Great Day At The Beach

Today we went to the beach and it was beautiful! We stopped and picked out some Disney shirts at Walmart and then got some lunch before we got to the beach.  We stopped at a shady Del Taco where you had to have a coin to use the bathroom that was located outside and around the back of the restaurant.  The food was good though.

The weather was just perfect!  Not too hot, but not cool at all.  Super sunny and perfect.  We all came back to the hotel with nice tans and maybe a little sun burnt in spots.  I had a nice sun spot on my leg where there must have been sand because it left a funny shaped tan line on my leg. 
The kids had so much fun playing in sand and water.  The water was really cold at first but we quickly adjusted and then enjoyed the coolness.  Everyone put on their swimsuits except me, which I regretted once I started playing in the water.  Tyler and Josh loved the water and kept running in and out of the small waves.  Megan played a little in the water, but I think that for the most part she thought it was too cold.
All the kids played for a long time in the sand.  Ocean sand is the best.  Megan liked sitting on the beach towel and playing in the sand right in front of her.  She kept walking all over the towels and got sand everywhere, but she had a marvelous time, so it was worth all the sand.

Josh and Tyler played in the sand a lot.  They loved playing with all the beach toys.  Josh enjoyed building a tunnel into the ocean water and then Josh and Grandma tried to build a sand castle, but it didn't really work and ended up just getting destroyed (probably by Megan).
After Megan got tired of playing in the sand she, Tony, and Margie played a little Frisbee.  It was pretty fun to watch them pass it back and forth and see Tony try to play while holding Megan.

After I had enough time sun bathing and getting my tan (slight burn, just for the next day) I went and played in the water a little bit more before we started to get ready to go back to the car and hotel.
Megan got pretty tired after about two hours and was ready to go and have a nap.  The boys really didn't want to leave at all.  The love the beach so much and really could have stayed all day.  I don't think there is one thing about the beach that they do not like. 

After we attempted to wash off the sand from all of us in the little showers that they have at the beach by the bathrooms, we came back to the hotel and all took showers.  It was nice to have all the sand off and feel nice and clean.
We were all super hungry so it was dinner time. After driving around a little bit, we ended up at Marie Callendars and the food was really good. The boys must have been really hungry because they ate really good and Megan...she picked at everything.  After dinner we came back to the hotel and put the kids to bed.  We then did some laundry (luckily the machines were on the same floor as our room), and now us adults are relaxing and eating frozen yogurt...it's a good life!

California

We are now here in sunny warm California.  We got in last night about 7:00 pm.  The drive wasn't too bad.  We got on the road about 7:30 Saturday morning. We only had to stop one time before we made it to St. George.  Once in St. George we stopped and visited Papa who is in a care center recuperating from hurting his hip.  We stayed a short time before we said our good byes and headed to see Nana.  We visited for a little while and then headed back on the road after getting some lunch.
We had hoped that Megan would have slept right after we left, but that little stinker fought going to sleep until 5:00.  Then she only napped for like 40 minutes and then was really fussy. She just wanted Mommy so I moved to the back and that helped.

After we checked in we unloaded the car and unpacked our bags.  I was so tired so we just picked up some dinner and ate it in the room. Then we pretty much just went to bed, at least me and the kids did.
This morning we ate some breakfast and then hung out in our room until it was time to get ready for church.  We attended a nice sacrament service and then got some lunch.  After we came back to the hotel for Megan to take a good nap (because you know she won't take good ones at Disneyland).  Margie, Tony, and the boys went somewhere but I don't know where they went, so I'm hanging out in the quiet room enjoying the break.  After Megan wakes up we'll go and visit the Sazo family from my mission.  I'm excited to see them.  I hope the others come back soon, a girl could get used to all this quiet...  
We came back to the hotel after visiting the Sazo family and having some dinner.  It was so nice to see Brother and Sister Sazo.  They thought we were coming next Sunday so I was glad that we were able to catch them at home.  Daisy was still at church so we weren't able to visit with her.  I talked to her a little on the phone, but that was it.  The kids loved their house.  They played with their fun instruments and loved going out in their back yard where they had three birds and a swimming pool and hot tub.  It was nice chatting about the ward and the old days.  After a couple hours we said our good byes.  They are such a great couple and I love them so much               

