Neighborhood Walk-About

It's official. We were read in today as part of the Waterfall Canyon Ward. One of the fun traditions this ward does is neighborhood walk abouts. Different families in the boundaries offer their homes and supply treats so we can get to know our neighbors. Some hosts are members of the church and some are not so it's a really good way to meet each other as neighbors. Everyone is given a map with "star" markers indicating host homes and an invitation with set times to come visit. The girls had such a good time and so did we. Now if we can only remember all the names...

Dinosaur Park with the Harmons

Kyle, Tiffany, and the boys were in town from Maryland checking out potential offices so they met us at the Dinosaur Park for some catch up. It was fun to see Kaden and Katelyn together again and meet little Easton. Good luck this last year you guys!




I didn't get any fun photos of the Boohers but they came out to see us on the 4th and see our new house in painting transition mode. Can't wait to see ya again!

Sparklers on the 4th!

We spent the fourth barbequeing with Jeff and Becky. The girls all ran around dancing with Jocelyn and Jasmin with their Bibbiddi Bobbiddi Boo sticks. Katelyn got a bit of a burn but it had healed by morning. Nate and I spent the morning painting our living room so when it is finished...I will post before and after shots.

Arriving in Ogden

Yeah the girls totally just ran to Nate...they wouldn't even say any words just little wimpers. Sweet little angels.

Packing was great. We had an FHE farewell party and at least 20 people with all the kids came to see us off. We had chalk drawing on the sidewalk, pizza for dinner, and service was our theme. Thanks Heather for the scrumptious dessert bars and all the helpers that came to our aid. Camille and Doreen spent all day on Tuesday helping me clean our apartment so we could get our deposit back (I will find out next week how we fared).

Moving Boxes...

Packing was crazy. Thanks Camille for your help and everyone that came for loading the truck. The ward supplied us meals up to our move so we could be as focused as possible. Nate drove the girls out Friday night, stayed in a hotel, drove Saturday to Ogden, and was in town for two hours before catching a flight back to CA to help me with the packing. Thanks John and Colleen for watching the girls. 5 days was seriously killer for me to be away from the girls but I love them so much and knew they were in good hands.

Pool Hopping

Rinconda Wading Pool in Palo Alto with the Arnes' Family
Gotta love silly photo ops!

Check out how many lifeguards are on duty (they had just dropped off a couple buses full of 8 year olds from summer camp.

Hanging with buddies at the Whisman Station Pool

Moss Beach Tide Pools

Karen, Brenda, Alaina, and I headed to Moss Beach as a last hurrah for the girls. Boy I tell ya Mom's of boys are awesome to take to tide pools. Katelyn's favorite was putting her finger inside the anemones (spelling?) and letting the close. Also once they are closed and above the water line you can squish them and they squirt water at ya. Yep we crawled all over the place squirting the anemones. Sarah liked all the rocks and throwing them on the ground. We were at the beach while the sea lions were on the beach with their pups and the park ranger took a group photo. We ended our outing with Nachos and stopped at the flower stands along route 92. What a perfect day.




Yep they were tired after our outing!

Fathers Day Walk at Gamble Garden

Katelyn's amazing sense of fashion, sporting Nate's silly tie, oven mitts, and her "Snow White" church dress...(we made Nate Hawaiian Haystacks for Father's Day Dinner)


What does a Bunny say? Bounce Bounce!!


Garden of Eden Anyone?



Sitting inside the Gazebo and Tree Stump Hut



Getting Drenched in the Frog and Lily Pad Fountain



Sarah Trying to Get Warm

Girls Night Out at Chevy's

Linda LeFevre, Angela Sinsay, Me, Holly Allison

I really think we should have asked for balloon animals!
Thanks ladies for the a la carte dinner, visiting, and scrumptious Fried IceCream!

Happy 7th Anniversary to us!!

This is one of those posts that I wish I had a scanner and could scan on my favorite wedding photo...but alas I will have to settle with a recount of our evening. I sent Nate a love letter with a bed and breakfast getaway. Nate took the girls and I shopping at the mall for a jacket I wanted, dinner, and my favorite Jamba Juice. I thought that was pretty much the end of it but I woke up the next morning to a sweet card Nate had written while I was sleeping. I would share but then Nate would never do it again. Nate babes, I love ya and can't wait for 7 more.

Actually I decided to show you where we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on June 22, 2002. The Temple is the most revered and sacred place to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Temples are where the covenants that seal families through the eternities are established. Latter-day Saints feel that temples are literally God's house, and are respected as such.

Once a LDS temple is completed and dedicated, only church members who have been interviewed by both their bishop and stake president and hold valid temple recommends may enter. This is done "to sustain the reverent spirit that should prevail in the House of God."

