Adventures through Utah, Washington, and (finally!) California!!

It's been some insanely long, but incredible two weeks! The last blog post (which I just posted a bit ago) was actually an email I had sent one day while staying with the Vanwagoner's. But, of course, I had taken more pictures while I was there, which had not been sent in the email! Let me share. (:

A little background info? Kaitlyn is the oldest, has four younger brothers, and then the youngest, Lilly, is adopted from China. Lilly has hemiplegia; I can't explain it super well, but basically half of her brain doesn't function near as well as the other half. Ultimately this impairs her, so that she can't use her right hand or right leg very well. When I had gotten to their house, Lilly had just come back from the ER after 10 days. Kaitlyn and I spent the majority of our time with her; such a sweet girl. (: But these photos are mostly from a walk us three took to go see some horses!

Kaitlyn and Lilly!

Feeding and petting the pretty horses (:

Anywho, I absolutely loved staying with Kaitlyn's family and am so grateful. They've been yet another wonderful example of a close, loving family.

The next morning, on Wednesday (the 11th), I left the Vanwagoner's, stopped to see a couple friends on my up to Idaho, and was able to see Christian and Audrey!! Granted I didn't see them until about 8:30 pm, but I was so stoked to be seeing them. What can I say? I love my family. (: I don't have any pictures of OUR adventures together, which mainly consisted of moving in&out and driving, but I think I'll spare you all the dull 12-hour drive back to WA.

Washington!!! Holy cow, it had felt like years since I'd been back to good ole' Quincy. And the best part of it all? My entire family was all waiting there for us when we got home. Unfortunately, Russ had to stay in California, so he couldn't come. And obviously West wasn't there, since he is faithfully continuing to serve his mission in Minnesota. (: I miss him...Sadly, I don't really have any pictures from my whole, whoppin' two days in Washington, either! Bah. BUT...I do have one picture and one video.

Our family is super talented at sitting around, talking, laughing, and playing games. This is just another one of those sweet moments that one typically tends to take for granted in the moment; thank heavens I recorded some of it. (:

Later in the evening, before Trista and the kids had to take off, Grandpa Scott decided to tell the ever-changing and legendary story of "The Golden Screw". This picture made me chuckle, because Sam and Brooklyn were absolutely enthralled! As any kid should be, of course! But so was Dene'. (: It was rather funny how entranced even she was haha. Grandpa is a pretty darned good storyteller!

Like I said, I had 2-3 days in Quincy. Christian, Audrey, and I got there late Thursday night; Trista, the kids, and I all took off at 5 am on Sunday morning for California!! Trista being the clever and fun mother that she is decided to bring glowsticks! So much fun haha. Brooklyn is on the left, and Sam is on the right.

The drive from Quincy to Livermore is about 15-16 hours. Thank heavens we only did half the drive on Sunday, stayed the night in Oregon, and finished the drive the next morning. Lucky for us, the hotel had a pool! We got there about 4 in the afternoon (I think?), and we were all stoked to go swimming! All by ourselves. :D

We had tasty sushi for dinner, watched a bit of National Geographic, and zonked out at approximately 7:30 haha. Wake up Monday morning, and the munchkins want to watch cartoons on Lanny's bed.

HERE WE ARE!! In Livermore, California! The second day of driving was a tad more rough, but we all survived. (; We all relaxed that night, had dinner, and had a GREAT night's sleep. The next day I was blessed to land a nanny job right away! And lucky for me, she only lives a block away. We met up with her at the park, so we could meet her kids, got a schedule and such worked out, etc. All was good, and I was to go over the next day to get a hang of their routines and start the day after that! After going to the park, we made a stop in downtown Livermore. Can I just say one or two things about this place? Yeah. LOVE it. Such an awesome city, and I love downtown and their frozen yogurt. (; I am finally beginning to understand how the roads and such work around here haha.

So yes. After a minor Sammy meltdown, we played in this sweet water fountain and got a bit cooled off for the hot day!

