The Dennings

More Adventures in Japan

2012-01-26T23:12:00.000-08:00

We have now been in Japan for exactly 2 weeks. We are moving into our house on Monday, so details to come on that. Here is our last week recap:

This is Mason's new friend Aiden. Aiden is 5 and will start kindergarten with Mason. Aiden also has a younger brother named Gunner who is just a few weeks younger than Carter, so they love to play together:)

At the bowling alley.

Our new friends, Desiree and Danny (kids are Aiden and Gunner) took us out to a local restaurant and then we walked around a bit and explored a local dept store called You Me Town.

Playing Games in You Me Town.

These are the Japanese mannequins.

Icecream...We just pointed to the ones that looked good. Mason was so excited to try purple icecream.

Kids meal toy Mason got at Gyoza House (restaurant mentioned above).

Toy Store neck pillows the boys got at the thrift store on base. The thrift store is our new favorite store. They have a great selection, new stuff all the time, and super low prices! I got Carter a winter coat there for $1!

My pictures are all out of order, but this is traditional Japanese ramen.

Eating Gyoza (potstickers) at the Gyoza House.

On base.

Zach and I are both officially licensed drivers here in Japan! We took the test this morning and both passed with flying colors:) Now to buy a car (hopefully this weekend) and then learning how to drive on the other side of the car/road.

Disneyland, USS Midway, Zoo & SeaWorld...condensed.

2012-01-22T14:57:00.000-08:00

I hate having to condense on the blog...especially when I am a picture freak and had literally hundreds to go through. But, I also hate being so behind on the blog and don't want to fall even farther behind on our Japan adventures, so here is our last week in San Diego all in one post:

DISNEYLAND:

This was not our best day. It was SO hot and SOOO crowded so we didn't stay long, but we wanted to squeeze in one more visit before we left.

U.S.S. MIDWAY:

Navy boat museum...boys loved it.

SAN DIEGO ZOO:

SEA WORLD:

We met up at Sea World with Mason's best girl friend, McKenzie, and her mom. Mase just adores Kenzie and we had a great time with them!

We were lucky enough to see the Beluga's during feeding time.

We had a wonderful last week in California and will miss living there greatly! But we didn't say good-bye forever...just "see you soon!"

The rest of our Utah vacation

2012-01-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Carter all ready to head up to Utah.

My Grandma Bohn, one of my most favorite people in the entire world.

Zach and I went on a date downtown to go iceskating (which was our last date before he left for bootcamp 8 years ago.)

Love my little nephew.

Ashley and Carter at the bowling alley.

The boys LOVED bowling!

Cousin kisses:)

Carter loves his uncle Paul so much.

Took the cousins to a bounce play place and they worked up a sweat!

I have lost count of how many sleeping Bucca pictures with the boys I have:)

Yum, Nelson's frozen custard.

The neighbors did fireworks for New Years Eve and Abel was so scared! He hid the entire time and I found him here. The other dogs were scared too and we had to hold them the whole time.

Zach hiking with his brother Cory.

...and their dad.

Climbing on Antelope Island.

The boys loved it! But I think I would have been freaking out had I gone with them and seen them on the edge of some of these high rocks!

The Great Salt Lake.

Zach went snowboarding with his dad, Paul, & Ashley.

We had a wonderful visit with friends and family. We are always sorry we are not able to see everyone and do everything we wish we had time for. We miss our family and were glad to spend some extra time with them before coming to Japan:)

Our first week in Japan

2012-01-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

I am going a little out of order on blog posts, but I figure that most people who read my blog are most interested to hear how things are going for us in Japan...so here is our first week (really first 5 days) in Japan:

Getting here was SO long. It took us over 30 hours in total travel time, including spending a night in the USO room of the Seattle airport (pictured above). It was a rough day, but we were thankful to have the USO...couches, TVs, WiFi, and food:)

This is the base housing. They are midrises. The base is only 6 miles long (only 3 miles of which are used) so there is not room for traditional base housing. We actually already have an apt assigned to us and all of our belongings have already arrived in Japan way ahead of schedule! Zach is signing off on the paperwork today and I am hopeful I will be sleeping in my own bed by this weekend! Making our hotel stay a week rather than the month we anticipated! I will post more details about our living situations once we move in.

This is the hotel we are staying at in base. It has a full kitchen, living, and bedroom.

During our welcome orientation we got to go on a tour of Iwakuni. It was so much different than I expected. It is bigger, dirtier, and older than I pictured it would be.

The language barrier is a big hurdle. We went to the 100 yen store (like the dollar store) and the entire process of checkout our cashier was talking 100 miles per hour in Japanese to us and we had no clue what to say back!

Kintai Bridge in Iwakuni. This picture was taken from a moving bus, but we definitely plan to visit it again. You can walk across it and then take a lift up to a Japanese castle at the top of the mountain. We can't wait to do it once the weather warms up a bit more.

The boys have been really good! They are already adjusted to the time difference (more than I have) and they are loving the novelty of everything.

Mason, in particular, has been really enthusiastic about everything! He was jumping up and down in the housing, which was needed since Zach and I were struggling to let the positives stand out above the negatives.

Public women's toilets. Thank goodness they are not like this in the houses! You have to stand on either side and then squat down! And you have to either bring toilet paper from home or buy a few sqaures from the vending (and the toilet paper is so thin it is see through).

We took a tour of the base and are excited to "jump right in." I am going to a "Mothers Of Preschoolers" get together this morning and already have a Japanese spouse to take me on a tour of the Japanese schools and to text if I am ever caught out in town and need a translator:) It is very intimidating, and I am scared to death of getting my drivers license and leaving the base alone. But everyone has been so nice and helpful and the base store prices have been way lower than we expected. We miss our friends and family so much, but are going to do our best to take advantage of the opportunity of living here.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-15T17:44:00.000-08:00

I think this is the most behind on blogging I have ever been... mostly we have been up to SO much this last month (think 700+ pictures I just downloaded this morning) and moving across the world makes little time for blogging. I promise to catch up soon (as I know at least the grandparents are anxious for updates:). For now, here are our Christmas Day in Utah pictures. We had a great Christmas surrounded by our wonderful families!

Yummy breakfast casserolle made by Grandma Munga.

Abel love... we so miss this little dog SO much!

With great-grandma Judeen and great-grandpa Bill.

Mase with uncle Cory.

Carter with uncle Cory.

Munga and Bucca's dog Rawley.

Cousins! The boys had so much fun seeing their cousins Austyn and Emerson. I just adore them and miss them so much!

Me and my baby brothers.

Grandpa Wade and Grandma Ami with the grandkids. (Emerson was sleeping.)

I would seriously take this girl to be my own if I could get away with it;)

Stay tuned for the rest of our Utah visit, our last week in San Diego, and the start of our Japanese adventures....

Family Pictures

2011-12-22T17:26:00.001-08:00

What a crazy month... we are in the process of moving to Japan. Our entire house has been packed up and is on a boat en route to Japan as we speak. We are in Utah for the holidays enjoying time with family before we leave for 3 years and living out of suitcases for a while. I will have lots of posts in the coming month, but for now here is a peek at our family pictures we had done earlier this month by Chelsie Clarke Photography...

Disney Christmas

2011-12-01T10:25:00.000-08:00

We always have a great time at Disneyland and are going to greatly miss living so close to it. This week we went and had one of the best times we have had... perfect weather, small crowds, the best luck with characters, and beautiful Christmas decorations. We LOVE Christmas and LOVE Disney!

The Haunted Mansion is our favorite at Halloween and Christmas when it is all redone to the theme of Nightmare Before Christmas... they are so elaborate with the decor it looks amazing!

One of Carter's favs! He was so excited! We just happened to cross paths with him as we were walking to the bathroom!

We rode in the monkey cage on the Casey Jr. Train.

Jake! Both boys hugged and high fived him.

Sully crouched on the ground and opened his arms and Carter ran right into them! It was so cute! (Mason was being brave riding the Tower Of Terror so he missed Sulley.)

Carter wasn't scared of any of the characters this time like he has been in the past.

We were the very last people who got to see Buzz!

And then we were the very first people to see Jessie! Carter was seriously mesmorized by her, it was hard for us to get his eyes off her. He loves his Woody and Jessie dolls.

Waiting in line for our very favorite (well, mine and Zach's favorite) Toy Story Mania. So fun!

"Up" scout scavenger hunt... hard to see everything in the dark, but the boys had a lot of fun.

Giant Bear in California Adventure.

Waiting in line to see Santa (we were second to last people to see him before his break:) They had beautiful big trees and ornaments, wreaths, and lights everywhere.

Santa! He was great and spent so much time talking to the boys.

We are going to try to squeeze in one more Disneyland visit before we head to Japan... where our new home will be 6 hours via bullet train to Disneyland Tokyo... you better believe we will be checking that out!

So Blessed

2011-11-25T10:38:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving, just our family of four. Zach made a tasty meal and we ate, watched movies, and took a nice long nap before heading out to Walmart for Black Friday. (Yes we are crazy, but Mason begged and there were a few things we really wanted). Luckily we got everything we wanted and were home by 10:15. We had a very nice day and are so thankful for so many things. We know how blessed we are and are so thankful for all we have.

On Tuesday Mason's preschool put on the cutest Thanksgiving Program. Mason played Squanto the Indian Chief and they sang some really cute songs...

"V is for vegetables tasty and good."

Squanto Mason.

Both my boys fight for McKenzie's attention (funny thing I had some of her extended family members come up to me and ask me so who is this boyfriend McKenzie talks nonstop about, lol.

Turkey placemat Mason made.

Mason's teachers Miss Ashley and Miss Peggy along with a few of his classmates. This Pre-K will greatly be missed when we move!

So blessed to have such a wonderful family.

It is easy to forget just how blessed we all are, but when you think about it we have so much more than most people in the world and have way more to be grateful for than we acknowledge.

