Cousin Craw

Nathan and Katie came over yesterday and spent the day with us. They are moving back to Washington mid August and we are sad to see them go. We know it's exciting for them; I'd be excited to get out of Lancaster as well, but we will miss them. Nathan is 6 weeks younger than Sarah and they had a ball together. As I watched them entertain themselves and interact together, I realized that Sarah is not too young for playdates so I will have to start arranging some.

We also learned, why play with all the toys when you can just play with mom's flip-flops!  

The Golfer Arrives

(An accidental shot while setting up the timer, but I liked it anyway!)
Burlile came and stayed with our family last night. It was wonderful to see him again and we've vowed not to let so many years pass by this time. "We're too good of friends for that!"
After I told Kelly what a perfect babe we have, Sarah was fussier than usual and he saw a new side of her we don't really know; hopefully this side of her won't be around for long.
His wedding pics were beautiful, he really lucked out in the bride department.
We walked to Kay and Dave's for dinner. It's always a great meal there.
Sarah did enjoy playing with Kelly especially since he liked to help her walk around...her new favorite past time.
Kelly left today for his golf tournament in Long Beach---goodluck! We're sending good vibes your way.

(Sarah and her newest buddy!)

i'm so not a california girl and here's why...i don't heart the beach! there, i said it! i know this about me and i own it. however it becomes even more obvious to me when we have guests and they don't get a picture in front of the ocean until the day before they leave. how sad for them! and as you can see from the pictures, we're not even really on the beach, we're at palisades park!

thanks for visiting grandma! it is a time we will cherish always!! sarah loves you and that makes me the happiest. XOXO

Today's Events

We started the day with our ward picnic. It was a chilly morning but it warmed up quite nicely. Grandma had a nice time. In the afternoon while Richard and I prepared our Sunday School lesson Grandma and Sarah did what they do best, play! We went to Malibu Seafood for dinner. It's located right on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in Malibu. You order your food and then eat on picnic tables looking out over the ocean. It is all fish; not Grandma's favorite but she said she liked fish n' chips from Skippers so I thought we better take her somewhere where it's real fish and fresh out of the water. She enjoyed it and loved the view. We ended our evening driving around downtown Santa Monica trying to find parking for GLOW. There were going to be huge art displays of some sort all lit up and glowing on the pier and in Palisades Park from dusk to dawn. Everyone in Santa Monica as well as all the surrounding areas thought that it sounded great as well. We finally gave up our parking hunt and headed home. There is part of me that wants to get up early in the morning and go check it out. Richard is more than willing to stay and watch Sarah. :) While Richard and I were warn out and very annoyed by our journey, Grandma thought it great sightseeing and just marveled at all the traffic. If only we all had her positive outlook on things.

We didn't get a picture of Grandma in front of the ocean because we thought we would do it when we went to our next beach activity, but since that never happened, neither did the picture. Tomorrow after church maybe we will have to take an afternoon stroll on the sand.

WATCH OUT JENSENS HERE SHE COMES...

Here's our little army crawler! She gets up on her hands and knees as well but can't figure out what to do with her arms in that position so then she resorts to this. Her favorite position these days is standing, which gets tiring for mom and dad. But we do it anyway! :)

What's that saying;

"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold."

Last night a friend from highschool who I haven't talked to in almost 3 years (since my wedding) tracked me down. He will be in town next week for a golf tournament and we are going to get together.

There's so much to catch up on--his wedding, my baby girl. I love those friendships where you can pick up right where you left off and it feels as if you never skipped a beat!

Since She's Been Here

I have attemped to post pictures every night since she's been here. I haven't gotten around to it and we haven't been to bed before 11:00 this entire week--that's late for me. We are glad to have Grandma Bigelow (Sarah's GREAT Grandma) here with us for a week. Here's what we've been up to.

