Ye of little faith...

I have/ had the calling in our church of primary pianist (I play piano for the little kids). I am not a very good piano player, and I don't know the primary songs very well, so it makes it interesting. The only stressful part of that calling comes once a year in primary program, and it sure came fast; just two months after I received the calling. Through all of our life commotion it really came up fast! So realizing that I was just not able to learn all of the songs well enough for the program (I can play the right hand,but not so good at the left) I decided to split the program in half and have some help. But the only other person in the ward that played wasn't going to be there that Sunday...so I started praying, and practicing...but my piano was in storage! Then we moved into our temporary house, and guess what...it had a piano! So now the program was in two weeks and I had 10 songs to master...up to this point I only played the right hand of these songs! So practice, practice, practice! The day of the program I knew that I would make some mistakes, but the kids look so darn cute that it shouldn't matter what I did. The bishop came to me with some words of comfort right before the program..." If nothing else, you can at least play the right hand!" Well the program went great. I did make some mistakes, and I had times where I felt a warmth and as if someones hand was on mine...not necessarily playing the right notes...but letting me know that it was okay. Afterwards with much praise from my loving family, the best validation came from the bishop. He came up to me with the most shocked expression on his face, and just said..."Wow, you must have really been practicing, it seemed like there were 30 songs in the program! Good Job!"...his expression really said it all :) Even though it was very stressful thinking that I wouldn't learn the songs, but it gave me something else to focus on through the hard times, and it felt great to really feel live I gave 110% to my calling! Now we are moving to a new ward...and I don't think I will go around advertising this particular talent :)
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Mi Vida Loca

Why are there no pictures on my blog...let me tell you about our crazy life....
We have been trying to buy a house, and on Aug 1 we found out that our lease was up...what better way to get our butt in gear to buy :) So we figured we would be in escrow by the time we move, live temporarily with Brian's parents and move into our new house in time for Turkey Day. ...Well 12 house offers later and our Sept 13 move date upon us, we regrettfully put our stuff in the garage and moved in with the in-laws for the weekend so we could find a house. And we did! The day after we moved we put our 13th and final offer on a house, which was accepted... with a 60 day escrow! We could not hang out with the in-laws that long...instead, we decided to keep the family relations happy :) After three weeks we found the perfect situation, a friend renting out his fully furnished home month to month! All this time our external hard drive is in a box and we haven't uploaded pictures to our computer since our desktop is in storage....SO, no pictures. Ok, so now you all know where we are living, and everything is going great with our house! We close on Nov. 13 and we hope to move in Dec. 1 after a little remodeling. Here are a few highlights of the last month or so...
Max:

• Started preschool and loves it!


• Our big boy turned 3...where did the time go!


• Went on our first "field trip" to the pumpkin patch


• Loves our "temporary" house, and can't wait for our "real" new house :)


• Is almost tall enough for the BIG rides at Disneyland...he is 39in and you need to be 40in


• Completed swim lessons and he now willingly puts his face in the water. He just started pee wee soccer and after will do tumbling/gymnastics.


• Oh yeah...he decided he is too big for naps, so we are keeping him busy :)

Amy:

• She is growing up WAY too fast!


• Started solid foods, and she is just like Max...eats a ton and we can not get it in her mouth fast enough.


• Said Ma Ma this week as her first word...we are now working on Da Da


• She can scoot, flop and crawl backwards, and can crawl one step forward...almost there!


• Still has a dark brown Mohawk, and where she was bald, hair is growing in blonde...it's an interesting style, but very cute!

That is some of our life in a nut shell. We all had some not so happy times...losing our beloved dog Pippin, that same week, my mother was in the hospital, and my dad found out he has cancer...when it rains it pours :( I am just very thankful for the power of prayer, and especially to have an eternal and gospel perspective on life. Not that I haven't had a few crazy days, but I have felt an ease and comfort through it all.
We will try and get some pictures on here soon, especially of the two cuties in their Halloween costumes.
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Pippin

Our beloved dog Pippin was hit by a car and died on Saturday. Pippin was a very special pet to us and will be sorely missed. We bought Pippin just 4 1/2 years ago when we were told we could not have children. Pippin helped fill that void in our life, and even after the kids came along (when he did not get much attention), he always was a source of happiness to our family. The things we will miss most of all are: Pippin snuggling us in bed, making Amy laugh, playing with Max in the backyard, cleaning up under the table and all of his love and devotion to us. We will miss you Pippin. Here is Pippin on the first day he came to our home.

