Lars, Dyan, and Nora

Soren's 1st Birthday

2012-01-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Soren had a low-key birthday. He had mac and cheese and peas for dinner and a big piece of cake for dessert.

He ate a lot!

His gift was a rocking moose, which he loves! Both he and Nora get on and rock.

At one year old he gets into everything. Favorites of his our toilets, polly pockets, my utensil drawer in the kitchen, and electronics. When he sees Lars' computer he shakes his head "no" because he knows he isn't supposed to touch it, however he still goes for it.

This week he started taking his first steps, but he is far from actually walking. His crawling is very fast. He loves to be outside. When he is inside he wants to be held. He comes up to my knees so many times a day and says "mama, mama". His attention span is short, and he goes from one thing to the next quickly.

He says mama, dada, no, and "ba" for ball.

We love him so much. He has brought so much joy into our family.

Christmas

2012-01-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Santa was nice enough to arrive the day before we left for Utah because he knew we were traveling in a small car.

Temple square on a very cold night (especially for my California children).

Christmas Eve the children acted out the nativity. Soren was a shepard. His outfit was on for about 10 seconds and then he ripped it off.

Presents at my parent's house.

Grandma Kathy bought Nora many beautiful things!

Soren fell asleep in Grandpa's arms while we played BINGO.

Grandpa Ramon is very loved by his grandchildren.

Soren was excited for his present.

We gave two nephews Solar toy kits. Lars' sister had the same idea too, so we had many nephew with the same present. Lars sat and built them with his nephews.

Nora and Lars skiing. She is now able to support her own weight and ski by herself. Baby steps:)

Lars took Nora to an art museum. Apparently, she sat and looked at this picture of Christ for a long time.

Because the snow was terrible we went to the new Natural History Museum in Salt Lake. What a great place. I loved it.

We also had a joint birthday party for Gavin (turning 8) and Soren. He gobbled up his little cake.

Ian and Nora went ice skating. They have been a little young because they didn't last very long.

Christmas time is here...

2012-01-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

December was a whirlwind. We were so busy. The first week we were in Guatemala and then we came home and had a lot to accomplish before we went out to Utah for Christmas.

Nora and I went to the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker. She loved it and watched the whole thing. We didn't get home until about 10:30, so it was a late night for her.

Of course Nora wouldn't get within ten feet of Santa, but I thought Soren for sure won't care. I can give this kid to anyone and he is happy as can be. I was wrong. He immediately started crying.

We were at a friends house for Sunday dinner. Soren and Andrew were scavengers and loved eating off of others trays.

Gingerbread house.

Soren and Nora love playing together.

They played in our car for about an hour, while Lars and I raked leaves. They were in heaven.

Our very imperfect Christmas tree. Nora decorated our Christmas tree, plus we kept putting more and more ornaments up high so Soren wouldn't break them. For some reason we also have toys in the tree:)

We spent one Saturday afternoon in the city. Eating, shopping, and ice skating made this day wonderful.

Part III-Antigua

2011-12-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

Part II Lago de Atitlan

2011-12-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Guatemala Part I-Tikal and Flore

2011-12-19T09:40:00.000-08:00

Nora's Birthday II

2011-12-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

Nora had a birthday party with the Johnson family too! She liked making silly faces with Aunt Margit.

We were lucky to spend time with Oma.

Thanksgiving in St. George

2011-12-13T20:31:00.000-08:00

We met my family in St. George for Thanksgiving. It was such a fun trip. My parents rented a house with an outrageous yard. Pool, hot tub, BB court, firepit, swing-set, you name it...it was there.

We hiked, biked, ate, played with cousins, and got to meet our newest cousin Eva.

death valley

2011-12-13T20:28:00.000-08:00

A few weeks before Thanksgiving Lars employer decided to shut down the company for the week of Thanksgiving. We took advantage of the time off and headed to Death Valley and Las Vegas for a few days before we met my family in St. George.

Death Valley is slightly overrated. It is beautiful, but not as much as Southern Utah.

We stopped at the strip for a few hours, but that is all I could handle.

Germany

2011-12-13T20:26:00.000-08:00

Lars went to Germany for a week this fall. When we dropped him off at the train station Nora said "I want to go too!" I was thinking the same thing...

Pinkalicious

2011-12-13T20:24:00.000-08:00

Nora had a HUGE 4th birthday. We invited a lot of people expecting that many people would have conflicts. Well, everyone came and she had a spectacular Pinkalicious party.

Unfortunately a few hours after the guests left Nora, Soren and I came down with the flu and spread it to our 14 guests and family.

Halloween

2011-11-01T20:35:00.000-07:00

Carving pumpkins in snowmen pajamas.

Robot Soren and Princess Nora

Ward Trunk or Treat

The Johnsons take San Francisco by Storm

2011-11-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

We had so many visitors a few weeks ago for the Utah vs. Berkeley football game. We really did take SF by storm. Everywhere we went there was a crew of us. I was worn out by the end of the week, because we did so much!

Biking across the GG Bridge to Sausilito.

20+ at a small restaurant in Chinatown.

Nora, Lucy, and Ruth in Chinatown.

Soren and John on the ferry.

Patsy, Margit, Rebecca, Dyan

Ethan, Nora, Sam

The Larsens stayed with us. We fit four people in Nora's room. They had a great time together.

Seals at Fisherman's Wharf

Riding the cable cars

Good thing Nora was good so she didn't have to stay at Alcatraz!

Gott's at the Ferry Building.Yum!

Carousel at Tilden Park

The sad game. It truly was a boring game. The Utes played poorly.

Happy Soren.

Daddy-daughter camping

2011-11-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

Our ward has father and sons camp out, but they don't invite any daughters. Lars and a friend of his decided they needed to take their daughters camping. So they ended up with for dads and four daughters all about the same age. They ate hot dogs for dinner, and roasted marshmallows.

Apparently the raccoon were aggressive and they even saw some tarantulas. It is tarantula mating season:)

Fleet Week

2011-11-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Patsy was here for a few weeks helping with her newest grandchild. We stole her one day and went to Fleet Week in San Francisco.

Nora at the Oakland Children's Art Museum

Point Reyes Station Camping Trip

2011-11-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I booked an ocean camp site that was highly recommended in a book. We biked into the camp on the fire road. It was an adventure biking in (and much easier).

It was a cold weekend!

We left a day early and drove along Highway one and explored new areas. I can't wait to go back to the city of Point Reyes Station. It was awesome with good restaurants and shopping.

Napa Ragner Relay

2011-10-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

We did it! After months of training and countless girls dropping out we ran the Ragner relay. It was such a hard and fun experience. These girls are so awesome.

Random pictures

2011-10-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Nora at her "school" writing in her notebook.

Soren loved the bubbles.

Soren

September 2011

Nora

August 2008

Great friends.

Preschool

2011-10-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

Nora is attending her first real preschool this year. So far, she is loving and and we are thrilled to have found the preschool we did.

The first day of school they met the rabbits.

Napa

2011-10-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Labor day we explored Napa.

Nora actually fed the goats and enjoyed it!

The geyser wasn't nearly as cool as Old Faithful.

The Bale Grist Mill is a great place to visit. They actually grind their own flour and sell it.

We also spent some time in Calistoga walking around the downtown area.

Monterrey and Big Sur

2011-10-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

My parents came and visited this summer and I wanted to show them some of the most beautiful areas of California. We headed down to Monterrey and Big Sur for the weekend. We hiked, drove along the coast, ate delicious food and visited the aquarium.

