are you kidding me?!

On Tuesday, in the crazy wind we have been experiencing, a tree fell on our neighbors power line. The weight of the tree pulled the power pole away from our house, snapping all of our lines OFF of our house. We had live wires on the ground in our front yard! Kind of scary!

I had JUST gotten Finley down for a nap, Avery snuggled on the couch for a rest, sat down for the first time all day when I heard the crash. I peeked outside, but didn't see anything alarming from my vantage point, but then the fire department came and evacuated us! I had to wake up Finley- the horror- and go take refuge at the neighbors house across the street.

It was taking forever for PG&E to get out there to shut the power off, so we were just stuck. The firemen wouldn't even let me, in my "condition" go back into the house to grab my keys or purse, but when Paul showed up they let him in... apparently HE is expendable?! When we got the keys, we drove the van to safety (it was getting pelted by flying shingles- we have several good sized scratches on the van to show for it!) and took Paul back to work and walked around downtown for what felt like HOURS (as I was already tired- we all were). We went to mutual at the church and then got home when it was dark... still no power. That wasn't too surprising, but I was still hoping?! We broke out candles and flashlights and all turned in early to bed.

I was dreading another day without power and interruption to our routine (and loss of what little time I have left to get ready for baby). Fortunately, PG&E worked diligently through the night and the power was on when we woke up. Hallelujah!

It is all quite humerous now, but I thought I was going to go crazy... it was just the icing on the cake after a long stressful week/string of events. It also was an eye opening experience to show us just how UNPREPARED we are. We HAVE most of the things we need for an emergency, just not all in the same place and ready to go. We really need to work on that!

all for love

We love valentine's day in our house. We love the love! WE love the decorations, we love hearts (most especially on our faces), we love pink and red, we love each other (sometimes to the point of smothering as the bottom picture demonstrates).

We also love valentine's day because Finley's birthday is the day after... she will be 2 tomorrow! Crazy! My baby is turning TWO! The decorations serve double duty- usually I am able to get additional valentine decorations, flowers, balloons, and candy at 50% + off to help set the stage for her actual birthday, but with it falling on a Sunday this year we will just make do with what we already have in the way of those things. My mom and Larry are here visiting for the festivities AND Paul has Monday off, so that makes this weekend extra sweet!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! Spread the LOVE!

P.S. Take note of Avery's "long" hair. She insisted on getting it short, so we got her hair cut yesterday... it is so cute! Pictures to come.

P.P.S. We finally got our bookcases up that flank the fireplace (the ones I was going to try to put up myself)- see picture above. We had to have a friend come over and help us cut out some baseboards for them to fit (thanks Brian!) and it was still a squeeze... I did the measurements- oops! I like them- lots more storage (hidden storage at that)! No books in them yet- that box is still in the garage somewhere. But, we are making progress! My nesting instincts are coming in handy!

holiday whirlwind: take 2

My dad, my brother David, and David's girlfriend Mary came into town Monday 12/29 to kick off our new year's week.

First item of business when they got here was to deal with the trampoline. My dad and David took down the mangled trampoline and helped me return it... Walmart DID take it back- without a hassle. Thank heavens! Now I just have to order a new one, and Paul has to put it together!

We had another round of Christmas with my dad, David, and Mary.

The girls were delighted with the face painting kit they got. Avery did a beautiful masterpiece on herself and Finley when no one was looking.

We watched the Oregon Ducks play in the Holiday Bowl where they beat Oklahoma State 42-31. Everyone in our house was happy with the outcome! Go Ducks!

New Year's eve came and went for us quietly. We played Apples to Apples and watched the ball drop then went to bed. We are quite the wild bunch! Regardless of our lack of fanfare in ringing in the new year, we welcome 2009! We have a lot to look forward to this year.

David lived here in SLO for 5 years while going to Cal Poly, so he had favorite places he had to eat at (Firestone), favorite places to go (Pismo Beach), and things to do (hike bishop's peak)- all things that Mary had to experience while she was here. We tagged along for a few events (like ONE of the 4 trips David took to Firestone). But, call me crazy, I didn't attempt the bishop's peak hike being pregnant with 2 other little ones in tow.

While David and Mary were off experiencing SLO to the fullest, my dad was busy with projects. He always brings his work clothes, boots, and gloves when he comes- all set to do whatever projects we have need of. We had big plans for him to help us get the irrigation system for the yard all set up and ready for us to put in grass, but we had an unexpected project that needed immediate attention. With the rain over Christmas, a leak developed in the downstairs studio. On New Year's day, instead of the grassy yard I was dreaming of, he helped Paul fix the leak in the downstairs studio and build a retaining wall to help divert the water away from the foundation. He planted some flowers above the wall- it is not green grassy beauty, but it is our first (and only) landscape improvement thus far!

