another ultra sound which confirmed it. Nothing there! We are gearing up for that as well as getting things done for christmas. We plan on having Paul's family in town for christmas so that should be lots of chaotic fun. I just don't know how to plan meals for 10 people. This will be my first time hosting such a big christmas. I admire women who do this on a regular basis. The boys are super excited about it though. And I am excited to not have christmas this year in a tiny apartment. Yeah! I love having space. Future Dental Graduate friends, your dream of having more space does come true! Anything else. Let's see... Parker and Emmet have been taking swimming and my scardy cat son Parker is finally doing flips in the water and never coming up for air. It is great to see him so confident. I just started them up for more gymnastics for some winter excercise and we are enjoying the snow here so far and sledding at least once a week. For the book lovers I have been reading John Adams by McCollough and loving it. We also have been watching the series as well. I highly reccomend this biography! That's all for right now folks. I think I have written a novel here but it may be awhile until I write again knowing my track record. Have a great Christmas season. We love you all!

2008-10-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

It's a...

Well it's been a long time I know since we updated our blog. But I thought I would put on what we were having finally. You can probably guess what it is and yes we are EXCITED!!
I will have to start thinking in pink now instead of blue. This will be quite a change for a very boy mom. And not just in color schemes, but in rearing as well. I won't have a clue what to do with a girl. But we are just so happy to finally get a girl. Paul was praying hard that I wouldn't jinx us out of having a girl because of my negative attitude. And thank goodness for that! Hopefully I can get going on the blog thing again. Boy life is busy! But no excuses.

2008-08-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

Guess who's expecting again?

If you hadn't already heard yes we are pregnant again. Sorry we have not posted anything on this yet but as some know we are terrible with the blog. Also I didn't get an ultrasound until later hense the baby that doesn't look like a worm. So we are very excited and also dreading the inevitable. I don't know how I am supposed to take care of three when my two wear me out and drives me nuts already. I am just praying that this is a girl because another boy would have me passed out on the floor. I just don't have the energy I think for another boy! Someone get me a wheelchair!! I know there are moms out there who understand about having multiple active boys and some who have more than two. I have a friend out here who has 4 boys and two are twins and somehow she is still alive and loving her children. My hero! Why can't there be another way to have a girl instead of leaving it up to the x chromosome to make it. My husband's are obviously weak sauce.

2008-08-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

First Day of Kindergarten!

Look at this cute little Guy! Is he on his way to Kindergarten?

Parker's School Meadow View Elementary Home of the Wildcats, ROAARR!. Boy am I a crappy photographer. I have me in all these shots!

Parker was so brave because his first day was not the first day for most of his classmates. We moved to an area where they do All year round school and the Track we landed on already had started two weeks prior. I was so nervous for him and I freaked out more then he did. Parker said to me a couple nights before school, " Don't cry because I'm going to have fun at school." We had read a book about Kindergarten where the parents cried and that really got Parker upset. Fortunately another girl started her first day at school the same day and Parker's teacher seems really nice. I'm just waiting for him to boycott school one day and not want to go back. But for the most part he is enjoying school and doing well. He has even made a new friend name Jaden. Children can be so resilient. We move en around and change things up for them without even giving them a choice. It must be so hard on them and for Parker he has had his hard days during this move but overall is doing great.

2008-07-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

Our Castle in Castle Rock!

Finally we've arrived in Colorado! Well a new twist on our life happened this summer. We did not move to Louisville, Co but to Castle Rock Colorado. The Job Paul was supposed to take did not work out and after a very stressful month waiting in Utah while Paul dashed around Colorado trying to find a Job we finally landed a wonderful Job in LoneTree Co and then found a great little house in Castle Rock to rent which is right near LoneTree. I was pretty bummed about not going to Lousiville but when I came out to Castle Rock and saw our new house and the area we lived in I got over Louisville. It is a great town and the people here are very nice. Plus the house has a huge backyard, an added bonus which I couldn't live without. We even have wild rabbits that roam our property. The kids are in heaven. Although our fam is sad that we are not closer and living in Utah, we are at least closer now and can go out to Utah much more now. The only minus right now is we have this great big house with no furniture in it and no money to decorate. I am in need of cheap ideas to dress up our bare home atleast for right now. So if any of you have any PLEASE send them my way!

