Simmons Family Adventures

Family Pictures

2011-11-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Our friend Erin Langstraat (http://www.erinnoeldesigns.blogspot.com) is an awesome photographer and took our family pictures on Saturday. Despite Grace not wanting to hold still for more than 2 seconds and Hannah's aversion to looking at the camera, I think we got some great pictures.

Halloween 2010

2011-11-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

We had the best Halloween this year. Ever since Jake and the Neverland Pirates came on the Disney channel Hannah has become enthralled with pirates so it was no surprise that Hannah wanted to be a pirate this year for Halloween.

We then thought it would be fun for the whole family to get in on the act.

There were lots of fun Halloween activities. Hannah and her preschool group had a Halloween party.

We carved pumpkins at Grandma and Grandpa Sawyer's house.

Hannah named her pumpkin 'moony".

We enjoyed the ward's trunk or treat especially since cousin Sydney came with us. As you can see she was a pirate as well.

Halloween itself brought trick or treating. We started out at Grandma and Grandpa Simmons' house (mostly to show off our costumes).

Then we met up with the girls' friends for trick or treating in our neighborhood.

After trick or treating, our friends came over for some games. We played bobbing for apples
and eating doughnuts of a string.

We love Halloween.

St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to see if we could trap a Leprechaun so Hannah and I built this little trap. Leprechauns love to do naughty things and don't listen to signs so we knew that our Leprechaun would not be able to resist climbing up our twig ladder and then would be trapped.

Our little Leprechaun was too tricky for us. He escaped our trap but did leave us a little of his treasure.

He also left breakfast, Lucky Charms cereal of course, and turned our milk green.

All day long Hannah found other little tricks that the Leprechaun played on us (like moving her toys).

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Princess Hannah is 4

2011-02-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Hannah was very specific about the kind of party she wanted. It had to be princess themed, the colors had to be pink and purple (just like her friend Kayla's party), there had to be streamers, balloons and goodie bags and of course, a castle cake. Well, I think we were able to come through and pull off a pretty sweet party if I do say so myself.

I was a little worried about having ten three and four years olds running around but we had so much fun. Everyone came dressed in their best princess attire and Hannah looked beautiful as Princess Aurora.

We had great princess hats that the girls got to put their names on and decorate with princess stickers.

Check out these beautiful ladies......

I think the girls enjoyed our games. We played Princess, Princess where's your glass slipper; the princess version of doggy, doggy where's your bone.

We went to Belle's ball where the little princesses danced and then had to freeze when the music stopped.

We joined Ariel "Under the Sea"(all the girls held the edge of a blue sheet and then we lifted it up like a parachute and two girls traded places by running under the sheet).

Sleeping Beauty was a surprising hit. The girls just had to pretend to be Sleeping Beauty and see who could sleep the longest. I used this too calm everyone down and it worked amazingly well. It worked so well in fact, that after about 5 minutes I had to wake up the last 4 princesses by checking to see if they were still breathing causing them to erupt with laughter.

Hannah got her castle cake. I think it turned out pretty well.

Even Grandma was there to help pull everything off.

Dear Santa Claus

2010-12-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

This year Hannah realized that we don't have a fireplace and was very concerned that Santa wouldn't be able to get into our house because of our lack of a chimney. So to allay her concerns, we made a special key that Santa would be able to use to get into our house. According to Hannah, it was also a musical key and so we had to sings Christmas songs to it.

We put the key into her letter to Santa. She was so excited to write in it all be herself. I'm sure you can tell what part she wrote and what mommy helped with. She also did the snowman on the front all by herslf except for the hat which mommy cut out for her.

Flower Fairy

2010-12-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

Hannah is still loving ballet and yesterday had her second recital. Her dance school did "The Littlest Nutcracker" and Hannah was a flower fairy. It was so cute and I am so proud of her!

Disneyland

2010-12-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

We just spent the last three days at Disneyland and can I say that I LOVE Disneyland!!! We've been looking forward to this trip for about a year and I don't know who was more excited, Hannah or me. We had such a great time spending time together as a family while experiencing all the magic of Disneyland. Hannah was just the perfect age. It was so wonderful and fun to see her face light up when she met her favorite characters and went on the rides.

***WARNING***** this post contains a crazy amount of pictures!! With the two cutest girls in the world how do you edit?? So proceed at your own risk.

Here's Hannah all set in her Snow White dresses ready for her first day at Disneyland!

This trip was really about Hannah so we spent tons of time meeting the characters. Princesses were high on our list and we were lucky enough to meet just about all of them.

Hannah was especially excited to meet Cinderella as she is still Hannah's favorite.

I waited in line for an hour (while Brian and the grandparents took the girls on other rides) to meet these two. Why did I feel like Hannah's life wouldn't be complete unless she met Rapunzel?

I was surprised by how excited Hannah was to meet Alice. Hannah spotted her when we were riding on the Tea Cups and just started pointing and yelling. She literally dragged me off the ride as soon as it was over and ran to see her.

Tinker Bell taught Hannah how to pose for the picture. So Cute!

Hannah even got to meet Mrs. Clause.

Hannah also liked going on the rides though a few were a little scary, Pirates of the Caribbean. Her two favorites were the Tea Cups (we went on them three or four times)

and the Go Go Coaster in Toon Town.

I thought that the Haunted Mansion would be too scary for Hannah but she really liked it.

Brian is a little afraid of Heights (ok maybe a lot but don't tell him I told you) but I was able to talk him into going on the big Ferris Wheel at California Adventure. Unfortunately we weren't paying attention and got on the one that not only goes around but rocks back and forth. Brian was sitting on one side and Hannah and I were sitting on the other. The first time it rocked Hannah almost went flying into Brian's lap. Don't let the smile fool you, Hannah was very ready to get off by the time the ride was over (as was her dad).

Even Gracie liked going on the rides!!

The shows, parades, and fireworks are always great and this visit we got to see the new World of Color show at California Adventure. It was great.

One of the benefits of having a tall father is always having a great seat for the shows.

The parks were amazingly decorated for Christmas and just made everything more magical.

More random pictures.................

We played hard and spent all three days at the parks until closing. Hannah did really well and was too excited to even sit in the stroller but by the end of the third day, we had two very tired girls!!

Another Christmas Tree Gathering Adventure

2010-11-28T17:10:00.000-08:00

This year we went up to South Lake Tahoe to search for a Christmas Tree to cut down. We didn't have any luck finding a nice tree but we did enjoy playing in the snow.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T16:49:00.000-08:00

The turkey was good.......

The company was great......

And best of all was white elephant bingo....

I love to eat, eat, eat, apples and ......

2010-11-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

Actually, apples are the one thing that Grace doesn't seem to like. Grace started eating cereal at four months (I planned to wait until 5 or 6 months but nursing just wasn't doing it). When she turned 5 months, I decided to try solids and Grace couldn't have been more exciting. Avocados were her first food and she now eats several vegetables. She is a great eater and when I put her in her high chair, she gets really excited and starts kicking her legs and flailing her arms until I give her food.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T10:16:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so fun this year. I was determined to do more things with Hannah so we started by learning the Five Little Pumpkin poem and then we made a five little construction paper pumpkins for our window. She cut out the eyes and noses for all the pumpkins all by herself. She is so proud or our little window (I'm not sure she's going to let me take it down).

We made lots of Halloween treats. Hannah loves to roll and cut out cookies.

We also made these yummy cupcakes (there's an orange filling inside, hehe).

Pumpkin carving is Brian's favorite part of Halloween (he usually grumbles a little at first but he really likes doing it). Hannah really had fun with it this year. She cleaned out most of her pumpkin all by herself and was very specific about how she wanted it carved. Here's how it looked.

After the girls went to bed, Brian and I had fun sipping apple cider and watching the original Frankenstein and Dracula while we carved our pumpkins.

After a year of talking about it, Hannah finally got to be a giraffe (thank you Old Navy). Grace was super cute as a BYU Cheerleader. Saturday night we went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. We decided not to go Trick or Treating on Sunday but Hannah wore her costume and really enjoyed handing out candy and yelling, "Happy Halloween" to everyone that came to the door.

More musings of a three year old....

2010-10-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hannah was sitting in the car and announced, "Mom, I ate too much candy." This, in and of itself, is not unusual because Hannah often says this after she has had some sort of treat. Last Christmas Hannah learned the hard way that too many treats (Hershey's Kisses in her case) can lead to very sore tummies so now she is very wary of eating too much candy. Well, I couldn't remember giving Hannah candy or anything, but I thought I might have forgotten so I just asked, "Why? Are you feeling sick?" Hannah said "No, but I ate candy yesterday and if I eat too much I will get big and fat and the people will say (in a deep, husky voice) 'Oh no, here comes the big fat lady.'"

After laughing for about 5 minutes, I made Hannah promise not to call people big and fat and made a mental note to myself to cut back on the treats.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hannah and her little preschool group went to the pumpkin patch today. Other than it being unusually warm, everyone had a great time.

