Tres Hermanas

I love getting together with my sisters,

and unfortunately,

it's not often enough.

Thankfully,

with the leisure of summer,

there's a little more flexibility in the schedule

for getting together.

Today,

we traveled to Marysville for
a little fun in the sun!

{I love how Ava begins and ends this journey...}

 We ate some snacks on the lawn before we hit the water...

Ava & Taylor

We took a break for lunch...

...and Taylor made me laugh!

I was teasing her for having sleepy eyes...

...so she obliged me with opening up those beautiful peepers!

{How do I have blond-haired and blue-eyed nieces?!?}

Owen's up on his water consumption!

And Gabriel's down with keeping the bod protected from the sun!

{Such health-conscious boys!}

Now we just have to work on keeping your food IN your mouth...

Beautiful girls:

Isabella and my younger sister,
Julia Maria Sabrina!

Gabe's a total baby about getting in the water.

When it was almost time to go,

that's when he wanted to
mosey on over to the water.



Water-fun was short-lived.

This boy thrives on a different kind of liquid...

We had a great time, Sophia!

Thanks for having us out,

and we definitely need to do this again!

{Sweet dreams, Ava!}

High Adventure Trek & The County Fair

This is Samuel's first year in the Young Men's program at church,

and one of the biggest perks of working with the Varsity Scouts

is their annual High Adventure Trek. 

This year,

they went white-water rafting (I'm so jealous!),

and a big highlight for him was seeing a Bald Eagle for the first time!

While dad was away,

I wanted to do something really fun with the kids too.

Lucky for us,

the County Fair was in full swing...

so off we went!

I was so proud of Owen! 

He was determined to ride the cars,

even when no one else would ride with him!

The downside:

He hated the ride.

And was pretty traumatized from that point forth!

My girls were pretty awesome too!

They all wanted to ride the ferris wheel-SCARY!

To met at least,

I'm terrified of the things!

They loved it though,

and I'm thrilled no one fell out!

 While we waited for the girls,
me and the boys had a great time just relaxing
picnic-style on the lawn.



Later, I held my first scorpion...

...and the kids fell in love with the cows!

{They missed, dad!}

My daredevils tackled the swings next...

and don't ask me what I'm going to do

when they're old enought to want to ride the Zipper!



It was a really fun night out! 

Sometimes it's daunting taking them all out by myself,

but these are the best kids in the world

and they make me laugh and smile so much!

Crazy-delicious Homemade Sushi

So, it's no newsflash that I love to eat. 

And basically, it's so bad that I'm just like the person who gets distracted by something shiny.

If I see, hear, or read about it...

I want it!  

And unfortunatley,

the condition worsens the later it gets.

So once more, it's 9:40 at night and I think:

We can totally make sushi.

Right?

So I get to work (I say work but it's really "play")

preparing the rice and shrimp,

while Samual handles all the veggies,

and... 

Voila!

Sure, they were huge. 

But boy, were they good!

There was even some leftover that had "Olivia's lunch"
written all over it!

So get off the couch and make something!

And then eat...

and get back on the couch!

{smile}

This is life...

Seeing a little piece of you...

in them.

It's incredibly humbling.

Weeds, Work, & Love

Samuel and I participated in the state-wide,
"Mormon Helping Hands" service project
alongside tens of thousands of members of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California. 

Weed-eaters in hands,
we took to a lengthy section of Roseville's biketrails
and cleared the over-growth. 

It was an invigorating experience,

and my favorite moment was hearing of how a local neighbor

 saw what we were doing and jumped in to help out. 

The spirit of this gospel is catching,

and I am grateful to be apart of this great work

and to share it with others.

After the project Samuel and I were starving! 

We headed to Togos for our favorite:  The Number 24. 

And laughed at the number of odd looks we garnered

for being covered from head to toe in remnants of wild brush!

Even though we talked very little during the project-
the noise from the weed-eaters made it virtually impossible
to hear anything!-
I felt close to my sweetheart.
 
It was definitely an experience that drew us closer together.

Service has a way of doing that.

Mother & Daughter Tea

The girls school held their first annual Mother & Daughter Tea.  I volunteered to dress a table, and it was so fun getting out the nice dishes to create a whimsical setting for my daughters.

After setting up, there was a mad dash for home to get ready for the event.  This was real dress-up affair, and the girls and I had fun getting girly and posing for pictures on the lawn.

The tea party itself was amazing!  And I wish I took photos of all the delicious treats.  I don't think anyone managed to snap a photo though, in the blink of an eye they were all gone!

We had some great mother-daughter time, and this tradition is something we'll surely continue!  I especially can't wait for my youngest daughter, Iris, to join us.  She played tea-party at home with dad, but I know she'll be thrilled to join our table next year as an honest-to-goodness kindergartner!

Until then...

One lump or two?

First Freebies

I'm officially in!

Couponing is awesome!

Yes, it's quite labor intensive.  

At least I find that to be true now.

But the rewards are so, so sweet!

{Sometimes literally so!}

Happy Smart Shopping!

31 and Melting...

On March 14th I celebrated my 31st birthday!

Samuel planned an evening at the Melting Pot, and we dined on all things savory and sweet.  It was a night to remember, especially considering I dipped sweet n' sour pickles (which I hate!), into cheese and LOVED it!

The ambiance is incredible-

how you beat mini-booths?

-and let's face it, 

fondue is the ULTIMATE play with your food concept!

The main course was amazing, everything from lobster to ravioli's, but the best part was choosing from eight sauces to complement each bite.  My favorite was the New York Strip with a creamy blue cheese sauce.  Incredible!

Samuel favored the shrimp with the horseradish, and as you can see, it went down well...

The best is, of course, always last!

It really was too much, and aside from the strawberries-which just scream: Dip me in chocolate!-The cocoa crusted marshmallows rocked!

Where can you buy those?!?

Now for the absolute best part of my birthday...

Breakfast with the kiddies!

They served me an egg-white omelet with spinach and mozzarella, decorated the house with handmade party decor, presented me with a bevy of gifts, and tons of hugs and kisses!

Does life get any better?!?

Well, yes.  

My sister Sophia treated me to an evening of dinner and shopping!

{Okay, it's not "better", but it certainly was fun!}

I love that we're mommies now and can get together as sisters AND friends!  Especially when it seems like just yesterday that we were kicking and scratching each other...yes, we duked it out back in the day.

All told, my birthday was fabulous!

Thank you my sweet family!

XOXO

Me