phone pics

How do you get the phone pics from the phone to the blog ? i emailed a few to myself to include here but I need a way to do this more regularly.

jo drew this picture of Meyer for pictionary one night! So cute!

 Clare was Venus Williams for a famous Californian wax museum project for school. She did great and she was absolutely adorable!

Grandma brought a fun "fart" game kind of like hot potato. The kids loved it!

 at the mormon batallion.

 saying goodbye

Jo loves Legos. calvin taught her to do them and she does a great job. This Elves set was super complicated and she got very frustrated a few times (since she didn't want help but actually needed help) but did finish it! She is a very determined and bright little girl.

a few things things

To be healthier, cheaper, give our kids less of a feeling of entitlement, and to make good habits we are not eating out until summer vacation in July. We have been in the habit far too often to stop and get a hot and ready or hamburger from in-n-out on the way home from activities when we are pressed for time and/or super hungry! instead we will head home for a meal or pack more snacks. This does require more work on my part, but that is okay, it is a good cause.  Dave and I can still eat out for date night if we choose or if someone invites us out I wouldn't make the family skip it, I just want to break the habit of eating out for convenience or because I'm too lazy to cook.

When we have company in town it is very easy to move Clare into our room. It is not so easy to move Clare out of our room.

Meyer is almost 1. He is a good dog minus the time this week he peed on dave at dog beach.

Calvin was riding his bike and hit a little toddler at the park. We were all standing right there but assumed Calivn would go around or slow down but he didn't. The baby is ok but had a bump on his head so  Dave told the mom she should take the baby to the ER at Rady's.  Then, once he got her crying and worried he also told her that he was the attending neurosurgeon on call and would meet her there.  Dave actually beat her there, helped her check in and get taken right back without any wait.  The ER docs got a BIG kick out of this entire event, making fun of Dave for trying to drive up business while on call. Funny not funny.  The family was very understanding and luckily the baby is totally fine. Of course we offered to pay their ER bill so we will see if they send it to us or not.


Dave and Clare have been buddies for two charity races. A couple of weeks ago it was a 5K run called Liams fund. This weekend it was a 15 mile bike ride for epilepsy foundation of SD.   Clare is a trooper! It's fun to see her get older and strong enough to do these things with Dave.

on the back of the shirts for the liams fun run it says "you think this is hard, you should try brain surgery!"  The Liams fund raises money for the neurosurgery department at Rady's to buy equipment so it very directly impacts Dave's work.  It was started by a parent of a child who had had 75 surgeries by age 3. It is humbling to see what amazing parent advocates and care takers there are.  The real heroes of medicine are the patients and their families. There is a great quote* about his in the book "the Emperor of All maladies" which I highly recommend.

*quote from Emperor of All Maladies: "but the story of leukemia - the story of cancer - isn't the story of doctors who survive, moving from one institution to another. It is the story of patients who struggle and survive, moving from one embankment of illness to another. Resilience, inventiveness, survivorship - qualities often ascribed to great physicians - are reflected qualities, emanating first from those who struggle with illness and only then mirrored by those who treat them. If the history of medicine is told through the stories of doctors, it is because their contributions stand in place of the more substantive heroism of their patients."

great weekend with the grandparents

We had a really fun weekend with the grandparents in town. I regret that I took very few pictures!

After weeks of beautiful 70 degrees and sunny weather it was rainy all weekend!

Th - grandma arrived at 8:30 in the morning. Dave picked her up while I did the morning drop off and walked the dog. Then we met for breakfast at Original Pancake House. We had a pretty busy day with kids pickup, piano, a dr. appt for me, etc.  Just our usual life!  It was a rainy day so softball was cancelled opening up our evening for dinner at home instead of on the road.  Activity days was at 7!  Lexey was super excited for her first time attending.

Friday - I went with Lexey's class on a field trip to Legoland. It was a great day. Dave, Clare, Grandma and JoJo stayed home and hung out and took Jo to dance class. When the field trip ended Dave was myster reader in Alexey's class.  Grandpa Dan arrived about 2:30pm.  We had dinner and hung out at home. 

Grandma and Grandpa spent a lot of time with the kids reading books, playing games, doing crafts and goofing off. The kids love the attention!  Grandma and Grandpa are so sweet with them!

Sat - Dave took his dad to ride bikes around the lake. Dan passed out on a rest they took. They considered going to the ER but after talking to cardiologist Joe Hymas they opted to manage it  in the outpatient setting once back in Reno.

The baptism was in the afternoon. It was great. More on that in a separate post.

Sun - church, including a special fast for the Simpson family and the baby twins, one of which has an enlarged bladder so they are doing surgery in utero to place a stent to drain fluid.
Bob, Kari and Dan came to dinner.

This week is spring break for the girls. Calvin had spring break a couple of weeks ago.

Monday - finally a sunny day!  We went to the mormon battallion and then coronado beach (with Meyer). On the way home we stopped to get kids burgers at in-n-out and got the adults indian food from our favorite little spot, Tandori Express.  Dave had been begging Calvin to go see batman vs. superman with him all weekend and finally talked him into it Mon afternoon.  Dan also went to the movie.  Linda watched once I was a beehive with the girls.

Dan and Linda headed home today (tues).

I took the three girls + Hallie Law to the beach today with gabby meadows.

Tonight Dan babysat for us . Dave and I went to dinner at Yanni's. Dave got lamb cannoloni. It was very delicious but I couldn't enjoy eating lamb.  I just kept picturing sheep and hearing baaa baaa.  the sauce, cheese and pasta were delicious though and the boudini for dessert was divine. My dinner was chicken penne masala and it was so so.

We are so excited!

Dave made this great invitation. We printed a few at Costco to mail to family and to give to friends at school. We are excited for a fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Gonda on their way today! Dan comes Saturday. 

jo has questions about babies

Jo has been asking lots of questions about babies lately.  (no, I'm not pregnant).

Today she asked, "how did Joseph get baby Jesus out without a knife?"  super good question. I gave her the answer of how babies get out.

A few days ago she asked, "how do babies get in?"  I told her that moms and dads have to love each other and get married and then they can get  a baby. She wanted more details.. "yeah, but how does the baby get inside the tummy?"  I told her I'd tell her more when she gets older. her reply, "I am already older!"

Love this sweet, smart girl!

saturday is a special day

I love Saturday mornings. We don't have to wake up at a specific time. Calvin sometimes gets up first but then he often grabs a snack and goes back to bed (either to sleep or watch TV on something).   On weekdays, I get up around 6:30 and then help Calvin get ready and out the door so when the girls wake up I am busy and we go right into breakfast and morning stuff such as packing backpacks, piano, homework, etc.  But Saturday, if the girls (lexey and Jo) get up around 7 or 7:30 I am often still in bed. They come in bed with me and snuggle, talk, read, rub backs, and relax or the girls giggle about little things. They are adorable.  It's really fun. Jo gets hungry really fast so it only lasts 5-15 minutes but it is a really great time.


Tonight after priesthood session all the Young men met at the Ewells for pizza. Since Dave had taken Clare and Lexey to a Liams fundraising dinner, I took Calvin to the dinner. I was the only girl besides Holli there! Dave got there just as everyone else was leaving so the girls played with the dogs and jumped on the tramp while we chatted with the Ewells. Then the girls snuggled with Chris and Holli, acted very silly, teased poor 16 year old Cory by hugging him and talking to him!


I went to a bridal shower for one of the resident wives. It was a very fun event. I don't know many of the resident wives very well, but they are really neat gals and it was nice to get to know them a little better.