Okay, Okay

I'm way behind on updating this blog already, but I feel bad that I never respond to tags, so here you go, Kelli!

4 jobs that I've had:

Receptionist
Rat and Pigeon Trainer (BYU Psychology Lab)
BYU Scoreboard Grill Cashier/Grease Scrubber
Biology Lab Technician

4 movies I have watched more than once:

The Fog of War
Winged Migration
The Godfather
The Royal Tenenbaums

4 TV shows I watch:

The Office (on netflix - season 4 right now)
Jeopardy
Wheel of Fortune (Connor's favorite, otherwise we wouldn't watch)
Dancing with the Stars (rarely - it's just on at a bad time for me)

4 People who email me regularly:

Ryan (with lots of forwards & fox news links)
Nana and Al
Proposition 8 Lady (Can't wait until that's over with.)
Relief Society Newsletter

4 favorite foods:

Dark Chocolate Almonds
Indian Food
Kebabs from Sultan's (Near Ryan's work)
Tamales (any kind)

4 things I'm looking forward to in the next year:

Ryan finishing level 3 of the CFA (He'll be done!)
Moving into a new rental house (Well, not the moving, but the living there)
Hopefully going on a real family vacation
Elise learning words so she doesn't have to scream and point

4 places I want to visit:

Yellowknife, Northwest Territory (on the shore of Great Slave Lake)
Quebec, again
Ireland
France, again
(I just realized that my list no longer has any warm climates on it - they've lost their appeal since we moved here!)

4 things I love about my husband:

He motivates me to get out and do stuff
He spends time with me and the kids. I'm very needy that way, and he indulges me.
He's always telling me I'm a great wife/mom/whatever, even when it's not necessarily true
I can talk to him for hours about anything (when we're given the chance)

Can't think of anyone else to tag . . . sorry! I'll see if I can convince Ryan.

Pony Rides

It seems like all my posts start with the phrase "last weekend". For some reason, I can't seem to get more caught up than that, but, anyway . . .

Last weekend we went to the pony rides at Griffith Park! I've known about this activity almost ever since we moved to L.A., but never felt that my kids would appreciate it enough to justify the trouble. So, the day finally arrived where we had nothing to do, and didn't have time for anything far away, so we went and checked out the ponies.

It was really strange. They wouldn't let the parents in where the ponies were at all. They just took all these little kids one by one, some as little as Elise, tied them each on a pony, then sent the pony away down a track by itself. (Although my pictures show a guy holding the ponies, most of the ride had no human chaperone.) Every minute or two, one of the teenage boys who staffed the place would chase after a group of ponies with a whip to get them to break into a trot. I think the kids enjoyed the trotting, but all you could see at that distance was a bunch of heads bouncing around. To be honest, the entire place reminded me of those scenes in Pinocchio with the little donkey slaves being sent off to the mines. Those little horses did not seem to enjoy their endless forced baby-packing.

Connor, of course, loved it. Despite my concerns over animal welfare, he thought those were the best three dollars we've ever spent. We did not let Elise try it. She can't handle that kind of separation at this point.

Sadly, being near her parents didn't help her later, when she face-planted off a bench in the park. Her face got scraped up, but it was pretty shallow, and healed a few days later. Here she is showing off the carnage:

That pretty much catches me up, picture-wise. This weekend Ryan went and played paintball with some people from work (I was invited, but it's not really my kind of thing). He didn't take any pictures, though. We also went to the Arcadia mall but, again, not really picture-worthy. Connor decided to put his shorts on his head and his shirt on his legs, and insisted I get the camera. Plus, Portia got stuck on the roof. I'll keep you all posted if any more fascinating things happen here.

Joy School and Oktoberfest

So, I mentioned a month ago that Connor had started doing a preschool program called Joy School. The moms take turns hosting it at their homes each week, and this coming week will be our second time doing it here. So far we like it. Connor loves it. I think it's been really good for us to have more structure in our week, even though class is only (usually) Wednesday and Friday. It gives me some great one-on-one time with Elise, too. The curriculum is wonderful. This month they're doing the Joy of the Earth, so they've been learning about seeds and seasons and litter, that sort of thing. Some of the materials (stories, songs, handouts, etc.) leave alot to be desired, but the kids are three, so cheesy music doesn't bother them a bit. Here are some pics from our fieldtrip to Descanso Gardens:Last Saturday (after listening to General Conference) we went to the Montrose Harvest Festival. I'm not sure why they call it that, since it was actually an Oktoberfest, with polka bands and bratwurst and everything. Of course, anything involving bratwurst is a must-attend for Ryan, so we went despite the bad weather. Yes, that's right. The best part of the day was that it was RAINING! I was so excited! I've been bored to death with the 200 days of cloudless sky we've had to endure this summer. So, anyway, we loaded the kids into the bike trailer, since it's pretty rainproof, and walked bravely out into the storm.

