The other day we ventured out to take some pictures of my niece Taelor.. she has to have a picture for drill. I was, of course, more than happy to take them. We went to this fantastic field up in Highland/Lehi.. and were getting some great pictures. Then we went to Pleasant Grove to get some pics by an old truck and bus. What sucks is when I got there I realized that my camera had been on the "close up" setting the entire time!! (Shows how great of a photographer I am not.. yet.) I couldn't figure out why it wasn't focusing right, and thats why. When you look at the images in the camera you can't tell they aren't in focus cause they're so small.. you don't find out until later when you view them on your computer. I still got some great ones.. haven't shown her yet, so we might be going back out for more.

This is my ABSOLUTE favorite.. she can't really use it for drill but I still LOVE it.


Isn't she PERDY??!!

Sooo.. Shonni and I were lucky enough to make it to California a few weeks ago. I have been putting off posting a blog on it, mainly because I knew it would take quite a bit of time and "time" is not something I have had oodles and oodles of lately. So, instead of doing my normal, post consisting of 800 pictures (each with a detailed explanation), I'm just going to post my favorite pictures (which still might be 800, but I promise not to write a paragraph about each one.. this time), and maybe tell a little about them. What was that? I think I just heard a big "sigh of relief" from all my readers. Ha ha!! I wonder if people really like to hear every detail, or if they'd just rather see pictures and read a few words. Hmmm.. I'll ponder on this.

The girls took a bath together in Nonni's sink, it was a little squishy, Addison bonked her head and Shonni claims that I was taking inappropriate pictures of her daughter, but overall it was an enjoyable experience.




Here are a few pics from the drive.. the girls did surprisingly well. They watched some movies and slept most of the way.





Los Monitos is a restaraunt my Dad has been going to for years, we almost always go there to eat when we're in town.. its delish.. and a little ghetto. :)




Shonni and I made garlic burgers for everyone.. I'm pretty sure they were a hit. In fact, my Aunt Janice said its the best burger she's ever had!! She might have just been being nice.. but they sure were delicious.





I'm trying so hard not to write this much but I just can't help it!! I want everyone to know everything even if they don't wanna!!

We went swimmin' in the pool a few times.. the same pool that the turtle, I believe her name was Shelly, swam in a few days before. Too bad we missed it.






The girls rolled around on the floor..


Hey.. that was short and sweet.. see I can do it!!

Ruby's on the pier!! This is a tradition for us, we ALWAYS eat at Rubie's in Huntington Beach.. LOVE the shakes!! In fact, I could go for one right now!!




Sunset at the beach.. doesn't get better than that!!

The day before we left we went to the beach.. can we say SAND EVERYWHERE!! Kapri ate a couple handfuls, can't hurt too much, right? I got a horrible sunburn, even with 50 spf sunscreen. Apparently, I underestimated my whitey-ness.







So I have this Aunt Rhoda, (Help me Rhonda!! Help, Help me Rhonda!!) she has like 44 kids.. okay maybe not that many.. I think 19 is the grand total between her and her husband. ALOT.. plus lots of grandkids.. and even some great-grandkids. Anyhoo, a bunch of them go to the beach every week together, and we were lucky enough to come along this time.





In the evening we got a fire pit and cooked delicious chicken, corn, VEGGIES!! I got Kapri dressed in some warmer clothes.. she pretty much looked like a boy!! In fact, one of the kids asked if she was a boy or girl. Too bad I didn't have her ears pierced then.. I guess thats a pretty good track record. In all her 8 and a half months here on this earth, she's only been questioned as a boy once.





At the end of the night we had to pack up everything and bring it to the car.. earlier we had juggled twelve umbrellas, a cooler, some chairs, the playpen and the girls down to the water. This time we put our thinking caps on.. why not just put everything, including the chillins, in the playpen and carry it all at once?? Brilliant I tell ya!! Plus the girls loved it and giggled the whole way!!


The next morning we packed up our stuff and headed for home.

