2008

Thanks for the tag Stacy. I keep looking at everyone else's blogs and thinking, "I am so glad no one has tagged me yet." I guess it was only a matter of time. Okay, the top 12 events, happenings or moments of 2008...

1. I convinced Michael to quit his crappy, low-paying job in Boulder City so he could take a much better job in Bakersfield. While it may sound easy, it took a lot of crying and threatening on my behalf to get him to realize it was a smart move. Now, he loves his job. Oh and did I mention that his old company in BC is requiring all their pilots to take a week of unpaid "vacation" in December, January and February?

2. We moved to Bakersfield. I know it ties in with the first one but we really do love it here (me more than Michael). Although we really miss Henderson and all our friends there, I really feel like we made the right move. We have made some really good friends in just a short time and I can't imagine being anywhere else right now.

3. Grandpa Oz came for Emma's 3rd birthday. We love it when Grandpa comes to visit!! Emma can't get enough of him!! He has been able to come for all of Emma's birthdays so far.

4. Michael got called to be in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. We got a call from our Stake High Councilman asking us to come to the church and Michael totally thought they were going to give me a calling. The look on his face was priceless when he found out it was for him.

5. I got called to be Young Women's President. Did I mention this happened a week before I gave birth?!? It's nice to be in a small ward where you are appreciated. I only have 3 girls but they are all so cute and I love serving with them.

6. Lucas Phillip was FINALLY born!! He was only a week late (who's counting right?) but he finally decided to make his grand appearance on August 5, 2008 at 8:18 am. If he had been born 13 minutes earlier it would have been 8 lbs 5 oz on 8-5 at 8:05. Wouldn't that have been cool??

7. Grandma Ganoush got to come for Lucas' birth. I guess it was a blessing that Lucas decided to hang out for awhile because that meant that my Mom got to be there when he was born. There is nothing quite like bringing a child into the world while the person who brought you into the world is right there helping you.

8. Labor Day weekend. We went to Vegas to show Lucas off and see a few friends. Grandpa Oz came down to meet us and got to see his grandson for the first time. My brother, Ian also came down all the way from Idaho for the weekend too.

9. Michael turned 40!!! I am officially married to an old man now!

10. Disneyland, Disneyland and more Disneyland!! We ended up going to Disneyland 4 times in the space of a month. Emma keeps asking when we'll go back again. We had a blast spending time with our family in Newport Beach and playing all over Southern California with them. Just the other day, Emma asked if we could go to Max's house for his birthday in January.

11. Stacia's wedding weekend. I saw Twilight in Vegas with Becky, drove to UT for Stacia's wedding and wrecked my car all in one weekend. Overall, not the best weekend but it really made both Michael and I grateful for "hidden" blessings (ie nobody was hurt in the accident). Plus I got to see my dad's new house!!

12. I turned 30!! Now Michael is no longer married to a "young lady". However, I will always be younger than he is!!

My honorable mentions...Mary's visit last summer and Michael's surgery in November. That wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Ok, I am tagging....Kim, Clarissa, Becky, Deidra, Brandy, Stacey Romney and Robin (that means you'll have to start blogging now). Good luck!!

Santa found us!!

Emma was very worried that Santa wouldn't be able to come to our house because it hadn't snowed and we don't have a chimney. Well, I am happy to report that Emma was on the "nice" list this year and Santa definitely found our house. She made out like a bandit!! She got this AWESOME doll house for Barbie and all her friends. This thing is taller than she is and comes complete with it's own furniture and elevator! The Barbie you see sitting in the chair was courtesy of my good friend, Chris....it's Mary Poppins!! Isn't that AWESOME??? Only Chris could find a Mary Poppins Barbie!!

Don't worry, Lucas was pretty spoiled as well. Santa brought him a basketball set (that will be great in another month or so) and a Woody doll. He loves to eat Woody while he's in his car seat (or anywhere else he is).

Poor Ali Cat was a little overwhelmed with all the craziness and took refuge under the tree when it was all over. I can't believe it has been almost two years since we saved her from the shelter.

Thank you to everyone for all the cool things we got. Especially the remote control helicopter and the book of our family vacation. We love it all!!

The Reason for the Season....

