Edwards Haps and Mishaps

Okay. I think that was a record. I haven’t posted anything on this thing since AUGUST. I’m speechless. Embarrassed. I don’t post a lot to Facebook either…so you may not remember what we look like or know that Dallin has hair now. Preston’s missing 2 bottom teeth, Shaun has had a beard, a hideous beardless chop-stache (not sure what else to call it) and a mustache…and is now back to clean shaven…we’ve gone through countless holidays since then…Preston started 1st grade and Ada is in Preschool. Dallin talks up a storm and is the cutest turd ever…I say that because he can be so cute and then such a turd…but he’s so cute you forget about all the turdiness…unless I am trying to enjoy myself, wandering the aisles of Target and he’s trying to flop himself out of the cart and squawking “NOOOO” like a crow…then I don’t think he’s all that cute. Ada lives each day in either a leotard or a swim suit…doesn’t matter the month or the weather. And it is EVERY. DAY. I put clothes on her to take her out. We get home, the clothes are stripped and the swim suit comes back out.

I’m not even sure where to start with pictures…but I’ll just throw up a smorgasbord of the last part of the year…and I’d like to make it a pretty collage so it doesn’t seem like SO many pictures…but I don’t want to spend my whole Saturday on that so I won’t…don’t feel obligated to scroll all the way to the bottom :)

Playing at the school:

So precious when they are sleeping! Crusty face and all!

One of our Pumpkin patch trips:

Another pumpkin patch trip:

Trunk or treat:

Trick or treating:

Helping me scout out places for pictures in Old Roseville, she met a friend:

Ada’s Thanksgiving feast at school:

We hosted Thanksgiving and I was so excited to make a pretty table! I didn’t take many pictures of much else that day haha

And the Edwards family pie tradition…LOTS of pie. I seriously ate pie for weeks…twice a day.

Leotard:

Apple hill:

The only few good apples in the orchard…we went a little late in the season I guess!

Picking out our Christmas tree:

Decorating the tree (in a leotard)

Preston took these…teaching him young to take lots of pictures :)

I’m scary.

Happy birthday Nana

In December it got pretty cold here and we found lots of water that turned into ice in our backyard…the kids had fun breaking it apart.

HAIR! (it’s turned into a mullet…needs to be cut!)

Sock and sandals…yeah!

Downtown roseville, looking at lights:

Our little Snowflake!

Waiting to go on stage:

All done, she did such a good job on her first ballet recital!!

Decorating gingerbread houses with a zillion crazies:

And we trekked to Utah for Christmas and had SO much fun with all our family! Except for the stomach flu part…that wasn’t fun. But we loved the snow, loved our family, loved playing games, loved Beamer…we had a good time out there with everyone!

I’d never made an actual snowman before (sad) so I was pretty excited. I felt 10 again!

Grandma’s Swedish spark was a hit with all involved.

The beautiful temple. We went the Monday before Christmas…bad idea with all the Mormons and FHE!! I felt like I was a t a rock concert in the mosh pit. But it was still really pretty.

Jackson turned 8 and got baptized!

The whole Strazzo Fam…We took A LOT of pictures and I didn’t look close before I picked one and now I am noticing there are a lot of closed eyes…..

Christmas eve! I was wondering hwere Shaun was in all these…and oh yeah…he was throwing up :)

Precious, happy Lemma!! All the girl cousins are obsessed with the darling little girl!

Christmas morning!

Stopping in Nevada to stretch our legs…somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Daddy’s nice facial hair:

WHEW!

THE END!

Happy 2014!

I won’t wait 4 months before the next update :)

I was at Target in the $1 section (I am there often…) and spotted these glasses…I was thinking of doing some fun pictures for Preston starting school but we ended up just having a little “photo booth” action in the backyard. Kids in glasses just crack me up for some reason! Preston wanted to use the camera and I think I trust him at this age… he did a pretty good job! It is hard to focus with the setting I have, but look at him! Such a little photographer, in focus and everything. His subject was a little out of control, but as the photographer he just rolled with it ;)

Ok, we are weird. I know this. It has been discussed before, but I am posting these anyway :)

Here are a BUUUUUNNNNNCCCH of pictures from tahoe….seriously. A lot. Here’s the story behind 2 things…the amount of photos, and our trip.

