Ben and Emme's Sleepover

We decided it was time for Emme to sleep in a bed once she started climbing out of her crib at 5 in the morning and then couldn't get back in.  We bought this bed a few months ago along with the dresser and another desk on craigslist and has since been eating up a lot of space in our shed. After much trial and error with the paint sprayer and  a week of sitting in our carport, the set was finally ready to go.  

Emme and Ben wanted to have a sleepover the first night in her new bed which is actually Ben's old bed, but in a strange twist of irony Ben is sleeping in his crib now and Emme has the big bed (Ben gave up the bed so he could fit his train table in his room).   She's getting a good night sleep now, but getting her to take naps has been complicated.  We may have to start barricading her in like we used to with Benny.  As you can see Emme is pretty happy being a big girl, but don't talk to Kelti about.  She may have an emotional meltdown.

Sixth Folder and Sixth Picture Blog Tag
Now I tag each of my cousins. Have fun.

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween Antics
Children really make holidays magical again. This year Ben and Emme are obsessed with all things Halloween. Ben has worn his fleece Batman costume for two weeks, doesn’t matter to him that it’s nearly ninty degree outside, he sweats it out happily. Emme exclaims over our ghost decorations every time we come up the driveway. The fiftieth time may not be as cute as the first but I never get tired of hearing the excitement in her voice. So to celebrate the season we indulged ourselves at the Pumpkin patch.

Happy Birthday Dad

BACKYARD

The other day I went outside to water our grapfruit and tangerine trees in the backyard. Ben and Emme snuck out of the house behind me even though it was like 110 degrees at least, and put their favorite rain boots on and proceeded to eyeball the delectable mud that was starting to form. I must have told them 50 times that they couldn't go in the mud. Didn't matter, Emme finally disobeyed and proceeded to fill her boots with mud (we had to change her into those green ones because the boots were filled to the brim). Ben soon followed and Kelti recommended that I should let them play and get some fun pictures rather than yell at them, which is what I normally do. Ben is a little more conservative when it comes to mess making, but Emme has no reservations when it comes to getting down in the mud. So here's some good old fashioned mud pie making fun.

Timeline

Well as most of you have noticed we've been absent the past few months and I can say the reason for that is 9 parts lethargy 1 part carpetbaggery (I like this word. I know it makes no sense).

So in lieu of our absence I am posting the mega posts of all posts.
A display of all that is beautiful and important in this world (according to us at least).
A surefire blog stalker dream come true that will knock your friggin socks off.

So the following is a timeline of our life since you last blog-stalked us (As far as I know, my brother-in-law Clint coined this phrase. Who hasn't been tempted to jump from blog to blog seeing if anyone has posted a new picture of their kid's on a playdate at the park with cousin Jimmy or their excursion with grandma to the local petting zoo? I'm definitely guilty).

April 28-June 6Nothing interesting or blogworthy happened, sorry.

June 6-June13--Hawaii
Kelti and I were lucky enough to go to Hawaii for a week and we had a blast. Here we are at the Laie temple.


Some of you may remember Elder Vola Vola, he served in our ward back in San Rafael. This is him with us at the Polynesian Cultural Center. He was by far the best Fijian dancer with his group. His back was really sweaty though.

This is just a good picture of us at Waikiki Beach.


We had our first trip to Benihana's. It was tons of fun. Here's our cook Blake slicin up some onions and making a volcano. We even were sitting at the same table as another dentist from Bakersfield, CA. Kelti wanted me to talk to him about jobs in Bakersfield until I informed her my mom calls it the armpit of Cali. Sorry if you're from there.

We went snorkeling just off the coast of Kailua Bay. Recognize those mountains? Part of the TV show "Lost" are filmed right there, I think that's Hurley's golf course and where they filmed some of the airplane scene's with the African guy, I forget his name. The guides told us on the way back in that Kailua Bay is also the mating ground for Hammerhead sharks and that mating season began a week before we got there. They told us a few had swam in between Kelti and I. No pictures of the sharks.


These two pictures are of Lanakai on the windward side of Oahu. Best beach I've been to hands down. It was a nice peaceful way to end the trip.




June 13 and June 15 (The 14th didn't get skipped it has it's own section) -- Graduation
We got home from Hawaii and went to the Alumni Banquet at the SF Ritz Carlton. Kelti looked beautiful and it was a fun night. I wish I could post about 30 pictures of us and our friends at the banquet. It was bittersweet knowing it was the last time we would be with them. We miss them and we think about them almost daily when Ben asks why Hadley and Evan aren't at the pool or church. Yeah, I know, it's sad. We had an awesome 3 years in school.

Thanks to my Uncle Bill and Aunt Debbie who made the 3 hour drive from Fresno to be at my graduation. It was great to visit with them again and they helped out a ton with our kids, they really are like a 3 person job anyways.




