Magic Mountain

This last weekend Dave's mom agreed to come watch Addison so Dave and I could get away by ourselves. We met our old neighbors, Ginger and Gregg in Los Angeles for a little fun. We also decided to count this as our anniversary celebration. Our anniversary was at the end of August and we were so busy so we decided to celebrate with this little trip.
We left on Thursday evening and drove to our hotel outside LA. On Friday morning we drove to Oxnard and spent the rest of the morning at the beach (way too cold to wear swim suits, let alone to get in) and visiting with Ginger and Gregg. Then we went to the taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We had a lot of fun seeing all that goes into taping the show. On Saturday we went to Magic Mountain, the main reason for the trip. I had been sick with a cold for about a week by this time but as long as I kept taking Advil, I did just fine. I'm afraid Lagoon in Utah just isn't going to cut it anymore when it comes to thrill rides. Magic Mountain has some pretty amazing ones.
Do we look exhausted in this picture? We should. It was a really long day at the park, but we had a ton of fun. (This is Dave) For those who may have noticed the item around my waist, It is not a fanny pack! It is what I affectionately call a "man bag". Enabling me to carry all of the essential items without losing any of my masculinity.

Thanks Gregg and Ginger for inviting us on your trip! We had so much fun and really miss our old neighbors. When are you moving back?
Also thanks to Dave's mom (or Dra, as Addison calls her) for taking such good care of Addison. She had so much fun playing with her grandma. I think she might prefer her to me, now.

The Summons

I received a jury summons in the mail ab0ut a month ago. This is the third time since we've moved here that I've been summoned, but I've always called the night before I was to appear and my groups wasn't required to come. So this time when I called I was disappointed to hear that I actually had to go downtown to the courthouse. I was sitting in the huge waiting room with a few hundred other people, watching a video about the process when they paused the video to call 65 people out of the room as possible jurors for a trial. Lucky me was number 20. I was hoping that meant I would be quickly disqualified as a juror and sent home...but it wasn't to be. After several hours of questioning, I was chosen as juror #4 for a criminal trial. Unfortunately I had a full week of appointments and other plans so I spent my nights making phone calls trying to find babysitters and cancelling appointments. After a very hectic and exhausting couple of days, the trial has ended. Not only did I get to see first-hand how juries are chosen and a criminal trial works, but I also learned how truly fortunate I am. Both the defendant and the victim had really sad stories to tell. It was really hard to decide the fate of the defendant. It was a good learning experience, but I'm glad that I can't be chosen again for at least 2 years.

Kure Beach

We just returned from a family vacation to Kure Beach, NC. Dave's family used to take yearly trips to Santa Cruz, CA until about a year before we got married. We've been trying to re-start the beach tradition for several years and were finally successful. We decided to go to NC because the water is so much warmer and we could afford a lot nicer/bigger house there. There were 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms and it was right on the beach, with it's own private entrance to the beach.
When we arrived in NC on Saturday, we went straight to Dave's uncle Bruce's house in Kinston for the wedding reception of his cousin, Tyler, to Lauren. It was a beautiful wedding and we were so happy we were able to be there. Then the rest of the week was spent relaxing on the beach, catching waves, playing games, etc. We also went to an aquarium one day, which Addison absolutely loved. She kept running from one window to another saying "More fish, more fish". It was a blast!
Addison had the best time up until she got a fever the last two days and ended up sick in bed for the end of the trip. She woke up every hour the last two nights and barely napped. Needless to say, the flight home was exhausting and our bed felt like heaven that first night home.
There were too many great pictures so I decided to make a slide show. I can't get the slideshow to show on my blog so try going to this website: http://www.slide.com/r/0dbLG3H76D_XcUFIEruaiInq3LhPOBG9?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Swings

I took Addison to the park the other day and she insisted that I swing on the swing next to her. I decided this could count as my workout for the day, combined with the walk to the park (have you ever swung for a long time and then felt sore in your thighs the next day?) Well, as I was pumping pretty hard I noticed that every down swing forward, my stomach was in my throat, and I hate that feeling. Who gets that feeling when swinging at a childrens park? Boy did that make me feel old. I honestly had to stop swinging because I felt sick. Do you think that means we shouldn't go to 6 Flags in September? It' like I'm an old woman who doesn't enjoy thrill rides anymore. Or does it mean I just need to do them more often to toughen me up?

