Loving where you live

11 moves in 11 years of marriage. Now that Brent has started school we hope to stay here for a long time. We’ve loved getting to move around and see all parts of the country. One of the best parts of moving so much is being able to be a tourist in your own city, we’ve always been really excited to check out the best views, attractions, hidden gems and food in all the cities we’ve lived in. There really has been amazing things about each place we’ve called ‘home’ even if only for a short while – from the historical sites in DC, the BBQ in TX, the canyons in UT and the castles in Scotland. I feel like we feel settled here in Chino Hills and one of my favorite things about this suburban gem is all the parks and hiking trails. While we haven’t taken advantage of the hiking trails and state park (that supposedly have redwoods!) that are just minutes from us, we have because of the kids checked out a ton of parks. Chino Hills has a lot of open space preserved which is one of the most beautiful things about it. We are close to LA but far enough away to feel definitely suburban. One of my favorite places to walk around with the kids is the Chino Wetlands. It’s actually near a prison and an industrial area but inside the park is very peaceful!

chino ca wetlands park

chino ca wetlands park

chino ca wetlands parkchino ca wetlands parkchino ca wetlands parkchino ca wetlands parkchino ca wetlands parkchino ca wetlands park  chino ca wetlands park

chino ca wetlands park

Fall y’all

Growing up in Southern CA, I never was really aware of seasons until obviously moving to Utah for school. Since then, we’ve lived in cold climates, snow, extreme cold and extreme hot. I enjoy fall when the temperatures drop a little, the breeze picks up and evenings are so cool and pleasant. My favorite falls were when we lived in Virginia and the trees and changing colors were unreal! Today was the first day in LA area that it felt a little like fall, and only in the morning. This weekend brings another heat wave, ha, ha!

CA fall  fall outfit Tobi fall outfit Tobi sunrise necklace

fall outfit Tobi

CA fall

CA fallCA fall pumpkin patch

We’re looking forward to the fun things that fall brings besides maybe a small drop in temperature – dressing the kids up for Halloween and the upcoming holidays. This is the first time in our 11 years of marriage that we’ve lived in CA and it’ll be so nice not to have to travel far or in poor weather to be with family!

Wearing: grey cardigan / sun necklace / black top / birkenstocks / denim / Dr. Scholls leopard flats / lularoe leggings / thank you to Tobi for partnering on this post and for having affordable clothes that fit my style 🙂

German Pancakes with crispy edges recipe

This past weekend was General Conference and we enjoyed one of our favorite breakfasts – German Pancakes! We make them for special occasion breakfasts like Christmas and General Conference. It’s one of my favorite traditions because we all love them and they’re very easy to make! The recipe we use came from Dave’s family and we’ve tweaked it to have the edges crispy which I love.

The recipe (below) is very easy to make and doesn’t require much time to bake. My toppings of choice are either fruit or powdered sugar and Dave and the kids like syrup or fruit.german pancakes recipe

GERMAN PANCAKES RECIPE crispy edges

Trying a triathlon

This past weekend, Dave and I did our first sprint triathlon! Before the kids were born, we used to love riding our bikes together, running and exercising together. While we didn’t really get to train together (to be honest, neither of us trained very well in general ha, ha!) it was so fun to be able to do the race together! Dave was nice enough to stay with me the whole time and it was just refreshing to be outside together, enjoying the sunrise and peace.

The race was a reverse triathlon – run (5K), bike (12 miles), swim (150 yards) – in Apple Valley which is a small town a little over an hour north of Chino Hills. The course was everything we could’ve hope for – very flat and the swim was in a pool (as opposed to an ocean or lake which I wouldn’t have liked) and was very warm and clean. The race was through Apple Valley city and was very well organized.

The weather was perfect that morning and my parents were kind enough to come up Friday night and spend the night here to watch the kids during the race and take Brent to his t-ball game. Both Dave and I liked the reverse tri with the swim at the end, we would definitely do this race again!

 apple valley reverse sprint triathlon

apple valley reverse sprint triathlon apple valley reverse sprint triathlonapple valley reverse sprint triathlon

Summer highlights

This summer went by way too fast! We kicked off the summer with a road trip to Ansley’s baptism in Idaho with a few days in Salt Lake on our way up. We had an awesome staycation in Newport, an anniversary weekend in Seattle and then another road trip to Provo, Utah for Jake’s wedding! We saw the 7 Magic Mountains again, checked out the improved BYU bookstore, looked for Pokemon around campus, had Bam Bams BBQ with the LeSueurs and the Nashes who also happened to be visiting Utah, found some great babysitters for the wedding festivites – which included Bruges waffles, one of my favorite places in Utah!

