Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Robert and I have left sunny southern California (although its been pretty rainy recently) for the blizzard conditions of Utah. We had a very white Christmas in at my parents house in Magna. It has hardly stopped snowing since we got here. Luckily we travelled before the storm so we had perfect weather driving up. I'm so glad now we get the next week and a half to sit around and veg! Hope everyone else is enjoying their holidays.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas Eve party on my mom's side of the family

The "inside" half for La Posada singing to us (the outside half) that there is no room (the family splits in half and reenacts through song the journey of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem as they try to find a place to sleep)Robert and I as Joseph and Mary for La Posada (after they let us in)

Joseph is also quite handy at hanging up the pinata.

All the granddaughters. (above)

Robert and I with Santa Claus aka my Dad (shh, don't tell any of the little kids (below)

Three and a Half Hours

Three and a half hours. That's how long it took me to get home from work today because this accident shut down all but one lane of the freeway my bus takes to get home. Three hours on the bus! There has got to be a bright side to this right? Oh yeah, after an hour and a half the bus decided to get off the freeway and take surface streets, so I got to see a whole lot of Christmas lights! Robert was smart enough to work from home today, so he completely missed it all. Lucky. He must be psychic.

In the Air There's a Feeling of Christmas

We have a Christmas tree! I'm so happy to finally have this key holiday decoration after three years of not having one. Having a tree is very exciting because this will only be the second time in the five Christmases Robert and I have spent together that we have had a Christmas tree. The last time was the year we had our first wedding anniversary (not to be confused with our first Christmas together, that was three days after our wedding) when my cousin lent us his artificial tree. We've always spent Christmases away from home, so it wasn't too big of a deal, but I always missed not having a tree in the days leading up to Christmas.

P.S. I'm also very glad to have Robert back after he was in Georgia for a week for training. Having him gone really made me realize how happy I am to have him around everyday.

Our Ultrasound Visit

I wrote this more so I could remember our experience, but you're welcome to read the following about our ultrasound visit if it looks interesting to you.

We had our ultrasound on Thursday, a little later than we had thought. At the last doctor’s appointment the doctor told us that our next appointment they would do the ultra-sound and measure the baby etc. So we showed up on Monday thinking that we were having our ultrasound, but all the doctor did was test the heart beat and tell me that my back aches and dizzy spells were normal. Apparently you have to schedule ultra-sound visits separately from regular checkups. But when your doctor says, “at your next appointment we will do the ultrasound” you assume it will be that day, not go and schedule it that day for a different day!

So we went back three days later for our ultrasound visit. They told me to drink four cups of water one hour before. So I drank what I felt like was the right amount, 4 glasses of water, before I left work about and hour and a half before the appointment. By the time we got to the doctors office I had to go to the bathroom, but couldn't. Then we had to sit in the waiting room for an hour. All the while I just couldn’t wait to get it over with so I could finally use the restroom. After a while I couldn’t even concentrate on anything but not peeing my pants. I kept thinking that any second I was going to have to go up and ask to use the restroom so I could pee a little, but I never did, hoping that they would just call us finally.

Finally they called us. The room was all dark and there were three other people in there, which I thought was odd. Turns out one was the ultrasound technician, the other two were there for training. The technician said he would just take all his measurements of the baby first, then I could go to the bathroom and they would look at the baby some more. He saw my bladder was extremely full from the ultrasound pictures and was quick doing the measurements. I was so relieved! He told Robert when I went to the bathroom that I must have drank much too much water. I thought I drank what they asked me to! Before I went to the bathroom the technician said he was able to see what we were having, and said he could tell us after I got back from the bathroom.

I was much more comfortable when I came back from the bathroom. The technician looked at the baby some more, and said, “yup, definitely know what you’re having,” but didn’t tell us what it was. I thought, “He’s so confident, it must be a boy.” Then the other two technicians in training both did the same measurements while the technician watched. While one of them was measuring the head Robert said, “He has a head!” The student said, “Yeah, he has everything! Or she does.” So then I thought, “is it a girl, or is she just saying that to throw us off?”

Turns out it really was a girl! The technician asked the students if they could tell what it was and they said yes. It was a girl! I was so surprised! I thought for sure with the Wheat gene’s I was going to have a boy first. They asked if she had a name and I said right away, “Julia.” When the students were done with their measurements the technician looked at the baby again and showed us baby Julia. He showed us that she was developing girl parts. Then he took a picture of the “It’s a Girl” shot and told Robert he could have that one on the house.

