The Crazy Edwards Family

Guess who's 2???

2010-10-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

I know, I can't believe it either. We had such a fun day.

First we ate pancakes and strawberries with sprinkles on top.

After that we went and got cupcakes at Kara's. Of course she got two and of course she only ate the frosting.

Then we took some pictures with her friend the balloon. It is living on the ceiling of the playroom. I wonder how long it will last????

Here is a cute picture of her on the phone with Aunt RiLee, she was singing "Happy Birthday" to her. So cute with her juice.

Waiting in the front of our house for our friend to come and take pictures. She had a photo shoot just for her second birthday. They turned out soooo cute!! I will post them soon.

Here is her cake. Caitlynn had a Seasame Street birthday this year. The cake wasn't the greatest, but she still loved it.

Opening presents with the help of her friends.

No party is complete without pin the nose on Elmo. We had a pinata too. Just didn't take any pictures.

Here is Caitlynn with her new shopping cart and grocery's. It is a Melissa and Doug cart and it is so fun. She makes me park it by her crib at night, so funny. She really did get spoiled this year. But, you only turn two once, even though she claims she is "tree". We will work on that this year, or maybey not. Love you Caiters!!!!!

First Day of School(2 months late)

2010-10-04T16:38:00.001-07:00

Here they are!!! Better late than never. So, Luke started 2nd grade and Brooke started Kindergarten. You can see the apprehension in Brooke's face in the fourth picture. She did great and no tears for anybody in her class the first day. Way different than when Luke started. She was so ready to go! Of course my pictures are in reverse order. But you can see JR and Caitlynn at the bottom walking with Brooke to school. So fun. They both are doing very in their classes and Brooke is especially lucky, because I am the room mom in her class. Here's to another year of school.

Luke's 7th Birthday

2010-10-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

This year was a friend party, so I did something very smart. I had his party at Pump It Up! For a hefty price, you can pay someone else to do everything! Actually, Luke had been asking about having a Pump It Up party for awhile and seeing how he had alot of people to invite, it just made sense. All we had to do was show up!(I did opt to bring my own cake though-Costco of course)

Here is Luke. The kids got to run around in this huge room with all of these huge bouncy houses and slides. Oh, and there was a rock climbing wall too. He was so happy!

This was about the best picture I got of him while they were playing. They were so sweaty it was kinda gross. So, the first hour, the kids get to play...

...then you get to go into this room where everything is set up for you. Dreamy. Lots of yummy food, candy, and cake to eat before dinner.

Luke was so excited he got to sit in the Birthday chair. You can't put a price on that people.

Finally, here is the picture with everyone in it. We all had a great time. I even went down the slide a few times. Oh, and the best part, no clean up!!!! It was totally worth it if you ask Luke or I, JR on the other hand questioned our decision when he got the credit card bill at the end of the month. Good times.

Luke Melted My Heart

2010-08-30T19:29:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted for over 6 months, but I just wanted to jot this down before I forget. (And hopefully I will re-enter the blogging world now that school has started)

So, Luke started 2nd grade last week. A few nights ago, he was telling me that the boy he sits next to is "kinda weird". I asked hime "why". He said that he doesn't really listen to directions, jumps out of his chair alot, yells the answers out loud, but is really smart. I didn't really say much b/c I didn't know the whole story and wasn't sure if Luke was just complaining for no reason. The next day, I was talking to one of the other moms in the class and asked her if she knew anything about this boy. (She was the PTA president and I work with her a little) Well come to find out, she knew this boy very well and is friends with his mom. She said that this boy "Jason", has Autism. She explained that he is very smart but can't control alot of what he does. She also suggested some ways for Luke to make friends with him.
When we got home from school, Luke and I had a big talk about Autism and what it is. I tried to explain to him from what I knew(which isn't much). But all in all, I just told Luke to try to be nice to him but that in a few weeks they will have different assigned seats.(Really, how dumb am I)

Well tonight, at dinner, Luke begin to tell me about his day. He told me about his spelling words they have and how much he doesn't like homework and so forth. Then he went on to say that at lunch today, he saw that Jason was sitting by himself. So, he went over to him and sat down and then asked him some questions(apparently this kid knows all the capitols of every state and country and all kinds of flowers). So Luke said he had to ask his name 3-4 times before Jason would even look at him. Finally Luke said "what is the capitol of China?" Jason replied, "Hong Kong." Then he said what about Australia, and England and so forth. Everytime Jason answered him. He said "Mom, he finally talked to me!" Then, what was the best part was when Luke said. "Mom, I felt such a warm feeling in my heart all day". He went on to say "I just felt so Happy!"

Luke, I just feel so happy that you are my son.

Love,
Your biggest fan
Mom

Surprise 30th Birthday Party

2010-03-31T14:30:00.001-07:00

He did it!!! JR totally surprised me for my 30th birthday. I thought he had something up his sleeve but had NO idea what exactly it was. I knew my parents were flying in on Thursday night and was totally excited to see them and share my birthday with my dad's who was turning 60 the day after mine. But I had no idea that anybody else was coming. Friday afternoon I hear a knock on my front door and in walks my sister RiLee from New Jersey, my brother Rory and his wife Katie from Salt Lake, my other sister Lauren from Denver and then my other brother Ryan flew in from Utah. It totally surprised me!!!!!!!! I was bawling like a baby. So, I assumed that was the big surprise. Little did I know that the next day he had planned a big surprise party for me. It was so fun!!!!! I has started wondering if there was something going on because my siblings kept disappearing to Target and Costco on Saturday morning. I kept wanting to go to the city and do something fun but everyone seemed like they just wanted to hang-out. I finally talked them into going to the beach but hadn't showered or anything yet so when they kept saying "maybey you should go change your clothes and put some make-up on." I should've suspected something. So I totally was taken off guard. It was definitely the funnest party I have had.
Thank you to my dear hubby that came up with the idea, (with a little persuasion from my sister RiLee I am sure) I have such a great family and it was so fun to spend time with them and some of my dear friends. Love you all! Thanks for making my big day so memorable. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

2010-03-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

My sister is making a memory book for my Dad's 60th birthday and asked each of us kids to write our favorite memory we have of our father. This one kept coming to my mind and so I thought I would share it with you all as well. It is very sentimental and dear to my heart. But it meant so much to me at the time and looking back, it goes to show what a loving father he is.

On November 6th, 2007, I was 9 months pregnant and something terrible had happened to our baby. Instead of getting the exciting news that a healthy, happy baby had been born, grandpa heard the opposite. That our sweet little girl had passed away. She was stillborn due to a cord accident. Right then Dad flew to Las Vegas and got on a plane to San Francisco. I had to be induced and so I was in the hospital waiting to have the baby when he arrived. I was still in shock and couldn't understand what had happened and why it had happened. When I saw Dad come into the hospital room, I felt a sense of peace. He was there to comfort me and help me get through one of the hardest things I would ever have to do. It was late and my body still wasn't ready to push her out, and my emotions still weren't ready to let her go either. The next day, I woke to my biggest nightmare, but it was real. I don't remember much about the labor. But I do remember holding and loving my little baby after she was born. We named her Chelsea Lynn Edwards. She was 7lbs, 4oz and 20.5 inches long. She looked like a perfect combination of her older brother and sister. Her dad and I automatically loved her and kissed her. But I think it was because we had made her together. I don't know how other people would feel about holding a dead baby. But, I wanted Dad to come and see his newest grandchild. He didn't hesitate for one minute. When he walked in the room, I was nervous that he might be scared or freaked-out to be honest. But he did what any grandpa would probably have done. He walked right up and took her out of my arms and held and kissed her. He was sad, but he tried to be happy for this short time he had with this precious baby. His comment cheered me up when he said "Well, she is definitely an Edwards!" With her long legs and arms that dangled like a frog(like my other three kids). Her face and head was smothered in kisses from her grandpa and he rocked and rocked her for at least an hour. We cried a little but just tried to comment on how beautiful and precious she was. He looked at her hands and feet, just like he would do with any other grandchild, not worried about her being already gone. My dad spoiled her as much as he could in that short time. When it was time for him to go, he cried and then gave her back to me. He leaned down one more time and kissed her on her tiny head, trying not to cry. Kind of like he does when we have to go home after a long vacation at Grandpa and Grandma's. Then he looked at me and told me he loved me and gave me a kiss too. I needed it more than her of course. But then again, my dad probably needed comfort too. He had just lost his grand-daughter!!! But Dad had to be strong and brave, because, well, that's what dad's do. I love you dad!
Happy 60th birthday!

Love,
Ronna

Valentine's

2010-03-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Valentine's Day on the 13th this year because the 14th was on a Sunday. I bought tickets to see Fiddler on the Roof starring Harvey Fierstien and JR bought us Band Hero for the WII. Now you might think that is a funny gift to give to a girl but, you have never seen me karaoke. I LOVE it!!! So, I don't have any pictures of us playing Band Hero yet because I am the lead vocal, and I mean business when we play. So until then, here are some pictures of us going to the theatre.

These ones were taken by Luke. I was actually waiting for JR to get ready for once.

Here we are outside the theatre.

Do you recognize the picture of Harvey Fierstien? Just think of the funny transvestite brother in Mrs. Doughtfire. He was GREAT!

Here we are trying to take a picture of ourselves on the i-phone.

Finally we asked the lesbian couple sitting next to us if they would take our picture.

All in all a fun night. the show was great and the dancing was pretty impressive. I don't know how those men dance with bottles on their heads but I was secretly hoping one of them would drop one, but they never did. I am always amazed when I go to a Broadway show, the fact that these people have to memorize so many lines and songs and it is all live!

But, I think I would have had just as much fun staying at home singing my own songs. Now the dancing, that's another story.
Love you JR!

Fun at the San Jose Children's Museum

2010-03-11T13:37:00.000-08:00

I am finally updating my blog so there aren't as many details but the pictures are pretty fun. There is a lot of catching up to do and only a little bit of time so I probably won't comment as much as usual. SO just use your imagination and put a little crazy stuff into the mix and that is what our life is like.
So onto the blog.
Since all of our passes expired from the museums in San Francisco, I decided to buy some in San Jose since we are a little closer now. We went to the San Jose Children's Museum a while back. We will definitely be going back soon. Next time I will remember to take some more pictures, not just in the bubble room. Oh and maybe I will have a real camera, not just my i-phone.

Here are Caitlynn and Luke riding an astronaut's exercise bike.

Brooke and Caitlynn in the circle room checking out a huge tire.

The next few pictures are of Luke trying to make these huge bubbles. I never could make one. Probably because I didn't want to be the only adult looking like this:

He did it!!!!

Here are Luke and Brooke using these pulleys to make bubbles.

You probably noticed their face paint. The museum has a room full of mirrors, aprons, paint, and paint-brushes for the kids. Some kids paint their own faces (hence the aprons). It is so funny to see the kids as they are walking out of the room. It usually ends up being full-body art. But, my kids just wanted me to paint their faces. Lucky for me.

Silly Brookey!

2010-02-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

I just have to post this before I forget. So Saturday morning, JR and I are laying in bed pretending we are still asleep while all three of the kids are jumping all over us. Luke was playing his DS, Caitlynn was pulling my hair or something like that and Brooke was playing with one of her dolls. She was singing a song and her words made us chuckle. You might think you know it but Brooke sings the second verse a little different.

"Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman.
Once there was a snowman, tall, tall, tall!
In the sunny mountains, mountains, mountains,
In the sunny mountains, small, small, small."

She didn't think we were listening (because we were still pretending like we were asleep) but when she finished the song, JR and I looked at each other and started laughing. I asked her what ever happened to the snowman and she just had this confused look on her face.

Another funny thing Brooke did the other day was while she was chasing Caitlynn down for me, I heard her yelling at her saying "Caitlynn Flower Edwards, you stop right there!"
Now most of you know that Caitlynn's middle name is not flower. It is Caitlynn Rose Edwards. But you can see where she might get a little confused. But as for the snowman song, I have no explanation.

