Spring Program 2010...

This weekend started a little differently for Ellie and I. Her Spring Program was on Friday, which meant we didn't head up to Utah until Friday morning. Ellie's program was entertaining as it always is. This time Ellie had a speaking part, and she was very excited about the whole thing. However, when it came time for her to speak, she pulled the microphone off the stand and tried to get it back into the stand, and so she never said her line. However, she was really cute and had a fun time singing and dancing.

Once the program was over, we headed to St. George. We stopped in Primm to grab some lunch at Taco Bell. While we were waiting for order to be made, Ellie started running around with a little girl who was about her age. When it was time to go Ellie gave this little girl a big hug. It was adorable.  We finally made it St. George only to find out that Amy wasn't home. What's up with that? So Ellie called Amy and told her to come home and to bring Anna. Amy obliged, and we spent the evening watching Ghost Whisperer and eating pizza.

Saturday was spent going grocery shopping and just relaxing. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, we have been trying to put Ellie's room in St. George together. So Ellie and I painted some picture frames pink. Eventually we are going to have a ton of pictures hanging up on her wall. These pictures are going to be of all of Ellie's family and some of her artwork. It sounds like a great idea in my mind. We shall see if we can pull it off. Later that afternoon, we all went for a walk and one of the ladies that Amy works with saw us out for a walk, so she cornered us, so she could meet Anna for the first time. Once the walk was over, Ellie helped me make chicken stroganoff for dinner.

On Sunday we all went to the church together. It was Anna's first time and she made it through all 3 hours, so that was a win. Ellie was fantastic at church and was very excited to see her primary teacher. As soon as Sacrament was over, Ellie ran over to her and said hi. I think it caught her teacher off-guard. We all came home and took a nice Sunday afternoon nap, and then Ellie and I made white chicken chili for dinner. I love that stuff. :)

Monday was probably the most fun day for everyone. Amy's sister Donna graduates from high school later this week, so all of Amy's family except her oldest sister were in town. That afternoon we roasted hot dogs and we all hung out. Ellie had fun playing with Amy's nephew Colby. We got home really late and Ellie just went down for bed. 

We all slept in on Tuesday. Then I made some breakfast for Ellie, and then Ellie and I took care of Anna, while Amy got some rest, since we were leaving later in the afternoon. The only other thing we did that day was make some lunch, before heading back to SoCal. The drive was uneventful, but we did make two stops. First we stopped at the outlet malls in Primm to get Ellie some new clothes. Then we stopped in Saugus to drop-off some soda to my friend Kristin. I think she tears of gratitude in her eyes, when she saw me with caffeine-free, Diet Dr. Pepper. :) Then it was off to Pasadena to drop Ellie off at her Kim's. Just another weekend for Ellie and Dad!

Freezing to Death at the Beach

This weekend was a pretty relaxed weekend. Ellie and I just hung out in SoCal for the weekend. I needed to get caught up on school work, and get ready for finals. Kim had been in San Diego during the day on Friday, so she dropped off Ellie with me on her way home. We weren't feeling too energetic, so we just hung out at Stan and Debbie's and watched some television and made some dinner.

Saturday was pretty much more of the same. The only difference was we decided to go to the beach. It was pretty warm in Buena Park when we decided to go. However the beach was a completely different story. It was really breezy and quite cold. So we didn't stay too long, but Ellie had a lot of fun playing in the sand and running around.

We came home, did a little bit of shopping and we ended the day by getting ice cream. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but since Ellie had already been bathed it pretty much was. Chocolate ice cream and a freshly bathed child don't go together very well, as those of you that have seen my facebook page can attest. However, we survived and all is well.

Sunday was a pretty typical Sunday. We woke-up really early and drove the 60 miles to Saugus to go to church. Church was great, as it always is. Ellie had fun in primary and I had fun as well. Once church was over we drove home and Stan and Debbie had just gotten back from their 2-week vacation to Utah and Idaho. We helped them get stuff out of the car, before everyone took a nap. After we woke-up, Ellie and I went for a little walk, before hanging out for the rest of the night and then going to bed.

