Happy Anniversary!

I know that most people have been celebrating Memorial day today but not Martin and me. Today is our 9 year anniversary. I know that most of you probably think that is still in the newlywed stages, I mean we are still in the single digits, but to us thinking of nine years seems like it should be a reallllly long time. We didn't do anything really special because we just got back for California not that long ago. This morning we worked a little in the yard (it is such a mess) then in the afternoon we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D. I think the girls really liked it. We went to Chili's for dinner after the movie. It wasn't really a great date since we had the girls with us. Yesterday I asked Martin if he loved me as much as the day we got married. He said that it was a different love. (haha, he always knows the correct answer) I also asked him if he would ever go back...he said he wouldn't trade our girls for anything. I love that man! I am married to a terrific husband and an even better father. I can not wait to see what the future has in store for us.
PS Happy Birthday Nikolas! I hope you had a great one!

California Day 3 and 4: The Wedding

(I stole this picture off of Jenny and David Webb's Blog because we did not take a single picture of the wedding.)

Friday was spent in San Bernadino doing whatever we could to help Linda prepare for Krista's wedding. I spent the morning chopping celery, honeydew, and pineapple. Because there was so much to cut up I did end up cutting my finger slightly but believe me it could have been much worse. Martin and the boys spent the day outside painting and stringing Christmas lights all throughout the backyard for the reception. We did what we could but it was relatively small compared to the huge amount of preparation Linda had been doing for months. I am amazed at all the small details that I would have totally forgotten about if I had been putting the wedding together.

Saturday Krista and Ertle were married. They were sealed in the Los Angeles temple by the same sealer that sealed Linda and Matt. The bride was beautiful and the spirit was strong. I really enjoyed being in the sealing room, everyone dressed in white with all of Martin's family. The reception was beautiful and thankfully not too hot. By the end of the night, the backyard had a magical feel to it with candles glowing, music playing and thousands of Christmas lights strung across the yard. We had planned on helping take down whatever was needed but it was apparently already assigned to people Matt and Linda knew. I have never seen something that took so long to put together, taken apart so very quickly. We got home really late and had to carry the sleeping girls in to bed. Thank goodness we got to sleep in some the next day.

California Day 1 and 2: Driving and Newport Beach

So this past week we were in California. (I am sure Debbie and Helmut have noticed my absence with no blogging on LiveStrong) We left Utah on May 13. The 10 hour drive was better than it could have been since our new car has a DVD player in it. The girls watched movies while Martin and I listened to The Host by Stephenie Meyer on CD. Martin drove most of the way but I did put in a little driving time. I drove from St. George to Primm, Nevada. I mostly drove because I had to. Around Las Vegas, Martin had to call in to the judge for a drivers license hearing.

On Thursday we decided to go to the beach. The girls were so anxious to get there but Martin had certain things he wanted to do first. We had to wash the car, go to the bank for quarters(in order to pay for parking at the beach) and since we were in the area we went to see the house he grew up in. The house looks completely different. You can tell that he feels no more ownership to it since it does not resemble the house he remembers. We finally got to the beach. We decided not to go swimming because the water was a little cold. The girls and Martin went "wading" instead. Somehow, the girls both fell over and got their clothes completely soaked. I saw Ashlynn go down and it was completely funny. The wave knocked her over and she just could not get back up on her own. She looked like a crab on its back.

Most of their time was spent collecting seashells. They were not really picky about shape, color or even if the shell was whole. Some of them came home with us but a lot of them Ashlynn used for white windows for her castle.

Since they did not have enough sand everywhere on their really wet clothes...Martin had to bury them in the sand. I think it must be tradition to bury someone when you are at the beach. Ashlynn seemed a little nervous but Alex was ready to please her dad.


After the beach we had lunch and then went swimming in the hotel heated pool and hot tub. We did a pretty good job covering our bodies with sunscreen except for both Martin's and my feet. His were bright red, while mine just had stripes from my fingers...Oh, well.