Hannah is so excited to make a Jack O-Lantern. (However, the little pumpkins we took home from the pumpkin patch are sugar pumpkins and we're going to try making them into pies.)

Apple Hill Fun

2010-10-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

Do they look alike?

2010-09-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

People are constantly asking if Hannah and Grace look alike. I've had a hard time answering so I decided to compare pictures. What do you guys think? Can you guess who is who?

A few days old.......

Two weeks old.....

Two months old.....

Four months old.....

A quick getaway

2010-09-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

We took the family on a short road trip this weekend. Our first stop was Yosemite. I grew up only several hours from Yosemite but this was my first time going there. It is truly a beautiful place. We were only there Friday but I am determined to spend at least several days next time.

This is about the closest I have been to a deer. It knew we were there and just didn't care.
Gracie got to ride forward facing in her stroller for the first time and she LOVED it.

Saturday, we visited Jamestown and Columbia State Parks. Jamestown was the highlight of the trip for Hannah because we took a train ride.

Doesn't Hannah look cute in this pioneer outfit?

1st Hair Cut

2010-09-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

I always knew that Hannah would have to get her hair cut someday but it was getting so long and pretty. Alas, that all changed Thursday afternoon when I walked into the kitchen to discover that Hannah had decided to give herself a hair cut. As soon as she saw me she burst out crying. I'm not sure if it's because she knew I would be mad (which I was) or if the realization of what she'd done started to sink in.

I wanted to scold her or something but I couldn't be upset with my little girl when she was so sad. It took me almost 30 minutes to calm her down only to have her get upset again when I started to clean up and throw away her hair. She wanted me to save it so we could glue it back on. When I told her we couldn't glue it back on, we had another half hour of tears.

It was Friday evening before I had a chance to take her to get her hair cut. The whole drive to tha salon, Hannah kept telling me not to worry because the "hair lady" would make her hair long again. Luckily, Hannah sat very still and did everything the stylist told her to do.

She didn't have to have as much hair cut as I thought she would and overall Hannah enjoyed her 1st hair cut. I think it turned out pretty cute.

We celebrated with ice cream!!

Rolling Over

2010-08-23T08:39:00.000-07:00

We love the Zoo

2010-08-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at the zoo today. One of the highlights of this trip was the tiger. He walked over and sat down right by the little glass window as we watched. So cool. The other highlight was the giraffes because they are still Hannah's favorite. Speaking of giraffes, does anyone have ideas for making a giraffe costume? Hannah decided last year that she was going to be a giraffe this year for Halloween and hasn't changed her mind. I keep hoping she'll change her mind cause I have no idea how to make one.

Here are a couple of my favorite comments from Hannah......

me: Can you see that bird? It's holding very still.
Hannah: Yes, it's holding still because it's mom is doing it's hair.

Hannah: Mom, mom, MOM, I don't think we're at the zoo anymore. We're in Africa!!

This little girl cracks me up!

2010-08-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

So we're headed to the Zoo this morning and as I'm getting ready in the kitchen I hear Hannah have a conversation with herself or one of her imaginary friends (more on that later). She said,"We're going to the zoo. It will be great. There will be benches and we will sit on them. It will be awesome." So my daughters is not excited about the lions or monkeys but the benches? I guess we'll do a lot of sitting on the benches.

Called to Serve

2010-08-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday night my little brother Michael got his mission call. He'll be serving in the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West mission and reports to the MTC on November 17th. I am so excited for him. He's going to be a great missionary!!

Camping with Dad

2010-08-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Brian and Hannah went camping Friday night with Brian's dad. They had a campfire and roasted marshmallows but the highlight for Hannah was going fishing the next morning.

2 Months

2010-07-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Grace had her 2 month appointment on Thursday. Here's how the numbers came in . . . . . .

Height: 23- 1/4'' (90 %)
Weight: 11lbs, 12 oz. (75%)
Head: 36.5 cm (5%)

In other words, Grace is a big girl with a very little head!

At 2 months, Grace is a wonderful baby. She is super smiley and just started to smile in response to us. She definitely is aware of who mommy is and will calm down when she hears me or even sees me coming toward her (she doesn't calm down as well for Brian). I tell Brian that's the reward I get for 9 months of pregnancy, labor and breast feeding. Grace loves it when I play a game where I draw a circle around her face and say all around your face I got your nose or other body part on her head. It always gets big smiles and babbles. Grace has started to babble a lot and has about 5 different babbles.

Grace is a good sleeper and has started sleeping 5 to 7 hours of at night. We haven't been able to get her to sleep on her back so she usually sleeps her swing or sometimes propped up in the corners of the couch (see previous post). She also like to be held in interesting positions. Here's her favorites.

I get funny looks in the store when I hold her like this.

It's amazing how many things you forget about babies. I mean it hasn't been that long, Hannah's only three. But here's Brian re-discovering the joys of diaper changing. Sometimes I can't believe how much comes out of something so little!

Good thing she's so dang cute!!

Happy 31 to me!

2010-07-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

This week I turned 31. It's weird, such a big deal is made about turning 3o but 30 didn't really seem like such a milestone. 31 seems like a much bigger deal. It's the first time that a birthday has made me feel old but I guess that's life.

Brian took me to San Francisco for my birthday. We started the day by going to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. They had a touring impressionist exhibit from the Musee d'Orsay that I have really wanted to see (I'm no art buff but love Impressionism). I loved it!! These were a few of my favorites.

The Magpie, Claude Monet

The Floor Planers, Gustave Caillebotte

The Ballet Class, Edgar Degas

We had these great roast beef sandwhiches at Tommy's Joynt.

Followed by Dessert at Mitchell's Ice Cream. It's some seriously good ice cream with a bunch of unusual flavors.

We finished the day with a short walk on the beach!

2010-07-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

Going..........

Gone!

God Bless America

2010-07-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed our 4th of July weekend this year. We kicked it off by going to the River Cats game Friday night with my parents. Can you get more American than that? I love everything about going to the ballpark, especially Raley Field. I love casually watching the game while chatting with family or friends. I love the music and energy of the crowd. I love standing up for the 7th inning stretch and singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. I love eating a hot dog and cheering for my team, as if my yelling "we want a pitcher not a belly itcher" from the lawn behind right field will really rattle the pitcher.

Friday nights game was against the Fresno Grizzlies. It was a tough game but the "rally pants" were put on (apparently a pitcher on the team who is currently on the DL squeezes into skin tight pants and coaches first base when we're behind) and we won in the 11th inning 4 to 3. We all loved the firework show afterwards.

It was a warm weekend so Brian and Hannah tried to beat the heat by hanging out at our pool.

Sunday evening our friends hosted a dessert and firework potluck. My contribution was this white cake with strawberry and blueberry filling.

There were around 10 or so families from our ward and so Hannah had a blast running around with all her friends. Here she is with one of her best friends, Aubrey.

With everyone pooling their fireworks, we had quite our own show. Hannah's favorite were the sparklers!

Hannah's 1st Ballet Recital

2010-06-23T23:31:00.000-07:00

Hannah had her first ballet recital yesterday and she did such a great job. She has wanted to dance on a big stage since she started taking lessons and has had many conversation about how she couldn't wait for everyone to see her and how everyone would be clapping for her (she's a ham, can you tell?). I was still worried that she would be scared about actually being on stage in front of the audience but she wasn't nervous at all.

I thought her costume was super cute!

Here she is with one of her fellow dancers, Paris.

She was very proud of the ribbon she received. Here she is showing it off with her teacher, Miss Sheila.

Hannah loved doing her recital and keeps asking when she can do it again. We are so proud of our little Ballerina.

More about Grace

2010-06-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

At 2 weeks old, Grace is 21 inches long, 8 lb 10 oz, with a head circumference of 34 cm. That means she is in the 75% for height, 60% for weight and 10% for head size. Grace has very long arms, fingers, legs, feet and toes. She has pretty good muscle control of her head and neck, more so than most newborns and can already roll over from her tummy to her back. She is very comfortable on her tummy and prefers to nap that way, in fact she won't really lay on her back without incessant fussing. This makes it hard to leave her sleeping or napping, so the compromise is that she spends a lot of time snoozing in her swing. She loves to look outside. No matter where she is, she will find the window and just stare at the sky.

Hannah is still stuck on the name Diamond but now she calls her baby Gracie Diamond or if you ask Hannah her full name it's Grace Isabel Diamond Simmons. Brian has also given her the nickname Gracie Girl or GG for short.

I'm so amazed at how instantly this tiny girl has become part of our family and how much we love her already!