Nora was in heaven because grandpa bought her a princess dress-ups at the store.

We loved having them visit!

British Columbia

2011-09-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Lars went to Victoria and Salt Spring Island for his cousin's wedding. Cami and Lars met in Victoria and went sight-seeing.

China Town

Buchart Gardens

Lars was a good sport and went to "tea" with Cami at a fancy schmancy hotel.

Dressed for the wedding.

The bride and groom.

Bocce ball with John and Ethan.

Aloha Lakes

2011-09-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Lars, Erik and their father Ramon, took the kids backpacking to Aloha Lakes.

This year with all the snow in the Sierras, much of the trail was still covered in snow.

So was the lake. Cold!

Nora and Grandpa on the boat.

Unfortunately, Soren had a cold and he coughed so hard that he threw up multiple times a day/night so we stayed home this year.

Firsts

2011-09-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

Soren has his first girlfriend Teya. They are good friends. Every Saturday night they spend 3-4 hours together. We joined a babysitting co-op and we love it. The kids have so much fun together and it means 3 dates a month for Lars and I.

Nora is riding her bike without training wheels. She has taken quite a few spills, but she is tough.

Soren learned to crawl and loves to play with Nora (or ruin her things;)

Summer

2011-09-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

What we did this summer:

Angel Island

2011-07-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we spent the day at Angel Island. After living in California for four years we finally got around to it.

Nora in her matching outfit being silly and uncooperative for pictures.

Nora tip-toeing through the house.

Soren at Six Months

2011-07-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Soren has only been around for 6 months but it seems like it has been forever. When I was pregnant I couldn't imagine how my life would be with another child, but now I can't imagine life without him. If I were to describe him in one word, it would be sweet.

He continues to grow. Eating might be his favorite activity:) Bananas, beets, blueberries, sweet potatoes, and peas. He has yet to turn down anything.

Other things about him:

Does NOT like driving long distances.
Still isn't sleeping through the night.
Just started rolling over
Sitting by himself
Loves to pull hair
At least 90th percentile in everything
Scoots backwards across the room only using his arms.
Flaps his arms when he is happy (it reminds me of Nora)
Is happy when anyone babysits him (hoping this doesn't change)
Loves snuggling and sleeping in bed with us.
Will smile at anyone.
Gets bored when Nora isn't around tormenting him.

Nora at 3.5 years

2011-07-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

Nora has changed and so much in the past year! The tantrums have subsided and reasoning has increased. We now have conversations about things and she will suggest alternatives if she doesn't like what I am saying--"Mommy, how about I eat carrots instead of strawberries?", "Mommy, after quiet time can we go to Old Mcdonalds, or the farmer's market?", "Mom, are we going super-duper fast or just super fast?", "I fink Soren's tired, I fink so", "Mommy, is that silly?"

She loves being outside riding bikes, playing at the playground, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, and of course camping.

Her little baby takes naps and she gets mad if I "wake" up her baby. She also nurses her baby, but seems to think babies get milk from belly buttons.

She is becoming more concerned about the way she dresses. She likes to match--notice the blue pants match Cinderella's dress, and I bet she is wearing blue Cinderella underwear.

We rarely have good pictures of Nora, because she doesn't like us to take them of her.

Who knew she would be such a tease? She loves to tease and joke with people and has a great sense of humor.

What changes will we see in the next year?

Ballet Recital

2011-06-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

Nora had her first ballet recital last night. She was darling. All day she asked me if it was time to go to her recital. It was fun to watch the cute little girls.

Soren is almost as big as Nora ;)

Enjoying treats at the end.

Sam's Baptism

2011-06-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful nephew, Sam was baptized on Saturday.

We took the opportunity to take a few family pictures, because it isn't often we are all cleaned up and have a camera with us.

After the baptism we went to Erik and Rebecca's house for a fun celebration.

Soren loves "talking" to Meg.

Sam turned eight the day before, so we celebrated his birthday and baptism.

Preschool Graduation

2011-06-09T20:10:00.000-07:00

Nora graduated from preschool last week. I could not get a picture of these girls looking at the camera. They were giggling, sticking out tongues and having a grand old time. It was great.

Soren was entertained by their silliness.

Arches National Park

2011-06-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day we went to Arches National Park for a quick camping trip with the Johnson family. Nora had a wonderful time with her cousins. We hiked to a few different arches and hung out around camp.

We also spend some time in Glenwood riding motorcycles and four wheelers. Lars was in heaven:)

Lars gave all of his nieces and nephews rides.

Reader's Digest Version

2011-06-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Camping at Mount Diablo was a success. We wanted to "practice" with Soren before we went to S. Utah. He sleeps better while camping than he does at home:)

Rebecca and her kids came up to make smores with us.

Soren is as cute as ever. Happy, chill, big and Nora's best friend.

Nora, Kate, and Meg.

Soren, Nora and I at an Easter egg hunt.

Our main focus has been remodeling our bathroom. It has taken us a few months, but we are *almost* finished.

I Think I Can

2011-06-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

The other day we went on a walk/bike ride. Nora got a new bike this spring and she is still learning how to ride it. She wanted to go on the sidewalk, but I told her to stay on the street because I didn't think she would be able to go up and down on the sidewalk where there are driveways. She said "Mom, I think I can", so I told her to give a try. The whole time she repeated "I think I can, I think I can". A few days before we had read the The Little Engine That Could. She was right, she could do it:)

Easter

2011-04-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

We got up bright and early to celebrate Easter. Nora found both of the Easter baskets. We ate pancakes for breakfast, and got ready for church. Lars took a few photos of Soren and Nora before we dropped him off at the train station.

So. Cal

2011-04-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

We met my sister Kim and her family for the weekend in Southern California. Friday we went to Disneyland and Saturday to Legoland. It was so much fun going with their family. Nora's favorite ride was the rollercoaster she went on with her Aunt Kim with scary monsters (The Matterhorn). She also loved the teacups, dumbo, and rollercoasters at Legoland.

Lars was able to ride the big rides with Jeff, Ian and Gavin. Kim was nice enough to watch Soren and Nora a few times too so I was able to go on the "scary" rides.

We loved going to Legoland! I highly recommend it to anyone with small children. It isn't as crazy as Disneyland and the rides are a lot fun but not scary:)

A Weekend with Kim

2011-03-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

My sister Kim came out to visit a few weekends ago. We had a fabulous time even though it rained a lot. We hiked from Borges Ranch the day she arrived because it wasn't raining. Everything is so green!

Kim did Nora's hair everyday and it always looked cute. She also babysat Nora and Soren so Lars and I could go on a date.

The highlight of the trip was going to Chez Pannisse for lunch. This is the famous restaurant owned by Alice Waters in Berkeley. I was able to get reservations for a 3:00 lunch. It was so fun and the food was fabulous. Kim ordered ricotta cheese and rockets with an orange vinaigrette (the cheese was divine) and halibut. I ordered a beet and avocado salad and pasta with rocket pesto. Not only is the food great but the building is awesome. Everything is Arts and Crafts style.

Do you think Soren should become an astronaut?

We spent a few hours at the Chabot Space Center too. It was okay, but the admission is expensive.

We loved having Kim visit! Hopefully we will have more people come to visit (hint, hint).