Phew!! Thats it, no more, I'm done. That was tough for me I tell ya. Hopefully someone enjoys these pictures. :)

How about one more.. just because I can't resist those thighs!!

I wanted to get Kapri's ears pierced the moment she was three months. Cody thought otherwise. He read something that said you should wait until they're nine months.. something about infections. We compromised (we have learned how important this word is over the last three years) and agreed on six months. So.. when she was six months old (give or take a few days) Shonni and I took her and Addison to the mall to do the deed. I had to work up the courage to go through with it. It was hard going from being her protector, to putting her through the worst pain in her life, next to shots. I would get teary-eyed just thinking about it. So we got to the mall.. only to find out that you have to have proof of their first shots. Can we say LAME!! I had no idea they would need such a thing. Needless to say, Kapri went home hole-less that day.

Well, today Deana and I were at the mall and we decided to try again. I guess at 8 months they no longer need proof of vaccinations. Wha-hoo!! Kapri was finally going to get her ears pierced!! The girl asked if I was her mother.. duh. I gave her my i.d. and she started filling out the paperwork. Then she muttered something along the lines of "Your i.d. is expired. It expired in June of 2009". She said this as if it was ten years ago. How dare you try to use an i.d. that expired a month ago!! Really? You can't pierce my baby's ears because my license is expired?

So.. we went to another ear piercing place. We're tricky like that. This place just gave me the paper to fill out on my own. It asked for my name, date and driver's license number. It did NOT ask when my license expired.. so why was it such a big deal to the other chick? Its not like the i.d. proves my relation to the kid anyway. Ridiculous I tell you.

After I filled out the paper and picked out the earrings (adorable white gold diamond studs), we ran to the candy shop to buy her a sucker.. I figured it would help distract her from the agonizing pain I was about to put her through. When we got back there was a another lady there with her little girl that was about four. She was also getting her ears pierced. The piercing girl asked if we would let her go first so she wouldn't see Kapri crying and change her mind about wanting them pierced. We didn't have anywhere to be, so sure, that'd be fine. By this time Kapri had fallen asleep in her stroller, which was going to make it that much harder for me to muster up the courage to go through with it.


The little girl was super excited to get her ears pierced.. that was until she sat in the chair and reality set in. After coaxing her for twenty minutes, to no avail, the mom decided to take her on a walk and calm her down. So then it was our turn.. let me just tell you my stomache was doing flips. I could not believe what I was about to do.. I was feeling so guilty. So Kapri and I sat down in the chair and I gave her the sucker. Man was she in heaven!! She would probably get her ears pierced every day if it meant she could have a delicious sucker. The girl marked her ears (I made her mark and erase them several times until I thought they were in just the right spot, cause there was NO way I was going to make my precious baby do this more than once) and prepared to do the first ear.

BAM!! Kapri flinched a little, but continued eating her sucker. What? No blood-curdling scream? She fussed a little, but was more interested in the sticky sucker in her hand than the hole in her ear. Then the girl prepared to do the second ear. You should've seen Kapri's face.. "Oh no you did not think you were going to do that to me again lady!!" She would not hold still, so then I had to hold her arms and head against me, which she did not like at all.

Finally the girl did the second ear. Kapri did not disappoint.. she let out the loudest, highest, pitchiest (is that a word) scream you have ever heard in your life!! It lasted about 3 seconds.. her eyes got a little teary, and then she continued sucking her sucker as if nothing had happened.



Right after Kapri was finished the little girl came back for round two. After she saw how tough Kapri was, and that she wasn't even crying, she decided it would be okay to try again. She got her ears pierced without a fight.. and she didn't even cry!! We gave her a round of applause!!

I have an announcement to make people.. "I have the toughest freaking kid in the world!!!" Not to mention, the cutest.


P.S. Sorry the pics aren't the greatest of quality.. this was a spur of the moment thing and I hadn't brought along my camera. Thank goodness for the camera on my phone! Thanks for taking the pictures Deana!!