Holy Trailer Park!

So, one might think that going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Cowley in a trailer park would not be the most exciting thing in the world to a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Well, if you are one of those people, you would be WRONG! Grandma and Grandpa Cowley are currently serving a mission at the Oakland Temple Visitor's Center and while they are there, they opted to stay in their RV trailer, which is camped on the temple grounds around the back. It must be so cool to actually live on the temple grounds! With round the clock security to boot (that was for you Mom!)! Well, we are lucky enough that we are only an hour or so away, so we get to see them pretty regularly, which is just the best thing in the world according to Nate and Dana. In fact, next week, they are having a sleepover in the trailer for Grandma and Grandpa's P-Day, and they have already started a countdown! But this past week, Jared and I have the wonderful privilege of going to see them, then dropping off the kids so we could enjoy a temple session together. Needless to say it was awesome! Here are some of the activities the kids did while we got to be spiritually filled:

I'm not sure what Dana had to eat, but it looks like it was pretty good! Grandma Cowley is an excellent cook! Jared is always begging me to make him her special homemade Mac and Cheese. You know how kids say the darndest things, well, here are 2 funny/sweet things the kids said on our way to the temple last Tuesday:

We were listening to some instrumental hymns in the car on our way down to Oakland, and Dana recognized one of the songs we were listening to. Since her deepest desire is to be on American Idol, she began to sing along. The song was 'I Am A Child Of God', and this is how it went: "I am a child of God, and so my knees are grey." I about died laughing!

As we pulled off the freeway and could see the temple spires, Nate got this silly grin on his face. I asked him what he was smiling about and he said, "I just got filled with the spirit Mom." It's moments like that one that just make everything else worth it. I love my kids!

Kimmy just kept saying "Hiya!" about 900 times all the way there. It's her favorite word.

Nate and Dana having lunch in the Holy Trailer.
Nate has had so much fun getting to be around Grandpa Cowley. Since Grandpa used to be a teacher, he loves to feed Nate's curiosity.

Apparently, some kind of nuts were had, and this is the method of choice for opening them up. Doesn't it look super safe?
Thanks again Elder and Sister Cowley. See ya next month!

Let's Play Tag!

Tag

How To Play This Game of Tag: Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

JOYS (aside from the top 2 family & faith)

1. When Nate, Dana or Kimmy say or do funny stuff!

2. Girls night out!

3. Playing outside from the time the sun starts to go down till the moon comes up (the "twilight" hours).

FEARS

1. Not doing/teaching/giving/serving enough with or to my kids.

2. Dying young and leaving behind my kids to grow up without a mom.

3. Swimming in the ocean and being attacked by a shark.

GOALS

1. Keep my house picked up every day!

2. Care about getting back on WW and losing another 20 pounds.

3. Run a marathon with Kelly!

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS

1. Finding things (besides the TV) to keep the kids occupied all day!

2. Sewing.

3. Finding as good a place in No. Cali. to go camping as Lake of the Woods.

RANDOM/SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT ME

1. I love weird alternative music from the 80s.

2. When I read the newspaper, I only like to read the classified ads.

3. My idea of the ultimate vacation is not going to some tropical paradise, but going on a month long tour of Europe instead.

I TAG THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE

1. Tiana

2. Melissa

3. Nancy

4. Kelly

5. Kristin

I am being wooed by my 6 year old!

I got this note from Nate in an envelope that said "Happy 30 Birthday Mom":

I think it's pretty clear, but in case you can't tell what all the letters are, it says: "Mom, Your eies (eyes) are cute. Your lips are nice. I love you. From Nate" Aren't you all jealous? He just graduated Kindergarten!

Angi hits middle age!

Well, the worst has happened. At least I am still standing to tell the tale. This past Thursday, I turned 30! I know, so old. The only thing that keeps me from crying about the passing of my youth is that my sister Ronni turns 40 in October. (Hahaha, no matter how old I get, you'll still be older.)

(Above photo courtsey of Dana) My birthday was great. I got to sleep in till 8:30 (trust me, that is sleeping in!) and then my wonderful husband Jared made me French Toast with fresh fruit toppings. Jared has always been so great about making my birthdays really special! *I love you honey!* This birthday was no exception. He and the kids had been planning my surprises all week. After lunch, I got to open my presents.

Jared and the kids got me a completely new bedding set. (Don't worry, it's not that pink cheetah print you see at the bottom of the picture.) It was so nice, you know, one of those things that I have needed for a long time, but am too lazy/cheap to get for myself. The only teensy, tiny problem with it though, was that I really didn't like the pattern. (Poor Jared! He tried so hard to get something he thought I would like, and it backfired. I didn't want to tell him that I didn't like it, but he could tell immediately! Luckily, he had already prepared himself for that possibility, so he wasn't offended. What a good sport.

After that, all I knew was that we were going down to the city for the evening, and my AWESOME friends, Felicia and Sandra, had agreed to take the kids all day/evening. Well, we ended up at a wonderful seafood restaurant on the Wharf, Scoma's, where their lobster bisque soup is to die for (thanks of the recommendation Felicia).

Can you tell that the bowl that Jared's Cioppino came in was bigger than his head? We had a great grown up dinner, I almost forgot what it was like to have dinner without one of the kids crawling all over me or eating off my plate or something.

They even brought me a slice of their choclate cheesecake marquis drizzled with raspberry sauce, and topped with whipped cream, with a candle for me to blow out. After dinner, we headed downtown to Union Square where we were going to see a Magic Show. Yeah, I was a little worried too! Jared had been recommended to go see this guy, "Darren Romeo, The Voice of Magic" by some people at work.

