For some quick laughs, check out what our family has been up to today...(I know...SO productive!):
Lybbert Family: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1123252270
Nana & Papa: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1119343364
Saville Grandchildren: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1126858107
Grandma & Grandpa: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1126710084
Ben, Jenny Fam: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1122499989
Lara & Greg: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1121285827
Nelson Family: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1121975617
Eric & Denise: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1130058702
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
October in the Lybbert Family...
Well, when we made our brief trip down to Utah, we split up our time in Utah by driving down to Arizona for about 5 days. Ella managed to catch a wonderful flu-type bug for the first day of the drive [Thank you, Cole! Hehee....] ! And although I won't go into the details...I'll tell you that I'm looking for a good car-upholstery cleaning company... Ella was just wonderful to be in the car with for the rest of the trip (sense my sarcasm). "My belly hurts!" she exclaimed every 5 minutes! She seemed to feel perfectly better after a day or two...but the moaning didn't subside. By the way...I think I need to invent a lovely seatbelt pillow that wraps around the lap part of children's seat belts (You know...like they make for the shoulder straps?!). Life on road trips could be so much more pleasant! Don't let her beautiful smile in the picture fool you...she was miserable for most of the trip down and back from Arizona!We stayed at a few nice resorts in Arizona, and managed to soak up some sun in the swimming pools. Arizona is a beautiful DRY place...and when it came down to it...we realized that although the winter temperatures are so pleasant...we really missed GREEN landscapes and FRESH WATER (rivers, lakes, oceans, etc)! There just seemed to be no escape from the burning sun! I suppose Arizona won't be our winter resting spot in future years...and so, the search goes on.
We made a day of going to the Phoenix Zoo, which left much to be desired, unfortunately. Perhaps it was just the heat, and the fact that none of the animals seemed to be visible in their zoo habitats! Also, Ella refused to sit in the stroller, and insisted on being carried (not by THIS pregnant woman...but poor daddy got to carry her...). The best part of the zoo had nothing to do with the animals...it was the water "sprinkler" play area for kids! Ella loved it, and yes, we let her go shirtless (I wrote topless first...but it seemed too obscene)!
While traveling south of Phoenix, we stopped in on the community of Rancho Sahuarita. We loved the planned family community, which neighbors Green Valley, a nice 55+ Community. We stopped in on a lucky October-Fest Day, and the whole neighborhood was enjoying outdoor activities at the neighborhood club. Ella got to join in at the little petting zoo, ride a mini train, jump in inflatable play-areas, play in the playground, and she could h
ave even taken a pumpkin home with her (but we didn't want it sitting in the car for the next week)! Ella particularly liked petting the pig...When we returned to Washington, it was just a few days before Halloween. On Halloween Day, just before leaving the house, we got Ella dressed up in her beautiful Chinese outfit (compliments of her Nana & Papa Saville, who lived in China briefly as she was in Alisa's womb)! We gave Ella her bag, and explained to her that she would hold out the bag, say "Tr
ick of Treat," and that people would put candy in her bag. She lit up when she heard the word "CANDY!"When we arrived at our church's "Trunk of Treat" activity, Ella immediately became silent, but managed to hold out her candy bag to scoop up lots of goodies! About 75% of the way through, she got up the guts to finally say "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you!" And of course, she avoided the "Scary" trunk, and didn't want to have anything to do with it! Lucky for us, she forgot about the candy the next day, and we secretly have been enjoying it for weeks! Gee...candy rots kid's teeth, you know! ;)
Other than these fun activities...life back in Washington has been mostly work, and not too much play! Nothing too exciting, with the exception of discovering that our storage was broken into as we were moving out of it. I guess we can be very grateful that they didn't get much that can't be replaced, or is very valuable...but we still turn to each other occasionally and say something like, "Hmm...have you seen the popcorn popper" "No..." "Well...I guess they got that, too..."
As for work...this is the time of year that we prepare all of our Holiday advertising for our business (physical mailers, and emails), and we have had the lovely adventure of changing web hosts for our website...which has been a worthwhile challenge!