We love you Brookey!
PS I will find a picture soon.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-26T15:24:00.001-08:00

We were gone for over two weeks for Christmas this year. The kids and I drove to St. George and met up with my side of the family. A few days later, I drove to Las Vegas to pick up JR at the airport. We spent a couple of days in Vegas by ourselves enjoying the food and exhibits there. We drove back to my parents house on Chritmas eve. I enjoyed seeing my parents and siblings and the kids liked the dogs they brought with them. We had a great time and my dad of course brought out his Kareoke machine and we had a blast. (some of us had a little too much fun) It was great to see my step-brother Spencer and his HUGE dog Taffy. As always the kids loved seeing their aunt Katie and uncle Rory and thier dog Boo. And of course Uncle Ryan and Aunt RiLee were there. We sure love you guys and had lots of fun.

Then we were off to Idaho to JR's sisters house for another Christmas celebration! We left the day after Christmas and got there just in time to go to a concert at their church. Then we went home and had a yummy Turkey dinner and opened more presents. The next day we went sledding and then had our family pictures taken. That night we went bowling-it was so fun!! The day after that, we went skiing/snowboarding. That is when my camera broke and so I don't have any pictures of anything after that. But we did more skiing/snowboarding, played too much WII, watched movies, and ate alot of yummy food. For New Years Eve, we had a Guitar Hero party. It was so fun and I totally rocked it. Here are the last pictures from my camera. Thanks Christi for such a fun time in Haily again!

We had a ton of fun but were happy to get home and be in our own beds. I hope we can all get together again soon.

He's gone to the Holy Land...

2010-01-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

...and I wish I was with him. So I haven't blogged for awhile but I have a few good excuses.
1. JR has been in Israel for a week and won't be back until next week.
2. My camera broke over the holidays.
3. Luke and Brooke have strep throat and Caitlynn has a cold.
5. I am tired and feeling a little over-whelmed. So blogging will be put on hold for a little bit. Sorry folks.

Brooke's 5th Birthday Party

2010-01-03T09:49:00.000-08:00

Before we get into the new year, I need to post a very important day in December. December 8th was Brooke's 5th birthday! We had a puppy party. Yes, if you remember right, Brooke did have a puppy party two years ago. But since she asks for a real puppy almost every birthday and at Christmas, we decided to get our puppy fix with another puppy party. I invited our neighbor Town, to come and give us a little show with his two dogs Meg and Macie. It was a real treat for all the kids! They did tricks and he even let all the kids participate, especially Brooke! Who needs to pay for a clown or a magician when you can get just as much entertainment from your neighbor and his two dogs? Thanks again Town!!!!!!!!!

Then we painted bobble-head puppies. They turned out so cute!

Here they are trying to "Pin the Paw on the Puppy".

The kids really liked making their own "doggy collars". I just bought a bunch of charms and then ribbon. It was a hit!!!

And of course we had a pinata! Brooke picked it out. When we went to the store to find one, I was a little dissapointed to see that they didn't have any puppies. But as soon as Brooke saw this donkey, she said "Look Mom!! There is a dog one!" I sort of laughed and then said, you're right it is a dog. I love your imagination! But what is a party without a pinata???

Happy Birthday to our little Brooky. I guess you aren't so little anymore since you are 5 years old now. I sure do love you and your positive outlook on life. You make me laugh daily. I am sure going to miss you next year when you go to kindergarten. But until then, I will enjoy having you at home with me. I love you Brooke Valery Edwards!!!!

She's making a list, and checking it....twice...

2009-12-17T23:05:00.000-08:00

Yep, I am going to toot my horn for just a minute. This past week was crazy busy but I am proud to say that I have completed most of my Christmas shopping/to do list. Here are just a few things that I have been up to:
Home made gifts for grandparents. Check.
Home made ornaments for the tree. Check.
Send off Christmas Cards. Check.
Joy School Christmas program. Check.
Deliver H.T./V.T gifts. Check.
Deliver friends/neighbors gifts. Check.
Deliver Y.W. things. Check.
Take the kids to see Christmas lights. Check.
Get gifts for my side of the family. Check.
Get gifts for JR's side of the family. Check.
Pick up J.R.s' gift. Check.
Pick up myself a gift. Check. (I've been a good girl this year.)

Hope your holidays are off to a good start. We are off to UT/Vegas for Christmas with my family and then ID for New Years with JR's family. Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful time of the year. See you in 2010!!!

Thanksgiving.

2009-11-28T16:08:00.001-08:00

As I reflect on the past year, I am filled with lots of memories. November is a hard month for me. I lost my mother, grandmother, and third baby all in the month of November. It is a time of year that we should feel grateful and happy... but sometimes I feel biter, angry and hurt. When these powerful feelings enter into my mind, I can't help but be reminded of my Savior and His sacrafices for me. I miss my mom and grandma, and I think about Chelsea everyday. I feel like something is missing...like there is a void in my life. But after the turkey is eaten and the day is coming to a close, I find myself pondering the upcoming holiday. The birth of our Savior. I am reminded of a book that my dear friend sent me after Chelsea passed away. It's message is simple and yet very powerful to me. It is that He lives. Jesus Christ died so that we might live again!!!!!!!! When I read those beautiful words, (which is a tradition in our family now)I can't help but feel an overwhelming warmth in my heart and mind. I KNOW that I will see my mother and daughter again. I know that there is more to this life than what our mortal eyes can see. And I am grateful. I am thankful.

Carving the Pumpkin

2009-11-28T15:46:00.001-08:00

Here we are digging out the seeds of the pumpkin. I always hate this part.

This is so gross!!!

Caitlynn had fallen asleep before we started carving the pumpkin. When JR got home, she woke up and wanted to see what we were doing. Here she is checking it out...

You can see what a tight grip she has on JR. She was very nervous.

And she hated it. It was so funny to see how scared she was of it. JR kept trying to get her to touch it and she was freaking out!

We couldn't decided if we wanted a happy face....

Or a scary face!!!

In the end, we decided that we would wait until tomorrow to carve the face. We were too tired to finish it.

And guess what??? The pumpkin never got a face. He was so gross and moldy that we just had to throw him away. I guess that is the lesson I get from not buying my pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.

It's Autumn Time!!!

2009-11-28T15:28:00.001-08:00

I LOVE this time of year!!!! Watching the trees change color, pulling out those warm sweaters, the excitement and anticipation for the upcoming holidays, and lets not forget the trips to the pumkin patch. While the fall in California is not comparable to Michigan's, they still make it a pretty good time for the kids at the local pumpkin patch. We had fun and got to take some cute pictures, and really that is all that matters. In the end, we still went to Safeway to purchase our pumpkins.

Carmel Apples

2009-11-28T15:02:00.000-08:00

For FHE one night in October, the kids and I made Carmel Apples. They didn't look very pretty but they sure tasted pretty yummy! The hard part was getting all those wrappers off of the carmel without Caitlynn trying to eat them. I felt like for every one wrapper I would get off, the kids would have already eaten two. (Note for next year-take the wrappers off the caramels beforehand.

Here is the final product. We added too much milk so that is why the caramel melted off the apples. Brooke and Luke wanted to dip their's in chocolate chips. Notice how they all dripped to the bottom??? I definately get docked for presentation.

I love how Luke lookes like he is going to pounce on the caramel apples in this picture.

I guess he did. It reminds me of the show coming out in a few weeks from the Twilight series-"New Moon". Can't wait to see it with my girlfriends. Looks like Luke found himself something to sink his mouth into. And guess what he is going to be for Halloween???? Yep, a Vampire.

At least one of my kids has some manners!

Happy Birthday Caitlynn!!!

2009-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

We had a Rubber Ducky Party for Caitlynn's first birthday. She loves getting in the bath and playing with her rubber ducky so we thought it was appropriate. It was fun celebrating with our neighbors and friends. Thanks to everyone who came.

Because Caitlynn loves balloons, I went to the dollar store and bought 25 of these happy face balloons. Everyone got to take one home and they were a hit. (I was just glad I didn't get hit while I was trying to drive with those stuffed in my van).

Here she is getting ready to open her gift from us. It is a pink and purple Little Tykes car she can ride in outside. She and Brooke love playing with it in the backyard. I don't have a picture of her in it but they look so cute!

More presents to open! Thanks again to everyone who brought presents. She is loving them all!!!

Yay for presents! She got so excited she started clapping from all the excitement. She does that alot actually.

Here she is "thinking" about eating the cupcake. She isn't totally sure.

And then she finally started tearing into it. "Thanks Mom!!!"

Our family LOVES having Caitlynn around. We still can't believe what a joy she is in our lives. She makes us smile and laugh all the time. She is the sweetest little monkey ever. We don't know what we ever did without our little Caiters. We love you!!!!!!! Happy Birthday Caitlynn Rose!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you had a fun first birthday!

1 Year of Caitlynn Rose

2009-10-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

Caitlynn just turned 1 and I wanted to show how much she has grown-up. I can't believe she is already a year! I was almost in tears as I looked through all these photos. Lots of good memories and special times for our family. Caitlynn has brought so much happiness to our home. We sure do love her! Here are some pictures of her through-out her first year.

Here you are just minutes after you were born. Oh, how happy I was to get you out of me. You were a joy from the first minute you came into our lives! Welcome to the world!!!

Here you are about 2 days old. This was after we got home from the hospital. Welcome home Baby Caitlynn!

About one month old at my baby shower. You look so precious and small! I loved that pretty pink dress on you.

Here you are lying on Luke's bed and smiling for one of the first times. You were about 2 months old. Luke was so happy to see you smile.

We went to Grandpa Mac's house for new years and here you are sitting on Grandma Kay's lap with their dog Bella down below. (I think Bella was jealous of you)

I made this HUGE ugly bow and put it on your tiny head and just had to take your picture. I thought it was cute at the time, looking back it looks hideous!!! Sorry Caitlynn. But you still look cute at 4 months old.

I loved dressing you and Brooke in matching outfits and this is one of my favorites! I actually ended up taking you in that afternoon and got some pictures done of my girls. I love being your mom.

Here you are on Easter morning. You LOVED the Elmo basket! (7 months)

Aunt RiLee is holding you here and we are trying to get packed to move to Palo Alto. But we still had time to take pictures of Caitlynn. I remember when Brooke wore that shirt. Gotta love the hand-me-downs! This was about 9 months old.

This one was taken on Mom and Dad's weekend getaways in the city. Since you still nursed like crazy we had to take you. But you looked so cute in that Elf jacket that we weren't too upset. (Luke, Brooke and Caitlynn have all used this jacket)

This was the morning after our campout in the Crystal Springs 1st ward. We weren't technically in the ward but we wanted to join all our old friends and have one last campout in August. You slept the whole night and kept me pretty warm in my sleeping bag.

I love this picture of you!!! You were using that tricycle to help you keep your balance while you learned to walk. You would get so excited to see it and then when we had to come inside you would cry. Eventually I just let you bring it inside and push it around the house. Just look how happy you are! You are almost one year in this picture.

Trip to Portland

2009-09-18T16:34:00.001-07:00

We went to Portland for Labor Day to visit JR's brother and wife and their new baby Conner. Congrats to Ron and Britney! It was great to see family and it made me wish we lived closer to them. Luke and Brooke sure do love their cousins. We went to the Portland Zoo and rode their amazing train ride. We also did some swimming at the hotel which was probably the high-light for the kids. We did alot of visiting with family and eating yummy food. Thanks again to Britney for hosting all of us. Here are a few pictures of the adventures we had.

Here is Britney and her new baby boy Conner. He was such a good baby. I don't think I ever heard him cry. The blessing was beautiful and it was such a neat experience to have it at your home. You and Ron are going to be such good parents. Congrats again!

Here are Megan and JR's younger brother Aaron who also live up in Oregon. It was good to see them. Too bad their little boy Ryan wasn't in the picture. I got one of him below though. We celebrated Aaron's 30th birthday while we were there. Happy Birthday Aaron!

Here are all the cousins watching a movie. (Oh, except for Conner) We just had to throw Caitlynn on the couch,the rest of them were already situated. It was funny to see them all snuggled on the couch without us prompting them. Too bad I can't remember what movie it was that got their attention. It would have helped for the Halloween picture below.

