Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Visiting with the Magalei's

My sister and her family came into town this past week for a visit and we had so much fun having them here! Since moving here to Utah, I've missed my family in Ca so much and I bask in the moments when I get see them here or when we get to visit them there. Having my sister and her family here made for a week of laughing, having fun, visiting with family and friends, playing cards all night, eating yummy food, laughing again, eating again lol and so much more!! We all made the most of their trip and had a wonderful time doing so. It was fun having my nephew Hadyn around his cousins Sariah & Madysen again. It never fails...when Sariah & Hadyn are together for more than a day they fight like brother & sister. But, the moment they're apart...they tell each other how much they love and miss one another. LOL Thanks for visiting us sis...we love you guys tons!! Ü

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Hogle Zoo


We got the chance this past weekend to take our girls to the Hogle Zoo with our family, The Magalei's, who were visiting from Ca. It was such great fun! The zoo is a lot smaller than the ones in Ca, but the kids enjoyed themselves nonetheless. It was actually Mady's first time at an actual zoo and she got a kick out of seeing all of the different animals. What's even better is that we met up surprisingly with our Hunt family, who were taking their kids there as well! After the zoo we visited our grandparents and had dinner at GC. It was the last night that my sister Chrystel and her family were going to be in town so we made the most of the last 30 minutes of daylight after dinner and took the kids to the park for a little bit. It was a great day and the weather was wonderful!










Monday, April 12, 2010

And so....I start again!

Okay...I've been putting this off for too long! If any of you have been keeping up on my blog, you know that I was doing pretty good last year on my goal to lose weight. I was going to the gym consistently, eating better, cutting down on my sweets...chocolate to be specific lol, and I even went down almost 2 clothing sizes! Unfortunately I've slowly been going down hill...ugh! I've gained back some of the weight but luckily I haven't gone back up a size yet....and I don't want to get there! So, I'm writing this post to help motivate myself. We moved into our new apartment a month ago and I haven't visited the fitness center in the clubhouse until today!! I only worked out for about 20 minutes...but HEY, it's a start! lol My goal is to continue working out, start eating better, cut down on my carbs (which is what I did on my last diet) and sweets! Wish me luck...because I sure need it! Ü

Thursday, April 8, 2010

I love you...Yogurtland!

I'm sure everyone knows how much of a foodie I am by now. Ü I love trying new restaurants. I love eating out with family & friends. I love Italian cuisine. I love trying out new dessert places. I love cooking and making new recipes. I love baking...but one thing I most certainly LOVE is Yogurtland! Since moving to Utah...I've made a list of all of my favorite restaurants and so far Utah has only ONE of them! You can only imagine how bummed I was to find that there is NO...I repeat NO Yogurtland anywhere in the state of Utah! >:0( I miss you Yogurtland! The yogurt there isn't what you think yogurt is...it's more like ice cream, but better! It's creamy and delicious and all of the flavors are on point! When you walk in...there are two sizes of cups-Big and Bigger! lol You fill your cup up with however many different flavors you want...my favorite is chocolate and toasted coconut with a little bit of pineapple or mango. They even have taro flavor (you'll be surprised that it's sweet and actually tastes good!) When you're done over-filling your cup with all of that yummy yogurt you have an array of toppings that you can pile on top...fresh fruits, candies, cookies and even cereal! (Fruity pebbles is delicious on yogurt!!) They weigh your cup when you check out at the register and it's only $0.30 an ounce! (How can you beat that?!) I went back home to Long Beach last month for my nephews baptism (blog post for this is in the works lol) and we went there every single day we were in town! LOL There isn't any place like Yogurtland and I'm hoping that one day...someone will have some sense to open a franchise here in Utah (if I had the moola...trust me, I would!) :) I love LOVE you
Yogurtland!! :)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Winter Wiggles

Since moving to Utah and having to deal with all of this winter weather my girls haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time outdoors (because all this Utah cold is new to me and I'm a paranoid mother who thinks my kids will get crazy sick if I take them out in the cold LOL). Well, the sun came out today and it looked so darn beautiful that I took the girls out to the park to get their 'winter wiggles' out. :0) Despite the cool air they had tons of fun playing and exploring the 'new park' just down the street from our place. Bring on the warm spring weather because we're ready for picnics and barbeques!





























Go often...

Last week I had the opportunity of doing a session at the Jordan River Temple with my cousin Lynne. A few weeks prior, her and her husband entered the temple and were able to be sealed to their children as a family for eternity. It was such a wonderful experience for me to be able to attend their sealing. As I watched their sealing progress and their children walk into the room, I was overwhelmed with the spirit and the love I felt at my own family's sealing.

As my cousin and I prepared to attend our session I felt a renewed and humbling desire to go to the temple often, to learn and to take part in the sacred work that is done within the temple walls. I'm thankful for my my cousin Lynne and for her willingness and excitement to do the Lord's work. We've made it a goal together to try and attend the temple at least once a week and although we just started on our goal...it has already made a world of difference. Ü
"To you who are worthy and able to attend the temple, I would admonish you to go often. The temple is a place where we can find peace. There we receive a renewed dedication to the gospel and a strengthened resolve to keep the commandments." ~President Thomas S. Monson

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter 2010

We had a simple Easter this year...and I must say that I quite enjoyed it like that. :) This Easter holiday is our first one here in Utah and we most certainly missed our family back home in Ca. We originally planned to spend it at my grandmother's house, but our plans changed and we ended up at our cousins (The Lupeamanus) home. We ate yummy food and the kids had a little Easter egg hunt in the house. Xani and Mady had a go at the eggs first and they were so cute trying to gather them and put them in their baskets. Lynne's boys (Terrell and Tairiq) and Sariah came out a few minutes later and snatched up as many of the remaining eggs as they could! Funny thing is...when they all sat down to count their eggs they all, inadvertently, had 9 eggs each! It doesn't sound like much, but that was plenty of candy for them! :) After eating the yummy food we came back home and relaxed and listened to parts of General Conference online that we missed. Easter is a wonderful holiday but the purpose of what and who we celebrate it for is even more marvelous.

Simply put...I love my Savior and He lives!

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."-- John 11:25-26