Sage and mommy head south...

So a while back Jack had offered to send me and Sage to southern California for a girls trip. My best friend Heather and I have been planning to get ourselves and our cute girls together for a couple years and finally made it happen. As it turned out in the midst of our planning, one of my old roommates, Michele, from my Provo days was getting married and had asked me to be her Matron of Honor in her wedding which was an incredible honor. The stars aligned and she picked a day that also worked well for Sage and I traveling down to spend an extended weekend with Heather so we were able to kill a couple birds with one stone. So away we went. Of course we had no idea when booking this trip that Jack would be starting his first week of work in Ohio at the same time we'd be traveling to California but thankfully my mom jumped on a plane and saved the day watching the boys while Sage and I went and played! Now, for the record, the boys will have an opportunity to go on a guys trip with Jack but we're waiting for end of year report cards to determine what level of trip they get...

It was so funny as we flew into Ontario to hear Sage ask "Mom, I thought California was a sunny place"... What she has yet to learn about southern California is that there is also a lot of smog which sometimes makes it hard to see the sun. Thankfully once we landed and headed to Heather's in Temecula, we were greeted by warm sunny weather and an adorable Mackenzie Wray! This was Sage and Mackenzie's first time meeting each other and we knew it would either be a big success or a big flop because for years we've been saying that they sounded exactly alike. Luckily with the exception of Sage giving a little attitude once in a while, they became fast friends! I don't know who was more excited, Mackenzie to sleep in the trundle of her new bed or Sage to sleep in someone else's bed and at someone else's house since this marked her first sleepover ever!



Since Heather and I are a lot alike, it only made sense that our girls would be too...



The next morning I woke up and headed into San Diego for Michele's big day. In the meantime, Heather was busy taking the girls to paint pottery, attend her boys' football games and as you can see a cupcake stop somewhere in there too!



As I drove in to San Diego I called Jack and said we indeed have to move out here asap. Whenever I'm in California, I feel like I'm home. Jack and I have both said that when it's time to retire I think we'll find ourselves either in San Diego or NYC. Two of our favorite places by far. If things go as planned we're hoping to get back to California sooner than that!

Introducing the beautiful couple...




What an honor it was to be Michele's escort in the temple. She looked beautiful, the weather was magnificent and I think she found herself a great catch in Rick. After a busy morning we headed to Fallbrook for a wonderful ring ceremony and reception. It was truly amazing.




After a busy day, I returned back to Temecula to get in my much needed girl time with Heather and the girls. We packed our overnight bags and headed to Disneyland bright and early the next morning. The last time we were in Disneyland was in 2007 before Jack started with 24 HR. Fitness. Then in 2008 we headed to Disney World before going on the Disney Cruise so Sage was too young to remember any of that. It was so fun to see how excited she was to be there. Between perfect weather, a photo opt with Rapunzel, and hitting every good ride in the park, I'd say the day was a big success. By the time the fireworks launched, Sage was out cold but not before testing out Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, and Thunder Mountain which all became a few of her favorites! Heaven forbid we miss the Haunted Mansion, I would have been in big trouble. Heather and I would laugh as she'd frequently remind us we needed to go on that ride still. Clearly I'll always have a ride buddy since Sage is just like her mom and loves all the fast and scary rides!!! By far one of my favorite memories is sitting with her on Space Mountain with both of us raising our arms to the sky for the entire ride.





Of course you can't come to Disneyland and not leave with some sort of memorabilia. Grandma and Grandma had given her $20 to pick something out for her birthday. I had no idea what this thing was she picked but apparently it's from Toy Story 3 and amazingly the belly smells like strawberries. Sage had to have it. Thanks mom and dad!!!



After a fulfilling day we jumped on the shuttle back to our room at the DoubleTree Suites where we all enjoyed a good nights rest and spent the next day at the Grove in LA going to the American Girl Cafe. Heather had made reservations for us beforehand and again we had fantastic weather as we sat outside on the balcony terrace eating lunch. The girls loved it and I loved that Sage has yet to figure out that her "American Girl" doll is a fake one from Target! If only Target could get the hair right, they'd have a gold mine on their hands because I think Sage's Target one is way cuter than any of the ones at American Girl store not to mention hers looks just like her. We picked her up a pajama set and were good to go! Phew, one bullet dodged. I was pretty certain I'd end up having to walk out of the store with a new doll and since this was also like a birthday trip for her I was going to be ok doing it but nope, she never asked and so I never offered...




It was sure an action packed four days of fun!!! Here are some other favorite shots from the trip:




A special thanks to Heather and the kids for being such great hosts! We had a fantastic time and looking back through the photos I can't believe I didn't get one nice one of Heather and I. With all the photos through the years dating from middle school and high school to weddings, to NYC, to a house visit out to Calif. to a girls weekend and a high school reunion, you'd think we'd have remembered to get a nice one of the two of us but I guess that's what happens as we age...we become forgetful! One thing for sure though is we both finally got our girls and what a fun time we had celebrating with them!!! Thanks Heather!

And I have to once again thank my mom who so willingly flies out with little notice to come watch kids whenever needed. I had to laugh when Connor said to me the other day, "you know mom, I use to always cry when we'd leave grandma and grandpa's house but I don't do that as much anymore because I know I'll get to see them real soon!"

A big milestone...