2 Month Update

2011-03-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that we are surviving. Having two kids is easier than I thought. It still is a lot of work, but I am loving it. Soren is a very happy, easy baby. Keep him fed and he's great.

He gives us a lot of smiles and coos. He especially loves Nora, which is funny because she makes him cry a few times a day.

Soren is huge. Yes, I have a big baby. I never thought it would happen, but he is 90+ percentile in everything...height, weight, and head circumference.

He is dressed up in his preppy Sunday outfit.

Smiling at dad.

My New Life...

2011-02-15T15:20:00.000-08:00

...with two children. Slower, less sleep, more cuddling, love, and work. It is good.
Soren is 6-weeks today. He is a sweet boy. The second time around has been much easier.

Needless to say Nora loves Soren. It is good to a point, but it requires a lot of supervision.

Soren needed 10 blankets.

Nora's newest way to smile.

Big hugs and big kisses.

They are going to be good friends!

Grandma Patsy

2011-02-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

We were also lucky enough to have Lars' mother Patsy come out to help. Nora loves her Grandma and she always wanted Grandma to help her:) They went to the Oakland Zoo one day and had a wonderful time. Patsy gave us a head start with our gardening for the year. We planted a few things in our front yard and she weeded our garden!

Nora is really into princesses lately.

2011-02-10T17:52:00.000-08:00

Lars and Soren are pals. Soren really likes to held by Lars, so Lars puts Soren to bed every night after I feed him.

My mom came out for 10 days to help. It was so fun to spend so much time with her. While she was out she was busy finishing my sewing projects, doing laundry, decorating and entertaining Nora.

Nora putting on Soren's sock (or at least trying).

The First Week

2011-01-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

We stayed in the hospital twenty-four hours and then we were released. I was happy to come home and sleep in my own bed. My mom arrived the day we were released from the hospital so the timing was perfect. While my mom took care of Nora, Soren, and I, Lars was home finishing our bathroom remodel.

Nora on her way to preschool.

Erik and Rebecca's family came over to meet Soren and they also brought us dinner:)

Welcome Soren!--The Birth Story

2011-01-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

The evening of January 3rd, I was having mild contraction. I was also convinced my water broke. I called the hospital and talked with a nurse in labor and delivery. She told us to come into the hospital that evening. Lars called his brother Erik and we dropped Nora off at their house at 11:00 p.m. We went to the hospital and waited, and waited. Finally, after two long hours they told me my water had not broken. They checked me and told me I was dilated to a two. I started crying, I felt so stupid that my water was not broken and because I was disappointed. I really wanted to have the baby. Also, I had been dilated to a two for a week and I hadn't made any progress. They sent us home.

Later that night (or morning) around 4:30 I awoke and felt the contractions getting stronger and stronger. The next few hours I tried to sleep as much as a could. Finally around 7:00 I woke up and watched the news to "distract" me from the pain. Then, I hopped in the shower and got ready. The contractions were only about 3 minutes apart when Lars finally made me leave for the hospital. I wanted to finished blow drying my hair, but he was getting worried.

We checked into the hospital and I was dilated to a six. Yay! I was so happy things were moving along. The nurse filled up their birthing tub and I labored in the tub for awhile. Finally I got so hot I had to get out. It took my body about an hour to cool off. I continued to labor in bed. Lars kept asking me if I wanted to get out of bed and walk around. I didn't want to because I knew it would make my contractions stronger and closer together. The nurse came in and checked me again and asked if they should break my water to get things moving along quickly. They broke my water and the contractions were so strong. I got up and walked around a little bit. I had the urge to push so I asked them to check me again. They said after a few more contractions I could start pushing. Around 2:00 p.m. I started pushing. The midwife and two nurses helped me while Lars held my hand and encouraged me. Twenty minutes later Soren was born. He only has a little hair and I think he looks like Lars. He weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and measured 21 1/4" long. I wasn't expecting a baby that big because I always measured small and because Nora only weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces.

Lars was so awesome during the whole process. The nurses told him he should become a doula because he was so good.

We feel so blessed to have Soren in our lives.

Nora meeting Soren for the first time.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-01-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

Isn't it about time to post about our Thanksgiving? Better late than never...

Thanksgiving day we ate at a friends house which was nice because that whole week I wasn't feeling well. The food was great and the kids had fun playing together, but sadly we don't have any photos.

Friday morning we left bright and early for Morro Bay and Pismo Beach. It was a very low key weekend away. We spent a few hours hanging out at the beach.

We spent an afternoon at the Pismo Sand Dunes.

The last day we toured Hearst Castle. Lars and I both enjoyed the tour, but Nora wasn't into it.

Hitting the slopes

2010-12-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

We potty trained Nora this fall and the way we bribed her was by telling her that when she was potty trained Lars would take her skiing. We had tried everything before that- sticker charts, princess underwear, and a princess doll...she didn't care, but skiing worked. One day after three weeks of wearing underwear and having accidents every single day she finally got it and told me how she was going to go skiing with her dad. We were very proud of her.

Lars drove 5.5 hours last Saturday to take Nora skiing to live up to our promise. In my opinion, he is an awesome dad:) I told her I couldn't go this time because my belly was too big, but after I had the baby I would go skiing with her. When she got home she asked if her baby brother had come out, unfortunately that didn't happen.

The night before their ski trip, they went to REI and picked out new goggles and gloves and rented her little skis while I was at the Nutcracker.

They skied a total of five runs and then she wanted to go home. She said it was fun and that they skied fast!

While they were gone I organized the baby's nursery which took a long time because I had to rearrange every single closet in the house to give our little boy some space to call his own. I was also able to make two different kinds of cookies, go through my summer maternity clothes, and get gifts ready for friends. It was so nice to have a time to accomplish a few things off of my list.

Nora's Third Birthday!

2010-12-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Nora's birthday was so much fun. The night of her birthday we celebrated as a family. We had cupcakes and opened presents. She couldn't wait for Lars to get home so we could sing "Happy Birthday" and open presents. She kept asking me to put fire on the candles, and lets just say there really wasn't any frosting left on the cupcake when she blew out the candles.

I made this snowman cake for her birthday and it was a big pain. When I thought about doing it, I didn't realize how much time and cake I would need to execute the plan. Nora seemed to like it, so that made me happy.

Nora had a fun birthday party with lots of friends. They played outside, decorated sugar cookies and ate lunch. The funniest thing that happened is Nora opened her presents at the very beginning of the party while I was preparing lunch. One of my friends came in to the kitchen and said "Nora is opening all of her presents right now if you want to see". At that point she really had opened most of them so I just let her finish.

Nora got a trampoline for her birthday! She loves jumping and has so much energy. I am hoping our furniture will last a few extra years now that she has an alternative place to jump.

Finally-progress in our backyard!

2010-11-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

When we bought our house last February our back yard needed a lot of work. Here are the photos we took of the house when we bought it:

Rotting wood everywhere (termite damage).

Too many trees, overgrown vegetation.

More rotting wood, ugly shed, weeds.

Since May we have been working on our backyard. We installed a sprinkling system, planted a garden, cut down five tree (two were huge and we had to hire someone), removed who knows how many bushes, brought in three truckloads of top soil, rocks and sand, removed the shed, created a border for our flower beds, laid sod, and installed a patio with pavers.

It has been so much work but it is gratifying to see the fruits of our labor. I am pretty sure my neighbors and the people at Home Depot think I am crazy because I did a lot of the work even though I am pregnant. I have never seen so many men at Home Depot stop to offer their help as I was filled up my cart with the pavers for our flower beds this fall.