Attendance was quite low, but we had fun. We ate German food, walked around, thought about going on some soggy rides . . . I'm not actually sure what we did that was so fun, now that I think about it, but we did have a great time. Connor enjoyed the live band, and danced to classic rock for about twenty minutes until we had to start heading home. You can see what a pitiful audience these guys had. They probably thought this gig would be their big break, too.Lastly, I have to mention General Conference again. It just seemed really good this session. Not that it's usually lousy or anything, but I particularly enjoyed it this time around. I especially feel like I need to try harder to befriend people I don't know well. That's something that's naturally hard for me, and one of the biggest obstacles to my being able to help others more. Also, I need to be on time to church. There was a talk about making Sacrament meeting more sacred (i.e. don't show up halfway through, as per the current fashion in our house).

Oh, and I'm going to throw out a question here: If we rented a house with a pool, would people come visit us? I'm trying to decide about a place we looked at earlier today. The only problem with it is that it doesn't have a mountain in the backyard (see the "Our Big Backyard" post.) I don't know what my problem is, unless it's just that I desperately don't want to pack a U-Haul again so soon. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

Nana and Al

Well, two weekends ago we were able to have Ryan's grandparents come (indirectly) from Tennessee and spend a few days with us. We haven't hosted many people here at the house, and I was a little worried they wouldn't be comfortable. Things seemed to turn out really well, though!We were able to go out to eat a couple of times, visited the Natural History Museum, looked around at rental houses, and prepared a nice dinner on Sunday. Nana and Al also both took a turn at playing the Wii (they say they're going to buy one when they get back to Tennessee). We hope they had a safe trip on the rest of their vacation, and look forward to seeing them again soon.

Last weekend we did another beach trip, and I took pictures! (Well, sort of. I took them in the parking lot before we went out there.)All of Los Angeles has been over 90 degrees for the past few weeks, but as soon as you get within 5 minutes of the coast it gets foggy and cool. The water temperature is still pretty warm, though, so the advantage is that I don't have to put sunscreen on everyone, and there are way fewer people there. We had a great day. Ryan and I went boogie-boarding again, and Connor even tried it in the shallows -- he can't even swim and his dad is launching him out on the top of a wave . . .hmmm. He loved it, though, and came running and shivering all the way up to our spot to tell me he had "gone swimming!"

During one of the times when Ryan was out in the water, I was able to watch a little 6-year-old boy get his first surfing lesson from his dad's friend. It was beyond cute. It made me really want to get my kids surfing lessons when they're old enough (if we're here that long.) Heck, maybe we'll get surfing lessons for the whole family! Not that it would do me any good - I can barely even boogie-board. I'm learning, though, that as I get older I care much less about looking like an idiot, which makes life alot nicer.

3-Week Recap

So, once again everybody is sick, so I'm going to use that as my excuse for not posting recently. (We just have colds, but no illness is minor to my sweet little girl, who thinks she's dying and wants to take everyone with her.)

We are looking forward to a visit from Nana and Al this weekend, and since they'll be arriving sometime this afternoon I know that if any posting is to be done, I'd better hurry up and do it before I'm too busy again. So . . .
Three weeks ago:

Labor Day Weekend! We drove down to Hermosa Beach to their Arts and Crafts fair. It was basically our substitute for the LA County Fair, which we're skipping this year. (Too big, too hot, too weird - the animal exhibits were sponsored by McDonald's). The Hermosa Beach thing was pretty fun, and since it was coastal, the weather was great.

Two weeks ago:

Santa Monica Beach! I have a policy of no cameras at the beach, so no pics. We did have a great day, though. It was overcast and a little chilly at first, but that meant there were no crowds, so it ended up being good. I went boogie-boarding for the first time this year and had a blast, even though Ryan got stuck comforting Elise, who really wanted to be with me. She loved the water, which surprised me, since we're still trying to convince Connor that it's something worth touching. His passion is the sand, not the surf.

One and a half weeks ago:

Joy School! Connor started his first day of a co-op preschool program we're doing this year. The name makes it sound like a church thing, but it really isn't. It's a do-it-yourself preschool curriculum where a group of moms take turns being teacher. I'll write a more detailed post after next week, when it's my turn to teach for the first time. So far, though, it seems great. You have to pay for the curriculum, but it's definitely worth it, they pack a ton of awesome stuff into every lesson. I'm a little nervous for my turn, since the other moms have done this before with their older kids, but I figure my experience teaching the 3-year-old sunday school (Sunbeams) at church will help a little.
Jane, Connor, Ella the Elephant (floor) & Daniel at Claire's house (Daniel's mom). A fourth little girl named Ruby just joined the group, too!


One week ago:

Camping! We drove up the Angeles Crest highway last Friday evening to go camping for the first time since Connor was tiny. I even bought a $120 new tent for the occasion big enough to hold two adults, two kids, two dogs, and a bunch of stuff.

We had to put the kids on the picnic table to keep them out of the fire. Elise has just learned to smile for the camera.

