Water fun with Jenny

Now that Jenny and I live a lot closer to each other, we plan to make the most of it- especially this summer.  She's 21 weeks pregnant and I am 17, so we plan to be large and in charge (and uncomfortable) together this summer.  Today the boys and I headed to Jenny's house with all our water gear for some fun in the sun.

The kid's played with various squirt guns...

sprinklers...

bowls of water...

and of course squirted each other from time to time.

I shall title this shot "reflections."  Wah wah.

It was fun.  Always nice to get out of the house for a few hours every day- especially when it's with friends!  Kristi couldn't join us today, but I think we all might meet up Thursday at the cheap theater, or, as Jenny calls it, the sticky floor theater.  I wouldn't expect anything less from a $1.50 theater.  This week's summer matinee movie is The Croods, which is one my kid's like, so I figured I'd be safe taking them to that.  Always fun to figure out how to spend summer days!

Dinosaur Park

For Christmas I got Rowan a day pass to the Dinosaur Park.  It was a Groupon special that got all four of us in for cheap, so before Jon starts his new job and has to work Friday nights and sleep Saturday, I figured we'd better go.  It actually ended up being an awesome day to go.  There was hardly anyone there.  We lucked out and went before the random snow storm later in the day.  

We hadn't take Sawyer since he was a baby, so he was much more interested this time, hence him not looking at the camera.

Luckily Rowan can focus long enough for a picture.

The playground is of course their favorite part of the whole place.

My little dino wranglers!

We had a lot of fun.  The boys love dinosaurs and being outside, so it's the perfect little place to go!

Jessica & kids- photoshoot December 2014

A friend in the ward asked if I would take some family pictures for her, and I gladly obliged.  It's fun for me and overall I enjoy the experience.  I wish I knew more about photography/the camera/lighting/editing so I could really improve, but it's going to have to be added to the to-do list.

She wanted to get a goofy group shot.

All her kiddos.  Navek, Yzabelle, Emerald, and Tristan.  I use to teach Navek in primary.  He's looking so grown-up!  Yzabelle turned 12 and moved on to YW's, but I still have Emerald in activity days.

                I don't love the posing on this group shot of the kids.  They're cute and all, I just think it would look better if the two standing were standing on the ground or kneeling on the haystack, but Yzabelle was not in the greatest of moods so I was just trying to capture what I could while she kind of cooperated. 

So we could get one family shot of everyone smiling Jon did a head swap on Yzabelle (bless him!) in the one on the left.  The one on the right had no head swap options....so we'll just say she's going with the serious look ;-)

The boys and Jessica.  There are a lot more, but these are the only edited ones.

Still a lot to learn and improve on, but I am glad she got a few usable goodies from our little photoshoot.

Sawyer turned 2....4 months ago!

Sawyer had a really low-key 2nd birthday.  I suppose I am milking the easy cheap birthdays while I can.  So we set  up our picture backdrop, made some cupcakes, bought a couple gifts, invited some family, and called it good.  Oh, and I made his annual birthday shirt.

Wade & family came along with g-ma & g-pa Larson.

These pictures sum up how he felt about candles, or rather, the fire on the candles.

But, as the rest of the pictures show, he was quite happy with his "cake" when the sticks of death had been removed.

AND......

HE'S DONE. 

(Especially with me taking a ridiculous amount of pictures....if you didn't get that from the picture on the left.)

And for journal purposes, he got a little wagon and bubble blowing lawnmower from mom and dad.  Grandma and grandpa got him a little tike's car and a sweatshirt.  Grandma Verne, remind me what you sent...this is why I shouldn't wait to blog four months late.

Writing in the hopes that it'll bring sleep.

I've been sleeping really poorly lately.  I think it's because I'm stressed and have a lot on my brain.  Soooo I figure I'd do a brain dump on here and hope that if I get it on paper I can get it off my brain. 

This year has been hard.  Quite the roller coaster of a year.    And just when things were looking up, without fail, something would always happen to knock us back down.  Our saving grace (no pun intended) this year has been our savings.  Luckily every year we take the majority of our tax return and put it into savings.  And boy did we need it this year.  The garage door broke.  The fridge broke.  My car broke.  My car broke again.  And it seems it's going to end on a low note. Jon got a raise...yay.....oh wait, our insurance is going up by $250 a month!  SO much for the raise that doesn't even cover the increase!  Ugh. The car is broken in December, before Christmas, and right before January, which is when we start to pay more for insurance.  Not only is the car broken, but it's at the point where we need to just stop putting money into it.  We need a new car.  We can't afford a new car.  We're still paying off Jon's car.....cause he needed a new car at the end of last year (?).  Pathetic, but seriously, we can't afford two car payments, especially now that our   insurance is going up.  We're already figuring out how to cut costs to cover the stinking insurance.  And I need a car.  I haven't had a car for like a week now, and I am going crazy.  It's just a frustrating situation.  Feeling like you just can't get ahead in life.  Always feeling a financial strain, which just adds to all the other stresses of life.  I feel like every year ends with me saying, "OK, this next year things are going to turnaround.  Things are going to get better."  But here we are, 81/2 years in, and man, there's always something.  I just keep waiting for relief to come.   A break.  I certainly hope 2015 brings that.  I guess it's comforting knowing that each and every year we manage, we make it through.  So if anything, I know somehow someway, we'll get through whatever comes our way.  But man alive, I could sure use an easier year.  Please let 2015 be it!!  (If you are reading this, you're welcome to offer up prayers on our behalf!) 