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Kon'nichiwa

2011-11-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

January 2012 we will call this base "home:"

Yep, we are moving to Japan.

Not sure how we really feel about it... sad, scared, nervous, excited, mostly really nervous!

But it is beautiful and will bring an awesome adventure... so here is to seeing the glass half full and to learning Japanese:)

We're wigging out!

2011-11-06T13:18:00.001-08:00

We decided to have some fun with Zach's halloween wig the other night... well most of us had fun:)

Mason clearly was not feeling the wig.

Zach styled my wig hair himself!

Ron Burgundy

2011-11-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take pictures of Zach dressed as Ron Burgundy for Halloween... so just got this picture someone took at a Halloween party we went too. (Mason was too busy in the bounce house to pose with us.) He has the imitation voice down perfectly too! Lol.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

(Side Note: I posted 3 new posts today so keep scrolling for all posts:)

We started off Halloween morning with a party with Mason's Pre-K class. The kids got to "parade" down from Ms. Peggy's house to the park and they loved it. They were waving like they were celebrities and were all so cute!

Mase and McKenzie.

McKenzie put her arm around Mason.

Then we went home and made our traditional yearly chili and carved pumpkins (forgot to take pictures...) then got ready to trick-or-treat.

Pirate "Car-Car Hook" and Spidey.

The pumpkin next to Mason he drew out the design himself:)

Doing their best pirate and spiderman moves.

Then we drove over to our friends, The Sydnor's, house and Carter passed out on the way.

Sleeping Beauty Hayden with Pirate Carter.

Superheros Ty and Mason.

All the kids ready to head out.

Trick-or-treat!

All the kids were so hesitant to walk up to this house.

Carter picked this Dora bag out himself.

So cute!

They were so good this year and loved trick or treating. Carter said thank you to everyone and threw in the occasional "Arrrgg Matey!"

Mason after we cleaned off some of his face paint. We really had to scrub his eyebrows.

We had a great Halloween this year! Happy Halloween to everyone!

Phone Pictures

2011-11-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

My phone was filling up with cute pictures of my boys... thought I would share for the grandparents to see... and yes my kids are going through a "streaking" phase, or have been for quite a while I should say, lol.

After painting I turned on cartoons and they layed together like this all on their own. Mason was drawing pictures on Carter's back. So sweet my boys are!

Daddy's hats.

Sleeping kids are possibly the cutest thing ever.

More of Carter... he always tells me to take pictures of him.

Playdate with McKenzie

2011-11-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

Me and McKenzie's mom decided that a playdate between these two "lovebirds" was long overdue so we planned a McDonalds lunch date last week. They played for 3 straight hours there and had so much fun together!

She is such a cute little girl... Mason definitely

picks the good ones:)

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

2011-10-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

The fall season is not complete without a trip to a pumpkin patch. This year we got to go with Mason's Pre-K class and everyone had a great time! We went to Bates Nut Farm on my birthday last week...

This is Mason's girlfriend/favorite girl friend McKenzie. Carter got so protective when they were posing for a picture together. He ran over grabbed Mason and said "This my brother!" Love their brotherly love.

All the preschool and pre-k kids (yes there is a difference and Mason will quickly correct you if you say he is in preschool. He was in preschool last year... this year it is Pre-K.

Hayride.

Hay bail maze.

The kids got to pick out a pumpkin to take home. Mason had to search for the biggest one he could find.

Should I be concerned yet? :) Walking to the general store and glanced over and saw this and had to snap a picture! This was all them! haha.

We had another great field trip and can't wait to carve the pumpkins we got.

Halloween at Disney

2011-10-22T13:58:00.001-07:00

Halloween is our favorite time of year to go to Disneyland. They decorate everything and although there was a serious lack of characters walking around this time, we still had a great time at Disneyland once again.

So classic Mason:)

Mickey ghost cookie... made such a mess but he loved it!

Mickey's Fun Wheel... before it started going around.

Happy Carter before...

Let the swinging begin!

Mason clearly LOVES this ride!

I was so sick (again), Carter was so scared and crying (again)... how did we let Mason talk us into this horrible ride again!!

We are already awaiting our next Disney trip... Christmas time for sure and maybe sooner. We love it!

What we're eating...from Pinterest

2011-10-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Just one of the many things I love about Pinterest... finding great new recipes to try. Below are all of the Pinterest recipes we have tried thus far. (Find all links to these recipes and others I have pinned here.)

1. Chocolate chip banana bread. This bread was so moist. The perfect amount of banana and chocolate. I will definitely be making this recipe again! (I used regular milk and canola oil instead of buttermilk and olive oil.)
2. Baked Pumpkin donuts with a maple cinnamon glaze. Zach made these cake-like donuts and they were so good!
3. Coconut shrimp. Zach made these... he said they were easy to make and they were delicious!
4. Chicken brocolli cheese casserole. The best thing about this recipe is that it calls for NO cream of anything soup. We have made this recipe multiple times and the whole family loves it. Great served with rice.
5. Celery/PB/gold fish. Fun fishing snack that both my boys loved. They even ate every bit of the celery.
6. Corn chowder. Zach made this for me at my request. He added some chicken and let me tell you it was the BEST corn chowder I have ever had. He did say it was more involved than other soup recipes, but so worth it! (Easy for me to say since I didn't have to make it, only enjoy it:) But seriously, I love corn chowder and this recipe is the best one I have ever had!
7. Brocolli cheese soup. Zach is not as big of a soup fan as I am so I made this while he was working. It was really good and smooth, but I still like the broc cheese soup from California Adventure best. (I cheated and bought a sourdough bake and serve to go with it).
8. Brown sugar and balsalmic glazed pork loin. Super easy crockpot pork tenderloin. This was really good and we will be making it again!
9. Octopus on seaweed. I have made this hotdog/ramen noodle meal several times for my boys and they love it! Any creative ideas to make their food more fun and get them to eat.
10. No bake cheesecake. I actually already had this recipe from my wonderful SIL Ashley and had to pin it because it is seriously SO good! It is lighter than regular cheesecake and so easy to make. I can polish off an entire pie of this in a few days all by myself. It is good with a topping but doesn't need one.
11. Pioneer Woman Asian Salad. This is a really good non-meat meal. We made it twice and tweaked a few things. Her sauce is REALLY heavy on the sesame oil, so we cut back on that and increased the soy sauce a bit. I would recommend subbing the olive oil for veg oil or canola oil. The olive oil flavor just doesn't mesh well with asian flavors (to us at least). We also cut out the lettuce.
12. BBQ chicken pizza. This is a favorite of mine and Zach's. We put it on frozen dough or naan. We love to also add green onion and bacon. Great fast meal.

I have the ingredients for several others things I have pinned and can't wait to make them (or have Zach make them for me:)

Firestation Fieldtrip

2011-10-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Today Mason's preschool went to the Firestation for a field trip. According to Mason it was "the most awesomest fieldtrip ever!" Mason now wants to be a fireman captain when he grows up.

Waiting in line to head over the the firestation... Thought this was too sweet

Mason and his "girlfriend" McKenzie.

The look on his face says it all... it was pretty awesome!

Halloween Decorating... Pinterest Style.

2011-10-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

I love, love, love Pinterest. It is such a destressor and it brings out the creative side of me and is filled with such great ideas and it makes me happy every time I log on and see boards filled with things I love. If you want to see all the things I love you can follow me here. This week I have been busy making several halloween decorations that I pinned on Pinterest. Not only has it been really fun for me, but I am pretty happy with how they turned out, even if they do look homemade.

Halloween Banner (Inspiration found here):

Hanging Halloween cutouts (inspiration here):

Googly eye frame (inspiration here):

This would have turned out better had I actually read the directions BEFORE heading to the craft store and bought cardboard cut out letters rather than bulky heavy wooden ones. Not the only lesson I learned while crafting...

Burlap wreath with mod podged scrapbook paper letters. (Inspiration here):

This wreath was my first craft and the biggest dissapointment. Not only did I not follow directions and cut the burlap long enough, but I used a tip I also found on Pinterest. Rather than buying an expensive wreath form I got pipe fittings from Lowes and duct tapped it together. Well, since it was hollow the wreath looked like an egg after a few days. But, the letters were a good experiment with mod podge (I even made homemade mod podge -half Elmer's glue half water- that I found on Pinterest). I think I will reuse them for something.

Kids Handprint spiders and ghosts (Inspiration here):

I have SO many more Pinterest inspirations that I want to do/buy (and some I have already done and will post soon... including a TON of great recipes.) If you haven't already checked out Pinterest you should. It really is my "happy place." Well, Pinterest, being on my bike, and being with my family. :)

Metric Century

2011-10-10T13:28:00.001-07:00

Here I am to toot my own horn... this past Saturday I rode in my first ever bike race, a metric century (64.5 miles). It seriously was so much fun! I love to ride! My goal was just to finish and enjoy the ride and the company. I never intended to race or push as fast as I could and I didn't. I rode comfortably and felt great. I ended up finishing 11th of 23 females and 64th overall out of 97 and I am okay with that. I rode with my friend Lillie and it took us 4 hours and 48 minutes to finish (with a few potty/snack stops). I can't wait to do my next race!

All my Jax friends. I did feel a little left out without a Jax jersey, but they are $100, so I decided to pass...

My riding partners in crime... Lillie and Debbie. These girls motivated me so much during training and are a blast to ride with!

Waiting for the ride to start... it was seriously so cold! I was covered in goose bumps and my teeth were chattering so bad I kept biting my tongue. My fingers and toes were frozen completely numb and it took about an hour of riding to thaw them out!

Bad face, but beautiful wine country route.

My proud supporters at the finish line. I was actually really surprised that there were so few people at the finish line. The running races I have been to the finish line is so crowded. Well, apparently cycling is not a spectator sport because there was no one cheering us on at all and my sweet family made up 50% of the crowd at the finish line.