June 14th--Emme's Birthday Bonanza
We missed Emme's birthday while in Hawaii, so we celebrated it when we had Gramma and Gramma Palmer and Sean and Kelsey for one day before they went to Hawaii for Sean's regional soccer tournament (I live all my soccer fantasies vicariously through him, check out his team here). Emme is at a fun age. She's old enough to know it was her special day and she liked being the princess, but she's not old enough to really beg for toys or milk it. Gramma brought a car full of toys for her anyways. Instead of a cake, Kelti made a platter of Oreos, Emme's favorite cookie. Kelti really put alot of energy into that.

We love our Emme Rose. Thank you Gramma and Kelsey for watching the kids while we were partying in Hawaii and being so good to us. June 16-Present day--Arizona
Once graduation was over we decided that moving to Arizona would be a smart move . We've been here since the beginning of July and so far we've really liked it. We're renting a house in Mesa, near the temple. Yeah, it's the ghetto. We're hoping to buy soon though in Gilbert or around there, hopefully the kids won't be fluent in gang sign language before then. We're adjusting still to the weather, we got the kids into swimming lessons and there are some fun swimming pools in the area and there is actually plenty of opportunity for them to play outside. Ben and Emme love their new backyard, it's the first one they've had. We're also lucky to have the Thompsons close by and some other friends from school live not too far.
I start work in a week and a half at Gentle Dental in Mesa 3 days a week and I'll be working with another dentist the rest of the time which will hopefully turn in to a full-time thing. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the time off, but I feel like a slug just bumming around the house. I think Kelti will be happy to have one less child to care for as well. So things are good here. We feel very blessed. Who knows how we ended up here or if we'll be here forever, but it's great for now.

July 22-July 30--Utah
We figured since we had lots of time on our hands and didn't have work yet, it would be a good time to visit Utah. It had been almost a year and a half since going back and I didn't realize how much I missed it. Everything was so green, the mountains were beautiful and we finally got to be together with the entire Palmer clan. I-15 still sucks worse than any freeway during rush hour.

Ben and Emme spent the entire time playing outside with their brothers, that's what Ben calls his cousins, Payton, Addison and Ella. The kids ate about 30 popsicles each over 7 days and they made sure to share with whoever wanted a lick. Gramma got up with them every morning so it was another nice break for Kelti and I and I got to see Seaner play with his team in a tournament in Layton (They won the tournament and went without being scored on in 5 games. Sean was solid, he didn't miss a single 50/50 header and he even scored in the final from about 35 yards out).

The whole family went to the Gateway on the new Frontrunner train. Ben was very excited, as were Payton and Addison. We went to the Children's Museum and played in the fountain and Kelti discovered something earth shattering about one of her college friends (you're gonna need to ask her about it). The day before we went to Cherry Hill, formerly Utah's fourth greatest water park. We had lots of fun until someone decided to puke in the kiddie wading pool and they shut half the park down. It's things like that that make you realize how fragile our society really is.

PRESSURE

Pressure. I haven't posted in so long that I felt that I needed to make a spectacular comeback. I thought and thought but nothing came to me. Mommy brain. So to relieve the pressure I am simply posting new pics.

ADDICTION.....it's not pretty.

BLOG TAG

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog

10 years ago: I was sweet 16...being asked on my first date and being grounded from going.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Feed children Breakfast, clean it up
2. Feed children Lunch, clean it up
3. Feed children supper….any pattern here?
4. Finish the Poisonwood Bible
5. Yoga at 4:30…..to quote Lainie, “my sanity”

5 Snacks I enjoy:……OR NOT
1. Trader Joes chocolate covered pretzels…..salty and sweet blended seamlessly into one dangerous little concoction.
2. I actually eat a ton of things that perhaps do not taste wonderful but that make me feel better….like Spirilina……enough said.
3. Almonds
4. Ants on a log…yes I know how geeky that really is.
5. Thunder……instant protein in the disguise of chocolate….with less sugar than milk….that my friends is perfection.

What would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
Move to Europe, travel, get a masters degree, hire cleaning help so I could read more, see every Broadway play in New York, buy a cozy cottage at the beach and decorate it myself in one fell swoop…..not in stages.

5 Places I have lived….or three ‘cause that’s all I got
1. San Francisco, CA...best and worst year of my whole life. But that is a tale for another time.
2. Provo, UT: in the most beat up but perfectly me 1890’s victorian home. Oh… and Deseret Tower on BYU campus and a host of other equally depressing apartments.
3. Alberta, Canada….basically every small town there….a shout out to Raymond, Calgary, Edmonton, Taber and Lethbridge.

Jobs that I have had
1. Mother
2. Preschool Teacher….fifteen 3&4 year olds in a room smaller than my living room for 5 hr a day…...Surprisingly this is the job I loved the most. I think because each day was such a challenge.
3. Fundraiser coordinator for a non-profit organization.
4. Secretary

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I dance alone in my living room after everyone goes to bed at least once a week.
2. I once went on a date to a Born Again Christian concert on a Indian reservation……..
3. I love the pioneer women. Check out her blog by typing it into Google…..SO FUNNY!
4. I want to learn another language….Portuguese of French
5. I think my natural hair color is hideous. Not light enough to be truly blonde nor dark enough to be a brunette. I must live in limbo continuously dyeing and trying to decide just what color really defines me…….
I now tag Evelyn, Lainie and Nicole.