The girls loved having Poppi and Uncle DayDay around and kept them busy with hide and seek, puzzles, face painting, and other activities. I used the extra time I had while having extra playmates on hand for the girls in the house to finish up the another round of homemade gifts. I made half aprons for a few more gifts (which I didn't get a photo of), but they turned out cute. I also made a family tree for my grandma- complete with 7 kids, 15 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren. It was by far the tree with the most leaves that I have done. I was pleased with the end result. My dad took it to her on his way home.

I was also busy with a couple of photo shoots. My dad came along with the girls as I did photos for Paul's brother and family at the beach...

I also had another family shoot downtown on Friday. I have been busy processing and editing ever since!

Dad, David, and Mary headed home Saturday, January 3. We were very sad to see them go! The girls really miss the constant attention. We are now just in recovery mode, coming off our 3 week holiday whirlwind.

Happy 2009!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

I have been so busy with photoshoots, working on getting everyone their photos in time to get Christmas cards out, atttending Christmas parties, and dealing with a house full of sickies that things have been kind of CRAZY around here! Almost no shopping has been done, none of the gifts I am planning on making have been started, our Christmas cards are designed, but not printed, envelopes have not yet been addressed, and until today the only decorations we had up was a tree with just lights on it. I finally just TOOK some time to get the house (and us) in the holiday spirit.

I wanted to bring a little merry here also, so here is our Christmas-y header!

Ahh, that's better. We are getting there! Now, if there were just a few more hours in the day to get everything else done! I can't believe there are only 14 days before Christmas! YIKES! So much to do! Next year my goal is to have my cards finished and mailed as well as all my gifts bought/made, and wrapped by Dec. 1 to alieviate all this stress! One of these days I will learn! In the meantime, we will just go with it- CRAZY and all! What else is there to do? Smile, breathe, and enjoy!

playing catch up

I don't know where the time has gone- things have been busy and kind of crazy around here. So here is a quick run down to catch up....

1. Paul had a week off- we were supposed to go to Oregon for a Sunriver trip and a home Duck game, but decided our time would be better spent at home getting things done around here (cleaning out the garage, landscaping the front yard, and other house related things). Did any of that get done?! Of course not!

We went to my mom's house in the bay area for a long weekend- went to the temple, played with YaYa and PaPa, visited with friends, and just enjoyed an unrushed visit.

Then we came home to gorgeous weather, so we just ended up playing all week. We went swimming, went to The Barn to pick out our pumpkins, got ice cream every day, and just hung out as a family. It was nice. We stayed busy- Paul went into the bank EVERYDAY since we were here. He just couldn't stay away. Plus, we just did our normal stuff- Avery had preschool, I had Young Women in Excellence on Tuesday, Paul had a softball game. So, the week just flew by, but we had fun.

2. We have our annual craft day at church on Saturday and I am in charge of one of the classes. I put together a family tree kit for the event. I am pleased with how it turned out. It has received a great response, which has meant a lot of work preparing all the kits. I am still short 4 frames after cleaning out every Walmart from the Bay Area to Santa Maria! It has been fun, but I will be relieved when it is over!

3. Our deck is finally done. It is kind of like an extra little room (especially with the weather being as warm as it has been lately). The girls love playing out there, running around, eating at their mini size picnic table and just enjoying the noises of the outdoors (their favorite activity is to sit, listen, and try to guess the sounds they hear- usually airplanes, dogs, chickens, or the horses nearby). We have been enjoying it as well. One more thing on the list down. If we could only get our front (and of course back- but that is on indefinite hold at the moment) landscaping done, maybe it would look like a completed house and our neighbors wouldn't consider us an eye sore any longer! That is next on the never-ending list!

4. We have had the pleasure of having Paul's 90+ year old grandma living here in San Luis at a retirement center for the past few years. It has been neat being able to see her on a regular basis and watching the girls develop a relationship with their great-grandma. Just last weekend however, she moved back down to the L.A. area where she is from, into more of an assisted living situation. We had a big family gathering to send her off. We will miss her, but know that she is happy to be moving back "home" and will have lots of family and friends there to take care of her. She even has another great-granddaughter named Avery down there (Paul's cousin has a little girl named Avery who is 2 months younger than our Avery).

5. I had the privilege of taking some photos of the most adorable baby girl last week for some friends of ours. They are the most beautiful little family and I had so much fun! Thank you Garrett and Becky for letting me into your new little world!

There is still so much to catch up on, but it is all going to have to wait for another time. I still have some work to do on the family tree kits! Always busy!