Saying Goodbye to Sierra Vista!

Well, I think the last place I left off was my trip to Utah for the girls' birthday. But before that I was in Arizona visiting Randi and a few other friends. I never finished posting about that trip. Here ya go!

While I was there, it was about two weeks before Valentine's Day so Randi helped me make a package for Brian to send to him. Needless to say, she did it all. She showed me how to make chocolate covered pretzels, but ended up doing the whole thing, then made rice krispie treats and individual brownies. Spencer and I weren't feeling well. See! She's such a great friend isn't she? I don't have a lot of pictures cuz the ones I did take weren't so good of Randi, so as HER good friend, I'm not posting them. haha.

Randi is such an amazing example to me. She takes so much time with Brenna and really enjoys every moment. She relishes in every advancement and wants to spend every waking minute with her daughter teaching her, reading to her and playing with her. Don't get me wrong. I ADORE Spencer. I just sometimes find myself feeling like I need to be doing other things. But I realized that I want to enjoy my baby boy and notice every facial expression, every laugh and every new thing he does.

The other thing about Randi is not only does she love Brenna that much, but when we're around she gives love to Spencer the way she does Brenna. She was always including Spencer in Brenna's activities and took so much time with him. She's awesome, isn't she?

Two Darling Babies...

Sorry, Randi, that looks like it would have been a great picture of you. Alas, I cut you off when taking the picture. heehee.

Driving to the Airport...

Randi and I were both very sad when we had to go to the airport. But we were in a little bit of a rush after she and her husband got off work, which was good to take our minds off of it.

Randi sat in the back with both babies. Check out how much love these babies have for her. The first picture is of Brenna as she was falling asleep. hahaha. Look at that darling tiny hand resting on her mommy's arm.

Then, if you know Spencer, he wants NOTHING to do with anyone touching his carseat. He will push your hand, face, head away at any cost if you touch his seat. But check out him with Randi. Now that's love.

Saying Goodbye...

These are pictures outside but she didn't leave yet. When I was at the ticket counter, she just piped up and asked if she could be my escort through security. I only had Spencer so it shouldn't have been too hard, but if any of you heard about my flight there, you'll know why. My Little Black Raincloud was definitely showering on me that day. So we both didn't want a repeat of that. She was awesome and it really helped wrestle him while security was strip searching me...well, not really but almost. They always seem to pick me to go through my bags, or test random things I'm carrying with me. Doing that with a grouchy toddler his horrible. So, she really saved the day.

One of the reasons the airplane ride was so horrible getting TO Arizona was because I didn't have a stroller or a sling. Big mistake. So, I bought a small umbrella stroller the day I left. I didn't have time adjust the straps before I put it in the car, and what a mistake that was. Check out how Spencer used it to his benefit.
If you can't see what he's doing, he's actually got his feet on the ground walking the stroller by himself. And we were in a hurry to get through security before putting him back in that we couldn't adjust them. He kept trying to get out and was so frustrated that all his efforts were being thwarted.

Thanks Randi for the great time! You guys are so amazing.

And thanks to all my friends for coming to have Greek with me for Girls' Night Out and Joanna and Mary for hanging out with me. :) I love you guys so much! Til next time!

(Check out how tan I look. Wish I really looked like that.)

RANDOM TRIP #2

Destination: Sierra Vista, AZ

Has anyone missed me blogging? I've been a little out of it lately. It could be because I've been traveling around a LOT. Why wouldn't I? The girls have been with their dad, and Brian is back in Germany. I've visited a lot of friends all over. I still have grand plans of doing lunch with California peeps and to revisit with my friends in Utah.

Right now? I'm in Sierra Vista. And it was such a last minute decision. I flew down on Thursday and have been at Randi's ever since. The kids (Spencer and Brenna) have been the best of friends this trip, much to our delight. If betrothals were still all the rage, these two would already be promised.

They both play so much better now that they have a friend playing nearby. Check out these cute pictures of these darling babies playing.

Spencer has found a new toy that has kept him entertained for hours. In true Spencer fashion, he watched it, analyzed it and figured out how it worked.

How darling is this little Brennalyn?

Doesn't he look so old here?

They had their rough times though....haha Brenna just wanted to be his friend so badly...so much so that she would play with his feet in the high chair and shove blocks in his face. Check out this series of pictures. It makes me laugh.

First...Brenna rubs her blocks all over Spencer who's trying to play with his car.

He totally shoved her away (can you see his little arm).

She does it even harder... Love that little girl.

