I Love to See the Temple

The LA temple is right around the corner from our summer pad. How amazing is it that we get to look at this GORGEOUS building every single day. We feel so blessed and love, love, love to see the temple every chance we get (like every morning and evening when we drop off/pick up James from work!)

Wow, it's beautiful!

On Sunday we spent the afternoon walking around the temple grounds (running if your name is Talmage) and enjoying the beautiful fountains, flowers and views.

The flowers made me think of Noni...she would really LOVE them. Hey Noni, want to come visit?

Jimmy and baby in front of the reflection pool. We had such a great time, we might just make this a Sunday tradition.

T saw this statue and said, "Uh Mom, how 'bout you take a picture of me and my crackers wif dis big thing." He didn't look at the camera or smile, but I feel like it's a step in the right direction!

Bakersfield.

Ever since our first date, James has raved about the amazingness of Bakersfield. Now, I had been to Bakersfield before (driven through it at least) and for the last four years I thought he was completely crazy. He had traveled all over the world, and his favorite place to visit was Bakersfield? Really?
The week before we headed to LA we were told that Uncle Don had passed away and that the funeral would be on the Saturday we were making our trip. Although we wished it was under different circumstances, we were so grateful that we were able to spend some time with family. And James, he was excited to visit Bakersfield!

He loved seeing the city where he spent so many summers and Christmases. We visited his Great Grandma V's house and he showed me the pomegranate tree in the backyard. He was giddy as we saw the oil rigs off of the freeway, and wished that we could stop for some ice cream at Dewars (next time, honey!) He kept saying, "Do you smell that? It smells like Bakersfield!" I didn't smell anything different, but he was convinced that the smell of Bermuda grass was wafting through the air. I believe he was inhaling his childhood and I am so glad that me and the boys could attempt a sniff or two ourselves.

After a few hours in Bakersfield we loaded up our disgustingly full car with boys who were tired from running around Aunt Lorraine's sprawling farmhouse lawn and headed down to our new home. I found myself talking about how wonderful the stop was, how wonderful his {our} family was, and how I am excited to visit them all again. James was beaming--that boy loves Bakersfield!

Great Grandma V's home. She passed away while James was on his mission and he said it provided a lot of closure to see it again.

The oh-so-famous pomegranite tree!

Our sweet little sailor and his cute and crazy brother on Grandma V's front door step.

Wiggy Men.

Our fam and the house.

Chaya and Papa got their work-outs chasing the boys (or being chased) around Aunt Lorraine's yard. T and Evie were in heaven!

Family!

I can't tell you how much I love this picture of me surrounded by Wiggy men! Love all those guys so much!

The Heart Walk

The Heart Walk in Oakland was a total success--couldn't have been better! Our team (Mended Little Hearts of Silicon Valley--shown above) raised more than $10,000 for the Children's Heart Foundation. I couldn't believe how generous everyone was and we are all so grateful. There was a reverent feeling in the air as we walked for all of our little heart heroes--the ones still with us and the angels up in heaven. Many tears were shed, but mostly many smiles shared. As we left (early, so we could make it to a funeral) I couldn't help thinking about how excited I am to do it again next year. I love these people and I'm so grateful to be walking our heart journey with them.

 Our fam of four sporting our new Mended Little Hearts of Silicon Valley shirts!

Me and Nicole (with kids on both sides) running the MLH booth. Our kids really did like the walk, despite their faces in this picture!

The highlight of the walk for T--getting his very first water gun. He seriously couldn't take his eyes off of it!

The happy heart baby! We love you Everett Knight. Your smile radiates goodness and love and there is no doubt in my mind that you were sent to earth with that special heart of yours to teach us...to remind us...to lead us. Thank you Evie for letting us be apart of something so special. We love you!

Our last day carnival

On Friday there was an end-of-year carnival in our courtyard. Dinner was provided, which was awesome since I had already emptied the fridge and packed up the cupboards. We were leaving the next morning super early and this was our last Stanford shebang before many (most) of our neighbors moved--and not like our Summer move, theirs is a forever move. Sad.
The Carnival in a very few pictures looked something like this:

 Games galore with the most incredible signage ever. If I ever need signs made, I'm hiring Grace.

A dessert contest that was seriously delicious! That carrot cake was the winner, winner and our neighbors were the bakers. They are lucky they are moving before we get back to Stanford because were they still there when we get back I'd be beggin for them to make that cake again. Yum! My contribution to the dessert contest was Red Vines. Classy, I know.

Everett's first all-his-own balloon animal. A giraffe. And James, who was tired but excited after finishing his last final of the quarter--an 8 hour beast of an exam!

T the Tiger--the first time he let them paint his face! I was so excited. He was adorable, but bummed that they wouldn't make his legs look like a tiger too!

Not a picture of the carnival, but too cute to pass over. T and Cedar-girl on their last day of swim lessons.

Um, I kind of forgot to tell you that we were moving

And now we already have!

We are calling this place home for the next few months and we are already loving it.

But before we dive into LA-living, I need to catch up about our last few day at Stanford (until next year, that is!)  

These pictures make me smile

We lucked out with the greatest neighbors this last year and I am feeling pretty sad about everyone heading their separate ways. I found these two pictures from crazy dinners we have had in the last month and they made me smile so big. Goodbye friends, we love you!

Evie's First Ride

We went to Happy Hollow again last week. Those annual passes we bought ended up being the best deal ever! I love it because it's small and easy, but the boys both really enjoy it.

And for the first time Evie got to ride some rides as well...

T's FAVORITE ride ever. Everett liked it as well. Talmage was really cute with Evie, letting him ring the fire bell. They rode this one a couple of times together.

 Both boys really liked this ride, but I had no idea when I put them on it that it not only went around in circles but also jumped up and down. Bad idea Mom, bad idea! While Evie was putting his hands in the air and laughing hysterically, I was sweating bullets and praying that he didn't fall out! Needless to say, we're not going to be riding the ladybugs for a while.

Happy Hollow has switched to their summer hours so we had plenty of time to walk around the Zoo. Usually all T wants to do is ride the rides, but after a few hours he was ready to see the animals.

T really wanted to ride the dragon on the Carousel and I helped him hop right up. When Evie and I were walking outside, an employee told me that I had to ride with T. I put Evie on the tiger next to T's dragon and buckled them both in. Then the ride-guy came over to tell me that Evie was too little to ride on the tiger. I asked if I could climb on with him...but that was a no as well. So instead we headed over to the Carousel benches and took a seat. Luckily Evie's young enough that he didn't have a melt down over not riding an animal.

In fact, I think he rather preferred sitting down, eating my necklace and patting my face!