Welcome to Canada

We have now been in Calgary for the past two weeks, and I have loved spending so much time with my parents and brother. We left the heat of Las Vegas, and in a few hours we were in the snow!

It was pretty crazy, and we had storms for the entire drive, but the weather here in Calgary actually has been pretty nice. The drive was very long. We left Las Vegas at 3 pm on a Friday afternoon. We drove pretty much straight until about midnight when we got to our hotel in Pocatello, Idaho. We had to get all the stuff set up and the bikes off the car, and so we finally got to sleep around 1 am.

We set the alarm for 7 am, got up, took the kids swimming for 30 minutes, and were back on the road by 8:30 am. Then we drove all day and finally got to my parents house around 8:30 pm. Thanks to many episodes of The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Sophia the First, we survived, but I never want to drive that far again.

My parents just moved into a new house on Auburn Bay Lake a couple of months ago. Their house is beautiful and looking at the water is amazing. However, my girls are trying really hard to make their new house more "lived in." In the past two days alone, Cora found a lipstick at nap time, and decorated everything she could find including the new carpet, and Aubrey had the stomach flu, which included throwing up all over the carpet. I'm sorry mom!

Next summer when the backyard is finished it will be even more fun. Steven did manage to convince both girls to jump into the freezing water. I promised I would too... once it is a little warmer.

We have spent a few warm days at the lake beach. The girls love playing in the sand and water. And Steven figured out how to catch some minnows in a bucket, which thrilled Aubrey. He caught one for Cora, but she told us "he got buried in the sand" when we asked what happened to her fishy. 

My dad got Steven a nice little office downtown at his law firm. Steven is enjoying the scenery as he bikes to work. Calgary really is a beautiful city.

 We took the kids to a farm, and they loved feeding the animals. I'm impressed with how brave Aubrey has gotten.

Ahh... sister love. 

I have also loved going to the temple, catching up with some old friends, hanging out with my mom, doing lots of running, reading, and looking at design blogs/furniture stores for our new house!

We officially close on our house July 9. Since my birthday is on the 7th, I think I will have a pretty good birthday gift this year. 

Things on our house are coming along. It is fun to see the progress.

Our builder has a home in the Utah Valley Parade of homes that starts next week. That house is across the street from ours, so it is a little weird to think that hundreds of people are going to be driving by and looking at our house. I'm just glad that all the people will be gone before we move in. We are getting excited!

End of Las Vegas

We are leaving on a very long 18 or maybe 19 hour drive from Las Vegas to Calgary on Friday. We drove up to Utah last week to do some house stuff and I wanted to pull my hair out just with that short drive. My sanity may not make it all the way to Calgary.

On our trip last week to Utah, we got to see the progress made on our house. I loved walking through all the rooms and imagining what it will look like done.

The girls in their future room. This picture was taken after a two hour meeting with our builder and their patience was pretty much gone.

Other than our trip to Utah, we have been having a great time in Las Vegas. Steven's parents have been in Europe the past few weeks, so it has just been us here around the house.

I have loved Steven working from home and how I get to run in the daylight now. I injured my foot right before our half marathon and it is just finally feeling back to normal now. I'm very grateful for that, because it has been really frustrating to only be able to run shorter distances for the past couple months.

We have spent a lot of time at the children's museum. The girls have loved it. I don't love them running off in two directions, but I have been grateful to have a place to take them to burn off energy. They also have really great crafts that we have spent a lot of time on.

Definitely the best part of living here has been how much time we have been able to spend with Tyler and Katie's family. The girls LOVE their cousins, and it has been so fun to watch them play together. We have been able to see them several times a week, and we even let them have a sleepover last Saturday. Even though it was onto Mother's Day, it was the only day that we could. They went to sleep after ten and woke up before six. It made for an exhausting Mother's Day, but we all had fun.

We really have had a great time living here, but parts of it have been hard for me. The girls got back to back sicknesses and we spent a week cooped up inside. I also miss having preschool and gymnastics and lots of things to fill our days. Aubrey, especially, is a high-energy little girl, and it is exhausting being the only source to keep her entertained and busy. I also miss having friends and well... a life. And, I don't even want to admit how many times I have taken the wrong road even though I have a GPS :)

But! We are so grateful we have been able to live here. We have done and seen a lot. I have clearly been terrible at taking pictures, but it has been a lot of fun and we have loved spending so much time with family.

Cruise

Steven and I just got back from a cruise getaway! Before this cruise, Steven and I had not been on a vacation together since before Aubrey was born. I had never even left the girls overnight before. We are so blessed that Steven's parents watched the girls so we could have a nice vacation.

We went on a four day cruise from Long Beach to Catalina Island and then Ensenada, Mexico. I read three books, slept in until 7:45 one day (still up early the others), took 3 naps, and ate approximately 8 desserts. Cruises are tough on the self-control :)

The first day was just on the ship and then the next was spent on Catalina Island. We went on a 7 mile hike from our ship, up the Hermit Gulch trail to overlook the whole island. Once we were at the top we could see both sides of the island, and the view was amazing.

