California trip

I can't believe I started this post two weeks ago. Unfortunately, it is going to be a much more boring post than I thought because I only have "hanging out" pics, my mom has all of the "sightseeing" ones on her camera. Maybe I'll post more when they are emailed to me.

Summary: It was wonderful to go to California and introduce Elena to so many people in Dan's family and in my extended family. I went to California for the family reunion of my dad and his siblings. Happy 60th birthday, Uncle Ken! Since most of my aunts and uncles live in the Bay Area, we reunited there. My wonderful parents bought me a ticket (with only a little bit of arm twisting) and we were able to be there for 10 days. Dan, of course, couldn't come because of school.

In no particular order, here is a quick list of events:

• We went to the beach and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk
  
• church with Uncle Norman's family in Vacaville
  
• the Monterrey Bay Aquarium
  
• the Exploratorium
  
• Pier 39
  
• the Oakland temple
  
• the Gilroy Outlets
  
• the hospital in Santa Clara to visit Dan's brother-in-law Kevin
  
• the pool
• a family talent show
  
• Kathryn and Michael's house
  
• Uncle James and Aunt Lori's house
  
• a family picnic in a park
  
• watching a lot of the Olympics
  
• kickin it with Aunt Mary's family
  

I'm sure we did more too that I just can't remember at this moment. It was a very full trip. I wish that we could go back soon. It was just as fun being there as I remember it being when I would visit as a teenager. We (Dan and I) both have such amazing and generous families - they pulled out all the stops to help Elena and I feel comfortable and well fed. :)

My cousin Michael and his wife Kathryn have two cute girls: Ambyr and McKenna. I wish that we could live closer to them - without having to pay CA rent. :) Elena had a great time playing with them. Although she's pretty ticked in this picture - it was late at night. We had a lot of late nights and she was a trooper, but this was the last straw.

Me with my cousins Rebekkah and Jennifer and two of R's kids.

From left to right (not counting me and E): Kathie (Dan's sister), Kevin (Dan's brother-in-law) and Barbie (Dan's sister), Caitlin (niece), Lydia (Dan's Mom). We had a great time together and we must have been good luck charms - jk - because Kevin's surgery went great.

Elena and cousin Caitlin:

I have an obsession with taking pictures of Elena sleeping. I have probably taken a pic at least once a month - if not more - her whole life. She was so dead asleep this particular night that after she fell asleep in the car, I was able to change her into her pajamas without her even moving.

This is who we were lucky to be able to stay with: Brian, Uncle Brent, Aunt Mary, David, and Jeffrey. The house was big enough so that Elena's sleep protests didn't bother anyone and the food was fabulous. Especially the salsa. The boys were really good with Elena too. She was a big fan of all of them by the time we left.

My cousin Kendall and Elena coming home from the pool. I love my Aunt Lori's neighborhood. I think it would be so perfect to have a pool and a park right across the street!

Lena, Ambyr, Shelby, and McKenna at the Seabright beach. Shelby does a great job looking out for and playing with all of the little ones.

I'm Back!

I feel like I have been gone the whole summer, when in reality I have only been out of town about 25 % of the time. When you are constantly either adjusting to being home or getting ready for the next trip, it tends to all just sort of run together.
It has been fun to be able to take off and help out with the Young Women (from church) or to go visit family, but it will be nice to stay here for a while. Now that the school year has started, I have responsibilities that require that we stay put. And that's a good thing. I am excited to be tutoring again (today was my first day for the 08-09 school year) and to watch sweet Caleb this semester. I'll post a photo of him soon. He's a cutie!

Here is a picture that someone took at a birthday party just a few days before Elena and I left on our trip to California. We rarely have a photo with all three of us together, so I am excited to post it.