Lars worked so hard digging trenches, installing the sprinklers, and laying sod.

I am so impressed with his work on the patio. It looks so good! You can tell he is an engineer and pays attention to all the little details that really make a difference.

There is still more work to be done, but that may wait until spring....

I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham

2010-11-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Nora was Sam I Am from Green Eggs and Ham. I saw the idea on a blog and thought it was cute, so I made her costume.

To keep with the Dr. Seuss theme I was the Cat in the Hat and Lars was going to be a Star Bellied Sneetch. Instead Lars took off on a 3-week business trip. We were sad that he wasn't with us, but we are hoping this will allow him to be home in January when I have the baby.

Before he knew about his business trip I had invited friends over for our annual pumpkin carving contest. I thought about canceling it, but he told me I HAD to do it and I am glad I did because it was so much fun.

Visiting the Sick

2010-11-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

My sister Katrina came out again to visit. I think this is the 3rd time in 6 months! It was so awesome to have her out here again. Unfortunately while she was here I did NOT feel well. We did some sight seeing, but I felt so horrible so she basically took care of me and Nora. One day we went to Sausalito, ate lunch along the bay and shopped.

We also took Nora to a pumpkin patch and let her choose her very own pumpkin. My mom bought this crazy outfit for Nora, and she LOVES it, whenever it is clean she chooses to wear it. Although it is not my favorite, it makes me smile because she likes it so much.

Katrina is probably the nicest person I know and someday I hope to be like her! Thanks for coming to visit :)

Grandma and "Pauca"

2010-11-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

We were so lucky to have Lars' parents stay with us while they worked on Erik and Rebecca's new house. For some reason Nora continues to call both of her Grandpa's "Pauca". Grandma Patsy read Nora many stories, played trains, and sang songs with Nora. She wrestled with Grandpa and always told him to "play with me".

We took Ramon out for his birthday to the Cheesecake Factory a few days before his birthday. It was so fun to have them here. Nora was so sad when they left and kept asking if they were coming back.

British Columbia

2010-09-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

We planned our family vacation sometime last spring. Unfortunately we didn't know that we would be going to Italy too. So a few weeks after we got back we went on another vacation but this time to British Columbia. Of course we had a nice time, but we wouldn't have planned two vacations in a row.

If I could choose to live anywhere I would choose Vancouver. It is so beautiful, it is a big city, and you can ski and kayak in the same day.

We camped four nights in different areas around B.C. We stayed two nights near Whistler and two along the Sunshine Coast.

Lars was in heaven because he ate s'mores every night.

We spent an afternoon at the base of Blackcomb ski resort. I think they have the exact same activities in Park City, but we enjoyed it. Nora loved the trampoline and surprisingly didn't get scared flying through the air.

Nora told us she wanted to do the zip line. I don't think she really liked it, but she didn't cry. I was proud of her for trying it out.

We went on many little hikes. One of my favorites was to Smugglers Cove.

We spent an afternoon playing at the beach-walking on logs, whale watching, and relaxing.

The mining museum was a hit with Lars, but Nora was scared of the loud machinery. I took her out of the mine early while Lars finished the tour.

One of my favorite activities was biking around Stanley Park. It is a huge park, like Central Park, but on the water.

After four days of camping we all welcomed a nice comfy bed in Vancouver.

Our last day was rainy so we went to two museums. A maritime museum and a fish cannery museum. I suggested the fish cannery because I thought Lars would enjoy it but I ended up loving it. The end of the day cleared up so we were able to walk around Granville Island.

Lake Aloha

2010-09-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

The morning after Lars got home from his 5+ week trip, he took Nora on a backpacking trip to Lake Aloha. I decided that because I was pregnant I didn't need to go this year. This is the third year in a row that Nora and Lars have been. They met Lars' brother Erik and their family up there. It sounds like they had a wonderful time!

Nora liked to sit on different rocks along the way so Lars could take a picture of her.

Nora apparently needed help eating her oatmeal;) Kate did a great job!

Lars is awesome because he took Nora on a 6 mile backpacking trip without me!

Orbitello

2010-09-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

We stayed in a small town called Orbitello. Luckily Lars' company rented a house. It was nice to have the extra room, a kitchen, and a washer. We also shared the house with three other guys, but they worked every day from 7:00a.m.-11:00p.m. so Nora and I didn't see them much. Orbitello is located on the coast and is quite beautiful. It is a touristy town, but NO ONE spoke English. Italians vacation here. The language barrier was a challenge, but they were very friendly and helpful even if we were touristas. Let's just say it is pretty obvious we are not Italian--we didn't smoke, we dress modestly, and of course the blonde hair, blue eyes and square faces didn't help one bit. The old people loved Nora. All we heard was, "Bella, bella", "Bella bambina", etc etc. There were even a few people that bought little toys for Nora.

Nora and I in Orbitello

Eating dinner in the town center

Nora liked sprinkles on her gelato.

While Lars worked Nora and I explored the area. There were a few beaches nearby.

We also spent a lot of time at different playgrounds.

I told Lars we should retire here. There were beautiful homes that lined the coast.

The house where we stayed had a few acres of land with another 2-3 houses on the property. They have olive and fruit trees. Plus, Nora loved petting the horse and playing with the swings.

Rome

2010-09-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Trevi Fountain was overrun by tourists, seriously we couldn't find a place to sit.

The Coliseum

Nora's entertainment in Rome was a little bag full of figurines I bought at the dollar store. She just sat down at the Coliseum and played probably for an hour while we explored.

We loved the fountains in Rome. There are so many and they have cold water. It felt so good playing in them because it was so HOT there. We ate tons of gelato, pizza, and pasta.

Vatican City

2010-09-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

Lars, Nora and I went to Vatican City together however we split up shortly. I really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel so Lars was kind enough to take Nora while I went because he saw it last year.

Visiting the Sistine Chapel was probably my favorite thing in Italy. Michelangelo's ceiling was truly incredible. Unfortunately, it was so hot, stinky, and crowded I didn't want to stay too long.

Lars and Nora climbed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica while I was gone.

View of Vatican City from the dome.

Doesn't Nora look thrilled to be visiting another cathedral?

St. Peter's Dome

Vatican Gardens

Siena

2010-09-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

We spent a few hours in Siena and visited the major tourist attractions.

We climbed another tower:)

We ate lunch at Piazza del Campo. I loved visiting all these places because I learned so much about them in my landscape architecture history class in college. Too bad I don't remember all the details.

Florence

2010-09-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Florence and loved every minute of it. It is a stunning city with so many tourists it is hard to move:)

We hiked to the top of a bell tower because Nora saw people standing way up at the top and said "I want to go there". It was one of her favorite activities in Florence.

One of the piazza's had a carousel and every time we walked through it we treated Nora to a ride. We felt guilty dragging her through Florence.

Michelangelo's "The David" was worth the lines and 12 Euros to see. This statue is much bigger than I imagined.

We told Nora to growl like a lion; instead she pulled a funny face.

Boboli Gardens

We left Florence for the afternoon and drove to San Gimignano so Nora could take an afternoon nap. San Gimignano is famous for their towers.

Pitigliano

2010-08-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

Lars was in Italy for over 5 weeks this summer for work. Originally the trip was for 3 weeks and then they extended it to 6 weeks (but then he had to fly straight to Denver for a meeting so it was cut short). Nora and I never planned to go, but once we found out he was going to be there for six weeks we booked tickets and flew out the next week.