Comings & Goings

I have been a slacker on my blogging lately.  Mostly it is because most days I just feel like crap and want to crawl into a whole and die...so who wants to blog about that.  But I think that I have been feeling a little better (minus the last two days).  I don't seem to be quite as tired and when the acid reflux/heart burn is under control I feel almost normal some parts of the day.
We have been busy getting ready for our trip to California.  We leave on Saturday.  We are going to spend the night at Tony's parents house tomorrow night so that we can wake up and leave early to get on the road.  We normally stay the night in Las Vegas on the way there but decided to just drive straight there on Saturday.  We are hoping to get to our hotel with enough time to go swimming.  It is suppose to be really warm when we get there (like high 85 degrees).  So I am very excited about that.  All week looks like great weather.  It makes me so happy.  I just hope that I'm not too sick while I am there.
So funny story...Tony sold my car.  He thought if he priced it high that it would take a while to sell, but we got 6 calls that evening and the car was sold that night.  But we made over a thousand dollars more on the car then we thought we would get, so that was great!  It had really low miles and I guess lots of people liked that.  We are going to buy Tony's parents van when they get a new one.  I think that will be soon (they may be purchasing a new van while I type).  I hope we didn't rush them into buying a new one because I now have no car, but I know she's wanted a new one for a while - so win-win.  Maybe after our trip we will have a van of our very own.  I am such a nerd!

Tony Gets What He Deserves!

I am glad to say that Tony finally got his promotion at work.  He is now officially the Assistant Manager at the Ogden Cannery.  He got a pretty good raise with this promotion.  This is really good for us now that we are in the market for a van.  I am just so proud of Tony for his patience in waiting for this promotion and for working so hard for over a year with the responsibilities of the assistant manager without the title or the pay.  He is a great worker and this promotion sets him up nicely to become a manager some day.  He's just such a great guy!

Happy Birthday To Me

Yesterday I turned 33 years old and boy am I feeling it...just kidding.  It was a really good day.  Tony had the day off and the kids didn't have school so we were able to spend a lot of family time together.  On Thursday night Tony brought home my favorite pie from Marie Callendar's and it was a really nice (yummy) surprise.  After he got home that night we went and picked up some dinner from Dickey's and took it over to his parents house where his Nana and Papa were visiting.  It was nice having dinner all together and spending time with them before they went back to St. George the next day.
On Friday my parents took me to lunch for my birthday.  I chose Texas Roadhouse (surprising, I know) and it was so good.  It was nice just hanging out with them for a while.  Tony was so nice to stay home with the kids.  Megan and Josh started coughing the night before so we didn't want to take them out and spreading their germs.
Poor Megan's cough is a croupy cough.  Super low and sad.  Max has come over a few times to check her breathing and so far it hasn't been too bad.  It is so nice having the help of Max and knowing that our little Megan is in good hands.  She didn't feel feverish tonight, so I am hoping that she is on the mend.  That would be great.
Tony was super sweet to me all day on my birthday (not that he usually isn't).  He took care of the cooking and cleaning and most of the kids stuff, it was nice.  He really is a super guy and I am so lucky to have him.  He also bought me a DVD of Saturday's Warriors.  Brings me back to my childhood.
Tomorrow we are going to go to my parents house for dinner and cake and ice cream.  Should be fun to hang out with the family and who doesn't like feeling extra special from your family!

Baby #4

Well I guess we're going to have another baby.  I found out on New Years Day that I was pregnant.  I had my first appointment on Friday and I was able to hear the heart beat without too much problem.  So I am 10 weeks along.  I figured that now that I have heard the heart beat I am good to start telling people and my blog.
We are excited about this baby.  We were surprised at first since we weren't planning on having another baby, but we are mostly excited now.  I have been pretty sick most days since about 6 weeks.  I was really sick right before I went to Portland, but since then I have been a little better.  I throw up about every third day or so, so it could be a lot worse.  My due date is September 5th.  It's so crazy that all my kids will be 2 1/2 years apart.  So here's to a new chapter in the Steenblik house.

Portland Fun

I was lucky enough to get to go to Portland for the weekend and see some family.  I left on Thursday night and met my cousin Brandy and her husband Ryan at the airport and then we waited a short time before my other cousin, Mandy's flight arrived and met us all.
We stayed at Ryan's aunts town house that was close to Brandy's house.  His aunt summer's there so the house was perfect for us to spend a couple days.  We stayed there our first night and ended up staying awake until like 2:00 in the morning talking. 

