Many Mini Trips!

So I have not written for a while and there has been so much happening, forgive me if I forget to mention something. We have gone to Six flags again, this time with Tina, John, Lizzy and Mike and just enjoyed the shows with the girls. We had some friends from church invite us to go boating with them one weekend. We did inner tubing, knee boarding, and wake boarding. Hali enjoyed the boat ride and the inner tube ride she would say, " whoa, whoa, whoa!" when we went over the waves. We spent about six hours on the boat. On the tube!

Aaron's brother, Jared came down with his Family for work/vacation for four weeks and with them we did a few fun things like going to the zoo, the pool, the park, out to dinner, Santa Cruz and to San Fran. Aaron's friend from Idaho came down too and we all went to San Fransisco for a weekend!
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk


Near Half Moon Bay


Golden gate Bridge


By the Dutch Windmill


My sister Emma had her 3rd baby on Sept 3rd, Amy Marie. She was 10 lbs and 20 inches long. She had Curly dark brown hair but it is now a dirty blond color I hear. Congrads again Emma! Amy Marie

Then my Sister Sara got married on Sept 6th in the Oakland Temple. It was a wonderful day everything went great and the reception was beautiful too! I am so excited for her. T. J. and Sara!
And a beautiful boquet, by me!

This weekend we went to Chris's first home football game. They played the Elk Grove Bobcats and won 9 to 6! On Friday we went to an Oakland A's game agains the Mariners. The game went by fast but we all had a lot of fun. The A's had a home run and it was 2 to 0 but they almost lost because the mariners were up with the bases loaded. Luckily the A's got the runner out before they scored. At the end of the game there was a huge Firework show, that we all enjoyed, especially Hali.
Watching The Fire Works

Aaron has finished his internship and has graduated college! He is now a service Tech working for APX alarm again for the fall. I am so glad he is doing Apx again because I can tell he actually enjoys doing it compared to working for General Mills, I also get to see him more often. Hali hates to see him leave though, she was always asleep when he left for work before. I love seeing Hali with her Dad, he is really good with her.

As for me I am expecting a boy on December 28th, most all ready know but I have not written since I told the Family about a month and a half ago. I am excited for him to come and can't wait to dress him in cute boy clothes. I am also trying to get little project done here and there or just read a book but there is not much time to do that it seems. I am excited for this up coming month. John, Aaron and Tina searched and searched for great deals and we finally booked our flight to Hawaii and will leave the 14th and come home on the 22nd. All I wanted was a hotel on the Beach and that is what we got well a condo but I think it will be just great. We hope to go to the PC, the temple, some snorkaling and some other things around the Island. I am also excited for Halloween I will be doing a party at the house, I have already stated planning it all out and I think it will turn out better than last years mostly because I have more room and I am getting an early start on it.
San Fransisco Beach


Hali is doing well she can copy almost any word you ask her to say. She is talking in sentences a bit now like, "Where'd Lizzy go?" or " (anything) where'd it go" " I don't know!" "Where are you Mom?" " No Lizzy, down" When she is on the table. "No, Lizzy me shoe!" She has not said that too many times it's usually just, "No Lizzy!" She sure talks a lot, babels on and on it's funny to hear. For a while she had her own word for movie she would say " Moo-shoo" I thought she was trying to say my shoe but we soon caught on that she wanted to watch a movie. She calls it a movie now though. Hali is working on dressing her self she can do her shoes and socks but the socks come off fast and shoes go back on. She can get the shirt over her head but she just takes the shirt off after that, same with the pants, one leg in then off they go. Here is a clip of the girls playing piano.

Camping

We went camping a few weeks ago with Eva's ward up at Lake Comanche. We only stayed one night but we had a lot of fun. We were the first ones to arrive so we found the only a bit of grass to place our tent on and trees to use as shade. It was so hot when we arrived we went to the lake to cool off. The lake was not what I expected the water was so low and once you got in there was about 6 inches of mud that your feet sink into. I got use to it after a while but didn't stay in long. We brought a raft with us so we tried that out but the air came out too quick to use as a raft, it started to sink, it was still fun though. Aaron and Scott had fun jumping off the rocks into the water. Once we got back to camp we gave Hali a bath in the sink and Dave took some pictures while I took my shower. We then got some wood and made a fire for our dinner, we had yummy beef stew and hot dogs. Later we had s'mores and talked around the campfire. The next day we went back to the lake but a sandier part and then went home. Dave took a lot of great pictures...

