Happy 4th Birthday Vienna!

Our sweet little Vienna turned four today.  What a wonderful little girl she is.  She has the biggest heart and loves everyone.  I am so glad she came into our lives four years ago.  I don't know what I would do without her!  I love you Vienna!

Jaron's mother made this beautiful dress.  She is very talented.

This is at the Oakland Temple.  It was a beautiful day.

We were lucky enough to have had my parents visit for the weekend.  It was pure joy!

Vienna had a great birthday!

Here is a picture of her gifts.  Looks like a good birthday!

Jaron's mom made Clark this apron and my mom gave him a motorcycle so he wouldn't feel left out.  It was a fun day for everyone.

A friend gave us this puppet theater so I sewed some puppets.  The kids thought it was great!

Jaron's parents gave Vienna this cute styling set along with a craft kit.  Just what a little girl loves!

For Vienna's birthday we went to Chuck E Cheese's "Where a kid can be a kid!"  Vienna is showing off her new birthday shoes.  She used some of the money Jaron's Grandma Lewis sent to help buy them.  Very cute!

Clark loved this place.  This horse really moved up and down like a horse.  Clark really got into it!

The kids had a blast.  It was a good choice.

Clark is a very happy kid! All in all, it was a great birthday.

Labor Day Weekend

On Wednesday before Labor Day the kids and I went to a children's museum.  It was right next to the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay.  The view was amazing and the kids had a great time.  The theme was ocean and fishing, which was really fun.

Here are the kids in the bird's nest of a ship.  

Clark was the captain.  He would get mad if other kids tried to take away his wheel.  He could have driven that ship all day!

Here is Vienna at the top of the fishing boat.  The kids had a great time playing on this pretend boat.

Vienna got to help build the golden gate bridge.  She thought she looked like her dad in the construction gear.

Clark is our little digger.  He loves trucks and shovels.

They had an art section and the kids loved it.  It was really messy, but so it is with kids!

For Labor Day we went north a few hours to the Fort Bragg area.  It was beautiful with lots of redwood trees and the ocean was beautiful.  Here we are Friday stopping at a local diner.  It was in a cute old house on main street.

The kids loved that we were next to this huge moose.  

On Saturday we took a four hour train ride on this old fashion steam engine.  The train took us along a river through a redwood forest.  It was so much fun.  I was just taken aback by the beauty.  To have this beautiful steam engine puffing away next to a beautiful forest, it was the best!

One of the cars was open and you could stand out in the air while riding the train.  We loved to stand out there because the smells were wonderful.  Also, the trees were so tall, it was cool to see them against the sky.

We walked through Fort Braggs and found this gigantic redwood.  They said  it was planted in 100 AD.  That is amazing!

We went to Glass Beach.  Long ago people used this area as their dump and the waves took the glass and turned them over until they became smooth glass.  These pieces were all mixed up in the rocks on the beach.  It was pretty cool.

Here is us standing on glass beach.  The waves and rocks were amazing.

We hiked along the cliffs above the ocean.  We saw some beautiful views.

On Monday the little town had a parade for Paul Bunyan.  It was very small townish, but really fun.  

On our way home we stopped at a light house.  This is the house of the keeper.

That is the lighthouse in the background.

This was a beautiful place.  It made me wish we lived at a lighthouse.

Here we are standing at the edge of the cliffs by the lighthouse.  We had a great weekend!

THANKS GRAMMY FOR THE PAINTS!

Jaron's mom sent these paints.  The kids love getting packages in the mail.  We had a lot of fun painting.  Thanks GRAMMY!

Our Visit to Utah

We spent most of July in Utah, though Jaron flew back to work. We had so much fun.  Here are a few pictures.

Clark happy to play after being in the car for over 15 hours!

Racing down the sidewalk.

 

We went fishing that first night by the Allred's house.  Both kids caught fish.

Having a good wrestle in the back yard.

Our Fourth of July Barbecue.  Look at our Patriotic shirts.

We went to the Allred's condo in Park City.  The kids loved the pools.

Clark was prepared for just about everything.

Showing off his new tube.

Malinda made this nice sweater.  It was beautiful.

Vienna just chillin on a Sunday afternoon.

Vienna showing off her catch of the day!

Clark had a lot of fun fishing and hanging out with his grandparents.

We went to a horse parade with my parents.  Vienna had to wear the whole outfit.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I know it is funny, but I am wishing myself a Happy Birthday!  Today I turned 27, wow I am OLD!  I feel like I have had a birthday MONTH!  I spent the month in Utah and loved it.  Jaron's parents watched the kids and paid for us to go see Hello Dolly, which Jaron's younger brother Dallin was starring in.  Then my parents took me out to lunch and paid for me to get a hair cut.  Jaron and the kids gave me flowers for our front porch.  I have had a great month and feel so very blessed on this day.  I have the best husband EVER and the most wonderful kids in the world.  And best of all, I am going to the beach tomorrow to celebrate my birthday.  So fun!  I am one lucky girl!

Stitches & Bikes

Here's the damage.  Two inner stitches, Four outer stitches, and one big scar front and center.  Could it have been anywhere else?   Oh, Well...