And in happier news, I am working on birthday posts for the boys....yes, I know their birthdays were 3-4 months ago, but hey, at least I am getting around to it!  So if anyone still reads this blog, I swear I am done with the heavy life spew, and will proceed with regular posting. 

California w/ the sibs: Disneyland & more! (LOTS of pics)

I flew into Long Beach Friday night.  Chris picked me up and we headed to the hotel.  Traci's original flight got delayed or something, so she not only got in super late, but she also had to fly into LAX instead of Orange County.  Scott got in with his family around 11 and we all hit the hay.  We had to be up first thing so that the kids could participate in their run down by the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Scott's kids were the only ones who ended up running in the kid's race, but since Traci had registered her kids, she still got free passes to the aquarium.  After the kid's ran we walked over to the convention center to pick up our race packets.  The expo was awesome.  Chris got a pair of shoes since he didn't have any to run in.  We got lots of free stuff and took lots of pictures. 

By this time we were all starving so we walked to Famous Dave's for lunch (Chili's had a crazy long wait).  After lunch we decided to use our free passes to the aquarium since we were down there.  Scott and Jill weren't running the half so Scott bummed a free pass off a lady we saw at Famous Dave's who had a race packet. 

I am glad I didn't have to pay to get into the aquarium since it was so crowded and it was really hot.  Course I thought of my boys and much they would have liked it.  I took a picture of the whale and sent it to them (Sawyer is digging Finding Nemo big time these days).

That night we carb loaded on pizza and got to bed early.  Sunday the four of us (me, Chris, Traci & Jason) were up early to run (see post).  Everyone else stayed at the hotel to swim and relax until we finished.  After we got back Traci wanted nothing more than a shake and fries from Red Robin.  After stuffing our faces we went to the mall across the street.  We were exhausted and sore so we didn't stay too long.  When we got back to the hotel the kid's swam while we chatted. 

The next day we headed to Disneyland.  Traci had made a reservation to have a yummy buffet breakfast at one of the Disney hotels.  It was really good.  Characters came around.  The kid's loved it.  Then it was time to hit the park.  And boy was I sore.  It was humorous and not.  The park was super busy.  We utilized fast passes so it wasn't too bad.  Scott bought different tickets than us so we didn't see them until later in the day.  Mid afternoon Scott and Jason headed back to switch hotels and let the little kid's rest.  Me, Traci, Sophie, and Isabel stayed.  It was fun to have some girl time. 

Fast passes and the parent/kid pass things were so helpful.  A must have when you have little kids in tow.  There were so many of us that it was hard to stay together all the time, but we still had fun. 

Bread bowls for lunch.  Seating wasn't readily available so we pounced on this table as soon as it became available and crowded around. 

I have no idea how my sister is so tiny.  She loves her sweets and Cheetos...and these chocolates.....and the macaroon white chocolate mountains. 

Day two we headed to California Adventure.  It wasn't as crowded so that was nice. 

Oh Cars Land.  I couldn't stop thinking about my boys and how much they would have loved it.  I really hope we can take them in a couple years.  We'll need time to save and I want Sawyer to be older...potty trained....able to ride most rides, etc. 

I just love Chris.  It had been two years since I last saw him (Sawyer's blessing).  He's an amazing person. 

Sophie was my fat hider for the majority of the trip. 

Kids won all sorts of prizes playing games at California Adventure.

Sophie would tell me where all the cameras were on rides so that I could pose with her.  Here we are on Screamin' with Jason and Chris. 

Pics from the race expo. 

We all signed the banner. 

The superhero area in Disneyland had me so excited to take Rowan in a couple years. 

Pics of Frozen treats for Sawyer. 

On the second day after California Adventure we head back over to Disneyland for Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party.  I made my Olaf costume the night before leaving.  It was super cheap and I am happy with how it turned out.

Traci's family went the Peter Pan route.

And more race expo pics....sorry I am too lazy to put these in order.

The medal we got for finishing.  I think it's my favorite so far.  It was so fun to finally do a half with Traci.  Chris and Traci are already planning to do more in 2015 in the San Diego area.  I wish I could join them but I don't think I'll be able to swing it.  Gets expensive!  I certainly hope I can join them again sometime down the road.  My arms are looking pretty ghetto from donating plasma so I need to ease up on that and find another source of race/vacation income!

 Trying to get his Iron Man stache to stay on.  Pretty sure all the onlookers loved Jason's costume.

 Jill and the girl's looked great in their Alice in Wonderland costumes.  Claire made hers! 

 We all got so much candy.  I would highly recommend going to the Halloween party. 

 Scott loves to dress up.  He takes it very seriously. 

 Scott's family.  The boys went with Star Wars.

And he just couldn't resist getting his picture with the storm troopers. 

It was a crazy long day and by the time we got back to the hotel and I got my bags packed and ready I only had like fours hours until I needed to get up and catch the shuttle to the airport.  It was such a fun trip.  I am so glad I was able to go and spend time with my siblings.  I love them all so much.  I can't wait until we can all be together someday- that hasn't happened since my wedding!