Judah! Don't Eat the Stocking!!

Don't worry people! I stopped her before she could take the first bite.

American Car Rental Company

Yesterday Sean asked me if I would run an errand with him. He had a 6:30 meeting at an office in LAX. Something about a rental car company. At first I thought what a great time I would have with the house to myself. I could clean. I could watch whatever I wanted on tv. I could do nothing at all in complete silence! But he asked if I would go, along so along I went.

When we get to PCH there was a bit more traffic than we expected, so we were running a bit behind. We finally get there and park at terminal one by baggage claim. Have you ever seen a rental car office in terminal one at LAX? Anyone??

We run all around terminal one...no office. He calls the lady he's supposed to meet with and I hear someone behind me answer "American Car Rental Company".

Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky! Did you know that Christina Ortega worked for American Car Rental Company? Me neither.



It was such a wonderful suprise! I got to pick Christina up from the airport, have dinner with her and take her to her family in Orange County. I am SOOO happy that I got to see her and spend a little bit of time with her! I love you Tina!

Happy Birthday Ava!!

Ava is the big #1! Happy Birthday Baby!

The Bestest Friends in the Whole World!

If you aren't me you should be jealous... I have the best friends known to man. They aren't all in this picture, but have you ever seen one photo with so many wonderful friends in it??


I got to see Jocelyn this past weekend. I've gotta get my Jo Jo time in before she heads to Germany!!

Welcome Aboard the Oosterdam

Sean and I just got back from our honeymoon in Mexico. It was great fun! The first day we spent at sea on the way to Cabo. The ship was beautiful, the food was excellent, the weather was great and the company was perfect!

Cabo San Lucas was my least favorite stop. Every ten minutes someone asks you if you want to buy the same silver necklace. I got tired of saying no thank you, no thank you, no thank you.

The next day we arrived at Mazatlan. I loved Mazatlan. Lots of colorful houses, lots of beautiful scenery, great beaches and best of all the Pacifico Brewery. We went on a tour of the Pacifico brewery and drank our hearts content of Corona and Pacifico beer. After that we went to a local beach and I went para sailing.




My favorite stop was Puerto Vallarta. We went on quite an adventure. First we took a speedboat accross Puerto Vallarta to a residential beach. Then we rode up the side of a mountain in an the back of a Unimog. Then it was a 20 minute mule ride, a 20 minute hike and then zip lines all the way back! We got the best views and had way too much fun. We got back to the beach early, so while we waited I had fish tacos from a local kitchen that made Wahoo's look like McDonalds.


The last two days were spent at sea as we headed back to San Diego. We got back yesterday afternoon, but I could swear that we are still on a boat. Whenever I sit down I feel like the house is rocking.

I'm Getting Married in the Morning

Well...it was really an evening, and it was also two weeks ago. :) I am so happy to be married! I love my husband, I loved my wedding, I love my family, and I love that it's all over.

Liquid, Gas or Solid?

Right now Israel and Judah are dancing an interpretation to liquid, solid or gas. This means that one of them yells LIQUID (in a funny little voice) and then they dance around the room showing Sean and I what liquid on the loose should look like. Next, someone yells out out GAS...look out it's about to get crazy!!

Zoe and I are Best Friends!

I got to go spend time with some of my dearest friends in the strangest place in the world, and.........I got to squeeze little Savanah Zoe Bohlender! Well let me tell you all about her legs. Her legs are skinny. Little little baby legs. There's not much squish at all, but at the rate she guzzles her bottle the squish will conquor those legs! Every bit of her is little bitty. When she pulls those little legs up next to her tummy there's not a whole lot of baby girl there! I don't know how she is going to handle all of the love everyone already has for her.




This was the first time I met Zoe.



This was just before I checked the squish on her leg.


This is when Zoe met Sean.



This is Zoe showing me how cute she is.


This is Zoe showing me how tired she is from all the hard work she's been doing.


This is Zoe showing me her Dad's soul patch.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's Baby Time!!!


I'm so happy for you friends! Welcome to the world Zoe. We love you!

Girl Goes Mop Crazy

Today Sean and I went to Target to get a Swiffer. Within an hour of the purchase the kitchen and bathroom floor are shinning! Yay!

How Do I Look?

This was the question Judah asked me this morning. Yesterday was the first day of school. The night before she picked out her cloths, practiced her "entrance" and made sure we all thought she was as cute as humanly possible.

This morning was a little bit different. Judah did ask if I thought she looked cute. She really did look cute. She ALWAYS looks cute. The only problem was that she had been in the cloths for less than an hour and they were already dirty. When I told her this she just said, "No one notices that stuff anyway, like if they are clean. They just notice if they are cute."

