Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving turned out really special. I missed my family but it was also nice to have a relaxing, quiet day without all the chaos too. Me and Toby started cooking the day before and I finished it all up that day and we were sitting down to eat by 2. Everything turned out really good and because we did it at home, we even had leftovers for over a week! That morning we watched the Macey's Day Parade which Toby really got into this year so that was fun. After dinner I took Tyce and went on a walk and the weather was beautiful! It was in the low 60's and cool and crisp and all the leaves were at their peak in color. I just LOVED the fact that I could go outside without freezing! I didn't even have a jacket on. For our first Thanksgiving away from my family, it couldn't have gone any better. I wasn't sad or down at all. If fact, just the opposite. I felt nothing but peace and joy that no doubt came straight from God!

Oreo Turkeys

These were fun to make and even funner to eat!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Today we made two fat little turkeys to help decorate our Thanksgiving table.

We painted the feathers

Stuffed the turkey

Made a little turkey head and then put it all together

Gobble Gobble Gobble Fat Turkey are We!!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

This will be the first year of my entire life that I haven't had Thanksgivng with a very large group. This year will just be me, Robb, Toby, Tyce and Robb's mom. Even though I will miss my family, I'm really looking forward to a more intimate, sit down, candle lit dinner.

Toby's at such a fun age right now and really likes to help me with things and do crafts so me and him are starting now and putting stuff together to set our Thanksgiving table with. We started with making the name card settings.

We went on a nature walk and gathered leafs and pinecones from around our subdivision.

After soaking the pinecones in vinegar and pressing the leafs, we painted the leafs and pressed them on our name cards

We then put our names on them and will secure them in the pinecones

Walla! Our all-natural name cards!

More fun to come!

A California Halloween

Our first Halloween in California was a great success! It was so nice doing something new and we didn't even need jackets. The weather was beautiful and in the 70's...

I put Tyce in the same costume Toby wore on his first Halloween. I just didn't want to spend money on a new one that I knew he would be in the less then an hour.

It totally ticked him off when I put it on him so it was less then 10 minutes! Just long enough to snap a couple pics

We carved Toby's pumpkin. He choose the design. A cat bat.

We went trunk or treating. It was a party complete with giant jump houses at the end!

Toby was BATMAN!

Me and Chrissy took him and Maddy to the fall carnival at the church where they played games, won prizes, got their faces painted and even got to ride a pony!

The night before Halloween Robb took Toby to the Kern County Museum where they had over 30 spots to trick or treat and lots of spooky and fun characters to see as well. They had a lot of fun and by then his bucket was almost filled to the top with candy.

All in all, it was pretty over the top and one he'll never forget.

The Fragrance of Fall

It's almost the first day of fall and I've been bracing myself since I moved out here for how I would feel not being in Utah this time of year. Fall has always been my favorite season and I usually start getting excited for it the first part of August. This year was no different except there is a part of me that's been sad too knowing that I'm not in Utah and I don't get to start seeing the leafs on the mountains changing or start feeling that cool crispness in the air. It has been sunny here almost the entire three months we've been here, which for the most part I have loved. Until now. We got an awesome rain storm last weekend finally and I LOVED it and it made me miss Utah even more! Now I am SO ready for the coolness and for the beauty of fall and although we will also get it here, it doesn't come for a while so I feel really off. Then, Jennie told me how she decorated her house already, which made me sad, because I'm usually the first person she calls to come over to see what she's done and I was so sad that I couldn't hop in my car and head over there. She was sad too.

For the most part I think I've hung on pretty well and I've really been trying to stay positive because there are so many things I love out here and I am still SO happy that I'm here, I just need to get through the fall and I think I will be okay. I'm actually headed back out to Utah to spend a week or so with Jennie so that should be just what I need to to keep going.

It has cooled off here a little bit and was only in the 80's this past week but it's expected to be back up to the 90's this week again. YUCK! I lit my pumpkin spice candle and am trying to get into the mood to decorate here soon but with how hot it is, it just doesn't seem right. So...overall, all is well, I'm just a little bit homesick right now.

I posted this picture above that I found of this beautiful little house in the PERFECT fall setting and decided that I am going to imagine myself sitting out there on the front porch early in the morning when it's nice and cool and sipping some hot coffee (with pumpkin spice cream of course) while watching the lake and savoring all of the beauty and smells of fall! Awe..... :)

MOPS

This is first time in my life that I am not living close to at least two or more of my sisters, not to mention all of my other family. I miss them but I realized a long time ago that I hadn't felt connected or like I belonged to anything and it's something that's been missing in my life for a long time. Being out here away from everyone is making me realize how much I need people (other than the ones that have to love me) in my life, so I am determined to meet some. I know God has big plans for us here and I really think He is going to bring people into our lives that we can connect with and make life long friendships with and I'm excited to see who we'll meet.