Here is Luke and his cousin Hunter riding the amazing train at the Portland Zoo. The kids had such a fun time on the train ride-it was beautiful! (FYI-Luke and Hunter are almost exactly one year apart-Luke is just huge compared to everyone his age). If you look behind them, you can see Uncle Brad(Christi's husband)in the striped orange and white shirt. It was funny trying to get all of the Edwards packed onto the same train ride. We did it-and it was totally worth it!

Here are J.R. and Caitlynn checking out a sea lion I think. Caitlynn was so intrigued by the glass surrounding the aquariums. She kept touching it expecting it to be wet. It was cute to see how scared/excited she got when the sea lions or penguins would swim up to her.

Grandpa Paul and Grandma Karen with Luke and Brooke.

Me and Caitlynn having a fun time.

Grandpa Paul and Caitlynn hit it off great! This was the first time Grandpa Paul had seen Caitlynn. She loved to play with his glasses and he didn't seem to mind.

Here is our Halloween picture. Christi and I decided at the last minute to do a cousin picture. So we ran to Target at 9pm the night before to grab some shirts. It was so hard trying to coordinate shirts for all the grand kids ages 1 month to 6 years. So here is the final product. I like the pumpkin (Conner) in the middle the best. What we do for memories.

Our family had such a fun time!!! Too bad we couldn't stay longer. Hopefully we'll see some of you at Christmas.

Busy Season for Blogging?????

2009-09-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Not only is it college football season (Go Blue) but it is also busy season!! I have tried to back-post some of our summer adventures but every time I think of downloading all of the pictures, I get stuck. So I finally went through and picked out some pictures to post and when I tried to post them, the blogger monster won't let me. Is anyone else having trouble posting pictures??? Anyway, it still isn't a good excuse to not post our summer fun(I still haven't posted pictures of our Disneyland trip we took over 2 years ago)but it sure is driving me crazy!!
So instead of posting about our summer fun, I will do a family update-with no pictures of course.
(I got it to upload finally!!!!!)

So, we will start off with Luke starting 1st grade. He loves it! He gets to ride his scooter to school with the neighbor kids most days and he thinks his teacher Mrs. B is pretty cool. He has lost another bottom tooth and thinks both of his top two teeth are loose. He is learning to read more and more each day and his favorite books are the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. His favorite thing to do at recess is play basketball. So, we signed him up for after school basketball on Wednesdays and he does very well. He is growing up quickly and I am enjoying his company more and more-surprisingly. I like to ask him how his day went after school and hear him talk about himself and his friends. He is growing up too fast.

Brooke is doing Joy School with five other kids this year. (any other crazy joy school moms out there?) This means that I teach one week and have all six kids at my house and then we rotate houses and teachers. I think the program is really superb and Brooke and her friends are really enjoying it. I just finished my week and I am pooped! But hey, it is free and I have the next five weeks to recover :0 Brooke is also doing Ballet on Wednesdays and then lots of play dates in the afternoons. She also loves to read books to herself, play joy school with Caitlynn(its really funny when she gets mad that Caitlynn just isn't "playing the right way"). She loves to wear dresses and is getting tired of waiting for her hair to grow out. She is learning to finally ride a bike-with training wheels mind you. She also can't wait until her Birthday in December.

Caitlynn used to be such a doll...now she is getting a mind of her own and she is definitely going to be very head-strong. She wants to be with Luke and Brooke wherever they are and will go to crazy lengths to get there. She is more coordinated than she should be and I am getting sick of finding her in the toilets and trash and falling down the steps outside. She loves to "ride" the tricycle and be outside at all times. She's still a daddy's girl and will sit and giggle with him at night. He tries to keep her awake later than I like but that's OK b/c she usually sleeps in until 8:30. Caitlynn has 4 teeth now but we can see two more popping through. She loves to take baths and have books read to her. She can say "dadda and momma" now. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by because her birthday is only a couple of weeks away.
Well, besides Joy School, I am staying pretty busy with my calling in the Young Women. I am the Laurel Advisor and there is alot of work that goes into this new calling. There's teaching, meetings and the weekly activities. It keeps me busy! I am still loving our neighborhood and can't believe how nice the weather is down here. I try to take JR lunch most days just to say hello and I am making new friends at church. I am wishing I had an extra hour in the day(preferably the early morning before anyone wakes up)just to get caught up. But all in all, life is good right now.
JR is sitting right next to me telling me that he has to work on Saturday and then will be out of town the first week in October. So, that basically sums up his life. He works alot and when he isn't working, he is home with the family resting or playing(and sometimes yelling) with the kids. We are mostly grateful for his job at this time and happy to be close to his work. It is so nice to have him so close to home.
So we have been one busy family. Wish me luck getting my summer stuff posted up before the holidays arrive...they are just around the corner you know!!
Love
Me

J.R. and Ronna's weekend gettaway at the Queen Victoria Hotel (aka Love Shack)

2009-09-08T19:11:00.001-07:00

Since Uncle CJ was here to babysit, JR and I decided to get away for the weekend. I chose a bed and breakfast called the Queen Victoria hotel in Downtown SFO. It was so fun to have the night away to ourselves. The hotel was beautiful and we had a cozy fireplace in our room.
Here is a picture of the side of the hotel. I forgot to snap a picture of the front but it was gorgeous!

Here is our room with the cozy fireplace. (BTW I love antiques)

Here are a few pictures of the lobby and sitting room where you could get your tea and biscuits at 4:00 sharp! (We missed it darn it but I did get some yummy hot chocolate later that night!)

Later that night we wondered around Fillmore street in the city and saw some cute little shops. I saw this fun place called Bittersweet Chocolate Cafe and of course we had to stop.

They had these yummy chocolate "tiles" that I have seen at a few different other spots in the city so I HAD to get some. We chose the "Burnt Caramel with Sea Salt". It was divine.

JR and I had done some research on Yelp and found a yummy seafood restaurant we wanted to try. Here is JR with his Fish and Chips. They were huge and we thought they were the best we've had.

I ordered the Stuffed Lobster Roll but I thought it was a little overpriced. But all in all, the place got four stars. Too bad I can't remember the name of it!

The next morning we slept in and then went over to the farmer's market at the ferry building. It was really fun, but I forgot to take more pictures. We had such a fun time and I have decided that we should do these weekends more often. Too bad we don't have free babysitting anymore. Thanks again CJ. Can't wait to do it again next year!

P.S. As a side note. The reason we called it the "Love Shack" was because as we were leaving, Luke and Brooke asked where we were going and since they love staying in hotels so much, I didn't want to say that was what we were doing. So, I said that daddy and mommy were going to stay at the "Love Shack." They didn't think anything of it and so there was no big deal when we left. Well later that night, our neighbor came over(who happens to be in our ward) and he asked where JR and I were. Luke said "Oh, they went to the Love Shack for the night." He thought that was so funny so he emailed me the song on YouTube and told me all about it on Sunday. Let's just say, I was a little embarrassed.

Fairyland

2009-09-08T18:32:00.001-07:00

In June we went to Fairyland in Oakland. We were picking up Uncle CJ that afternoon so we thought we would go that morning and check it out. Well, as you can see from the pictures, the kids had a great time even though it was clearly built in the fifty's and needed updated in the worst way. But, it was very cheap and the kids thought it was really cool that they got to unlock the storys with their "keys" and hear a small part of each fairytale. Definately something to check out with your kids if you ever are in Oakland.

Here they are unlocking the story "Three Billy Goats Gruff". Of coarse the keys were an extra cost. But totally worth it I guess since it entertained even my six year old.

Here we are at the entrance. This is actually taken after we were leaving and Luke clearly isn't happy. He wanted to get something from the gift shop and I had told him "no". That is the reason for the grumpy face.

Who doesn't love a carosel ride?

And here we are on the Jolly Trolly. Caitlynn even enjoyed the ride so Luke tried to take a picture of her and I. Hence the bluriness.

They had this really fun tunnel that had all of these musical instruments that the kids could run through and play. Also it had this really cool mural painted of all of the pixies throughout the tunnel. This was one of our favorite spots.

Here we are at the Peter Pan spot. The kids had fun climbing Captain Hook's Ship.

The Alice and Wonderland one was also a fav. They had this card maze that the kids had to run through. Got me excited for the new movie coming out in December.

Here we are listening to Old Mother Goose...

...Little Miss Muppet...

...and finally in the whale's mouth for Pinochio.

Russian River June 09

2009-09-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

For the past three years our good friends have invited us to go to their family's cabin up in Sonoma County in Healdsburg (we like to call it Russian River). We have so much fun and the weather is always perfect. We go up on a Friday afternoon and usually take the kids to the adorable candy store downtown for some treats that night. Then after the kids go to sleep the grown-ups play some fun board games until one of us falls asleep. The next morning, Jason and JR go golfing and then Jenny and I go shopping at all of the cute overpriced boutiques. We grab lunch and then meet the guys and kids at the river for the rest of the afternoon. It is so fun and we always have a great time. Thanks Halls for creating such a great tradition for our family. We miss you guys already!!!

4th of July

2009-07-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July in our new neighborhood! My sister flew out from N.J. to help us move and JR's little brother C.J. was visiting as well. So we had some family in town and that always makes the holidays more fun.
It started off with a great brunch and presentation at the nearby church. Then Brooke and Luke and some of the younger kids in the neighborhood had a lemonade stand in front of our house. After that, they kicked off the night with a fun neighborhood parade. The kids did EVERYTHING themselves and they had a great turnout from the elderly people and parents. It was fun to see their teamwork and how much fun they had with their new friends. I loved that even though we had only moved in two days before, the neighbors made us feel so welcome and we all celebrated our country's freedom together. I think that sums up what America is all about, joining together to make our land a better place to live. God Bless the U.S.A.!!!!!!

P.S. Because we had just moved in, we hadn't unpacked our camera yet so we had to use my Iphone to take all the pictures. That is why the pictures are so beautiful. Enjoy!

Brooke sitting on J.R's lap waiting for the "boring stuff" to end so we could eat something already.

Uncle C.J. and Luke sporting their shades.

Aunt RiLee holding Caitlynn. BTW, thank-you so much for helping me pack, move, clean and then unpack my new home. You are the best big sister ever. It was the easiest move I have ever done. (probably b/c you did most of the work)

Our family 4th of July picure. What do you expect with an Iphone and the sun blaring in our eyes. It is better than nothing I guess.

Luke and Brooke's Lemonade stand. I think they made a few bucks.

C.J. wanted me to take this picture of his neighborhood "friends". All I see are all the babysitters I can use. Shweeeet!

All of the neighborhood kids getting ready for the parade.

Brooke in the parade sporting the All American Flag.

Happy 4th of July!

As cute as a Cat!

2009-06-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures of Brooke and her class before their ballet recital. I did take some of the actual recital but of course the batteries ran out of my camera about half-way through so I am glad I got these ones. Isn't she a cutie!

Luke looses his first tooth!

2009-06-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

Finally, after six years of working on getting them all in...

...they are already falling out!

(Too bad it wasn't one of the silver ones in the back.)

It happened on the morning of Sunday May 30th. This happened to be the same day that he got to give his first talk in Primary. He really wanted to talk about how he lost his tooth and that the tooth fairy was going to come that night. But after much persuasion, we finally decided that he should talk on the subject they suggested which was "baptism". But at the end of the talk he made sure and gave the primary the biggest smile ever. It was really funny. Congratulations Luke.

Update

2009-05-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Just thought I would send out an update on our little family. Here goes:

Well we are moving July 1st to Palo Alto. No we are not buying, and yes we will be paying more in rent. Don't ask why, we don't know either except that we will be 1.3 miles from JR's work, the schools are phenomenal and oh, and the Lord informed us in His still small voice that we needed to. (Side note, we will also be 2.3 miles from the Stanford Shopping Center, and lets be honest here. That was the real reason.) We feel really good about the move and can't wait to be closer to JR.

Luke is finishing Kindergarten in 3 weeks. He is doing great and can't wait for summer to begin. We have been going to my friends pool almost every Wed afternoon and now I don't have to keep an eye on him when he jumps into the deep end. He is bigger than most 8 year olds and has more freckles than he likes. He hates to read and JR thinks he has actually regressed in school. Well not really but he doesn't seem to be taking school as seriously as he did at the beginning of the year and quite frankly I am done with the school schedule myself. Lets just say he isn't the only one ready for summer to start.

