Christmas at Sea World

This is our fun little train ride from Newport Beach to San Diego.




Maddie had that magic look in her eye. It is the look that brings me complete joy as a mother.




The Shamu show was my favorite.




Maddie was so happy to be with her cousin Elena again.




Here is Aunt Juli with Ruby. Can someone tell those obnoxious people behind her that that scandalous behavior is inappropriate at a park for children! Geez.




And Maddie was lucky enough to go to Disneyland with her Aunt Juli. They ate more than enough churros and went on the Pirates ride SIX TIMES. Maddie was so tired after a day of fun that she fell asleep within 30 seconds of being back in the car. Here she is half asleep but having the time of her life.

A Tag

I am: losing my voice. My husband thinks it is a Christmas miracle.
I want: a robot vacuum that vacuums while I sleep.
I have: a beautiful little family that I love.
I dislike: how much junk mail I receive every single freaking day.
I miss: Evan.
I fear: the fact that I can't control or plan my life. Things happen unexpectedly.
I feel: my sore throat and cold toes.
I hear: the construction down the street and Maddie's cartoons.
I crave: a warm bowl of oatmeal and a warm slice of my homemade banana bread. I desperately need to go grocery shopping.
I usually: get giddy when I pick up Madster from school. It is the moment I most look forward to every day.
I search: for truth and wisdom and kindness wherever I can find it.
I wonder: if Maddie will still adore me in ten years, at the scary age of 14.
I regret: saying things when my emotions are fresh and strong. I have learned a lot of restraint in my 27 years!
I love: Josh's stability, similar sense of adventure, and sense of humor.
I care: deeply about other people's difficult trials. My own have taught me empathy, which can haunt me for days.
I always: wake up happy and ready to work and be efficient. It is a blessing.
I worry: about if we will ever have another child. Why does it have to be so difficult!?!?!
I remember: Christmases as a kid were so magical and happy. I love recreating that feeling for Maddie now.
I believe: in eternal families.
I sing: for Maddie every night when I put her to bed, after the bedtime story. I love this time with her.
I try not to: let what other people say bother me.
I don't always: look at the mail the day it comes. Sometimes it sits for days.
I argue: anything and everything, from both points of view. A gift for a future lawyer, but it exhausts my husband. :o)
I write: in my journal often, but not often enough. It is a joy to sit and think about what I want to write.
I win: at lots of card games and board games.
I lose: at every athletic sport or event. Apparently my competitive nature in games doesn't transfer over to athletics. I could care less. (Which is good, because I don't have any natural athletic ability.)
I wish: that I will have a new addition to our family by next Christmas, however that is meant to happen.
I listen: to everything everyone says. If I have any sliver of intelligence or wisdom, it is because I pay attention.
I don't understand: how computers or the internet work. I don't want to know either (I only have so much space in my brain), but I am grateful for it.
I can usually be found: at my desk right here. I love this space.
I forget: to call people and be social. I get distracted easily by living my own little life.
I am happy: Period.

Roll Over!!

Apparently, Maddie wanted one of the pretzels that Poppy Rick was giving to their dog as a treat for doing tricks. So when she asked for a pretzel, she had to do a trick too! (Luckily they caught it on tape for me to enjoy later!) I wonder if this parenting technique would have worked with potty training and bedtime?

For my friends who have lost a brother.....

Maddie shows us that they really aren't that far away.......



She came home with a note she made at school and insisted she needed to give it to Evan. Then she asked me to stop at the store and buy some balloons. Her faith is beautiful, and I believe her little message really did get to Evan somehow.

Way Tight

I saw a commercial for the Trans Sibarian Orchestra coming to Las Vegas and said, "I really want to go to that," to which Josh replied, "I really don't want to go to that." So who else (under the age of fifty, and without a whole wardrobe of black) would be as excited about this show as me? My mom! We were each other's dates and it was awesome. We had such good seats that we were sunburnt from all of the pyro and stage effects.

Best Friends

Lauren is Maddie's best friend at school. Her teacher says they are inseparable and sit together and giggle all day. (Sounds familiar.) This is the two of them at their Family Thanksgiving Feast for all of the parents to come and join them for lunch.







Bryn is Maddie's best friend at church. Rumor has it that they sit together in Primary and giggle. (What do you want me to say?!? I hate those hypocritical parent moments.) We got to take Bryn to see the "Beauty and the Beast" play at the Summerlin library, and it was a great show. The girls loved it, except for the scary wolves that come through the aisles. (What I love is that Maddie still has a toddler belly, and that she was much more interested in meeting "Chip," the ten year old cute boy, rather than Belle. I am so going to get it in ten years, aren't I?)

Princess Birthday Tea Party

This little princess is now FOUR YEARS OLD! (And she is very anxious to tell you so.)



Here is Maddie's birthday celebration at her preschool. I got to bring cupcakes and goodie bags for everyone, and read two books to the whole class. It was so cute, and Maddie was so proud.



I did Maddie's party at Olivia's Dollhouse Tea Room in Las Vegas this year. IT WAS AWESOME. They did everything, so I just got to sit back with my camera and video camera and enjoy it. Here are all the girls picking out their dresses and jewelry, and getting their hair, makeup, and nails done.



Here is the birthday girl getting her nails painted.



And her makeup done.



And posing during the runway show.



And pouring her very own princess tea (pink lemonade).