Arrrgg Matey... It be a PIRATE parrrty!

2011-09-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Mason turned 5 this month! Oh how time flies. He chose a Pirate theme for his birthday party and I think it turned out pretty cute (despite my losing battle with some decorations against the wind). A big THANK YOU to my wonderful friend, Kelly, for taking the pictures and helping out so much. Most of the pictures below are credit to her.

Zach made the cupakes from scratch and designed the wrappers and toppers... I homemade the cupcake stand and cut out the wrappers and toppers.

The kids got to try fresh coconut water... no one was a fan.

Game #1 on our treasure map hunt: Pin the treasure:

Mason's friend B got her treasure dead center!

Spinning Hayden.

Game #2: Hot Potato with coconuts and Jake and the Neverland Pirates music:

Game #3: Walk the plank:

Game #4: Dig for pirate treasure:

We released the balloons into the air and the kids watched which ones went highest.

Lunch time. Mason wanted his favorite "Mini Caesars" :)

Handprint pirate craft. Kelly found this on Pinterest and it was perfect. They turned out sooo cute!

Present time. Mason got spoiled... thanks to all!

All the little pirates.

Thanks to everyone who came and helped make Mason's 5th birthday Pirate bash a success! It was a lot of fun and I couldn't have pulled it off alone!

Legoland

2011-09-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

And the "staycation" continues... this time taking us to Legoland last Thursday. We have never been in the nearly 4 years we have lived in Southern California (whoa, has it been that long?!) We went on a chilly, overcast day. The crowds were tiny (a trend that we planned with all our outings... going right after school started and going mid-week). We had a good time, but Legoland really is more for warm weather (water rides and water park) and for kids ages 5-7.

Yay for Harry and Hagrid:)

Carter was not happy that these cars did not move.

Pirate legos.

They have a whole Star Wars section, which Mason loved. He has really been into Star Wars lately.

Mason asked me what the king of the houses is a few weeks ago. I told him the White House so he was excited to see what it looked like since he was a baby both times he has seen it in real life.

You talk into this and the sound echos out the dragon's mouth. Carter got a kick out of this. (Which I said to Zach and Mason asked 10 questions about "what does get a kick out of something mean?"

It took a LOT of persuading to get Carter to touch this troll.

Carter wasn't old enough for this ride. He was not happy as that seemed to be a trend at Legoland. The height and age requirements were ridiculous!

Mason loved this ride that bounces up and down. My stomach did not.

Carter was really unsure of this ride. He got pretty scared and couldn't wait to get off.

So blurry I know... but Mason's face is priceless. He was so scared he was crying... but played the tough guy afterwards. He is not a rollercoaster kind of boy.

New York out of legos.

All in all the Legos were cool to see, but we didn't stay all day because it just didn't impress us that much (boys included)... So, we will not be heading back. But, still a good day overall.

We ended Zach's 2 week leave from work with Mason's 5th Pirate themed birthday party. Post to come soon. Zach is back to work tomorrow which is sad but we got so much done, both fun and productive with our vacation at home. We feel so lucky and blessed!

Sea World

2011-09-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Our vacation at home continued today and took us to Sea World. We get in free once a year with a military I.D. so we decided to take advantage. The weather was cool and the crowds were tiny. It was a perfect day and we had a great time. (I know I post an out-of-control amount of pictures, but keep in mind all the grandparents live in a different state from us so this is how I share pictures with them...)

Mason pretending the shark was eating his head.

Not an easy feat for Zach and I in flip-flops!

Mason nearing the top.

Even Carter made it to the top by himself with the help of a cheering Mason.

Mason got to jump around on a bouncy floor... Carter was too short and the one for his height was full of babies and has pretty much no bounce at all. He was pretty upset over it.

Giant Starfish.

We got to watch the sea turtle swim up the shore and climb out.

The aquariams were so cool! The salt water tanks especially... the coral and anemoes were amazing and so were the all the cool (and sometimes ugly) fish!

Piranahs.

Megalodon fossil jaw... Mason is obsessed with sharks (esp megalodon's) lately.

Dolphin show. They also had divers, acrobats, and birds and the boys loved it.

Sea Lions! I think they are just so adorable! I loved the two sleeping with their heads out of the water. There were some people feeding them fish so they kept barking really loud for fish and the one in the bottom picture kept doing tricks to get fish. So funny!

Carter was pretending to get the bad guys. Not sure what bad guys, but that is his face!

He was scared the bear was going to get him.

Beluga Whale watching.

We got a free game of ring toss.

Great day at Sea World! Stay tuned... next week Lego Land!

Side Note: A BIG happy Birthday to Mason! He is 5 today!!! Can't believe it has been 5 years since he came into this world. He is an amazing kid and I can't imagine life without him. Love you bubba!

More time with our favorite mouse...

2011-09-14T19:48:00.000-07:00

Zach got some free time off for reenlisting in the Marines so rather than spending money we don't have to travel, we figured since so many people travel from far away to vacation in Southern California and we are lucky enough to live here... why not just vacation at home? So, yesterday we headed back to Disneyland and California Adventure. The weather was perfect, the crowds were small and we had a fantastic day! Carter was so excited... he kept saying "We get to see Mickey, see Minnie, see Donald Duck, see Daisy Duck, see Pluto, see Goofy..." while jumping up and down!

Mason's "old" favorite ride.

Carter caught sight of Zurg!

Love my boys.

Carter was so distracted during lunch because he wanted to go on the "horsies."

First time on Thundermoutain Railroad... he loved it!

Watching the ducks and turtles.

Trying to get a family shot while on the jungle cruise... of course at Disneyland the camera is the last thing the boys want to look at!

Playhouse Disney Live....

Carter LOVED it! He loved it last time too, but this time they had a new segment (Jake and the Neverland Pirates).

Sully.

Monsters Inc. Ride... Carter was amazed by everything.

On our favorite ride... Toy Story Mania!

Mason really wanted to go on the carosel. They have ones that stay still and some that rock. Mason begged to go on the ones that rock so we agreed. This was before we got going...

Once we started swinging... Carter HATED it! He was so scared. Zach and I were so sick! AND...

Mason LOVED it! He yelled "This is awesome!!!" while laughing the whole time. Then he wanted to go again... uhhh that did NOT happen:)

We love living so close to Disneyland! Something we are really going to miss when we move next year. Tomorrow... Sea World!

Melt my heart.

2011-09-10T19:11:00.001-07:00

As much as my boys near constant fighting over toys, what to watch on TV, who gets to sit where, etc. can really drive me and Zach up the wall at times there are still so many moments in each day that I look at my boys and my heart feels so completely overwhelmed with love for these two boys. From Carter coming up and giving huge hugs while saying "You're Cute!" several times a day, to Mason saying "I love you." Or all the funny things they do and say that just melt your heart.

Today in the mail Mason got a $3 off coupon for Toys 'R Us for his upcoming birthday. He really wanted to go right that second... so he asked, then begged. We tried to teach him to do the pouty, can't-say-no to, circa 1988 Michelle Tanner-esque, puppy dog face and this is what we got:

He did this face with a "puh-leeease?! No one can say no to this face!" Zach and I did our very best to stiffle our laughs and I HAD to agree to take him, even though this wasn't exactly the face we were expecting, haha!

Carter napping on the couch.

A few nights ago the boys wanted to camp out... only Mason is afraid of mountain lions and bears so they wanted to camp out inside. Zach set up the tent and the boys slept in the living room in the tent along with several of their stuffed animal friends. They had a blast and there are not many things sweeter than watching my boys sleep.

I love being a mom {most the time:}

P.S. Happy Birthday Mom/Steph/Munga! We love you!!

Pre-K!!

2011-09-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

This 4-, soon-to-be 5-, year-old boy had his first day of Pre-K today!

All ready for school with his very supportive little brother.

So proud of my big boy!

Having fun before school.

Ready to go in with his 1st day gift for Ms. Peggy and Ms. Ashley.

He has been counting down the days til school started back up... Here is to a great last year before kindergarten!

The Boys Are Back In Town

2011-08-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

Our living room yesterday:

(okay, so not exactly yesterday... but this is what it looked like yesterday minus the plant that I killed.)

Our living room today:

Ahh...Home Sweet Home, back to normal. So good to have my babies back!!! Tomorrow I will start picking up...

7 Years of Wedded Bliss..

2011-08-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

We have been married 7 years today. The time has flown by, yet has been filled with so many memories. Getting married as teenagers was probably not the smartest decision, but I wouldn't change it for the world. These past 7 years have had their fair share of ups and downs and we have made it out on top. We have had:

7 years married together

taken 6 vacations

been to 5 countries

had 4 dogs

lived in 3 states

had 2 perfect little boys

been each others 1 Best Friend.

Happy anniversary Zach... Here is to 7 more!

Disneyland is for grown ups too

2011-08-25T08:55:00.001-07:00

While these two cute boys are in Utah with the grandparents...

Zach and I went to Disneyland & California Adventure just the two of us.

We went on all the 46" and taller rides... and Toy Story Mania:)
We are missing our boys like CRAZY but we had a blast hanging out just the two of us.

Entertaining the boys

2011-08-12T08:37:00.001-07:00

The other night the boys were jumping off the couch onto a pillow on the floor when Zach decided to help them and build them a huge pillow pile to jump on to... That earned him "The best daddy in the whole wide world" title for the night:)

The boys only got to jump from the ledge once... with Zach very close by.

The rest of the time they jumped from this step stool. The pile was so high it was pretty much level with the stool, but they had a blast...

Most of the time! Carter went a lot faster than Mason, who waited to watch Carter then went and Carter got pretty impatient.

My new addiction of the week... Pinterest! Heard about it a while ago but just decided to give it a try a few days ago. Well, I am hooked! Love it!! So many cute ideas to try. Saw this cute, easy idea for a bird feeder and the boys gave it a try...

They had fun with the birdseed but we had to let them sit overnight.

