Attitude of Gratitude

I am in a rut. Dan lost his job in September and has had no luck finding a job. He's really good at what he does, but if there's no jobs then what are we to do?

We are surviving on my part time job and Dan's unemployment but it seems as if this trial will never end. Every week we spend time looking for jobs that most of the time aren't there. We have eventually gotten used to the uncertainty and stress but today it seems to loom over me. The economy is getting worse and jobs are getting less and less. So where does that leave us? When will Dan get another job? Will we be able to keep our house?

How easy it is for me, when I'm in a rut, to focus on the negative all around me. The car in front of me that is going too slow...the house that doesn't ever stay clean because I have such a curious toddler...the fact that I have to work even though I just want to stay at home....not being able to find a job even though we are trying everything we can to find one....

There is so much negative that so easy to find.

So I am once again going to put up my "Attitude of Gratitude" board. It is something that my roommie and I did in college when we were having a hard time. We put some poster board up on the wall and every day we had to find 3 things we were grateful for. It got to the point where I was too busy looking for good things to write on the board to notice or dwell on the bad.

Going through hard times doesn't mean we have to be bitter, right? There is good in all things. There is growth in all things. It's just a matter of finding it.

Thanks for listening! Hope the holiday season finds you all happy and content.

Library Puppies

Once a month the library invites cute dogs to come and sit with the kids and listen to their stories. We got to go tonight and it was fantastic. Lily loved wandering around and petting the different dogs. She even enjoyed eating a bit of their food (every kid needs that experience, right?).

This dog was just Lily's size.

Peg, a lady in our ward, with her dog.

Pat, another lady in our ward, and Lily giving her dog a foot massage.

As a side note Lily is learning sign language. She can say "more" and she loves panting like a dog. She was almost hyperventilating last night because there were so many dogs around!

Random Traveling

Saturday morning we decided to head out and see some sights that we haven't seen before. Well, really, we had planned to visit Big Trees but got lost and got to see some fun things we otherwise wouldn't have seen.

The first place we came upon was a historical town called Columbia, CA. It was fun to see the little mining town that used to be. At one time there were 44 bars in the teeny tiny town.

This was the jail. The jail part was actually on the other side of the wall I'm leaning against. There weren't any police in the town so thhere weren't a lot of arrests so there was no need to have a big jail.

Lily in the middle of the main street--and basically only street--of Columbia.

This was our favorite part. It was an old time bowling alley! We also got to see how a candy cane is made...and then sample it. Candy canes are best when they are warm.

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The second place we ended up at was a hike that led us to a Natural Bridge.

The hike was beautiful. Most of the trail was covered by trees making it feel like we were going through a tunnel.

Lily loved to play in the water. When Dan was exploring the cave he found a tunnel that went through the rock to the other side. It was too deep to go too far though. Next time we're taking our swimming suits!

We were there at the perfect time. The sunlight was shimmering off the water and waterfall and rocks. It was beautiful...and hard to take a picture of it so you'll have to imagine it.

There were a lot of little caves in the big cave.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving we stayed in Sacramento. Thanksgiving morning Lily and I walked the 5K for the Run to Feed the Hungry (Thanks Mom & Dad Mecham for sponsoring me). It was a slow walk since there were 27,000 people walking or running it. I finished in 1 hour and 14 minutes--it took forever. It was a constant traffic jam. There were people still waiting to start the race when we had finished...that's how many people there were.

Lily and I before the race.

So many people!

Us at the end of the race. Lily was really getting into it at the end. She was clapping a lot and waving her hands and screaming.

By the time we got back to the car Lily was fast asleep. It was a lot of hard work!

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The rest of Thanksgiving was spent with our friends Ed and Sarah. Ed had to work 4am the next morning for Black Friday so they couldn't go to their family's home. We enjoyed a gluten free Thanksgiving which included gluten free pumpkin pie!! Yum.

Happy Fall

Crash, Burn and No Goatee

Lily has become much more mobile in the past month. On Monday Dan set Lily down on the concrete so he could put something in the car. she got up and started running. Unfortunately our drive way is on a slope so she went tumbling. The nose shows the end result. So sad! Fortunately babies heal quickly and her scabs are almost all healed.

Also if you notice Dan in the background you will see that for the first time in 5 years Dan has shaved his goatee!! I had never seen him without facial hair so when he walked in one evening last week with half of it gone I was shocked! It took me a couple of days to get used to it but now I LOVE it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!

I believe that 1st birthdays are not for the child but for the parents. We made it through the first year of Lily's life! The first half of her short life was pretty hard. She never slept and always cried. But as she has gotten older her she has become much more pleasant. She has regular nap times that she semi-regularly keeps. And she sleeps through the night!! She is such a happy baby and has so much personality! Some of her favorite things are eating sweets, dancing and going for walks.

Lily's actual birthday was pretty low key as we had already celebrated it when my parents came. However we did get to go to dinner at Spaghetti Factory to enjoy some gluten free pasta (thanks Mom and Dad Southwick!) Lily was more interested in the coloring crayons than the food....that is until they brought ice cream out with a candle. The waiters sang happy birthday to her and she danced and then enjoyed the ice cream completely.

In October Lily started to walk a little bit. The first week in November she stood up to walk and never crawled again. She now runs and can even walk backward!

She has tons of hair. We love to put her hair in pig tails and headbands. Recently she has brought me things to put in her hair. Then she keeps it in for the whole day!! She is definitely becoming a girlie girl.

She also likes to clap. Right now she is not eating much. In order to get her to eat we have to give her the food and then clap and cheer for each bite. Hey, it works.

Lily has tons of stuffed animals and babies. Her favorite thing to play with, however, are her books. She loves to read.


Lily used to love the bath. Recently she has decided she likes the sink better. This way it is harder for her head to get wet. She hates it when her hair gets wet!

