Weekend in Klagenfurt, Austria.

We went to Klagenfurt in Austria for the weekend. It was a special couple of days because this is where Matt served his mission for our Church when he was only 19 years old. He worked in this same ward for 11 months and really loved the people there. It was so fun to get to meet some of them. Everyone was super friendly, and the town was so beautiful. We camped right next to the lake (seriously awesome lake) and we just chilled. A nice family invited us over for lunch after Church on Sunday and we seriously ate the best meal I've ever had in my life. Seriously.



Wörthersee Lake. Breathtaking.


I'm in love with this picture. Mainly because they're not fighting.





Matt used to set up street displays in front of this statue with other missionaries from our Church and teach about the gospel.

I love Austria because it all looks like this. Love it love it.

This weekend I'm off to Poland to go shopping for some pottery.....I know I'm a lucky girl!

How Matt says he's sorry and my new Happy Place. *post edit*

Matt called me from work two days ago to tell me he's leaving for two weeks to go and fight pirates or something. I told him if he brings me home Jack Sparrow then I'm IN! Then, he leaves for another two weeks to do something else exciting. Thus, leaving me alone for 4 weeks. Supposedly "he doesn't have a choice" (I guess I'll never know if THAT'S true or not. wink wink) so it's not really his fault. He made it up to me though and restored my love for him.



Remember that one time when I quit Diet Coke? Me either.



My laundry room wall was REALLY boring. Now it's my new happy/favorite/cutest place in the house.



Does it look like a college dorm room? Yes. But I got kicked out of college so I didn't get my full 4 years of collages in. I'll make up for that now. Try to take away MY college experience?? Never.

ps- remember that one time I admitted on my blog that I had gotten kicked out college?? Me either.

A Plug.

I've GOT to put in a plug for this website. If you're married, the information and suggestions here apply to you. Reading will enrich your marriage....Check it out.

A perfect Sunday afternoon with friends.

Playing hide and go seek in the tall grass. Maybe it was hay. Maybe we trampled some poor farmers crops. I don't know, but the kids had so much fun. And so did we.

Surgery. Looming.

Next Friday I have to get my wisdom teeth out (which are up in my sinuses...YAY) and an implant done on a mystery missing molar. It's like this dark cloud hanging over my head.
Draw back to the surgery:
-Having it done the day after our friends get here from the states. sucky.
-Chipmunk face.
-Bloody noses (because of the sinus thing).
-No eating...only drinking.
-IV's. Which usually resuly in my passing out. I hate passing out.
-Stitches. Hate those too.

Surgery Bonuses: (yeah, I'm looking on the bright side here.)
-I get to lay in bed for a few days. I love laying in bed.
-I get to eat lots of ice cream.
-No eating solid food will hopefully result in awesome weight loss? It's possible right?
-Matt has to take care of me. :)
-Pain killers. Good times.
-It's free. Gotta love the miltary.
-Getting closer to NOT looking like a hillbilly (even though Matt thinks hillbillies are sexy).
-Having lots of nice friends dropping by to deliver me delicious things that I can eat. (wink wink)

Okay, that's all the positivity I can muster right now. Gonna go watch Scooby Dooby Do with Hallie.

American Vacation: Part 2

As we were getting ready to leave Utah and drive to northern California we got news that Ramstein Air Base (in Germany) was being shut down again because of the ash cloud. They could not tell us for how long. So we decided rather than get stuck on the east coast for a week, we would drive down to Huntington Beach, see my family for a few days, and fly out of there. This meant Matt had to extend his leave...but I'm pretty sure the beach for three days was the better option to working. We surprised my family and had so so much fun and crammed so so much STUFF into three days.


Matt's only request of our trip to HB: To spend everyday at the beach. Wish GRANTED! Our first day in SoCal we spent the day at Laguna Beach getting buried in the sand, playing with water guns, kicking sand all over my clean towl (it's like kids see a clean towl at the beach and just KNOW it doesn't belong), and taking in the beautiful sunshine and warmth. My sister Rebecca and her cute little family came with us and so did my Dad.



Hallie spent the better part of her day buried in the sand. She loved it.


My sandman.



Ahhhh, I miss it. Just beautiful.



Here's my nephew, Alex, showing NO mercy!



My Dad burying Hallie in the sand.



Chase showing Grandpa no mercy.



The show down.