One of my favorite towns in Italy was Pitigliano. It wasn't touristy because it is kind of a pain to get there and the don't have famous museums, but it is charming. People actually live here. I can't even imagine what it would be like. This picture doesn't do it justice, but these buildings are built on steep cliffs.

Nora was into posing for a few hours. Every step she saw, she climbed up, sat down and said "mommy take a picture". Of course I had to :)

A Visit from Aunt Katrina

2010-08-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

My sweet sister and her friend Hilary came out to visit while Lars was on a business trip. It was nice to have company. We went to Berkeley, walked around the campus and the nearby streets.

I don't have any pictures, but we also spent a day in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Union Square, and the Legion of Honor.

The last day of their visit we went to Capitola. Nora enjoyed making sandcastles with Aunt Katrina.

Utah

2010-08-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

The main purpose for our trip to Utah was for Oma's 90th Birthday Party. It was such a special evening with friends, family and great food at the Odgen Nature Center.

Margit and I showed up wearing very similar cardigans.

Margit, Oma, Charlie

Of course Nora spent a lot of time swinging at my parents house.

My mom really likes Peter Rabbit and so she buys Nora lots of Peter Rabbit books and other paraphernalia. Nora brought her Peter Rabbit on the trip so we took a picture of Nora with her Peter and my mom's Peters.

Ian, Gavin and Nora at Cascade Springs. Don't they look like cousins?

Bear Lake

2010-08-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

This year we were able to meet the Johnson side of the family for a fun-filled trip to Bear Lake. The water was so cold but Lars and some of our nieces and nephews were brave enough to ride the sea-doo.

Nora loved the attention from her cousins. Charlie pushed Nora in the swing for at least an hour. What a champ!

We played some intense rounds of bocce ball and frisbee.

One morning we went on a hike and stopped for famous Bear Lake raspberry shakes on the way home.

It was nice to spend so much time with the family.

Surprise!

2010-08-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

We are having a boy! The ultrasound was this morning and everything looks good so far. Now for some questions and answers, because I am sure you all care;)

When are you due?
January 1st

How far along are you?
21 weeks

Are you excited to have a boy?
Sure, I am glad the pressure is off. Now we will have one of each.

Have you been feeling sick?
Yes, the first trimester was rough. Tired, sick, emotional...I am glad it is over.

Do you have a name picked out?
No, not yet.

Do you think you will have the baby on Christmas?
I sure hope not. Both for his and Nora's sake. I can't imagine what we would do with Nora on Christmas Day. Umm...can Nora spend Christmas with your family? I am sure you want to spend Christmas watching my three year old daughter. The thought of this happening really stresses me out. And of course it would be rough for him because Christmas babies never get the attention they deserve.

Is Nora excited to have a sibling?
I hope so! She came to the ultrasound appointment this morning and watched the entire time. She kept asking "What's that mama?". This afternoon she was looking in my belly button trying to see the baby. "What happened the baby?"

Mount Diablo

2010-07-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

We are lucky to live close to Mount Diablo. It is maybe a fifteen minute drive to the base of the mountain from our house. We camped there with Lars' brother and his family a few weeks ago. The kids explored the rock formations and had a blast.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-07-14T16:23:00.000-07:00

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Yosemite for the second year in a row. It is so beautiful and green in the spring. The water falls are also spectacular from the snowmelt. Unfortunately it was cold, really cold (okay we are used to warm Bay area weather). The morning we arrived at our campsite there were still clumps of snow from the night before.

This year we brought our bikes and trailer. It was so much fun to ride around Yosemite Valley on our bikes. We didn't have to deal with buses or trying to find parking at each destination. When we wanted to stop we hopped off our bikes and walked around. It was so easy!

We wore Nora out hiking and running around the meadows. She was in a daze by dinnertime.

Hopefully we can make it three years in a row next year!

Iphone Camera

2010-07-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Random pictures from Lars' cell phone.

Summer is Here!

2010-07-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

Nora is enjoying the summer. Water parks, Six Flags, and of course the playground. She can't get enough!

Monterrey Bay Aquarium

2010-05-20T20:49:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium for the day and had a great time. For those of you that live in the Bay Area and haven't been it is definitely worth the drive. We spent the morning in the aquarium. Later we walked around Cannery Row, ate lunch, and went to the Dennis the Menace park, which might be the coolest public park in the world. Of course we stopped at the beach too, but we didn't take any pictures.

Nora at 2.5

2010-05-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

(Here she is in one of her orange shirts)

Nora is so busy and crazy these days. I call her my little monkey because she is loud, really loud and because she loves to climb and jump.

Here are some random things I want to remember about her:

Currently her favorite color is orange. She like to drink out of her orange cup, eat off the orange plate, use orange silverware, and wear oranges shirts and dresses.
She loves anything that goes "a round in a circle". The letter "O", a band-aid around her finger because it goes around a circle. She likes to walk in circles and bike in circles.
She also loves going "through the tunnel". Her Thomas the Tank engine always goes through the tunnel. When we drive to Oakland or San Fransisco from our house we have to go through a huge tunnel and she gets so excited. She also thinks going over a bridge is going through a tunnel, so when we hike we get to go through lots of tunnels.
Going to church is one of her favorite things. She usually asks to go a couple times a week. During sacrament meeting she often forgets how to whisper and we remind her maybe 100 times. Our nursery leaders are awesome and they have great lessons, music time and snack time, so I believe she likes to go to church because nursery is so fun.
The biggest challenge with Nora is getting her dressed and out the door in the morning. She has severe temper-tantrums. Sometimes they last for an hour, she'll even rip her diaper off on occasion because she is so mad. If it is really bad I put her in the car with just her diaper on while she screams and while we drive she usually calms down enough that when we get to our destination I can get her dressed.
We started swimming lessons this month. Let's just say it isn't going well thus far. The first day of class she whined and whimpered because the water was too cold. We sung a song and the swim instructor told us that if we wanted to we could dunk our child under the water at the end of the song. I dunked her the second time we sung the song. She cried and cried. Now we sit on the edge of the stairs and if I put in her in the water she screams "NO, I don't wanna" and runs away.
Nora is very caring. If we cough, she is the first to ask "Daddy, okay?" or "Mommy, okay?".
She also loves to snuggle while watching a movie. I love sitting on the couch with her and watching Peter Rabbit.

2010-03-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

Nora has been loving our new place. She plays outside as much as possible. She plays with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, her scooter, trike, and of course talks to the animals. I think she may have watched Snow White a few too many times and is becoming like her. Instead of singing, she speaks to our squirrel, birds, ants, and bees (and of course the scary turtle that doesn't exist). It is really cute to see her play outside while I am in the kitchen cooking or cleaning.

She actually sleeps in her big bed now, but she has to have a million blankets, pillows and stuffed animals before she will settle in bed.

She is also a budding Van Gogh. When she paints she likes to use a lot of it, I mean tons. Every minute she asks for more paint. So, like Van Gogh, she piles on the paint and her picture take forever to dry.

We took photos of her before church yesterday in her Easter dress. She is doing surprisingly well in nursery. We were afraid we would be in there every week with her because Lars and I were nursery leaders for almost six months. She has the cutest nursery leaders and they do a good job keeping her happy.

