Congratulations Chase!!!

For those of you that we haven't already told, Chase has been accepted into the JD/LLM program at the University of Georgetown!!! He applied and we hoped but weren't too optimistic at the possibility of getting in. Then we received the acceptance letter and freaked out!! I am so proud of Chase. We all know how sweet, patient and fun he is but who knew he was a genius too:-) So this means we will have to leave our beloved San Diego and stay in our other beloved Washington D.C. for another year. However, we aren't giving California beaches up with out a fight. All of our belongings are still there so when this next spring semester is over in May we plan on heading out there to gather everything up and play for three months seeing it's Chase's last summer as a student. We plan on going to the beach every day, Disneyland every week, the zoo all the time, and sea world almost as much. Sadie won't know what hit her she'll be having so much fun. San Diego is a much better place to have fun with a toddler so if any of you have advice for me on how to entertain a toddler indoors, please pass it along. I'm a little worried about being cooped up for the next four months with Sadie saying "outside please" every second.

Merry Christmas everyone

For those of you I didn't have addresses for, I thought I would post our Christmas card picture for you. We had some family pictures taken and ended up using a picture that Jonathon Linton casually took of us before we made tinfoil dinners in Shenandoah Valley. It was the only picture we had of Sadie smiling so we used this one instead of all the other ones we posed for. Silly Sadie. I miss our friends a ton in San Diego but I missed Tommi even more this year because she takes such great pictures and chooses the best scenery. Luckily we had Jonathon around to save the day.

Check out this tree

Have you ever seen leaves this bright before? Absolutely gorgeous!!

Harper's Ferry

We traveled up to Harper's Ferry with the Mechams to see the last of the beautiful fall leaves that we covet so much in San Diego. We weren't expecting it to be so cold and I ended up having to wear Chase's coat and he wore my little puffy vest. Very "metro." Doesn't he look just fabulous? Sadie had fun running all over the place and ended up with a very red nose. What a beautiful place!! I love all the little towns on the East coast. They have a great deal of "old town" charm and everyone is so friendly.

Post office problems

We have heard from some of you that your Christmas cards have been sent back due to a faulty address. We have left a forwarding address with the post office but are still having problems. If you are planning on sending us a card, please send it to my parents home in SLC. We will be there for the next month and will be able to receive it much better there. We look forward to hearing from you.
1016 Douglas Street
Salt Lake City, Utah
84105

My new favorite movie

I just watched this movie and loved every minute of it. It could be that my college hero "Felicity" (Keri Russel) is the main character but even if she wasn't I still would have devoured it. I am not a film critic but I must say that the combination of delicious pies and excellent directing was just what my taste buds needed. I really enjoyed this film and had to dedicate a blog post to it.

Sadie's first ponytail

I was experimenting after her bath and discovered that I can finally scrape together a ponytail. Although a momentous occasion, Sadie was oblivious to the whole ordeal. Still not enough for her first piggies but I'll keep you updated.

Missing the sun in San Diego

Wow!! It's cold here and we haven't even hit December yet!! I don't know how I grew up in Utah. I am such a wimp and probably a little over protective. Sadie wears her fuzzy pajamas under nearly everything these days. I of course have to get out of the house so we go against the icy winds and endure. It's no picnic on the beach but it's still pretty beautiful. I love walking around here. The leaves are still so vibrant and I am drinking it all in since it's my first fall in about three years.

Oh Shenandoah!!

We hooked up in Shenandoah Valley with our old pals from San Diego (the McNairs) who have the cutest little boy named Jack. Seriously, you gotta see this guy. He's adorable!! We also got together with the Gardners, Lintons, and the Mechams for the caravan ride out there. It was beautiful. I was surprised how late the fall has come.

We drove out there the first week in November and there were still a lot of green leaves. It was fun hanging out with everyone and building a fire for the tin foil dinners. I think the last time had one of those was on a date in high school. I forgot how good those little meals are. I also forgot how good Cheetos are. Erin Mecham brought some along and we inhaled them.
She and I both agree those are things we never buy (she's prego and was craving)but when we do, or if someone else does, it's always fun to partake. Sadie loved looking at the fire but kept calling it "flower." Good enough I'd say. I am so proud of her and all of the words she is learning. I hate to brag (what am I saying...I have a blog) but she's a bright little thing.

