A Trip to YaYa's

Kendra and the girls came to YaYa's house to swim and have some girl time! It was a very fun few days. There was swimming, basketball in the pool, long talks with the birds, boat rides, YaYa fell in the pool trying to get a ball for Peyton, we played with my old Barbies, had poolside tea parties and lunches, Peyton found and lost a ladybug and played with some of my Dad's musical instruments, we colored, and when the kids went to bed, Kendra and I worked on scrapbooks and just and a blast!!

Santa Cruz Moments

Here are some pictures from a recent trip to Santa Cruz to see the Kertson's. I have noticed lately that I come home with a ton of pictures of the girls and none of Kendra and I...times they change! :)

Someone let a frog in the house! (She makes the noise and everything!)

On the way to church!

YaYa got to pick out Peyton's clothes and hair style. These are her very first little pigtail braids!

Such a flirt! She gets that from her Mom!

So darn cute!!

My name used to be YaYa...we are thinking of changing it to Mrs. Pots!

Tea party with Bubba!

Dress up!

Kendra took this because she was freaking out about how much Amber looks like me!
She could totally pass for my kid!

Getting comfy while she watches Mickey!

Praise Him! When Peyton was this age we used to crack up over her "sleep praise" hands and now Amber does them too! It is even cuter since Amber's middle name means praise!

At the giant artichoke showing off her new apron the my Mom made for her!

Another Target moment! I am thinking of starting a whole set of posts just about Peyton in Target because I always get the best pictures of here while we are there!

The Family Garden

I am so far behind in my blogging that I have not even talked about The Family Garden yet and it has been over a month long process already! So I am going to combine all about it in this one blog and then try to keep it updated from here on...we shall see! :)

Growing up my family always had a garden! Last year we didn't get our act together soon enough to have a "real" one so this year I was sort of the ringleader about getting a good one started. Well, in my house being the ringleader usually means you have a bunch of work to do before everyone else joins you! So, my job started with turning the earth in our plot out back. This went on for several days and was no fun! One of the things I had to do was kill any snails I saw...well I was having no part of this so my Dad and I made a deal that I collected them and then would go inside and he would kill the snails. I really don't like the sound they make when the are smashed and feel a little bad about killing them. Look how many I found in just 30 mins outside.



After everything was ready we made a family trip to the nursery to get the plants and seeds we wanted.

Even the dog came along!

We got lots of yummy stuff (tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, cilantro, basil, chives, Italian parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary, beans, and then headed home to plant.

Here are the pictures of Phase 1 of the Jamieson Family Garden!!!!

This is the chair my Dad set up towards the end in order to "supervise" the operation! He had had enough work and just wanted to watch! :) Thanks Dad!

Grades are in...

I would love to make this post a flowery, emotionally drawn out moment about school and the highs and lows of the situation but I honestly just don't have it in me right now. At some point I will get around to blogging about all the lovely details but right now I just want to scream from the roof that....

I got straight A's for the 3rd straight semester!!!!!!

Wow, it even feels good to type it! :) I am home alone and just found out so I had to share!!

"Blah" Days

I have had a pretty "blah" day today. All day I have been feeling a bit down, just an over all sense of "blah". Nothing is wrong, no horrible thing dragging me down in life. I have just felt off all day. This morning after I got up I checked my calender and saw that not only was nothing due or schedule for today, there is really nothing of importance this week or even the next. It looked more than a little empty. The day got less exciting from there. With the busy life that I led I am usually overwhelmed with joy to have a few free days, I still have school and work but nothing big is due or planned and that normally brings me joy...not today. Then you add in that my parents left for a few days at the boat to that and you have a "blah" Sarah. (Don't worry this post is not as much of a downer as it is currently seeming!) My friend Jes called today after work and we talked about our days and it was even "blah". She told me her complaints and I shared mine and then we hung up. I sat there thinking that my day seemed less than joyful and asked God to perk it up for me. I am pretty happy, and fun person so these sort of days really throw me. I made dinner (blah), watched some TV (a little less blah) and then I checked my various online sites while deciding if I was ready to consider the day a loss and go to bed. Enter the awesome God I serve!! I had a funny little comment from Jes on facebook that got a smile and giggle out of me and then an e-mail that she had a new blog. I decided to check it before bed and wow did my God show up! Jes' blog was all about surviving. She has given up a lot to follow her dreams recently and she is praising God through all the storms (literal and figurative) that she is facing. Her blog reminded me that everyone has struggles and "blah" days but that if we keep our focus on God and the path and blessings He has for us we can make it through all those things. Yes it was a less than amazing day, but, there is nothing wrong. I serve a God who is much bigger than a "blah" day!

Thank you God for my life and the opportunity to even be here to experience the "blah" days!

Last Friday I met Kendra and the girls at the Pleasanton Mall to take pictures with the Easter Bunny. This is our half way point and we have met there before to take pictures with Santa. The girls did really well and the picture is so cute! Once we were done with that we went to a very cool park in town and spent a few hours playing. I brought cupcakes that I made for Peyton (and Mommy & YaYa) and some Easter presents and she loved it all!

This is one of the cupcakes I made with fondant
flowers on it so Peyton could eat the flower!

Peyton and I having cupcakes! I ate the cupcake but
not the flower and Peyton did the opposite!
It was funny because Kendra and I eat like that together too! :)

Here is her line of cupcakes that she ate the flower off of!


Amber chilled in her stroller while Peyton and I hit the playground.

Yes, YaYa is afraid of slides! Peyton wanted to go down it
alone and I didn't want to go down it at all!
I got Peyton a purse, gloves and a hat for
her dress up box and she loved it!
She put her smaller treats in the purse and
tried to open the bubbles!


Not to be outdone by her big sister Amber blow some
bubbles of her own for YaYa!

It was a really fun day with Kendra and the girls and another great memory! It had been almost seven weeks since I had seen them all last which is a long time for us now that they live closer. I drove home that day amazed by how much Peyton and Amber had grown. When I saw Peyton at Valentines Day she was no where near as much of a talker as she is now. She was talking my ear off all afternoon! There were still several times where I had to have Kendra translate for me but I understood a LOT more than before. At one point while she was on the swings a little boy was riding his bike on some high rocks and she turned to look at him and then said "Yikes YaYa, too high!" I laughed at how grown up she sounded at the time but in the quiet of the car ride home I got a little teary over how big she is getting and what an wonderful little person she is turning into. I can't wait to see her again and hear what new things she has to say!