We bought the kids new bikes.  Vienna is so tall she had to get the bigger size bike.  She loves that it is purple!

Clark is our little wild child on his new bike.  He just pedals fast and turns quick.  He has fallen once and we were happy he had on his helmet.   I hope I can survive a boy!

MORE STITCHES!

Well, it happened again. I am now an experienced mother who has lived through 3 times going to get stitches. Yesterday I was doing laundry and Vienna asked if she could come too. So she walked down the outside stairs that I hate so badly. She was almost to the bottom when she tripped and fell into a ceramic flower pot that was at the bottom. She looked up at me and had a large cut on her forehead, the exact spot of Clark's scar. My first thought was, Oh, that needs stitches. My second, my kids will have matching scars. Clark got stitches a year ago on his forehead.  Vienna started to cry and asked if she would have to go to the hospital. We are experienced in this. I told her probably. I grabbed Vienna and ran up the stairs. I put a towel on it and called Jaron. He was in San Francisco but said he would catch the next train home. This was at 1:30pm. I called the doctors and they said to come in and they would tell me what to do. Clark had only been asleep for a little while but I didn't have anyone to stay with him. So I woke him up and loaded the kids in the car. The doctor said it needed inner and outer stitches so he sent us to the emergency room. By this time Jaron had met up with us. There was a really nice PA who took care of Vienna. She put some numbing medicine on it and made us wait 30 minutes. It was so worth the wait. Vienna didn't even cry. Last time the doctor stitched her up when it wasn't numb and she was hysterical the entire time. After a couple inner stitches and four outer stitches we were on our way home. The PA said it should heal nicely. It is a straight line and with the inner stitches she won't have the dent like Clark does. I wish we would have known this for Clark. He now has a permanent dent on his forehead. So we survived. I was much calmer for this time around. I held Vienna snug in a blanket while they did it. The PA even complimented me on how well I did. It hit me later and I felt emotionally exhausted. It is so hard to be a mom and see bad things happen to your babies. Now my sweet little girl's forehead will have evidence of these nasty stairs. The ironic thing is we are moving in four days so we won't have to do these stairs any more. I knew they were going to be trouble. I am just thankful for good doctors. 
Another day in the life of a mom... 
Joni

Stinson Beach

My sister Stalee and her girls came to visit the week of Memorial Day.  We had so much fun.  The thing we loved most was going to Stinson Beach.  Here are some pictures of our fun time there.

Clark loved the sand!

Vienna posing--she loves to wink!

I'm WICKED, THROUGH AND THROUGH

For Mother's Day, Jaron gave me Wicked tickets.  I was so excited to see this!  It is playing in San Francisco.  My sisters saw this in New York and ever since I have been dying to go.  My sister Stalee decided to come for a visit and watch the kids while we went.  I loved having my sister and kids here.  We went to the beach twice, San Francisco for the day, and the Marina near my apartment.  She is one of my best friends and I loved having her visit. We left for Wicked a little before 5 on Saturday. Stalee helped me get dressed and helped puff my hair. I wore high heels with capri slacks and Jaron wore a suit. We rode into San Francisco on the train. Jaron had made reservations at a nice restaurant across the street from the Theater. When we stepped off the train we were in a very rough part of town. We were quickly asked for money. We walked to a nice Hotel where the restaurant was. We were seated near an old man playing on a Grand Piano. All of the lights were low. It was very fancy and very romantic. They gave us our menus. I looked at Jaron and said that I could not remember going somewhere to eat where I didn't know what was on the menu, all these fancy words! So I ordered the chicken and Jaron got the Salmon. Our food came out looking like a masterpiece. It was all so fancy and so good. My chicken had grilled asparagus and noodles. It was so yummy. Jaron's Salmon was amazing. We both had dessert and left quite satisfied. We went to the theater and it was beautiful. The details in all of the designs were amazing. When the music started I got chills. The orchestra was amazing. The lights and the set was amazing. The actors were perfect. We were so close we could see the spit coming from their mouths. The woman who played Glinda had played that part on Broadway and was really good. When the scene of "Defying Gravity" came on I was mesmerized. I clapped harder than I have ever clapped after that song. The guy sitting next to me was alone. He had come with a brother, but there seats weren't together. But the entire time, he would look over at me when anything amazing happened. He must have enjoyed seeing my excited face over everything. I was happy he not only could watch the show but could watch me enjoying the show.  Wicked was amazing.  Going to Wicked was one of the best nights of my life. It was great. Jaron and I can't wait to go back. We live here, so we might as well see it twice!  I have thought about it, dreamt about it, and sung the music all weekend! I am so grateful to a husband who paid a ton of money and gave me a great night out. That will be a hard Mother's Day present to beat!  On Monday we decided to go to the beach. Jaron had missed out on the days we went with Stalee. We had a nice time. We built sand castles and Vienna and I ran through the waves. Our beaches a lot of times have a lot of fog, but I think it makes them mysterious and romantic. I love being so close to the ocean. Jaron said he thought I was a beach bum because I love it so much. We are having a lot of fun living here!