Week of August 5th

Monday 6
Lydia awoke with a cold Monday morning.  In the mid-morning my delightful cousin Stephanie and her husband, Lars, and their cutie-pa-tootie son, Roan, came by to see us.  Teresa and Tristan were there too.  We chilled out in the living room cooing at each other's babies and taking pictures then we had a nursing party.  Good times.  Then we went to a restaurant called Scramble'z and had a great time.  Good food and good company.  Can't get much better than that!  Stephanie is so much fun and I had a blast hanging out with her and a hard time saying goodbye.

Teresa and Jeanene, Me and Lydia, Stephanie and Roan

Tristan holding Jeanene, Brent holding Lydia, Lars holding Roan

We got ready for a bbq in the afternoon while babies napped.  We had said bbq that evening.  Our friend's Scott and Colleen came but none of our other friend's we had invited were able to come.  I love Colleen and I was so glad she was able to come.  We had a good time and enjoyed the beautiful weather and mom and dad's beautiful back yard.


Tuesday 7
After naptime we headed up to Santa Clara.  As we pulled up in front of our old house to show Jacob where we lived when he was born he excitedly announced from the back seat that his tooth had fallen out.  It's been wiggly for months and the adult tooth started growing in behind it a few weeks back.  I'm glad it came out so painlessly.  I have a hard time with teeth, I think I was traumatized as a kid and it really grosses me out.

New tooth all ready to go

Brent then dropped the kids and me off at my old work and he went to run errands and visit a game shop.  I had a great time seeing my old co-workers.  Man, I miss them!  I miss working and feeling important and accomplished.  You could even see a few of my touches around the office (like the seating chart I designed).  Much was the same and much had changed.  It's been 5 years since I left.  Crazy.  I feel so at home there and it was good to be back.


After that stop we got our favorite Indian food to go and came home to enjoy it.  That's another thing I miss about CA.  The diversity there means there are more ethnic places to eat.  I have yet to find good Indian cuisine in Oregon.


Mom, Jenny and I went shopping for Back To School clothes for Jacob while Lydia was down for a nap.  Then Brent and I prepared to go out with Ron.  We were able to leave the kids with mom and Jenny which was a real treat.  Ron treated us to Tony Romas, my favorite restaurant for ribs and the place in which I compare all other ribs.  I'd never been there when it was so empty.  It was great.  Then Ron came back to the house and played games with the kids and then us once the kids were in bed.  We had a really nice evening.

Here are some pictures that Jenny took of their adventures with the kids

Snuggle time with grandma

Daniel going down the slide

Slip 'n slide fun!

Lydia loved smiling at her cousin Elisabeth

Ron took this picture after a round of crazy 8's

Wednesday 8
Daniel awoke quite sick today and Lydia wasn't better either.  So Brent and Jacob took off to hang out with the Dixon family while I stayed with the sickies.  My dear friend Angela came down and took me out to lunch.  I simply couldn't be in SJ and NOT see her, so I was so happy when she was able to come down.  I was delighted to meet her daughter Giulia.  We had a great time!  Brent stayed with the kids.  I don't often get to go out sans children.  It was nice to enjoy my meal and play with her kids.

Giulia, Angela and Lydia

Daniel, Xander and Giulia

Holding my baby girl

Best buddies.  Angela and I.

Mom and I did more shopping in the afternoon.  We were able to get everything we were looking for and it was nice to spend time with her.  I am lucky to have such a great mother-in-law.  We out in the evening and tried to have the boys go hot tubing with grandma after dinner but they both couldn't handle it so off to bed they went.  Brent and I went in after all the kids were in bed.  How nice to sit in a hot tub while looking at the stars.  The boys were missing out!

Thursday 9
The day did not go as planned.  Teresa and Tristan arrived in the morning.  I went through clothes for Lydia that I'm borrowing from Jenny.  Then Teresa and I took the clothing bins back to Jenny and said "Hi and Bye" to Chris.  That was the only time during our vacation that I was able to see him.  Crazy.  Then we got some Jack In Box for lunch (they don't have that in Utah).  We had planned to all go swimming but after lunch was over the kids all needed naps and it was too late.  So we relaxed until it was time to take the Freckleton's to the airport.  On my way back from dropping them off Teresa called to say her wallet was at my in laws house.  I got the wallet and Jacob (for carpool lane advantage) and raced back to the airport.  When I got back we got the boys ready then headed over to Jenny's for some pool time (much later than originally planned).  The boys had so much fun!  Their first time in a pool this year.  The water was too cold for Lydia so she hung out with Jenny and I in the hot tub for a while.  Then we raced back to clean up in time for a double date with John and Amanda.  They took us to a super-delicious sandwich place called "Which Wich?".  Oh man, it was so good I was sad when I finished the last bite because there wasn't any more.  What a fun place too.  Then we walked over for some Krispy Kreme.  We hung out and talked and had a lovely evening.  Then we headed back home to put kids to bed and watch the Olympics.  Phew!  What a day.

Pool Party with the Dixon's

Friday 10
We spent the morning racing around and getting ready to leave.  Lydia got a morning nap and we were off around 10:45 am.  We arrived in Fairfield, CA to tour the Jelly Belly factory the same time as a million other people.  It was so crowded.  The line for the tour took over an hour.  The boys handled the wait like champs and we proceeded to see how Jelly Belly's are made.  After the tour we had lunch and then on the road we went.  We had a blessing occur when our gas light came on while we were in the middle of nowhere.  We had 26 miles before our destination (Yreka, CA) and our distance to empty said 5 miles.  I prayed and we turned off the A/C and slowed down to stretch conserve what has we had as much as possible.  The distance to empty warning said 0 for a long time.  We made it to some town outside of Yreka and when we pulled in to the gas station I said a prayer of thanks.  When filling with gas it literally filled the tank.  We must have been driving off of fumes and a prayer!  The relief that we were ok was immense.  I couldn't imagine being stranded out in the 97 degree heat with three little kids.  It would've been a nightmare!


We made it to our hotel in Yreka about 7 and immediate went to the pool.  Oddly, the water was too cold to swim in.  So we went back to our room and got ready for bed.  The boys watched TV until lights out and we all happily went to sleep.  Lydia decided it would be a good night to not sleep though and we had a difficult time with her.  Sheesh.


Saturday 11
We were on the road again around 9:30 and made it home at 4 pm.  The kids did so well.  Jacob complained of a sore bottom much of the time but we all made it through.  Driving with kids is hard but they all did better then I expected.  We spent the evening de-vacationing and had long baths for the kids.  With that our bi-annual California vacation had come to an end.  We had a great time and loved seeing Brent's family.  I even talked of figuring out a way to move back.  But in the end we couldn't figure out how to do it and sighed as we once again resigned ourselves to being family-less in Oregon.  I do love it in the Northwest for multiple reasons, and I'm so glad we have a great ward and good friends.  There is no way I'd make it otherwise.

Sunday 12
Daniel and Lydia were still not well enough to go to church so I stayed home with them.  It was a hot day!  I made a pot roast (having the oven on for 3 hours probably wasn't a good idea) and spent the afternoon resting and updating the kids' journals.  Brent and I have both been stiff and achy since coming home so we put more water in our bed and hoped for some improvement.

Now I get to focus on getting the kids ready for school in a few weeks.