Seaport Village....The place of my Childhood

Another of my absolute favorite places to go as a kid! Seaport Village. It seems like we came here so often, yet every time it was such a special treat.

Of course there will be ice cream involved if Gangan and Daddy have any say :)

Maci's classic face.....not so sure what it means or why it happens.

It is always a must to pose by an Indian carving when the opportunity presents itself.....right?

The infamous ferry ride to Coronado Island.....I love to remember those ferry rides. I was always so terrified as a kid....so scared that my little brother was going to go overboard or that we would sink in the middle of the bay....I was a wimp. Still good memories.

Me and my Schwimp

Beautiful City....in my Opinion

Me and M'love.....and Maci's arm

Killin' time while waiting for the next ferry.

It's hard to tell from this picture but we hit up one of those pedi-cabs on the Pier once we got back to seaport village.....quite the experience. I was so stricken with guilt that the poor guys was hauling all of us that I didn't enjoy it one bit. Lame. 

And finally the carousel......my siblings and I would beg to ride this over and over. It is a little creepy now....all carousels are to me. But, for memory/nostalgia's sake we had to ride it. The girls wouldn't go on without Gangan.

My Family at My Temple ;)

While relaxing in the beauty of Southern Cali, we had to make it a point to visit the San Diego Temple. I have such special memories of this temple. As a kid my family would drive by the building site every Sunday to see the progress of this beautiful place as it was being built. We would make trips with our "Valiant Miss" classes to tour the site. It was and is such a blessing in my life. And such a cool experience to come here with my own little family :)

Can't you feel the love between sisters?!

Where my wedding should have taken place.....in the warmth of the sun!

Families Can Be Together Forever

Fantastic AND Four!

Maci Kae Bell

how we adore you! I can't believe you are already four years old!! You are so smart and loving and excited about life!

At age Four you:

-Just discovered that you can ride your big girl bike with training wheels....and you've shown anyone and everyone who comes within a hundred yards of our house.

-You are amazingly talented when it comes to art...especially coloring. You spend at least an hour a day coloring, you stay in the lines perfectly. It is very impressive ;)

-You love preschool. You get so excited to tell Miss Maffews (Mathews) all about your accomplishments.

-You just mastered the art of writing your name and you write it on EVERYTHING. I've found it on your shoes, my shoes, my checks, the walls, Leila's clothes, any scrap of paper you find.... you name it, it has been claimed.

-You no longer take naps but you are very good at watching a show during rest time sot that Mommy and Leila can nap....most of the time.

-You have a great memory.

-You love to sing and listen to 'kid songs'

-You are constantly on the phone with , talking to or writing notes to Cambria although in person you two fight like cats and dogs.

-You always tell Daddy that he is your Superhero and he tells you that you are his princess.

-You are testing your boundaries as far as stretching the truth....we are learning what lies are and catching you in little white ones fairly frequently. Leila is quite the trouble maker according to you ;)

-You are a princess through and through.

-You are a very loving and protective older sister even though you spend a good amount of time

teasing Leila yourself.

-You are constantly telling me how much you love me and I NEVER get sick of it. You are very genuine.

-You love to work....wether it's cleaning up your room, washing the floor, picking up toys or helping Mommy....you are always asking what you can do for work.

-You are silly. You love to laugh and make others laugh too.

-You love meat. I can't hardly get you to touch fruits or vegetables but I can always count on the fact that you eat as much meat as a grown man.

-You still LOVE to snuggle and will often ask randomly throughout the day if you can do so :) It never gets old.

We love you so much Schwimpy! Happy 4th Birthday!

Deck Master at Work

Handy Man Tan has been hard at work on this deck all summer. Not like he is the least bit busy to begin with. We fell in love with this house mostly because of this incredible deck. However, it is against code and quite the risky situation as is......there is NO railing. the previous owner moved prior to finishing his project. No mind....Tan is all over it. 

It took us a couple of months to get bids on finishing it and searching for ideas before we realized what we wanted and that our only option would be to finish it ourselves (by we, I mean Tanner). 

Every spare minute has been spent working on it....with the advice and some help from Corey G........there has been some awesome progress.

Now the pressure is on to finish before the cold weather sets in :)

Can't wait to post the finished deck!!!

These is Some yummy Cookies!!!

What's better than spending the day in the kitchen with Gramma making cookies?

Watching these two together!

They make quite the team....I am pretty sure equal parts dough and cookies were eaten during the process. Maci was in heaven and from the looks of it Gramma was too :)

Storytime with Cambs

Sometimes I feel like I should be paying for the entertainment that this kid provides. She is through and through a lover of life and all things fun and crazy. She gathered us around the stairs and came down in her "Virginia is for Lovers" t-shirt and Maci's pink cowboy boots to read us all a bedtime story.....pure comedy. Always. Love this exuberant little girl!

Lunch Date with Daddy at Tin Angel Cafe

Sometimes white tablecloths were meant to be marred with cheesy Alfredo sauce.....

Today was one of those days.

Leila and I got to grab a quick lunch with Tanner downtown before he had to leave town for a few days.....Leila was the center of attention, as you can see she was feeling super shy ;)