Surprise... we are back in St. George

Another weekend, another trip to St. George. This trip started off pretty close as the last trip. I had a basketball game Thursday night, but since I didn't have anyone to watch Ellie, she stayed with Kim. Immediately after the game I drove to Pasadena, picked up Ellie and it was off to St. George. However this time we didn't stop in Vegas, because we were on the road about 45 minutes earlier. This meant we ended up in St George around 3:30 in the morning.

Ellie woke up at some insane time, and I took her downstairs and turned on Toy Story. Don't you love my parenting technique? However, both of us fell asleep before the movie ended. Once we woke up and got ready for the day, Amy and Anna were both going back to sleep. So Ellie and I went out and did some shopping for Mothers Day.

After doing some grocery shopping on Saturday, Ellie and I made some white-chocolate chip, macadamia nut cookies. Apparently this was the weekend of cooking, as we made pot roast and German Chocolate cake on Sunday.

On Sunday, Ellie and I slept in, but I still wanted to go to church. I forgot that the ward Amy is in meets at 11, and so I was stressing to get to the 9:00 ward. We showed up a little late, but we still were there for part of the first hour. Once we got there, I realized I didn't recognize a single person there. It was then when I realized that Amy's ward meets at 11:00. Oh well, that would just mean we would be home from church by noon.

Once church ended, we went home, ate some lunch and hung out for awhile. Later in the afternoon we went over to Amy's parents' house and hung out for awhile. Her entire family that lives in St. George was there, so that was nice. It was fun to see them all fuss over Anna, who just wanted to sleep. When we got home Ellie and I cleaned up and packed for the return trip. Then I helped Amy put Anna down for the night, before I went to sleep since I had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to drive back to SoCal.

Jessica Elizabeth gets to meet Anna Elizabeth

Well this weekend, will be one of the most memorable weekends of my life, and potentially for Ellie as well. I say potentially for Ellie, because I don't know how much of it she will remember since she is only 3-1/2. I know I don't remember anything from when I was 3-1/2, although I do remember my 4th birthday. Anyway...

The weekend started on Thursday evening for us. I picked up Ellie from school and we drove into Valencia because I had a rec league basketball game that night. However it wasn't until 8:45, so we had some time to kill. How do Ellie and Dad kill time? We go to McDonalds where Ellie can play on the playground, while Dad can do homework. This guarantees that everyone has a fun time.

After we were done with McDonald's, we went to one of the local high schools and I had my game. We won by 6 or 7 and I lit up the opposing team for 20 points and 10+ boards. I love it when a decision is made to put a 5'9" guy on me. I pretty much dominate. :)

Once the game was over, we hopped into the car and took off for Vegas. Normally we would go all the way to St. George, but we didn't get out of Valencia until 10:00, and I didn't feel like driving until 3:00 in the morning.  So we got into Vegas around 1:30 and spent the night at the Excalibur, which Ellie enjoyed because she got to stay in a castle. It took some time, but I was finally able to get Ellie back to sleep and we got about 6 hours of sleep.

The next morning, we woke up around 8:00, got Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast, and then drove the 90 minutes to St. George, where we had lunch with Amy. After that it was time for me and Ellie. We woke-up after Amy got home from work. This will be her last day of work for awhile, did some grocery shopping, bought Ellie a Dora bed, and then hung out at home for the rest of the evening, before going to bed.

