Thursday, September 30, 2010

newport: day three

The next day we went back to Anaheim to go to California Adventure and to finish up a few things at Disneyland.
the bug's life rides are the perfect size for halle
the bell family
Halle was given some money from the grandparents to pick out a toy at Disneyland. All she wanted was a "pretty dress and a crown." She saw other little girls walking around with dresses and crowns on and wanted one for herself. We took her to the bibbidi bobbidi boutique underneath sleeping beauty's castle and let her choose one. No surprise, she chose the sleeping beauty dress and crown (her current favorite princess). She loved riding the rides and walking through sleeping beauty's castle in it. It was the highlight of her trip. Especially when the other people in the park would tell her what a beautiful princess she was. I have said it before, but she makes that park so much more magical.
getting back at her for that whole spinning wheel curse by sticking her finger up maleficent's nose

Thursday, September 23, 2010

and then there were...

four.
we are thrilled to announce we are expecting a baby in april!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

newport: day two

The next morning we took a short drive and ended up in a little place called Disneyland, also known as the happiest place on earth. If it is possible, Halle was even more excited the second time around. She was still mostly in silent awe, but this time she was a Disneyland expert so she knew where everything was and what to do with it. As soon as Sleeping Beauty's castle came into view she was bouncing up and down in her stroller and pointing enthusiastically and yelling "sleeping beauty's castle!" over and over. We did all her favorites and had a few new things to explore and had fun aunts and grandma and grandpa to share it with. She had a great time and Wes and I really love watching her enjoy herself. We were so spoiled to be able to do this again.
she really is excited
told you
dumbo the flying elephant
teacups
the happiest cruise that ever sailed
captain eo
jungle cruise
pixie hollow
since our last trip Halle has discovered the Tinkerbell movies so seeing pixie hollow was high on our priority list this time

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

newport: day one

We sure rolled into Newport, California in style. Eight people including a baby and her large car seat smashed into an SUV that came rolling up to the resort with a flat tire and lots of stuff to unload. A very memorable beginning to start off our trip to California with the Bell's. When we woke up the next morning we wasted no time enjoying the beautiful weather and went to our hotel's gorgeous pool.
And the afternoon found us at Crystal Cove enjoying the beach and the sunshine. I don't remember ever going to a California beach when I was younger. They are different from the beaches I have been to in Hawaii. A little bit colder maybe and more sea junk washing up on the shore, but they have an atmosphere about them that make them fun to be at. Halle loved the ocean and playing in the waves. The rest of the family did some boogie boarding, laying out, shell scavenging, and playing in the sand. It was a beautiful afternoon.

best buds
my favorite
catching waves with mom
warm and snug
boarding
sand, sand, sand
sandy bottoms

Saturday, September 18, 2010

all is well

it was midnight. i had just barely laid my head down on my fluffy white pillow when wes asked me what food he could bring tomorrow. i roll over and say, "what food?" and then he reminds me he needs some canned food to bring to the ernst and young golf tournament tomorrow morning. i get up and raid the pantry, but find relatively little canned things i would eat so i don't feel good about giving to others. i head down to the food storage supply a little creeped out because the basement at night always creeps me out. i walk over to the shelves of food and my foot gets wet. why are the pieces of carpet by my food storage wet? turns out my food storage water supply has slowly been leaking and seeping into our basement floor. i bring wes down and we start hauling the leaking water outside. We unload the food storage shelves so we can move them and pull up the pieces of carpet that are soaking wet. We set up a fan to air out the wet floor for the rest of the night. the whole time we are doing this i am watching wes and thinking it is kind of fun to do some good old fashioned work with him and watch him sweat a little. and then i think to myself, "if i hadn't bought this supply of water we wouldn't be doing this and i could be asleep in my bed." and then i thought, "what kind of a person regrets buying food storage?" answer: a very tired lame one. i got into bed at about one and fifteen minutes later halle was in bed with me too.

wes and i were watching the tv series "lost" in our basement the other night. it was getting pretty late, but we are addicted so we keep going. during a break between shows i asked him if he would go get me a drink of water. he, of course, said yes and left to get me one. and then i thought to myself "it is really nice that i have someone i can ask to go get me a drink of water."

halle has picked up on something i say. the first time she said it i was shocked and sad. when she is excited or upset she says, "oh my gosh!" i have said that for a long time and thought nothing of it, but hearing it come from her sweet mouth it sounds horrible. and the worst part is she got it from me. i felt bad telling her not to say it because i say it, so we are going to learn by example. halle and i are transitioning out of our "oh my gosh!" phases and starting to use "oh my goodness!" sounds so much better.

halle had a sleepover at grandma bell's last night. the day she left i told her she was going to sleep at grandma's house. she said, "i can't sleep at grandma's. i miss mommy so much." cute right? cute, except i taught her to say she would miss me so much when she doesn't really know what that means. she is actually going to have the time of her life eating junk food and getting spoiled. isn't that what happens when you sleep at grandma's house? anyways, i taught her that she would miss me and it seemed to stick because she told me she would. you think i am emotionally stunting her growth? you'll be wishing you had done the same thing when your kids move off to college and mine can't leave their mommy.

it is 8:22 and halle is not here. she didn't wake me up in the middle of the night to go get her. she didn't toss and turn in my bed all night. she didn't wake me up at 7:00 and she didn't say "mommy, get up out of this bed." i am not mixing up some chocolate milk and cereal for the little one like i do every single morning. i feel like there is something i am supposed to be doing, but i can't think of what it is.

and the point of all this is i have someone who takes care of me and i have someone to take care of.
it is a beautiful thing.
the family is a divine institution, perfectly set up, so we can fulfill our human potential and tap into the purest of pure Godly instincts that we all come to this earth with, and that is love.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

park city 2010

We recently ventured to Park City to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa Nimer and Uncle Rynie. We spent the week enjoying cooler weather, playing, studying for the CPA exam for Wes, shopping, golfing for the boys, and much more. Halle had her first experience painting ceramic figures and she was very good. She knew what colors she wanted to use and different parts of the elephant she wanted to paint.
Wes congratulated her on creating her first horcrux.
Halle and I spent some time poolside and hot tubbing.
A bouncy house and slide were definite highlights.
Mini rides also kept her entertained.
Missed photo ops: the boys golfing again, Halle's new running shoes (nike's for toddlers are absolutely adorable), dad spending an hour and a half on the same level on Mario, me spending all day reading Mockingjay, the number of times we had to watch Sleeping Beauty.
A lovely time was had by all.