Grandpa Blayne

Dave's sweet Grandpa Blayne passed away on May 20th at the age of 89. He was such a sweet man. My first memory was when Dave and I were engaged and we drove up to Blackfoot, Idaho to so I could meet his Grandpa. It was over a Memorial Day weekend, which was very fitting because Grandpa served in the military and is very patriotic (he was drafted into the war in 1942 and discharged after the end of the war in 1945. He was a master sergeant in the Army and a member of the 2nd Armor Division called "Hell on Wheels"). We sat on his back porch, went to Sizzler and Chinese food with Grandpa's girlfriend, Bernice (Dave's grandma died 14 years ago). Then after we were married my in-laws and Grandpa came to visit us in Provo, and we went shopping at Nordstrom. I found a dress at BCBG that I loved, but money was very tight so I didn't even think about buying it. Guess what Grandpa gave me for Christmas that year? He was such a generous man with a raspy voice you could recognize anywhere. We will miss him and think of him often, every night actually, since he is the one who bought us our bed for our wedding gift.

Simply delicious

Never say never, people

This is our fabulous, glorious, heavenly new car...that's right, a mini van. I swore up and down that I would never ever drive one, and now I am in love with ours. This picture was taken the day we bought it, 10 days after Dane was born, but I am just now getting around to blogging about it. We named the car Francy, after San Francisco. Dave refuses to call her that and still refers to her as "the van". All in good time...

Time at D and Guy's

Dave had a lot going on with school so Melissa and I took our cute little kiddies up to D and Guy's for two days. These little cousins love each other so much, and they sure do love their D and Guy.

The (pseudo) end of an era...

The last Wednesday night of every month for the last four and half years have been spent with these fabulous ladies, eating fabulous food. I somehow got invited to join this gourmet cooking group shortly after we moved here, and to this day don't know how I fooled them into thinking I can cook. Each month the host would pick a theme and then everyone would be assigned to bring something (appetizer, drink, salad, dessert, side dish...). Some of the themes included Mexican, Moroccan (I did that one- impressive, I know), small plates, breakfast for dinner, Chinese, and summer grilling. These ladies are amazing cooks and it was so fun to be apart of this group. Unfortunately people kept moving to the burbs, and schedules just got too busy, so we got together for the "last time" last Wednesday night (May 21). We decided we liked stuffing our faces to the point where buttons on pants had to be undone, and we just like each other too much to quit all together, so we are going to do it four times a year. Thanks ladies for all the fun memories, and the unwanted extra 10 pounds.

Memorial Day

I love three day weekends, especially when it's a Monday holiday. This Memorial Day, Dave and Audrey went to the East Bay to go put flowers on Dave's grandparents graves, while Dane and I slept in (wahooooo!). Then we went down to Sausalito with some friends. We went to the yummy salt water taffy shop where you can sample all you want for free while you are in the store. So I basically made myself sick eating all the candy I possibly could. Jamaican rum and buttered popcorn are my favorite. We found this really cool art studio that my mom had told me about and looked around for awhile. We then ate yummy hamburgers by this fountain, came home and snoozed, had egg salad sandwiches for dinner, and called it a day, a great day at that. I am so grateful for those who have served and sacrificed so much so we can enjoy the freedoms we do.

Audrey and her cute friends.

Our sweet boy, doing what he does best.

Regan found her twin! (Yes Jocelyn, this is your "Where's Waldo?" shirt.)

The difference between #1 and #2

My poor son. I spent hundreds of dollars on Audrey's bedding that I designed and had custom made, and she had the most beautiful nursery. Dane, on the other hand, sleeps on these fine linens, in our family room...

At least he sleeps peacefully...

Music to my ears...

It's official, Dane is a giggler. It started last week and I love it.

Date Night

On May 17th I had my first date with both of my boys. Dave took me to my new favorite restaurant in San Francisco, Umami. It was delicious Japanese food and I can't wait to go back. Audrey was lucky enough to go on a date with Memor. After dinner we went and got slurpee's for dessert. Classy, I know.

Just call me Maria

These are a few of my very, very favorite things:

1) Girls Weekend Retreat to Bodega Bay. In April a bunch of girls rented a beach house in Bodega Bay for three days.

We were still waiting for Kera, Megan and Jamie

2)The crafts Rocia made to welcome us:

The darling place settings. I always say I want to be Rocia when I grow up.

3) Eating nothing but junk food until 3 am

4) Having Rebecca and Regan make crepes and eggs benedict for breakfast. Heavenly.

5) Going out to a nice dinner at the Duck Club.

Jamie and Kera had just left.

6) Shirley Temples. Apparently, lots of people like Shirley Temples.

7) Peaceful babies at dinner so their mommies can eat their yummy bacon wrapped fillet mignon. Here they are, Dane and Simeon sleeping at dinner. They were the only two boys lucky enough to come on our trip. These little friends are four days apart.

8)Eating a yummy dessert that Regan made and making crafts.

We were all very proud of our crafts:

9) Watching Megan show us her gymnastics skills (she was a BYU gymnast!), and watching everyone else try their gymnasts skills. Just picture ten mommies trying to do cartwheels. Laughed. my. face. off.

10) This one might not be considered one of my "favorite things" but I guess I'm quite good at it:
Being a freak show with Megan. We go on tour next month.

Oh, and Ladonna is going to be our opening act. Here is her version of the body roll:

11) Realizing I can still do the splits.

12) Last, but certainly not least, bonding with my baby.

13) Getting away for a weekend with fabulous friends and coming home feeling rejuvenated (not rested however) and ready to be a better wife and mom.

All about Audrey

My sweet Audrey has a been champion big sister, as least when it comes to Dane. She loves him so much (sometimes too much-she wants to give him very tight squeezes- I can't blame her, he is so squeezable), and she has never done anything to hurt him (except knock heads with him once, but she was trying to be funny). When it comes to me, however, she has been pushing the limits. She won't listen as well as she used to, she throws more fits (see previous post), and just wants her Daddy all the time. On Mother's Day, my in-laws were here, and Audrey didn't want to eat, was whining, and Dave said, "Audrey, if you need some attention, I'll give you some, just don't act negatively to get it." A light bulb went off in my head. My poor Audrey. She has been so good during this transition, and all she wanted was some more attention and didn't know how to get it. So I made this week "All about Audrey" week. We went where she wanted to go (Discovery Museum, her favorite parks, her friend's house, and the beach twice), read what books she wanted to read, when she wanted to read them, played games all week long, and let me tell you, I have a new child. She has been an angel. We have spent hours laying in my bed reading books (Dane is now very well versed with all the princess stories), have put on more princess dresses and danced around the house more this week than we have in a long time. We just got back from going to Chestnut St to get a bagel and Jamba Juice to finish off our week, and I have never been so in love with my daughter. She is listening like a champion again, she is more helpful, and she is much more delightful. My house looks like a bomb went off in it, I have only done one load of laundry all week (we were all out of towels, Dane had to use a hand towel), my fridge is empty, but I have a happy two year old. And that, is everything a mommy can ask for.