Baby Julia was moving all around the entire time. The technician said she was trying to make his job harder, because every time she moved he had to reevaluate where all her parts were that he had been trying to measure. I thought she did a good job though so he could definitely see that she was a girl. Good job Julia. He also got a really good view of her foot, and decided to show the technicians how to do it in 3D. So we got a 3D picture of her crossing her little feet.

Afterwards, even though I was happy to have a girl, I was a little sad that I wasn’t going to have a Baby Micah. I had thought of the baby as Baby Micah for so long that I felt like I had had two babies now. I was gaining a Baby Julia, but also losing a Baby Micah. Robert was quick to tell me that I never had a Baby Micah, it was always Baby Julia. Now I’m used to the idea that I have a baby girl! The next couple days I just kept thinking, “we’re having a girl! A girl!”

So Baby Julia looks healthy and is measuring for an April 10^th due date. Haha, it just keeps getting earlier and earlier from April 15.

Introducing...

Baby Julia! It's a girl!

P.S. Robert did find out. His response, "Uncle George, I'm going to need the shotgun."

And here are some of the ultrasounds pictures. They're not very good quality because we couldn't get them to scan, so these are photos of the pictures.

Baby Julia profileBaby Julia's little 3D feet. (This is the only 3D shot they did, I think the technician was just showing off for the two other people who were there training that day) She is crossing her legs, but don't worry she moved around plenty and the technician was sure she was a girl.

Thanksgiving

I bet every blog is going to have a post with the same title. For Thanksgiving we joined the extended Wheat family in Needles, CA, on the Colorado River. It wasn't too far from home and was still with family, which was nice. We missed spending the holiday without any of our siblings or parents, but since we only had a few days off of work we felt it best to stay close this year. I had a great time just chilaxin and Robert had fun golfing and four wheeling.
Dinner was delicious!

We all got Wheaties shirts.

The next day Ken, Robert's uncle, and his fiancee, Barbie, (seriously, what are the odds?) were married in a small ceremony by the river.

We find out tomorrow if our baby is a boy or a girl. The poll revealed that most of our friends and family (and maybe random people) think we should both just found out the sex of the baby. Robert has been walking around all day asking "Should I find out?" I of course tell him my opinion, yes, but also that he is a big boy and can make his own choice. So tomorrow will reveal two surprises, whether we are having a boy or a girl, and whether Robert actually decides to find out.

San Fransisco- The Sightseeing

On Wednesday and Thursday while I was at the conference Robert went and "hoteled in" at the San Fransisco PWC office, meaning, he went and and found an empty cubicle and did his work there. He had a great view of the the bay and (I'm guessing) got a lot of work done. So Saturday we both went out and did sightseeing stuff.

First we went to Alcatraz. Very fun way to start the day. We are the kind of people who make sure we see everything if we have to pay a lot to get in, so we were there for like three hours. We saw the orientation video, did the audio tour of the prison, went on a guided tour by one of the rangers, and went on the Agave trail. The highlight of the trip is seeing the prison because they tell you about the famous people who stayed there and about the escape attempts. We would really recommend the ranger tour because they take you to the back of the island and other places that you don't normally get to see on the tour, and it doesn't cost any extra. The Agave Trail wasn't long at all and you also got to go down to where most people don't go. The trail is closed most times of the year for wildlife conservation, but we were lucky enough to be there when it was open.

After Alcatraz we went to Pier 39 and I got clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowel. I have been craving it recently and I just had to have it while we were there. It reminds me of our honeymoon because we went on our honeymoon by Monterrey and I had clam chowder at like every restaurant because I wanted to find the best (Splash Cafe in Pismo Beach definitely won). So we ate, saw sea lions, and then wandered over to another pier and took a tour of a WWII submarine. That was cool. I can't believe how many men they would pack into that space!

We finished the day by seeing some more ships and then getting hot fudge sundaes at Ghirardelli square. Then we took the trolley back to our hotel. We were actually staying in China Town, so we also looked around the shops by our hotel. And that was basically our trip.

