Thursday, June 21, 2007

the fun we've been having...........dah dah dah, uh huh, uh huh!

Last week started with a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Roush's house to deliver potatoes...Parker LOVED Grandpa's Donald Duck impersonation. It's a close second to daddy's Elmo.The week ended with Joe getting off work EARLY...YAY...and a trip to the splash park. This time there were no unruly teenagers for me to snarl at....too bad!
Maybe someday my child will walk on his own...
Yesterday we took Jacob and met our friends Kandis, Wendy, and their cute boys Carter and Miles at the barn at Thanksgiving Point. Parker LOVED the animals and especially the pony ride. He sat happily, but didn't want to hold on to the saddle.
Jacob, on the other hand, refused to sit on the pony, let alone the fake sheep. Parker hasn't learned to differentiate between dogs and other animals...every time we saw a new one, he would excitedly yell, "dah!" At least he doesn't call me that...."dah!"

P.S. It's true...# 2 is on the way! By my calculations, I should be due around February 4th (the anniversary of mis padres and the birthday of Susie Kershaw). Yee haw!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

directions to where I am

Be born in Salt Lake City on August 1, 1980. Have an older sister who tries to be your second mom from day one. Be called "tweetie bird" by your mom’s good friend because of your big blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and yellow hair. Have the nickname stick. Adore your big sister, but be incredibly jealous of how good she is at seemingly everything. Try to find her weaknesses and make them your strengths. Tell your mom that your favorite color is green because it means, "go". Make this your motto for life…don’t ever stop even to go to the bathroom until you absolutely can’t take it anymore. Have many accidents as a result.

Be THRILLED to have a baby brother. Try to be his third mom. Sleep in the same bedroom with your two siblings for several years. Get mad at your brother for talking in his crib when you are trying to sleep. Finally move to your own bedroom in the basement across the hall from your sister’s new room. Choose green carpet for yours. Be Teacher’s Pet every year in school. Be told by your second grade teacher that she hopes to have a daughter just like you someday. Be made fun of for having such big eyes. Squint in your third grade class picture as a result. Break your right arm while playing "whip lash" on the playground. Be hypnotized with a puppy balloon to have the bone set. Get a red and green cast for Christmas. Break the other arm a few years later while roller-skating. Decide you hate roller skating forever.

Find out you are moving to Placentia, California. Be super excited for the adventure. Live with your grandma until the day arrives and see your daddy only on weekends. Make the big move and make lots of friends right away. Be somewhat embarrassed by your small, run-down house. Be worried about your sister in Junior High. Become really close to your immediate family. Make lots of trips to Utah. Run for Student Body President in the sixth grade. Beat the girl who will become your best friend.

Spend lots of Christmas’s at your grandparents’ houses. Giggle with your sister in the sofa bed at Grandma J’s. Laugh even harder when she says, "Goodnight Lovers." Adore your dog and treat her like family. Survive Junior High. Run for Freshman Class President with a Rockin’ Robyn theme. Lose. Try out for Cheerleading and be told that you would have been the next on the squad, but you didn’t quite cut it. Don’t let the rejection get the best of you. Decide to play basketball and run track instead. Enjoy both. Play basketball with your grandpa every time he visits and be grateful for the experience. Try out for cheerleading again. Make it. Eventually become "Head of Class" and receive a small scholarship. LOVE singing and harmonizing. Try out for Vocal Ensemble and make it as one of four sophomores. Sing Tenor for a year, then Alto for the rest.

Be nicknamed "Tomate" by your Spanish teacher because of your ability to turn red easily. Be secretly happy to have the attention, but very embarrassed every day for two years as he tells the class to look at you and watch you turn red. Minor in Spanish as a result of your inspiring teachers.

Kiss your first boy by the side of your friend’s house. Be totally devastated and embarrassed when you find out that the neighbor saw and told. Break your leg on your first date. Hate having the broken leg, but somehow enjoy the attention. Sing in PRISM with your sister in a wheelchair. Get really close to your mom as she helps you shower every day. Have your best friend break her leg while carrying you in a relay race a few months later.

Spend lots of summers roasting in the sun. Wish you were as tan as all your friends. Get burned SEVERAL times in an attempt to compete. Be nagged by your mom over and over to wear sunscreen. Use Crisco as tanning oil. Go to the beach and apply sunscreen ONLY over your moles. End up with a spotted burn that turns to a spotted tan.

Date lots of silly boys. Get in lots of fights with your parents while dating the Jewish one. Become a stupid teenager and break lots of curfews. Dread coming home to your mom sitting on the couch waiting for you. Cry lots. Understand later why your parents worried so much.

Get a scholarship to spend 6 weeks living in Japan. Wish away every minute of it. Count down the days until you get to come home. Spend a semester in the Dominican Republic. Love every minute of it. Win a trip to Mexico with your roommates. Call your mom hysterically every time you leave the country because of some traumatic event.

Be one of two grandchildren present when your Grandma dies. Have a very spiritual experience that strengthens your testimony of life after death.

Spend time volunteering in the MTC. Be happy that you’ll never be a clueless missionary learning a new language since you already speak Spanish. Be called to serve in Finland. Learn the language with surprising ease. Love almost every minute of your mission. Make lifelong friends. Have a few crushes on some Elders. Be told by your Mission President to marry one of them. Be grateful he was wrong. Introduce your parents to the beautiful, cold country at the conclusion of your service.

Become passionate about health and fitness in order to lose the mission weight. Run, run, run. Sweat, sweat, sweat. Later become a Personal Trainer with a dream to open your own fitness center for women.

