My Family and Friends that should be family!!

We have been so busy lately. Lots of visitors and occasions. First I want to start with my dearest friend Miss Becky Jean. She is like family. Even though our friendship started on our missions (beginning for hers and end of mine) it often seems that we have known each other for forever and that there was never a time that she was not in my life. She is the smartest girl I know and she has just gotten her masters degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations from San Diego State. I am so proud of her. What an amazing thing to do. I remember being in my last semester at Ricks and trying really hard to look inside and find that one thing that I felt so passionate about that I would want to go to school for another 2 years...and it never came. I am passionate about lots of things, but classes on sunning yourself, not so commonly taught! Any who, I am glad that Becky has found her passion and that they offered enough classes on the matter for her to get another degree. Go Red!


My cousin Angela (mother's side) was in town memorial day weekend for a big ol' Christen Rock Fest at the Del Mar fair ground. She brings her 3 little ones every year and every year we get together and eat and talk about how crazy our families are and how simply sane we are and how much we love the good ol' days. I sure do love Angela. She has a refreshing point of view and she always makes me laugh. And it doesn't hurt that she likes my kid. I love it when your family is not just family but friends too.






Speaking of friend as family, part of my Guam family was in town and we all got together for lots of yummy food. I find that it is hard to sit down and relax and really enjoy myself with LaRee being at the age she is and having such a inquisitive spirit. It had been way to long since I had seen everyone. All in all I had a good time and here are some pictures to prove it.

Brusha,Brusha, Brushahhh

Of course I think most everything that LaRee does is cute, but I will spare you everything and just share a little bit. First off, I thought it was so stinken cute that LaRee wanted to share her chips with Elmo. The girl is a giver! LaRee loves chips and just yesterday I was saying to Junior that it was pretty impressive, LaRee has only choked on chips twice, and one of the two times was at her first birthday when she had a chip for the first time. Her church Grandma gave it to her and who am I to question our senior generation. Especially when she is a retired nurse and mother of two. I kid you not, no sooner had I finished the sentence we both turned to look at LaRee and she was...choking on a chip which was soon followed by a nice big barf. Maybe mac and cheese is the way to go for every meal.

LaRee also loves to brush her teeth and for us doing very little to show her how, she is quite thorough. We face the mirror to brush so she tries to do the same or maybe she just likes looking at herself in the mirror.

Crazy Cat Girl

I am sure that crazier things have happened, but this cat found its way to our door last Sunday night. Mind you, our front door is interior, top floor at the end of a very long hall. If you ask me, that a long way to travel to find the landlord of the building. It was past 11pm and my night owl daughter was playing with something musical and I kept wondering how she was getting it to meow. Becky was over and she headed towards the door and stated that a cat was at the door. Upon opening the door the cat came in and tried to make itself at home, but Miss LaRee was not about to let this cat rest. I think that she thought it was the next best thing to the puppets she sees on T.V. She was a little out of control. Getting down on her haunches and yelling "Hey! Hi!" and when I would grab her she would pitch a (what I can only imagine to be) terrible 2's fit. Oh what we have to look forward to . This is a picture of the cat in the only place it could find rest away from LaRee's reach. I am going to try to attach a video clip of her craziness which really isn't that crazy because by the time I thought to film, she had settled down quite a bit. No one came to claim the cat so we had "it" for 2 days until a tenant here offered to keep it, love it and save it from "Hey! Hi!" girl. Oh, I failed to mention that LaRee's father was less then excited to have the cat around. At least he liked the cat enough to give it a name. If I remember correctly he kept calling it "stupid cat".

Cabrillo National Monument

Seems like there is never enough time, so the need to make time becomes so very important. We had a beautiful family outing with my Uncle Harold and Aunt Loretta. Harold is my mother's brother. They popped in for a quick visit the first week of April. It was so nice to have them here and LaRee truly could not get enough one-on-one time with them. They took her swimming while Junior and I were at work. I popped out to see how she was doing and she had this perpetual smile going. Loretta read more books to her in the few short days they were here then I have read to her in her first year of life! We could tell that LaRee misses them because she keeps asking us to play peek-a-boo with her (some thing that Loretta taught her).


