Office Obsession

So my kids LOVE going to visit their Dad at his office... thankfully it is only 10 minutes away and they have a Daddy that loves our visits.  The other day we picked up a little of this:

We met Daddy in his office courtyard where we ate, basking in the beautiful weather.  Afterwords, there was the traditional throwing of these...

into the fountain (we have donated A LOT of money into this courtyard fountain... maybe next time we visit, we'll go "swimming for money").  Peter and the kids also like to race leaves in the water...

congrats to Claire for winning the leaf race.  We then followed Pete up to his office where the kids colored pictures with random office highlighters to add to their Daddy's coloring collection.  They stole their usual soda from the fridge and ran around the Merrill Lynch office as if they were "Merrill" and "Lynch" themselves.  

Thanks Daddy Peter for loving your family more than anything else and for tolerating our madness in your personal sanctuary.  The madness will visit you again soon :)...

Girls Camp

Here is my long overdue girl's camp entry... 

if you want the quick version- it was fabulous, 

if you want the novel- read on: 

Two weeks ago our stake held a fabulous week of girl's camp... we all had a great time.  The theme was The Wizard of Oz: "There's no place like home" and the whole camp was so well done.  My good friend Leslie was the Stake Camp Director and did an incredible job leading, delegating to super-talented women and making the week full of fun and spirituality for all who attended.  I'm so glad this "preggo-mamma" (what some of the girls called me at camp :)) was able to attend.

Day 1 (July 7)-  

The girls met at my house and we drove to Camp Metoche (1 1/2 hours away), ate our sack lunches and claimed our individual bunks in these cute little cabins.  I ran to a bottom bunk knowing full well that no one wanted to see a fat pregnant lady trying to jump up to the top bunk each night.  Luckily most of the girls were thrilled with the top.  At camp orientation, the stake leaders were awesome and did a Wizard of Oz rap and the YCLs made up cute skits to inform the girls of camp rules.  We then had free time where the girls could spray paint some old shoes red and put glitter on them to make them look like Dorothy's shoes...

The Stake Presidency men even got their own pair of bedazzled shoes when they visited camp later on in the week... so funny to see these huge man-shoes all red and sparkly.   

After the camp picture and some free time, we had dinner (which was prepared for us by a staff that works at the camp in a really nice lodge... so we'll call this whole experience "glamping").  The girls loved to play a certain game at meals with cups... it was new to me and they sure loved it.  It's not a good game for anyone with a headache...  

Each night after dinner, devotional and dessert, we had ward time.  On this particular day, we had "self-esteem night" where each girl and leader in the circle had a piece of paper with their name at the top.  We passed each paper around so that we could all write something genuinely nice about that person.  It was a great activity and way to start camp... looking for the best in each other.  I sure loved reading what the girls wrote to each other and to me... such an amazing group of young women.  After taking our bin 'o' food to the bear safe, we all hit the sack. 

Day 2 (July 8)-

I woke up this particular morning to one of my sweet Beehives, Corrie who has Down-Syndrome, jumping off the top bunk and starting to walk out the door (she was looking for her mom who went on a walk).  I realized it was about 5 a.m. and tried to convince her to go back to bed.  She ended up sitting on my bed, rubbing my belly for awhile.  At about 5:30, I finally dragged my body out of my incredibly plush bed (not even close) and we hit the trail looking for Julie (Corrie's mom).  We found her, and in a matter of 2 hours I was able to shower, get ready, read, walk to the kitchen and get some hot chocolate, make my bed, read some more, wake up the girls in our cabins and be the first one's to devotional.  I should have Corrie wake me up every morning at 5... so productive!  

This fun day consisted of:

-scripture study groups - these girls have such mature and amazing testimonies.

-a service project - preparing the kid's craft for our stake Christmas creche festival.

-lots of free time - hanging out by our cabins talking, archery (we had so much fun!), playing by the stream, etc.

-ward swimming time at the pool - played "big booty" game... so fun, and I pulled the stinger out of Lauren's foot when she stepped on a bee getting out of the pool (I felt kinda heroic :)).

-skit night - they passed each ward's assigned topic out at dinner and ours was "missionary work" and we had to incorporate the song "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission".  I was given the task of directing this skit since I truly do enjoy doing this kind of stuff.  We did a cowboy theme and we all had a lot of fun putting it together and performing it... the girls got to see a whole other side of Sister Waldron (a little nuts).

-ward time - this time we had game night and it was a blast... the girls kept playing the games in their cabins after lights out cause they couldn't get enough.

-female bonding - while my Beehives were playing games, I went over to spend some time in the Miamaid cabin and ended up talking with them until about 1:30 in the morning.  It was so fun just hearing them go on about boys, pranks, funny stories, what they want to name their kids, what I should name mine, etc.  One of those moments when it's great to be a girl!  Super fun day.

