Summer catch up part 2

We made it to the Oakland zoo one last time.  We hadn't been to the famous Fenton's ice cream parlor yet, so we hit that on the way home.

 

We bought 3 ice creams, one being child size.  We spent $34.

And Ellie would have rather eaten the table.

Benny and Mayumi with their A's hats from Jennifer (the friend that works for the A's)

My awesome brother in law Chad said he would like to go to a baseball game, so why doesn't he fly out and go to a game then drive our Uhaul to Utah for us?  We said ok!
This was the longest game EVER (for the A's anyway) and finally ended after 5 hours in the 15th inning.  And we were supposed to get up early and make the long drive to Utah with our 3 cars in the morning.  At least we got to be part of history, right?

It's blurry but this sign was just for Benny. It says, "Benny, have fun at the game and GO A's! Love, Jenn"

And this one I was not expecting and almost cried, what with it being our last night in Cali and all.  It says, "Dear Middletons, Good luck with your move to Utah.  We will miss you.  Jenn & Eric"

 

Moving day!  Benny got these socks at the Monday night game from Jennifer and didn't take them off until Wednesday.  Silly boy.

 

We all made good time in our cars and with just a couple small hitches pulled into Chad's driveway about 12:30am Aug 1st.

Summer catch up part 1

The past couple months have been so craaaazy. But we had some good times.  Before we left California, we had our last hurrah.  Or last hurrahs.  We made sure to have fun.

 

 A friend who works for the Oakland A's posted on facebook all the cool signs she made for her friends that attended games.  We jokingly told her Ben wanted one for his birthday but it was too late.  Well she wasn't kidding about getting a sign done, and since our anniversary was in a few days, she did one for that and told us to jump in the car and get to the game. So we did!  Benny and I enjoyed our first pro baseball game, and Ellie did great.

 

We then did a beach trip. We visited Ben's dad and stepmom in Cambria.  Things were crazy there as well since they were in the process of selling their Bakersfield home and making the permanent switch to Cambria.  We were lucky they were willing to have us over:)

 One cool thing I never knew about all these years was the San Simeon elephant seals.  No idea why I never heard they lived right by Hearst Castle.  They were big, loud, and stinky. 

Then we headed to Lompoc so I could go to the Thai Cuisine one last time.  I'm sure we'll go to Lompoc and Cambria again, but it won't be as frequent since now we live 13 our so hours away. I really wanted a good beach day, and the weather magically cooperated.  We went to Regugio a couple times (well, Benny and I did. The fair skinned ones stayed home on day two). Refugio Beach is also where Ben proposed 9 years ago. We enjoyed the freezing water, getting bitten by sand crabs, viewing sea lions and dolphins in the distance, and watching kamikaze divebombing  pelicans.

We celebrated our annversary while we were in Lompoc and had my parents watch the kids while we went to dinner.  Ellie screamed the whole time:( Needless to say we don't go on many dates.

Benny has sure enjoyed his trips to La Purisima Mission and feeding all the animals.  This longhorn's horns span about 9 feet or something.  Am I remembering that correctly?

Then we came back and started packing.  I can't remember where I was but I think I took the kids somewhere so Ben could be productive and pack.  He got a little sidetracked and texted me the below pic while I was out.

And Ben finally made it to the Bay Discovery Museum in Sausalito.  I took Benny several times when we had a pass, and I know Ben thought it sounded cool by how much I raved about it.  Benny loved being able to show his dad everything there. It really is an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Mask

This boy.  As you may recall, he is an arcade claw master.  This was his prize.  I thought he'd give it away to a girl.  I was wrong.

July 4th

Another July, another birthday.  This year Ben just wanted to play it low key.  It's pretty much his last year he can get away with doing nothing since Benny is old enough to want to celebrate holidays.  So he slept in, played with the kids, and celebrated at home.  He once again requested Hawaiian food, so I made teriyaki beef and chicken (the beef sadly ended up tasting like beef jerky), kalua pork, and some noodle thing with char siu pork that has no name.  I should probably name it.

He also didn't make it to any Warriors games this year:( But he did need a nice new Warriors shirt before moving from the area.

