Daddy's Girl

This little girl can get anything from her Daddy. Just look at this "pout face" that she is so good at.

The Coleman Family

I grew up with this couple. They are amazing. They are going through some challenges at this time and their story was shared on KSL news. It is so touching, and will bring a tear to your eye.

Click on the following link to see their story. You can continue on to their blog and follow the instructions to donate if you feel so inclined.

TheColemanFamily

Clara Rose

This is Clara.

She loves her Grandma Rose. The other day we found these leggings and she was freaking out. She loved them. Had to have them. In fact, we put them on in the store and I took of the tag to pay for them. That is how obsessed she is with her "Rose Leggings".

Every time we see an older lady with white hair, she says, "Hi Rose". Over and over again, wondering why she is not saying hi back. She loves to climb into her crib all by herself. But thankfully cannot get out by herself.

She is ALWAYS hungry. And it seems to be at its worst right before bedtime.

This is her little bed. Jackson helps her make it, and she loves to lay in here while I clean.

For the most part she is a bit out of control.

She is loud. She screams until she gets what she wants. She doesn't take "no" for an answer. She is just as tough as Jackson and she lets him know it. She loves shoes. She loves chocolate. She says hi to EVERYONE. She loves to dance. She already knows how to give the meanest "stare down". She jumps off of anything... (a good trait for a future diver). Loves her baby doll. Keeps Jackson up for hours at night (laughing and repeating his name over and over and over again).

We love our baby girl.

A Recent Purchase

This was one happy kid when I agreed to the purchase of these spiderman swim trunks. He couldn't wait to put them on and run around the house!

And yes... he wears them to the pool. :)

House Pics

OK.... so alot of friends and family have been asking for these pictures. So here they are... our tiny but lovely 2 bedroom home.

The kids bedroom. This one is not put together at all. I am waiting for Clara to move out of her crib and then I have the most ADORABLE matching headboards that my mom gave me to use for their room. Until then, this is it.

The kids bathroom.The hallway of memories... i.e. all our family pictures.

Living room.

Dining Area.

The kitchen.

From the kitchen you walk into the Laundry room, and then we made that closet into our pantry since we don't have enough cabinetry in the kitchen. It works.

I ordered a new quilt for our Master Bedroom, so as soon as that comes I will get that one up as well.

grow plants grow....

Here is the "garden" that my mom and I worked on while she was here. We were worried that my patio would not get enough sunlight, but so far everything is doing great!

Pot 1 Basil & Cilantro
Pot 2: Cherry tomatoes & Celebrity tomatoes
Pot 3: Zuccinni

Pot 4: String Beans

*these ones are Jacks. He is in charge of watering them and talking to them to help them grow.Candice sent us a package with the "shroomy's". I was so excited to put them in with my pots. They had a fun touch of color, and every time I am out there I think of their family.

The other day I filled up two storage buckets with water and the kids had a blast playing in the water and eating mini ice cream sandwhiches.

My Side Notes

*Drivers hate me just because I have a UT liscence plate. I get honked at all the time!
*No shoes, no shirt, no problem... is a total understatement.
*Heat plus humidity = way too hot!!!
*Trader Joes is awesome awesome awesome!
*My kids are sharing a room, and suprisingly it is going GREAT!
*99% of the gas stations are G.H.E.T.T.O
*Good luck finding any Diet Mt. Dew
*Blue tooths are a necessity. Not just here in California because you can't hold the phone while driving... but in LIFE. It makes everything so much easier. I love it.
*I LOVE our apartment.
*I found a preschool for Jack. He starts next week!
*Target, Costco, Grocery Stores, the Mall, and plenty of restaurants... all around the corner!
*We have a pool.... and a hot tub. The kids love it.

Things are going great. The weather has been SOOO hot. Today it is 108. Yuck. But the pool keeps us cool, and the beach is only a 45 min drive away. I miss the comforts of home, but we are trying hard to get into a routine and find new comforts here in CA.

Missionaries for Dinner

Before we moved out here we realized that Jessie's Brother is serving an LDS mission in our area. Jessie told me what ward he was serving in, and when we were at church I realized his ward met in our same building! After our meetings ended I went straight to the chapel hoping the missionaries would be there early enough for me to have time to talk to him. Of course, they were the only ones in the chapel - ready and waiting for the meeting to start!!!

I walked right up to him and said, "Elder Lee, I know Jessie". Of course he was in mission mode and family was the farthest thing from his mind... so after a little time explaining who I was and that it was his sister that I was talking about - he was soooo excited!

We picked a day for the missionaries to come to dinner, and were lucky enough to have 4 over at our house one night!

Elder Lee is the front right missionary... and his compantion is the back left missionary. His companion is Elder Elias. He is from Jordan, Egypt. He is one of 200 members, but only 25 of that 200 are active in the church. He is also the very FIRST missionary to come from Jordan. I thought that was AWESOME!
And of course I had to get a picture with Elder Lee. I swear it looks like I am really close to him, or putting my arm around him or something, but I promise - I know my missionary boundaries. I think my hair was just extra fluffy or something?

Jessie, I am so glad we were able to spend time with your brother. He reminded me so much of you, and of course made me miss you even more.

San Clemente

We spend Monday with my friend Melis in San Clemente. She lived with us in UT for about 6 months, but is now back home here in California. I am THRILLED to be close to this girl! She makes everything in life so exciting and I am blessed to have her in my life.

We started our day off with some beach fun! This was our first trip out to the beach since moving here - and I must say - I think this will be a weekly occurance. We had a total blast!

