From LA to SA

A bittersweet post ahead! I mentioned in my last post that the older kids went with Sam's parents back to Albuquerque while we headed back to Los Angeles to pack up and move. My parents flew in to help pack and drive Sam's car back. We were worried about our household not fitting in the truck, but my parents and Sam succeeded in their Tetris game! We also had the missionaries come and help, so the truck was loaded up quickly. 

That night we treated my parents to some Gelato at Century City Mall. I was soaking in as much of the atmosphere as possible since I didn't know the next time we would be able to be back to visit.

Look at this cute place!

Since the older kids were still in Albuquerque, we split up the next day. Sam and my dad drove all the way to San Antonio while my mom, Noah, and I would head to Albuquerque. My mom and I stayed back a little longer to also clean the house some, then we headed back later that day. When we got to Albuqerque, I noticed our older frogs dried out! I didn't hydrate them as much as I thought and two of them died. I was pretty upset with myself, but we still had the baby frogs. I decided not to travel with them anymore after that sad experience. 

My mom was still taking care of my Grandma, so another part of coming to Albuquerque was to resume that role for a few days. I remember how hard it was for my mom to go anywhere and it was always an ordeal to find care for Grandma if she wanted to see me. I'm so grateful to have a mom with such a big heart for caring for Grandma and making efforts to still help me when I need her.

Noah with his twin cousins.

While we were in Albuquerque, Sam and my dad, along with the help of our current ward, moved everything into our house. They even set up all the beds and unpacked a lot of things before we even got to San Antonio! That was so nice of them!

We drove back the day before Eden's birthday, so we immediately celebrated the next day. Eden got donuts for breakfast, a cake from HEB, presents, and a trip to Build-a-Bear.

Happy 5th birthday!

Eden's choice of cake.

Stuffed animals, her absolute favorite things to get!

Putting a heart into her new Stitch.

Her choices: Stitch and Toothless.

The kids had a great time!

Our Primary in our ward had a Pioneer Day activity. I was really shocked how much the primary shrunk since we came back. Still, the kids had some fun.

Three-legged race.

Wheel-barrow race.

Sack race.

I coincidentally was called to be the new Primary President not long after and got to know all these kids really well! 

As sad as it was to leave Los Angeles, I still love our house in San Antonio and we settled in quickly. I missed our huge tub, and bath time is definitely more fun here than our last house! Joseph also has his own room now and he is loving it. 

What was hard coming back to was the weather! It was over a hundred degrees for what felt like weeks! It was the hottest summer in recorded history. So, yes, I miss my beautiful SoCal weather. I felt pangs for weeks just thinking of California, but we are at the point here in San Antonio where I feel very settled and I like it here, too. We'll go back and visit someday, but meanwhile we are enjoying our day to day here in Texas and soaking in our family time.

January and February Photo Dump 2023

 Get ready for another photo dump! A lot of these photos don't have any rhyme or reason for being here other than the kids are just cute. Well, enjoy!

 

(1/11) Noah has been forgoing naps and sometimes gets pretty sleepy. Makes for some cute moments.

Eden has really been coming out of her shell at school! That and is getting really good at writing and drawing. She's already a little artist, and I bet she could get amazing in the future. Here are some pictures shared by his teachers at school.

 

 

Playing on the playground with friends now! 

Learning to count with chains.

Eden's self-portrait.

Look at how well she writes her name!

Eden with her best friend Olivia, her friend RiRi, and teacher Grace.

(1/13) Hard to see as they really like to run ahead,
but it was sweet to see Eli and Eden hold hands!

Ever since we put a television in our bedroom our bed is the big hangout spot for all the kids and I can't help but take a photo every time.

Perfect place to fall asleep too!

(1/14) Eli has been super busy since his birthday and Christmas
completing all his Lego sets. This one turned out great!!

(1/24) Noah has really taken to his daddy lately.
He likes to sit next to Sam when he's working.

And when he's playing the Switch, all the kids like to sit next to him!

(1/27) Eden loves to show me her new drawings every day.
Some of them get super cute and creative.

(1/28) In a previous post, I mentioned we went on a failed Whale Watching tour. In January I decided it was time to try again now that it was whale-watching season again. This time I was more prepared with the diaper bag, Dramamine, and coats. It was more enjoyable for me but the boat was a little smaller than the last. We were able to see whales this time and follow them for a good bit. Sadly I couldn't get any photos because they blew their blowholes too quick and were a little too far away to take a good one. I did take great photos of the boat tour itself, so I do have something to show for it.

