Hilarious!

Last Night (Thursday) we went to Tuachan too see Brian Regan! He was so hilarious! There was times when my head and cheeks hurt so bad from laughing. If you have never heard him. I highly suggest you do! He is on the David Letterman show tonight! (Friday May 8th) http://www.brianregan.com/

San Diego April 30 - May 4th

Warning: LONG POST!!

Thursday April 30th

We loaded up and headed to San Diego. We got kind of a late start because I spent the morning in the bathroom :( (Baby Tob didn't like Golden Grahams too much!)

As soon as we got on the road it felt nice to be headed out of town. We stopped in Mesquite for some good ol' lunch at McDonald's and then continued on our road trip. Of course, we had to stop every two hours for bathroom and food breaks! We made it to our hotel around 5:30 p.m. (San Diego Time). We were ready for dinner but didn't want to drive anymore so we walked to Denny's which was close to our hotel (not the greatest dinner). It felt so nice outside and we enjoyed our little walk. We got back to the hotel and watched Mall Cop.

Friday May 1st

We ate breakfast at the hotel. They served some yummy waffles and ham. After breakfast we headed to Sea World. We got there a little after they opened so it was pretty nice not to be crammed with people. We started off with checking out the sea turtles, and star fish and then headed to the Sea Lion Show and Shamu Show. Coop seemed to enjoy watching whenever Shamu would come out of the water and spray everyone.

His favorite part of Sea World was defiantly the Sesame Street section. He loved going on the rides with Dad. We checked out the Polar Bears and Coop thought they were pretty cool until we went into one of the caves and he freaked out. He thought there was really Polar Bears in there! He loved the penguins and the shark tunnel.

We ate lunch at the Shipwreck cafe' at Sea World. Cooper got a hot dog and fries in a cool shamu lunch box, Nick enjoyed the salmon, and I had BBQ ribs. We spent pretty much all day at Sea World. It was way fun!

We then took a drive out to Coronado and saw the ocean. This was Cooper's first time to the ocean. He thought it was awesome! He loved playing in the sand and feeling the "freezing" ocean. It was pretty cold!

We grabbed some dinner at our favorite restaurant PF Chang's. We ate SO much but, oh it was so delicious!

Saturday May 2nd

We went shopping at Fashion Valley Mall. Wow, I wish we had a mall like that! :) We went back to the hotel and changed into our swim suits, grabbed some sandwiches at Subway and drove down to Imperial Beach. We had a lot of fun digging in the sand and playing in the water. Cooper was so excited to see kids at the beach. He played with a few of the kids for a while in the little water holes. He LOVED it! Cooper and Nick took a few bites of their sandwiches and then went down to play some more. We noticed a ton of seagulls when we were playing and looked at one that was flying away and it had taken Nick's sandwich and another one was walking off with Coop's. They had gotten the sandwich out of the plastic bag and the paper around it. It was pretty funny. We know now to finish all our food before going back out to play!!!

We walked out on the pier after we were done playing and it was so pretty to just be out on the ocean. After our fun day at the beach we went back to the hotel and went for a swim in the pool. I think we all got too much sun this day. Nick's poor forehead was fried and so was my shoulders and back. Cooper was pretty well protected but got a little on his neck.

We showered and got ready to go to dinner. When we got back Cooper got to pick a movie. We watched:

It was a cute movie. The only one who lasted through the whole movie though was Nick. Me and Coop fell asleep.

Sunday May 3rd

Sunday morning we headed to the San Diego Temple. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! You could feel the spirit so strong just walking around the temple grounds. Cooper was so excited and kept saying, "I want to go in and say Hi to Jesus in his house!" The sweet missionary couple gave Cooper some pass-a-long cards and a brochure of the Temples. Cooper showed her the St. George Temple and told her that is were we lived. We also met a family there that was from St. George also. It was kinda fun to run into someone from our own town even though we didn't know them. Hopefully, we will see them around here sometime! :)

Later, we drove out to La Jolla Cove and saw the Sea Lions. Cooper loved watching them swim and pop their heads out of the water.

Nick wanted to go check out some surfer's so we went to Pacific Beach and watched the surfer's for a while. It was so relaxing to just sit and listen to the ocean. Cooper and me went for a walk on the beach and got soaked by a huge wave. When we were walking back to our car a seagull decided to go to the bathroom right above us and got Nick and me. It wasn't a lot but oh, it was sure gross and very stinky!

Later that night we drove out to Chula Vista and then to La Mesa to look and see if we could see where my family (mom, dad, toni, and warren) lived. We think we found the area but, not sure if the apartment was the same since it was 40 years ago. I think if we had Dad with us he could have found it since he new the neighborhood.

Monday May 4th

We packed up and got ready to head back to St. George. We made a stop at Trader Joe's and a grocery store to get some snacks for the road.

For brunch we ate at Pancake House. It was delicious.....everything we had from the orange juice to the salsa was scrumptious!

Cooper playing with his pass-a-long cards on the drive home.

We then continued on our way and stopped in Henderson for dinner. We arrived home around 8:30 and Cooper started crying saying that he wanted to go back to the hotel... I wish we could have stayed longer, but it sure feels nice to be home!