The new baby is due to arrive in about 3 weeks, and Alisa's feeling rushed to get life organized again. Mainly, this means cleaning up the mess of business files, invoices, and receipts that have been building up since April, when we returned to Alaska this past Spring. In the summer we are just too busy to keep up with accounting, so the winter is spent playing catch-up!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
I was Tagged!
Well, my sister, Lea, just "Tagged" me...So that means...
The rules when you are tagged:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people (okay, so it was originally 6, but I am changing it since I don't know that many people with blogs!) and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog. (So WATCH OUT - You MIGHT be tagged NEXT!!!)
1. I am not a morning person. In fact, an alarm clock is pretty much a waste on me...really, the only thing that gets me up is a screaming child, or my husband telling me I really do have to wake up now! On the other hand, we tend to stay up very late at night. Ella is much calmer and easy-going at night, so I've found that I can get a great deal more accomplished at night! Therefore...late bedtime...and no early rising in this house!
2. I have an obsession with Vaseline as lip gloss! I can't stand other lip glosses or lip products...Vaseline is the only thing for me! I must reapply it about every 30 minutes, or else! There is nothing more miserable than going to run errands or going to church, and realizing that I did not bring one of the billion little Vaseline jars with me! My husband can't stand Vaseline...but he is pretty tolerant of my obsession :)
3. I have a hard time relating to people. Perhaps it's due to the "Alaska-influence," and my strong beliefs that "stuff" doesn't make a person (cars, houses, decor, etc). I think that life experiences are more important than all the "stuff" in the world. I would rather travel forever and experience new things, and meet new people, than own the most beautiful home in the world. This is one thing that I admire about RVers I meet in Alaska. They are not attached to anything, and are the happiest, friendliest people I have ever met. Their home is a rectangular box, the same size as some people's living room or kitchen, but they don't lust after, and obsess about getting more. I love that...!
4. I LOVE AIR. Okay, my family will start laughing at this...because I've always been obsessed with "fresh" air! But there is nothing more refreshing than cool, fresh air. I hate air conditioning, and would prefer to have the car windows down, or all of the doors and windows open in a house. A nice breeze is essential, however, and 75 degrees is about the max temperature that I can now comfortably enjoy! Blame that on Alaska, too...
5. I have the most stubborn child in the world. Surely she didn't get that from me...hahaha!! She drives me nuts sometimes, and at the same time, but that stubbornness also makes me laugh so so so hard! She also is fashion-obsessed, which is something that she obviously didn't get from me (really). I'm already dreading her teenage years...and hope that I can do as good of a job as my parents did with all of the kids in my family...
6. I LOVE FRESH FRUITS AND VEGGIES! Offer me fruit and veggies, and I'll skip all the hamburgers, Big Mac's, and whatever else you want to offer me. I could live on just a diet of asparagus, pineapple, raspberries, broccoli...and the list goes on :) I had always considered my self a borderline vegetarian growing up...not because I didn't believe in eating meats...but because I have always preferred to have a plate full of veggies than a big juicy steak.
So there are my 6 random facts/habits about me. Now I'm going to tag Christina, Michelle, and Brittany! No tag backs!
The rules when you are tagged:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people (okay, so it was originally 6, but I am changing it since I don't know that many people with blogs!) and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog. (So WATCH OUT - You MIGHT be tagged NEXT!!!)
1. I am not a morning person. In fact, an alarm clock is pretty much a waste on me...really, the only thing that gets me up is a screaming child, or my husband telling me I really do have to wake up now! On the other hand, we tend to stay up very late at night. Ella is much calmer and easy-going at night, so I've found that I can get a great deal more accomplished at night! Therefore...late bedtime...and no early rising in this house!
2. I have an obsession with Vaseline as lip gloss! I can't stand other lip glosses or lip products...Vaseline is the only thing for me! I must reapply it about every 30 minutes, or else! There is nothing more miserable than going to run errands or going to church, and realizing that I did not bring one of the billion little Vaseline jars with me! My husband can't stand Vaseline...but he is pretty tolerant of my obsession :)
3. I have a hard time relating to people. Perhaps it's due to the "Alaska-influence," and my strong beliefs that "stuff" doesn't make a person (cars, houses, decor, etc). I think that life experiences are more important than all the "stuff" in the world. I would rather travel forever and experience new things, and meet new people, than own the most beautiful home in the world. This is one thing that I admire about RVers I meet in Alaska. They are not attached to anything, and are the happiest, friendliest people I have ever met. Their home is a rectangular box, the same size as some people's living room or kitchen, but they don't lust after, and obsess about getting more. I love that...!