Finally a Vacation

We finally got away for a much needed vacation over the 4th of July. We drove up to Utah to visit my family for a week. Dave was able to go golfing twice, once with some former classmates and once with my dad and brother-in-laws. My awesome cousin Abby cut my hair and then my sisters and I took my dad out to dinner and a play for his birthday/Father's Day. To see a picture of us with my dad, see my sister Rachel's blog: http://drlabrumfamily.blogspot.com It's a terrible picture of me, but I don't know that I've ever seen a better smile from my dad in a picture. The girls were all laughing trying to get my dad to smile like he meant it, not like he had gas.
On the 4th of July while the guys went golfing, we took the kids to my aunts house and set up a big tarp to slide down. The kids had a blast. It didn't hurt that my cousin Melissa's HUGE husband tossed the kids down the hill to make them go faster.

After all the fun in the sun the kids were tired so we took them home to watch a movie while we prepared a barbeque. I found all of the girls in grandma's bed watching The Little Mermaid.
Addison missed the fireworks, both the ones we did on the street and the professional shows. She was so tired we put her to bed at her normal time and just watched from my parents yard.

The next day we went on a hike with my parents to this waterfall. Addison had a blast throwing rocks in the stream.

On Sunday my grandparents came over for dinner. They've been married for 67 years. Can you believe it? They are both incredible people.

This was the main source of entertainment for Addison at my parents house. I've never really wanted a dog except when I see how much she is entertained by one. She followed Dolly everywhere. She also insisted on putting all of Dolly's toys, brush, shearers, collars etc. around her. If Dolly moved, Addison moved the stuff. It kept her busy, so I loved it.

On our last night we celebrated Addison's birthday with my parents and then Dave and my mom played volleyball with my cousins.

The next day we picked up my niece Savannah and drove down to Dave's parents new house near Provo. They both recently retired and moved to Utah to be closer to grandkids. That night Dave's mom and dad prepared a huge dinner and had Dave's brother and his family over for dinner and more birthday cake and ice cream. Technically Addison's birthday was the next day, but since we were driving home that day and we'd already celebrated twice, we didn't bother celebrating on her birthday. Does that make me a bad mom?

We can't believe that our baby is already 2 years old. She is learning and growing so fast and we are so grateful to have her in our family. She brings such joy to our family.

Family Pictures

My friend Brandi agreed to take our family pictures last weekend. Unfortunately Addison slept poorly the night before and was super grumpy that morning. We had several individual pictures of her turn out really cute, but she was grumpy for a lot of the family ones. We had to be creative to get her to smile. Brandi must be a great photographer because even through the grumpiness, we got quite a few good pictures. Thanks so much Brandi, we love them.

...Just to prove that she really was grumpy. I only put the good ones on.

"I Did It!"

Addison and I were stacking dominoes yesterday when she started doing this. I thought it was so cute. I don't know where she learned to do it, I'm guessing Max.

Animal Lover

Addison is going through a stuffed animal phase. She takes them everywhere with her. For the last month she has insisted on taking them in the car and to bed as well. Maybe she's trying to soften me up to get her a pet. It'll probably never happen, but at least she's easy to entertain, as long as their are stuffed animals around. I love to see her imagination at work.

Nap Time

Addison is getting pretty creative in her playing. Earlier this week she strategically placed all of her toys on their backs (including her cars, trucks and her sippy cup) and told me to shhh because they were sleeping. She even makes her version of snoring noises for them. She never ceases to make me laugh.

We Aren't Moving

For those of you who knew we were thinking about moving, we aren't. We tried to sell our house by owner for a couple of months, without much luck. Then I decided it was time for me to learn to be happy no matter where I live, so that is what I'm focussing on. Dave and I have always loved out ward, so I'm focussing on the positive. I told Dave that I would stop trying to move for a couple of years, but that I needed new flooring in our living room. Dave hometeaches a contractor so we hired him to come replace our flooring, and we love the way it turned out!

Before

After

The other great thing about getting our floors redone is that the surround sound wires no longer run up and down my walls, but go under the flooring! They have been an eye sore since we put them up more than 4 years ago. If you look closely at the before picture you can see them above the sliding back door. We are still looking for a bigger area rug, but it may take months to find one that we like.

