"Happy Birthday So Fun"

This week I celebrated the big 3-0 birthday.  In style.  Well, in pregnant-mom-of-a-toddler style anyway.  Here are a few photos of our festivities.  First up, the actual birthday:

Park visit 1 of 2 today.  Lots of rocks to put in those trucks and
dump back out!

The dump truck is good for other things, too -
line pinecones.

Hanging out in her "fort" (aka under the slide
platform).  I told her to smile and I got this face.
Again.  (She must be related to her mother
 with the blinking eyes in pictures thing.)

Dinner at Fiestas!
Hello?  Hello?  Anybody there?

Waiting for dinner - a triple combo plate with a chicken
taquito, shrimp (what I ordered, but ended up getting spinach)
enchilada, and chile rello for me, and a chicken fried steak
smothered in chile sauce and cheese with rice and beans
on the side for Gregg.  Cal helped.  And we got free fried ice
cream for dessert!  What a feast!

Getting ready to pay.

Home again and time for presents.

Here's bundt pan 1 of 2 this birthday.  I'm set
for any and all bundt pan needs!

Cal took over after they were opened, lining
everything up, then stacking the pans/colander,
and then lining them up again.  "So hebby"
(ie "so heavy").

A cute new maternity shirt from my mom.

Fast forward half a week to Sunday, when we had a fun Sunday afternoon visit from Nate and Shelly and Evelyn:

Story time with Uncle Nate.

Finally warming up to the "scary" baby (with the help of Dad).

Knuckles! 

Yay!

Singing  The Eensy Weensy Spider for Ev.

And now it's time for a little "Cwinkle Cwinkle
Yittle Star" action.  She eventually decided that
Ev wasn't so bad to have around, as long as Dad
was within touching distance of Cal at all times.

Cake time!  Notice the bundt?  Ah, yeah.  (P.S. It was delicious!)

Cal loved the "Happy Birthday" singing.  Later, while we were
eating our cake she kept saying "Happy Birthday so fun!"

Make a wish.

Yay!

Sibling baby swap.

El Sobrio - Parte Dos

Been home for a week now but thought I'd share a few pics from my trip to Mexico last week. The company took a similar trip in 2013, but with a lot of new hires since then, this trip required an even larger villa which did not disappoint. Toss in amazing food, incredible views, breaching humpback whales, and falling asleep to crashing waves and it almost made being away from my girls worth it. Almost.

I wish I had more pictures from the day we were away from the villa doing some snorkeling and beach hopping, but I left all cameras in my safe, dry room.

Condos: the first sign of Puerto Vallarta after flying
for hours over random towns and dirt roads.

My bedroom.

A path that lead from the front gate of the
grounds to the main villa.

The squash/basketball court.

Awesome view from the main deck.

Looking back from below the villa near the rocky shoreline.

Sunsets did not disappoint.

Looking down on bar #2.

No pictures of food, but eating arrangements were
lovely as we were fed by our private chef.

Another sunset. Another awesome view over the ocean.

Grammar/spelling could use some work, but you get the gist.

Seriously, that view.

And seriously, those sunsets.

Kinda weird, but I saw this about an hour BEFORE learning
Leonard Nimoy had died. Do you see what I see?

Pano view from the main deck showing bar and ocean.

Pano looking back from the rocky point below the villa.

Pan view of lower desk / bar / pool area.

Pretty awesome trip.

Photos from Phones - February 2015 Round Up

Not too many photos in the ol' Round Up this month - mostly because I've posted the bulk of the ones I took elsewhere (see posts about the World Championships, Valentine's Day and our visit to Utah).  But, there are a few goodies that aught to be shared, so here they are.  Not much can brighten up a February like a little Cal, I say.

2.3.15

2.3.15

2.3.15

2.3.15

2.3.15
(a rousing game of Pudding Pictionary played as
a combined YW- Activity Days activity)

Bonus video!