4. I LOVE AIR. Okay, my family will start laughing at this...because I've always been obsessed with "fresh" air! But there is nothing more refreshing than cool, fresh air. I hate air conditioning, and would prefer to have the car windows down, or all of the doors and windows open in a house. A nice breeze is essential, however, and 75 degrees is about the max temperature that I can now comfortably enjoy! Blame that on Alaska, too...
5. I have the most stubborn child in the world. Surely she didn't get that from me...hahaha!! She drives me nuts sometimes, and at the same time, but that stubbornness also makes me laugh so so so hard! She also is fashion-obsessed, which is something that she obviously didn't get from me (really). I'm already dreading her teenage years...and hope that I can do as good of a job as my parents did with all of the kids in my family...
6. I LOVE FRESH FRUITS AND VEGGIES! Offer me fruit and veggies, and I'll skip all the hamburgers, Big Mac's, and whatever else you want to offer me. I could live on just a diet of asparagus, pineapple, raspberries, broccoli...and the list goes on :) I had always considered my self a borderline vegetarian growing up...not because I didn't believe in eating meats...but because I have always preferred to have a plate full of veggies than a big juicy steak.
So there are my 6 random facts/habits about me. Now I'm going to tag Christina, Michelle, and Brittany! No tag backs!
Friday, November 2, 2007
Well, we survived the trip down from Alaska with relatively little trouble! Ella tolerated the drive the best that can be expected, and by the end of the trip, all three of us (4 including the baby in the belly) were ready to get out of the car!
We arrived at our apartment back in Kennewick, Washington (Tri-Cities), in ear
ly October, and stayed put for about a week. We knew that time was ticking for us to put in a vacation, since Alisa's growing belly was going to keep us homebound starting in November. So, after one week of being back, we packed up the car and took off for a short vacation.
We first went and visited Alisa's sister, Lea, and her family in Lehi, Utah. Lea has 2 boys, Cole (the same age as Ella), and Hunter, who is 5. Ella was thrilled to be able to play with her cousins, or "My Friends!" as she called them! While there, we were able to just hang out and relax, go to the Discovery Children's Museum in Salt Lake City, and go on a short "hike" to Bridal Veil Falls in the canyon.
Ella also enjoyed opening up boxes of hand-me-down clothing that a family friend in Kansas has given to her. As you can see in the center picture, she has a unique style, all her own! She also has a promising future (as does Hunter) as a weather broadcaster.
In the lower right-hand photo, Ella showed her dark-side while at Lea's house! She can just be the happiest little girl, and then...wham! Suddenly, she whips out that glare, and the smiles are over!
We arrived at our apartment back in Kennewick, Washington (Tri-Cities), in ear
ly October, and stayed put for about a week. We knew that time was ticking for us to put in a vacation, since Alisa's growing belly was going to keep us homebound starting in November. So, after one week of being back, we packed up the car and took off for a short vacation.We first went and visited Alisa's sister, Lea, and her family in Lehi, Utah. Lea has 2 boys, Cole (the same age as Ella), and Hunter, who is 5. Ella was thrilled to be able to play with her cousins, or "My Friends!" as she called them! While there, we were able to just hang out and relax, go to the Discovery Children's Museum in Salt Lake City, and go on a short "hike" to Bridal Veil Falls in the canyon.
Ella also enjoyed opening up boxes of hand-me-down clothing that a family friend in Kansas has given to her. As you can see in the center picture, she has a unique style, all her own! She also has a promising future (as does Hunter) as a weather broadcaster.In the lower right-hand photo, Ella showed her dark-side while at Lea's house! She can just be the happiest little girl, and then...wham! Suddenly, she whips out that glare, and the smiles are over!