She's been combining words these days like saying "bye bye Dadda" or "see ya Reindeer" (our neighbor has one on his door). She's still very healthy and growing like a weed. We have her in a temporary pack n play and she is almost too big for it!! Time is flying by.

Cox Farm

The day after Halloween our little trio (Jess, Erin and I) and daughters went to Cox Farm and had SO much fun. Sadie ran all over the place and explored so many new things. We went on a hay ride which was hilarious. At one point they had an alien run out to greet us and random pictures along the road to keep Sadie entertained. Jess was 9 months pregnant and still rode the rocky hay ride. She wanted that baby out (and he came just the other day...hooray for hay rides.) I think the last time I went on a hay ride was..um...never..so it was really fun for both Sadie and me.

The farm was surrounded by a ton of large slides that Sadie and I could go down on together. I even sent her down on her tummy a couple of times and then followed. At the end she would say over and over again..."gain" (again) so that's what we did. I think we went down a number of slides about ten times each. Sadie had a ball!!

Check out the smile on Sadie's face. She had so much fun. Also check out Jess (severely prego) walking Lizzie up the hill so she can go down the slide. Nothing can keep that girl from having fun. I was amazed at how much energy she had. Lizzie wanted to go down the slide as much as Sadie did and Jess just kept climbing that hill. Poor prego lady.
What's a farm with out animals? There were pigs, cows, ducks, goats and all sorts of other farm animals for the girls to look at. In one area you can feed the goats yourself. For those of you reading this, don't buy the goat food. There were many crying children who got bitten by the goats because they wanted the food so badly.
We just watched everyone else feed them and Sadie ran all over the place trying to chase them. She kept calling them "bahhh"s. It was pretty cute. She loves animals.

Of course us moms had to have a little fun. I still don't know how Jess got up in that chair in her state. All we needed were our billy bob teeth to complete the moment.
At the end of the farm there are a bunch of little kid trains that they can play on. Sadie of course thought this was the coolest thing ever. We were allowed to choose an apple and a pumpkin before we went home. These are now some of Sadie's favorite words except they come out a little like this...."ahhole and pumpin." I think Cox Farms should pay me for this great review I just gave them.

Quack quack waddle waddle

Sadie is pretty shy on camera so hopefully you can hear her. Also, Chase thought I was taking a picture and that's why he's holding his smile so still...I think it's pretty funny.

Halloween pictures...finally

We had such an amazing Halloween. It was extended over a two week period with all the "trunk or treats" and festivities going on in our neighborhood. Sadie was able to wear her costume 4 times (2 trunk or treats, Whole Foods costume party, and of course, Halloween.) I don't know if you get the same urge to squeeze her when you look at these pictures but I simply couldn't resist most of the time as she "waddled" around. She just looked so chubby and I couldn't stand it!! She had an absolute blast!! Chase zoomed her around like an airplane running from house to house as she picked her own candy (really our candy...yum) to put in her bucket.

We went out to the Todd's house where Pop's and CC were visiting for the week and all went "trick or treating" together. I had so much fun watching Chase with Sadie. You would have thought it was his first Halloween he was having so much fun. He even mentioned to me "Can you believe we are trick or treating with our little girl...this is awesome!!"

We even let her have her very first sucker. I was freaking out the whole time because I am way against that stuff but I decided to chill out this one day out of the 365 this year. She LOVED it!! I think we may have a sweet tooth on our hands. Now every time we are in a store and she sees a sucker she goes ballistic.

I just wish there was another occasion to get her into that outfit again. I guess I can dress her up for Easter as a little chick. Wow...I just thought of how much fun Easter is going to be. We get to experience everything all over again with Sadie and we're loving every minute of it.

