Eventful trip to California

Well, our trip to CA was quite eventful last week. We started out very early on our drive. Everyone was asleep (except me, thank goodness) when I smelled something. I knew Miss Amelia must have had another poopy diaper. She has had diarrhea for a couple weeks now- finally cut two more teeth to let us know what that was about. All I had on my mind was getting to the next rest area to change her. Turned out it was a total blowout. I had to give her a bath in the sink, wash her clothes out and clean out the seat - DISGUSTING!! So, my focus wasn't really on how much gas we had- minor detail, right?... Well, I remember seeing the "last services" sign before the rest stop but naturally wasn't on my mind once the blowout happened. I kept driving and realized the gas station wasn't the 50 or so miles away I thought I remembered the sign saying. So, you guessed it, we ran out of gas. Thankfully it was early (about 7 am) so not hot yet. I immediately called AAA to come help us. While I was on the phone, Ammon started walking with the kids to the next sign to see where we were. Before I knew it, someone had pulled over offering to take Ammon to get gas and bring him back. While still on the phone, he took off. I was like "should I cancel AAA" and he said "yes" as he was leaving. So, I trusted our fate to some strangers I didn't even know or had even seen and off they took Ammon. 

[Hmmmm, this was strangely reminiscent of our trip TO Arizona for a job interview over Thanksgiving 4 years before when our transmission went out. Ammon hopped in the car with some strangers then too who took him to the airport to rent a car so he could make it to his interviews (good because he got one of those jobs) AND leaving myself, Connor and my brother Jason, who was traveling with us- and vies never to do so again, can't blame him, - to fend for ourselves (very bad because we were stranded).]

I still am irritated at Ammon about that situation to this day. But, that's my man--he's got to "DO" something about our problem and darn the consequences to the waiting family. Thankfully, this time, we weren't stranded all day. We were very lucky the people that picked him up weren't murderers or crazies. In fact, they were quite nice (I did meet them once they brought Ammon back 30 minutes later). They said they saw Ammon walking along the road with his kids and knew he was safe (they had 5 kids in the car themselves). So, we got gas--2 little 1-gallon each cans at $11 each (yeah, these middle-of-nowhere gas stations can get away with robbing you when you're desperate) and filled up the tank enough to get us to that same very expensive gas station to fill up the rest of the way.

Thankfully, because we left so early, this mishap didn't put us too far behind schedule and we made it to grandpa's house just after lunch. 

Ammon's grandpa lives out in Palos Verdes Estates in the same house for the past 50 years. Such a beautiful location right near the beach and smack dab at the top of the mountain with a perfect view of the beach, ocean and city lights. We love being there and especially enjoy visiting with grandpa. He is 88 years old and we keep dreading each visit may be our last. We would love and hope to have him around for many years to come.

Out to dinner

First, third and fourth generations

Shopping for Sunday dinner. We had a yummy pot roast.

In the living room where, through that wall of windows behind Ammon, you can see the gorgeous view.

Over Connor's shoulder you can kindof make out the ocean, beach and city.

Little builder

Stack master

Walking out of Church with grandpa (great-grandpa)

Take 2

All together now

Times 2

Cold ocean early Monday morning. We were out there with the surfers. Ammon went running.

Thankfully I had my sweater in the car and put Connor's sweatshirt on Amelia. Connor is like his daddy- doesn't get cold.

 

Good morning!

Feeling the sand between our toes

Phoenix Children's Museum

The pictures say it all-- we had a great time!! 

The kids and I went to the Phoenix Children's Museum once in January and again last night. Because Phoenix is 90 minutes away, we are sure to make a day of it by also visiting Abigail's grave and IKEA- Connor loves the play area. It''s always a full day but the museum is definitely our new favorite place.

Connor...

...is silly. Here's a sampling of his latest silliness:

I wrote several favorite quotes on a whiteboard where I could see them and be inspired. Connor came along and erased what I wrote and rewrote them in his own handwriting (he obviously can write better than me, he is in first grade after all). The funniest part was that he incorrectly rewrote one quote. It was supposed to read:

Life is not a dress rehearsal.

What did Connor write?

Life is not a dress at all.

Ammon and I can't stop laughing about it. We'll often tell each other 

 

"hey, remember, life is not a dress at all- get it right!" 

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"Call me Conner" (pronounced Con-Air)

For the last week or so, Connor has been correcting me to call him "Con-Air" when I call him regular "Connor", even getting a little huffy with me when I mess up. He says since everyone spells his name wrong (with an -er rather than the more common -or) that that's his name now. 

[In mine and Ammon's defense, we made sure to spell his name the most common way but it often gets misspelled] 

 He gets "Conner Larson" a lot and he is usually so put out by it that he would often grunt and make an angry face and has been known to shed tears over the error. If it's in written form, he would draw the correction in with a heavy-handed marker- as if the person who wrote it would immediately be made aware of their error and be put on notice. So, usually he flips out but not now . It's surprising because for him to just "go with it" and to in fact go the complete opposite way of insisting on being called "Con-Air" is not normal. (Can you tell Connor is usually given to extremes and an all-or-nothing approach?)

