Wicked

A few night ago I saw a commercial advertising that the musical Wicked was coming to town! Josh had won a $100 coupon in a Xbox competition at work, and I had been holding on to it for the past 3 years waiting for the perfect excuse. We rushed down to the local ticketmaster to make sure we bought tickets the day they went on sale. I would of bought them online, but something about my coupon being so old that they only accepted them at the actual ticketmaster booth...but they still accepted it :) Come Feb. 2009 you'll most definitely be seeing a blog about the whole ordeal!

Fun in the big city

On Friday we decided it would be fun to take the Bart into the city. Josh's boss was super nice and let him have the day off! That's one of the perks when your husband works for himself. Not that he can do that all the time though!

Here's everybody at the platform waiting for the Bart train. I found Ava's sunglasses on sale on one of our many shopping trips that week. I couldn't resist.


Shelby was really excited to ride the Bart. As long as your destination is near the Bart stops, it is actually pretty nice not having to worry about traffic and parking.


Ava, of course had the best seat on the whole train.


We decided to go visit the Asian Art Museum. They were having a special exhibit of the Ming Dynasty. So we thought it would be fun to check it out. I have never seen so many Buddhas in my entire life! It's amazing just how much detail went into every piece. But after the 90th Buddah, I was more interested in the room full of Jade :) The jewelry was really pretty.


Sorry in advance for the blurry pics to follow. They don't allow you to use your flash in the museum. Something about the pieces being really old...blah blah :)

Here's a question for you, why do they make museum not acoustically sound and then expect you to be quiet? Tall ceilings, wooden floors, huge rooms...makes for a fun place for a little girl who likes hearing her own voice. Here is a picture of Ava before we brought out the binky to solve the loud talking issue.


Halfway through the 2nd floor, all the chattering stopped and she fell fast asleep. I'm so glad Shelby suggested us bringing the stroller that reclined.


How could you go into the city and not going shopping? Especially since there is a 5 story Nordstroms! I couldn't even get all of the floors in the picture. But you get the idea. We walked down to the 3 story Old Navy, they were having a huge baby sale with everything 40% off, but they were closed because of a power shortage? Personally, the excuse seemed a little sketchy to me because all their lights were on inside.


Welp, those are the last pics of our visit with Shelby. We had such a great time having her visit! Now whenever Ava sees a picture of Nana, she gets the biggest smile and waves. It's super cute!

The Little Farm

One of the days while Shelby was visiting we decided to head over to Berkeley. No, we didn't join in with the supporters of the tree sitters, but we headed over to Tilden Regional Park to go to the The Little Farm.

Our first stop were the bird cages.


By far, this was Ava's favorite part of the farm. She couldn't get enough of staring at the chickens, geese, and turkeys. I couldn't even break her concentration to get a picture!


There was a handful of animals that you could go watch and feed. And the best part is that it is entirely free! I'd pick the farm over the zoo any day!


The farm allows you to either feed the animals celery or lettuce. We learned pretty quickly that the cows were not a fan of eating celery. So we'll have to make a mental note to bring lettuce next time for them. So Ava, being the sweet little girl she is, didn't want the celery to go to waste and took it upon herself to chow down on the celery.


The other animals were not as picky as the cows. Here is Shelby making a quick friend with a sheep at the farm. Ava actually cried out in terror the first time the sheep tried taking the piece of celery from Shelby. But once she realized that the sheep wasn't going to bite off Shelby's hand, she was a little bit more relaxed. But she was still very cautious around the bigger animals.


The goats were actually fighting each other for the celery. If you look closely you can see one of the goats bitting the other goat's ear.


The farm was a great way to spend the morning. It you live in the area I totally recommend taking your little tykes there. There is even a playground and picnic tables outside of the farm.

Having fun with "Nanny"

We just got done with a week full of fun with Josh's mom, Shelby. Ava was a little worried about Nana when we met her at the airport, but once we walked into our apartment, the worries washed away. Nana and Ava were best buds. Ava even added "Nanny" to her list of vocab.

The weather was just perfect for her entire trip. (Fall is really the best time to come visit the bay area) So we took full advantage of it and went shopping, almost everyday. The town we live in has a great outdoor mall, with fountains and music and fun little shops. But I think Shelby's favorite part was the Nordstroms. I think we went to Nordstroms 3 different times during the week...but who's counting :) I must admit, it does have a great cafe. Since the weather was perfect we decided to eat outside on the deck. Three little birdies perched right behind Ava anticipating our departure so they could snag all the dropped food. Here is Ava and Shelby out on the deck.


Ava isn't one to shy away from a tickle fight!


Ava kept signing the word "more" every time a tickle fight ended.


Stay tuned because there are lots more pictures to post.

My grateful list

Josh left bright and early this morning to fly out to Toronto for a business trip. After a stopover at LAX he boarded his plane and got settled in for a 6 hour flight. You must imagine my huge surprise when only a few hours into his connecting flight my phone rings and his caller id pops up. (if you're viewing this on google reader, the flash video won't show. So you'll actually have to go to our website to see the video)

Upon waking up today I had no idea that I would be going to sleep with a sense of extreme gratitude to my Heavenly Father. Taking a queue from Oprah, I thought it would be appropriate to write 5 things I am grateful for today.

Ignorance - I guess the saying is true that ignorance is bliss. Josh didn't call me to tell me what had transpired until he had actually landed safely on ground. I had a minor melt down once we got off the phone, and I knew he was okay. I don't know what would of happened if I had known what was going on during the flight.

Firefighters - Here is a picture that Josh took from the plane once they landed. He said there was a handful of firetrucks following the plane in case anything happened. I am so grateful for the response and preparedness of the firefighters. Even though nothing happened, it is such a relief to know if something had, there would be someone nearby to help.


Flight crew - I cannot express enough how grateful I am for the pilot and the crew. I am so glad that the pilot reported the incident immediately to the tower. I am so grateful for his training that prepared him in landing the plane. He will never know how much I appreciated everything that he did.

Tomorrow - This experience made me realize that you really do not know when you or one your loved ones last day will be. Everyday is such a gift. I will be even more grateful for tomorrow when my husband walks through our front door again.

The Gospel - What a tremendous blessing it is to know that our Heavenly Father is always watching over us. Through the good and the bad, we are never alone. There is never a moment when we cannot come to Him in prayer. It is such a blessing to know that He is there, waiting to listen and comfort us. I am also so grateful for the atonement. That no matter what happens here on earth, we will all be reunited once again in heaven.