2008-06-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

No longer the San Francisco Bells!

We had the boys get their annual pics taken at JC Penney! Although we haven't even put their pictures together yet nor will we get the chance for awhile, we thought we would stick one on the blog. These boys look like the best of friends don't they. If only that were always true. They did however really enjoy posing together and thought it was a total blast.

So we don't have time to put on any other snap shots right now because we have been kind of busy lately. Well for those who have not heard we are moving to Colorado! Dental School is coming to an end and the next phase of our life is about to begin. It has been a pretty rocky year. We have been unsure about where we should move to. It seems like everyone around us has always known their destiny but us. But finally this spring we felt like Colorado was the place to be and we love a town right outside of Denver called Lousiville. Paul is in the process of signing a contract with a Dental Office in Westminster which is a neighbor city. So keep your finger's crossed-we hope it goes through.

Anyway admist all the packing, board exam taking a final piano recital and I sware a million different parties, we feel tired and frazzled but still optimistic. We will miss San Francisco so much and all the friends and aquaintances we have made. Sometimes I wonder what the hey diddle are we doing leaving such a fantastic city. Oh yeah, it's kind of expensive to live here and well we won't miss the fog! Well I gotta keep packing. Bon Voyage for now.

2008-05-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Parker Graduates!

Parker enjoying lunch at Preschool

I have been pretty busy these days and so I haven't been able to get things on the blog very fast but earlier this month Parker graduated from Preschool. I can't believe they had graduation for preschool. But kids do things younger and younger these days. Why not graduate too! But Parker was really excited to have a party to end preschool. Which actually was anti-climatic because he still is going preschool. The head school teacher needed to have graduation early for her to be there. Nevertheless it was a success. The Preschool made these darling memory books full of pictures and artwork done by each child for the kids to take with them. Plus Parker even got a big balloon and a trip to the ice-cream store for the occasion. He had to have one after he saw another child receive balloons for graduation. Orfalea, the preschool he has been attending has really done an outstanding job educating and nurturing Parker. They love all of him, the good and the bad, and have always worked with us to make sure Parker would be successful in life and he really has improved emotionally and socially since starting there. We will miss this wonderful school and their excellent teachers!

Parker getting ready for the ceremony!

Parker and his favorite Teacher, Teacher Selma. Nice Face! He reminds me of his uncle Steve, always making a goofy face in a picture.

Listen to a Parker Original!

2008-05-09T21:25:00.000-07:00

Fun with Friends!

We had a great time this week with our Friends from Arizona who came to visit us and get a glimpse of life in San Fran. I think they were stunned by the cold and couldn't wait to get back to the desert climate. It was good seeing them again. We all reminisced about our single and dating days and had flashbacks of "Emmet" the Band!

For those of you who did not know this Paul was in a band named Emmet, and well although we did not name our second son after the band, the band being named Emmet did have some influence on the choice! We did some pretty traditional sightseeing and not so traditional. Visiting the Wharf, Aquarium by the Bay, China Beach and a Surrey ride around Stowe Lake. The latter was pretty wild with all of us panting just to get up the hills on this crazy 4 man and 4 kid's bike! But we made it. Parker and Emmet loved visiting our friend's oldest child Evan. Parker is still talking about him saying " you remember Evan?" " I want Evan to come play with us."

Sweet Ride!
And...nice helmet's!

2008-03-17T19:38:00.001-07:00

Feelin Irie Man !

