It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

This week we have been saying "Goodbye" to all of the wonderful people and things we have become attached to in Southern California. On Wednesday I was able to go out to dinner with a few of my volleyball friends from our ward. We had a great time eating and enjoying each others company. On Thursday Hailey and I were able to meet most of my favorite people from our ward (and Hailey's favorite friends) for lunch. We hung out for 2 hours before I had to leave and pick up Peyton from school. I could have stayed forever just talking and enjoying their company. After Peyton got out of school we headed to Disneyland to meet cousin Aurora and Aunt Natalie for one last trip to Disneyland before we move. It was really cold but we stayed until 10:30 PM because we didn't want to leave all of the magic and great company. Today we spent a couple of hours at Peyton's school during her class party where the kids ate and played games. Peyton had a fun time with her friends and said "goodbye" to her two best friends for the past year and a half.

Here is Peyton with her teacher, Mrs. Ehlert, and her best friend Warren.
Here is Peyton with her very best friend, Brooke. They have been attached to each other since we moved here last year and were lucky enough to be in the same class for both 1st grade and 2nd grade. Peyton will really miss Brooke.

We are so sad to be leaving all of our friends and some of our family but we are hoping to make plenty of good friends in Arizona and we know we are going to enjoy being near so much of our family. Thank you to all of the people who have made our short stay in California so wonderful. We love you and we will miss you.

We're Moving

No, the title is not a typo. We are moving again. After a fun year and a half in Irvine we are moving back to Gilbert, Arizona. We are not sure how long we will be in Arizona (hopefully a very long time) but we are just trying to do what is best for our family and right now we know we need to be in Arizona. We will miss our friends and our ward here in Irvine. I was just finally starting to feel like this was home but that is usually when Heavenly Father tells us it is time to leave. We have had such a great time going to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and enjoying the wonderful weather we have here. We hope we will be able to visit often so that we will be able to see our friends and some of our favorite places.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

We had our ward party last night and we had such a great time. The girls got to sit on Santa's lap and were able to tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

After we ate dinner the primary children got ready to perform the nativity. The girls dressed up as angles and the boys were shepherds. Even though Hailey isn't technically a sunbeam yet she really wanted to participate so I let her.

Here is the whole primary singing their final song with us. Hailey tried really hard to sing even though she didn't know the words to most of the songs. She was so well behaved and fit in perfectly with all the primary kids. We are really going to miss our ward here in Irvine. We made a lot of great friends and hopefully we will be able to visit them whenever we make it back to California.

Peyton's Award

Peyton received an award at school on Friday for having a positive attitude at school. Her teacher chose 5 students that she felt showed a positive attitude and then their classmates wrote nice things about each of them. Her teacher read them out loud and that is what the video at the end of this post is. Peyton was so excited to get the award since she is leaving Woodbury next week. It was perfect timing by her teacher. We are really proud of Peyton. She is such a great girl.

Peyton's First and Last Basketball Game

Peyton really wanted to play basketball this season so we signed her up with the local basketball league. She had her first practice and game last Saturday and she really enjoyed playing. She did manage to get her 2 times and came off the court crying but after a few minutes she always got back on the court. Unfortunately she won't be able to play in anymore games because we are moving to Arizona next Saturday. The move was kind of sudden but at least she got to play in one game.

Hailey really wanted to play too so she went behind the bleachers and found another friend to play with. She had a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy 30th Birthday!

We went to Arizona for Thanksgiving weekend and we were able to do lots of fun things with both my family and Ryan's family.

On Thanksgiving morning me, my mom, sisters, and sister in law all went to a water aerobics class that Ryan's sister, Ashley, was teaching at her gym.
Later that day we had Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house and it was delicious. Thanksgiving was also my birthday but we decided to celebrate another day since we were already busy with so many other things.

The day after Thanksgiving the girls, my mom, and I put up my mom's Christmas tree and decorated it. The girls had a lot of fun putting on the decorations.

Later that weekend we spent time at Freestone Park with my family. Hailey went on the Carousel with Uncle Andrew.

Peyton went on the carousel with Aunt Rachael and her friend Steve.

Then some of my family posed for a quick family picture at the park.

On Saturday we went to a park with Ryan's family and celebrated my 30th birthday. We had a lot of fun watching the kids play and just relaxing. We were so grateful that we were able to spend such a fun weekend with both of our families.

We are so blessed!

We finally have some really good news to post on our blog. Ryan finally passed the California State Bar so he is now officially a lawyer. We were so relieved to find out that all of his hard work finally paid off. We are so grateful that the third time was the charm and that we won't have to go find a new career. And speaking of the third time is the charm, we are also happy to announce that our third wild child is on the way and will be wreaking havoc in our home sometime in May of 2009. The girls are really excited and they are hoping it is another girl. We feel so blessed to have a job and to have another baby on the way!

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

My parents were able to come visit us over the weekend and we had such a fun time together. The girls spent lots of time at the park (most days they were able to go 2 times) with Grandma and Grandpa. They had fun chasing Grandma around and putting her into the dungeon.

