Grandma & Morgan came to visit

A couple weeks ago, Nathan's mom and sister came to visit us. While they were here we went to Disneyland. Julia had a great time showing them her home away from home! And her aunt Morgan bought here a beautiful umbrella with her name on it. Julia calls it her Mary Poppins umbrella.
It was hard to get a good picture at the end of the day. You can see her holding her umbrella.

Catch Up

I've been really lazy on posting lately. I need to catch up with everything that's going on. First, three weeks ago my Uncle Matt and Aunt Melissa cam to visit and we went to Disneyland. It was really fun, even though they had to sleep on the floor. We stayed up late playing games, and ate way too much junk food. Also, the Saturday they were here, we all went shopping except for Nathan and Julia, who went to The Tour of California race at Rose Bowl. They got to watch the end of that race, and Nathan even got some close-ups of Lance Armstrong. Nathan said Julia was really into the whole biking thing.

Me, Melissa and Matt on the rapids ride in California Adventure. It was warm, so we didn't mind getting wet.
Lance Armstrong riding.
Then the next weekend we headed over AZ so Nathan could take his Board Exams. Hopefully he passed! We won't find out for a few more weeks. While we were there Mason had his four month check up. He is healthy weighing in at 15 lbs 6 oz, and 25 inches long. We also got the go ahead to start solids, so that afternoon I gave him rice cereal for the first time. He ate the entire serving and has everyday since!

Messy face.
Karsyn also had her fourth birthday while we were there. Julia really liked her Ariel cake and keeps talking about her own birthday coming up.
Julia and Mason's aunts and uncles and cousins.
We were also able to visit with other friends and family while we were there. It was so nice to see everyone. I was just really sad because I wasn't able to see my dad. He has been working in Las Vegas, and was still there during our visit.

My aunt Robin was tickling Mason and he was loving it.
Grandma Jodi (my mom) and Mason. He drools so much, that's why his shirt is all wet.

San Diego!

Nathan matched! We will be moving to San Diego for residency! I am so excited! Though not Nathan's top choice, it was mine; closest to home and to where we are now. The only bummer about this one is that the third year is spent in Sacramento. So my dream of not moving for 3 years is gone. We will spend two years in SD and the third up north. Hopefully Nathan is excited, too. I havn't had a chance to speak with him since he is at work. I checked it for him, and then had to text him the results via the Alltel website, since I currently don't have a phone. (I dropped it in a cup of water a few days ago.) But from what he has said about the program, I think he will be pleased he matched with them. I'm sure I'll update this post once I speak with him. I just wanted to let people know, since I don't have a phone to text everyone!

Swiper no swiping!

Last night before Nathan and I went to bed, we heard Julia wake up crying. Nathan went into the room to see what was the matter, and to get her back to sleep. When he returned, he told me this: When I went into the room, Julia was crying and sweating. I took off her wet jammies and asked her what was wrong. She said, "Cinderella's in trouble! Swiper's gonna get her! And Sleeping Beauty! Sleeping Beauty's in trouble!" She was so scared that Swiper the Fox (from Dora the Explorer, for those of you with out kids) was going to hurt her princess friends. What a silly girl. Nathan was able to calm her down and get her back to sleep, but we will have to limit her cartoons, since apparently they are giving her nightmares!

Fun with friends

Even though we miss our friends in AZ very much, I'm happy that Julia and I have already made some good friends in our new home. Everyone has been so friendly and inviting.
Every Wednesday we go with a mother's group to Disneyland.
Julia and her friends took a break from the rides to take a photo.

She also started playing soccer. She needs to work on listening to her coach, but she's got the kicking down.

Goal!!!

I love my brother!

Julia really loves her little brother. Sometimes a little too much. If he starts crying she says, "Oh no! Mason's sad!" and then runs over to put his binkie in his mouth. The problem is, she isn't very gentle, and will force it in his mouth and hold it there if he doesn't want it. Also, when he is laying on the floor, she likes to give him a hug by laying on top of him. She also is very concerned with his well being. If she's around and somebody tries to touch him, she yells, "Don't touch! Your hands are dirty!" Must be something she's heard before. :) Really, though, she's still learning, and I think Mason is very blessed to have such a loving older sister!

Mason is growing so much. We are so blessed to have him with us!

He is very chunky.

Nathan's had interviews for residency almost every weekend this month, and this weekend he was in Chicago. When we got home from church I took Julia's dress off and told her to go get dressed so we could go to the airport to pick up Daddy. This is how she dressed herself. (Don't pay any mind to my messy apartment in the background. I was alone with my two kids for over three days, and it was raining outside almost the whole time)

Park City

We got back to Los Angeles from a fun holiday in Arizona, only to leave again in a week to Park City, Utah. Nathan and I got to ride while his mom watched the kids. And since their condo is right on the resort mountain, it was easy for me to come in every couple hours to nurse Mason. Each day during one of our breaks we would get Julia all bundled up to play in the snow. Her favorite part was throwing snowballs at unsuspecting victims as they walked by. Lucky for them she hasn't quite perfected the art, and most of the snow would just stick to her glove.Julia also got to try out snowboarding. Next year she'll be old enough to put in ski school while we're there.

The last full day we were there, we went down to Salt Lake City to show Julia and my families exchange student, Dani, Temple Square. I also got to visit with my friend Meagan Olson who is serving a mission there.
Thanks to Nathan's parents for sharing this trip with us. We had so much fun!

I also wanted to post some pictures of my Grandma and Grandpa Stapley's 50th anniversary party we had the day after New Years. It was a wonderful program put on by my parents and aunts and uncles.
My dad played the guitar while his siblings sang.
Grandma and Grandpa
Dani and Mason