I got this new album plu-in for my photos blog, but wanted to use it here so I uploaded a lot of images and it is supposed to put them into a collage…well it isn’t working on this blog, but I still have all the pictures I uploaded, which are a bunch, so I am putting them ALL up.

Also, they were put in backwards…so start at the bottom if you care to go chronologically…if you don’t care, that’s okay :)

So….back to Tahoe! We had some friends that were going to come out and go with us so we rented a cabin but they weren’t able to come so we just decided to go and have a good time anyway!

We got up there the first day and met some friends at Pope beach. This was a Saturday and not only that, the Saturday after the 4th of July so it was PACKED! I have never been to Tahoe when it was so full of people! We weren’t able to get into the parking lot, but we weren’t going to let that stop us. We parked on the street and loaded everything into the double jogger and huffed it about a half mile in to the beach! We had fun playing in the sand, though the water was pretty freeezing! After we were done there we were on our way to get some food with our friends when Ada started complaining in the car about her tummy…so I went to the back and a little bit later…blah! Throw up all over the place!!

Whenever someone throws up I go into freak out mode. “is this a one time thing or actual sickness?!” “Who else is going to get it? Oh gosh, everyone is going to get it! We are all already sick and we don’t even know it!!” “are you going to throw up again? You look like you are going to throw up…get the bowl! Here let me hold it in front of you!!! Oh you aren’t going to throw up yet? Well hold the bowl there anyway in case you do!” I get a little crazy…so she threw up in the car and now i was doom and gloom that the trip was ruined. I wanted to just go home…but I didn’t.

When we got back to the cabin, we actually packed up the car, but I wanted to wait…so we did wait. She threw up a few more times and was better by the next morning…of course :) And no one else got it (until the next week!) so that was the start to our trip. Those photos are at the bottom.

The next day we went hiking at a tiny little lake on the edge of Desolation Wilderness. Very pretty, very remote. We went hiking again on Monday at Fallen Leaf Lake. A beautiful little lake a few minutes from Lake Tahoe.

Kelsey and Glen came up on Monday and spent the night. We went to the beach, ate burgers and ice cream cones, hung out in the hammock and had a lovely time! Tuesday we left, but I had one more place I wanted to explore. I had found a trail head at the edge of our neighborhood that led through the Truckee River marsh area. So we checked that out and found some secluded beaches that you could only hike to, so next time we are in town we will have to hike in and spend the day there!

I am so glad we stayed and had some time to be in the beautiful outdoors and be together as a family!

Walking through the Truckee river marsh land area before coming home:

Preston pouting:

Hanging in the hammock with cousins:

At a beach by our cabin. The water was waist high for about 150+ yards! It was crazy! And way warmer than other beaches in the area!

Ada picking wildflowers along the trail at Fallen Leaf Lake:

Posing for daddy:

How the hike started:

Hiking around a tiny reservoir back by Desolation Wilderness:

Sick Ada, quarantined to a blanket on the kitchen floor:

Mason, relaxin’ at Pope Beach:

July has been a fun month. Let’s start back at the 4th of July. We spent the first part of the day at a lake…a nice brown, dirty one…but it was water on a hot day, so at least that part was nice. Then later in the day (night) we lit fireworks with some friends. When I write this down, it sounds like a pretty boring day. But I like low key…which could also be called boring by some people…all in all (in my opinion) it was a nice, day to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy and the men who fought for and organized this country. Even with all the bad that goes on all around us, I still feel blessed to live in this country for so many reasons.

Now on to the photos!

The week after the 4th we went up to Lake Tahoe and here is a picture we took (using a stump as a tripod…so we aren’t all that centered!) while hiking around in the beautiful Sierras!

I will post more from there in the next post…in 6 months :) haha.

Not only will you think I am a bad mom because of this SECOND…or possibly third… ice cream post in the last month or so…meaning we probably eat more ice cream than I actually post…BUT LOOK AT THE COLOR OF THIS STUFF?! We went to Rite Aid, which used to be Thrify’s, and they still carry the Thrifty’s brand ice cream. Some of them actually have an ice cream spot where you can still get their signature tubular shapes scoops. I almost feel like it taste better in tube shape.