We went to the park and Benny said it had been a great day:) Then Ellie had the most enormous blowout yet and Benny then said it was the worst day ever, so who knows.  I thought it was a good day.
Then we went to the ghetto and watched fireworks.  One thing I will appreciate in Utah is the warm summer nights.  We were so freezing we sat in the back of the car and watched out the back window.  Both kids stayed awake the entire time but fell asleep immediately on the way home.  And we all slept in today.  Ben even let me sleep in till 11:)

We felt kind of bad for turning down invites to do stuff, especially when we are leaving in a few weeks, but it really was a nice day together as a family.  Being jobless for two months does have its perks; we'll try to hit a few more fun spots together before Ben has to go back to work.



Bringing it back

"It" would be "our family."  "Back" would be "the state of Utah."

As I mentioned in the previous post, we went to Utah for a job interview.  As I also mentioned, we didn't see a ton of friends and family because we knew we were going back.  It is so crazy how all this played out and I am not sure that Ben wants me to share everything.  So I will just say that it has been another ride and faith promoting experience, and proof that God is definitely in charge with our best interests at heart.

We didn't plan on moving back to Utah once we got out here to California.  We don't miss the snow at all and we enjoy the coast.  Sure the Bay Area isn't my favorite place in the world, but I didn't quit my job, sell our house, and pick up everything just to turn around and go right back.  We knew there was no way we could afford to live in Utah on a teacher's salary. We did miss family, but we had some here and made a lot of friends at church.

Ben had been on the lookout for a job for over a year.  He applied to quite a few here and there throughout California and in Utah just for kicks. We had been praying for direction in finding the right job at the right time. Then about 2 months ago he said he felt like we really needed to go back to Utah.  I of course thought he was crazy since it just didn't make sense at all in the financial scheme of things, but I trust him and figured he was right.

We have been left hanging in more ways than one and the past couple months have been really stressful.  But Ben finally accepted a job at Clear Horizons Academy in Provo (now moved to Orem) and will start in August.  I have no idea how it worked out financially as that also doesn't make sense. Well, I do know-- it's a miracle and huge blessing. We will in no way be wealthy but we won't starve like we formerly thought.  It's a private school, not public, which makes a big difference. We'll still want to look at supplementing Ben's income a little. But it truly is another miracle and I will have to write more of the details in my journal.

I've told people I have mixed emotions.  I think I disappointed my mother-in-law when she realized we weren't jumping for joy at moving.  But I do want to try to focus more on not having mixed emotions and just being glad for the opportunity, glad that God is mindful of us, and glad to go because that is where we feel we need to be.  I will miss the coast and the people of the Hilltop 2nd Ward.  They truly have been our family and we have had so many wonderful experiences here.  But I guess it is time to go and have more different experiences. I am reminded once again that with God, all things are possible. I wish I'd stop forgetting that.

June fun

 I will just start by saying we had a nice June.  The "cool Bay weather" has, as usua,l been warm and I have taken the kids swimming at our pool several times.  We went to Utah to visit a bit of family while Ben had a job interview.  We didn't make the rounds to everyone because we didn't want to stress and knew we'd most likely be back soon and could spend more time then.
The next few pics are from our trip to Utah. We first went up north and stayed at my sister Janice's house for a few days to let Benny play and visit with my Grandma Christensen.  I thought she looked really good and we had an enjoyable time.

Then we went to Lehi for Ben's interview in Provo.  We celebrated Grandma Sue's birthday and spent time with the cousins that live there. Benny once again had a blast and we also got to be there for our nephew Eli's bday.
 My sister Helen and her two girls were also kind enough to drive out from Stockton/Tooele and visit us for dinner and swimming at our hotel. They're always full of laughs.

My sister Kimiko had her baby, Lilli June, while we were gone. I was so bummed to miss it.  But she is a cutie and a sweetie.  My sister Janice and 3 of her 4 kids came out to see the baby and head down to visit my parents.  Benny adores his 11 year old cousin Connor and they play, play, PLAY when they get together.  It's really fun that even though there is such an age gap, Connor is so good to him.  Benny loves being able to play boy games (bad guys, etc) with Connor. We enjoyed having Janice, Jacqi (who will have a little baby boy in the fall!), Carson (who just graduated high school!) and Connor for the weekend. And it was funny as we had just seen them less than a week ago.

(Benny, Lilli, Connor)

And we have gone swimming on the hot days.  With no a/c a dip in the pool really feels good.  Even Ellie loves it.  I wish I had a good shot of her adorable swimsuit from Grandma Sue.

And on to July where we will have even more adventures.

Summer fun

Really nothing much to say about these.  Just the kids having fun at our apartment.

Ellie is one constant happy ball of chub.  She'll be 6 months old in 2 days. 

 Benny is an energetic 4 year old.

They adore each other.