kandace had been feeling sick for a few days so i went back to la to spend some time with her - still not working there yet. that's a story for another post. i brought over sushi and sees candy and miraculously she felt better and was able to go shopping with me all day the next day. i really enjoyed the company and the great conversations we had. for some reason i only took pics of us walking the dogs. what?



when i got home i realized kandace had left her keys in the glove compartment. the post office in town couldn't promise overnight mail since it wasn't in arizona so since it was the weekend we thought we would all go back. we got there late friday night and spent all day at the irvine spectrum center on saturday. we got some more see's candy, ate at cheesecake factory (the new red velvet cheesecake is divine) did a little shopping. old navy was having their grand reopening so they had all kinds of fun stuff there for the kids - cotton candy, popcorn, drinks, candy, all kinds of prizes not to mention a dj. plus all the outerwear was half off so i stocked up. but the best part of the day was ICE SKATING! the boys have never been and i really wanted to take them. jack stayed on the wall most of the time. cade was eager to get out there and try it. he fell several times, but kept telling me he wasn't going to give up. cade wants to go again and is already planing the next trip. jack is done with it.









sunday was the primary presentation and since it's such a small ward both boys were asked to give talks. i was super worried about jack talking in church. we had had so many arguments over the past weeks as to why he couldn't give a talk on star wars (no, i'm not kidding) so after much bribery (i felt we had no other choice) he decided he would give his talk on jesus. he did a wonderful job. cade did great too. he read his talk on temples by himself. this mama could not have been more proud. i was beaming. seriously, jack giving the talk is a major milestone with him.

on wednesday cade had his halloween party at school. jack and i went. i was the only mom there! cade and jack helped me make chocolate lollipops with candy molds the night before to hand out at the party. the boys had fun.

that night we went to the carnival at the school. the boys had a blast. they wanted to play in a jump house first. parents were running all the booths and games. no one kept track of how long the kids were in the jump house so i spent a dollar and cade and jack jumped in there for 30 minutes. best dollar i ever spent. then they played some games, rode on the tractor and rode horses - jacks first time on a horse.
we had popcorn and cotton candy and went home.






on friday cade had a field trip to the high school. the high school kids read them stories, gave them cookies and milk, sangs songs with them and showed them some magic tricks. they also got to pick out a pumpkin and color it. i went with him and again was the only mom there. do moms quit going to stuff in the 1st grade? not like i care b/c i would be there anyway, but just wanderin.

we went to the trunk or treat at the church tonight but before we left we went trick or treating at grandma's house.

both boys fell asleep on the way there. hey, even ninjas get tired sometimes.

Antelope "Hill" Mountain

yes i know you locals call it a "hill," but to us southerners it's a mountain. several weeks ago i put on work out clothes to run on the treadmill and curt told me he was taking the boys on the mountain. i decided to join them and i'm grateful i had workout clothes on b/c it was definitely a work out. i remember climbing it as a kid and it was so easy. not that is wasn't fun i just didn't expect to work so much.
some of my favorite quotes from the outing.....
jack - c'mon guys follow my lead
cade - look i found a clue (while picking up an empty beer can)
jack - mom, your a cute mom

we cross a few sand dunes and the railroad tracks before we get to the mountain. many people ride four wheelers and drink on the sand dunes so there is always an abundance of empty beer cans out there. cade kept picking them up despite me telling him to leave them. this went on the whole way over to the mountain and then on the way back he found a bucket and was able to collect even more beer cans. finally i was so annoyed i said in my best mother voice
me = cade, do you drink beer?
cade - no
me - then why do you keep picking up beer cans?
cade - because i want to recycle them
me - oh.....ok (sheepishly)

on thursday curt told me to pack my bags for 2 days. i was so excited. our 12th anniversary was sat oct. 24th. i didn't know where we were going, but was so excited to be getting out of here for a weekend. even if i knew the boys were coming with us on our anniversary get away i don't think i've ever been more excited about an anniversary trip.
he finally told me we were going to los angeles and my sister kandace would be watching the boys so we could be kidless all day! it was so fun! we got there late friday night and slept in on sat. then we woke up and had lunch outside on the patio at zovs. i had the grilled eggplant sandwich with hummus, roasted red peppers and feta cheese. yum. then we went to my new fav spot to shop and shopped it up and i found the cutest dress for $5.99 which i wore out of the store b/c it was hotter than i expected that day. then we went to a movie and shopped some more and drove around and looked at scenery and then ate at las brisas in laguna beach and walked along the beach. so if you're married and have kids this translates to like 5 dates in one day + free babysitter = holla!!

i've eaten at las brisas before, but have never made it to the coveted table by the window so needless to say i totally felt like the princess i was meant to be. excellent meal and service. i had the grilled skewer of lobster, prawns, fish and vegetables over rice. don't remember the fish. doesn't matter. it was delicioso. curt had the chicken enchilada and steak - good, but not as good as mine. as we made up our minds to not even look at desserts b/c we had 2 pounds of see's candies waiting for us in the car our server walked up and handed us a chocolate mousse. and it was the best chocolate mousse i have ever had. and i do not hand out "bestie" awards so freely so this really means something. and i'm not just saying that b/c it's free, ok.

