Vaca Part 3..... California.... (Yes, this is the final chapter)

I don't know if I'm ready to tackle this... it took a couple hours just to decide on which pictures to use, put them in order, upload and size them all. I feel fairly ridiculous.... but I've had a few friends make positive comments this past week about my blog, so fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I've been encouraged to continue the madness :)

And so it began......

Saturday

A last minute decision for my dad to stay back with David until Monday, meant Trav was the man of the bus! Right as we hit the dunes going into California, the tread on a tire on the trailer blew out. It was scortching hot, but we all utilized the brush to prevent another potty stop and Trav put his {man skills} to good use. And we all learned that the border patrol is alive and well, when a uniformed man in an unmarked car drove slowly by us, very soon after pulling off onto this remote exit. 

Casey, Shelley, their two kids, and Marcie got to Oceanside about the same time we did which turned out great since we needed Casey's mad skills to back the trailer into the itty bitty beach house garage, with cars lining both streets and traffic stopped to allow the manuver. Oh yeah, and then the power steering went out right in the middle of it all, which left us with one car for the next two days while Sharon (the suburban) got fixed.

A yummy burrito from Johnny Manana's made it all better though.

Sunday

Sunday morning we graced the Oceanside 1st Ward with our presence. I was so excited to get to go to Relief Society (I've been in YW for 4 years) and not have it be a Visiting Teaching Conference! Joke was on me. The three of us sat down and were promptly handed a visiting teaching handout to go with the lesson. I don't know if they really appreciated us there when I giggled (ok, maybe snickered... sorry it just came out) as a woman passionately described the power of women and visiting teaching even though we don't have the "Priesthood" and aren't "heads of the household" which she did indeed "air quote" each time with her fingers and say with more than a touch of sarcasm. I didn't mean to be disrespectful, but when you air quote the priesthood like it's some made up power, I think that's kind of funny.

It was a fast Sunday, so we tried to divert our attention with some dominos... this was the first of only two games we ended up playing. I was sad.

And then snarfed on soft tacos and some sort of amazing Giradelli cookies that Marcie made.

We walked along the beach later that day and this is about when Collin learned that he hated the ocean. Those darn waves just come up so suddenly and quickly and drench you in cold, salty water. He was not a fan.

Monday

We beat the sun out to the beach Monday morning and had to stay wrapped in jackets and blankets for a couple hours. The nice thing about this beach house was, it was so far from any public access points, that we literally had it all to ourselves! The only other people that we saw, were those that were walking by. This did mean we had to forgo our lovely {crack baring} friend from last year, but we adjusted. 

Dinner at the harbor.... deep fried fish, shrimp and pineapple! My mom started dispersing $20's to us couples so we could order on our own, which was generous enough to begin with, but what was so funny was that after we had all ordered, she came up frantically trying to give us more money, saying she was sorry she didn't give us enough the first time! We all looked at her strangely, and refused... we had ordered plenty with the $20, but then we learned that while ordering for her and Craig alone, she had spent nearly $50! We died laughing! Craig is 9. How is that possible?! I love my mom and her taste buds... .and even after all that teasing, we ended up eating everything she ordered.

My dad, brother and cousin, Trennon, arrived later that night to find that Shelley and I were corrupting the rest of the family with the Bachelorette finale. Shameless, I know. Trav elected to enrich his mind with Hot Rod in the other room instead. We have such good taste.

Tuesday

More beach!

Someone needed to be buried.

Someone DID NOT like sunscreen being rubbed in his face.

Someone thought a sandcastle would be fun to build... turns out, it's not that fun and it didn't even look like a sand castle.

And someone read a book all week that got her a lot of teasing (but it's not what you think! My marriage is not in trouble, and the title is very deceiving)

Oh, and {someones} celebrated their 28th wedding anniverary! Hooray for Mom and Dad!

The evenings resulted in cousins having fun... even in boxes, and more eating of course. This time, Trav and I made dinner and I must say it turned out pretty darn good. We made grilled pineapple and teryaki chicken kabobs, mango and avacado salsa, and coconut rice, served with black beans and chips! And jello cake for dessert. I got all the recipes from Natalie Dayton's blog if you'd like to steal them! :)

Wednesday

We had heard lots about this restaurant called Beach Break Cafe, which was within walking distance of the beach house. Well, we needed some energy for SeaWorld, so we started our day there. It was indeed as tasty as we'd heard. Now I have the secret ingredient for making yummy Strawberry Crunch French Toast. (coat it in Honey Bunches of Oats!)

