summer 2011.

I had the luxury of going on a all girl trip with girlfriends from college days and it was awesome. We laid by the pool, ate good food, caught up with everyones lives and Bri and I managed to get a huge frog in our bed. Lucky for us it hopped out before the practical joke could work. I would have DIED if it would have been in there when I got in!

I sure missed my kids (and Mike of course), but it made me realize how much I miss my girlfriends! They are so much fun to be around.

Now, we are having a great time vacationing at the cabin this year. I was so happy and relieved to see Greer still green and beautiful thanks to the firefighters. The big hill in front of our cabin has a lot of fire damage, but the rest looks lush and green.

Zoey and Felix love their cousins and are having so much fun playing with them every day. We are leaving on Wednesday to go down to the Valley so I am enjoying the cool weather while I can. Here are some of the pictures over the past week.

Felix got to Meet Pops and Nancy for the first time.

We went to the 4th of July parade in Eager

Had a BBQ with the family and Mike before he had to leave

Played in the Mud

Took our daily walks to the Lazy Trout to get a treat

Played it the beautiful Greer lake

And much more. We will be sad to leave everyone, but we will be really excited to see Mike again!

P.S. Last night all the adults got to go to dinner at the Molly Buttler lodge and when we got home we found a note sitting on the counter written by my niece Scout who was helping babysit. She didn't want to forget anything her brother Tripp did while we were gone.

Pure awesome.

false alarms.

This picture was taken by the last civilian leaving Greer yesterday and the snap shot just happened to be of my family cabin with an ominous black cloud and the view of fire in the background. It was taken at 2:10 pm yesterday with word of the fire making it's way through Greer. The fire did make it's way through Greer last night and we are all awaiting news of what homes where lost. I am hopeful ours is still standing.

update.

This is the family cabin. And the crazy arizona fire has spared Greer. Prayers for those in Springerville and Eager today.

Firefighters are amazing! Just last weekend Mike, Zoey, Felix and I were at Stoner Park and got to watch some Firefighters in training. They wrapped the fire hose through the jungle gym, and two firefighters had to work their way from one end to the other while bind folded using the hose as the guide.

It was hot, and it looked so exhausting. They had oxogen tanks on and they had to finish the course before running out of air. They ran out before the end. It gave me a new found respect for these people. They are truly risking their lives. I hope they are able to get the Wallow fire out soon, to spare homes, and the Beautiful Arizona Mountains.

funny bone.

Poor Zoey got two black eyes in a week and a half, but she still has her wits about her.

Zoey was playing on her new bed and bumped her elbow on the side rail so she was fussing.

Me: "Did you hit your funny bone?"

Zoey: "No. It is NOT funny."

Me: "I know. It is ironic."

Zoey: "Oh. Yes. I hit my ironic bone."

She is funny.

having fun.

Mike continues to work long hours so I am trying to get creative with our time to keep some sanity. We have ventured to the park with friends, gone to the beach, started baking, gone to Disneyland, went to a birthday party and decorated easter eggs. The front yard is our newest favorite activity. I am so happy Zoey is at the age of understanding the street is dangerous. It makes our days so much easier to be able to go play in the yard when we need to get outside. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of our recent adventures.

enchiladas.

I am not a cook by any stretch of the imagination. The thought of making dinner almost brings me to tears. I blame it on a small kitchen with no dishwasher, but I am not so sure my feelings would change if I had a bigger space. We shall see. I am very interested in finding meals that require 5 ingredients or less, take 30 min to prepare, and taste delicious. They are not easy to find! I am slowly building up a reservoir of recipes that I can make without crying. One of which we made last night for the 3rd time and it is really delicious!

Chicken Enchiladas

I discovered these tortillas at our local grocery store a while back and they make everything taste 10 times better. If you don't have them in your grocery store you should lobby to get them! I also realized yesterday, the last line of the recipe says to cover the enchiladas with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes and it makes them even better.

Another must for an easy delicious meal is this one....Grilled Chicken Avocado Sandwiches.

I keep telling Mike I will evolve into a wife who cooks, just like my mom did every day. I am consoled knowing my mom hated to cook as well, she just did it anyway. And I never knew, because she never complained and she was a fabulous cook. I have a ways to go! Gotta start somewhere.

glory days.

So Mike and I finally went on our fist real date in about 2 years. We need to make it happen more often! However, we will have to get a second job to finance a babysitter. Who knew babysitters in LA did not exists for less than $15 an hour?? Not me! I guess paying someone $100 for the night is worth it if it is once every 2 years. Luckily our friends had a cousin who was up for the job and she was great!

