We're Baaack!!!

Today is not the day to post all 700 (I'm not kidding) pictures that I took in Ireland.  I will post about our trip but I need to get back into real life first.  We got back in on Saturday and then immediately drove up to Oroville because A--that's where our kids were and we missed them TERRIBLY and B--Dan Jagoda was there and Than never gets to see him.  It was so great seeing the kids.  It's hard to leave them for that long and not have any real contact with them.  Our phones are $1.50 a minute and we had a terrible internet connection (if one at all) from our hotel so it was like we were disconnected from the world.  We are basically back normal from a strange jet lag world, although Than said he woke up at midnight feeling like he had had a full nights sleep and then I was up and totally ready to start the day at 2:00am.  :)  

I just wanted to post a few of our pictures of our trip because it was so completely gorgeous in Ireland.  It really lives up to it's Emerald Isle name. 

The Cliffs of Moher.

I really loved getting to hang out with this guy.  With our crazy lives we don't get a chance to just hang out just the two of us very often.  And it was good for me to get a glimpse of his traveling life and give me a little more sympathy for when he's on the road.  One night we were out at a Thai place with a few clients and as we were going home he said something like, "It could be any thai place in any big city.  It's all the same and I'd rather just be having dinner at home with the kids."  He didn't get to travel around and have fun like I did and he doesn't really ever get to. 

 He did get two days where we got to explore together before he had to get to work. 

Then while the husbands were working, I got to play with these girls.  They are both moms of three and four kids and we just got to do whatever we wanted for a few days and it was pretty awesome.  

The city of Howth. Yep, that's a big castle down there. 

 And yes, it was that beautiful and amazing.  Every time we passed something it's like, "Whoa!  That's soooo pretty!" 

But for the mean time it's back to car pools and homework and diapers and cleaning and soccer and piano practice and the real life that is beautiful in it's own twisted way. :)

AHHHHHH!!!!

We are leaving for Ireland today!!!!!!!  Holy cow.  Actually, we're only getting as far as London and then spending the afternoon there and then catching a plane early Sunday morning for Dublin.  It's quite crazy and I've been running around like a mad woman trying to get everything done but I feel pretty good right now.  The super awesome Rapunzel birthday party was amazing and everyone had a great time.  Claira felt soooo special and it was worth all the work trying to fit it between our two trips.  Totally worth it for all the gasps and smiles and Landri telling me that my cake was the coolest cake she's ever seen. :)

But on a more serious note, today marks three years that my mom died.  Erin chatted me today and said something like, "Well, we've had three years all on our own.  I guess she did a pretty good job."  And I totally agree.  My mom did a fantastic job raising three independent, beautiful, free thinking girls.  I still think of her everyday.  I miss her a lot when I have a tough parenting day.  Emily calls me for parenting advice and I love it but I always feel bad that she can't call mom.  I only have a few minutes because seriously I'm leaving the country in a few hours!!!!!  YIkes!!!  But I just wanted to say, "I love you, Mom!" and post some cute pictures of my visit with Emily.  I thought that would be fitting for today.  I got to go help Emily with baby livia this summer.  I have to fill in for mom when I can. 

Don't look at my roots, okay???

I LOVE Emily's kids.  So glad she decided to get on the baby making bandwagon. 

I apologize in advance to Emily for posting this no makeup shot.  But I look like i've gained all 50 pounds of baby weight in this one so we're even. 

And here are some of the star of the show.  Baby Livia.  So precious and sweet. 

Some mama and brother love. 

See mom, one of your literal death bed wishes were fulfilled.  Emily made you more grand-babies and and they are fantastic.  

Cougar Trip.