Mason ran and checked them first thing when the boys woke up and wanted to hang them straight away (hence my undressed boys, although Mason is undressed most of the time anyway).

Oh Carter. He is always putting everything in his mouth.

Now we wait to see if any birds find them tasty. At the very least, the boys had fun making them.

A little update...

2011-08-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy as usual here. It seems that there are never enough hours in the day, especially in the summertime when there is so much to do! Here is a little of what we have been up to lately...

This handsome man turned 26 on July 22! His parents flew down to surprise him (yes, I was in on it:) so we could go out for a birthday date night. So we spent his birthday seeing one of the best movies ever...

So. So. So. Good.

We spend a lot of our summer days at the pool, which tuckers us all out. This nap was taken after a long day of swimming. Mason is getting so good at swimming! He doesn't use any floaties at all and can jump off the deep end and swim underwater! Carter wears his little life vest and jumps off and swims all over. They are definitely little fish, which they don't get from me! But it has been wonderful having a pool so close to home (about a 30 second walk:)

In other updated news... the picture above was taken a while ago... before our binky trip to the Disney Store. And there has been no looking back. Carter has never once had a meltdown over losing his binkies. He still proudly exclaims "Binkies are for babies!"

Also, those cute litle boy briefs are on Carter 24/7 now. I thought he would be in pull-ups at night for years, but he is already 100% potty trained, even at night. I can't remember the last time he had an accident or woke up wet. He has done wonderfully and I couldn't be more proud of our big boy!

Mason just finished up summer preschool and loved every minute of it. He is already counting down the days until fall Pre-K starts... and of course his "5 birthday" which is just around the corner. Can't believe my kids are growing up so fast!

I wish I could show the time this picture was taken. Carter has slowly been trying to give up his naps. Only, most of the time he can't make it all day and he falls asleep either for a very late nap then stays up super late or he goes to bed really early. This particular morning Carter had skipped his nap and fell asleep at 7. So, at 3:15 am he was awake and ready for the day! (Great after I stayed up at read HP 7 until midnight!) After numerous times of trying to get him to go back to sleep he told me he wanted a snack and a "goo-wa" (his word for anything liquid), and the "witch show" (Hocus Pocus... his new favorite movie of the week). I put it on for him and passed out. Zach took this picture before going to work at 5 am. Carter was still awake! He watched the whole movie and then woke me up by clapping "Yay!" as the ending credits rolled. He then looked at me and asked "Again?"

The boys definitely have Zach and I exhausted at times, frustrated at times, but laughing a lot of the time. Now off to the pool...

Vegas Getaway

2011-07-17T16:36:00.001-07:00

Zach and I headed to Vegas last weekend for his graduation trip. A HUGE thank you to Aunt Ashley for taking time off work and coming down to stay with the boys. They had a great time with her and she was absolutely wonderful with them!! Thanks so much Ashley!!!

We stayed at the Signature by MGM Grand and it did not disappoint! We had a suite on the 29th floor and it was behind the MGM so we weren't directly on the strip so it was a bit quieter and we were closer to the pools. They have a huge lazy river that Zach and I spent several hours at. The water was perfect on the hot 100 degree day and it was fun to float around and people watch. There is such a diverse mix of people in Vegas!

Our Room:

We had our own little kitchen so we could save money on breakfast and made some oatmeal:)

All ready for our first night out.

We went to a restaurant called Yolos in Planet Hollywood that had some very tasty tacos and chips and salsa.

After going to a show we tested our luck at the slots... Zach 10x his money at this Kenny Rodgers slot, but then lost it all!

Waiting for the Bellagio fountains to start.

The fountain was really pretty, but the music choice awful.

Ready for night two. Unfortunately I stupidly wore the most unomfortable heals that gave me blisters almost immediately so we ended the night early.

We went to dinner at Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's restaurant in Caesar's Palace). Zach got the salmon.

I got the pork tenderloin and sweet potato tamale.

Enjoying our very pricy dinner.

Found our favorite way to lose money... black jack! It was a lot more fun than the random slots, but we didn't have much luck with this either. We didn't gamble much but we lost more than we won.

Fountain at Caesar's Palace.

Big fish tank in Caesar's Palace.

We almost got some of this gelato... it looked so good! But we were so stuffed from dinner.

Before heading home we decided to stop by the "famous" hot dog stand, Pinks. Zach got a chilly cheese dog and...

I got the Kim K. dog (a BLT sausage dog). The hot dogs were just okay, but the onion rings were the best ones I have ever had!

Heading back on our 4-hour drive back home.

We had a great time overall... but next time I will definitely pack more comfortable shoes, head straight to black jack and skip the other slots, and pass on the drinks by the pool that cost us a whopping $40 for 2 frozen strawberry drinks that were so syrupy we didn't even finish them. :)

Buh-bye Binky!!

2011-07-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

Carter has been as attached to his binkies as he is to his teddy... He always has a binky with him (or more). He won't leave the house without one or sleep without one and I have been dreading the day we had to figure out how to get him to give up the binky. We decided that rather than having his binkies just disappear at night from the binky fairy or sewing them up inside a Build-a-bear, we knew Carter had to watch his binkies go away so we headed to the Disney Store. We told him he could pick out any toy in the store and then the lady would let him keep it if he gave her his binkies. He saw this "doggie" and it was love at first sight! He readily gave over his binkies (which is such a huge deal for him!) to the "lady" and she made such a big deal about it. She even made him a certificate for "No more binkies!" He kept saying over and over "Binkies for babies, huh?" all day, but we still worried about bedtime and were prepared for a meltdown. Well... the meltdown never came!! He went to bed perfectly with NO binky!

SO proud of my Big Boy!

P.S. I will post our vegas trip pics soon!

Lake Skinner Splash Pad

2011-07-08T22:03:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Mason's best friend Tyler had his 5th birthday party at Lake Skinner's Splash Pad. The kids had a ton of fun (and adults did too)!

Happy Birthday Ty!!

San Diego County Fair

2011-07-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

The fair came to town! The San Diego County fair is so much different from the Farmington Festival Days that I remember from my childhood... it is a lot bigger and so expensive! But the kids had a fun time.

Carter wasn't tall enough to go on most rides, so we were Mason's cheerleaders for most rides.

Throwing darts.

Won a frog at darts (Zach won one for Carter too).

Flying!

Mason went on this giant slide all by himself and loved it!

Seriously... this sign is no joke. These were really items on the menu at the fair. They seriously take a stick of butter, dredge in flour, and deep fry!! You can get it with the bacon in what they call a "Coronary Combo." Seriously! I am surprized we didn't see anyone drop from a heart attack while we were there.

Goats all ready for aerobics, lol.

Real life "Llami-Tami" like Mason's stuffed animal llama.

Beat after a long day.

Blueberry Picking

2011-07-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying every minute of this summer. One fun activity is going to our local blueberry farm where we get to pick our own berries which is fun for the boys and the berries are the best tasting ones you can find anywhere!

We had the bucket gone in 2 days:)

College Grad!

2011-06-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Zach graduated college last week!! He has worked SOOO hard on this (specially since he has been a student, full-time active duty marine, husband, and father all at the same time) and is so relieved to be done! I couldn't be prouder of him!

He got his Bachelor of Science in Technical Management with an emphasis in Computer Engineering Technology and graduated Summa Cum Laude!!! (For those who don't know that means he graduated with the highest honors possible with a 3.92 GPA!)

His name on the program with 3 stars for his highest honors!

Mason posing with the graduation dog he picked out for his daddy (whom he named "Zachary Abel Dog")

Zach's parents rode their motorcycle down for the week and stayed for his graduation ceremony. They helped a lot with the boys and luckily Carter slept most of the ceremony (which was SOOO long btw). There were over 500 graduates since they decided to combine all degrees. Top that off with the multiple speakers and it lasted over 4 hours!

Our family.

Zach's proud parents!

At the end of the long graduation ceremony we were all hot and starving!

After the ceremony we grabbed lunch and Zach's parents had to immediately get on the road back to Utah. They rode their bike all the way down and back.

Carter was not happy saying good-bye to his "Ga-ga" and "Bucca."

On the drive home. His ceremony was in Pasadena and included all graduates from the greater Los Angeles area... thus the 500+ grads. It was a long day, but worth it to watch Zach graduate after he has worked so hard! It will be nice to have our daddy back on the evenings and weekends with no more homework days!! :)

Proud of you Zach!!!

Getting his diploma:

(The "woo-woos" are coming from a very proud Mason:)

Preschool

2011-06-17T15:26:00.001-07:00

The end of the school year has brought a lot of fun activities with Mason's preschool. He has loved his preschool teachers and class so much and he is already awaiting for summer school to start in July.

A few weeks ago his entire preschool went to a local dairy farm. The kids got to go through the entire process of milking cows, also got to see so many cows (including very cute baby cows) and then finished off the tour with fresh chocolate milk and cookies. I forgot my camera (bummer!) but snagged a few pics from my friend Kelly:

These are the pumps for the cow milk.

Mason and his best bud Tyler.

Then, the last day of school was a carnival at the park. It was really cute and the kids had a great time!

Waiting in line for tickets.

The boys got such a kick out of this mirror!

(For those who have heard about Mason's "girlfriend" McKenzie... that is her in the blue. She is such a cute girl!)

Showing off his new tat.

Balloon hats and game medals with Ty.

Then, they had the end of the year program and graduation for the pre-K kids. It was the cutest program ever! They did an ocean theme. Keeping true to me I brought a video camera with a dead battery... but I did have my regular camera and Kelly video taped everything... so once I steal a copy of her video I will post video of the program. It was really so cute!

Before the show.

Mason had a line: "I see a yellow fish hiding from me." He had it memorized for weeks, but nerves got the best of him and he froze a little then said each word sooo slowly. But, he did a great job considering it was his first time in front of a big group.