We only saw one other couple the entire time we hiked. We thought it was crazy that everybody else from the ship seemed to stay right in the little city of Avalon. There was a whole island to explore!

That night was the cruise formal night, and I love an excuse to get dressed up. 

The next day we stopped in Ensenada, Mexico. First we went horseback riding...

 Steven and I were put at the back of the line. They told me that my horse, Tapatio, liked to bite the other horses. We were pretty dusty by the end. 

 The ride took us up over the cliffs overlooking the ocean. And, all that hiking + horseback riding = I could barely walk the next day. 

After horseback riding we spent the afternoon exploring the the rest of the city. We tried our hand at bartering to buy the girls some souvenirs. They look adorable in those dresses.

They are fixing the main road, but instead of trying to do it a little at a time, they just bulldozed an entire side. Traffic was crazy.

Steven got to eat authentic Mexican food from a food truck. 

And, we made sure to find a Starbucks with free wi-fi so we could call our girls.

The last day was spent at sea. We slept in, ran five miles in the gym, went in the hot tub, basked in the sun, showered, went to brunch, read some books, took a nap.... and then it was only one in the afternoon. The day was relaxing, but pretty long since all the normal cruise distractions (drinking, gambling, etc.) are not really for us.

But, we did play some intense rounds of speed after we bought some cards from the casino.

 We went to the shows each night. Some were great... some were not.

And then, we got off the ship Thursday morning and drove back home to our girls! It was a great trip and really good for us after all the stresses of moving. We have another five weeks here in Las Vegas and then we are off to Canada!

Goodbye California, Hello Las Vegas

The end of March was spent doing all our favorite things and spending time with all our favorite people one last time:

The last couple of weeks were pretty stressful. Our area in Santa Clara is so transient that people move in and out all the time, and so somebody is always needing help moving. I didn't want to bug too many people to help us, so I packed up everything myself with the girls running around, cleaned everything, lived on air mattresses for a couple of days, and then we loaded the truck with just a couple of friends.

On April 4, 2015 we drove away from the Bay Area and closed a chapter of our lives that I have absolutely loved. I'm very excited for our life in Utah, but a part of my heart will always be in California. I'm still a little sad, but we are having a great time here in Las Vegas.

Since we have been in Las Vegas, we have...

Visited splash pads and spent some time in sprinklers. I don't have a picture of it, but Katie and Tyler have an amazing pool, and we have spent quite a few evenings enjoying that. The girls are having a great time being around their cousins.

Put both girls in swimming lessons. Aubrey is a pro, and Cora had her first lesson last week. The first 22 minutes were great. Then she got cold and spent the last 8 minutes screaming, "I want to go in the hot tub." 

We got a pass to the Children's museum and plan on going weekly to get our money's worth.

 We went hiking up at Red Rock this morning. You can't really tell in this picture, but Aubrey climbed up really high for a four-year-old. She was pretty proud.

 Steven's parents have been wonderful to us, and the girls love having their grandparents around.

My little hiking buddy.

And... I guess we can't stay away from California long because after we had been here a week, Steven and I went on a cruise!

Catch-up

Less than three weeks now until we leave the Bay Area. Getting rid of furniture, packing, and trying to fit in as much fun as possible before we leave has kept us very busy.

 This may be really long, but according to the pictures on my phone, here is what we have been up to:

We went to Utah for a whirlwind trip to pick out the finishes for our house: 13 hours driving there and 16 hours back in a four-day span was super fun.

 

I have been trying to get outside every day with the girls. I will miss the weather here like crazy. Our afternoons are usually spent just the three of us in the backyard or at the park and I love it after the craziness of our mornings.

 

We have been fitting in as many last play dates and adventures as we can. 

 Happy Hollow is always a win.

 

This is Cora's best little friend Elsa. They are both really sweet and low-key and make the perfect little friends.

I can never get the girls out of my friend Lisa's house without crying. They really love it that much.

Steven took Aubrey on a date last week. This week, I took Aubrey to a birthday party at Chuck-e-cheese and Steven took Cora on a date. I don't think Chuck-e-cheese has changed since I was a kid. And now that Aubrey knows it exists, she keeps asking to go back.

We went to San Francisco last Saturday for a really perfect afternoon. We finally walked the whole way across the bridge and back.

 I sat and watched our stuff (so it didn't get stolen) while these three played in the ocean with the Golden Gate bridge in the background. We had to drag them out of there because our parking meter expired. It was very picturesque and I spent the whole time thinking about how blessed I am.

 

We continue to enjoy our Saturday night dinners at LinkedIn. I told Steven this may be the thing I miss most about living here. We have so many family memories hanging out and having fun. 

 

And I have really loved watching these two become the best of friends the past couple of months. 

 

Something clicked once Cora turned two and now they play so well together. Aubrey has never been very good at playing by herself, so it has been a lot less stressful for me now that she has a little buddy. 

 We have the beach and a day in Monterey planned before we leave. And then... we leave all this behind. I'm sad and excited. Sad because I really have loved the time we spent here. It has been quite the adventure. Excited because I know that it is best for our family to move on. Life just keeps on marching forward.