A list of other things I don't want to forget:

Every time we sneeze, even if we are in the other room, I hear her saying "bless you"
She becomes obsessed with books. A few weeks ago it was four Disney princess books (I hid them), now we really like Good Night Moon and a book about a duck. I have a big and small version of Good Night Moon and she usually makes me read both to her right after another.
We are working on counting and colors with her, but she isn't really catching on. She says "eight, nine, ten" all the time, but that is it.
She is making a lot of new friends which is so much fun. She even got a kiss from a boy last night. After he kissed her she said "yucky, gross", but then went in for more kisses.

Moving

2010-03-10T19:48:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we moved, again. I never knew someone could move so much. The nice thing about moving often is I am a pro. I can usually have my house unpacked in 2 days if I work hard. This time around I don't feel like working hard and Lars is out of town this week so my progress has slowed.

We have a spider that lives in the corner of a window. I will most likely get around to killing it, but for now he is our friend. Everytime I ask Nora to sit in the chair, she walks by and says "scary spider". I don't want her to think spiders are scary because I don't want to deal with them, so I have been telling her that spiders and bugs are nice. Now, occasionally she will say "nice spider", she even offered the spider some of her cereal the other morning.

Nora thinks we have a turtle in the backyard. She has been saying this for about a week. When we go outside she points in the backyard and says "scary turtle". We don't have a turtle and I don't know what she is thinking. I have even asked her to show me where the turtle is, but she won't. Kids are so funny. When did turtles become scary?

Bodega Bay

2010-03-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

Even though we did this about two months ago I thought I better blog about it because it is the ONLY fun outing we have gone on this year and it is March. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Oh well...

We drove to Bodega Bay and Goat Rock Beach one Saturday. I have always wanted to go to Bodega Bay because it is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds. It is a pretty little town but there isn't much to see or do there. We continued driving up the coast and stopped off at a few beaches. Gray whales are migrating right now so were able to see some in the distance.

Lars and Nora played at the beach while I read a book. It was fun to get out an enjoy the Califorina coast again.

Long overdue

2010-02-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

We have been busy and I have been lazy so I haven't updated the blog in a long time. Here are some of the things we have been up to recently.

Nora got her second hair cut a few weeks ago. She sat still in the chair because I told her I would give her a sucker after the haircut.

She loves to sleep on the ground. I suspected she was sleeping on the floor for awhile but I never saw her. The other day I had to wake her from her nap and I found her on the floor while the stroller was on the bed. Every time we put her to sleep now, she asks to sleep on the ground. Is this normal?

Nora decided to run with the heartrate monitor, sunglasses and headlamp.

It rained A LOT in January. We made the most of the situation and played in the rain.

Nora snuggled up to Lars and watched the America's Cup last weekend.

And, last but not least, we are moving again. Our house is full of boxes and we are almost ready to leave.

Oh, how I love the snow...

2010-01-11T16:48:00.000-08:00

When we first arrived there wasn't very much snow, so I was hoping at some point during our trip there would be enough to ski and sled. Eventually it snowed, but it still wasn't great.

One morning Lars and I went backcountry skiing. I got new skis for Christmas, but I was using my old skins and they are thinner than my new skiis so I was sliding with every step. I got frustrated and told Lars I wanted to turn around. We skied down and he had me practice my avalanche beacon finding skills. Luckily I found the beacon in less than four minutes. Hopefully, Lars will never get caught in an avalanche because I am not the best rescuer.

Nora was apprehensive about playing in the snow at first. It took a lot of convincing to get her outside with her snow clothes on. At the end of the trip she asked to play in the snow every day.

Utah Part I

2010-01-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

Nora and I were in Utah for 3 whole weeks and Lars was there for 2 weeks! It was fun, but I was very happy to sleep in my bed last night. Here are some of things that occupied our time:

Nora and Ian are trouble makers. They have a lot of fun together but you have to watch them closely or else someone or something might get hurt.

Kim, Ian, Nora and I went to a Christmas music class in Heber. We had a great time singing and dancing.

Lars built a really cool train track for the kids. Nora decided she had to sit in the middle of the track and so she knocked down the bridges a lot.

My mom used plastic ornaments at the bottom of the tree so the grand kids could play with the tree and not break anything.

Lars' grandmother started a tradition of making gingerbread and sugar cookies that the Johnson family has carried on. They spend all day making and frosting cookies. This was my first year joining the festivities.

The kids frosted cookies and ate them. Afterwards they all watched a movie.

Nora decorated one cookie and licked the yummy frosting off.

Lars went backcountry skiing Christmas Eve morning with his friends.

December

2010-01-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

The first part of December we were busy making treats. Nora loved licking the batter.

Tori and Nora had fun brushing the goats.

We had time one weekend to go on a hike above Berkeley.

The night before I left for Utah we went to the Oakland temple to see the lights.

Nora and Tori

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T16:01:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Northern Califonia. We ate dinner at a little diner in Eureka and went to Nora's first movie "The Fantastic Mr. Fox". It was a fabulous and beautiful Thanksgiving weekend.

This trip Nora decided she doesn't like coats. We wanted to go on a hike and it was freezing but she wouldn't let us put on her coat. Finally, I stuck her in the backpack and wrapped blankets around her and she was as happy as can be and she stayed warm.

Two Years

2009-11-29T20:28:00.000-08:00

Nora turned two today! We've been celebrating all week. Almost every day she had a new package in the mail. She really liked opening the presents and playing in the boxes. The presents were a hit, but the cake was not (at least she didn't like it).

Parents never learn

2009-11-29T20:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I hear stories about children and I think what kind of parent leaves the shampoo out, or red juice, or markers? Well, let me tell you I was that parent. Let me preface this by saying Nora never used to get out of her bed, ever. She would stay in there until we got her out. Because of this, I didn't think twice about putting her down for a nap with markers on her table in her 100% silk dress that is "dry clean only". I went in to check on her during her nap and this is what I found. Lesson learned. Nora gets out of bed now so I won't leave anything out I don't want her playing with.

Thankful Things

2009-11-29T19:51:00.000-08:00

This is very late but I still want a record of things I am thankful for this year.

1. My little family of three
2. My family and Lars' family
3. The gospel
4. A washer and dryer in my house
5. The ability to cook dinner for my family
6. Access to great produce and food
7. Exercise
8. The internet
9. Friends
10. Our beautiful earth
11. Lars' job
12. Music and listening to Nora sing
13. Traveling
14. Shopping
15. My health

This list is small but some of the things that come to mind.

Top Ten Reasons to Live in an Apartment

2009-11-14T13:47:00.000-08:00

1. If something breaks, call your landlord.
2. It is easy to move, give 30 days notice, pack up your stuff and move.
3. You can not collect as much stuff because of the storage limitations.
4. Instead of spending money on your home (new landscaping, repairs, etc)., you will have more money to spend on clothes and vacations.
5. You have an excuse for an ugly apartment, you can't paint or change many things.
6. You don't have to mow a lawn, or weed.
7. If you husband changes jobs, you can move close enough so he can bike to work.
8. It doesn't matter if your daughter ruins the carpet because it is not yours.
9. You will always have good stories to tell about your crazy neighbors.
10. Hmm...I can't think of anything else. Suggestions?

Been a long time...

2009-11-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

Finally, we have a picture where she is smiling, looking at the camera, wearing matching clothes, and her hair is almost perfect.