Wednesday (July 9)-

I stayed for the first part of the day and passed the leader baton onto Hillary and Julie (YW Pres. and other counselor) who arrived the night before.  After lunch, I drove home with Alexis (who needed to be home early) and was able to spend the rest of the day with my sweet husband who so kindly took off work so I could go to camp and my kids that I was so happy to see!  I know the girls had a great time back at camp participating in workshops, devotionals, and rope courses as well as "spa night" for ward time... so sad that I missed all of that but it sure was nice to shower and sleep in my comfy bed (and actually get some sleep).  Not as many bugs to shoo away at home either...

Thursday (July 10)-

This was the day that the Stake Presidency and Bishoprics arrived.  I made the journey back up that evening to participate in what I think is the best day of camp.  Bishop Chase lead some great activities with the girls teaching them about choosing good friends and keeping the Holy Ghost as a part of their lives.  We had the stake testimony meeting as well as our ward one, and it was incredible.  It is so wonderful to see these girls really feel the spirit and such love for one another.  I drove home that night so grateful that I made the journey back to camp.

Friday (July 11)-

The girls clicked their heels together and said "there's no place like home."  What an amazing week for these girls and I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of it!  

Painful Perspective

I received a phone call yesterday from my mom telling me that good friends of our family were travelling to a family reunion in Utah and were in a car accident.  Ali (a sweet girl I grew up with) and her dad (Brother Walther) were killed while Ali's three young children (5, 3, 1) and mother (whom I adore) suffered only minor injuries.  

My heart aches for this amazing family and brings to the surface feelings of gratitude for the knowledge of the gospel and how precious every moment is.  I checked my friend Christie's blog (she is good friends with Ali) and a beautiful letter was shared written by Ali's husband, Jeremy.  I am always amazed how the Lord comforts and strengthens those who truly need it in their most difficult times... it had only been a day since his sweet wife had been killed and yet he wrote with such testimony and strength.  

Please keep these wonderful families (Walther and Van Gieson) in your prayers.

You can read the press release here.

To visit their memorial blog, click here.

Me Mosiac

My friend Heather passed this fun idea on... 

a mosaic version of yourself!   

Here is how you can play too...

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name. (kid version: favorite animal?)

I would love to see your personal creations 

(it's like a super-creative tag)!

Birthday Babe

Here is one of those friends that you always hope to have, and I am fortunate enough to have found.  

Happy Birthday, Krissy!

Rock 'n' Roll

This past weekend was full of Rockin' and Rollin'... allow me to explain:

The "ROCK" part has to do with the fact that: 

1- Dallin discovered "Guitar Hero" and decided to give the game a try for the first time on Saturday morning.  I couldn't get him off to have lunch and he ended up playing it for hours.  He loves the song "Surrender" and got really good at playing it (his best score so far is 88%!)  as well as quite a few other songs.  His love for the guitar becomes more and more apparent every day... he even found a red starter kid's guitar online that he can't wait to earn and learn how to play.  

2- My brother, Scott, was in LA this past week (visiting from Washington) recording music with his band.  He was able to break away for a quick little visit to see us and it was really great having him here.  He helped us celebrate Pete's birthday and played with the kids like only a fun uncle can do. He also helped fuel Dallin's love for Guitar Hero even more as they played together.  Dallin was super-impressed with Uncle Scotty's expert level skills and even tried to play one of his favorite songs on expert level after Scott left... needless to say, he'll have to keep practicing since he was booed off the stage after about 3 seconds :).  We all had so much fun with Scott here and the kids are still asking when he is coming back.  We are also anxious to hear his band's new album!

3- On Saturday night, Peter and I went to a concert at Pechanga (a local casino and entertainment venue).  We saw Blue's Traveller, Live, and Collective Soul... it was Peter's birthday present to himself :).  We are not die-hards of any of these bands, but we had a fun time, there was some really great music, and the drummer for Collective Soul is one of Pete's clients so there was an added interest.  It was great date night!

As for the "ROLL" part of the weekend:

1- At the concert, JB (what we call the baby in my tummy = Jelly Bean) was going nuts!  The vibrations from all of the rockin' must have made him wonder what in the world was going on.  He was kicking and literally doing somersault rolls in me the entire concert.  Dallin may have a future band member on the way :).

2- Saturday afternoon (after I convinced Dallin off of Guitar Hero), we went to Costco.  After shopping we returned to a  hot car, so I left the kids in the cart and turned on the AC.  Before I finished, I heard a huge scream and turned to find Dallin lying face first on the pavement.  I thought he broke his arm from the way he was positioned, but came to find out through all the screaming that it was his nose that hurt the worst.  He was bleeding pretty badly and luckily I had my first-aid kit still hanging around in the car from girl's camp last week.  I cleaned him up and bandaged his little face as he continued to scream.  I came to find out that he decided to jump out of the Costco cart (superhero style) but tripped and rolled onto the pavement.  Once I got my traumatized son into the car, I turned on a movie and the screaming ceased.  He has some pretty cool battle wounds and luckily it was no more than a scraped up face... good thing he's a guy and thinks this kind of stuff is pretty awesome.  