As many can probably assume, I am paying Trista and Russ rent by baby-sitting on occasion haha. Which is totally fine with me, of course. More time with Sam and Brooklyn. (: I think the Mama decided to make a quick trip to the store, so I stayed and watched Sam and Brooke for a tad. They both came bursting through my door as I was finishing getting ready (for what? I have no idea). Sam loves playing with my duck laundry basket, by making it eat my clothes and puke them out. Glorious, right? Yup, he has a blast with it haha. Then Brooklyn laid on my bed and was whistling.

Brooklyn completely showed Sammy and I up at whistling! I'm a worthless whistler. :P

Oh! And a side note. A month or so earlier, back in Rexburg, Shaun had bought an Ironman dealio to hook onto your shirt. It makes all sorts of cool noises and such haha. He gave it to me, so that I could give it to Sam. Just for kicks and giggles. I now randomly hear it go off every so often. (;

I am fairly positive he has no clue who Ironman is haha. Anywho! On Wednesday, Trista and I had been begging to go to the library all day, and we were finally able to get the kids to go! I got a few books for some future early mornings, and the kids got a TON of books haha. (If you'd like an idea of how many, take a glance at the two bags sitting by Trista's feet. Yeah, those are filled with loads of kids' books). Afterwards, Sammy wanted to play on this cool mural sorta deal out front of the library. When Trista and I saw Sam trying to push these concrete calls, we could not figure out what the heck he was doing. He claimed, "Mom! I'm twying to move it!" Trista, the genius one, went along with it, replying, "Oh no way! Dude, I just saw it move!! I swear!" Brooke even got excited, so they both were at it baha. "Brooklyn, I think you're supposed to jump on it." Brooklyn, trusting her mother completely, begins jumping haha.

Trista, also being rather clever and somewhat evil, decided to mess with them some more..."Oh Sam! I heard there's a special way of moving it. You have to run around it three times first."...Off he goes running haha.

Sam gets back to his boulder, pushes it with all his might, and says in an exasperated voice, "Mooooommmm! It's still not moving!!" Trista encourages, "No, no, I saw it move just a tiny bit." Brooklyn then chimes in, "But Mom, we ran around them already!" "Ahhh, but did you do it with one eye closed? Oh, and also while patting your head..." Off they go again hahaha.

They both get back to their rocks and begin pushing again. "Hey Sam, I think you're supposed to push it with one hand and one foot. Try that."...

Sam, who now is a bit fed up with it, says, "It's STILL not moving!" "My bad, Sam, it's the OTHER foot and OTHER hand..."

Needless to say, Trista and I got a kick out of it, and the kids proved their trust in their mama. :P

Thursday morning, bright and early at 6:20, I head out for my "official" first day as a nanny. The kids and I get along pretty well, but there's always some little rough spots. Overall, though, I'm really enjoying it. (: Plus, I got a call about a couple needing a baby-sitter Friday night to watch their two kids. So I went, basically took brownies out of the oven, and put the kids to bed. Dad has always taught me to leave something better than how you found it; whenever I baby-sit, it has sort of become habit to clean up a bit, do some dishes, etc. Trista got an email the next morning from the gal about how awesome I was, she says haha. Anywho! Friday, before going to baby-sit, I was called over to my nanny job early for help and paid! Whoots! I then got home, and Trista and Dut took off for a quick run to the store. Whole house plus Sammy and I? Oh boy. "Wanny, wet's pway on Mommy's bed!"..."What do ya wanna play, Sam?"..."I want to jump on you." Commence the evil giggling...

"TIMBERRR!!" (Repeat 60x)

I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, got another appointment to baby-sit, and went to church for the first time here! Oy. I have found over the last few years that I honestly enjoy going to church by myself. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved going with family and roommates, but I enjoy going in early, sitting down, relaxing, and then enjoying others' company. Which is exactly what happened. I met all sorts of people, was told far too many names than I'll ever remember, and enjoyed the fact that no one responded with, "Ohhh like the lake!" after saying my name. (: Wonderful people and extremely welcoming! I am pretty dang excited. I went to a game night Sunday evening and then hitched a ride to FHE. Played a game or two of basketball. Headed back to Livermore!...Sorta. Trista knows the whole somewhat awkward story of actually getting home. It was...odd haha.

