I hate goodbyes!!!

We've officially moved from San Diego and this time we took our furniture with us. It is so permanent now and that's probably what's making me so sad. Lately I've been a little blue. I don't know how anyone leaves San Diego with out getting a little depressed. I started writing this post a long time ago but couldn't finish it because looking at the pictures of where we started our little family were just too much to bear. I was such a baby the last week of my life in San Diego. I totally avoided phone calls and activities in fear that I would burst in to tears if someone even tried too say goodbye to me. At church I totally lied to everyone and denied that it was my last week in the ward. I am such a coward. I just hate goodbyes and there are so many amazing people in San Diego that I just avoided the whole thing altogether. Packing was a joke. I packed a box and then cried. Then I packed another box, and cried again. It wasn't pretty. I've never really been a fan of change and this just about did me in.

We did all of our favorite things one last time. It's a good thing San Diego is sunny because my sun glasses hid the tears as I said goodbye to Sea World, Shamu, the Gorillas at the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, the beach at Coronado, the nature trail behind our house and especially our home for the last two years. I am going to miss walking to the pool or hot tub. I am going to miss riding my scooter to the grocery store with my hair wet from the pool (it feels so good to ride a scooter with wet hair). I'm going to miss our friends. We made so many long lasting friendships during our time in San Diego. I'm going to miss Sadie singing "Shamu Shamu" every morning, afternoon, and night. I'm going to miss throwing rocks during our late evening walks on the trail. I am going to miss the beach!!!! Need I say more.

Sadie asks me EVERYDAY with out fail if we can go see Shamu. I get all misty every time she asks as I tell her Shamu doesn't live by us anymore. She says "I wanna see da shampoo show..can we go to seee wooold". I'm starting too get all choked up again just writing this. We might have to postpone the post until I am a little more stable:-) At the airport I made a complete scene and bawled on Chase's shoulder for a full ten minutes. However, it was kind of like ripping off a band aid. I just cried and cried but once I entered the airport I stopped. There was nothing I could do from that point on. I still get emotional thinking about it but we're excited to venture into a new realm of life in D.C. Wish us luck (and stability:-)

What a guy!!

Amongst all this chaos, I have failed to mention that Chase graduated from law school....tadaaah!!! Can you believe I forgot to blog about this!!!? What a HUGE accomplishment!!!! I am so proud of him and all that "mushy lovey" stuff you say about your husband. I guess it's kind of anti climatic seeing that we weren't in town for the ceremony and he still not officially done with school. He is finishing up his masters in tax at Georgetown this next year. When he graduates from this tax program, then we'll have all the pics of him in his cap and gown and all that jazz. Only then will he be officially done with school. And we will definitely be celebrating. But for the time being, after his last JD class we went to a restaurant we've always thought looked pretty cool called the Prado at Balboa Park. Chase got himself a celebratory coke and we enjoyed the ambiance of the lights strung all around. There was also a jazz band playing in the a block down the road so we were serenaded as well. Sadie was a champ and ate all our dinner as we nibbled on her grilled cheese. She's got some sophisticated taste buds that kid. I can't get her to eat a PB and J, grilled cheese or anything like mac n' cheese. She'd rather have our fettuccine pasta with artichokes, chicken and green onions. She cracks me up. When she doesn't want to eat something we offer her instead of putting her hands over her mouth she covers her ears and screams "no no no Mommy." While she's screaming we can usually get a few good bites in her mouth. Anyway, I'm going off the subject. Congrats Chase. You're quite a guy!!

Another late night!!

My cute friend Kristi Jones planned a little going away party for me before I head out to D.C. It was another late night. I think us Mom's are so starved for adult conversation that we really take advantage of it when it's there. Kristi rented out the theatre in her apartment community and we watched a total chick flick. Dan of course went way over board and got us each our own tub of popcorn. It was so fun. I came back to San Diego not even knowing these girls (minus Angela) and now I seriously feel like I've known them forever. You make friends fast in San Diego because people come and go so frequently. I'm definitely going to start girls night traditions when I get to D.C. It's essential for our well being. We had so much fun telling our engagement stories (the highs and lows of them:-) and getting slap happy late into the morning. Thanks Kristi for planning it and for sending me out with a bang!!