Dog sitting

2009-11-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

This weekend we've been dog sitting for a friend. This poor dog will never want to come to our house again! Nora won't leave the poor guy alone. She is going to be really sad when he leaves. I won't be sad because I have to put her in time out a million times a day for hitting the dog. She is trying to play with him, but she is too enthusiastic with her pats.

She loves taking the dog for walks. If Lars goes without her, she cries until they get back. Last night she cried when we were leaving for the Halloween party because we were leaving the dog.

She also loves the dog bed. Gross, I know. I've been trying to keep her out of it but sometimes I find her in it. It has been fun to have a dog in the house, even if its only for the weekend.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, Halloween is over. Nora hates getting dressed-up. This morning I put on her dress for church, which was a big fancy holiday dress she has never worn. She was furious and tried to rip it off. I think she thought I was getting her dressed in a Halloween costume again. I took off the poofy dress and put on a very plain dress and she was fine. No more crying.

Nora started to like candy this weekend. She actually woke up this morning and asked for her pumpkin so she could eat candy. I made her eat breakfast and then she ate some nerds.

Christmas (and Thankgiving) here we come!

2009-10-18T20:56:00.000-07:00

We went to Half Moon Bay this weekend to celebrate Leah's first birthday! Nora was able to play with Tori and ride on a "choo, choo". We ate lunch, opened presents and then headed home for nap time. As always it was great to see our friends.

Yet another trip to Utah

2009-10-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

My friend Denae got married last week. Denae and I have been friends since we were three or four. We were in the same ward when we were younger, went to school together, played soccer and eventually lived with each other right before I was married. Needless to say, I wouldn't miss her wedding. Nora and I were able to go out and Lars flew out for the weekend.

Nora got her first haircut in Heber. She did not like it one bit! She had to sit on my lap because she was scared. The entire time she scowled at the lady cutting her hair. Now she has cute little bob instead of a mullet.
When Lars flew into town we headed to Glenwood for a weekend of motorcycling, four wheeling, swinging, and gardening.

Finally...

2009-10-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

We finally had a visitor! For some reason our family doesn't visit. Maybe they've heard we are bad hosts? Whatever the reason we were thrilled to have my sister, Katrina, visit. We took her to all the touristy destinations including: Alcatraz, Ghiradelli Square, Union Square, Fisherman's Warf, Stinson Beach, John Muir Redwood National Monument, Berkeley, Lombard Street, Mt. Tamalpais and of course the classy neighborhoods in Richmond.

Katrina and I at Alcatraz

At the top of Mt. Tam

Nora at Stinson Beach

Nora loves Katrina and had a great time playing with her. She can't say here name so she calls her "Taura". Katrina was nice enough to watch Nora one night while Lars and I went out to dinner.

Hopefully, Katrina had a nice time and will visit again!

See Jane Tri

2009-09-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, some girls in my old ward and I competed in the See Jane Triathlon. It was a sprint, so we swam 400 yards, biked 11 miles and ran 3 miles (it felt more like five miles). It was fun to compete and have all the training pay off. This was one of my big goals for 2009 so I was happy to accomplish it. I was very worried about my swim because I am the world's worst swimmer. Fortunately, with a lot of practice and Lars' coaching I made it...barely.

New Zealand

2009-09-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the extra long post and picture overload. We take a lot of pictures in this household:)

First off I have to brag a little bit about Nora. She slept at least 9-10 hours on both flights. If she wasn’t sleeping she was eating or watching movies. She was honestly so good on the plane! She was by far better going to New Zealand than she is flying to Salt Lake. There must be a reason…DVD player, maybe?

After a 13 hour flight we arrived bright and early in Auckland. We drove around in the morning and stopped at the Auckland Domain (a park). For lunch we went to the Sky Tower and ate at the top. We did this in Seattle last year and enjoyed it so much we thought we would try New Zealand’s version.

That afternoon we drove to Mangawhai Headlands and walked around the beach. We stayed at a crappy backpacker’s lodge that night.

The next morning we drove to Whangarei and stopped off for a quick hike to the waterfalls and then continued on to the Bay of Islands. We spent two days exploring the area. We hung out on the beach and let Nora swing at the playground. She swung for about an hour and still got mad when we left.

While staying in Paihia we took the ferry to Russel. We went to a museum, walked around the beach, and ate fish and chips.

Rotorua was more action packed. One of my favorite things was going to a hāngi, which is a traditional Maori way of cooking food over heated stones. At the dinner they had entertainment with haka and poi dancing. We were sitting on the front row and I was afraid Nora would be scared because the haka is quite intense and scary, but she just sat there instead. I really couldn’t believe their chief had a bare bottom the entire night and he walked around like it was no big deal!

So the thing that was the most fun was the luge. It is one of those activities that can be pretty dangerous if you are stupid but we had a blast. Nora rode with either Lars or me and she loved it. After each run she said “weee” and asked for more.

Rotorua is known for it geothermal activities. It has geysers, hot pots, and big mud pools (it reminds me of Yellowstone). We went to a place that had a geyser and mud pools plus a Maori weaving and carving school. We taught Nora how to make the same sound as the mud pools so whenever we walked by them we could hear her say "blub, blub".

We also went to a farm that Nora loved. Lars and I fed the animals while she watched because she was scared.

We took the scenic way back to Auckland and drove around the Coromandel Peninsula. Our friend Deon recommended we go to Cathedral Cove. It is a 45 minute hike to get there but well worth it. It was one the most beautiful places we went. Unfortunately we were there when it was overcast and it started to rain. The pictures really don’t capture the beauty!

One day we took the ferry over to Rangitoto, an extinct volcano. We hiked to the top of it and we were rewarded with beautiful views of the ocean, Auckland and an air show. Nora was so sleepy she fell asleep and we carried her down.

Team Zealand's America's Cup sailboat.

Our last day we took it easy and went to One Tree Hill (or Maungakiekie in Maori). U2 wrote a song about it and I love U2 so I really wanted to go there. It had great views, beautiful flowers and lots of cute little lambs running around.

The trip was so much fun but a lot of work. It was great to have Nora there with us. I need to thank Deon for providing us with so much helpful information and tips. It made our trip so easy and enjoyable.

Month in Review

2009-09-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

We moved a month ago! I thought I'd do a recap of the month.

Over Labor Day we went to a science museum at UC Berkeley. We enjoyed the exhibits and spending time with cousins. We went to Zachary's Pizza for lunch and a trip to Rei to finish the day.

My sister Katrina sent Nora a package with Halloween pajamas. I took Nora's photo the first night she wore them. She is saying "cheese" for the camera. We need to teach her how to smile!

We went camping with friends on a hot summer night at Anthony Chabot. This was our first camping trip (not backpacking) since Memorial Day so we were happy to get out and roast marshmallows.

A portion of the building where Lars works was rented for a week. They had parties nightly and a large firework show at 8:40 ended the evening. One night we kept Nora up and walked to the bay to watch. Nora was scared of the fireworks. She sat in my lap and whimpered during the show.

Nora and I spent one morning exploring Golden Gate Park. This park is huge and there were many things that I had never seen including: a Shakespeare park, the Dutch windmill, Stow Lake, and bison.

Because we don't have any friends here we spend a lot of time just playing outside. We like to walk to the water, throw rocks, play on the grass, and find our shadows. The other night when we were walking home and the sun had set Nora said "shadow, mama more please". She wanted more shadows but unfortunately I couldn't do anything about it.