Brooke. Well she is getting more and more opinionated and JR thinks she is already going through puberty. She insists on wearing dresses most days and on the days she isn't in a dress, she wants to go shopping to buy a new one, and shoes to go with it. I am not kidding. She trimmed her hair again and keeps asking me why her hair isn't long like her friends. She is as cute as ever and snores louder than Luke did before he got his tonsils/adenoids out. So, someday soon she will have to go and get those taken out too. She missed the cutoff for Kindergarten by six days and so she will be home again next year. I am coordinating Joy School with some of the moms in the ward down in Palo Alto and Brooke can't wait to start(little does she know summer hasn't even begun so it will be awhile)

Caitlynn is such a joy in our family. We really can't get enough of her eight month self. She has started solids and is loving them. Especially the ice-cream that I sneak into her diet. She is sitting up and cannot figure out crawling for the life of her. She LOVES seeing Luke when he gets home from school and he loves carrying her around and playing with her. Brooke and her are BFF and sometimes I catch Brooke having tea parties with Caitlynn. Brooke likes it since Caitlynn can't move and will sit and giggle at her. She says MAMAMAMAMAMA a bazillion times a day and won't even try to say DADADADADA. Sorry hun, I think that if you were home more often she actually might recognize you and really try to say it. No, JR and her have daddy/daughter time every Sunday while I go into Primary. When she sees JR in the morning she just kicks her legs and giggles. I am almost positive she is going to be a daddy's girl when she grows up. Oh, another thing is that she looks like a boy. EVERYONE comments on how cute my little boy is. What can I say, she does look an awful lot like Luke. Hopefully she likes freckles more than him.

As for me, I am just enjoying not being pregnant and am loving having Caitlynn to take care of. I am trying to start packing. It just stinks that we can't afford to buy a house yet. Why hasn't the real estate slum hit the penninsula yet? Sometimes I wonder what the heck we are doing here but really there is nowhere else I would rather be at this time in my life. I have loved living in San Bruno but cannot wait to live where the weather is DIVINE year round-did I mention the shopping down there???? No, I am really sad to leave my friends and life here but am up for a new adventure I guess. I am just enjoying life because it has been really good to me.

JR-well he finally outgrew the 1993 Toyota Tercel and bought himself a new BMW. So, really there isn't much else to say about him because all he does is work and sits in his new toy. No, he is really happy to not have to commute 60 miles everyday. (well sort of) Since K&E opened their office in Palo Alto a year ago he has been working down there. He likes the change in atmosphere and his secretaries love it when the family comes to visit. It is very relaxed, like the rest of Silicon Valley and he is hoping to be able to see the kids a little more after the move. He loves his job (really-I think he is crazy) but they treat him pretty well and he doesn't complain. Except he is getting some grey hairs and asks me almost everyday if his hair is receding. Of course it isn't hunny!!! You look better than ever to me!

And that is us in a BIG nutshell. We love visitors and welcome any and all who want to come our way. We love you and hope that your lives are being blessed. Feel free to send me a little update with your lives.

Take care of yourselves,
Ronna Edwards and family

We're Moving...

2009-05-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

...But not too far away. Yes, the rumors are true, the Edwards are moving to Palo Alto. There have been lots of reasons as to why we should and shouldn't move but when you get that peaceful feeling after months of trying to ignore it, then you can't deny it any longer. So, we signed the lease yesturday and we move on July 1. I am having sooooo many emotions and feelings about this move. I am going to make a list here of why we shouldn't move and then a list of why we decided to do it anyways.
Why Not List:
1. You have alot of awesome friends and they have been so supportive this past three years. Why on earth would you need to make more???
2. You live 10 minutes from San Francisco.
3. You love your ward.
4. You live 5 minutes from the airport.(Nice since I went there over 18 times in March)
5. Your kids have fun friends.
6. Carpool is arranged (thanks to Sara who I will miss dearly)
7. The weather never gets too hot or too cold.
8. We are 10 minutes from the beach.
9. Our rent is only $2500 a month here
10. We started going house shopping and were going to be able to buy a house in this area.
11. There are some great running trails a mile away from my house.
12. We finally found all the great hole-in-the-wall restaraunts that the whole family loves.
13. AND the most obvious reason I don't want to move is because I don't want to pack up my house and move it 30 miles south.

So, why on earth are we moving???
1. We will be closer to JR's work. (1.4 miles to be exact) And even though his commute wasn't that bad, being able to see daddy for an hour more a day is a big deal.
2. The schools are some of the best in the country because of silicon valley and the dot com companies.
3. Because the Lord told us to.

And that is that folks. I really don't have any more reasons then those three. But we did get a smokin deal on rent for a great home in a great neighborhood (thanks to a friend in the ward down there, oh and because we are full tithe payers I am assuming) I made a pledge with the Lord, if he could find us a nice house for under 3100 a month I would do it. Since I have been checking Craigs' list everyday for the past 3 months I knew it was impossible. And guess what? The next day we heard about this house and everything fell into place. So how do you deny that???? You don't. You just do it and trust that the Lord has a plan for you and if you are willing to follow it, you will be blessed. Hey, it has worked thus far and I feel so blessed to have my life.
Love to you all!
PS, if you don't hear from me for awhile, it is because i am packing my house and getting ready for the move. But please make a comment and let me know why I am not crazy to be doing this. When I am in the midst of packing my house and cleaning, I am afraid that the peaceful feeling I had might not be as clear as it had been when we signed the lease. It is always good to have some reminders.
Ronna

Luke's Six!!!

2009-05-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little guy is six!!! Wow, I feel either really old or just really young to be having a six year old. Anyhow, this year we decided to do a family party instead of a friend party. I have to admit, I felt a little guilty like I wasn't being a good mom to not throw a huge party like I usuallly do. But guess what? Luke had a great time and he said "I want to have a family party every year!". I did like that there was no stress, no planning, no fighting with my husband about how much money I'd spent at the dollor store to fill up the "must have" goody bags. It was actually really nice and Luke had a blast playing at Chucky Cheese with his dad, mom and 2 little sisters. He got a small gift from each of us. I got him the "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" books, Brooke got him some "Bendaroos", JR got him a big bag of Jerky and Caitlynn just smiled for him. I thought he would miss opening presents and having all his friends there but he didn't at all. So, we are now going to do a friend party every other year starting at age six in our family.

Happy Birthday Luke. I hope you had a great birthday and I really liked hanging out with you to celebrate your big day at Chucky Cheese. It was so fun to win the jackpot and get all those tickets!!!I bet that was your gift from Chelsea. Dad is having a great time reading those books to you. Pretty soon you won't need his help at all to read them, but secretly I think he really likes it.

WE LOVE YOU LUKEY!!!!!!!!

Here are some pics or our little man, and of course they are in reverse order. Oh well, Luke doesn't care!

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-27T18:03:00.000-07:00

It was Luke's spring break two weeks ago and so we decided to do a "staycation" instead of going away. Living in the bay area provides us with plenty of things to do and everything is less than an hour away. It was fun to decide the morning of what we wanted to do that day. Uncle Ryan was here for Easter break so it was nice to have him around since JR couldn't take off the whole week. Here is a recap of what we did all week and of course I down-loaded all of my pictures backwards so just pretend they go together.
Monday we just hung out in the morning and then went to the 3D movie Monsters vs. Aliens. Tuesday we did the Exploratorium. Then on Wednesday we went to the Oakland A's vs. the Boston Red Socks game. That was really fun and we lucked out on great seats! Oh, and it was dollar day so the hot dogs were only a buck and we got a ton! On Thursday we went to the Oakland temple and enjoyed the beautiful gardens and other happenings there. Then we dropped off Uncle Ryan at the airport and went and visited some of our friends for dinner. On Friday we decided to go down to Santa Cruz and enjoy the beach. Even though it is only an hour away, we still got a hotel and had a great time at the indoor pool/hot tub. The next day we spent at the beach collecting sea shells and getting some much needed "Daddy Time". One highlight was seeing a baby seal that had washed to shore right where we were. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever until they realized it was sick and the vet came and took it away. But it was neat to see one up close. All in all, it was a great trip and the drive home was only an hour so it was just perfect for mommy.
It was really fun spending time with the kids and being lazy for awhile. I am getting excited for summer to come-only six more weeks for us. But until then, back to school and routines for now.

Coloring Easter Eggs

2009-04-08T21:52:00.001-07:00

We had fun coloring Easter Eggs tonight. I can't believe that Easter is almost here!

Caitlynn and I getting ready to make a mess coloring Easter Eggs.

Brooke is looking so "Egg-eyed". It happened totally randomly and when I was looking through the pictures I had to laugh because it looks like it was on purpose.

Here is the fun part. The kids loved mixing the colors and finding their names on the "magic eggs".

Didn't they turn out great!!! I love how excited my kids got while we were making them. Isn't Easter fun?

Weekend in Pismo Beach

2009-04-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Pismo Beach for a friend's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and it was fun to see JR and I's long lost friend after 7 years. Congrats Tori and Trevor!!! They had the ceremony in her parent's backyard and let me just tell you that no details were spared. Everything was just perfect. We of course got to play at the beach and we decided that it is our new vacation spot. The four hour drive was just enough to feel like a vacation and the kids did great in the car both ways. You can't beat those white sandy beaches, plus it is the half-way point to Disneyland. We had alot of fun and can't wait to do it next year. Anyone care to join us???

March Madness

2009-03-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

March is always a busy month for me, but this year, it is especially busy. Between a girls weekend, our anniversary, two birthdays, and a baby blessing, I have been running around like a mad women!!! For some reason these all happened this month and I am hosting them all. Between planning meals and sightseeing, I think I could become a tour guide for San Francisco! Here is the itinerary for this month.(I will spare you the details, but believe me, I have them written down)
3rd-JR's mom Karen arrives, so she can babysit for me.
4th-My friend Emily arrives.
5th-My two friends Katie and Cheri arrive.(the girls weekend has officially begun)
6,7, 8th-it is still a little blurry but I know for a fact we had too much fun because we ended up making music videos until 4am one night. I miss you guys and can't wait until next year!
9th-Hang out with Karen(JR's mom)and show her around the city.
10th-JR and I celebrate our 8th anniversary. We are going to see Wicked.
12th-Brad/Christi and their three kids arrive and also CJ and Diane.
13th- My parents arrive and Paul arrives(JR's dad)
14th-My sister RiLee arrives along with Ron and Britney.
15th-Bless Caitlynn, and celebrate JR's Birthday.
16th- Take everyone to see the new SF Academy of Sciences
17th-Most of those people leave.
18-22nd-Hang out with my sister from NJ/NY
21st-Celebrate my Birthday!!!!
22nd-Take my sister to the airport.
23rd-Take a long nap and maybey post some of my pictures from the month.
PS Thanks again to all those who helped me pull this off! A big shout out to Tonya, I hope you still like me and my family after this weekend!

A Bad Day....

2009-02-25T16:34:00.001-08:00

This happened over a year ago and I still cringe when I see these pictures. I was trying to ignore the kids and sneak in a quick nap. I had a good excuse, I was newly pregnant with Caitlynn and was soooo tired!!! When I came out this is what I found. They said after the pot broke, they tried to clean it up and then they thought it would be fun to throw "dirt bombs". This was one of those days that I called JR and told him I needed him home NOW!!!!!!! I am still finding dirt in those toy bins.

