update on life

I am so awful at posting on my blog! This is ridiculous, but here I am in Camarillo and so many wonderful things happen everyday and I don't write them down and I know I will forget! christian has been on break since June 9th, and doesn't have to go back to school until July 12th! we started the break by Christian and I taking a hike into the Sespe wilderness above Ojai. It was beautiful! We started the hike at 1pm in the afternoon, which was a big mistake, since it was 100 degrees and we were carrying heavy packs. the hike itself took 5 hours to reach our destination, willett Springs (which we actually stopped at a campsite just before that one) It was 99 miles in and by the time we got there I was kind of sick, I think we had heat exhaustion. The problem was we drank plenty of water but did not replace our electrolytes, big mistake. On the way in we kind of crossed back and forth across the river, which was very nice, and a lot cooler than the last part. The last part of the hike was up higher, we hiked up and down steep slopes in the blazing heat. I think we were at the end of our ropes when we came down the side of a steep hill and below us we saw a sandy beach and a wide river, and an orange tent set up on the sand. We went down and poked around and introduced ourselves the other camper, a guy that was camping by himself, he pointed at a nice camp spot and that was where we settled down. We set up our camp, collected firewood, made oats for dinner, and washed up in the river. Sleeping did not come easy that night, after reading scriptures we turned the flashlight off and tried to sleep but every little noise made me jump. The ranger had told us there were lots of bears and mountain lions, so every scrape against the tent I startled and jumped up out of bed. I finally got used to the noises when I realized it was just the wind rustling our tent, (except for all the little critter footprints around our tent in the morning) The next day we arose, ate breakfast, made yummy ash cakes, and hiked to willett springs. I was still pretty sick from the day before, and it was still very hot. We soaked in the river 4 times that day, which was fun. Towards the afternoon I started to feel better and we swam in the river alot and then made a ton of ash cakes for our hike out the next day. I slept way better the 2nd night, but because it was so hot (100-105) We woke up at 5 am the next morning, packed up, and hiked out. The hike out took us 4 hours still, but was much nicer considering the weather was cooler. We explored the Sespe a little more, hiked to Rose valley Falls, found Lions Camp, and old camping/swim spot Christian used to go to when he was younger, then we headed out to Pismo Beach where we spent 2 nights at the Seaventure. we explored and sunbathed and just had a really good time together. I am so grateful my mother in law was willing to watch the kids the whole week for us, thank you Debi! We stayed 1 night in San Luis Obispo where we hiked Bishops Peak, saw Robin Hood (ugh) and went to the farmers market, which was 5 city blocks, it was huge! We also went to the Pismo Beach Classic Car show which was fun, my fav. is still the old Chevy trucks! Christian fell in love with the new California Special (mustang).

Leif is 16 months old now, he loves playing, cuddling (my favorite) and is starting to talk more. He says more, water, down, and will mimick most words we say if we repeat them to him. He is very sweet. He is afraid of the water though, and screamed when Christian took him into Aunt Gayle's pool! although, we took the kids back to Lions camp with Kirsten and her kids and he hung out at the waters edge, throwing a ball in the water then retrieving it over and over again, for over an hour. Grace stayed on her pink intertube and laid on her tummy and kicked around the swimming hole, she loved it! i had fun swimming and hope we can go back again before we head up to San Francisco (or francisco, as grace calls it). Grace is getting so big, her vocabulary is expanding and she is beg. to tell us stories and making up her own songs, she is starting swim lessons tomorrow. We went Cherry picking last friday with Ditte, Kirsten, Else, Marci, and we met Cristin and Eric there. We picked 3 and a half pounds, took a tractor ride, and played in the shade and ate lunch. Last night we saw Toy story 3, it made Grace sad and she cried when I told her I could not come to college with her. We then went to Doug Bell's wedding reception, it was packed with people and delicious bread basket cake~ I helped out in the kitchen and also helped clean up. I saw Breanne with her cute new little twins, David and Emily, it was so fun to sit and chat with her, I hadn't seen her for a long time.

Mette is getting married in August, then hopefully we can go to bass Lake and Carpinteria for the family reuinions and lots of play time.

our paperwork for the fost adopt is moving along, we should begin looking at childrens profiles before december, I am so excited and nervous at the same time, I know Heavenly Father has a child in mind for us, I am anxious to see who will be joining our family, i know it is a long road, and it will be difficult and emotional, but I know the rewards will be plentiful, more than enough to overshadow any doubt or pain we may encounter.

It was good to see Grace and Leif when we got home, I missed them a lot.

I am so excited to apply for the last 2 semesters of nursing school next year!

Christian is still debating on whether or not to apply for a GPR, most dentists he talks to say it is not necessary, we'll see what he decides to do.

Today is the sabbath, I loved our Relief society lesson about having the spirit poured out upon souls, we need to keep the covenants we make with God, I know He loves us, and is mindful of us and watches over us everyday, I am grateful to belong to the true church of Jesus Christ!

On Friday, we met my friend Juliana, whom I have not seen for 8 years. She lives in Simi Valley and has 2 children, Jasmine and Jamison, very sweet children. It was so good to see an old friend and catch up, I hope we can keep in contact. Afterwards we went to the temple where Christian and I took turns doing initiatories. It took over 4 hours, but it was wonderful to be inside the temple, it truly is an escape from the world, heaven on earth. The children were starving by the time I got out of the temple, 6pm, and we were all a little cranky at each other, so we drove in traffic down the PCH until we found a little pizza place we will never go to again, bad pizza. There was a little water fountain next to where we were sitting and Leif kept sticking his mouth into it and rinking, I wonder how many different things he picks up that way!