Saturday was pretty chill. I woke-up really early and ran 18 miles. When I got back to the house, Ellie and I made waffles, and then I took Ellie over to Jessi's house, so she could hang out with Boyd and Jessi. I love that Jessi and Boyd live in St. George, because Ellie gets to see them, but I also dislike it a little bit, because that cuts into the small amount of time I get with Ellie these days. However, Ellie loves Boyd and Jessi, and that is what really counts. Once we got Ellie, we went to the inspirational portion of the weekend. Amy, Ellie and I all went to see the Ironman race being held in St. George. Those guys are freaking insane. Seriously, why would anyone want to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 all in one day. I could do it today, if I wanted to. However, I am too big of a wuss. Although everytime I see it, I feel the urge to try one day. :) Anyway, after hanging around there for about an hour, it was back to the house to make tacos for dinner. Then I put Ellie down for bed, Amy and I watched a movie, and that was that.

Which leads us to the memorable portion of the weekend. Amy woke me up around 5:00 to say she was having contractions. What kind of contractions? For those of you that don't know, Amy is pregnant, or maybe I should say she was pregnant. Amy and I have known each other since February of last year. However we didn't meet until the last weekend of August. What neither of us knew at the time that we met, but have since learned, is that she was pregnant. Obviously we have had some interesting conversations when our friends and family found out, but the great thing is how supportive everyone has been. Anyway, long story short, Amy gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Anna Elizabeth Needham.

I would go into my more detail, but this blog is about the adventures that Ellie and I have together. So I will keep it about that. If you want to know more details, just ask. So on that note, one of the great things about today is that Ellie got to hold a newborn. Of course, she doesn't understand all of that, and kept telling the nurses that she was holding her sister. It was precious, especially when she sang to Anna. She also told everyone what she was to teach Anna (i.e. how to cross the street, how not to kick Ellie, how to draw, etc.).  I am so glad she was with me this weekend. As a result of this, I am skipping school Monday, and will bring Amy and Anna home, before Ellie and I take off at an insanely early hour on Tuesday.

So there you go... a very memorable weekend for the Dad and Ellie. I am not quite sure how we will top that, but I am sure we will.

Going to the Zoo and Hangin' with Kaylee

Ellie and I hung out in SoCal this week. I have a ton going on with school, so Kim watched her through Saturday morning. We met at Noah's and ate a little bit of breakfast. Actually Kim and Ellie at breakfast. I was still feeling the effects of my 16-mile run from earlier in the morning, and food didn't sound good. Instead I watch Ellie run around the little patio area, and learned that Ellie will tell people that big dogs aren't, in fact, dog, but they are bears. People aren't really sure what to say when a little girl tells them that their dog is a bear.

After breakfast, Ellie and I headed off to the zoo. She really wanted to see a giraffe, so we went and saw the giraffe. For some reason only 1 of them was out when we were there, but one is better than none. So saw most of the animals, and Ellie played at the playground for awhile, before we headed up to Santa Clarita. We got up there and were going to go to Subway for lunch, but Ellie had just fallen asleep, so we hung out in the car for about an hour while she slept. Once she woke-up we went to Subway and had lunch.

Next stop for the day was the playground. Ellie had an absolute blast. I still can't believe how social she is. Almost immediately she went up to this little girl who was digging a hole in the sand and Ellie asked if she could help. The little girl said yes and they spent the next 30 minutes digging a hole in the sand. How fun is that? She also ended up playing with a little boy for awhile. They kicked a soccer ball back and forth as well as chased each other all over the place. It was fun to see her have so much fun.

Finally, we went over to my friends Mike and Jaimee's house. They were nice enough to let us crash there for Saturday and Sunday night. Ellie was excited all day to go there, because she wanted to play with their 2-year old daughter Kaylee. I think Ellie thinks she is Kaylee's oldest daughter. That night Mike and Jaimee invited some of other friends over and we had a game night, with 8 kids in the house (Ellie and Kaylee and 6 others). Once that was over, it was bedtime.

Sunday was pretty typical. We woke-up, got ready for church, came home and took a nap. The cutest thing of the weekend was after Sacrament Meeting was over. As soon as it was over, Ellie grabbed Kaylee's hand and walked her to the nursery. Ellie dropped her off, and told Kaylee she would pick her up after nursery was over. Then Ellie proceeded to go to her class. Once church was over, Ellie was anxious to go pick up Kaylee from the nursery, which we did. After that was accomplished, we went back to Mike and Jaimee's for a nap.