Aaron jumping off the rocks!


Chris jumping off the rocks!

Rafting!

Hali making faces at Uncle Mike

Hali saying a prayer.

"Amen"

Eating around the campfire.

Hali's new words are stinky, cracker, ice, all gone, bubble, hand, help, play, walk, water, knee, teeth, goggle, blue, back( for put it back), food, John, Jared and Eva is Va-va. Hali also knows how to blink and show us her tounge. Mike taught her to say "I love you," it sounds close more like "I loov oo." Uncle Mike was holding her while on the computer and she took the mouse away from him, so he called her a punk and she said "punk" right back so she says that too. Hali is doing well at letting us know when she has to go to the bathroom. The other day I was in the family room napping and she went in the room and stated to wine. Tina walked in and found her siting on her toilet wanting to go. Tina helped her get her diaper off and she went. Same thing happened to Mike a few days later. Hali was taken forever on the toliet. I kept asking if she was done and she would shake her head and say nonchalantly, "no." So I sat there and she started to point at my nose and examining it. Then she touched my nose and said "ouch?"I told her no It's fine. Then she looked at it again and said, "dirty!" I then looked in the mirror and said, "no, it's not dirty it's red. " I have a slight sunburn. She just seemed so concered it was cute. .

The little things she does...

I meant to post this two weeks ago but we lost the camera so I am posting it now.

I forgot to mention a few things in the last blog. Hali is doing really good at folding her arms whenever we sit down to eat, she is always the first ready for prayer. She also says her own prayers; she folds her arms bows her head and whispers a few words. Some times they are long prayers but she says amen at the end, it's so cute. Hali loves bath time she figured out how to splash and says "bath? bath? bath?" when it's time to take one. Hali also does really good in the shower she does not mind the water falling on her face.

I got a double stroller for Mother's Day so I could take the girls for walks, so around noon we go and they love it. They usually fall asleep, it's really nice. Hali is starting to draw or scribble rather and enjoys that at times. She likes to put peoples shoes on for them or take them off, tickle their toes and say, "tickle tickel."
Hali really enjoys reading books we go through so many a day. She likes to read them in the morning when she is going potty. She picks one up flips through then says, "all done," puts it back then grabs another one and sits back down on her seat. We also read books right before she goes to sleep.
If we do not keep a onesie on her she pulls on her diaper and says, "off" and if you don't pay attention she will take it off and then pee on the floor.
She has been answering in stead of ya to my questions she says, "k," "yep" or, "ya Bob." Like today I asked "do you want to sit on the couch?" and she said, " ya bob." I also asked if she wanted help and she said, "ya Bob," I have no idea where she got that from. we think she might be trying to say ya babe like I say to Aaron.
She also has a new word that she made up, "dabie," she goes around saying all the time and when we ask her what it means she just laughs at us. She loves saying it to Mike too becasue he reacts to it and says "Dabie does'nt mean anything!" and she will say, "Mike... Dabie!"
I also never posted any pictures of the finished family room or bathroom, so here they are...

