Foutzs at the Fair!

Last time we went to a petting zoo, Juliet was terrified of the goats. Not so this year! She was chasing sheep, poking goats, pulling duck heads (just like her daddy!) and sticking her finger into bunny cages (bunnies may bite!).

And although she looks like she is a little scared in this photo she is actually laughing hysterically. Not hysterically like going crazy hysterically. She was very happy.




The lovely girls enjoyed their fresh squeezed lemonade. Hattie wasn't too pleased with finding a seed in hers. Melanie was less pleased to find a bee in hers. No picture included.



Yes this is a deep fried snickers. Neither of us had tried it before. Oh man it was delightful. Brett also enjoyed the deep fried funnel cake, deep fried pepper jack cheese, and deep fried hot dogs. I didn't really enjoy my pulled pork sandwhich. I should have asked them to deep fry it for me.

All in all, a good day!
p.s. and yes, Bensen was there. Poor baby gets no lovin'.

She's TWO???

I can't decide about this two year birthday. I am a little torn. On one hand -- she's already 2? My little baby girl is growing up so fast! But then I think, she's only 2? It seems like she has been in my life forever. I wasn't really me until Juliet was here, and how could I only have been me for these 2 short years?
But no matter how I feel about it, the calendar proves it has been only two years already.



She had a great birthday! Even after we sang and she blew out the candle, she was still singing Happy Birthday the rest of the day.
We love you Juliet!

Selfy Cruise

I've never really been into selfies since there are usually two of us. But since there was only one of me during this cruise, enjoy the selfy shot!

At the resort before embarkation. First vacation (without kids!) since we got married!

The view from my parents' balcony on the ship. The water was incredibly blue!

Roatan Honduras, reminded me a lot of Chile. But since I didn't get a picture of the city you'll never know why!



Nothing better than having Denice when your husband isn't around!




About to do the zipline.



Crazy fun!





Relaxing on the deck.




Boat in Belize.




Lamanai ruins -- ancient ancestor?? (This is the Mask Temple)

Climbed the high temple and felt it for days!!


Jaguar temple. Belize is hot and humid!!




Ship's Lobby. Valor was just about the dumbest theme a cruise ship could get.




Ocean view dining.


Cool blue bird man in Cozumel. It rained on us the whole day. It was warm though!


Enjoying my deliscious fruity drink in the Ivanhoe theatre.


Well, that was my cruise in selfies!! For a more detailed account (and pictures of other people) check out my facebook album. (coming soon!)

Checklist:

Simply BOLD what you have done.
I found the original list very France oriented, so I changed some.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Flown first class
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Considered yourself an artist
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Broke someone's heart
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (I leave this weekend, I figure this is close enough!)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Eaten an amazing sandwich
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie/commercial
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

To Bensen on August 25, 2029

Dear Bensen,
Today has been a hard day. Dad woke up so sick. I asked him to call in to work but of course he wouldn't. We really can't afford it, but I know he is just miserable right now. He is such a good man. Juliet is almost 2 years old, and all that comes with it. It seems like we can't go 15 minutes without some kind of dramatic melt down. The house isn't in great shape, and all of the chores I have wanted to get done today keep getting put off because you won't go to sleep. You are usually such a good sleeper, which makes it all the more frustrating when you are being stubborn! I texted your dad that we were having a hard day, and that I knew that he probably was too. And he responded that he wished it was 20 years later.



That made me start to think, who is Bensen in 20 years? This is you today. Today you are so sweet. You hardly ever fuss, and you almost always smile. Even in my worst moments, you reach for my face with your little fat baby hand as if to say, "I love you Mom. You're doing okay." And then you smile at me and the room is full of angels. Because angels are who want to be in the company of my sweet Bensen baby.
20 years from now you are a missionary. That is how I imagine you. Tall and strong and handsome. I am so proud of you. I know you will have made good decisions because I have felt your spirit and know that you are eager to please your Heavenly Father. The last 20 years will have been hard ones, but good. We will have struggled financially as all new families do (and should!) I will have sent you off to school for the first time with tears in my eyes because you are such a little boy! But you will be marvelous. Maybe you will have been a wonderful student, maybe you just got okay grades, but definitely you will have been a true and loyal friend to those who needed you. Today you are so small, but already I can feel that it is in your nature to be kind.
Time will have gone by so quickly! Did you play football? Or did you swim? Maybe you were in Marching Band and your dad and uncles made fun of you constantly. But soon you will have graduated high school, and I will be wondering what every happened to my sweet baby boy whose smile invited angels into my home.
And then a blink later, you will have disappeared down an airport corridor, and I will have said goodbye to you for two long years.
So today I am writing to my sweet Bensen 20 years from now, because although I can't know who you will be 20 years from now, I know I'll love you as much as I love this sweet pudgy baby I have in front of me today. And while some days seem so hard I wish it could be 20 years later, 20 years from now when I am thinking of you as a grown man far away on his mission, most likely a little part of me is wishing it was 20 years ago, so I could watch you grow up all over again.
I love you so much.
Love,
Mom on August 25, 2009

In the swimming pool!

Juliet has a love hate relationship with the water, but recently she is leaning more towards love! We bought some floaties for her a few weeks ago, and the first time she put them on she HATED them!! They keep her afloat but they keep her face pretty close to the water, which she didn't like. She is very clingy in the water and never gave the floaties a chance. Well, this week we finally made a break through! I eased her into the water and then just yanked my arms away from her. She bobbed into the water once, her eyes wide in terror and then . . . floated! Terror gave way to surprise, which turned into hysterical laughter. Which turned in to choking. If she opens her mouth her chin dips under water and she gets a mouthful of water. Which she seems to enjoy. Ingesting pool water won't kill an almost 2 year old, will it?
Well by the time we left, she not only loved floating around in the pool but any time I would reach for her she would push me away. It was actually making me nervous because she would really start choking and I'd go to lift her out of the water and she would swim away from me, choking!! What a weird-o.
Enjoy!

3 years ago TODAY!

3 years ago today I married my sweet heart. He is the best decision I ever made. And I love him. A million bajillion!



2 years ago today my hunny took me to Old Sacramento. I was huge with child. We ate a lot of junk food and had a lot of fun. Except for being huge with child.






1 year ago today my hubby bought me flowers. He also accidentally killed my baby turtle. Oops. We also found out a few days later we were pregnant again. Double oops.





Today my baby love made me pancakes. We exchanged gifts. He went to work. And I missed him while he was gone.


I look forward to a year from today. And the year after that. And the year after that. And the million bajillion years after that.