Halloween--Ward Trunk or Treat!

We went to our ward Halloween party and had a great time eating and socializing.  Trunk or treating was fun too.  Declan was a cute wobbly walking skeleton and he liked picking out candy.  He hasn't the faintest idea how delicious candy is yet.  He just liked shaking his little box of lemon heads like a maraca.

                                      Daddy and Declan!  I love my sweet boys.

Declan is a man on a mission when he walks around.  He walks so fast.  I think he might be trying to use speed to compensate his lack of balance :).

 Declan is doing this little cheesy smile as of late when he sees a camera flash.  He even says "cheeese."

We call this skeleton on our door the "oogie boogie skeleton."  Every time Declan sees it he says, "ooie ooie ooie!"  And of course he has to yank on him and try to pull him off the door.  

Goin' to the temple, gonna get married....

     One of my dearest friends got married last Friday, 11/12/10!  I flew out to Oregon to take part in the beautifully low key event and the whole time I kept thinking about how happy I was that I was able to make it out there and be with her that day.
     Lindsay Hinmon and I go way back.  I remember meeting her (in the 6th grade) and wondering if she was the substitute teacher for the day.  I was a very scrawny 6th grader and Lindsay was a very mature 6th grader :)  I soon came to find out that she was not our substitute teacher, but a new student and friend :)  She and her family moved up to Frazier Park and I've loved her and the rest of the bunch (her family) ever since.
     Lindsay and I spent much of our precious sleep time growing up talking on the phone into the wee hours of the night. We could analyze and philosophize for hours on end! We would dissect our teenage experiences and discuss the meaning of life from 10pm until 3am on a regular basis.  (Yes, our parents were mad that we were not sleeping and tried to put a stop to this many a time.)  Today, Lindsay and I can still talk for an insane amount of time about the intricacies and beauty of life, love, and the gospel. 
     I love that girl with all my heart and I am so glad that she found the love of her life and married him in God's temple.  Lindsay is such a beautiful person and a wonderful example to all those around her.  Her husband, Andrew, has a passion and love for life (and Lindsay) that is truly awesome.  So, cheers to Mr. and Mrs. Shields-- hip hip hooray!!!                                                                         

                                                                                                                        Last minute errands!                                                                                              Hair done in finger waves.  Very "Linz."          

They were so, so cute the whole day.  It was a wonderful wedding with just family and closest friends at the temple and then to Lindsay's favorite restaurant/ cafe for dinner.  Very intimate and meaningful-- we all loved it.

I'll update with more pictures soon!  I am the worst at taking them!  My attention is always so stretched everywhere!

I should be studying for an exam...

But instead I'm thinking about happy Fall memories of times long past.  This funny memory keeps popping up in my head.  When Johnny and I lived in Rain Tree Apartments he was friends with me and all of my roommies (Clarisa, Heather, Melanie, and Claire) .  He would always come and visit and entertain us.  One October evening he called to ask who was home because he had a delicious treat that he wanted to drop by.  This was not really out of the ordinary because he worked at Tropical Snow for a while and would bring us snow cones in all the different flavors to try.  I believe most of us were home that evening and we were totally excited for Johnny's treat.  He came over with an oven pan full of perfectly pefect caramel apples!  They were beautiful and layered thickly with golden caramel.  We were all very pleased with the lovely gesture.  Johnny encouraged us girls to hurry and try one and tell him what we thought.  So, we all grabbed one and were ready to dig in.  As I brought the gorgeous caramel apple to my lips I had a strange feeling.  It was do to an interesting and familiar non-apple-like aroma coming from my caramel apple.  I was very reluctant to say anything as to not offend our thoughtful friend.  However, the bewildering scent was just too strong and so I asked, "did you cook these caramel apples by some meat balls or something?" (The smell reminded me of when I used to work at this Italian deli and I would make thousands of meat balls as prep work.)  Johnny B just laughed and said, "I made them at my sisters and she was cooking dinner, so maybe."  I looked back down at my apple ready to take a bite despite the funny smell. Just before I bit in I heard my roommate scream in horror.  Claire and Clarisa  had eagerly taken huge bites out of their "caramel apples" and  had both gotten a mouth full of raw onion.
I love my husband.  Probably one of the best pranks ever pulled.  Just glad that I have a very keen sense of smell.  