I have already started an entry about our trip, but there is no way that I am finishing it tonight, so I thought I would publish really quickly to prove that we are alive and well. :)

Girls' Camp 2008

I am not going to promise anything coherent, but I hope that you will enjoy the pictures. It is late and I am tired, but I have been trying to find the time to complete this post (I started it on the 28th and today is August 2nd) and the sink is full - and I do mean full - of dishes. With no further ado and in no particular order, here are pictures and descriptions of my week at camp:

Below are the seven women of value (plus Katie in pink who put the whole program together). The last night at camp, the Young Women went on a "walk of light" in which there were seven stops. The seven of us represented different values. For example I was Sacajawea and my value was knowledge, so I spoke to each group as they came about my life and my value. any guesses about who the other 6 are?
I actually had a great time doing it because I never knew how awesome Sacajawea was. You should look her up if you don't know about her (I bet that Ann K. is shaking her head in disbelief right now). Growing up in Virginia we honestly didn't learn a whole lot about anything that happened outside of the 13 colonies. So, if you have a Civil War question, I bet I could answer it. :)

Here we are mid-hike on the second day of camp. We had a sunrise hike this year and it was a great idea to hike early and avoid the heat. This is some of the girls from our group. Jenny (in blue) and I were the chaperones. I'm so glad that you came, Jenny! We had a blast.

Like the previous 3 years, I was Level 1 certification leader this year. This is a picture of all my girls and their YCLs (Youth Camp Leaders). I love being with the 12 year olds because they are so excited to be at camp and to meet new people. They have such a good attitude about whatever we ask them to do. Also, I was blessed this year with fantastic YCLs.

Jenny J. as SpiderGirl. Our unit's assigned superhero was Spiderman. The theme of camp this year was "Everyday Heroes". Jenny moonwalked and pranced across the stage like a pro during our amazing and hilarious skit. The girls made her cape and she was sporting my field hockey bloomers. I knew that they could eventually be used again if I held onto them long enough. :) In the background you can sneak a peek at what kind of living arrangements we were blessed with: electricity, indoor plumbing, a cabin next to the lake, etc. Jenny and I honestly thought of the week (Wed-Sat) as being a relaxing vacation.

Me and my daddy! My dad (the amazing physicist/astronomer) drove 4 hours after work on Thursday to teach the section called Observing the Night Sky. He brought a telescope (to show everyone Jupiter and its moons) and his indoor planetarium (Star Lab), plus he did an observation outside with his super cool laser pointer. You could actually see the beam leading up the star that he was pointing to. He did a great job showing the constellations and talking to us about the vastness of the universe. It was so neat to hear his testimony about how although God is in charge of so much space and so many people that he still knows and loves us each as individuals. Although he definitely said it will more elegance than that. :)

Pretty, pretty lake:

The YW and I - representing the Spanish branch. Aren't they beautiful? They are such a fun, creative, and sweet group of girls!

In case you can't tell, I had a great time. Thanks to my mom for watching Elena and enduring all my phone calls to check up on and talk to her. What would I do without you? I love you, Mom!

Elena is 18 months old!

I haven't put up a video in a long time, so here is one from yesterday:

And here are a couple photos of Elena and her one-and-a-half year birthday cookie. She blew out her candles beautifully (three times - we are such suckers when she says, "Again, please").
She opened one gift (alphabet magnets) and had a good time playing with them for a few minutes before bedtime. Dan offered to take the pictures, so I am actually in a couple. :)
(My feet look super dirty, but it is my black flip flops. Honest. They kind of dye my feet when I wear them.)

Independence Day

I know that this post is late, but it always takes a while to rebound from a trip. Elena and I spent the first part of July at my parent's house to give Dan a quiet house to study in. :) We had a lot of fun with Granny and Grandad. As an added bonus Aunt Bethany had the week off of work.

On the way to my parent's house: I started having flashbacks of my semester abroad in the Dominican Republic. I thought, "Wow it really smells like DR right now." I figured it was a mixture of the humidity and the summer blooms. Turns out that the DR must smell like smoke because when I got up the next morning, this is what I saw. The haze in the pic below isn't fog, it's smoke. The Great Dismal Swamp was on fire the whole time that we were in Virginia Beach and as a result, we had to check on the "smoke forecast" in the mornings to see if we could play outside that day or not. Some days it was really bad - the night that I drove there - there was just a hint of smoke. The DR doesn't smell that much like smoke, honest. :)