My dad used to take us there and will still come over and drop off a half gallon, here and there, of chocolate malted crunch. Yum. Or we can usually (always) expect he has a freezer full of it…and hot fudge…and there’s always some whipping cream in the fridge so almost every time we are there sundae’s are in order. I’ve inherited an ice cream addiction…I will blame it on genetics :)

Okay, I’m going off subject a little…where was I? Oh yeah. Florescent ice cream colors that can’t be good for anyone…I let the kids choose the flavor they wanted and I had hoped since the Cotton Candy flavor was at the very top, that they wouldn’t see it. They obviously did and I let them get it. Wow. When I was scooping it, I could not believe the colors…they were weirdly pretty yet very disturbing. How could any food be that color? The pictures don’t really capture the true colors!

Probably wouldn’t get it again, but it was fun once!

Okay, has it been a month since I updated this thing?! YIKES.

Life has been busy. It always is, right? Does it ever slow down?

Preston finished his first year of school!

Ada turned 3!

We’ve made a few trips to the bay area to visit the cousins.

Lots of pictures taken…both for work and for fun!

I ran a half Marathon!

The heat came early this year…we have already had 110 degree weather. Blah!

Lots of sprinklers and splash parks.

Here are some pictures from May:

Thank you Shaun, my awesome husband, for dragging the kids around to cheer for me! It REALLY helped at the end because I told him not to bother with coming since he would have find parking and drag all 3 kids down to the bike trail…it just sounded like a hassle to me, but as it got warmer and warmer I was losing steam there at the end  I saw my big, yellow double wide and I was SO happy to see my family cheering me on for the last 2 miles!!

Car washin’:

Folsom Lake:

Hot, dusty, poison Oak-y hiking.

Cute Dallin:

It seems like I can’t quite keep up with the messes of everyday life…like just messes that come with living, eating, sleeping, wearing clothes…, you know, the things you do not intentionally making a mess, but it just happens? THEN I add in children…and I really can’t keep up. Pretty much not at all some days. Especially with days like this: This walking, curious one year old business is getting exhausting! I’m so glad he is funny and cute, or it might not be so easy to like him, haha.

We have been enjoying all this warm weather lately! At the moment though, the “warm” spring weather has been more on the “hot” side…which I am not totally ready for yet. this week is supposed to be up to 98 degrees!!! Seriously?! I have been running with some girls from church and we signed up for a half marathon with is on Saturday ..so with this 90+ degree weather, I think I might die. Almost literally…my body does not mix exercise and heat very well. So we’ll see if I get to cross the finish line on my legs or in the first aid wagon :)

We’ve spent a lot of our time lately out and about or in the back yard. Dallin is now walking all over the place and LOVES to be doing anything outside. He’s turning into our little independent man. If he doesn’t want to do something he will either whack you and say, “no, dont’!” or turn all limp noodle on you. He’s funny…now when he is one…maybe not when he is a little older!

Well, here are a few of the goings on in April for us!

Walking along a bike trail by our house:

Made some homemade chocolate ice cream together!

Dallin playing in the backyard

Trying out sock bubbles

More Dallin playing…he’s the victim of my picture taking lately since he’s a little bit more willing than the others!

Grandma and grandpa came to visit a couple weeks ago and we had fun playing and showing them the temple!

We went on a little hike by Folsom lake yesterday and it was beautiful! Wish we could have hung out there all night!

The other day I gave the two older kids ice cream cones and thought, “why not give Dallin one too?” He obviously loved it! Who doesn’t love an ice cream cone?! If you really don’t, I’m not really sure what to say to you right now….

Somehow, to me, ice cream tastes much better in a cone. Dallin agreed and you can see the dirt on his elbows from all his falling, but he’d catch himself with his elbow so his ice cream didn’t touch the ground. I’d do the same :)

 

A little vacation was needed so I loaded up the kids and went down to my brother and sister-in-laws house in San Jose. This was actually in February…and it’s April, but whatever. Some schools around here get presidents week off, so that’s what happened here! We had so much fun just hanging out with the cousins! We ate amazing tacos (not pictured here) which I still think about and crave (my mind often revolves around food.) We went to Henry Cowell State Park and saw huge redwoods, rode scooters, and played, played, played!

We will have to do this again really soon!

The girls “brushing their teeth” or eating toothpaste…

The boys playing hard:

A huge stump that had so many rings it dated back to Christ’s birth!

J and Preston wrestling in the few beams of light that hit the ground:

I loved the perfect clovers that grew here!

Inside the visitors center the kids got to make an animal foot print book. It was really cute.