I love nativity sets. I currently own four of them and I am planning on expanding my collection whenever I get the chance. I love the whole Christmas season and all the fun things that come with it. But I have to say that my favorite thing to do during the holidays is to turn all the lights off, turn the Christmas tree on and just sit in the peace and quiet and stare at the tree.


I hate how easy it is to get caught up in all the hustle and bustle and totally forget the whole reason why we even celebrate Christmas. We went over to Damon and Clarissa's house for Family Home Evening a few weeks ago. We let the kids dress up and act out the Christmas story (I forgot my camera). They were so cute. Damon asked the girls if they knew why we celebrated Christmas and I was so proud of Emma when she said, "It's Jesus' birthday." I am so glad that she recognizes that Santa isn't the only important thing about Christmas.

I hope that this year (even though Christmas has already come and gone) we can all take a moment to stop and remember why we all love Christmas. Take the time to remember the reason for the season.

This one is for you, Robin.

The other day, my friend Robin made a comment to me about how she loves to have Emma over to play because she never makes a big mess when we are there.

Need I say more?

What happens when Daddy is left alone with the kids

So the other night, I had our youth activity at church and I left Michael at home with both Emma and Lucas. He has been obsessed with getting our Christmas cards out this year (Thank you sweetheart because I honestly lacked the motivation) and he was on the phone with his dad getting some addresses when Emma walked into the kitchen...

She had found my makeup (I have no idea where from - I never wear it) and had smeared waterproof mascara all over her face. She was so proud because she thought she looked like a kitty cat. We got a few good laughs before we threw her in the tub and started the scrubbing process.

What?? I can't hear you...I'm 30 now!!

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Claire!
Happy Birthday to you!!!

A tooth?? Are you kidding me???

So, I keep bragging about how good of a baby Lucas is and I have one more story just to illustrate that point. We went to the doctor on Monday for his 4 month checkup (he is now 26 inches long and weighs 16 lbs) and while we were there, Dr. Rafiq checked Lucas' gums for teeth. Nothing. On Tuesday, I noticed that he had a little white nubby starting to show. Yesterday (Wednesday) I checked his gums and guess what? He had cut his first tooth!! In 2 days!! Did I mention that all through this arduous process that he was still happy and smiling?? He did wake up every 2-3 hours on Tuesday night but last night he only woke up once. What an amazing kid!!! Hopefully all his teeth will be this easy.

Fog, fog.....GO AWAY!!!

Who could have ever guessed that we would get HORRIBLE fog in Bakersfield, California? And I don't mean just a thin layer, I mean pea soup with big chunks of potatoes. It's crazy!! For instance, all the schools are on at least a 2 hour delay today because of the fog. Just how bad could it possibly be? This is a picture looking down our walkway...



And another one looking out the upstairs window. No my camera is not broken. If you look really close, you can just see a fence that's in a field next to our house. Did I mention that you should also be able to see a school in the background? Oh, and that fence is only about 70 feet from our house.

There is so much humidity in the air (obviously) that everything is covered with dew. Michael called the airport weather phone number (it's all in pilot talk so I don't really understand what it says) and they reported that the visibility was less than a quarter of a mile. We have heard from a few people that this is the worst fog in about 5 years. How did we get so lucky?

For some reason, I decided to keep Emma at home today instead of taking her to preschool. I wonder why?

Christmas pictures???

So here is my attempt to get some Christmas pictures of the kids.....

Not another picture Mom!!

She's 3. What more can I say?

Wait a minute, did I actually get ONE picture where they were both happy?!?!?!

Dashing through the gym

Last week for our youth activity, we had planned on going to the Bakersfield Jam game here in town but our plans ended up falling through so at the last minute, I had to plan an activity. All I can say is, thank heavens for the internet!! I found a really fun game online that the kids had ALOT of fun playing. They thought I was crazy at first but they all wanted to keep playing it. We set up some cotton balls on the stage and had everybody line up on the opposite end of the gym. Then we all had to put vaseline on the end of our noses. The object of the game was to run to the stage, pick up a cotton ball with your nose (no hands) and run back to the start without losing your cotton ball. We broke into 2 teams and made it into a relay race. It was CRAZY fun!! Thank you Erin for being our photographer!

Disneyland....again

Last Saturday, we headed back to Disneyland for Michael's company Christmas party. Emma was really excited to go again but we are worried that she might start to think that we can go to Disneyland every week from now on. Maybe someday we will get a year round pass but not right now.