Most of our days have been spent like this. Grandma has been enjoying Sarah Jane and she loves her right back. They sit in the corner over by Sarah's toy basket and play, and play, and play. Richard and I are in for a rude awakening when Grandma leaves and we have to feed her and play with her again, but for the time being we love seeing both Sarah and Grandma so happy in one another's company. Sarah is a people person; if you love on her, she will love you back. This has been wonderful for Grandma and made her feel so special because Sarah has never shyed away. I hope Sarah never goes through the, I only want my mommy stage. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We have also been going on many walks. Grandma can't get over how perfect the weather is. She thought she was going to come to California and cook; not in Santa Monica. Ah, the joys of an ocean breeze. She has really been enjoying all the flowers. Everything is in bloom and she can't get enough.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to the Getty Center and had a wonderful time. Grandma couldn't believe the size of a lot of the paintings and couldn't imagine how long they must have taken to create. She LOVED the garden.

Thursday we drove to LaMirada to see her older, by 1 year, brother Don and his wife Terri. SArah Jane and Terri matched and Terri thought that was pretty special. We had a nice visit. They hadn't seen each other in a long time and it was sweet to see how glad they were to be together, even if it was for just a short time. I was reminded about the importance of family!

Traffic wasn't too terrible, but she did get to experience a little LA traffic jam here and there. The trip wouldn't have been complete without that. :)

We're off for a picnic with Richard at Stoner Park and then we will go walk around the temple grounds this afternoon.

NOT Monochromatic

Recently Richard and I have taken notice of the fact that the meals I make are often monochromatic. It's interesting; almost like I crave in colors or something. The other evening we had salmon, garnet yams, and apricots. A couple days before that we had chicken, potatoes, apple, and corn on the cob. These aren't the only 2 times this has happened; it seems to happen often despite the fact that we eat a wide variety of foods. Weird! Saturday we made pizzas on the grill (thanks to Lisa & her friend) these were not in any way monochromatic and they tasted just as good as they look. Richard working his magic. He actually tosses his pizza crust, no rolling pin needed. Guess those days ay Shakey's Pizza paid off. We made one BBQ Chicken and one ULTIMATE Veggie pizza. It was the best veggie pizza I have EVER eaten! The ULTIMATE Veggie: red & yellow peppers, spinach, zuchini, broccoli, aspauragus, red onion, and pineapple. Dreamy!

Boo-Boo

It's not a good picture and the bruise isn't that bad, but still---heartbreak!

Sarah's been taking a lot more tumbles since she has been sitting up by herself. She's getting more mobile from the sitting position; leaning this way and that inorder to grab her toys or face another direction. Most of the time the tumbles are such that she doesn't cry and just goes on like nothing happened. Yesterday however she took a tumble and got her first bruise. I felt so horrible, I truly thought I was going to cry right along with her. While I know this is not the last bruise she will receive, I certainly hope the sadness for mom and dad goes away or it's going to be a rough 18+ years.

PRICELESS

G-R-I-L-L-E-R-R-I-F-I-C

You know how Oprah does those shows, "Oprah's Favorite Things"--well, if I had my own TV show and gave away a few of my own favorites, the BBQ grill would be numero uno. I am so appreciative that we have a BBQ and a great one at that. Ron and Liz gave it to us with all the grilling tools for our wedding and we use it often. Sometimes, like lately I get into a grilling frenzy and want to cook everything on it. TASTY! Tonight our entire meal, excluding our apple was cooked on the grill--turkey tenderloins, red potatoes, and corn on the cobber. I'm already thinking of what we can make tomorrow night and the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next! You catch my drift?

If you have a BBQ grill and it's a little dusty, get it out and if you aren't fortunate enough to have one, purchase one. I promise, either way you won't regret it!

***Tastey BBQ recipes welcome here!!!

FYI

SHE EATS GREEN BEANS WITHOUT FLINCHING NOW!!! HOORAY!

Camping SUCCESS 7/4 - 7/6

She LOVED it! She absolutely loved it. We have returned from our long weekend adventure in Sequoia National Park. It was a wonderful time had by all. There is so much to cover I am not sure where to begin so we'll start in the beginning.

***Please be forewarned: 1) This IS A LONG POST as I don't want to leave a single thing out and 2)one of the things I like most about camping is the notion I have that one does not need to get beautiful. I appreciate so much just waking up, throwing on some comfies, and going. I did however find myself thinking that if nothing else I should atleast put on a decent shirt, but it never happened.

