new bike

A couple  of weeks ago Dave got me a  new mountain bike.  It is a really nice bike, full suspension.  A very nice ride!  Dave and I went out one day while the kids were in school and rode for about two hours. I can't even come close to keeping up with Dave but it was still really fun. I love being outside.



We haven't been able to go out again since then because Dave's bike broke while we were out and it has been in the shop for 10 days. Hopefully he'll get it back soon. He has also been pretty busy at work so I thought I should figure out a way to go by myself sometimes too.

I have been a little nervous about going off in the woods by myself on the bike during the day, and I don't have any friends that ride mountain bikes.  However, today I tried taking Meyer out with me. I figure with a big dog running beside me and being on a bike moving pretty fast I'm not the easiest target.  Anyway, I took Meyer out for about 30 minutes. He had to run really hard to keep up with me but did a great job. It felt so good to be outside. To smell all the weeds and flowers and dirt, feel the wind in my face and hear meyer running hard next to me.  I saw several baby bunnies and we crossed paths with a coyote. Meyer didn't even see it!! It was just a few feet away from us off the trail.  It was a fun and not too hard ride for me and the very maximum that Meyer could do. I am getting a little better on the bike, learning to use the gears, not having to get off the bike and walk up little hills. I still have a long way to go to be able to go up steep hills and to be able to go over boulders.

We went riding last summer a couple of times but I was just on a regular bike and it was a very bumpy ride, my arms and back really hurt after riding all the bumps. Having a nice bike makes it much more comfortable. 

I look forward to many more rides with Dave and I think it'll be a great new tradition to take Meyer out and get him worn out every once in a while!

Memorial day weekend!

This weekend we did a little family staycation. We had wanted to get away and do a little weekend trip but didn't plan until last minute so a few of the things we wanted to do were already booked, plus we didn't really want to go fight the crowds at some of those popular Memorial Day destinations.

Sunday we went to the Cube in orange county. It is a science/children's museum. They had a cute little dinosaur show, lexey was called up to be a volunteer. We rode a helicopter simulator through an Irvine nature reserve very close by.  the kids played in the "store", there was a great dinosaur exhibit.  Calvin was very grouchy for much of the trip but enjoyed a few mintues of the museum. Finally for the last 45 min or so I sat with him in the car so the girls and dave could see a few things.

Then we went to medevial times. once again Calvin was not enthusiastic, but of course everyone loved it in the end. The girls were very concerned about the fake sword fighting and the fake deaths of the various knights. The were gasping, covering their eyes, and near tears. They are funny adorable little girls. Dave and I ordered the vegetarian meal which was a huge improvement over the traditional feast of 1/2 a chicken. I can't even imagine how many chikens they waste.

On the way home from orange county Dave made an impromptu stop at the beach in San Onofere. We paid $15 to park but it was so worth it to just drive right down to the beach and park and have the place to ourselves and not have to worry about walking miles as you normally would on memorial day weekend. The kids played int he sand, clare and dave went on a walk. We were there 5:30-7:30. It was beautiful. We stopped at in-n-out on the way home and then everyone was in bed by 8. Great day

Monday we went to breakfast at IHOP, bowling with Bob and Kari and then up to the Larsens for dinner. The kids loved playing with the Larsen kids and running around up and down the giant hill in the back yard.  It was a great family weekend together. Thanks to Dave for spending all of his free time with us.

jojo says

Sometimes Jo tags along with Dave and I on our lunch dates.  today I told her we were going out and she said, "oh no, please don't go to that indian place!"  She used to love it, but now she is tired of it. We aren't! We still love it! She loves it when we go someplace where she can get a fish taco! Today we tried a new little hole in the wall Mexican shop. She got a great fish taco.

Also, Jo told me today "my favorite healthy food is bacon. My favorite unhealthy food is rolos."  I thought it was funny that bacon is considered healthy food.

Jo got to swim with her preschool class last week! She had a great time!

more praise for Calvin

This weekend was the big ward fundraiser dinner. All the youth had to be there two hours early to help set up and then throughout the evening were asked to help serve food, etc.  We dropped off Calvin at 3 and we had to go to the girls piano recital.  For the actual dinner Dave and I went to a wedding so dan brought the girls over after piano. (It was nice to have Dan here for a quick one day trip. He came down with a couple of "friends" for a wedding. I assumed those friends were boys. We were super surprised when Sat morning a couple of girls came upstairs!)

Anyway, Sun morning I got a call from my friend Julie Parrish who is the YW president and was overseeing the setup. She said Calvin was her best worker, stayed on task the entire time, and was a pleasure to work with. I appreciated the phone call and told Calvin about it so he would know that I heard back that he had done a great job. The girls also told me he was the server for their table and did a good job with that.