Decide to room with an old friend post-mission. Be sad when she decides to move to Pennsylvania instead. Live there anyway and meet a fun, charming guy. Make him work really hard to win you over. Realize you’re in love when he comes to California to stay with you and your family. Have your dad tell you for the first time EVER that he’d be OK with you marrying this boy. Decide that you’d be OK with it too. Be grateful every day that he tried so hard. Live in Utah for a while. Be thrilled when he gets a job in California. Live with your parents for two months and actually love every minute of it. Pray for months to have a baby. Wake up and realize you have a one-year-old and you’re back in Utah.

Miss your family terribly. Talk to them on the phone every day. Be grateful to have great in-laws close by. Find out that you are six weeks pregnant with number two. Be surprised, excited, and terrified. Decide to wait to spread the news. Change your mind and tell your mom as she’s shopping at Krogers Grocery Store. Tell the rest of your family. Watch your husband excitedly tell his. Decide to wait to tell your friends. Change your mind a week later. Blog about it. Anxiously wait to see who made it through this long post to find out. You’re here.

My cousin, Christie inspired this blog with her own life road map. I haven't seen her for years (excluding when we both ran in the St. George marathon) and am grateful to be re-connected through the blogging community!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Minun Ystavani...Ansku

OK...time for another mushy blog about one of my good friends! This is a picture of Ansku and her cute little girl Emma. Ansku and I got to be really good friends while I was serving my mission in Finland. She is one of the few people from my mission that I am still really close to. She married George Thomas 4 years ago today (I think) and soon after moved to the United States. Sad for her to leave her family, but great for me! Until a few months ago, she lived less than five minutes from where we live. Now her and George live in New York, but I'm hoping they'll be back...katsotaan (we'll see)! ANYWAY, the reason I felt inspired to blog about Ansku is that she is HONESTLY the most thoughtful person I've ever met. I can think of NUMEROUS occasions when she inspired me to try to be more thoughtful. I'm sure part of it is her Finnish nature...Finns are really sincere and caring...but mostly it's just her. She always seems to be thinking about what other people need and then she acts on it! I often THINK about something that would be fun or useful to give to someone, but the thought leaves me, and I never do it. Ansku, however, does! Last week I received yet another thoughtful gift in the mail...a complete baby scrapbooking kit so I can actually scrapbook the first year of Parker's life. It is adorable and was SO THOUGHTFUL! Thanks, Ansku! One thing they say about Finnish people is that once you are friends with one, you are friends for life. I really hope we are...everyone could use an Ansku in their life! By the way...Ansku is also very humble and will probably be really embarrassed that I had an entire post dedicated to her, but too bad! She's great!

Monday, June 11, 2007

Whirlwind Weekend!

I was going to post about our fun, crazy, quick trip to California, but I think Michael summarized the trip better! Check it out here! It started out a little hectic, and I was definitely questioning whether or not we were supposed to go, but it all worked out. It was great seeing people from Placentia and especially great seeing my sister and her family. Whitney was beautiful, and the reception was AMAZING! I loved every minute (except a few of the minutes spent driving). I love California!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Announcing Tate Lee Moeller

Well, we are leaving for California in about 2 hours, but instead of packing, I thought I needed to get this posted! I totally have my priorities straight! Yesterday we visited Marci and Marcus at the hospital and got to meet Tate...the newest member of the Moeller family!
He is SOOOOOOOOOOOO cute! Look at all that dark hair. He weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and has the cutest little chubby cheeks.
Parker was really curious and wanted to yank Tate off my lap. I still can't believe how fast Parker went from THAT to THIS!
Here's a cute family picture minus Jacob...the big brother. Congratulations Moeller Family!!!!

Monday, June 4, 2007

Marci's Last Hoorah!

Well, Marci is in the hospital RIGHT NOW being induced with her second baby. We decided to celebrate her last day of "freedom" yesterday by going to lunch and this cool splash park. It's a big foamy pad with water fountains all over the place. Since it's been 90+ degrees outside, it was great! Parker and Jacob were a bit apprehensive at first because there were wild teenagers running around all over the place spitting water at each other and screaming. It was funny because at one point they ran right next to us and the babies screaming and spitting, etc. Marci and I both yelled at them at the same time...I felt like an animal protecting my baby or something. We both laughed afterwards at how we'd reacted, but they stayed away from us, so I guess it was worth it!
Here's Marci...ready to pop! She's handled this pregnancy so well. Yesterday morning she was out walking 2.5 miles and today she's giving birth! Updates on the baby will soon follow...
Parker was SOOOOOOOOO tired on the way home. He used to fall asleep in his carseat all the time, but now that he's facing forward he won't. I kept looking back at him and he looked like his eyes were about to close, but he fought hard and stayed awake all the way home. I'm hoping he sleeps in the car on our way to California this weekend...that's right...we're going to Cali for the wedding of the year...I can't wait! By the way, I noticed in this picture that his seatbelt wasn't done up on both sides...oops...I'm pretty sure he doesn't know how to undo it, so I guess I'm to blame! Never again...

Sunday nap...

Yesterday Joe and I came home from church and were kind of sad that we didn't have any visitors or anywhere to go. A few minutes later the doorbell rang...Michael came to surprise us! He'd been at Grandma Hand's house, so came over on his way home. I decided to make cookies, so Michael was talking to me in the kitchen while I made them and Joe was playing with Parker in the living room. At some point, Joe decided he was tired and fell asleep on the couch. Parker made his way over to the kitchen since his daddy wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Not too long after that, Michael disappeared. I thought he was in the bathroom or something. A few minutes later Joe must have gotten uncomfortable on the loveseat, so he went into our room to continue his nap. When I went to look in the bedroom, Michael and Joe were both asleep on the bed! I thought it was pretty funny...I'm glad Michael's so comfortable at our house! Funny boys...I'm the one who needed a nap!