Sage is on two wheels!!! Better late than never...

Imagine being out on a date with your hubby and getting a frantic call from your sons (who are at home babysitting their younger sister) telling you they have something very urgent to tell you. Well, that's a sure way to get your heart racing. As it turned out the big news was that Ty had taught Sage how to ride her bike without training wheels and Connor had even captured it on video! Admittedly, this was music to my ears. Just a week prior to this we had been up at the park and ran into some friends who had just taught their daughter how to ride her bike. She too was just about to turn six and was proudly riding around the basketball court on two wheels. I made the mistake of recommending that Sage give it a try thinking that since her friend was doing it she'd give in to the pressure and want to attempt it for herself. What I didn't take into consideration was that running alongside a nearly six year old while trying to hold the bike up is quite difficult. Sage decided to turn and head for the grass and suddenly the next thing I knew she was crashed on her side and it was not a pretty sight. She was soooo mad at me. And I felt terrible. Needless to say she assured me she'd "never ever ride a bike again!".

What a difference a week makes. It was so cute to see how excited Ty was to share the news and it was even more exciting to see the excitement on Sage's face as she showed us her new found skill when we returned home. Who knew that parenting responsibilities could so easily be passed down to the children...

Clearly from the shoes Sage is wearing with her outfit Ty has heard me yell at him enough times about riding his bike in flip flops that he practiced safety first with Sage. Gotta love the biker boots!!!

Sage's first acting debut...

Last week Sage participated in her first kindergarten play "The Three Pigs" which was presented by the three morning classes. She had told me how excited she was to be a pig in the play but I assumed everyone was a pig (and as you can see, with the exception of the big bad wolf, everyone was a pig) so I didn't realize until the night before when her teacher emailed me that Sage had a leading role as one of the three pigs. Although being selected to have a lead role as a pig in the school play wouldn't have sat well with most high schoolers, this kindergartener was thrilled with the opportunity. Well, if I must admit, she was by far the cutest pig ever! Afterwards she received a ton of compliments which made her feel pretty special. The play was quite the hit with the parents especially because it wasn't too long unlike some of the ones we've been to over the years with the boys that go on for what seems like FOREVER! As the music teacher stated at the end..."wow, we just blew through that" and boy were we ok with that!!!




The little pig who built her house out of straw and the Big Bad Wolf!!!

Excuse me, where's the snow?

After not getting in our annual ski trips to Utah last year, we were determined to make it out this year so I pulled the kids out of school a couple days before their spring break and we spent almost two weeks enjoying the break in Utah. The trip ended up being a bit more hectic than it normally would have been since quietly behind the scenes I dropped off the kids in Utah and caught a flight out to Cincinnati the next morning to meet Jack for a four day area orientation/house hunting trip for a job offer he was considering. I'll do a future post on all of that but for now I can say my normal relaxing trip to Utah was much more hectic and a bit more stressful as important decisions needed to be made and my heart was feeling conflicted with my head. Unfortunately because Jack had taken so much time off for our trip last month, he was extremely busy with work and wasn't able to be with us in UT. He was initially booked to fly out for Easter but even that got changed due to last minute work meetings so we were sad to not have him there with us. In the meantime, the kids enjoyed their few days without me, hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa going to the zoo and dinosaur museum. Once I returned we had a great time enjoying some skiing, hanging out with friends and family, spending Easter with the cousins and enjoying some beautiful, warm weather.

One of the things on our to do list this trip was to get Sage up on skis. Now that we've done that the question will be can we get her up on skis a second time?!? I was so excited as I spied on her with her instructor to see her smiling and doing really well, listening and following everything her instructor said. I picked her up for lunch and looked forward to spending the afternoon having her show me all the things she had learned. Well within minutes that same smile was replaced with complaining and tears. Needless to say we'll be doing full day ski school next time!!!

Thank goodness Paul was happy to come spend the day with the boys on the slopes since I knew I'd be focused on Sage. They boys had a great time and Ty was super excited to have completed his first double black diamond. I was curious to see how they'd do since we missed the ski season last year but according to Paul for the most part they were able to keep up with him which is pretty impressive since we all know what a daredevil Paul is on the slopes!

Normally April is our favorite month to ski in Utah because in past years we've been able to enjoy record snowfall in the mountains and warmer temps in the valley but this year the weather was strange and there wasn't a lot of snow. Apparently there was plenty at the top but only Paul and the boys would have seen that since Sage and I spent most our time on the bunny hill...oh, I mean out in the car...lol! Next time I just need to remember the sun screen. We were all pretty fried by the end of the day but Poor Ty was in really bad shape since he spent most of the day with his goggles on top of his head rather than over his eyes...

Our newest skier to Team Roddy...well, it was good while it lasted...



All smiles at the beginning of the day...



The three amigos...who always had smiles!



Easter! I've seen these before! I think I have an identical photo taken the last time we were out for Easter!



Everyone loves an Easter egg hunt...




Can you find Ty's bunny face in the jello? He was pretty excited with his creation...



It's no secret who Sage has a crush on...



We're always so grateful to Gary and Kelly who always make a point to come into town when we are in town!



Grandpa and Gary took the kids over to Thanksgiving Point to see a movie and tour the museum...



Nothing like skiing one day and enjoying 80 degree temps the next...



Thanks again mom and dad for another fantastic visit!