Tahoe with the Wigs 2015

We look forward to our Wiggy Reunion in Tahoe with sweet anticipation every year so when we realized that we could only spend 24 hours at the cabin before heading south to register T for school we were super bummed that our time with Wiggy family would be cut short. But, dun-dun-da-dun, Super-GG and Super-Papa saved the day and re-booked that beach-side cabin (and ultimately shortened their own vacation) so that the kids and I could spend more time with them on those crystal shores. It was so, super, totally generous of them and we were excited for an extra couple of days to play and explore and swim. We had a great time, as always, and hope there are many more Tahoe summers in our future.

Quinny and Tahoe got along quite nicely, especially since the water is low which allowed her to see (and grab, and taste) every last pebble and sea creature that that lake offered.

Everything is always more fun for these kids when Chaya is around. She's been on her mission for the last couple of Tahoe adventures, and boy were we all glad to have her back!

These lost boys spent their afternoons painting on oversized paper, playing hide-and-seek through the "castle" cabin and licking every last morsel of chocolate batter from their spatula swords. This moment screamed Peter Pan to me and I'm so grateful I have this picture to cherish forever. 

Mini-golfing with Chaya. See? I told you things were more fun with her! (Minus the meltdown right after this picture from my spicy, sassy, let's-just-blame-it-on-the-move-y Ever Knight)

The water levels may be low (the lowest I've ever seen) but this place is still beautiful. I just love our view from the deck.

The ropes course at Gralibakken was definitely the highlight of ^their^ Tahoe trip. I found this place last year but learned you have to make reservations weeks in advance because it fills up so quickly. This year I was quick to the draw and before I had even started packing our belongings in NYC I had made reservations for these two + Papa, GG and Chaya. At times I wondered why I had paid money to give myself a heart attack (because watching your baby fly upside down on a zipline will do that to you) but they had a blast and T keeps asking me when he can do it again! Tahoe tradition maybe?

The brave ropes course crew! Care and I stayed down with all of our babies, but one of these days you'll find me up there too!

T's tricks.

T's tricks take two.

Yep, everyone was all smiles after conquering the course. So fun for all these great people!

Saturday afternoon we took family pictures at the cabin. Our good friend Sara drove up from Sacramento to take them, and I've only seen a couple of them so far but they are gorgeous--can't wait to see and share them all. The picture above is from after the pictures, when I took all those cute munchkins to the candy shop and let them pick whatever the heck they wanted as a reward for smiling so big for my pictures! During the photo shoot Ever kept asking, "Mom, is dis a eawn-it smile?" Yes it was, and he has the treats to prove it! 

And just like that we were off to our new adventure in Southern California! On our way down we stopped in Bakersfield for some Dewar's ice cream (but let's be honest, we really stopped to see our favorite-ever Vicci)! The hour passed way too quickly but it was great to catch up over a delicious black and white. We hope to see you again really soon Vicci!!!

Our Sac Stay with Mema and Pepa

I am now the owner of a brand spankin' new Honda Odyssey. It's gunmetal gray with a slight blue undertone and when I left the lot it had 1 mile logged (from my test drive). Buying something that expensive is a new experience for sure, but I think the new car smell might be priceless so no big deal, right? (cough, choke, ahhhh!) All I've gotta say is the doors and trunk that open with a button are worth their weight in gold. Haters gonna hate, but I'm a minivan lover for sure and I'm so excited about my new ride!

Of course Mema and Pepa had our days planned with fun, fun and adventure. The boys were dying to go to Funderland and Quinny came along for the ride (and pictures!) I took lots of baby pictures of the boys when they were babies too so I'm just making sure she doesn't feel left out someday when the baby books are out!

So many words to say about these two. They're basically the same person which means they love each other hard and they annoy each other even harder! I can't wait to see them grow up together...although the thought of this picture being true to form (him driving her around) has me panicked. I'm afraid it'll be here before I know it.

Mema and Pepa with 6 out of the 7 of their grandbabies. Missed you Lucy!

Ice Cream downtown was a raging success, especially since Pepa treated the kids to Clown Cones!

Mema and Pepa also took us mini-golfing which was something T remembers doing with them a few years back (and begged to do again). We had so much fun! The boys are at such a fun age for adventures like this, even if Ever Knight ended up just throwing the ball into the hole each time! Thanks Mema and Pepa for making our trip so much fun--you always do.

The last few days of the Little Wigs in THAT big city

Time has a way of coming full circle, doesn't it though? It was just over two years ago that I was eating a Shack burger on what would become my bench outside the AMNH bawling because we were in a bidding war for the dream apartment I had found almost by accident (or better choice of words: by divine guidance) and I was afraid that place on West 70th was going to slip right through my fingers. It didn't, thank heaven, and two glorious years were spent living and loving within those walls. But then, in what felt like two blinks, I was eating the same burger on the same bench and crying familiar tears about the same apartment in the amazing city. But this time I wasn't afraid I was going to lose it, this time I knew I would. We had just packed all of our belongings into a moving truck and had a scheduled flight the next morning for California. The babies were in bed and James was finishing up some work and I knew right where I needed to be--choking down some cheese sauce and a Natural History Crunchstellation on my bench. I swear a little Shake Shack is healing for my soul.    