so after dinner i changed back into my jeans so we could walk along the beach. FANTASTIC scenery.

and once home we got our pjs on and feasted on one of the very special purchases of the day - 1 pound of bordeaux and 1 pound of assorted. that's right. even after the chocolate mousse.

and kandace and ringo were so excited they could hardly contain themselves. ok given aunt kandace was tired seeing as she took the boys to see astroboy, chuck e. cheeses and the park. what an awesome aunt.

on sunday we woke up late and visited with red and andi and kandace some more. the boys ran around the back yard. they LOVE going out the doggy door. they think it's the coolest thing ever. we ate spaghetti and then we took the boys to my newest fav fro yo place. i always get the original (tastes kind of tart like pinkberry) with bananas. the boys got cheesecake and cake batter fro yo and loaded up on the toppings. cade counted for us and there are 41 available toppings including the whip cream. thanks for the accurately detailed report cade.

and jack is still perfecting his picture taking skills

and then we went to a pumpkin patch and the boys played in jumpy houses and picked out a pumpkin.



and then we went home, but not before driving to palm springs to check out an outlet mall. curt's idea. can you believe? i found some awesome deals at juicy. curt and the boys spent their time at nike and found some deals. thanks curt for the awesome surprise weekend and thanks kandace for helping and thanks red and andi for allowing us to come take over your home and for making us feel so welcome.

disney days 5, 6 & 7

we visited all four parks and went back to magic kingdom for a second time on friday. it was really hot on the last day and we were exhausted from the whole week so we only went on a few rides and went back to the condo to get in the pool. the boys loved splash mountain and big thunder railroad mountain roller coasters the best. we rode each of them a few times.
at epcot we saw a lot of cool things, but the best part was getting to see kandace and her boyfriend scott go scuba diving. i tried to get some good pics of them, but the glass made a glare.

showing the excitement of waiting in line


magic kingdom

on the ferry to magic kingdom

mary, jack and beau watching the sea life waiting to see scott and kandace scuba dive

while waiting to see kandace and scott everyone got really bored, but we refused to leave and go back into the heat so we sat there and waited an hour.

jack started taking pictures.

at epcot we visited all the countries. the boys loved china the best because they got these hats. they love watching kung fu movies and loved watching big trouble in little china. in the movie the characters where these hats, because the boys freaked out when they saw them.


jack whining at epcot about taking a picture.

that's all for now. again i waited so long it's one big blur, but we had a total blast. after flying back to los angeles we stayed there a couple more days to hang out. awesome trip. i'm trying to get every single one of the 6,421 pictures i took uploaded on facebook, but this computer is slow so we'll see.

disney days 3 & 4

i should have gotten my thoughts blogged each night we were there b/c now it seems like one big crazy fun blur. but after being at a disney theme park all day the last thing i wanted to do was come home and blog. these pics are from animal kingdom and universal studios - which is called something else now since disney bought it.
we went to a dinner & show one night and it was so much fun. the cast members went around the audience asking where people were from and if they were celebrating a birthday or anniversary. since charlotte was truning one that day my parents arranged for them to bring out a cake. it was so cute and fun.
jeremy.charlotte.haley

jackson

cade.blake

curt.jessica.jackson.cade

tracy.beau.mike.curt.jessica.jackson.cade.blake.mary.riley

scott.kandace.jeremy.charlotte.haley.mom.dad

when we got home charlotte got to dig in.

animal kingdom - of course we got the famous frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and nuts. scott had his first one. we always get one when we go to a disney park.



cade was afraid of some of the roller coasters, but jack LOVED every one of them. he is such a nut.




all the kids with their 3-D glasses at the bug's life show.

my 2 little bugs-


universal studios at the toy story ride.

disney trip days 1 & 2

so we wouldn't have to make the drive in the morning we took cade out of school on friday and went to my aunt andi's and uncle bruce's. we had enough time to hang out so we took the boys to the irvine spectrum center. they rode the carousel, the ferris wheel, the train and made their own cupcakes. i've been waiting to take the boys here for a long time so i was really excited. cade was scared on the ferris wheel, but they enjoyed everything else. they especially loved decorating their cupcake. they got to pick the flavor, color of frosting and also pick from an array of toppings like marshmallows, candy and all different colors of sprinkles





we left early from lax on saturday 10/3. it basically took us all day to get there. (we lost 3 hours) the plane ride was about 4 and a half hours. we met everyone there and went to our condo. everyone was starving so we went to eat at a mexican buffet. we held a family meeting and decided to take tomorrow off and relax. also stock up the fridge and get food for sack lunches and then the next 5 days straight would be disney parks. i voted to have our day off in the middle, but that didn't happen. anyway let me just say that 5 straight days of disney is so tiring, fun, but tiring.