Gotta love a little "Rock 'n' Roll"!

P-Day

Happy 33rd Birthday, Peter!

We love you like crazy!!!

Independence Day

Hooray for a free country...

Hooray for those who fight for that freedom...

Hooray for 4th of July parades...

Hooray for "firework" hair...

Hooray for little ones...

Hooray for good buddies...

Hooray for barbecues and swimming...

Hooray for pink...

Hooray for red, white and blue...

We had a wonderful 4th of July!  We were able to spend a good part of it with our fun friends, the Lowes, visiting from Idaho and crashed their Brundage family reunion... thanks for taking us in again for another holiday and feeding us delicious food, letting us play in your gorgeous pool, hanging out with us at the parade and making us feel so loved and wanted.  It was a great day.  

Happy Independence Day!

Cowbell Comedy

Last night, Peter and I watched the "20 Greatest Moments of SNL (Saturday Night Live)".  My very favorite skit was showcased at #5... the cowbell skit.  As I sat and laughed, I was reminded of why I probably love this particular skit. 

 

Growing up, I played percussion in band.  I always felt so lucky to only have to tote my drumsticks around when I saw my fellow band members carrying their trumpet or tuba cases on and off the bus.  I was very small and knew I wouldn't be able to handle such band case monstrosities on a daily basis.  

In Junior High (specifically the 7th grade), we were able to march as a band in the Puyallup Daffodil parade.  Little did I realize that I would not only have to carry my drumsticks throughout the parade route, but a huge drum draped across me as well.  I ended up being much to small to carry any of the drums and my percussion pride was crushed when I was given the cowbell to beat on instead.  Worst of all, I was placed on the very end of the percussion line (because of my height deficiency) so that the whole world (or at least town) could see my mad cowbell skills.  Apparently I needed a little humility and I sure learned some that day in the parade.  

My pride, however, returned when I saw this SNL skit and how awesome the cowbell truly is... I mean if Will Ferrell and Christopher Walkin think the cowbell is a necessity, then boy was I an integral part of the parade that day.  I actually think the songs could have used a little more cowbell :)!

Here's the clip for anyone who has never seen it or for those who can never get enough (ahem Scott, Dave and Jen :)):

Great Graduate

Another defining moment in our lives (and proof that time flies)... Dallin graduated from preschool last week.  After 2 1/2 years of attending 1-2-3 Learn, he has decided to move on to the big world of Kindergarten (ok, he doesn't really have a choice).  

The preschool graduation ceremony was adorable and it was so sweet to see my Dallin lead everyone in the pledge of allegiance and rock out on the guitar for the "Shake, Rattle and Rock" song.  Dallin memorized a part for the program but was skipped when it came his turn...he didn't realize that his teachers had changed his part to the pledge of allegiance.  My sweet tender-hearted son sat on the front row trying so hard to hold back his tears (as did his very pregnant mom).  His wonderful teachers felt horrible and made up for it by giving his reading skills quite a bit of hype when they handed him his diploma... it seemed to help him forget his other woes.  

Here are some graduation pics:

A really poor-quality photo of Dallin in the graduation procession line

Dallin waiting in his performance spot 

Giving the graduation welcome and asking everyone to rise for the pledge of allegiance.  He proceeded to lead the audience in the pledge of allegiance.

Receiving his preschool diploma and report card from his teachers, 

Ms. Carol and Miss Melissa

Present 1-2-3 Learn graduate, his teacher (Ms. Carol) and a future 

1-2-3 Learn preschooler (Claire starts in August)!

After the program, we got some frozen yogurt at White Lime (YUM!) with Brother and Sister Cherry (who were so kind to come to the graduation and support their friend Dallin :)) and the Durst family.  What a great night!

We are so proud of our wonderful, smart, kind and ambitious son... congratulations Dallin!

Anniversary Eight

Peter and I had our eighth wedding anniversary on the 17th.  

Here is how we celebrated (very last minute):

We have had Spafinder gift certificates sitting in our "fun" file 

for about 2 years and decided to finally use them at the 

Mandara Spa at Disney's Grand Californian hotel.  Fabulous!!

After our massages, we went right next door to dinner at Napa Rose.  The food was incredible and the company even better.