Craft Night

Putting aside the Relief Society lace, us ladies got together to have a little craft night. Sadie finally has hair so I decided to work on clips. I bought some supplies and we all used each other's ribbons, clips, snaps, buttons, and ideas. Some made bags out of duct tape, others made magnets, but mostly we worked on making our girls look like little dolls. We even used some little flowers I crocheted as clip toppers. Who knew we were so talented?!! Look at our final creations. We had so much fun most of us didn't get to bed until 2 a.m.

The Dwanies!!!

I have no idea where this little nickname came from but we've always called our friends Brandi and Levi Draney "Bwandi and Weevi Dwanie." I guess it's a term of endearment for our best buds from our San Diego past. They left San Diego about two years ago and although we were at first very angry at them for leaving us behind, we now understand what they were probably going through having to leave the "happiest place on earth" as I call it. They decided to take advantage of the fact that we still live here for a short time and head down for a small vacation. It was AWESOME to have them here. Brandi and I are training for the Jordanelle Triathlon so we were able to train together while the boys did what they do best....watch ESPN. I'm glad that even though we live in different states, we still remain extremely close. Having them here reminded me of all our Sunday dinners, late night debates, and sugar fests of yesteryear. It was great to have a little "Dwanie" time. Thanks for visiting guys.
Little buddies. Sadie and Gwen played really well together. Perhaps it's because Sadie would grab stuff from Gwen and she wouldn't freak out. If roles were reversed we would have had some serious problems.
I love how our kids are drenched in sand. I love the beach but we decided it's quite a production if you go there with toddlers. Just getting them cleaned up is enough to want to forego the beach for a lovely heated pool and hot tub. Sadie is funny at the beach. She'll play in the sand for about 2 hours and then turn to us and say "I wanna go home." What kid wants to leave the biggest sand box in the world? I guess she knows her own personal limits.
Well Mom and Dad came prepared this time. We wanted the Draney's to maximize their beach time so we brought her little DVD player. She watched Nemo, Bruce, and Crush with out the slightest interest in actually going into the water to find them. Gwen LOVES the beach. She could hang out down by the waves all day. It doesn't make relaxation very easy for her parents but at least she'll go down to the shore. Sadie goes limp and freaks out if we go any where near the water. Hopefully we can warm her up to the idea once we leave San Diego and have no beach in sight. What a wonderfully strange kid. I love her to death, even with her silly little quirks.
Sadie looking very VOGUE. Check out that pose.

Their last night we headed down to Coronado for some beautiful scenery and ice cream.

We've had some visitors

Lizzie and Jane finally came down to San Diego!! It was a short trip but so fun to have them here. I'm glad they were able to visit before we pack up and leave this paradise.
They of course wanted to take some scooter rides. I was a little worried about Lizzie riding seeing that she's four months pregnant, but she handled our little Tootsie like a charm.
I have some very silly little sisters. We took them to the zoo and I couldn't believe their excitement upon seeing the two large hippos. They both went wild over their chubby toes, buoyant bodies as they swam, and even their over sized butt cheeks. I was laughing so hard at their enthusiasm. I'll never look at a hippo in the same light again. I always thought of them as stinky, large, unattractive beasts. Leave it to my sisters to see the beauty in a 4 ton, two toothed, whiskered mammal beached on the sand at the San Diego Zoo.

It's always bothered Lizzie that Sadie liked her husband Chad more than her. She was very pleased this trip to find that Sadie wanted to snuggle with her all the time. It was pretty cute. Here they are watching Thomas the Tank Engine clips on YouTube.
We hit the beach and despite the fact that Lizzie and Jane both got a little burned (the former much more than the latter) we had a great time. Sadie just played in the sand and freaked out anytime anyone got near the water. I think she thought it would sweep us all away.

