Disneyland!!

Scott, Daniel, and I just returned from a week long vacation in Sunny California. It was AWESOME! We went with my whole family - 16 people, plus my mom's best friend and her family - another 16! It was so much fun. We spent 4 days in Disneyland (with a hopper pass for California Adventure,) a day at Knotts Berry Farm, and a couple days to hang with family.

We started the vacation on a saturday, expecting to leave around 11am. We didn't leave until 4pm, my sister Chiya and her husband were riding down with us, and she didn't feel ready to leave until then. (She was 9 weeks pregnant and not feeling good.) We arrived in Santa Monica around 9pm to drop them off at their in-laws. Scott was distracted by a Tahoe that was available for sale by Jeff, Lem's brother-in-law. We ended up leaving there around 10pm, back to San Dimas we went, which was another hour. I was confused by the freeway system, and we ended up taking the wrong exit into a very bad neighborhood. (It was very scary.) We finally found the freeway again, and then we were off. Scott really wanted to have "In 'n Out" for dinner (we hadn't eaten since we left Cedar) and we looked and looked for it. Finally, after asking for directions, we arrived at the resteraunt at 11:50pm. They closed at midnight. We get ready to turn in, only to find the place surrounded by police cars. Apparently there had been a fight that broke out in the large crowd of teenagers that was there. A nice Officer let us in to get some food, and we finally ended that day's travel at 12:30am when we arrived at Scott's Uncle's house. Whew. That was exausting just to type. No wonder I was so tired the next day!

Sunday was spent recovering, napping, (we zonked out and missed the ward in San Dimas,) and meeting the rest of Scott's family. It was neat to see them all, and they were so excited to see Daniel, who is the only boy (aside from sons we haven't had yet) who carries the Birkner name.

The rest of the week was a blurr of activity as we spent some memorable time together. It was the first time in our whole married life that Scott and I had a week to spend together having fun. It was GREAT! Upon coming home, we decided that we must do it again. I would love to drag a bunch of friends with us next time. The more the merrier!

Wednesday was our free day (meaning there was no amusement park planned.) It was nice to take a little breather and just relax. I was able to have dinner with Jenny, my cousin, and Betsy, my friend from childhood, and our families. It was a neat experience to sit around the table and go over fond memories. It has been many years since the last time we were all together, but it is great that we can still meet and enjoy eachother's company.

Why Lemons?

To answer the question of why we fed Daniel lemons, I thought I would do a little blog about the experience.

We were at Applebee's enjoying a midnight dinner after Chamrie and Nathan went to the temple for the first time. Scott and I had been randomly giving Daniel tastes of stuff just to see what he would do. When dinner came, the only thing that looked halfway healthy for him to try (he was too young for my chicken and the broccolli, while delicious, was too hard for him to gum) was the lemon I had put in my water. Thinking it would be fun to see his face, I checked it for seeds, and then handed him the wedge. I was so dissapointed when he didn't even react. He just stuck the lemon in his mouth and proceeded to gum it to death. He loved it! Since then I have heard that lemons help teethers bring their teeth up - but don't quote me on it. . . especially as he still hasn't broken a tooth, and he adores lemons.

However, it is important to note that you shouldn't let babies gnaw on lemons after they have teeth because lemons will destroy the enamel on their teeth over time. Oranges, however, are safe.

Oh how they grow!

Daniel is now 7 months old. He is happy, healthy, and crawling like a madman. He scurries this way and that, and seems always underfoot. Suddenly I am sweeping, vacuuming, and watching the floor for anything microscopic the broom might have missed. I am also closing doors and getting back in the habit of putting things away.

I am loving this stage though. He has so much fun! I get alot done while he entertains himself. He loves pulling his toys out of the toy bin. He started doing this two days ago. . .because he is now pulling himself up to a stand! I am amazed! He jumps straight from one thing to the next. Crawling has only been taking place for two weeks, and he wants to walk - badly. He is totally commited to this idea. So now I have to watch out for what he uses to stand. The couches can no longer hide the things I picked up from the floor, and he has found the buttons on our tv.

He also loves to be read to. Books are something he enjoys. He likes tearing their pages, gnawing on the covers, and patting the pictures. He also likes pulling them off the shelves. So, my books are now safely in the office, and his cardboard books are all over the floor.