He apparently apprenticed with Sigfried and Roy in Vegas for several years, and also loved musical theatre, so his show was a sort of combination of the two.

Here we are in the Post Street Theatre lobby trying to get a nice picture of the two of us, which never happens because one of us is always behind the camera. However a nice gentleman also waiting in the lobby offered to take one for us, but it is a little far away.

During the opening act, I was really starting to question how well Jared knew me, I mean first the bedset that wasn't my style and now a singing magician? :) However, once the singing died down a bit and the magic started, he totally won me over. He had some really neat tricks, I wish I could have taken pictures, but they didn't let cameras into the playhouse. When we got home, my friends were waiting for me with a ballon and a card and a promise of a girls night out this Tuesday. I am so lucky! It was a wonderful birthday, and through the haze of my depression about getting old, I am so grateful that I am blessed with such wonderful family and friends who love me so much. Thank you!

I kept trying to get pictures of the two of us on our way home in the car. Jared is going to hate me for putting the next one up, but I like me in it, and it's just a really bad angle for him.

You can tell the angle is bad, and makes his face look big because look how great he looks in the next picture. What a handsome, kind man! I love you Jared!

So it's up to Jared to Photoshop the 2 pictures together to make us a photo we both like!

My Nephew's High School Graduation

So, the kids and I made the trek up to Talent to see their cousin Daniel graduate from High School. We all had a fun few days, and it was neat to see Danny graduate. Funny story, my sister, Ronni, (Danny's mom) didn't cry at the graduation, but I got a little misty-eyed! So my question to Ronni is "Are you dead inside?!?!?"

Here are some pictures from the ceremony:

Nate and Josh were reading while we waited for it to start, and Dana and Jake we just messing around.

Can you tell how fun the 1 hour wait was in the Stadium stands with 3 small kids?

Here's Dan crossing the stage, shaking the Principal's(?) hand

Here is his triumphant exit from the stage. It was fun to be a part of it. Congratulations Danny!

Goodbye Kindergarten

So, the summer has officially begun and Nate has graduated from Kindergarten. It is so weird to think that my baby is going to be in first grade next year. He likes school so much, and his wonderful teacher Miss Andi, that he asked me if it was okay for him to go to summer school. So funny!

I was lucky enough to be able to volunteer in his classroom this year almost once a week. I think I may have been more sad about the school year ending than him, because I will miss his teacher so much. We bonded. Lucky for us, Miss Andi already told us that when Dana starts Kindergarten in a year, she is going to grab her up for her class again. Dana CAN'T wait!

Here he is playing "Blob" with the class.

Nate was a very well liked kid. Here he is is being hugged by Crystal, and his good friend Jeremiah is trying to get in on the action too.
Dana loved that Nate was in Kindergarten, because she got to come with me to volunteer in the classroom a lot, and she always got to come to all the fieldtrips, and fun activities, like the picnic on the last day of school.
Here is Dana with our good friend Sandra, whose son is in Kindergarten too.

Here he is at the bubble station. All in all it was a great year for Nate. He learned so much and can't wait to go back in the fall as a first grader, and get to play on the big kids playground!

Kimberly turns 1

This past weekend the Cowley Family reached a milestone. Our baby girl, Kimberly Ann, turned one. I say this a milestone for our family because she will probably be our last baby, and I just can't believe how big she is already! It makes me get a little sad everytime I think about it. One of Kimberly's first pictures in the hospital after she was born! She actually came out with almost black hair if you can believe it.

Poor Kimmy, Mommy was so busy gettting the house clean for guests, that I didn't even bother to make her a cake. Don't I get the Mom of the year award?!?! Anyway, here is the progression of Kimmy chowing down on her first birthday cupcake-cake.

First Bite "This tastes good!" "I like this!"

"More please."

Her dress actually had to be removed because of all the frosting!
Here is Kimmy opening some of her presents. I love the one where she is actually biting the package! So cute!
Nate is anxiously waiting to see if Kim needs "help" unwrapping her presents.
Kimmy loved the bubble machine she got from our friends the Wolds

But it is not just Kimberly who is growing. In the year since Kimmy joined our family, Dana has grown from my little baby girl, into a pretty smart and independent big girl. This is the day that our little girls met each other for the first time. It's hard for me to even remember Dana being so little. Dana has always loved to give Kimmy loves...no matter how much Kimmy may hate it!
Here they are together in September supporting the Cougars
And this is them together today, they have both grown so much!

Nate's last day of Kindergarten is tomorrow, and then he will be a first grader. He has now lost 6 teeth, and when he lost the last one, the Tooth Fairy found this sweet note inside the container:

If you can't read it, this is what it says: "ToTH FARy, you aRe gReAt i HoPe you HAve LOTS oF Fun AT SuMMur BRek" When he woke up the next day, the Tooth Fairy had left him a letter that was printed on stationary that said "From the desk of the Tooth Fairy..." and Nate was so excited. He said, "I didn't know the Tooth Fairy had a desk!" It was so funny. Then just yesterday, Nate was sick with a fever of 102. He stayed home from school and watched movies and layed on the couch the whole day. When I was cleaning up, I found a pad of paper that he had written on. It said: "To Do LiSt, heLP Nate geT BeTTeR, heLp MoM Take CaRe oF Nate, SpanK DaD." He is so clever and funny!

Nate and Kimmy and Mommy on the day Kimmy was born.