Random Utah

In between excursions, most of our time in Utah was spent soaking up the sun in the backyard. I call it “savoring a slow summer.”

The swing and zipline were hours of entertainment.

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Amelia looking worried.

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Before Jake refashioned the zipline into a real one, he tried using the swing. Most boring zipline ever.

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Meredith received no less than 14 hours a day of cuddling.

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More cuddles from Grandpa.

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Surprised by life!

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S and A loved exploring the closets packed with our childhood toys upstairs.

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Hanging out in the playroom.

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Lots of fun toys for Meredith on her throne.

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Eating outside.

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More slip n slide and sand pit.

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What a cute spider in her web!

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Woo hoo!!

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The girls had one last hoorah in the backyard before eating lunch and taking off to go home. We were sad to say goodbye, and were not looking forward to the long trip back.

Meredith, in particular, had PTSD from being in the car twelve hours on the trip out to Utah, and was not happy about being in her car seat again!

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We wiled away the time with the road trip scavenger hunt, a movie, singing and about a million two-minute audiobooks (The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Peter Rabbit on audiobook were very well narrated!)

We broke up the trip back by stopping at Jake’s brother’s vacation home in St. George where we played in the club pool and ate dinner.

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IMG_0433 IMG_3929  After wearing them out the pool, the girls donned their pajamas and after an hour or so of protest (“I WANT TO SLEEP IN MY OWN BED PLEASE!!”) all three girls conked out at 8 p.m. for the rest of the five hours home.

When the twins woke up in their own beds the next morning, their first requests were, “Can we go back to Utah again today?”

Lots of love,

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Celebrating Grammy

While Grammy and Grandpa were here a few weeks ago for the twins’ birthday, we also celebrated another BIG birthday– Grammy’s 60th! The twins’ birthday falls a day after Grammy’s, and Meredith’s falls a day after Grandpa’s. Easy to remember!

Great Uncle David and Great Aunt Linda drove out from Yucca to celebrate and our entire circus had brunch at Ramos House Cafe in San Juan Capistrano.

After looking at the restaurant’s website, I was initially a little worried since it said only “well-behaved” children were welcome, but all three girls were fabulous. A lot of that probably had to do with the restaurant’s mouth-watering biscuits and honey butter, which the girls inhaled continuously throughout brunch. While the adults chatted, Amelia was busy licking her honey butter jar clean.

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We were so happy Great Uncle David and Great Aunt Linda could join us to celebrate Grammy’s birthday and to meet Meredith for the first time! Meredith could definitely sense there were some fun times to be had in her future with such a fun-loving great uncle and aunt!

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Meredith enjoyed being held throughout our brunch.

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While the rest of the grown-ups strolled along the cute streets of San Juan Capistrano, we hung out at the park and then headed home. The girls could obviously sense that we were planning to go out to dinner that night without them because they didn’t nap and were rambunctious all afternoon. Thankfully, they went to bed early so that we could head out with Meredith and join everyone for Grandma’s birthday dinner at Bru.

It’s so special that the girls and Grammy share a birthday so close together. She’s gracious enough to not care that her birthday has been overshadowed by the twins’s birthday ever since they were born!

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The girls somehow convinced Grammy that their birthday present to her would be her taking them to Build a Bear. Can’t argue with three-year-old logic.

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Grandpa went as well and documented the whole procedure for me since I was at home with Meredith. IMG_4529  Giving her bear a heart. IMG_4531 IMG_4533 IMG_4532

The girls are obsessed with their bears and had a great time picking out all their accessories.

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Amelia shows off her bear’s birth certificate and unsurprisingly named it “Pinkabah.” I have no clue from where that word originated, but it’s the name they give all their stuffed animals and other inanimate friends.

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Thank you, Grammy and Grandpa! The girls had fun showing me their spoils when they got home– especially how the bear says, “I love you,” when you squeeze its paw. At bedtime, I always hear the bear sounds of “I love you” emanating rom the girls’ room.

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They even made one for Meredith and very appropriately decided to dress her bear in a onesie.

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Grammy and Grandpa’s birthday visit was short but sweet and it’s always a nice break for me whenever they are here. A few leftover pictures from the last time they came when Meredith was born:

Grammy was out and about with the twins all day every day right after Meredith was born– such a lifesaver! She took them to their classes…

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Their last dance class for a while! The girls were reportedly not paying attention and were running around the dance room. Can’t say I blame them since Grammy thought the class was pretty non-imaginative for the three-year-old set. Of course, now that the girls have been out for a month, they are asking to go back!

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She and Grandpa kept the girls busy at some of their favorite places, including Zoomars.

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She and Grandpa even went to my Moms of Multiples Club event for me.

