Ripped in 30!

(Sorry for the immodest picture of old Jillian)

So thanks to my husband for the encouragement as well as my sister-in-law Melodee for introducing me to Miss Jillian's workout videos, I have successfully completed 2 days of Ripped in 30 workouts!  I know most of you are probably rolling your eyes at this point because, lets be honest, 2 days isn't exactly anything to shout about, but for me it has been an accomplishment.  For those of you who know me well you will know that I HATE to exercise.  I have taken a terribly long sabbatical from exercise and it was time to get back on board.  I like workout videos because I can exercise in the comfort of my own home with no one but Emma watching me.  :)  The first time I did the video I thought I was going to die, but at the end she just emphasized how hard we had worked and how good it felt to push yourself to the limit and just "show up" in our lives.  It was what I needed to hear and it was amazing how much easier it was to do again.  So I hope that I can keep it up and get into a better routine, because it makes me feel stronger physically and mentally.  I feel like if I can do something that hard, that I can make it through the rest of the challenges each day.  I just wanted to write these feelings down before I forget and return to my comfortable couch potato ways.  Any encouragement and support would be wonderful.

Vivian's First Birthday

We were lucky enough to get to celebrate Vivian's birthday even though she had been sick the whole week prior.  Heidi came and had made Viv a nice and "healthier" birthday cake, (so sweet of her) and it was a lot of  fun watching her play with it.  She didn't get a whole lot in her mouth, but she had fun all the same.  It was so nice to have my Dad and Dorothy, Heidi and Owen, as well as Daniel, Goldie and Journey there.  We hadn't seen my brother Daniel yet so I was grateful they made the trip to join us.   There is just  never enough time to see everyone as long as we'd like too.  We had cake and ice cream and Viv was able to open her presents. 

This past year has just flown by.  I can't believe our little baby is no longer a baby anymore.  She is definitely gaining her own little personality and is quite the stubborn child.  Our children are so sweet and fun loving, but they are very strong willed.  I think they are supposed to be teaching their mother patience.  Vivian is working on standing by herself, but loves to stick her bum in the air and walk with her legs sticking straight.  I don't know what to compare her too, but it is sure cute.  A bear crawl maybe?  Vivian loves to beg for food.  If we are ever eating anything she has to be in on it as well, and she sure lets you know what she wants. 

Viv says Mom, Dad, and Emma.  She has been experimenting more with different sounds and I can tell that she is understanding more and more that the things around her have names and she has begun to point and babble as if showing me things or asking me what they are.  She loves her bottle, but is very picky about the temperature of her drinks.  She likes everything warm.  She has begun to give kisses. She is a mommy's girl for sure.  She will go with other people, but throws a fit if she sees her mom anywhere close by.  She has the cutest little smile.  She grins with her big gappy tooth grin and scrunches up her nose at the same time.  It just cracks me up.  She also laughs like Ernie from Sesame Street, more like a cackle.  Vivian loves animals and was so excited to be home with Rusty. 

We sure love Vivian and can't wait to watch her grown up into a sweet and kind young girl. 

Utah Trip 2011

So now that we are back in sunny California I have the daunting task of trying to recapture the events of the last couple of weeks. We were dreading the drive to and back, but it wasn't that bad and we were very blessed with safety on our trip. We stayed with the Andals for the first night and then headed up to the Salt Lake Valley for the first week. We were trying to remember all of our favorite parts of the trip and there are just so many. Most of all we just loved the time we were able to spend with family.

Emma playing with Cousins at Aunt Gigi's Retirement Party

We loved having a chance to got the Stadium of Fire and watch "The Beach Boys" perform. I had never been the to Stadium of Fire and so the whole experience was a lot of fun for me. Mike of course was excited to see the Beach Boys perform with Brian Wilson. For as old as they are getting I was so impressed with the show. It was so much fun and they had everyone on their feet dancing along. The fireworks weren't too bad either. Thanks to my sister Jackie for watching the kids for us. We got to spend some time with her cute fam as well. 

On Friday we took a trip on the Trax down to Salt Lake so Emma could see the "Lake" Temple.  She keeps telling us that when she is a mommy she is going to get married in the "Lake" temple because it is HER temple.  When we got there she hardly payed any attention too it.  I think the whole trip was pretty overwhelming, but fun.  It was fun having Melodee and Ann with us as well. 

 Saturday we got together with my family and went to the zoo. It was a little crazy trying to keep us all together, but it was fun, especially to see my mom enjoying herself. It had been upwards of 30 years since she had been to Hogle Zoo, such a shame.

 We had a nice time just visiting, getting manicures, and playing games as a family. Thanks to those who were good sports and came and participated. The next few days were unfortunately some of the worst of our trip. Vivian got sick on Saturday night and was vomiting until Thursday. It got too the point where we couldn't keep anything in her so we took her to the ER and she had to have and I.V.. It was so sad to have to hold her down while they tried to put the IV in multiple times. I was just about to hug the sweet nurse who finally got it to stick after 6 attempts. Oh I just shudder at the thought. I HATE IVs. Poor girl. She was so relieved once they got the needle in that she fell right to sleep and was feeling so much better once she was able to get some fluids. We had to keep her on so nausea medicine for a few days, but she is 100% better now. Now she is just teething again and is so cranky, but at least that is normal. I was grateful that my husband and father were able to give her a blessing and that everything turned out o.k.. Thankfully we didn't spend the whole 4 days stuck in the hanger. A lot of time, but not all of it. It was nice to be able to visit with my mom and dad, and we also were able to get some game playing in with the Fonnesbeck boys and Daniel's family as well as Heidi and Owen and my Dad and Dorothy were able to join us for Vivian's birthday party. (More info to come) The rest of our trip was full of fun with the Sharp side of the family. Marnie and Kory were so kind to let us stay with them even with sick kids and it was so nice to be with family and not quarantined. I had been going stir crazy. Thursday we were able to celebrate Mike's brother Matt's marriage. Since he was married in China we had their reception that night and it turned out very nice.

Photo's from China

 My girls loved playing with their cousins and dancing with mom. Emma also got to help her Dad "decorate" Matt's car. Hopefully she won't get any ideas from him.:) Friday we were supposed to head up the canyon for the Sharp family camp out, but Vivian was still not acting quite herself and Emma threw up right before she and Mike were to leave. It was disappointing not being able to spend more time, but it was the best thing for the girls. Saturday morning we got up and headed up the canyon. It was a beautiful camping spot and I was able to go on a fun yet rain soaked hike with the fam while Mike kindly stayed back while Vivian slept and he and Emma were able to go on a "shorter" hike. We had fun playing games while it rained outside, eating and visiting with each other. We were glad that we didn't ever sleep over because I guess they just had pouring rain every night. I don't think I or my children would have been very happy.