From the Dust of the Earth

So we survived our annual beach camping trip, yet again. We went to Doheny State Beach with our good friends the McEuens. So, basically it rained a lot. Think lots of water, lots of mud and five kids. There was no escaping it, so we just gave up and let everyone get as dirty/muddy/wet/snotty/sandy as they desired. The kids loved it! Luckily, we were able to end the day with hot showers... so, I don't think that we qualify as pioneers yet. So much fun... can't wait until next year!

The Importance of Being Tatum

1. She likes to follow rules... teeth brushing, seat belt wearing, pre-dinner snacking, the slightest violation will bring her to tears.
2. She thinks Sponge Bob is the Devil. I don't really care for Sponge Bob, myself, but she absolutely detests him. Once she came came in to tell me Davis was doing something "really bad." I rushed out, terrified as to what I might find... he was sitting in front of the TV watching Sponge Bob. After coming home from a date once, she broke out into tears, announcing "the babysitter made us watch Sponge Bob." These are just a few instances. Watch out Sponge Bob.
3. She likes to sing Ariel's "Ahhh, Ahhhh, Ahhhh" quite loudly in public places, but is as tone deaf as her mother. We get a lot of raised eyebrows.
4. She misses her grandpas, grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends from Arizona. She likes to break out in a fake whimper cry, often during sacrament, in the doctor's office, while in line at the grocery store or in other inappropriate places, until a bystander asks her what's wrong, then she dramatically whimpers out, I miss my grandmas... or whoever she is missing at the moment.
5. She puts soda on the same levels as illegal narcotics and embarrassingly confesses to people that sometimes her daddy drinks soda.
6. She has a future as a singer/songwriter. Her newest song is, "I looked out the window and what did I see, One little, two little, three little, four little, five little missionaries staring back at me." A little creepy, but a Tatum original nonetheless.

The Importance of Being Davis

1. He will eat just about anything, once confirmed that it is not poop... the other day he brought a small, purple grape, from who knows where up to me and questionably asked, "Poop"? I smiled, and told him, no, it is a grape. He mimicked, "grape," then popped it into his mouth.
2. He has yet to discover swords. While visiting friends, he found a sword, pointed it at me and said, "Bippity, Boppity, Boo."
3. He has great potential as a contortionist, considering he has the ability to worm his way out of any buckle/child restraint.
4. He sings, "Slippery Fish," word for word, puts his hands on his cheeks and exclaims "OH, NO!" after every verse.
5. All it takes to make him happy is a "nack" and a "tippy cup."
6. The only ones who love nursery more than him is his mom and dad.
7. He is magnetically drawn to dogs. He will run up to any strang dog, and refuse to leave until he has ridden it, pulled its ears, and gotten a few good face licks from it.
8. He is a ladies man... mommy, grandmas, sister, his little girl friends, his mommy's friends... he loves them all.
9. He has learned that he can get away with just about anything by flashing his sweet Davis smile.

Farm Field Trip

Tatum considering feeding the sheep... she was a little grossed out by everything, and kept her nose plugged most of the time.

Giving a newborn calf a bottle.

Davis was quite brave... even after a few turkey nips, he still enjoyed throwing lettuce at them.

Red Door

I would describe my design philosophy as simple, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. So, I faced a dilemma with my front door... (very serious issue). We had a screen door that was quite ugly, but it was so nice to catch the mountain breeze and cool our house off. So after much inner conflict, I finally took it off and painted my door red. I am so glad I did it, it totally adds some welcoming curb appeal and somewhat hides the fact that our house is due for an overall paint job. Much to his surprise, Ryan actually really likes it, too.

My little preschooler

Tatum's first day of preschool was so exciting for her! She had so much fun with all her friends and has become the teacher's pet... I am her teacher:). She is so enthusiastic to learn new things and loves to show off her newfound knowledge to her daddy.

A moment of self reflection...

So... my grandma sent me an e-mail with pictures of fruit and vegetables carvings and I thought Tatum would enjoy it, so I showed it to her. She giggled at them and then when she saw this picture, she exclaimed, "Oh, look at the cute little baby oranges." Out of curiosity, I asked her who the big orange was. She tilted her head to the side, thought for a moment, and questionably said, "the mommy orange?" That is lovely that my three year connects a crazy looking orange with a mommy. No, connection to myself, though.... right????

Earthcakes

Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church, we experienced our first earthquake... or earthcake, as Davis would say. Nothing too big... it was 4.7 magnitude, but it definitely caught us by surprise. I ran to check on Tatum and in her grumpy voice she said, "Hey, who is shaking our house?" No damage... it was a wake up call though... I guess it time to make sure we are prepared. I am sure that we can't last too long on potato pearls, hot chocolate, and refried beans. Later that day it started storming pretty bad, and we ended up getting flash floods... so it was a pretty crazy day... the kids thought it was pretty exciting.

