Oakland and the Zoo

In trying to get caught up on life and blogging my goal is to blog once a day. We'll see how that goes!

A couple weeks ago we had to tearfully take my parents to the Oakland Airport to fly back home after helping us move here to Modesto. We decided to take advantage of being in Oakland to see a bit of the ocean and use our new zoo pass! It is such a GREAT zoo! Seriously I thought the new renovations to the Hogle Zoo in Utah were good, but it doesn't even compare to the life these animals at the Oakland Zoo have! Lucky ducks (okay not literally we didn't see any ducks...well perhaps a few visitors.

Walking along a cold Oakland Pier looking over at San Francisco

Anna was still in her PJs and was so cold. Luckily we had our trusty blankie, this thing goes everywhere- mostly to have at nap time. Anna is our little "Linus."

Pretending to wave goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, though they didn't leave until later and didn't fly West.
My two favorite people....So Cute!
View of San Francisco... or so we think.
Driving to the Oakland Zoo we were in some sketchy areas. Makes for a cool school though.
Welcome to the zoo!
Anna loves see camels now because Grandma and Grandpa and Great- Grandma rode on them in Africa and brought home a little stuffed one for Anna. It has been her toy of choice many times! Also, I was so nauseated I sat down on the ground by these guys and a worker asked me if I was alright and needs a cart to drive me around. That would have been nice! I told her I was pregnant and nauseated, her reply was, "oh poor baby." I really hope she meant me!
El Tigre, they were HUGE! But not as big as the next animals

This Lion was fighting with another Lion on the other side of the gate. It was SO CRAZY to watch, they kept Growling and jumping up on the gate. It was fascinating to watch.

Another View. (We stood about 10 feet up and over a railing so we were right there!)

He soon settled and went up by the lioness, she was not very impressed.

Look at the size of those paws!

My favorite of course! So cute!

There were about 5 Elephants and they had the largest "cage" of all.

The Zoo has a little "children's garden" Anna enjoyed exploring the butterfly and other over sized bugs!

Dave and Anna visited the bats, it was meal time.

Try eating upside down... seems difficult to me!

Anna was being silly by this point and NOT into photos. This is how she attacked Dave. I love this photo because it shows Anna "tense face" which she'll do if she is squeezing hard. Sorry it was your nose Daddy!

Not too thrilled to be released, still making the "tense face" At least Dad was free!

There were quite a few monkeys but we were hot and tired (and nauseated) so we skimmed by them.

Anna was SO excited for the "ferris wheel" as she calls it

One of my new favorite pics!

Chug a chug a choo choo!

What a great day and introduction to our surrounding areas! We are excited to explore more of California!

Daddys are the BEST!

An Ode to the Fathers in my life.

I feel so lucky to have all THREE!

First off, My Dad. (Niagara Falls last year when he and my mom and sisters came to visit us in Michigan)

Simply put, He AMAZES me. He is humble, tenderhearted, dedicated, faithful, loving, unassuming, funny (we seem to have the same humor and too many inside jokes..head cheerleader... :) ) and last but not least so kind. As I grow older I am more in awe each day of what a wonderful man he is. He can make me tear up in an instant. Enough said. I have learned many lessons from him throughout my life, but the most important thing I can think of (besides being a Ute...j/k) is to love others and serve them without the need for thanks or acknowledgement. That is my Dad, Daniel B.
Reading with Anna during our move to Modesto. Anna refers to this Princess book as Grandpa's because they sat every night looking at it together... so cute!
My Dad is a miracle worker when it comes to projects. He can jimmy rig just about anything. He should have patented his early work of setting up a T.V. and VCR in the car for road trips... complete with an extra speaker in the back seat. The above and the next couple photos are of Anna's dressers which literally fell apart in our move. We probably would have tried a few things, but given up and thrown them out. Not Danny boy, you can see how he used his resources and put it all back together again. I wish I had a final photo, but I don't at the moment. Thank you Dad you saved two of our three total dressers!

We were so thankful to have my parents in BOTH of our moves to Michigan and now to California. They are great road buddies and are the best and helping set up house! Thanks again, we Love you two!(In the Sacred Grove last year)

Father #2-Papa Paul Aka my wonderful Father in law. Paul is also dedicated, intelligent, thorough, hilarious (he has some of the best one liners, but you better be paying attention or you'll miss a good laugh), willing to help out family and share his medical expertise in many instances. We have been saved by him many times (And have saved money on medical expenses- (: ) including many random illnesses of mine and Dave's and most recently our seizure scare with Anna over the summer. We were SO lucky to be in his home at the time! He loves his family and it shows through little expressions and deeds. Thanks for all you are Paul, we love you!

Most recent Photo... Paul was able to come out to A2 for Dave's graduation. We were so thankful to have him there!

Just before graduation

Checking out one of my favorite spots in Ann Arbor... "our forest" in Sugar Bush Park (just a five minute walk from our home and I felt like I had escaped the city).

The boys at the Henry Ford Museum in front of the car Kennedy was shot in.