 Collin dined on Cheetos. His choice. 

Sea World

The customary, yearly picture...

We did it (hang head). We bought a leash. It seemed the only feasible option for a runner who doesn't like his stroller for long and doesn't understand "Don't run away or you'll get it!" Well, it didn't work, so we only embarrassed ourselves for about 10 min.

Here he is trying make off with a stuffed penguin in yet another gift shop. Onlookers were very amused with his get-a-way plan. Grab and run!

Getting psyched for Sesame Street's 4D experience!

You can't end the day at SeaWorld without a funnel cake. (Mom decided to clean out the gift shops instead :)This was about when Collin's stomach had had enough of frozen lemonade, cotton candy, and popcorn and decided to share with the stroller.

The final show...Shamu Rocks! The fam even made it onto the big screen with their dance moves and glow in the dark sticks. After some fire works it was time to call it a night.

Thursday

Beach day #3

Lane was so cute, going "surfing" on his boogie board. He would spend hours waiting for strong enough waves to wash up and move his board a bit. Collin crawled on, right as a dreaded wave struck... he didn't get a drop on him, but he cried nonetheless. Grandpa took him for a spin on a board and this time a wave unseated and drenched him. I don't believe he'll be trusting his well-intentioned grandpa anytime soon.

By this point, Collin was spending WAY too much time with Uncle David. We caught him with a knife (yes, plastic) and lighter that had been given to him by said uncle. Hi-yah!

Friday

The girls were in need of a shopping fix on Friday morning and we were more than tickled when my mom offered to treat us each to a new purse. Heaven. She probably wished she had never said anything when I took nearly a half an hour deciding on which one. Purse selecting is serious business. If you are ever in Oceanside, hit up The Closet, for some cute, cheap goods!

Lunch at Ruby's on the pier...

 is it apparent yet that we like to eat? I think we ate out way more on this trip than ever before and I was loving every second. I have a serious downfall when it comes to eating out. There is nothing better than being served delicious food and then not having to do any dishes. 

Collin downed a whole bowl of Mac'nCheese and topped it off with his new favorite snack... Pringle Honey Butter Stix. They are like straight sticks of butter. No wonder he loves them. 

After a final day of sand and water, we ate our traditiona dinner of take- out pizza on the beach. (I am officially craving, french fries, pizza, and Black Cherry milkshakes. sigh.)

Saturday

Saturday morning is usually the day we leave, but this time it was just Trav and I to take off... the rest had made a last minute decision to stay 'til Tuesday. My brother Jefferson, who was on the National Jamboree, was supposed to come on Friday, but his flight had been delayed, so they extended the trip so he could come on Saturday and stay a few days.

The Grandparents and grandsons....

Collin got one last {tackle hug} from Laners.

We all drove into San Diego to pick up Jefferson and simultaneously check us and our baggage in.

Then it was off to Phil's BBQ for lunch, before we had to catch our flight. This place is so popular, there is nearly always a line out the door. They accomadated our group of 13 very well. :)

Here are all the Lindblom chil'ns, minus Christopher :( and the grandkids. We missed Christopher and Jael on this trip!

It was sad to say goodbye. It's always hard to leave and be {alone} again after weeks of friends and family. We had a layover in Vegas before embarking to Buffalo, and since it wasn't a full flight, we got an extra seat for Collin. A blessing straight from above. I had to capture a few of his poses as he watched Curious George. So funny. Even though it was a long day of traveling, the flights went off without a hitch and we arrived home around midnight to our {cabin smelling} home. Why does it always smell like that after being gone for a while? While it was so nice to put Collin down in his own crib, in his OWN room for bed, my heart ached a little bit to be back. Thank you Mom and Dad for providing a wonderful vacation for us! We had the time of our lives and wish we could do it over and over again.  

Vaca Home... Part 2... Greer

Well, I'm going to try to cut back on the wordiness... since I've obviously overcompensated with pictures. (However, I felt much better about myself when my FIL sent a Smilebox consisting of over 300 pictures of this one week..... I was shocked when I came home from an almost 3 week vacation with 200 pictures.... apparently that's not too bad :)

I got a blessing the night before we left, but the trip out to Greer was still awful. Maybe I was lacking on faith... not sure, but things did get better by Tuedsday. That was a blessing! I was afraid I was actually going to lose weight on this vacation as opposed to gaining the mandatory 3-5 lbs. I've never wanted to gain weight so badly! (Not literally of course, but I was more than willing if it meant I got to eat.)

