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.

Disneyland

We went to Disneyland for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Tatum had a blast. She ran up to the princesses like she was meeting a long, lost friend. Snow White gave her a kiss on the cheek and became Tatum's new favorite princess.

The teacups were a hit for Davis. Surprisingly, the extra large, super greasy corn dogs we just ate for lunch managed to stay down during the ride.

We got season passes, so we are excited to go again soon.

Best Friends

Tatum has so much love for her little brother, maybe too much? Davis is a good sport... he puts up with a lot of girly stuff. His new word of the week is "rella" short for Cinderella, possibly from being surrounded with everything princess. Fortunately, she has also been showing how to "shoot hoops" to balance everything out.

This is the park by our house... it has been so warm here we have been visiting it frequently.

Welcome

I am not the most technically savvy person... but for the sake of keeping close to all of my friends and family, I am giving it a try. We have settled into our new home in sunny southern California, and are slowly adjusting to California living.

Ryan is getting his feet wet in his new job. He is the directer of supply chain for a company called Circor. He is enjoying the perks of a smaller company, and works with some great people.

I have been keeping busy enjoying being a mom. The kids and I have been spending time at the beach, doing story time at the library, playing in our new backyard, and meeting with friends. We are starting to meet some friends out here. Everyone has been very welcoming.

Jil Designs is still up and running. My brother and sister in law have been keeping it going, they are putting on a big fashion show in February and we are working on some new designs... you can check it out at jildesigns.com.

Just a quick little update... but we are all doing well and having fun out here. Miss you all so much!