Our Daddy of the Home! Where do I begin? Dave is hard working, systematic, hilarious (a trait from his Dad), giving, thoughtful, dedicated, talented, simple though complex, smart, and so loving. I am thankful for my Husband and the father of my child (soon to be children). We have grown up together for the last 11+ years and love each moment we share together. Though we knew each other for almost 10 years when Anna was born I feel like we have loved life so much more as we became parents. There is a different love you see in each other and feel together as you hold, hug, love, teach, and watch your children. I LOVE watching Anna and Dave together. They are silly and playful, but also tender and loving. There is a sweetness Anna brings out in everyone, but mostly Dave that astonishes me. Thanks for being an Amazing Daddy and husband. It has been so wonderful to have the last month to spend each day with you!

Yosemite a few days ago, You should have seen these two running down the trail like this... hilarious!

Dave actually framed this shot with Anna and I first. I think it is pretty amazing with Yosemite Falls (upper and lower) in the background.

Relaxing and being silly at our new home.

Chuga chuga choo choo, my tow favorite people aboard the Oakland Zoo's train.

Anna grabbed on for dear life... or just to be silly... I don't think Dave was that comfortable. (:

The silly Face, Anna's favorite thing to do (that will come in another post). I love how silly we can all be together. Anna definitely has her Daddy's humor, much to my delight. These two make me laugh!

16 weeks

Yes, Anna is VERY excited to be a "Big Sister" around Thanksgiving. We have waited to post so that we could tell family (and as many friends as possible) in person while we were in Utah. It has been a crazy way to tell people, but worth it.

Luckily with working full time, traveling and the move I have felt well overall (some nausea and fatigue here and there). I haven't thrown up until this week and that is still a question as to what brought it along. Yuck! We are excited to be a family of four!

Home Sweet Home

I am not going to post a big post, but I wanted to say that we are here in Modesto. We arrived @ 2:30 AM Monday morning to a beautiful and clean home (way step up from A2). We are excited to be here and LOVE the home we are moving into. I keep trying to find my favorite thing, but there are so many great things about the home. The only problems so far are the ANNOYING barking dogs next door! URRG! We will post photos a little later once we are a little more settled.

Now if we can find renters for our Bountiful Home then life would be grand! Also, we are burning through our cell phone minutes so if I don't answer or haven't I promise to call you this weekend!

Homeless...

Not really. Dave and I have made it to Utah. THe last two days were very long, but we made it by 6:00 last night arriving to a wonderful dinner with ALL my family! It was fabulous to all be together again.

I realized that for another week and two days we are a bit homeless. We are all moved out of our A2 home, all our stuff is in a semi truck somewhere in the U.S., we don't start renting our place in Modesto, CA until the 6th and our home in Bountiful is rented, but we are trying to find renters. So although we own a home, we cannot move into it, and even though we have paid rent in A2 we are no longer there. Thank goodness for family!

BTW, if anyone knows of anyone looking to rent a great home in Bountiful, Utah, send them my way!

We are happy to be in Utah, to relax and spend time with wonderful people. Anna is having a blast with her Grandparents, Auntie and cousins (and cannot wait to see the other set). She informed me when we arrived (as she has flown home to Utah with Grandma) that she had been "Playing ALL day". So here is Anna's plan for the next week: Play with "little people," Jump on the tramp, play kitchen, jump on the tramp, and basically "play all day!"

Mia is also in heaven running in a large yard all day!

"It's a great day to be alive..."

14 hours down...12 more to go... for the week

We are in Grand Island, NE and no it isn't an island it is isn't grand, rather stinky. In fact to quote my husband, "Do they just kill a lot of animals around here?" We have had a L.O.N.G. LONG day and I cannot wait to close my eyes. We will be in Utah tomorrow and I am SO excited to see family and friends.. more than they know!

Here's to hoping there isn't as much construction, contact problems, scary rainstorms, sleepiness... but instead good music, fast travel and a welcoming hug, especially from Anna!

The Master

Dave Graduated almost a month ago, but since then we have been working hard on packing and getting ready for our next phase of life. I am so proud of him and the hard work that he put in over the past two years. He got straight A's each semester and was well balanced between family time, school, play, working out, class representative, and church callings. He is a very dedicated student, Husband and Father and I am so lucky to have been on this ride with him. We are excited to move to Modesto, CA and start a Career (well one year fellowship for now). I know that Dave will succeed in whatever he does and know our family will be taken care of.

Our Family before Graduation (Go Maize and Blue!)

We are so thankful Dave's Dad, Paul, could come out for the big day!

Shaking Hands with the Dean of the School of Public Health

Calling his Name (Luckily he has a simple one there were people from over 10+ different countries in this graduation. That made for some interesting names!)

All the MPH friends (Russ, Carrie, Us, Hunter, Kevin and Katie). These guys became some of our best friends in Ann Arbor and now we will all be in 3 different states. We will miss them!!

The Graduates

Proud Wife!

Miner Men

Proud Family

The Kids (: Anna loves Hunter her "Best Friend"

We could not catch Anna's cute smile, she had one right before this.

Anna was SO PROUD of her Daddy. She couldn't wait to go see him after the ceremony.

The best congratulatory hugs!

Almost caught that smile!

CONGRATS DAVE, the new "MASTER!"