This also happened on our trip.....My tummy grew!! I am sure all the delicious food we ate helped! :)

I am 17 weeks now and get to have an ultrasound in 2 weeks so get your votes in! :)

Learning

Cooper loves going to his "game" on the computer and play. I tried and tried to do fun things to get him to learn his ABC's but nothing was working. This website has helped him so much. He begs all the time to get on here and play. It is such a great learning website. It helps kids learn their ABC's and how to read. If you haven't already heard of it....go check it out! http://www.starfall.com/

I want to runaway to a quiet beach......

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Ok, so I have to say....Cooper might just give me a heart attack before I am 25 and that is a little over a month away! Within the last 5 days he has made my heart race, skip-a-beat, melt, and probably raised my blood pressure to not very good levels! Today is the last straw....I think I am going to runaway!

Just a few things Cooper has done these last five days (I won't tell you all of them but, these are the few that stand out the most!): I was taking a rest on Thursday morning and he was watching his show on my bed next to me. I was asleep for probably ten minutes.....no Cooper to be found. All the doors were closed so, I was frantically looking everywhere calling his name. I went out to the garage and he had gotten in my car and pushed the button to open the garage door and went out. I ran around the house twice calling his name when I noticed his scooter parked over at Joanna's house. I asked her if he was over there, luckily he had just gotten there. Thank goodness he was only next door. We are investing in high locks for our doors!

Saturday we were loading up the four wheelers and cleaning up to come home from the reunion. Cooper had been helping load the four wheelers with Nick and Nick came back to where I was. I said, "Where's Coop?" He replied, "He wanted to come help you!" Well.....he never came to me. Everyone was looking for him calling his name. Jeremi asked a guy who was over at his truck if he had seen him and he pointed him in the direction of where he went. This was probably the scariest, panicky feeling I have ever had. My stomach was sick, and I prayed my heart out to please help us find my little adventurer. After about what felt like a lifetime we found him and he was as happy as could be as if nothing had every gone wrong. He said he knew where he was, he was just playing in the dirt! Oh, Coop!

Then, the lovely Cinnamon disaster today...I do have to say...my house will smell good for a while and every time I vacuum.

Better late than never- EASTER!

Saturday the 11th we had a get-together with the Tobler Family for Easter. We had some chicken sandwiches and hamburgers for lunch and the kids did some activities with grandma(coloring eggs, coloring, and bingo). We then had an Easter egg hunt outside. The kids had a blast! Sunday I got to sub for the CTR 5 class. It was so special to see their faces as I told them the story of the Resurrection. You can see the love that they have for their Savior. The spirit of little children is amazing!

We came home from church and enjoyed our yummy Easter dinner; Ham, potato casserole, rolls, and corn. It was sure delicious!

It was so nice to have a day and really think about our Savior and everything he has done for us!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

One SUNNY saturday!

These are my FRIED knees after a fun day (April 18) of four wheeling out at Warner Valley. I was trying to get some sun on my white legs but it seems my knees caught the most and got a little burnt! :)

Perfect for left-over ham

This recipe was so yummy! It was the perfect week for soup since it was freezing last week so, I thought I would try it out and I LOVED it!
The recipe is from allrecipes.com- I changed it a little so here is my version.

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery (optional)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
2 cans of chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
pinch of minced garlic
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 c. shredded cheese

DIRECTIONS
Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and chicken broth in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in garlic, salt and pepper
In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Add cheese and stir until cheese is melted.

Trapped

Yesterday Cooper was out riding his trike around in the garage. I had the door propped open and all the sudden I heard him crying. He came running in the house with a mouse trap snapped on his fingers.
Poor guy!
It was in the back of our shelves by our boxes and he must have spotted it and wanted to see what it was. Ouch!

Uplifting

I love conference weekend. It was so fun to listen to the words that were spoken. I felt so must peace listening to the talks given and the reassurance of hope and faith.
Even in these crazy economic times, we are reminded to count our many blessing because no matter what we still have blessings! I love how we are reminded to stay faithful. “As we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us," said President Monson.

Saturday in between conference I realized we needed to go and get our stuff for snacks for the Sunday session. As we were walking down the isles Nick said, "This is like the super bowl for Mormons. We always have TONS of food! :) It's so true. I was looking at our food after conference and noticed that we barley put a dent in all the snacks we had. Ha ha I guess I made way too much for 3 people. Oh well, we got to enjoy some of them for dinner with Dad & Mama Jo when they come to eat with us.

Cooper was so fun during conference. Every time he would hear the word prophet he would start singing, "Follow the Prophet, Follow the Prophet, he knows the way!" It was so cute. Even while playing in his room he would start singing it when he heard the word (my radio had conference on so he could hear it). He is such a fun little guy and loving learning new songs.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Moist Grilled Burgers

Nick wanted burgers on Monday night so, I was browsing online to find a new, different recipe for hamburgers since I don't LOVE hamburgers. I came across this one and thought I would try it since it seems like whenever I have a hamburger it is greasy or dry. This one sounded perfect! I mixed up the meat (yuck!), made them into patties, and Nick went and grilled them. I was surprised at how delicious they were. They were moist and yummy! So, here is a new recipe for you to try! Let me know how you like it! :)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound of ground beef
3 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons grated onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons tomato juice
salt & pepper

Prepare grill.
Combine the beef with bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, grated onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and tomato juice. Shape into patties.
Grill burgers!
**Nick's advice-be careful when flipping patties. They are soft so make sure you flip gently so they don't fall apart! Happy Grilling!

Serves 5