Here Hailey is following Grandma up the climbing wall. Here they are after they all made it to the top of the climbing wall.

Grandma helped the girls play checkers.

Hailey got lots of rides on Grandpa's shoulders to and from the park. She loved taking his hat off and putting it on her head.

Peyton and Grandma also had fun writing poems together. They were really silly but Peyton loved making them up. Here are just a few they made up.

Pickles are sour

Candy is sweet

Hailey loves jumping

with her great big feet!

Hailey likes to act coo coo

Peyton likes to act crazy

When they get together

the whole world is lazy.

My Grandma is wonderful

She loves us a bunch

and when she comes to visit

she takes us out to lunch.

Thanks mom and dad for making this a fun weekend.

Trick or Treat

We had such a fun Halloween and the girls were able to participate in many fun activities.

Here is a picture of the girls before Peyton went to school in the morning. Peyton was dressed as a hula dancer and Hailey was Cinderella.

Here is a picture of Peyton with her best friend Brooke. When they got to school in the morning they were able to parade around the school in their costumes and then her class had a breakfast party. Hailey and I were able to stay and help out and Hailey really enjoyed that.
That night Hailey decided she wanted to be Snow White for trick or treating time so we dressed her up and got ready to go to Aunt Natalie's house. We ate dinner over there and then went trick or treating with a bunch of Aurora's neighbors. The girls had so much fun running from house to house getting candy. Hailey always had to stop and show us what she got after each house. They were definitely worn out by the end of the night and quickly fell asleep after we tucked them into bed.

Pumpkin carving time

We had a great time carving pumpkins with the girls today. The girls decided to create their own faces and Ryan had to show a little team spirit with his Y pumpkin (he really wanted to do a Notre Dame one but it was too hard).

Here is the finished product. We can't wait to put a candle in them and light them.

Protect Marriage

In a little over 2 weeks people in California will be voting on a proposition that is very important to me. It is known as Prop 8. I will give you a little background on the proposition and tell you why it is so important to me. In March 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 to specify in state law that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. In May 2008, the California Supreme Court wrongly overturned the people's vote and gave individuals of the same sex the right to marry. Proposition 8 states that "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." I am voting YES on Prop 8 because I believe that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God. Our society can’t begin to fathom the lasting negative effects of legalizing same-sex marriage, and it’s up to the people of the United States to stand up and vote against same-sex marriage if we want to avoid the foreseeable and unforeseeable consequences of scrapping God’s model of marriage. Here are a few links that I recommend looking at.

www.preservingmarriage.org
YouTube links:Proposition 8 Question and Answers:
Will same sex marriages hurt others? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-jc4ujp9Ok
Sick and tired of intolerance? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4nqtDrJI7A
Are others supporting Prop 8? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIvS7redS8M
Will courts overturn it again? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4tTRvmgZKM
Didn’t we already vote on this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsHqrHoxTiM
Don’t others deserve the same happiness? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP2ERL6Xykk
Will existing rights disappear? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IGPxqHScjk

www.catholicvote.com

We're Back

We have finally returned from our 2 1/2 week road trip and boy did we have fun. We started our trip off with a visit to our best friends from Tucson who recently move to Las Vegas. Peyton was so excited to be reunited with her friend Rachel and I was so excited to see Lena. We had so much fun talking, playing and celebrating Rachel's birthday.

Rachel and Peyton together again.

Thank you so much Lena for letting us stay at your house. We can't wait to visit you again.

Our next stop on the trip was Provo, Utah where we visited with Ryan's brother Tyler and his wife AnnaMarie. We took a trip up to Aspen Grove and the girls had a fun time posing on the bear statues.

Of course we had to go bowling at BYU.
Another must for the girls is a trip to the Cougar.
We were also able to spend a lot of time with my sister Christin and her family and also my brother Andrew and my sister Rachael.
We had a great time going to the park together.

The girls had fun playing at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake.

We visited the Tabernacle.

We also visited the Salt Lake Temple Visitor's Center.
I was able to go to the Women's Broadcast with my sisters and some of my cousins. We had dinner afterwards and Andrew decided to join us.
We went to the park and played a lot with my sisters. Rachael was pretty proud of herself for making it to the top.
Summer didn't want to be out done by her Aunt Rachael.
One final goodbye picture before we had to leave.

Our final stop on our trip was Arizona where we spent time with my family and some of Ryan's family. We were able to play with the girls cousins a lot and they loved it.

We all went to Organ Stop pizza and had a great time.

I took the girls to see a movie with their cousins and they had a lot of fun.
Hailey was able to meet her cousin Dean for the first time.
Peyton hung out with Noah and Dean also.


The girls were able to spend some time with their Great Grandpa Gaisford.
They enjoyed playing games with Grandma and Grandpa Cardon.
Hailey loved doing flips with Grandpa Cardon.
The girls loved hanging out with their Uncle Scottie.

We had such a great time visiting everyone and we were so glad that everyone took time to play with us. We can't wait to see all of you again.