Friday, December 24, 2010

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Costumes, Cali, and Craziness

What a whirlwind of time these past few months have been.


We had a good friend take some family pictures. Stephanie Pilling (see sidebar for her website) is so talented and always gets great shots. Unfortunately (no fault of hers) Lilly cried almost the whole time so the pics weren't quite what I had envisioned in my mind...I'm not sure why I envision all 4 of us smiling at the camera. When, in my fantasy world, would that really happen? Funny story though- I saw the photos for the first time at about 9am. I joined Jenny Craig at 9:30. I've lost 10 lbs so far! So, even though Lilly was crying...I was able to see myself in print. And subsequently realized that it was time to say goodbye of the baby weight. And the donuts.

Jayda gave her talk (the one she gave in primary) in Sacrament meeting. This is the main hour of church when all the church members are present. She gave her 3 minute talk all by herself in front of about 150 people. She rocked! It was so sweet to see her tiny body on the pulpit talking about the miracles of Jesus. It was one of the highlights of 2010.

Halloween was great. We had our 3rd annual Trick or Treating Dinner @ our house. Pizza with friends and then some fun trick or treating. The kids had a blast. Lilly went as Tinker Bell and Jayda went as Rapunzel. Russ and I enjoyed an adult-only dinner party that was super fun...we so love and adore our friends! We went as Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo.

We spent all of November in California. It's hard to believe that one trip could be soooooo bad. Although it's always great to see family...this trip SUCKED! The trip started out with the flight from hell. Lilly screamed the entire 9 hours (door to door). She was so bad on the flight that the flight attendant asked me to sit in the bathroom with her to "give the other passengers a rest." Bitch. Yes, I've never cussed in this blog before. This, however, deserves it. It was really, really crappy.

When the plane landed I got an email from our landlord. He's selling the house and we have to move. How am I supposed to look for a place to live while I'm in Cali for 4 weeks? Ugh. Stressful!

While in HB, both kids were seriously sick nearly the entire trip. We went to the pediatrician 9 times! That's more trips to the doctor within a 3 week span than in Lilly's entire life. It was ridiculous. Jayda ended up in the ER because her flu was so bad. Me, my mom, my dad, and both brothers also got the flu. It was gnarly. And disgusting.

Work was crazy this trip. I was in California to shoot a training video for Staff Pro. I wrote, directed, casted, and hosted the video. I literally did everything from A-Z for this entire project. It was extremely difficult, but also very gratifying to complete. I'm hopeful it will be useful for all of our branch offices to use as their primary method of training new hires.

Russ and I went shopping at about noon on black Friday. We went to the local mall near my folks house. I borrowed my dads car. Without asking. I didn't realize that the two shotguns we took shooting two days prior were still in the car. Apparently some thugs did realize they were in there and wanted them. After shopping for about thirty minutes we came out to a smashed out window and the guns missing. I can't begin to explain how sad that made me. One was my dads gun and the other was Austin's. They were sentimental guns (that sounds hilarious, but its true). It made me super, super sad. :(

It was great to see family though. I adore our families and couldn't have done it without them. We also got to visit some of our very bestest buddies (The Thompsons) so that made our trip enjoyable as well.

Overall, we're glad to be home and are looking forward to a healthy Christmas season...we hope!
















Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Pumpkin Patch

It was awesome.
Slides.
Yummy Food.
Goat Village.
Our kids laughing and playing and having fun.
Nothing better than a good old fashion pumpkin patch.


Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Gratitude



As a family tradition we have a "Back to School Feast" the night before school starts. We eat some yummy food and unveil our "family theme" for the year. At the end of the night, Russ places his hands on our sweet babies heads and gives them a blessing for the school year.

Jayda selected the menu: Swedish Pancakes (delish crepe style pancakes that are a complete pain in the butt to make, but super yummy) with strawberries and whipped cream, cinnamon and sugar, or nutella spread.

The blessings were sweet and lovely...as always. He prayed that Jayda would have strength to make good decisions, be a positive influence on those around her, and enjoy learning. He blessed Lilly that she would continue to grow and develop with no negative side effects from being 2 months premature, and that she and her sister would continue to love and appreciate each other. There is something so tender about seeing his big hands on their tiny heads. I love watching them look up at him with their big blue eyes so lovingly. It's a very sweet, spiritual, and tender moment in our life as an eternal family.