Well here is my promised photos of our wonderful Caribbean Adventure. I can't believe we actually went. It is still so surreal. I know we are finished with it because my tan is about faded away. Soooo sad!!!For those who have not gone on a cruise I highly recommend it. We took a Western Caribbean cruise which brought us to Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Grand Turk. We really liked Cozumel not for it's beaches or sights but for the scuba diving we did. I was really scared to do it at first and it took me a while to get used to it. But I finally got into the groove of breathing underwater and it was just amazing. All the beautiful fish we saw was well worth the panic. Jamaica was my favorite island. I loved visiting Brimmer Hall Plantation and finding out all the history of the property and seeing how the coconut, pineapple, sugar cane and bananas are grown and harvested. I even bought me a bag made out of banana tree. They make a sort of cloth material out of the inner part of the banana tree. Pretty nifty. We also explored a very cool and very crowded Dunns River Falls where tourists would link together in a human chain and climb up a miles worth of water falls. The people of Jamaica were very nice but very expectant of money. They were always after us to buy stuff and of course give tips. We also got to see a Mormon Church. The church is really everywhere. Our cruise was an italian cruise liner so it was very diverse in the cultures. We met a lot of people from Italy, South America and French Canada. I got to use my ill stricken french on the Canadians we met and with them knowing a little English we were able to communicate. We met a special lady name Jeanine who was from St Gerome and was going on a cruise all by herself to celebrate the death and life of her husband. Kind of funny but it was in honor of them always going on cruises and traveling together. She was supposedly a famous singer in Quebec and did acting I believe. Well anyway the people were so nice and I felt even bored by the time we were finished because it was just so relaxing. The cruise offered so much and let's not forget so much food. We ate like 24 hours a day. We got to see shows, have dancing lessons and listen to lots of fun music with the cruises Island band. I'm looking forward to the next cruise we get to go on. Although that could be awhile with all the debt we still have to pay off. Oh well, I can dream can't I.

For those of you who love to travel and cruise or want to desperately, you must tell me what you have thought about the cruises or islands you have been on, and what is or would be your favorite destination.

Dunns River Falls

Here's a little clip to give you the feel of what it's like to climb up the Falls

Our very own Reggae Band

What a beautiful Cruise Ship and Who's that snorkeling in the water?

Our French Friends from dinner. For some reason we were always put with people who spoke French in the dinning room because sometimes we went to the 2nd dinner hour. Was it Destiny or just a lot of French people on board. We'll never know.

At home at the plantation. The workers were always working hard and very serious!

Look! The origin of my banana bag. I bet I could totally weave this thing into a bag!

Oh la la, Paul has found a new amour. Could she be french? Oui, and what an excellent dancer she is. This could be fate! She was always singing us love songs too. Too bad we couldn't take her home with us!

And here is my amour! Dining in Style!
Check out these crazy cruisers. We for sure would never be apart of this kind of brew hah hah! Is that how you spell that!

2008-03-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

Finally A New Post!

It has been a long time I know but life has not given us much time to blog these days. Things have been pretty hectic. Getting ready to graduate, boards, a cruise to the Carribean and trying to find a job has left us pretty frazzled! But I have just a minute to squeeze in a new blog and record the events of recent.

I will be creating another post for our cruise. I can't seem to find our pics. Here are some photos of the boys grandparent vacation. The boys stayed with my folks and then went to Paul's parent's house after we came back. They really enjoyed all the snow they found themselves in. The grandparents did as well.

Here is Parker with his friend Alexis hitting the slopes together

2008-01-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

I Love to See the Temple!

Parker really loves the temple. We went to Sacramento on our trip up to
Tahoe and visited the Temple. The Temple was closed because it was Sunday but here
Parker thinks he can sneak in anyway!

Snow What Fun!

Parker asked for snow for Christmas so we decided to grant his wish!
We took a little trip up to Soda Springs near Tahoe and we had a blast!

Although we never made it to the tubing run because we forgot cash, the boys had fun anyway building snow forts and well we tried to make a snow man but the snow was too dry
so we built a snow pyramid instead!

It looks like Paul died in a snowball fight but it's not.
It's the camera's interpretation of a snow angel.
I think the kids are wondering what the heck their Dad is doing as well.

I don't know what the boys were doing here
but whatever it is is pretty facinating!