"smarty pants"

2.4.15

2.5.15
(there's lil' Dos, due to make his/her appearance
mid-September)

2.7.15

2.13.15
(just a couple of many, many contrails we saw
on our walks this month - and every time Cal saw
one she said, "fly air-pane mama's house!")  

2.15.15
(dolled up for church, wearing her New Zealand
necklace, a Christmas present from the Wihongi's,
and a bracelet that my aunt Alicia made for her
when she was born)

Bonus video dos!

"so glad"

2.18.15

(incidentally, one of her favorite songs to sing is 

"I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home" - go figure)

All the round ups here: 
2015: Jan 
2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June

While Daddy's Away, Mom and Cal Play . . . in Utah!

Last week, while Gregg was off gallivanting in Mexico with his company (hopefully he'll post some pics here soon), Cal and I headed to Utah to hang out with the grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins.  What a week we had!  (Below is just what was documented photographically - we packed a lot in a few days but we didn't take pictures of everything!)

First up, on Saturday Cal wore her new shirt
off the plane.  (This was taken post Maddox
burger lunch and way, way past naptime, so
don't mind the dazed baby look.)

After church on Sunday, Cal and Ky had to have the first of many
selfies.  (Notable Sunday tidbit: Cal went to nursery for the first
time - she's been old enough for a few months now, but we don't
have a nursery in our small ward, so she usually goes to Elder's
Nursery with Gregg each week.)

On Monday she got spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma
at the bounce house fair in the mall.

It took her a minute to figure things out, but once
she got the hang of it, she had a blast.

This is me trying to get all artsy with my phone
camera skillz,

Only a granddaughter could get Grandpa E into the "fort" in the
living room.  Turns out it's a rather great place for eating grapes,
readings stories, and stacking cups, among other things.

Lucky baby got to lick the beater for our delicious
strawberry shortcake dessert!

And it even warmed up (ie the wind stopped blowing) enough to
get some good swinging time in!

On Tuesday, after a long morning of driving in
Grandpa's Truck around Eden and Morgan looking at
houses, a good romp at the park was just what
Cal needed. Rocks, sticks, pinecones -
she was in heaven!

Another Cal 'n' Ky selfie in their gameday attire.
Let's Go Aggies!  (da, da, da da da!)

Thanks to Ky's Hurd connections, she scored me
a ticket to watch the Ags again in the Spectrum!

So fun to be back there with my sisters!  (And a big Aggie win
wasn't too shabby either!)

On Wednesday morning, Gregg sent me this.  He knows me (and
my love of clouds) very well.

We had a sisters lunch date at the new burger
place on campus, Morty's, that afternoon.

Cal enjoyed the fries and playing on the table.

Cheesin' it for the aunts.

More fort time with Grandma.  Even the baby doll stroller made
it inside, I see.

Thursday morning we loaded up in Grandpa E's
truck and drove to Ogden (where he works and
where we met Grandma B who took us the
rest of the way to SoJo).  Cal explored bins
full of animals and cars and blocks with Grandma.

And of course read lots of "stowies".

She even played a little dress-up to try on her
new spring dress.

And I got another amazing cloud shot from my love.

On Friday, after a lovely, brisk walk, we had a great treat of lunch
at Culver's.  Lucky for me, Cal wasn't interested in her free scoop
of frozen custard, so I got to enjoy the whole thing (flavor of the
day = turtle dove)!

Later that afternoon, Laurel and fam and the Wihongi boys came
to play.  The sun came out so we spent some time outside.

Selfie time!  Laurel in a Kim sandwich.  ;)

Cousins!

Cal loved this "fort" too.

We finished the day off right: an awesome
Cafe Rio pork burrito dinner with all the fixings
topped off with a brownie-hot fudge sundae dessert.
I'll celebrate an early 30th birthday any day with a
party like that!

We're sure lucky to have such great family who are so willing to pick us up and drive us around and treat us to fun and yummy things.  Thanks for a fun week, all!