Leap Year Baby on the Horizon....

Yes, we are expecting. No, we are not crazy... maybe a little. Yes, it was a surprise, but a welcomed one. The due date is February 29th, 2008.... seems like a long way off, but I am in my second trimester, so we are slowly getting there. We just told Tatum and she is really excited. She exclaimed, "So that is why your tummy has been getting so squishy." Davis is clueless. Just wanted to share the news!

Carpenteria Beach House

We spent the last week satying in a beach house near Santa Barbara with my famiy. Erik just returned from his mission, so it was an exciting reunion. Tatum and Davis ate up all of the attention and had so much fun chasing the waves and finding seashells. We got to see some sealions up-close and saw several dolphins.

Papa and Tatum building sandcastles.









Davis and "Grr"

The newly invented game
"Beach Quidditch."









Davis exploring the beach

Tatum and Aunt Chelle

Watching the Sunset.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

We had an unexpected trip to Paris in July... Ryan had to go for business, so I tagged along. We had an awesome time. Paris was so beautiful and romantic and the food was amazing! We got to tour some of the sites together during the weekends and had the evenings together for our lavish 3-hour dining experiences. During the week, I explored the city with Ryan's coworkers wife... I have never walked so much in my life... but it was a good opportunity to burn off all the extra calories. We went to Chateau de Versailles, Musee de Orsay, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and of course the Eiffel Tower. We saw all of the Cathedrals, including some famous De Vinci Code locations.


My favorite part was visiting Marie Antoinette's Estate... it was pretty amazing how elaborate she made everything. We had a blast, but were ready to return to Tatum and Davis after 9 days. Who, by the way, were completely content being spoiled by both sets of grandparents.





Marie Antoinette's personal village, A Seine River View, Notre Dame, Chateau de Versailles.

Day Trip to Oceanside

We went to Oceanside beach with our good friends the Cooks and the McDowells. It was a little crazy without the husbands, but we had a fun day!

Madeline & Tatum

Davis & Daxton

Waterslide

We got together to play on the huge Costco blow-up slide. The kids had so much fun! We have made some great friends from the ward.

Bowling Night

Davis' first bowling experience.

Tatum watching her ball slowly reach the pins.

Ryan working on his form.

Tatum with her "buddies." Catching Davis before he makes yet another dash down the lane.

Valentine's Day 2007

If you have it [Love], you don't need to have anything else,

and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have.
Sir James M. Barrie

Tatum had so much fun at her Cinderella birthday party!

Calling all Fashionistas

www.jildesigns.com

My sister in-law and I were able to start our own clothing company... a dream of both of ours a couple of years ago. We are having so much fun. We were both teachers and found ourselves always tugging on our clothes trying to be modest and professional. We created a line of comfortable and beautifully modest clothing. You can check out our gallery of photos at: http://www.jildesigns.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1&chapter=0

Check out Jil's Closet, an assortment of clothes that we love at :

http://www.jildesigns.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4

Hope you love the clothes, Melissa

Tatum Update

Tatum has been a very busy girl. She is making some friends out here... mostly boys, we are still searching for a little girl to play with. She is always taking about Lissity, Eden, and Madasin from "Arnizona." She is turning into a little version of her mother... which is sometimes cute, but mostly a wake-up call for me... am I really portrayed as the 24 hour mommy police. She likes to remind daddy that he shouldn't eat a cookie before dinner or he won't be hungry and keeps a close eye on Davis to report any possible rule-breaking. She has officially taken the role of "backseat driver" and makes sure that I always come to a full and complete stop... I tried to explain to her that we are in California and so we can follow the California Stop rule. She loves layering dress-ups and inventing creative titles such as "Cinderella Princess Ballerina Wizard Snow White Girl." She is picking up on the Spanish culture here. She knows how to count to ten and some of her colors in Spanish. She also likes to yell through the fence her own made up Spanish sounding language to the Hispanic neighbors.

Days of Davis

All is going well here. Davis has been busy removing items from drawers/ cupboards/ wallets/ closets and relocating them. We are currently missing a debit card, computer mouse, and my make-up bag. Although, I did just find my blow-dryer outside in the kids playhouse, so that's good. He has suddenly become independent from his mommy... he could spend all day playing in the backyard. His vocabulary is growing so much every day... he can pretty much tell us want he wants. He loves running to the pantry, hitting it, and with conviction, repeating, "nack", "nack" (which means snack). He loves his "bee" (blankie) and would take it every where if given the opportunity. He loves pulling all the books off the shelf, sitting in them, and attentively looking at each one.