Once the nap was over, Ellie, Tyler (Kaylee's older brother) and I made cookies, before heading over to Jaimee's parents house for dinner. Dinner was great. This was the 2nd time Ellie and I have had Sunday dinner with their family. It was a lot of fun. Jaimee's parents are great, as her youngest brother and his wife. Ellie and Kaylee had a blast playing with Kaylee's cousin on the trampoline.

Once dinner was over, it was back to Mike and Jaimee's where we got all the kids ready for bed. Before bed, they all watched an episode of Curious George. Then Ellie fought me for a few minutes, but she finally went to bed, and that was our weekend. All in all it was a great weekend. However, before I forget there are two other things I want to say.

First... last week at church Ellie decided to sing the hymns. This is great, but it was hilarious. Obviously, she doesn't know the words to the hymns, nor does she know the tune. However, that didn't stop her. She was singing at the top of her lungs, and she was singing about all sorts of things. It was so funny, that Amy had to step outside into the foyer because she was laughing so much.

Second, and perhaps more importantly to me. I am so thankful for my friends. I have been extremely blessed to be surrounded by such great people. The last 18 months have been difficult to say the least. Having such a great family and Amy has helped so much. However, my friends are nearly as important in where I am at. They have been such a support, and they have helped so much. So to Mike, Jaimee, Ryan, Megan, Royce, Kristen and Tammy and everyone else... thanks. I don't know where I would be without you guys...

Just another weekend in St. George

Well another weekend trip to St. George is in the books. How many times have Ellie and I been there in the past seven or eight months. Eight? Ten? Who knows. All I know is that there have been many trips up there, and they have all been fun.

Our story for this one picks up at a gas station in San Dimas? Why a gas station, and why San Dimas. Well, Kim is kind of enough to bring Ellie to me, and San Dimas is essentially halfway between Fullerton and Pasadena. Why a gas station? Well I need to top off the car, before heading off on the remaining 360 miles to St. George. Anyway...

I pick up Ellie and we drive to St. George. The drive was pretty uneventful, until we got to the entrance of the Virgin River Gorge in Arizona. As I am entering the gorge, I realize the gas light is on in the car. This wouldn't be such a bad thing, except I had no idea how long it had been on, and there aren't any gas stations until we drive the last 30 miles in St. George. It is safe to say that I was praying that we would have enough gas. Thankfully we made it to Amy's and we fell asleep as soon as we arrived.

This weekend was pretty chill. Having said that, Ellie likes where Amy now lives a lot, because there is a playground and a pool. Granted her last place had a pool, we just never visited, and a golf course is almost like a playground. :) So we spent some time at the playground and at the pool. I even managed to get Ellie to try and float on her back, which she succeeded in doing for about two seconds. Then she freaked out a little bit, when she realized i wasn't holding her up in the water anymore.

Saturday was probably Ellie's favorite day. There was a kite festival going on that day. Now we didn't happen to go until the end. However, we went for the fireworks, and I told Ellie that we were going to see fireworks that night. She was so excited all day. When we finally got to the festival, we parked our car and rode a school bus to the actual festival. Ellie was in heaven. She ran all over the place, playing with the kids, while waiting for the fireworks. Finally they came, and she was in heaven. When they ended she called up Grandma Debbi and told her all about them.

Sunday was a little different. We went to church at Amy's new ward for Sacrament Meeting. Then she went to Primary for an hour, before we had to go to a different ward's Sacrament Meeting. The reason we went to Sacrament Meeting at a 2nd ward is because there was a missionary homecoming for a couple that just returned from the West Indies Mission. They are actually parents of Jacquie, who is a lady that Amy works with. It was great fun to hear what is going on in Trinidad and Guyana. Although I am not sure that Ellie cared.