San Fransisco-The Presentation

Last weekend we took a trip up to San Fransisco where I presented my paper from Guatemala at the national American Anthropology Association conference held at the Hilton San Fransisco. Robert came with me and we had a great time checking out San Fransisco.

We got there Wednesday night and I went to the conference all day Thursday and got a feel for the presentations. I didn't present until Friday and I was really glad I had Thursday not to stress and just check out the conference. It was really really fun. There are hundreds of presentations each day so attendees just look through the program book and choose which ones sound interesting. The presentations were all broken down into sessions on a broad topic, and within the session were four or more fifteen minute presentations. Everything is really open so people just come in and leave whenever they want (but usually between presentations). I went to sessions on NGOs, working with migrant children in schools, violence against women, and saw some student films on child soldiers in Nepal and Italian/Texan traditions. It was such a cool experience and the attendees and presenters varied from student to professionals to professors (although there are very few undergrads, especially undergrad presenters). I was really glad I decided to go.

The rooms ranged in size from very small (like a small college classroom) to very large auditorium-like rooms. I went to check out our room the day before and was shocked at how huge it was. It was bigger than any of the other rooms I had been in that day. I was feeling pretty confident about presenting after watching so many people that day, but I was pretty bummed out our room wasn't more intimate.

The next day I spent most of the morning getting ready (btw, printing at Kinkos is ridiculously expensive). Our session started at 1:45 and we were suppose to have about nine presenters. I walked in the room at 1:30 and was enthusiastically greeted by two of the other students who had gone to Guatemala with me. They were happy to see me again, but probably most happy because they knew of only one other presenter who was actually going to be there and at least three that had canceled.(They also could tell right away that I was pregnant, which shocked me. I didn't think it was so obvious yet) I think they were just happy to see another person show up! Soon the other person they had known about arrived plus one more student. He brought news of another student who was coming, but whose flight was just barely landing at SFO. So when we started we had five presenters plus one on the way. Four people canceled or didn't show up, which made us a little nervous because now we had an extra hour to fill up.

Turns out time really didn't matter. Its pretty hard to present all your research in 15 minutes and a lot of people usually end of talking really fast or not getting as far as they wanted in their presentation. Since we had the extra time our prof. let us take as long as we needed without rushing us about ending on time.

They also let the audience ask as many questions as they wanted afterwards. Stink! Q & A is the worst part about presenting because you can't prepare for it. You just have to think on your feet and do your best. I had been so happy we wouldn't have time for Q & A. It also happens to be the most productive and interesting time because you are able to get feedback, so our prof. was thrilled we would get the chance. We finished the session only fifteen minutes before our scheduled time was up.

Our audience was pretty small, maybe ten people, but they were mostly older scholars and professors on Maya studies, so they were a pretty high caliber group to present to. We put our chairs in a sort of circle with the presenters on the top of the circle. By the end of the session more people had come and gone and there was more of division between "us" and "them. " I thought I did pretty well, no major mistakes, and I did good on the Q & A too. I'm really glad I did it and I am really glad it is over. It turned out to be pretty low pressure and it was great experience.

What Will Our Baby Look Like?

I'm sure every parent spends a lot of time thinking of this. Probably a lot are like me and hope that their baby is really cute, but then know that whatever the baby looks like it's going to be cute to the parents. I was looking at some of my families baby pictures to get an idea of Sandberg babies look like.

Here is Chris's (my older brother) first baby picture. I love this picture. It really captures the "what the heck is going on??" feeling that babies must feel right after they are born. But Chris turned out to be such a cute little baby. I wouldn't mind having a baby similar.
But of course, that's Chris. What about me? Here is me. Being a second child there are significantly less options for baby pictures for me.
I was pretty chubby, so I think was a cuter toddler.
Now I need to find some Wheat baby pics.

Will Robert Be Surprised by the Gender of Our Baby?

Maybe.
Actually, we'll see. I'm definitely finding out. I can keep a secret. Now can I trust everyone else to keep a secret too?

Home Improvements, Fires, and of course, Babies

This time of year has got to be the weirdest time of the year for people like me who come from colder climates and live in Southern California. You would think that November would be cooler than October, but yesterday it was 90 degrees here! Just when I was starting to feel comfortable drinking my beloved hot chocolate we get this November heat wave. Blame the Santa Ana winds.