We had stress free night getting shakes at the hip Cafe 101 and going to the OMD concert (which was amazing!). I could not believe that no one I talked to had any knowledge of who OMD was when I said we were going to their concert. I am sure they just didn't realize they knew who they were...everyone knows this song

Easily their most famous song, but definitely only one of MANY gems. They are 23 years older now at a young 51 and just as fabulous as ever! Worth every penny! And we had the pleasure of being introduced to Mackintosh Braun as their opener. They were really awesome.

Fingers crossed we can get out again before another 2 years goes by!

The highlight of the date came from Mike telling me he felt pretty cool being at an awesome concert with a hot chick. HA! He makes me smile.

my birthday.

I woke up to a delicious smelling carrot cake baking in the oven. Mike made his first stacked cake for me and it was awesome. We had Wahoo's for lunch and delicious Thai for dinner. Thanks Mike!

rain and forts.

It as been a little rainy and cold around here for the past few days, so yesterday we made a fort. I knew Zoey would have a good time because she loves anything that is similar to a tunnel. I was just surprised at how fun Felix thought it was. He was smiling, laughing and rolling around in it until Zoey couldn't resist the urge to knock it down. Maybe I will have to make a bigger one on Sunday (Sunday was always fort day around the Steele household, with separate rooms and all).

eventful week.

Last week my sister Kim and family came into town and we joined in on their vacation.

Monday, Zoey went to Huntington gardens and loved every second of her freedom to run wild in a vast open space. She was so exhausted by the time she got home she fell right onto the lawn crying with no interest in moving. She was not happy to have me carry her inside as evidence by her worst temper tantrum to date.

Tuesday, I was reluctant to have her miss another nap, but we tempted fate and went ahead to Disneyland. It was a fun, very busy day. We made it on a whole 2 rides, but Zoey and Felix had a good time.

Wednesday we took a break.

Thursday, we made it to park day without any unfortunate incidents. I did however, have to drag Zoey crying across the sand when it was time to leave. That is always fun.

Friday, we went down to the Long Beach Aquarium with "all my cousins" as Zoey says. Another day of running wild while Felix napped in the baby carrier.

Saturday, we chanced the rain and made it to the beach for some hotdogs and s'mores. They were delicious and the beach gave us perfect weather.

Now I am looking forward to a nice relaxing week at home with maybe one or two activities at most.

something I consider daily.

I found this on Pinterest and had to post it. By the way, Pinterest is awesome. I have had an empty account since my friend Meikel mentioned it a while back, and Briana inspired me to start cataloging the endless bookmarks on my computer. You can see mine here. Now I need to back away from the computer and pay attention to my kids.

happy 2nd birthday zoey.

Zoey in the human ball

We just got back from a fabulous weekend in Arizona celebrating Zoeys second birthday. Zoey was so excited to see all of her cousins and over the moon about everyones backyards! She had the time of her life playing outside all day without an adult having to be standing next to her. She had a great time with all of her cousins at her party. We had a bouncy house (thanks to my sister Kim who purchased one at Costo years ago), a llama pinata, pin the tail on the donkey, burgers and dogs, and an awesome rainbow birthday cake (thanks to my sister Brooke.) Here are a few pictures of the festivities.

Rainbow cake

pinata

presents

new shoes.

I love to buy shoes and I have been holding off on getting any more for Zoey until I found the perfect pair that would not cost much. I finally found a pair and we both love them. She asked me if she could go to Disneyland and wear her shoes so she could show them to Goofy. I was laughing pretty hard.

beach weather.

(zoey and mike, santa monica beach)

I have become pretty attached to California over the past 3 years. I am reminded of people living in cold weather from pictures on facebook and it makes me love the fact that we can go to the beach in February. I used to love the snow, and I still do for skiing and such, but I do not miss the cold! Thank you for warm weather California!

redemption.

Success at the park today! Zoey had a great time. No sand in the eyes and laughing on the swing.

bad mom.

So last week I decided to venture out to park day with the girls in the ward and I learned just how lame I am as a mom. We got to the park and Zoey walked around like she had no idea what to do. I guess it has been a lot longer than I had realized. About 10 minutes into her play time she managed to get sand in her mouth and eyes and started screaming bloody murder. Poor thing. She let me get all the sand out of her eyes and went back to playing. Next, I decided to push her in the swing and thought she was having a good time. After hearing nothing from her for several pushes, I peeked around to see her face, and she was bright red holding her breath from complete fear! I guess she is out of practice on the swings. After a few more tantrums we packed up and headed home. I am so lame! It looks like we will be joining park day every week so Zoey can learn the ropes.

Side note: I can't wait for Felix to be big enough to run around. They will have so much fun together.