So... I joined this group called MOPS which stands for Mothers of Preschoolers and I am way excited about it! It's a Christian-based group and it's a bunch of mothers who have kids anywhere from birth through kindergarten who get together two times a month. At the meetings we will eat, do crafts, listen to great guest speakers but mostly just support one another as woman who are all moms going through a lot of the exact same things.

Our first meeting was today and I was surprised at how many women were there. There were probably at least 40 and the ones I met seemed so down to earth and real and I am really looking forward to getting to know them. We will have a ladies night out once a month and an "outing" once a month planned at different places around Bakersfield. It will be fun to be able to talk with other woman and get advice on parenting and support but more important- just be able to connect. I have no doubt that that is one of the reasons that God has brought me here and I look forward to what He has in store for me!

Home at Last

Even though I've lived in Utah my entire life and love a lot of things about it, I've always felt a really strong pull towards the ocean all my life. Every time I've ever been by it I have felt total peace and serenity and I've always LOVED the energy and mystery that it holds. Since we've moved here to California, I have felt like I have been within arms reach of it and it had been calling to me louder then ever but I had not had the chance to make it there. So since my sisters were here for our LA trade show that we are doing, we decided to take a couple of days and hit the beaches and it was SOOOOOO fun and worth it! Maybe it's because my mom and dad were both born and raised in California and it's in my blood, I don't know, but when I was there I finally felt like I had arrived home at last...

A Trip to Sacramento

A few weeks ago we took a little trip to Sacramento to see my sisters Liz and Sherry. It was just me, Chris, Amanda and my two boys. I had never been there before and it was so good to be able to fnally go and to see them! We got to see my neice Amber's new baby boy while we were there too and we got to go to my cousin Duane's house and see his famous Tiki collection and visit with him and his wife, Amy.

The trip was only about five hours away from where I live and we got to take the motorhome there and stay in it so that made it nice and comfy. It was so relaxing and quiet there and we really had a good time. I love not only being here in California, but being in a central location. I feel like I'm only hours away from SO much!

2 Hours from DiSnEyLaND!!!!

Okay, I just need to get it off my chest. The absolute BEST part of moving to California for me is that I am closer to the happiest place on earth! We took Toby there to celebrate for his 4th Birthday and I literally felt giddy inside knowing that we were so close. We plan to get season passes so just knowing that I'm going to be going back again in September and then my two favorite times at Disneyland, Halloween and Christmas makes me feel like a kid inside!!! Living close by means I get to go on all the off seasons when it's not crowded and hot either! I decided that each time I go I'm going to try to do at least two new things that I have never done. This time I did Alice in Wonderland (yep, I've never done that one) and I did the screamer roller coaster in California Adventures.

Before we moved I was bummed knowing that the family wouldn't be here to help me celebrate Toby's 4th birthday so going to Disneyland completely made up for that and was SO magical and a birthday he'll never forget!

This is the Life...

My cousin Christine only lives a few blocks over from me. She has a pool in her back yard and gave me a key to her house so I can use it whenever we want. Being as we're there every other day, I really thought I needed to post some pics. I LOVE being in the sunshine and water and the Vitamen D has done us good!

Bye Bye Baby curls :(

I took Toby to get his hair cut yesterday. Robb has wanted me to have it cut short for a while since it is so hot here right now but I just could never bring myself to do it. Yesterday, after debating back and forth for over ten minutes while Toby was sitting in the chair at the salon, I finally decided to leave it up to Toby. I asked him if he wanted it cut short so it wouldn't be so hot and in his eyes and I told him it would be like his friend Carter's hair. That sealed the deal. His eyes lit up and he said that's how he wanted it. The hair dresser dude reminded me that it's just hair and it will always grow back if I didn't like it so we did it!

I think it's super cute and shows off his cute little face but this morning when he woke up and came to snuggle with me, I got sad. I'm already missing his long curls and it makes him look so much older too. Oh well, what's done is done. It will be good for summertime at least. I figure we're in a new place so why not try something new? I'm headed in there next with my big mop which is WAY overdue!!

I know he's always looked like his dad but now it's a little scary! He's a mini Robb!