On my walk up the street I was offered a little inspiration from Honschar, who ya'll know is my favorite street pastor! Seriously Honschar, preach! My pedicure was definitely not what he was referring to, but silly as it sounds when I saw this on the street I thought, "You're right! I do got this move! I'll be just fine." And we are just fine, though admittedly missing our buddies, our favorite food and that city. 

Here are some pictures from our last few days in NYC: 

 James and I went on a fancy date to a restaurant around the corner from our house called Telepan. It was a weekday miracle that we were able to get in, especially since it was Restaurant Week and their prices were 1/4 of the normal set prices. We had the most delicious and interesting meal and it was so fun to play grown-up! {Oh yes, and mostly we're just grateful that our babysitter didn't bail after Quinn threw up everywhere right as we walked out the door!}

 Our last walk down the High Line was a success, but when is it not? This trip was especially sweet since we were joined by our dear friends the Shobe's and a big box of Donut Plant doughnuts. 

My boys have taken the transition so well, which makes me wonder if I'm feeling the pain for every single one of us! This was our last Sunday in New York. In primary Everett led the music, Talmage said the prayer, and I sobbed through both because I'm embarrassing like that. 

 Goodbye McDonald's sundaes with Becca, Roseanna and company. Thank you Vivi for actually acknowledging my existence! Not that I can blame the boys, those are some good sundaes!

I just have the best of best of friends. Goodbye-ing with a big group of friends at the park the day before we left and not a picture of anything but these cute cookies. They are adorable, but why didn't I get a picture of the beautiful women who I cherish? I'm so lame sometimes! I loved these heart and sun cookies so much and all the hands that made this party a blast for both young and old.

Quinny had her first popsicle at the goodbye bash and if you can't tell, she loved the heck out of that thing!

Talmage has been saving money since he lost his first tooth back in November for something really special. At first he thought he wanted to buy a magic set, but a few months in he said, "Mom, I think I actually want a watch because I'll use it more. It's more practical, Mom!"  That boy is a thinker, that's for sure. He saved every penny from losing a mouth-full of teeth, from his birthday and Christmas and from doing quarter jobs around the house and finally the week we were set to head West he had enough to buy himself his dream watch. Of course that kid didn't want any old watch--he wanted a fancy Swatch watch from the shop on 72nd. I was so proud of his restraint these past few months and all the hard work that went into him buying that little Batman watch!

My little hunk with his new accessory!

A few days before we left our good friends from T's school surprised us with tickets to a Brandon Flowers concert. It was one of the best double dates in the history of double dates, even if I couldn't hear myself think for a few days because of the ringing in my ears!

Oh Brandon, you sure know how to throw a great party!!! We left wishing we could go right back in and start the whole concert over again!

That's all folks. The Wig's are Californians yet again.

Look Up!

The view from every window in our new place!

We live in Los Angeles now, which if I had to guess is a whole lot like living on Mars. Unless Martians like to walk to dinner or the store or anywhere for that matter, then LA is surely nothing like Mars. If Martians walked their kids to get a back-to-school burger up the road would they get lots of dirty, confused, irritated, surprised looks from their fellow citizens driving around in Mars-Mobiles? Just wondering. 

This move to California was supposed to feel like a homecoming, but if I'm being honest it's felt more like our family unit was dropped at random into a foreign, foreign land. In fact, I haven't felt this alien-ish since returning home from my mission nearly ten years ago when I looked around at the family I had craved for 18 months in the home where all my memories were made and was devastated to find that I was an outsider. And while my family had everything perfectly orchestrated so that a successful post-mish transition was possible, the odds have been seriously stacked against us with this move. A few weeks ago when we walked into our new place for the first time there were boards over windows that didn't pass code, burned out light's around every corner, the last tenant's dirt and grime still in every cupboard, drawer and crevice, a laundry list of broken apartment items and all I could see out my broken windows was a homeless man sleeping next to a stinky dumpster behind a 7-11. James and I took turns being seriously, completely bummed that we were spending a whole-freakin-lot of money to live in a place that had caution tape around the Jacuzzi. Yep, serious.

I cried for probably two days straight but then got so busy trying to create "home" again that I just worked and cleaned and organized and really had no time for tears or words or anything else because gosh darn it this place needed help! Luckily James is still home from work because it's taken both of us working around the clock to get this place to where it is now, which is far from perfect but holy hannah there are lights that work and my dream table in the dining area and the new map we found for the kids' room hung proudly over their color-coordinated books. We've hung hooks and built bookcases, cleaned out closets and put up pictures. The beds are made and there are towels in the bathrooms and we even found a rug for under our new entertainment center--what! what! We've visited just about every box store West LA has to offer and we are now proud owners of a gorgeous space-ship, also known as a Dyson vacuum! Thank goodness James has had a break between the Court and S&C, having him here has been the only reason we've made it through.  