Lol. Mason kept yawning during the program. He had rested all day so I know he was not tired. I am thinking it was a forced yawn to distract from his nerves.

They sang a song with the days of the week.

The kids also sang Baby Beluga... so adorable!

Saying the pledge of allegiance. They learn so much from Miss Peggy and Miss Ashley.

They did a "Crazy Color Creature" song. Mason was purple... his OLD favorite color. It has been purple for years and just this week he switched his favorite to red.

He got a certificate for completing school. He is going back in the fall to the same preschool but for the Pre-K class.

Him with his buddy Tyler. Ty graduated preschool and is starting kindergarten in the fall. I know it will be really hard on Mason, but at least they get to do summer school together.

Family pic... wish I could crop in on Zach and Mason, not the best pic of me or Carter, but only family shot we got... until I raid Kelly's camera that is:)

A Mommy-Mason-Carter Date

2011-06-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

This June Edwards Cinemas is having $1 movie days so I decided to take the boys. This is great for us because even though they are showing old movies compared to a regular child's ticket at $9.50 and adult ticket at $11.75... we jumped on the chance at a $1 movie!

Carter lounging in his "baby chair" that we got from my mom before getting ready.

Mason put on Carter's shorts and thought it was so funny he insisted I take a picture before he changed.

At the movie. We saw The Tale of Despereaux, a family favorite. The boys were so distracted by the previews to actually look at the camera.

Mommy and Mase.

Mommy and Carter.

The 3 of us waiting for the movie to start.

Carter was too small to hold the seat down but he would not let me use my leg to hold it down.

The boys (mostly Mason) can't wait for Cars 2 later this month.

After the movie we went into the mall for some pretzels and a little shopping.

Carter got these cute glasses at the Disney store (along with some Beauty and the Beast figures for prizes for potty training - which, as a side note, is still not progressing. We are on the go way too much so he ends up in pull-ups most the time, which are basically just glorified diapers. He goes on the potty about 10 times a day, but he also has accidents multiple times a day. He's getting there though.)

We had a lot of fun on our Mommy-Mason-Carter date and with the $1 movies every Tue-Thurs in June I think we may make this a weekly trip this month.

Potty Training

2011-06-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

As much as I tried to postpone this, potty training time for Carter started this weekend. He has been asking to go potty on the toilet a lot over the past month, and has been asking for big boy "underwear!" We told him that if he stayed in his new big boy bunkbed all night for a week he could get underwear, and he had no problems at all adjusting to the big boy bed... so underwear and potty training were the next step. He wants to be like his big brother so much, which with potty training has proved to help a bit since he can watch Mason go to the bathroom and then copy him. My boys are so different in pretty much every way, as has been the case with potty training. Mason was terrified of the toilet! I did not want to get a baby toilet for my boys since then I would have to train them on a baby potty then again on a regular toilet. But Mason was so terrified of falling in the water that we did get him a toddler seat to go on top, then he had to sit backwards on the toilet (and still does) so that he didn't pee on the floor. Just getting him comfortable to sit on it took about a month... then he would tense up and not go and had so many accidents. Carter has had no fear wtih the toilet from the beginning. I decided to spare a pic of him sitting on the toilet, but he hops right up facing forward and holds on and has no problem with it. He does have a hard time relaxing when he goes though... he pushes so hard to pee that his face turns all red.

He looks pretty darn cute in his underwear... and of course Mason wanted to get in on the picture.

Bum Shot:)

Makes the "big boy" image a bit hard to imagine when he refuses to give up his lovey "teddy" or his binkies. The binky fairy is coming right after potty training!

We printed off this potty chart online and Carter has loved putting stickers on it (and getting a candy too). This is after 2 days. He had 3 accidents the first day and 3 the second day (one of them being on me and one being on Zach while we were holding him). But, he has also woken up soaked after naps and bedtime (including a poopy diaper this morning). Mason woke up dry every night even before he was a year old... but I can't recall Carter EVER waking up dry. While Mason had no need for Pull-ups, I have the feeling Carter will be in them when he sleeps for a while. We are off to a pretty good start I'd say. If I can just get him to relax a bit and not push so hard... I think he will catch on pretty quick. Which I am crossing my fingers is the case, because this is never a fun phase to be in!

King Palm Avenue

2011-05-27T13:49:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is an indoor tour of our new home. It is smaller, but so far we are really happy here. We realized that we didn't need all the space we had at our last home as long as we are organized and utilize the space we do have properly. We feel so much more organized now and hope things can stay that way! Welcome to our home...

Master.

Better view of the bedding I finally settled on. It is no WE or Anthro, but I like it.

Hallway at top of stairs leading to the master.

Cute desk we got for the boys and new bookshelf in office.

Desk... It always looks cluttered like this:)

Boys Room. They were so excited to get a bunkbed and so far love sharing a room.

"Mr. Bear Claws" as Mason named him, or "Bear Cot" as Carter calls him.

Small but functional kitchen.

Dining Room.

Family Room.

Other view of family room.

The best thing about our new house is that we are saving so much money living here I got to cut back my work-from-home MT hours to 2 or less a day. My stress is SO much less and I feel like I am a better mom during the day and I can actually stay up in the evenings with Zach. So we are really happy with the decision to downsize.

A New House and Bedding Woes

2011-05-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

We're moving on down to the West side... (Is that something to advertise? Lol) ...Okay, we already moved from our big house on the "east side" of town and we downsized to this townhome last week.

While cutting our square footage in HALF has been somewhat of a challenge storage-wise, we are really happy with our decision (even the location is better!). We decided to downsize for several reasons: 1) Save money, 2) Purge and simplify our home, and 3) We knew we needed to sell our home this year and with the unpredictable market right now we didn't know how long that would be so we decided better sooner rather than being held down by the house, so we are renting this place for the rest of the year. I will post an interior tour once we get fully settled... almost there:)

Now I want to thank a few people... Glory and Jason for dropping their Saturday plans to help us move (even though I am pretty sure they do not read our blog... you really saved us and we are very appreciative of you both!) Also, we could seriously not have moved without Mom and Dad Denning. They dropped their plans and flew down to help us! We put Joe's years of UPS truck driving experience to good use with the moving van and they seriously helped so much both with the move and with watching our kids while we started to get settled. We got more done the first few days they were here helping with the kids than the rest of the week combined! They were here when everyone else was too busy with their own lives or just flaked out last second (like the guy we were going to PAY from craigslist... serves us right I suppose.) Don't know what we would do without you and we can't thank you enough!!

So, with a new house comes new things. We sold most our house on craigslist and have been pretty successful getting all the new things that we wanted except for one thing... a new bedspread. Our old room was blue and brown, a combo that I love but I was ready for a change. So, when an offer came in from someone to buy our old bedspread (someone buying nursery furniture walked past our bedroom and loved it) I said SOLD and have been searching...and searching...and searching unsuccessfully to find new bedding that 1) I love and 2) doesn't break the bank. Our new bedroom walls are a light green so that has been a challenge. Also, I am really trying to find something around the $100 mark, so another big challenge. I have been to Costco, Target, Walmart, K-Mart, IKEA, Anna's Linens, TJMaxx, Marshalls, 2 Rosses, Home Goods, Burlington Coat Factory, Steinmart, and Kohls and have come home empty handed. I did find some I loved at Kohl's, but even with the 50% off sale they were having (is it just me or is Kohls always having a sale??) they were well over $100. If someone knows of a magnificent bedspread at a low cost PLEASE tell me about it:) If I had infinite money I would love one of these to show what I am looking for:

This rosette beauty from Anthropologie,

OR...

This lovely set from West Elm.

Love them both and love gray. Everything cheap I find that is gray is usually mixed with black or just WAY to masculine. I am not set on only gray, it is just my first choice. I want something big and fluffy or with texture somehow. No busy patterns and has to match with my light green walls. This has been sooo much more difficult than I ever thought.

Next, I have been without a camera all week... so here is one from right before we moved for those grandparents who want a Mason fix:)

Rockin' Band! (That is what he calls himself, haha.)

Now... back to more unpacking.

A Southern Easter and My New Baby

2011-04-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

We spent our Easter in South Carolina this year. My mom flew us all out and we had a great time. We lounged by the pool, tried fried green tomatoes and fried okra (both very tasty!), and just enjoyed the company. Thanks again Mom! (All pictures were taken by my mom or with her camera.)

The pool was freezing, but the boys loved it!

Zach testing my trust... lucky for him he did not drop me!

Mmm... cupcakes!

Coloring... love the marker on his face.

Tuckered out after a long day of playing.

Carter found some lotion and put a huge glob in his hair. He kept saying "Baby Hair!" It was so funny.

Easter egg hunt on easter morning. My mom really went all out!

My mom made these cute bunny cupcakes... Zach helped with the grass:)

Another pool day! Carter wanted to jump to my mom about 100 times.

My 3 favorite boys.

I was happy to lounge by the pool, soak my feet, and watch the boys, but Zach thought it would be funny to run up from behind, grab me, and jump in the pool. He let my mom in on the joke so she had her camera ready. It was SO cold! But at least I was in a swimsuit.

Carter kept telling Zach to throw me in again. His 2-year-old language is so cute, I am just loving this phase!!

Zach wanted to soak me.

He succeeded!

Mason playing "rockin' band" with my brother Jeff. This is Jeff's first appearance on my blog... as it has been 4 years since I have seen him. He looks so much like my brother Spencer, but really only his left profile. Mason and Carter loved their uncle and it was great to get to know him better.

We went to a park downtown and my mom took some great pictures.

Had to show an outtake so you know how the photo shoot really went. Most pictures were like this and we only got a few decent ones. Why do kids make picture taking so difficult?!

My mom is a great professional photographer, so even though Carter's "cheese" looks very forced... it is almost funny... we did get a cute family shot in the midst of all the bad ones.

Watching the ducks. Love my boys.

