A Not So Quick Update

January has been a quick month. I hadn't realized that I haven't shared a single post about our fun activities this month. Perhaps I'll post some later...or perhaps I'll just start from now again. I definitely am a to-do list girl, but I don't want blogging to become just another item on my list. This is something I do for fun.

We have enjoyed some crazy beautiful and warm weather this month; I think it rained twice. As such, Olivia and I have taken advantage of the weather, going to the beach at least once a week. Livi and I have also settled into more of a routine - we've enjoyed a couple park days with the play group in our ward, and have gone on walks and to the park daily. Livi loves to run around on the grass, she'll grow up in the city and I want to be sure she knows what that green stuff is. Ha ha ha. Olivia loves the beach - well, mostly the water. It takes her FOREVER to warm up to the sand idea. She doesn't really like anything on her hands, she's a little OCD about that right now, so the sand presents a problem. But after some coaxing, she'll settle down and dig around - sandy hands and all. And as for the water - she'll insist on spending most of our time running into and away from the waves. She will even insist on wading out to where the water hits her shoulders! She has no fear of the water....which obviously presents a potential danger, she's never out of my sight at the beach. She also loves chasing the birds around, often offering them her food. Not a good idea. 

Aaron loves working a Riot. Still. He has been working some overtime hours, so it was nice when he had a half day off to spend time with us. We went to Douglas Park and watched the ducks, kicked the ball around, and played on the playground. On the weekends we've been busy with wedding planning (well, that's me), and the seemingly endless household chores/projects, but we've also taken advantage of our day together and gone to the beach. Twice. 

Today we went with our good friends Jared and Rachel and their daughter Ambrey. Other than the fact it took us FOREVER to find parking (thanks Cirque de Solei), we enjoyed some Pier burgers and an awesome afternoon on the beach. My favorite moment was watching Ambrey and Olivia basically massacre the sand crabs Jared and Aaron had found and put in a bucket with sand and water. The girls kept stirring the sand with a stick (Ambrey) and mashing/throwing the sand with their hands (Olivia). Poor sand crabs. It was so nice to have some familiar faces here (we know them from Utah), we loved their company and so appreciate that they made the trip up from Irvine.

I am busy with helping to plan Michelle's wedding on March 10th (my youngest sister). I am teaching myself to make fabric rosettes for the wedding, madly searching for bridesmaid dresses for me and Lisa, and helping to coordinate the decor. I have recently discovered Pinterest, and many fun arts and crafts now litter my house related to, and not related to the wedding. I am also getting psyched about my sister Lisa coming home from her mission in Florida on February 29th. There are only 32 days left!!! (Sorry Lisa if you read this). I cannot WAIT to see her. She has had some amazing experiences there, met incredible people, and made an immense difference in the lives of the people she teaches. We are also looking forward to having Allison (Aaron's sister) come to visit us for a week in February!! She will be leaving for her mission on March 21st to Houston, Texas. We are sad to see her go, but so excited for the experiences she'll have. It will be a busy month and a half to say the least.

Oh..and those Christmas letters I was supposed to send out? Yeah. Still haven't gotten to those. We may count this year as a lost cause, and send an extra good one out for 2012. Who knows...maybe I'll get ambitious and send them out...

No photos for this blog post. Our camera is broken, and because Olivia is addicted to watching home videos on my phone, I try to hide it as much as possible. Hopefully we'll figure something out with our camera and get it up and running again.

Life is good.