Their last day we headed over to Point Loma to see the light house and tide pools. We found a ton of rocks for Sadie to throw and seashells for the girls to take back to SLC.
Look at that cute little pregnant lady. Lizzie and Chad just found out that they are having a little girl. Alice Elaine Dalton.
Look at that cute "not pregnant" (thank goodness) little 16 year old:-)

Lizzie and I got smashed by an unexpected wave. What a beautiful place. As we were watching the surfers we saw a seal swimming out there with them. How cool is that?

It's official!!!

I don't know why I have so many exclamations marks. It's not like I'm that excited that my little baby has now taken the pigtail rite of passage into toddler hood. I'm VERY excited that she can finally wear pigtails. I have been waiting for the clips and pigtails for two years now. But now that I've got a little hair to work with, I'm a little nostalgic for my little bald baby. I miss rubbing her little peach fuzz. However, despite my motherly woes, today is a monumental day. Sadie has her first piggies!!!!


In remembrance of the peach fuzz.

Move over Pedro Martinez

Sadie LOVES to throw rocks. She picked up the hobby back when we were living in D.C. and still finds enjoyment in flinging them into water, bushes, or ravines. When we moved back to San Diego we found that the only body of water in which to throw rocks was the ocean itself. Too bad there aren't any rocks on the beach. So Sadie has resorted to throwing rocks into bushes. We don't get the same "kaplunk" effect but she still gets a kick out of it. We are excited to go to Utah this month and head up to the family cabin where there are rocks as far as the eye can see. After seeing Sadie throw, Grandpa is convinced that she will one day liberalize baseball and be the first woman pitcher on the Boston Red Sox team.
Check out that rock the camera caught in mid air.

Look at that cute chubby little hand.
We meet as a group of women and kids down at East Mission Bay every Wednesday. The routine is to gather some rocks over by the parking lot then head down to the dock to throw them into the water. Sadie is WAY into it and, due to this enthusiasm, often neglects the nearby playground.
I have turned into one of those moms (if they even exist) that looks for rocks everywhere she goes. Often times I will be in the car and see a big pile of perfect Sadie sized rocks and be tempted to pull over to gather them. I guess you could say we both have become quite obsessed with Sadie's new hobby.

We caught the reading bug!!

Sadie LOVES to read. I have to admit that about a year ago I was a little worried that she would never sit on my lap and read a story. She was so restless and uninterested back then. Now, it's the only thing she wants to do. I love finding her in her room, sitting in the corner reading her books to herself. She's already memorized quite a few of them and will recite them back to herself in her own cute little gibberish. We also go to the library every week for Story Time and as part of our routine, we pick up a massive Thomas the Tank Engine book and read it at their little tables. She is engrossed. It's hilarious to see this little 2 year old reading what looks like an encyclopedia. It doesn't hurt that there are bright pictures of all the Thomas characters for her to peruse.

GARBAGE TRUCK TUESDAYS

Nothing smells like old dirty diapers and rotten avocado seeds more than Tuesday morning...garbage day. Fortunately, around our house, garbage day is a celebration. After Dad does the honor of delivering the garbage can to the curb, it is all fun and games. On Tuesdays, Sadie wakes up around 7:30, frantically yelling "Gawbage Truck!!" She can hear the truck coming from around the corner, brakes squeaking and hydraulics pumping. She is perfectly willing to forego her morning oatmeal in order to get downstairs, set up our lawnchairs on the driveway, and watch the amazing garbage truck do its wonders. Luke, the little boy across the street, also joins Sadie to watch the madness. "WHOA!" She yells to me as the garbage truck lifts its loading bay up and over the truck, spilling its contents into the main hull. "That was a BIG ONE!!" After the garbage man gives us a beep and a waive, signaling the end of the show, awe still fills Sadie's eyes as the garbage truck pulls around the corner and out of sight. Sadie's excitement fades as though Christmas morning were coming to an end. But luckily for Sadie and the lawnchairs (and of course Mom and Dad), the Recycling Truck comes at 4:00!!