Greenville is so pretty. We spent a few days walking arond downtown, seeing all the cool shops and restaurants and walking through the beautiful parks. Zach leaned Carter over to touch this fountain and he snuck a sip of water!

I had to include this pic for Bucca (Joe). I know you always laugh at how wide Carter opens his mouth to eat. Lol:)

More time with Uncle Jeff.

Me with my sister Kailee and brother Jeff. Kailee was sooo sick and we had all just woken up and I am kicking myself for not getting a good picture when we were all feeling well and actually ready for the day, but at least we got a picture.

Now on to the second part of the post title... My New Baby. I got a road bike! My mom is a triathlete and I have always wanted to do something like Zach and his dad run races, but I have never taken a swim lesson in my life and my knees are shot for running... so I splurged and got a bike! (And side note, I had NO idea how much it costs to get into riding, oh my goodness!) My mom helped me a lot with so much gear and a great discount hook-up and Zach was so supportive, although I am sure he had a major choke at the price. Thanks so much to both of you! I have taken spin classes off and on for over a year, but this was definitely a spontaneous decision, but I am so excited! I already love my bike and am itching to get back on and learn to ride then train for a race. I went on my first ride in SC and my mom will ship my bike out to me once we move next week. Here are pictures of my new baby:)

Stylish Blog Award

2011-04-08T16:00:00.001-07:00

My friend Rachel tagged me for a Stylish Blog Award... Thanks Rach! I love reading your blog. Sorry it has taken me so long but I am finally getting around to your "tag..."

First off... The Rules of the Tag:

1. Thank the person who tagged you.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself.

3. Tag 7 blogging buddies this "Stylish Blog Award."

1. I have become addicted to design blogs. I have a list of favorites that is growing by the day. I have become a faithful follower of multiple blogs. Some of my favorites are: www.housetweaking.com, www.younghouselove.com, and www.thenester.com.

2. I honestly do not know if I could go without my DVR. When my TV is on during the day it is either on Disney Jr., Nick Jr., or PBS Kids. I rely on my DVR to record all my favorite TV shows. I admit that I probably watch too much TV, but it is a great stress reliever. I think I have a DVR show record nearly every day. My never-miss-an-episode favorites are: Survivor, Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars (my guilty pleasure:), The Office, How I Met Your Mother, America's Next Great Restaurant, and many shows on HGTV, among others. (Side note: Anyone else addicted to Survivor? My like of Boston Rob dropped dramatically this week after he turned his back once again on my boy crush Matt...Not sure if my crush of this long haired blond boy is steming from my old rooted crush of Taylor Hanson or not, but either way his face is worth tuning in each week. I am routing for him to win, hands down.)

3. My friend Kelly has really turned me onto shopping. Which is great in a way because I really love shopping now. Most people who really know me (zach, my dad, grandma, and some friends) had long ago given up shopping with me. I hated it, never knew what to get, am the biggest cheap-o in the world, and I often left the mall after spending hours browsing ornery and empty-handed. Now it is a struggle to NOT come home with more than I should have. My favs: New York & Company, Forever 21 (for certain things), Charlotte Russe (for a good deal), and Ann Taylor Loft (even though I can only afford the clearance section... I love this store!)

4. I am obsessed with the colors gray and teal... for anything.

5. I love Scentsy! After years and years of burning candles around the house I finally discovered scentsy. I had heard of it before but never wanted to spend that much money when I could buy a candle at Walmart for less than 5 bucks. I splurged and bought a Taro plug-in and then my friend Kelly got me the one pictured below. I am now addicted. My most recent purchase was the Hampton full size. My favorite smell is Spiced Grapefruit and I am just a little depressed that the Scentsy people decided to discontinue that scent. I picked up a few new ones for spring, so hopefully I find a new love and will cross my fingers for a return of my beloved Spiced Grapefruit next fall.

6. Good make-up DOES make a difference. I have always been very minimalist when it comes to wearing make-up. If I ever did buy make-up it was whatever I could find at the grocery store. After being nudged by a few different people I started venturing into Sephora stores and visiting make-up counters in Macys. I am still fairly new to the whole "good" make-up, so suggestions are always appreciated, but I have found a few items that I love so much I want to share... M.A.C. Trace Gold blush and cream white eyeshadow, Sephora cream dark brown eyeliner, and my free gift with purchase... Clinique lipstick with plump and shine gloss. But the minimalist in me rarely wears lipstick but I put on the new Neutrogena Naturals chapstick several times a day.

7. Lastly, I thought I would leave you with a big pet peeve of mine. I can't stand it when people drive under the speed limit by more than 5 miles under. I know it is better to go slow than fast but it is so annoying when I get stuck behind someone who drives super slow. There is a road on the way to my house with a speed limit of 50. Since neighborhoods branch off all down this road I think people must think the speed limit is only 35 because at least once a week I get stuck behind someone not even hitting 40 on this road. Arg, drives me nuts.

Now for the hard part... tagging 7 people. I'll be honest, there are some blogs that I "stalk" more than others... but since I don't want to make anyone feel left out or tag people who would rather be left out... How about I tag anyone who reads my blog who WANTS to do this... sound good?

My baby is 2

2011-03-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Where did the time go? I still remember the day Carter was born like it was yesterday, 03/30/09: His first year flew by and we were celebrating his first birthday before I knew it:

Now all of the sudden he is 2??! It just seems crazy to me. I guess I have always pictured him as my "baby" so I have failed to let it sink in that he is turning into a big boy. Carter on his 2nd Birthday:

Ok, so this picture was actually on Carter's birthday eve... but I had to post the sweetness of brotherly love. This picture was not staged whatsoever. I was swapping out some laundry before naptime books and found the boys like this. Even cuter was listening to Mason read the book. It was so precious!

We had a really low-key birthday for Carter this year starting with pizza for dinner (his favorite). Not sure why the face in this picture, just thought it was funny, lol.

Having a blast with his balloon delivery! Carter got spoiled by all of his grandparents. Thanks to you all!

Love the faces... he was pretty excited to open presents.

Mason was quick to volunteer to help Carter play with his new toys.

Carter and Mason mix up the faces of the pets and Mr. potato head and laugh like it is the funniest thing they have ever seen. So cute!

Blowing out candles on his Winnie the Pooh cupcakes... Carter saw the candles and wrappers at the store and wanted to have them.

Carter took bites and closed his eyes with a long "mmmmmm!" The highlight of his birthday was the cake for him. We would ask "Is it your birthday?" and he would reply "Cake!"

Birthday kisses for Daddy and Mommy.

Happy 2nd Birthday Carter! We love you to the moon and back.

Disneyland crazy

2011-03-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

We decided to renew our Disneyland season passes for another year. We have at least another year here in Southern California and who knows if we will get to come back, so might as well take advantage of living so close to Disney! We went to Disneyland on Wednesday March 16. We usually try to go mid week to avoid crowds and thought a Wednesday in the middle of March would be a great time to go. Little did we know many places decided to push spring break up and we have NEVER been to Disneyland when it was more crowded. It was actually miserably crowded. We were there for 5 hours and went on 3 rides... kiddie rides! Seriously. We had a hard time even walking anywhere. We went on 1 ride at Disneyland and after waiting over 45 minutes for a ride that is usually a walk-on (the most we have EVER waited for this ride is 10 minutes)... we decided to start the day at California Adventure instead since it is usually less crowded there than Disneyland.... Wrong! The line just to get inside the park took about half hour! Zach wanted to just leave, but since we had already paid for parking and renewed the passes we decided to try our hardest to make the best of it, for the boys sake. We headed to our favorite ride Toy Story Mania...

Waiting in line.
Serously... this was the line!

Trying to occupy the boys.

So the sign said 70 minute wait... and it ended up being LONGER than that... yes, for one ride! All the signs were like this!

So we thought, lets go to the dorky Bugs Life land that is always near desserted...

But we had plenty of time to squeeze in family pictures while waiting in the long line.

Finally on the ride...

Okay, so we just spent 5 hours and made it onto 3 rides. So not worth it.

Luckily we have season passes and can just come back on a less busy day. I would have been mad to have paid full price for a day pass and gone on that day. Craziness! I guess we have been spoiled to be able to go on days when we can walk on rides and see nearly everything in one day. There was no way we could stand another line... the boys were antsy and Zach and my feet were aching from standing all day. So we decided to chalk it up to a loss and plan another trip after spring/summer breaks are over.

The boys konked out. All that standing really did them in, lol.

We stayed in a hotel in Long Beach since Carter and I were flying to Utah bright and early the next morning and did not want to make the hour drive back and forth twice in week. Since we gave up on Disneyland early in the afternoon we had to get creative on ways to entertain the boys. We set up their own "desk" and let them color on hotel stationary.

After a movie the boys went to bed while I stayed up late to work. When I was done I found no room for me to sleep! It was a long night all in one bed, but sometimes snuggling is nice:)

Lesson learned. Wednesdays in March are apparently a NO-GO for Disneyland. Next trip... September!

a visit to Utah

2011-03-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

My baby brother Alex had a new baby boy on March 11. So, me and Carter decided to fly up to Utah for the weekend to meet the newest addition to the Johns family leaving Zach and Mason home to a daddy son weekend. This is a very long post, but if you think you can make it all the way through the pictures our trip in photos is below:

All ready to take-off. Carter slept the entire flight while I watched HGTV and snacked. We flew Jet Blue on the way there and I would definitely recommend them to anyone!

My Grandma Bohn. Carter loved playing with her!

Joe and Steph got a new "toy." Carter loved to sit on it and pretend to go for a ride.

He loved having the helmet on!

Playing with cousin Austyn.

Kissing new cousin Emerson.

More loving on Emerson.

Daddy Alex with his new baby Emerson.

I just love this little girl to pieces!

Carter trying to copy Austyn's silly face, lol!

Me with baby Emerson. I loved my snuggle time with him!

Carter coloring at a restaurant. About the only time he sat still.

Me and Ami.