Mother's Day

I know that I've been terrible about blogging lately and I don't really have a good excuse. I've had plenty of things to blog about, I just haven't. Everybody else seemed to blog about Mother's Day and I realized my wonderful husband probably doesn't think I had a very good day because I didn't blog about it. So, I know it's really late, but this is a peek at my Mother's Day.

I woke up Sunday morning, showered then ate a yummy breakfast that Dave made: waffles and bacon. Here's a picture of my beautiful baby all ready for church. Dave got her ready so all I had to do was comb her hair. Look how much hair she has now!

Addison fell asleep on the way home from church for about 5 minutes so when we got home she was energized to play. I think she was just too excited to celebrate Mother's Day that she couldn't sleep. No nap for her that day. Then Dave made me a yummy dinner and we all relaxed at home. Dave frequently has meetings or other obligations on Sundays so it was nice to have him home all day. Here's a picture of the watch he gave me. I love it! Thanks Dave and Addison for a great Mother's Day.

Tag, I'm it!

I've been tagged with this cute idea to talk about all my friends and family whose blogs I have listed on my blog. Here are the rules:
1. Answer the questions about the list of friends/family that you have on your blog.
2. If you don't have the number of names that the question asks, answer the question about the next name that you have not had a question for your your list.
3. Tag your friends and family.
*When did you meet the first person on your list? I visit teach Amy and we always have great discussion. She moved into my ward about 3 years ago?
*What do you like about the third person on your list's blog? Brandi is so creative and is an amazing photographer. She's supposed to be giving birth today to her third son or I'd be bugging her to take pictures of my family. I'll give her a week or two to recover, then bug her... ;)
*What do you like best about the 5th and 6th people on your list? Abby is one of my cousins on my dad's side. She is so much fun as a person and as a mom. I haven't seen her in years, but I love that blogging makes it feel like I see her all the time. She also always looks great. That's not fair..
Allison is also one of my cousins on my dad's side. If you knew that side of my family very well, you'd understand that the siblings didn't love to spend time together when we were young, and my family lived out-of-state almost the whole time. That's my excuse for not know either of these cousins really well. I do know, however, that Allison is hilarious. I haven't seen her since she's had kids, but I'm willing to bet she's a great mom. We need to have a family reunion (we can just invite the cousins if we want).

*How long have you known the 8th person on your list? Meredith is my husband's cousin on his dad's side. I think we first met about 3 years ago? She came down for Thanksgiving. She is so much fun. Or was it at her house in North Carolina that I met her? I can't remember.

*What impresses you about the 11th and 22nd person on your list? Cyndi is an old family friend of Dave's. She is best friends with his sister, Katie. I don't know her well, but I enjoy reading her blog. I can tell that she's a great mom and really knows how to have fun with her daughter.
I don't know where to begin on what impresses me about my sister-in-law Kristy. She is amazing in so many ways. Her blog is always interesting and fun, she's a great mom, wife, sister, daughter and person. She's beautiful inside and out...I could go on and on.

*What memory do you have with the 17th person on your list? Jenny was a roommate of mine in college. She is absolutely hilarious. She always speaks her mind, you never have to wonder what she's thinking about. She would regularly come out of her room while we were studying and start her sentence with "Random thought..." and finish it with something thought-provoking, but also very funny. One of my more recent memories was when she had a house party (after her mission we weren't roommates). I had just started dating Dave and our roommates Jenni and Eric had just started dating (different Jenni). We started playing a game and within seconds, Dave and Eric could tell Jenny was super competitive and also into keeping the rules. They decided, without even discussing it, to try to change the rules just to make her mad. It was so funny watching her get so frustrated. She didn't care that Dave and Eric were strangers, she fought them to the end. She truly is one of my favorite people to spend time with. Too bad we live in different states.

*Say something nice about the last person on your list. Stacey was a super good friend of mine when her husband was in med school and they lived close. They've since moved 3 times and we keep in touch mainly through blogging. She is also an awesome mom and super spiritual. We were close friends almost immediately upon meeting. She is super sweet, loves to be active, along with her husband, and is gorgeous. I miss you Stace!

Now I tag anyone I talked about who hasn't already done this. I changed a few of the instructions.