26 Random things about me...thanks to facebook and my friend Ambyr.

2009-02-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

So, since I have been tagged way too many times on facebook I decided to do this on my blog for all my blogger friends out there. Plus I couldn't think of anything else to post about today. So, here goes:
1. I have one real sister, two real brothers, 5 step-sisters and 2 step-brothers. Oh, and one step-mom.
2. I HATE scary movies. Back when I was too young to watch even PG-13 movies, I somehow got my hands on Silence of the Lambs. That movie freaked me out so much that every time I see a big white van I feel like I should run and call the cops. That movie really bothered me and I couldn't sleep for weeks. There wasn't anything "fun" about watching that movie. I did like The Sixth Sense though.
3. When I was a kid, we lived in WY where my grandpa had a cattle-farm. Sometimes the female cows would die giving birth so my grandpa would give us the calves to feed and take care of. We had a little shed/pasture in the back and we would feed the calves with powdered milk from a bottle every morning and evening. I hate powdered milk now. (the one I remember the most was named Scooter because he couldn't walk, he was paralyzed at birth. I remember when one day after school I went out to the shed and he was gone, do you all remember the part in the movie Napoleon Dynamite when that old grandpa shot that cow????? )
4. I love having my back popped-and massaged for that matter!
5. My dad used to own an ice-cream/sandwich shop called Sweet 16 Ice Cream. (BTW this went out of business really quick, remember when I said I grew up in WY, who wants ice-cream when it is super cold outside???? Not the best idea Dad)
6. I went to jail for stealing clothes my senior year in high school.
7. I got voted best dressed my senior year in high school. ( I wonder why???)
8. When JR(my husband) told me he loved me the first time, I didn't say it back to him. It took me a couple of weeks but I eventually feel madly in love with him.
9. My friends and I used to throw fireworks at peoples cars and one time it landed on my friends windshield and it shattered. We all had to pay her $50.00 to fix it. Sorry Courtney:)
10. My sweet mom died in a car accident when I was 8.
11. Almost exactly a year later my grandma died from diabetes(my moms mom).
12. Nineteen years later my baby died right before birth. We named her Chelsea Lynn and she was a beautiful 7 lb baby. She is my third child. So technically I have four children. Even though most people think I only have three.
13. All of these deaths happened in November. But that is the month I am suppose to be Thankful, so it gets a little tricky.
14. My husband is an attorney and makes more money than both our parents combined but we still can only afford to rent a house in the bay area (so two things to point out, yes, our parents are poor and yes the bay area is super expensive; we pay $2500 to rent a really ugly house)
15. But, I don't ever want to move away from the bay area.
16. I LOVE bubblegum. The bigger the better. (Yes I know it isn't very lady-like to have a huge wad of gum in my mouth but I can't resist those big yummy bubble-gum ball machines)
17. I love Thursdays because that is when my husband and I meet for lunch.
18. If I could meet anyone in the world, it would be me in 25 years. (it would be nice to see Chelsea and my mom though, someday;)
19. I love eating out with my kids. I like that I get to pick wherever I want to eat and that their meals are so cheap so I can actually try three different things at any restaurant. I can't wait until Caitlynn eats real food. Then I will get to try four! (FYI I am not talking about fast food here either)
20. I don't really like getting ready in the morning. I have really thick hair and it takes me forever to do. I don't really like putting make-up on b/c I have to wash it off at night. It seems like alot to do just for a few hours a day. But once it is done I love how I feel about myself so I try to do it most days. Same reason I don't like to make my bed, although I do like to make my kids' beds?????
21. If I had my choice between a pound of chocolate or a pound of gummy bears, I would pick the gummy bears. I have never been a huge fan of chocolate but I will totally eat it if that is all there is. I also wish I could've had a cotton candy machine and a Snow Shack at my reception. I love those sweet treats! Thanks Ri for the idea.
22. I am one semester shy of my bachelor's degree. Instead of finishing, I let my husband go to Law School. Either I am really stupid or I trust my husband with my life. Plus, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
23. My husband doesn't let me do his laundry. I am actually grateful to his mom for this. Apparently she ruined alot of his clothes and so he likes to do them himself. But he never does them so our room always has a pile of his laundry.( I do actually wash his under garnments and socks, but I am not allowed to wash his work clothes)
24. I love to go to the library and check out tons of home interior magazines and try to figure out how to decorate my house when we buy one. There are way too many things I love but I am trying to get more into the "modern" style. I am getting sick of the cottage style I have now but I really love antiques so we'll see what my house looks like in 10 years.
25. I had brain surgery when I was 3. Details:I fell off a bunk bed and then hit my head on a dresser. The crazy thing was that my head wasn't bleeding or anything. I just had a really bad headache all night that kept getting worse. Finally when I wouldn't wake up, my parents rushed me to the ER and found out that I had internal bleeding. (A mother's worse nightmare) So, 76 stitches and a huge scar later, here I am. No comments please.
26. My maiden name is McDonald. So, say it together now...Ronna McDonald. Yep that was my name. I got teased soooooo much. Apparently Ronald McDonald was invented in 1979 and I was born in 1980. So, right about the time he was really popular, I was going into kindergarten. Poor me right?
PS Sorry if there was a little too much information for you all but it was actually pretty fun to think about myself for a little while. I hope you enjoyed at least the last one :0 Seriously, what were my parents thinking??????

Happy Birthday Tonya!

2009-02-16T21:06:00.001-08:00

So Sunday night I had a surprise birthday party for my friend Tonya. She was clueless and that was the best part. Thanks everyone for coming and braving the downpour outside. It was a great time and even though Tonya didn't seem so happy about all the pictures we took, I am glad I have proof of her getting older-enjoy!!!!!

Here are some of the party goers. Sorry about the lack of seating. And man I need some drapes for that window!

Here is Sara and Tonya. I LOVE that taupe jacket you have....HEHEHE Thanks for helping me get this all put together Sara.

Here is Jennifer, Betty Jo and the birthday girl. Speaking of drapes, I need to discard those ones. Man, I hate renting!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are Jennifer and her hubby Clay cuddling on that cozy chair of mine. Thanks for chatting with us all night. You guys are a fun couple! (Again, can I say window treatments.)

Sara and her son Parker saying "CHEESE".

OK guys, I know you think you are all really cool and everything but come on, offer the seats to the ladies on the floor. Especially the two pregnant ones!!! Where are your manners? (Brother Wade, you are forgiven because, well....you're old)

Here is Brother Wade, he is such a cutie isn't he? Thanks for coming and wishing Tonya a happy one.

Here are some of the cutest girls ever!!!!!!!! Well, besides me and Tonya :)

Gotcha! We love you and I am so glad we are such good friends. You are the best ever and this year is going to be great. Happy Birthday Ton Ton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't get any pictures of me and my hot hubby, but I did get a couple of my kids at Brooke's preschool party. Luke didn't have school on Friday so he came along and had a great time.

Here is Brooke with some of her friends.

Luke being silly with his friend Charlie. The kids had fun at the party and a big shout out to Mrs. P who always lets Luke tag along with his sister for the funnest preschool parties ever! JR and I were able to snag a babysitter for Valentines Day but Caitlynn and Brooke were both sick and so we didn't go out as long as we had hoped but it was nice to go a grab some Thai food. Thanks again Chelsea for babysitting! Hope you all had a nice Heart Day too!

Ponderings

2009-01-27T21:45:00.001-08:00

I have been stressed lately and feeling anxious about a number of things. It seems like everyday I hear about someone else losing their jobs, more homes going into forcloser, divorce, and family hardships among other things. It is hard for me b/c I feel helpless. I wish I had a magic wand to heal the hurt and pain people are feeling. I feel so blessed that JR has a good job, that we have money for groceries/rent, beautiful kids, and a husband whom I can say I am honestly in love with. We are at a pretty happy place right now in our lives but I am confused as to why I feel so gloomy? Maybey it is b/c last year was a really hard year for us with the death of Chelsea and then a very stressful pregnancy. I think that the Lord is giving us a break-thank goodness. But, I am feeling like I want to return the favor and I just don't know where to start and then I get overwhelmed looking at everyone else's struggles. I am not sure why I wanted to post this, but it is always good to let people know that you love them and care about them. So even though this isn't a very personal approach to telling you all that I love you, I just want you to know that I am praying for you and wanted you to know that the Lord loves you too. You are not alone.
Love,
Ronna

Barack Obama is now President

2009-01-21T08:12:00.000-08:00

History was made yesterday and I was actually surprised by my reaction. To be honest, I voted for John McCain for many reasons but when I was watching the inauguration yesterday I couldn't help but get a little teary-eyed as I listened to speech and watched his family make their new home at the White House. I can't believe we have a Black President and I think it is great. I am not happy about some of his changes that he plans to make but overall, I think he will do a good job. It is amazing to see and feel the togetherness that this man has brought to the country and to the world. I think that is exactly what we need right now for this failing economy-a fresh face. I hope and pray that we can all come together as a nation and remember that Obama is just a man that is trying to make our nation a better place to live.

Gotta love the blowouts!

2009-01-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

This is what I did on Friday night. The joys of motherhood!

Caitlynn is totally oblivious of what she has done.

I don't know why all my kids decided to get into the bath but I decided to take a picture because Luke is almost too big to take baths with Brooke anymore. Memories I guess.

Apparently she didn't like the outfit she was in, this one is way cuter anyway. But next time Caitlynn, please don't poo all over, just ask mommy.

New Years in St. George

2009-01-12T11:19:00.000-08:00

At the last minute, I decided to go to St. George to visit my parents for New Years. Here are some pictures of our trip. This first one is of my dad, step-mom, and sister-in-law Katie with her dog Boo and my parents' dog Bella, oh-and the kids.

Here is a nice picture with my two brothers, my Dad and Luke. The only guy missing was JR-maybey next year he will decide to take off a little more time-but probably not.

Here is a cute picture of Luke and Brooke and their favorite Aunt Katie(my brother Rory's wife). This was taken at Cold Stone, yummy!

And here is Uncle Rory hiding behind his baby-oh I mean dog. Luke and Brooke sure got enough doggy-time to last them until the next trip I hope.

Isn't he the nicest Uncle ever??? Never a dull moment with Uncle Ryan around.

Here the kids are getting ready to take Bella out on her walk. She goes on a walk twice a day and my kids fight over who gets to hold the leash. So, one does it in the morning with Grandma Kay and the other one gets to do it at night with Grandpa Mac. They like taking her around the pond behind their house. It is definitely the highlight of the day for Luke and Brooke.

Here is my nerdy child Brooke. She looked so goofy with Grandpa Mac's glasses on and then when she put on the princess tiara it was even better. She is so funny!

Luke and Brooke with their Aunt Katie. Thanks again for watching my kids for me. They sure do love you.

A nice picture with Grandpa Mac. I wish we lived closer Dad, the kids sure miss wrestling with you.

And this is what Caitlynn thought of our trip. "Thumbs up!" Hope you all had a great New Years!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! We had a great time at home this year with just our little family and it was so perfect. We all got spoiled and I just wanted to share some pictures of us enjoying this wonderful holiday. Here is our annual "picture on the tripod after church" photo. I make JR take one of these pictures every year and it is fun to see how much our family has changed. I like to frame them in a Christmas frame and pull them out every year with our other Christmas decorations and put them on the mantle. It is one tradition that I actually follow through with. I usually send out that picture for our Christmas cards but this year, my friend took pictures of the kids and so I just used those. But I did sort of miss having our whole family on the cards, so I thought I'd put it on the blog instead.

Here is the decorated tree and stockings waiting to be filled. Notice how there are only four stockings, I never got around to making Caitlynn's, oops! Next year I will get it done and maybey she will even get a gift from Santa too. Thank goodness for grandparents or else she wouldn't have gotten anything this year. But don't worry, she won't remember. Do you remember your first Christmas?

So since we were suppose to go to Portland this year for Christmas, I didn't want to put the tree up. But when we decided to stay home, Luke informed me that we had to put up the Christmas tree or else Santa wouldn't come. So, here we are Christmas Eve day, putting up the tree, listening to Christmas music and just enjoying not having to drive anywhere. I highly recommend it.

Here are the people that made my Christmas so special. Thanks hun for all your hard work this year. You are the BEST husband I could've asked for. You are also a pretty good gift giver too. I love you! And to my four children (three walking, one flying) You make me love my life (most of the time). I have truly been blessed this year. We will always miss our baby Chelsea but are so thankful that she sent us another sister to love. I still learn from you everyday and miss you in those quiet moments. Some day I will get to raise you, until then, you continue to teach me.

What a happy family we are. Hope you are feeling the love of the Savior at this time of the year, we sure have felt His love. We love you all and can't wait to see what is in store for next year! It truly was a Merry Christmas for us.

Love,

JR, Ronna, Luke, Brooke, Caitlynn, and the spirit of Chelsea Lynn Edwards

Brooke's Princes Party

2008-12-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

Brooke wanted a Princess Party this year and with a "pink castle cake". Here is the final product. It was crazy-fun, as all parties are, but I am sure glad it is over.