I'll be here til Tuesday so stay tuned for more grand times!

Did I Ever Tell You...

...I was voted our region's "Girl Scout Leader of the Year" last year?

It happened when the family was visiting/touring Germany in May. I didn't even know and was wondering why the other leaders were desperately trying to get a hold of me to see if I was going to the end-of-year Girl Scout Leader Dinner. Well, this is why! How cool is that? It really made everything we experienced (good and bad) even THAT much more worth it.

And reminiscing about it really makes me miss our troop and the parents/friends I made...It's a time I know Xoe, Xanthe and I will NEVER forget.

A BFF's Birthday Tribute

This is my best friend Randi from Sierra Vista, AZ. Her husband is Brent and her darling little girl is Brennalyn. Aren't they the cutest little family you've ever seen?

Well, Randi's birthday was on October 13. As you notice it's now the 19th. I promise I started this post on the 12th. But I've had a really hard time finishing it. I don't know why. It may be that I miss her so much that I haven't been emotionally prepared to be shown point blank how much I miss her. Or maybe it's that I don't think I can even do justice to her by capturing everything about her that I love. There's just not enough words for her. So, I'm not even going to try. I'm going to just do the best I can by reminiscing about a few memories I have about her. Happy Birthday Randi! I love you!

So, here goes...

Would it surprise you to know that we only met a little over a year ago in August of 2008. We were put into the same Visiting Teaching Group so we saw each other every month, but didn't really become friends right away. She didn't come right away at the beginning cuz she and Brent had just moved into town and she was newly pregnant. So... very sick and not very happy. I had just had Spencer so was sort of involved with him too. It wasn't until about November that we really started hanging out, talking about babies and playing games with one of the other couples from our Group. One of those times they stayed until 2:00 a.m. I thought, "Okay, these are people of my own heart. They want to play 'Hand and Foot' til 2:00 a.m., pregnant and all." haha.

This is our Visiting Teaching Group at Hana Tokyo last year saying goodbye to Shawna (the one on the right)

Randi and I slowly started realizing what kindred spirits we were. It was so fun to have someone that I didn't even have to worry about impressing. She loved me for who I was and I the same with her. It was like having a sister since I was living so far from home. She would just come hang at my house. It didn't matter if it was a wreck or if I didn't have my "stuff" together. And I didn't feel embarrassed having her see it either. I loved that when she was over I could just go on with life and not feel like I had to entertain her. She was just a part of the house.

I loved that she would also come over to learn how to sew, make quilts and blankets, as well as help finish all of my unfinished sewing projects (of which she is mastering sewing faster than I could even imagine. She's already moved onto baby dresses. She's just so talented!).

In March, Randi gave birth to a beautiful tiny baby girl named Brennalyn. She and Spencer, much to our delight, have become best of friends and kindred spirits too. They both are so similar in so many ways...loving material to chew on, taking a long time to roll over and do things, although they analyze and observe much more than many other babies. So they both are doing things in a different way, not according to the books. They're already changing the status quo!

Here's Randi opening presents at the baby shower we threw for her.

This is Brennalyn Paige. Isn't she darling!?

Brent and Randi have been the funnest friends ever. I know this might sound weird, but one of our favorite things to do is play Hand and Foot. Wanna know why it's so fun? Not only is the banter and wit GREAT, but check out the poker table we play on? Brent found this baby for $10 and pulls it out every chance he gets! And I THOROUGHLY love it.

We have stayed up so late playing cards before and sometimes get caught in fits of laughter that we are crying.

And check out the random Hand and Foot treats. Randi and I started Weight Watchers together (well actually she started and then I rode her coattails with her encouragement). She has been so good about it and has lost so much weight. I have totally fallen off the wagon now that she's not around to inspire, encourage, and downright kick my butt for me to do it!

Randi has the funniest sense of humor. I LOVE hearing her stories about all her kindergartners and first graders (last year's class) and all the crazy things they say and do. She is such a spunky girl and sometimes doesn't care what others think of her, especially when she delayed school pictures and had other classes lined up in the hallways, all because she kept making the photographer re-take pictures of the ones she didn't like. Everyone was so mad at her, but she was like, "Look, I know these kids can look better than that! And these pictures are expensive, especially for these families. So, they can all wait a few minutes so these kids can get the best pictures of themselves!" Haha. And she taught me the term "Nunya" which means "Nunya Bizness"...which she ALSO got from one of her 5th graders.