The whole extended, Evans family came up for the week in Greer which meant a full house of chaos, children, and good times. I'll admit I was a little worried about cabin fever or maybe toes getting stepped on, but it honestly was a really fun week. If anything, it was our stinky child that annoyed others with his pre-dawn rise and shine routine.

We had a relaxed, memorable week doing.....

1. Ummm, nothing.... ok, lots of visiting- especially at night. Talking is probably one of my favorite things ever.

2. Listening to some sweet guitar tunes

(Trevor will be working on Dave Mathews, Eric Clapton, and Jack Johnson for next time :)

3. Riding the zip line & swing (aka- roller coaster... it took me all week to figure out that's what the kids were referring to)

4. Just walkin'

(I may have attempted running once and it may have ended very, very badly)

5. Playing games!

Namely: Kan Jam, Mexican Train, and Quelf

(Always good pics of Quelf.... Trevor going armless and getting dessert fed to him... slow dancing with Megan at the Prom [This is a good example of how I am a GIANT compared to Trav's family... seriously it was disturbing to me how big I looked in this picture... what is wrong with me?!].... and Trevor belly dancing. I don't think he reads this blog so I think I'm safe from any grudges.)

6. Going on scavenger hunts!

Grandma is quite amazing and arranged for the grandkids to go on a scavenger hunt EVERY DAY. The "treasure" always coincided with a teaching of Jesus and included a fun toy or treat. Hence the bubbles that Collin is LOVING. Can a smile get any bigger?

7. Hangin' (haha, get it?I'm a nerd) with aunts, uncles, and cousins! Count 5 people on this hammock and then one more even jumped on.

Collin seriously was loving life at the cabin. He had limitless people to play with and even got to where he preferred his aunts and uncles to us. I don't really blame him. Luckily, he was usually obliged when he reached up to be carried or asked for a book to be read to him, etc etc. And hopefully they won't mind when we visit again, since he did some damage to poor Adele's and Kayda's fingers. He has the habit of closing ALL doors when they're open and some fingers may have gotten mangled. It was sad.  

8. ReADiNg!! Hooray for books! Paula is sportin' her new Kindle.. fancy shmancy, while the rest of us do with paper and ink. This photo really wasn't posed either. (Disregard Trevor :) It was great to be among fellow readers.

9. Watchin' some tv. Collin was again viewing Curious George when suddenly he had visitors...

The day we left we all got together for a group picture. We ended up leaving on Thursday to make it back in town for a friend's wedding reception and to stop by my family's extended family camping trip.

The Lindblom side of my family gets together every summer at Woods Canyon Lake area for a few days of camping. We've only gone once since we've gotten married and it was our only chance to see Grandmother, so we pulled in for a couple of hours on our way home. Just long enough for Collin to ride Craig's motorcycle and get comfortable enough with Grandmother to finally give her a hug goodbye. (This picture shows what he did every other time she tried to get close.... such a stinker.)

It was good to see some extended family, even if it was just for a minute and I had a blast at Julie's reception. I got to see my good friend, LaRee, there along with a whole bunch of other people we haven't seen since we moved. I felt a bit like I was at a high school reunion or something. We could hardly walk two steps without stopping to visit with someone new.

Then we spent Friday doing laundry, re-packing, shopping, and getting ready to go to California. We even had time for some Panda Express, Mesa Frozen, and Nielsen's Frozen Custard. I was serious about that weight gain thing. We were able to visit one of Trav's friends, Chase, and his wife and a few other friends that night so it was fun to be able to be in Mesa for even just one more day.

Thanks Paula and Wayne for organizing a great trip in Greer. We already miss the Evans and look forward to our next visit!

Summer Vacation Home.. Part 1.. AZ

Tuesday afternoon (July 20) we packed up and flew home to AZ. I wouldn't have called the flight a nightmare.... but I would have if I had been alone. 5 1/2 hours with a 16 month old on your lap and no where to go, is not pleasant. He didn't sleep at all, but he had Curious George to entertain him and a bag full of toys and snacks to tear apart. Luckily, it was a direct flight with no setbacks, so once we landed, we were home free.

