For Jessie

This is an awful picture of me, but it's the only one I have of Jessie from her trip and she was offended she wasn't on our blog. It's from riding the ferris wheel at Santa Monica Pier.

Photo Shoot

These are some pictures that Justin took of Josh before church yesterday. He's getting so big!

Gram's Visit and Disneyland

My Mom came to visit this last week and we had a blast! She was so cute with Josh.

Wednesday we spent the day at Disneyland. It was an awesome day to go. The only line was for the Nemo ride. And we got handed fast passes to all the big rides. I couldn't go on any of them of course - but my Mom and Justin enjoyed it - and it made it nice for me that I only had to wait for them for 15 minutes instead of an hour. Josh talked the entire drive home to himself reliving all of the rides.

Josh and Gram's on the merry-go-round




Playing with the new play dough Gram's got him.






Driving the car with Daddy-O. Josh loves all the rides that involve "dark tunnels". I know he's a weird 2-year old.







We're so glad Ashlee talked us into getting season passes!! This last week Josh discovered the Buzz Lightyear ride. You get to ride around in a little car and shoot at targets with a lazer gun - we rode it no less than 6 times. The other favorites are Pirates and Mr. Toad's wild ride. He now asks for Disneyland stories before he goes to bed.

Cars and Trucks

So I realized that my psycho photo-taking husband hasn't taken a lot of pictures lately, but I did say yesterday that I would post some new pictures... and since our lesson in YW today was partly on following through on what we said we would do:) here they are. These are some of my favorite pictures of Josh and his passion for anything with wheels:)





















With Miss Natalie at the ___ house, I totally can't remember the name of it now, but it was really cool!! He was a famous actor... it's around here... anyone know?

And this picture totally made me miss Natalie... and Amy.... and Patrick, we hope we get to see you soon, and maybe live by you next year!!:)







Also question- Josh has been sleeping in a little and since he grew out of his jogging stroller I've been trying to use that time to work out in the mornings. I can do some weight/core workout stuff, but does anyone have any ideas for more of an aerobic workout that I can do at home? Justin has to be at work at 6am so leaving isn't really an option.

Phone Calls

I just have to say I absolutely HATE making phone calls. Even with my really good friends I prefer to email a lot of the time. Just ask Justin - I make him call everyone for me - especially companies, cable company etc. So when we were asked to help with Proposition 8 phone calls, I seriously dread it, for days before I have to do it, get sick to my stomach etc. For those of you not in California, Proposition 8 is the amendment to the State Constitution that would make marriage only between a man and a woman. The First Presidency has asked us to do all we can (in coordination with other groups) to get this passed. However, I actually had a really cool experience today, and I'm sharing it because I'm sure a lot of you feel the same way about the phone calls etc that I do. I was running this morning totally dreading the phone calls that I knew I was going to have to make when I got home and kind of praying about it at the same time, and I just felt really strongly that this is important to Heavenly Father. The family is one of the most sacred things to him and as much as I hate it it's important for me to support this proposition. I knew this, but I hadn't really felt it yet. And the thing is I can totally see the other side. The people against Prop 8 have done some really effective advertising and the majority of people that I contact see no reason not to let everyone marry. I won't go into all the arguments for Prop 8 right now - feel free to leave me a comment if you want the facts:)- but I just knew it was important. And I kind of had fun today while I was making the phone calls. I'm not going to lie I was always a little bit excited when an answering machine picked up and their were 5 registered voters connected to that number and I could just cross them off, but it wasn't extreme torture and for that I'm grateful. I actually laughed quite a bit today and realized that while a select few people are unpleasant the majority are helpful and that I can do my part in a small way. Afterall, I always want to be more involved in my community, have a deeper meaning to my life etc. I just pictured more volunteering at a literacy clinic than political activism (that's Justin's department, the freak actually ENJOYS making sales calls, calling people he doesn't know etc.)

So anyways, sorry for doing two posts without pictures, I'll put up some good ones tomorrow - but I wanted to write this while it was still fresh so I can go back and read it when they ask me to do things like talk to people in person.....

P.S. I just realized that my family is going to laugh when they read this and remember how much time I spent on the phone with boyfriends in high school and college. But just for the record - that's totally different:)

Pink or Blue???

I know so many of you are going to be checking my blog constantly to find out what I'm having:). It's a .......

GIRL!!

We're so excited! We asked Josh if he wanted a boy like Easton or a girl like Arleigh and Autumn. He said a girl which is surprising because he usually says boy.

And so you don't constantly ask which names we like... we'll call her: Anna Lynn (just for you Jessie) as long as she looks like an Anna when she comes out:) When I asked Josh if we should name her Anna he thought and said, "No Autumn" - there's no convincing him otherwise. I remember being convinced that we should name my little sister Amy or Jessie (not sure which) Penny after the girl in the Rescuers so hopefully he'll survive. Although I guess the fact that I remember wanting to name her that so vividly might show it was traumatic when it didn't happen.