Our life is nuts right now.  It always is but right now seems especially nuts.  We just got back from our BYU opening night football game trip and we have 4 days to get ready for Ireland and somewhere in there throw a Rapunzel birthday party for Claira and get everything ready for us to be gone for a week.  CRAZY!!! So, last Tuesday night we had our normal day...school and whatnot, then Than took all the kids to a court of honor for his Young Men, and I headed out to Back to School Night for the kids.  They both have great teachers and it was kind of fun trying to go to both kids' classrooms since both teachers were giving their little speeches at exactly the same time.  What'll happen when I have three kids all at the same school???  Let's not get ahead of ourselves.  So, right after Than and I both got back  we hopped in our car and drove to Reno.  All I could think of the whole time was R-E-N-O...That spells Reno (spoken in the robot voice from the muppets).  We stayed the night at a hotel there, woke up and met Than's grandparents for breakfast, hung out at the pool for an hour while Than worked, and then drove the rest of the way to Utah.  We didn't spend a ton of time in PG, just enough time to go to the BYU game and let the kids play with Jana's kids for a day, and then we spent the rest of our time with Kathy, Sam, and Hillary.  It was a super fun couple of days.  The game was AWESOME!  Right after they ran out with all the hype and fireworks and white out and craziness I looked at Than and was like, "Dude, the drive was totally worth that!"  And then to make it better, the cougs won!  I didn't have my camera, but Than took a few on his phone.  

Here is the crew we took to the game.  It was fun to just have the big kids with us and they stayed awake the whole time!!!  And that was huge because the game didn't get over until after midnight.

The white out!!! Apparently it was good luck. :)

What was really awesome was that we went down after the game to give the players high fives (of course!  Did I mention the game didn't finish until after midnight and THEN we went to give the players high fives...crazy.)   So the cool thing was that a player gave Pacen his glove and wrist bands!!  It was Sampson ( I don't know his first name off the top of my head) and Pacen has been wearing them ever since.  And Kyle Van Noy waved at him.  KVN is our favorite. 

Friday, we met Kathy at the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.  It's funny because when I lived there I always thought it was extremely overpriced so we never went, but now that I live in the bay area I think, Wow! That's a great deal!  I took a few pics off my phone but it's dead and I'll do it tomorrow.  

Saturday we started off the day at Gardner Village for their farmer's market.  Actually, Kathy and I started the day off with Crossfit and it totally kicked my butt!  I was so sore I could barely use my arm the next day but now I feel much better.   

Turkey's are just sick looking.  We checked out the animals while we waited for our turn for the horses. 

 And just hung out.  Days when Dad doesn't work are the best. 

We love Kathy!

 A little daddy love. She's been obsessed with him lately. 

 Claira wasn't too sure at first but then was pretty happy about it. 

 Then we did little veggie derby.  Claira was super into it which surprised me but she really loved it. 

 Camry was very proud of her car.  And it rocked!

 Pacen got into it a little after the girls had fun.  

 Then it was off to Pizza Planet...not really called that but what we called it.  IT's like Chuck E. Cheese on crack.  Pizza/salad/pasta buffet, tons of games, go karts, laser tag, bumper cars, mini-golf all in one! My kids love this place and yes, it's a little ghetto but it was seriously hours of fun for not a lot of money.  And it was part for Claira's birthday and she loved that. 

 Look how hard I"m trying to beat my 8 year old!  I'm ridiculous.  But I did win. :)

These are my favorite pictures of the bunch.  She found this game and loved it and danced on it...

 And then the other kids found her and she kept pushing Pacen off.  Look at that face!  She's a total nightmare!  But I love it. 

 Scary moment was that we did lose Gentry for like 4 minutes in that place.  We really couldn't find her ANYWHERE and even had an announcement made.  We were freaking out.  And where did we find her???  IN the mini-gold area with a golf club just playing.  WHAT?!?!?!  She's a nut. 

And here she is at the end of our road trip after we had given her whatever she wanted to be happy.  That would be a red happy face stamp and lots of food.  

A very fun trip.  I always only wish that we could stay longer so I could see more people but we should be glad we can even go.  Here's to a great BYU season ahead of us!!!!