The rest of the things I want to say about Randi all falls into one category...Randi has such a huge heart. Randi is constantly doing things for other people, but most especially my family. She was such a great help when we were moving, even though she was totally not thrilled about it. She gave us all these things for us to live in our house when all our stuff was packed up. She made sure we had air mattresses, blankets, food, a whole box of dishware, etc., etc. She even made us dinners every night.

But mostly, her heart is like the BIGGEST size heart I've ever seen. It's like she has so much room for all these people in there to love. Where I would been so annoyed with certain types of kids if I was a teacher in her class, she loves those children like her own. She is constantly giving of herself in so many ways that I can't even express.

And of course, I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of much of it. Randi's heart loved my family like her own and I get very touched and teary-eyed thinking of it.

For the girls, she treated them like they were her own girls. When they were gone to their dad's house and were really feeling homesick, she had me go to the store with her to pick out a bunch of stuff and put care packages together to send them. Duh! I've sent care packages to so many missionaries, college students and loved ones. With all the times the girls have been at their dad's, how come I didn't think of that?

One time, recently before we left, Xanthe had picked out a kids' size Maxi dress of which Xoe was very jealous but they didn't have any more. So Randi shows up at our house one night bearing a Maxi dress from a totally different store for Xoe. That almost brought tears to my eyes.

She and Brent were the girls' Sunday School church teachers and they are one of the only teachers that the girls actually ran to class for. And of course, in true Xoe and Xanthe style, they invited themselves over a couple of times to spend Sunday with them. They use the excuse that "My mom and Brian need to relax without us in their hair." Haha. What devious little girls, trying to use "caring" as an excuse. They knew we couldn't get mad at them if they used that tactic. And one of the times Randi totally taught the girls how to cook real German food and then invited me (since Brian was already in Germany) over for dinner. You can read about their German food here.

And with Spencer. How do I explain how much she doted on Spencer? She bought clothes for him, played with him and truly treated her like her own. She would call him handsome, and would teach him new tricks. She would take pictures of him when he was over at her house just to email me and show me how cute he was being (below is one of the pictures she took). She loves seeing all the new things he does, and is truly proud of him when he excels. I sometimes felt like, "Wow, I don't even do those kinds of things for my own child. I think she might love my child more than me." haha.

Here are Randi and Spencer attending Xoe & Xanthe's Activities Day dinner. Ya, of course, she came! Amazing.

Like I said, I'm having a really hard time putting this all into words. You just really have to know Randi. She truly is one to be friends with. I know I will truly miss her and hope that we can really stay friends even though I'm living so far away.

Happy Birthday Randi! I miss you and hope you had a great time going home to visit your family for your birthday! Love you!

What Did Spencer Do?

Many of you asked what we did with Spencer while we were packing up?

All I have to say is he had the lap of luxury goin on. And he knew it. Check it out. One night we were working out in the garage and Brian set up a video player for him to watch while strapped into his stroller (he kept crawling around on the dusty garage floor...as you can see by his dirty knees and feet).

Spencer took advantage of it by kicking up his leg and lounging out.

Glad SOMEONE got to rest. hehe. Spencer, you're awesome! You took the whole move in stride, even when you had to be strapped into car seats, strollers or locked in a room. (Hehe, j/k on the last one...maybe)

Girl Scout GOING AWAY PARTY

Mary Jacobs, one of the parents in our Girl Scout troop, threw our family a wonderful going away party for the Girl Scout troop and their families.

Some of the things I loved about this party:

1. How cute is this cake?

2. The food was so great. We had shredded BBQ pork, Mexican rice, homemade salsa, condiments, etc., etc. She is a working mom and had time to throw a wonderful party! What a great lady.

Mary Jacobs, Morgan Wolf, Joanna Sipes

3. Her house is so beautiful! And her backyard. What a wonderful place to have a party. I could spend all day and night out there.

4. The going away presents: The girls each got a beautiful packet of stationery to write letters to their friends, and I received a very beautiful amethyst & light goldish scarf for the winter months. Mary has such classy taste. I can't wait to be able to use it as part of my winter wardrobe (I LOVE the "look" of winter dress...beautiful coats, boots, scarves, hats...when it's done up classy). Kristina also gave each of the girls a stuffed animal to take with them on the plane and all the girls gave us a wonderful goodbye card.

Kristina and Xanthe

5. All the girl scouts performing dances and camp songs for us.

6. Great conversation with the parents.

7. All the girls and parents who were there! What an amazing turnout. Thank you to all that came! It really meant a lot for those who were willing to be there.

We're truly going to miss all of you and hope that we can keep in touch through the years. We love you all!