Happy Halloween!

"The Brothers" (that's what Johnny and his little brother Shane (who has Downs) call themselves, they are quite the duo) were once again blissfully reunited the weekend of the 10th.  Babe (Kathy), Daddio (Monte), Mare and Shane came up and we all attended the Sacramento Temple to witness the sealing (marriage for all time and eternity-- more about LDS Temples and sealings: here) of Zach Martin, Johnny's cousin, to his beautiful bride, Lauren.  We got a little restless waiting for all the pictures to be done with, but we found ways to keep ourselves occupied!

      We went and visited the wild Turkeys! I introduced Shane to my iphone and they beacame friends quickly. There he is watching the Dean Martin Variety Show on YouTube. He was quite amazed with this mini TV that played all of his very favorite shows.

Since we were already in Santa Cruz we went to the beach for about an hour.  We saw this cool Seagull guy and of course all of these happy go lucky Sea Lions.  They just float and play their days away!  Santa Cruz is so fun beacause there is always lots to keep you entertained.  We all tried hot links (a spicy hot dog) from a stand owned buy a guy that was a "5th generation californian." Johnny and I are planning a date to go fishing off the pier and then rent beach cruisers and roam around for a while.  I really like the bay area.  Housing is expensive, but it sure is a neat place to live.  Someday I'll have to tell you how AMAZING Monteray is!  Lovin' livin' in the bay area :)

Easter, Sister and Wedding

We've had an exciting last few weeks :)

                                My sister, Leah came to visit us over her spring break!

We had fun shopping and hanging out.  This is a picture of us at a little cafe at Santana Row where we got a frothy hot cocoa and a hazelnut chocolate cake.  Note:  Can you see the insernumerable amount of acne scars or "hyper pigmentation" as they call it  all over my face?  Ya, that's from a little miracle skin care regimen called the "Oil Cleansing Method."  I'd NEVER had more than 2 zits at a time in my life until my try and find new and NATURAL skin care regimen experiment went all wrong.  Look it up,  it's very convincing!  It did work miracles with my skin for about 3 weeks, and then it all went to pot.  As a result, I'm left with these terrible scars. The dermatologist told me to quit wearing make-up and only wash my face with water.  I no longer have acne, just the scars.  Does anyone know how to get rid of acne scars?  Booooo :(

We went to the MYSTERY SPOT in Santa Cruz. Pretty cool. It's a mysterious phenomenon that occurs in this particular area in Santa Cruz. Apparently, numerous studies have been conducted and nobody can figure out what's up with the funky gravity in this area. I imagined a 45 degree lean before we went, but it turned out to be a slightly disappointing, but still cool 17 degree angle lean. Definitely worth five bucks. Plus, the mystery spot is located in a beautiful forest- like setting. We even went on a little hike before our tour. Gorgeous surroundings and fun fun to hike non-hard hikes (I’m lazy when it comes to excercise, but I really enjoy being out and about in nature, so non-hard about hikes are ideal)!

Johnny finds the look of suspicion on my face in not one, but all of the photos taken of me during our Mystery Spot tour hilarious.  What can I say?  I felt very suspicious of the "unexplainable" phenomenon of leaning abnormally far out without falling. I also thought that maybe it was a big hoax for a while, but was later convinced that it was indeed, real--and in fact, a mystery.

Late Valentine's Day Post

Since Valentine's Day was on Sunday, we celebrated more so the day b4.  We went to the San Jose Tech Museum (everyone out here talks about it as a must see).  The museum was a tad bit lame, but we had fun together : )  We ate out at Macaroni Grill for dinner and shared a delicious dessert.  I'm glad that Johnny and I were friends for so long before we started dating and got married.  He really is my best friend.   Together we have such a good time no matter what we are doing.