Our family theme for this school year is GRATITUDE. Our goal is to say something we are thankful for each day and really put our blessings into perspective. We have been blessed beyond measure and are going to be more diligent about striving to "live in thanksgiving daily" as a family unit and as individual children of God. Our family theme is based on a scripture from the Book of Mormon found in Alma 34:38 "That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."

Today, as I write this, I am most grateful for my kids, my husband, our jobs, living in this amazing country, our heater in our house, my fridge full of food, good health insurance (every one's healthy...I'm just glad we have it), the movie "Up" that the kids are watching right now giving me 5 minutes to write this post, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What are you most thankful for at this exact moment?

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

1st day of school...take 3







Jayda is back in preschool...for the third year.

She loves it.

She goes Monday - Friday from 9 - noon.

I wasn't sold on the idea of having her away from me for 5 straight mornings, but it has been great. She looks forward to going and it's allowed me to spend some 1-on-1 time with Lilly.

She's in the Turtle Class. Her teachers are Ms. Mickie and Ms. Kristie. The picture above in her classroom is of her sitting next to her "boyfriend" Christopher. That info will be in another post. Let's just say that Russ isn't taking it well.

I miss her face each day. I miss her giggles. I snuggled on her today when she got home from school and said "Oh Jayda I just miss you something fierce when you're at school. I think about you all day and just miss you so darn much!" She replies: "thanks mom. I just miss my dad."
I just adore my little turtle!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Innocence, Purity, & Virture

This post is written with a mixture of emotions. On one hand we are embarrassed to even announce what we have done. On the other hand, we are finally, after 18 months, at complete peace with our decision. So, here it goes:

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY, AND FINALLY, NAMED OUR DAUGHTER (no rush, right?)

yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking? Haven't you already named her...like, twice? Once when she was born and then again 6 months later when you changed it? Yes, you are correct. She was born as Sierra Bella. It wasn't right. We decided to change her name ever so slightly to Sierra Isabella-Mae. It still wasn't right. Sierra Isabella is one of the most beautiful names I've ever heard, but no matter how hard we tried...it just wasn't her. It wasn't right. We truly wanted it to be and tried hard to make it so, but it was just wrong no matter how many times we said it.

Can you imagine calling out to your child and feeling like it was wrong every single time you said her name? Feeling like the words stumbled on your tongue and never quite settled in your soul? Well, that's what we felt like for a year and a half. I called her Bella, Russ called her Izzy, and Jayda called her sissy because, let's face it, what the hell else was she supposed to call her?

It's been crappy. It's been frustrating. It's been embarrassing. I've cried some tears, said some prayers, and cursed at myself in the mirror. What lame parents we are. I'm sure many people think we are complete and total dramatic morons. I may have to agree with them on this specific point.

Well, finally-finally-finally-finally...we have named the sweet little spirit who joined our family 18 months ago and made our lives too sweet for words. Such an amazing little spirit sent from heaven deserves the perfect name. We truly believe that we've found it. We are at peace, we are happy, we are content. Our souls are settled and our minds have stopped spinning. And I will also say that once we started calling out this name...she responded immediately to it with no hesitation or pause as if to say "it's about freakin' time you idiots!"

We are excited to reintroduce you to:

Lilly Mae Roth

Lilly means Innocence, Purity, and Virtue. Mae is after my grandma that passed away the day we found out we were expecting our sweet baby. It's perfect. It's fitting. IT'S FINAL!

Papa and Grammy

My parents came to visit last month. It was fabulous. We took some little day trips, visited Nielsens' Frozen Custard a few times, and just enjoyed each others company.


My mom and I have been working on designing some childrens decor. We're starting on our own line of Vintage inspired art specifiically for children. It's gonna be pretty fantastic if I do say so myself! I will post about that at another time.


Since we kept my mom locked away in our basement creating the cool art pieces, my dad took over babysitting duty and watched the girls a lot (because I still had to work). Both of the girls are OBSESSED with their Papa and sure love him to pieces.


Jayda had "slumber parties" with Grammy in her bedroom. Jayda also got to go on several "Papa-Jayda Dates." He took her to get donuts several times, went to the movies to see Marmaduke, and he even took her to the pool for a swimming lesson! I have so many wonderful memories of my dad and I spending time together. When I was little we had Disneyland passes and just the two of us would go together. Those days are some of my favorite childhood memories. I love-love-love seeing him with my girls and watching them bond and create memories of their own. I know my kids will treasure their Papa and these times for the rest of their lives.