We slept in as long as we could on Friday and then we went back to Brandy's house for breakfast and then planned out our day.  We started by going to the movies and seeing "Saving Mr. Banks."  It was a really good movie and I am glad that we went. 
After the movie we went back to the town house and did the heart craft that I brought.  We each chose our paper and paints and then had fun chatting and doing our hearts.  It was so sunny while we were there, so it was so nice to open the shades and enjoy the sun while we did our craft.
After our craft we went to dinner at The Olive Garden.  It was really busy and we had to wait a long time, but we didn't mind too much since we didn't have any kids with us.
After that we headed back to the town house.  We stopped at a store on our way home and bought some finger nail polish and some crazy makeup.  Then we went wild when we got back.  We did our finger nails and toe nails and then did our makeup like we would never ever do in public.  We are such silly ladies.  We stayed up pretty late that night too, but we had fun.
Saturday we planned to go to the Chocolate Fest.  We stopped at WinCo to pick up some healthy breakfast of fruit and such.  Then we drove to downtown Portland for the Chocolate Fest.
We had a hard time finding a parking spot so we ended up parking further away from the convention center and then taking the train there. 
Chocolate Fest was a lot of fun.  There were lots of people there and vendors.  We had a lot of samples of good chocolate and bad.  Some were so bad...after tasting one I literally said "Oh yucky" right in front of the vender. 
We got about half way through the venders when we were getting a tummy ache and decided to eat some lunch.  We all had salad.  It was sad but we all got sick of chocolate before we were done seeing everyone.  But we all bought lots of chocolate and had a good time.
Then we drove back to the house and ate our left overs from the night before.  Then we hung out and watched some shows.  Ryan brought us over some ice cream with all the fixings - so good.  We really needed more sugar.
Sunday morning we got up and got dressed for church.  We packed our bags and got all our stuff and went to Brandy's.  We ended up just going to sacrament because Mandy wasn't feeling well.  Then we ate some lunch before Mandy had to go to make her flight.  While Ryan, Brandy, and Mandy went to the airport Nate, Tony's brother, came and got me and took me to their house.
It was so nice hanging out with his family and seeing their new baby, Cora.  I really can't say enough how much I liked hanging out with them.  They are such a neat family and I hope that they can move back to Utah some day soon.  I ate dinner with them and it was so yummy! After dinner and chatting Nate took me back to Brandy's where I slept that night.
I was so tired I went to bed early and was able to sleep in a little bit.  Monday I just hung out at Brandy's house.  I took a nap and we chatted lots.  Then she took me to the airport.  I flew home and my dad came and got me and dropped me off at home.  It was a nice break and I am glad that I was able to spend time with my family.

Cousins Weekend Here I Come

I am leaving later today for Portland.  My cousin, Mandy, is also flying in from Boise and we are meeting up with our other cousin, Brandy.  It should be a fun weekend of hanging out, chatting, eating, site seeing, and whatever we want to do without children (or husbands).
It is a much needed break that I am excited for.  I am a little worried about the flight because I am not feeling super great and flying generally makes me sick.  But I am going to be positive and hope for a good flight.  Luckily it isn't that long of a flight so I should be good.
Margie is helping out with the kids while Tony works and then Tony is taking care of them for the rest of the time.  I am very thankful to them for making this trip possible.  I love my cousins and definitely don't get to see them enough.  It should be a great time!

Another Year Gone By

I can't believe it is already January 10th.  Nothing too big has been happening here.  Tyler and Josh started back at school this week.  It was nice having them home for a couple weeks, but it was good to get them back on a schedule.
We had a good Christmas break.  The kids pretty much just played with all of their toys from Christmas the whole time until schools started.  It was nice seeing them enjoy their toys.  New Years was pretty low key for us.  We got some food New Years Eve and then hung out at home.  The kids went to bed as normal and Tony and I were in bed before midnight.  We are super awesome.
It has been really cold and has snowed off and on all week.  It is so pretty and I just love it.  We haven't really been playing in it with school and everything, but maybe tomorrow.  One of the things we like about when it snows is that the air quality is good and we can have a fire.  We all love having fires and it just makes the house so cozy.  Well, it should be a good year.  I look forward to all the craziness and good times!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!  Can't believe it has already come and gone.  I sit here on the night of Christmas thinking about this day and feeling so blessed.  Tony and I both have such great families.  They are so generous and supportive.  It has been so nice to spend quality time with both sides of our families.  We have three great kids.  Busy, active, crazy, but great!
I can't help thinking that if my pregnancy would have stuck that I would probably have a new born baby now.  I think that my due date was like December 28th or something.  Mostly I am glad that I don't have a new baby with how busy Megan is, but a little part of me is sad.  Heavenly Father gives us so much strength to get though hard times, so I know that we would have been just fine.  It's just kind of funny how things work out.