The kids also took tennis and swim lessons the last half of summer at their future high school (when Tessa was finally potty trained, ha, ha!!!) They are continuing to improve with their swimming and being comfortable in the water. I think they liked tennis?? Maybe a little too early to tell if they’ll play when they’re older but we’ll probably do more lessons next summer!

Take them out to the ballgame

Brent and Tessa have gone to many sporting events…mostly in the womb however since their bedtime is at 8, ha, ha! Tessa’s sleep schedule changed over the summer (no more naps) and we’ve been able to take them more places like the Nationals at Dodgers game a few weeks ago. I loved going to Padres’ games with my family when I was younger and since we’ve been married we’ve gone to 20 of the 30 MLB ballparks together. This game the kids were more interested in the hot dogs and catching Pokemon but maybe one day hopefully they’ll develop a similar love of baseball!

nationals at dodgers game

nationals at dodgers game

nationals at dodgers game

 nationals at dodgers game

Put a curly W in the books!

The Perfect Day

What would your perfect day look like? Mine would definitely involve family, food and relaxing! Here’s what I would potentially plan:

8 am – wake up! Luckily for me, the kids usually get up around 8 to 8:30, I usually get up a little earlier so I can be ready for the day before they get up. Tessa also hasn’t really slept through the night since our Utah/Idaho trip 3 months ago so I would be thrilled if we all slept until 8!

8:30 – gym!  Dave and I have always enjoyed working out together (cycling, running, indoor soccer, lifting weights, circuit training, etc.) and usually don’t get to anymore besides Saturdays.

Beach – now that we’re close to the ocean again, any perfect day would definitely include playing and relaxing at the beach. I would also love some authentic hole in the wall Mexican restaurant to get take out to eat at the beach 🙂

 perfect day proverb band

perfect day proverb band

2 pm – this has been nap time for the last basically 5 years! Tessa recently stopped napping so now I would use this time for errands, shopping, or maybe a baseball game!

5:30 pm-dinner and dessert – I would probably pick Mexican or Thai food followed by dessert at Salt & Straw or Donut Friend. After driving back we’d go for a nice long walk in our neighborhood with Bruce to enjoy the sunset.

perfect day proverb band

perfect day proverb band salt and straw

8 pm- bedtime for the kids and Dave and I (and Bruce!) watch a movie, Netflix, catch up on our TV shows or read while listening to music.

10 pm- my bedtime! I love my sleep and enjoy being well rested every morning.

These are my favorite beach items and I have my favorite work out clothes on a later post. These photos are some things I would wear on a perfect day, a comfortable outfit for sunny CA.

Pocket T Shirt (old from gap) // Skirt from Target in store //  Sandals (they’re cork and SO comfortable!) // gold bracelets c/o Proverb Band (minimal and perfect, also promoting values I love: love and peace)

perfect day proverb band

perfect day proverb band

perfect day proverb band

Staycation: Newport Beach

We went on our first staycation a few weeks ago! We really enjoyed it because it was nice to have time away, relax while not having to travel far. We are blessed to live in an area where there is so much to do relatively close to us. Even though the kids are I go to Newport Beach every week, it was great to have Dave with us on our trip.

Dave’s parents let us stay in their Marriott timeshare which is an amazing location and gorgeous property. There are 3 pools, kid play areas with toys and crafts, a movie theater and game area. newport beach staycation

newport beach staycation

newport beach staycation

We also went to Balboa Island which is so gorgeous! We had frozen bananas at the banana stand and walked around to admire all the cute homes and boats in the harbor.

balboa island staycation banana stand

balboa island staycation banana stand

balboa island CA staycation

balboa island CA staycationThe next day we went to Crystal Cove beach. The beach sand area is small, down a flight of wooden stairs on the cliff and it’s so gorgeous! We had a section of the beach almost all to ourselves and had fun with the kids playing in the waves.

newport beach staycation

newport beach staycation

newport beach staycation

Our last day before heading back to Chino Hills, we stopped by the Santa Monica Pier for a churro and to ride the carousel.

newport beach staycation santa monica pier

newport beach staycation santa monica pier

I would definitely go on another staycation especially when there are so many cool places close to LA area – Santa Barbara, San Diego, Mexico, Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, La Vegas and Phoenix are all places we’ve thought about for our next staycation!