After we stuffed ourselves with delicious food, we headed over to a very 

crowded Disneyland park where we rode the Matterhorn 

(I know, shame, shame on this pregnant girl).  In line, we realized that 

our camera was missing so (after riding the ride) we retraced 

our steps back to the restaurant where we luckily found it.  

We then decided to call it a night (a really nice and relaxing one).

Happy 8th Anniversary to the man that I love and adore more and more as the years pass by...

Winner's Circle

Congratulations to the PIF exchange winners! I put the numbers 1-8 on a paper and had Dallin circle three of the numbers (representing the order of comments on our blog).  He chose #'s 5, 7, and 8, so congrats to:

JULE

CHELSEA

ELISA

I am looking forward to creating something fabulous (hopefully) for you... I'll be in touch!  

Pay it Forward

Just for the record, I am not one of those people that wins contests on the radio or random drawings at baby showers.  I did, however, win this:

My very talented friend, Lynette, made this with her amazing Photoshop skills and I received it in the mail Saturday as a result of a PIF (pay it forward) contest.  I am so excited to frame this beauty and put it up... thanks Lynette for the beautiful picture and for breaking my losing streak :)!  I am excited to be the next one to Pay It Forward...

Here's how it works:

I will send a handmade gift to three people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog (so you must have a blog to participate). Here's a quick glance back on the Pay It Forward Gift Exchange...

From Jodie's hands to Natalie
From Natalie's hands to Holly
From Holly's hands to Emily

From Emily's hands to Lynette
And now, from Lynette's hands to mine...

How fun! Let's Pay It Forward and give each other gifts just because! Comments must be submitted before Saturday, June 21st as I will announce the winners this weekend (winners will be picked at random).  

Good luck!

Father Figure

See this man:

He is one INCREDIBLE father!  Here is some proof:

1- He has gotten up with Claire every night since she was born just because he loves to be by her.

2- When he gets home from work, he immediately sheds his suit and puts on his "play clothes".  He then runs outside with the kids to play baseball, go on a bike-riding adventure, or clean up the yard with them.

3- When he leaves for work, the kids run to the front window to yell (literally) "I LOVE YOU" over and over again to him as he drives off.

4- He is a kid himself and would rather play at the park, go swimming with the kids, or sword fight with Dallin than do anything else.

5- He always says "family first" and lives by this no matter what comes his way.

6- He works so hard to provide for our family, but will drop it all to attend an early baseball game on a Tuesday.

7- He teaches our children with such love and patience.

8-He disciplines our children with such love and patience.

9- Wherever we go, kids literally swarm to him (cause he is so much fun).

10- Whenever Claire is sad, tired, or gets hurt, she immediately cries for her "Gaga" (Dada) whether he is there or not.

11-He makes up the funniest stories, songs and games with the kids (my favorite was a couple of weeks ago when we had lunch at the Olive Garden.  The kids were getting restless and so Peter told them to get under the table and hide from the Olive Garden monster.  When Peter and I would stomp our feet, that meant the monster was getting closer.  They loved this.  The game got better when the waitress brought over the chocolate mints.  If the kids knocked on the table, the monster would get scared and would "poop" a mint down to them.  They didn't want to leave:)). 

12- When he first walks through the door home from work, the kids quickly hide somewhere in the house and Peter goes on a funny journey to find them.

13- He has sacrificed many parts of "Peters" life to make the lives of our children incredible.

14- When Dallin is at preschool, he often has office dates with Claire (she gets to go all by herself to his work and spend an hour or so with Dada coloring in his office or throwing pennies with him in the fountain outside). 

15- He is an unbelievable patriarch and spiritual leader in our home.

16- He has always changed just as many diapers as I have.

17- He has way more positive interactions with our kids than negative ones...that is why they are so secure and adore him so much!

18- He is hilarious and has our kids "belly-laughing" often.

19- I will never forget the look on his face each time I have told him that we were expecting... pure happiness.

20- He is such a great example to our kids of how a man should live, how he should love his wife, what kind of man Dallin should strive to be and what kind of man Claire should look for.

Today on "Music and the Spoken Word", I heard this quote: 

"Fatherhood has the potential to make you better than you are." Peter has always been a wonderful man, and it is true that fatherhood has made him even better... 

Happy Father's Day to one amazing Dad!

Cookie Bird

Dallin played his first season of baseball these past few months and LOVED it.  He played on the 'Orioles' team and was the #1 (the coaches lined them up from shortest to tallest and handed the jerseys out that way from #1-#10...definitely a teeny Waldron).  When people asked what team he was on, he would reply "the Orioles...it's a bird, not a cookie (ie: Oreos)."  His team did really well, had awesome coaches and he really improved.  Here are some highlights:

The trophy from the baseball carnival and pizza party tonight definitely made this baseball season perfect for this little 5 year old Oriole.  Can't wait to see what next year's baseball season will bring (hopefully a better team color :)).