Since it was so fun decorating the castle cake, I decided to bake 3 more boxes of cake the night before and let everyone decorate their own "castles". It was a hit, and I tried to explain to JR that the extra $75 I spent on candy and frosting was totally worth the memory. The kids definitely loved it but I don't recommend it if you want a clean house.

Besides decorating castles, we made homemade tiaras and played Kiss the Frog Prince. The girls LOVED getting to put tons of lipstick on and trying to kiss the lips on the frog poster I made. The boys, not so much. But hey that is what you get at a princess party. I forgot to get pictures of that but it was really cute. Here they are opening presents. Notice how I said "they" instead of "Brooke". Luke likes to help her-oh well, she didn't seem to mind.

This is how Luke felt during most of the party until his friend Jacob showed up.

On the invitations, I told everyone to dress up and so they all looked so cute! Sorry about Brooke's immodesty. I tried to convince her to wear a shirt underneath but it was her party and she insisted on the hoochie ballet dress. I can only win so many battles with a 4 year old princess.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Thanksgiving this year. My brother Rory and his wife Katie came and also my older brother Ryan. We had a very relaxed Thanksgiving dinner-I wore my pj's and didn't even take a shower. Here is my brother Rory dancing with Luke and Brooke on the coffee table waiting for the turkey to cook. I don't remember what song they were dancing to but it definitely wasn't a thanksgiving song!

That weekend we went to the pier and had clam chowder at the Boudin Sourdough Factory and then went to the Musee Mechanique. It is a collection of over 200 vintage arcade games and attractions housed in a warehouse on Fisherman's Wharf. We like going there because it is free and you can just wonder around and watch other people put their quarters in and get a free show. No, we did spend about $10 in quarters but it is definitely worth it and my kids never get sick of it.

Here is Luke and Brooke trying out the massage chair that just shakes annoyingly. They liked it though.

Here is Brooke in front of a farm house where you could watch all the men at work and the windmill turning. It is actually pretty amazing how they all work. It makes me think of simpler times(before video games).

Here is Uncle Ryan using all my quarters on another massage chair. I threw Luke and Brooke on so we could get more for our money.

Here is the famous laughing lady. She does have a name, I just can't remember it. Basically all this lady does is make this freakishly loud laugh and her upper body shakes. It is kind of scary, in a scary clown sort of way. But we do it every time we go.

Another fun thing we did over Thanksgiving was to go shopping on Haight and Ashbury street. It is the famous hippy shopping district and it is great!!! I am a huge fan of Mendel's Art supply and I go there on a regular basis. I don't even mind all the crazy hippies/homeless people there. You definitely have to go there to appreciate what it has to offer.

Here is Brooke and Aunt Katie in front of a great costume store. I bought Brooke that crown.

Here we are on the Haigth and Ashbury intersection-where it all started ;)

Here we are in front of one of the many smoke shops. And yes we did get asked a few times if we wanted to purchase some marijuana.

Here I am with my awesome pouch that my friends gave to me at my baby shower. Caitlynn sleeps every time I put her in this and I totally recommend it for anyone looking to pack around a baby. It is called a "Kangaroo Pouch" and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! It was perfect for the busy weekend, thanks again guys!!!

So as you can see our Thanksgiving was lots of fun-table dancers, party clothes, hippies, marijuana, slot machines, massages, an all-you-can-eat buffet and a happy little baby to top it off. I am so Thankful that I had fun people to share it with.

PS. What happens at the Edwards, stays at the Edwards. Anyone want to come for Christmas?

Happy Birthday Brooke!

2008-12-08T09:00:00.001-08:00

My little girl turned 4! I can't believe how fast she is growing. We love you Brooke and are so happy to have you in our family.

Pictures of Caitlynn

2008-12-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

My friend asked if she could take some pictures of Caitlynn and so of course I said yes! She did a great job and I think Caitlynn looks so angelic. This was a week ago when she was exactly 2 months old. After only a week, she already looks so different! I cannot believe we have had her for 9 weeks now!

Caitlynn is such a joy to have. Luke is very cute with her and loves to sing to her. Brooke loves to "hold" her and never forgets to thank Heavenly Father for our new baby. Caitlynn is smiling alot now and loves to be talked to. She looks exactly like Luke but has Brooke's soft temperament. We love having her in our lives and I cannot get enough of her.

One Year Ago Today...

2008-11-07T08:59:00.001-08:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of Chelsea Lynn Edwards. We are going celebrate by spending time together as a family. JR took work off and I kept the kids out of school. We will be releasing balloons at her grave site and then going to the new Academy of Sciences Museum. We love you and miss you and will never forget you!
Love Always,
Your Mom

PS I have lots on my mind today and will post some of those thoughts and memories at another time.

Halloween

2008-11-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

Here is our little Chili Pepper. She was so cute, people kept wanting to eat her up!

Captain Luke trick-or-treating at the San Bruno Goblin's Grotto.

And here is our cute little butterfly Brooke. Yes, that IS the same costume she wore for her ballet recital. It was way too expensive for her to wear just once and she just loved being able to wear it again.

And here is our favorite working Dad. He is dressed up as an attorney. I know, very original huh. ( I just think he looks HOT here with his Chili Pepper in tow)

Love you guys. Sorry that we didn't get any pictures of you guys Trick-or-Treating on Halloween night. Mommy was busy nursing Caitlynn and forgot to tell Dad to get some shots of you two before you went Trick-or-Treating. But we had a fun night at the Bingham's and their neighborhood was pretty sweet. You got some great candy and I really appreciate all the yummy chocolates you brought home for me-I mean you, to eat. Happy Halloween!

Caitlynn's Baby Shower

2008-11-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, my three good friends threw a baby shower for me. It turned out beautiful and I felt totally spoiled. Here I am with Caitlynn waiting for our friends to arrive.

Here they are! Thanks for making this such a special day.

I have such fun friends.

Looks like everyone is having a great time visiting.

Here are two of my good friends that threw the shower for me. They both moved to Utah this summer but they still wanted to celebrate Caitlynn's birth so they came back and threw this shower for me. You two are so thoughtful, thanks for all you have done for me. I sure miss you!

Here is the other friend who helped put this together. Thanks so much S for making this party so special. And J, thanks for babysitting so that S could master her party preparations. You two are too cute!!!!!!

Here is J (aka Martha Stewart). She made these really cute cupcakes with the roses on top for Caitlynn Rose. The picture does NOT do it justice. Someday she is going to open up a bakery and it will be amaaaaaaaaaazing. She is also the one who made the lamb cake below. It had white chocolate shavings all over it and it was too cute to eat! Thanks for staying up way too late on Friday night for making all that yummy dessert.

Here is the dessert table. They had vases of roses everywhere and it was so precious.

Here is that amazing cake. If you can see the invitation, you can see a lamb at the top of it. It fit just perfect. J and B did such a nice job on the invitations. Everyone thought they were so beautiful.

I truly felt loved at my baby shower. All of these ladies have helped me get through the loss of our angel Chelsea and getting through this pregnancy. I will always remember these friends that came to celebrate the birth of our newest arrival, Caitlynn Rose.

He's Back!

2008-11-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

SO the case settled and JR is back. Hurray. If you don't know what I am talking about, read the post below. Thanks for all those who sent me sympathy comments. I will post more later with some last Halloween pics and some from my baby shower.

Home Alone...

2008-10-28T22:59:00.000-07:00

So JR left today for Texas for three weeks to go to trial! He was pretty excited to go since he has been working on this case for the past two years and only about 5% of patent cases ever make it to court. The other ones usually settle. Not this one though, and the timing couldn't have been worse. Here I am with a one month old, and he goes and leaves. I was freaking out about it and then I realized that there are plenty of single moms out there and that I should be OK. Also, he has been working crazy hours (surprise, surprise) and so the only difference is that he sleeps here and we see him for a few minutes in the morning. Other than that, there isn't much difference in him working at his office 30 minutes away or in Texas 3,000 miles away. So why am I freaking out??? I guess there is just something about having your spouse home at night and withing driving distance. Even though he was at work most of the time and I don't usually wake him up to help out with Caitlynn at night, I will definitely miss having him here. Please pray for me that I will survive without him. Oh, and Hun, good luck!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-27T09:53:00.001-07:00

Here is Caitlynn getting ready to go to the pumpkin patch. Either she is really excited or the flash almost blinded her. Sorry little one.

No I did not put a pumpkin on her head. I just zoomed in to see her face and that is what it appears to look like.

Here is Brooke and her best friend Emme jumping off the hay bails. They had so much fun together.

Here we are with our good friends the Halls and the Harnois'. Why did you guys have to go and move to Utah on us? We were sure excited to see you this week.

Luke found his pumpkin!

Here is my attempt at a picture of all the kids. They sure keep me busy.

I found my pumpkin!! We love our lil' pumpkin Caitlynn.

He Won!!!!!

2008-10-27T09:38:00.001-07:00

Luke won his first contest, hooray for Luke! At school the San Bruno Fire Department came and talked about fire prevention and then gave out blank sheets of paper for the kids to color. Luke came home and pulled out his big fire truck and started drawing. A couple of weeks later, we got a envelope saying he had been picked as a winner. So, Friday night we went to the awards ceremony and he got a ribbon and a certificate. We are so proud of you. Keep up the good work!

Still here.....sort of.

2008-10-16T17:26:00.001-07:00

Well the sleepless nights are definitely setting in. Caitlynn came down with an infection in her tear duct that clogged it and made the side of her face swell up. Then, because of the pain, she wasn't eating properly and was losing weight. We took her to the pediatric eye doctor and they did a minor procedure on her and now her face is back to normal and she doesn't look like a pirate anymore. I hope she starts eating better now. Life goes on and I am trying to ride the wave but am seriously dragging. Hope my next post will be a little bit more....positive?

More pics for all you Caitlynn fans out there.

2008-10-05T18:09:00.001-07:00

Apparently we didn't do the best job at posting pictures since you could barely see Caitlynn's face. So here are some close-ups of just her. Who do you think she looks like?

Here she is at the hospital the day after she was born.

Nice and cozy wrapped up in her blankets. I think this was at three days old.

Here she is with her eyes open.

And here is Caitlynn in her new swing. I think she likes it.

I walked in and saw Luke and Brooke singing to Caitlynn. Here is Brooke singing to Caitlynn.

Pictures of Caitlynn

2008-10-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

Here she is!!!

Luke and Brooke with their new little sister.

Brooke and Caitlynn are already best friends.

Luke is now the big, big brother.

Happy Family!

Here she is with a really big bow and a really big yawn.

We think she is the cutest thing ever and she has made our family so happy. We love you Caitlynn!

Caitlynn Rose Edwards is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

We are so HAPPY to announce that our little angel arrived safely on Tuesday Sept 30 at 7:50pm. She weighed 7lbs 13oz and is 21 inches long. (pretty good size for being 2.5 weeks early right?) She is such a joy and I am feeling so blessed. Thanks for all the prayers-she truly is our gift from God.
Love Ronna
PS I will post pictures soon. I just got home from the hospital a couple of hours ago and I have to find the camera.

Baby Shower in a Box.

2008-09-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

So my good friends Cheri, Emily and Katie wanted to throw me a baby shower but since none of them live by me, they sent me a "baby shower in a box". I waited until all three boxes arrived and then I opened the first box. It said that I had to take pictures of me opening the boxes and playing the games. Then I had to post them on my blog so they could feel like they were here with me. So, here they are girls, I wish you could have been here but this was almost as good.