Anyway, I really liked it this time because they had all the Christmas decorations out in full force. We caught the Christmas parade complete with Santa Claus at the end.

We went on "it's a small world" (the first time both Emma and I had ever been on it) and I LOVED all the Christmas decorations inside. I went a little crazy with the camera and seriously took like 30 pictures inside. Don't worry, I won't post all of them.

They also had a candlelight processional where they turned out all the lights and had a group of people holding candles while they walked through the park and sang Christmas songs. I think it's amazing that we only sing Christmas songs once a year but almost everyone knows the words to most of them.

We really had alot of fun which is good because I don't think we'll get a chance to go back to Disneyland for quite awhile.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

This is a shout out to my lovely mother dearest who turns another year older today!!
Thank you so much for all that you have done (and will continue to do). I appreciate you more and more each day.

We love you Grandma Ganoushie Poo!!!!

I Married Frankenstein

Just after I had Lucas this summer, Michael told me about a growth that he had on his neck. It was right by his adam's apple and had been getting bigger for quite awhile before he told me about it. (He didn't want to stress me out right before I gave birth - smart man) Anyway, he actually went to the doctor to have it looked at back in September but didn't have it removed until the day before Thanksgiving. The incision was quite a bit bigger than either of us had expected. It seriously looks like someone tried to slit his throat. Michael himself said that he looks like Frankenstein now. But the important part is that the "ugly twin" is gone and the test results said that it was just a benign growth that he had probably had since he was born. I really want to get some pictures of his battle wound but he is growing a beard right now because "it hurts to shave." And since we all know just how hairy my husband is....well, we'll have to wait and see about those pictures..

My dad's NEW house!!!

Ever since I was a little girl, my dad has lived in the same house (well actually its a trailer). And considering how many times we moved when I was a kid, it was pretty well used and abused. The poor thing was literally falling apart at the seams. So, I was pretty excited when my dad told me that they were going to get a new manufactured home this summer (even if it meant that Deidra couldn't come and visit). It was supposed to be delivered in July (or was it June?) but didn't actually get there until August.

Every time I would call to check on the status, I kept hearing that they were putting tile on the floors. I didn't get why it was taking so long for them to actually occupy the house until I saw it for myself. My dad can be quite the perfectionist when it comes to anything he is working on so he really went to town with the tile. I have to say that it looks AWESOME!! This picture is from the dining room where he broke the tile up himself and made a mosaic pattern. Poor Nanette and Deidra had to clean and grout all the tile so they get just as much of the credit. The whole house is absolutely beautiful and they really did a wonderful job.

They officially closed on Tuesday, so there really wasn't much inside yet. I am really looking forward to going back in a few months to see the final result. See, Nanette, good things do come to those who wait!!

Our poor little Silly Sally...

For those of you who don't know, Emma likes to name cars. Our truck is named Mark, the moving truck was Clyde, and our car is named Silly Sally. Well, Silly Sally had a run in with a deer this weekend...
We were following a truck up Indian Canyon (from Helper to Duschene) when a deer ran out between us. I seriously didn't see the deer until it was in my hood. Thankfully, the truck I was following came back to make sure we were ok. Of course, we were at a spot in the canyon where I didn't get any cell reception so needless to say, I was very grateful that he came back to check on us. He went back up the canyon a few miles, called the Highway Patrol and my dad and came back to wait with us until help arrived.

Emma and Lucas were amazing through the whole ordeal. They only cried for about 20 seconds after we hit and I think that was mostly because I screamed and scared them. While we were waiting for the troops to arrive, Emma kept asking me why we weren't going anywhere. However, thanks to the DVD player from Grandpa Oz, she was so busy watching a movie that she didn't want to go anywhere even when the Highway Patrol showed up.

The tow truck took us back to my grandparents house in Helper where we met my dad and step-brother, Ryan. Emma was pretty distraught at the idea of leaving Silly Sally but when I explained that Sally was broken and had to get fixed, she was ok. She also informed me that next time I need to wait until the deer is done crossing the road. It was a good lesson in safety because I told her that the deer didn't hold her mommy's hand while she was crossing the street and that's why she got hit.