Trav's parents picked us up and took us to Gecko Grill for dinner. Words don't describe how much I revere that establishment and their shrimp burrito. Heaven. Then we spent the next few hours at Trav's parents house, visiting. Reddin and Karen stopped by with their kids, so since we had quite a few of them together, we decided to share our baby news. We told them that Collin had some {tricks} to share..... we asked him where his nose was and waited for him to point to it, then his hair and ears... then we asked where the baby was! He was supposed to reach for my stomach, but he hadn't quite perfected that part yet, so we had to help him out. Everyone was really excited and it was fun to have the cat out of the bag. Trav's sister is due the same time I am so it will be interesting to see what we both end up having.

Around 8pm, we realized Collin should probably get to bed (seeing as how it was 11pm, NY time) so we headed to my parents' house. My mom is the video camera queen, so she pulled it right out when we walked in, and we figured it would be fun to again share Collin's {tricks} with the camera rolling. He didn't do so hot the second time. I think he maybe found his nose, before he was tired of "playing". So we helped him again to find the baby. Now it was official... both families knew! 

The next day was my birthday (27th, I believe) and we had plans to go to a new water park in Phoenix, Wet 'N Wild, with my twin sister, her husband, my younger sister, and mom. Well, as is quite typical in our family.... there was an incident that revealed itself that morning that prevented my mom from coming. Thanks a lot, David :) And Marcie bowed out also, so it was just the four of us! First, while we waited for Shelley's husband to get off work we decided to grab lunch at the posh, Crackers & Co. .... in our swim wear. We asked if we could sit outside, so we didn't feel too awkward.

It actually turned out to be a really fun day. With words of warning from my mother in my head about being pregnant, I very cautiously went on ALL the rides :) (minus 1) and screamed my head off the WHOLE time (quite hysterically.... I can't help myself). We dined on nummy pretzels with extra cheese and snow cones, had fun putting scary, or otherwise {special} people on each other's "teams" (thanks Rach!), and were fascinated by the modern day technology applied to the {scan and open} lockers.

On our way home we stopped in at.... can you guess....... Gecko Grill for dinner! We got the same waitress who recognized her repeat customers and made a comment about our obvious like of seafood burritos. :) When we walked in my parents house we were greeted with huge bouquets of ballons courtesy of my mom and a platter of delicious cupcakes made by Marcie..... and an empty house. But we didn't have to wait too long for everyone to show up and for our chance to blow out our candles. Such a glamor shot of that one. I had to take a picture of Marcie with the ominous sign she posted next to her treats. In our house, you can't just write "don't eat" on food... that's not scary enough.... you must make lethal threats to keep your food safe. :)

So it seems I must eat my words from a previous post about birthdays not being such a big deal. I felt like quite a big deal turning 27. It was great to spend it with my twin... have a day without the anklebiter (thanks Paula, Trevor, and Marcie!) ... scream lots, eat lots, and have lots of fun!

The next day I got to spend the morning with my peeps, Jenni and Leah. They brought their kiddos over to go swimming and have pizza. Since we only get to see each other maybe twice a year, we spent lots of time talking and catching up. I am amazed by Leah and all her {political-ness} and Jenni and all her {mother hen-ness}. The girl has 4 kids under 6. Wow. Thanks for coming over girls... I had a blast.

It was also Marcie's birthday that day, so she had a bunch of friends over that night to celebrate.

Since she couldn't get drunk, I suppose spinning in circles and swinging at a pinata is second best. I made a {better than you-know-what cake} for everyone to eat and didn't even get a piece myself because my stomach wasn't doing too hot. This is not unusual for me, but it had been going on for several weeks and only getting worse. The medicine wasn't doing the trick anymore and I was in severe pain to top it off. We were supposed to be leaving to Greer in a day and I didn't know how I was going to manage that with things going so quickly downhill. Since I couldn't go see a regular doctor (with out of state insurance) we ended up going to the ER, late that night. Of course, we waited for hours, had my blood drawn, got an ultra sound to check the baby and make sure it wasn't my appendix, and some other tests, but nothing was conclusive. They basically told me that because I was pregnant, they couldn't do all the tests, and I'd need to see a GI specialists. So they prescribed some pain killers and sent me home. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was hoping for more answers than just a narcotic. I've pretty much self-diagnosed myself with some research (just call me Dr. Stephanie) and I think I have ulcerative colitis. Does anyone have any experience or advice with this? It's in the same family as Crohn's Disease and from what I've read is usually treated with steroids or more seriously, with surgery. Yuck. It's been the bane of my exitstence for the last 10 years and I'm really getting tired of it.