4 am, Cops and a Man in Black

At 4 am I was awake laying in my bed with my baby boy waiting for him to finish pooping so I could change him when I heard what sounded like a knock at our door. Robb was down the hall sleeping with Toby in his bed. My first thought was that is was just one of my cats making a noise that sounded like a knock. Then the doorbell rang. I jumped out of my bed and went to get Robb. When I got to Toby's room he was getting up having heard it as well. It rang again and then a persistent knock. Robb was going to be getting up at 5 am to go to a training so I asked him if someone was maybe picking him up for that. He said no and threw his shirt on to run down the stairs to see who in the world was knocking at 4 am.

He flipped on the porch light and looked through the peep hole. There were two younger kids (maybe around 19 years old) one boy and one girl. He opened the door. They told him they were out walking and saw a guy dressed all in black that had broken into some cars just jump over our back fence into our back yard. Robb almost left the door wide open to go check but I was standing at the top of the stairs and immediately thought that they could all be in on it and walk right in so I told him to close the door and lock it before he checked. I went to get my phone to call 911.

As I'm calling 911 Robb is trying to see outside to see if he can see anything but because our back lights don't work he couldn't see a thing and I didn't want him to open the door or try to go out there. The police were at our house in less then two minutes because apparently they were already in the area trying to find this guy. They pulled up with their lights shining on our house and got out their police dogs and let them loose in our back yard. Me and Robb were inside peeking out the window. They never found the guy, at least not in our back yard. Whether or not they did after they left here I guess we'll never know.

I told Robb I guess it's time to look into getting our alarm set up. The house is already wired for one. Either way, I feel like in some way or another we are now initiated and officially Californians.

Wine at Walmart, and other things

Well we've been here in Bakersfield for almost a month now and I've been so busy just getting unpacked and settled that I haven't had a whole lot of time to check everything out yet but I am really excited to do that. I have been out a few times just running around and from what I've seen I really like it! I feel like I'm 10 minutes from everything and we live in a really nice area with lots of green trees and all the shopping areas are clean and nice and there are a lot of smaller shops that I want to check out as well.

I'm excited because I literally have ONE box left to unpack and then I'm going to clean my house from top to bottom and then I will feel like I will be able to relax completely and start enjoying just being here.

So far, these are the things that are different then back home:

The grass.
It's weird. Different from home. It's really thin and when you walk on it without shoes, it's kind of poky. When I have time I'm going to try to find a lawn sprayer dude to see if they can help improve it in any way.

The trees.
Love them! There are these small trees all over the place that have giant pink blossoms all over them and look like big bouquets of flowers and from what I can tell, they stay that way. I also love the palm trees. Every time I see one it makes me smile and reminds me that I'm no longer in Utah!

The People.
People here are SO much more friendly then back home. (sorry to my Utah peeps, but it's the truth!) Every time I'm at the store people stop and talk to me about my two boys and their ages and names and I literally have full on conversations and feel like I sometimes leave the store with a new friend! Oh, and did I mention the different races of people? I live around people of all types and from all backgrounds. I haven't got to know any of them yet so I will blog about that when it happens. One of my next quests is to meet some neighbors!

Coffee Everywhere!
Yep, it's true. There are Starbucks everywhere and we went to a really cool movie theatre here and they even served coffee there! Payson, where I lived, a Starbucks finally opened up only to close again after a year and a half.

Churches
I came not only from Utah, but Utah County and any one that lives there knows that it is mostly Mormons that live there and there is a Mormon church on every corner. Nothing wrong with that if you're Mormon but because I am not, it wasn't the most convenient thing. Here there are Christian churches all over and I've already tried out two and this Sunday I am going to a different one until I find one that I feel like I want to become a member of. That is awesome to me!

Pre-Schools
I just started researching preschools this past week and they are about THREE TIMES the cost of the ones where I lived! WHEW! The cool thing though is that there are a lot of Christian schools here so the one that I will try out first is a Christian pre-school which we did not have back home. How cool will it be to have Toby going to a school that not only teaches him his ABC's but also is centered around God every day?! I'm not sure how we will afford it yet but I know God will provide a way so I'm not worried. He starts the first of August!!

Wine
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a big drinker of any kind but I do really like an occasional glass of wine and back home I would have to go to a specific liquor store (and there weren't many) to get a bottle of wine. Well not anymore. Here, they sell it at Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, pretty much everywhere and it's a lot less money too. I'm not drinking any wine at the time because I'm nursing but let's just say, my wine rack is finally starting to fill up again and I can't wait to have my sisters all here for a little wine and cheese party! Who wants to come?

Okay, well those are the obvious things that are popping up so far. I know there will be lots more and I'm excited to discover the good, the bad and the ugly about living here! I want to keep my posts A LOT shorter then this one but I had to get all of this off my chest. He he he

The Move!!