Elijah curled up before we even left!

Ready for some whales!

Made sure to bring binoculars for all!

Beautiful view of the coastline.

And a great view on the other side too!

Sam is watching like a hawk! (Not really).

Despite the Dramamine, the poor kids still got sick. 

Elijah luckily wasn't too affected.

 

More people ended up on the sick bay.

This picture really shows those baby hairs, doesn't it?

What a nice place to rest!

Went to a beach to see if the tide pool was there. It wasn't.

While Sam explored with the boys, Eden told me she had to go to the bathroom, so we went to the Ocean Institute right next door. In trying to get out, we accidentally entered a paid part of the Institute and saw a wonderful touch pool. We didn't participate but it did seem like a really cool place!

Eli showed me the rocks he found, sadly we couldn't take them with us as there were rules being at this particular beach. 

(1/31) Eli had a Great to be 8. Crazy as he just turned 7!
He got a great goody bag and we had yummy donuts afterward.

(2/4) At the park for Eden's dance class.

Eden took all her dragons so she could play with her dance friends.
I thought it was absolutely adorable!

I'm so happy to see her make friends at Dance. It took a while,
but she always bonds over her dragons. 

 

All the frogs came out of the water! I just needed them to get bigger. At this point, I'm waiting for the local pet store to give me a call when they have room for them. We did have some casualties, but I heard that can be expected and I'm learning!

(2/11) More dance class shenanigans! It's fun to have it at the park so the boys can run around and entertain themselves. It so happens to be at the same time as Eli's kung fu class at the park so it's been super nice!

 

These two are such good friends! They have kindred spirits.

 

Holding hands with her friend at dance class! And other fun moves.

(2/14) Valentine's Day! I thought for Valentine's day I thought it would be nice to go get a slice each at the cheesecake factory...until I saw the prices. Sam had the idea of remaking the cheesecakes at home and I agreed. Everyone chose their preferred flavors and we went to the store. I didn't choose a flavor, but the type of cheesecake; no bake! I don't know, I really like them! Eden chose birthday cake, Joseph chose key lime, Eli chose oreo, and Sam chose banana cream. Might I say, they turned out so yummy! Thank you Sam! We also had rib-eyes for dinner too, but not pictured.

Eden and Joseph's choices.

Elijah's and Sam's choices.

The kids loved their choices!

The kids were able to celebrate Valentine's day at school, although Joseph came home the day before saying that they couldn't pass anything around with hearts or the word Valentines, as one of the students said she didn't celebrate. The only thing that I had a hard time with was the timing. Everyone already made their Valentines and now was told they couldn't pass them out. Luckily the parent of that child said that she wasn't part of the decision and said it was fine to celebrate as normal. I guess Joseph's teacher was trying to be sensitive to the student, just give us a good heads-up! Eden had a great day with the teachers making breakfast and passing out her Valentines and having a little party. All the first-grade teachers were given a teacher appreciation brunch and Sam baked some lemon blueberry muffins for it ( I sprung it on him and he was a trooper). Here are the photos for the day.

All the first-grade teachers. Sadly Elijah's teacher left mid-year
so that class has been through a lot.  

Eden at school with her cupcake mask.

Eden with her best friend Olivia.

Eden with Avery and Sidney.

Her teachers are so fun!

Picture of our Valentine's day outfits!

Eden passed out cupcake Valentines with ring pops.

Elijah passed out Pokeball Valentines saying
"I choose you, Valentine!" with a cool Pokemon sticker.

Joseph also passed out Pokemon Valentines with Sobble
on them saying "You turn my frown upsidedown!"
with the same cool Pokemon stickers.

Eden with all her beanie boo dragons she absolutely loves.

Elijah's sifu recently moved all of the classes to the dojo (except Saturdays, hallelulah). So I have to entertain these monkeys while he's in class.

Counting bears.

 

Eden brought way too much one day, and here's little Noah man.

Elijah likes coming upstairs to practice on the mats with friends.

Elijah had his last test at the end of February and did great from what I heard. Sam had to take him since it was rainy that day and moved to the dojo at the same time as Eden's dance class. He wasn't feeling too great but still got his first orange stripe.

There is one thing Eden and I did in February that I think warranted its own post. Then I can move onto March. I'm so close to catching up that I can taste it.