I don't have any current pictures to share (becuase I'm horrible at remembering to take photos), but here's an old one of Papa and Jayda. You can see their love affair started early!




Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Girls - August 2010

I know I'm biased. But I'm pretty sure we make cute kids.





Sunday, August 8, 2010

Our Sunbeam

Sweet Jayda Grace gave her first talk in primary today. The talk was on Jesus Christ and Miracles. She did great. Like really great. She talked for 3 minutes and did her entire talk all by herself. At 4 years old she's already public speaking with no help from mom or dad!

She's in the Sunbeam class (the youngest group) and was given the opportunity to present this little talk. It was too cute.

Russ and I worked with Jayda during our last Family Home Evening (for those of you that don't know...Family Home Evening is where we keep Monday nights free for family night and we focus on each other and how we can be a closer family and closer to the Lord. The night can consist of a little spiritual lesson or even just play time. It's just our time as a family to shut out the world and focus on each other. It's a strongly encouraged tradition our church recommends and it has become our favorite night of the week). Once she created her talk with help from her daddy, I "wrote" her talk out in the form of pictures. Since she can't read she needed a little something to help her stay on track. She used the notes as her guide and looked at the audience often.

I'm a crier so it's no shock that it brought me to tears. Russ, however, was also teary eyed (it's true babe...you weren't sneezing or getting dust out of your eye...you were tearing up like a man child).

She was very proud of herself. But no where near as proud as we were. She's such our little sunbeam. She just warms our hearts and lights up our lives.

Good job Jayda Grace. We love you!












So that we never forget her talk...here is her talked "written out" with the pictures and what she said next to each page.



Hi. My name is Jayda Grace and I am giving a talk today on Jesus Christ (he's the Son of God) and Miracles.

What is a Miracle? A miracle is something amazing and special that God does through his power.

When Jesus was on earth her performed some miracles. Here are a few. Jesus healed the sick. He helped a blind man see. He fed 5000 people with only a small plate of fish and bread. He turned water into wine. and he brought a boy who had died back to life.






My favorite miracle is when Jesus walked on
water. There was a big storm and Jesus' disciples were on a boat and they were
scared because the weather and waves were so bad. They saw someone walking on the water. "Is that you walking on water, Jesus?" It was Jesus! Peter asked Jesus to walk on the water so that he too could believe it was Jesus walking on the water. So Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water, but he started to sink. Jesus helped him up and then Peter walked on water too. Jesus asked Peter "why were you afraid, Peter? Did you not think I would help you?"
Then Jesus calmed the weather down. The three miracles in this story is that Jesus walked on water, Peter walked on water, and Jesus calmed the storm.














The greatest miracle is when Jesus died on the cross and then was put in the tomb for three days and then he came back to life. He was resurrected! That's a big miracle! Because of this miracle we can all live forever in heaven with our families.

I believe in Jesus. I believe in God. I believe in Miracles. In the name of Jesus Christ - Amen.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Fire Alarms, Shark Scares, and Locked in a WalMart

We went on vacation last week.

It was fabulous!!!

We went to Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina (I'd REALLY like to move to Charleston and live there forever and ever. I loved-loved-loved it!)

Day 1
On our drive down to Myrtle Beach, all 10 hours of it, our sweet baby cried. and cried. and cried some more. Luckily Jayda watched movies and Russ and I drank yummy Sonic Burger drinks so we survived!

Day 2
First thing in the morning, Bella pulled the fire alarm at the resort. It had to be evacuated. The fire department came. It was hilarious. Or I should say NOW it is hilarious. At the time it was total crap. Mothers were running down the stairs holding their babies and workers were dropping their duties to flee. As we drove away from the hotel we passed the fire truck. Russ just looked straight ahead and said "just act natural." Good times.

Our time in Myrtle Beach was filled with relaxing beach trips and fun at the kiddie pool at the hotel. Jayda had a FABULOUS time and although I thought the hotel was pretty ghetto...Jayda thought it was the coolest place ever so we were all happy!

In the evening we went and saw some exotic animals. I was able to cross an item off my bucket list and play with a monkey! We all got to hold the monkey and I got to hold a baby tiger. It was pretty great. I was nervous that one of my children would get attacked (I've seen how some of those home videos end!!), but the little critters were as sweet as pie!

Day 3
As we were making breakfast in the morning (our hotel had a small kitchen) Bella was playing with Russ' phone. I heard her talking as she normally does...but this time I heard someone talking back. She'd called 911. Really? Two times in two days? Parents of the year!