I've become somewhat of a moving expert and if there's one thing I know for sure it's that moving is never easy. Even when it's a good thing. Even when you're excited. Even when there's no winter in your new landscape (hallelujah choir, see ya in February for sure!) It's just not ever easy. Because all of the sudden you're in this new place far, far away from all your friends, your favorite restaurants, your usual grocery store, your corner laundromat and you're trying to tell yourself, "Self, this is awesome. You love starting from scratch in the friends department, again. And you love Craigslist-bingeing for new-to-you furniture. And you love sending your children into school with strangers." Sure, sometimes those inner conversations are less sarcastic than that, but oftentimes the first little bit is just a roller coaster of emotions and being sassy to yourself is better than being sassy to the office staff at your kid's new school, am I right?

But if my post-mish self has taught me anything it's that it doesn't take long before a foreign place that's filled with love feels like home sweet home. I've proved that same principle over and over as us little Wigs have moved to Provo, Sacramento, Cambridge, the Bronx, Stanford, LA: take one and Manhattan and I have total faith and hope that LA: take two will be no different. Sunny SoCal will feel like a part of us in no time. In fact, with things feeling a little more settled inside our home it's been a little easier for things to feel more settled in my heart. For example, the other day it started sprinkling mid-afternoon quite unexpectedly and I got a big whiff of cool California rain on the hot pavement and I just stood there breathing it in. California rain is my favorite smell in the universe and cannot be duplicated. Gosh, that moment felt like home. And today when I was picking up Talmage from school I could smell the Eucalyptus trees on my path and thought, Wow I'm lucky that this will be my daily walk to get my boy. I have a washer and dryer in my hallway, an extra freezer in my kitchen, and let's not forget that this place is 1200 square feet, which is nearly 3 times the size of our last place! Also, shout out to Central air. Whoa, that's good! My parents have already surprised the boys with a mid-week visit, we met Grandma Winnie for a weekend in Disneyland and I have a new van I can drive wherever the heck I want to see all my West Coast family members. Now that's a beautiful thing!

As I mentioned earlier, the first thing I saw when I looked out our shabby windows for the first time was an ugly view of dumpsters and filth. But my little boys? They were ecstatic and beautifully naive, running from room to room screaming, "We can see the temple from every window in our house! This is the best place we've ever lived! In our last place we were close to the temple, but in this place we can actually see it from our bedroom!" (They also said, "We are so lucky to live next to 7/11! This is so exciting! Sour Patch Slurpees everyday!") They were right (about the temple, not the slurpees!) Why wasn't that the first thing I noticed? The Los Angeles temple is sitting on a hill right outside our window, providing beauty and warmth and so much perspective. James mentioned yesterday that as he looks out our window he's seeing the dumpster less and the temple more and I couldn't agree more. The temple has been our literal reminder to look up from the world and remember what's really important in life--our family, our faith, our eternity. I can already tell that the view from our window will be our favorite feature of this apartment and will lead us to "look up" in so many other parts of our life. I'm excited to see what this new chapter has in store for us.

Me: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Ev: You!
Me: No, I'm asking you silly. Where would you live?
Ev: No, my answoh is you. It doesn't mattew whewe we wiv as wong as I wiv with you. As wong as we'we togethoh. 

The real deal view! Hello dumpster, hello Staples, hello temple!

July's Little Moments

A few little things from July that are worth a moment of your attention:

Talmage learned the safe way to pick up Quinn if she's in danger (9 times out of 10 trying to put a lego in her mouth) and as you can see, she's thrilled about it!

Lowe's is opening a store around the corner and we have the aprons, goggles and hammers to prove it (and two pretty impressive hand-made plant holders to boot). 

Ricky Gervais was filming a movie in Central Park and we randomly passed him so naturally I had to be a creepy, stalker person and take a picture.

 He's made it perfectly clear that the nickname "Toothless" offends him, but I'm all, "Buddy, if the shoe fits..."

 Quinn thinks she's such a big deal standing without help. You're killing me with your getting bigger skills, baby girl!

 Summer is not Summer until you're caught in a massive thunderstorm and get totally drenched. 

 My heart melted into a big puddle when these boys held hands in route to the library. They also insisted on wearing their Mema-made library bags as backpacks!

 This picture was supposed to be captioned "raising a reader" and instead it's titled "it's all fun and games until your baby falls off the bookcase and splits her lip." Mothering fail with a picture to prove it.

 She eats grass while her brothers play and she flirts with everyone who pays her a second of attention.

 His energy levels are off the charts. Little boys I tell ya.

All on her own she rested her head on the pillow and started reading the book. Such an overachiever!

 

Yes it is.

 

 T's lunchtime art. Me too, T. Me too.

Finish us off Ever Knight. Happy July. Loves!