Another Milestone...

Last Sunday, Ryan and I had plans to weed out our garden and get it ready to plant flowers in the spring. However, I got wind that a couple of my besties wanted to go see The Hunger Games, and those plans abruptly changed ;) I told him we would just worry about the yard work another day, as we were in no hurry. So I got to have a girls' day, and Ryan stayed home and had a daddy-daughter day with Jaylinne.  Turns out the daddy-daughter day consisted of.....weeding the garden! (I told you I have the best husband ever!)

While I was out having my girls' day, Jaylinne- out of nowhere- learned to climb a tree!?! This came as a surprise to me, seeing as how our tree has no glitter, makeup, and/or dress-up dresses anywhere in its proximity. Looks like she wanted to be tough like Dad :)

Although she learned to climb up a tree, she must have been absent the day they taught climbing out of the tree. Looks like she had a rough ride down! It looked pretty bad, but it wasn't anything a little Wizard of Oz and chicken wings didn't cure ;)

Our Day In the Sun

There's a huge possibility that when it's warm and sunny outside, we get a little stir crazy being stuck INSIDE. Not expecting this gorgeous day, Jaylinne and I decided we should probably take advantage of it and head to the park! Not wanting to go alone, we decided to call Laura and she if she wanted to load up Dayne and Dalys and come with us (Dylan was in school. SUCKER! ;)) Clad in our short sleeves and capris, off we went!

Whenever we decide to go to the park, we always go to the same one.  It has a swing set, a playground, lots of grass, and even a duck pond. (YES! A duck pond!) There is a twisty slide that Jaylinne refers to as, "The Big One." It was a big accomplishment for us last summer when she started doing it all by herself. No more of this stomping up the stairs, and crying at the top until mom/dad/grandma/grandpa climb their feeble, creaking bones up those same steps to rescue her business. She did it, she conquered The Big One. So with Dylan being in school, she finally got her opportunity to be the oldest one. The "leader," if you will. She jumped at the opportunity to show Dayne the ropes. Much to her chagrin, little Dayne raced up the stairs and down the slide before she even knew what was happening. With no hesitation. He even wound up backwards once! That show-boater :)

So for a few hours it was a whirlwind of slides, swings, and jungle gyms (OH MY!)

There was no shortage of kids at the park today, that's for sure! We had the pleasure of meeting a handsome little gentleman who goes by the name of Treagan. That little guy was hands down the most polite child at the park! And believe me when I tell you: a polite child at this particular park is NOT the norm. He saw me taking pictures and kept asking me to take his picture too. What a HAM! Good for his mom and dad for a job well done :)

Baby Dalys isn't so sure about the whole playground concept, but she's definitely on board for any and all enterprises that require naked  baby feet :) But what she really wants to know is: who in the heck is shining that light right into her eyes?! What a cutie pie :)

It's that time of year again!

It's been a long few months for us since the MLS season ended, but last Saturday it was finally time!  It was our opening game against none other than the L.A. Galaxy. In true die-hard fan fashion, we decided to make the drive out to show our support. Ryan and I, as well as 7 of our closest friends, piled into the van on Friday afternoon. At about 3:00 a.m., we finally arrived at our destination. (Thank you, Nascar traffic for holding us up for an hour in Las Vegas!)

The game was at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. However, our hotel (which actually turned out to be a hostel) was a short drive away in Inglewood. Yes, you read that correctly. I stayed in Inglewood and am still alive to tell the tale! We went in with 9 of us, and surprisingly enough, all 9 of us made the trek back as well. Bullet hole free! ;) (I joke about it, but the place we stayed wasn't bad, and it was SUPER cheap for all of us to stay.)

So after a good night's rest, and the most amazing meal I've ever consumed in my life (thanks to C&O's in Venice Beach,) we were ready for a good game of soccer. Going into this, we all knew we would be entering a hostile environment. Their fans don't like us, and we are not their biggest fans either. The first game seems to set the tone for the whole season. We had some injuries that kept some our star players on the bench, so naturally, I was a little nervous. That is, until I saw that we were in attack mode, and wouldn't settle for anything less than win. And a win is exactly what we got!

After the game, exiting the stadium was purely comedic. Their fans were just generally pissed off at our existence. Understandably so, we just embarrassed them :) Add the fact that we were from Utah, and it was all over. We heard everything from, "sister wives" to "Mormons suck!" One of our friends that was with us, Shaun, actually got his sweatband stolen right off of his head by an angry game-goer. (Good for you buddy, that's a $1.71 we'll never see again. Burn!)

This win was significant for plenty of reasons. Not only did it set the tone for the rest of the season, but we got to watch our team destroy the Galaxy's unbeaten streak at home. (No losses at their home stadium since November 2010.) It was a great feeling. The Galaxy are very similar to the Lakers in that they have the most money, and they have the most expensive players therefore everyone always expects to win. NOT this year. You go ahead and pull out your checkbook, Bruce Arena, but you can't put a pricetag on the heart and drive it takes to play a respectable game of soccer.

The girls hanging out by the pool at our hostel

At C&O's taking a picture with our waiter

GO RSL! SLTID!

This is the mess of confetti we covered everyone in when we won the game!

(...in case you were wondering how 9 adults entertain themselves being in a van for 12 hours at a time, wonder no more. The answer is wasabi peas.)

This is a miracle? Really.....?

Yesterday morning, Ryan was being the awesome husband he is and was washing the dishes. For those of you who know Jaylinne, you know she loves to help. No matter what it is that you're doing, if you need help, she is your girl! So wouldn't you just know it, whilst Ryan was elbows deep in pots and pans, Jaylinne was right beside him. She was so cute, perched up on the counter and ready to be put to work :) Every now and then I'd hear her squeal, "This is what life is for!?" and, "This is a miracle!?" 

If she thinks THIS is what life is for, I can't wait to see her reaction when she is introduced to the wonderful world of Vacuuming! ;)