So in the first box was some really cute baby outfits, chocolates, lotions, and six kinds of baby food. I had to taste each flavor and guess what kinds they were. All I know is that I am not ever going to feed my baby the veggies. They were disgusting!
Here are my guesses:
1. Plum
2. Carrots
3. Pear
4. Sweet Potatoes(yummy)
5. Green Beans (yuck!)
6. Squash

When I opened the second box, this is what I found:

Yes, my friend Cheri sent me seven "poopy" diapers to smell. They were actually different kinds of candy bars but they looked real and the idea was just gross. Luckily I didn't have to taste any to figure them out. But Luke tried a couple and was so happy that they weren't real poop. Here are my guesses:
1. Jr. Mint
2. Mr. Goodbar
3. Snickers
4. Milky Way
5. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (Luke's favorite)
6. Twix
7. Nut Roll

So my very creative friend decided to send me some of everything. She sent me about 10 different kinds of pain meds, slippers, baby outfits and socks, wet wipes, candy, gum, chap stick, and my favorite of all: Nursing Pads. Thanks Katie for sending me some of those. I totally forgot to buy some. Here I am getting ready to become the "Nursing Alien".

They were trying to guess the size of my belly, so they all sent me some string. It was actually a tie between Emily and Cheri. The sad thing was that they almost didn't fit. You're not really suppose to guess the right measurement girls because it makes the pregnant person feel even bigger. Especially when it almost doesn't fit. So, I choose Katie to be the winner. Hers at least had a little to spare.

Thanks so much girls for making me laugh. See, we don't even have to be in the same room to make me want to pee my pants, even if I wasn't 9 months pregnant. Love you guys!

Hanging out at the Beach with Uncle Ryan

2008-09-27T16:10:00.001-07:00

My brother has been hanging out with us waiting for the baby to arrive. He has been a big help and always keeps my kids laughing. A few days ago, the weather was so nice we decided to go to the beach close to our house. We had a really fun time and I am so glad that he is here so that I don't have to entertain the kids.

Here he is trying to teach Luke how to Boogie Board. Check out the surfers in the background!

There goes Luke.

Luke was so proud of himself. He figured out how to do it and was in the water for at least 2 hours by himself "boarding".

So if Luke is our little fish, Brooke is definitely more like a house cat. She doesn't like the water. She didn't even try to get in it. Granted, most of the time we come to the beaches here, the water is freezing and we are wearing our jackets. I guess her idea of the beach is a little distorted from living in Northern California.

Here is Brooke with Uncle Ryan making a sandcastle. It was great until the tide washed it away.

FYI: No baby yet

2008-09-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

So, the results came back and her lungs aren't quite ready. She passed one test and was on the boarder line for the other. SO, we go in on Monday night just to give her a few more days. I am fine with this. I have realized through both Chelsea's death and Caitlynn's upcoming birth that we are not in control. As much as we would like to have everything planned out in life, it is not up to us. So, instead of moping around for the next few days, we are going to explore the city and enjoy our family here. Thanks again for checking in on us and please continue to keep us in your prayers for the next few days. I will definitely let you know when she gets here. I literally can't wait!
Ronna

Slight Change of Plans...

2008-09-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

So, I was suppose to be induced tomorrow night but that might not be the case. Technically I can not be induced early unless I have an amniocentesis to check for lung maturity. My doctor "forgot" to inform me of this until last night. I was not a happy camper. My parents had bought their tickets, JR had arranged his work schedule, dinners were assigned, oh, and I was set on the date to say the least. So, we have to have the amniocentesis to see if her lungs are ready. I go in tomorrow morning and have that long needle stuck into my belly. Then they draw out some amniotic fluid and send it to the lab. I will find out the results tomorrow afternoon. If her lungs look good, then it is a go. If not, then we have to wait until next week. Under the circumstances I should be pretty angry. But since I do want a healthy baby, I am willing to wait another week. I can't believe I just admitted that. I swear the Lord is helping me to be calm or else I would have lost it. I actually am feeling very peaceful about it. (although that wasn't the case last night). So, thanks for all the prayers, they are working and we will have a baby sometime. Maybey tomorrow, maybey not until next week. Either way I know that the Lord is blessing me.
Love,
Ronna and family.
Now the question is what to do with my family here for the next week if I don't have this baby tomorrow????

Brooke's First Day of Preschool...Or Not.

2008-09-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was suppose to be Brooke's first day of preschool and we have been talking about it for the past two weeks(since Luke started Kindergarten). Well poor Brooke wasn't able to go b/c mom and Luke were sick in bed with the flu. So, she went this morning instead and since I am still sick and we were running late, I didn't even get a chance to take pictures of her "big day". I did get a picture of her this past weekend getting ready to go to a birthday party so I will post that one instead.

This wasn't what she had planned on and it seems like alot of her "firsts" haven't worked out like we had planned:

Here is Brooke's first day of life. I planned on getting induced and having a nice epidural. Brooke had different plans. She decided to come out way too quick and I barely made it to the hospital before her head popped out. Long story short; I got to the hospital at 9:00, she was born at 9:14. No doctor, no drugs,no following my plan.

Here is a picture of Brooke's first bite of baby food. Funny thing is, I wasn't even there to witness it. JR said that she was hungry and so he decided to feed her himself. Her own mother missed a major milestone. At least JR remembered to take some pictures. But where's the bib hun?

Here is a video of Brooke's first steps. Too bad Luke didn't want her to learn how to walk. He kept pushing her over so she never had a chance to even try. No wonder she can "stand up" for herself now!

And here is Brooke's first trip to the hospital. We thought that they would just give her an anti-biotic and send us home. Nope, they kept her in the hospital for 5 days. They finally figured out she had a urinary tract infection that had spread to her kidneys. Definately not planned.

Come to think of it, Brooke wasn't planned at all. When I found out I was pregnant, I was in shock and totally thought that the nurse was wrong. I guess before she even came to earth, she was shaking things up for us. HAHAHA.
But, I can honestly say that our little Brookey has been one of the biggest blessings of our lives. I couldn't ever imagine my life without my little girl. Heavenly Father's plan for us to have her in our family were just perfect and I feel so blessed to have her, planned or not. I just hope that I can have a little time to plan for her wedding! No eloping Brooke.

The Randall Museum

2008-09-12T13:06:00.001-07:00

We decided to go to this museum on Wednesday after Luke got out of school. It is so nice to live so close to the city! Since I am a spur of the moment kind of girl, (and have a GPS in my van) we are able to do whatever we want, whenever we want-or at least for a couple more weeks until Caitlynn comes. So, we will continue to "seize the day" until then!

Here is a picture of Luke and Brooke outside the Randall Museum. It has such a nice view of the city.

Luke, Brooke and the bees. Notice in the background how there is an opening through the window for the bees to escape? Well the picture above is the outside. I wonder why nobody ever gets stung?

This was Brooke reading to me in the toddler zone at the museum. I love this picture for a few reasons. First off, I love that she has her toes curled up. She has the longest fingers and toes of anyone I know! I can barely curl my fingers that much because they are so swollen. I am sure she will make a great piano player someday. Second, I love that she read me the book "How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read?". She obviously didn't like their storyline because she "read" me a story about how the Dinosaurs were going to a talent show where they got so nervous that they threw-up. She did a great job with her imagination that's for sure!

And here is Luke putting on a puppet show for me. He loved this owl because "he could turn his neck like a real owl!"

After a couple of hours at the museum, we decided to go to the park that is down a little path from the museum. On the way to the park, Luke and Brooke discovered this funny tree with a stub for a branch. They of course had to "ride it" for a bit.

All in all, it was a great day to spend in the city. And to be perfectly honest, that was actually my second trip to the city that day. In the morning I went with Brooke to Haight/Ashbury street for breakfast and to pick up some fabric. But don't tell JR because he thinks I spend too much money on gas.

Stalker or Just a mom of a Kindergartener?

2008-09-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day that I didn't walk Luke to his class. I decided that we would do the "drive-thru drop off" like most of the other moms. Since our baby will be here in a couple of weeks, I realized that I would not be able to walk him to class, dragging a car seat/baby and Brooke with us. So, we are going to do the quick drop off instead. Luke did fine. It was me that was a little crazy. After I dropped him off, I drove around the school and parked outside the fence and waited to watch him. I just wanted to make sure he got to class when the bell rang. I know, crazy huh?
PS Did I mention he already has homework??? Homework in Kindergarten-now that is crazy!!!

Luke's First Day of Kindergarten!

2008-08-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today was Luke's first day of school! He was so excited to go and I was happy to see him so independent. When he woke up this morning, he got dressed, ate breakfast, put on his new shoes and backpack and waited excitedly for his father's blessing. After that he said "ok, I am ready to go to school now that I have the spirit with me". I thought it was really cute and that is when I got a little teary eyed.

Here is Luke waiting for us to load up in the van.

Brooke is sure going to miss her big brother. She of course had to wear her new "school clothes" today too. She is very excited for her first day of pre-school although it doesn't start for 2 weeks. Life won't be the same without Luke around.

Luke didn't want us to walk him to class, he just wanted us to drop him off like a "big kid". He obviously didn't get his way. Instead JR gave him a little "father-son" talk on the path leading to the school. I wished I knew what they were talking about.

Here is Luke waiting in line to go to his class. He was so brave. Not even one tear.

And he made it!!!!!!!!Hooray for Luke surviving the first day of Kindergarten!

Luke I am so proud of you! You are going to have such a fun year this year with Mrs. C. I can't believe my baby is in Kindergarten! You made me so happy today. I will miss you and can't wait to see what you learn this year. Don't ever forget how much I love you.
Love Always,
Mom

Counting down until Christmas...

2008-08-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

So I went to my doctor's appt yesterday and she said the soonest she will induce me is Sept 25th at 37 weeks. So, that is the big day. I made her call and schedule it at the hospital for my own peace of mind. I am totally anxious to get this girl out of me and a month seems like forever!!!!!!!! Most women that have been pregnant know that the last month is the hardest and I just feel like that is nothing compared to how I am feeling. I get nervous when I don't feel her move for awhile and I just want to go to the hospital and have an emergency c-section. But I DO want a healthy baby so I am trying to be patient. The other night I was having a pity party and was feeling sorry for myself. I was reading through a journal entry that I had made shortly after Chelsea died and there was a quote in it by Elder Orson F. Whitney. It reads:
"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable...and it is through toil and tribulation that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in Heaven."
I really liked reading that quote. I think about Chelsea everyday still-many, many times a day. I wonder why I am going through this long nine months of being pregnant and uncomfortable again and why I couldn't just have my baby with me. I miss her so much. Sometimes I wonder why the Lord needed her so badly and how something so hard for me could somehow make me stronger. But, like the quote said, no pain we suffer is wasted. I am trying to be patient and have faith that everything will work out this pregnancy. It has definitely been a trial for me. But at the same time I feel overwhelmed at how this little girl in my belly has been such a blessing. If it wasn't for Chelsea's death I wouldn't be pregnant with a new little spirit. I know there are many women out there that would love to be in my shoes with a little baby on the way. I feel so blessed that we were able to get pregnant so soon and have another baby coming. She has given me lots of hope, peace and happiness again and has helped me get through the past year.
I remember as a kid waiting so anxiously for Christmas to come. The closer it came the farther away it seemed! Christmas Eve was always the longest day of the year because you know that you will be able to open those gifts you have been waiting so long for. I am counting down the days for my own little "Christmas" to come, September 25th. So, I am asking for lots of prayers and good thoughts to be sent my way. Thanks for all your love and support. Ronna

Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo

2008-08-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo is one of our favorite places to go. So of course we had to take Unlce CJ. Even though it is geared more toward toddler/elementary kids, CJ still had a blast. We love this place!

Here is Uncle CJ and Luke at the Kid-Power Machine.

Brooke and CJ trying to get all the animals to walk together.

How many disks can we get to roll down at one time???

CJ, Brooke, and Luke on the rainbow bridge at the zoo.

We come here regularly. Here are the top 10 reasons we love visiting the Palo Alto Children's Museum and Zoo:
10. Since J.R.'s firm opened an office down in Palo Alto, we get to stop and see him for lunch.
9. It's better than watching T.V. all day.
8. It has a zoo and a play-ground attached to it.
7. They change the exhibits every 6 months so it doesn't get too boring for us regulars.
6. There is a cool owl there and a not-so-cool rat exhibit.
5. There is a swimming pool on the same block.
4. It is only 20 minutes from my house.
3. It is by an IKEA and close to the Stanford Shopping Center.
2. It is in Palo Alto and who doesn't like Palo Alto, there is never fog there.
And the number one reason we like going there is...
1. It is FREE!!!!!!!! Well technically the suggested donation is $3 but since I am cheap, I rarely pay the full price. This is why I love the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo.