Michael took the news pretty good considering I was sobbing when I talked to him. In fact, he went out looking for a new car on Saturday (the excuse of having to wait for the insurance settlement is a great way to get car salesmen to back off). But, the repair shop said that the damage was mostly cosmetic so we should be back in business in a few weeks. Fortunately, Grandpa Oz is letting us borrow Sara (his Camry) until poor Sally gets fixed.

I am EXTREMELY grateful that we all came out ok. We hit the deer at the perfect spot in the canyon because just before and after, there were some pretty good drop offs down to the creek but where we were there was a pull out. It's a good thing we had our guardian angel, Grandma Susie, looking out for us that night.

The worst thing about the whole experience was feeling completely helpless. It was about 35 degrees outside, my car wasn't going anywhere and I had two small children in the car. It took me quite a while to calm down and say a prayer to have peace and comfort. Thank heavens for the sweet peace the Spirit can bring in times of need. I still cried, but mostly because I was mad at myself.

Thank you to everyone who came to our rescue!!

May I present, Jeff and Stacia Taylor

Well, since I was already driving to Vegas for THE movie, I decided (in the shower on Thursday morning) to go all the way to Utah for my step-sister's wedding in Roosevelt. I really wanted to go but wasn't going to because Michael had to work and I didn't want to drive all that way with two kids by myself. But, being the stubborn Wilstead child that I am, I went. Of course on the way, I had a little mishap but I'll put all that drama on another post.

Jeff and Stacia's ceremony was perfect. It literally lasted for all of 5 minutes. It was short, sweet and to the point. And really, why draw it out, everyone is there for the all important first kiss anyway.

Stacia looked absolutely beautiful in her gown. Emma thinks that all brides are princesses so she was really excited to see Stacia all decked out. She also really likes dancing so she was ready to get down and bogey all night long.

Joel and Kim came out from KS so Emma and Zac got to play together all night. Luckily, Zac didn't mind dancing with his cousin. We also got to meet Little Auggie (aka Trevor) for the first time and also Ryan and Sydnee's little girl Tally. It was fun to see everyone!



We really had a lot of fun and I was glad that we were able to be there. Congrats to the newlyweds, the best is yet to come!!! We love you!

Twilight!!!!

So I am that geek when it comes to Twilight!! I love the books! I really like the whole story line and I love the whole "vegetarian" vampire idea. So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard that there was a premiere for Twilight in Vegas the day before it officially opened. It was $25 to get in but there was an appetizer buffet, door prizes and we also got a coupon for free popcorn and drink so I totally think it was worth it. Anyway, so I drove all the way back to Vegas to see the movie. Now, before anyone thinks I was too weird, before we had even moved, I had promised my friend, Becky that I would come back to see the movie with her when it came out. It was so worth it. Granted we got there a little late and ended up on the second row with a great view of Edward's nose hairs, but we both LOVED the movie! Plus it just gives me an excuse to go see it again. My hat goes off to the screenwriters for keeping it so real and in line with the book. I usually hate books made into movies but with this one, I am really excited for the sequel!!

Coming home

Has anyone heard about a little fire in the LA area this weekend? No? Well let me tell you all about it. The fires this weekend were the worst fires in LA in the last 75 years. How lucky are we that we got to experience them first hand. I am just very thankful that we weren't more affected by them. Sure we stayed in LA an extra night and had ash rain down on us all day but we didn't lose our home. My heart goes out to all the people who lost everything that they had in the fires. Can you imagine being told that you have 5 minutes to pack up all your memories and leave? How would it feel to drive away from your home and not know if it will be there when you get back? I hope we never have to experience that.

When we woke up Sunday morning, we found a layer of ash on everything; our car, the ground, the bushes. It was gross to think that we had all been inhaling that the day before. We had all taken showers the night before and by the time we got done, the washcloth was pretty disgusting. We loaded up the car and headed out of town.

On our way up the I-5, Michael wondered where the fire had been so bad that they needed to close the road. Just south of Valencia, we saw why. This picture doesn't show it too well but the entire hillside was black.

We saw a few helicopters out fighting the fire and a couple of fire trucks headed south to help out.











I took a couple of pictures of the fires but they don't do them any justice. They were HUGE. Going home, we had fires on both sides of the car. Keep the firefighters and anyone who lives in those areas in your prayers the next few days because they will need them.