Random Tangent/Story: Remember when I was going home for Thanksgiving, and I had to get a random ride off the BYU-I bulletin board to Boise, where I met up with Garin and rode the rest of the way home? Well! I walk into church this Sunday, sit down, and I am just sort of people watching. Figuring the ward out. I see this guy, who I KNOW I have seen before. I could not put my finger on it, though. I was asked to stand up in RS and Sunday School to say my name and area. After Sunday School, this guy I KNOW I have met in my first semester comes up to me. "Shuhhh...something, right??" He asks. I tell him that I KNOW I recognize him from somewhere, and he responds, "Yeah, I gave you the ride to Boise!" DUH! Point of story? Lo and behold, all the way in California, there is someone in my ward who I actually (sorta, not really) KNOW!

Anyways! Now I shall finish up this insanely long post about my day off TODAY! (Yes, I worked yesterday at 6:30. Came home exhausted as heck, took a nap, and left for an interview). But TODAY!...It was sort of a cranky morning...day...evening. (: Honestly I didn't feel cranky much at all; I just felt awful for Trista, who seemed at the end of her rope on occasion. I certainly can't blame her, because the kids were constantly testing how slippery that rope was! But we got out of the house around 11 for the Oakland Zoo! Way fun, great weather, and wicked giraffes! :D

We all happened to be passing the "back sides" of the zebras, and I mentioned to Trista, "Dang. Zebras have really cool butts..." Trista replies, as she's using her fingers as arrows, "Yup! I poop right HERE!" Bahahaha! See?!

We spent a good 3 hours there, but midway through we stopped at a majorly packed play area for a light lunch. Brooke has been cuddly all day today, but I certainly can't say I mind haha. So she laid on my lap after eating, and she got up in time for me to snap a picture or two.

"Momma, I want a fwuit weather!" (:

Then off we went again! I found an awfully cute little turtle. (;

And also a wannabe froggie!

Last, if you look behind Sam, you can see there's a mural on the wall. Well that mural is basically of flying lemurs. Trista had this grand idea haha:

Now? I am pooped. So in the words of Porky Pig from Looney Tunes: "Tha-tha that's all for now, Folks!"

Finals Week & the Vanwagoners!

Aloha!! I know I haven't exactly sent anything to you guys for the last few weeks, and the laptop is all packed up; so I don't have any way of sending those blog deals out. So here it goes! Quite a few pictures, but you'll deal with it I'm sure (;

So! You all know it was finals week this last week, but I was trying to finish up things weeks ago! And as I've studied, I've realized that I study SO much better when standing up!!...With Oreos...and milk :D

Of course, you know loads about my FHE brothers. Wonderfully awesome guys. In fact, our last week all in Rexburg? Yeah, we spent every evening with them doing something (: But Saturday, the 31st, our guys wanted to "ball it up" on the courts outside haha. So Jessi, Leah, and I went! Dang it was fun! I got tired, though, so I took a few pics before we finished (:

This is Jared on the left and Alec on the right.

And Jared again with John guarding.

Jessi has had severe tendinitis in her shoulders and isn't supposed to move them really at all haha. But she played a tad and was attempting to "softly throw" (;

And here be Jared again lol. Him and I get along really well and have become really good friends. And he's starting his papers this week for a mission! Awesome kid.

And here be Leah! Chillaxing (;

So! That was the fun part of that afternoon. Another awesome part of that evening?? Jessi's entire family came to visit! Her dad is Hispanic, and her mon is white, but dang her mom makes incredible posole!! Mmm. And enchiladas, Mexican rice, etc. Then on Sunday we all wanted to play volleyball keep-away haha. Here a few funny pictures (;

Jess dancing!

Jess and her little sis, whose name is Gidget! (She actually has two sisters and another brother, but I didn't really get any pictures of them).

We've also had 3 bonfires in our backyard in the last 3 weeks, so this is us preparing for the first one and Jessi's entire family.