Matt and Hallie took a walk along the bottom of the cliffs and found this awesome star fish. Don't worry, no star fish were harmed in the making of this blog. It was released back into the wild.



Pretty cool, huh?



Day two was spent at the park with my Mom, eating lunch at Wahoo's Fish Tacos, and playing under the Huntington Beach Pier. Another good day. I opted to wear my clothes due the wicked sun burn I received the day prior. This resulted in a super sexy farmers tan.....



Two of my cute nephews playing under the pier. What a good life they have.



Doesn't this picture make you wish you were 5 years old and free to play in the ocean in your clothes? Or your pull ups? Hmm, never having to stop what you're doing to use a bathroom...bliss.



Day three was spent with my Mom and niece and nephews and sister at "Pretend City." This place was super cool. It's an indoor "city" made miniature for the kids. The get to pretend to be grown ups and work in real jobs. They LOVED it. They even get paid pretend money. Matt spent his day at the beach. Since I promised.



Hallie at the pretend grocery store. Making her selections.



Chase at the farm, picking apples. Or tomatoes.



Hallie rolling in the dough.


Hallie's cousin, Owen, checking her out at the grocery store. That was one overpriced pineapple!
And now.....back to our regularly schedueled programming.

American vacation: Part 1

We had a total whirlwind of a trip to the States this time around. Matt's brother, Zach, got married on May 7th and we were so glad we were able to be there. It was no small task getting there, or getting back, but it was worth the trip! We had such a good time and the wedding was absolutely lovely. The kids had so SO much fun. They love getting spoiled by endless amounds of aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas. And I loved not having to try to entertain them, there was so much to do!


Zach and Laura at the Draper LDS Temple. Good looking pair.

A little wedding day smoochie.



This is Matt's sister Katie. (Sorry Katie, it seems like the spelling of your name is always changing...I never know how you're spelling it this month! :) She's single boys, let me know if you need her number.

The wedding reception in Matt's parents back yard. Matt and I engineered the paper lanterns hanging about the yard. A little fishing line, hard work, and VIOLA! Insta classy.

It was such a beautiful day outside...with a beautiful yard. Perfect perfect.

Yummy cake. I served it during the reception, and by the time I was done my dress was COVERED in frosting. It was no biggie since Hallie had already poured her pink sherbet punch down the front of me. :) The dress is now at the dry cleaners and I'm praying for no stains.

Chase giving me a smooch. He's not usually so nice to me, so I had to document this picture. This will help me forget that he told me I was ugly yesterday. :)

Silly boy.

Here's my Diet Coke ad. Love my shoes? TJ Max!

After all the wedding craziness was over Katie took Hallie and Chase to ride her horse. Of course, this was a highlight for Hallie.

Hallie and Buster.

A few days after the wedding we rented a car and drove down to California to surprise my family for 3 days. And lemme tell ya, it was a BUSY three days. I'll post those pictures soon!

Going Granola.

I say I am going granola because I no longer wear make up.

I have not stopped wearing make up for some great cause.



Matt was packing our bags as we were getting ready to leave my grandma's house on Friday and I was putting everything to be packed in one spot in the living room. This spot was surrounded by all of our bags and Matt was putting everything where he deemed appropriate.

I put my bag-o-makeup in a baby wipes box so it wouldn't get crushed in the suitcases. I sat the baby wipes box next to the swim diapers to be packed.

Matt asked me if we should just leave the swim diapers at Mimi's house so we would have some for the next time we came. I said yes. He put them in the closet.

We left.

Fastforward 24 hours later when we're getting ready to head back to the airterminal in Dover, Deleware and we're at our hotel. I've just showered and MAtt has the kids at the hotel pool while I get ready.

I'm ready to put on my makeup.

I start looking through the bag with my stuff in it. Not there.

I COMPLETELY tear apart EVERY suit case in the hotel room.

Not there.

I start crying. Now is this a SANE reaction? No. But it's been a horrible HORRIBLE 24 hours and PMS is playing a big role in this. And I'm not just crying, I'm sobbing.

Matt comes back. (There was his first mistake. haha)

I ask him if he packed my make up. He says he packed everything I put out to be packed.

I tell him it was in the baby wipes box next to the swim diapers.

His face drains of color and he freezes.

The look on his face seals the fate of my makeup. It's at Mimi's house, hidden in the closet under the stairs right next to those swim diaper.