Fourth of July: In this pic, we're excitedly waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Yay for fireworks! It was nice that Elena was well-rested and happy and that she was able to enjoy and smile at the loud noises and bright lights.
Lena is lucky to have an aunt to spoil her. She enjoyed playing with her new wand while we sat on the hill and enjoyed the breeze and the concert until the fireworks began.
Bedtime: This was the arrangement each night for Elena's bedtime routine. She would tell us all where to sit on the guest bed while we read books. She was very opinionated about who got to read each night too. Sometimes the bed would seem so full that one of us would sit on the office chair and she would point to a 6 inch square that was open on the bed and ask the left-out person to squeeze into that spot. It was pretty funny. Now she's back to the real world and life as usual.
A few notes about the picture above: All the Wrights have a hard time keeping their eyes open in pictures (myself included). Also notice that my poor dad broke his hand and was wearing an orange cast. He broke it while he was walking on his powerskips. Seriously. Lastly, in case you are wondering about the matching aprons - My mom was wearing hers while she washed the dishes and my dad has been so well trained to try to keep his church clothes clean that I guess he forgot to take it off after he helped with dinner hours before.

Williamsburg: Elena was scared of Mr. Thomas Jefferson.

She really enjoyed getting to pet the horses in Williamsburg. Whenever they would stop to get new riders, kids would crowd around to see them. They were very kid friendly and sweet.
The return: Dan was so happy to have us back. He and Elena always have a lot of fun together. I was really glad to be back for two reasons.
#1 - because I missed Dan
#2 - because he cleaned the whole house and even rearranged some of the furniture and cleaned out 2 closets! Plus he fixed our crippled TV! He's amazing. :) Thanks, babe!

DC Temple Trip

I had so much fun chaperoning this year's Youth Conference trip. Here is a quick synopsis of the weekend:
We did service on Thursday. Staining this sweet old woman's deck was one of the many service projects that the youth did a great job with:
After some time at host family's houses to shower and eat (I went home and put Elena to bed), the youth had a talent show and dance and then we boarded the buses just after midnight. Being a chaperone - I got two seats together and was actually able to sleep really well. I fell asleep before the opening credits on the movie they were watching were even over.
This is the whole group of kids right before we got on the buses. We all fit on 3 buses: 1 boys, 1 girls, 1 mixed. I was lucky and got to be on the girls-only bus.
On Friday we arrived in DC at 7ish, changed and were in classes all morning. Then Elder Hardy of the 70 spoke to us. That was really great. He spoke all about the founding of our nation and how the world was poised and ready for the gospel to be restored and the US was the perfect place for it to happen. We were so tired, but pinching ourselves to stay awake because he was such a good speaker and his message was wonderful. After that we went to the temple. We had spent the morning in a stake center right around the corner, so it was a beautiful and short walk. The DC temple is just unreal, it looks so amazing. It was nice to be there again and it brought back memories of the day that Dan and I got married for eternity. I'm so grateful for the blessing of being a family forever! It was awesome to be able to share that with the Young Women. Dan and I got engaged in DC too, so I was able to show the girls where that happened. It was a great day. This picture is of all of the members of the Spanish branch who came:
After going to the temple, we went to the Visitor's Center and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. Then we had dinner we another dance, and got back on the buses at midnight. We drove past the Mall and were able to see a few monuments from afar (I'll have to take the girls back for a trip to see the historical things in DC). When we got back to NC, we had breakfast and a testimony meeting and then we all went home and slept all day. Well, I bet those that don't have an 18 month old slept all day. :)

It's official...

We are now a two-car family for the first time since we got married! We are very excited about Dan's "new" 1997 Mitsubishi Mirage. The Bell family moved to Utah and gave us a great deal on the car that had gotten them through med school and residency. Hopefully it will last just as long for us. Here is the car in all of its glory on the day that we bought it. So far, it has been great having two cars - especially for Dan I'm sure.

Butterflies

A couple of weeks ago we went to a local butterfly farm with the ward playgroup. We were let into a little screened in greenhouse-type space and we were able to feed the butterflies by hand. The cotton pad I'm holding is soaked in a sugar water solution.
Elena enjoyed looking at the butterflies, but she definitely didn't want to hold them. She wasn't very happy when I held one a little too close in this video.