Introducing

2010-05-23T23:25:00.000-07:00

Our family welcomed a new little addition on Monday, May 17, 2010. Grace Isabel Simmons arrived in what could be described as a whirlwind of events. It started out typically enough as Andrea woke up at 2:40 am feeling some discomfort that she thought could be contractions. She had had an anesthetic when Hannah was born and wasn't quite sure what contractions really felt like. So, she waited and timed them and finally woke me up at 3:40 telling me it was "go" time. We were out of house ten minutes later racing toward Mercy Hospital in Folsom. We didn't arrive a moment too soon. As we were walking into the labor and delivery room, Andrea surprised us all by announcing that she had to push and the baby was coming right then. This caused quite a clamor amongst the nursing staff as they switched into urgent mode. Our nurses Sheri and Karen did a great job keeping us calm and reassuring us that they had plenty of experience delivering babies as we weren't even certain whether the doctor would make it before the baby. The nurses implored Andrea NOT to push, but then the Dr Haskins showed up in time for two pushes and Grace was here. The labor was so fast that Andrea did not even break a sweat!(Not an exaggeration.)

Grace is beautiful and perfect in every way!

Hannah was so excited to come to the hospital and meet her little sister.

We brought little Gracie home Wednesday and feel so blessed to have this new wonderful spirit in our family.

It's a girl

2010-05-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

My friends that don't live close enough to have seen that I am pregnant recently pointed out that I never blogged the news. I am pregnant with a girl and due on May 21st. I actually started this post back in December and was just waiting for our ultrasound to post it. Well, our scanner has been on the fritz and I never got any of the pics uploaded and promptly forgot that I never posted about the pregnancy. So here it is better late than never.

We are so excited, especially Hannah. Hannah started telling people that her mommy "had a baby in her tummy" before we actually sat down and told her. Hannah is already saying that she is a big sister and knew from the beginning that it was a girl. Hannah likes to lift up my shirt so she can see my tummy and talks to the baby. Here conversations usually go like this....

"Hi baby Diamond. This is Hannah. I'm your big sister. I'm going to play with you and you can sleep in my crib. I'll sing you a song... (it's always Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)."

So you may have noticed that she called the baby "baby Diamond". Right after we told Hannah about the baby, we asked her what we should name her. Hannah immediately said "Diamond". We laughed and thought that was cute but assumed it would be one of many names Hannah would suggest over the pregnancy. Well, Hannah has never wavered and has just become firmer in the fact that the baby must be named Diamond. (She also says that the baby will have purple eyes.) So here was a recent conversation we had...

Me: "Hannah, can you say Grace?" (that's one of the names that we really like)
Hannah: "Mom, can you sat Diamond?"
Me: "Her nickname can be Gracie. Try Gracie."
Hannah: "Here nickname can be Diamond". Then, with quivering lips and tears that she has learned to come up with on cue, "If you name her Grace I will be very sad. "

What can you say to that?

With less than two weeks to go, we've been busy getting ready for baby Diamond. We finally got the crib set up and pulled out all the rest of the baby stuff. Now, we're just excited for her to come!

Superstar

2010-05-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that she dressed herself?

6 Years

2010-04-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Brian and I celebrated our 6 year annimersary. We take turns planning our anniversary celebration and this year it was Brian's turn. We stayed close to home and Brian planned a great day exploring downtown Sac. We had breakfast at a wonderful crepe shop that was super delicious. Then we took a tour of the Leland Stanford Mansion that has recently been turned into a museum and state park. We took in a production of Beauty and the Beast at the B Street Theatre and ended our day with dinner at Lucca Resturant. It was a wonderful day. The only bummer is that we didn't take any pictures of our awesome day. I can't believe how quickly 6 years has gone by. I'm truly grateful to have a husband who really is my best friend.

Opening Night at Raley Field

2010-04-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

Go River Cats!!

Our Backyard Project

2010-04-13T16:40:00.001-07:00

We have debated over what to do with our tiny backyard ever since we moved to our house. We never liked the landscaping they put in and have always thought the way they designed our patio was just weird. One year we planted a mini veggie garden (http://simmonsfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/2008/10/gardening.html) but other than that we haven't used it much.

Brian has always wanted to enlarge our patio and I have always been hesitant but I finally agreed to let him do it and basically redo the yard. Here's what it looked like before the project.

Brian laid some pavers to put the bbq on.

Then Brian, with the help of his brother Scott, poured cement to enlarge and square off our patio.

Finally, we finished it off with some new plants.

Here's the final result.

I think it turned out pretty good.

Easter 2010

2010-04-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

Brian and I are blessed to live close to our families and love that Hannah can spend holidays with her grandparents and cousins (at least on my side, but with Brian's parents coming home from the mission soon we'll be spending a lot more time with the Simmons side). Easter weekend at my parent's house this year was so much fun. Don't you love my mom's Easter Egg tree?

The Easter bunny came to visit both Saturday and Sunday so Hannah enjoyed lots of treats and got plenty of Easter egg hunting with her cousins.

Every year we make chocolate Easter Eggs (it's our family's favorite Easter tradition). Here's the recipes courtesy of my mom.

*Warning: These are super yummy and definitely diet busters. It's impossible to eat just one.

Chocolate Easter Eggs (3 fillings)
Fudge Filling:
2 1/2 C sugar
3/4 C evaporated milk
16 large marshmallows
1/4 C butter
1/4 t salt
1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 t vanilla (the real thing, not the fake stuff)
1 C chopped nuts
*Mix sugar, evap. milk, butter and salt in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat to an all-over boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallows until completely melted. Add vanilla and nuts. Spread into pan to cool. Roll into egg shapes ready for coating. Best to chill over night.

Butter Cream/Coconut:
1 stick butter (1/4 lb.)
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 C coconut
4 C powdered sugar
*Soften butter and mix. Roll into egg shapes and chill until ready to coat.

The Ever Famous Peanut Butter Filling:
1 C powdered sugar
1 C crunchy or regular peanut butter
2 C Rice Krispies
1/4 t vanilla
2 T oil
*Mix, roll into shapes, and chill.

Chocolate Coating:
Melt 5 or more Hershey bars in a large pan over simmering water (double boiler if you have one). Add a few semi sweet chocolate chips to thin it out a bit. Using forks of chop sticks, roll chilled balls in melted chocolate. Place on wax paper or a greased pan and chill. Wrap in cellophane of foil, or decorate with royal icing.

Happy St Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

The leprechauns came to visit today. They left Hannah these cute hair clips and some treats and played some funny tricks on us. They turned most of our food green including all of our milk. Hannah was disappointed because she didn't catch or see any leprechauns (though she says she saw a leprechaun's hat).

Our Little Ballerina

2010-03-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

Hannah finally started ballet lessons this week. She has wanted to go to "ballet school" since before she was 2 and can often be found twirling around on her tiptoes. She was so excited (probably more excited than I have ever seen her before) to go to her first class. She was very specific in that she needed a black leotard with pink tights. Her teacher's name is Ms. Sheila and Hannah adores her. Watching a bunch of 3 year old girls attempting Ballet has to be one of the cutest things ever.

Hannah Mae Simmons at 3

2010-02-24T22:22:00.000-08:00

She is very familiar with all of the Disney Princesses though her favorite is Cinderella with Snow White coming in a close second.

Here current favorite show is Little Einstein. She would watch it all day long if allowed (sadly I know from experience. Am I a bad mom?)

Her Favorite color is pink.

She is a girly, girly, girl.

She loves to twirl in her dresses. She has to try on the dresses before we buy them to make sure they twirl enough.

She is going to be a ballerina and can't wait to go to Ballerina school.

She knows all her letters and numbers. She knows how to spell her name (most days anyways) and can almost count to 20.

We have to sing "I Am A Child of God" every night before she'll go to sleep.

She has learned the word accessories (mainly from her dad) and knows exactly what it means. She will tell me that she is not ready yet because she needs her accessories; hair clips, necklaces, bracelets, etc.

She has started to play with imaginary friends. The main one is little chicken (I have had to set a plate at the table and put food out for little chicken).

Hannah's 3rd Birthday Party

2010-02-14T22:10:00.000-08:00

Hannah was so excited about her birthday party this year. She decided to have a fancy party (inspired by Fancy Nancy of course). I was really surprised at how much she helped in planning her party. When we went to the store, she told me all the things her party needed, purple balloons, matching plates and napkins (yes, she really did specify matching), and frilly toothpicks.

The party kicked off with reading about Fancy Nancy.

Then the girls played pin the accessories on Fancy Nancy.

The little ladies then got their own accessories. The decorated their own crowns and wands and then got sticker earrings, necklaces, bracelets, tutus and some pretty makeup.

The girls had an etiquette lesson and then showed off on the red carpet.

We finished off with some yummy treats including parfaits of course!

Weekend Getaway

2010-02-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about living in Northern California is the diversity of landscape around us. Last weekend we were up in the mountains playing in the snow and this weekend we were hanging out at the beach.