June

This past month has been somewhat laid back. The whole family was able to be together over memorial week. My sister has the whole week detailed in her blog but for a small recap; we took lots of pictures, ate a lot of good food and had fun watching all the nieces and nephews together for the first time. The other big events have been my brother Chris graduating from the 8th grade and my brother in-law becoming a doctor by graduating from his Chiropractic School. Fathers day was good because the family was together. We have gone to the community pool a few times and played around. Hali enjoyed the kiddie pool but the big pool was too cold for her. We also set up a baby pool out side and Hali loves it.
Last Friday Aaron, Hali, Mike, Chris and I went ate Eddie's Pizza then played two hours of pool. We had so much fun that we went again Wednesday night and played some more. Hali was asleep and Chris did not come this time because he is at camp for this week. We have not done too much else. It’s been so hot these days- we just like going to the pool. Oh, we have picked and eaten our first Yellow squash, cucumbers and tomatoes of the season this past month too.
Tina and John will be moving in at the beginning of July, that will be fun to have them around more. They will stay a few months until they leave for Utah where John will start his own Chiropractic business. Aaron and Mike want to buy a pool table so we can play whenever we want, so they are picking one up right now. Next week we will be going campin’ to Lake Comanche with who ever can come. I can hardly wait I miss camping so much. Then there is 4th of July, Mom’s Birthday, my friend Heather’s wedding, Sara’s Birthday and then Six flags, so July is full.
Hali is still just as crazy as ever, learning more and more everyday. Her new names that she can say are “Na-na” and just yesterday “Grandma,” “David,” “Will,” “Jim” and “John.” She still has a hard time with Elizabeth, it’s just “izbith,” Emma, it’s just “mmma,” Tina is just “T” and Sara and Eva she can’t do yet. Hali gives great hugs and kisses now. When Hali and Elizabeth are together they get so excited to see each other and they can make each other laugh, I love it. They will give each other hugs and kisses just when ever too it’s really cute!
Hali now will climb up the slide all by herself and go down by herself. She sometimes will repeat, “ready set go” or “ one, two, three” before coming down. I taught Hali to march so when ever I say, “march, march, march” she smiles and does it in place and sometimes goes really fast, we all just laugh. I am also teaching her to jump in place; she just bends her knees and says "jump" but it’s fun because she knows what I am talking about. I am also teaching her how to take big steps and that is hilarious to see because she tries so hard to step big, she sometimes does it sideways too. We just like to have fun I guess. She loves to sit on the couch cushions or on balls or people and bounce as she says, “bounce, bounce, bounce.”
Other new words are asleep or sleeping in ASL and she tries to say it by saying “ssss” then sticking out her tongue to get the “L” sound. She signs hurt and says, “ouch.” She signs Thank you and sort of says it. Hali goes around shaking her finger at things she should not touch and says “don’t.” She can say “potty” and “pe-pe” and once pointed to the potty and said, “ya ya” and she actually went, so that was cool. She says, “nose,” “eye,”“bear,”“ open,” “off,” “up,” “down”and “no.” My brother Chris is trying to teach her the ABC’s and he says she can say, repeating them that is, A-J. I don’t think I remembered to mention that I am no longer nursing her and she has been sleeping in her play pen through the night since she turned one, a good 7-9 hours usually. Well I know this was a lot so hopefully I will not slack so much next month.

catch up

Aaron and I finally got a Gym membership to In-Shape so we plan on going with the whole family as much as we can. Mom, Dad , the boys, Eva and Dave have one too. The boys and I went last night and had a good time, I am excited to start swimming again!

We have made some progress on the house with painting and rearranging but it’s only about half way done. There are no pictures yet because all of the family will be down here and we want them to be surprised a bit. Starting on Saturday my sister Emma, her husband and her two boys, that I have not seen in about a year in a half, will arrive from Seattle and my sister Sara and cuz Kristy from Idaho will get here on Wednesday. We can’t wait for you guys to get here!

Our first raspberries and peas of the season have been picked and eaten. Everything is blooming and we can see the yellow squash and tomatoes. It is very exciting!