What a cute snot nose face! Emmet didn't seem to mind though.
He was too busy throwing snowballs

2007-12-19T16:00:00.001-08:00

Christmas in San Fran!

We took the boys downtown the other night to see the magic of Downtown during the Holidays. They had a blast. We saw the big Union Square Christmas tree, the Macy's window displays and ate Thai. Yum! Macy's did a great job dressing up their windows with real animals as well as toy animals. The darling window displays were to help the SPCA adopt out cats and dogs who need a home. I almost wanted to take one home they were so adorable! I'm sure Parker would not have minded. He asking when he is going to get a dog. I pray for a house real soon!

2007-12-17T23:25:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

We had fun taking our Holiday Pics with the Jergensen's. They do great camera work. If only we could get our boys to look at the camera!

2007-12-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

Starting Off the Christmas Season with the Annual Ward Party!

We had a ton of fun at the annual Ward party. It was a new spin with dinner being breakfast and Madrigal style music! We even had a great Santa with the exception of some wardrobe malfunctions( His belly stuffing was coming out!). Actually Todd Fairbanks stepped in at the last minute due to the original Santa not showing up! So thanks to Todd the kids were not disappointed. I had a fun time singing with some of the women in the Ward and helping out with the piano. With the exception of Parker coming over to help me play and test out the microphones on the stage I think it went pretty smoothly. I even had a piano student and her family come to the party. I belive they had fun although I think they thought we were weird having breakfast for a Christmas dinner!

Yes Virginia their is a Santa Claus, and guess who he is!

2007-12-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas Concert 2007!
On Dec 1st, My high stress level finally ended. I was finished with my piano recital. Yeah!!!
The girls and boy did fabulous and I was able to pull off a song of my own as well. We didn't get too many pics this year because Paul was busy chasing the boys around Cole Hall. What a wonderful Husband he is to allow me to pursue teaching!

2007-11-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Tis The Season To Be Sick!

Wow talk about a taboo in our family. Disease always hits us around the Holidays but it has never hit us on Thanksgiving until now! Everything was set to go. We had plans with our friends to share the festivities together and then Parker got sick. A bad cold with a fever. We then ended up sharing food only with our friends and having Thanksgiving alone. Well the food was good anyway and Parker started to perk up and then I didn't and then Emmet also dropped off the Health vine. So our whole Thanksgiving Holiday was ruined with one nasty cold. We are still sick and Emmet, who I have been worried about the most, is now on the upswing. Besides that we did get to see Enchanted a super cute Disney movie. I highly recommend it. It's also been nice to sleep in. Because the boys have been sick they haven't been waking up until 9 or so. To bad that will be over soon.

2007-11-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Belated Halloween Post

What A Spooky Bunch!
Trick 0 Treating on Belvedere St. One crazy street for Trick 0 Treating. Lots of candy, decorations and dancing Penguins

!

We had a ton of fun this Halloween. Paul and I dressed up with the kids and did themed costume attire! First time for us and we had a blast being a Honey pot, a bumble bee, Tigger and Pooh Bear! As you can see Paul needs to cut down on the Pumpkin Pie!

2007-11-07T20:01:00.000-08:00

I Got Tagged! Thanks A Lot

Okay, so I guess I've been tagged! I had to ask Jen what that meant because I am blog illiterate!
So for those of you who don't have a clue about tagging either it means you have to tell 6 things about yourself when someone tells you you are tagged! So I don't know what to tell. My life is not very exciting but will give it a whirl!

1. When I was a little girl I was a big Tom boy. I used to play kick ball with the boys, dig in the dirt to find bugs and make them drown, play pirates with my neighbor friends and I hated to wash my hair. I had lice when I was like 8. I can't remember how old but anyway. Most people don't picture that in me as a Tom boy because I'm not a sports addict!

2. That leads me to number 2. I am not a sports addict. I don't really play any sports. Mostly I do the solo things like running and skiing. The thing I hated the most growing up was having people ask me all the time if I played basketball or volleyball. I always felt dumb telling them that I really didn't play because they would always look at me in surprise and say "really, but your so tall!"