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Enjoying lunch at Great Auntie Lynn’s after a tiring day at the park. Don’t know who needed a nap more… the twins or Grammy and Grandpa.

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It’s a wonder Grammy wasn’t too exhausted from her first trip in February to come out again in March. The girls are most certainly keeping her and Grandpa young!

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Happy birthday, Grammy! We love you!

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Lots of love,

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Christmas Week with Grammy and Grandpa

Grammy and Grandpa came to stay with us during the week after Christmas and it was heaven! The twins were giddy with excitement over all the attention and play, Jake and I got a break, and we finished tons of items on our to-do list, including organizing and putting up wainscoting, crown moulding, baseboards, installing a closet, rewiring electrical for a ceiling fan, painting and setting up the crib in the nursery.

I’m feeling significantly less stressed out now that my top items have been checked off the list before baby; although, who am I kidding? I’m sure I will come up with at least 50 more items that need to be done… Jake is well aware of this and has already informed me he is done with projects for the year!

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Christmas week always seems like a sugar/food/presents/fun extravaganza because it’s a double whammy– our anniversary is the day after Christmas! It’s nice to celebrate over the holidays since we usually have family around to watch the girls and it always feels extra special with the holiday decor and lingering magic of Christmas in the air.

For our 9th anniversary, Jake surprised me by arranging for my parents to watch the girls for an entire 24 hours and whisked me away to the Ritz in Laguna Niguel. He knows me too well and rightly predicted that if I had known in advance we would be gone for a whole day and night, I would have come up with a million reasons to cancel so that I could get projects done at home. Since I didn’t know in advance what we were doing, I didn’t really have a choice… definitely a good thing!

Pregnancy massage, lunch and dinner by the sea and waking up to an ocean view made me feel so pampered and it was so nice to relax with Jake. A big thanks to mom and dad for watching the girls and to Jake for planning such a wonderful getaway. It was rejuvenating and I’m certain that all the pampering/relaxation will help me get through these last six weeks of the pregnancy (and maybe even survive the newborn stage).

Before we left for our mini vacation, Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle David stopped by on their way back from LA and hung out with the girls and my parents while Jake and I were at the hotel. They came bearing gifts too– Aunt Linda’s famous homemade fudge and treats, as well as the girls’ Christmas presents– some awesome jumping bags for potato sack races and all around fun. We are so excited to have a new way for the girls to jump out all their energy!

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Meanwhile…

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Back at the house, Grammy and Grandpa took the girls to the park and played all day. It didn’t seem like S and A thought about mom and dad at all.IMG_3721

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We missed the girls… but not too much.

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Thanks, babe! I love you and am so happy to have been your wife for the past nine years! Looking forward to Year 10!

After returning refreshed from the Ritz, for the rest of the week, we got to work finishing up all our projects at home while the girls went out with Grammy and Grandpa every day for an adventure. They went to parks, rode bikes around the neighborhood, played at the Discovery Cube, had dinner at Great Auntie Lynn’s, went to the Santa Ana Zoo and read zillions of books, played with arts and crafts and put together puzzles all week long.

There’s never any real punishment for S and A when they make a mess in the kitchen because they think vacuuming is fun and love to do it.

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Digesting with Noah after a beef brisket dinner at Great Auntie Lynn’s.

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Samantha made it all the way to the end of the street on her bike, but was not pleased about having to ride it all the way back.

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Grammy made meal time a lot more exciting (i.e. the girls increased their silliness factor by about 100). IMG_3769

Santa Ana Zoo with cousins Eleri, Jack and Rhys.

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Since we didn’t see our cousins on Christmas Day, we exchanged presents at the zoo and S and A were elated about their new sets of Duplos. Thanks, guys!

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The girls and their entourage. I hadn’t been feeling fantastic the past few days prior to the zoo, so I definitely needed the help that day. Baby is definitely prepping for her grand entrance… just don’t come too soon– I need the time!

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Monkeys who should be caged:

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Lunch break.

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Grammy and Amelia.

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Grammy and Samantha.

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It was nice to have a whole crew there to entertain the girls while waiting in line for the incredibly slow train.

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The obligatory carousel ride.

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It was past our usual nap time at this point, and Samantha was getting a little dazed. She spent the entire ride like this:

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Breakfast at Stacks Pancake House before dropping Grammy and Grandpa off at the airport on New Year’s Eve:

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Amelia must be going through a growth spurt, because she’s been chowing down like I’ve never seen before lately.

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Samantha has never been known to say no to bacon and a chocolate chip pancake.

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Grammy and Grandpa are gone and we are back to life as usual…sigh. Thankfully, there’s only a few more weeks to go until they come to see us again… and next time around, it will be a lot more chaotic around here when our numbers go from four to five!

Lots of love,

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