However, after a temple is completed and prior to the dedication the temples are open for the public to view and tour. Since many people I know across the net have not had the opportunity to tour through a Mormon temple and see how beautiful the various rooms inside are, I'm providing a pictorial temple tour. I still highly recommended attending an actual temple tour at a public open house. The pictures are nice, but you miss feeling the spirit that's present there. There are temples planned or under construction at Cebu, Philippines; Gila Valley, Arizona; Phoenix, Arizona; Gilbert, Arizona; Kiev, Ukraine; Manaus, Brazil; Oquirrh Mountain, Utah; Quetzaltenango, Guatemala; San Salvador, El Salvador; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Vancouver, British Columbia; Kansas City, Missouri; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Calgary Alberta, Canada; Córdoba, Argentina; Rome, Italy; and Trujillo, Peru.

The public open house for the Oquirrh Mountain, Utah Temple will be held Monday, June 1 - Saturday, August 1, 2009. Attendance is free but a ticket is required. You can order tickets by going here: http://www.lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1919-1-590-1,00.html

Golden Gate Park

We spent the girls' last Saturday in Golden Gate Park. We took them to the California Academy of Sciences to see the aquariums, swamps, and rainforest exhibits. Well we didn't quite walk through the butterfly atrium because the line was at least an hour long but we looked through the glass...We did however see the craziest looking albino alligator. I tell you he was rather sedate but he looked quite mean. The fish aquariums were a HUGE hit as usual with the girls.



There was a Band Festival going on at the amphitheater so we made the best of the marching beat by chasing the girls around the fountains.


Sarah's Favorite: Peek-a-boo and There she is!!!


Nate decided to let me have a little alone time at the art museum so I went in to the de Young museum (a ticket there is also good for the de Legion museum on the same day, Rodin sculptures, etc.). These were the highlight of my walk through though the King Tut exhibit looks amazing.
De Young Art Museum

Robert Henri, "Lady in Black (Spanish scarf)"

Rembrandt Peale, "George Washington"

Both of these pieces are magnificent in person. Robert Henri follows the Old Masters style of soft edges to bring life into form. Rembrandt Peale uses a very clean and precise ultra detail for realism. These paintings in person took my breath away. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in seeing true masters in portraiture.

VA Dental Picnic and Tribute

I am really proud of how hard Nate has worked this past year. He's stayed long evenings and weekends finishing his notes, lab prep work, presentations and answering pages. I suppose he could have taken it a tad easier considering he has the highest production, but he has always made time for us. I guess that's why he was presented the "Family Practice" plaque. He's really advanced professionally from the residency and we are grateful for our experiences here.

The residents from left to right:
Dr. Sung Cho, Dr. Sharla Aronson, Dr. Heidi Ferre, Dr. Nathan Starley, Dr. Safa Maiwand, Dr. Nancy Lam

Nate receiving his plaque

Nathan's Tribute:

Dr. Nathan "Family Practice" Starley
Presented for successful completion of the one-year General Dentistry Residency at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in June of 2009. Dr. Starley truly excelled as a mature and rock-steady dental practitioner during his year with us. Nathan may have been slow in sharing his dental check-off book with staff, but was never stingy with Stacey's fabulous homemade cookies. Best wishes for you, for your family, and your upcoming dental practice with Dad in Utah.

Katelyn studying the likeness of herself


The Plaques for the residents made by Dr. Deale. He's been making these from dental materials for the past 30 years.

Pretty much everyone that works at the VA dental clinic

Wipes!!!!

The Many Joys of Playing with a Package of Wipes:

Serra Park Splash Pad

Parks with splash pads are AWESOME in the summertime!
Sammy leading the girls into the water

Mudcastles!

Boogie Woogie Dancin'

Musical Birthday Cards...Classic!

Children's Discovery Museum

We've kept pretty busy these days. We took a morning trip down to the Curious George Exhibit at the Discovery Museum. Lots of little ones but what a hit! If you are ever in San Jose with little ones, you should totally go! Thanks Hol and Colette for the last minute invite.

Storytime with Curious George Books


"Cinderella Pumpkin Carriage"

Oakland Zoo

Do you ever have a great rendevous planned and then do something lame like forget to check your cell phone's battery life? Yep that would be me. Poor Elizabeth. I tried meeting at the Zoo but couldn't let her know I had arrived. We decided not to make the trip a downer and went at the girls' pace. Strangely enough we got through the entire zoo in 4 hours without any temper tantrums. Small miracle right there. Alison had sent us tickets to the zoo and with it came some ride tickets as well. We all rode the train around the zoo and the carousel. Katelyn was just the right size for the plane ride and we even squeezed in two car rides. A quick trip to the gift shop and eatery and we LOVED the zoo. Too bad I didn't take any shots of the Lion exhibit. It strangely appeared as though the Lion could easily jump the 5 foot space between the 4 foot fence and the deep trench. Ah well. The girls were WAY excited!