A while back we were chatting with some friends from church, talking about going camping when Josh, who is from Pakistan, asked, "I don't mean to sound stupid, but where do you shower?" To that I wholeheartedly replied, "I don't!!!" Ah, nature!

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When we first arrived at the Princess Campground in the Sequoia National Monument Sarah wouldn't stop smiling. She really does love being outside and just looked around while Rich and I set up camp. While she couldn't get enough of the trees I couldn't get enough of the yummy smell. It reminded me of Christmas.

After setting up camp we headed out to Hume Lake where Sarah had her first experience in the hiking backpack we borrowed from our friends the Lovetts. We took a simple little trail that went around the 2 mile lake. It was a perfect day. The hat I brought for Sarah turned out to be a little large; maybe her head's not as large as I think it is. When I folded the brim up it fit just right but didn't stay very well. Luckily I brought another one that we used for the remainder of our journies.

All I wanted for my birthday was a camping trip but Richard also got me this adorable purse that I was not expecting! He had it in our luggage so when I opened it up to get out our sweatshirts, there it was. I had seen this bag months and months ago and resisted purchasing it and then regretted that decision. I hadn't seen it again, but he had and remembered my love for it. Good guy!!!

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Saturday was jam packed and we realized what a trooper Sarah Jane is. We dragged her to see the General Sherman and all over the Moro Rock area. Richard had never been to Sequoia and I hadn't been since I was a youth with my family. I did have tiny memories of what I was in for, but Richard didn't. I don't think he imagined that the Sequoias would be as large as they were and he was pleasantly surprised.

My favorite part of the trip was Tharp's Log. It's a cabin in a Sequoia tree. AMAZING! A man lived in it for 29 summers before it became a national park, while his livestock grazed in the meadows nearby. What a simple life he must have led, but I can't think of anywhere more beautiful to spend it.

We climbed around on trees and more trees, drove and strolled through tree tunnels, we saw 2 bears, Sarah had playtime on her big green tarp, we played dice (I won all 3 games--that never happens), and we made Jiffy Pop AND S'mores.

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On Sunday morning we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We had the same thing this morning at home and they weren't nearly as good. How is it that everything tastes better in the mountains? We packed up camp and headed out. First we went to Stump Meadow, but we think it should have been called Stump Graveyard and then we went to our nation's Christmas tree. Did you know we had one? It's called the General Grant. It too is large--it's #3. At this point we decided we had to go in and purchase a patch for our backpack. That's the souvenir we get when traveling. Sadly, I still have the past 3 or 4 to iron on as well. One day it will get done.

I'm not sure why but I also found myself taking many self portraits or family pictures via the outstretched arm and these were some of our favorites.

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So as new parents we learned that our outdoor adventures are going to be different from now on. Although we can and do take Sarah with us on our journeys, we will not be able to do what we used to. We assumed we would be able to put her in the backpack and take a decent hike--so wrong! We were able to go on little 1-1 1/2 mile trails before she was ready to get out. We had to rotate between the backpack and the jogger on our many little outings and a lot of the time was spent entertaining her while we were hiking so that she would stay put for the remainder of the trek. We spent many more hours at our campsite than we usually do. Although it was different than we had expected, it was terrific nonetheless and I can't wait to plan our next one.

In Contrast

GOY-GOY-GOY-GOY-GOY

Sarah's new sound that we adore. We can't get enough of it. It's the sound she makes when she's tired and it is adorable. She gets the cutest, sweetest pitch--it's music to our ears. We just sit outside her bedroom and listen holding in our giggles.

We sure did make a cute one!!

DOUBLE STUFFED

How is it that a baby equals so much stuff?

We're off to Sequoia National Park for the long weekend. We're beginning to realize that although our car fits our family on a day to day basis, it doesn't seem to fit the things we enjoy doing. We had to borrow this Yakima roofrack from our friends James and Jyl. It's practically as big as our little Corolla.

Here's to another adventure. Hopefully Sarah enjoys camping as much as we do.