After spending the last few weeks searching for a house in the Inland Empire area, we finally found a place we love in Riverside! I am so thankful to Dave and his friends who came over and moved everything into the moving truck. 

And I'm so thankful to his other friends in the Inland Empire area who helped move everything out of the truck for us!  This house is a bit bigger than the tiny apartment we were living in before, so it looks pretty bare. The next step for us now is to get the rest of our belongings from our house in Utah and bring everything to Riverside. I haven't had all of my stuff in one place in so long, I'm not going to know what to do with myself. I'm pretty excited about the thought of getting to stay put for a little bit! I look forward to making this place my home.

Job Transfer

Yipee! Dave got promoted to manage his own solar office in Riverside, California! He was offered a few other offices earlier in the year, but nothing felt right until now. I am so proud of him and all the hard work he does for this family. I've never met a more determined and driven person in my life. I am so excited to move to Riverside and plant my feet for some time. I have loved living in Oxnard for the past 10 months but I am really looking forward to moving to a place where I know we will be living longer than just a few months! Dave had to take off and start working on his new position immideately which left just me and the little rugrat to pack everything up. I drank of lot of Diet Coke, I mean A LOT,  and pants were optional for a few crazy days but I managed to get everything boxed up.  Hooray for new adventures!

San Buenaventura

Today I went for a run (ok, it was really more of a walk) with my cute neighbor Stacy and her darling baby Mekk. We started our walk at the San Buenaventura State Park and made our way to the Ventura Pier.

On weekends this place is completely packed but today we had the entire place all to ourselves. Dreamy.

The Christmas Bug....aka the flu that got everyone sick

{Friday December 26th}

I packed up the car with a few things so Tenley and I could go spend a couple of nights at my parents house.  My parents moved to the Dutch Fields in Midway a few months ago so I was happy to finally be in Utah and get the chance to go see them. Tenley was immediately in love when she met their new puppy Oscar. She chased him all around the house and the two were quick besties.

 My dad bought this little play house for Tenley and she was having so much fun being his little helper.

I started feeling a little sick about and hour after I got to my parents house and Tenley was acting really tired and her cheeks were so rosy so we went to bed early. I woke up about an hour later with an intense stomach ache and spent the next few hours bent over the toilet. Ick. I just kept thinking, please just let ME get sick, don't let Tenley get whatever I have. Pleeeeease.  Unfortunately, around 2 am Tenley started violently vomiting and after a couple hours of us both being so sick, I had to go wake my mom up and ask her to help take care of Tenley because I barely had the strength to lift my own head.  My sweet momma stayed up taking care of us all night long. It was heartbreaking to watch Tenley get so sick. She would throw up and then just look at me like, "make it stop mommy!" I felt so horrible for her because I knew exactly what she was going through and it was awful.

{Saturday December 27th}

The entire next day we both were sleepy and weak and couldn't keep any food down. My mom and sisters were so sweet to help take care of Tenley for me because I was too weak to do much of anything. I was so weak and dizzy that my mom had to help get me in and out of the tub! Talk about feeling like a little baby again. I was slightly embarrassed but mostly just really thankful she was there to take care of me and my baby.

My entire visit at my parents house was pretty much spent right here on the couch in front of the fireplace.  At least they have a great selection of movies on their appleTV...even if I did sleep through almost everything.  Later that night, Dave drove up to Midway to come rescue the two sickies. I was so happy to see his face and have his help.

{Sunday December 28th}

I started feeling slightly better and I got Tenley bundled up to go play in the backyard.  My dad pulled us around on the sled but sweet little thing wasn't really into the snow. 

That darn flu bug really put a damper on my visit to see my family.  My mom then got sick and I felt sooooo bad.  She was so sweet and helpful to me and I just got her sick!  We headed back to Draper and a few days later loaded up the car and drove back to California. As we pulled into our home in California, Dave then suddenly got super sick.  We spent our New Year's eve and the next day inside sleeping and recovering. Worst flu bug we've ever had! So here's to hoping 2015 will bring us all health and happiness! 

Christmas Morning

Christmas is so magical, especially when you get to share it with little ones. We woke up Christmas morning to a total blizzard and everything was completely covered in white. I could not have even dreamed of a prettier scene to wake up to. I was in charge of breakfast, so I made my yummy orange doughnuts and I had the best little helper by my side.

Tenley was so much fun this year. She still didn't understand that she was supposed to unwrap the presents, but once I had unwrapped them for her she would scream with excitement. She spent most of the day sitting on her new scooter just like this.

Nash & Lucy came over to visit a little later during the day and Nash got this awesome crane that Tenley was totally in love with. So much for little dolls and tea cups, this girl wants to hang the ducks from the crane!

We must have been having too much fun on Christmas day to worry about pictures because those are the only pictures I have! It really was great day and I love that we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Obviously all the presents are fun, but what I love most about the Christmas season is how it brings everyone together. I love my family so much & feel so blessed that we were able to come to Utah and be with both of our families over the holiday season.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we met up with my parents and brother and sister at Temple Square.  It was a tad colder than the 70 degree California weather we are used to.  I loved it, I miss the cold. Am I weird or what? I really love to bundle up and breathe in crisp air. As you can see in these pictures, Tenley may feel otherwise about having to wear her big parka. 

This may be frowned upon but she was having too much fun running around the nativity. We kept saying "Tenley get back here right now" but secretly we didn't care one bit and we just let her keep running around.  Everyone watching was laughing as she would go and touch each of the animals. Her thing right now is to call a sheep, "shit, shit."  Slightly inappropriate but oh so funny. 

Family selfie. Nailed it. 

After walking around Temple Square with my family, we headed back to Dave's parents house and had dinner with all of his family.  Tenley gets a little shy with big crowds so I spent most of the evening playing in the basement with her alone, but for this moment she was being cute and happy around everyone. 

Grandma & Grandpa Madsen gave Tenley this little Elsa doll to open before going to bed and she was thrilled! They also gave Lucy the exact same doll and Tenley kept wanting to steal it because she thought they were both hers. Oh dear. Time for bed little one.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

December has been a crazy month! We were home long enough from Hawaii to do a little shopping, then pack up the car and drive to Utah.  

Tenley does so well in the car. We loaded up with snacks and movies and of course her ducky and she was so pleasant.  We stopped in St. George and spent the night to break up the long drive.  I'm so glad  my parents have a house there!

So many things we wanted to do while visiting Utah, and first on our list was Lone Star Taqueria! I remember the first time Dave took me here when we were dating. He was nervous to bring me here because it's a little bit of a whole in the wall.  But let me tell you, I do not discriminate against good food! Now it's one of my most favorite places to get fish tacos.

While Dave was off doing some things for work, I headed to Fashion Place with Tenley for some last minute Christmas shopping. We can never walk by the Nordstrom ebar without getting a smoothie. What can I say, we like food.