The night did not exactly go according to plan. Right after sunset Connor fell in a patch of stickers and filled, filled his hands and knees with tiny slivers. I was two minutes from taking him to the emergency room, but Ryan prevailed on me to let him pull them out. So, for about an hour he and Connor sat in the camp chair with a flashlight and tweezers with only partial success. Connor toughed it out, although he refused to use his hands the rest of the night, and made us feed him dinner bite by bite. That night, everyone went to sleep pretty easily, but at about 1am, judging by the moon, Elise decided she wanted to go home. She was not happy with her surroundings and couldn't be comforted. I'm surprised her screams didn't get us kicked out of the campground. Anyway, I ended up taking her outside for a walk in the moonlight (beautiful, by the way!) After what seemed like an hour, we tried the tent again, and this time she went to sleep without much fuss. Oh, but I discovered that Connor had taken over my sleeping bag, so I had nowhere to sleep, but anyway . . .
The next morning - totally refreshed!These are the "poky plants" Connor discovered the night before.

We probably won't take the kids camping again for awhile. Elise is just too little - I think maybe 2 1/2 would be an appropriate age to start taking her again. Despite all the problems, though, we really did have fun! (Well, I did, anyway. You'll have to ask Ryan.) The place was gorgeous, and it was good to be able to say we did it, at least.

Our Big Backyard

So, we've been in this house for about six months now, and we still hate it. The pipes have some kind of stagnant gunk in them that makes the water smell, all the doorframes are skewed so that the doors don't close properly, it's infested with rats (the garage, anyway), mice, coyotes, black widows, wolf spiders, squirrels (I consider them an infestation), and hornets. All the decor is circa 1972, and nothing has been repaired or maintained since about then.

This is what we were telling Grandma Cloe about. This is just one of three yellowjacket traps we have hanging near the house. This one has been up for about a week.

One of our coyote neighbors. Apparently there are mountain lions around here, too, although they supposedly never come this far down.

One may wonder, in the face of so much whining, "Why don't you just move?" We could. There are other rental houses in our area, most of which have nicer interiors for the same price. The problem is some combination of laziness and our infatuation with the yard. Even though it's overgrown and has no lawn, it's beautiful. It's up near the mountains, surrounded by trees, totally private for the kids. It's like our own world up here. Kind of like our Silverlake place, but with a much better view. We've gotten way too attached to nature and privacy to be living in Los Angeles, and this rental is the result. For what we can afford, something has to give, and that something is the actual residence, I guess!

We've been able to go hiking quite a bit in those hills - not as much as we claimed we would, though . . .

Big Trees!

Elise's new water toy. Connor thinks it's his, of course.

Body Worlds, and Springville Trip - Part 2

Sorry it takes me so long to post anything. I've been trying to catch up on the chores I left behind when we were out of town. For example, you'll all be glad to hear that yesterday we switched our famously bad phone service to a different carrier (from ViaTalk to Vonage), so I'm hoping we'll be able to make more than 60 seconds of phone calls without things being dropped (It starts in about a week, but the number stays the same). Also, we had to spend an hour Monday night watching Deal or No Deal as we searched (in vain) for ourselves. Those lame cameramen seem to think that people want to look at Howie or the models or something. You could see us a couple of times, but we definitely didn't pick the right seats for achieving fame.

Also, last night Ryan and I went to the California Science Center down at USC and saw the Body Worlds exhibit (no, we didn't take the kids!) We'd been meaning to go all summer, but only now (one week before it leaves) did we make time for it. It was amazing. It was like the first time I dissected something in school, where you suddenly realize how everything fits together and how fragile everything inside us really is. It was strangely spiritual, too, although not in the way I expected. Alot of people speak of the complexity of the universe or of the human body as a testimony to them of the existence of a Creator. This is true, but for me it was more the experience of looking at all these organs and systems in their frozen state, then glancing over and looking at my husband as he commented on what he was thinking. Him, as a mind, a personality, a soul, versus the physical equipment of our bodies. It was a contrast that made me really see that there is more to us than our mortal existence.

Anyway, it was really cool.

In addition, our trip to Utah did not end with us going swimming! We hung out with the family, went shopping, and ate really fattening food (mom's front-loading washer somehow shrunk all my clothes, darn it!) Here's Kelli making beautiful but deadly Oreo Bon-Bons.Ryan flew in for the weekend, and Saturday afternoon we went on a great trip to the Del Mar/Gold Blossom properties. We had a picnic, rode in the back of the truck (while waiting for Vern to return the Rhino), then went exploring all over the land Ryan and I had considered buying. It's awesome land, and we had a ton of fun hiking and riding on it, but if we have any aspirations towards buying a house in LA, however unlikely that possibility may be, it would be stupid to go into debt at this point.

Kyle, Kelli, Ryan, Chuck, Elise, & Mom/Grandma (not pictured: Me, Grammy Cloe, & Connor)

(Stolen photo courtesy of Kelli's blog)

Kevin was able to come see us on Sunday, and again Wednesday afternoon before we left. Here's a video of Elise showing off her new talent for him.

Big thanks to everyone for making us feel so welcome!