family QT

Family quality time...something we have been in desperate need of these

days. Ever since Barth's graduation, we have been quite preoccupied with

the move and the never-ending search for renters. Check those

both off the list. We are officially all moved out and we just completed all the

paperwork for our renters this afternoon...woo hoo!! Talk about a

tremendous stress relief.

Back to the quality time. Barth got a couple days off work, last minute of course,

so we knew any type of travel that involved flying was out of the question.

Much too expensive now having to buy four tickets...I still think that kids under

the age of five should be half price, literally sitting in their seats for

"half the time" if we are lucky....just my opinion.

Thursday morning I threw a few of our clothes in the suitcase and we

headed out the door. We love keeping the girls in suspense. Before checking

in at the hotel we stopped for a little lunch and treat at a mall close to our

destination. Ella figured the mall was their "surprise"...just like her mommy I guess.

hanging out in the photo booth

the girls love this fountain...the only way we could pull

them away was to entice them with a yummy treat

a content little girl

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E...can you guess what the surprise was?

We had the best time ever and experienced a couple firsts....the World of Color

at California Adventure and the fireworks above the castle. Both events take place

at a late hour for the girls, but we decided to surpass bedtime. It was a fun

couple of days filled with lots of fun and plenty of QT.

they LOVED the hotel...we are fans of embassy suites!!

a snapshot of the World of Color...it was pretty cool, kinda like

the bellagio fountain, but a hundred times better!!

my sweet ella bella

credit to my hubby on this picture...he was having way too much

fun playing around with the shutter speeds on my camera

18 week tummy shot

chloe screamed the entire time barth was on this ride...she was so scared for him

It's a Small World (chloe's favorite ride)

another first!! the girls got to sit all by themselves on this ride...they were so proud!!

PreGo SisTas

Pregnancy is such an incredible experience...every part of it is truly a miracle.

I am so blessed to be able to share it, literally share every part of it

with my sister, what an amazing and special blessing.  

me @ 17 weeks, Simone @ 28 weeks

happy birthday grandpa

Yesterday the girls and I headed to San Diego for a little birthday celebration.

My dad is the most incredible person and I feel so blessed to have him

in my life. My girls are so in love with him and will never miss an opportunity

to hang out with "papa". Thank you for letting us share your special

day with you...we love you with all of our hearts.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous...ella never misses

a chance to take a dip in grandpa and grandma's pool.

my adorable niece ari sporting her shades

these girls love each other...doing a little sunbathin

love that smile

As long as I can remember, my mom always made each and

every one of our birthdays so special. We woke up the morning

of our special day to find our kitchen table totally decked out in the

appropriate theme, with balloons, flowers, candy, gifts. Eventhough none of us

live at home, she still manages to make that special day happen each year...decorated

table and all. My dad of course does not get to miss out....this year

the girls helped choose, he ended up with a disney cars theme. Somehow

a few princess crowns from a previous celebration snuck into our day....

my brother-in-law getting into the spirit

little ari was worn out from the day's events

the girls serenading grandpa with a few songs

grandpa, you are so incredibly loved

Chloe & Ella go to the park

Ella is helping me out with this post...that was her idea for the title...

Today mommy took us to the park and we loved it! I ran around in

the grass and Chloe ran around in the grass too. My favorite part

is the cool spinning "thing" because I like to go super fast

and get dizzy. Chloe doesn't like it, she fell off one time. Chloe's favorite

part is the swings and she likes to go up and down. I like the swings too.

It was really hot outside and I hope we go back soon. That's all.

tuesday's tradition

So when Barth graduated from residency in June, one major aspect I was

not gonna miss was his tuesday night conferences (actually I had been counting

down the days till we could have a normal tuesday as a family). Much to my

surprise, those conferences were not gonna be a thing of the past, yep, for the

remainder of his fellowship he will be preoccupied with more conferences,

what are the odds?! ...boo!! I was totally bummed. 

The plus side is getting to spend time with grandma & grandpa when they are

in town. Lucky us, they were in town this week. Here is our day in pictures...

little tv time while mommy gets ready

pick up grandma

loving her wendy's kids meal toy

surprise from grandma...yes, we are spoiled!!

♥ we love u grandma ♥

dinner at el torito..where else? it's taco tuesday!

so blessed to have you in our lives...

sights of Arcadia

Arcadia. This is the place we now call home. It is a city filled with lots to do

and we are taking advantage of our weekends to explore. 

The girls and I have spent the past two weekends attempting to get settled in.

The entire process did not go nearly as smoothly as we had hoped, but we got

through it and now it is actually starting to feel like home. Barth is already busy

with work and is getting the opportunity to work with a world-reknowned

hand surgeon at USC. So, that is life as we know it for the next year

and we are excited to share it.

We drove up to a section of the Angeles National Forest, and found

out we were really unprepared. No parking pass, bad choice of clothes and

totally unappropriate shoes. Oh well, we will try again and now we

know what to expect. We stopped at a look out on the way

down, that is the city in the background.

Ella was having a blast jumping in the wide open space....

We headed to the arboretum with a picnic lunch of bagel sandwiches and chips.

The girls loved it. It is 127 acres of botanical gardens with fountains, waterfalls and lots

of beautiful plants from all over the world. The hot weather combined with lots of walking

wore the girls out, so we headed back for naps. All in all it was a great day.

Chloe making her attempt to jump like sister...she did pretty good

This was the tropical forest portion

can you tell this girl loves to pose for my camera?

we have moved!!

We are officially up and running in our new home. We finally have internet

after two weeks of waiting (yes, it was tough to be patient). More updates to follow!

u-haul, I will not miss seeing you for another year...

hanging out in the truck on moving day