Clara was thrilled when I let her start the day with my Diet Dr. Pepper.

These boys spent every minute in the water!

Jack and his "friend Jack".

Clara was scared of the water, but was fine with the sand as long as she had food in her hand.

*note to self... bring snacks to the beach next time.

Both of these boys dads were friends in high school.... I really need to do some recruiting of pictures and see what I can get of the two of them together - because these kids are like walking versions of their dads.

Jackson had to go to the bathroom, but I refused to walk him all the way down to the bathrooms. I tried talking him into going into the ocean - but he HATED the idea. I refused to give in, knowing that if I did it once - every time we go to the beach from here on out he would expect the same. So I carried him into the ocean. Got the waves up to waist line, and held him while he peed down my side. Yes. I held him while he peed down my side, it was a total 'mom moment'. Melis had some of her cute friends come too. Here are 3 of us lovely ladies trying to re-inact a vintage picture that Wendy was thinking she saw somewhere. I'm pretty sure we got some better ones, but this was the only one that was forwarded to me. Love this girl.

Catching up on past times. After the beach we went to the pool to rinse off the salt water and of course - enjoy more lounging in the sun.

Wendy and I were matching in our stipped cover-ups.

And the fun continued... after the pool we went back to Melissa's house and she gave me a brazillian blowout. It is awesome, and my hair feels like SILK! Look it up and go and book yourself an appointment, you will LOVE it!

Thank you Melis for introducing me to how a true Californian lives. You make everything so much, we had a blast with you and 'friend Jack'.

New Address

I just sent out an email with our new contact info. If you did not get the email but want our info, please let me know.

A weekend with Nana

My mom drove back to California with us. I could not have done it without here so THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

She helped me get so much done. Things are finally on my walls. Trips to Target, IKEA, Walmart, plant stores, a variety of grocery stores, Trader Joes, Costco, and much more was accomplished. We planted a garden on our patio, I hope it gets enough sunlight to produce some fresh veggies!
Mom we miss you and thank you for your patience with the kids and all the projects!

Island Park

My family did one last vacation before Miles left for his mission. I flew in a little late since I was in CA getting our house ready. We spent driving through Yellowstone Park. It was gorgeous and we saw hundreds of buffalo.

READ THIS STORY:

The next day we went into West Yellowstone. My mom gave each of the kids $5 to spend at the dollar store in town. Clara found this adorable kitty that when you pressed a button on the bottom it meowed. The clerk who was a 20 something year old male, told Judd to put it away or buy it and leave. Judd came over and told me. I thought it was ridiculous so I gave it back to Clara knowing that we would buy it later. The dialogue went something like this:

Clerk: (upset) I asked the father (Judd) to put the toy away or buy it. Your daughter won't stop pressing the button and the sound is annoying!

Me: (calm) We will purchase the toy when we are done finding the rest of the things we are going to buy, I am going to let her hold it until then.

Clerk: (upset) Put the toy back or get out!

My Mom: Why are treating her that way?

Clerk: (very upset) I asked the father (Judd) very nicely to put the toy away because the sound is loud and annoying.

Judd: (calm) No, you did not ask me nicely, you were very rude.

Clerk: (walks around to Clara and takes the kitty out of her hand, looks at me and points to the door and very loudly). You can leave!

The rest of us... still all very calm... "This is a toy store. Why are you working here? She is a two year old. We will purchase the toy and leave. You are being very rude."

Clerk: (loud, engraged and mean) I deal with moronic parents and their kids every day. The sound is annoying the costumers. This is my last summer here, and then I am gone. My grandfather started this store. You are not welcome in this store! I am going to call the cops. Get out now! You are banned from the store!

Us... and the rest of the store walked out. Totally in shock. And pretty sure we will never be going back EVER again. Which is sad, because we go everytime we are in West, it was a tradition... a tradition that is now ended. The others in the store were all on our side - he was a total jerk and lost alot of business that day. PLEASE IF YOU EVER GO TO WEST - DO NOT GIVE THAT STORE A PENNY OF YOUR MONEY.

White Coat Ceremony

The White Coat Ceremony was great. It started out with all of the Health programs and then later we separated into separate departments. The two of us.

Scott getting his official white coat.

Us.

Class of 2014

After the ceremony we went to the school for the Presidents Lunch. The school has an art exhibit of fake people all over. Its a little weird, and I am hoping its just temporary.

Now, a tour of the facilities:

A lecture room:

A study room:

Simulation lab:

Western is lucky enough to have 80 of these typodons, its a computerized head that they practice working on.

The simulation lab:

He is soooo excited for school. He is now a week into it - and could not be happier.

Disneyland & California Adventure

So we packed up our house. I have NO pictures of the move, our empty house, or the over packed UHAUL and car that we towed. We said our goodbyes to neighbors, met my mom and Miles at the gas station, Miles and Scott said goodbye, I kissed my kids goodbye, got me a large Diet Coke and went to the UHAUL to cry. It was a hard drive... but I was looking forward to a whole week in CA with Scott and no kids... and that helped.

We decided to go to Disneyland and California Adventures as our last hoo-rah before dental school and real life started. It was a total blast! I felt like a kid again as we went from ride to ride and ran around with out one thing to care about - or a kid to chase after!

We finished the night with the "World of Color" show. It was AMAZING! We were a little worried that it was not going to be worth it, seeing that we sat in line for over 1 hour... but wow. It was by far my favorite thing of the day!

We can't wait to take the kids. We are planning on getting our yearly passes... and all you visitors out there - plan on us anytime you go!