I'm back!

Well, I think I am going to try to get back into blogging. Don't worry, you really haven't missed much the last couple months. I can sum it up pretty easily. Starting new years eve, until about a week or two ago, I was out for the count with morning sickness. We pretty much stayed close to home except for the bare necessities, like trips to the midwife and such.

Our 7th anniversary (02.02.09) we spent the night down town, and Grace spent her first night away from us. She spent the night with my parents. For her first time away, she did great. And my great, I mean that the only time she got upset was when we came to pick her up. She was even too busy to talk on the phone the couple times we called. Ever since then she has been asking if mom and dad were going to have another anniversary so she can stay at Grandma and Grandpa's again.

We had a small family get together on Grace's 3rd birthday. We got together at my parents house, so that we were the only ones who had to do the drive. Grace loved her birthday presents from everyone, and had a fabulous time being the center of attention.

The last couple weeks we have been taking our turns with the cold bug that has been going around. So although the morning sickness is over, I still have been sticking close to home. Grace actually ended up spending two more nights at Grandma and Grandpa Hilton's house, as Gunnar and I were both down for the count. She has been healthy so far, so hopefully she stays that way.

Other than that, Lance Armstrong cycled down the street in front of our church. Gunnar was in the local Road Runner newspaper. Grace started home school preschool and loves it. Grace has become a huge "Candy Land" fan and we play almost daily.

I will post again soon with pictures and an update about the pregnancy. Right now though, I think I am going to take a nap. :)

Parmasan Cheese Face

She takes her parmasan cheese seriously. It makes her mother proud.

A fancy party

The other day at dinner I asked Grace what she had done that day. Without skipping a beat she replied "I went to a fancy party." Seeing as we hadn't really been out of the house all day, I found this quite amusing.

Last Saturday we actually we able to go to a fancy party. A real life fancy party. With people all dressed up and lots of good food. It was a reception celebrating the marriage of Dave and Kacey. A lot of our friends from The Chapel were there, so it was nice to get caught up with them. My family was all there, so I got to hang out with darling Elena, while my mom hung out with Grace. Again, a treat all around.

I didn't take any pictures there, even though I did take my camera, I forgot all about it. I did manage to take a couple pictures of Grace and I while we were waiting for Gunnar to get home from work so we could leave for the party.
Grace debated wearing the lizard glasses and eventually decided against it. I think she made the right call.

You win some, you loose some

We got out and voted yesterday. The thing about a democracy, is that you win some and loose some. Seeing as I have only been old enough to vote in one other Presidential election , and I voted for Bush, I had only been on the winning side. It is way more fun.

I was of course disappointed that Obama won the presidential election. Especially when it comes to the pro-life issue, I am very sad to see someone elected that cares so little for the rights of the unborn.

On another note, Prop 8 in California passed. This proposition (to amend the constitution to define marriage as the union between one man and one woman), was particularly important to us as the ramifications would directly effect churches and pastors.

Grace was super excited about going to vote. She has gone before a couple times and likes getting the sticker. She was asking all morning if we could go vote yet. When we got home she asked when we would be able to go vote again.

I tried to take a picture of her and her sticker, but she was less than cooperative. It really should not have been so hard. She was much less cooperative than her cute cousin, who modeled her sticker quite gracefully. I guess taking pictures of a squirming toddler and elections have something in common: you win some, you loose some.

I take your picture while you take mine

Psalm 90:1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

Ginger bread house

Gunnar has been really busy with church stuff recently, so Grace and I have had a lot of time to ourselves. I have been trying to think of fun things for us to do together, becuase a lot of times I feel like when it is just the two of us, we get into the rut of being around each other but not really interacting together. We get along so much better when we work together. Plus, Grace is super funny and can talk my ear off, so she is great company.

My mother-in-law got us a ready to assemble (just mix up the frosting) ginger bread house. Sunday night, after coming home from Bible study, Grace and I didn't really have anything to do, and Gunnar was gone, so we decided to give it a try. We had so much fun together! I think we both enjoy "crafty" things, and she was a fan of frosting and staying up past her bed time, so all in all, it was a hit.

Getting ready to start. Grace was super excited to find the bubble wrap in the box. "Auntie Ann showed me how to do this!" she told me proudly. :)

There were two options for the frosting, black or orange. I didn't really want to make a huge mess, so I only made one pack instead of both. I thought that black would be less Halloween, and more just classic. I forgot about Motherhood rule 104: "2 year olds and anything containing black die should not be mixed." opps.
She wasn't really sure what to make of the assembly of the house. Mostly she kept asking if we could open a can of olives.