3. I love art and music. I was part of the not so in crowd of musicians in High School. I accompanied the choirs and sang in them as well. Talk about a nerd! I graduated from BYU with a major in Humanities and French minor. Studied in Paris to absorb all the great art of the centuries. What can I say I'm Artsy-Fartsy!

4. I have a feddish for Disco Skating. I was a big disco skater when I went to Ricks College and had a bunch of friends who did the same and we would skate every Monday night at the MC. If I could find a skating rink here I would totally go in a heart-beat. If any of you know of one let me know.

5. When I was 2 I used to sing the Mcdonald's theme song to the Mcdonald's employees everytime we went there. Very loudly I might add! Sometimes I still sing to them...

6. I have been proposed to 4 times. That may not sound too bad but when I add that it was from the same guy you may think I'm a little crazy. I guess I am and the boy who proposed to me was obviously as well because he waited around until I finally married him!

Well there you have it! Me in a nut-shell. Some stuff you already may know and some maybe I shouldn't have mentioned!

Whoops forgot to put who I'm tagging now! Carly, Brook and Taylor Olsen, Jen, Michelle and Jenny. You've been tagged!

2007-10-13T16:23:00.001-07:00

RECENT TRAVELS

Three thousand miles gave us the chance to see Yosemite, the painted desert, the petrified forest, New Mexico and Disneyland. What a trip!

The boys were lucky enough to have both sets of Grandparents at Disneyland with them. Woohoo!!

I think the kids spent more time in their swimming suits than anything else.... except maybe in trouble.

We had a great time in the Arizona sun with Stevo, Haya, Rich and Carly and little Evan

There's only one way to be out in the sun in AZ

Albuquerque. It took me a long time to learn how to spell that.

2007-10-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

DISNEYLAND
Emmet fell in love with Mickey. In the end we had to buy him a Mickey doll which he has carried around with him every waking moment ever since we got home.

As you can tell, Grandma and April loved the ladybugs. What an exciting ride!

The boys loved their time with the grandparents, both sets. Things got a little crazy in the hotel room. We had one rule on this trip.... PARTY!

I think Mary Poppins was Parker's favorite. He was so shy around her and even blushed. I think he has a crush on her. He had watched the show right before our trip and loved it.

Arrrrr Matey

2007-09-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

COLORADO Red rocks, green magestic mountains, what more can you say. WOW!

These are real ruins built in the 1800s... Wait a minute, that's not ancient. Still, this place was a good time - manitou springs

2007-09-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

Berry Good Pickin'
I think this berry farm in Pescadero lost money on us. You could eat as many berries as you wanted while you were there and paid by the pound for what you carried out. They should have weighed the boys coming in and leaving though because they were very good at eating and not so good at putting them in their buckets.

2007-09-17T13:09:00.001-07:00

Fourth of July We seemed to have plenty of opportunities to burn sparklers on this trip to Utah. As you can see, Emmet was really into his sparklers. Cody looks pretty enthused about them too.

Parker graduated to sparklers in both hands this year. We are so proud.

2007-09-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

Trip to Ogden. We camped up Ogden Canyon and took the gondola to the top of snowbasin. Parker's great grandparents taught him how to catch his first fish.

2007-08-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

In light of the recent killings of coyotes in Golden Gate Park I thought I'd put some pictures of my own encounter with this group of coyote pups. Steve Ross and I were golfing at golden gate park and these pups watched us tee off on the 7th hole. They were so cute.

2007-02-10T18:43:00.000-08:00

Here's our family picture for 2006. This year was good to us. Emmet and Parker are growing like weeds.

Parker has been busy with preschool, gymnastics, and swimming lessons. He is very athletic and very good at swinging on the rings.

Emmet has a sweet smile and is learning lots of new words like "mine" and "no". He loves to hear his daddy play the guitar.

April's piano studio is bulging at the seems and she has people waiting for space to open up. She is the new temple prep teacher in our ward and still finds time to take care of the boys (all 3) and work out religiously.