A couple of weeks ago we were at the store. Dan gave Lily his credit card to play with. She wouldn't give it back and threw a tantrum when he took it. Not a good sign!

Some of Lily's latest accomplishments:

• She has recently found her nose holes and enjoys sticking her fingers up them. We are very excited to see what happens when she picks something out of it. Fun times....
• She has just realized that her knees bend. When she dances she bends her knees and waves her hands.

We love you Lily!!

Prop 8

Most of you know that Prop 8 passed by a slim but commanding margin. It has become very clear, though that the "war" is not yet over. Those who have opposed Prop 8 immediately became angry and are now working in the courts to try and overturn it. We have been told that this is a last ditch effort and that they don't really have a chance.

It has been particularly hard because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been targeted by those opposing Prop 8. Never before have I faced such adversity. There are so many untruths out there about our church that it is sickening. It has been sad to watch as our temples and churches have been vandalized.

Anyways, http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081110hate.html this article was written by an L.A. police detective. This is an amazing article regarding the things that are going on right now and how to deal with them the Lord's way.

Thanks Sara for posting the article!!

Jelly Belly Factory

For Halloween lily and i met up with my cousin, Jana, and her cute family at the Jelly Belly Factory. My cousin lives about 2 hours away from us but we don't hardly ever see them. (Let's not go for so long without seeing each other!)

I couldn't believe how big her kids had grown! Her oldest is almost 12. Matt & Jana, you are not old enough to have one that age!

We went on a tour of the facilities but they wouldn't allow us to take pictures. Afterwards we got a great picture of Ronald Reagan made out the Jelly Bellies. Whoever did it was pretty talented.

L-R: Matthew, Eva, Joey, Tucker, Lily. Tucker & Lily bonded--I think cuz they both have red hair.

This was seriously the most disgusting part of the day. After the tour we all got free Jelly Bellies and a free gummy tarantula. Lily wanted to eat it so bad so I started to break off little pieces of its legs. She loved it! Well, we were in the gift shop after the tour we bought things in the gift shop. I put Lily and the free cand on the counter. Before I knew it she had ripped the tarantula out of the wrapper and stuck it in her mouth! It was absolutely the most disgusting thing ever. Legs and drool kept sneaking out of her mouth. She was sure a happy girl, though.

Jelly Belly stuff galore! What a fun trip. Thanks Matt, Jana and family!

Mechams Visit: Lily's Early Birthday

Lily turns 1 on November 9th but since my parents were here we decided to have an early birithday party.

She loved ripping the paper but then realized it was "legal" so she lost interest quickly.

Grandpa & Grandma Mecham brought her shoes, books and music cds. She loved the books and shook her booty to the music.

She got blocks and other toys from Mommy & Daddy.

She was a huge fan of her chocolate cake. She had to have 2 baths to get it all out of her hair.

Harvest Festival

Our ward had the annual Chili Contest/Trunk-or-Treat/Halloween party. It was great food and great company. Our friends from our old apartment complex in Folsom came with us. They were street signs & cones. Lily was a Sunflower (ha ha) and I was a Sunflower farmer. Since Lily loves candy she completely loved trunk-or-treating.

Mechams Visit: Prop 8 Rally

Many of you are familiar with Proposition 8 that California is voting for on November 4th. The idea of Prop 8 not passing is scary! With only a week left to go there was a rally at the Capitol.

Lots of people came. There were many different kinds of people. All different ages. It was very touching to be united in something that we all felt so strongly about.

We found our friends The Bradys (Michelle had a very important phone call she had to take). Brooke rode the train with our family but was a social butterfly. She knew a ton of people in the crowd.

There were a lot of signs like the one listed above. There were also signs that said things like: "Who stole my sign?", "One Man One Woman."

My dad really got into it. It was hard not to. A very emotional experience.

Mechams Visit: Pumpkin Patch

We had a blast at the pumpkin patch. My parents got a lot of pix of this...we didn't. But we had a great photo session with the girl! We enjoyed a scare crow contest, hay ride and a little museum on old farming equipment.

Lake Tahoe: Vikingsholm

On the shore of Emerald Bay is a mansion called Vikingsholm. It was built in 1928 by a Scandinavian woman. I have never seen anything like it! We couldn't go inside the home as it was closed for the season but we were able to walk all around it....

The inner courtyard to the home.

The house faced the bay. A lot of the windows were stained glass. There were a lot of big doors that were opened in the day to let air circulate through.

Lily loved walking with Grandma on the beach.

The island with the little building on it. This was used for tea parties that the home owner had a couple of times a summer.

To get to the home you have to go straight down for 1 mile. Then, obviously, you have to go straight up on the way back. Lily loved to be on Grandpa's shoulders. She held her arms out most of the way back to the car.

I can't wait until spring time! I am excited to see the inside of Vikingsholm.

Mechams Visit: Lake Tahoe

My parents came to see us. They got here Friday evening. Saturday morning my parents wanted to go to Lake Tahoe. Since we hadn't ever been there we were very excited to go.

We went to Emerald Bay (I think that's what it's called?). The fall colors were beautiful! We went on a trail that looped us around to see lots of fun things:

Beautiful scenery....

Later we drove up to the top of Emerald Bay. The view was amazing!

Lily didn't want to leave this bench. For some reason she loved it.

We saw a whole bunch of salmon who were spawning. They turn red right before they die. I've never seen anything like it. Thousands and thousands of fish!

One of my favorite parts of Lake Tahoe was going underground to see the stream underneath the ground. It was amazing.

**These pictures are not in the best order but you get the idea...

One Afternoon We Came Home....

And found this:

What the heck?

It took us a second to realize that our neighbor was painting her house and they put the plastic over our car to protect it from flecks.