Spring Break?

Here is Alex's snowman that she made this afternoon. Yes, it is April 16th and we got dumped on last night. It was crazy. (Side note: No, I did not let Ashlynn play outside in her PJ's)

No Excuse

So I haven't blogged in a very long time. I really have no excuses. I am sure I could come up with a few but no one really wants to hear me whine. Not a whole lot has been different lately. Currently my life is constantly looking to the future. We are really excited to be going down to St. George at the beginning of May for Alexis's baptism. And then after that we will be going to California for Krista's wedding in the middle of May. I am constantly thinking, talking and dreaming about our small vacations because I am very excited to escape my boring, predictable life.

Easter has come and gone. Not a whole lot of picture taking took place because of different things that happened....complain, whine. I will down load what I got and see if any are worth posting later.

The thing I really wanted to blog about is related to Krista's wedding. So ever since Linda called to tell us that it was official, I have been preparing. I had to loss some weight before the wedding. The last two weddings I was in that had my picture taken I looked horrible. At my father-in-law's I was eight months pregnant. And then at my sister, Katie's I had had Ashlynn only three days before. I was determined to look good. I started working out every day. But it was only until lately that I really started watching what I ate and my caloric intake for each day. I weigh myself only once a week, on Sundays. Yesterday I had finally lost 10 pounds from where I had started. I am so excited. I just hope now that it stays off for another month.

Turn Back Time

Well I am officially 30 now. I had birthday celebrations all week long, just the way I like it. My mom was here for my birthday which was really nice. We all hung out all day, not doing a whole lot. We went to lunch and shopping without buying to much. The weather was really nice on Wednesday so we all got a little sun sitting outside while we let the kids play and jump on the trampoline. We went out for dinner at Applebees and then came home for Martin-made Porcel Torte to top the night off. (It was very yummy.)

On Friday Katie and Dave watched the girls so Martin and I could go out for my birthday alone. We went and saw the movie Race to Witch Mountain and then went out to the Macaroni Grill for dinner. We had to bring home a piece of chocolate cake because Ashlynn almost had a melt down that morning when she was told the Porcel Torte was all gone. Martin and the girls gave me two new CD's since my new car has a CD player. (the jeep did not) I also bought the movie Twilight on Saturday morning. I am very spoiled and love to drag out my birthday but I don't think I will be able to get away with it for any more days so I am calling it to a close. I suppose all good things must come to an end.

Our New Baby!

So we have been talking about getting a new car for a very long time now. The subject usually gets heightened by any upcoming trips. Before we went to Colorado we had a very serious discussion about getting a new car but felt way to rushed. We started to feel as if our trip to California is just around the corner so of course we began once again talking about getting a new car. Martin wants to make sure we get to California safely...I am a little more naive and think we could just make it on faith alone. I know that is not very practical and so that is how we came to getting our new Nissan Armada. When everything was hypothetical we would always say we were going to get a Dodge Durango. It was one of the first things we test drove and immediately we knew that was not the car for us. With Martin putting his seat completely back so he fits, the girls could not put their feet down. They sat cross legged the entire time. The Armada has tons of room and Martin doesn't feel cramped whatsoever.

It is a full sized SUV so it has three rows of seats. Leather seats, which I always said I would not get because they are either too hot or too cold. For the too cold the solution is seat warmers. They make your buns nice and toasty.

I really don't know why I took this picture but this is what I see most often while I am in the car. It drives really smoothly and goes really fast. One thing I like is the dual air control because if Martin is just right that means I am freezing cold.

So the second day we went back we were test driving some other Armadas they had found for us. The first one did not have the DVD players in the head rests. I look back while we are driving and Alex is crying because she wants the car with the DVD player in it. Such a drama queen. She also started to cry when we left the Jeep at the dealership and continually said she was afraid we had left something in there. All in all I think we are all excited about our new car, even Alex.