We went to the beach mid-day and were playing in the water when we heard the life guard blow her whistle (side bar...the life guards were hotter than the chicks from Baywatch. it was disgusting. It made me want to add "acquire eating disorder" to my to-do list! they were like gorgeous freaks of nature...not that my mom bathing suit isn't sexy!) okay...back to the whistle...there were SHARKS! Everyone had to get out of the water. Or I guess I should say everyone in a 10 yard radius had to be evacuated, but they let people further away stay in and play in the waves. Apparently sharks can't swim more than a few yards?? Needless to say...we left.

That night there was an amazing storm that had the coolest lightning bolts and deafening thunder...it provided us with quite a show from our balcony!

Day 4
We got up early to go to the beach one last time and then headed to Charleston. The baby cried almost the entire 2.5 hr drive...again. We had sonic burger drinks...again. It was a tad bit of deja vu.

Once we got to our hotel (and after switching rooms so we could have two connecting rooms instead of being crammed into one) we ate at the famous Hymans Seafood Restaurant. It was a recommendation from some friends...and it was AMAZING! I had to fight Jayda for the crab dip! So yummy!

We also walked down the historic district and drooled over the old mansions. If you've never been...GO! (but do it without the kids. Kids kinda suck in Charleston).

Day 5
On Wednesday we visited the USS Yorktown which was an air craft carrier throughout WWII and played a major role in several battles. We got to take a cool tour of the ship and Russ was in heaven.

We went to a plantation, but didn't get to see much of it. Although we tried to take the house tour, see the slave quarters, and go on a carriage ride...the kiddos were just too hot and tired and wouldn't cooperate. So we left and went to lunch.

We waited in line for an hour to eat at the famous Jestines! It was worth the wait. If you go...just order the fried chicken and don't waste your time on anything else. It was pretty delicious.

We ended the day with a horse drawn carriage tour around the historic part of Charleston. I should say I ended the day on a horse drawn carriage. Poor Russ had to walk beside the darn thing carrying our crying baby.

Day 6
We left to drive home (13.5 freaking hours) and realized we had to stop to buy some diapers. We stopped at a Walmart. 5 minutes into our shopping all the lights went off in the entire store. It the darkness we could hear employees telling all customers to move to the front of the store. We walked up front and realized that since the power went out...the doors were all locked and we were stuck inside. Although it only lasted about 10 minutes, it was quite hilarious to see some of the people get panicky and start to claw and pull at the doors. Plus, it was a nice cake topper to our vacation!


Although we had a few bumps in the road and a few "oy veys" over our kids...the vacation was amazing. I will always picture Russ playing with his girls in the water. I'll always remember holding Jayda on my lap while the waves rolled over our legs. I'll always remember Bella pulling the fire alarm and the look that Russ and I gave each other. The memories will be sweet. We had a great time and cannot wait for our next adventure!

Here's to trouble making kids, worn out parents, over priced hotels, 25 pee stops, and some of my favorite family memories to date.

Oh and god bless my mom and dad who took us on family vacations before the time of i-pods and dvd players. You are a much stronger breed of parents. I'm not sure how you managed to survive let alone provide us with so much fun and memories! I would have slit my throat.

VIVA VACATIONS!



This is what your baby looks like when you forget to lock the
bottom buckle on your long drive to South Carolina.


This is what your kid looks like when she's bored out of her mind.

This was probably my favorite part of the trip! I'd really like to buy a monkey. I know they throw poop and everything...but I'm pretty sure it'd be worth it.


MYRTLE BEACH!








Walking along the historic part of Charleston, South Carolina. Can you believe I didn't take any pictures of the homes there? I'm such a loser. I was drooling the entire time-the homes are BEAUTIFUL. I did, however, grab a quick snapshot of my buggers alseep in the buggy. This was the only quite time Russ and I had for 5 straight days. It was magnificant babe...very romantic!

This was on the air craft carrier. Russ was really in his element. I, on the other hand, would have preferred to be shopping, or driving, or sleeping, or...that's why he calls me a "Commie" (as in Communist. I prefer Shopertunist).Family pic at the plantation.Here I am trying to act happy. I'd wanted to go to a cool plantation for ages, but didn't get to see much of it becuase of the little energy-suckers with me in the below picture. Man those critters are HIGH MAITENANCE (yes dear, I know they're just like me).

Viva Vacations!!