Sunday best

One of my favorite things is dressing Sadie up on Sunday's or any other day. I was at Safeway getting groceries and I had her in a darling little outfit and a woman in front of me said "good job mom...you even matched the pink shoes to the pink hat" and I responded by saying I was overcompensating with Sadie because I go everywhere in my sweats. I was actually wearing my sweats that day (it's cold here..not that it would make a difference) and the lady smiled and said..."it's all about the kids and it always will be." So my new goal is to dress myself up more often and do my hair (more than just pulling the wet hair into a bun.) Who knows, maybe I'll get a compliment in the check out line.

Riding in style

Chase's brother Chris rented a Ferrari for he and his wife's ten year anniversary and we decided to partake of the festivities. Chris picked Chase up from work and I met him down town so we could go on a little joy ride around the city. It was hilarious watching people's reactions when we pulled up next to them. I must say that I would feel very uncomfortable riding around in a car like that long term. I prefer the white mini van the Cannon's have let us borrow during this semester. It's way more inconspicuous and convenient I might add. I would have liked to see Jari's face when Chris pulled up to pick her up for their date that night. Too, too cute.

Over the river and through the woods

D.C. is so cool!! We went to this fun park with the Mechams and were totally blown away at how cute it was. There was a train that took you through the woods, along the lake and to a merry go round. Erin Mecham and I had to get on with Sadie and Moriah (they were scared) and the old man running the merry go round must have been a little senile because he kept us going around until Erin and I almost threw up.
By the time it was over Sadie and Moriah were screaming their heads off. It was hilarious!! Erin is pregnant and didn't think it was too funny. We love having all these friends out here that we knew in college. Erin is also a super dooper health mommy like me so I don't feel as freakish around her. She's given me a lot of tips on new foods to introduce to Sadie. The best part is that our daughters are the same age!!!
P.S. GO RED SOXS!!!

Cold tourist

On occasion Sadie and I hop on the metro to meet Chase downtown for a bite to eat and D.C. "wandering" (Sadie is much better at the latter than the former.) It was 90 degrees one day and then all of a sudden it was 50. The earth is in trouble! I never know what to expect these days. We had a lot of fun feeding the ducks and throwing rocks in the water. We tried to take a family photo and,as you can see,it didn't work. We decided to try it with out her....much easier.

Hot tourists

So while the weather is still HOT and Sadie needs entertainment, we've been touring D.C. a little more. We've all seen the White House, but have you ever seen it adorned with such cute accessories before? Just check out those lips!!!

Rosemary Beach

The Etheringtons decided to take our summer beach vacation in October this year. We went to Rosemary Beach near Panama City, Florida. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! This little beach town is set in the middle of a very large red neck community. Two words...Harley Davidson. It was like a little oasis of class amongst wife beaters, mullets and Walmarts.
All of a sudden you leave all that behind and enter Rosemary Beach and you enter a new world...(I should write for lonely planet.) My brother Nick is a real estate agent down there and sells these multimillion dollar beach houses. We were happy to have a guy on the inside because my parents rented us an amazing beach house. Despite the scary jelly fish that stung four or five of us, we had a fantabulous time!!!
What a beautiful beach!!! Hopefully my pictures will do the emerald water justice. The best part was being with my entire family...that's right...all of us!! No one was on a mission this year and everyone could get work off. It was AWESOME!!! Sadie and her cousin Ruby got to know each other a little better and I got to give my new little nephew lots of squeezes. I love my family.
We all have so much fun when we're together and I was very sad to leave and go back to the daily routine of life. I absolutely LOVED having Chase with me 24/7. With him working and going to school out here, I feel like I never see him. It was great having him all to myself. Sadie was a little scared of the waves at first but once we showed her that she can throw rocks in the water, she immediately was addicted and loved them.
She was never very fond of the water in San Diego because it's so cold, but this water was warm and full of jelly fish!!! All Sadie needs is a bucket and sand and she's happy for about 45 minutes. It was wonderful having so many babysitters around so Chase and I could take the beach cruisers and escape for a while. All in all...it was a great trip.