Robert and I did some yard work yesterday and it was a beautiful day as long we stayed in the shade.

Here is what we were working on:

Before
Afterand we did the other side last week.We had to make a trip to Home Depot for the wood chips and were surprised to see the southern sky (opposite side of the house that we were on) full of smoke. There are fires burning all over Southern California right now, and a fire started burning yesterday in Orange County just south of where we live, in the Corona and Yorba Linda areas. You can see the progression of the fire on this LA Times Map. We live just north of the 10 freeway, so you can see it is actually getting pretty close. Good thing we live in the middle of the city and not in the hills. Last night we looked out our window and could see the hills along the south horizon glowing with fire.

We tried taking a picture, but the other light sources drowned out most of the glow. You can still see it though if you look closely. The fire was all along the ridge.So here is a pic from the LA Times
In other exciting news, we got curtains! No more sheets hanging on the windows! It's amazing how they make the house feel more like a home. Now I am excited to hang up pictures .More house pictures when we hang up our pictures and clean up a little. And lastly, we obviously have our camera working now. Here is me at 18 weeks.

It's Starting to Feel Real

Yesterday we went to Mervyns (I'm so sad they are going out of business) to check out their sales. I found a rack with little kid and baby clothes for $2! Except, I couldn't get anything because they were either very definitely little girl clothes or very definitely little boy clothes. I found a green little onsie that could go either way and snatched it up. Then I also got another green baby outfit that was on sale (everything was on sale) because it was cute and I really wanted to get baby clothes. When I got home I hung them up on the mirror in our bedroom and felt giddy looking at them. Having some baby clothes makes it feel so real. I really will be having a baby in another five months that I can dress and put those clothes on.

What I really should have been looking at was the maternity clothes since I actually do have a tiny belly now and my clothes are starting to get a little tighter. (It was dinner time though, and Robert and I were hungry) It will still be a little longer until I outgrow my clothes, but it's nice to have a little belly. Now Robert can see that I actually am pregnant and not just whining that I don't feel good because I want him to do everything for me. Robert is really cute about my little belly. When I first got pregnant I asked him what he thought about me getting big and he said he probably wouldn't like it. But now that I am getting bigger he loves it. He likes talking to my belly because, "Thats my baby in there!" I really need to find some batteries for our new camera (our old one was stolen) so I can take pictures of my belly now that I'm starting to show.

Another thing that makes our baby feel real is hearing his heartbeat. We had our latest doctor's appointment on Monday and it's just so comforting to hear his heartbeat and know that he (his heart at least) is doing okay in there. I've started to feel more activity in my belly area, but I don't really know what he feels like when he's moving. I can't really say I can feel him moving, but I probably do feel him and not realize it. So right now hearing that heartbeat feels like all we have to know he is really there. Our next doctor's appointment is December 1st and we get to have the ultrasound and see our baby!

Which brings up my next topic. Should we find out the gender of the baby? I really want to. I want to feel connected to the baby and instead of saying "Good morning baby" (like I do now when I wake up) I want to be able to say "Good morning baby Micah" or Good morning baby Julia." I also want to be able to buy cute baby clothes because after shopping at Mervyns yesterday I've realized there is really not much out there that is gender neutral and the baby would end up with a wardrobe full of green and yellow clothing.

Robert wants to be surprised. He figures we have a boy and a girl name, what else matters? We can buy clothes later, even have a baby shower later if we want to. We already want to go as gender neutral as possible since who knows if it would really end up being what the doctor tells us it is. Then we can also use the baby items for our next baby if the next one ends up being a different gender. Robert has even been so kind as to tell me that he would be okay with me finding out and even telling everyone else, but he would still want it to be a surprise for him.

Eeks, I'm torn. I really want to know. Robert really doesn't. I think it would be hard for everyone to keep a secret like that from him. But I guess if he really doesn't want to know...What do you think? Take the poll on the right.

Wow, this ended up being longer than expected. Congrats everyone who is still reading! And be sure to check out the last two posts too! It's rare that we have three posts in one day, but it may be ever rarer that Robert does a post!

Baby Names

I thought this deserved it's own post now since Robert already wrote that he is grateful for Micah or Julia. Our baby names that we have had picked out forever are

Micah Robert Wheat
or
Julia Grace Wheat

Now you know. And now there should be no confusion over Robert's "I'm Thankful" list.