I am getting feeling back in my lip and chin. Seems that a bit of cement/sealant was pushed out and into my nerve. It should, through time, dissolve and become part of me and all feeling should return.

Our dear friend Todd moved to Texas this last Thursday. It was a sad day and he will be missed in a very big way and I am not just using the word "big" because he left us for Texas.


Summer is here - it was 85 this weekend. To make matters worse ,LaRee had a fever so she was just plain miserable. She has a hand, foot and mouth virus. Sounds like it just has to run its course. The nurse said Popsicles would make her mouth feel better. Wow, as a first time mother I have a lot to learn about messes, how to avoid them and when they happen, how to handle them.

I am 2nd counselor in our Relief Society at church which means I am over education sooooo, we are going to read " The miracle of Forgiveness" by Spencer W. Kimball...stay tuned.

Garage Sales - a whole new world

My friend Todd and I had a garage sale this last Saturday. What an experience! I'm tellen ya, it's a whole new world that I can now proudly say I have experienced. These are the things that I have learned:

1) Normally everything located Apt. #C3 is considered "ours" but when such items are being looked at as possible garage sale items, they quickly turn into "mine and yours" items.

2) If you think that your homemade crafts and family treasures are going to be your hot ticket items, think again. Want to know what my #1 items were, Womens belts! They went like hot cakes...to men. I know, totally strange. Nothing like having 3 men fighting over your belts and discussing that it would be real easy to make another hole in it to make it fit (smaller). Nice!

3) If you are having a hard time getting rid of your piece of junk, go a little higher in price and chances are you will sell it for more then your original offering price. I had this set of knifes that I had pulled out of the dumpster ( I'll save that story for another blog) and everyone was picking them up, I would ask for $2.00, they would offer $1.00 and I would refuse the offer. Finally I said "that's it, the next person that picks them up, I'm asking $5.00" and I did and he offered $3.00. Yippee - Treat your trash like a treasure and you'll make big bucks... or at least $3.00.

4) There are professional garage salers out there and some of them will try to bully you, don't let them!! Be strong. It's your stuff. Be the boss of your belongings. Yes, I was bullied and I am a better person today because of it. My new motto: it is better to give your items to an appreciative charity then a non-appreciative bully.

All joking aside , we had a good time and made a little pocket change to put away for a rainy day and If I'm not mistaken, I think I see a cloud up ahead.

Our bucket beauty

Becky ( my fellow blogger) said that I just had to blog about LaRee's new choice of head wear. We have tried to get LaRee to wear headbands, stocking caps, hair clips, ball caps, etc. and she refuses them all, so it is quite comical that she chooses to wear this bucket on her head and from the look on her face, she finds herself to be quite pretty.

We just got back from a 5 day trip to the Dallas/Fort worth area. Both Junior and I have friends in the area and we just think that it is an enjoyable place to be. We attended the Tongan Ward while we were there. We both enjoyed it and everyone was very nice. All three meeting were in Tongan, so I am guessing that Junior enjoyed it a little more then I did. We both celebrated our birthdays there, if you can call it celebrating. Each year that passes makes having a birthday that much more uneventful. We had BBQ for Juniors birthday and 1/2 price sonic drinks for mine. When we got back our friends Becky and Todd brought us dinner and a cake. Very nice! Grandpa is a softy when it comes to LaRee so she was free to play in the cake. No wonder Grandpa is her favorite!! LaRee is wanting to practice her Independence more and more each day which is leading to more messes for her parents and more joys for LaRee.

I have found a new cookie. Yumlish!! For $2.00 at Safeway (Vons) I was able to purchase a little bit of heaven. A graham cracker cookie with a chocolate and marshmallow cream middle. They are crazy good!

I had a cat-scan today. I did that for the dramatic affect. It was a dental one. A large part of my lower lip and chin are numb after a root canal I had done the middle of February. Let me tell ya something, it is a crazy feeling and at one point I had decided that I was going to let it bug me and be all upset about it but then I realized that there is always someone worse off. I can still chew (thank goodness) and I have a very loving husband that is willing to tell me that I have something on my face when I get a little sloppy while eating.  Life is good!