Daniel is also experiencing the many flavored world of food. He loves lemons, oranges, sweet potatoes, and most things we give him. He hates peas. (But if I give him bananas in between bites he doesn't seem to notice.)

My brother-in-law Lem observed that my son doesn't make baby cooing noises. He makes BOY noises. Daniel growls, grunts, talks in a raspy voice, fake coughs so well I think it is real, yells, laughs and is all around fun, but definately in a boy way. Forget everything about thinking gender might be a learned behavior, He is only 7 months and is acting just like your average little boy. And this is with spending most of his time with a very feminine mother!

Family Photos

This is our Family Picture. After two hours and lots of tears and trying to get Daniel to smile, this is the one we liked. This is our fun picture, and the one that shows us doing what we like best, Playing!

Usually Danny loves to smile, but for some reason, he refused as long as the camera was around. We were going to do baby pictures too. . .but decided to call it a night when we finally got this one.

Chamrie's Wedding

We have returned safely from a very eventful couple of days in American Fork. Chamrie was sealed yesterday and is now safely off the availability list. She was so beautiful and happy. She didn't freak out (there were some bets) but did have a moment or two of "oh my goodness." The Logan Family is officially retiring from weddings (after the reception in February) for at least two years. This will give us all a little breather and a chance to get used to the current batch of new family members while we wait for Nate to come off his mission.

After the wedding we went to the luncheon . . . which was actually a dinner because it started at five that evening. Doug's father was the M.C. and had everyone get up and give the couple some advice. Some of them were fun, like: "whenever you are in an argument, start taking off your clothes and the argument will end." And some of them were insightful like: "Marriage brings you face to face with your own selfishness, so use it as an opportunity to change for the better."

Then. . . after Doug and Chamrie danced away (literally, they just polka-d out the door to escape everyone,) and after the clean up, my brothers decided to shoot some hoops. Ryan managed to majorly twist and otherwise injure his ankle. Ordinarily we would just laugh, take care of the poor boy, and call it an adventure. . . BUT we are going to Disneyland next weekend, and Mom has been telling us all not to get injured before we go. The last time we went, my Mom broke her foot two days before, so this is a big deal. And, of course, it would be my clumsy brother, who breaks everything he touches, who manages to get hurt this time around. We hope it is just a strain and will heal. . . if he would just stay off it for a few days. . .which is really hard for him to do.

All in all, it was a fun trip, and really good for me becuase I realized all the things I needed to remember for Disneyland: swimsuit, baby shower stuff, slippers or sandals, and a good pillow.

Crazy Friday

Yesterday was a little insane. My darling sister, Chamrie has found the love of her life. . . and they are getting married next friday. To all my friends and family who are shocked, don't worry, it isn't just because we forgot to tell you. It came as a surprise for all of us. She has been dating him for about 5 weeks (although she has known him longer than that.) Over Christmas they started talking about maybe getting married sometime in march or february. Then on the second of January they decided to get married on the 12, of January. Doug (her intended) has a brother who is leaving on a mission on the 17th of January, and they wanted him to be there. So, my little sister who swore she would need several months of engagement time, is marrying fast and planning the reception at her leisure.

So Last Night my brother Nathan (who just received his mission call thursday night) and Chamrie both went to get their endowments at the St. George temple. Scott and I had planned a nice time in St. George before so that we didn't feel rushed. All we had to do was pick up his check in parowan then grab Cheyanne (who was gonna babysit for us) from Enoch and we were on our way. We left at 1:30pm. We didn't get to St. George until 5:30 or so. Why? One answer: SNOW!!!!

Our parking lot was full of it, and Scott had spent all morning clearing walkways and getting our car out of the lot. It got majorly stuck once, but a bunch of our really nice tenants helped him out. So he parked on the side of the street, just to be safe. The freeway was still icy when we left home at 1:30, so the trip that usually takes 20 minutes to parowan took 40. Then we went to get my sister.

Our car got high centered in snow at my parent's house and it took 2 trucks over an hour to get us out. Needless to say, my sweet husband has informed me that we WILL be getting a 4-wheel drive vehicle (he has already missed 2 days of work from getting stuck in the snow.) At least we had planned to have alot of time because with all of that, we were still on time for the endowment session.

• Nathan was called to the Everett Washington mission and he reports to the MTC on March 7.