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Welcome to 'C' world:

Have you all seen Despicable Me? Of course you have- right? Well, Connor is in love with the character Vector so much that he has copied much of what he does- yes, we have lots of miniature paper ball "moons" around the house and he has a uniform or "warm-ups" he likes to wear- his once cast off "I-hate-this-orange-sweatshirt" has become the top paired with bluejeans for the bottoms. He has made his own 'C' sign (see his chalkboard and flag)

 

Can you see the 'C' on his carpet? He also made a white 'C' rug next to it.

much like the 'V' seen around Vector's home. Connor has a 'C' on his bathroom toilet, his hand towel, toilet paper, carved into a white bar of soap, orange liquid soap at his sink, rug with his logo, and even a 'C' written in orange highlighter onto his bedroom floor- yeah, he's cleaning that up!

He repeats scenes from the show and likes to go around the house saying "oh yeah, oh yeah!". His favorite clip from the movie is Vector defending his warm-ups- "they are not pajamas!"

Another he loves- "curse you tiny toilet!":

We'll miss you grandma Spears

My grandmother Rosemary Spears passed away last Sunday, January 23rd, after many years of pain and inoperable problems. She was 74. She has been the only grandma I've had for the last 20-some years (my mom's parents having both passed away in the '80s).

I'm really grateful my family and I have lived here in Arizona these last nearly 4 years. That has been wonderful because I have been able to visit my grandma and grandpa much more often than I had in years. Because they were less than 2 hours away, I would visit regularly up in Mesa, the last time being in December when grandma was in hospice. Once I heard she was there, I hurried up there. I was told she was slipping fast and often people don't last very long once there so I didn't want to miss a good final visit. Thankfully, during our visit, I found her lucid and great to converse with remembering both old times and things that had happened that morning and the day before. I was grateful to find the same grandma I had remembered.

My conversations with her over the most recent years have concerned her life, her upbringing, family history, her perspective and opinions on events that I had never heard before. Some of the best stuff I remember include--
~her experiences as a military wife- I asked her advice on how to make it seeing as that will likely be my future. She said to make lots of friends because they can relate to what you're going through, support you and will become lifelong friends.;
~mother of 3- she had many stories to tell of each child, especially and repeatedly one of my dad, the eldest. As an infant, he was unwilling to let his mother put him down during dinner prep so she had to make dinner while carrying him around on many occasions, which was very difficult (I can relate- Amelia can be this way sometimes); also how she or grandpa had to bounce my dad to sleep as a baby and continue bouncing him to keep him asleep.;
~hairdresser- she worked off and on over the years at various shops even having her own shop at one time but finally hanging it up once her arthritis got so bad. I asked her advice in cutting my boys' hair (a motherly duty I do not enjoy) and she simply said it takes practice- darn, I was hoping for some secret formula :) ;
~travel- she and grandpa always liked to take trips. Even with a young family, they were always going camping and seeing the sites of wherever they were stationed. Some of their favorite trips while being stationed in England and Germany were to Austria, Switzerland, Eastern Germany and Italy. As retirees, they had motor homes they drove all over the US and Mexico too.


My grandma had never been a shy person, on the contrary, always very talkative. She could carry a conversation all by herself, and often did in her marriage. By nature, my grandpa is very quiet. With her passing, and even as she was nearing the end, I think I've heard him speak more than ever having to explain her condition, her doctor's appointments and speaking of his military experiences (which Ammon and I asked him about because he served in both the Army, being a Korean War veteran, and in the Air Force). I admire the great example my grandparents have been, having just celebrated 58 years of marriage in December. On several occasions I told them I appreciated their good, strong marriage and example of love and support they showed for each other. They are good people and I will greatly miss my grandma.

[Ammon's grandparents have been like my own grandparents too (much because they too are members of the Church- that brings so much common ground, interests, understanding and goals). Both of Ammon's grandparents have lost one spouse in the last 3 years. Ammon's grandpa Larsen 3 years ago (see blog post "Ammon's gradpa was a good man") and Ammon's grandma Maughan dying 2 years ago February 13th. It's easy to remember her passing now since it was just 3 days and 1 year before Amelia and Abigail's birth (and Abigail's death), February 16th. It's hard to see these strong folks go. I appreciate their lasting examples and love for me and my family. Surprisingly, I still have a great-grandmother alive! She is 96 and lives in Oklahoma.]


I admire that my grandma was always smiling and very positive despite the constant pain she was in. I can't imagine living every moment with the level of pain she did. The poor woman must have always hurt but she never let it show. If you asked her how she felt, she'd either avoid talking about it or would admit it hurt but nonchalantly say how there really wasn't anything that could be done about it so she would live with it the best she could. She was a good example of "come what may and love it" (Elder Wirthlin). We will miss you grandma!!!

Some pictures from our last visit in their home on Veteran's Day (November 11, 2010):