Homemade Pizza

2008-08-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

JR's little brother CJ has been staying with us and he told me his favorite food (besides McDonald's)is pizza. So, we made homemade pizza a few nights ago and had alot of fun. The trick is to use the pre-made dough from Trader Joe's, add a few yummy toppings, and voila, a yummy, kid-friendly dinner!

Here is Brooke rolling the dough.

Luke putting cheese on his pizza.

Here is Uncle CJ making his HUGE pizza. He is only 13 but eats three times as much as me, an eight month pregnant woman.

And yes, he did eat the whole thing. He even had room for ice cream later on that night but he wouldn't touch the salad I made. Hey, at least I tried.

Lets Play Dress-up!

2008-08-06T11:41:00.001-07:00

Brooke loves to play dress-up. I thought I would get a picture of her doing what she loves. This is one of her favorite outfits. Hey, if I looked that cute, I would play dress-up everyday!

She even talked Luke and Uncle CJ to play princess with her. Luke is the Knight in Shining Armor and I am not sure what Uncle CJ is???

Bay Cruise

2008-08-06T11:08:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday, JR and I joined the SF Stake 80th celebration on a chartered Red and White Fleet Bay Cruise.

Here we are with Sam Brannan (the LDS pioneer leader on board the Ship Brooklyn)He made a special "guest appearance".

Ronna and JR enjoying the ride. It was such a beautiful evening!

The cruise went down to the Bay Bridge, by Treasure Island, Alcatraz, Angel Island, and then under the Golden Gate Bridge. Here we are in front of the Bay Bridge.

Here is the Golden Gate Bridge. As you can tell it was dark by the time we went under it so the picture isn't that great. But it was sensational!

Overall, there was gorgeous weather, great food, fun friends and free babysitting. Thanks Uncle CJ for watching the kids for us. JR and I even snuck in a late movie after the cruise. We saw "Batman the Dark Night". We had a great evening!

Camping

2008-07-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

We have gone camping three times this summer but the other two times I have neglected to take any pictures. So this time I made sure we took some. Granted they were taken the morning we were packing up, but who cares. It's the thought that counts. We went with our good friends the Andrews and had a blast!

Here is our little family in front of the tent. Again, this was taken the morning after. Don't we look like we had a good nights sleep?

Luke and Brooke in their sleeping bags. Yes, I made them get back into them that morning so I could have a picture. Just imagine them sound asleep under the stars.

Here are Liz and Greg. They are so fun. Sorry again for the early wake-up call from Luke and Brooke. What can I say, they love singing Hannah Montana at 7:00am!

Luke and Brooke sitting by the .....Fire????? Not really. I was in charge of bringing the firewood and I thought I got enough. Oops. We were freezing the next morning.

Who will he kill next???? JR bought this axe-I am not sure why since we have to bring our own chopped wood. I guess it's a guy thing? Luke liked playing with it though.

Here he goes!

2008-07-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

So, I guess my son is getting old. After he saw his friend ride his bike w/out training wheels, he decided he wanted to take his off too. Since we live in an area where there are so many hills, he has probably only riden his bike five times. I have to load their bikes in the van and then drive him to the church parking lot-I guess that is too much to ask of a mom :) Anyway, I was a little bit skeptical at first because I didn't think he would be able to do it. But, he got on and off he went. No help from me or JR mind you. He has fallen only twice and loves riding around in circles on our deck in the back yard. Yes, for family home evening I did take him to ride his bike at the church parking lot and now everyday he asks me to take him there. But seeing his happy face going way too fast is sure worth the trip!

Here is JR taking off the training wheels.

Here goes nothing. I wonder if this is what it will feel like when we hand him over the car keys to learn how to drive? No wait, we will just make him ride his bike forever. When he is sixteen, maybey we will buy him a two-seater to take girls out on dates.

He did it! He just took off. No fear at all. Good job Luke!

PS I know that most kids don't wear elbow or knee pads to ride their bikes, but he just got a skate board and he has to wear them for that so I made him put them on too. I will probably request he wears at least a helmet when he learns to drive a car. You can never be too careful.

China Town, Cable Cars, Lombard Street, OH MY!!!!

2008-07-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends, Katie Rojas, and her three daughters are visiting us this week. We have been busy sightseeing and going way too many places with our five kids. Here are some pictures of some of the things we have been up to:

Here we are at a tiny Fortune Cookie Factory. Did you know that fortune cookies were created in the US??

Here is Brooke trying on a funny hat. She could pass as an Asian girl right?

Here is Luke trying to be a giesha. He loves playing with fans.

Here we are trying to get onto a Cable Car. We stayed on for two stops and then decided to get off since it was obvious that nobody wanted us on. Me, 7 months pregnant, 5 kids, 1 stroller and Katie all trying to fit into a crowded cable car was a pretty funny sight!

Here is Lombard street from the bottom. Katie stood up through my sun-roof to get this shot. The kids had fun driving down the crooked street and enjoyed playing "ride the roller coaster" on some of the other hilly streets in the city.

Here is Katie painting all the kids faces. She is an art major and did this for fun.

Look how cute they turned out!!!! Here is Luke, Lucy, Carmen, and Brooke. They loved them! THANKS KATIE

Here we are looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. See it is foggy in July!

Luke, Lucy, and Brooke were collecting sand-dollars at the beach.

Here are the kids playing at the park by JR's work.

Edwards' Family Get-together

2008-07-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

We had lots of fun visiting JR's family in Sun Valley ID. Thanks Christi for being a wonderful hostess. Here are some of the highlights of the trip.

JR riding our brother-in-laws motorbike. What do you think he wants for Christmas now. Hey, they do get good gas mileage right?

Luke and Brooke getting ready for the parade.

Swimmimg at the YMCA pool. I love those goggles!

Luke and Brooke snuggling with Grandpa Paul (JR's dad)

JR and Luke on the jet skies. And this is something else on JR's list for Christmas. There is Uncle Brad in the back. They hogged the jet skies the whole day.

Here I am 6 months pregnant with our little girl. We think we will name her Caitlynn. I don't usually look so glamorous.

Our little family.

Trying to get the cousins to sit together and smile. Poor Brooke is the only girl.

JR and his grandpa Edwards.

Luke, Hunter, Brooke and Porter at a park in Haily ID.

Luke and Brooke getting ready for a bike ride with Dad.

There they go!!!!

Here we are at another splash park.

Look at Luke's smile. Dosen't it look like he had a great time! We ALL had a blast and wish we didn't have to return to reality. Oh, well. There is always Christmas, right hun.

How was your day?

2008-06-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so basically yesterday could've passed for one of those terrible days that you don't want to remember but looking back might be sort of funny. It is not yet funny to me though. So, I will not even mention my morning and I will just skip to the afternoon. We were at Costco(I shouldn't have to say much more to all the SAHMs out there). The kids were doing their usual: running down the isles, grabbing every sample and then yelling "this is gross", wanting to buy everything that we don't ever buy. Not so bad. We finally left the store in one piece. We got to the van and loaded everything in, including the kids. Although I did think about casually leaving them in the cart as I was returning it. We were driving home and when we got to a stop light, the person ahead of me stopped rather quickly. So, I slammed on my breaks so I wouldn't hit them. Well, we were fine but I heard all of my grocerys come flying to the front of the van. For some reason, I had left the back seats down so there was a nice flat run-way for the food to slide down. The food didn't slide, it flew. I heard a few bangs and then Luke looked back and said that the rotisserie chicken that I had bought had spilled. No bid deal right???? Well we were almost home and I kept hearing things sliding around under our seats. I just thought it was the peaches. Nope. It was the EGGS. Yes, every single egg had flew from the carton into my nice clean van. I found about four that HADN'T broken, the rest were cracked open sliding around in my van. Don't forget, this was Costco's 18 pack, not the normal dozen. Well, I didn't really know what to do. What do you do when something like this happens???? You spend the next two hours cleaning out your van with a wet/dry vacuum.
P.S. Sorry no pictures, I had eggs all over my hands and didn't think that ruining my camera was worth the proof. Who would ever make that up anyway.
P.S.S. And I wouldn't recommend trying to picture what it looked like either b/c it was way worse than you can imagine.

Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building

2008-06-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

We went to the farmer's market in the city yesterday. Everything looked so yummy I wanted to buy it all!

But, I decided to only get the necessities...so we got some treats at the bakery.

Pregnant Mommy or Fat Mommy

2008-06-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

I found this picture that Luke had drawn of me earlier this week. I thought it was great. I especially like the circles by my arm-pits. I don't know if they are breasts or arm-pit hair. Anyway, that is beside the point. I asked him, "if the baby is so small in my belly, why am I so big?" His reply was "because you are fat."

Happy Hollow

2008-06-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

We went to this amusement park on Saturday in San Jose called Happy Hollow. It is going to be closed down for six months for remodeling-thank goodness because it was totally lame. The kids had fun though.

Summer Lovin'

2008-06-19T18:42:00.001-07:00

Well the weather has been so nice here that we have been soaking it up. Here are some random pictures of what we have been doing here in the bay area. A couple of them are taken up at Russian River. We went with our friends to their parents' cabin and it was great. The one at the picnic table is of a few friends we had over for a pool party. The one in the middle is before Brooke's ballet recital. She was a butterfly. Hope your having a fun summer too!

Why am I so lazy????

2008-06-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

That is what JR asked me this morning. I would have punched him but I couldn't get out of bed. So, here are a few reasons I might be too tired to do anything today(except eat of course)
1. It is Monday, any other questions.
2. I am almost 6 months pregnant but I look and feel like I should be 8 months. Add on to that the fact that I was already pregnant for 9 months and then took a two month break and here we go again. I am the elephant women-did you know they are pregnant for two years?
3. We went to our friends cabin this weekend and now I have tons of laundry to do and a car to clean out.
4. I am having my V.T. over for dinner tonight and have to clean the house and make a nice dinner.
5. I just got back from the grocery store and I forgot something I need.
6. I just started reading the book Twilight by Stephanie Meyers and that is all I want to do.
7. My kids have been fighting all morning and into the afternoon.
8. My bed is really comfy.
Well I couldn't even get to 10 reasons because while I was writing all of this I realized that I should actually get started on some of it. Well maybey after I read one chapter of my book. I will just make sure to keep my bedroom door closed, then I won't have to clean it. That is one less thing I have to do.

Here we go again

2008-06-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hello to all. For those of you who don't know, I am pregnant again. I am very excited, but also very nervous. After having a stillborn, it is hard to have an exciting pregnancy because I am constantly wondering what is going on in there and how I am suppose to get through the next 9 months. Well thankfully I have made it through the first half. Getting through the next half will be stressful and I am sure I will need to have faith. No more happy blissful pregnancies for this girl, I am a stress-case and could use any advice and encouragement you have!!!!
We found out it is another girl! I am thrilled. She is moving alot and I am loving every minute of it. We like the name Caitlynn-what do you think????? Our minds could change easily but for now I am digging it. I am due Oct 10th but they are inducing me around Sept 24th for obvious reasons. Pray for me to survive that long!!!!!!
As far as the other two kids, we are getting ready for swimming lessons and summer camps. Luke is getting excited for Kindergarten and I am getting excited to have him gone five mornings a week-is that a bad thing to admit???? Brooke has her ballet recital this Saturday. She is only 3 but they have had 3 rehersals just this week! It should be great and I can't wait for JR to see her in her little costume.
JR is enjoying his job and I keep having to remind him of his family at home. We love that he is employed and that we are able to do fun things with his paycheck but we also would love more time with our daddy. I think this is going to be an ongoing struggle for our family. He says that he has to work so hard to compensate for my spending habits(whatever) and I say that if he was home more I wouldn't need to spend so much on food and extra-curricular activities(going for ice-cream 3x this week and spending $180 at Costco on who knows what) I guess he does have a point. But the ice-cream was all the babies fault I swear.

2008-01-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

I have decided to become a blogger!!! Since I hate scrapbooking, and don't do any journaling for my kids I thought this might be a good place keep some memories of our family. I hope you come back and visit regularly and I promise I will put some pictures on as soon as I figure out to do it. One step at a time baby...one step at a time.