ANYWAY, we got home bright and early Friday morning, around 6:30am and of course Collin was already up and ready for the day. (He didn't do too well with the time change... usually waking up between 5 and 6am. Double yuck) So my mom graciously watched him for the next 6 hours or so while Trav and I slept. That pretty much killed our Friday. The next day we left for Greer to spend a week with Trav's family at a cabin which will be the next post!

Until then, I thought it was appropriate to end with some shots of Collin thoroughly enjoying himself at my parent's house. This is Marcie's stuffed bear that he found and instantly made friends with. He'd literally attack it and then roll around on it, giggling and laughing like it was the most fun he'd ever had. If we could all be so easily entertained...

Some Good News and.... GOOD NEWS!

The month before we left for AZ, Trav had been well acquainted with this area of our house... the basement. No, he wasn't in the {dog house}, he was studying for the boards. Occasionally he'd come up for fresh air or victuals, but other than that he was mostly MIA. He took the exam on July 17, then off we went on our trip knowing his results would likely be waiting for us when we got back.

The day after we got home, I went off to the store and the mail came. He patiently waited over an hour for me to get back before opening it. (And even posed for a picture... what a guy).

He PASSED! Hooray!

Congrats Trav! This was no easy thing to study for and I know it took a lot of hard work and effort to make it happen so I am very proud of him!

Ok, that's the good news, and now for the GOOD NEWS.....

we are expecting another baby in February!

Sadly, I went through my picture archives looking for the picture of the day I took the test, and couldn't find one. I forgot to take one! I guess this is a good indication of how {on top of things} I'll be with #2. Poor child.

 I am feeling fine, until I get hungry... then the nausea sets in. It's wise to have crackers with me at all times. I may be a tad bit more emotional also.... a month or so ago I was having a crying spell and memoaning my hormones when Trav muttered, "It's gotta be a girl". Everyone else seems to agree. But we won't know for at least a month. In the meantime I am on the hunt for sundresses or moomoos/mumus (is that how you spell it?) This humidity is killing me!

Hoping to Adopt

Well, we are back from vacation and still recovering..... we had a great time, but didn't get much sleep and are still catching up. I have so much to blog about, I'm feeling like procrastinating indefinitely! It got to where, every picture I took, started to weigh on my shoulders, knowing it would make my posting that much longer. Ugh! I just keep reminding myself... it's for a good cause :) My kids will appreciate this someday, right?


Anyway, before I even think about tackling our vacation home, I wanted to post about our friends, Ryan and Rachel, that are wanting to adopt. They just got their adoption papers and application approved so it is available to be viewed HERE.


I'm not sure how much I should go into, but I really cannot say enough good things about Ryan and Rachel. They really give whole new meaning to the word {Amazing}.  They have been married almost 5 years and Ryan is going into his last year of dental school. Rachel is starting her fifth year teaching high school English. Every summer they go to El Salvador to volunteer at an orphanage of disabled children (and adults) and even spent their first three months of marriage there, volunteering.


It breaks my heart that they haven't been able to have kids, because I can't think of anyone that would be better parents. I haven't actually told them this yet, but Trav and I have jokingly (ok, maybe seriously) talked about how, if something were to happen to us, we would be thrilled to have them raise our kids. No offense family! One day we were just discussing options and they came up and we just looked at each other like, hey, they would be awesome! We would totally put them on our will! (Don't worry Rach.... we aren't actually going to do that to you... but we certainly would have no problem with it either! :) The point is, that we just 100% would trust them and know that our kids would be loved, taught the gospel, taken care of, and thrive in their care.


They are going through LDS adoptions services and I guess the ratio of families wanting to adopt, verses the number of babies given up for adoption is hugely off balance. There are WAY more wanting to adopt than babies available. So it's important to spread the word near and far. If you know of a situation where a mother is looking for a family to adopt her baby, I couldn't recommend Rachel and Ryan more.

If you want to get to know them better through their blog, click HERE. If you want to add their button to your blog, there are instructions on how to that on her blog also.