Matt informs me that it was a poor choice to pack my makeup in a babywipes box.

I inform him it's a bad choice to stash something in a closet without looking in it or consulting me.

And now here I sit....with no make up. Desperately awaiting next week, when the package my sweet sister Rebecca mailed to me this morning (which also contains a lot of my self confidence) will hopefully arrive. This ash cloud had better not get in the way of my mail coming. It doesn't know who it's messing with. Until then, it's all natural for me. And it's not pretty.

A few lessons I’ve learned.

I have done a lot of traveling in the past few years. I’ve traveled by myself, as a young married couple, pregnant, as a new Mom, with a toddler while pregnant, with a toddler and a new baby, and with two little munchkins. I guess the next frontier in traveling will be to do it with three kids…but we’re not quite there yet. Seeing as to how we’re currently stuck in New Jersey, awaiting a flight to Washington to await a flight to Hill Air Force Base in Utah, I feel this would be a good time to put together a comprehensive list of things I’ve learned from traveling. Let me tell you something, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve at this point.
1) Well rested children is key. I used think that if I kept them awake before traveling they would sleep better on the plane, in the car, wherever. Not so much. It just means I have two VERY grouchy children to add to an already stressful situation. Get those babies as much sleep as possible before you leave.
2) Don’t start packing until the day before. Take the week before the trip to get caught up on all your laundry, cleaning, shopping, etc. If you start putting stuff into the suit cases too early you’ll be digging through them for days trying to find something you need. Your kids will unpack them when you’re not looking to turn them into a sail boat, or a prison, or a really really good hiding place. If the house is clean, the laundry washed and folded, and your life is in order, packing will be a BREEZE.
3) Individually packaged snacks. We never buy them. Except for when we’re going on a trip. If it has one serving size in its own darling individual package, it’s coming with me. This way when a kid starts whining it’s easy to grab a package of cheese itz or fruit snacks and get their mouths busy doing something besides driving me crazy. Plus all those treats are exciting because they never get them…so the treats can also be used as bribery for good behavior.
4) Portable DVD player. This thing is my salvation. Plus head phones. The head phones are very important because I don’t want to listen to The Princess and the Frog over and over again for hours, neither do the people whom you are flying with. We bought a sony DVD player with the longest battery life on the market. Plus I charge the DVD player anytime we have a layover.
5) Go buy a new movie. Maybe two or three. I always head to the nearest store selling new releases and pick a few new kids movies (or bring the kids with me and let them pick them out) but I don’t allow them to watch them until we’re on the airplane. And that is ONLY if they’re good. I’m not above bribery. When they have a new movie it’s double rewards for you, you can hold it over their head that they can’t watch it unless they’re good, and when they do watch it you won’t hear a peep out of them for hours because they’re so into this new show they have never seen before. The more new movies, the more time you get peace and quiet.
6) Bring some pillows. If they can get cozy when they do finally fall asleep your chances of them staying asleep are much better.
7) Wear a sports bra. Seriously, just skip the real thing.
8) Charge EVERYTHING before you leave. Cell phone, DVD player, ipod, camera, etc. There’s nothing worse than having your batteries die on your electronics when you need them.
9) Have cash!! This way if you end up in an airport in the middle of the night and nothing is open, you can still use the vending machines to get your drinks or more snacks if you need them.
10) Be prepared! If you think you’ll only need 3 diapers in your carry on bag, bring 6. Bring spare clothes for in case of puking, diarrhea, spills, and every other kind of catastrophe that can soil a clean pair of clothes.
11) Drugs. This is a lesson I learned from my Mom, who also happens to be a walking pharmacy. She was always ready for whatever illness her kids could throw her way while we were out. I always pack the motrin, Benadryl, excedrine, and any other kind of medication that could be needed for the trip.
12) Dress comfy. It makes me shudder when I see a woman walking on an airplane with her kids wearing her high heeled leather boots and fancy clothes. I think it’s a good idea to dress like you’re going to the gym…since this trip will most certainly be a workout.
13) HAVE FUN! I think sometimes it’s so hard when you’re traveling with little kids to remember that this should be fun for them too.

And last but not least, if you’re military and traveling Space A on military flights….be prepared to be stuck in random places for days and to put your kids to bed on the floor in random passenger terminals. Maybe even in New Jersey. Maybe we should go see New York?