San Diego Trip

Around Thanksgiving Caleb had 10 days off.  It was so wonderful! We decided to take some of that time and take a family vacation to San Diego. It was a great little trip. We stayed out on Coronado and had four days to adventure around. We went to the Mormon Battalion Memorial, Old town, Mission Bay, Point Loma, La Jolla, rode bikes, played at the beach and ate lots of good food, etc. It was a much needed break after Caleb's grueling October schedule.

Food Inc.

We Just watched this documentary last night. ThIs is a must watch movie for everyone. I am already a very health conscious eater. I buy the bulk of my food at our local fruit stands and buy the rest at Trader Joe's and buy organic whenever possible. Being med students and then medical residents for our entire married life we have been on a very tight budget, but when we got married I told Caleb I would much rather invest in our health and our children's health and wear hand me down clothes etc... buying your food is really an investment in the quality of you and your families life. In this movie when you see what the giant food industries are doing to contaminate our food to make a profit we as the consumers need to stand up. We need to buy and support good and wholesome food for our families to force them to change. If we keep buying junk they will keep making junk. You know our food in America is screwed  when our income to obesity ratio is higher than any other country in the world. That means that our processed food, which is full of corn syrup, fat, and salt is cheaper than the raw products. That is why America is fat and that is why we have the fastest growing type 2 Diabetes in the world, because of these huge companies that feed the nation and run our FDA. That is also why we spend more on medical care then any other nation in the world, because we need it more! I know you think oh she is being an extreme conspiracy theorist...think what you would like but watch this documentary and you will see that Americans are eating themselves to death.  We are allowing these companies govern our food choices. Make an investment in your health and your families health, lessen how much you spend on your medical bills by reading labels and spending a little more on your food. Every time you buy something you vote for what kind of food we as a nation want. And I never thought I would be saying this but way to go Wal-mart for starting to listen to the consumers and making good choices in the food they are starting to provide!

Watch this video and share it with everyone we all need to know!

http://vimeo.com/24984667

Halloween

 We had a fun busy Halloween this year. The Friday before Halloween we had Joshua's school carnival. Then Saturday we had the trunk or treat at church. Then on Halloween we of course went trick or treating. So the kids got a lot of use out of their costumes. 

Joshua was Peter Pan and looked so cute thanks to Grandma Bailey's sewing and costume making abilities. Abigail was Tinker-bell. I got her costume at costco and then made some adjustments. Abigail loved it but continually told me Tinker-bell doesn't wear pink, or this thing on her head. I thought it worked anyway, and she looked really cute.

We carved our Pumpkins for family night.

Daddy was on a string of overnights again so on Halloween he got to go Trick or treating with us but during the day while he was sleeping I kept the kids quite and busy decorating Halloween cookies.  

The kids were so excited to go out trick or treating in our neighborhood.  But neither of them liked the "scariest house in the whole wide world" as they put it. They actually enjoyed answering the door and handing out candy more than anything else. 

Abigail's 3rd Birthday

I can't believe my little baby Abigail is three. She is the funniest little girl in the world and we all adore her. She can be intense, but it makes her that much more fun. She is amazingly smart, partly because she wants to keep up with Joshua. She has to do everything Joshua does...when he is doing his homework she is right there with him trying to say and write letters and words. She can actually write a few of the letters in her name. She is determined and will not be left out. Her favorite seems to be music, she sings all the time and knows a lot of the primary songs and other nursery songs. I am trying to teach myself the piano and she loves to sit right next to me and play along and does not just pound the keys. My favorite thing about her is that she gives the best hugs and kisses. She is a real snuggler and lover. She likes to give me butterfly kisses, eskimo and "real kisses" and would sit on my lap all day snuggling. The best is when Joshua is at school and I have time to just read her books and she snuggles in as tight as possible. She is definitely a strong little spirit and always has been, she knows what she wants and know one is going to stand in that little girls way. If I ever try to go toe to toe with her on something she digs in deeper, she likes to think she is boss... as you can see from the picture below. 

For her Birthday she wanted princesses. We were going to just have a small party at home, but Caleb had a work thing in Santa Maria during the week of her birthday. So we pulled Joshua out of school for two days and celebrated her birthday with her best friend Levi. She adores Levi, and names all her stuffed animals Levi. So we had a princess party with four boy cousins. Luckily they were all good sports and played along with the princess theme. Thanks to Grandma Bailey's amazing dress up clothes we were able to get at least the little ones in to character. 

Levi loved being Abigail's prince. 

Ezra loved to be a king and did not take his outfit off all day and was continually accessorizing.  He and Abigail actually have a lot in common. 

Abigail's princess cake.

I brought all my dress up stuff so Abigail kept changing outfits.

 We were home on her actual birthday. Caleb worked a night shift the night before and got home just in time for a Breakfast Princess Birthday party. We had pancakes and then opened presents. She was so excited. Then daddy went to sleep for the day and I took her and Joshua to pick out five new chicks for her birthday. After one death and one mean pecking hen (given to a good home) we were down to only 3 chickens. Abigail was so excited and literally spends an hour a day in the garage with them holding them.  I have to force her to come in and eat and stuff. So she had a very fun birthday and I still can't believe she is three.  The time goes by way too quickly. 

Bike Riding

Thanks to my brother John telling me to take the pedals off Joshua's bike he finally figured it out. He learned how to ride last fall, but struggled stopping and getting going and kept falling after 100 ft. So we took his pedals off for two weeks and let him just cruise around. When we put his pedals back on it was like magic; he could ride perfectly without any help stopping or going or anything. Now all he wants to do is go to the park and ride his bike. 

 Worried look?

And of course a few pictures of this determined little girl