A dog’s life

If you know me, it’s no secret I love our corgi, Bruce. I’ve written about when we got Bruce in Virginia, our favorite dog products and ways to keep your living space clean with a dog. Since we got Bruce when he was just 6 weeks old, it was a lot of work house training, crate training, training not to chew, not to go in certain areas, etc but it’s definitely worth it and great preparation for kids, ha, ha! corgi bruce WISP broomcorgi bruce WISP broom

Bruce’s life consists of eating, sleeping a ton, hoping for us to throw his toys or give him bones, going on an evening walk and his favorite thing, ‘guarding’ the house – ha, ha! Corgi’s are small with a big bark and like to protect their home and family.

My favorite thing is how loyal dogs are and always want to cheer their owners up. Whenever we come home, it always makes us happy to be greeted by Bruce who is beyond excited to see us! Who wouldn’t want to come home and 100% of the time there is a cute dog eagerly waiting for them!?

Having a dog is also a great way to get in some exercise and move more! Dogs love to play and go on walks and we’ve loved our evening walks and occasional hikes with Bruce. They are great for our health and his health! I also love at night after the kids go to bed, Bruce will jump up on my lap while we relax for the night, usually by reading or catching up on our DVR or Netflix. He’s not only a great lap warmer in the winter but also very snuggly which I love! corgi bruce WISP broom

corgi bruce WISP broom

As I’ve mentioned before, corgis shed quite a bit, basically all year around! We love the FURminator deShedding Brush and now we have another awesome product that helps immensely with keeping our floors clean.. Like everyone, we’ve had a basic broom that does a mediocre job collecting crumbs, dirt, dust, pet hair, etc. Now enter the WISP broom. The broom head is angled and designed to collect and gather instead of sweep. It is great for cleaning under tables, cabinets, edges, etc. The bristles act more like a squeegee to trap the dust and debris. They are still soft and don’t scratch wood or tile floors.

Another thing I love is that the dustpan is designed to be used with your foot, which makes it much easier to put the debris into the dustpan. The dustpan also has ridges where you can scrape the bristles to remove any particles stuck in the bristles. It doesn’t take out 100% of the debris but definitely pulls out a lot and makes it easier to clean the broom bristles. Traditional broom bristles are much harder to clean unless you manually pull out the debris and hairs. With a dog and 2 little kids, the WISP broom is an awesome tool that doesn’t cost a hand and a leg (like the robotic vacuums I’ve previously posted about!) The classic WISP broom cost $29.95.

wisp broom pet hair

wisp broom pet hair

wisp broom brush pet hair

This post brought to you by WISP – thanks for helping us maintain a clean home! All opinions on this product review are obviously my own 🙂

Road Trip

This last week we took a long, long road trip up the 15 to Idaho Falls to visit my sister, Emily, for her daughter’s baptism. While I’ve driven the stretch between Utah and San Diego countless times, there was something new to see: the Seven Magic Mountains! It’s a temporary (free!) public art exhibit between Jean, Nevada and Las Vegas. I love rocks and these brightly colored rock stacks in the middle of nowhere were gorgeous!

road trip with kids

road trip with kids

road trip with kids

road trip with kids

road trip with kids

We spent two days in Salt Lake City catching up with friends, Dave’s family, seeing Melinda’s adorable baby for the first time, and eating a ton of food at places we loved when we lived in Utah (like Royal India, Moochies, Originial House of Pancakes, Park Cafe). We stayed in an AirBnB in Holladay that was a good experience. I sometimes prefer an AirBnB over a hotel because you have more kitchen amenities and often more space. This trip we stayed in a fully furnished basement apartment and when we moved to Texas we ‘rented’ out a townhouse for 2 weeks while waiting to close on our house.

It was fun to be with my entire family for the weekend! Now that we’re kind of all spread out, it’s rare that we’re all together. I loved seeing Brent and Tessa play with their little cousins and the opportunity we had to tour the Idaho Falls temple which was recently renovated.

road trip with kids

road trip with kids

road trip with kids

We felt like we were on the road driving most of the time and the kids were pretty good considering the 4 days of travel and Tessa missed her nap almost everyday. We drove to Salt Lake, stayed for 2 days, then drove to Idaho. On the way back, we drove from Idaho Falls to St. George and spend the night before finishing the last stretch of the drive back to Chino Hills. This was Tessa on the drive, ha, ha:

We tried to pack new snacks for the kids, like treats they usually don’t get. We also planned a few ‘surprises’ to give them during the trip, new small toys and boogie boards (LCD e-writers) that were a hit with them!

road trip with kids

road trip with kids

St. George temple grounds ^