Fresno Trip

We had a fun trip to Fresno this weekend. We dicovered recently that our annual zoo pass expires at the end of March, and we've been wanting to go to the Fresno Zoo before it gets too hot. So we headed up Friday evening, bringing my nephew Jonathan with us to watch our kids while we went to the temple. First we dropped everyone off at the hotel, then we hurried over to the temple, getting to the last session with 5 minutes to spare.

The next morning Kristen's family drove up, dropped their kids off with us at the hotel, and went to do a session. We had a fun time playing with Luke. My kids just can't get over how cute he is. Spencer says, "I haven't seen a baby that cute in a long time!"

Then we met Kristen and Nathan after their session and had a picnic lunch by the temple before going to the zoo.

The weather could not have been more perfect - sunny and warm but not too hot. Spencer is soaked from petting the sting rays. One great thing about that zoo is that all the exhibits are nice and close together, so it requires a lot less walking than other zoos we know. In case you're wondering, the San Diego Zoo is not made for kids.We knew Brennan would love the zoo! He spent very little time in the stroller this time and had to get picked up to see all the animals better. His favorites were probably the elephants and tiger. He could have watched them all day.

Luke cooperated very nicely and slept in the stroller almost the whole time. He did wake up a bit at the end, and Kristen put him in her cute Moby wrap Marrisse made her. Afterwards we picked up pizza and headed home. There was some frustration with the van when it did that annoying transmission thing, but we turned it off and on a few times, and it worked fine after that. It was a fun weekend.

When it rains it pours

We're finally getting a little rain around here. Although we've loved the warm sunny weather, what we really needed was cloudy and wet. The boys were all excited to be able to use their umbrellas this morning.

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My family is keeping the medical community in business this week. Kristen is coming home from the hospital today. My mom had a stent placed to allow her many kidney stones to pass. My father-in-law had two surgeries in a week. My sister Emily had surgery on Monday. And my grandpa was admitted yesterday with a dangerously high calcium level. Our prayers have been rather lengthy this week.

Surprise!

I gave my sister Kristen a surprise baby shower/brunch today. She had no idea I was planning it, which is pretty amazing considering all my kids knew about it.

There was a good turnout - 10 ladies came. Joddy made the quiches - yum! All the food was diabetes-friendly for Kristen (she has gestational diabetes with this baby). I also served little sandwiches, sausages, fruit and nuts. I even found sugar-free candy bars and chocolate-covered almonds, which were actually quite good.It started around 10:00, after everyone dropped off their kindergarteners. We had 12 babies and preschoolers here, and they all had fun playing together - even little Eli and Tobin. And we're having some kind of heat wave (it's been in the 70's all week), so the older ones ate and played outside the whole time.

Michelle is due in a couple weeks also - with baby #10! Our other friend Kristen is due around the same time, but she called me last night to say she was in labor. Then she dropped off a gift for the shower on her way to the hospital, apologizing there wasn't a card! We just ate, visited and opened gifts (no games because I don't like them), and had so much fun we decided we need to get together for brunch more often. We're thinking about starting a day-time book club as an excuse.

Out with the girls

Kristen said that for her birthday she wanted to go out to lunch then shopping downtown with her mom and sisters. Mom chose a great place called Novo with patio seating overlooking the creek by the mission. It was a beautiful setting and perfect weather.

Three of us ordered this yummy chicken sandwich with sliced apples, brie and caramelized onions. It was fabulous!
Ellen ordered this fancy appetizer (I think it was Moroccan lamb) as her meal.

Emily happened to mention to our server that it was Kristen's birthday, and she surprised her with this beautiful vanilla bean custard with raspberries, mint and a sparkling candle.
Kristen said next time we should all save room for dessert. Afterwards we walked around and shopped. Mostly we just window shopped, but we all went a little nuts at Bath and Body Works because of their huge sales. I also got cute bright fish with hooks for Spencer's ocean room. It was a fun day!

What a party!

Yesterday we all went to Kristen's house for her birthday. There were 28 of us there.

Look how patiently all the kids are waiting!

Happy Birthday Kristen! That little Brennan just sat watching everyone eat their cake and didn't make a sound. When I saw him there I quickly got out his cookies we brought, which he got excited about. Poor kid!

Sisters

My sister Kristen and I are so alike it's scary. She's six years older than I am, but we've always had a lot in common. We shared a room when we were growing up, and I totally idolized her. My mom tells us we were the most strong-willed of all 9 kids. What? Me? Strong-willed? I don't believe it either. When Kristen likes something, I know I'll like it too. It's a bit of a problem when we go shopping together because we want the same clothes. We're both springs, so we look good in the same colors, even. Our favorite color is red. We both have all boys (although she has 7 of them and has an ultrasound in 3 weeks to see if baby #8 is a girl or boy). She would visit us from Wyoming and discover that we had bought the exact same things for our homes - welcome mat, drinking glasses, etc., without even knowing it. Last year she bought a house up the street from us (yay!), but unfortunately we don't see each other nearly as often as we'd like to because we both suffer from the same problem of not wanting to make the effort to call and coordinate. Isn't that pathetic? Ever since they moved here, my kids are always telling me that we talk alike. Anyway, when her opinion of something differs from mine, I start to question my own opinion. Was I wrong? Do I actually feel the same way she does and not know it? I was disappointed by Breaking Dawn, which she read about on my blog and goodreads, so she didn't want to read it. But I told her she had to read it anyway because there were some really good parts. She ended up loving the whole book. Now I'm wondering if I was wrong and really do like it. I just might have to reread it to make sure, but I better wait until the kids are back in school. My house can't handle not having a mom for 2 days again.