Ami with grandkids.

Me and Alex.

Me and Spencer.

Me with both my younger brothers.

I know this picture is poor quality, but Carter LOVED this game he played with my dad!

Carter and Austyn were definitely fighting for Grandpa's attention.

My turn on the motorcycle. Once I got passed my slight anxiety attack with the helmet, the ride was not as scary as I was expecting.

Carter with aunt Ashley and uncle Paul... he loved these two!

Carter wanted to sit up and watch Munga cook dinner.

Cousin PresLee came over for a visit! She wasn't too sure of me or Carter, but she loved her grandparents.

They both kept saying "Mine!"

Uncle Paul got Carter up high!

Kisses for Paul.

Now Ashley's turn for kisses.

Munga love.

Playing at the airport. I won't even mention my really embarrassing airport story, but just know we had some time to kill:)

Carter's new favorite face to make.

Meeting the pilots!

We had such a fun time in Utah and only wished we could 1) Have had Zach and Mason with us and 2) Stayed longer. Leaving family is always hard. I would kidnap my niece Austyn all the time if we lived closer! She is such a doll! And of course, newborn baby cuddles are always great! Carter loved his grandparents and aunts and uncles! Thank you so much to all our family for everything! Hopefully we will make it back to Utah this summer!

Emerson & Austyn

2011-03-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy, busy, busy! With a new job, a house for sale, Zach graduating college at the end of this semester, two busy boys, etc. I have not had time to post much even though we have had so much going on to blog about. We had a recent visit to Disneyland and Carter and I flew to Utah last weekend and had a great time! Long post to come. For now here is a sneak peek at 2 of the cutest kids in the universe! My newborn nephew Emerson and my niece Austyn:

Oh, I just love them to pieces!!! Stay tuned for more pictures of our goings on...soon to come.

A little update

2011-03-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, I have narrowed down a few craft projects I plan to attempt, as soon as time permits, and I have thrown myself into decluttering. It has been hard work, but very cleansing. I kept putting it off thinking we are moving soon and I can start fresh once we do move, but realize that the whole packing process will be a lot easier if we are already organized, albeit only partially. Zach and I purged ourselves of a lot of stuff this weekend and ended up taking 2 full car loads to Goodwill. I kept saving things for a garage sale, but then realized do I really want to spend hours upon hours sorting and pricing things, only to sell only a small portion for a fraction of the value? That is not worth my time. So, I listed a few big items on Craigslist and we donated the rest. Of course, we still have a ways to go to be completely cleansed, but this weekend was a start! (Zach's drawers can close now, so that is a big bonus:)

Now, for the grandparents who come to my blog to hear all about my children. Our boys are growing up so fast! The numerous home showings have been hard on Mason. He hates picking up his toys and driving around so much and he is acting out to get my attention away from cleaning up. His listening skills have seemed to deteriorate lately, but I am trying to remember he is only 4. He continues to say things everyday that amaze me and have Zach and I rolling on the floor laughing with how adult he sometimes sounds, using words like "exasperating" or remembering every detail of everything. He will constantly tell you how much he loves to talk, and it sure is true, he rarely stops talking!

Carter is still such a hard toddler, but he is getting into such a fun and sweet phase... as long as you keep him far away from a store. He HATES store carts and everytime I take him grocery shopping with me I want to run out of the store and burst into tears. Yes, dramatic, but it is a really straining experience. His sleep issues are continuing. He climbs out of his crib and comes out of his room numerous times after putting him down. He wants to stay up late and wake up early. But, he is so sweet sometimes too. He loves giving lots of kisses. He is learning new words every day and is starting to string words together! If you don't know, this is a big deal for us! Carter has been a slow talker. Mason was in full paragraph speech by age two and while I know you should not compare your children to each other, we were worried that Carter had no interest in learning actual words. He is getting the hang of talking and loves to learn. He can point out most body parts too. He is a very picky eater so I have had to resort to PediaSure, since he loves to drink "goo-a" nonstop!

My favorite phrases Carter says are:
Carter: "Where eddy a gigi? (meaning: where is teddy and binkie?)
Me: "I don't know, where are they?"
Carter: "A no know." (meaning: I don't know)

He also loves to stick his foot through the wrungs of our kitchen chairs and say "I tuck, I tuck!" so that I will have to rush over and pretend to help his foot get un-stuck!

And him and Mason love to play ghost. Mason will make a ghost noise and Carter will say: "Ahh, Main a goat! Hite!" (meaning: Ahh, Mason is a ghost, hide!)
Yes, he calls his brother Main, he has graduated from Mae, so now all we need is to teach him the "so" sound. It is adorable!

I love my boys so much! I have been bad with the camera lately, but I promised a picture on this post, so here are my crazy boys this morning in the bath...

I need a hobby...

2011-02-27T18:03:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned in the past, Zach and I are in the process of trying to sell our home. We have been looking for short-term rentals in the meantime for us to live in while Zach finishes up his contract in San Diego. I find that this in-between time is making me so antsy. We can't move yet and we can't do anything with our current house either. I love our home, but I am ready for a change.

I am ready to purge myself of so much of our stuff. I want to declutter, organize, and simplify our home and life. I keep mentioning this huge garage sell I want to have to get rid of pretty much everything in our house and start from scratch, only with a lot less. I am tired of our decor, we have way too much stuff that we never wear/use/play with that is just taking up space. I find myself spending hours and hours online looking at wonderful home decor blogs that decorate simply using lots of baskets and bins, fresh colors, and cute decorative pillows.

Until our home closes, there is not much I can do and I am driving myself (and my husband) crazy. So, I need a hobby to keep me busy. Yes, I know that having 2 kids keeps me very busy enough, not to mention that I just got a new job that I will be starting shortly... but I want something that I can do for me. To destress and get my mind off things I can't control.

I really threw myself into reading after Zach got me the Hunger Games trilogy for Christmas. I love, love, loved those books! They got me in such a reading mood that I have read about 10 books since then. But, then I started a book that was just not for me. I couldn't get into it and have now started a different book, but I just don't have the same oomph for reading that I had. Book burnout maybe?

I used to scrapbook... sparingly. Only problem with that is that I am extremely lacking in the creativity department and I am never happy with what I come up with.

I don't like to cook. That is Zach's hobby. And golf when he can find time in between work, school, and family. But, he has things he loves to do. All I have are wishes and wants and am left with no motivation and end up having my main hobby be TV watching. So... please, to spare my sanity...hobby ideas anyone??

[I'll post pictures with my next post.]

Spring Fever

2011-02-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Spring comes early in Southern California. At the beginning of the month the strawberry stands started opening up, little pink buds started sprouting up on the tree in our backyard, and long afternoon walks are now being taken without a jacket...But spring can't be sunshine all the time, so this past week things have cooled off a bit and been very rainy, reminding us that although we were soaking up every minute of our early spring it is, in fact, still winter. I want to say I can't wait for this 50 degree weather to warm back up like the beginning of February... but then I remember that most of the readers of my blog are in 20 degree weather and blizzards, so my complaining might not be too well received:)

Here are some of our recent "spring-time" happenings...

Zach's grandparents and aunt and uncle spent a week at Disneyland. They stopped off at our house for a night with Zach's little cousin Gabbie. The boys just love her! We, sadly, did not get any pictures of the kids playing and this was the best shot we could get of the cousins. Guess you never can have high expectations for photo shoots of kids, lol. It was so nice to see some family!

On Valentine's Day Zach made mocha cupcakes with espresso buttercream frosting. They were delicious! Like the majority of the things Zach makes. The funny thing with these cupcakes is that Mason only liked the cake part and Carter only liked the frosting part.

Mason made us a Valentine at preschool with this picture his teacher took. He is really loving preschool! We just wish that 1) it cost less money and 2) there were more kids in his class. But he loves it so that is most important.

Dinosaur day at preschool!

Then last weekend we celebrated a birthday with our best friends... It was a carnival theme and so much fun!

Clown Mason.

Clown Carter.

Me with the adorable birthday girl, Hayden, who turned 2!

With me on the job hunt for a more flexible job, Zach taking his last semester of school while working, and having a house for sale that in the last week alone we have had an open house and 3 home showings... things are a little crazy. We are just grateful for walks to check on the blooming roses and warm weather fresh air to help us maintain our sanity, haha. Thanks spring for coming early... even if the rain has overtaken you this past week. That only means even more flowers next week.

Another weekend comes and goes

2011-02-07T14:00:00.001-08:00

Another week and weekend have come and gone. Time seems to fly by lately... Well, not just lately, but with kids in general. Our kids are growing up so fast. This weekend we were a lot more productive than last weekend but we also had plenty of lounge and play time and of course we watched the Superbowl while Zach made delicious hamburger sliders and homemade chocolate raspberry cupcakes. Zach and I are both overwhelmed with how much we love our boys. They are constantly cracking us up, even if they don't mean to. Here are a few pictures from our weekend... nothing too exciting, but cute nonetheless:)

Mason playing dress up. He usually has his Iron Man mask on top of all of this.

We love playing with our kids... we play monster chase with them and Carter loves riding on his daddy's shoulders. He laughs the whole time.

I was cracking up when I saw this and had to take a picture. I subscribe to the LA Times for the coupons... I recycle the rest. Sunday morning I had already taken out the coupons and set the rest of the paper on the table. When Mason got up I got him a bowl of cereal and all on his own he grabbed the paper, found the comics, and then sat down and started reading the paper while he ate his cereal. He is growing up sooo fast. Even funnier is how serious he reads the comics... I don't think he cracked a smile once! And yes, he is dressed up as Batman again. He puts on this suit at least once a day. Lol.

How was Your weekend?