UHAUL Makes Moving Easier

Saturday, August 20, 2006
8:00 Go to Gym with Sean
9:00 Go get Coffee with Sean
10:30 Look at House with Sean and Girls
12:00 Shopping for Pants for Sean (You wouldn't believe how interesting this part really was)
3:00 Rock Climbing with the Famo
6:00 Good Movie and Good Dinner at Home

Sunday, August 21, 2006
8:30 Head to Church with Sean
3:00 Head to UHAUL with Sean and Jason
3:30 Jason's Seat Belt doesn't work
4:00 Is Something Burning? Do You Smell That?
4:15 Breaks? What Breaks? Who Needs Breaks?
4:30 You're Sending a Mechanic??
5:00 Hang out with Sean and Jason in a Parking Lot while the wonder mechanic does his magic.
6:30 Should be heading out in half an hour
7:15 Just a few more minutes
8:00 Almost done
8:20 Head to Three Arch Bay to get furniture!!
8:45 Let the Loading Begin
2am Unload the last piece of furniture and CRASH!

For only $29.99 you can rent a 17 foot smooth riding truck. I bet the truck you rent won't have a crack smoking Statue of Liberty on the side of it like ours!

Wowie Zowie

I can't believe that it's been so long since I last posted! So here's what I've been up to...

1. Pack my stuff up and pack it in the a closet at Mark and Angela's (thanks guys!!).

2. Lots of baby squishing.


3.Reds vs Dodgers with Paul. Dodgers won.


4. Hopping a plane to LA just in time to miss all of the luggage hastles.

5. Spend some super fun family time at the LA Farmers Market.




6. Got a job as an Office Manager at Taylor Family Chiropractic. I started yesterday.

7. Great food at Doug and Renee's (Sean's folks).




8. Oh and I can't forget toe tickling with the girls! Fun fun fun!

Girl Gets Ring

Well, I have some big news. I went to California last week to see Sean. He asked me to marry him and I said yes!

Okay, now let me back up a bit. When I was living in California last year Sean and I dated for about 6 months until I left to come back to Cincinnati. When I left I expected my feelings for him would die down, but they didn't. For six months I thought and prayed for God's guidance.

While in Kansas City he and the girls (he has an 11 year old Israel and an 8 year old Judah) came to visit. I knew it would be hard and a bit confusing to see him. I knew I would have a lot of fun with all of them. When they got there I was happier than I expected to be with them. When they left it was harder than I expected to say goodbye and go back to Cincinnati. I talked to a friend about how I was feeling and she pointed out that I hadn't told him how I was feeling. So, the next day I called and told him. A few days later he called and asked me to come to California so we could get some objective council. Next thing I know I'm on a plane to Orange County.

One evening he said something that made me think he might ask me to marry him while I was there. I was totally surprised. I called my mom the next day to see what she thought. She didn't seem too surprised! That evening he asked and I said yes! You can read more of his story here.

So, that's my big news. I am in Cincinnati right now, but I'll be moving back to California in a few weeks so that I can be closer until we get married. That will give us more time for the girls to adjust to me being around. My days are about to get quite a bit more interesting/exciting. I don't think a more wonderful thing could have happened to me.

Die Phone Die

What you don't see in this photo is my croaking phone. It's not like I jumped in and had instant remorse. No, I swam for a good long while before realizing that I had drown my phone. But doesn't it look like we are having so much fun! Ava loves the water.

A new phone should arrive at my house around sometime today. I still probably won't be able to recover all the phone numbers, so if you want to talk to me or you want me to be able to call you then you should email me your phone number.

False Alarm

I thought it was working. I make a few calls and sent a few text messages. Shortly after that it died again.

Good news. If you ever jump in the pool with your phone you can put it in a bag with silica jell packets. It will take the water out of your phone. It may take about 48 hours, but it should do the trick. :)

I forgot to mention-when the phone died so did all of the numbers. Can you email me your phone number?

A Great and Terrible Day

Yesterday was great in that it was spent by a pool with Angela and Ava. It was terrible in that when I got in the pool I still had my cell phone on me. So...if you need to get a hold of me then you can email me and I'll give you my home phone number. :)

Home Again

My last week in Kansas City was a very exciting one. I got to spend time with Christina and hear about her travel journeys. I am glad she went, but I am SO glad that she is home.

A few days after Christina arrived Sean, Israel, Judah and Jason came to town. We hung out at the Bohlender's, had great conversations, ate REALLY good food (thank you Chef Henry!) and had way too much fun. All of the kids were outside one night when Israel ran in to announce that there were fireflies outside! She and Judah had never seen them before. Judah never came in to tell us about them because she was too busy chasing them. The night before they left we went to Shiloh Gardens (where no one would think of spraying for bugs) and chased the fireflies there. We saw more lightning bugs and got more chigger bites than any of us had before.

Wednesday morning I had to say goodbye to everyone. After having spent such a great month with such wonderful little boys and amazing friends I was a bit sad to say farewell.

Now I'm back in Cincinnati. It feels good to be home. Angela and I have hung out a lot in the past two days. I didn't realize how much I missed my sister. Ava is bigger than I expected. She is sitting up on her own and getting on her hands and knees to rock back and forth. Pretty soon she'll be crawling. When I see it I'll be sure to push her down.