Dave often picks up cookies to bring to deacons quorum. This week when he went to get cookies Calvin said he also wanted to get some cookies for his class.  After they finished checking out, Calvin gave Dave $4 to cover the cost of the cookies for his class! What a sweet boy! Calvin attends Jo's primary class of CTR 4's. They kids adore him. He is very sweet with them. He always attends primary 2nd hour and for 3rd hour sometimes he goes to deacons quorum but often stays with the 4 year olds.

Calvin has been doing really well for a few months.

About 6 months ago,  on Dr. Max's recommendation (dr. max is our amazing neuropsychiatrist that we've been sing for several years) I started going to a therapist to help set up a behavior plan. Since Calvin has been doing so well at school for a long time it was apparent that it was the home cs. school environment that made the difference. Dr. Max felt that with some coaching on how to do a behavior plan we could make big improvements at home.  I started seeing Dr. Robin Stutzman. She helped me plan a behavior chart for Calvin, helped teach me how to talk to Calvin and the other girls when problems arise. A couple of times I took Calvin with me to chat with her so that he could give feedback about what was working for him and so that he could hear us talk about what a good job he was doing. It was very helpful.  Dr. Max keeps moving up and up on my list of favorite drs we have ever seen!  I always leave his appointments hopeful that we can make improvements.

big weekend for Calvin

This weekend Calvin had a BIG weekend. I am so proud of him. He went on a campout with the scouts by himself. This is the first campout he's done without dave. They camped Friday night. Saturday they worked on an eagle scout project all morning and then in the afternoon they worked on building kayaks. They boys have been working a couple of months on some kayaks for their high adventure trip in june. Dave and Calvin aren't going on the trip but they have enjoyed building the kayaks.  Calvin really gets into it.  Calvin was gone from about 4pm Friday to 5pm Saturday and had a great time and was perfectly behaved.  Kyle McBride helped watch out for Calvin and gave him his medication at night and in the morning. It was very kind of him to do that so that Calvin could attend without Dave going.

Sunday was Calvin's first day passing the sacrament. We went shopping to get him a new belt and shoes and slacks so he would look nice. Previously he had worn sweatpants and tennis shoes with his white shirt.  In years past I have bought him new church clothes on several occasions but they've always been too uncomfortable for him to wear so then he goes back to what is comfortable. He's been doing great wearing his white shirt and tie for many months now.

Sunday Calvin got dressed up very nice and looked great. He went to church early and learned what he is supposed to do.  He did an amazing job passing the sacrament.  We were all very proud of him and he was proud of himself. I am so happy for him to be making such great progress.

Lego is good to us

Calvin recently got a brand new lego set. He worked on it all day and then went to bed with about 1/4 of it left to be completed.  That evening Meyer got one of the wheels off the table and chewed it up. Bad puppy! Calvin was so devastated. I emailed lego and told them what happened and asked how I could order a new wheel.  They wrote back that they had mailed us a new wheel. That was so kind! I didn't expect that.

Also, a few months ago I wrote lego and told them that I have a handicapped son that loves legos and does them a lot (as often as we can afford), that it helps him feel happy and calm. They wrote back that they would send us a free lego set. They sent a small car, about a $20 set. Once again, so kind! It was actually a set Calvin already had so he gave one of the sets to Lexey and they built legos together.

Calvin got the priesthood

Today was a big day for Calvin. He got the priesthood. 

When he first turned 12 he was at all interested in getting the priesthood. He continued to attend nursery in Houston and then moved up to sunbeams. when we got back to SD he went to sunbeams for fall and then moved to CTR 4 with Jo in January when the classes changed. 

After we got back Calvin did express some interest in getting the priesthood so dave told him he needed to attend priesthood quorum and wear a shirt and tie. Calvin has been doing those things for months.

Lately Calvin had started saying he was ready to get the priesthood.  Then, a few weeks ago there was a meeting for the young men about the importance of the sacrament.   After that fireside Calvin was very gung ho and asked constantly when he could get the priesthood.   Dave was out of town last week so I made the appointment for today.  He interviewed with the bishop before church. During church the bishop called him up to the stand and said he was ready to receive the priesthood, and then after church Dave ordained him to be a deacon in the aronic priesthood.