My Thankful List

Ten things I (Robert) am thankful for are:

1) Melarie
2) Micah or Julia (whichever it turns out to be)
3) Jesus Christ and the Atonement
4) My Job - I just enjoy business
5) Technology (Internet, Playstation, TIVO, The MTN on DirectTV, telecommuting, GPS in golf carts, airplanes, wireless communication, blackberry, DVD Burners, laser sights, night vision, laser guided weapons, etc.)
6) Sports (BYU Football, Lakers basketball, Dodger Baseball, and Robert Golf)
7) America, Star Spangled Banner, US Armed Forces, and any Toby Keith song about sticking a boot up your a**.
8) PROP 8 and the understanding that at least 52.7% of Californians still have moral character and are willing to vote their moral conscience despite the accusations of being prejudice and intolerant. I still am surprised this actually past, good job to all of those who supported and volunteered to protect the sanctity of marriage.
9) Microsoft Excel - How simple it makes my job
10) EBay, NewEgg, craigslist, and Steapandcheap

10 Things I Am Thankful For

Welcome to November everyone! I love this time of year. To start out the Thanksgiving season I am creating my own tag. It's a really simple one on being thankful.

10 Things I Am Thankful For:
1. Robert
2. Our baby
3. Family
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
5. My washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher. ( I guess that's three)
6. Our house
7. Being able to sleep in on Saturdays
8. Public transportation (I hate driving to work)
9. The Internet
10. Books

I tag: Robert, David and Jen, Kevin and Ellen, Rick and Denise, Lauren, LaRee, Haydee and anyone else who wants to join in.

This pregnancy mind must be getting to Robert too. Yesterday he wished the trick-or-treaters a Happy Thanksgiving!

Snippets

Robert and I gave talks on Sunday. Now the entire ward knows I'm pregnant when before only one person did. I thought that was good timing.

I also declared my talk a success after one minute when I introduced myself as Melarie and my husband as Robert, instead of introducing myself as Robert and my husband Melarie like I did during one the last talks I gave. I thought relating that would get some laughs (it did) but afterwards everyone kept referring to me as Robert or making some joke about it. Uh, huh, what did I set myself up for?

On the plus side, four people brought up our talks during comments in Sunday School, so they were actually listening and got something out of it!

I've been really absent minded recently, or maybe I always have been but now I can admit it because I have a good excuse. I now:
-Write case notes for the wrong client in my client files.
-Instead of writing today's date I will often put down some random date, like 8/23/08. Then I wonder, what was I thinking?
- Walk out of the bathroom with my zipper UNDONE. This one is very often and very embarrassing, but I'm usually the only one to notice (I hope).

Nine months can seem like a very long time to wait for something when you are thinking of it all the time (and I don't mean labor and delivery)

I'm almost 16 weeks and I still weigh slightly less than my pre-pregnancy weight. And yet, I have obviously gained a lot of mass around the belly. How can that be? My theory is I am losing muscle from all those lethargic evenings sick on the couch, and baby+baby junk must weigh less than muscle.

BabyCenter.com says my baby is as big as an apple! (No, Robert, that doesn't mean he's as fat as an apple, just as long as an apple. Our baby is not a fat ball.)

My mom sent me a package with Stephens Hot Apple Cider. Yum! I had a craving and went to the store looking for something similar and couldn't find anything here, so I asked my mom to send some from Utah.

One day a week is not enough time to properly maintain a house. We need more Saturdays.

"Baby, why don't we go down to Home Depot?" (sung to the tune of "Kokomo")

Yesterday I actually went somewhere besides work and home! I almost felt normal so I joined Robert on a trip to Home Depot. We drove down to the Home Depot in Chino where they were having a moving sale (the store is moving) and are trying to get rid of all their inventory. It was awesome because everything was on sale! Our major buys were some nice patio furniture and a weed whacker.

Wahoo, now we can sit outside. Except after Robert set up the patio furniture and we had dinner outside he brought everything inside and into our empty middle room. He said we can't leave it outside with no covers on. So today we ate lunch in our middle room, on our patio furniture, and I kind of looked outside and imaged we were out there.