2011-01-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

It seems like every week building up to the weekend Zach and I talk about all the things we have to get done that weekend. We even make a To-Do List on paper most weekends (like we did this week). It seems the To-Do's are never ending and we stress how we are going to prioritize our time to get it all done... But then comes the weekend and more often than not we get absolutely NOTHING done. Okay, this weekend we did go grocery shopping and I finished organizing the boy's clothes since their drawers were filled with clothes they have long since outgrown... but other than that we did not touch anything else on our To-Do list... again. We spent our weekend relaxing on the couch... reading, watching way too much TV and movies, playing toys, playing with Abel, and just enjoying each other. All the while our To-Do list got even longer since our weekend laziness added "Clean House" to our list. Guess we'll just have to wait until NEXT weekend to be productive:)

Mason and Carter playing hide and seek from Zach. Carter always wants to do everything his big brother does.

Zach does like to take the weekend time off to make a fun recipe. This weekend he made a red chili-honey glazed chicken breast with a black bean sauce and jalepeno crema with a side of cilantro pesto mashed potatoes and roasted green beans.

Followed by dessert... Bobby Flay's Throwdown Coconut cake. It is coconut cake with coconut custard filling, and coconut buttercream all covered in toasted coconut. I know it sounds like coconut overload, but it really wasn't. But, I LOVE coconut, so I wouldn't have minded. Other than Bobby Flay liking his buttercream made with 99% butter... the inside of this cake was really tasty!

On a side note... I want to wish my Dad a Very Happy Birthday tomorrow! Love you!

St. George Half Marathon

2011-01-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a weekend in St. George, Utah. Zach and his dad ran the St. George half marathon and Mason got to run a 200 meter race himself. Carter was already up in Utah with Zach's parents so we took the opportunity to stop in Vegas on the drive to have lunch at Mesa Grill... Bobby Flay's restaurant. It was pricey but delicious and we were so glad we decided to stop! Zach even squeezed in a quick slot machine:) I was so upset that I forgot our camera for our weekend! So, these are cell phone quality.

When we got to St. George we stopped by Walmart to grab some items we forgot to pack and Carter slept the whole time...

(The rest of the pictures are all credit to Stephanie... Thanks!)

Sharing a queen bed with 2 adults and 2 kids was not fun... glad to be back in our own beds tonight!

Walking around while Zach and Joe raced.

Sprinting to the finish line.

Immediately after the run.

The 3 racers.

Zach resting after the run.

Daddy and son racers.

Mason and the other kids stretching before their 200 meter run. (Mason is on the right.)

Mason running while Daddy cheered him on.

Mason's shirt was HUGE on him, but he loved it!

Mason crossing the finish line... you can just see his black hat above the gate.

Mason got a medal for running. He was so excited!

Mason told me all about his run afterwards.

They had a great race and we had a fun weekend and also got to meet my blog friend Rachel and her cute family for lunch (Thanks again for meeting us!) Thanks to Zach's parents for not forgetting a camera so that I have some pictures of the race. Now back to warmer weather:)

poor sick baby

2011-01-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

We have not been up to much this weekend because poor little Carter got sick. After he stopped eating and got a fever of just under 104, accompanied by bad bum rash, runny nose, and "croupy" cough we took him to the urgent care where he was indeed diagnosed with croup as well as an ear infection. He has been on the couch all day and not sleeping much all night. He is on round the clock meds, but we are just grateful that he doesn't have something more serious. Doesn't leave much exciting to blog about though.

On a happy note, Zach has had a lot of success lately with some tasty meals! He made homemade fish and chips with his new frier, delicious Bobby Flay lasagna, and the best chicken corn chowder I have ever had... with some new promising recipes coming up this week. If Carter feels better we are headed to St. George this upcoming weekend so next week should have a more eventful blog post coming then.

January Park Day

2011-01-11T16:21:00.000-08:00

First off I want to say that yes I realize that in this post you will find what seems to be an overload of pictures for a regular day at the park... and besides the fact that I think my boys are just so cute in all of them...my main reason for blogging is to keep in touch with family. All the grandparents live in another state and this blog is a way for them (& any one else interested too of course!) to have a peek into our lives, even if that means posting pictures from every minute we were at the park:)

Now to rubbing it in, lol. We have been enjoying mid-60 degree weather this past week which has given us some much needed outdoor time with parks and long walks with Abel after being couped up inside with so much rain lately. Enjoy.

Old Town for the New Year

2011-01-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

Zach's parents and sister and bro-in-law all came down to ring in the new year with us.

Bucca "watching" the boys, haha.

New Years Eve... we played a game and watched a movie with some tasty snacks.

While they were here we went to Old Town in San Diego. We had some tasty street tacos and homemade candy and looked around a bit.

Mason was so excited that the oldest school in San Diego was the Mason Street School.

He loved seeing his name on everything.

Carter knocking on the school door... unfortunately we got there after they closed so we could only look in the windows.

Can you imagine having to abide by these rules? Zach joked that he would be a weekly church goer if he were a teacher. (See #4:)

Grounds by the school.

Paul taking a picture of this really cool tree.

Carter with Aunt Ashley.

Mason was not happy when he realized he was the "grill" (His word for girl.)

Those who know Carter know he is usually WAY too independent to bother holding someone's hand, but he held Uncle Paul's hand the whole way down the street... it was so cute!

Panning for gold at the Mormon batallion museum. We didn't think the boys would enjoy the tour much, so we just skipped to this part.

Right before they left, Munga made "magic potion" with the boys. It was sprite and poprocks...

Carter did not like the popping on his tongue, haha.

Mason loved it though!

Thanks again to everyone for coming. Here's to a great 2011!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

This post is mostly for the grandparents, thus the big load of pictures. Since we decided to stay in California this Christmas we did not get to celebrate the holiday with extended family, so here is a picture recap of our wonderful Christmas. We were SOOOO spoiled this year. A HUGE thank-you to ALL the grandparents who really did WAY too much for us this year. Look below for some pictures of the boys with some presents you sent, including ones from us and Santa:)

Our tree in the middle of the night, after Santa's arrival.

Instead of dreaming of sugar plums, Mason's Christmas Eve dream was about a fly who bit him on the shoulder, which he came and informed us about at 4 a.m. after he heard Santa on the roof and it woke him up, lol.

Sweet baby dreams.

Christmas morning all ready to go down and see what Santa brought. These are the new jammies the boys got to open on Christmas Eve.

Headed down...

They ran straight to their stockings.

You would think we loaded Mason's stocking with a million dollars. He pulled out every tiny item with such excitement. Even his new toothbrushes. He said "A toothbrush! I knew Santa would get me a new one of those!"

Abel sniffing out the rest of the contents of his stocking.

Just imagine a lot of "Whoas!" and "Cool's" and "Holy Baca-moly's!" with every present he opened.

Mason was so excited for this dragon he kissed it about 10 times.

After opening this book Carter immediately climbed up on Zach's lap to read it to him.

Our biggest regret of the day was not video taping Mason opening up his dragon castle from santa. Especially after his reaction to the dragon. He screamed several "Woo-hoos!" at the top of his lungs and ripped the paper off so fast and was jumping up and down and it was hilarious!

Doesn't Carter look so excited for his presents?

He couldn't figure out how to get the pez out... this little boy cracks me up.

Whoa!

Christmas kisses;)

Mason has officially graduated from "Offener" to chef. (Don't ask:)

My new Guess glasses that Zach picked out all by himself!

Zach and his prizes.

Aww, look at that cute doggy face. We love him to pieces.

Carter's favorite gift of the day. He pushes his friends around all over the house in it, including his still favorite Bullseye who is fresh off his haircut from Mason. (This is a whole other story, but I was SO mad when Mason did this! Now, it is hard not to laugh at how goofy Bullseye looks with his mane and tail unevenly chopped off!)

We had a tasty breakfast of crepes filled with sugar, strawberry syrup, or nutella and banana... a Denning family Christmas morning tradition.

After presents and breakfast Carter went down for a nap, I watched my favorite Christmas movie classic "A Miracle on 34th Street", Daddy started cooking our Christmas feast, and Mason played in our newly trashed living room with all his new toys. Any volunteers to help us organize and clean up now?

Then on to the tastiest holiday meal I have ever had! Zach made a very delicious Bobby Flay-esque dinner including an ancho maple glazed turkey with roasted garlic cilantro gravy and a homemade cranberry mango relish. He also made homemade sourdough stuffing, roasted corn cut right off the cob, Rhodes rolls, and I made the fresh greenbeans with crispy bacon.

Our oh-so-heavenly Christmas dessert was another contribution from Bobby Flay... made to perfection by my chef of a hubby. It was a pumpkin bread pudding with spiced carmel apple sauce over vanilla icecream with homemade spiced whipped cream. I am not a bread pudding fan at all, but this was SOOOO good.

We had such a wonderful and relaxing Christmas! (We stayed in pjs all day:) Thank you again to everyone who helped make our Christmas Merry and Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family. Here's to a very happy New Year.

Take your son to work day

2010-12-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

Mason has been begging Zach to take him to work with him for a long time so Zach figured what better day than a half day Christmas party. Mason was so excited to go and had a great time! They did a present exchange and had a big lunch and everyone in Zach's office loved Mason. Mason even begged Zach to get him his own "Daddy work outfit." He was so proud of his very own boy-sized camis and kept bragging about his day. Future Marine maybe??

some Christmas cheer

2010-12-21T10:45:00.001-08:00

Mason and Carter are anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival in a few days. It is a good bargaining tool for good behavior:) In the meantime, we have been busy getting in the Christmas spirit. All our presents have been wrapped and hid away and we even took Mason to pick out several toys for Toys For Tots and we donated to a food drive. Helping others in need helps us to remember the true meaning of the season.

A few visits to Santa have been made...

We bought new stockings and a new tree...

(I know the tree looks a little funny right in front of the fireplace, but we didn't have many options with our furniture and the layout of our room and I was insistent that the tree be in the family room and not the living room, so there you go.)

Mason even baked some Christmas cookies...

And Carter enjoyed them...

We hope everyone is having a very happy holiday season... we sure are!