Brian had a training meeting for work down in a resort just south of Santa Cruz and Hannah and I were able to go with him. Brian had meetings all Friday so Hannah and I spent the day in Monterey at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Neither Hannah nor I have ever been to the Aquarium and we had a blast. I loved the big Kelp forest tank and Hannah really loved seeing the big fish. At first Hannah was too scared to touch anything in the little tide pools but finally I got her to "pet" a star fish.

Saturday, we spent the morning on the beach at the resort. Hannah loved just digging around in the sand and looking for shells. She was too afraid to get close to the water at all.

We drove home by way of San Francisco and spent a few hours on the pier and enjoyed some yummy clam chowder and fish and chips.

Snow Fun

2010-01-31T14:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful day playing in the snow with some of our friends. Hannah had a great time eating snow, rolling down the hill and making snow angels.

Hannah made her first snowman with her friends. There were mostly girls so they decided that it wasn't a snowman but a "snowgirl".

Hannah's favorite thing was sledding down the hill. Hannah has always been a super cautious child and so I was worried that she would be too afraid to try it but all my worries were for not because Hannah loved it. After she went down the first time, that is all she wanted to do. Thank goodness I have an awesome hubbie who was willing to keep trekking up the hill.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T22:56:00.000-08:00

We woke up early Christmas morning to find that Santa had visited. Santa left lots of presents under the tree, many in pink princess wrapping as requested by Hannah, filled all of our stockings including one for Uncle Scott and enjoyed his cookies and milk.

Hannah did a great job playing Santa's helper and distributing presents.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast with Uncle Scott and Hannah loved playing with her new toys.

We spent the rest of Christmas weekend with my family.

My siblings and I do a secret santa gift exchange and here was my brother Dane's gift.

All in all a very Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

Visiting the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town on Christmas Eve has been a tradition of my sister Kristin's family for a number and this year Hannah and I decided to join them. Hannah and her cousin Sydney had a blast running around together.

Every time we ask Hannah what she wants for Christmas she always answers pink presents. When we ask her what she wants in her pink presents, her most common response has been a merry-go-round. So when we went to the zoo and she saw the carousel she was ecstatic. She yelled look mommy Santa got me a merry-go-round for Christmas. Hannah got to ride her favorite animal and couldn't have been happier.

Normally we spend Christmas Eve with extended family but this year with Brian's parents being gone we decided to spend Christmas Eve just as a family. I thought that I would miss family (and I did a little) but we had a wonderful evening. We read the Night Before Christmas, told the nativity story, which Hannah was amazingly attentive to, and sang a few carols. Then we went out to dinner (my Christmas present was not having to do dishes).

To top the evening off we went to Dovewood Ct in Orangevale to see Christmas lights. I think this was Hannah's favorite part evening.

Playgroup Party

2009-12-17T12:35:00.000-08:00

Hannah is in a playgroup with five other kids from the ward and they had a little Christmas program courtesy of Laura C. They read a book about the nativity and Christmas symbols that remind us of Christ. The kids made the symbols and held them up as their section of the story was read. It was simple and very cute.

They also sang some Christmas Carols with the help of some siblings and jingle bells.

And it was followed by yummy treats.

Hannah's Favorite Christmas Song

2009-12-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Santa

2009-12-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Hannah's first letter to Santa

(with a little help from mom and dad).

Christmas Tree

2009-12-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

My sister and her family as well as my parents have started getting tree permits and cutting their own Christmas tree and this year we decided to go with them. Brian ended up having to work but Hannah and I had fun.

We checked the weather before we went and saw that it might be snowing a little. Well as you can see, it was snowing more than a little.

It was beautiful and the snowflakes were huge.

The kids had a wonderful time playing in the snow. Hannah has only been in the snow once almost two years ago and she was nervous at first but eventually started playing and having fun throwing snowballs with her cousins.

The only problem we had was with our suburban. We pulled off onto a side road to cut our tree and tried to put the suburban into 4 wheel drive. Well it didn't work and the suburban slipped around and got stuck. My dad and brother in-law tried (without success) for about 30 minutes or so to get it into 4 wheel drive and unstuck. Finally, everyone but my dad went down the road a little further to pick out trees and play with the kids. Luckily the suburban wasn't too far off the road and my dad (definitely the hero of the day) was able to flag down a passerby and they towed the suburban back onto the side of the road.

I didn't get a picture of cutting the tree (I was too cold and wet to pull out the camera). Here's a picture of it partially decorated.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-30T12:44:00.000-08:00

I love being a mom for many reasons but one of my favorites reasons is because it teaches me so much. At Thanksgiving, I always try to be grateful and remember the reason for the holiday but often I get too wrapped up in planning and cooking. This year I wanted to teach Hannah about Thanksgiving and what it really means. Of course, we talked about food, turkeys and football (thanks Brian) but I really tried to focus on being grateful.

We started by talking about what blessings are and making this thankful turkey.

We also talked about how we give thanks to our Heavenly Father because all of our blessings come from him. I don't know how much Hannah learned but I know it made me focus on my blessing and I felt more grateful to my Heavenly Father this year than I have in many previous Thanksgivings.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parent's house and had a great time.

The dinner was great but in my family the dessert has become the big thing. I don't know when it started but I assume it came from the days when we had Thanksgiving with my cousins and grandparents and had over 20 people, but we would have a pie bake-a-thon the night before Thanksgiving and make a ton of pies. The number of people attending Thanksgiving have decreased but the number of pies have not. It's now become tradition that we have about one pie per person. This year we had 14 people (5 of those being kids) and 15 pies. (Don't worry, we don't eat it all in one sitting.)

Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving for me unless I have made some pies. My contributions this year were a blueberry pie (Brian's favorite), apple-blackberry pie, and a raspberry white chocolate cheesecake.

The favorites this year were my sister Kristin's Toffee Pecan pie and my cheesecake. Hannah however liked the chocolate cream pie.

We always top the evening off with games. Here's my brother Michael's reaction to the girls beating the boys at cranium.

We missed my brother Dane (he stayed in Provo for a wedding) and my brother Mark and his wife Jasmine (they were at her family's house) but otherwise it was a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Another Funny Conversation

2009-11-04T17:43:00.000-08:00

My parents were visiting a few days ago and my mom had a conversation with Hannah that went like this....
Grandma: Hannah who is nicer, grandma or grandpa?
Hannah: Grandma (keep in mind, grandma is the one asking these questions.)
Grandma: Who is more fun, grandma or grandpa?
Hannah: Grandma
Grandma: Who is smells better, grandma or grandpa?
Hannah:Grandma
Grandma: Who is smarter, grandma or grandpa?
Hannah: Me!!

Halloween Fun

2009-11-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

Halloween this year was so fun. Hannah really got it this year and has decided that Halloween is the best day ever. She has already decided that she going to be a giraffe next year.

We started with carving pumpkins. Hannah didn't like the cleaning the guts out because it was "too gross" but she did like helping Brian pick out a face for the pumpkin.

Hannah and I made some crafty decorations. The spider and ghosts are made from Hannah's hand print.

Hannah was a witch this year. I have to admit that I was proud of the costume this year. I saw the spider skirt on Martha Stewart and think my version turned out pretty good.

We had lots of Halloween activities. Hannah's play group had a Halloween party. Here's Hannah with her best friend Sarina all dressed up.

We decorated Halloween cupcakes with our neighbor.

We had a great time at our annual ward carnival and trunk or treat.

And Hannah really, really loved trick or treating. We practiced saying trick or treat and Happy Halloween all month and so when it came to trick or treating, she was a pro. Hannah wasn't shy at all and just ran right up to the doors and knocked and said "trick or treat" followed by "thank you" and multiple "Happy Halloweens". She even learned to say "I put a spell on you" which occasionally came out "I put a smell on you."

Sunday morning Hannah went downstairs while Brian and I were getting ready for church. This is how I found her.

football, helmet and undies?

2009-10-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

It's fall again and in our house that means college football on Saturdays (and Thursdays and occasional Fridays and pretty much every other day of the week. thank you DVR). Brian and I have a kind of unspoken deal, he gets to watch all the college football he wants and for the rest of the year sports are cut down to a minimum. Well Saturday morning I ran some errands and left Brian home with the girl. I came home to find her like this. Football, helmet and only undies? doing the Heisman.

Baby

2009-10-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

This is Hannah and her favorite doll. Her grandma Cindy got this doll for her baby shower and ever since I can remember it has been Hannah's favorite. Hannah carries her around all day and has to sleep with her. Today, Hannah had to have her hair in two braids so she could be just like Baby.

Apple Hill

2009-09-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

Today we made our annual trip up to Apple Hill. We love this little family traditions. It was really fun this year because Hannah was able to pick apple's with us.

Hannah couldn't wait to get the apples home and had to enjoy an apple right on the spot.

I'm looking forward to all our apple treats we'll get to make!

They say the cutest things...

2009-09-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

Today Hannah and I were watching Cinderella and had this conversation:

Me: What is Cinderella doing?