An Update Post

Now for some updates. Our baby is due April 14th, so I am 13 weeks and 5 days (according to my little sidebar ticker). I have been feeling sick for the past month, so I am really looking forward to this second trimester. I mostly have my appetite back, now I'm just waiting for the nausea to go away. (Note to Nausea: Hint, hint, any day now, really I'm ready). I think I have vomited more in the past month than I have in my entire life- sorry if you didn't want to hear that. I think what surprised me most about morning sickness, which for me is more like evening sickness, is the nausea. I always thought of morning sickness as being more like being regular sick, like with a cold or something. But of course, duh, morning sickness makes you nauseous! So I was surprised that my morning sickness has been more like being car sick, everyday. Well, enough about that, I feel like I'm starting to whine.

Robert has been really good about it all. He has been in charge of making dinner during the weekdays (when he's home) which has been really nice. This week happens to be one of the busiest weeks of the year for him, so I haven't seen him much. After Oct. 15 he should be around a lot more. Work on the house has pretty much stopped until I get my energy back and Robert isn't so busy at work anymore. And..that's pretty much it. Over and out.

Images of Spring

I love the Fall and the upcoming holiday season, but I also love Spring. Now that the weather is getting cooler here are some images to remind everyone of Spring.




Wait a minute! How did that Mini-Wheats picture get in there? I guess I was thinking of next spring when Robert and I will have our very own "mini Wheat!" We are having a baby around April 14th! Yeah for spring and (Wheat) babies!

We Have Internet Again!

Now that we have internet again I sort of feel obligated to post something. Let's see...

If you would like to see what has kept me super busy at work recently visit LA Family Services. That is our blog for all the families that we have been signing up for our Christmas Adopt-A-Family program. I had never heard of Adopt-A-Family before, but it is basically like Sub for Santa. We are signing up the families that we have been helping this year and could use some extra help at Christmas. The site is for the people who decide they want to sponsor a family. They can go to the site and read about the families, look at the family sizes and ages and genders of the children (some people are really picky about that) and let us know what family they want. Oh, and if anyone in L.A. wants to adopt a family themselves or with a group let me know (last year at work we adopted a family and everyone was in charge of one person in the family) . Unfortunately not all the families we sign up will be adopted, we just don't have that many sponsors, so every extra sponsor helps. =)
Robert and I also went to a concert at the Disney Concert Hall on Thursday. I was excited because when I took the tour of the hall a few years ago they took us all around the building, except in the actual theater. So I finally got to see inside the theater. It was really intimate feeling because there were seats all around the stage. We got to hear the LA Philharmonic and were literally right above the orchestra. In the picture above we were on the right side, in the right section, second row, aisle seats. It was fun to be that close to the orchestra and actually be able to see them. Robert was kept entertained by a lady violin player in the first row who was really into the music and was moving all over the place. I kept waiting for her to knock over the music stand of the person behind her.

Our Not So Exciting News

Sorry it has been a while since I updated. We don't have Internet at home, and what time I have at work I usually spend checking e-mail etc, mundane things. We are almost done painting in the house. We're not quite unpacked, but getting there very slowly.

The biggest news on our house is not very good news. We had a break-in last week while Robert and I were both at work. We came home together (luckily, I would have hated to come home to that alone) last Monday to find our side door wide open. Our first thoughts were, "did we forget to close the door?" Then we saw an uncrustable sandwich and defrosted otter pops lying in the entryway, both of which were definitely in our freezer when we left. So then I thought, "What the..? Did we forget to lock the door and some little kid came in and went through our fridge?"

Then we saw the damage to the door. It had been pried open (prob. with a crow bar) and deformed enough that the locked dead bolt was no problem in opening the door. On examination of our house we found a lot of small but expensive items missing (i.e. electronics, jewelry), drawers obviously rifled through, boxes knocked over. We were surprisingly calm about calling the police and making an inventory of all the missing items. All in all, the burglar got away with several thousand dollars worth of our belongings. Punk kid! (we're assuming a juvenile did it, who else who take uncrustables and otter pops?) .

The worst part about it all was the vulnerability that we felt afterwards. All our doors were locked, all the dead bolts were locked, and they still just walked in. Everyday last week we came home dreading to find our door wide open again. We got a security alarm system installed on Saturday. For the peace of mind, it is worth it.