Playing some guitar and ukulele over the fire (;

Most of our FHE guys joined us for the bonfire, so once the fire was gone we all went inside and Jessi's family left. Alec fell asleep on the floor, so Jarrod and Gill thought it'd be fun to dogpile him (:

Annnd this is Jarrod trying to get our turtle, Stanley, to play the ukulele haha. Worked pretty well!!

Oh yeah! And the last Monday of March, we had our ward talent show. This is my bishopric! Needless to say, they're pretty awesome :D

I have zero pictures from general conference, but I absolutely loved it. It was probably the first time I watched every single session without the struggle of falling asleep, and I got a ton of notes. So awesome. (:

And then came the last week of classes!!! I felt like I had so much to do but couldn't keep track of it all. So what do I do? What I love doing: making lists haha. Talk about organization! (;

Oh wait, wait, wait! So technically FHE was supposed to be over with after March was over, right?? Welll we missed our FHE guys. So we had another bonfire the first Monday of April (: And it was an awesome fire!! Our guys definitely learned lots as boy scouts (;

We went around the circle and told our favorite moments of the semester and embarrassing stories. We all went inside and chilled before the guys left. But before they did, Alec went to their car and got this big bag and told us it was a gift from him. Now you must know that Alec had an incredible memory; he's not exactly photographic, but it's something related to remembering all sorts of things. So the first FHE we had we were testing him haha. We exchanged phone numbers that week and then the next we surprised him with a pop quiz of asking what our numbers were...He knew every single one. So! During that first FHE, we got to know each other by our favorite movies, activities, candy, etc. Well in this bag he left for us after the bonfire was: (1) a letter to all of us, (2) a bag for each of us, and (3) a letter and candy inside each bag. Of course, out bags were all full of our favorite chocolates (mine was twix and rolos!). Then he began every letter with a quote from one of our favorite movies or a movie that fit us. My quote was from Forever Strong: "I want you to be forever strong on the field so you'll be forever strong off it."...Oy, yup. Just writing about Alec's letter is making me tear up haha. But it was absolutely incredible. We all loved it. Last, he also drew an animal for each of us haha. So this is my tiger (:

So yes! We all wanted to spend as much time with our guys as possible, so Tuesday night they all went camping at the dunes (I stayed to study). Wednesday was supposed to be a "scary movie night", but we couldn't agree on anything. So we watched Lion King after I got back from my date (ah, exciting. Yes, I know). Thursday I planned a temple trip for all of who could go and then we ate at Pizza Pie Cafe. Friday was white glove clean checks, so we cleaned ALL day! And then we were exhausted and didn't want to cook, so those of us who were left (2 guys and 4 gals) went to Costa Vida, came back to eat, and had a long night of joking/laughing/talking/etc. So fun (:

Saturday morning we all got up early, and I helped Kalie and Jess move to their new apartments. They left about 10 am, and I had the entire apartment to myself! So I went to the temple again, deep cleaned the apartment, and move out!!! Whoo! Stopped in Ririe to say bye to the Bowers and thank them for everything, and they insisted I stay for Easter dinner haha. So I stayed and we all played games and laughed a ton. I took off for Centerville, Utah about 6:30 and here I am!!

I can not explain how wonderful Kaitlyn's family has been for letting me stay here. Went to church on Sunday, had another Easter dinner, and then proceeded to do an Easter egg hunt! They all get Easter baskets with some candy and a present, which are hidden and then found via clues. Well come to find out, they had gone to buy a basket and shirt from an LDS clothing store for me. I am so grateful and thankful for their family, they are truly an incredible family. I'll have to tell you more when I get home (: But for now, I'll include this picture of their son serving in Brazil! Hahaha awesome, right?! I had to show them our cardboard Elder Lybbert, too (;

Anywho, it's been a relaxing week here at the Vanwagoner's. No worries, I'll let them know how much I appreciate this. I'm planning on leaving behind a few treats/gifts for them and a thank you note. I apologize for the absurdly long email, but I think I summed up 3 weeks pretty well (; I love you!! I'll be home soon! :D