We have been enjoying lots of family parties this past week.  It started on Saturday with the Big Steenblik Family Party.  They decided we were getting too big to have it in someone's home so they reserved a church and we had a nice lunch there.  There were a lot of people and plenty of food.  It was nice to see Tony's extended family that we don't see very often and the kids had tons of fun running around the gym with their cousins.
Then on Sunday we had the Clark Party.  We had dinner at my parents where we also did a kids gift exchange and an adult gift exchange.  It is always fun to play games where you get to steal presents from people.  We had a good turn out.  We had my whole family (minus Wendy and Teagan) plus some cousins with their families.  I love my cousins and am always trying to get more of them to move to Utah.  
The next party was last night, Christmas Eve.  It was the annual Kresser Family Party.  It was held at Tony's parents home and it was lots of fun.  We had a good amount of people come and it was nice to see them.  Since we haven't been going to the camp out the last couple years it seems like we only see some of Tony's extended family once a year, if we're lucky.  We also did a gift exchange for the kids and the adults. A good time was had by all.
After the party Tony took the kids home to put them to bed and I went to my parents house to Skype with Teagan from Japan. 
Not sure why, but they arranged for her to talk to us Christmas Eve here which is Christmas there.  The hour difference got miscalculated, so that is partly why we Skyped so late.  It was really nice to see Teagan and to chat with her for a while.  She seems to be in good spirits and is doing really good in Japan.  They even have a baptism set for this Saturday, so that is really exciting.  Julie and I were super silly talking with Teagan.  It made her laugh.  We sure do miss her, but she couldn't be doing anything better then she is doing right now.
Tony got everything all ready for Christmas morning so when I finally got home we were able to just go to bed.
Josh and Tyler came up at about 7:10 am saying, "Santa Came."  It was pretty darn cute.  They were so excited to open presents.  We made them wait to open anything until Megan woke up.  She woke at about 7:30 and the party quickly started.  They were all so excited about getting presents passed out and then taking their turn to open their gift.  At first Megan was a pretty slow unwrapper but she quickly figured out how to get to the gift quicker.  She LOVED opening gifts...and not just hers...any gift she could fine.  Adorable!
The kids all seemed to like their presents and started playing with many different ones.  We let the kids play for a couple hours and then we got dressed to go to my parents.  We ate breakfast there with my parents and Julie's family.  After we were done eating it was present time.  Grandma Kim and Papa G had a couple things to hand out.  The kids all got a gift from Grandma and one from the cousin exchange.  Then my dad had these huge blue bags that had fun "stocking" stuff in them.  Some of the stuff was for Tony and I and some was for the kids, they loved it.  My parents also gave me one of their old IPads.  It was a totally surprised.  It was very nice of them to give it to us since we are the only one of their kids without an IPad.
After we hung out there for a couple hours we decided to go to Tony's parents.  There we ate some lunch and then the kids opened their presents from Grandma Margie and one from Aunt Suzanne.  They loved their gifts and had a blast playing with their cousins.  My kids are so lucky to have so many cousins who live close to play with.  I didn't really have cousins who lived close, so I really understand how nice it is to be close and have those relationships.
After we were there for a couple hours we packed up our car and headed home.  We unloaded the mess and the kids went right to playing with their new toys.  Tony set up the new Wii and the got the new game going for the boys.  We pretty much just played and played until bed time.  We did a light dinner (since it felt like we had been eating all day) and watched a short holiday show before bed.  Megan didn't even take a nap today.  Too much fun to be had.  We feel very blessed to have been able to have this time with our family to exchange gifts and spend time together, but most importantly to remember the birth of our Savior.  I love Christmas!