Hannah: Dancing with the prince.

Me: Is the prince Handsome?

Hannah: Yes, just like daddy.

Me: Is Cinderella pretty like you?

Hannah: No I'm not pretty, I'm cute and smart!

Our little girl is growing up!

2009-09-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend Hannah has celebrated two major milestones. After about 2 weeks, Hannah is potty trained. We're still having a few accidents but I think we're over the hump.

We've had Hannah's toddler bed in our office and showed it to her a lot to try and get her used to it. Well, Sunday morning I was cleaning up her room a little and when I went to find Hannah she was laying in her toddler bed. Hannah told me that she was a big girl now because she used the big girl toilet and she needed her big girl bed. After church, we took down her crib and put her bed in her room. I don't know what I expected but I thought Hannah would be a little sad giving up her crib. Instead she loves her toddler bed.

I'm excited to see Hannah reaching these milestones but I can't but feel that little twinge of sadness as I see my little baby girl growing up.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2009-09-06T13:12:00.000-07:00

We love going to the Rivercats and finally made it to two games this season. We have taken Hannah before but she was so little that she didn't get much out of it. This year she really enjoyed it. We were able to go on Friday nights and take advatage of the $1 hotdog and ice cream. The first game we sat on the lawn which Hannah loves cause she can wander around a little. They were handing out free tickets the first night we were their so we were able to get some awesome third row tickets right above 3rd base. Hannah didn't like sitting in the chairs as much but she did like being close to the players. She was also close to one of the cameras so they kept showing her. For days after she was telling everyone how she was on the big TV at the ball game.

Simmons European Vacation - Freiberg and Dresden

2009-08-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

After spending several days in Prague, we decided to take a day trip to visit the Freiberg Temple. It is always wonderful to be at the temple with your family but for me the highlight was being able to see my Mission President and his wife, Frank and Helga Apel. He is now the Freiberg Temple President. We didn't get to catch up much but it was great to see them.

On the way back to Prague we were able to spend several hours in Dresden. Dresden was leveled during WWII but they have really started to rebuild it. The old historic part lies right on the Elbe river and is beautiful. We were only able to spend several hours in Dresden and the first part was spent visiting a famous renaissance gallery called the Old Master's Gallery. Here's the entrance and courtyard.

The rest of the time we just spent wandering around the city. Here's some of our favorite pictures.

Simmons European Vacation - Prague

2009-08-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

The main bulk of our European trip was spent in Prague. We spent a week there and it was there that we met up with Brian's parents and his sister Trisha and her husband Chris. Brian's parents are in Russia on their mission and Trisha and Chris live in Utah so it was really exciting to meet up in a foreign country.

I loved Prague from the moment we left the train station. Unlike a lot of the rest of Europe, Prague was never bombed in the world wars so things are mostly original and you can see the difference. The streets are all cobblestone and all the buildings are beautiful. After our whirlwind visit of Munich and Vienna, it was nice to be able to slow down and really spend time wandering and exploring the city.

We stayed in a great little 3 bedroom apartment just a few blocks from the Old Town Square.

Here's the view from our window. The spires you see are from the Tyn Church (probably the second most important church in Prague).

The old town square was really fun and we spent a lot of time there. It is full of restaurants, shops and people. In the middle is the old town hall with a cool astronomical clock. The clock not only tells time but also time of sunrise and sunset, phase of the moon, zodiac signs and a few other things. The oldest part dates back to 15th century. It must have seemed pretty amazing to the people at the time.

Prague is full of tourists and so there are tons of souvenir shops. We spent our share of time in the shops, but I really liked this little outdoor market that was a mixture of souvenirs and fresh produce.

Trisha and Chris were able to celebrate their 13th anniversary there. Congrats guys!

Before WWII, Prague had one of the oldest, most vibrant Jewish communities in Europe. Today only a few thousand Jews are left in Prague, but their legacy remains in the Jewish Quarter. The Jewish Quarter is made up of seven different sights scattered over three blocks. The sight that touched me the most was the Pinkas Synagogue. The Synagogue was used for worship for 400 years but is now a memorial to Czech Nazi victims. The names of about 77,000 victims are handwritten on the walls as well as their hometowns, birthdays, and last known date to be alive. It was a very sobering experience. The rest of the sights focus on Jewish history and religious practices.

This graveyard was also really interesting. Jews believe that once a body has been buried it can't be disturbed. This was the only graveyard allowed for the Jews of Prague from 1439 to 1787 so graves were just layered one on top of the other. Over time, the ground settled causing the tombstones to become crooked.

The Vltava River goes right through Prague. One of the best ways to see Prague is to go on a boat cruise. We took two, the first at night and then during the day.

The picture above is of the Charles Bridge. Charles IV was Prague's most famous and important king and also was the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled in the 14th century and during his rule Prague became on of the biggest most important cities in Europe. He commissioned the Charles Bridge to be built after a flood washed away its predecessor in 1342. It was the only bridge in Prague until the 19th century. Some of you may recognize it because it has been in a number of movies (it's the bridge Jon Voigt falls from at the beginning of the first Mission Impossible). Originally, the bridge was adorned only with a cross but now it is lined with statues. One of the most famous statues is of Czech Saint John of Nepomuk. It is said that rubbing one side of the statue will make a wish come true and rubbing the other side will ensure that you return to Prague someday. You can see how the bronze is showing from where the statue has been rubbed so much.

The Charles Bridge leads to the Castle Quarter.

Here is the main entrance to the castle complex. The Czech President has his offices here and flags up mean that he is there.

In the middle of the castle complex is St. Vitus Cathedral. This was probably my favorite sight in Prague. It was started in 1344, again under Charles IV, and wasn't completely finished until 1929. It was mainly built in the Gothic style of the 14 century but has influences of other eras because it took so long to build.

Inside it contains the tombs and relics of the most important saints and kings including St Wenceslas. St Wenceslas (yes, the one from the Christmas Carol) was an unusually good and educated 10th century Bohemian ruler. He is known for Christianizing Bohemia and allying them with the Holy Roman Empire. He is the most famous of Czech Saints and the main symbol for Czech nationalism. In his chapel within the cathedral, the state jewels are kept. Only a few state leaders including the President have keys to the vault containing the jewels and they are only displayed for very special occasions. The other thing I loved about the cathedral were all the stained glass windows. Here's an example.

We also took a quick day trip from Prague to visit Karlstejn Castle. Charles IV built this medieval castle in 1348 as a safeguard for the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire. It's only about 30 km from Prague and is on a hill above a cute little village surrounded by beautiful countryside.

Our last night all together, we saw a concert at the Estates Theatre. It is a beautiful building and was built in the late 18th century. Many famous artist have played here, most notably Mozart. He premiered Don Giovani here and it is the only theatre still standing in which Mozart performed.

Simmons European Vacation - Vienna

2009-08-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

After our wonderful day in Munich, we hopped on a train at 7:30am and were whisked away to Vienna. I LOVE riding on trains!! It is one of the things I miss most about living in Germany. You can just chat with your friends or grab book and sit back and relax. This was one of the most scenic rides I've ever been on. It was all green rolling hills and very cute little farms.

In Vienna we stayed at this cute little hotel, Vienna State Opera Hotel. The location was great. We were right off Kartnerstrasse which is the main pedestrian area. It is full of shops, businesses and throngs of people. Even at midnight, there were still tons of people out. I don't know if I ever really want to live in a city like Vienna but I love the energy of it.

Our first stop in Vienna was the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The ground floor has a collection of artifacts from Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities and the second floor is a Renaissance art gallery. Again they had a great audio guide and we spent four hours there ( I could have spent several more days there). I am not an artist at all and so I spend most of my time in awe and amazement that someone could create all these fabulous masterpieces. Even the building itself is magnificent.

Brian was very set on having Wienerschnitzel in Wien (German name for Vienna) so thanks to our trusty tour guide book we found this cute little restaurant tucked in the heart of the city.

Every night from the end of June to the end of August, the city sets up a huge screen in front of city hall and as soon as it's dark show films of various types of performances (operas, symphonies and ballets). We saw a ballet of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream set to the music of Mendelssohn. I usually am a fan of ballet but I like the very classical style you know pretty tutus and such. This ballet had a lot of modern elements and while somewhat interesting was not really my style. However, it was a lovely evening and it was nice to be under the stars enjoying some culture with the locals.

Vienna is beautiful at night with all the buildings lit up so we spent the rest of the evening wandering around. We were mainly in search of a ice cream shop and we finally found a place called Zanoni Zanoni. It is truly the best ice cream (it was actually gelato though I'm not sure of the difference) I have ever had. It was so good that we even had to go back the next day. We tried a number of flavors but apricot was the best. I don't think ice cream will ever be the same.