Last weekend Aaron was able to get four free tickets to Six flags form his work so we brought Eva and Tina and got cheaper tickets for the boys. We had a great time we went on a lot of baby rides. Hali enjoyed them especially the little froggy ride! She would say “woah woah woah” point at the frog and smile. Elizabeth on the other hand did not like any of the rides. I thought this was odd because Elizabeth loves going down slides all by her self but Hali will not budge. Anyway we also went to the whale show and got all wet but we, or rather I, liked being close. We also went to the dolphin show and bird show. At the bird show they would have the birds fly down over the audience when the owl came out I stood her up so she could see it and say “ whoo, whoo.” It was about 6 feet away and then flew right over Hali’s head, missed her by a few inches she just said “ whoo, whoo.” We also went on the water rapid ride and I got soaked by the waterfall. The boys went on a few rides and then we went home.
Hali is now 13 and a half months old and is talking up a storm. She cans say “uncle” now as of a week and “mike” since he has been home. We are working on “Dave” and “Eva,” she has said it a few times. Hali signs thank you and sort of says it. She signs please which is very cute when she wants something and says “peas” for please. She can say “more” too. Hali likes to say “apple” for when she wants fruit or wants up- well she can say “up” but sometimes she puts her arms up and says “apple.” It’s really funny. We are working on saying “down” she has only said it once. She learned to say “Hot” on Sunday when we BBQed shish- kabobs on the grill. She also says “here you go” when she gives you something but it sounds like one word. She can spin around in circles with her arms out and get dizzy and says, “woah woah.” Her uncle Mike taught her to “go crazy” where she shakes her head really fast, sticks out her tongue and says “ahhhhh.” She climbs up on anything she can, especially the booster chairs, Elizabeth then tries to sit on Hali and laughs because she thinks its so funny, which it is. She is learning to get off the couch and bed so she does not hurt herself and does well most of the time. Hali also knows where papa keeps his treats and walks in his room pointing to the cupboard and says “ya, ya, ya” Papa usually gives in. Hali loves to pick up purses, put them on her arm and say “bye- bye” as she walks away.

Well Hali is now one year old and she is acting the part very well. She is starting to whine when she doesn’t get something. She runs away when I want her to stay. She rolls all over people if they lay on the floor, Hali seems to be able to carry on full sentences with us and sometimes it makes sense.


For her birthday my dad got her some pj’s and my mom made her a hooded towel. Scott got her a piano. Aaron and I gave her a musical dog and twin babies. The first thing she did with the baby was pick it up by its feet and banged them together saying “patty patty.” She also learned to say baby later that night and says it really well but it some times sounds French, “bebe” Mom gave her a stroller to go with the babies too. Hali and Lizzy both can put the baby in the stroller and walk around with it. When I tell Hali to give the baby a hug she picks it up and hugs it and sways sometimes.

She can point out the nose, mouth and eyes and say “eye.” She can also give the baby kisses if we ask her too. Grandma P* gave her a dress And my friend Kellie got her some books and CD’s she loves them.

She loved opening all her presents and when it came to the cake she actually was not to sure if she shouldtouch it but she finally did and had fun.

A couple of weeks ago she started saying “mmmm” after eating something she liked so when I ask her “is that good” she says “mmmm.” Like with this spaghetti she had for the first time.

A lot of the time she will pick up something and say “what’s this” or at least it sounds like that. You can kind of her it in the video clip.

She also says “ouuu” when she hurts herself. She is working on itsy bitsy spider she can do the itsy bitsy spider part and down came the rain with her hands. On the 8^th she went for her 1 year check up and her shots she is 27 ½ inches tall 18lbs 12oz and is in the 25%.

Well the reason I have not been keeping up to date is because we have been remodeling the family room and halls and bathrooms and we are all so busy taking down all the pictures, painting, sanding, pulling up the rugs, shopping, planning you name it. Even though it is a lot of work I enjoy doing this kind of stuff. So here are a few sneak peeks before we put in the furniture. I really want to paint that back wall where the fireplace is but not too sure what color any ideas? Also, below the wood trim in the hallway. Dad is thinking wall paper but I like paint.

vacation!

