New Suit

I was unaware that I married a "suit and tie" kind of guy until Alan was required to buy one this week to wear during his oral arguments in his law classes. I'm pretty impressed because he made an excellent choice, and I wasn't even there to help him shop this time! He's decided he loves wearing quality clothes. And the verdict is in. . . he looks hot.

Brooke and her "makeups"!

Brooke LOVES to put on her "makeups," especially lipstick. She will sit there and put it on for like an hour. We tell her she looks so pretty!

Oakland Temple Trip

Last Saturday we went with our ward Primary to visit the Oakland Temple. On the way there Emma started singing, "I Love to See the Temple" all on her own. She loved seeing the garden on top of the temple and I told her that was where daddy asked me to marry him. I told her that is where we got married and so did Grandma Kari and Grandpa Jeff, Nana and Grandpa Byron, Uncle Don and Auntie Cori, and Uncle Travis and Auntie Carli. She kept hugging me and saying she was happy. Two sister missionaries gave us a tour of the temple grounds and she was glued to them the entire time. As usual, she wanted to be right in the middle of the action. We had a great time together.

Umbrella Fun

Emma and Brooke are always getting along well until Emma gets this look on her face right here. . .
Poor Brooke. Sometimes Emma's hugs are more like "accidental" head locks.

Time Out for Women in Sacramento

Last weekend I went with Cori, mom, and Auntie G to Deseret Book's Time Out for Women. After all, moms need time outs, too, and we had a blast! We happened to run into our life long friends Sue Earp and Angie (Earp) Francis and we had lunch together.

We heard from favorites such as Cherie Call and Kenneth Cope.

Cute Cori.

Doesn't my mom look a star who is going about her business trying to avoid the paparazzi?

I had such a good time. My favorite thing was hearing from James L. Ferrell, the author of my favorite book The Peace Giver. He used an analogy to the game Settlers of Catan and how the Lord makes a "deal" to give us more "lamb" despite our poor game playing decisions. He makes it so that we can win the game, even when we don't deserve it. So awesome! I feel so blessed to be able to have such neat experiences.

Brooke's Cute Hand Print

This is for Carli. :)

Little Shepherd Preschool

Emma is now in her third year of preschool! I have a hunch that she will be SUPER ready for kindergarten! :) Now that we're back in Petaluma, she's going to Little Shepherd this year which is where my little sister Carli and her husband Travis went 18 years ago. Most of the same teachers are still there. She is sooo excited to go every day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORI ANN!!!

28 years ago today, my big sister Cori Ann was born.

(Carli and I still consider her our "big" sister even though we're both taller than her) :)

What a cutie! (Her hair has more than quadrupled in mass since this.)

My mom used to dress us alike for Christmas and Easter Sunday every year.

She wanted to be a "punk-rocker" this particular Halloween.
I remember thinking it was sooo cool that she came
up with that idea on her own. She's always been so trendy and cool.

We had our own rooms growing up, but we still loved sleeping in each other's rooms sometimes, too.

She is now a successful Dental Hygienist

(this is her speaking at her graduation several years ago).


A happy wife.

A wonderful mother of two wonderful boys.

And one of my best friends in the whole wide world!

Love you, Cor! Happy Birthday!

(Now if only I could have had full lips like her-- dang it!)

I've been tagged

This is going around the blog world and it looks too fun!!!

1. ROCKSTAR NAME: (first pet, current car)
Patches Sonata

2. GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite shoe)

Mint Chip Dansko

3. "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first 3 letters of last name)

C-LIN

4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

Green Giraffe. . . sounds lame-- let's change it to Spanish: La Jirafa Verde. . . much better!

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)

Nicole Vallejo (love it!)

6. STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first)
Lincr (it could work since it's Star Wars I guess)

7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Turquoise Smoothie ???

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)

Jefferson Joseph (doesn't that sound cool!?)

9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mom & dad's middle names)

Ann Todd

10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (your 6th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)

Tribble Tuscon

11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)

Autumn Daisy

12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you're wearing right now + "ie")

Strawberry Shortie (hmmm. . . something about that sounds a tad familiar. . .)

13. HIPPY NAME: (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)

Granola Maple

14. ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: ("The" + your favorite hobby/craft, favorite weather element + "Tour")

The Scrapbooking Sun Tour

15. CELEBRITY COUPLE NAME: (half of your name, half of your significant other's name, mixed together in whichever order sounds best)
Alsti