6 Months

Yesterday was Sarah's birthday.  She would have been 37.  I remember last summer we didn't think she was going to make it to 36, but she did.

It's been almost exactly six months since she passed away.  We're all coping in our own ways.  Mom and I had some good cries while we read the posts about Sarah on Facebook, but really we had a nice day and weren't emotional wrecks.  We looked at lots of pictures and talked about her a lot.  Dad invited the family over for cake and ice cream at his house to celebrate the day in Arizona.  Poor Karen was alone in Vegas, where they'd celebrated birthdays together before.  Mom was happy not to be at home yesterday.

Brandon's cousin lost her dad a couple years ago and she says time really does heal, but the first year is a wreck.  Mom has good days and bad and I've seen both and I hope those bad days continue getting further and further apart.

Here's a great shot of Sarah a few birthdays ago.  Pretty typical.

Two Weeks Away

Got home yesterday from two weeks away from home.  That is the longest I have ever been away from any one of my homes (11 weeks in Nepal didn't count cause our stuff was in storage so we left an apartment and came "home" to my FIL's house).  I will try to make my recap quick.  I can always do details on interesting stuff later.

Thurs., Aug. 2nd - drove from our new hometown to Sandy, UT in 10 hours flat.  Kids were great.  I spent most of the car ride reading The Glass Castle, which is fantastic.

Fri., Aug. 3rd - Jonah, Elora, and I had a lunch playdate at Heber's Main Street park.  My friends Alexa, Melissa, Liz, and Rena and their kids met up with us there.

Went boating with Alan, Linda, Jamon, Alisha & their kids on Deer Creek.

We all went up to the cabin from there and stayed the next two nights.

Saturday

hiking

Sunday

BBQed at Jen & Steve's house for lunch.  Played with their 11 mos. old Tori.
Hanging out with Nana Lisa, Andy, Coach & Trey.  Dinner at their house with sunset views over the great Salt Lake.

Monday
The kids and I went swimming and out to lunch at La Puente.  Brandon shopped and headed out on a loner backpacking trip.  The kids and I shopped for baby gifts at Target and dropped off an early gift to Tori.  Katie & Jason get to town and we celebrate Jason's birthday.

Tuesday, Aug. 7th
Spend a couple hours at The Smile Ranch with Papa Stan while Claire has Alan & Anika put her braces on.

 Liberty Park with Andy, Trey, and Nana Lisa (and a massage break for Mommy)

Wed.
Elora and her best friend Sophie reunite for 24 hours of fun and Elora's first non-family sleepover.
Jonah and I visit the Fergusons.  Jonah plays with Ethan while I chat with Raquel and hold 10-day-old Tori.  I sneak off for two hours of girl-talk with Leah.
We visit the Morrills.  Jonah plays with Vivian & Lucas while I chat with Angela.  So sad we didn't have more time with them!
Brandon comes home safely.
Andy gives birth to healthy twins: Cooper & Grant at 5 lb. 6 oz and 5 lbs. 11 oz.
Katie's baby shower.

Thurs.
Pick up Elora from Heber.  Jonah, Nana Lisa, Trey, and Brandon play and do slip n' slide together.  The kids and Lisa and I visit the twins again.

After 7 evenings of watching the Olympics, I do something different and rent the new Sherlock movie and watch it with Brandon.

Friday, Aug. 10th
The kids and I drive 8ish hours to Flagstaff, AZ where we stay the night in a seedy motel.  Drive is pretty and goes smoothly but the kids aren't as good as the last long drive.

AZ will have to be my next post, as I'm sick of blogging now.

Current Favorites

ELORA
Show: Tangled, The Aristocats, Blues Clues, Bo on the Go, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake...
Food: Pasta with homemade pesto
Hobby: swimming, talking
Toy: new animal figurines, especially the leopard & My Little Ponies (larger size)

JONAH
Show: Tom & Jerry, Looney Toons, Chip n' Dale
Food: "salad eggs" (egg salad), mac n' cheese, ice cream, popsicles, pot stickers
Hobby: swimming, climbing the big tree in our front yard, playing video games
Toy: iphone, PlayStation 3, Wii, X-Box, Leapster2

EMILY
Show: How I Met Your Mother
Food: pesto, spinach & lamb curry
Hobby: watching tv (sad & embarrassing but I did just join a book club too)
Toy: laptop, hummingbird feeder

BRANDON
Show: Man vs. Wild, How I Met Your Mother
Food: : "banana milk", cookie dough
Hobby: playing Battlefield 3 or Little BIG Planet 2 on PS3, flying his RC planes, shooting his riffle
Toy: remote control airplanes

Ryan, one of our best friends, is a pilot and has regular layovers in Sacramento, so we spent two evenings with him this month; one hanging out in downtown Sac and one at our house, so fun!

The New House

Here's our new home from the front.

3-car garage.

1577 s.f.

On the right is our front door, so when you walk in this big room is on your right (though it's taken from the family room here).  This is the office and Brandon's computer/PS3 headquarters.

Family room, dining room, kitchen

family room

Jonah's room, kids' bathroom, master bedroom

hall (taken from my bedroom doorway), Elora's room is on the left, laundry room & door to garage are straight ahead, and Jonah's room is on the right

Back patio with our new patio dining set :)

Our Week

Sunday - I got home from Vegas.  The kids and I went to our new church for the first time.  We bought a fridge.
Monday - no recollection.  I think just unpacking, organizing, & cleaning.
Tuesday - playdate at a park in Rocklin with water features.

Bought a washer & dryer.
Wednesday - Errands n' such.

Thursday - Brandon didn't have to work, so after spending the morning organizing, hanging pictures, etc.  We went swimming with our new neighbors/friends, The F. family.

Friday - took the kids to see their first movie in the theater!  Overdid it by seeing something in 3D, which was too much for Elora who refused to wear the glasses for more than a couple minutes at a time but she still enjoyed Brave blurry.

Saturday - yoga, cleaning, playing with friends.  Then Elora and I went to my friend Danielle's baby shower.  I met Dani when she was on a mission in my ward in Oklahoma City.  Then we both moved to Utah and saw each other a few times there (her bridal shower, etc.).  Then she moved to Seattle where I saw her last summer.  She grew up an hour from where we live now and I went to her huge baby shower at her mom's house and when most of the guests were gone Elora went swimming in their pool.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Rocklin's Celebrate America festivities.  Tons of musical performances followed by a firework show.  The kids were up until 11:00!

Brandon and the F. family

Teagan, Elora, Kerrie, Ryker, and Jordan

American Idol's Danny Gokey performed and was very good.

Free admission made this one of the best Independence Day celebrations we've had.

(Beach Boys performance at Rice Stadium in '99 is another memorable year)