Paul entered the clinic in 2006 and is enjoying treating patients. He loves April's piano lessons because he gets to spend them with the boys. They have been to every museam, aquarium, park and planetarium in the greater bay area (almost). He is also enjoying his continued work with the young men. He even has time to catch a crab or two.

That's our 2006 wrapup. Exciting things on the horizon for 2007 are a trip to Disneyland and lots of ice cream. Here are some of the year's photos:

2006-10-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a month we have had so far! I feel like everyweek we are having a party or partying. I must love October. We celebrated Emmet's Birthday with a little shin dig at our pad. I think everyone had a fun time and the kids digged the hats!

Paul made a very snazzy lego cake for Emmet. Emmet's B-day them was Bob the builder and so hense the Lego's (you know Bob build's and you can build with Lego's. I know it's a stretch).

Both Parker and Emmet got to enjoy Paul's hard work, each feasting on their own little Lego cake. As you can see here Emmet is really going to town on this bad boy. All in all, it was a fun party and I can't believe Emmet is a year old now. Boy does time fly!

We like to have an activity as well as a party for our kids for their birthday, so we decided to take Emmet to Lemos Pumpkin Patch. It is a really cool farm with pony rides, train rides and other fun stuff. Our friends the Ross' came with us to join in the fun. Getting there was not that easy. I guess we didn't realize how pumpkin crazy people can get here in San Fran. It took almost an hour of bumper to bumper traffic to get to the pumpkin patch. And yes everyone was going to Lemos and the surrounding pumpkin patches. It was crazy but we still had fun.

You can see Parker riding a pony. I think he could have ridden ponies all day. Do you think they give those ponies breaks? They didn't seem to happy at this place. I'm always freaking out about abuses towards well just about anything, so don't mind my ravings!

Here is Parker playing amongst the pumpkins. Parker call pumpkins, pumpkin patches. I've tried to correct him of this but to no avail. We really think it's cute though. Since going to this pumpkin patch, I have been educated on the many types of gourds there really are. Have you ever seen one shaped like an acorn. Well, they exist!

Paul took so many awesome pictures of Emmet and Parker together. So we couldn't decide which one to put on here but we like the scarecrow on this one.
Parker is always ready to pose and here he pleading so much to get his picture taken he's anxiety ridden!

2006-10-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

Having fun in the sun at Solvang. These are pictures in the Hans Christian Anderson park. The kids had a nice little stop here.

San Diego was a blast. Here's a picture of Parker with Shamu or some Orca. They ahve seven. We are still not sure which one is Shamu and we think there might be a cover up or something and the real Shamu has already died or is relaxing on the beaches in Florida enjoying

retirement. Either way, they put on a great show. They are beautiful animals.

The other great Sea World is the dolphin exhibit. We had a chance for a cheap $1.50 a fish to fead the dolphins. It was well worth it though. What an experience! Here's Parker getting a nice touch on the noggin.

Shamu stole the show for all of us but a close second for April was the Beluga whales. They were like something out of a fairy tale. Mysterious and magestic. I liked the shark exhibit. SCARY!!

Our first night we stayed in a little town called Solvang, just off the 101 at about the half-way point from San Francisco to San Diego. It's a little dutch tourist trap but the fudge was incredible (Rocky road fudge was our favorite).

Right on the 101 near Solvang is a little town called Buellton. It claims to have the best split pea soup in the world so we stopped in to see if they were right. I think they were right, April wasn't so sure.

Old town San Diego was another stop on our trip . We first stopped at the church's museum commemorating the mormon battalion. We watched a movie depicting the journey and telling the hardships they endured. They help found San Diego, were the first to find gold at Sutter's mill and blazed the first wagon trail over the Sierras.

Old town also sports some great mexican food and we ate at the best. The coyote has been voted the best mexican food in San Diego. It was great food.

Another fun stop was the San Diego mission. It was the first of 21 missions founded by Fryar Junipero Serra in California.