When she started putting the candy on the house, is when she really started getting excited. I don't think she realized that they were candies, which was good becuase I didn't really want her eating them anyways.
It was so cute to watch her be so particular about where everything went and how she wanted it to go. Pretty much she did all the decorating, she would just tell me where she needed more "glue" (aka frosting).
About three quarters of the way through, I slipped up and licked my fingers. Up to that point I don't think Grace realized that the frosting was edible. Of course, my finger licking did not go unnoticed by her, and once she tried it, there was no turning back. :)

Cute grimy little hands.
Pretty much I think that in order to get your house to look like the one on the box, you have to have a degree in culinary arts. But I thought ours turned our pretty good nonetheless.
See? It's not haunted. It has a cross on it.

We took a couple self portraits to show off our work. And Grace's black mouth.

Wild Animal Park

Gunnar and Grace enjoys spending Tuesday morning at the Wild Animal park while I go to Bible Study. So when I took Grace today, she already had in mind all the things she knew she wanted to do.

Grace loves the little playground. Her favorite thing to do is to "drive". Obviously, she doesn't get this from me, as I am not a big driving fan. Pretty much her two favorite things at the playground are the cars.

She also enjoys the slide and going through the tunnel. Fun times, fun times.
We did manage to see a few animals. Not really on purpose, but we had to go that way to get back to the parking lot.

I have pictures of Grace sitting in this big fake egg spring 2006. I need to find them somewhere, so I can put them side by side to see how much she has grown.

Right before we left, she was able to sit on the large metal rhino. I have always wanted to take a picture of her on it, but there are usually tons of people on it and I never want to wait my turn. So when there was no one there, we couldn't pass it up.

If you have zoo passes and ever feel like going to the Wild Animal Park and want a good little tour guide, call us. Grace would love to show you around! :)

Mommy, please take a picture of my tomatoe

Sunday Morning

Grace tried out a new dress that Grandma and Tia made for her. It is so nice to have such talented relatives. I love all the vintage lace.

A sunday morning thought

A couple days ago Grace said:

"Mommy, God in heaven talked to me. "

I said "Oh yeah, what did he say?"

"He said 'Gracie, I love you.'"


I love how in this point her theology is right on. God knows her by name, calls her softly and tenderly, and His message to her is that he loves her.

Have a blessed Sunday. Don't forget to have a talk with God today. He might just have something wonderful to tell you too.

the down side of self dressing

It really isn't as easy as it looks. All those holes, who ever can keep them straight?


On a side note, this is one of Grace's very favorite things to do: sit on the couch and "read" to herself. It makes me so proud. :)

Little Chef

Grace got an apron in the mail from her Aunt Michelle. She still has some growing room, but right after I took this picture she spilled something all over it, so it is already coming in handy.
Thanks Michelle!

Cosmic Bowling

Most of my life I really did not enjoy bowling. Partly becuase the bowling balls are so heavy (and I have always been a weakling) and partly becuase I never liked how it is really bright and everyone looks at you backside when you walk up there to throw the ball. At least that is how it feels.

But then, 8 years ago I discovered something new. Cosmic bowling. Like bowling, only way better. It is really dark, but there is loud music and black lights and disco balls. The bowling balls glow in the dark, and no one is really looking at you. It is like party meets bowling. It was actually one of the first things Gunnar and I did together, so it has that sentimental thing going for it too.

This last weekend was the Chapel's annual bowling night. Last year we didn't make it becuase of the fires. So this year we were extra excited to go. Gunnar bowled in the competitive league and actually bowled one of his highest life scores (170-something I think). I bowled with Maria and Daniel and the just hanging out group. Grace spent most of the evening hanging out with Grandma Ta and Auntie Ann and Baby Elena, who weren't bowling. She was really overwhelmed at first with all the people and noise and lights, but by the end, she managed to work up enough courage to bowl a few frames on the kids lane. She loved it, so I think we should take her again sometime. They had the bumpers up and a special ramp so she just had to push the ball down the ramp. She got really excited to knock over the "sticks".

Here are a couple pictures from the bowling night, I didn't take too many as when I wasn't bowling I was trying to hold the cutest little niece ever.

My bowling buddy

Silly faces with Auntie Ann

My baby

Waiting for the pins to get knocked down...

A gift from my love

This week with Grace

Grace has taken to playing the piano and singing. It is so cute, I couldn't resist taking some pictures. These were from before we moved, as you can tell by the blue carpet.

Grace LOVES helping daddy. With all that we have had going on, she loves to "help" or at least sit there and watch him as he works.

"helping" put in Lilac bushes

"helping" put together and end table for the living room

"helping" dig the holes for the trees in the front yard
This week she has also figured out how to turn door nobs. In the old house she was too short to actually reach the door knobs, but that didn't stop her finding creative solutions.