Aaron has started at General Mills and has learned he does not enjoy working eight hour days inside a factory. I finished the garden mostly well everything is planted and it was a lot of work. We have zucchini, yellow squash and butter nut squash in the round beds. We have cucumbers, peas and eventually beans on the trellis. The tomatoes are by the shed, watermelon in pots on the cement and spinach and lettuce in the raised bed. I also planted pumpkins in pots in the front yard and will put together a bed or pots of herbs this week. So we have been pretty busy and took two vacations as well. Last weekend we drove down to LA for Aaron’s Grandparents, 50^th wedding anniversary. It was a lot of fun it looked like a wedding reception all over again; there was a huge beautiful cake, lots of fun finger foods, balloons and slide shows of their life together. I enjoyed hearing about each child’s thought of their parents; it was fun to learn more about the Patrick side of the family. While we were in LA his grandparents took us out for breakfast to Hometown Buffet…. Yummmm! Then we went to the park and watched his cousin Haylee play soft ball. It was very cold and windy, but I had so much fun! Her dad Glen is the assistant coach, which is so cool. They have twin daughters that are four that play tee ball, they are so cute too. I want my kids to play sports that they enjoy and support them by coaching or going to all the games, just like Glen and Julie they are a great example. We also went to the aquarium and the Korean friendship bell in San Pedro with his cousin Nicole and her family, she has four adorable kids! That night we went to Nicole’s house and played Scene It Disney, Nicole and I beat Aaron and Mulek twice! The next day was Aaron’s 26^th birthday I made him French toast and we sang him Happy B-day. Then we went to sacrament and took the long drive home. When we got home we had banana splits and presents. My sister Tina got him the DVD Transformers, my sister Eva got him a great card and an IOU dinner, Mom got him a bamboo rug and I got him two shirts and candy.

Aaron had Good Friday off so we left Thursday afternoon for San Fran. Aaron booked two nights at the Best Western the night before and we did not expect the rooms to be great but they actually were. There was a large king bed, a TV, a fridge and a nice bathroom. We also got breakfast every morning which made it all worth it. Thursday night we walked some of the piers to find dinner and we stopped at Boudin the sourdough bread factory. WE got a clam chowder bowl and a turkey avocado croissant sandwich, they were so yummmy. Where ever we go Hali says Hi and people always say hi back. We met a family there this way, they had gotten together for their grandparents funeral, and anyway they had a baby girl about 6 months older than Hali. They laughed; played peek-a-boo and hugged it was cute. The family thought it was cool that Hali could sign just like their baby and walk well. On Friday we got on our free double Decker bus and toured downtown. Hali loved being on the top and everyone else enjoyed her hi’s when they came on and bye’s when they left. We got off in china town and saw lots of stores bought a few shirts and ate lunch and again it was very good. We then got back on to the bus and stopped in Fisherman’s Warf just in time for our boat ride around the bay. We went all the way under the golden gate bridge and back around Alcatraz. I learned about all the history of San Fran and we all liked the boat ride and watching the water and birds go by. Then we went to Steve & Barry’s and Walgreen’s and bought a shirt for me and jeans for Hali. Then we took the F train back to d-town to watched Jumper at the theater. Hali usually does well but this time she was not too happy. After the movie we took the F train back to Fisherman’s Warf and ate at In-N-Out and Cold Stone. Saturday morning it was actually a very nice warm day, we drove to the golden gate and walked halfway across, it was pretty intense being so high up. We were able to see all of San Fran, lots of sail boats and there were even dolphins and sea lions swimming around. We also saw a big tanker go underneath us. Now we can say we walked on the golden gate bridge even Hali.

Well Hali now says bye bye very well, “buddy” for butterfly and “cott” for Scott. In ASL she does more and milk all the time and all done. She knows patty cake she says “patty, patty” while she claps, “roool” and twists her hands and sometimes throws up her hands for throw it in the oven, it’s really cute. She will copy singing and make up tunes too. She also hits herself in the head with both hands when I take something away from her that she is not supposed to have. She also knows who everyone in the family is, like I will say, “where is Aunt Eva,” and she will look at her then I will ask her where others are and she will find them. Hali walks everywhere now she still falls on her bum sometimes but she does not crawl anymore.

On Easter Sunday, we went to church and Scott and Dad spoke, So it was interesting to listen to the things they had to prepare. I went and sang with the choir even though I had only practiced a couple of times with them. We came home to have Tina, John and Elizabeth visiting for the night. Eva showed up a little later. We had roast and potatoes for dinner and afterward we all open Easter eggs and ate chocolates. Later Hali and Elizabeth opened gifts from grandma. They both got Easter hats and and PJs and Elmo Phones. Hali had fun taking Lizzy’s away and running from me. You can see that in the video. We played some Napoleon Dynamite MAD LIBS and had a good laugh from them. We picked some Oranges and Mandarin oranges to juice later. We had some mango's that John and Tina brought as well. All in all its been a great vacation!