We woke up really early Monday morning and got back to Pasadena by 10:30, so Ellie could go to school. The only other thing I wanted to mention is our new nighttime routine. We have actually been doing this for the past couple of months. It takes 45-60 minutes, but it seems to work well, and both Ellie and I enjoy it.

It goes like this-

-Take a bath
-Read a chapter out of the Book of Mormon (We are through 2 Nephi 2)
-Say family prayers
-Brush teeth
-Read Ellie's special book, which is a book, where it is narrated by Kim
-Say Ellie prayers
-Turn on an episode of Dora - if Ellie has been good that day
-Fall asleep listening to Enya and watching the screensaver of Ellie and the temples

Fun times. This weekend we will be staying in California, but we will be spending a couple nights with the Tolentinos up in Valencia. It should be great fun. So until then..

Update of the last 8 months...

Well I can't believe it has been nearly 8 months since I last wrote in this thing. Mom keeps telling me I haven't updated it in forever, and then last night Amy tells me that she wants to start a blog. So as I sit here watching the Masters (Yes, I am rooting for Tiger Woods) while Ellie is napping, I figured I would update it.

Obviously I can't update everything that Ellie and I have managed to do in the last several months, but I can try and summarize...

September

• Weekend of 9/5 - We spent at Lois and Tom's house. I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon that weekend.
• Weekend of 9/19 - Took a last minute trip to St. George and spent the weekend with Amy
• Weekend of 9/26 - Drove up to Sacramento for Cody and Shea's wedding. My entire family was there. The "highlight" of the weekend was the failed attempt at family pictures. The real highlight of the weekend was beating Dad and Barry in golf, and spending the whole weekend in a convertible Mustang

October

• Weekend of 10/3 - Drove to St. George so I could run the St. George Marathon. My parents met Amy. I met Amy's parents and I ran a p.r. of 3:29
• Weekend of 10/17 - SDSU-BYU football game
• Week of 10/19 - Due to furlough days I had a week off from school and we spent the week in St. George and Orem

November

• Weekend of 11/12 - Weekend in St. George
• Week of 11/22 - Thanksgiving week spent in St. George and Orem

December

• Weekend of 12/5 - Weekend in St. George and Orem, with Amy and my family
• Weekend of 12/11 - Ellie's Christmas Program

December 26 - January 25

• I picked up Ellie from St. George
• Spent the first week in Orem with my entire family and Amy
• Took a weekend trip to Phoenix with Amy so I could run a half marathon (1:34)

February

• Week of 2/13-2/22 - Week in St. George and Orem due to furlough days

March

• Weekend of 3/13 - Weekend in St. George
• Week of 3/27 - 4/5 - Week in Orem and St. George for my Spring Break. Most of the first half of the week was spent moving Amy's stuff from her condo into her new place. Fun times...

There you have it. Nothing has really changed, as Ellie and I have spent a lot of time on the road. Most of our time has been spent in St. George as that is where Amy lives, and it is much easier for me to go see her, than it is for her to come down and see me. In case you didn't know, Amy is my girlfriend, significant other, best friend or any other synonym related to those previous words. Thankfully she and Ellie get along great, and the three of us have a lot of fun when we are all together.

Life has been crazy for me, which in turn has made Ellie's life crazy. I still have been unable to find a job. However this fact has allowed me to push through school, and I will be all done with my classes, and once I finish my thesis I will have my M.S. in kinesiology. The plan after that will be to take a year off from school, work, before starting a PhD program somewhere so I can become a professor. When I tell people about my plan, the question I always get is - "What's the plan for you and Ellie." Unfortunately I don't have all the answers for that. I am trying to find a program in the West that will allow me to stay relatively close to Ellie (i.e. Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah). After that I want to find a job that is really close to wherever Kim and Ellie are living.

Anyway... I am going to make a better attempt to update this every weekend, so I will try and get something new in here by Monday afternoon.