The next day started off with a visit to the Schatzkammer (treasury). They have the best display of jewels, ceremonial robes and religious artifacts in Europe (or on the Continent I should say since the crown jewels in London are also quite impressive). I have seen crowns and robes in pictures or movies but it was different to seem them in person and realize that nobility really did wear this stuff and it's not just stuff out of a fairytale. I can imagine just how magnificent the Royalty and Church leaders must have looked when they were wearing their jewel studded robes and crowns. My favorite and probably on of the most famous in the collection was this crown of the Holy Roman Emperor dated from the late 10th century.

We spent mid-morning wondering through downtown Vienna. Here are some of the sights we saw.

For lunch we wandered through the Naschmarkt. The Naschmarkt is a huge fresh fruit and vegetable market mixed with little food stalls and small cafes. I had a döner kebab which is one of my most favorite foods of all time. There are little kebab shops all over Germany and they were a staple of my mission. For those of you who have never experienced a döner kebab it is a lot like a gyro but is the Turkish version. It is a piece of thick flatbread cut open and stuffed with lamb meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced off to order along with various vegetables, usually onions, cabbage or lettuce and sometimes tomatoes and cucumbers, and is topped with a spicy garlic sauce. It is delish!! Brian also enjoyed some applestrudel.

So after 27 hours in the wonderful city of Vienna, we were again on a train for our 4 hour ride to Prague.

Simmons European Vacation - Munich

2009-08-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

After about 17 hours of traveling, we arrived in Munich, Germany at 7:50am. I was really excited to be back in Germany, since I served my mission there and spent 3 years of my childhood there as well. It was fun to hear the language again, walk around town through the picturesque cobblestone streets, past the bakeries, butcher shops, flower stands, and cafes. It brought back so many great memories and reminded me of how much I love the German lifestyle. Munich is the capitol of Bavaria and is just beautiful. Though the city is big (Germany's 3rd largest), it feels more intimate like a much smaller city.

After taking the S-bahn (subway) into town and dropping our luggage at our hotel, the first thing we had to do was stop by a bakery for a quick breakfast. German pastries are the things I dream about. Here is one of my favorites, a quarktasche (a pastry filled with a cheese that's somewhat similar to cream cheese).

Our first tourist stop of the day was the Deutsches Museum. It is a huge science and technology museum. It was very technical and in German, but was pretty cool especially if you like all things mechanical, which Brian does.

Next we went the heart of the city, Marienplatz. Located here is the cool looking neo-gothic style town hall complete with red geranium filled window boxes (in Germany, especially Bavaria, it is basically required of all buildings to have red geranium window boxes).

Marienplatz is the main town square. It gets its name from the beautiful Mary statue called Mariensaule (Mary's column).

The statue was erected to give thanks to the Virgin Mary for saving the city from destruction by the Swedish army during the 30 year war in the 17th century.

The highlight of Marienplatz is the glockenspiel. Several times a day the glockenspiel puts on a show.

The Glockenspiel shows two different scene's from Munich's past. The top scene re-enacts a jousting tournament held for the wedding of Duke Wilhelm V which took place on Marienplatz in 1568. The bottom depicts coopers doing the Schafflertanz, or "Dance of the Coopers". This is done in memory of the end of the Black Death plague in 1517.

Then we went on a free walking tour with our guide Iain who showed around the city and told us more about the history of the town. Munich became a city in the 12 century and was named after the monks that originally lived there. Munich in German literally means "monks," so they are a symbol of the city and you can see monks depicted it all over, like on this manhole cover.

This is St Peterskirche, the oldest church in Munich built about 100 years before the city was founded. It has been renovated and rebuilt a number of times. In the 30 year war, the church was hit by a cannonball but the cannonball just got stuck in the wall. The monks took it as a symbol that God is more powerful than man and left the cannonball in the wall.

The Alter Hof (old court) was the first residence of Munich's ruling family the Wittelbachs. They were the longest ruling family in all of Europe and ruled Bavaria from 12 century to the 20th century. This tower adorns the castle wing and was nicknamed "Monkey Tower". It got the name after a legend that says that the baby prince Ludwig was kidnapped by a tame monkey belonging to the court. The monkey ran up the tower with the baby and had to bribed with food to bring the baby back down.

This is the world famous Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in the world. No one could believe that we would come to Munich and not try the beer, though. It was originally a brewery built in 1607 and originally didn't let women in. It was very popular so Men didn't want to give up their seats to relieve themselves, the solution, urinal troughs under the table. Today there are bathrooms and even a vomitorium (you get fined and kicked out if you vomit on the floor). What a classy joint! It makes me glad to be LDS.

This is also the place where the Nazi party as we know it was formed. After WWI, Hitler was still part of the German army and his job was to listen to the different political parties platforms. He heard the future Nazi party and liked it. He joined them and then soon became the leader. He gave many speeches and outlined the tenants of the party here. In the early 1920's, Hitler lead a brief, one night, rebellion to overthrow the Bavarian government. He was put on a hugely publicized trial and Hitler was basically given a platform to speak freely about his ideas. The trial made Hitler a household name in Germany.

After our tour, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at this is a biergarten. We learned that a true biergarten (beer garden) has to be under Horse Chestnut trees due to their excellent shade (kept the beer cold). This is where locals eat, drink beer, and chat at all times of the day. We ate some yummy bratwurst as we enjoyed observing everyday life in Munich.

Our last stop for the day was the Alte Pinakothek which is one of the most famous Renaissance art galleries in the world. They had a wonderful audio tour and we spent several hours there. We discovered that we really enjoyed learning about Renaissance art and some of the famous artists. Brian really liked the artist Albrecht Durer and this was my favorite picture, Our Lady Tempi by Raffael.

All in all, we loved Munich and I wish we could have spent more time there. It currently has the top spot for my future summer home.

South Lake Tahoe

2009-08-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Brian's boss has a cabin in South Lake Tahoe and we were able to spend the weekend there with my family.

We hiked around Spooner Lake on Saturday.

Hannah made us all be quiet so we wouldn't scare away the animals.

She also liked to hide and jump out at us.

Brian made himself a walking stick so of course, Hannah had to have one too.

Hannah and her Grandpa

We also hiked around Taylor Creek.

We had storms every afternoon with lots of lightning, thunder and hail. Hannah kept opening the front door so she could eat the hail.
In the evenings we played games.

We had a great time!

I'm a "Y"

2009-07-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

So Hannah layed down on the floor and stuck her feet in the air in a poise like the above picture. She then said. "mom, look at me. What am I?" After numerous guesses I couldn't get it right and Hannah finally said, "I'm a Y." Well, I still couldn't figure out what she was talking about and just said something like ok honey and forgot all about it. Well, she kept doing this throughout the day and it finally clicked. Yesterday on Sesame Street the letter of the day was Y and they had a lady doing a handstand with her feet apart like a letter Y. Hannah was just doing her own version of the a human letter Y.

Inkheart

2009-07-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today Hannah had her first movie theatre experience. We took advantage of the free movies up at the Regal theatres and saw Inkheart. Hannah did pretty well. She had to sit on my lap because she wasn't heavy enough to keep her seat down. She started to get bored toward the end but we made through the whole thing. When Brian asked her about it, Hannah said that she liked the "really, really giant TV!"

Viva La Vida

2009-07-18T00:16:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night Brian and I went to our first rock concert together and saw Coldplay. It was that best concert I have ever been to (ok that's not saying much since I've only been to one other rock concert). We had so, so much fun. Let me tell you, Coldplay puts on a good show. The music was fabulous, I mean who doesn't like Coldplay, all the special effects were really cool, and the energy of the crowd was awesome.

"Yellow" was of course one of the big hits. Huge yellow beach balls (that appeared to come from nowhere) were thrown all throughout the crowd. It made for a really awesome effect.

The highlight of the concert was when the band left the stage and played in the crowd. They did it twice and the second time the whole band walked right past me. Yes, I was right on the aisle and all four members of Coldplay came within inches of me. This picture was taken right after I turned into the psycho fan that I didn't know I had in me and reached and touched all of them.

Here's a few more cool pics of the concert because I just can't help myself..
It was a great night and it made me feel young and cool (which I guess is a good thing considering the events of the previous day)!!!

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-07-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

On Monday I turned 30!! I can't believe it. I still feel like I'm just a kid playing grownup. I'm not old enough to be married, have a two year old, or be 30. However, I'm not really too stressed out about the age thing. More than anything, this year I'm feeling really grateful. I'm grateful for my family, friends and wonderful life.

I had a fabulous birthday. The Friday night we went up to my parents' house and celebrated with them. We had my favorite dinner, homemade pizza and my mom made this fabulous, diet busting, six layer chocolate cake with chocolate cream filling. Doesn't it look yummy?!
We played games, my mom told the story of my birth (as she does every year), and we roasted marshmallows over fire in the backyard. We wrapped the evening up around 10:00pm and were headed to leave but could not find our keys. We spent an hour looking for them but with no luck. We finally took a flashlight outside to look around the car. We didn't find our keys but we did notice that our tire was completely flat. To make a long story short, we did eventually find the keys, Allstate Motorclub changed the tire, and we spent the night.