Buzz Lightyear

You can e-mail the pictures they take on the Buzz Lightyear ride to yourself, so these are the two pics that I do have from Disneyland (yes, we went on it twice)

Disneyland

We finally went to Disneyland! It was our first time since moving here and my first time ever. We went with Kevin, Ellen, Lauren, Wendy, and Daniel (Robert's relatives). I was surprised that I was entertained the entire time because everyone kept telling me that Disneyland was for kids. Maybe I'm just a kid at heart, but I had a great time on the smaller rides. The highlight was going to Club 33, a fancy members only restaurant inside the park. Robert's company has a corporate membership that anyone in the company can use. It is an expensive restaurant, but when you make reservations you get a park hopper pass for free! So basically it ends up costing the same as if you bought a park hopper, and you get a really nice lunch to give you energy for the rest of the day.

Update on our house: We've moved into our new house last weekend and it has been an exhausting past week trying to get things in order. We are still living out of boxes, but they are slowly getting unpacked. We also haven't finished with all our painting and home improvements, but I image that will take another couple months to finish (or the entire time we live here...). Sorry, no pictures, I have to figure out where our camera cord is, but I'll add some when I find it.

Touring Downtown

These are some of the places I got to see today on my tour of downtown Los Angeles, and all by 8:00 a.m.! I have taken my new bus from Claremont a couple times this week. It's not bad as long as you have a book to read. And, bonus, this bus gives me a tour of downtown everyday. My old bus would come into downtown on the opposite end of the city and drop me off before I got too far. This bus takes me all over downtown before getting to my end of the city. My stop is the very last stop. At least on the way home I get first pick on all the seats and am guaranteed not to have to stand. (The pictures are: Union Station, The Disney Music Hall, City Hall, the main L.A. Public Library, Cathedral of Our Lady, L.A. Superior Courthouse, courtesy of the Internet)

Our House

We finally closed on our house on Friday! On Thursday night we were pretty sure we were going to close on Friday, and Robert and I were so excited we decided last minute we would go out to the house on Friday night and stay the night to get an early start on repairs the next day. I was suprised to see some workers out in our backyard when I got there Friday evening. Appearently our realtor is awesome and conviced the bank they needed to repair the pool shed since it was their fault it had gotten flooded. Now it's almost like new (better than it was before). Sweet! One less thing we will have to do.

I also met up with Robert's dad, Rick, at the house since he has so generously come out from Nevada to help us get things fixed up. He started fixing sprinklers before we had even gotten there. We have a lot of work to do now, but we are planning on moving in this Saturday! Yesterday we started on the repairs. I mostly spent the day cleaning the layers of dust and cobwebs from every window, ledge, and corner in the house. We also spent a long time at Home Depot, which is a place I have a feeling we will be visiting often. The Wheat boys, Rick, Robert, and Grandpa Chuck, spent a lot of time getting the pool in working order and we went for a swim after dinner.

We finally got around to painting around 8:00 p.m. I'm nervous about our paint colors. Everyhouse I have ever lived in so far has had white walls all around. Robert and I like some color, but I don't know how all our paint choices will all turn out. Eeek! Robert and I are so lucky to have gotten help from so many people, I don't know how we would have done it all ourselves. From all the ward help moving and the help yesterday and in the coming days with the house, it has left us very grateful for family and friends. Thank you everyone!

For more pictures than you ever wanted to see of our house visit our web album here.

Claremont House

Consider it our before pictures. A lot of these pictures were actually taken the very first time we visited the house. Hopefully our after pictures look better. =)

This is the Coolest Movie Theatre

Wendy, Lauren, and I had a girls night out movie night on Thursday. We saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It was fun, but the coolest part was the theatre. They recently redid the theatre at Westside Pavillion Mall and they have a few small theatre rooms with only couches! The theatre has about eight rows of leather couches. And when you buy your tickets you have to choose your seat so you don't have to go in early and wait forever if you want a good seat. What great progress in the world of movie theatres.

Sea World

I had family come visit us! Almost. My cousin Katrina and her husband Brett and their baby took a trip to San Diego last week and we went down one day to see them. It was my first time meeting little Ali. She was so cute and such a good little baby. The day we went was the day they had planned to go to Sea World, so I also went to Sea World for the first time. I liked the shows and the animals. I kept saying, "oh how cute!" The animals were just so cute waving at the crowd and spinning circles.