a BIG surprise

My mom was at my grandma's house for a week and I was missing her terribly.  Suddenly, on a Thursday, she texted to see if I wanted to skype.  I got on, but she was having troubles with her computer.  As we were on the phone to figure it out, I heard a knock on my door.  I peeped out my peephole and saw some guy in shades and a hat.  Not wanting to bother with a salesman when I was wanting to talk to my mom, I decided not to answer.  He knocked again.  And again.  Pretty soon, he was knocking and knocking and knocking without stopping.  Talk about ANNOYING!  I looked through the peephole again and saw him putting his ear up to the door to listen for inside noise.  Talk about CREEPY!  I vowed to mom that I was NOT going to open that door.  Finally, I looked again and couldn't believe my eyes!  I swung open the door and there stood my mom, dad, and older brother Dave (the creepy and annoying salesman I hadn't recognized). 
 SURPRISE!!!

The whole time they were here, we pretty much just hung out, though we did have a few adventures: $1 scoop night at Handels, BBQ at the park, picnics, pool and splash pad fun, Molly's Souper for breakfast, Islands Restaurant for lunch, Redlands Temple, and Disneyland!

  That was one of the best surprises of my life!  Thanks for coming to visit, Dad, Mom, and Dave!!!  Let's do that again sometime:)

Summertime Means...Agua

Raquel's new love - splash pads

During our week-long stay-cation, we tripped over to the splash pad at the mall.  It was Raquel's first experience with these mini water parks.  As soon as she saw all the kiddos running around screaming and frolicking, she joined right in.  

Now, being the practical mom, I was thinking Luis could walk with her around the outskirts of the water, seeing as how she was only in a onesie.  However, being the exciting dad, Luis took her right into the fray.  She had a blast.  I guess I need to learn to let loose sometimes.

 

Disneyland!!!

Every now and then, Luis gets a week off between rotations.  He had one in May and it will be his last one until December.  We expected him to work the whole week, but when he didn't get any hours, we decided to stay-cation the whole week.  (Which meant we mostly ran errands.)  At the last minute, we had a surge of splurge and bought tickets to Disneyland!  It was our first time with little missy, but as always, she amazed us and was fabulous all day - even with no nappo.

Doesn't this first image of Disneyland just get you excited?!?

Raquel was a little unsure at first, but as the day progressed, she started getting the hang of the rides.

She L.O.V.E.D. the splash pad area!  That is, until some little hoodlum plowed into her...grrrrr:(

At dinnertime, we discovered The Golden Horseshoe, a little place to eat that is fashioned after the saloon from Calamity Jane.  Remember that classic?

I still can't believe we got to go, but I'm sure glad we did!

Pillow

I made another pillow.  It made me happy.  The end.

Mother's Day

I love that on Mother's Day, Luis doesn't have to go to early morning meetings and can be with Raquel and I as we get ready for church.  (Though somehow, Raquel still ended up at my feet whilest I curled my hair.  Why is that?)

I was happy and delighted to receive a cute new pair of shoes and my first orchid EVER.  

Unnecessary

As I pulled out batch of cookies number nine from my oven today, I was taught an important life lesson that I would like to share.

It is almost never necessary to make cookie dough that calls for 7 cups of flour.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, which I will outline below.

• It is your neighbor gift at Christmastime.
• You are hosting an event and expecting 108 guests.
• You have 17 offspring that require brown bag lunches every day.
• You run your own bakery.
• You are planning on freezer-storing a year's worth of Family Home Evening treats.
•  Your name is Annette Ferguson, you are having a few family members over for lunch, and you're worried about not having enough food.
• You are the PTA president embarking on a bake sale.

Otherwise, it is unnecessary.  Next time, I'll remember.

Just a Little This and That

This is mostly for Megan, since she needs something to do at work.  Boy, we really haven't been up to much.  I like to imagine that we can move into a bigger apartment so I search nearby apartments three times a week.  I guess I've been doing that.  Oh yeah, I've also been reading.  You know when you have a phenomenal book and spend every spare second reading?  I've been doing that.  I've been looking at Pinterest.  I've been baking (which occurs because I look at pinterest).  I've been spring cleaning.  I've been Relief-Societing.  I've been playing with magnetic letters...oh wait, that's what Raquel's been doing.

She's also been giving piggy-back rides to her friend, Peanut.

She despises when I wet her hair so we can scrunch it up in pretty curls, but its so cute, I can't resist!

I especially love what it turns out like post-nap.

We've made it down to the pool  a couple times once, so we've already been developing fabulous tans.  Bet you can't do that in Utah right now:)

Yikes!  I sound so lazy.  I promise I'm not.  I just like to exaggerate.  Life is good:)  By the way, in case you are in need of some good news:  3 1/2 more months!!!  Hooray!  

Okay okay, now calm down and go snip another link off your countdown.