Pretty amazing.

softball and choir concert

The girls and I went to the Millennial choir and orchestra concert with the carpenters.   I checked out the girls early at about 2pm and we picked up the Carpenters and then head up to Orange County. I wasn't sure how traffic would be so we left super early.  There was a delay at the Carpenters (to be expected) so we didn't hit the road until 3 and we had time to park and eat a snack I brought before heading in. We sat in the tippity top seats . .The music sounds good up there but it is not the same experience as good seats. I think in the future I'll go as often as I can afford good seats.  All the girs did decently, not that great,  but it was pretty long. About 1hr 45 min with no intermission. I think they should have had intermission. Clare said she doesn't want to go again. Lexey and Jo loved it and want to go back. Jenny Oaks Baker was a guest violinist. She was spectacular!


Lexey played softball and loved it!   Earlier this year I asked Lexey if she wanted to play softball and she said no.  So, instead she asked to play tennis like Clare.  Then one day we were walking around and passed by Aubrey Park where the girls were playing softball and we sat to watch for a few minutes. Lexey loved it and asked if she could play. I told her "I just asked you a few weeks ago if you wanted to play softball but you said no!" She said, "I didn't know this is softball!"  Pretty funny!  Anyway, my good friend Gabby Meadows was team mom, and her husband Jeremy coaching. She mentioned that someone had dropped off their team so we registered and joined their team. It is always nice to sign up with a friend. The team was a great group of moms and girls. Lexey had a good time.   Lexey realized right away that the pitcher and catcher touch the ball 1000 times more than anyone on the field so she wanted to play those positions. She tried catcher but the gear was way too big for her so it was very uncomfortable.  Then she wanted to be pitcher, it's where all the action is! I took her to some pitching clinics and practiced at home but by the time she was getting ready the season was winding down and her team was in the tournament (where it actually matters if you win or lose) so she never got a chance. Next year when we register she can sign up as a pitcher and then have a chance all season to try it if she would like to.  Also, she will be one of the older kids on her time which will give her a little advantage as well.   At the team party, Lexey got "The Kevin Award" - named after Kevin the minion who is always cheerful and happy.  Lexey's coach also said she is very coachable and such a sweet girl!  I'm glad she had such a great experience playing softball this year.

pics to come

Mike and Mandy visit

Mike and Mandy +Maddie and Soren came to visit.  I only took a couple of pictures, but Mike took lots.  We had such a great time with them. We went to Cabrillo to see the tide pools. We saw anemones, sea slug, and had  a fun little hike to get there. We also went to the beach one night to do smores, and we spent another day at the beach in Coronado.  Overall for spring break we went to the beach 6 times!!  IT was great!  Maddie and Soren warmed up to the kids pretty fast which was great. Maddie and Jo spent all their time together and Soren got lots of attention from everyone. Calvin really loves Soren!

Goodbye hugs

While we had company, Clare (and Meyer) slept on a mattress on the floor in my room. Meyer is quite a bed hg. Sometimes he would get frustrated with Clare taking up too much of the bed and he would go sleep elsewhere. On this particular occasion he got as much bed as he liked. Almost all of it!

 Mads and Jo at the beach!  Had such a great evening playing in the sand they didn't even want to come in for smores.

la jolla shores sunset

These are from our hike to the tide pools in pt loma at Cabrillo.

jo looking so grown up

lovely lexey

house shopping

We currently live at 15908 Lime Grove Rd. It has been so great being here. It is a fun house! The deck is amazing, it is big enough to have company over for dinner, family in town to stay with us, has a great pool, beautiful sunsets, etc. But it's time for us to buy our own home! So, we've been looking around quite a bit the last few months, not super seriously but trying to get a feel for the market and what is out there in our price range and what types of things we like.   Now we are starting to get kind of serious where we are ready to buy if /when we find something we like. It is a little bit fun and a lot bit stressful!  It is such a big decision and we want to do the right thing for our family and for our finances! We have run across a few houses we really loved. A couple we saw while we were still not seriously looking and one was 3 BR, not 4, but otherwise would have been great.  I am worried we won't find the just right house, but a wise friend told me today, it only takes one house to be the right one. Hopefully it comes our way in the next few months.  If we don't see anything we like, we have up to a year to make a decision and move out. I figure we need to know where we are going by this time next year so Clare can enroll in middle school and plus, a year is plenty long to look for a house!

We check Zillow and redfin daily (ok 50 times daily) .I go to lots of open houses. It is a busy time.  A few nights ago I dreamed of the perfect house 2500 sq feet, ocean view and  the perfect price. (only in my dreams...that real house would be several million)! Obviously if I dream about this, it is something I am thinking about a lot.


The kids have come to MANY open houses with us. they love to go in and say "this is my room" "I love this house" "I would never live here"  etc etc.  They get a kick out of little things like closets, carpet on the stairs.   They are fun kids.