As a side note, I have a cautionary tale about Grandpas doing bedtime. So it was about 11 when we decided that we would be spending the night with my folks and that we needed to put Hannah to bed. My father offered to put her down so I brought in her blanket, gave her a kiss and left her with grandpa. Well, around 12:30 we were headed to bed and looked in on Hannah and found her like this....

Yes, grandpa had left the tv on and just assumed she would fall asleep which of course she didn't.
Here was the result the next day...

(I should give my dad a break because he has put Hannah to bed a lot and does a really good job. He tells the best stories of anyone I know!)

On Monday, my birthday started out great with a happy birthday call from my in-laws. In the evening , Brian surprised me with a birthday party at the park. It was my first surprise party ever and the first birthday I have spent with friends in a number of years (thanks to everyone who helped Brian pull it off). We had a great time just eating and chatting while the kiddies played.

To top it all off, Brian got me Coldplay tickets for the next evening (more on that later). All in all, one of the best birthdays ever.

I'm proud to be an American

2009-07-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July. We kicked it off our holiday with our stake's pancake breakfast. They have a great little band playing patriotic music (I'm a big fan of any holidays that come with music.) and we get to catch up with friends from our old wards. Everyone is sporting red, white and blue and it was a great way to start off the day.
We continued our celebration with some pool time.
In the evening, my family came over for a BBQ, ice cream cones and fireworks.

Apparently, the fireworks weren't exciting enough by themselves for the teenagers. They decided it was much more entertaining to jump over the fireworks.

Hannah made her hands like binoculars and watched all the fireworks that way.

I'm an Artist!

2009-07-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

Laura C inspired me with all the super cute crafts she's been doing with her kids so Hannah and I did an art project of our own. I cut a head and two arms holes out of a paper bag and let Hannah paint it.

We used paint brushes first and then used a sponge to make a homemade stamp.

Everytime Hannah used the stamp she'd say "squish, squish, squish".

The only problem we had was stopping.

So here's the end result.

It's a Grill

2009-06-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

This latest addition to the Simmons family arrived just in time for Father's Day.

Usually, Andrea cooks whatever I want for dinner or we go to one of our parents' homes, but this year we did something a little different. I got to cook my own meal and break in my new gas grill. I went with a couple of my all time favorites, tri-tip steaks and zucchini.

The grill works great! Check out these grill marks. MMMMMM.....

I'm sure this bundle of joy will bring us many delicious delights for years to come. Thanks mom and dad.

The Best Father's Day Gift

2009-06-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Father's day, Hannah probably said the cutest thing to date. Saturday Brian was changing Hannah's diaper and I asked Hannah if Brian was her buddy. With her biggest smile, Hannah said "No, daddy's my hero."

Camp Nauvoo

2009-06-14T14:16:00.001-07:00

This weekend we had our ward's 2nd annual camp out at Camp Nauvoo and it was a blast!! It seemed like at least half our ward was there.

The camp has a dammed up pond that makes for a great little swimming hole for the kids. Hannah was very excited at first and marched out with swim ring but decided hanging out on the rock near the bank was more her style.

Hannah was adventurous enough to go on the raft with her dad.

One of Hannah's favorite things to do was walk on the bridge that went over the pond. We walked over it again and again and again and, well you get the point.

Here's Hannah enjoying two of her favorite foods; carrots and strawberries.

Hannah roasted her first marshmellow.....

and had her first Smore.

She loved it!

When it was time to leave, Hannah even helped us take down the tent.

Our favorite summer show

2009-06-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

Check out why we love this show!!

I've never been much of a dancer (not much coordination you know) but this show makes me want to sign up for the next local dance class. Even Hannah loves it!

Last weeks elders quorum meeting.......

2009-06-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

Class of 2009

2009-06-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

My brother Michael graduated last night from River Valley High School. River Valley is the new high school in Yuba City and the class of 2009 was the fist class to go there for all 4 years.

Michael is the first of the Sawyer children not to be a Honker (yes, I said honker. My mascot was a Canadian goose. Go Honkers!)

River Valley's mascot is a falcon and they had a real falcon that flew over the stadium (there was no goose at my graduation). It was pretty cool.

They also had fireworks (there were also no fireworks at my graduation).

Here's the official graduate.

Here's a few pics of the grad and the family.

Mike, you've really grown up into a handsome young man and we're all so proud of you!

New Moon Trailer

2009-06-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

I wasn't the biggest fan of the Twilight movie and this trailer doesn't give me too much hope that New Moon will be much better but I can't help but get excited anyways.

Open House

2009-05-31T18:40:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures from my brother's open house.

Brian's Project

2009-05-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my brother had his open house in Yuba City and instead of having a cake, they decided to have cupcakes. My husband offered to make a cupcake stand.

Here's the final product.

I think it turned out great. Good job honey!

2009-05-29T11:13:00.001-07:00

Brian's new workout......

Congratulations Mark and Jasmine

2009-05-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my little brother Mark got married to his sweetheart Jasmine in the Denver temple. The sealing was wonderful and my brother couldn't wipe the grin off his face all day.
Don't you think they make a beautiful couple?!

Being a bride can be hard work (Jasmine, you looked gorgeous and I'm excited to have you as a sister).

Here's the original Sawyer clan (I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into Jasmine).

A candid moment of the mother of the groom and a bridesmaid.

A few of the groomsmen looking all GQ (I of course think my hubbie was the handsomest one there).

The super cute nieces and nephews.

They had a great reception in Colorado Springs (Jasmine's mom did a great job decorating. I wish I had a better picture to show how pretty it all was).

Of course, the get away car was also decorated quite well.

Most of our time was taken up with the wedding, but we were able to sneak in a bit of sightseeing. Colorado is beautiful and I wish we had a little more time to explore.
Friday afternoon we spent a couple hours wandering around downtown Denver.

Sunday we were able to explore a really cool park of rock formations in Colorado Springs called Garden of the Gods.

All in all, we had a fabulous weekend! Congrats again little brother.

2009-05-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Kiddie pool from walmart, $7
a little extra for the water bill .....

hours of playtime in 100 degree weather, priceless!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

Andrea has done a great job getting this blog up and running. This entry, however, is my maiden voyage into the blogosphere. As my mom’s not here to give her a "hug and a love", I decided to write about her on our blog. How 21st century is that? I was going to write an ode to my mother but I’m not sure I know what an ode is (nor do I believe she belongs in the same category as a Grecian urn) so I’m just going to stick with a few thoughts and some of my mom’s favorite utterances.

"Well, I want to you to know I’m happy to be here with y’all.” My mom loves to get together with her family and friends. I’ve learned from her example that spending time with each other and enjoying activities and events together are what builds relationships that will last a lifetime and beyond.

“Remember who you are.” My mom has an unwavering testimony of our Heavenly Father’s plan. Even though she isn’t a scripture scholar or particularly “learned” in the deeper doctrines of the gospel, she has an amazing amount of faith in Christ and in the church and its leaders. She taught me that I am a child of God.

“Get up early and drive real fast.” My mom has an unreal capacity to accomplish task. With her amazing ability to organize and execute , she can get more done before 8am than most people do all day.

Mom, I love you and I hope you have a great Mother's day in Mother Russia!

5 Years

2009-04-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

This last weekend Brian and I celebrated our fifth anniversary. I can't believe we've been married 5 years. We have had our ups and downs but I'm grateful to have a wonderful loving husband to whom I'm sealed for eternity.

To celebrate we went to Disneyland. We have wanted to go, just the two of us, ever since we got married and thought this we would be our last chance to go and not feel guilty about leaving Hannah at home (she only just starting to get interested in princesses, mickey mouse and all the Disney stuff). Thanks mom, dad and Gales for taking care of out little sweetheart.

We had a blast. I think it might be my favorite trip that we've ever taken. We spent three days running around Disneyland like kids.

We got these nifty badges that said happy anniversary so all weekend long everyone greeted us with happy anniversary and asked how long we had been married. It sounds cheesy but it did really make us feel special.

My first Mouse Ears.

We rode all the rides.

Space mountain is Brian's favorite ride.

Indiana Jones is my favorite ride (and the one we rode the most) but tower of terror is definitely a close second.

My brother Michael happened to be at Disneyland on a band trip the same time we were so we spent Saturday afternoon together and had a lot of fun and he willingly stepped in as our photographer.

I found out Brian is a crack shot. He only missed one target.

Brian introduced me to pineapple whip and coke corner, two Simmon family traditions.
Mostly, we just had a wonderful time goofing off and being together.

Hannah may have missed all the fun but we brought her back a sucker and she loves trying on my Minnie Mouse ears.