And ringing her birthday queen bell. Whenever any of the girls at the table wanted something, they had to ask Maddie to ring the bell and the women would bring them more of whatever they wanted. I can only imagine the diva birthday girls they get at this place, but luckily I had been telling (brainwashing) Maddie all day that she is very special on her birthday, but she still needs to be nice to everybody. Luckily she listened and was a total angel the whole day.



Here are all of the princesses watching Maddie open her presents.



She was so excited to get a keyboard "just like Grandma Linda!"



Here are all of the girls: Kyla, Mariah, Kennedy, Hailey, Judy, Lauren, Bryn. Maddie, & Ava. I felt like such a good mom that I knew all of her friends. (I figure it is a good habit to start before those teenager years.)



Then they got to pick out a present from the treasure chest. Did I mention that I just love this place? They did such a good job, and I highly recommend them.

Feliz Cumpleanos Joshie Bop!

Josh's law firm went on a company cruise this last weekend, which also happened to be Josh's birthday. Here we are with Dave Boherer (an associate at the firm) and his wife, Rachel, during the life jacket practice drill.



Here is Josh getting a temporary tattoo in Mexico as a gift from the other associates. (He is a little worried about whether it is actually temporary or not because there is no sign of fading so far.)



The mariachi band came and serenaded Josh for his birthday, courtesy of his sister, Juli, at the restaurant on the beach.



We then took a very indirect route to Cabo Wabo, the bar/club owned by Sammy Hagar, and listened to a really great Mexican cover band with Rick & Karen.



And to top it all off, Josh posed with these dirty iguanas for me to take a picture because I thought the little sombrero was so cute.



The last night on the cruise we played Bingo with most of the other staff. Josh got greedy and bought a ridiculous amount of cards for the two of us. There is a good possibility that we had the winning card, but we couldn't keep up with the numbers being called. I was trying to follow TWELVE cards and look through them all in the 5 seconds they gave us to look. I swear, it was more stressful than it sounds.



Here is a picture of most of the staff that was on the cruise (not including all the spouses/significant others/friends who tagged along.) I say MOST of the staff because the last night on the cruise we hit a storm and the entire ship was being tossed around like crazy and there were a lot of sick passengers. Our room was in the very, very, very front of the ship and we were flying all over our room. Try showering or going to the bathroom when the front of the ship was dropping and lifting about 30 feet every few seconds. Of course, I love my sleep so I had no problem falling asleep while rolling all over my bed, but Josh wasn't so lucky. He got sick, so he went to the bottom and middle of the ship where the rocking was the least and curled up on a bench in the hallway and tried to sleep there with a sweatshirt for a pillow. I can just imagine what the other employees thought seeing one of their lawyers curled up sleeping on the ship equivalent of a park bench!



The Madster got to stay with Aunt Jamie and practice being a big sister with her cousin, Lucy, whom she adores. They love to play together and she had so much fun with the Smiths. Thanks Jamie!



I realize my blog has recently looked like a travel website, but the traveling will be slowing down now that the Rebel basketball season has officially begun. In fact, we will be lucky if we get a picture of Josh for the blog between now and the end of March Madness.

We Heart Cousins

Maddie got to go trick or treating with her cousins Elena & Ruby. And they got quite the stash! And they made caramel apples with Grandma Karen.








The next day we went to St. George for Josh's Grandma Harris' 80th birthday and Maddie made friends with her 2nd cousin, Charlie. We had fun playing games, performing skits, and hanging out with family.

Little Red Riding Hood

Today is Maddie's Halloween Costume party at school. She looked so cute, I had to show her off. Adorable!

NYC in the fall

For some reason these pictures downloaded exactly backwards, so start on the bottom and work your way up:


Maddie's favorite thing: Sponge Bob popsicle while walking around Central park.




Josh, Maddie & Kyle with me in our horse drawn carriage. Still my favorite thing to do in New York City.




My little family in a carriage ride too.




Stan & Linda in their romantic carriage ride around the park.




I had to go back to Tavern on the Green because I knew my mom would love it. Anyway, the restaurant is so fantastical, and the fact that it is in the middle of a city makes it even more amazing.




We wanted to take Maddie ice skating at the Rockefeller Center, but it suddenly starting pouring rain like crazy. So we ate in the restaurant next to the ice rink and ate yummy food and ice cream cones while we watched the powerful lightening and thunderstorm outside.




Josh and I took Maddie to the famous FAO Schwartz toy store, but we told her it was a museum so she could only look at things, but we couldn't take anything. Poor little girl believed her parents and never asked us to buy anything. (We are brilliant/evil parents.) That store is awesome and on Saturdays they have a bunch of free activities for kids.




Maddie and her best friend, Grandma Linda, at Time Square.




Oh my gosh, Maddie LOVED seeing The Little Mermaid on Broadway. We had great seats, so she really felt like she was in the show. She sat with perfect posture and clapped like there was no tomorrow. It was so cute to see how she reacted to the show. When Ariel was singing, "Walking around on those, what's that word again?" Maddie yelled, "Feet!" and luckily everyone around thought it was cute. (They could have easily been annoyed.) And when Ariel and Eric kiss at the end, she was clapping and laughing, she was so happy.




Riding a pedicab around the city.




All dressed up with Uncle Kyle at our fancy dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.




Maddie and her city pretzel.




At St. Paul's chapel across the street from Ground Zero. (Maddie is the little pink dot.)




Starting off on a city bus tour. Maddie & the Empire State Building.




A tiny girl in a large car. (It was also Grandma Linda's first time in a limo, and Dad Josh's - if you don't count the Beverly of course.)