Lastly, a story about Berkeley. Although we live in the Richmond ghetto we do all of our shopping in or around Berkeley. The other day I was at the post office. There was a long line and Nora said she wanted to eat. I dug around my purse and found a Quaker granola bar. I gave it to her. When I was being helped I looked over and I saw pieces of the granola bar had fallen to the ground and Nora was picking them up and eating it. I said "uhh, yuck, don't eat that" some lady in line probably in her mid-fifties said "yeah, and yuck because it has high-fructose corn syrup in it too!" I agree I try to limit the amount of high-fructose corn syrup Nora eats and I usually don't give them to her (they are for Lars), but come on, who says that to a complete stranger? I guess that's what you get when you are running errands in the hippie capitol of the world.

Lake Aloha

2009-08-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went on a backpacking trip to Lake Aloha. The trip started with Nora throwing up EVERYWHERE in the car. We pulled off the side of the road, changed her clothes and cleaned up.

We hiked up to Lake Aloha and spent the afternoon playing in the water. I even tried out my open water swimming skills. I am nervous about the upcoming triathlon. I am a horrible swimmer, and very scared of lakes, oceans, etc.

Nora tripped after eating a chocolate chip cookie.

It drizzled through the night and really started to come down at 6:00. We hung out in the tent for awhile and when it stopped we broke camp and hiked down.

It was another fun trip despite the rain and throw-up. We look forward to backpacking to Aloha Lakes next year.

Attitude

2009-08-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

Nora was a duck last year for Halloween but the costume was way too big even though the tag says 6-12 months. I tried it on her tonight to see if it would fit her this year.

She's not even two but she already has a major attitude! Do you think she likes her duck outfit?

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

2009-08-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Our apartment is across the street from the Bay. We like to take walks around the area and look at ducks, boats, flowers, water, and most importantly pick up rocks and climb on everything.

We're moving

2009-07-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

We are moving to the East Bay in two weeks! Lars got a new job last March and he has been commuting over 100 miles a day. We finally decided to try to get out of our lease and move. We've signed a lease on our new place and we are patiently waiting to hear if our apartment has been rented so we don't have to pay two rents every month.

We are sad to leave our wonderful friends in Mountain View, but it will be nice have more time together as a family.

Off to work we go

2009-07-22T16:06:00.001-07:00

The main reason for our trip to Utah is our humble little home. We've been renting it for the past two years but our tenants moved out in June. We are trying (key word is trying) to sell it because we don't really see ourselves moving back anytime soon.

We worked on the house for days and days. Our family was such a great help too! Here is a list of items that were worked on. My wonderful father-in-law, Ramon and mother-in-law Patsy helped me or completed most of the things.

Painted our railing black
Put new numbers, mailbox, and light on the house
Put in the brick border along our flower garden
Painted 5 doors, 1 bathroom, a few walls in the living room and the entire backside of the home.
Ripped out and installed new baseboards in three bathrooms and one bathrooms.
Weeded
Fixed the dishwasher handle
Planted two bushes on the side or our house
Ordered a window for the third bedroom that because of an addition to the home no longer has a window (we have yet to install it, but are patiently waiting for our contractor).
Cleaned out our storage area of the garage which included selling furniture on Craig's list.
Cleaned, cleaned, cleaned...we want it to look nice an tidy so it will sell.

Now only if it would sell...

Fun in Utah

2009-07-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

We were in Utah for an entire month! It seemed liked a long time but we had a lot of work and fun to keep us busy.

Kim and I took our kids swimming twice. They had a huge slide Nora loved going down. She would pulled herself out of the pool, point to the slide and say "si, si, si" so I would take her down again.

We went on a short little trip to Bear Lake with the Johnson family. Nora enjoyed her time on the beach and playing with cousins.

Lars was able to come out for the 4th of July weekend (although I don't a single photo of him) We bought some snaps at the grocery store and Nora stomped on them right before bed. She was quite aggressive with her stomps.

Nora loved playing in this. Isn't supposed to be used by 6 month old babies and not 1.5 year olds? Regardless it was on of her favorite things at my mom's house.

We went camping in Big Cottonwood Canyon with my family. The following day we went geocaching and hiked to Cecret Lake. It was a gorgeous hike and it reminded me why I love Utah.

The night before we left we had a big dinner at the Johnson's celebrating Cami's birthday. We were also able to spend time with the Caine family who moved to Salt Lake the day before.

As always it was fun to spend time with family. We miss everyone dearly but we have a great life here in California.

Working hard

2009-07-15T14:50:00.001-07:00

Lars went to Italy and Spain for a couple of weeks for work. Most of his time was spent in Rome, but he also went to Madrid, Florence, Pisa, and to a few other lesser known cities in Italy. Although they worked the majority of the time he was able to see some of the sites.

The Tower of Pisa

Trevi fountain in Rome

Florence

Yosemite

2009-05-29T22:49:00.001-07:00

Memorial weekend was spent in Yosemite with Erik and his kids. It is one of the most wonderful National Parks I have ever been to, and I hope to go again. It's in my top three favorite National Parks. The highlights include:

*driving to Glacier Point

*playing on boulders and swimming in Tenaya Lake

*hiking to Vernal and Nevada Falls

*eating lunch in meadow while watching people climb El Capitan

*eating smores, snacks and the best aluminum foil dinner

*and playing with cousins

San Luis Obispo

2009-05-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

We were able to spend time in San Luis Obispo a few weeks ago. On Saturday we went to Morro Bay and Pismo Beach. We drove the PCH from San Luis to Monterrey. Beautiful weekend, beautiful drive!

Aloha...

2009-05-14T16:22:00.001-07:00

Lars had to go on a business trip to the island of Lanai, the day after we got back from Ireland. He told me about and I said "we are going too!". Nora and I just hung out by ourselves because Lars worked from 7:00am-11:30, but we had fun together.

We swam at the pool and beach. Nora was crazy and the only way I could get her to hold still for a minute was to let her eat bagel chips or "crauckers".

We went on hikes and walks everyday. Lanai was beautiful but more barren than other Hawaiian islands.

Nora's favorite activity was feeding the Koi fish in the ponds. They handed out fish food to the children and Nora loved it.

Lars was able to get away Sunday morning for a few hours and he took me to brunch for Mother's Day. It was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. Mmm...

The best thing about Hawaii was the hotel. We stayed at the Four Seasons Manele Bay and it was so nice. The staff was great and they had everything you could ever want. The food was awesome. Lanai isn't crowded at all because they only have two or three hotels on the entire island.

We have been traveling way too much and we are happy to be home and get into a routine again.

Dublin, last post for Ireland!

2009-05-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

Dublin was a great European city with old architecture and charming buildings. We arrived bright and early and went to Saint Patrick's cathedral, Trinity College and a couple museums.

Lars was nice and let me do some shopping. It was May Day and a bank holiday (people kept referring to it as that, and I assume the banks are closed) and the streets were packed.

After shopping we went to the Temple Bar area which is a portion of the city where the Vikings settled. We were there for about five minutes and Lars noticed my backpack was opened and my wallet was gone. We ran back to the car to make sure I didn't leave it there. It wasn't there so we went to an internet cafe and canceled all my credit cards and ATM cards, and then to the police department to file a report. After that fiasco we were feeling a little down. We went to Dublin Castle, and another museum on the way back to the car and left for our hotel near the airport.

We had a great time in Ireland, but I was ready to come home and see Nora. We really missed her!