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T08:13:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful easter we had this year. Saturday we had a great bbq and egg hunt in the park (thanks Alisa for putting it together). Hannah loved running around with her friends collecting eggs.

I wasn't sure if I was going to get Hannah a new dress for easter but I finally broke down and bought one and Hannah really loves it. She calls it her princess dress and twirls around saying "swish, swish."

Sunday we went to my sister's house after church for dinner and another easter egg hunt. Hannah always has fun hanging with her cousins.

Park

2009-03-31T22:42:00.000-07:00

Brian got off early and so we were able to spend the evening at the park.

Hannah's favorite thing to do is swing and now she likes to go on the "big girl" swings and she likes us to swing with her.

Brian was finally able to coax Hannah off the swings be throwing balls and having her retrieve them. Good Hannah.

Sacramento Zoo

2009-03-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed to the Zoo. It was so much fun. Hannah loved looking at all the animals but liked the giraffes and monkeys the most.

As entertaining as the animals were, I think that the playground may have been an equal draw.

I look pretty mommy?

2009-03-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you leave your child unattended and your purse within reach.
What could I do but laugh when Hannah jumped at being caught then turned and with a big smile asked "I look pretty mommy?"

To my surprise and delight, Hannah somehow managed to not get any lipstick on her clothes.

Bath Time

2009-03-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Bath time is Brian's job and he really enjoys it. One of his favorite things to do is to soap up Hannah's hair and do funny things with it.

Potting Training Attempt #1

2009-03-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Hannah has been asking to use the toilet since she was about a year and a half but every time we put her on it she gets scared and jumps right off. Last she asked to use the toilet but this time when I put her on she stayed and even said she wasn't scared. All morning long she wouldn't put on her diaper and kept sitting on the toilet and even went pee pee. I was so excited and decided that this was the perfect chance to attempt potty training. We went to the store and bought a Sesame Street book about potty training, a pink step stool so she could climb up on the toilet and big girl undies (Hannah picked these out and she got princesses and sesame street ones).

Armed with our new tools, we went home. I read her the book where Elmo tells how to use the toilet and wash your hands afterwards. Hannah climbed on the toilet using her new pink stool about every ten minutes and peed and pooped. Despite this Hannah had several accidents. I soon realized that Hannah was only barely going in the toilet and then would get off and have an accident a few minutes later. I tried keeping her on the toilet longer by sitting with her and reading books but didn't have much success. She also could tell me when she had to go poop but not pee. So after several days and numerous accidents we decided to put potty training on hold. (though Hannah still doesn't want to wear her diaper)

Hannah actually fell in the toilet right as I was snapping this shot (perfect timing)!

I love my boots, my boots and me....

2009-03-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

Hannah loves her boots. She has loved them from the first day we brought them home and it is a fight to get her to wear anything else. We finally got her a raincoat to go with her boots and this afternoon we let her go out in the rain and splash in puddles. She loved it!

Hannah 2nd Birthday Party

2009-02-27T23:15:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Dinner

2009-02-27T22:23:00.000-08:00

The Simmons have a wonderful Valentine's day tradition. Every year Cindy prepares a special dinner. Every one gets to pick their favorite food and Cindy makes or buys it. It is a secret and so no one knows what anyone else chose except Cindy. Then you can choose to share your food or eat it all yourself. Apparently, one year Brian's sister Trisha chose to eat all of her Mister T cereal and got sick so now everyone shares.

It was really a blessing to have Cindy and Doug home so we could carry on the tradition this year. The Youell's even came out to visit for a few days and so we had our dinner all together.

Cindy chose vegetables.

I chose pizza.

Trisha chose cranberry salad.

Brian chose clam chowder.

Scott chose Salisbury steak.

Doug chose lemon chicken.

Sara chose crab.

Chris chose cherry pie.

Shannon chose Yorkshire pudding.

Makhail chose pumpkin pie.

Visit from the Simmons

2009-02-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

As most of you know Brian's parents, Doug and Cindy, are currently serving as office Missionaries in the Russia, Novosibirsk Misson and will be serving there until May 2010. (They have a wonderful blog if any of you would like to check it out simmonsinsiberia.blogspot.com) A couple of weeks ago we got a call that Doug had a hernia and needed surgery. They did not want to have the sugery in Russia and so decided to come home. They arrived on the 8th, Doug had sugery on the 12th and they were back on the plane on the 23rd. Doug's surgery went really well and we were glad for the excuse to see them.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

Check out our little sweetheart!

Happy Happy Birthday Hannah Dear

2009-02-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Hannah turned 2 today. I can't believe how big she has gotten and how quickly the last two years have gone by.

Good morning birthday girl. One of my friend's moms used to wake them up on their birthday by taking a picture of them. I thought that was a great idea and have decided to do the same thing. (it should be really fun when we hit the teenage years)

We didn't do too much because Hannah is having a big party next Saturday but we did have cake and opened some of her presents. It was especially nice because Brian's parents were able to be there and celebrate with us.

Hannah did pretty well blowing out her candles however she could only blow them out one at a time and between blowing them out she got distracted by the frosting.

Hannah especially like the huge Dora balloon that her grandparents got her. It plays Happy Birthday in both English and Spanish.

Hannah's first bowling

2009-01-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

Brian thought that our upstairs hallway would make the perfect little bowling alley and so for christmas Hannah got a bowling set. It's way cute and comes with 6 foam pins and a red foam ball.

Brian taught her how to put her fingers in the holes which was very cute but actually made it harder for her to throw the ball.

Hannah soon got tired and tried bowling sitting down but that didn't fair much better.

Hannah finally figured out the sure fire way of knocking the pins down and spent the rest of the time just playing knocking down and setting back up the pins.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We had so much fun teaching Hannah all about Christmas. She loved our Christmas tree, especially the star on top, she learned Jingle bells, (this was my favorite because after Brian spent two or more weeks teaching her the correct version of the song, I spent an afternoon teaching her "Jingle bells daddy smells, mommy is so cute" which she proceeded to sing every time thereafter) and really got into Santa Clause and his reindeer. We also taught Hannah about the birth of our Savior and her favorite book (over all the Santa Clause and other Christmas books) was a simple retelling the nativity story.

Christmas Eve was spent with my family up in Yuba City. The whole gang was there, and these days that is no small feat. My family has always mainly celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. We have a big meal and then our Christmas Eve program. In my parents house Santa Clause is very much alive and well and so every year we read The Night Before Christmas, Polar Express and other stories and poems about Santa Clause but we always finish our Christmas Eve focused back on Christ with carols and the nativity story.

Normally we open presents at our house Christmas morning and then go to Brian's parent's house but of course Brian's parents are half way across the world so we spent Christmas day at our house. We did talk to Brian's parents and Brian's sister and her family in Utah thanks to Skype. We are so thankful for all the technology that has let us stay in touch with Brian's parents while they are gone.

Hannah was very excited to open her presents Christmas morning.

I think Hannah liked the bows most of all!

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree"

2008-11-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

For the Simmons family Christmas officially begins the day after Thanksgiving and the first official act of our Christmas season is to cut our tree. For the past several years we have gone to Apple Hill but this year we decided to stay closer to home and went to Bill's Christmas Tree Farm conveniently located just off Jacksonville Hwy about 10 minutes from our house. They had a small petting zoo (2 goats and some chickens and rabbits in cages) and wagons for kids to ride in.

Hannah didn't stay in the wagon to long but loved running through all the trees.
What we didn't realize is that the traditional firs don't grow down here in the valley so all they have is the bushy trees (like the technical name). We almost went with one but at the last minute decided that we liked our traditional fir trees and bought one of their pre-cut noble firs.
Here's the tree we almost got.

Here's what we ended up with.

"I am the very model of a modern major general"

2008-11-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

I love the opera and Brian is nice enough to take my at least once a year (and I even think he is starting to enjoy it). This season Sac Opera opened with Pirates of Penzance and it was wonderful. If you ever have a chance to see this show I highly recommend it. It's about a young man who is accidentally apprenticed to a pirate instead of a ship pilot but once he is set free from his apprenticeship he decides it is his duty to hunt the pirates. It is extremely funny and witty, the music is marvelous and it is one of my all time favorites.

Twilight

2008-11-23T13:54:00.000-08:00

So you may or may not know that I have become a avid Twilight fan. I loved the books and am almost embarrassed to say that I have read them all several times (I even made Brian read Twilight but don't tell him I told you). Needless to say I was extremely excited about the movie. Well, the big day came and a group of us were their for the first showing at 12:00am.
I promised myself I was going to like the film no matter what, but they sure made it hard. I had no problem with any of the actor/actress choices (of course no one can be as gorgeous as Edward and the other Vamps are supposed to be) but I felt like they took out all of Edwards charm and didn't show how Bella and Edward fell in love. I could go on and on but I will just say that it was less than stellar and disappointing. In allegiance to the books, I will like the movie anyways and am excited for the next one.