Mommy and Sarah

Monkeys and Elephants!

Climbing Trees and Exploring Savannah

Rides
Car

Plane

Poor Sarah!

All Tuckered Out

Annual Fathers Day Silly Tie and other Delightful Crafts

Alison outdid herself this year. Wow! She had three separate picnic tables for themes.
Table #1: Pom-poms, letters, flowers, stars, and googly eyes with glue
Table #2: Bells, Buttons, GI Joes, sewing supplies
Table #3: Father's Day Tie Cards scrapbooking materials
Thanks for helping us create such masterpieces for Nate and Grandpas!
The Loot:

The Scene of the Craft

Modeling


Mommy and Me Monday Bear Theme:

Bear Honey Toss, Bear Books, Gummy Bears, Bear Cookies, Color Bear Necklace

Chuck-E-Cheese

As usual the big cheese delivered. Pizza dinner and games galore. Our favorites? Skee Ball, Basketball Double Shot. The girls? Carousel, Smart Car Ride, Sketch It, and the Half Tunnel Slide. Afterwards we swung by the Baskin Robbins for a Cars themed icecream cake and shared it with the Elders. Poor Nate. I don't think any of us even sang to him on his birthday. WAIT, I take that back. Heather called and left a message (sisters are always on top of that, unless we are referring to me).
The Cake...The girls quickly claimed ownership to the cars...

Birthday Boy at Double Shot

Fast Forward to 16...

Nate's the big 30!

Here is a post to my bashful husband. He has now become part of the super elite over 30 club. I still have a few more years...but I am sure to receive membership gracefully (ha!). We started with a great Boogie Woogie Dance card from Nate's parents that the girls have been wiggling to, a dehydrated ice cream sandwich from the NASA gift shop from the girls outing a couple days ago, and Nate has yet to open his stellar gift from me. The plan is to dig in with the Elders over icecream cake tonight. Nate didn't want a big fuss made so, I did my best to comply. I am thinking dinner at Chuck-E-Cheese with the girls to relive his childhood years.

30 things I like about Nate:
1. He's funny and he likes to tease me
2. He bought me orchids last night because I had a rough day
3. He wrestles with the girls
4. If we are hanging out with friends he doesn't mind entertaining the kids while I play a round of Settlers.
5. He forgives me and doesn't hold grudges
6. He gives the best hugs, is delightfully handsome, and reminds me of a certain famous actor...
7. He's a hard worker. He stays late if he needs to, he is thorough in his work, if he says he'll show up for a service activity he will (even if he has a fever).
8. He's uniquely allergic to Acetaminophin, weird but it's sort of like Achilles heel. There is a magic weakness to all his heroicness.
9. He washes the dishes
10. He does the grocery shopping
11. He'll take Katelyn to the laundramat while HE does the laundry
12. He takes out the garbages
13. My neighbor hinted that Chinese men don't do these things but she's always pointing out Nate's great qualities (I think secretly she was wondering what I do all day...)just kidding
14. He makes a great bowl of Lucky Charms, though his Ham Fried Rice is still a work in progress...
15. He reads his scriptures and says his prayers regularly and he's really good about gently reminding me to join him.
16. He runs at my pace and pushes both girls in the stroller just to spend time with us.
17. He's friendly to everyone and I don't know anyone that doesn't like him.
18. He's humble
19. He has a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon.
20. He dances with me when the girls have gone to bed
21. He does the best animal impersonations with the girls
22. He's not afraid to admit when he's wrong or when he doesn't feel confident doing something. He's not ashamed to ask for help.
23. He is so much more than I ever thought to hope for in a husband.
24. He has sooo much patience
25. He makes chores exciting and gets the girls begging to participate with his enthusiasm. Dishes, cooking muffins, "Let's put the Baby to bed Sarah," mopping, wiping tables.
26. He puts up with my countless projects, ideas, dreams, and less than ideal temporary organization solutions.
27. He listens to all my book, movie, current events, and outing reviews and is respectful and patient as I tell him every detail. He usually puts in a good laugh at the end.
28. He embraces my spontaneity and lack of planning but is usually willing to do whatever I have in mind.
29. He has the best mind for trivia. Pop, sports, historical, just don't ask him about literature or art (though he did get a question about Charles Dickens and Pip correct the other day, way to go).
30. I love that I am sealed for eternity to this man and we have many more memories to come!

He really is that wonderful!