Max and Pippin: Best Buddies

Pippin used to sit up on our shoulder like a little parrot.

Christmas

Meeting Amy for the first time.

You have left an indelible mark on our hearts and lives...goodbye Pippin, we love and will miss you!

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Mystery Date

So, after having Amy, and when life started settling down, I realized a little weekend getaway would do us good! I wanted to do something fun, and something that Brian wouldn't guess. I got guest passes to the Magic Castle in Hollywood, and planned to spend the night in L.A. and sneak in a temple trip as well. Well as I started planning, things just kept getting in the way and we had to cancel our date twice! But last weekend we made it. We dropped off the kids at Grandma Jeannie's house (THANK YOU!!!!) and went to the temple. Then we checked into our hotel and got ready....all of this being a surprise to Brian. Finally we headed to the Magic Castle and Brian finally figured it out about a mile away! For those who don't know, the Magic Castle is an old mansion in Hollywood, that is a private club to Magicians. It is formal attire, with a dress code, and you go have a very nice dinner and then there are various magic shows and acts throughout the castle! We stayed until 1:30 in the morning and then slept in until 10:00am without kids! :-) That may have been the best part! It was an awesome weekend with my husband!

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My Kids

I don't have pictures for this one, but wanted to tell everyone about my adorable kids...first there is Max! We recently lost our grnadfather Max Bell who our son is named after. We had been visiting Papa Max quite often in his last months, so when he passed we just explained to our son, Max, that Papa Max was now with Heavenly Father. With an almost 3 year old you never now how much they take in or if they even need to take things in. A few weeks later however, Max chose to watch Bambi for the first time (I don't like the movie, but being a Disney fan we own it). After Bambi's mother dies, I was watching Max for a reaction....he just looked kind of sad and then looked at me and said "Bambi's mother is with Heavenly Father now, just like Papa Max" Well if the movie didn't have me crying, my son sure did!
Then there is Amy! Being the second child she has been dragged aroung doing everything along with her brother. Well I must brag about what she is up to... In the last week she has
> Learned to roll over, not just on to her back, but if she gets really mad about it can now get on her front too!
> She laughs! This is one of my favorite moments for kids, however Max is the only one that can get her to do it!
> She sits up...well almost. She does flop forward, but can push herself back in an almost upright position!

So that is the update on my kids. They make me laugh, cry and everything in between, and my life is not complete without them!
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Where have we been ?!?!?!

Wow!! Time has flown by! Here is what we have been doing in July/Aug!!!We went to the water park with our cousins Caitlyn and Jared and our friend Logan and Nellie (we couldn't ever get all the kids together :)

Max and Amy went to their first Dodger game! We left at the beginning of the 9th inning, tired kids and the Dodgers were down by 2, and of course bottom of the 9th there was a great hit and Dodger took the game...too bad we missed it :(

The boys eating ice cream in Santa Barbara after going on a pirate cruise!

Amy and Nana at the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum.

And our yearly tradition of going to the X Games!

So that about sums it up. We are also in the process of moving and trying to buy a house...so our posts may be scattered, but I will try and get an update here and there!

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More Adventures

We went to the aquatic center with our cousins, Caitlyn, Jared and Vicki. Max continues to improve in the water once he warms up and had a blast running around with his cousins.

Playing in the water with Jared

Our cousin Laura came to Ventura with her adorable little red head Abby. Max loves Abby and Always asks about her after we see them. Here is a cousin picture from the left : Max, Amy, Abby, Tyler and Payton. we are so lucky to have so many cousins nearby to play with!

Today (July 18) was the Ventura Annual Pirate days at the harbor. We enjoyed some pirate shows and walking around. Here is Max showing off his tattoo! So manly!

Max starting a sword fight with Capt Jack Sparrow!

...And now I am all caught up with the blog...for now! Hopefully next time I won't have to do 5 posts all at once :-)

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