We're on TV!

So apparently CNN did a story on the flood we had on Sunday and a friend of ours spotted us on the broadcast! If I'd known, I would have done my hair :D Okay, it's not very much, but it's kind of fun. Here's the link to watch the story. At about 40 seconds of playtime, you can see me hanging over the fence taking that picture of Seth wading in the street.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-48192?ref=feeds%2Foncnn

Monsoon Season: Part II

So today a thunderstorm started while we were in church. When you look at this, you'll understand why I now feel stupid for being impressed by the pictures in the previous post! Thankfully the water was not this bad when we were driving home, although there were a couple of parts of the main road that were completely flooded.

Although the sidewalks are more than covered, fences have been knocked over, and small cars driving down the streeet look more like boats, people seem to be enjoying the flood. I keep seeing the same huge truck driving back and forth, enjoying the torrents caused by the wheels (pictures below), and yes, those are kids in their swimsuits behind that fence, and we even saw a couple of kids tubing down the street when we pulled up at the house, but unfortunately they left before I got the camera out. We just put together some major 72-hour kits last weekend, so we are mostly prepared for disasters like this, should it get any worse. Maybe I'll go put the finishing touches on the backpacks just in case...

Sorry about the weird spacing, we can't fix it!

Monsoon Season

Who says it never rains in the desert? Having lived here for not quite a year, I'm not sure if this is typical or not, but we've actually had a couple of nice storms lately. In spite of all the water you see in the pictures below, it actually only rained for a short time. The ground is very hard here and doesn't absorb the water very quickly. And you wouldn't believe how fast it dries up once the sun comes back out!

Here are some pictures of Seth and Hannah enjoying the rain we've gotten from the thunderstorms during the last week.

Joshua's First Buzz

Bald but beautiful!

So I had some questions about why Joshua's birth was so bad. It was nothing serious or life-threatening. Let me just say that "Pitocin" is a bad word at our house. I've been induced twice because these darn babies refuse to come on their own; this second time I was wanting to go natural and do hypnobirthing (which I loved and would highly recommend to anyone not being induced!). Anyway, to make the story short, my body does not handle Pit very well, but I forgot just how horrible it is until it was too late. I couldn't sleep for three days afterwards, my shoulders felt like I'd just done an eight-hour weightlifting session, and my stomach muscles were sore to the touch for two full months.

If you haven't had kids yet, this isn't supposed to scare you. I don't think childbirth is a scary thing and this isn't supposed to be a "childbirth horror story" or anything. I don't even think Joshua's birth needed to be like that. That's why I was so irritated that things happened the way they did. In fact, I liked the natural/hypnobirthing stuff so much that I have determined I will keep having babies long enough to have one come on its own and be a full-out hypnobirth...I guess we'll see how many it takes!

Happy Anniversary!

Seth and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on June 28th. (This is a busy time of year for us.) I just looked it up and found out that this is the "wood and silverware" anniversary. Did I get wood or silverware? Well...my book was made from a tree, and we used silverware to eat dinner, so close enough :)

Seth planned a wonderful day for us. We had an hour and a half of babysitter time during the day, so he took me over to the bookstore and let me choose any book I wanted (I got Arabian Nights and an old art book called The Art of Walt Disney -- from Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdom ...eat your heart out, Tiff!). Then we went over to the park and had a little picninc while he read to me. This was an awesome date because I love getting new books and we love reading together. Now we read a new Arabian tale every night before we go to bed, and when we're done with that book, we'll do the date over again and start something new. What a fun new tradition. Thank you so much, honey! After we put the kids to bed, Seth fixed up a fancy and delicious Jamaican dinner for us (reminiscent of our honeymoon) and just before we sat down to eat, we had to take time out for a little potty-training session with Hannah. So we microwaved our food and then enjoyed our delicious dinner.

After dessert and another chapter in Arabian Nights, Hannah rolled out of bed and hurt her shoulder badly enough to warrant a midnight trip to the ER. (AGAIN...for those of you who are unaware, she obtained the same injury back in March by rolling off the couch. We have all tile floors, so it's not hard to get hurt here.) Last time, the doctor thought she might have fractured something, so we didn't take any chances with this incident. No broken bones, just a badly bruised and swollen shoulder/collar bone. It's so sad to see your little three-your-old unable to use her arm at all -- she needs help lying down, sitting up, etc. and if you ask her how her shoulder is, she says "It's feeling sick." So sad!

But in spite of all the drama of ER trips and tantrums and teething and potty-training, we are very happy and have been very blessed in our five years together. Or maybe it's because of all that...after all, the happiness is in the journey, right?

Thanks for making the journey with me, Seth. I love you!

Happy Birthday, Boys!

We celebrated Joshua's first birthday on June 19th. (Well, we celebrated on the 21st because the 19th didn't pan out quite the way we'd hoped...the day started out with Joshua overheating and vomiting at the playground -- at 8:00 in the morning! -- and just got better from there.) Pictures are better than words at describing the way we feel about this incredibly adorable little guy, so here is a tribute to Joshua's first year of life, in pictures.

Can you say "stretch marks"?

The worst thing I've EVER been through...but it was worth it! Look how cute!

Best friends from the beginning...

Happy Halloween!

Ho ho ho...

Just before a (much-needed) haircut

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Joshua's favorite gift was the blanket from my mom.

Hannah waiting patiently for a piece of birthday cake

What more can I say? We have THE cutest son in the world. He is so sweet and lovey. He loves to cuddle with anything soft (like his new blanket) and has the most beautiful blue eyes in the world! And a million other wonderful traits that would take too long to list. We love you, Moshie!

We celebrated Seth's 28th birthday on June 20th. He can be seen modeling his favorite bday present below. Does anyone else's husband think he's really a ninja? Even when he talks in his sleep he's usually a ninja fighting bad guys...but I guess that's another subject altogether. Happy birthday, hero! I love you!

I know, it has an obviously homemade look, but as a workout t-shirt, it works.

I've Been Tagged

4 Jobs I Have Had
1. Teaching Assistant at BYU (philosophy and tap)
2. Subway sandwich artist (that's really what they're called)
3. Cutco knife salesgirl (no kidding!)
4. Assembly line worker at Exact Research (I packaged golf cleats with a bunch of college students)

4 Movies I Would Watch More Than Once
1. Harry Potter (doesn't matter which one)
2. It's a Wonderful Life
3. South Pacific (original)
4. Life is Beautiful (I love foreign films)

4 Places I Have Lived
1. Boise, ID
2. Provo, UT
3. Millbrae, CA (San Francisco)
4. Ridgecrest, CA

4 Places I Have Been To/Visited
1. Disneyland
2. Chicago
3. Jamaica
4. Mexico (Rocky Point) (and Tijuana, but who counts that?)

4 Favorite Foods
1. Dessert (anything...)
2. Indian food
3. Korean food (especially bulgogi)
4. Pizza

4 Places I Would Like to Visit
1. Hawaii
2. East coast
3. Europe
4. PEI (I think every girl wants to go there)

4 Things I Am Looking Forward To
1. Moving out of the desert (someday...)
2. Doing more Latin ballroom dancing
3. Seth's and my Florida trip in Sep (Universal Studios, Dancesport Championships, cruise, resort)
4. and most of all...

WINTER!!!

4 Friends I Am Tagging
1. Tiffany
2. Darlene
3. Michelle
4. Sarah