The day we got stuck in LA...

So, before we ever left on our vacation, we figured we would probably have one more day at Disneyland left on our tickets (we got the Southern California City Pass that had a 3 day park hopper pass in it already) so we had a few of our friends from Bakersfield come and meet us at Disneyland for one last day of fun. Little did we know that up the road, just south of Valencia, there was a raging fire that had closed I-5 (oh wait, isn't that the way home???). Wendy, Tracy and Kaiden had driven down the day before so they missed out on all the fun. (Check out their blog for details) There was also a fire that was burning about 7 miles from Disneyland that made sure that ash and soot rained down on us all day. Did we let little things like ash and smoke keep us from playing outside all day? NO WAY!!! We put Lucas in the stroller and covered it with a blanket (so he wouldn't get covered with ashes) and off we went.

Kaiden (or was it Tracy?) really wanted to see the Jedi Academy training. We watched a bits and pieces of it with the Romney boys but this time we sat down and watched the whole thing. I have to say that the Jedi Master who was in charge of training all the "younglings" was hilarious! He was very witty and had a great sense of humor. We were all cracking up. At the end of the training, Darth Mal and Darth Vader both came out on stage for the kids to fight. It was pretty cool.

We went back to Mickey's Toontown and actually got to see Mickey Mouse this time (our camera wasn't acting up so Mickey was home! Isn't it funny how that works?) Lucas was hungry and tired at that point so he cried and Emma was so excited that she just stared at Mickey the whole time. We couldn't get her to look at the camera at all. I guess that's what happens when you meet your favorite celebrity. The best part about Mickey's house was that we got out of the smoke for a few minutes.





As we were walking down Main Street in Disneyland, we noticed just how bad the smoke was and took this picture...
Keep in mind that this was taken around noon and if you look just behind the Christmas tree, the sun was shining somewhere in LA...just not on us. Can you believe we were out in that crap? Me neither now that I look at the pictures.

We didn't let that stop us!! No, no. We still kept going!! We headed over to California Adventures for a few rides and to see the Disney Pixar Parade later on that night. We had seen part of the parade on Wednesday but this time we got to see it all. Guess who we missed the first time around?? Lightning McQueen!!!! Emma and Kaiden both love "Cars" so they were pretty excited to see #95.
They had characters from almost all of the pixar movies. Bringing up the rear was Emma's other favorite from "Cars", Mater. What more could a little girl ask for? Hey Lucas, how did you like the parade? Was it a little too boring for you?


Throughout the day, we were getting updates on the road conditions (thank you to everyone we called all day long). Michael and I decided that we were too tired from the previous week (gee, I wonder why?) to do the 4 hour detour suggested by the CHP, so we ended up finding a cheap hotel and staying over night. However, Wendy and Tracy are more die hard than we are and they did the detour. They really only beat us home by a few hours. :-)

Legoland

Friday morning, we all piled into the van for the last time and headed down to Legoland. The boys were REALLY excited to go!! Of course, as soon as we walked in the gates, I got stung by a bee and had to go to the First Aid building. Before you all think I'm a wuss or something, it hurt like you would not believe and I had never been stung before so I wasn't sure if I would have a reaction or not. I didn't and felt like a big cry baby when we left but I was glad that I got stung and not one of the kids.

After I dried my tears, we explored Legoland. There were quite a few rides but my favorite part was all the things they had built out of Legos. They had almost the entire Strip in Las Vegas done all the way down to the animals at the dolphin exhibit at the Mirage. It was so cool. And to think I used to get excited when I built a tiny,little house out of Legos. They even had an entire car made out of Legos that I didn't even realize it wasn't a real car until Michael pointed it out to me.


They were really strict on the height restrictions for all the rides (no one under 32" can do ANY of the rides so don't take really little kids there) so Lucas got to watch everyone form the sidelines. He did enjoy a few rousing games of peek a boo to help him survive the day. If you listen, you can hear Michael in the background asking me a question while I ignore him...that's pretty normal around our house. :-)

I was so amazed at all the different things they had made with the Legos. From the old man sitting on a bench... (The Lego man is on the right, not the left.) to the animals on safari, they were all so cool! I could go on... and on... and on... and on about them.